Squires are advanced types of  bioroids which usually appear as beautiful male or female humans in their early 20′s. They are the heart of the Hyperspace Navigation System, which allows Imperial Starships to navigate precisely in hyperspace- a feat normally impossible due to hyperspace’s effect on normal sensory systems. As a result they have become a symbol of the rank of Captain in the Imperial Navy, with the Squire acting as the captain’s aide as well as the core of his ship’s computer during travel. They can be easily distinguished from humans by a collar that all Squires wear around their necks to cover access ports on the back of their necks.

Developed in 2517 through a joint project by the Imperial Science Corps and the Abassi Cybernetics Corporation the squires were the second step in a program to develop an advanced hyperspace navigation system. In the first step the team developed an engineered bio-brain which possessed telepathic abilities specifically tuned to be able to locate each other over long distances. These were originally intended to be installed on platforms sitting in hyperspace with similar smaller brains installed on ships to make use of the unmoving bio-brains as hyperspacial landmarks to use in navigation.

However, during an early stage of the project an unexpected difficulty was encountered- in order to achieve the best results the brains needed to be aware and sentient. However, such aware and sentient brains reacted negatively to being installed on ships and developed severe psychological issues that made them unreliable. One of the solutions to this problem the team developed was to place the brain in a bioroid body which could then disconnect from the ship when not needed. This also had the advantage of helping to preserve the secrecy of the project during the later test phases as the Hyperspacial Navigation Bioroid Unit (HNBU, as they were first called) appeared to be just another member of the team and were ignored by crewmen aboard the test ships.

Although means to overcome the psychological instability issue was later found, by the time it was the newly dubbed “Squires” (named after the assistants who accompanied ancient knights into battle) were already established parts of the Imperial Naval Culture. This is attributed especially to Imperial Prince Elbert III who once referred to his Squire Hera, as the symbol of his status as a Naval Officer during his coronation ceremony- stating that as long as she was by his side “he was always ready for battle”.

To the majority of the Empire, Squires are simply assistants to the Captains of the Imperial Navy, and common media portrayals of them range from emotionless killers to depraved sexual playthings. Their importance is credited to Prince Elbert III, and they are affectations much like swords or parts of a captain’s uniform. (It should be noted that bioroids were not uncommon as servants of the Nobility in general, before or after the creation of the Squire.) The Navy perpetuates this belief in order to keep the “secret key component” of the Hyperspace Navigation System out of the hands of prying eyes.