Description[]
J7-A0 was a personal assistant droid custom-built for Selusda and Milya Kraen after their daughter Rhiannon was blinded by an illness at a young age. Painstakingly assembled and programmed by engineering savant Sarth Kraen, J7-A0 was a customized version of a 2JTJ personal navigation droid. However, due to the special needs of Rhiannon and some unorthodox requests from her parents, Sarth found that the head and verbobrain of the 2JTJ were lacking. Instead, he replaced it with the head and primary programming core of a GH-7 medical droid. The resulting droid had the patience and gentility of a GH-7 while retaining the capability of a 2JTJ for assisting either Rhiannon or her parents, along with several other surprises.[1]
Externally, J7 had silver plating with some patches painted copper. His glowing yellow photoreceptors were set in the innocuous face of a GH-7 medical droid. At first impression, he appeared to be a heavily modified personal assistant droid with a bit of a medical aide blended in. However, there was much more to J7 beneath his exterior.[1]
J7's programming incorporated five different specialties thanks to multiple data processors and capability modules linked to one central personality core. He was programmed as a personal assistant, a translator, a cook, a secretary, and a bodyguard, and was capable of switching from one mode to the next seamlessly.[1] His arms actually concealed blasters and vibroblades for the latter role.[2] In case a member of the Kraen family, especially Rhiannon, was placed in danger, he was programmed to do anything to protect them unless specifically ordered by that member to not intervene. Only Sarth, Selu, and Milya Kraen knew the exact contingency programs that were hard-coded into J7's system, but they all revolved around protecting Rhiannon.[1]
J7 also carried internally an emergency medical kit and a miniaturized holoprojector with broad-band communications capability. His robust body was made out of durasteel and he also had limited self-repair abilities thanks to multiple redundant systems. While making productions models of J7 would have been prohibitively expensive, as a one-of-a-kind custom build, Sarth Kraen spared no cost when constructing J7.[1]
History[]
J7-A0 was constructed by Sarth Kraen from 6 to 5 BBY. He served the Kraens faithfully for years, mostly serving as a nanny for Rhiannon when her parents and other relatives were unavailable, as well as a housekeeper and secretary. Due to the relative poverty of the Yanibar refuge during its early years, J7 was the only droid owned by Selu and Milya Kraen and so had to perform many duties each day. He was not used for official Yanibar Guard work, though, due to him being a personal possession.[1] Though sometimes his owners vented some of their frustration on him, J7 developed a long-suffering personality loaded with weary patience and an occasional introspective comment. Every once in awhile, the droid was known to exhibit a dry humor.[2]
In 4 ABY, J7 saw his first defensive action when he helped, along with the aid of Milya Kraen and Morgedh clan Kel'nerh, defend Rhiannon Kraen from the Nightsister Silri. Though J7 was decapitated by Silri's lightwhip, Milya slew the assailant and J7 was repaired and restored to full functionality.[2]
On Rhiannon's twenty-fourth birthday in 16 ABY, J7 was given to Mistress Rhiannon formally as a gift. He continued to serve faithfully for the next several years, with his primary role continuing to be Rhiannon's personal assistant while also assisting around the Kraen estate. He noticed that the young woman was lonely and served as her main companion as her friends finished their education and began starting families or careers of their own. When Rhiannon started taking long speeder rides out in the wilderness of Yanibar, J7 accompanied her on every excursion, piloting the speeder and providing someone to talk to.[3]
One day, the pair was caught by a violent storm and J7 was struck by lightning, leaving him disabled and Rhiannon alone. Fortunately for her, an Outsider farmer named Kavlis Burke saw her and took her back to his farm to seek shelter. With limited functionality, J7 crawled his way to the farm to monitor Rhiannon despite his severe damage. Once Rhiannon was noted as missing, Selu Kraen took a ship of soldiers out to find her. His team found J7 still faithfully watching her through a window and took him back for repair.
However, the chance meeting between Rhiannon and Kavlis sparked an interest in the young woman for the farmer. She cajoled J7 into taking her to the Draskar market where she happened to run into Kavlis Burke again and asked him to show her around the market. With the aid of her cousin, Jasika Kraen, Rhiannon elicited the aid of J7 into helping her meet Kavlis Burke for several months without her parents' knowledge, as they would have disapproved.[3]
The droid served as a courier for the two and supervised them from a distance. Rhiannon eventually asked J7 for advice on whether or not to ask Kavlis to the Harvest Ball. The droid encouraged her to act on her feelings, and she did, though without her parents' knowledge. When Kavlis got wind of her not obtaining their approval, though, he insisted that she get permission so as to not offend them. Once that was obtained, it was J7 who was sent to escort Kavlis Burke into the Yanibar refuge. The droid fastidiously followed all the security protocols, making sure that the refuge's secrecy was not compromised. He then served as a chaperone for them throughout the dance and overheard them confessing their love for each other. That led to J7 being sent to bring in Kavlis Burke a week later for a discussion with Rhiannon's parents about their relationship.[3]
J7 did as he was told, but also asked to speak with Selu and Milya on Rhiannon's behalf about Kavlis Burke. He told Selu and Milya, as well as Sarth and his wife Cassi, the complete story of their courtship, in hopes that the tale would soften their attitude towards Rhiannon marrying an Outsider. Ultimately, Selu agreed to allow the marriage on a few conditions.[3] The two were married a year and a half later, and Rhiannon moved outside the refuge. J7, however, remained with Selu and Milya. Security protocols would have forced him to have his memory erased and Rhiannon did not want him to lose his personality. Instead, he was implanted with a special single-band comlink that would allow Rhiannon to talk to her parents.[1]
Following Rhiannon's departure, J7 continued to serve the Kraens faithfully and helped Ryion Kraen, Selu and Milya's son, recover after his hand was severely injured on a mission to Coruscant. Though the talented young man felt handicapped at first, J7 patiently assisted him until he was recovered enough to operate on his own. The droid continued to serve the Kraens loyally for years after that.[1]
When Cassi Kraen started a refugee aid organization called Open Hands to help refugees created by the Yuuzhan Vong War, J7-A0 was given to her to assist her. The droid served as her aide, and helped her keep track of her myriad tasks, as well as looked after her to make sure she wasn't overworking herself while tackling such a monumental need. When the Yuuzhan Vong attacked her camp on Ord Pardron, J7 helped defend Cassi, but was severely damaged by a Yuuzhan Vong warrior. With the help of a Shaper of Kro Var named Mithunir, J7 was nevertheless able to evacuate Cassi to Mithunir's ship as the Yuuzhan Vong overran the camp. They hid until the Yanibar Guard arrived and drove off the Yuuzhan Vong.[4]
Cassi, Mithunir, and J7 were rescued and taken back to aYanibar Guard carrier, the Vigilant Refuge. Selu expressed his gratitude to the droid and had him repaired before sending him back to Sarth on Yanibar for more specialized repair. Sarth was happy to do so, and gave J7 an additional gift: a certificate of manumission. After years of dedicated service to the Kraen family, J7 was free to do as he pleased.[4]
The droid offered to aid Sarth in planting defensive mines around the Force nexus on a remote planetessimal where the Kraens had encountered Jedi spirits. However, a frigate aligned with a group of Dark Jedi was led to their location by a renegade Force-sensitive from Yanibar, Ariada Cerulaen. To buy Sarth time to escape on a Yanibar Guard gunship, J7 volunteered to stay behind and trigger the mines. The explosions were enough to divert the pursuit and allow Sarth to escape, but that left J7 behind. The mines created a field of dark matter that prevented hyperspace navigation in a vast area of nearby space, meaning that the droid was trapped there as Sarth was able to escape and warn the refuge of the threat that Ariada posed.[4]
Behind the scenes[]
J7-A0 was created for Force Exile IV: Guardian by Atarumaster88, who sought to introduce a droid character to the series. Though J7 did not play a major role in the story, Atarumaster88 felt it was important to include a droid character as the Force Exile series had previously lacked one. J7-A0's name was selected by Jedi Master 76, who had provided much valuable input to the series and as such, was given the honor of picking the droid's name.
The droid played a larger role in the Yanibar Tales story Through Her Eyes by serving as the narrator for the bulk of the tale. Atarumaster88 thought that it would be easier for him to use a J7 as a narrator rather than telling it from Rhiannon's perspective. This also helped develop the droid's slightly introspective and occasionally witty personality. Large amounts of patience and long-suffering were also incorporated into J7's personality, but the droid was not designed to be as gregarious or exaggerative as C-3PO, or as melancholy or pessimistic as PROXY.
J7's last appearance was in Force Exile V: Warrior. The droid was paired up with Cassi in order to provide her with more interaction as the head of Open Hands before she met with Mithunir. His self-sacrificial fate in the later act was composed to give him a heroic exit as well as provide more gravity to the threat posed by Ariada, along with providing companionship for Sarth's plot arc. His line about not sacrificing everything for the Kraens yet, until his presumed death, was a nod to the movie The Dark Knight Rises. J7's ultimate fate was deliberately left vague.
The appearance of J7-A0 was created by Atarumaster88 following a question from another user, Gnost-Dural. This prompted Atarumaster88 to create a canonical backstory and commission a picture of J7-A0 to be created by Solus.