The Essential Guide to Droids (Page 14-15)
Astromech: R6 and R7
[edit]The Battle of Endor radically shifted the political balance of power. With the Emperor dead, the second Death Star destroyed, and the Imperial fleet in disarray, the citizens of the galaxy made a fresh start under the banner of the New Republic. Industrial Automaton seized the opportunity to build up their corporate image, still tarnished by the failure of the R5.
First, the company approached the Republic's leaders and hammered out a lucrative military contract. IA agreed to design and build a new state-of-the-art astromech for exclusive use in a proposed starfighter called the E-wing. Unfortunately, the project would take several years to complete. To fill the gap, the R6 unit was released to the general public with widespread distribution and an inescapable advertising campaign.
The R6 had been on the drawing board for years, and IA engineers had solved all the bugs that had made its predecessor such a headache. The new droid perfectly replicated the R2's pleasant personality and array of hidden gadgets. Its processor was a significant step up, capable of storing up to twelve hyperspace jumps in memory. Finally, the unit was priced to move—though more expensive than R4 or R5, it actually cost less than the original R2. Consumers bought them in droves, until the brilliant campaign of Grand Admiral Thrawn shattered a brief stretch of peace and prosperity.
On the heels of Thrawn came the unstoppable armies of the cloned Emperor Palpatine, and the R7 was suddenly needed more than ever. Industrial Automaton, working closely with the E-wing designers at Frei-Tek, Inc., had nearly completed their dedicated military droid. But before final testing could be completed, the units were pressed into active service fighting the Emperor's World Devastators on Mon Calamari.
The R7 is the most sophisticated astromech available anywhere. It performs multitasking operations at blinding speed and can hold an incredible fifteen sets of hyperspace coordinates in active memory. The droid is fully armored against power surges and can withstand a near-direct hit from a class-one ion cannon. It sits behind the cockpit of an E-wing fighter in a sealed compartment and greatly augments the ship's flight performance.
This is perhaps the R7's greatest weakness as well—designed specifically for the E-wing, the droid works poorly with other starfighters. IA fully anticipated this, but considered skill to be an acceptable trade-off for versatility.
Jedi Master Luke Skywalker briefly owned an E-wing and its astromech counterpart, R7-T1. He never felt comfortable with either the vessel or the droid, and ceased using both following the crisis in the Koornacht Cluster.
Info Boxes
[edit]R6 Astromech Droid – Front View
[edit]- Charge Arm Compartment
- System Ventilation
- Spacecraft Linkage & Repair Arms
- Loudspeaker
- Computer Interface/Lubricant Arms Compartment
- Infrared Receptor
- Holographic Projector
- Radar Eye
- Auditory Sensors
- Access Panels
- Recharge Coupling
- Power Cells
- Motorized Treads
R7 Astromech Droid – Front View
[edit]- System Ventilation
- E-wing Linkage Arms Behind Retractable Panels
- Loudspeaker
- Primary E-wing Linkage Slot
- Flight-performance Monitors
- Grasping Arm Compartment
- Function Indicators
- Radar Eye
- Recharge Coupling
- Power Cells
- Motorized Treads
- Heat Exhaust
- Systems Diagnostic Input Receptors