Sandcrawler

**Sandcrawlers**, originally called **digger crawlers** and alternatively styled **SandCrawlers**, were huge mobile fortresses used by the Jawas as their transport and shelter in the deserts of Tatooine and Arvala-7. They were equipped with a magnetic suction tube for sucking droids and scrap into the cargo hold. They also contained cargo holds, scrap-processing facilities, and quarters for crew and passengers. They were large enough to fit an entire Jawa clan.

## Characteristics

Built by the Corellia Mining Corporation as massive mobile mining and smelting facilities, sandcrawlers appeared to be tracked boxes that towered some 20 meters above the surrounding landscape. They possessed a triangular front that held the cockpit. Corellian Mining intended the vehicles to serve as semi-autonomous mining operations in rough frontier worlds. Their primitive but reliable nuclear fusion steam reactors and multiple tracks ensured they seldom broke down, and their weight and armor meant they could survive the harshest environments.

Sandcrawlers were robust and customizable enough that they could be found all across the galaxy and were put to uses they were not originally designed for. For example, on the desert planet of Tatooine, many sandcrawlers had been left behind by various mining consortiums over the years, only to be salvaged and repurposed by nomadic Jawa clans. The Jawas roamed the wastes of Tatooine looking for scraps to sell and trade to moisture farmers and nomads. Sandcrawlers had large cargo holds, scrap-processing facilities, and enough space for quarters for an entire Jawa clan.

For the Jawas, sandcrawlers functioned as transportation as well as shelter from the harsh desert environment. They were commonly used as part of scavenging operations and contained large cargo holds capable of holding 1,500 droids at a time. Magnetic suction tubes allowed the Jawas to quickly suck droids and pieces of scrap into the holds. Inside the sandcrawler, Jawas typically utilized the reactor to melt down scrap metal and droids.

## History

In 4 ABY a band of Jawas scavenged a suit of corroded Mandalorian armor from the desert. The gangster Adwin Charu traveled to the Jawas' sandcrawler to recover it. However, he was accosted and beaten in combat by Cobb Vanth, a self-styled lawman. Sometime later, Boba Fett was brought onto a sandcrawler by a group of Jawas who mistook him for a droid due to his armor. Along the way, the sandcrawler was attacked by Tusken Raiders, causing the vehicle to go on a collision course with the Great Pit of Carkoon due to the damage it sustained. At this time, the Jawas were too busy to fix it. After Fett managed to escape, the sandcrawler fell into the Sarlacc's maw.

In 9 ABY, a sandcrawler was used by a group of Jawas on Arvala-7 to transport scavenged parts from the *Razor Crest*, a ship belonging to the Mandalorian bounty hunter Din Djarin. The Jawas fended off the bounty hunter as he attempted to scale the crawler to halt it and recover the parts. They were later approached by the Mandalorian and the Ugnaught Kuiil to negotiate the parts. After agreeing on a trade, they were all transported to a mudhorn's nest where the bounty hunter recovered its egg.