Superlaser/Legends

"No one will dare oppose the Empire after this demonstration."

- Wilhuff Tarkin

A superlaser was a planet-destroying weapon, sometimes referred to as a superweapon, that used several separate "planetary proton beams" combined together as a single beam. This devastating device was designed to destroy planets with one shot.

The birth of the superlaser
"What Ki-Adi-Mundi didn't know, however, is that our unit of the 501st was really after a Mygeetan power source that the Chancellor wanted for his superlaser."

- Anonymous 501st clone trooper



The concept of the superlaser, Emperor Palpatine's most frightening weapon, was born in the mind of Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin. The use of such massive weapons became the core of his Tarkin Doctrine. The idea was later realized by Bevel Lemelisk, as well as by Geonosian weapons engineers.

The proof-of-concept model of the superlaser was built at the Maw Installation in the Kessel system. This model became become known as the Death Star Prototype. Finally, the first full-scale superlaser was installed in the first Death Star, becoming its primary weapon.

Superlaser power
The power of the first Death Star's superlaser is estimated to have been more than 2.4*$$10^{32}$$ joules, with an optimum range of 380,000 kilometers and a working range of 420,000 kilometers. Powerful enough to destroy a terrestrial planet, it was the most powerful energy weapon ever built. Eight amplification crystals powered by fusion reactors generated turbolaser impulses concentrated over the central lens of the weapon. The beam created in this way had more than half the firepower of the remainder of the Imperial Navy. A crew of one hundred and thirty-two gunners&mdash;fourteen per amplification crystal&mdash;were required to manage this sobering power.

Use and deployment


The full-scale superlaser was built in the Death Star and was used twice&mdash;once as a secret test, to destroy the prison planet Despayre, and later to destroy Alderaan and demonstrate the Galactic Empire's strength. Before it could fire a third time at the Rebel Alliance base on Yavin IV, it was destroyed at the Battle of Yavin.

A smaller version of the first Death Star's superlaser was installed on the Tarkin. This weapon was used once by Grand Admiral Martio Batch to crack the planet Aeten II and acquire its deeply buried supply of remaining stygium crystals. It too would be destroyed by Rebel forces, who infiltrated the station while it was under construction and sabotaged the superlaser. When the superlaser was first fired, it overloaded, destroying the station.

Numerous upgrades were performed on the superlaser design when it was reincorporated into the Death Star II. Whereas the original superlaser took a full 24 hours to recharge, the new one possessed a rate of fire separated by minutes, not days. The new superlaser also had more individual beams&mdash;nine, in fact&mdash;with one in the center allowing better ease when aiming. The new targeting system allowed it to fire at smaller targets, such as capital ships, as opposed to only planets. Though this allowed the Imperial forces to inflict significant casualties on the Rebel fleet during the Battle of Endor, this station was also destroyed.



The next superlaser to be built by the Empire was keel-mounted on the Eclipse-class Star Dreadnought Eclipse. This superlaser was not as powerful as that on the Death Stars, but was still capable of slashing through planetary shields, searing the crust and blowing apart entire continents. This made the original Eclipse and its successor, Eclipse II, the most powerful capital ships ever built. However, the Eclipse was destroyed over Byss, and Eclipse II was destroyed after the Battle of Onderon along with the Galaxy Gun.

The last known superlaser was built by Durga the Hutt for the Darksaber battle station. The forces of the New Republic attacked it before it was completed, and it was destroyed in the Hoth asteroid field. Rumors abound, however, that notorious smuggler Booster Terrik acquired Darksaber schematics, and installed a superlaser on his ship.

Appearances

 * Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
 * Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
 * Star Wars: Battlefront II
 * Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
 * Marvel Star Wars 51: Resurrection of Evil
 * Marvel Star Wars 52: To Take The Tarkin
 * Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
 * Dark Empire
 * Dark Empire II
 * Empire's End
 * Darksaber