The MSE-6 series repair droid, also known as a mouse droid, was a roving repair droid that was employed in the hundreds to clean the floors of starships and bases, as well as carry messages and guide troops to assigned posts. They were small, boxy droids that moved around on four driver wheels, half-hidden under the body. A command order tray in the top of the droid held sealed orders. Although MSE-6s were simple by the standards of most fully independent droids, they were capable of performing a number of complex tasks.
Designed by Rebaxan Columni in the days of the Galactic Republic, it remained a mainstay aboard starships for decades. The Galactic Empire that supplanted the Republic used the MSE-6, as did the later regimes of the New Republic and First Order. The Confederacy of Independent Systems also used the MSE-6, as well as the criminal organization known as the Haddrex Gang. The droid line's omnipresence led to a growing aftermarket in modified mouse droids used for surveillance and slicing.
The inside of an MSE-6 series repair droid's chassis
The MSE-6 series repair droid was manufactured by Rebaxan Columni in the days of the Galactic Republic. Part of the MSE series of repair droids and resembling a much , the MSE-6 was responsible for making repairs on board ships, and were employed in the hundreds. The MSE-6 stood 0.25 meters tall, and had black plating. The inside of an MSE-6 droid was composed of several wires, indicator lights, and buttons. An MSE-6 droid could be reprogrammed from this interface.
The MSE-6 was equipped with a data probe and a grasping claw. It was also equipped with a command order tray that held sealed orders.
While relatively simple by droid standards, the MSE-6 series repair droid could be used for a number of complex tasks, including cleaning floors, carrying messages, and guiding troops to assigned posts. One MSE-6 droid was used for the rather unorthodox task of disposing of dead bodies.
Due to the droid line's unobtrusiveness, it led to a growing aftermarket in modified MSE-6 droids used for surveillance and slicing.
MSE-6 series repair droids were frightened very easily, as seen in the case of MSE-6-G735Y. Mouse droids appeared to be very suspicious of people, as seen when Tamara Ryvora attempted to lure 5-L to reprogram him, or when Burg tried to lure a mouse droid stationed on a New Republic prison ship in order to shoot it.
During the Clone Wars, at least one MSE-6 droid was stationed in the Citadel on Lola Sayu in 20 BBY. It was present when several Jedi and clone troopers attempted to break Even Piell out of the prison.
The MSE-6 droid stationed on a hijacked Venator
An MSE-6 droid was part of the crew on board a Separatist-controlled Venator-class Star Destroyer which was hijacked by the Separatist Droid Army. While this mouse droid survived the hijacking with a number of other droids, all clone personnel on board were killed. When D-Squad arrived on the Venator, they ran into BNI-393 who brought them back to their shuttle where the surviving droids, including this MSE-6, were hiding. The group later followed a buzz droid through the ship and, after the buzz droids were defeated, returned to the shuttle and escaped before the Star Destroyer exploded before reaching its target, the Republic space station Valor.
At the end of the Clone Wars, several MSE-6 droids were present at a Techno Union facility on Mustafar. When Darth Vader went to kill Separatist leaders there, he scared several mouse droids out of his way.
The MSE-6 droid on Vader's Venator-class Star Destroyer
Sometime during the reign of the Galactic Empire, in or before 14 BBY, Darth Vader was in possession of a Venator-class Star Destroyer that he used as a flagship. Stationed there, was an MSE-6 droid. Once, Darth Vader ordered this MSE-6 unit to prepare his meditation chamber, however, the droid was interrupted by Admiral Mummert, who informed Vader that he was unable to deploy starships to the Hortolo system by his deadline. Vader then choked Mummert to death, due to his excuses.
Then, an Imperial general showed up, and told Vader that he only had 10,000 of the 50,000 troops ready to deploy to the Winnikk system. Vader then choked him to death as well. Vader then ordered the MSE-6 unit to dispose of the body. The MSE-6 unit returned, and continued preparations of the chamber.
Yet another officer showed up, and informed Vader they were unable to fix Vader's ship. Vader said they were not trying hard enough, and choked him to death as well. Vader ordered te MSE-6 to drag away that officers body as well. Vader, finally free from interruptions, informed the MSE-6 that he was the only one who had not provoked his ire. The droid then accidentally ran into Vader, and Vader then destroyed the MSE-6 unit.
During the Galactic Civil War between the Alliance to Restore the Republic and the Galactic Empire, Imperial Agent Alexsandr Kallus, secretly Fulcrum, a Rebel spy, used a reprogrammed MSE-6 droid to listen in on a conversation between Grand Admiral Thrawn, Governor Arihnda Pryce, and Admiral Kassius Konstantine.
The mouse droid Petyr battles a Scourge spider-droid.
Throughout the Imperial Era, MSE-6 droids were used extensively aboard Imperial starships. In 0 BBY, the mouse droid MSE-6-G735Y, or G7 for short, was stationed on the DS-1 Death Star Mobile Battle Station. G7 was the fastest mouse droid in the Imperial fleet, so much so that TK-421, the stormtrooper in charge of maintaining him, wanted to be transferred to Coruscant with the droid so he can submit it for racing. It bumped into Chewbacca when he, Han Solo and Luke Skywalker were captured by the Death Star's tractor beam. Chewbacca roared at G7, who then scurried away in fear. It was serving as a messenger between TK-421 and the Imperial officer who he fell in love with.
The MSE-6 unit Petyr was a crusader of the Second Revelation droid movement and served undercover in the Empire in search of other enlightened, sentient droids. His sacrifice enabled the Second Revelation to respond to the threat of the Scourge, but it used MSE-6 units as vectors of the infective spider-droids to spread its consciousness to other droids throughout the galaxy. The Tagge Corporation used MSE-6s at the time of the Scourge, with some units featuring the golden emblem of the company at their front.
During the age of the New Republic, at least one MSE-6 droid was stationed on the New Republic Correctional Transport Bothan-5 in 9 ABY. This mouse droid, CH-33Z, was present when the Mandalorian Din Djarin, the human Migs Mayfeld, the Twi'lek Xi'an, the Devaronian Burg, and the droid Q9-0 conspired to break Xi'an's brother, Qin, out of said ship. When they first boarded, the group encountered the droid. Burg then shot and destroyed CH-33Z, much to his comrades dismay, which alerted security droids to their presence.
During the war between the First Order and the Resistance, there was a mouse droid, named 5-L, who was stationed aboard a Resurgent-class Star Destroyer. When the TIE pilot Tamara Ryvora wished to leave the First Order, she reprogrammed 5-L to assist her. The Resistance utilized MSE-6 Droids aboard the MC85 Star Cruiser. Some time during this era, Kat Saka's Kettle food stand in Black Spire Outpost sold their popped grain items in souvenir containers made from hollowed-out MSE-6s.
MSE-6 series repair droids first appeared in the 1977 film Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope. and first identified in the 2015 reference book Star Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know written by Adam Bray, Kerrie Dougherty, Cole Horton, and Michael Kogge. For the first Star Wars film, the droid was tested by production designers on March 15, 1976, where it was dubbed "baby box." The test run of the droid was filmed by cameraman Gilbert Taylor and directed by George Lucas.
Although Absolutely Everything You Need to Know and the Mouse Droid entry in the StarWars.com Databank both gave the height of MSE-6 series repair droids as 0.25 meters, the 2020 reference book Star Wars: Extraordinary Droids stated that they were 0.4 meters in height.
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