DRK-1 Dark Eye probe droid

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"Hey—your spy droids discovered this freighter. You gonna doubt your own tech the way you're doubting me and mine?"

―Cad Bane, to Darth Maul^[5]

The DRK-1 Dark Eye probe droid, also known as the DRK-1 probe droid, Sith probe droid, Sith seeker, or Repair droid, was a model of probe droid used by the Sith and later the Galactic Empire.

Characteristics

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The DRK-1 probe was a spherical probe droid^[6] and camera droid^[7] capable of floating above the ground,^[6] equipped with whisper-quiet repulsorlifts that allowed for stealthy tracking of a target.^[7] Sporting a single eye, these droids had a black carapace and were fitted with a^[6] long-range^[7] antenna rising from their globe-like body.^[6] Darth Maul's DRK-1 probe droids spoke the language Sisrai.^[8] Small in size and incredibly fast, the probe droids were difficult to spot with unaided senses, and sensor-baffling technology made them virtually undetectable via electronic equipment.^[3]

Some DRK-1 probe droids were equipped with a micro-grenade launcher. When confronted, the probe droids would attack, destroying its opponent or forcing its own destruction, providing little to no opportunities for recovery.^[3]

History

Usage by Maul

"Show me."

―Darth Maul commanding one of his DRK-1 Dark Eye probe droids^[5]

The Jedi Order believed that DRK-1 probe droids were designed from specifications found in ancient Sith holocrons.^[3] According to the B1-series battle droid turned author R0-GR, the droids were said to be favored by Sith Lords.^[7]

Darth Maul launches DRK-1 probes from Scimitar. — Darth Maul launches DRK-1 probes from *Scimitar*.

The Sith Lord Darth Maul made use of several DRK-1 probes, keeping at least three of the spy droids^[2] aboard his personal starship, the Scimitar.^[9] He utilized these droids to track down a freighter belonging to the Haddrex Gang on Nar Shaddaa, which led Maul and his bounty hunter compatriots to the hideout of Xev Xrexus in the Drazkel system. There, Maul followed one of the droids to the location where Jedi Padawan Eldra Kaitis was imprisoned.^[5]

Naboo and the Clone Wars

Maul's probe droids move through the streets of Mos Espa.

In 32 BBY, Maul launched three probe droids while seeking out Queen Padmé Amidala on Tatooine, and one of them successfully located her Jedi protector, Qui-Gon Jinn, in Mos Espa. The droid reported back to Maul who promptly set out on his speeder,^[2] the Bloodfin,^[9] to engage Jinn in a lightsaber duel.^[2] However one of these droids, after rescuing a labor droid and being saved from a sandcrawler by the same droid, decided to remain on Tatooine with its new friend.^[10] Jinn relayed a report about the DRK-1 probe droid to the Jedi sometime during the blockade of Naboo,^[3] shortly before his death.^[2]

Encounters with DRK-1 probe droids were sparse. Further reports arose from isolated sites across the galaxy, but such sightings were often limited or unverifiable. During the Clone Wars, it was not widely known which of Count Dooku's agents had the authority to deploy the droids or knowledge of their missions. Although unable to recover the probes, providing limited basis for conjecture, the Jedi and Republic Intelligence correctly hypothesized the droids' use of sensor-masking technology.^[3]

Delivery for Umpass-stay

DRK-1 probe droid: "I come bearing a top-secret message for one Umpass-stay from your father, the chief, Daladit-Chan. But I am only to relay it in absolute privacy!"

Umpass-stay: "Ak-rev here is my brother. He found me when I was just a street rat playing on empty cans. He made me the person I am today. I owe him my life, droid."

Ak-rev: "And I owe Umpass mine, several times over."

Umpass-stay: "So anything—anything—that the chief has to say to me, it can be said in front of Ak-rev. Clear?"

DRK-1 probe droid: "Right-oh! It's your funeral. Anyway, the message is simple…kill Jabba!'"

―A DRK-1 probe droid, Umpass-stay, and Ak-rev^[11]

During the Galactic Civil War, these droids were used as repair units by the Imperial Army to make field repairs to vehicles. They were unarmed however, leaving them defenseless against enemies.^[4]

The First Order patrol droid, the descendant of the DRK-1 Dark Eye probe droid.

In 4 ABY,^[12] on the Outer Rim world of Tatooine, a DRK-1 probe droid approached Ak-rev and Umpass-stay, a pair of drummers in service of the Hutt crime lord Jabba, outside Jabba's Palace. Derided by the duo, the droid informed the musicians he bore a message for Umpass-stay from his father, Chief Daladit-Chan, to be relayed in absolute privacy. Explaining that as adoptive brothers, they owed each other their lives, Umpass-stay convinced the droid to deliver his message in front of Ak-rev, and the probe obliged, finding the message to be rather straightforward: kill Jabba.^[11]

In his "droidography," a written work detailing the droids of the galaxy, R0-GR speculated that DRK-1 probe droids were favorites of the Sith not because of their near-silent repulsorlifts but due to their all-black color scheme, declaring that the dark side warriors were spooky and did not need the probe droids to prove it. R0-GR also described the DRK-1 as an ancestor of the First Order patrol droid, which he considered to be slightly less grim.^[7] The book was published no earlier than 34 ABY.^[13]