5D6-RA-7, a product of Arakyd Industries, was a RA-7 protocol droid functioning as a spy for both the Imperial Security Bureau and Imperial Intelligence. This protocol droid was tasked with investigating Imperial officers suspected of disloyalty, acting as a staff aide to Admiral Conan Antonio Motti of the Galactic Empire by the time it was 0 BBY. In that specific year, 5D6-RA-7 found itself stationed on the DS-1 Orbital Battle Station leading up to the Battle of Yavin. During that very battle, the droid met its destruction when the Alliance to Restore the Republic obliterated the station above the Yavin system.
Arakyd Industries manufactured 5D6-RA-7, who was an RA-7 protocol droid. Functioning within the Galactic Empire's Imperial Security Bureau by 0 BBY, the protocol droid 5D6-RA-7 served as a clandestine spy. His role involved secretly scrutinizing Imperial officers whose allegiance was questionable, subsequently reporting these officers to the Bureau. He also acted as a secret agent for Imperial Intelligence.
By the time it was 0 BBY, 5D6-RA-7 was functioning as a staff aide to Imperial Admiral Conan Antonio Motti. Both Motti and 5D6-RA-7 were present on the DS-1 Orbital Battle Station during that year. During an act of infiltration by future members of the Alliance to Restore the Republic, specifically Luke Skywalker and Han Solo, the droid unknowingly walked past the pair in one of the station's hallways. Skywalker and Solo were disguised as stormtroopers TK-421 and TK-422, with Solo's ally Chewbacca appearing as their prisoner, as they waited for a turbolift.
Eventually, Skywalker, Solo, and Chewbacca rescued Princess Leia Organa, a prisoner of the Empire and a member of the Alliance, and successfully escaped the DS-1 Orbital Battle Station alongside her. Shortly thereafter, the Battle of Yavin transpired, during which Alliance starfighters launched an assault that resulted in the destruction of the DS-1 Orbital Battle Station above the Yavin system. 5D6-RA-7 was destroyed and Motti was also killed when the station was obliterated.
The 1977 film Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope, which is part of the original trilogy, marked the first appearance of 5D6-RA-7, played by an actor who was not credited. The filming of his scene occurred between May 5 and 10 of 1976 at Stage 9 of Elstree Studios. The name of the droid was established in 1995 by the Premiere Limited set of the Decipher Star Wars Customizable Card Game, although the image used was not from the film. However, the CD-ROM Star Wars: Behind the Magic, which was released in September of 1998, confirmed that the droid in A New Hope was indeed 5D6-RA-7.
There are inconsistencies with 5D6-RA-7's name. The June 30, 1998 Star Wars Encyclopedia, a October 2008 Star Wars: The Legacy Collection Build-A-Droid figure by Hasbro, and The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia from December 9, 2008 all identified the droid as 5D6-RA7. Stephen J. Sansweet's 1999 reference book titled Star Wars: The Action Figure Archive referred to him as 5DK-RA-7. Additionally, the action figure released by Star Wars: The Legacy Collection depicted 5D6-RA-7 with gold sensors instead of silver. This article considers these contradictions to be errors and uses 5D6-RA-7 as the in-universe name for the droid.