The Kloperians were a sentient species native to the Inner Rim planet Kloper. They were a short, gray species, with fish-like eyes and mouths and extensible necks. Lines of tentacles, several of which were capped with hands, ran down both sides of their bodies. Their physique, combined with a natural affinity for mechanics, made the Kloperians some of the best engineers and technicians in the New Republic.
In 17 ABY, a large group of Kloperians were involved in a plot by the Dark Jedi Kueller to cripple the New Republic. The Kloperians worked on Coruscant upgrading the Republic's fleet of starfighters, hiding Imperial detonators within the inner workings of the starships. However, their sabotage was discovered by R2-D2, the astromech droid of Jedi Master Luke Skywalker. While checking up on what was supposed to be routine maintenance on the Jedi's starfighter, the droid became suspicious of the Kloperians. He eventually discovered the detonators, and alerted General Wedge Antilles and Chief of State Leia Organa Solo to the danger the devices posed. Organa Solo had the Kloperian mechanics suspended from their duties until they could be thoroughly investigated. R2-D2 later traveled to Telti where the detonators were produced, and remotely deactivated similar devices across the galaxy.
The Kloperians were an intelligent species with short, squat bodies and squishy chests. Numerous tentacles lined their bodies, at least seven in total, giving the appearance of a series of filaments. Some, but not all, of these tentacles terminated in hands. A Kloperian was able to operate these hands independently: for instance, holding multiple blasters. Kloperian necks were of a variable length, able to extend when necessary. They had wrinkly faces with fish-like, bulging eyes; and their mouths were also fish-like. Members of the species had gray skin pigmentation. Kloperian locomotion resembled slithering, and they waddled from side to side when they moved. They had the ability to easily outpace a protocol droid.
Kloperians had a talent for working with machinery, which, combined with their particular physique, made them exceptional mechanics and engineers. Kloperians were able to speak Galactic Basic Standard. Their laughter produced a squishy sound, sickening to some non-Kloperian ears. Kloperians expressed indignation by wrapping their tentacles around their body. Some Kloperians had multiple wives.
Kloper and surrounding space
The Kloperians were native to the planet Kloper, within the eponymous star system, a part of the Inner Rim right on the border with the Core-ward Colonies Region. They were active in the galaxy by 17 ABY, at which time many worked for the New Republic, earning a reputation as some of the best mechanics and engineers in the Republic.
That year, the Republic implemented an upgrade of its entire starfighter corps, including eliminating the astromech sockets in its X-wing starfighters. A contingent of over 50 Kloperians worked on these upgrades, and they were the only species authorized to work on the new fighters. Unknown to Republic leadership, the upgrades included Imperial detonators as part of a plan by the unstable darksider Kueller to cripple the Republic. In order to ensure the secrecy of their sabotage, the Kloperians strictly prohibited astromech droids from their maintenance bays.
When Jedi Master Luke Skywalker authorized routine maintenance on his X-wing, the Kloperians set about entirely disassembling the starfighter, as, on the orders of General Wedge Antilles, any routine maintenance was to include upgrading X-wings to clean fighter status. The Jedi's astromech unit, R2-D2 went to investigate the modification. While R2-D2 was jacked into a computer terminal he was discovered by a Kloperian mechanic, who pulled the droid and his companion, C-3PO, into the hangar bay and locked them inside a closet. When the Kloperians finally checked their serial numbers, they released the droids, showing them Skywalker's dismantled starfighter. Suspicious of the Kloperians' true motives, R2-D2 took the precaution of removing the X-wing's memory chips—R2-D2 and the X-wing had been paired together for so long that they had developed their own special language.
R2-D2 foiled the Kloperians' sabotage
Hearing of the disassembling of his fighter, Skywalker visited the hangar himself, ordering Human mechanic Cole Fardreamer to reassemble the X-wing. At one point, Fardreamer tried to recruit a Kloperian to help, but R2-D2, who was helping with the reassembly, made a significant disturbance until Fardreamer abandoned the idea. Eventually, the pair discovered a detonator hidden deep within the newly-installed computer system, and later found similar devices in other upgraded and prototype X-wing starfighters.
However, a Kloperian guard discovered Fardreamer inside one of the new X-wings and confronted him at blaster point. When Fardreamer showed the detonating device to the guard, the Kloperian accused the Human of sabotage, and shot at R2-D2 when the droid tried to jack into a computer terminal. The Kloperian was too slow, however; R2-D2 had summoned General Antilles to the hangar. Learning of the detonator, Antilles dismissed the Kloperian guard for shooting the droid. Following this, Chief of State Leia Organa Solo ordered the Kloperians working in the ship docks relieved of their duties until they could be cleared of tampering.
Following this incident, R2-D2 suspected that the starfighter sabotage of the X-wings was linked with the Bombing of the Senate Hall that had occurred days earlier. Despite it being restricted to unauthorized personnel, R2-D2 investigated the bomb scene, discovering smaller, but similar, detonators there. The droid was interrupted by a Kloperian night guard, who ordered R2-D2 and C-3PO to vacate the premises, but not before R2-D2 had obtained four Imperial detonators. Before they were able to report their discovery, however, Organa Solo resigned her position and left Coruscant to rescue Skywalker, who was being held by Kueller on Almania, leaving Mon Mothma in her role as Chief of State. The droids tried to report to Mothma—meeting the Kloperian guard from the starship hangar in her anteroom—however, blocked from meeting her by an officious secretary droid, R2-D2 instead traveled to the moon Telti, which the droid believed was the origin of the detonators. There, the two droids managed to deactivate all the detonators spread across the galaxy before they could be detonated, thus foiling Kueller's plan and limiting the impact of the Kloperians' sabotage.
Kristine Kathryn Rusch created the Kloperians for her novel The New Rebellion, published by Bantam Spectra in 1996. Daniel Wallace and Jason Fry later placed their homeworld in The Essential Atlas (2009); however, while it appeared on the map of the Inner Rim, the Atlass Appendix placed it in the Colonies Region. The June 11 2010 update to its online companion corrected the errant Colonies placement.
Throughout The New Rebellion, Rusch refers to Kloperian individuals using the pronoun, "it." This ambiguity over the gender of individual Kloperians has been maintained in this article, despite one reference by Rusch to "wives."
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