Quote:
Originally Posted by octothorp
The death star is just such a woefully inefficient weapon. I think it was all just an elaborate make-work project.
You've got powerful hyperspace drives capable of moving these massive objects around. If you want to strike fear into the galaxy, it's simple: Crash star destroyer into planet at top speed. End planet. Repeat as necessary.
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Its a fear weapon it was never made to be an effective weapon. Remember that Tarkin believed in the use of the fear of force rather then force itself. If you have a planet crushing Super laser that you can whip out the moment that trouble starts it should subdue rebellion. It was never really designed to chase down a rebel base and kill it, it was really designed to punish planets and systems that aided or supported the Rebellion.
You would think that with a fleet of highly mobile powerful ships loaded with turbo lasers and bombers and fighters, one of which could probably overwhelm a planets defenses that they could have been more surgical. bombard the capital and turn it into glass, then you get to still keep the planets resources and labor.
Now I'm sure that Alderaan was a singularly useless planet who's main export was missions of mercy, they were basically like the goody two shoes neighbor that was always clearing your side walk in winter. But blasting it into eternity was hardly a massive economic loss. But I would think that the empire would hesitate in blasting a planet that was useful if it went to the Rebellion. You look at Rebels, Lothal was a factory world and they just decided to occupy it and lock it down under their version of Marshall law.