Arakyd Industries

Arakyd Industries, more simply known as Arakyd, stood as a major player in the galaxy's droid manufacturing sector, sharing the stage with Industrial Automaton and Cybot Galactica. Their headquarters and primary operations were based on the planet Vulpter in the Deep Core, where they also maintained a dedicated data storehouse alongside their factories. Arakyd excelled in the production of probe droids, catering to various militaries, notably the Galactic Empire and the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Their close partnership with the Empire resulted in contracts for protocol droids like the RA-7, security droids such as the KX-series, and weaponry like concussion missiles. Arakyd's data storehouse was entrusted with highly confidential information, including details about key personnel involved in Project Celestial Power, such as Galen Erso.

The primary focus of Arakyd Industries was the manufacture of probe droids. With the onset of the Clone Wars, Arakyd, like many other droid manufacturers, supported the Galactic Republic's war efforts by producing observation droids for the GAR. Simultaneously, they maximized profits by selling to private entities like the Pyke Syndicate and states such as the Zygerrian Slave Empire. Later in the war, Arakyd introduced the Prowler 1000 seeker droid, an advanced model designed to be more resilient than its observation droid predecessor, capable of transmitting surveillance data even when heavily damaged.

Despite these contracts with the Republic's military, Arakyd secretly aided their rival, the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Confederate sympathizers within Arakyd developed the 4-A7 spy droid. Arakyd also produced the Ringneck recon droid for the Confederacy, which was deployed in various operations, including guarding the Citadel on Lola Sayu and the CIS mobile command center on Maridun during tests of the Defoliator. Concurrently, Arakyd continued to improve their existing Spelunker probe droids, transforming them into Chameleon droids for reconnaissance and sabotage missions against Republic installations on behalf of the CIS.

Following the conclusion of the Clone Wars and the formation of the Galactic Empire, Arakyd quickly secured numerous contracts with the new regime. They repurposed their Prowler 1000 and Ringneck droids to protect Imperial facilities, such as those on Lothal. Arakyd also developed new probe droid models for the Imperial Military, including the dwarf probe droid for local surveillance and covert investigations, Viper probe droids for long-range exploration and reconnaissance, and ID9 seeker droids for troop support and scouting. Arakyd further enhanced their Viper probes into the heavily armed 11-3K model, which saw use in frontier regions like Vandor. These two variants proved to be among the Empire's most effective droid models, contributing significantly to numerous victories, including the destruction of the Rebel Alliance's Echo Base, which was discovered and reported by XJ9-CS14, an Arakyd Viper from Project Swarm. Furthermore, Arakyd constructed the X3-13 hyperdrive pods used to deploy the Imperial Department of Military Research's E-XD-series infiltrator droids on their missions, indirectly leading to the discovery of another Rebel base, Chopper Base on Atollon, and assisting Grand Admiral Thrawn in its destruction.

Building on their successful collaboration in probe droid production, Arakyd continued to develop specialized droid models for the Galactic Empire. The KX-series was among the first of these units, designed to be agile battle droids with human-level skill and dexterity. To circumvent the Imperial Senate's post-Clone Wars ban on battle droids, Arakyd reclassified them as "security droids," despite removing programming restrictions against harming organics. KX-series droids became standard companions for occupation forces and were stationed on various worlds, from Niamos to Jedha's Holy City. They also participated in the Great Purge of Mandalore, forming the ground forces against Mandalorian resistance, supported by gunships and Viper probes.

The RA-7 droid was another model specifically commissioned by the Empire. Facing an urgent need for a standardized protocol droid series for the Imperial Security Bureau and Officer Corps, the Empire quickly acquired Arakyd's Republic Era stock. These were repurposed for logistics and inventory management aboard Class four container transports until the Imperial-commissioned units were ready. Once Arakyd completed development of the new RA-7, the Empire immediately adopted them for widespread use aboard Star Destroyers and the DS-1 Death Star Mobile Battle Station, leading to them being known as "Death Star droids," even though most never served on the station. Arakyd's association with the Empire further solidified their ties with the regime.

In addition to droid manufacturing, Arakyd also produced a range of starship-mounted armaments, including cannons like the Caltrop-5 Chaff Gun mounted on Jadthu-class landing ships, and the heavier Tomral RM-76 heavy laser cannon for YT-1300 light freighters. They also produced ordnance such as the Flex Tube proton torpedo launcher for BTL-A4 and BTA-NR2 Y-wing starfighters, as well as the ST-series of concussion missiles, including the ST2 and ST7 concussion missiles, and their associated launch tube.

Arakyd also specialized in exotic blaster weaponry, which were popular among mercenaries and bounty hunters. These included the ACP Repeater Gun, known as the "Trandoshan Chopper" and "the Nar Shaddaa Grinder," the LJ-50 concussion rifle and its modified carbine version, and the X8 xenotoxic fléchette. The company also introduced armor-mounted biological enhancements like the Biosteady Smartmonitor and the Mk II Utility Manipulator.

Like many arms manufacturers during the New Republic Era, Arakyd Industries established a secret subsidiary called Arakyd-Harch Technologies to secretly manufacture and supply droids to the First Order. One such droid was the spider probe, used to survey the moon of Najra-Va, an early testing ground for the Starkiller Base. Arakyd also produced KXFO-series security droids for the new regime, which the First Order used to guard the refueling depot Titan and aboard the Resurgent-class Star Destroyer Thunderer.

The initial mention of Arakyd Industries within the new Star Wars canon appeared in a Facebook post on the official Star Wars Rebels page, providing details on the dwarf probe droid. However, its origins trace back to the 1987 Star Wars Legends reference book, The Star Wars Sourcebook, authored by Bill Slavicsek and Curtis Smith.