Droid Fighters
The Xi Charrians of Charros IV, along with the Baktoid race, are among several cultures that have been all-but-assimilated by the opportunities afforded them by the escalation of the Trade Federation's military preparations. To the Xi Charrians, the pursuit of refining technology is a relgion that they follow devoutly, and they certainly outdid themselves in designing and manufacturing the Trade Federation's droid starfighters...I refer you now, once again, to Star Wars: Episode I Incredible Cross-Sections, and its author, David West Reynolds...
"The space fighters deployed from the Trade Federation battleships are themselves droids, not piloted by any living being. Showered upon enemies in tremendous swarms, droid starfighters dart through space in maddening fury, elusive targets and deadly opponents for living defenders. They are controlled by a continuously modulated signal from the central Droid Control Ship computer, which keeps track of every single individual fighter just as it pulses through the processor of every single battle droid. The signal receiver and onboard computer brain is in the "head" of the fighter and twin sensor pits serve as eyes. They are the most sophisticated automated starfighters ever built, carrying four laser cannons as well as two energy torpedo launchers, which pack them with firepower far beyond their size class."
Droid starfighters have several other unusual features as well: they use a solid fuel slug, which produces amazing thrust from a small engine, although it needs recharged after 35 minutes of flight time; they are recharged while hanging from ceiling girders, constantly running self-tests and diagnostics by turning their heads and moving their wings, which makes them appear to be a massive colony of large, mechanical bats; and they have a walk-mode which makes them an equally-useful terror force on the ground, even though the ships cannot use their laser cannons when in walk-mode (the torpedo tubes, on the other hand...). And mind you, this isn't just speculation...all of this is official data, paraphrased (for brevity's sake) from the afore-mentioned book. One part that I don't want to paraphrase, however...
"The flying, walking, shape-shifting droid starfighter requires extremely specialized manufacturing, of the kind found in the traditional cathedral factories of Xi Char, where ultra-precision manufacturing is a religious practice followed by thousands. The initiates do not concern themselves with the ultimate use of their deadly creations, making Xi Charrians ideal pawns of the Trade Federation's dark purposes."
Can you see where the galaxy started going horribly wrong?
In walk-mode, the droid fighter's wings split down the center, and become four legs. It then walks on its wingtips (which have built-in shock absorber claws), its head juting forward on its neck strut. As mentioned earlier, they can only use their torpedoes on the ground, but they can just as easily re-launch into the air if need be. The walk-mode is used primarily for high-profile patrol work in areas already under control, where intimidation is a serious advantage over the population.