Crab-legged andspider-eyed, the Viperprobe droid was an improved and refined version of theProwler 1000 seeker droid.[8] Lightly-armored, it measured 1.6meters in height with five manipulator arms extending from a central pod and several retractablesensor arms for gathering samples. High resolution receivers and sensors covered the domed head—including motion, acoustic, sonic, and seismic sensors, a radiation meter, magnetic imager, andholocamera. It had anatmosphere sensor capable of determining aplanet's atmosphere class within one half-hour. It moved on arepulsorlift generator which was equipped to operate over any terrain.[1] One of the arms was high-torque, and the droid was equipped with a floodlight on its head.[9] In addition, when making transmissions, the probe droid emitted a audio encrypted Imperial computer code set of an unknown serial number.
Information was relayed back to its superiors via a high-frequencyHoloNet transceiver. Its repulsorlift engines carried the droid across terrain at up to 40 km/h, while the arms gathered samples. Vipers were delivered to their targets through single-use custom builthyperspace pods. They were commonly deployed along the perimeters of key strategicstar systems andhyperlanes to act as automated guardians.[1]
Typically, a Viper probe droid cost 14,500credits.[1] They were capable of being deployed from Galactic EmpireCommand centers.[10]
Arakyd probe droids were originally designed for use by theGalactic Republic in survey and exploration duty.[1] Some droids were applied to military uses; for example, theConfederacy of Independent Systems employed a number of upgraded probots during theinvasion ofKashyyyk during the Clone Wars.[5] With the fall of the Republic and the rise of theGalactic Empire, Arakyd produced new modified versions of their probots with military-level sensors and equipment and marketed them as Viper probe droids.[1]
Following theEvacuation of Yavin, the Empire commissioned thousands of probe droids to scourthe galaxy for hiddenRebel Alliance bases.[1] This large new line of Viper droids was manufactured onMechis III. Darth Vader personally oversaw the project from the start, visiting the manufacturing facility[2] and assigning ships of hisDeath Squadron to deploy them into the far reaches of space.[7] The overall military and political goal was to pin down the elusive and mobileAlliance High Command.[1] Vader himself was obsessed above all with hunting downLuke Skywalker.[7] He transmitted special orders that the probes be programmed to prioritize both Skywalker and theMillennium Falcon,Han Solo's starship.[15]
The Empire's success with the Arakyd's military model of the Viper yielded plans for theC-Viper probe droid, a more streamlined variant designed for planetary law enforcement organizations.[16]
Eyes and ears of the revolution[]
"Go and report. You have much to see. Burn brightly."
―IG-88, to the last Viper probe droid constructed on Mechis III[2]
A Viper probe droid enters a cave.
When Darth Vader commissioned the construction of thousands of Viper probe droids on Mechis III, he was unaware that the rogueassassin droidIG-88 hadtaken control of the planet's automated factories. IG-88 was slowly developing plans for aDroid Revolution in which the droids ofthe galaxy would rise up together and seize power from organic life. Vader's visit to Mechis was in fact the closest the conspiracy ever came to being discovered; but the IG droids masked their purpose well, and Vader only sensed a slight disturbance whose source he could not pinpoint.[2]
Vader impressed IG-88, both for the raw power he commanded and his blending of organic and mechanical traits. IG-88 decided to use Vader and his commissioned line of probe droids as an integral part of his plan. He gave them a secondary set of programming. They received the samesentience programming that the IG-88 droids had themselves, and they became clandestine solders inhis Droid Army. As they went about their missions for the Empire, they were to secretly relay their intelligence back to Mechis III. Thus, they simultaneously served as the eyes and ears of the revolution. Through them, IG-88 would learn about the Empire's plans, actions and vulnerabilities. Eventually, the droids planned to appropriate the Empire's power and make it their own.[2]
Locating Echo Base[]
"I think we've got something, sir. The report is only a fragment from a probe droid in the Hoth system, but it's the best lead we've had."
One Arakyd Viper, launched from anImperial II-class Star Destroyer of Death Squadron,[17] landed on the ice planetHoth as part of Vader's galaxy-wide search for the hidden Rebel base.[7] After it emerged from its hyperspace pod, the probe droid detected a faint comm signal and began to travel toward its probable destination point.[1] It encountered awampa ice creature, at first probing it with its laser, then vaporizing it when it appeared to be a threat.[18] The probe droid had to shut down most of its power during a fierce snowstorm that night, activating itsparticle shield to protect itself from the thick snow hazard.[1]
A Viper probe droid in search of the Echo Base.
The next morning the droid enteredZone 12 outside the Rebels'Echo Base. It detected the base's largedeflector shield generator and began to record it, transmitting the information toDarth Vader'sflagship, theExecutor. It went on to map out other features of Echo Base and its defenses, information that would be critical for the Empire in the coming battle.[1] IG-88, back on Mechis III, received the same information.IG-88B traveled to Hoth to observe and learn from Vader's subsequent actions.[2]
"Princess, we have a visitor. We've picked up something outside the base in Zone Twelve, moving east."
Warning sensors placed byHan Solo had already picked up traces of the probe, alerting the Rebels to the presence of an unidentified object.[19] The droid was next detected by alone trooper inStation 3-8; the probe droid destroyed the station with its blaster before the trooper could visually confirm what it was.[18] Solo andChewbacca were dispatched to the nearbyCeyan Range.[20] The probe detected their approach but was no match for them. While Chewbacca acted as a decoy, Solo blasted the confused droid from the other direction.[1] Seeing that it was cornered, the droid activated its self-destruct mechanism to avoid capture.[7]
The Rebels realized they had been discovered and prepared to evacuate. On theExecutor, AdmiralKendal Ozzel dismissed the idea that the probe's fragmentary data proved anything, but Vader was confident that the probe droid had discovered the hidden Rebel base. Death Squadron proceeded to Hoth and launched afull-scale ground assault, which occupied the base and scattered the Rebels.[7]
Later use[]
After the Battle of Hoth, Arakyd and the Empire cooperated to produce theInfiltrator probe droid, a new version of the Viper designed to sabotage and seize control of a starship.[21]
The would-be droid revolution, which involved numerous Viper probes as co-conspirators, was snuffed out in4 ABY.IG-88A installed his droid consciousness into the computer core of thesecond Death Star as a final preparatory step. IG-88 was to send out a signal to droids everywhere, including the line of Viper probe droids, to rise up and turn on their masters. But theBattle of Endor ended with the Death Star destroyed and the planned revolution in shambles.[2]
As the Empire lost ground to theNew Republic, it continued to make use of Viper probe droids. In5 ABY,Jerec and hisVengeance Battle Group, discoveredRuusan and sent several probe droids beforehis invasion. The battle group used more heavily-armed probe droids boasting four energy cannons, one at each side.[22]
One of artistJean "Moebius" Giraud's designs was used for the probe droid inThe Empire Strikes Back. Later Star Wars films also share many visual characteristics with Giraud's work, particularly the depiction ofCoruscant.
The film THX 1138 features numerous radio voices that sound strikingly similar to and likely influenced the strange electronic voice of the probe droid inEmpire.
Star Wars: Rebellion: Prima's Official Strategy Guide explains that Imperial probe droids are equipped with small hyperdrives, enabling them to scout the galaxy without needing to be deployed by capital ships, for use in thevideo gameStar Wars: Rebellion. This serves as the game-mechanics explanation for the absence of the Predator I Probe-Mate jump pod inStar Wars: Rebellion, which is the Viper probe droid's mode of hyperspace transportation.
It should be noted that the main image used on this article is a picture of the damaged model from theLucasfilm Archives, with its right antenna bent slightly to the left.
"The Hidden" — Star Wars Tales 6
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"The Droids of Episode III: It's a Junkyard Smackdown!" —Star Wars Insider 81
"Galaxywide NewsNets" —Star Wars Adventure Journal 14