Harch

**Harches** were an imposing humanoid, spider-like sentient species native to the planet Secundus Ando, in the Mid Rim. They had six arms and six red eyes, and a pair of chelicerae near their mouths. The Harch were also a long-lived species. Harches had grey skin and were covered in brown or white hair. Harches also had a habit of making clicking noises sometimes when they talked. Admiral Trench of the Confederacy of Independent Systems was a male Harch. Trench was one of the largest members of his species.

## Characteristics

With physiology derived from arachnid ancestors that made intricate webs, the sentient Harch species were genetic cousins of the Aqualish. Shorter and stockier than the average human, Harch weighed about the same due to a tough exoskeleton that was coated in hair ranging from brown to pale gray. Members of the species had eight limbs: six fully functional arms and two legs. The arms ended in furless, three-fingered, dark pink hands, and the legs ended in furred two-toed feet. Harches had a long lifespan and remained strong for well over a century. It was rumored that a Harch could live for multiple centuries.

Their heads included two large primary eyes below two pairs of smaller eyes and above two, large, protruding jaws or chelicerae. The eyes were all red and the smaller eyes were excellent at sensing movement and changes in light, but were less able to see color or detail. The species was genetically diverse, with many subspecies, and some inherited spinerets or venom from their arachnid predecessors. Harch were capable of eating solid meat and vegetation, and did, but preferred a diet of liquid proteins.

## History

When the Harch began expanding out from Secundus Ando into the galaxy, with the ruling nests as the primary motivators, they discovered that their belligerence and avarice synced up well with their home sector's totalitarian government, the Spiverelda. Over the decades, the ruling nests backed the Spiverelda in exchange for additional wealth and information. More than twenty years before the Clone Wars, the Harch ruling nests decided to back the Spiverelda in the Andoan Wars against the Andoan Free Colonies. Dreaming of a "Great Harch Prosperity," the species turned the industry of Secundus Ando toward warfare, a militarization that would likely have subsided had the Republic not stepped in and backed the Free Colonies, sparing them from their foes.
Insulted and believing that they were being denied profits and the spoils of war, the Harch continued building weapons of war rather then returning their economy to peacetime production. Ignoring Republic restrictions, they sold the weaponry they produced to corporate interests, beating the drums of war for two decades until the Confederacy of Independent Systems offered them a place in their government and a reason to join the Clone Wars against the Republic. With the ruling nests negotiating the conditions for joining, the Harch leapt in without looking back, seeing an opportunity for justice and to express their wounded pride. Around this time, the Harch organized their first planet-wide standing army.

During their alliance with the Confederacy the Harch thrived, although they still maintained their distrust of other species. They believed that they should have an equal partnership with the Separatists, expecting them to support the new Harch ascendancy. The ruling nests fully intended to turn on their allies if the Separatist government ever did anything that appeared disadvantageous to the Harch, believing it to be their right.

Following the rise of the Galactic Empire, Harch raiders fought against the new regime during the Noolian Crisis in 18 BBY.