The XT Beetle Transport was a model of transport used by the Trade Federation and the Confederacy of Independent Systems that moved on ten pairs of mechanized legs.
In the year 22 BBY, during the Clone Wars, a pair of XT Beetles with Separatist markings were pulled together by large cables to form a Separatist outpost on the planet Orto Plutonia. However, their battle droid occupants were destroyed by Talz warriors from a nearby village and the vacant XT Beetles were later used as a "neutral" meeting ground for negotiations between the Pantorans, the inhabitants of the planet's primary moon of Pantora, who claimed Orto Plutonia as their protectorate and regarded the natives as trespassers, and the indigenous Talz, who simply desired to be left alone.
In 21 BBY, the Separatists returned to Orto Plutonia with several XT Beetles to reestablish a foothold on the planet and eliminate the Talz who attacked their original base. However, the Republic was able to crush the shielded transports by destroying an overhanging ice bridge, forcing the Separatist to retreat from the Pantora system.
Concept art of the XT Beetle transport.
The XT Beetle Transport first appeared, albeit unidentified, in "Trespass," the fifteenth episode of the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars first season, which originally aired on January 30, 2009. It was later identified in the episode guide for "Trespass" available on StarWars.com. The XT Beetle's design was derived from early concept art of the Multi-Troop Transport developed by Doug Chiang for Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace, a locomotive stylized to resemble a revolver barrel.
XT Beetle Transports later appeared in "Defense of Orto Plutonia," the thirteenth and final stage of the Starfighter mini-game in Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures, a Star Wars Legends MMORPG developed by Sony Online Entertainment that was released on September 15, 2010 and shut down on March 31, 2014.