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The Xerrol Nightstinger sporting blaster rifle, also known as simply Nightstinger, was a highly illegal long range blaster rifle used for covert operations by the Galactic Empire's forces.
Description[]
A soldier killed by a Xerrol Nightstinger shot.
It was generally inferior to other blasters used by the Empire, as it could only fire three to five shots, requiring massive amounts of energy per shot, before its canister of blaster gas needed to be replaced. This made it somewhat impractical despite its advantages because the gasses used to make the rounds were hard to acquire and to refine, with each canister costing about one thousand credits. Its one advantage was that it fired an invisible bolt, which made it useful for assassination missions.
One particularly clever Imperial tactic was for a sniper to use a Xerrol Nightstinger to invisibly blast a redirection crystal, forcing Tibanna gas through a blast tube. This blast tube would then fire a visible blaster bolt. The blast tube would be destroyed after one use, leaving behind only small pieces of debris which few people outside of Imperial Intelligence had the knowledge to identify. This allowed an agent with a Nightstinger to, with the proper preparations, frame a target for murder.
History[]
Imperial agents with the "Vengeance" cell used this tactic to make it appear that Han Solo and a Bothan dignitary, Askar clan leader Rayl'skar, had fired on a group of civilian rioters on Bothawui. However, the usage was identified as such by a Noghri in Princess Leia's guard.
Appearances[]
- Specter of the Past (First appearance)
- Specter of the Past unabridged audiobook
- Vision of the Future
- Vision of the Future unabridged audiobook