INFO: As is to be expected, the vast majority of the Verpine who have left the Roche asteroid field have found employment as starship technicians, an area in which they are generally extremely successful. The single drawback to the employment of a Verpine technician lies in the fact that it will often, if not always, be involved in making unauthorized "improvements" to the equipment being maintained. While these improvements are often quite useful, they sometimes hold unpleasant surprises. (Unsatisfied customers will occasionally make accusations of sabotage regarding the effects of these surprises, but most experienced space travelers are well aware of the risks involved in employing the Verpine.)
Because of this unreliability, the Empire, which places a premium on dependability, has chosen not to avail itself of the skills of the Verpine. However, the private sector, much more foolhardy than the Empire, continues to invest heavily in ships constructed in the Roche asteroid field.
The Verpine are also found, though less often, in positions involving negotiation and arbitration, where their experiences with the communal decision making of the hive provides for them a paradigm which they can use to assist other beings in the resolution of their conflicts.
RACE: Verpine
HEIGHT: 1.9 Meters Tall
SKIN (CARAPACE): Green
DISTINCTION: Radio wave senses, technological aptitude, hardened carapace, short snouts, and small, toothless mouths. Hermaphroditic dominant form and sterile worker drones
LANGUAGE: Verpine
HOMEWORLD:The Roche asteroid field were a series of asteroids colonized by the Verpine in 25,180 BBY, including Nickel One (the capital), Slayn, Korpil, Roche G42, and Shantipole.
Some believed that the asteroids were the remains of the Verpine homeworld, possibly destroyed by civil war. The Verpine simply claimed that they did not know where their homeworld was located.
The government has been called by two different names in sources, the (Verpine) Hive and the Verpine Technocracy. This government referred to all the Verpine worlds in the Roche Sector as a cohesive whole and not the diseparate Hive-minded governments of each planet or system.
Roche joined the Galactic community prior to the Jedi Civil War, exporting Verpine shatter guns. In 3,996 BBY, a Verpine pirate named Raxsus Nuli tried to conquer a planet, but was arrested by the Jedi. When the Wookiees joined the galactic community, they traded with the Verpine for manufacturing processes.
The asteroids were the headquarters of Roche Industries and Slayn & Korpil. They were the only place where larmalstone was available. By 22,000 BBY the Roche asteroids had joined the Galactic Republic.
After the Battle of Yavin, the asteroids were the site of Project Shantipole, in which Slayn & Korpil worked with Ackbar to develop the B-wing starfighter. When the Galactic Empire became aware of this, Governor Bane Nothos blockaded the system. However, the Rebels broke the blockade with the B-wing prototypes and blew up Shantipole Research Station, resulting in Nothos's demotion to Commander.
The Verpine later joined the New Republic. In 4 ABY, a conflict broke out between the Verpine and the Barabels; the Barabels sold dead Verpine to the Kubaz as food. This dispute was eventually settled by Leia Organa Solo.
In 35 ABY, during the Swarm War, the Killiks tried to take over the Roche asteroids and other insectoid-inhabited worlds of the Galactic Alliance. The Jedi repulsed the invaders and saved the Verpine hive queen.
By 40 ABY, the Verpine agreed to a trade agreement with the Mandalorians for protection services in exchange for technological enhancements. The system was invaded by the Imperial Remnant shortly after, but the Mandalorians honored their agreement and came to the Verpine's aid.
To prevent future attacks on their colonies, the Verpine created the IX-6 heavy combat droids to supplement their defenses. Sometime after the establishment of Darth Krayt's Galactic Empire in 130 ABY, a fleet of Star Destroyers blasted several heavily populated Verpine asteroids to dust for the species' unwillingness to stop the production of the IX-6 model.
BIOLOGY AND APPEARANCE:Verpine were thin bipedal insectoids, standing 1.9 meters tall on average. Unlike many insectoids, including the Kibnon to which they were distantly related, the Verpine had only four limbs (two arms and two legs.) Their heads were dominated by large, black, compound eyes. They also had two antennae, one located behind each eye. Their hardened carapace, composed of a green chitinous substance called carahide, was as flexible as the skin of other creatures, yet tough enough to deflect a blade or even absorb a glancing blaster bolt. The Verpine circulatory system did not contain a heart — at least, not an organ which Human physiologists would identify as a heart.
Verpine eyes were keen enough to pick out microscopic details. Their antennae contained tympanic nerves which picked up sound. Their antennae were also sensitive to radio waves, giving Verpine the natural ability to sense and transmit radio waves to communicate with another Verpine in their language over distances on the order of one hundred kilometers. Some observers mistook this nearly instant, silent communication for true telepathy. Thanks to their natural radio communication network, their colonies were run as a consensus democracy, with all Verpine instantly consulted on questions affecting the hive.
Given their reliance on radio communication, Verpine frequently suffered negative consequences when their antenna were damaged. While researching the Verpine, Leia Organa noticed that virtually all Verpine criminals suffered from a set of damaged antenna.
Verpine came in two types—intelligent, hermaphroditic Verpine and unintelligent worker drones. At the time of their entrance into Galactic society, only five percent of Verpine were intelligent, but the demands of technological civilization required the Verpine to restructure their society. After the change, egg-laying Verpine used a special enzyme to ensure all eggs laid developed into intelligent Verpine. Any drones needed by a Verpine hive were produced via cloning.
When a Verpine hive needed more members, some of the fertile Verpine would be asked to lay eggs, while others would be assigned to fertilize them. The eggs were cared for in colony incubators, and hatchlings were cared for by the entire hive.
While hermaphrodite, there is evidence to indicate that individual Verpine had definite genders, either permanently or at some point of their existences. A "hive mother" communicated with Jedi Leia Organa Solo during the Swarm War, and mentioned "male warriors". General Cracken referred to Moegid as "he" in his reports.
The fungus Magenge, which grew inside the asteroid colonies of the Verpine, formed the basis of the Verpine diet.
CULTURE AND HISTORY:Verpine had variable naming customs. Some had single names such as Fxz'et, Zix, Ss's,, or Moegid. Others had first and last names such as Kuli Ned'lx, Kyli Ned'Ix, or Osos Niskooen. Many, though not all, Verpine names contained sibilant consonants and glottal stops.
The Verpine people did not evolve in the asteroids of the Roche system. Each inhabited asteroid was only made livable through the creation of artificial, self-sustaining environments in the interior. Some observers thought that the Roche asteroids were the remains of a Verpine homeworld which had broken up either slowly through natural forces, or suddenly as a result of a catastrophic civil war. Others theorized that the Verpine were descended from extra-galactic nomads who settled in the Roche asteroid field. The Verpine simply told outsiders that they were unaware of the location of their original homeworld.
Whether it was due to the after-effects of this ancient civil war, or because of the political uniformity and egalitarianism of their civilization, the Verpine were a peaceful people, expert arbitrators who preferred compromise to conflict.
By the time of the Jedi Civil War, the Verpine were part of the Galactic community. High-quality Verpine-manufactured items ranging from ion blasters to cardio-regulators were widely used. Some of these designs were adapted and improved from other species, such as the Bothans or the Arkanians. Contemporary rumors were suspicious of the Verpine, however. Extrapolating from the Verpine practice of testing ion blasters on active droids, some Verpine weapons and medical technology were thought to have been tested on live sentients.
In later years, Verpine engineering was exemplified by the starship manufacturer Slayn & Korpil, which built the famous V-19 Torrent starfighter for the Galactic Republic and the B-wing starfighter for the Rebel Alliance. Their shipbuilding skills were attributed to the need to produce vessels which could safely navigate the Roche asteroids. The Roche Hive Mechanical Apparatus Design and Construction Activity for Those Who Need the Hive's Machines, more commonly known simply as "Roche", was a Verpine-owned droid manufacturer which met with limited success with models like the 8D smelter droid and the J9 worker drone.
During the Galactic Civil War, the Verpine were openly sympathetic towards the Rebel Alliance. However, they did not officially join the Rebellion as a whole, partly due to their natural pacifistic idealism[1], and partly due to the Imperial "advisors" posted in their system.[15] After the Empire fell, however, the Verpine became supporters of the New Republic, with a close relationship with its military.
In 8 ABY, the Verpines broke a number of contracts with the Barabels to produce starships. They claimed that a "mad" hive mother had taken the ships, and given the nature of their society they were under no obligation to retrieve the ships. The Barabels did not see it in the same light, and began negotiating with Kubaz chefs for the sale of Verpine body parts to use in their cuisine. In response to this, the New Republic planned to send Leia Organa Solo to mediate the situation. The situation deteriorated rapidly when a Barabel ship was discovered with frozen Verpine parts. A fleet was sent to avert a war between the species, and Mon Mothma herself traveled to mediate.
During the Swarm War, some Verpine who were addicted to the Gorog Nest's black membrosia acted on the side of the Killiks, including procuring B-wings and Verpine shatterguns for the Killik forces. The Killiks attempted to invade the Verpine capital asteroid, Nickel One, and overthrow their government. The attempt was foiled by the actions of the Jedi Luke Skywalker, Mara Jade Skywalker and Jacen Solo.
During the Second Galactic Civil War, the Verpine accused the people of Murkhana of breaking trade agreements by producing technology similar to theirs. They signed a non-aggression pact with the Mandalorians because of their fear that the Mandalorians would expand their borders once again and invade Verpine territory. The treaty was simple: the Mandalorians would supply their best export, military strength, while the Verpines would supply defense technology and quality control.
This agreement was later put to the test when Imperial Remnant forces allied with Darth Caedus attacked the Verpine's home system in an attempt to gain control of their technology. The Mandalorians rushed to their aid and, with the help of Jedi Jaina Solo, the Mandalorians fought to defend the system.
Following their experiences with Imperial attacks, the Verpine developed the IX-6 heavy combat droid to aid in their defense of the asteroid settlements. Sometime after the establishment of Darth Krayt's Galactic Empire in 130 ABY, Roche was ordered by Imperial officials to immediately cease the production of the IX-6 and destroy all existing models. Unwilling to succumb to the Empire, Verpine spread the factories throughout the Roche asteroid belt, hiding them deep in the asteroids which appeared abandoned from the surface. When the Empire learned of the defiance, a fleet of Star Destroyers blasted several heaviy populated Verpine asteroids to dust. The massacre, however, did not break the will of the Verpine species and Roche continued to produce new IX-6 and smuggle them to anyone who could afford them.
IN THE GALAXY:Many of the Verpine who left their home system found work as starship technicians. Most of them met with success, though some of them would get in trouble for continually making unauthorized, sometimes dangerous, "improvements" to the equipment they maintained. Others used their experience with Verpine communal decision making to act as professional arbitrators and negotiatiors. At least one Verpine became a Jedi, and managed to survive Order 66, killing a large number of clone troopers in the process.
Han Solo and Chewbacca befriended a Verpine priest of the Sacred Way on Aduba-3 after rescuing the clergyman from an angry mob. Years later, Solo, Lando Calrissian, and Lobot worked with a Verpine slicer named Moegid on an ill-fated mission to recover a copy of the Caamas Document from Bastion. Zraii, Rogue Squadron's mechanic, was also a Verpine. Suskafoo, a member of the first hive contacted by the Alliance, actively joined the Rebels by helping to develop the B-Wing and serving in Dagger Squadron.
