Base Delta Zero
"... to rendezvous at Dankayo and reduce the tiny base to molten slag. Even before the last of its atmosphere drifted away,
before the dense clouds of atomized topsoil could begin to settle, Imperial transports Elusive and Timely, as well as a
complement of TIE fighters, moved in to perform "mop-up" operations and a through search of Dankayo's now evenly-cratered surface."
-- Scavenger Hunt, p.3
So, what do we have? Three Star Destroyers slag (melt) a base facility, and attack the rest of the surface, leaving it evenly-cratered and without an atmosphere. We do not know the size of Dankayo, so much of that information is useless for gauging firepower. (Not to mention confusing . . . how do you make an atmosphere drift away while simultaneously putting dense clouds of debris into it?)
Dankayo was a habitable planet with topsoil. It's obviously around the same size as Earth.
It is clear, though, that the planet itself was mostly unharmed, considering that a survivor in a "deep planet shelter" of the "tiny base" survived. Transports and TIE fighters moved in to perform "mop-up" operations.
The guy in that shelter doesn't seem to think so:
Transmitted from Dankayo to Alliance Com Buoy 965C shortly after the Imperial attack
Entry I
As instructed, I have remained behind until the last of our transports departed safely into hyperspace. Imperial Star Destroyers have so thoroughly blasted Dankayo that I fear for my safety, even in this deep-planet survival shelter.
Then, in 1994 and 1995, a mass of new books started to come out, and three of these had planetary attack references. The slagging of a Rebel base in "Scavenger Hunt" suddenly became:
"The Imperial Star Destroyer has enough firepower to reduce a civilized world to slag."
-- Imperial Sourcebook
Well, now, that's quite a change! Now we've gone from a three Star Destroyers against a tiny base on a small moon to one against an entire civilized world! Further, just how this is meant is unclear . . . is that the entire surface, or just the traces of civilisation? Also intriguing is the following from the same source, which would seem to contradict the other quote:
So new sources aren't allowed to state higher firepowers than what was done to Dankayo? Any proof that the Dankayo bombardment was even anywhere near what 3 ISDs can do? He's also playing bullshit semantics here, the ISB clearly states that an ISD can slag a civilized WORLD here. How does this translate into only traces of civilizations?
"System bombards are used when the Empire would rather completely destroy a world rather than see it fall into Rebel hands."
"System bombard contains an average of 100 ships divided between three bombard squadrons and a light squadron. If an admiral feels that force superiority has done less than a thorough job of removing hostile craft from the system, a system bombard squadron will be augmented with ships from the light squadron."
As per the Sourcebook, the 100 ship fleet may include a few ISDs. And yet, it still takes 100 ships? It seems clear that a lone ISD isn't going to be slagging the entire surface, in that case. Indeed, what it might be expected to do may not be too different from what we're told in The Star Wars Adventure Journal. The SWAJ was a little more modest in its approach, but it has given us the name of the order for a total planetary attack:
From the ISB:
Torpedo lines usually have two torpedo spheres. The cumbersome nature of the spheres makes them useful only for their primary mission of planet bombardment. The dream of a more mobile platform with even greater firepower has tantalized Imperial planners for years, but the torpedo line remains a staple of the Navy.
And
Bombard squadrons have two torpedo lines, a skirmish line, and a pursuit line, for an average of 20 to 28 vessels. Bombard squadrons are assigned to worlds which have rebelled successfully and have organized a large surface military which would take far too long to defeat. Imperial commanders, pressed on so many planets, often deploy bombard squadrons in less severe circumstances.
Darkstar conveniently forgets that this 100 ship fleet contains Torpedo Spheres, whose ONLY purpose is to break through planetary shields. Obviously, this kind of fleet isn't used on unshielded, undefended planets.
"Sir, what about bombardment? Is there a stage for that?"
"Blasting a planet from orbit is easy -- you don't need me to tell you how to do that. Limited orbital strikes would occur during the invasion stage. Just hope you are never given a Base Delta Zero order, lieutenant. Ah, yes, another question?"
"Sir, what's the Base Delta Zero order?"
"Base Delta Zero is the Imperial code order to destroy all population centres and resources, including industry, natural resources and cities. All other Imperial codes are subject to change, as you well know, but this code is always the same to prevent any confusion when the order is given. Base Delta Zero is rarely issued. ...."
-- "A World to Conquer"
This makes a little more sense. Three Star Destroyers can fire on and eventually slag a Rebel base facility of unspecified size, so simply destroying the population centers, resources (presumably major ones) and industry (perhaps melting some buildings and such) shouldn't be too much worse, given a sufficient number of Star Destroyers. This view is supported by the Star Wars Technical Journal of 1995, which makes reference to turning a planet's surface into "smoking debris". The problem comes with what is said after that . . . "a matter of hours".
He also seems to forget that natural resources include forests, water, and animal life, which will take a hell of a lot more to destroy than just the cities.
Naturally, caution was thrown to the wind by some Warsies. Suddenly, a Base Delta Zero operation became a single Star Destroyer's act of *melting* the *entire surface* of a world in *a matter of hours*.
So, basically, they decided to pick and choose. They took the name BDZ without bothering to use the Adventure Journal's definition. They took the slagging from "Scavenger Hunt" and the Sourcebook without bothering to acknowledge the targets. They took the entire surface from the Technical Journal, but failed to acknowledge the smoking cinder. And finally, they took the mere hours from the SWTJ without acknowledging the utter lack of slagging involved.
BDZ was just a means to an end, which were gigaton-level firepower for SW. In order to wipe out all the things I stated above within a few hours, it would HAVE to have gigaton level firepower.
And so, the legend of the Base Delta Zero maneuver has grown and grown, until it is now codified as part of the inflated numbers and statements in the Episode II Incredible Cross Sections, where the idea of slagging an entire planet's surface in a matter of hours is stated to be the Base Delta Zero command, making it as good as canon fact to many in spite of the horrendous inconsistencies.
Wah, wah. Like it or not, the ICS stands.
Further, this page contains Saxton's statements that, contrary to the popular myth, he did not have the completed film at his disposal. Indeed, it appears that many of the FX sequences were not complete (and in some cases would not begin until months later) when the book's deadline arrived. This is, no doubt, how Saxton arrived at figures for certain weapons that are hundreds and thousands of times greater than what is observed in the film, such as Slave I's shots on the landing platform. Other problems result from Dr. Saxton's colloboration over the years with pro-Wars and Warsie debaters heavily involved in the Trek vs. Wars debates. These individuals have no doubt contributed greatly to the revision of the definition of "Base Delta Zero", as well as Jedi fighter firepower numbers based on false assumptions of later fighter firepower.
Would Boba-Fett use weapons set to kiloton levels when his dad's on that platform too? Also, it doesn't matter how Saxton comes up with those numbers, the fact is that it's official, and therefore proof on its own.
Finally, there is the fundamental disagreement between Saxton and Lucas as to what Star Wars really is. Saxton feels that it is a "fundamental fact that entire SW saga occurs in the same universe",whereas Lucas has made it abundantly clear that he places the "other world" of the EU in a "parallel universe" to his own. Therefore, Saxton's conclusions which utilize elements of the Expanded Universe are not 'just shy of canon', like Warsies claim, but are in fact based on "interpretation and speculation", to borrow from Cerasi.
Blah blah blah, more "canon only" crap.
(*) It should be noted that anytime anyone takes a skeptical view of the ICS, Warsies take it very personally, and accuse the skeptic of attacking Saxton personally. You can ignore these red herrings . . . the Warsies who make those claims are generally the same ones who use insults and personal attacks to try to win arguments, so the accusations are merely extensions of the fact that they have forgotten the distinction between attacking the argument and attacking the man.
This guy seems to be under the delusion that everyone only resorts to ad hominems against him.
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By the way, if you take a Base Delta Zero operation for what it actually is, the destruction of the civilized areas and assets of production of a planet, you'll find a remarkable similarity to something which already existed in Star Trek. Known as General Order 24, this order required a starship to destroy the entire civilized surface of a planet.
