L7-BO was a protocol droid who, together with the elderly Human Sleightan, formed a successful con artist duo traveling between space stations during the Galactic Civil War. Their scam routine involved Sleightan attempting to sell L7-BO to their marks while claiming that he had inherited the droid from his deceased son and that he needed the money from such a sale to stave off poverty. After L7-BO was successfully sold, the droid would seek out any opportunity to sneak away from his new owners and return to Sleightan. At one point, the pair attempted their con at the Farrimmer Cafe eatery aboard the Mynock 7 Space Station, with Sleightan eventually selling L7-BO to a group of spacers and the droid subsequently attempting to slip away unnoticed while they were distracted by other events.

Biography[]

The tale of tragic inheritance[]

L7-BO, also referred to as L7, was a protocol droid who was active during the Galactic Civil War between the Galactic Empire and the Rebel Alliance. He and the elderly Human Sleightan were successful con artists who traveled from space station to space station performing scams. As part of their con, Sleightan—who in reality was fairly affluent but presented himself as a down-on-his-luck spacer—would claim that his son, Armbrus, had been an honest pilot working throughout the Outer Rim Territories. According to Sleightan's story, Armbrus was arrested by Imperial authorities on false charges and imprisoned, and then killed while supposedly trying to escape.^[1]

Sleightan would further claim that L7-BO was the only thing from his son's starship that the Empire did not confiscate and allowed him to keep—with the con artist carrying a datapad on him with a forged Imperial letter on it that informed of the latter "fact." The old man would state to have no use for the droid, who was purportedly his only possession of any real value, and then attempt to sell him to their marks in order to supposedly help himself fend off poverty. If asked, L7-BO would readily corroborate his partner's story about Armbrus, although he would tend to deliver it in a very dull manner. If the sale was successful, L7-BO would afterward attempt to surreptitiously leave his new owners and return to his partner-in-crime. Lessons that Sleightan learned during the pair's early attempts at their scam made him program L7-BO so that he would only speak when spoken to.^[1]

The con at the Farrimmer Cafe[]

At one point, Sleightan and L7-BO traveled to the Mynock 7 Space Station^[1] of the Outer Rim's Mayagil sector^[2] and entered the Farrimmer Cafe, the only eatery aboard the station—which L7-BO was very familiar with. Several moments later, the pair began striking up conversations with some of the cafe's patrons, specifically a group of six Human tourists who were passengers on a space liner and a trio of Mrissi archaeologists who were looking for a wealthy patron for their excavations.^[1]

Afterward, the two con artists approached the table of a group of spacers. Sleightan introduced himself and the droid and then offered to sell L7-BO for 3,000 credits, noting his belief that the droid would be of good use to the spacers. When asked, the man relayed to the spacers how he supposedly acquired L7-BO—noting, as part of his scam story, his belief that the Empire had no use for such a droid—and attempted to convince them that his need to sell the droid was sincere. Sleightan also informed the spacers that, in case they refused the offer, he would sell the droid to the Mrissi archaeologists, despite them not wishing to meet his asking price.^[1]

The group of spacers haggled over the price with the con artist—which he only did grudgingly, claiming to really like L7-BO despite not having a real use for him and needing the money. In the end, Sleightan lowered the asking price to 2,250 credits, at which point the spacers agreed to buy the droid. Immediately after the sale, after his partner had departed the Farrimmer Cafe, L7-BO began plotting his return to him at the docking bay of the Mynock 7 Space Station, and eventually the droid made an attempt to sneak away from the spacers while they were distracted by other events.^[1]

Characteristics[]

L7-BO had shiny metallic plating with a slight blue tint to it as well as bright yellow video sensors. He could run at significant speeds as well as dodge, hide, and sneak, and he was skilled at moving through stores aboard the Mynock 7 Space Station in order to shake off pursuit.^[1]

The droid was fluent in 4.5 million languages and could converse in several million additional tongues. He had considerable knowledge of alien species and cultures, planetary systems, and governments, with Sleightan characterizing him as "real smart" during his sham sales pitch of the droid. L7-BO acted polite and, during their con attempt at the Farrimmer Cafe, the droid walked several steps behind his partner, exhibiting patience while waiting for him to navigate around the eatery's tables. Overall, L7-BO left the impression of a properly functioning and well-maintained protocol droid. Although Sleightan admitted that 3,000 credits was a high asking price for the droid, he also claimed that the price was fair considering his supposed circumstances.^[1]

Additionally, L7-BO was a skilled con artist and storyteller, as well as a very quick thinker. He was programmed to only speak when he was spoken to during his and Sleightan's con attempts, and his programming also included instructions to seek out any opportunities to sneak away from his new owners and return to Sleightan.^[1]

Behind the scenes[]

L7-BO's possible escape attempts[]

L7-BO appeared in "The Farrimmer Cafe," a roleplaying source article authored by Jean Rabe and J. Allan Fawcett for use with West End Games' Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game and published in the November 1996 eleventh issue of the Star Wars Adventure Journal magazine. The droid appears in one of the relatively interconnected roleplaying adventure episodes presented in "The Farrimmer Cafe"—which this article assumes plays out as described—and the Star Wars Adventure Journal article suggests several points in that chain of scenarios at which he could attempt to utilize the player characters' being distracted in order to sneak away.^[1]

The first such opportunity is presented when two dozen agitated and hungry zdrinbagh creatures escape from the Farrimmer Cafe's kitchen and attack the establishment's patrons. Under the cover of the chaos, L7-BO can edge toward the eatery's door and, if unnoticed, slip out, at which point he has effectively escaped the player characters' grasp. Alternatively, the droid can make his escape attempt during a shootout that erupts at the cafe when a group of bounty hunters attempt to retrieve a valuable stolen Karltonian Fiskin coin that the Human Bon Seqours has brought into the establishment. Finally, another opportunity arises for L7-BO to slip away unnoticed during a brawl involving the player characters and the sore-loser Wookiee mechanic Cecil over a game of sabacc gone wrong.^[1]

Other scenarios[]

If L7-BO does not encounter an opportunity to sneak away, he tries to make one himself by complaining of pain in his servo-dio or another of his components, after which he attempts to leave in order to supposedly undergo repairs—which he claims to prefer take place at a local repair shop "just around the corner" in case any of the player characters offer to repair him. "The Farrimmer Cafe" notes that the gamemaster player is free to let the characters of the other players pursue the droid if they notice him attempting to slip away, but notes that they would find capturing him to be difficult due to his skill set. As a last resort during such a chase through the Mynock 7 Space Station, the fleeing con artist begins to yell for help from the inhabitants of the station, claiming that the player characters are in league with the trio of anti-technological Corellians they have encountered in a prior scenario and that they therefore wish to dismantle him.^[1]

In case L7-BO has not yet escaped by the time of the final scenario in "The Farrimmer Cafe"—which is described as a highly unusual situation—he translates for the player characters what the recently arrived non-Basic–speaking Gamorrean mercenary Bnugor is telling them, that is, that his snuzzleguff pet Snowball has escaped into the Mynock 7 Space Station and that he has tracked the creature to the Farrimmer Cafe. The droid's visual sensors then dim slightly when he relays Bnugor's following comment—that the very fast, flying snuzzleguff is also carnivorous, very aggressive, and highly venomous, and that additionally the mercenary wishes for the pet to be returned to him unharmed at all costs.^[1]

Appearances[]

• "The Farrimmer Cafe" — Star Wars Adventure Journal 11 (First appearance)

Notes and references[]