Death Star II

"Through sheer stupid luck, the rebels managed to destroy the first Death Star. By rebuilding the Death Star, and using it as many times as necessary to restore order, we prove that their luck only goes so far. We prove that we are the only galactic authority and always will be."

- Lieutenant Nash Windrider

The second Death Star, also known as Death Star II, was a moon-sized battle station that contained a planet-destroying superlaser. Following the Battle of Yavin and the destruction of the original Death Star, the Galactic Empire began construction on a new battle station, one more powerful than the original.

Though its primary weapon was operational by the Battle of Endor, the station was destroyed by the Rebel Alliance while still under construction. Combined with the deaths of Emperor Sheev Palpatine and his apprentice, the Sith Lord Darth Vader, the destruction of the second Death Star was a significant defeat for the Empire. Within a year, the Empire formally surrendered to the New Republic.

Design
The station was a large spheroid structure over 160 kilometers in diameter that featured 560 internal levels which could contain 2,471,647 passengers and crew. Significantly larger than the previous Death Star, the Death Star II would be approximately 3% the size of the Sanctuary Moon. A large concave dish in the station's northern hemisphere housed its superlaser. Like its predecessor, a throne room would be installed for the Galactic Emperor.

Owing to the station's stationary and not synchronous orbit, it required a tremendous force to counter Endor's gravity. Utilizing the repulsorlift field created by the shield generator on Endor to maintain its position, the Death Star II created earthquakes, tidal imbalances, and other geological disturbances on the surface below.

Armaments
The most prominent weapon on the Death Star II was its impressive superlaser, which unlike the original Death Star only had a three minute recharge time. Powered by the station's hypermatter reactors, the superlaser would focus multiple lasers through massive green kyber crystals into a single destructive beam. For point-defense capabilities, it featured 15,000 heavy and standard turbolaser batteries along with 7,500 laser cannons and 5,000 ion cannons. It housed 768 tractor beam emplacements, as well as complements of TIE/LN starfighters and their variants for space-based encounters and a plethora of AT-AT and AT-STs for surface operations.

Power
The station was powered by several hypermatter reactors, the destruction of which could be catastrophic to the station.

Origins
With the destruction of the first Death Star in the Yavin system, the Empire was left in a vertiginous state as the Imperial Military reeled at such a sizable loss of its martial forces. With the dissolution of the Imperial Senate and increasing pirate and rebel attacks, the Emperor immediately began construction on a new and improved battle station, one more powerful and without the fatal flaw of its predecessor. Upon the station's completion, the Emperor planned on sending invasion fleets larger than any seen in centuries to blockade the rebellious worlds of Mon Cala and Chandrila until the Death Star could destroy them, effectively ending any hope the galaxy may have in defeating the Empire and its tyrannical regime.

To build this even larger station several years faster than the previous, newly appointed Moff Tiaan Jerjerrod was given oversight of the project under the cover title 'Director of Imperial Energy Systems,' with the Emperor placing his trust in Jerjerrod owing to his previous work on constructing the first Death Star. The forest moon of Endor was chosen as the initial construction site, while a secret hyperspace lane was carved to reach the system from the factory world of Sullust. While initial progress was steady&mdash;with the Moff ensuring that all thermal exhaust ports were heavily armored&mdash;budget cuts, supply chain breakdowns and a lack of laborers soon conflicted with his schedule. Hoping to show Lord Vader detailed reports on the station's construction, and thus sway his opinion to realize the impossibility of his task, Jerjerrod was swiftly brushed aside by Vader, who professed the Emperor's lack of contentedness with the project, warning him to double his efforts. Despite increasing the pace of construction, one whole hemisphere of the station was still covered in scaffolding and girders upon the Emperor's arrival several weeks later.

Destruction
"Remote sensors detected an unusual level of Imperial activity in the Hudalla system. Nothing in that area should be of interest to the Empire or to anyone else. Why then is the Empire establishing a presence there?"

- Admiral Gial Ackbar

The Emperor, planning to draw the Alliance into a doomed attack against the newer battle station, large portions of the Imperial Starfleet began massing in the Hudalla system in preparations for the upcoming engagement. After members of the Rebel Alliance Starfighter Corps under Corona Squadron arrived in the system, the Empire immediately sent several TIE/LN starfighters to destroy the vessels. Nonetheless, several ships managed to escape and bring their intel back to Alliance High Command, which received further information given to them from the Bothan spynet regarding the Death Star's presumed capabilities, all which was purposely leaked by Palpatine. In an effort to allow its scattered fleet time to assemble over the Outer Rim world of Sullust, the Alliance embarked on Operation Yellow Moon which aimed to distract the Imperials of the buildup until it was too late. With the station still under construction over Endor and the Rebels falsely believing its superlaser was non-operational, along with learning that the Emperor himself would be overseeing the final stages of its completion, the Alliance could not resist the opportunity to destroy not only the Empire's newest superweapon, but also its head of state. In reality, the Emperor was leading the Rebels into a trap, having allowed the leaked misinformation about the station to fall into rebel hands, resulting in the Battle of Endor. With the station protected on the ground by a SLD-26 planetary shield generator guarded by elite Imperial stormtroopers, along with the largest gathering of Imperial-class Star Destroyers in Imperial history and a fully functional superlaser, total victory for the Empire appeared certain. Nonetheless, the station was destroyed by Lando Calrissian, piloting the Millennium Falcon and Red Leader Wedge Antilles from his X-Wing snub-fighter, after the ground based shield generator was destroyed by a small rebel strike team who received assistance from the planet's indigenous population, of whom the Empire viewed as no real threat. With the destruction of the second Death Star and Luke Skywalker's victory in converting his father, Darth Vader&mdash;once more Anakin Skywalker&mdash;to hurl his master down a reactor shaft, the rebels managed not only to prevent further destruction, but presumably end the Empire's oppressive reign once and for all.

Legacy
"This is Leia Organa, last princess of Alderaan, former member of the Galactic Senate, and a leader in the Alliance to Restore the Republic. I have a message for the galaxy. The grip of the Galactic Empire on our galaxy and its citizens is relinquished. The Death Star outside the forest moon of Endor is gone, and with it the Imperial leadership."

- Leia Organa

Following the destruction of the second Death Star, Imperial records were sent into a state of disarray, with numerous missing persons and unconfirmed dead or wounded. In addition, a vast field of detritus orbited Endor. With several thousand death notices to write and records to update, the task was pushed to the side of Imperial priorities in the days after Endor as the Rebel Alliance capitalized on its stunning victory by pushing the shattered Imperial forces off of many worlds across the galaxy, including the Emperor's homeworld of Naboo, one of the first to fall. Holovids of the station's destruction were disseminated across star systems while the Empire worked to root out and punish those responsible in spreading what it deemed treasonous lies. Nonetheless, the truth of the station's destruction eventually became known to the general citizenry, while both the Death Star I and II continued to serve as symbol of fear and oppression for years to come, permanently leaving its mark on citizens across the galaxy. With the Empire falling apart, many believed that total victory for the now New Republic was imminent. Nonetheless over a year and four days later Imperial remnants were still be fighting the Republic for control of the galaxy, most notably during the Empire's last stand in the Battle of Jakku. The Galactic Concordance was ultimately signed mid-battle, formally ending the Galactic Civil War and transforming the Empire into a mere rump state.

Despite the Empire's defeat at the Battle of Jakku and its total surrender, Imperial fanatics and technocrats fled deep into the galaxy's Unknown Regions where they formed the Empire's first true successor state, the First Order. A hermit kingdom led by yet another Force practitioner entranced by the destructive capabilities of the original Death Stars, he ultimately oversaw the construction of Starkiller Base, a planet-turned-superweapon capable of destroying star systems through sub-hyperspace.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Galactic Defense
 * Lost Stars
 * Star Wars: Battle Pod
 * The Adventures of Luke Skywalker, Jedi Knight
 * Star Wars: The Original Trilogy: A Graphic Novel
 * Darth Vader 1: Vader
 * Darth Vader 2: Vader, Part II
 * Darth Vader 25: End of Games, Part VI
 * Moving Target: A Princess Leia Adventure
 * Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi
 * ''Episode VI: Return of the Jedi Read-Along Storybook and CD'
 * Return of the Jedi: Beware the Power of the Dark Side!
 * "The Levers of Power"&mdash;The Rise of the Empire
 * Shattered Empire, Part I
 * Aftermath
 * Star Wars: Uprising
 * Aftermath: Life Debt
 * Bloodline
 * Poe Dameron 9: The Gathering Storm, Part II
 * Bloodline
 * Poe Dameron 9: The Gathering Storm, Part II

Non-Canon Appearances

 * Epic Yarns: Return of the Jedi
 * LEGO Star Wars: Droid Tales Episodes I-III
 * LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens
 * LEGO Star Wars: Droid Tales Episodes I-III
 * LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens