All Terrain Advance Raider

"Ready for recon."

- An AT-AR pilot

The All Terrain Advance Raider (AT-AR) was a bipedal walker used by the Galactic Empire. AT-AR walkers were stationed in many Imperial garrisons throughout the galaxy.

Characteristics


The AT-AR was a variant design of the All Terrain Scout Transport. It had heavier armor than the AT-ST and was more suitable for frontline combat than lighter bipedal walkers. It was also smaller and faster than the scout walker. The AT-AR's "head" was situated closer to its legs, giving it a more hunchbacked look. The stock version was armed with a single, large laser cannon.

The view out the cockpit was more extensive than on the AT-ST, with a big, angular viewport in place. The cockpit had seating for one driver and one commander, situated side-by-side. Horizontal loopholes were located on the sides of the vehicle's turret, similar to the loopholes on the All Terrain Defense Pod.

Variant models
The AT-AR could be modified to carry more armaments. One walker model was fitted with additional side-guns on the turret during service on Cilpar. Another variant of the AT-AR walker was built with relatively thin armor and went by the name light AT-ST.

History
In 0 BBY, AT-ARs were part of the military assets belonging to an Imperial garrison established on Tatooine, in the spaceport city of Mos Eisley. Other garrisons also had AT-AR walkers in their arsenal, such as the one on the jungle world of Jarnollen. Here, an AT-AR pursued Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa after they were discovered by the local Imperial troops. The walker pursued them throughout the night and the next morning, losing track and coming across the rebels several times in the dense jungle. At the end of the chase, as it prepared to fire a clear shot, the walker was destroyed by the guns of the Millennium Falcon. An AT-AR saw combat with the garrison on Mandalore, where it faced opposition from Mandalorian rebels led by Fenn Shysa.

Not long after the Battle of Yavin, walkers of this make were used during the Empire's Reytha campaign in 0 ABY. The walkers were outfitted at the retaken base in Yeere, Reytha's capital city, before advancing with the troops to retake other areas. The Empire also used AT-AR walkers on Jarnollen. In 3 ABY, AT-ARs formed part of General Maximilian Veers's Blizzard Force and participated in the Battle of Hoth. At least one AT-AR was used by the local Imperial forces on Cilpar shortly after the Battle of Endor. During the mission to Cilpar, the walker formed part of a military convoy that carried Winter Celchu, disguised at the time as Leia Organa, to a local base at the Cilpari capital of Kiidan.

During the Sith–Imperial War over a hundred years later, the Imperial successor-state, the Fel Empire, still employed AT-AR walkers. One of these walkers participated in the Battle of Botajef, fighting against an Galactic Alliance-affiliated Mandalorian force.

Behind the scenes
The AT-AR was based on a Joe Johnston concept art for the AT-ST made for The Empire Strikes Back. Its first use was in an issue of the Marvel Star Wars comic and in the Al Williamson newspaper comic strip. In 2013, Pablo Hidalgo mentioned the Al Williamson comic version when he introduced the AT-DP walker at the New York Comic-Con 2013 Star Wars Rebels presentation.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds
 * The Bounty Hunter of Ord Mantell
 * Star Wars: Assault Team
 * Star Wars 68: The Search Begins
 * Star Wars 69: Death in the City of Bone
 * Star Wars: X-Wing Rogue Squadron 4: The Rebel Opposition, Part 4
 * Star Wars: Legacy 41: Rogue's End