Viper probe droid/Legends

"We have thousands of probe droids searching the Galaxy. I want proof, not leads!"

- Kendal Ozzel

The Viper probe droid, commonly referred to as the probot, was a deep-space exploration and reconnaissance probe droid produced by Arakyd Industries. The Viper model was based on the success of Galalloy Industries' early probe droids. The design of the probot also relied heavily on the work of Viper Sensor Intelligence Systems, a corporation acquired by Arakyd during the Clone Wars.

Specifications


The lightly-armored Viper droid measured 1.6 meters in height with six manipulator arms extending from a central pod. Sensitive receivers and sensors covered the domed head&mdash;including motion, acoustic, sonic, and seismic sensors, a radiation meter, magnetic imager, and holocam. Information was relayed back to its superiors via a high-frequency HoloNet transceiver. Repulsorlift engines carried the droid across terrain at up to 40 kph, while the arms gathered samples. Vipers were delivered to their targets through single-use custom built hyperspace pods. They were commonly deployed along the perimeters of key strategic star systems and hyperlanes.

History
Arakyd probe droids were originally designed for use by the Galactic Republic in survey and exploration duty, but when the Republic was transformed into the Galactic Empire, Arakyd modified their probots with military-level sensors and equipment, and marketed them as Viper probe droids. This was not the first time Arakyd probots had been upgraded for warfare, however, as the Confederacy of Independent Systems had employed a number of upgraded probots during the invasion of Kashyyyk during the Clone Wars. Viper probots in service with the Empire were upgraded under the direct supervision of Darth Vader, and featured a blaster, a self-destruct mechanism, and, in some cases, shields.

The Imperial Viper droids were manufactured on Mechis III, and were in production when IG-88 took control of the planet's automated factories. IG-88 included a secondary set of programming to the Viper droids to relay any intelligence useful to IG-88's planned droid revolution. The Imperial Intelligence Analysis Bureau also used them as remote surveillance droids posted largely in the Outer Rim Territories. In conflict zones, probots often worked alongside the Imperial Navy to monitor traffic and provide early warning of attack. They could also be programmed to engage pursuit mode, whereupon the Viper would track an enemy vessel and report back on its location and destination.

Following the Battle of Yavin, the Empire committed thousands of these modified probe droids to scour the Galaxy for hidden Rebel Alliance bases, specifically the main Rebel headquarters. They even went as far as to provide bounty hunters with remote request devices to search out targets moving from planet to planet. It was an Arakyd Viper that landed on the ice planet Hoth and self-destructed when confronted by Han Solo and Chewbacca. Before its demise, that particular droid was able to first relay images of the Rebels' power generator to Death Squadron, revealing the location of Echo Base.

Arakyd's success with the military model of the Viper yielded the C-Viper probe droid variant designed for planetary law enforcement organizations, and the Hunter-Killer probot.

Appearances

 * Jedi: Mace Windu
 * Star Wars Republic: Twilight
 * Deep Forest
 * Dark Forces: Soldier for the Empire
 * Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight
 * Star Wars Empire 13: What Sin Loyalty?
 * Star Wars: Empire at War
 * The Hidden
 * Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (novel)
 * Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
 * Hoth
 * Entrenched
 * LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy
 * Star Wars: Galaxies
 * Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds
 * Shadows of the Empire
 * Therefore I Am: The Tale of IG-88
 * The Return of Tag & Bink: Special Edition
 * Dark Empire
 * Dark Empire II
 * Ambush at Corellia
 * Dark Apprentice
 * Star Wars: Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast
 * Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy
 * Revenants
 * Betrayal