The Skakoan pressure suit was an armored suit designed and worn by the Skakoans of Skako.
Because the Skakoans had evolved in the high-pressure atmosphere on Skako, they were unable to live on worlds without a similar heavy atmosphere or mix of unique air chemicals. Hence, Skakoan scientists created the pressure suit, enabling the natives to travel offworld. This was particularly useful for members of the Techno Union; Foreman Wat Tambor always wore his pressure suit (which he had designed himself) while visiting Union foundry worlds or on business for the Confederacy of Independent Systems.
Skakoan pressure suits were equipped with synthesized vocalizers that distorted the wearer's speech patterns, making them sound more like a battle droid than a sentient being. This, coupled with the fact that few non-Skakoans ever saw a member of the species without a pressure suit, gave the Skakoans an air of mystery. Many in the galaxy saw the Skakoans as heartless automatons, little different from the droids they constructed.
Although highly useful for the space-faring members of the species, Skakoan pressure suits had their downsides. For one, they were very expensive, so only a limited number of Skakoans ever left their homeworld. Most distressing, however, was the effect of a breach or failure in the pressure suit while on a low-atmosphere world. If the Skakoan was ever exposed to low-pressure environments, they would explosively decompress. This horrific trait was occasionally used as a weapon; the mercenary Durge caused a huge explosion in a factory on Queyta by firing upon pressure-suited Skakoan workers, and a pair of Skakoan mercenaries breached their own pressure suits to cause an explosion during the rescue of Wat Tambor from a Republic prison.
Also, toward the climax of the Clone Wars, Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker used the Force to kill Skakoans during the Battle of Nelvaan, without making their bodies explode. He used a similar technique when he pierced the suit of Wat Tambor during Skywalker's execution of the Separatist Council on Mustafar.
Because the Skakoans had evolved in the high-pressure atmosphere on Skako, they were unable to live on worlds without a similar heavy atmosphere or mix of unique air chemicals. Hence, Skakoan scientists created the pressure suit, enabling the natives to travel offworld. This was particularly useful for members of the Techno Union; Foreman Wat Tambor always wore his pressure suit (which he had designed himself) while visiting Union foundry worlds or on business for the Confederacy of Independent Systems.
Kul Teska's enhanced cyborg pressure suit
Skakoan pressure suits were equipped with synthesized vocalizers that distorted the wearer's speech patterns, making them sound more like a battle droid than a sentient being. This, coupled with the fact that few non-Skakoans ever saw a member of the species without a pressure suit, gave the Skakoans an air of mystery. Many in the galaxy saw the Skakoans as heartless automatons, little different from the droids they constructed.
Although highly useful for the space-faring members of the species, Skakoan pressure suits had their downsides. For one, they were very expensive, so only a limited number of Skakoans ever left their homeworld. Most distressing, however, was the effect of a breach or failure in the pressure suit while on a low-atmosphere world. If the Skakoan was ever exposed to low-pressure environments, they would explosively decompress. This horrific trait was occasionally used as a weapon; the mercenary Durge caused a huge explosion in a factory on Queyta by firing upon pressure-suited Skakoan workers, and a pair of Skakoan mercenaries breached their own pressure suits to cause an explosion during the rescue of Wat Tambor from a Republic prison.
Also, toward the climax of the Clone Wars, Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker used the Force to kill Skakoans during the Battle of Nelvaan, without making their bodies explode. He used a similar technique when he pierced the suit of Wat Tambor during Skywalker's execution of the Separatist Council on Mustafar.