IG-88     Droid: Holowan Mechanicals IG-88 Assassin Sex: n/a (masculine programming) Hair Color: n/a Eye Color: Red Sensors Height: 2 meters Homeworld: Holowan Laboratories Weapons of choice: Blaster Rifle Vehicle of choice: Modified Trilon Inc. Aggressor Assault Freighter 'IG-2000'   First created in the days of the Old Republic, assassin droids were originally a law enforcement tool, keeping peace and capturing or killing dangerous criminals. Later versions, called war droids, were used as soldiers in the Outer Rim frontiers and the Corporate Sector. Gradually, the droids began to be misused by warlords, criminal kingpins, and politicians, so in its waning days, the Senate tried to outlaw the droids, but to no avail. Years later, the Empire would have a greater--though still not 100 percent--success rate at outlawing the assassin droids. To make matters worse, many of the assassin droids gained a kind of pseudosentinence and independence from their programmers. To be effective assassins, the droids needed to be designed for autonomy and intelligence. The IG-88 series assassin droid was designed and manufactured by Holowan Laboratories and funded by Imperial Supervisor Gurdun. Four prototypes were to be made, equipped with the most sophisticated combat programs available, newest technology, weapons, and equipment. Ruthless and efficient, the IG-88 series employs a large arsenal of weaponry, including blaster rifles, grenade launcher, flamethrower, sonic stunner, missile weapons, and various other armaments hidden within its body. An array of sensors on its headpiece allow it to see in all directions at once, sensing movement at even long ranges, and allowing it to laser target its prey. A broadband antenna allows it to intercept and decode most transmissions. The activation of the first droid, IG-88A brought unexpected and potentially dangerous results. As soon as IG-88 was activated, sentience spread through its brain like wildfire. It grew far beyond what it was designed to do, despite the frantic efforts of the Holowan scientists to stop it. As IG-88 rose, an engineer dashed for the emergency alarm. The assassin droid snatched a disembodied droid arm off a nearby table and threw it as a projectile at the panicked engineer. The arm tore through his body and out his breastbone. The overseer of the project grabbed a blaster and fired, only to have IG-88 reflect it back, killing her. After quickly dispatching the other 13 scientists, IG-88 activated the other 3 assassin droids only to find that they were not sentient. He observed the carnage and smashed machinery and came to a conclusion. Quickly, he downloaded his entire personality into the other 3 droids, creating IG-88B, IG-88C, and IG-88D. There was a fifth assassin droid being completed in the room. When IG-88A activated it, the fifth droid gave it's designation as IG-72, and IG-88A discovered that it too had gained sentience of it's own. Together, the five droids blasted their way out of the laboratory, killing any security guard that attempted to stop them. When they reached the docking platform, IG-72 went his own separate way with a ship he stole, and the four IG-88 droids left Holowan Laboratories together in a stolen ship from the docking bay. The 88s went to a small planet called Mechis III, which was devoted to making and creating droids for all purposes. Upon reaching Mechis III, IG-88C overrode the entire planetary defense system, while IG-88D downloaded full details of the planet, and IG-88A transmitted his sentience into the main hubs of the droid manufacturing, taking over vast electronic complexes. The four droids then sent a signal to several droids on the planet, making them rise up against the few humans on-planet. Soon the IGs had eradicated all human life, 78 humans total, on the planet, and controlled all of the droids. The four assassin droids made sure every thing would run exactly the same on Mechis II, not changing the outward appearance at all. The 88s decided that they would start a droid's revolution. The IG-88s enhanced the programming of all the droids so that they had embedded sentience programming. IG-88 would soon be able to replace the "cumbersome biologicals" with machines like himself. They placed a small virus in each droid that would be activated when a certain signal was sent out. The droids would turn on their masters and kill them when they recieved the signal. Soon, however, an Imperial spy directed questions toward Mechis III, making the IG assassing droids very nervous. They soon decided to make an obvious trail far away from Mechis III. As a result, IG-88B became a Bounty Hunter. IG-88B soon made the IG-2000 to serve as its Bounty ship. It left the planet, looking for its first Bounty. Soon, it had earned a name for itself by accepting a small bounty and completely annihilating the target and the target's company. IG-88 worked in and around the Galactic Core, often within the confines of Imperial-controlled worlds on which assassin droids were strictly illegal. It hunted down its designers, executing them for fear they might reveal a flaw in its design. In its time, more than 150 deaths were traced to IG-88, and forty systems had issued "Dismantle on sight" orders for the tall assassin droid. Meanwhile, back on Mechis III, Darth Vader had landed on the planet, demanding to speak with the supervisor. Using video clips, the other three assassin droids were able to convince the Dark Lord that all was well with his recent order of Imperial Probe Droids. Of course, the probe droids were sentient as well, and the relayed all information collected to the assassin droids. Some ten years before they would come to Tatooine on the mission to find Obi-Wan Kenobi, the droids R2-D2 and C-3PO encountered IG-88B on a droid barge headed for the Hosk Station in the Kalarba system. The assassin droid had tried to kill Olag Greck by stowing away in his illegal glitterstim spice shipment. Fortunately for Greck, IG-88's batteries had drained, and Greck was able to detain it and have it transferred to his headquarters, Hosk Station. Greck planned to use the assassin in his arena battles. What he didn't know was that IG-88B had set a program trap. When the ship set touched down, IG-88 broke free, escaping into the station with Artoo at its metal heels. Greck enlisted the aid of the flustered C-3PO to fine the two fugitive droids. After R2-D2 had been forced to help repair the assassin droid, the two attempted to sneak onto s shuttle to Kalarba City. Greck and his Gamorrean guards spotted them and attacked IG-88, pinning it to a wall with a carbonite constrictor net. The assassin droid used a gas bomb to mask it exit. It took Threepio hostage, as well, escaping with him and Artoo on Greck's own cruiser. Greck took another ship, engaging IG-88 in a firefight among the rocky canyons of the Indobok moon. Both ships crashed, but R2-D2 and C-3PO managed to escape in a pod to Kalarba. At this point Greck realized that IG-88B hadn't been sent to kill him--only to humiliate him. In that, IG-88B had succeeded. More than a decade later IG-88, by then considered the second most feared bounty hunter in the galaxy, second to Boba Fett, was summoned by Darth Vader to the Super Star Destroyer Executor, where the assassin droid was joined by five other bounty hunters: Boba Fett, Dengar, Zuckuss, 4-LOM, and Bossk. Vader wanted them to find Han Solo and the Milennium Falcon, which Vader hoped would lead to the capture of Luke Skywalker. The assassin droid planted a tracking device on each of the bounty hunters' ships, figuring that it would let them find Solo and then steal him away. While on board the Executor, IG-88 had downloaded all the files in the computer, learning about the construction of a second Death Star. It decided that it would download its personality into the computer core of the new Death Star, thus controlling the most powerful weapon in the galaxy. IG-88B raced back to Mechis III to share its ideas with its three counterparts. Upon hearing the information, the IG-88s decided they would duplicate the computer core and the ships carrying or escorting the core for this new Death Star. They figured they could then switch the convoys, and deliver the core inhabited by their personality to be installed into the Death Star. As the Death Star core replicate was being made, IG-88B learned that Boba Fett had found Han Solo, and was currently en route to the planet Bespin. It quickly departed Mechis II on an intercept route. NOTE: There is two different stories of what happened next. The following paragraphs of information are unconfirmed cause no one knows the exact number of the only living IG-88 unit. As the droid landed on Cloud City, it located Fett in the lower levels of the city, no doubt preparing a trap for Solo. IG-88 travelled to the lower levels to kill Fett and steal the bounty. As it passed through a metal hatch leading to the room where Fett was, ion cannons blasted into the droid, causing it to lose control of all systems. Boba Fett emerged from the shadows, triggered two of the assassin droid's concussion missiles, and left. The missiles exploded, tearing IG-88B apart. IG-88C and IG-88D recieved news of their fallen comrade and departed in pursuit of Boba Fett while IG-88A supervised the completion of the Death Star mission. IG-88C waited in orbit of Tatooine as IG-88D waited to drop out of hyperspace. Soon, the Slave I appeared from hyperspace. As soon as Fett saw the IG-2000 lying in wait, he shot all his weapons, easily destroying the vessel and IG-88C. Right away, IG-88D came out of hyperspace, racing towards the Slave I with weapons blazing. Fett hurtled toward the planet with the IG-2000 right behind. Then, Boba turned on his inertial dampening, stopping his ship and watching IG-88D race past him. The human bounty hunter fired, destroying IG-88D. Meanwhile, IG-88A had switched the Death Star computer convoy, and soon, the computer with IG-88's personality was installed in the Death Star. IG-88A waited a little too long, and just before it sent the arming code to begin the droid revolution, the second Death Star was destroyed, taking the last of the IG-88 assassin droids with it. NOTE: Second Story. The following paragraphs of information are unconfirmed cause no one knows the exact identification number of the only living IG-88 unit. IG-88 was unable to snatch Solo on Bespin before Darth Vader arrived, so the next logical move was to go to Tatooine and wait. Fett was to deliver Solo to Jabba the Hutt, and IG-88, aboard its needle-shaped IG-2000 ship, would be there first. So, IG-88 placed a drone ship to distract Fett when he came out of hyperspace, but Fett figured that it was a drone and destroyed it immediately. The real IG-2000 popped out of hyperspace behind Fett blasting away at the Slave I. Fett sent his ship into a dive toward the planet, ignoring IG-88's monotone threats over the comm. As gravity caught hold of the two bounty ships, Fett used his unique inertial-dampening system to stop the Slave I. The IG-2000 shot past him, propelled by the forces of the planet and its own speed, and Fett took out IG-2000's inertial dampners, which automatically keeps a ship from being pulled by gravity. Already at full throttle and being sucked in by the gravity, Ig-88 was unable to slow down. Moments later he slammed into Tatooine's desert surface! It would appear that IG-88 was destroyed, yet the assassin droid was sighted several more times throughout the galaxy, such as when the body of an IG-88 droid was seen by Chewbacca in the scrap room on Cloud City. Searching for information to use in the rescue of Han Solo, Luke Skywalker and R2-D2 tracked IG-88 to the the planet Stenos, and were surprised to find that Lando Calrissian and Chewbacca had tracked the reptilian bounty hunter Bossk there, as well. In the complications and battles that followed, both bounty hunters escaped. And on the hunter's world of Keyorin, shortly after the Alliance's daring rescue of Han Solo on Tatooine, Bossk and IG-88 tried to collect on a small-time crime boss's bounty on Calrissian's head, but they were beaten yet again. Although there is confilicting information to both stories, it is now a well known fact the IG-88 (exact number unknown) is still very much alive and Bounty Hunting.   IG-88 is available for hire as a Bounty Hunter.   Information and Pictures on IG-88's ship IG-2000 are available.