A-series assassin droid

"We are designed to disassemble over eleven thousand sentient species"

- Assassin droid commander

The Confederacy assassin droid was a type of advanced battle droid, and deployed by the Confederacy of Independent Systems during the Clone Wars. It was one of the more advanced and élite models of combat automaton used by the Seperatists, and it should not be confused with the more basic battle droid assassin.

Assassin droids were rather taller than a human, and somewhat resembled super battle droids in size and physique. They had an angular humanoid chassis, and lean faces, dominated by four red photoreceptors beneath a sharp, swept-back crest. They could apparently fold into a wheel-like mode for rapid movement in a similar manner to droidekas.

Although their primary function was the assassination of specific targets, these droids typically fought in sizeable teams, overpowering their targets with firepower and combat skill rather than stealth. They seem to have been used sparingly, and on both their recorded front-line deployments, they were sent against groups of Jedi at the direct command of the most senior Seperatist commanders.

A group of assassin droids was dispatched to the Battle of Jabiim by Count Dooku, modified for operations on the rain-drenched planet, where they fought alongside the Nimbus commandos under the direct command of Alto Stratus. Later in the war, Asajj Ventress carried eighteen assassin droids aboard her personal starfighter Last Call which she deployed against Yoda and his team at Phindar Spaceport. A number of assassin droids were also attached to the Seperatist field headquarters when it was located on Vjun, but it is not clear whether they were assigned permanently as guards, or if their deployment was a precaution adopted specifically because of Yoda's anticipated arrival.

Assassin droids could use a wide range of weapons. All apparently carried a blaster at the left shoulder, but this usually served as a backup to their other armaments. The most basic model apparently used a hand-held blaster, but some of the droids on Jabiim carried a fixed blaster under either wrist, while the group at Phindar used a variety of weapons, including flechette and sonic grenade launchers, flamethrowers, hard-sound guns, hand-held tractor beam projectors and apparently vibroblades.

Behind the scenes
In Yoda: Dark Rendezvous, it is said that Anakin Skywalker's report from Jabiim described the standard model of assassin droid as using a hand-held blaster plus the shoulder-mounted weapon, but no assassin droids with this particular armament are shown in the relevant issues of Star Wars: Republic.

The units seen in issue 57 all appear to carry fixed blasters beneath their wrists, while the only group encountered directly by Anakin, near the end of the battle issue 58, appear to be completely unarmed: the mountings for their shoulder cannon are visible, but the weapons themselves are absent.

It is thus not entirely certain whether Anakin's report of the basic assassin droid's weaponry is accurate.

Appearances

 * The Battle of Jabiim
 * Yoda: Dark Rendezvous