Star Wars Rebel Death Star?

[Ash's Boomstick]

So just before the Battle of Yavin the rebels decide that instead of simply destroying it, they are going to capture the Death Star. Using a mass launch of fighters and shuttles and using multiple attacks across the entire station, the rebels use them as a distraction to find a foothold aboard and begin invading.

Over several days and constant combat (and maybe more Rebel reinforcements coming in) they manage to land enough troops to capture the Death Star and the senior Imperials aboard (Vader managed to escape while outside in his TIE Advanced). Although both sides are almost wiped out in the battle the Rebels manage to capture the station, the surviving crew (along with anyone else left on board) and maybe a few Imperials that switched sides.

The Rebel Alliance now have the most powerful ship/station in the galaxy, its contents, weapons, equipment, supplies, fighters, docked warships, fabrication facilities and what is actually technically a massively powerful mobile armed bunker.

What happens next?

(Note: Palpy’s backdoor codes are found by a certain astromech unit and when anyone tried to use it, it reveals the details of the user’s person files to the galaxy.)

 

[The Whispering Monk]

It's the victory that spells the rebellion's doom.

The rebellion is not vast. That sort of combat would have eviscerated the rebellion's ground forces and left them a shadowed husk. They likely don't have the personnel left to even crew the "Dawn Star". So...yeah, I think it leads to the death of the rebellion as we have historically seen it.

 

[Agent23]

The only way they can win is by trying to Hit Coruscant quickly.

First take out the shields, then hit strategic targets like the Imperial Residence, but making a sneak attack will IMHO be almost impossible.Then again, Alderaan did not manage to evacuate anyone and Tarkin's theatrics probably bought them some more time.That is, of course, if Palpster doesn't get out of dodge thanks to his force precognition or because he uses common sense after he hears the DSI is under rebel control.

At best, they can probably try and use it as a mobile base with a skeleton crew, while the majority of them are out doing what they do best, e.g. asymmetric warfare.

It will be a huge propaganda coup, too.
I imagine they rename it Rebel Star, or Freedom Star, and use it to do a few showy operations against low risk targets, like maybe Kessel, Kashyyyk Nal Hutta and maybe Tatooine.

Freed slaves can then be offered a chance to join in on the rebellion and a place on the death star.

 

[Val the Moofia Boss]

The Rebels having a Death Star isn't that much of a game changer as they won't be willing to blow up planets with it. At most you might see very limited tactical use of the laser to blow up Star Destroyers. The best use for the Death Star is as a mobile base that the Rebel fleet can safely dock and repair at.

The Empire can't build a Second Death Star without it being blown up by the first one unless it is somehow done in total secret, but with the sheer amount of people who would have to be involved in the construction of that, that is practically impossible.

The only way they can win is by trying to Hit Coruscant quickly.

This assumes that Palpatine was on Coruscant. We have no idea where he was during the Original Trilogy. As the most hated man in the galaxy and a secretive evil wizard, I'd imagine he would be hiding in some secret bunker somewhere or in a wizard tower on Mustafar, not in a public building on a prominent world that can easily be bombed or 9/11ed.

Destroying a populated world like Coruscant would kill the Rebellion, both as people find the Rebellion detestable and desert the cause, and the Rebellion losing external funding and support. Even if blowing up Coruscant does defeat the Empire, good luck trying to rebuild the Republic now that the greatest unifying force has just been villainized as the biggest mass murderers ever.

 

[Agent23]

The Rebels having a Death Star isn't that much of a game changer as they won't be willing to blow up planets with it. At most you might see very limited tactical use of the laser to blow up Star Destroyers. The best use for the Death Star is as a mobile base that the Rebel fleet can safely dock and repair at.

The Empire can't build a Second Death Star without it being blown up by the first one unless it is somehow done in total secret, but with the sheer amount of people who would have to be involved in the construction of that, that is practically impossible.

Rogue One showed that the Superlaser can be fired at much lower power, enough to destroy a city instead of the whole planet, and presumably it and the DS1's remaining armament can deal with a decent-sized planetary defense fleet without suffering much damage in the process.

This assumes that Palpatine was on Coruscant. We have no idea where he was during the Original Trilogy. As the most hated man in the galaxy and a secretive evil wizard, I'd imagine he would be hiding in some secret bunker somewhere or in a wizard tower on Mustafar, not in a public building on a prominent world that can easily be bombed or 9/11ed.

Destroying a populated world like Coruscant would kill the Rebellion, both as people find the Rebellion detestable and desert the cause, and the Rebellion losing external funding and support. Even if blowing up Coruscant does defeat the Empire, good luck trying to rebuild the Republic now that the greatest unifying force has just been villainized as the biggest mass murderers ever.

Ahem, note my statement above regarding Rogue One and notice that I said destrying the imperial residency, not the entire planet.

Also, Palpy in the OT misjudged quite a few things and let power and hubris get to his head, so I think he is on Coruscant most of the time, it makes sense for him to be there since he sees himself as the real center of power.

 

[Husky_Khan]

Initially I was thinking this could be a death for the Rebel Alliance since I didn't think they'd have the resources to control such a massive battlestation, especially after what would certainly be a spendy campaign to capture it in the first place. But... the Death Star is nigh invulnerable and capable of destroying everything up to... and including planets and as noted earlier in the thread, it can be used in a more limited capacity and just blow up ships and cities and whatnot reliably.

The only thing that could destroy the Death Star would be Darth Vader or Maarek Stele leading a daring Trench Run onto the Death Star but even then, the shot would be impossible, even for a computer. It'd be like trying to bullseye a womprat with a proton torpedo while under fire and going at ridiculous speeds.

So.. excluding that highly unlikely possibility, the Rebels almost literally have an unstoppable mobile battlestation capable of taking out any target in the galaxy with impunity. That sort of unassailable safeguard with enough firepower to match half the Imperial Starfleet (hyperbole of course) I think would have quite the deleterious effect on Imperial cohesion.

The only issue is if the Rebel Alliance can get enough personnel to actually operate the damn thing. They'd have to keep it safe somewhere until they can and hope that the Imperials aren't able to make a go of recapturing their Death Star. The Empire certainly would have plenty of resources to fail repeatedly in the attempt if they find it before its FULLY OPERATIONAL.

 

[Ash's Boomstick]

The thing is here that i think people underestimate the size of the Rebellion, in both Legends and canon they have support from dozens to hundreds of words, plus who know how many non planetary groups. Ever a few thousand from a single world each could support the Death Star without issues and out there there we know entire worlds supported them of billions of people, if necessary they could easily hide the Death Star and allow them to use it as a mobile base instead of going to Hoth.

Combined supply depot, hospital, refugee centre, training facility and who knows what else. They could just park it in Mon Cal orbit and get support from their shipyards and vice versa, even if they didn't use the main weapon at all, they could use the materials on board, including military standard armour and weapons as they slowly strip the thing down to nothing.

 

[Agent23]

The thing is here that i think people underestimate the size of the Rebellion, in both Legends and canon they have support from dozens to hundreds of words, plus who know how many non planetary groups. Ever a few thousand from a single world each could support the Death Star without issues and out there there we know entire worlds supported them of billions of people, if necessary they could easily hide the Death Star and allow them to use it as a mobile base instead of going to Hoth.

Combined supply depot, hospital, refugee centre, training facility and who knows what else. They could just park it in Mon Cal orbit and get support from their shipyards and vice versa, even if they didn't use the main weapon at all, they could use the materials on board, including military standard armour and weapons as they slowly strip the thing down to nothing.

Yeah, the problem is that a Galaxy-spanning empire is hard to portray in films.
In any case the number of supporters they have does not mean that those supporters would have enough qualified people among their ranks to properly operate and maintain a Deathstar and that its acquisition won't turn into a drain on their manpower.

If it has enough docking facilities to maintain their fleet though, then it can be a perfect mobile base.

it can be kept out of the game after an initial "shock and awe" campaign that would keep casualties low, but serve to dent the image of the Empire, then it can be kept out of sight and used to lure the fleet while the Rebels play the "death by a thousand cuts" game.

However, some sources would have you think that life under the empire was not that bad, and that the Rebels were a pretty significant bunch.

 

[DarthOne]

The hard part would to capture the Death Star in both relative good condition and managing to do it before Tarkin jumps the station away from the attack (likely to the nearest Imperial Fleet) or self-destructs it to prevent its capture.

 

[Sailor.X]

First order of business. Weld a Giant Flapper Valve on that damn exhaust port. Make it out of Captial Ship Grade Armor and install a mini shield generator around that location. Better safe than sorry.