World Devastator
World Devastators are existing superweapons from Legends.[1]
Development and construction
The design for the World Devastators, specifically their function as self-replicating war machines, was based on the dreams of Palpatine's son Triclops, recorded during his stay in the Kessel mines asylum. The first prototype was a refitted Imperial Leviathan, constructed under the direction of Umak Leth and tested on in the Thomork system in 5 ABY. However, the project suffered a setback with the disappearance of Nasdra Magrody, who had been tasked with making the World Devastators fully autonomous and eliminating the need for sentient crews. After the successful test of the prototype, Palpatine ordered the remaining Leviathans to be brought to Byss for refitting.[2]
Purpose
The reborn Emperor intended for the World Devastators to spread through the galaxy at an exponential rate, eating up planets to create more and more copies of themselves. The resulting mass death was supposed to supply Palpatine with the power he needed to conquer the Chaos. To ensure his control, however, Palpatine had the World Devastators slaved to a hardwired master control signal that allowed him to take control of them from Byss.[2]
Capabilities
Cha Niathal was convinced that a World Devastator would be unable to swallow all 19 kilometers of an Executor-class Star Dreadnought.[3]
Later use
When Admiral Pellaeon took control of the Empire after Palpatine's final death, he had the remaining World Devastators refitted so that they each acted independently. Pellaeon set the few remaining World Devastators to harvest raw materials from unpopulated areas of planets like Tyan and convert them into useful material. The robotic TIE/d automated starfighters were now linked by a signal broadcast from their base ship, which was constantly filtered through a semi-random algorithm that made the signal impossible to track.
One of the last World Devastators was destroyed by Lusankya under the command of Wedge Antilles at the battle of Tyan in 12 ABY.[3]