After Palpatine’s death at Endor, the galaxy was free from the likes of the Death Star and other world-destroying machines. The Empire was using its capital ships to defend itself and retake any planets I could. But when Palpatine’s clone was revived, the galaxy was once more in fear.
The Death Star, although it could destroy a planet in one shot, was not really a viable option. It represented all the Empire’s resources, and if they lost another one, then that would finally be then end. So the Emperor came up with a different plan. What about several smaller ships that could wipe out a planet? And so the World Devastators were born. Out of all his wild schemes, the Devastators represented the best of them.
World Devastators differed from the Death Star in one very significant way: they did not actually blow up a planet, but ‘ate’ it. The huge machines would grind down a planet’s surface and crust in their molecular furnaces, and turn the components into raw materials. The raw materials were then used to make new parts for the Devastator, either new weapons or more TIE/D fighters.
These huge machines were the brainchild of designer Umak Leth. He had big shoes to fill, and in one comment he thought he had filled them. He claimed that his ‘babies’ were more lethal than the Death Star. At first glance this statement is hilarious. There is no way that these machines, which would take months to tear a planet apart, could be more deadly the Tarkin’s dream. But when they had eventually finished with the world they were eating, the end result was more horrific than anything anyone could possibly imagine.
Devastators had turbolasers and other automated weapons to defend themselves, but they also relied on the TIE/D fighters that they produced in vast quantities. The planet’s components were also used to make additions to the Devastator, so no two machines were identical. This was possible because each World Devastator had a central droid brain controlling its factories, and this brain had plans for all Imperial vessels and weapons. It was possible for the machines to travel in space, via hyperdrives and ion engines, but their main mission was to devour a planet, which they did with unerring ease.
At the time, Palpatine wanted to show the galaxy that no planet could get the better of him. That was why he chose Mon Calamari to be devoured. Years before the Mon Calamarians had defied the Emperor, and now he was going to show them the price of their defiance. He had Silencer-7, the largest World Devastator, lead the assault on the water planet. Silencer-7 was larger than an Imperial Star Destroyer, standing at 3200 metres long and 1500 metres tall. One hundred and twenty five heavy turbolasers, eighty proton missiles, two hundred blaster cannons, and fifteen ion cannons meant that it could more than stand its ground. The fifteen tractor-beam projectors also made sure that no ship would dare come near it. It was manned by 25000 beings, and was capable of fending entire fleets by itself.
If it had not been for Palpatine’s paranoia, the World Devastators might never have been beaten. In a galaxy where he wanted to rule by fear, Palpatine himself feared that these war machines could be turned against him. Therefore he had created a command system which would allow him to take control of the planet eaters whenever he liked. It was this code that Luke transmitted to Artoo, who then used it to shut down the Devastators, leaving them at the mercy of the New Republic fighters.
Ruling through fear is one thing, but if you do not have fear as your ally, then you will always be afraid.