Lumiya's datapad

"Is it a trap?''" "''Of course."

- Luke and Mara Jade Skywalker, upon discovery of Lumiya's datapad

Lumiya's datapad was an electronic device employed by the Dark Lady of the Sith during her preliminary instigations of the Second Galactic Civil War. Well-hidden within one of her many safe house apartments in the Zorp House complex on Coruscant, the datapad was discovered in 40 ABY by Coruscant Security Forces and members of the Jedi Order, during an investigation into the recent activities of Lumiya. Despite the numerous traps installed into the device by the Dark Lady, Jedi Master Mara Jade Skywalker was able to successfully bypass them and confiscate the datapad for future examination.

Description
"A simple intercept-and-redirect. Communications from three hundred seven-twelve alpha to three hundred seven-twelve beta are intercepted and redirected-to neg three four-thirteen."

- Mara Jade Skywalker discovers the nature of the datapad's programming

During her manipulation of the Second Galactic Civil War, Dark Lady of the Sith Lumiya made use of a specialized datapad, with which she engaged in espionage during her seduction of Jedi Knight Jacen Solo to the dark side of the Force. Lumiya modified her datapad to intercept communications within the Zorp House apartment complex of Coruscant's Galactic City, and to also hack into the classified records of the Galactic Alliance Defense Force. The datapad was included a self-replicating program that, left unchecked, would have eventually spread throughout the entirety of the military network. However, Galactic Alliance Intelligence operative Winter Celchu discovered and eradicated the malignant code. Countermeasures included an explosives package situated near a smaller-than-usual battery. The explosives, which were capable of blowing off a humanoid's hand, also triggered the secondary trap; Trihexalon Poison, affixed beneath a thin layer of spray-on sealant.

Lumiya's datapad was spliced into one of a series of data cables just above a ceiling panel in a secret apartment she kept in Zorp House. The self destruct mechanism which, when activated would also disperse the gaseous poison, was so rigged to breach the air duct by which it was located thereby spreading the Trihexalon throughout the building's ventilation system and exposing the entirety of its occupants to the potential lethality of the toxin.

History
"Our security has been compromised. An analysis of the data banks where that file was stored indicated that the only times it had been accessed in recent years was when automated backup programming refreshed it and compared it with static stored copies. Military programmers could find no other signs of intrusion, so I requested assistance from Intelligence, which revealed the method used&hellip;"

- General Tycho Celchu discusses the existence of the code that originated from Lumiya's datapad

In 40 BBY, Lumiya's secret apartment, and subsequently her datapad, were discovered by the Neimoidian maître d’hôtel, who in turn contacted Coruscant's security force. Two detectives, accompanied by Jedi Masters Luke and Mara Jade Skywalker, forced entry into Lumiya's apartment, where Jade Skywalker found the datapad as it had been left by the Neimoidian. She commenced to disassemble the device, during which time she discovered&mdash;and avoided&mdash;the traps installed by Lumiya. The female Jedi connected the datapad to one of her own, and discovered the basic intercept-and-redirect algorithm programmed into the device. Once those present determined the start and end points of the transmissions, Jade Skywalker reattached the battery cover and secured the poison, explosives, and datapad, before they all departed in pursuit of the Dark Lady's trail.

Behind the scenes
Lumiya's datapad first and only appearance took place in Exile, the fourth novel in the Legacy of the Force series, written by Aaron Allston. In the abridged audio version, narrated by Marc Thompson, much of the detail regarding the datapad is omitted. Its only fleeting mention occurs in chapter thirteen.

Appearances

 * Exile