War-robot

War-robots were bipedal humanoid droids that were larger than Human soldiers. Rakatan technology, appropriated from the castoffs who survived in the Tion Hegemony, was used in the construction of the droids, allowing them a degree of self-awareness that was far beyond the contemporary droid designs of the day. War-robots could interact with their creators although the use of a primitive behavioral circuitry matrix meant that the droids rigidly and literally interpreted the orders given to them. War-robots possessed limited independent reasoning, and received orders from controllers who manned the installed on military command podiums.

Covered with thick armor plating coated with a mirrored reflective surface known as kiirium for deflecting enemy fire and reinforced stress points, it was difficult for an enemy to damage one of the droid's vital systems. However, the heavy armor made the droids slow and stiff while moving.

Shielded apertures built into their arms and hands contained a variety of chemical and energy weapons, including ancient heatbeams and . Their heavy cranial turrets were adorned with tiny unit insignias which carried optical lenses and a speaker. However, the droid's power delivery system was considered to be inefficient.

War-robots ranks could be determined by the color of the death's-head emblem on their breastplates. The rank-and-file, known as "Corpsman," had a white death's head. Corps Commanders, who were designed with greater independence could be distinguished by a golden death-head emblem. The rarest variety was the Crimson Condottiere, who employed Force-sensitive Rakatan technology, sported a red death's-head. Despite being outdated by modern era standards, they were still deadly opponents in combat.

During his reign from 25,130 BBY – 25,100 BBY, the Tionese dictator Xim controlled his empire through the use of the highest technology available at the time including the war-robots. The droids were considered to be the first known combat automatons deployed in the galaxy. Factories on the planets Jaminere, Cadinth, and Thanium constructed legions of war-robots for Xim's forces. Xim used the war-robots to conquer countless worlds, with entire star systems surrendering in the face of their might.

However, Xim's empire eventually came into contact with the Hutt Empire. Hoping to vanquish the Hutts and become the master of the entire Si'Klaata Cluster, he committed nearly all of his resources to the campaign. However, at the Third Battle of Vontor, the Hutts unleashed their new army of Klatooinian, Nikto, and Vodran mercenaries on Xim's army. These soldiers decimated his military forces, thus ending his reign. Xim was captured and died a prisoner in the dungeons of Kossak the Hutt on Varl.

Xim's treasure ship, the Queen of Ranroon, escaped to the planet of Dellalt carrying a thousand of the war-robots, known as the Guardian Corps. Once on Dellalt, the war-robots were off-loaded to guard the Treasure Vaults of Xim the Despot. The droids were maintained by a cult known as the "Survivors," who were descended from the original crew and honor guards on board the Queen of Ranroon.

Millennia later in 2 BBY, Han Solo and Chewbacca encountered the Guardian Corps during an adventure on Dellalt. The war-robots were used by the Survivors against a group of offworlders who started a semi-legal mining camp near the Survivor encampment. However, nearly all of the Corps was destroyed. Later, several archaeologists and researchers including the Ruurian S. V. Skynx began researching these ancient war-robots.

After Xim's defeat, many of the war-robots had been taken as trophies by the Hutts and placed on display in public plazas and on palace steps. Most assumed that they were actually just decorations for the cities the Hutts lived in. In truth, the war-robots wereactually a desperate failsafe which were to be activated in the event of an invasion of Hutt Space. When the Yuuzhan Vong invaded Nal Hutta and the rest of Hutt space in 26 ABY, the war-robots—outdated several millennia over—mowed down thousands of Yuuzhan Vong warriors in their wake. The last of Xim's war-robots were finally destroyed by the invaders' blast bugs and amphistaffs.

• A Guide to the Star Wars Universe
• The Essential Guide to Weapons and Technology
• The Essential Guide to Planets and Moons
• The Essential Guide to Droids
• The Essential Chronology
• The Official Star Wars Fact File60
• The New Essential Chronology
• The New Essential Guide to Droids
• The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia
• Xim Week: The Despotica (Part I) on Hyperspace
• Xim Week: The Despotica (Part II: The Pirate Prince) on Hyperspace
• Xim Week: The Despotica (Part III: Xim at Vondor) on Hyperspace
• Xim Week: The Despotica (Part IV: Evocar) on Hyperspace
• The Essential Guide to Warfare