HK-50 series assassin droid

"Annoying recitation: Let us proceed to facilitate communications, and bring about the termination of hostilities."

- HK-50 unit

The HK-50 droids series was based on the earlier HK-47 assassin droid. Like their progenitor, these droids possessed incredible linguistic skills and highly sadistic tendencies. The primary function of the HK-50 droids, as they stated it, was to "facilitate communications and terminate hostilities." In accordance with the usual perceptions of HK model assassin droid, the best way to terminate hostilities was to kill everything present. HK-50 units were identical in appearance to HK-47, with the primary exception being that they are greyish-green in color instead of HK-47's rusty orange.

History
"...and, of course, they refer to meatbags as 'organics'. Unacceptable."

- HK-47

The HK-50 droids were first manufactured in secret by the Jedi turned Sith Revan but production ceased after the Dark Lord was captured by the Jedi Council. Sometime after Revan's disappearance, production continued again under the planning droid turned crime lord G0-T0, who discovered the HK-50 manufacturing facility hidden on Telos and reactivated it, disseminating the newly created HK-50 droids throughout the galaxy searching for the Jedi.

HK-50 assassin droids were often able to successfully pose as protocol droids and they infiltrated much of the Galactic Republic fleet in doing so. Negotiations where HK-50s were used to translate often did not conclude well, as their cruel and violent desires influenced their interpretations of the various spoken languages.

The HK-50 units hidden in the fleet were looking for the Jedi Exile, who was believed to be the last of the Jedi. When the Exile became a passenger aboard the Harbinger, an HK-50 droid on board the Republic capital ship took note. The HK-50 unit forged orders that the Exile report to the medical bay for automated and mandatory injections. The Exile was injected with a dose of sedatives that would be lethal to a non-Jedi, but which would only render her unconscious. The HK-50 locked up the Exile and arranged a series of accidents aboard the Harbinger intended to disable it and allow for retrieval of the prize. The plans of the HK-50 were foiled when Kreia, flying in the Ebon Hawk, was brought on board the Harbinger and took the Exile. The Ebon Hawk had been pursued by and fired upon by a Sith capital ship. When the Sith ship was investigated, cloaked Sith assassins boarded the Harbinger and seized it. Kreia and the Exile escaped the ship on the Ebon Hawk, but the HK-50 unit tagged along.



The Ebon Hawk, severely damaged, made its way to the Peragus Mining Facility. Once there, the HK-50 again posed as a protocol droid and arranged for a series of accidents to befall the facility. The Jedi Exile was again drugged into unconsciousness. Division among the miners about what to do with the Jedi (the Exchange had a large bounty out for Jedi) was manipulated by HK-50 to kill all of the facility's workers. HK-50 also corrupted the programming of the facility's mining droids, causing them to attack the miners. The subtle manipulations of the HK-50 unit and the highly fatal results demonstrate the dangerous nature of the HK-50 model of assassin droids. Before escaping from the facility, the Jedi Exile and company destroyed that HK-50 unit.

After Peragus, the Jedi Exile continued to run into HK-50 droids throughout her travels. After the previously damaged and inoperable HK-47 was reactivated, it was able to discover that the HK-50 droids were tracking the Exile through a sonic imprint sensor based on the vocabulator of the HK-50 from Peragus. HK-47, wanting to track down the HK-50 droids and their source, suggested that the tracking device be left intact until the group was again confronted by HK-50 units. Because the HK-50 units were made from HK-47's template, he could not harm them himself due to his self-preservation protocols (on the other hand, neither could they harm him). Therefore HK-47 claimed he had to rely on the Exile to fight the HK-50 droids and possibly capture one. When HK-47 finally found the factory, the HK-50 units allied themselves with him in order to destroy G0-T0.

Behind the scenes


Though the HK-50 droid factory on Telos (In the Military Base Sublevel) was cut from the game due to deadline constraints, HK-47 was supposed to discover its location. HK-47 would have gone to the factory and, having been unable to persuade the HK-50s to join the cause of the Exile, would have enlisted the help of the (not quite bug free) HK-51 droids. The HK-51 units would later come to HK-47's aid against their manufacturer, G0-T0, in a final confrontation on Malachor V.

While in the factory, HK-47 would discover the HK-50s' entire plan. Commissioned to be built by Revan, they were shut down for a long time due to his capture by the Jedi. Later, they were reactivated by G0-T0 who ordered them to bring all Jedi to him. He added that if the Jedi would not go, to destroy them. The HK-50s themselves claim that they do not know how the factory on Telos came to be.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords

Notes and references
HK-50