Arakyd Industries/Legends

Arakyd Industries was a major technology manufacturer, focusing mainly on droids, heavy weapons, and starships. Founded by Veltzz Arakyd on the planet Vulpter during the reign of the Galactic Republic, Arakyd was known for its aggressive and ruthless business strategy. A member of the Techno Union during the Clone Wars, Arakyd supplied the Confederacy of Independent Systems with war materiel whilst also spying on them for the Republic.
After the Clone Wars, Arakyd was spared the nationalization that befell the Techno Union, and the company saw a major boost in business with the rise of the Galactic Empire. Having acquired Viper Sensor Intelligence Systems in a hostile takeover and using their propriety technology coupled with artificial intelligence advances, Arakyd developed the Viper probe droid. The droid was instrumental in helping the Empire to locate the Alliance to Restore the Republic's Echo Base on the planet Hoth
Other major Arakyd products included the RA-7 protocol droid, which was used by the Imperial Security Bureau to spy on Imperial personnel; and the XR-85 tank droid, which was used extensively by the Empire during Operation Shadow Hand. Following the collapse of the Empire, Arakyd underwent a change of leadership and began to work closely with the New Republic.
==Description==
Arakyd Industries was a major manufacturing corporation, specializing in producing droids, heavy weapons, and starships, as well as individual starship components. Over the course of its operational history, Arakyd's products were generally designed with combat applications in mind. Although known primarily for producing droids, Arakyd's strong share in the droid market allowed the company to compete in other markets. Many of their weapons systems used integrated droid brains as a means to enhance their efficiency and performance.
Arakyd focused on constructing droids with potential military applications, supplying them to groups such as the Imperial Navy and Sector Rangers. By the time of the Galactic Civil War, Arakyd branched out into the commercial market.Cynabar's Fantastic Technology: Droids Many of their droids were non-humanoid in design, as the company favored functionality over appearance.
Arakyd's products were used extensively throughout the Core Worlds. However, due to their military nature, many droids required certification and waivers to be purchased. Aside from its headquarters on Vulpter, Arakyd maintained facilities on Byblos, inhabiting Corporate Tower 133, Mechis III, and a large assembly plant on Kelada. The Kelada plant was used to manufacture components and assemble speeder bikes and repulsorcraft. In 3 ABY, following the success of the Viper probe droid, Arakyd bought new land on Kelada with the intention of building an assembly plant to construct the planned C-Viper series, a civilian model of the Viper.
==History==
===Founding and rise to prominence===
Arakyd Industries was founded on the planet Vulpter around nine thousand standard years before the Battle of Yavin. The industrialist Veltzz Arakyd started the company with his children, and vowed to eliminate all of his competitors. From the beginning, Arakyd's droid models were designed for war despite strict Galactic Republic laws governing the manufacture and sale of combat automata. Arakyd used his company's well-armed droids to cow his rivals into submission, and they reluctantly agreed to become subsidiaries of Arakyd Industries. Despite amassing a large amount of wealth, Arakyd continued to employ bullying tactics to convince rival corporations to bend to the company's will. The company developed a reputation for ruthlessness and was known for a design philosophy that expressed menace.
Arakyd produced a range of successful exploration droids, including the Prowler 1000 exploration droid and the Vanguard probot. One of Arakyd's ultimate goals was to supplant Galalloy Industries as the primary manufacturer of scout droids in the galaxy. When Senator Palpatine was elected Supreme Chancellor, Arakyd was awarded with a substantial government contract to supply Vanguard probots to the Republic Survey Corps. The Vanguards were put to use mapping new hyperlanes into the Deep Core.
===Playing both sides in the Clone Wars===
Shortly before the Clone Wars, Arakyd joined the Techno Union as an official member. Arakyd entered into a dispute with Viper Sensor Intelligence Systems, claiming that the younger company's prototype XPLR-R hyperspace-route-mapping and habitation location unit was based off of Arakyd's own proprietary designs. The two companies entered into an eighteen-month-long dispute, with Arakyd demanding renumeration and technology rights.
Eventually, Arakyd participated in a hostile takeover of Viper Sensor Intelligence Systems, deploying sixty AAD-4 assault droids to take over Viper Tower in Hpaq on Vulpter. After the takeover, Arakyd kept Viper Sensor Intelligence Systems active as a research-and-development division. Now in possession of the company's propriety Viper technology, Arakyd developed the Viper probe droid which incorporated pioneering advances in artificial intelligence.
When the Clone Wars broke out, Arakyd donated weapons, droids and equipment to the Confederacy of Independent Systems to use in the Clone Wars, but the company made sure that their officials remained away from the conflict. As a result, they were able to retain their connections within the Republic, although their contracts dried up. During the war, Agents from Supreme Chancellor's inner circle approached the Arakyd CEO Hordis Boil. In exchange for supplying the Republic with intelligence on Techno Union foreman Wat Tambor, the agents arranged for the Kaminoans to purchase Arakyd products through a shell company and provide them to the Republic's clone forces.
In the aftermath of the Clone Wars and the defeat of the Confederacy, the Techno Union was nationalized by now-Emperor Palpatine and his newly established Galactic Empire. Due to their arrangement during the war, Arakyd was spared nationalization, and even inherited the assets of several liquidated Techno Union companies.
===Working with the Galactic Empire===
During the reign of the Galactic Empire, Arakyd closely aligned itself with the galactic government and increased its reputation with several high-profile contracts with the Imperial Military. Using political manoeuvring and taking advantage of competitive infighting, Arakyd positioned itself to receive the first Imperial droid contracts, and became the Empire's primary droid manufacturer. Veltzz Arakyd continued to lead the company during this period.
Arakyd's loyalty to the Empire was rewarded with more contracts for weapons and vehicles. Expanding their product line, Arakyd also began to produce prisoner-control equipment including nerve disruptors and interrogation droids. Through hard work, Arakyd became the galaxy's primary supplier of military droids. Arakyd's models for the general consumer market were successful, but only accounted for a small percentage of the company's yearly output.
In an attempt to get into the protocol droid market, Arakyd produced the RA-7 protocol droid. The rest of the droid manufacturing industry were surprised by the move when the RA-7 was unveiled at the North Quadrant Intergalactic Automaton Show on Aargau.The New Essential Guide to Droids states that the North Quadrant Intergalactic Automaton Show took place on Zug. In an email, Jason Fry, one of the authors of The Essential Atlas, clarified that Zug was an alternate name for Aargau. See image here. Examination of the RA-7 showed that the droid was a less than stellar design; it was cheaply assembled, the design was not aesthetic, and the cognitive module was a generation behind the current models. Arakyd's rivals could not believe that the company had produced a substandard design.
The Galactic Empire bought the entire run of RA-7 droids. Unknown to its rivals, Arakyd had no intention of selling the droid on the open market. They had produced the line at the behest of the Imperial Security Bureau to act as a spy within the Empire's own ranks. The droids were either assigned or gifted to governors, Moffs, and officers throughout the Empire.
During the Galactic Civil War, Arakyd's Viper probe droid was instrumental in the Empire's discovery of the Rebel base on the planet Hoth. Arakyd continued to develop refinements of the Viper probe droid. Arakyd engineers and Imperial technicians developed the Infiltrator probe droid at the direction of Admiral Damon Krell. The success of the Viper led the company to plan a civilian model, the proposed C-Viper series. The C-Viper series was intended to operate more as a security droid and assist in augmenting spaceport security forces. The project was revealed to NewsNet Imperial Defense Daily by Arakyd representative Allion Vlenda.
After the death of Emperor Palpatine, Arakyd remained loyal to the Empire. Further advances to their probot line led to the one hundred and fifty meter tall Hunter-Killer probot. It was primarily used for deep space customs inspection and blockade enforcement duties.
Arakyd also consulted with top advisors from the Imperial Army to produce the XR-85 tank droid. The first prototypes were built prior to Grand Admiral Thrawn's campaign. However, the experimental droid interface technology used in the unit was deemed too costly for the design to enter mass production.
Imperial designers worked to refine the XR-85, and within a year Arakyd was given the contract to mass produce the design. The droid saw extensive use during the Imperial reconquest of Coruscant.
===A new direction===
As the New Republic gained ascendancy, Arakyd regrouped and a new board of directors took control of the company. Despite their past allegiance, the new board of directors convinced the New Republic of its loyalty, although some in the government voiced objection to working with Arakyd due to their previous Imperial ties. Throwing themselves fully into working with the New Republic, Arakyd began producing security droids, personal security devices, and legal weapons. The new products were moderately successful, although they only accounted for a small percentage of the company's annual output. Arakyd continued to work with the New Republic on new weapons and droids until the invasion of the extragalactic Yuuzhan Vong.
==Notable products==
===Droids===
Known primarily as a droid manufacturer, Arakyd Industries produced a number of models, usually with an eye towards exploratory or military applications. One of Arakyd's most well-known products was the Viper probe droid.The Star Wars Sourcebook The Galactic Empire used Viper probe droids in their efforts to find the hidden Alliance command base during the Galactic Civil War, culminating in the Battle of Hoth. The success of the Viper probe droid led Arakyd to develop several variants including the Infiltrator probe droid and Hunter-Killer probot. With the development of the Infiltrator, Arakyd set a precedent and their probot designs trended towards being bigger and deadlier. The Hunter-Killer design was one of the largest combat droids created, measuring one hundred and fifty meters in height and was employed as customs checkpoints and planetary blockade platforms.
The Viper series was not the only model of probe droid developed by Arakyd. During the time of the Galactic Republic, Arakyd produced the Vanguard probot, and the DRK-1 Dark Eye probe droid.Arms & Equipment Guide The DRK-1 was used by Darth Maul during his hunt for Queen Amidala when she fled Naboo and ended up on Tatooine. A civilian variant of the DRK-1 was produced. Lacking weaponry, it was designated as the DSH-3 probe droid.The Unknown Regions
During the Clone Wars, the Grand Army of the Republic used Prowler 1000 exploration droids. Following the execution of Order 66, Commander Cody deployed Prowler 1000s to search for Obi-Wan Kenobi. Arakyd also manufactured the Spelunker probe droid.
Similar to probe droids, Arakyd also produced a number of survey droids, including the AS23 aerial survey droid which was designed to resemble an aerial predator so that local wildlife left the droid alone while surveying planets. The 6G2 DeepSpace explorer droid was deployed aboard scout vessels,Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game, Second Edition, Revised and Expanded while the NR-V2 Explorer was developed for use by the New Republic.
In addition to probe droids, Arakyd produced a number of combat droids. Models included the AZ-series battle droid,Galaxy at War and the AAD-4 assault droid which was deployed during the takeover of Viper Sensor Intelligence Systems headquarters on Vulpter. Arakyd produced a number of combat models that were employed by the Empire. The DSK-1 "Deathstrike" seeker droid was an uncommon model during the Clone Wars, but production was scaled up once the Empire had been established. During the Clone Wars, Arakyd modified their Spelunker probe droid, adding weapons and a holographic array that allowed it to blend in with the environment. Dubbed the Chameleon droid, these units were deployed by the Confederacy of Independent Systems to the planet Ilum.
Following the Battle of Endor, the AP-1-C attack droid was developed by Arakyd and was intended to be a command unit for other combat droid models deployed by the Empire.Star Wars Galaxy Magazine 2 Arakyd also manufactured the XR-37 and XR-85 tank droid models.Dark Empire Sourcebook The XR-37 was used during Arakyd's takeover of Viper Sensor Intelligence Systems, while the XR-85 was fielded by the Empire during Operation Shadow Hand.Star Wars: Dark Empire
Alongside their range of combat droids, Arakyd also produced several models that served in military support roles. The AD-series weapons maintenance droid was touted as being able to perform the duties of an organic armorer more efficiently. Testing showed that the droid performed only marginally better than the Empire's weapons specialists. The R-1The Force Unleashed Campaign Guide and R-4 recon droids were used by Imperial military forces for battlefield reconnaissance,Star Wars Battlefront: Prima Official Game Guide while the HL-444 hover loader was employed for refueling and loading starships.
Arakyd also manufactured a number of security droids that were used by civilians and law enforcement agencies. The 5-BT Threat Analysis Droid was used by VIPs while travelling to scan food, detect surveillance devices, and warn of possible assassins.Galaxy of Intrigue Other security models included the BT-16 perimeter droid, the G-2RD series guard droid,Dark Force Rising Sourcebook the Stiletto security droid,The Truce at Bakura Sourcebook and the RLG guardian droid system.
Arakyd's EI-9 network security droid was designed to protect computer systems,Scavenger's Guide to Droids and the company also manufactured a number of surveillance and seeker droids to track targets. The FSD-6D flying surveillance droid was used extensively on Coruscant to keep watch on potential threats. The DZ-70 fugitive tracker droid was used to track criminals and escaped prisoners, while the Mark VII "Inquisitor" Series Seeker Droid and Mark Two seeker droid were employed by the EmpireChoices of One to track individuals of interest and interrogate or kill them.
Arakyd also dabbled in the espionage droid market, producing the diminutive moon moth espionage droid designed after the insect of the same name. Arakyd's biggest move into the market was the RA-7 protocol droid which was used by the Imperial Security Bureau to spy on the Imperial officer corps and high-ranking individuals within the Empire.
At least one assassin droid model, the ACC-7 assassin droid was produced by Arakyd.Ultimate Adversaries However, the company's ASN courier droid was often refitted into assassin droids by third parties due to their ubiquity. The AS-M12-series messenger droid was another of the Arakyd's dedicated courier droids.Shadows of the Empire Sourcebook
Other droid designs included a range of gladiator droids designated as the Mark IX Executioner,
the Mark X Executioner,Han Solo and the Corporate Sector Sourcebook and the Mark XI Executioner. Arakyd also produced a medical droid, the PI-series medical assistant droid.Legacy Era Campaign Guide
===Starships===
Arakyd Industries produced a number of starships during their years of operation. During the Jedi Civil War, Arakyd produced the Lethisk-class armed freighter. Originally intended for general commercial use, the reality was that the ship was too expensive for all but the wealthiest Republic citizens.Knights of the Old Republic Campaign Guide During the reign of the Galactic Empire, Arakyd produced the Interceptor-class light freighter and the Helix-class light interceptor. The latter was a heavily armed freighter that broke the Bureau of Ships and Services' armament regulations. The production of the ship was ordered to be halted by the Empire and it was mandated that existing ships have their armaments stripped down and be registered with the Imperial Security Bureau.
Arakyd manufactured the Stellar Mag V Mining Vessel, as well as the
Trident-class surveyor ship which could perform in both space and underwater.
Arakyd also produced a range of hyperdrive pods in order to transport their probe droids to target destinations. Two models manufactured by Arakyd were the Predator I and the Probe-Mate hyperspace pod.Galaxy Guide 3: The Empire Strikes Back
==Appearances==
==Sources==
==Notes and references==
 
Category:Arms manufacturing companies
Category:Droid manufacturers
Category:Galactic Empire shipwrights
Category:Personal gear companies
Category:Techno Union corporations
Category:Vehicle manufacturing companies