Sentinel (Contingency)

"My message is for you, from the Emperor himself."

- A sentinel, to Captain Lerr Duvat

Sentinels were a droid model used by the Galactic Empire after the death of Galactic Emperor Sheev Palpatine during the Battle of Endor. The droids were manufactured in the Imperial base on the planet Vetine, and were capable of playing pre-recorded messages from their head.

Description and roles
"All sentinels and messengers are programmed to serve his will, even in death."

- Gallius Rax's sentinel explaining his purpose to Rae Sloane

Sentinels were humanoid in shape, and their bodies greatly resembled that of B1 battle droids once used by the Trade Federation during the Invasion of Naboo and the Confederacy of Independent Systems during the Clone Wars. However, contrary to those battle droids, sentinels were clothed in bright red robes that resembled those once worn by the Emperor's Royal Guard. Over those robes, some of them wore red jackets that had gloves built in. Others, however, had no such hand coverings.

Also unlike battle droids, sentinels had heads that resembled a helmet with a smooth glass dome. Their glass masks were in fact screens used to display lifelike images of the late Palpatine's face. Finally, sentinels had human-like five-fingered hands with a holoprojector built at the center of their palms, and a retractable needle that allowed them to verify the identity of a message's recipient by analyzing their blood.

The sentinels were created as part of the Contingency. Most of them were merely messengers: they appeared, verified the identity of the message's recipient, gave commands, and left. The ones reserved for Gallius Rax, however, were much more independent and closer to actual sentience. They were also capable of piloting starships and of killing intruders when protecting secret assets.

History
The sentinels were first made in or prior to 20 BBY, when Palpatine was still the Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic engulfed in the pan-galactic Clone Wars against the Confederacy of Independent Systems. At the time, many were assigned to the protection of the recently built Observatory on Jakku, one of many similar buildings scattered across the galaxy. These sentinels were used to guard the Observatory and the various ancient Sith artifacts stored inside.

In the days following the Emperor's death at the Battle of Endor, a sentinel traveled aboard a Lambda-class T-4a shuttle to the Star Destroyer Torment, captained by Lerr Duvat, at Rendezvous Point: Victim in the Outer Rim. The sentinel met Duvat aboard the ship's bridge, after Duvat had dismissed his officers. Upon verifying Duvat's identity with blood, the sentinel delivered a posthumous message from Emperor Palpatine, stating that Operation: Cinder was to begin immediately. The sentinel then presented Duvat with his target: the Mid Rim world of Naboo. Another sentinel was dispatched to Fleet Admiral Gallius Rax, who was tasked with carrying out the Contingency.

In 5 ABY, three months after Endor, the Rebel heroes Luke Skywalker and Shara Bey discovered a manufacturing line of sentinels while carrying out a mission to retrieve fragments of a Force-sensitive tree from an Imperial base on Vetine. Said line was destroyed during the confrontation between the Rebels and Commandant Hurron's troops.

In the lead up to the Battle of Jakku, a sentinel informed the now-Counselor to the Empire Rax that the deposed Grand Admiral Rae Sloane was approaching the Jakku Observatory with Niima the Hutt's caravan. During the Battle of Jakku, Rax traveled with the former Commandant Brendol Hux, his son Armitage, his child soldiers, and Adviser Yupe Tashu to the Observatory on a transport piloted by the sentinel. Using the sentinel pilot, Rax transmitted commands ordering the turbolasers and sentinel droid defenses to power down.

This sentinel pilot later piloted a replica of the Emperor's yacht Imperialis in to the Unknown Regions. The ship's passengers included both the Huxes, the child soldiers, and Grand Admiral Sloane. During the journey, the sentinel told Sloane that a dozen path coordinates had been transmitted to Imperials considered loyal to the late Emperor. The droid informed her that all sentinels and messengers were programmed to serve his will even in death. After several months of traveling, the Imperialis rendezvoused with the Emperor's flagship Eclipse.

Behind the scenes
Sentinel droids first appeared in Shattered Empire, Part III, the third issue of the Marvel Comics miniseries Star Wars: Shattered Empire, which was released on October 14, 2015. The concept was written by Greg Rucka while the droids were drawn by Marco Checchetto. Sentinel droids have also appeared in other Canon literature and media including Chuck Wendig's 2017 novel Aftermath: Empire's End and Star Wars Battlefront II.

Appearances

 * Star Wars Battlefront II
 * Shattered Empire, Part II
 * Shattered Empire, Part IV
 * Aftermath: Life Debt
 * Aftermath: Empire's End