Shebs was an HK-24 series assassin droid and one of the few to be spared destruction prior to the Mandalorian Wars, becoming an active combatant in the conflict. Locked away on Belsavis, it was eventually recovered by the Alliance Commander, hoping to use the schematics in its memory core to repair a Basilisk droid. Together with Lane Vizla, they placed the core in an astromech droid, with the new hybrid being named Shebs by Vizla.
The HK-24 assassin droid was produced by the Czerka Corporation in the time period leading up to the Mandalorian Wars between the Republic and the Mandalorian Neo-Crusaders. They advertised them for the express purpose of fighting against the Neo-Crusaders, but Czerka, overestimating their potential market, produced far more droids than they could sell, resulting in financial failure. As a result, the company was forced to shut down production. This was somewhat mitigated by their mass purchase by Arkoh Adasca, the CEO of Adascorp, allowing Czerka to recoup some of their losses, but the HK-24 units purchased by the Arkanian were destroyed alongside their master when exogorths ravaged his flagship, the Arkanian Legacy. Despite this development, several HK-24 units were still in circulation due to having been sold to planetary governments prior to the shutting down of their production line. These droids survived to fight in the Mandalorian Wars. The unit that would later be named Shebs was among those who fought against the Neo-Crusaders, the droids becoming infamous for slaying many Mandalorians and hundreds of their Basilisk droids. To help with this directive, HK-24 units had the schematics for the droids stored in their memory cores, so they could better understand, and thus dismantle, their foe.
The future Shebs, stored in a cell on Belsavis
Following the conclusion of the Mandalorian Wars, the HK-24 series assassin droids were deemed too dangerous for public use and declared illegal. Many were destroyed, and those that weren't were locked away. A certain HK-24 unit was eventually found harassing civilians on Nouane. The droid was detained and placed in a high-security cell on the Republic prison planet known as Belsavis. Rumors quickly spread about its imprisonment, but they could not be proven. During it's time there, it was found by an informant working for the collector known as the Curator, but it was ultimtely not retrieved due to the risk associated with breaking it out of its cell. As a result of widespread prison riots caused by the Invasion of Belsavis, the droid was moved from its cell in the Republic detention compound to a more secure compound on the outskirts of the High Security Section, guarded by numerous Republic personnel, a war droid, and was attached to a system that electrified the droid's chassis.
In 3624 BBY, the Commander of the Eternal Alliance approached the Curator for information on Basilisk war droids, as they and Lane Vizla had recovered a diminutive war droid from Kur Ha'rangir following the Showdown on Ruhnuk. The Curator admitted he had no files on the war droids, owing to their scarcity, but informed them of the existence of the HK-24 unit, deducing that it would have the schematics on its memory drive. The Zabrak offered them a deal, he would help them retrieve the memory core, and in exchange they would leave the chassis undamaged so he could retrieve it for his collection. The Commander eventually found the droid's new location and removed its memory core and brought it back to Lane Vizla on Ruhnuk. The chassis was then taken by retrieval specialists working for the Curator.
Realizing they couldn't power up the memory core on its own, Lane Vizla installed the core into an astromech. Confused by its current surroundings and its inability to use any of its previous weapons or movement mechanisms, the hybrid became extremely distressed and erratic. Concluding that it must have sustained irreparable damage, it attempted to self-destruct. Both Lane and the Commander took cover, only for nothing to happen due to its new body possessing no such mechanism. Noticing the small Basilisk droid the two intended to repair, it recalled it's last directive: destroy Basilisk droids. It thus attempted to destroy the droid, prompting Vizla to power it down and request it be taken back to the Curator to figure out how to make it comply.
The Commander had the droid accompany them to the Curator's current safehouse outside Kessan's Landing, where he was tending to the HK-24 chassis. The collector noticed the droid and was aghast when he realized they had chosen an astromech to be the memory core's chassis. While annoyed, he agreed to construct a restraining bolt for the unconventional combination. He had the Commander retrieve some devices for the process, while he reinstalled the memory core into its original chassis for modification, as he was otherwise unable to access its heuristic processor, though he assured them he would not activate the droid. However, the HK-24 unit was equipped with a reserve power supply that had not been mentioned in the schematics, and it powered on the moment the core was installed. Believing it had a mission to kill the Curator, it chased him into his panic room, requesting the Zabrak leave the area so he could complete his mission. Without the Curator's antique defense droids to subdue it, the Curator begged the Commander for help, though to not damage the HK unit too badly due to its status as an antique. The Commander was able to defeat it with minimal damages, and the Curator blamed Czerka's failure to be comprehensive in the schematics for the situation.
The HK-24 unit attempts to kill The Curator.
The Curator managed to finish and install the restraining bolt, and the Commander returned to Vizla on Ruhnuk alongside the droid. The two powered it on, and while it seemed to be more cooperative, the droid appeared to be at odds with itself, two personalities arguing over their current directive. One personality was amicable and offered its assistance, while the other loudly objected to the former's actions, though the amiable personality, unlike its counterpart, did not appear to be aware of the aggressive personality's existence. While it helped her with the repairs, the droid was not as helpful as Lane had hoped, frequently arguing with her, though in part due to her desire not to backdown to an astromech. She later nicknamed the droid Shebs, meaning "backside" in Mando'a, as she found it to be a pain in hers. Meanwhile, the chassis remained in the possession of the Curator, who calculated the damaged to total to over three million credits, though he chose to overlook it.
- Knights of the Old Republic Campaign Guide