The Essential Guide to Force Exile/Predator-AT droid

Description
As the Yanibar Guard Army evolved and developed, a realization that its droid forces were sorely lacking took place in 23 ABY. To upgrade the obsolete Clone Wars models, two different droid vehicles were commissioned, the Predator and the Reaper. While the Reaper was designed primarily as an anti-aircraft weapon with secondary capability as an anti-personnel weapon, the Predator was purpose-built to hunt vehicles. To save on design costs, the Predator and Reaper shared the same chassis, giving the droid a high profile and limited ability to fire at targets below it. The Predator was not a subtle design; instead, it was designed to slug it out with heavily armored vehicles in vicious brawls, saving the organic soldiers and crewed vehicles of the Yanibar Guard from having to participate in such a meat-grinder of a battle.

The Predator walked on 4 articulated legs in a manner similar to the older crab droids of the Clone Wars more akin to an arachnid. The high profile made it an easy target, but also provided its turret with an impressive field of fire. A large sensor suite protruded from the vehicle's right side, while two navigational sensor modules were implanted near its head for guidance, terrain mapping and mine/obstacle detection. Heavy armor and deflector shields provided protection from hostile attacks. Its articulated leg design allowed it move across very rough terrain previously inaccessible to repulsorlift vehicles.

The Predator also retained the sprint ability introduced in the Reaper, allowing fast movement up to 80 kilometers per hour, though its firing rate was drastically reduced. For armament, the Predator relied exclusively on its turret for firepower. Three heavy beamlaser cannons were its primary weapon. All three were capable of traversing up and down, while the top-mounted laser could also swivel independently from the rest of the turret to deal with threats from the flanks or rear. Three coaxial proton torpedo tubes with eight torpedoes apiece rounded out the Predator's complement, along with a series of anti-missile decoys and launchers that could be launched to divert or destroy incoming warheads.

History
he Predator-AT droid walker entered Yanibar Guard service in 24 ABY and immediately underwent field trials. Commanders were impressed with its ability to deal with vehicles and hostile emplacements, but worried that it would be vulnerable to close-in attacks, particularly on its exposed head, which contained its central processing unit, or engines, or legs. While Kraechar Arms saw no way to add additional weapons and processing power to protect against close-quarters assaults. Instead, they simply mounted racks on each Predator walker to carry eight droidekas which could be deployed to handle close in-threats, just as they had with the Reaper. Once neutralized, the droidekas could be stowed away via magnetic clamps until needed again later. This approach, while not a perfect solution, was considered adequate for the needs of the Yanibar Guard.

Appearances

 * Yanibar Guard Sourcebook
 * Force Exile V: Warrior