Star Wars Imperial Superlaser
Created | Updated Sep 3, 2004
The first of the Empire's many terror weapons, the superlaser was conceived by Grand Moff Tarkin and developed by Bevel Lemelisk. It was designed to destroy a world with a single shot. Mounted aboard the Death Star, the superlaser was the keystone of Emperor Palpatine's "Doctrine of Fear," Which proposed that the peoples of the Empire could be controlled by being frightened into submission.
The super laser was the most powerful energy weapon ever built. Fed by a fusion reactor that dwarfed even those found aboard Imperial Star Destroyers, the superlaser's eight amplification crystals produced turbolaser pulses that were fused over the weapon's central focus lense. The resulting energy beam had more firepower than half the Imperial starfleet and could instantly reduce a world to asteroid fragments and space dust.
Each amplification crystal required a separate gunnery station, where a crew of fourteen soldiers had to precisely adjust and modulate the turbolaser pulses to allow the focus lense to create a stable energy beam. Four reserve amplification crystals could be brought on-line.
The Death Star's power core needed an entire day to build up enough charge for a full power blast, although even a low-power shot had enough destructive force to crack a planet's crust and cause incredible seismic upheaval. The superlaser aboard the second Death Star featured improved targeting computers for firing on capital ships.
Security was a primary concern: Those who controlled the Death Star's superlaser could challenge the authority of the Emperor himself. Elaborate computer safe guards, squads of stormtroopers, and the most sophisticated security checkpoints in the Empire controlled access to the superlaser's gunnery stations. The weapon could be disabled by an override command from the Death Star's overbridge. Emperor Palpatine also assigned a trusted advisor-a certain Darth Vader in the case of the first Death Star-to remain aboard these weapons platforms to ensure that the crew remained loyal and fearful in his wrath.
The superlaser's strategic value was obvious. The weapon could have been deployed any where and used against a planet-a target that can neither manouvre nor hide from attack. While the Rebel Alliance destroyed the first Death Star, the lure of wielding an ultimate terror weapon remained strong with the Emperor and with those who followed
him.
Tremendous resources were concentrated into developing new superlaser platforms such as the Tarkin, the second Death Star, and the Eclipse-class Star Destroyers. After the Emperor's final defeat, the covetous Hutts turned their attention to conquering other worlds and tried to build the Darksaber, a battle station based on the Death Star's design. As with the Empire's prior attempts, the Darksaber plot was foiled by the forces of the New Republic.
The super laser was the most powerful energy weapon ever built. Fed by a fusion reactor that dwarfed even those found aboard Imperial Star Destroyers, the superlaser's eight amplification crystals produced turbolaser pulses that were fused over the weapon's central focus lense. The resulting energy beam had more firepower than half the Imperial starfleet and could instantly reduce a world to asteroid fragments and space dust.
Each amplification crystal required a separate gunnery station, where a crew of fourteen soldiers had to precisely adjust and modulate the turbolaser pulses to allow the focus lense to create a stable energy beam. Four reserve amplification crystals could be brought on-line.
The Death Star's power core needed an entire day to build up enough charge for a full power blast, although even a low-power shot had enough destructive force to crack a planet's crust and cause incredible seismic upheaval. The superlaser aboard the second Death Star featured improved targeting computers for firing on capital ships.
Security was a primary concern: Those who controlled the Death Star's superlaser could challenge the authority of the Emperor himself. Elaborate computer safe guards, squads of stormtroopers, and the most sophisticated security checkpoints in the Empire controlled access to the superlaser's gunnery stations. The weapon could be disabled by an override command from the Death Star's overbridge. Emperor Palpatine also assigned a trusted advisor-a certain Darth Vader in the case of the first Death Star-to remain aboard these weapons platforms to ensure that the crew remained loyal and fearful in his wrath.
The superlaser's strategic value was obvious. The weapon could have been deployed any where and used against a planet-a target that can neither manouvre nor hide from attack. While the Rebel Alliance destroyed the first Death Star, the lure of wielding an ultimate terror weapon remained strong with the Emperor and with those who followed
him.
Tremendous resources were concentrated into developing new superlaser platforms such as the Tarkin, the second Death Star, and the Eclipse-class Star Destroyers. After the Emperor's final defeat, the covetous Hutts turned their attention to conquering other worlds and tried to build the Darksaber, a battle station based on the Death Star's design. As with the Empire's prior attempts, the Darksaber plot was foiled by the forces of the New Republic.
