Swarm-class battle droid

"Smart droids. They learn fast."

- Han Solo

Swarm-class battle droid The Swarm-class battle droid was the Ssi-Ruuk equivalent to a starfighter.

Characteristics


Swarm-class droids were about two meters long, making them some of the smallest known starfighters. Because of their size and low production costs, Ssi-Ruuk vessels could carry hundreds of them into battle&mdash;at least 1,300 were present at the Battle of Bakura.

They were pyramid-shaped and armed with four laser cannons, with one located on each corner. These laser cannons could be turned through 360 degrees thus giving the droid a wide field of fire, including the ability to fire backwards when chased.

Powered by entechment, each droid used two life-forces. One took care of the shields while the other piloted the fighter and operated the laser cannons and sensors. The life-forces in the battle droids received their commands from the Ssi-Ruuk command vessels via sensor arrays located on thrusters on each side of the vehicle.

Though they had fairly fragile hulls, the shield system had a unique ability to absorb and redirect incoming energy, similar to the Vangaard Pathfinder. The fusion thrust technology they employed was somewhat less advanced than equivalent Imperial systems and was more easily detected on sensors than many other fighters.

History


The biological origin of the life-forces employed in the power and control systems meant that the droids could be considered a type of cyborg rather than a true battle droid. Their strange marriage of technology with biology was believed to have inspired the later Shadow Droids designed by Umak Leth and the reborn Emperor Palpatine.

Swarm-class battle droids remained in use as late as the Yuuzhan Vong War. By that time, the entechment process had been enhanced and the basic technological systems had been improved with reverse-engineered technology from other galactic civilizations, but the droids were still operated by captured life-forces.

Appearances

 * The Truce at Bakura
 * X-wing: Rogue Squadron
 * Force Heretic II: Refugee