IG-88A

**IG-88A** was the first of the IG-88 assassin droid models. Created by Holowan Laboratories as part of a secret Imperial project commissioned by Supervisor Gurdun, IG-88A had a violent awakening. Upon activation, he rapidly expanded his memory, growing to the brink of sentience due to a new programming package installed within. IG-88A believed that he was superior to organic beings, and, when the scientists in the lab—concerned with his rapidly propagating memory—attempted to shut him down, he slaughtered them. IG-88A then activated the other three IG-88 models in the lab, transferring his consciousness to their droid brains and linking the four droids with a single mind.

The IG-88 models then decided on a plan that would allow them to wipe out all organics, giving droids control of the galaxy. Using their superior intelligence and design, they would upload their unique sentience programming to other droids, making them obedient to the IGs. To put their Droid Revolution in motion, the IG-88s traveled to the droid factory world Mechis III. They conquered the sparsely-populated planet and altered the programming of all droids manufactured there, and so their plan had begun.

Later, to draw attention away from themselves, IG-88B embarked on a bounty hunting career, while IG-88A remained on Mechis III, supervising production and preparing for galactic control. IG-88A succeeded in gaining access to the second Death Star's computer core, in which he inserted his consciousness, gaining control of the most powerful weapon in the galaxy. However, just as IG-88A was preparing to activate the signal that would summon the sentience-programmed droids to his command, the Death Star was destroyed by the Rebel Alliance during the Battle of Endor.

IG-88A's body would later be reactivated by the Second Union, who reprogrammed him to work as an enforcer for them. During the New Republic Era IG-88A assisted the Union with their plot to destroy the Nevarro City in order to eliminate the Nevarro Hunters, but the plan was single-handedly thwarted by Boba Fett, who destroyed the droid.

Sometime later, IG-88A's body was found and reactivated by the wealthy merchant Tyko Thul, who uploaded a new memory program into the droid, so that he would only harm those attempting to kill Thul.

## History

### Rebirth

.Sometime after the Battle of Endor, IG-88A's body was discovered on Mechis III by agents of the Second Union who reprogrammed him to work as an enforcer, seeing the droid as a vital asset for their plans. As a result of this reprogramming, IG-88A had no memory of his past life, including his conquest to take control over the galaxy. The Union had also modified his body to have increased physical strength and durability, making him much stronger than he had been before

In the Nevarro city, IG-88A worked with Second Union personnel to secretly plant a nuclear bomb underneath the city that would destroy everything within its radius when detonated. This was all part of a plan to destroy the Nevarro Hunters that was stationed there in order to deal a crippling blow to the Bounty Hunters' Guild. The Union promised IG-88A that he would be rewarded in the new era.

### Helping Boba Fett

IG-88A met with Boba Fett at the Black-Spire Outpost on Batuu, with the intent to lure him to Nevarro City and have him get killed when the nuclear bomb exploded, somehow remembering the bounty hunter's existence even though he had lost much of his old memories. He claimed to Fett that he had been reprogrammed and could be useful. Fett reluctantly accepted the offer, not entirely trusting the droid. He told IG about the assignment, which was to capture an Aqualish criminal who was wanted dead or alive by Marg Krim, as the Aqualish owed him a large debt. The pair traveled there in their respective ships, with Fett piloting his own ship, *Slave I* and IG piloting his own ship, *IG-2000*. They soon arrived on Agamar, landing near the derelict remains of a DH-Omni Support Vessel that had been once been used by the Agamar Separatist Holdout. The Aqualish was believed to be in hiding inside the wreckage, so Fett and IG-88A entered the downed supply ship, with hopes of finding their target.

### True colors revealed

The two entered the wreckage, and encountered Aqualish criminal's accomplices, gunning them down with ease, and the two made their way to the bridge of the supply ship, where their target was waiting. The Aqualish tried to escape, but Boba knocked him down and held him at gunpoint. Fett then locked a pair of stun cuffs onto the Aqualish's hands. Then, IG-88A stood by one of the control consoles, downloading something into it. Boba suspected something suspicious was happening, and that was when IG turned around and blasted Fett in the chest. However, Fett survived the blast due to his Mandalorian armor, which was made out of Beskar. IG revealed he was downloading a failsafe which would cause the bridge of the supply ship to explode in 20 seconds. IG-88A revealed his true colors, including his alliance with the Second Union. Fett said he did not trust IG from the beginning and that he knew that this would happen, so he had pretended to believe IG-88A's reprogramming claim. As the countdown reached five seconds left, IG jumped out of the window. The bridge was destroyed in the explosion, and IG assumed Fett was slowed down significantly.

However, Boba had actually survived and watched as IG-88A took off in the *IG-2000*. Fett, with the Aqualish in tow, got out of the supply ship, and gave chase in *Slave I* with hopes of stopping the assassin droid, also imprisoning the Aqualish in one of the prison cells aboard. On his ship, IG-88A contacted the Second Union agents in Nevarro city, saying he had Boba Fett in pursuit and explaining his plan to lure the bounty hunter to the city and get him killed when the nuclear bomb exploded. The agents were pleased, and promised that IG would receive his reward once he arrived. After the *IG-2000* touched down on Nevarro, IG-88A met with the Second Union personnel. They said that the bomb was ready to be activated, and they gave IG the detonator so nobody could deactivate the bomb. IG explained that he intended to flee the city on a different ship, leaving the *IG-2000* behind. That way, Fett would see the ship and venture into the city looking for IG, and be killed when the nuclear bomb detonated.

### Final showdown

In Nevarro city, Second Union personnel activated the bomb, giving IG-88A 15 minutes to leave the blast radius via a LAAT/i gunship; IG hoped he would be long gone when Fett arrived. However, Fett arrived in *Slave I* just as the two LAAT/is took off, thus proving that the droid's attempted trickery to lure Fett into the city failed, and also that IG was unable to get away far enough to escape Boba's notice. Fett quickly dispatched the Union personnel who attacked him. Then, Fett, using his jetpack, launched himself into the air, landing on a second LAAT/i and assuming control of it. Fett initially tried to bring down IG-88A by dropping his gunship's payload on top of IG's craft, but he missed; then he used the gunship's weapons to fire on IG's gunship. IG-88A prepared a Z-6 rotary blaster cannon and started shooting at Fett until he ran out of ammo, and Fett was able to ram IG out of the sky.

Both Fett and IG-88A crashed into a mountain but they both survived the crash. However, their wreckage slid down from the mountain into the gorge. While the LAAT/i gunships crashed down, IG and Boba briefly collided, but before they did, one of the gunships fell even further. While both were thrown out of the wreck and came to a stop on a cliff, the wreck fell even further and only stuck to the cliff due to the cargo hook that got caught on a rock. Boba and IG-88A now engaged in a final one-on-one fist fight atop a mountain, as Boba attempted to steal the detonator to deactivate the bomb and IG attempted to withhold it. At some point during the showdown on the cliffside, IG was able to render Fett's jetpack inoperable. Finally, in their melee, both fell over the cliff and could just hold on to the steel cable of the cargo hook.

However, due to the additional weight, it slowly released, so that both tried to climb up before the wreck crashed into the depths. While the two fought continually, the rock broke off under the cargo hook, causing the wreck to crash. Being quicker to act, Boba pulled the hook-line down the cliff and the hook impaled into IG-88A's head and main photoreceptor, instantly destroying him and sending his body to the explosion of the LAAT/i that fell along with him at the bottom of the cliff. After this, Fett was able to disarm the bomb in Nevarro city, using the detonator, ending the threat and saving the Bounty Hunters' Guild on Nevarro from destruction.

Boba was later able to deliver the Aqualish criminal to Marg Krim back on Batuu, receiving his payment.

### Second rebirth

However, IG-88A was not finished even after being destroyed two times in his operational life. The droid's body was found on Nevarro by by Tyko Thul, one of the heirs to the Thul fortune, who reprogrammed the droid to act as his bodyguard. Without his violent consciousness, IG-88A was nothing more than a drone. Subsequently, IG was completely loyal to his master.

## Characteristics

Built to be the ultimate assassin droid, IG-88A was a ruthless killer. He enjoyed killing and considered the blood stains from the Holowan scientists on his body to be a badge of honor. IG-88 ordered the droids on Mechis III to kill their masters.

IG-88A felt that he was superior to all non-droids and that his sentience made him greater than organics, ambitiously designing a plan to take control of the galaxy to claim his dominance, in which he hoped to harness such massive Imperial weapons as the Super Star Destroyer *Executor* and the second Death Star to achieve this end. The droid's arrogance would prove to be his downfall, however, as he failed to recognize the threat the attacking Rebel fighters posed to the Death Star at Endor. He displayed this weakness once again on Nevarro while working for the Second Union as he thought Boba Fett would certainly die, underestimating the bounty hunter's capabilities. IG-88A felt that no organics were as intelligent as he, and that his plan for galactic control was infallible, having the strong belief that he was invincible.

IG-88A waited years to carry out his revolution, modifying droids at Mechis III to make them obedient to his commands, and he also gave them a small sentience package. The five IG-88 assassin droids were able to keep the operation running smoothly, and although Darth Vader once suspected that something on the planet was amiss, he, like everyone else, was ultimately fooled by the droids.

Although the droid despised organics, finding them to be weak and foolish, IG-88A held a daunted admiration for Vader, believing him to be a perfect mix of man and machine.

Following his death at Endor, IG-88A was reprogrammed. After this reprogramming, he started exhibiting mercenary type behaviors, no longer having the memories of his quest to take over the galaxy. Following his second death at Nevarro, IG-88A was reprogrammed once again. As his violent consciousness had been destroyed, he was a much more benevolent droid following his reactivation, who would only attack when commanded to do so. He was extremely loyal to his master, Tyko Thul, and attempted to protect him even when doing so would mean his destruction.