Chain Lightning

Like humans, the Toba discovered static electricity early in their history, and likewise discovered how to generate not long after, and the Chain Lighting spike is based on that simple technology … but with a high-tech twist. Because a simple static electricity discharge would arc to the nearest grounded object (possibly a rock or a fence post), there’s a trick to making the static electricity of Chain Lighting hit the desired target (and then other targets beyond the first one). Embedded computers do target designation, and then direct invisible-to-the-naked-eye lasers to drill a hole through the atmosphere, creating a tunnel of ionized air. Milliseconds after this is done, the electrostatic discharge is triggered, and the electrons leap through the tunnel of ionized air, constrained, and channeled by the charged tube, and striking the targets.