Arakyd Industries -simply known as Arakyd- was one of the three largest droid manufacturers in the galaxy, the other two being Industrial Automaton and Cybot Galactica. It was based on the Deep Core planet Vulpter, where it also maintained a data storehouse as well as its factories and specialized in the production of probe droids, which they produced for a variety of militaries including the Galactic Empire and the Confederacy of Independent Systems. The company's contract work for the Empire, with whom it had very close ties also included the production of protocol droids -the RA-7-, security droids -the KX-series- as well as weaponry such as concussion missiles. Arakyd's data storehouse was also trusted with the storage of top-secret information, including information on key Project Celestial Power personnel such as Galen Erso.
A Ringneck recon droid, secretly manufactured by Arakyd for the CIS army
Arakyd Industries' largest sector of operation was the manufacture of probe droids. With the eruption of the Clone Wars, Arakyd, along with most droid manufacturers, aided the Galactic Republic in the war effort by producing observation droids for the GAR hile also selling it to private entities such as the Pyke Syndicate and states such as the Zygerrian Slave Empire to maximize its profits. Later during the war Arakyd also produced the more advanced Prowler 1000 seeker droid which was built to be more durable than its observation predecessor, being able to transmit local surveillance data even when significantly damaged.
Despite these contracts with the Republic army, Arakyd would also covertly support the Republic's rival, the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Confederate sympathizers inside of Arakyd assembled the spy droid 4-A7. Arakyd also made the Ringneck recon droid for the Confederacy, which used it across operations, including to guard the Citadel on Lola Sayu and the CIS mobile command center on Maridun during the Defoliator's tests. At the same time, Arakyd continued to upgrade their already produced Spelunker probe droids, turning them into Chameleon droids to provide reconnaissance and sabotage Republic installations for the CIS.
Following the end of the Clone Wars and the formation of the Galactic Empire in its place, Arakyd swiftly secured multiple contracts for the new regime, repurposing its Prowler 1000 and Ringneck droids to protect Imperial installations such as those on the planet Lothal. Arakyd also produced several new probe droid models for the Imperial Military, including the dwarf probe droid for local area surveillance and covert investigations, Viper probe droids for ultra-long range exploration and reconnaissance missions and ID9 seeker droids for troop support and scouting. Arakyd further modified their Viper probes to the more heavily armed 11-3K model which was used in frontier worlds such as Vandor, resulting in the two variants being some of the most effective droid models used by the Empire and directly responsible for many victories, including the destruction of the Rebel Alliance's Echo Base, discovered and reported by one of Project Swarm's Arakyd Vipers, XJ9-CS14. Arakyd also constructed the X3-13 hyperdrive pods to launch the Imperial Department of Military Research's E-XD-series infiltrator droids to their missions -indirectly uncovering yet another Rebel base, Chopper Base on Atollon and helping Grand Admiral Thrawn destroy it.
Arakyd exploited a loophole in Senate legislation to market KX-series droids as "security"
Following their successful cooperation in the production of probe droids, Arakyd continued producing a number of specialized droid models for the Galactic Empire. First in the line of these special units was the KX-series which was designed to be an agile battle droid on par with an athletic human's skill and dexterity. To bypass the Imperial Senate's post-Clone Wars ban on battle droids, Arakyd reclassified it as a "security droid" despite having removed the standard programming restrictions against harming organics. KX-series droids became standard companions to occupation forces and were stationed on many worlds from Niamos to Jedha's Holy City. They were also part of the main attack wave during the Great Purge of Mandalore, where they formed the ground forces against Mandalorian resistance accompanied with gunships and Viper probes.
Another model specifically commissioned by the Empire was the RA-7 droid. Being in urgent need of a nationalized protocol droid series to serve the Imperial Security Bureau and Officer Corps, the Empire quickly assimilated Arakyd's Republic Era stock, repurposing them into logistics and inventory work on board Class four container transports until the Imperial-commissioned units were ready. As soon as Arakyd completed the development of the new RA-7 they were immediately adopted by the Empire and used in large quantities on board Star Destroyers and the DS-1 Death Star Mobile Battle Station, -resulting in the units becoming known as the "Death Star droids" despite most never having served on board the station. Nevertheless, Arakyd's association with the Empire resulted in the company gaining even stronger ties to the regime.
Apart from their droid manufacturing, Arakyd also produced a number of starship-mounted armaments. These included cannons such as the Caltrop-5 Chaff Gun mounted on '"Jadthu-class landing ships and the heavier Tomral RM-76 heavy laser cannon which could be equipped on YT-1300 light freighters. The company also produced ordnance including the Flex Tube proton torpedo launcher which was equipped on BTL-A4 and BTA-NR2 Y-wing starfighters as well as the ST-series of concussion missiles which included the ST2 and ST7 concussion missiles and the associated launch tube.
Arakyd also specialized in the production of exotic blaster weaponry, which were popular with mercenaries and bounty hunters of all kinds. Those included the ACP Repeater Gun, which became known as the "Trandoshan Chopper" and "the Nar Shaddaa Grinder," the LJ-50 concussion rifle and its modified carbine version and the X8 xenotoxic fléchette. The company also introduced a number of armor-mounted biological enhancements such as the Biosteady Smartmonitor and the Mk II Utility Manipulator.
Similar to many arms manufacturers during the New Republic Era, Arakyd industries created a secret subsidiary called the Arakyd-Harch Technologies to covertly manufacture and supply droids to the First Order. One such droid was the spider probe, which was used to survey the moon of Najra-Va, one of the first testing sites for the Starkiller Base.
Arakyd Industries was first mentioned in the new Star Wars canon in a post made on the official Facebook page for the Star Wars Rebels animated series that provided information on the dwarf probe droid. It was originally created for the 1987 Star Wars Legends reference book The Star Wars Sourcebook by Bill Slavicsek and Curtis Smith.