The Essential Guide to Force Exile/Mk XII assassin droid

Description
The Mk XII assassin droid was a lethal bipedal droid designed to confront and defeat a wide variety of opponents, but especially Force-users. Its armament was varied in type and nature, allowing it to fight Force-users with weapons that weren't deflected by lightsabers. Furthermore, its phrik-based armor was resistant to lightsaber strikes, and the droids were equipped with shield generators. The droids had three arms. Though roughly humanoid in shape, each arm was disproportionately larger than might be expected for a sentient being, as each one housed multiple weapons. The third arm extended upward from the nape of its neck.

The droids' red photoreceptors were designed to detect inputs across the visual, ultraviolet, and infrared spectrums. They were augmented by gravitic and X-ray sensors, further enhancing the droids' perceptive abilities. Their servomotors and actuators were oversized for the design, allowing them to leap and recover from being toppled&mdash;an essential feature for close-in combat. The droids were also equipped with repulsorlifts, allowing them to leap considerable distances and even briefly jet distances of up to twenty meters. The droids could run for kilometers on end without stopping at speeds of up to twenty kilometers per hour.

In each humanoid arm, the droids carried a repeating blaster and a retractable fifty-centimeter vibroblade. The droids had primitive hands that were capable of using controls designed for humanoids, but they generally did not perform complex operations with their fingers. The droids carried all of their weapons internally. One arm packed a grenade launcher and ion blaster, while the other carried a slugthrower and sonic pistol. The neck-mounted arm carried a beamlaser and cryospray. Shoulder-mounted cluster rockets provided room-clearing and anti-vehicle firepower. Lastly, a self-destruct provided a final surprise to anyone who succeeded in critically damaging one of the droids.

History
The Dark Jedi Ariada Cerulaen adapted the design of the Mk XII from the JRF-3 fire support droid built by Kraechar Arms and used by the Yanibar Guard. However, while the JRF-3 was a large bipedal droid with four arms for carrying heavy infantry weapons, Ariada designed the Mk XII to be a lethal assassin and Jedi killer. The droids used similar processing to the latest Kraechar Arms algorithms, stolen during her flight from Yanibar. It took her nine iterations before she was satisfied with the design; hence the name, given that she started from three. After extensive testing, she considered the droids good enough and began using them during her campaign of terror in 38 ABY.

Ariada brought four of the droids to Coruscant, where she attempted to use them to kill Jedi Master Selu Kraen and his entourage in a hangar. While the droids killed several Yanibar Guard commandos, Elite Guardian Morgedh clan Kel'nerh and Selu were able to defeat them. Four more were used by one of Ariada's assassins in an attack on the Yanibar Governing Council. They quickly killed the Council guards and took the Council hostage, but were thwarted when Sarth Kraen used a Force power to disable the droids despite being unarmed. Though the assassin was able to kill the Council and severely wound Sarth, she herself was slain and Sarth survived.

Four more droids were present on Bespin when Ariada planned an ambush to capture Ryion Kraen's wife, Shara. They proved useful against her and her guardian, Morgedh clan Kel'nerh, forcing the Noghri to flee and dissuading pursuit from Cloud City Security by shooting down two cloud cars. Ariada eventually cornered the two at a small Tibanna processing platform, and the droids were successful in stalling Morgedh long enough for Ariada to capture Shara. Morgedh and one of the droids fell into a Tibanna freezer pit, allowing Ariada to succeed in her mission, but not before the Elite Guardian slew one of her Force-sensitive followers.

Another pair of assassin droids was sent to Zonama Sekot along with one of Ariada's followers to eliminate the scientist Danni Quee. The Yanibar Guard intervened again, sending Elite Guardian Zeyn Kraen to stop them. Zeyn was successful in killing one of the droids by stabbing it through the neck. The other one tracked him and Quee to a cave, but Zeyn had set mines. The mines and his own blasterfire destroyed the second droid. Zeyn fought a brutal duel with the assassin, killing her as well thanks to Quee's help. One last droid was left to guard the assassin's ship, but Zeyn destroyed that one as well, with the aid of the Yuuzhan Vong.

Ariada had several more of the droids with her on her ship, the Knightfall, but while she attempted to use two of them to defend against a boarding action led by Selu Kraen, the Jedi Master dispatched them easily. Another three defended the bridge of the ship, but a Jedi Master and a Jedi Knight, backed up by YVH droids, stormed it. The two forces of droids clashed while the Jedi ducked aside. One of Ariada's assassins engaged the YVH droids, destroying two, but the third YVH droid charged Ariada's Mk XIIs and self-destructed with devastating force. Several more droids were present defending the engine compartment, but YG commandos were able to defeat them and sabotage the ship's engines.

Behind the scenes
The Mk XII assassin droid was originally intended to be a guard droid designed by Sarth Kraen to protect the Yanibar Governing Council, a failsafe measure in case of rogue Force-sensitives. While Atarumaster88 originally planned for them to appear in Force Exile V: Warrior, their role was supplanted by the Jalsinnare. Furthermore, the direction Atarumaster88 took Ariada's betrayal meant that it made more sense for her to use the droids rather than having them be used against her. Atarumaster88 also evolved the droid's design over time; each time he did so, their numerical designation incremented by one. The droids featured extensively in Force Exile VI: Prodigal, primarily used against Force-users to give Ariada more powerful servitors without constantly endangering her assassins.

Appearances

 * Force Exile VI: Prodigal