Galaxy Gun

The Galaxy Gun was a fictional superweapon from the Star Wars Expanded Universe. It appears in the Dark Empire II and Empire's End comic series of the Star Wars Expanded Universe.

Description

The Galaxy Gun was just one of the several superweapons built by the Galactic Empire. The Galaxy Gun resembled a long tube capable of firing large projectiles. The concept of the Galaxy Gun could also be said to resemble the general mechanics of a cannon. Each projectile was designed to carry enough power to destroy an entire planet. However, there were variable power settings, allowing the user to lower them in order to destroy smaller targets such as cities, spacecraft, and military bases. As an added measure, the projectiles were capable of traveling through hyperspace with a speed nearly as fast as the Millennium Falcon, allowing for quick traversal of interstellar distances and difficulty of detection and preventive measures to take place. It could easily have been a deterrent that would frighten the residents of star systems. The Galaxy Gun was 7,250 meters long, nearly 5 times the length of a standard Imperial Star Destroyer, firing rounds the size of a small starship.

Each round from the Galaxy Gun contained a particle disintegrator warhead and a hyperdrive. On the outside, the missiles had automated laser turrets, along with armor plating and shields that were capable of defending against turbolasers and ion cannons. Once the projectile made contact, the warhead erupted, causing nucleonic chain reactions.

The Galaxy Gun destroyed the rebel base on Pinnacle Moon.

Destruction

The Galaxy Gun was destroyed above the planet Byss, which had recently become the Empire's new base of operations. Shortly after the Emperor's death, the astromech droid R2-D2, who had taken control of the Eclipse II's computer banks, set the ship on a collision course with the Galaxy Gun. The explosion resulted in both the ship and the Galaxy Gun being destroyed. However, one last projectile exited the firing tube just before its destruction. The unguided missile was pulled in by Byss's gravitational field and redirected toward it. Although Byss was not destroyed completely, the missile rendered the planet scorched, barren and lifeless.

Sixteen years after the demise of the Galaxy Gun, Luke Skywalker regretted completely destroying it, as it could have later helped the New Republic defeat Yuuzhan Vong worldships.

See also

• List of Star Wars superweapons

References

1. Dark Empire II, trade paperback, 1st edition, 1995. Tom Veitch, ISBN 1-56971-119-4
2. Empire's End, trade paperback, 1997. Tom Veitch, ISBN 1-56971-306-5
3. The Dark Empire sourcebook, Wizards of the Coast, 1st edition, 1993. Horne, Michael, ISBN 0-87431-194-2