Ionize the air eh?
I have a 150 watt CO2, it doesn't ionize air. I have a 350 milliwatt Helium Cadmium, it doesn't ionize air. I just sold my 9 watt Argon, it didn't ionize air. Oh I mean, ENOUGH to allow a lightning waveguide. So are you speaking of firing maybe a 50 kilowatt X-Ray enhanced, Excimer Gas Dynamic Laser to make that path? Because if so, the melted residue won't be affected by the 150K electrostatic watts, that follows. ; ) hehe