4-8C

"Please, no! This is my life!" "You no longer have a life."

- Dilrath and Grand Moff 4-8C

4-8C, or For-Atesee was an IG-series assassin droid who served as an Imperial Grand Moff during the Galactic Civil War.

Following the end of the Clone Wars, IG-153 and IG-182, two of General Grievous's IG-100 MagnaGuards, became For-Atesee's personal bodyguard droids.

Early career
4-8C was created as an assassin droid, and, since he was of the IG-88 model, it was highly likely that he was built by the scientists of Project Phlutdroid, from Holowan Laboratories. Despite this, he was not present during the Holowan Disaster, and was likely built at a separate location. This made him the only IG-88 droid in the galaxy not to be under the influence of IG-88A, and as such, his career would differ somewhat to that of his "brothers". How he recieved the designation of "4-8C", when other droids of the IG-series all had the "IG" prefix, is unknown.

Project Phlutdroid being an Imperial project, 4-8C was likely meant to serve the Galactic Empire as an assassin, but for some reason, he ascended to the rank of Grand Moff. This was highly unusual, and likely an exclusive case; droids rarely, if ever, became military officers, in the Empire, or in the preceeding Galactic Republic. It is not clear as to which Oversector 4-8C governed, but he was a member of the highly secretive Imperial Redesign Team: a cadre of special agents tasked with the subjugation and sometimes liquidation of select non-Human species. Following his unprecedented ascention to Grand Moff, 4-8C obtained a pair of older droids from the IG-series: IG-153 and IG-182, who had previously belonged to Confederacy of Independent Systems General Grievous. As with Grievous, the two droids served 4-8C as devoted bodyguards.

The Heart of Steel
"Do your Imperial cronies on Merakai know about the Heart of Steel?" "Of course not."

- Kassihm and 4-8C

Seeking to make himself a hero of the Empire, 4-8C began devising a weapon which would be able to render any resistance to Palpatine defunct. Dubbing his experiment "The Heart of Steel", he retrieved an ancient B-1 series protocol droid, B-1D4, and developed what he thought to be a highly complex virus, which, when transferred to any computer in the galaxy, would force it to do the carrier's bidding. Though the virus' effects could be reversed, they could not be overridden, with a 100% success rate of "infection" upon transfer. In reality, 4-8C's virus was rudimentary, but it was still potent. The project was developed without the permission of anyone in Imperial High Command, Imperial Intelligence&mdash;it is even doubtful that Palpatine knew of this development. As such, the project's secrecy was of top priority for the Imperial Redesign Team, and research was kept strictly within their ranks. Despite this, some information brokers, such as the elusive Phelon, knew of its existence.

Project gone awry (0 ABY)
"Can you identify which ship that debris is from? If it's the Millennium Falcon I don't want to know about it, and you don't want to tell me."

- Grand Moff 4-8C to Zaker Besar crew member

4-8C's plan, however, went drastically wrong. An Imperial cruiser, on which B-1D4 was being transferred, was attacked by Alliance to Restore the Republic forces. The Rebels chose not to salvage anything from the destroyed craft, which was fortunate for the Grand Moff, but a Skrilling merchant, Dilrath, happened upon the derelict, and retrieved B-1D4. Upon learning this, 4-8C took his ship, the Imperial state ship Zaker Besar, and the interrogator, Burra Stone, to Dilrath's ship, hoping that the merchant had kept the invaluable droid. Only hours before the Grand Moff's arrival, Dilrath had sold the droid to Captain Han Solo, of the Millennium Falcon. Solo was a known Rebel sympathiser, and the fact incensed 4-8C. Arresting Dilrath, he ordered his men to demolish the Skrilling ship, eliminating all evidence of their presence. Before departure, he received word that the Falcon had been captured by Kassihm's Pirates, and that Solo, with B-1D4, was in the Nikto pirate's custody on the M'hendosat. Realizing that time was short, he raced to the M'hendosat ' s last known location.

Instead of being met by the sight of the M'hendosat, all 4-8C saw at the sight was a field of debris. Fearing that his painstaking research had gone to waste, he ordered a scan of the area, which revealed that nothing matching The Heart of Steel was present. Also gleaned from the scan was the intelligence that the Falcon had recently left the system, and that at least one escape pod had escaped the destruction. Surmising that Solo and his compatriots had been able to destroy the M'hendosat, 4-8C had the escape pod picked up. Inside was Kassihm, former Captain of the M'hendosat. Standing watch while Stone interrogated Kassihm and Dilrath, 4-8C constantly interrupted the interrogator's work, desperate for answers and leads. Resorting to his common trait of waving a blaster in a victim's face, his modus operandi began to grate with Stone, who began to complain. 4-8C overruled him, however, and question each of the prisoners in turn. Dilrath yielded no information, other than the fact that those who had destroyed the M'hendosat were likely the ones who had purchased 1D4. Kassihm was much more helpful, confirming that 1D4 had been with the Rebels, and offering to help apprehend Solo. Information from the Nikto's escape pod told 4-8C that it had been headed for Dweem, and so, by logical deduction, the Falcon must have been headed there too.

Dead end at Dweem
"I don't like the look of all that ice. We'll scout the region on walkers. Prepare the AT-STs!"

- Grand Moff 4-8C

After setting the Zaker Besar into orbit around Dweem, 4-8C had his men scan the planet for any trace of the Falcon. While the results were inconclusive, the Grand Moff believed that Solo may have used Dweem's storms to cloak his electromagnetic signature. Probes sent to sweep the planet showed no trace of the Falcon, but did show a large power signature, possibly a generator for a base. Believing that the Rebels may be setting up their new base on Dweem, 4-8C had the Besar ' s AT-STs prepared for recon. 4-8C personally joined Stone and Kassihm on the planet surface, but their mission proved to be fruitless, as the base was discovered to be an abandoned Galactic Republic base, defended by Iron Knights. Before escaping Dweem, however, the threesome encoutnered Dweemons: large, spydr-like creatures that blended into their environment. Despite this, 4-8C and his companions were able to make it back to the Zaker Besar unharmed.

Appearances

 * Star Wars Missions 13: Prisoner of the Nikto Pirates
 * Star Wars Missions 14: The Monsters of Dweem
 * Star Wars Missions 15: Voyage to the Underworld
 * Star Wars Missions 16: Imperial Jailbreak