Sic-Six

File:Sicsix.jpg
Sic-Six
Designation	Sentient
Classification	Arachnid
Homeworld	Sisk
Diet	Carnivorous
Average length	1.2–2.1 meters long
Skin color	Commonly black (carapace)
Eye color	Red
Distinctions	Three-section body; eight eyes; eight legs; carapace; great hearing
Famous members	Trix-sor

[Source]

The Sic-Six were a species of intelligent arachnids who could produce webbing and use it to detect nearby presences by hearing the vibrations of the threads. Their proportionally large tympanic membranes, which covered most of their bodies, made this possible. At the same time, this made them vulnerable to loud sounds. Sic-Six had other important sensory organs, including four pairs of eyes, each adapted to see a different part of the spectrum.

Sic-Six generated a natural poison that, while toxic to the fauna of their native planet of Sisk, only acted as an intoxicating drug to organisms from other planets. Several Sic-Six, such as Trix-sor, left their planet to earn a living as "fangers," individuals paid to bite and inebriate customers. This lifestyle suited the species well, as the arachnids disliked the company of fellow Sic-Six.

Biology and appearance

The Sic-Six were sentient arachnids who could grow from less than one meter to more than two meters in length. Each individual had three body segments: head, thorax and abdomen, all covered by a hard, chitinous carapace that was generally black.

The head had four pairs of eyes, all of them red and evenly distributed between the front and sides of the head. Each pair of eyes sensed a different part of the electromagnetic spectrum, giving the species a much wider visual spectrum than most species, ranging from infrared to ultraviolet. Nevertheless, they could not see in total darkness.

The Sic-Six mouth had two pairs of mandibular pedipalps that gave the arachnids an advanced sense of smell. The pedipalps were also used to interpret the environment. The mouth sported two fangs, which were used to inject venom into prey. Although this toxin killed animals from Sisk, it only had a paralyzing and mildly intoxicating effect on a wide variety of offworld species. The Sic-Six could also inject the poison using a stinger. In at least some cases, Sic-Six had a high-pitched voice, even when speaking the language of other species. A Sic-Six named Trix-sor, who was a refined polyglot, tended to infuse his speech with superfluous screeches and cheeps no matter what language he was speaking.

The thorax segment was the largest of the three body parts. It had eight legs attached, each of them with six joints. This allowed the Sic-Six to move at a higher speed than other creatures of the same size; however, this also meant that the species lacked any appendages capable of fine manipulation.

The short, fat abdomen was connected to the thorax by powerful muscles and tendons, despite seeming to almost float behind the rest of the body. It included four posterior spinnerets used to create fine webs. Sic-Six commonly laid webs among trees or in closed spaces to detect intruders: anyone stepping on the web would probably break it, but by doing so, that trespasser would make enough noise for the Sic-Six to notice. Sic-Six webs were seen in docking bays through the galaxy, where they spun webs that, in that position, were apparently a nuisance or a danger to pilots.

Sic-Six had highly sensitive hearing. In fact, their whole bodies acted as tympanic membranes. They could notice faint sounds that originated from hundreds of meters away. Unfortunately for the Sic-Six, this made them highly vulnerable to sonic weapons—even loud noises could seriously injure them, and the mere sound of a explosion from 20 meters away could be fatal.

Society and culture

"Here's another crowd pleaser, a traditional dessert from Sisk featuring layers of moist cake ranging in color from infrared to ultraviolet. It's almost as good to look at as it is to eat!"

―Dexter Jettster

Sic-Six were solitary by nature, particularly with regard to their own species: they only spent time with other Sic-Six to mate, and even then they were uncomfortable. As a result, their native planet Sisk had almost nothing in the way of a central government. Nevertheless, Sic-Six did not shun the company of sentients of other species. Sic-Six were also insecure and afraid of anything that fell beyond their control. This trait had been caused as a result of the quick climatic changes of their planet that sped up the rate of their evolution.

As the Sic-Six disliked uninvited presences, they used their webs to cover their surroundings, so that anyone trying to sneak up on them would be detected.

Although the Sic-Six were unable to stand each other, they managed to develop industrial-level technology on their own. However, that same personality trait stopped them from developing assembly lines. Sic-Six were proud of their own technological achievements, considering themselves superior to other species.

Sic-Six were known to enjoy music, theater and other forms of art. They commonly gravitated toward the humanities and often became scholars of such fields. Sic-Six-layer cake was a traditional dish from their homeworld; the confection's coloration was tailored to Sic-Six visual organs, a fact that made the cake vibrant to look at. The Sic-Six were by and large a wealthy people, because the venom they produced was exported as an addictive stimulant. However, certain unscrupulous entrepreneurs of the drug industry kidnapped and enslaved Sic-Six to make use of their drug-producing capacities.

Unlike several other arachnoid species, Sic-Six were known to wear clothing.

History

The Sic-Six homeworld of Sisk was once a warm, lush planet orbiting the orange dwarf star Sisk. There the Sic-Six evolved into patient beings who simply waited for prey to fall into their webs. However, a relatively short time prior to the Galactic Civil War, their sun underwent partial collapse and became a red dwarf. Consequently, Sisk became a cold, inhospitable world. This turned the passive Sic-Six into active, cunning hunters who began to rely on technology. They also evolved advanced sensory organs. This event affected their personality, making them frightened and insecure when faced with circumstances they could not control.

File:Sic-six.jpg

A Sic-Six in Jabba's Palace

Gifted Sic-Six engineers developed industrial technology for their species, but lack of cooperation made mass production or the large-scale exploitation of Sisk's natural resources impossible.

Later, the galactic community discovered Sisk and the Sic-Six found that they liked outworlders more than they liked other Sic-Six. The galaxy learned of the intoxicating properties of the Sic-Six poison. Communities of foreigners came to enjoy the stimulating effect the drug gave them, and they eagerly paid generous amounts for each dose—Sic-Six venom became more well-known and expensive than Corellian spice.

Several Sic-Six made their fortunes in a business known as "fanging," that is to say, injecting their venom into voluntary subjects who were willing to pay for the service. Although "fanging" was outlawed on several worlds, many Sic-Six made a fortune as "fangers." Others, however, were enslaved for the same reason. Sic-Six could also become addicted to offworld opiates, such as Ryll spice.

Certain offworld corporations wanted to mine Sisk but, as the Sic-Six had no planetary government, no-one was authorized to make that kind of deal—to the tycoons' chagrin.

During the Imperial era, Sic-Six were well integrated into the galactic community. The species had prestige and wealth.

The Verpine business Roche Hive Mechanical Apparatus Design and Construction Activity for Those Who Need the Hive's Machines, who failed in their attempt to market an insect-looking protocol droid to mammals, attempted later to re-direct the units of J9 "worker" drones to insectoid and arachnoid species, including the Sic-Six, the Flakax and the Xi'Dec. Nevertheless, they found no success on Sisk.

Sic-Six in the galaxy

When traveling the galaxy, Sic-Six enjoyed the company of wealthy artists and dilettantes who had few responsibilities. Sic-Six were almost never found with other Sic-Six, as they got along much better with people of other species.

Sic-Six often found their way in the galactic community by providing their venom to willing customers. Some Sic-Six were enslaved by crime lords, or even murdered and dissected for their venom glands. Other, luckier Sic-Six were simply drained of their venom and released or hired. Less scrupulous "fangers" charged cut-rate prices for intoxication only to take advantage of their incapacitated clients and steal their possessions. A Sic-Six was a member of the Tatooine court of Jabba Desilijic Tiure, the well-known Hutt crime kingpin, in 4 ABY.

Trix-sor was a Sic-Six who worked as a "fanger" for an Imperial aristocrat at some point before 1 ABY. He obtained a wealth of money and contacts providing his employer and associates with narcotic services; meanwhile, Trix-sor himself developed his own dependence on Ryll. Trix-sor eventually retired to live on Bespin and enjoyed the local gambling establishments. He was well-known among his neighbors because of his eccentricities and because his previous job was an open secret. Even in his leisure time, Trix-sor sometimes worked as a spy for a minor Imperial noble known as Spenz.

Behind the scenes

File:Sicsixpuppet.JPG

The "6-Eye" puppet used in the movie.

Stuart Freeborn and a team of makeup and creature designers created a six-eyed, insect-like alien for the Jabba's Palace scenes of the movie Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983). The puppet was known as the "6-Eye" during production and was operated by a puppeteer who used his hand to move the creature's head from under a false floor. The maquette was not seen in the movie stills.

In 1989, West End Games published Galaxy Guide 4: Alien Races, a supplement to Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game that introduced the word "Sic-Six" for the first time and gave detailed background for the species. The species then had an entry in A Guide to the Star Wars Universe, Second Edition (1994), mostly re-telling the information from Galaxy Guide 4. In 1995, West End games published the second edition to Yavin and Bespin, with some new pages that had not appeared in the first edition from 1989. Those included new information about Trix-sor, a Sic-six fanger and potential NPC.

The book Star Wars: Chronicles (1997), used a picture of the maquette of the "6-Eye" with a caption identifying it as a "Sic-six." The Star Wars Customizable Card Game, in its 1998 expansion Jabba's Palace Limited, again identified the "6-Eye" from Jabba's Palace as a Sic-Six. After that, the species and their planet received entries in Star Wars Encyclopedia (1998), both sourced to Galaxy Guide 4; these short articles were repeated in The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia in 2008. New information about the species was provided in The Essential Guide to Droids (1999), with the same information repeated in The New Essential Guide to Droids (2006).

Most sources capitalize the species's name as "Sic-Six", with two capital S's, except for Star Wars Encyclopedia and The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia in their entries about the species, where it is called "Sic-six". However, the entries about the planet Sisk use the spelling "Sic-Six." Star Wars: Chronicles only mentions the name once, writing it as "Sic-six."

In the real world, arachnids commonly have only two body segments (cephalothorax and abdomen); however, in the Star Wars universe, several arachnid sentient species (e.g. Charon) do not share this trait.

Appearances

• Template:Hyperspace (Mentioned only)
• Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (Cut from final film)

Sources

• The Art of Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi Template:Po
• Galaxy Guide 4: Alien Races Template:1stID
• A Guide to the Star Wars Universe, Second Edition
• Galaxy Guide 4: Alien Races, Second Edition
• Galaxy Guide 2: Yavin and Bespin, Second Edition
• Star Wars: Chronicles
• Template:CCG
• Star Wars Encyclopedia
• The Essential Guide to Droids
• The New Essential Guide to Droids
• The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia

External links

• Template:CUSWEID
• PropStore.com

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