AD-43

It was located half a kilometer away from the Valley of the Jedi and functioned as an attack droid, programmed to gather intelligence and kill those attempting to approach the Valley. As a perimeter patrol droid, it was stationed near a ledge on the canyon wall where a team of Rebels led by Grif Grawley attempted to climb in order to sneak through Perimeter Two of Jerec's base. No time to pull his blaster, Grawley simply charged against it, prompting it to do the same. They hovered together, with the droid's pincer crushing Grif's leg. Grif pulled his diamond-hard hunting knife with which he hit the droid's casing, and eventually its guidance system, causing it to spin on its axis. All this was witnessed by Grif's allies, Kyle Katarn and Jan Ors, with the latter trying to shot at the droid but being unable to, because of its rotation.

The damages eventually caused the droid to hurl and crash into a cliff and fall into a canyon below, killing Grif. Before the droid's termination, it transmitted scan of three Humans and one bouncer to the Imperial forces: Grif Grawley, Kyle Katarn, Jan Ors, and Floater which it couldn't classify.

The base sent assets to investigate, and while waiting for their return, an officer reported the events to Jerec. Upon hearing this, the Dark Jedi Warlod did not wait for the analyses: using his augmented Force senses he felt the presence of the intruders.

The droid first appears in the Dark Forces: Jedi Knight novella and is referred to as an attack droid; its name is later revealed in dialogue, with AD obviously being the initials for Attack Droid. In the illustration by Dave Dorman however, it appears as a Viper probe droid.

The above article follows mostly the novella. In the audio adaptation, the situation is a bit different: while in the novella Grif encounters the droid while climbing a ledge, in the drama the team seems to have been walking, and the droid attacks him first. Furthermore the droid has a vocabulator and announces its reports vocally. Unlike in the novella, the droid doesn't seem to use repulsors and the encounter is presented as a physical fight on the ground. Unlike in the novella, Jan and Kyle are not hanging on a rope, but are standing on the ground watching close by, and Jan prompts Kyle to shoot the droid, who hesitates. Eventually the droid's deactivation and Grif's death are caused by the exchange of hits and damages, rather than flying on a rock wall and falling in the abyss.

In the audio drama, Martin Ruben is credited as "Battle Droid".