Roche Hive Mechanical Apparatus Design and Construction Activity for Those Who Need the Hive ' s Machines Roche Hive Mechanical Apparatus Design and Construction Activity for Those Who Need the Hive ' s Machines , more commonly referred to as simply Roche , was a technology manufacturing program operated by members of the Verpine species . Based in the Roche asteroids , the program was in direct competition with other technology companies , and struggled with entering the galactic market . Initially , Roche achieved only limited success with its insect - like droid designs . Later designs , such as the " Siak " - series protocol droid , were developed with humanoid customers in mind , and thus appealed to a far larger customer base . By 40 ABY , Roche had expanded into the field of spacecraft manufacturing . Despite being one of the most successful non - Human droid manufacturers , Roche had trouble competing with other , larger companies , and was thus forced to distribute nearly exclusively in the Roche asteroids and aboard Ithorian Herdship s . History . Product development . Given the success of other Verpine technology efforts ( such as Slayn & Korpil ) and the species ' tendency towards technophilia , it was only natural for them to eventually branch out into droid manufacturing . Thus Roche Hive Mechanical Apparatus Design and Construction Activity for Those Who Need the Hive ' s Machines was founded by Verpine some time before the Clone Wars . One of Roche ' s first designs , the J9 worker drone protocol droid , was a disaster . The droid strongly resembled its Verpine creators , spoke in a buzzy , insect - like manner , and frequently worked words such as " royal jelly " into its translations . This alienated most potential customers , especially those of mammalian species . The few J9s that were sold often ended up doing menial tasks ; its " worker drone " title confused buyers into thinking it was a labor droid . Roche had more success with later , more humanoid - looking designs such as the 8D smelter droid and the " Siak " - series protocol droid . For the " Siak " - series , Roche hired Human engineers to develop both the chassis and personality matrix , hoping to avoid the design flaws that kept humanoids from purchasing the J9 . The result was a sales success . Mandalorian allies . In 40 ABY , Roche representative Sass Sikili secured a deal with the Mandalorian Protectors , where Roche would receive Mandalorian iron in exchange for technology MandalMotors could use for their new " Bes ' uliik " starfighter . At the same time , Roche was involved in a copyright dispute with the government of Murkhana , which had started manufacturing patented Roche technology . Representatives of Murkhana heavily criticized Roche ' s deal with the Mandalorians , accusing the company of using bullying tactics to force Murkhana to stop production . After it was made clear that Murkhana would not receive any aid from the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances , Roche threatened military action if Murkhana did not halt production of the technology that breached Roche patents . When Murkhana failed to comply , Roche and its new Mandalorian allies prepared to bomb Murkhanan factories with their new starfighters . Confrontation with Sith Empire . Several years before the start of the Ossus Project , Verpine engineers , having endured subjugation by the Galactic Empire in the past , designed the IX - 6 heavy combat droid to deter incursion into the Roche asteroid belt . When the new Empire became a force to be reckoned with , Roche increased the production of the IX - 6 droids and spread them throughout Verpine hives , as well as continued to sell them to other interested parties . After the establishment of Darth Krayt ' s Galactic Empire , Roche was ordered by Imperial officials to immediately cease the production of the IX - 6 and destroy all existing models . Unwilling to succumb to the Empire , Verpine spread the factories throughout the Roche asteroid belt , hiding them deep in the asteroids which appeared abandoned from the surface . When the Empire learned of the defiance , a fleet of Star Destroyers blasted several heavily populated Verpine asteroids to dust . The massacre , however , did not break the will of the Verpine species and Roche continued to produce new IX - 6 and smuggle them to anyone who could afford them . Products . Roche ' s Verpine engineers typically designed droids with insect - like appearances . After learning that this was detrimental to sales , they started designing more humanoid droids . Their droids were regarded as quite dependable and cheap , a trait appreciated by many customers . Roche models were typically either protocol or labor droids , though they were known to have manufactured at least one maintenance droid . Roche ' s first attempt at a protocol droid was the aforementioned J9 worker drone . While unpopular with most species , Roche successfully marketed it towards other arthropods , such as the Yam ' rii . Their successor protocol droid model , the " Siak " - series , addressed some of the major complaints with the J9 , and thus sold in larger quantities . Labor droids designed by Roche included the 11 - 17 - series mining droid , a joint project with Slayn & Korpil . The 11 - 17 was a sales failure — the model ' s individual droid brain was considered an unnecessary expense by most customers . The 8D smelter droid was a small revolution for the metal processing industry : prior to this extremely heat - resistant droid , most work was performed by automated equipment . The introduction of the 8D meant that several steps of the metal processing process could be streamlined . The " Hatchling " maintenance droid , Roche ' s only known second degree droid model , was a versatile and cost - efficient repair unit that could be modified to perform a variety of tasks . The company was also responsible for developing a number of technologies that had practical appliances in spacecraft manufacturing . This technology was extensively used in MandalMotors ' " Bes ' uliik " starfighter . Behind the scenes . Roche Hive Mechanical Apparatus Design and Construction Activity for Those Who Need the Hive ' s Machines first appeared in West End Games ' roleplaying sourcebook " " . Most mentions of the droid manufacturer have come from other roleplaying supplements and the two on droids . The Roche logo shown in " Cynabar ' s Fantastic Technology " differs from the one used in the Essential Guides — it consists only of the word " ROCHE , " written with High Galactic alphabet characters , in white on a black background .