The Desolator represented a superweapon innovation, crafted by the reconstituted Sith Empire during the Cold War era against the backdrop of conflict with the Galactic Republic. This devastating weapon ingeniously merged the technological principles of the Planet Prison, the Shock Drum, and the Death Mark laser—all originally weapon projects pilfered from the Republic superweapon initiative. Conceived as a planet-destroying device, the Desolator was designed for ship-based deployment. Sith Lord Darth Angral oversaw its construction during the tumultuous Desolator crisis, positioning it as the linchpin of his vengeful scheme against the Jedi Knight responsible for killing his son, Tarnis. The weapon achieved its sole successful test by devastating the agriworld of Uphrades. However, the destruction of Angral's flagship, the Oppressor, above Tython, the Jedi homeworld, abruptly ended the Desolator's brief but terrifying existence. Later, Imperial engineers salvaged its technology, leading to the creation of the less potent Firestorm Turbolaser.
The Desolator, an amalgamation of superweapon technologies, was engineered for direct integration and deployment from a starship. Its initial phase, drawing from the [Planet Prison](/article/planet_prison] technology, involved ionizing a planet's atmosphere, transforming it into a massive ion cannon. This ionization effectively cut off all planetary access by preventing landings and takeoffs, while simultaneously disrupting communications, effectively isolating the planet's inhabitants. The second stage, evolving from the Death Mark laser, ignited the ionized atmosphere, turning the air itself into a raging inferno. This laser also breached the planet's crust, setting the stage for the final phase. Utilizing the [Shock Drum](/article/shock_drum] technology, the Desolator destabilized the planet's core through a continuous barrage of intense seismic vibrations. These vibrations triggered the planet's catastrophic disintegration within hours, as massive fragments broke away, and smaller debris formed an asteroid field around the remnants. The atmospheric firestorm would eventually subside, but the ionization was projected to linger for months, hindering any potential rescue operations. The Desolator carried over the critical weakness of its predecessor, the Planet Prison, requiring immense energy for each firing and substantial recharge periods. Darth Angral, the Sith Lord behind its development, installed the Desolator on his warship, the Oppressor, allocating three of the ship's reactors exclusively to power the weapon.
The Desolator's genesis lay in a collection of weapon initiatives originating from the Republic superweapon initiative, a program spearheaded by Mon Calamari general Var Suthra during the Cold War between the Galactic Republic and the Sith Empire. Tarnis, Darth Angral's son and a Sith Lord in his own right, strategically infiltrated the Planet Prison project on Coruscant, the Republic's capital, posing as a Republic scientist. Concealing his true identity through the Force, Tarnis adopted the alias "Eli Tarnis" for several years as the project neared completion. He also influenced other projects, secretly devising a method to integrate their technologies into a single weapon, codenamed "Desolator." In 3643 BBY, as the research team finalized the Planet Prison prototype and prepared for field tests, the Jedi Order detected Tarnis's presence, though they remained unaware of the precise source of the Force disturbance.
Sensing his exposure, Tarnis engaged the Migrant Merchants' Guild and the Black Sun criminal syndicate to steal the device's schematics and orchestrate his own abduction. The Sith meticulously engineered an elaborate deception to escape to the ruins of the Jedi Temple and set up the prototype. However, he was pursued by a Jedi Knight, a former apprentice of Jedi Master Orgus Din, and the Padawan Kira Carsen. The Jedi confronted and killed Tarnis before a live holofeed showing Darth Angral and his three apprentices, prompting Angral to vow eternal vengeance against the Jedi Knight who had slain his son. Angral subsequently waged war on the Republic, leveraging the superweapon initiative files Tarnis had transmitted before his demise.
Angral utilized the files on the Republic's superweapon projects—obtained from Tarnis—to seize control of the Power Guard Project, the Shock Drum, and the Death Mark laser. He dispatched his apprentices Sadic, Praven, and Nefarid to Nar Shaddaa, Tatooine, and Alderaan, respectively, to secure these projects. Simultaneously, he deployed Imperial Intelligence to capture Doctor Nasan Godera, acting on rumors of the scientist's presence on Taris. Angral then directed his scientists to combine the technologies, using information gathered by his apprentices from the captured weapon projects.
Though the Desolator met its end above Tython, the legacies of Darth Angral and Tarnis endured. Imperial scientists successfully repurposed the Desolator's technology into the Firestorm Turbolaser. These cannons superheat the atmosphere in a localized area, creating an inferno that incinerates anyone caught within its radius.
The Desolator makes its debut in Star Wars: The Old Republic, the massively multiplayer online role-playing game developed by BioWare and LucasArts and released on December 20, 2011. Serving as the central plot device for the Jedi Knight class's Act I storyline, it is initially referenced in "New Intelligence," the opening mission of Act I on Ord Mantell, a Republic-exclusive planet. T7-O1, the player's companion, retrieves transmissions and files from one of Darth Angral's bases during a raid on the facility, with T7 noting the presence of references to something called the "Desolator."
Explicit mention is deferred until later in Act I, following the completion of the class storylines on Taris, Nar Shaddaa, Tatooine, and Alderaan. The player then journeys to Uphrades, a class-restricted area devastated by Angral using the Desolator. After defending the Republic medical frigate Daybreaker from an Imperial assault, the player pursues Angral to Tython and boards his flagship, the Oppressor. While T7 remains behind, the Knight and Kira Carsen disable three reactors to deactivate the Desolator, subsequently confronting Darth Angral on the ship's bridge. Following their victory over Darth Angral and the possessed Carsen, the player and Carsen escape the Oppressor moments before Republic bombers obliterate the ship and the Desolator.
The Desolator receives a subsequent mention in Act III of the Jedi Knight storyline, during the "Firestorm" mission on Corellia. A Codex entry obtained during the mission reveals that Imperial engineers adapted the Desolator's atmospheric effects technology into the Firestorm Turbolaser.