Star Wars: The Bad Batch

The marriage of repulsorlift technology and heavy armor has resulted in formidable floating tanks known as AATs or Armored Assault Tanks. These assault tanks form the frontline of Trade Federation armored infantry divisions, as well as Separatist forces during the Clone Wars. A crew of battle droids drives the battle tank and operates the array of laser and projectile weaponry carried by the vehicle.

The principal battle tank of the Grand Army of the Republic, the All Terrain Tactical Enforcer features six articulated legs for propulsion. The legs are low to the ground, which reduces the walker's top speed but does provide it with increased stability. The body of the walker consists of two armored halves connected by a flexible sleeve that increases its mobility on the field. The walker is truly all terrain, able to climb sheer surfaces and survive in the vacuum of outer space. The front of the walker is lined with four ball-turret laser cannons, while a single heavy projectile cannon is turret-mounted on the vehicle's dorsal surface. Its rear fire arc is protected by a pair of laser cannon turrets. Though the walker's armor can easily deflect small arms fire, tanksmasher rockets can pierce an AT-TE's armor and destroy its complex propulsion mechanisms.

A former Jedi Padawan turned assassin, Asajj Ventress was trained in the ways of the dark side by Count Dooku. For many years, she yearned to be considered a true Sith, secretly acting as Dooku’s apprentice. During the time of the Clone Wars, Ventress fought for the Separatists, clashing with Jedi like Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker with her twin red-bladed lightsabers. But after Dooku was ordered to dispose of Asajj and left her for dead, Ventress returned to her Nightsister clan to exact her revenge. In time, Ventress reinvented herself as a bounty hunter and reclaimed her identity, neither a Sith nor a Jedi.

A member of Alderaan's royal family and the planet's representative to the Republic Senate since the time of the Clone Wars, Bail Organa earned respect on Coruscant for his honesty and his commitment to justice. Prior to the fall of the Republic, Bail served alongside Senator Padmé Amidala as a member of Chancellor Palpatine's Loyalist Committee. The two became close friends, and recruited like-minded allies to prevent Palpatine's alarming grabs for power. At the end of the war, Bail Organa adopted Padmé's daughter Leia and raised her as an Alderaanian princess. While representing Alderaan in the Imperial Senate, he continued to work secretly with allies such as Mon Mothma and Ahsoka Tano to assist rebel cells scattered across the galaxy, working towards the day that a unified Rebellion could emerge.

Rather than use flesh-and-blood warriors, the Separatists prefer mindlessly loyal soldiers that are easily controlled. The soulless ranks of their armies are dominated by tall, thin B1 battle droids built as mechanical imitations of their Geonosian designers. Battle droids can be controlled by centralized command centers such as the Trade Federation’s enormous Droid Control Ships, or programmed for independent action. They often suffer programming glitches that manifest as personality quirks. Battle droids are dim-witted and no match for clone troopers or Jedi, but they weren’t designed to be smart – they were designed to overwhelm Republic civilians through sheer numbers, something they do very effectively.

Coruscant is the vibrant heart and capital of the galaxy during the age of the Empire, featuring a diverse mix of cultures and citizens spread over hundreds of levels. Once the home of the main Jedi Temple -- the central hub of Jedi training and learning for over a thousand generations and the repository of the Jedi Archives -- these traditions ended when the planet bore witness to Order 66.

The dark side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural, and Sheev Palpatine is the most infamous follower of its doctrines. Scheming, powerful, and evil to the core, Darth Sidious restored the Sith and destroyed the Jedi Order. Living a double life, he was also Palpatine, a Naboo Senator and phantom menace. He manipulated the political system of the Galactic Republic until he was named Supreme Chancellor -- and eventually Emperor – and ruled the galaxy through fear and tyranny. The galaxy rejoiced when he died at the Battle of Endor, but Sidious had cheated death and patiently plotted a return to power.

Rancors are towering hulks of muscle and reptilian flesh that walk on two stubby legs and use their disproportionately long arms to capture prey. A salivating, tooth-filled maw dominates their flat faces, and their armored skin is so tough that they can shrug off blaster bolts as little more than annoyances. While not inherently vicious -- Felucia’s farmers co-existed relatively peaceably with spined, brightly colored jungle rancors -- these creatures were prized as trophies by crimelords and other wealthy, amoral individuals. Jabba the Hutt kept a rancor in a shadowy chamber beneath his Tatooine throne room. After Luke Skywalker killed the beast, an outraged Jabba ordered the public execution of the Jedi and his friends.

Proton torpedoes are energy missiles, common ordinance on starships throughout history. Even in a time of peace, spacecraft in the Royal Naboo armada were armed with the weapons, used to defeat the Trade Federation during the attempted invasion of the planet. During the Clone Wars, Jedi Cruisers were equipped with bays filled with proton torpedoes to help the Republic take out enemy ships in battle. After the rise of the Empire, the Bad Batch discovers a cache of the weaponry in the scrapyards of Bracca. And with the birth of the Rebel Alliance, squadrons of X-wing fighters use proton torpedoes to fight Imperial targets, famously destroying the first Death Star with the careful targeting of a pair of proton torpedoes fired directly into a thermal exhaust port.

Rugged, combat-equipped repulsorcraft, Republic attack gunships rained down blistering barrages of laser and rocket retribution against the droid forces of the Separatists. Each winged gunship was covered in weapons, offering air-to-ground and air-to-air support as well as serving as an infantry transport. The front of the gunship features hunchback-style cockpit bubbles, wherein the gunship pilot and copilot / gunner sit in single file. Chin-mounted on the craft are a pair of laser cannon turrets. On the gunship's dorsal surface are its primary armaments, two massive rocket launchers fed by a rear-mounted missile belts.

During the Clone Wars, the Pykes became the galaxy’s preeminent spice dealers, gaining control of mining operations on Kessel and funneling illicit substances to Coruscant’s most influential crime families. The Pykes’ stronghold is Oba Diah, but they are a powerful presence on nearby Kessel. Pyke sentinels keep a close watch on miners sentenced to extract spice and coaxium from Kessel, as well as on the smugglers hired to ferry these valuable cargos to offworld purification plants and refineries.

Once purged from the otherwise complete Jedi Archives was all evidence of the mysterious world of Kamino. A lonely world beyond the Outer Rim and just south of the Rishi Maze, few could have predicted that Kamino would become a key contributor to a massive shift in political power in the final days of the Republic. Kamino is a planet of endless oceans and storms. Few features mark its surface, save for massive stilt-mounted cities wherein reside the planet's natural inhabitants, the Kaminoans. From Tipoca City, the planet's prime minister rules. Lama Su and Kamino’s chief medical scientist Nala Se closely monitor the operations of Kamino's most prized export -- clones -- even after the Clone Wars reaches a conclusion.