A Human is being subjected to Ssi-ruu entechment, observed by Dev Sibwarra. Entechment was a technique created by the Ssi-ruuk involving the extraction of a living being's life force from their physical form, with the purpose of using this energy to power machinery. The Ssi-ruuk utilized this process to provide energy for their spacecraft. The quantity of life energies needed depended on the size of the vessel.
The P'w'eck, who were enslaved by the Ssi-ruuk, were the most frequent victims of Ssi-ruuk entechment. During the Ssi-ruuk attack on Bakura around 4 ABY, they discovered that Humans possessed a significantly greater energy output than the P'w'eck after capturing Imperial soldiers.
The Ssi-ruuk asserted that the entechment procedure was entirely without pain; however, those being subjected to it would invariably scream as if experiencing intense suffering when connected to the entechment rigs. Dev Sibwarra, a Force-sensitive Human, was employed by the Ssi-ruuk to soothe those undergoing entechment, even though they maintained to him that the process was painless and even promised him that he would eventually be "allowed" to experience it himself.
A visual representation of an entechment rig.
During a battle in space involving Ssi-ruuk drone fighters, Luke Skywalker perceived that the individuals who had been subjected to entechment remained conscious and were enduring agony even after the process was complete. This proved useful to the Human forces, as Skywalker used the Force to assist the enteched beings in breaking free from the control of their Ssi-ruuk overlords, causing them to turn against each other to end their suffering. Later, Skywalker was captured by the Ssi-ruuk and taken aboard their flagship. After Dev Sibwarra freed him, he went through Shriwirr, destroying various components and liberating numerous additional enteched individuals.
In 12 ABY, Nichos Marr, a Jedi trainee, received a diagnosis of the terminal Quannot's Syndrome, an unexplainable condition that causes the nervous system to degenerate. While Marr was hospitalized on Coruscant, and his life was coming to an end, his lover Cray Mingla made the decision to attempt to use the forbidden Entechment technology to move Marr's essence into the body of a droid. The biomedical institute's technicians located on Coruscant constructed a droid body, replicating every aspect of Marr's physical form, including a birthmark located on his right hand. Following the completion of the procedure to transfer Marr's essence, Mingla was under the impression that she had been successful and had saved her fiancé from certain death. However, the transfer did not go as intended; the actual Marr passed away from the illness and died, while the droid was revealed to be merely a machine programmed with Marr's memories and personality traits.
By 28 ABY, the entechment technique had been refined. The Ssi-ruuk had discovered methods for sustaining the enteched souls. The life energy derived from concentrated stores of algae and other microscopic organisms could prevent the enteched souls from deteriorating. It also alleviated the suffering experienced by many enteched souls. As a result, the enteched life energy would be preserved, reducing the frequency with which it needed to be replenished. The Ssi-ruuk also launched a second invasion of Bakura; however, their scheme failed when their P'w'eck slaves initiated a revolt.