A climate disruption array was a technological device that could be deployed in the orbit of a planet to provoke storms and hurricanes on its surface from space. Imperial-class Star Destroyers could deploy these arrays.
These arrays were satellites modified to provoke storms once the beam reached through the planet. Once it hit the surface, powerful storms were created and caused devastation on a planetwide scale.
The earliest known development for the disruption arrays could be traced back to Fondor, a critical naval complex for the Galactic Empire.
Following the Battle of Endor, which saw the death of Emperor Palpatine, Operation: Cinder was activated. Palpatine's Sentinel droids were sent to "selected" Imperial officers including Admiral Garrick Versio and Captain Lerr Duvat. As part of his contingency plan, Palpatine ordered the chosen officers to unleash the power of the climate disruption arrays on the targeted worlds, seeking to cause destruction across the galaxy. In the aftermath of the Battle of Endor, Research Station 9, a Tarkin Initiative facility on Endor, contained a hologram of the disruption array.
Admiral Versio deployed the arrays above his home planet, Vardos. This saw the defection of two Inferno Squad members, his daughter Commander Iden Versio and Agent Del Meeko, who would not stand to serve a regime that destroyed worlds that they had fought to protect. Following the skirmish on the planet, the satellites had laid waste to the once prosperous planet and Iden and Del had escaped to join the Rebel Alliance.
Captain Duvat was sent to the Emperor's home planet of Naboo, were he was to scour the planet with electrical storms and massive hurricanes. General Leia Organa scrambled the Rebel fleet to destroy the arrays, and a force lead by General Lando Calrissian eventually succeeded.
The planet Abednedo was also targeted by climate disruption arrays. This led the Abednedo people to support the New Republic and the Resistance.
While other numerous other planets were targeted by Operation: Cinder, ones with unique ecologies were subjected to different climate control weapons; Nacronis, for example, was hit with atmospheric vortex detonators that amplified its natural siltstorms to apocalyptic levels.
In 34 ABY, Iden returned to Vardos with Shriv Suurgav and her daughter, Zay. Suurgav noticed what he thought was snow, but Iden revealed it was actually atmospheric ash, leftover from the storms and fires caused by the climate disruption arrays thirty years prior.
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