View source for Roche Hive Mechanical Apparatus Design and Construction Activity for Those Who Need the Hive's Machines

{{Top|fga|canon=Roche Hive}}
{{Company
|image=[[File:Roche2.jpg]]
|name=Roche Hive Mechanical Apparatus Design and Construction Activity for Those Who Need the Hive's Machines
|founder=[[Verpine/Legends|Verpine]]<ref name="Cynabar">''[[Cynabar's Fantastic Technology: Droids]]''</ref>
|ledby=
|associations=
|parent=
|subsid=
|headquarters=
|locations=[[Roche asteroid field|Roche Asteroid Belt]]<ref name="TEGtD-GMM">{{EGCite|D|A Guide to Major Manufacturers}}</ref>
|role=[[Droid/Legends|Droid]] manufacturer<ref name="Cynabar" />
|products=*[[8D smelter droid]]<ref name="TEGtD-GMM" />
*[[Siak-series protocol droid|''Siak''-series protocol droid]]<ref name="Cynabar" />
*[[J9 worker drone/Legends|J9 worker drone]]<ref name="TEGtD-GMM" />
|founding=
|dissolved=
|affiliation=}}
'''Roche Hive Mechanical Apparatus Design and Construction Activity for Those Who Need the Hive's Machines''', more commonly referred to as simply '''Roche''', was a technology manufacturing program operated by members of the [[Verpine/Legends|Verpine]] species. Based in the [[Roche asteroid field|Roche asteroids]], the program was in direct competition with other technology companies, and struggled with entering the galactic market. Initially, Roche achieved only limited success with its insect-like droid designs. Later designs, such as the [[Siak-series protocol droid|''Siak''-series protocol droid]], were developed with humanoid customers in mind, and thus appealed to a far larger customer base.

Despite being one of the most successful non-[[Human/Legends|Human]] droid manufacturers, Roche had trouble competing with other, larger companies, and was thus forced to distribute nearly exclusively in the Roche asteroids and aboard [[Ithorian Herdship]]s.

==History==
===Product development===
Given the success of other [[Verpine/Legends|Verpine]] technology efforts (such as [[Slayn & Korpil/Legends|Slayn & Korpil]]) and the species' tendency towards technophilia, it was only natural for them to eventually branch out into [[Droid/Legends|droid]] manufacturing.<ref name="Cynabar" /> Thus Roche Hive Mechanical Apparatus Design and Construction Activity for Those Who Need the Hive's Machines was founded.<ref name="TEGtD-GMM" />

One of Roche's first designs, the [[J9 worker drone/Legends|J9 worker drone]] [[Protocol droid/Legends|protocol droid]], was a disaster. The droid strongly resembled its Verpine creators, spoke in a buzzy, [[Insect/Legends|insect]]-like manner, and frequently worked words such as "royal jelly" into its translations. This alienated most potential customers, especially those of [[Mammal/Legends|mammalian]] [[Species/Legends|species]]. The few J9s that were sold often ended up doing menial tasks; its "worker drone" title confused buyers into thinking it was a [[Labor droid/Legends|labor droid]].<ref name="TEGtD-J9">{{EGCite|D|J9 Worker Drone}}</ref>

Roche had more success with later, more humanoid-looking designs such as the [[8D smelter droid]]<ref name="TEGtD-8D8">{{EGCite|D|8D8 Smelting Operator}}</ref> and the [[Siak-series protocol droid|''Siak''-series protocol droid]]. For the ''Siak''-series, Roche hired Human engineers to develop both the chassis and personality matrix, hoping to avoid the design flaws that kept humanoids from purchasing the J9. The result was a sales success.<ref name="Cynabar" />

==Products==
Roche's Verpine engineers typically designed droids with insect-like appearances.<ref name="TEGtD-J9" /> After learning that this was detrimental to sales, they started designing more humanoid droids. Roche models were typically either [[Protocol droid/Legends|protocol]] or [[Labor droid/Legends|labor droids]], though they were known to have manufactured at least one maintenance droid.<ref name="Cynabar" />

Roche's first attempt at a protocol droid was the aforementioned J9 worker drone. Their successor protocol droid model, the ''Siak''-series, addressed some of the major complaints with the J9, and thus sold in larger quantities.<ref name="Cynabar" />

Labor droids designed by Roche included the [[11-17-series mining droid]], a joint project with Slayn & Korpil. The 11-17 was a sales failure&mdash;the model's individual droid brain was considered an unnecessary expense by most customers. The 8D smelter droid was a small revolution for the metal processing industry: prior to this extremely heat-resistant droid, most work was performed by automated equipment. The introduction of the 8D meant that several steps of the metal processing process could be streamlined.<ref name="TEGtD-8D8" /> The [["Hatchling" maintenance droid]], Roche's only known second degree droid model, was a versatile and cost-efficient repair unit that could be modified to perform a variety of tasks.<ref name="Cynabar" />

==Behind the scenes==
Roche Hive Mechanical Apparatus Design and Construction Activity for Those Who Need the Hive's Machines first appeared in [[West End Games]]' roleplaying sourcebook ''[[Cynabar's Fantastic Technology: Droids]]''.<ref name="Cynabar" /> Most mentions of the droid manufacturer have come from other roleplaying supplements and [[The Essential Guide to Droids]].

==Appearances==
*{{Shortstory|story=When the Desert Wind Turns: The Stormtrooper's Tale|book=Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina}} {{Mo}}
*{{DarkStryder|Plant Food|The Kathol Outback}} {{Mo}}

==Sources==
*''[[Galaxy Guide 7: Mos Eisley]]'' {{ID|Roche}}
*''[[The DarkStryder Campaign]]'' {{ID|Roche}}
*''[[Cynabar's Fantastic Technology: Droids]]''
*{{EGCite|D|A Guide to Major Manufacturers}}
*{{EGCite|D|8D8 Smelting Operator}}
*{{EGCite|D|11-17 Miner Droid}}
*{{EGCite|D|J9 Worker Drone}}

==Notes and references==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Droid manufacturers]]
[[Category:Roche Hive Mechanical Apparatus Design and Construction Activity for Those Who Need the Hive's Machines products| ]]