Baradium/Legends

"No one ever gets to fire the baradium missiles."

- Han Solo

Baradium was a highly volatile substance used in thermal detonators and other powerful munitions.

Characteristics
Although baradium is described as a "synthetic element", it may have existed in some form in naturally-occurring lodes, as quantities of it were discovered on Duro after the Yuuzhan Vong War: these may possibly have been industrial by-products, however.

When detonated, a baradium weapon produced an incandescent sphere of energy, sustaining what was descirbed as a fusion reaction for several seconds before fading. Everything within the sphere was normally vaporised by the blast. But although a very potent explosive, baradium was also costly to process and extremely unstable, limiting its employment somewhat: accidental detonation could be triggered by careless use, and would have a devastating effect.

Thermal detonators
Probably the best-known and most widespread form of baradium charge was a type of grenade known as a thermal detomator. The thermal detonators used by stormtroopers had a five-meter blast radius, but many used by bounty hunters had a twenty-meter radius, and some could vaporise everything up to one hundred meters away.{fact} The ostentatious destructive potential of larger thermal detonators is perhaps best illustrated by the fact that a single Class-A thermal detonator, detonating in the basement, brought down Xizor's Palace, one of the largest buildings on Coruscant.

Baradium missiles
Much more powerful even than this were baradium missiles, which were capable of destroying capital ships in a single blast. One of these was acquired by the Jedi Order and supplied to the Myrkr strike team during the Yuuzhan Vong War. Carrying a charge of one metric ton of baradium, the blast-radius of a detonation in space was a full kilometer wide. To help ensure that it reached its target, it had deflector shields, and sufficient maneuverability to evade the defenses of enemy warships, both controlled by a droid brain pilot.

Several racks of baradium missiles were later found in the Missile Hold aboard the Star Destroyer Anakin Solo. These had a trigger mechanism using a deuterium-based proton charge, which on its own was capable of producing a blast comparable to some thermal detonators.

Other baradium weapons
In small quantities, baradium could be used with some precision: thermal detonator tape was used to breach blast doors, for example.

A more specialised form of baradium weapon was the seismic charge, in which the baradium was combined with collapsium. Rather than a spherical blast-radius, the destructive power of a seismic charge was constrained into a narrow plane, producing a violent shearing effect through anything in the path of the blast.

Lastly, while baradium was normally used as an explosive, depleted baradium was used instead to make dense, small-caliber bullets. The YVH series could carry a depleted-baradium pellet launcher capable of shredding yorik coral.

History
Baradium's destructive power meant that thermal detonators were banned by the Old Republic, and more powerful models remained illegal under the Galactic Empire. But while a small baradium charge was issued as standard to stormtroopers, the cost of production and the problems involved in handling the material also meant that its use was limited, even within the massive military-industrial complex of the Imperial forces.

These limits did not completely prohibit the use of baradium weapons, however. Even under the Old Republic, thermal detonators were popular with bounty hunters and other fringe elements. Subsequently, they were employed by the Grand Army of the Republic, and by elite Imperial soldiers such as stormtroopers. Merr-Sonn Munitions were known as a major manufacturer, while BlasTech Industries subsidiary Tarascii Explosives were one of the few other companies to be authorised to produce detonators by the Empire.

The Yuuzhan Vong War saw the one recorded use of a baradium missile, by the Myrkr strike team. The primary plan of the strike team's mission was built around this weapon, which was to be used to destroy the cloning facility creating the voxyn at Myrkr. However, it was fired instead against a Yuuzhan Vong cruiser, completely obliterating it even though it exploded half a kilometer from the warship's hull.

Subsequently, the Galactic Alliance appears to have tightly controlled the substance once again, as a large-scale smuggling operation it was considered a serious issue in 35 ABY.

Shortly before 40 ABY, large deposits of baradium were discovered on Duro, and these would prove to be the ultimate catalyst for the Confederation-Galactic Alliance War, when Thrackan Sal-Solo and his faction began secret military preparations to secure the supply for Corellia.

There is little evidence for baradium missiles being regularly used in combat, however. The cache aboard the Star Destroyer Anakin Solo in 40 ABY may have been an anomaly, reflecting that ship's unusual role as command ship of the Galactic Alliance Guard. During the Battle of Kashyyyk, for example, Darth Caedus carried out the planetary bombardment exclusively with the Star Destroyer's long range turbolasers.

Behind the scenes

 * There is a fanon suggestion that "baradium" is connected with the names of the baryon (a type of massive nuclear particle, from Greek "barys", heavy), and the radioactive element Radium: such a name would be appropriate for a super-heavy radioactive element, but this would be a suitable fuel for nuclear fission, not the "fusion" described by canon sources: nor is there any evidence that a baradium weapon releases any significant radiation.
 * An alternative fanon suggestion connects the name with the chant in The Day The Earth Stood Still, 'Klaatu barada nikto'. With the existence of the Nikto pirates, and a Nikto named Klaatu, baradium may be derived from the middle word.
 * The name of depleted baradium, mentioned in Star by Star, is probably based on depleted uranium: both are substances with powerful explosive properties, used here to create powerful ammunition with a high penetration. It cannot be assumed, however, that depleted baradium is created in the same way as depleted uranium (which is "depleted" because the radioactivity has been spent).

Appearances

 * Episode I Adventures 3: The Fury of Darth Maul
 * Shatterpoint
 * Equipment
 * The Last of the Jedi: Death on Naboo
 * Fair Prey
 * Star Wars Galaxies: The Ruins of Dantooine
 * Star by Star
 * Dark Nest II: The Unseen Queen
 * Tempest