An arxeum functioned as a mobile university, with its primary purpose being the advancement of military science. During the era of the Republic Dark Age, these arxeums were manufactured by Industrial Heuristics, a corporation under the control of the Quermian Sith Lord known as Ayanos Bactra. They served as crucial hubs for the creation of cutting-edge combat technologies. In 1032 BBY, Bactra consented to provide an arxeum to the Sith Lord Daiman. Daiman strategically employed this university as a lure to draw the forces of his brother, Odion, into an ambush that was set on the planet Gazzari. Ultimately, Daiman's arxeum met its end, being destroyed by an Odionite Death Spiral assault vehicle during the clash.
Serving as expansive, mobile university ship, an arxeum was dedicated to the study of sciences related to war. Within these institutions, innovative technologies were developed for use in combat. The construction of these war colleges was costly. Each arxeum was composed of nine interconnected towers, each one as large as a city block. A grid of massive crossbars fused the towers together, and each tower displayed the arrow-shaped emblem of Industrial Heuristics, the company responsible for the universities' manufacture.
Although arxeums were frequently stationed in semi-permanent locations, their design allowed for relocation as required by circumstances. Propelled by nine substantial engines, an arxeum possessed the ability to navigate both through space and within planetary atmospheres. Students were recruited at a young age and would often spend their entire careers aboard a single arxeum, focused on designing new military equipment.
The design and production of arxeums occurred during the Republic Dark Age, spearheaded by Industrial Heuristics, a corporation owned by the Quermian Sith Lord Ayanos Bactra. These military universities were deployed across the Bactranate, which was Bactra's domain within the Grumani sector. By 1032 BBY, arxeums were operational near the planets Alphoresis, Gazzari, and Tergamenion. Scouts representing Industial Heuristics were dispatched throughout Bactra's territories to identify potential students for the arxeums. An agreement was also made with the Sith Lord Daiman, who governed the neighboring Daimanate state, granting Industrial Heuristics permission to seek prospective arxeum students within Daiman's lands.
In 1032 BBY, a Daimanite military testing center situated on the planet Darkknell faced destruction at the hands of Narsk Ka'hane, a Bothan agent working for Daiman's older brother and rival, the Sith Lord Odion. Following this event, Daiman sought retribution against his brother. After being contacted by Bactra, the Human Sith requested an arxeum to address a vulnerability in the Daimanite defenses resulting from the loss of the Darkknell facility. Bactra agreed to provide the Gazzari-based arxeum in exchange for temporary right of passage across Daiman's territories for Bactra's forces. Bactra intended to use this access to attack gadolinium production facilities on the world Vellas Pavo, which competed with his own gadolinium extraction operations. However, Daiman's true plan was to use the arxeum as bait to lure his brother into a trap. He allowed Ka'hane to relay information about his acquisition of the arxeum to Odion.
Daiman arranged for the arxeum's delivery on Gazzari, anticipating that Odion, acting on Ka'hane's intelligence, would strike against Gazzari to prevent Daiman from acquiring the vessel. Daiman correctly predicted that Odion's attack would occur only after the university's transfer, ensuring that any damage would affect Daiman rather than Bactra. He deployed thousands of mercenaries to the arxeum's designated arrival site to await and ambush the Odionite forces. Hundreds of new students, recruited from across the Daimanate, were also dispatched to Gazzari to await the arxeum and become the university's first Daimanite students.
The arxeum, escorted by four Industrial Heuristics transports, entered Gazzari's atmosphere and landed in a crater on the planet's surface. As the students were led toward the vessel by their droid escorts, Odion's forces arrived and engaged the Daimanites in battle. The arxeum was targeted by an Odionite Death Spiral attack vehicle and was quickly reduced to molten slag. The battle's outcome remained inconclusive, and the prospective arxeum students were rescued from the battlefield by the Jedi Knight Kerra Holt.
Writer John Jackson Miller conceived the arxeum, introducing it in his 2012 novel Knight Errant, which served as a tie-in to the Star Wars: Knight Errant comic series.