History:

Arpin, also known as “That little bugger” and “Shortarse” along with many other less complimentary names, is not Raiven’s droid. This is something that the R2 unit goes to great lengths and measures to point out, using his arc-welder to great effect to make his (frequently painful) point. Arpin was reluctant to discuss his past, but acceded to the request when he read what Raiven had written about where he thought Arpin had come from.

Arpin was built by the LeoWorks subsidiary of Industrial Automaton three years before the Battle of Yavin. His history until a year or so before the battle is unclear, but shortly after that he was ‘acquired’ by a Hyperspace Mechanic named Harnett who operated around the Orrus Sector as Chief Engineer aboard the Freighter Heart of Elinan. Arpin was memory- wiped and functioned as his assistant, and Harnett would spend his spare time modifying Arpin’s systems, primarily his communications sub-systems and some central programming routines. Arpin picked up large portions of Harnett’s vocabulary, particularly the “colourful” parts, along with an edge in his outlook that in a biological would be described as bitter and sarcastic.

When the Heart was jumped by pirates off Thelos, the ship was badly damaged before the Alliance Light Cruiser Wavecalmer and her embarked X-Wing squadron, responding to the Heart’s distress call, arrived in time to drive them off. The Heart of Elinan was burning by the time her crew and droids were forced to abandon ship during the battle. Wounded during the attack, Harnett died before his escape pod could be recovered, leaving Arpin to himself – quite literally, in fact, as his will stipulated that Arpin was to be sole beneficiary of his property, including the droid, i.e. himself. The R2 unit, now a private citizen, chose to join the Alliance after he and the rest of the Heart’s survivors were rescued by the Wavecalmer.

Arpin was bounced between several Alliance ships and outposts due to his personality clashes with various crewmembers – more than one of which woke up one morning to find their cabin door had been welded shut, or their refresher stall re-plumbed, or in one case their SE-4 servant droid quite literally dismantled and left in constituent parts scattered around their cabin.

Arpin began flying with Raiven during the Mantara crisis, when a late-running Raiven grabbed the nearest R2 unit and ordered it to fly with him in combat. In most cases, this behaviour would have earned the pilot either an introduction to Arpin’s arc welder or a refresher re-plumbing. However, on this mission, the two bonded as Arpin found someone who shared Harnett’s sarcastic sense of humour and ability to trade insults. Since that mission, Arpin flies with Raiven as standard.

It has been commented upon that the pilot and droid deserve each other’s company, but it is recommended that this opinion is not voiced in front of either, since Arpin has retained his sense of vengeance and Raiven’s reputation for pulling unpleasant pranks is legendary aboard the Wolf’s Lair.

Arpin’s caustic personality puts him at loggerheads with many of the Wolf’s Lair’s crew, although he generally tolerates most of Wolfshead Squadron’s personnel, their astromech droids, and the maintenance staff. He and Drake’s droid Ledner can frequently be found plotting to do unpleasant things to unsuspecting people – and if they can get Drake and Raiven, well, that’s just an additional benefit.