Star Wars by Daniel Wallace

Author:Daniel Wallace [Wallace, Daniel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-345-54281-6
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2013-07-09T04:00:00+00:00

1. Circular Saw

2. Primary Photoreceptor

3. Pincer Arm

4. Drill Head

5. Magna Pod

6. Shock-Absorbing Outer Hull

7. Picket Appendage

Commerce Guild Modified Arakyd Spelunker

* * *

TECHNICAL READOUT

HEIGHT:

2.0 METERS

MANUFACTURER:

ARAKYD INDUSTRIES

Primary Functions:

ESPIONAGE, SABOTAGE

ERA OF INFLUENCE:

RISE OF THE EMPIRE

* * *

“Come out, come out, sly droids. To my eyes, hidden you are not.”

—Jedi Master Yoda, battling chameleon droids on Ilum

The chameleon droid joined the Separatist army shortly after the first shots were fired in the Clone Wars. In a case of turning shovels into swords, the Commerce Guild took the benign Arakyd Spelunker and modified it into an invisible killer.

The greedy Commerce Guild had its fingers in millions of mining operations across the galaxy, and constantly hungered for new mineral strikes. During the decade leading up to the Clone Wars, Commerce Guild president Shu Mai purchased hundreds of thousands of Arakyd Spelunkers for her exploration division. The Spelunkers rode hyperspace pods into unexplored territory, where they sniffed out the presence of mineral veins on planetoids and transmitted their findings back to the Commerce Guild. Spelunkers could even use blasting charges, kept in internal storage bays, to expose the ore vein prior to the arrival of a heavy digging crew.

It didn’t take long for Shu Mai to realize her Spelunkers would make excellent minelayers. With an array of modifications that patently violated the Arakyd warranty, the Spelunker emerged as a spy and sabotage unit. Its illusory camouflage screen gave it the name chameleon droid.

Although it seems as if a chameleon droid can become invisible, the effect is actually a trick achieved through a hologrammic array. By making a 360-degree scan of its surroundings and calculating the positions of observers, the droid can project a screen that shows the terrain immediately behind it. This technique, nearly foolproof under the right conditions, falls apart when the observer’s viewing angle is shifted. Also, unlike true cloaking devices, the hologrammic shrouds leave chameleon droids detectible to sensor arrays.

A chameleon droid comes equipped with three laser cannons, installed in mountings that once housed mineral sensors. Its cylindrical body, unchanged since its days as a Spelunker, holds adhesive mines that are released one at a time through a ventral hatch. The chameleon droid’s four pincer legs are capable of generating traction fields that enable it to walk on walls and ceilings. Assisting in this capacity is a small repulsorlift unit that acts as anti-ballast, reducing the chameleon droid’s overall body weight.

Chameleon droids saw their first widespread use on frozen Ilum. They mined the sacred crystal caverns where Jedi build lightsabers during their transitions to Jedi Knighthood. The Jedi Luminara Unduli and Bariss Offee destroyed scores of chameleon droids, but Master Yoda finished the job by burying the saboteurs in an avalanche.

As minelayers, chameleon droids served the Separatists for the remainder of the Clone Wars. The Republic preferred the cheap and expendable LIN demolitionmechs for the same purpose. Demolitionmechs thus became the minelayers of choice following the rise of the Empire.

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