Tech Masters

The Tech Masters were a group of engineers who ruled the planet of Trionak in the Kiax Nebula, keeping it secret for centuries. They hired privateers to capture starships and dump them on Trionak, where slaves would salvage them under the brutal surveillance of repurposed Clone Wars-era commando droids. If the captured ships still had a crew, their members were either enslaved or executed. Additionally, it was impossible to escape, because of the impenetrable force field that surrounded the whole planet.

With the salvaged parts, the Tech Masters created pieces of improved technology that helped make their lives more comfortable and protected them from outsiders. For example, the Keredian Tech Master Ruk liked to create new starfighters out of parts salvaged from TIE fighter series craft.

At some point between the Battle of Yavin and the Battle of Hoth, three of the Alliance to Restore the Republic's transport ships disappeared in the Kiax Nebula. Alliance heroes Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa decided to investigate the matter on their own. When their ship, the Millennium Falcon, was boarded by pirates, the Alliance heroes and their astromech droid R2-D2 hid in a secret compartment, and did not come out until the arrival at Trionak. Together, they put an end to the Tech Masters' rule by alerting the Galactic Empire of their existence. After learning that the Masters used stolen Imperial technology, Admiral Rhodes brought a Star Destroyer to Trionak and managed to lower its force field to launch an attack, also allowing Skywalker and Organa to escape in the process.

Text and facts from the “Tech Masters” article on Wookieepedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Modified for this site.