R7-Series Astromech Droid

Reference Book: Star Wars Saga Edition Threats of the Galaxy

After Grand Admiral Thrawn's return and the resurgence of the Empire. Industrial Automaton collaborated with FreiTek to create a new Astromech Droid for the new E-Wing Starfighter. But the attack at Mon Calamari by the Empire's World Devastators forced the Droids into service before final testing could be completed.

The most sophisticated Astromech Droid to date, the R7 can perform multitasking at incredible speed and can store up to fifteen Hyperspace coordinates in its active memory. Its major drawback is that it was designed specifically for the E-Wing and does not perform as well in other Starfighters, receiving a -4 penalty to all Skill Checks if installed in any fighter other than an E-Wing.

The R7's silhouette is very similar to the R2-Series, but its domed head hosts a triangular radar eye that immediately sets it apart from its predecessor,

R7-Series Astromech Droid Encounters

The most likely place to find an R7 is in the hangar bay near the E-Wing Starfighter with which it is associated. The Droid might be performing any number of duties, ranging from running diagnostics on the fighter's systems to assisting the hangar technicians with ship repairs or helping its pilot calibrate the ship for takeoff. If it is part of a squadron, the R7 might be working with other Astromech Droids to help finish a complex task, if not trying to take charge of the operation over older models. This behavior is due to the belief held by many R7s that they are superior to other Droids, including the R2-Series.

Because most people believe the R7 to have little versatility, they would not likely believe that the Droid could perform other functions beyond its programming. For this reason alone, intelligence agents have been known to put down a little extra cash to obtain an R7 and modify it for use in covert ops. Most people would not suspect an R7 to be slicing into a computer network, let alone gathering information for an enemy spy and secretly transmitting it to that individual on a regular basis.

Encounters with R7 Droids outside a hangar bay are uncommon, since each typically wants to stay close to its ship as often as possible. The attitude exhibited by the Droid appears almost motherly in nature. As a result, any threat posed toward its E-Wing will be met fiercely by the Droid, and it will not cease using all means at its disposal to drive away an intruder until it is called off by its master, shut down, or destroyed.

R7-Series Astromech Droids can be played as Droid Heroes.