S-R6, who was also known as Essar, functioned as an assassin droid during the Galactic Civil War. To effectively disguise himself for each assignment, S-R6 would transfer his core programming and circuitry into a completely new droid body. Possessing a growing fascination with various firearms, S-R6's personality was influenced by this interest, leading him to amass a personal collection of guns gathered from across the galaxy. Furthermore, he employed a protocol droid, named T-3PO, to serve as both a valet and intermediary.
At one juncture, an underground droid enclave situated on the planet of Trevura contracted S-R6 to assassinate Merno Blask, the Imperial governor of Trevura. In response to this threat, the governor orchestrated a field test in the streets of Voma, a city on Trevura, where Imperial stormtroopers would utilize experimental anti-droid blaster rifles. Simultaneously, a contingent of Rebel Alliance operatives present in Voma engaged in combat, ultimately killing two stormtroopers wielding the inhibitor guns. Soon after the firefight, the Rebels encountered S-R6, who was at the time disguised as an ASP-series labor droid. When the group visited the garage that the assassin droid used as a secret base, S-R6 exhibited a strong desire to obtain the dead troopers' inhibitor guns. Subsequently, the garage came under attack from another group of stormtroopers; after S-R6, T-3PO, and the Rebels successfully repelled the Imperials, the assassin droid fled his hideout, taking the pair of inhibitor guns with him.
S-R6, also identified as Essar, functioned as an assassin droid throughout the Galactic Civil War. He invested in a 3PO-series protocol droid, named T-3PO, to serve as his valet and go-between. Recognizing the inherent risks of his profession, he equipped the droid with a hold-out blaster and programmed him in its proper usage, eventually regarding T-3PO as a valuable and dependable ally.
Sometime between 0 BBY and 5 ABY, an underground droid enclave located on the planet of Trevura hired S-R6, who had arrived from off-world, to kill Merno Blask, the local Imperial governor. The assassin droid then established a concealed base within a landspeeder garage situated in Voma, the capital city of Trevura. Upon learning that a droid was planning to kill him, Blask feared that the assassin would be a highly skilled operative like IG-88. As a countermeasure, Blask arranged for an Imperial research and development team to conduct a field test of the inhibit setting in Voma, a newly developed blaster mode designed to neutralize droids.
As part of this field test, Imperial stormtroopers were issued blaster rifles modified with the inhibit setting. On a day before S-R6 intended to assassinate Blask, stormtroopers patrolled the city streets, employing ionizing blasts against any droids in the vicinity under the guise of addressing rogue units. Meanwhile, a spy eye droid utilized by S-R6 observed and documented the Imperial activities.
Around the same time, the Rebel Alliance dispatched a group of individuals to Trevura. These Rebel agents were tasked with safely escorting an astromech droid carrying critical information regarding Imperial weapons research off the planet. In Voma, two stormtroopers attempted to disable and search the astromech droid, leading to a brief firefight during which the Rebel group eliminated the two troopers. Following this skirmish, S-R6's spy eye droid, having witnessed the entire event, flew away to report the incident to its master.
Shortly afterward, the Rebel agents made contact with S-R6, who was currently disguised as an ASP-series labor droid, and they visited the assassin's garage. Once there, the droid abandoned his disguise and openly expressed his strong desire for the inhibitor guns. In response to the Rebels' questions, S-R6 patiently provided detailed information about his assignment on Trevura, but consistently steered the conversation back to the subject of the inhibitor guns.
Eventually, a group of stormtroopers, summoned by Imperial technicians monitoring the testing of the inhibitor weapons, launched an attack on the garage. An intense firefight erupted, with S-R6 leading the Rebel group and T-3PO by deploying stun grenades at the Imperial soldiers, two of whom focused their fire on the extremely dangerous assassin droid. The droid and his allies emerged victorious. S-R6 promptly thanked the Rebel agents for their assistance and then absconded with the inhibitor guns, while the Rebels quickly transported the astromech droid off-planet aboard their starship.
The Rebel agents encountered S-R6 again on several subsequent occasions. During each of these meetings, the assassin was undercover in a different droid shell and was either on a mission to eliminate a target or to acquire a new firearm for his collection. Every time they met, S-R6 recalled the "inhibitor incident" on Trevura. When the Rebels attempted to persuade the droid to join the Alliance, he expressed willingness to do so, but only because it would provide him with opportunities to travel and obtain new firearms.
As an assassin droid, S-R6 demonstrated proficiency in using a wide array of weapons, including blaster pistols, blaster rifles, slugthrowers, vibroweapons, and various heavy, simple, and vehicle-mounted weaponry, as well as light, medium, and heavy armor. In combat scenarios, the droid could execute skilled shots at point-blank range. S-R6 also possessed skills less directly related to his trade, such as gun craftsmanship and piloting. He was highly proficient in repairing technology and using explosives, and had extensive knowledge of munitions. S-R6 was also skilled in the use of computers and was able to program the protocol droid T-3PO to use a hold-out blaster, although the latter droid was not a very good shot. The droid could also read, write, and speak Galactic Basic Standard.
Despite his violent profession, S-R6 possessed a friendly—even cordial—personality. Following the "inhibitor incident" on Trevura, he regularly recalled with fondness the Rebel agents he had encountered during that event. However, although during the fighting in his garage S-R6 attempted to avoid catching the Rebels in the blast of his stun grenades, he was eager to down his opponents and did not sacrifice a good shot for his allies' benefit. Furthermore, the droid felt determined to both kill the bigoted Governor Blask and destroy his anti-droid prejudices.
At some point, S-R6 developed an excessive enthusiasm for guns, so much so that it affected his behavior. He began using only gun-related metaphors in his speech, making even casual conversation sound threatening. The droid became a connoisseur and avid collector of various firearms from around the galaxy, constantly seeking to add new or exotic weapons to his private collection. He was very interested in acquiring prototype Imperial weapons, with his interest as both a professional and collector being peaked by the inhibitor guns on Trevura. Beyond the information he gathered from his spy droid about the inhibitor weapons, S-R6 was also interested in learning about the various experiences related to the firearms' use, such as the feeling one had when hit by a blast from the gun, or how a Human would hold one of the weapons.
To maintain anonymity, S-R6 transferred his central programming and circuits into a different droid shell for each mission. For the mission on Trevura, he adopted the appearance of a battered ASP-series labor droid. During that time, S-R6 was equipped with a heuristic processor and a vocabulator, and had infrared vision and locked access capabilities. Due to his ability to see in the dark, S-R6 once forgot that organic beings frequently needed light to see. As part of his labor droid disguise, S-R6 pretended to be very stupid and only communicated in public by using the words "affirmative" and "negative." In the privacy of his garage, however, the assassin droid communicated via surprisingly fluent speech.
During the "inhibitor incident," S-R6 carried two guns, one of which was a standard blaster rifle, and six stun grenades. The droid concealed all of the weapons on his body, allowing him to appear unarmed. The droid was expecting to be more heavily equipped on the day he would attempt to assassinate his target, Governor Blask. While on Trevura, S-R6 also employed the protocol droid T-3PO as well as a hovering spy eye droid similar to a M-TD miniaturized translator droid.
S-R6 was created for "Gun Nut," a roleplaying mini-adventure for the Wizards of the Coast Star Wars Roleplaying Game written by Jeff Quick and published on Wizards.com on April 11, 2002. "Gun Nut" presents two possible scenarios of events that depend on the player characters' actions concerning the two inhibitor guns of the stormtroopers they kill in the streets of Voma. If the characters pick up the weapons, S-R6 instructs his protocol droid go-between, T-3PO, to approach them and offer 600 credits for both weapons. If the characters agree to the deal, T-3PO leads them to S-R6's garage, where the assassin droid greets the characters and personally continues the negotiation for the weapons.
If the characters do not pick up the inhibitor guns, they are then collected by S-R6 in the disguise of a labor droid performing cleanup on behalf of the Trevura government. The "labor droid" then beckons for the characters to follow to his garage, upon which they can either choose to ignore the droid and quickly make preparations to leave the planet or follow him to his hideout, where S-R6 proceeds to question the characters about their experience with the inhibitor guns. Regardless of which scenario the player characters follow, they end up in S-R6's garage, proceeding to the remaining part of the adventure. This article assumes the adventure plays out as described.