A red droid operated on behalf of the Cyban Front criminal organization during the time of the Galactic Empire. Around 1 ABY, along with a blue droid, the red droid represented the Cyban Front at the auction of the Rur Crystal on the Sorca Retreat space station, hosted by the rogue archaeologist Doctor Chelli Aphra. The droids aimed to destroy the crystal due to the technopathy abilities of Eternal Rur, the consciousness that inhabited it, asserting that the power to control technology was detrimental to droid rights.
Due to the manipulation of Aphra's droids, 0-0-0 and BT-1, the red droid's blue comrade became possessed by Rur and proceeded to attack the auction's other guests. The red droid attempted to escape in the ensuing chaos but was destroyed by the Sith Lord Darth Vader when Imperial forces boarded the station to shut down the auction.
During the time of the Galactic Empire, the red droid was a member of the Cyban Front criminal organization, an affiliate of the Droid Gotra syndicate. Around 1 ABY, the rogue archaeologist Doctor Chelli Aphra hosted an auction of the Rur Crystal, which contained Eternal Rur, the consciousness of the long-dead Jedi Knight Rur. The red droid, alongside a blue partner, attended the auction aboard the Sorca Retreat space station to represent the Cyban Front, among various other organizations. The droids intended to win the Rur crystal so that they could destroy it due to the technopathy abilities possessed by Eternal Rur, believing such power would be harmful to droids' marginal position in the galaxy.
The red droid watches as its blue comrade becomes possessed by Rur.
After the auction guests had arrived, Aphra introduced the crystal and explained its power, during which the red droid's partner doubted the existence of technopathy. The red droid countered its comrade, who requested proof of the abilities. Aphra allowed the crystal to possess the blue droid, and Rur lunged forward in the droid's body before being shot and destroyed by Krrsantan, the archaeologist's bounty hunter associate. Following the destruction of its partner, the red droid asserted the existence of technopathy.
The auction guests were left to determine their prices, and the red droid's partner was taken to be repaired. Aphra scheduled meetings with any individuals who intended to bid, including the red droid. As the droid watched its comrade undergo repairs, Aphra questioned it about its offer. The droid explained the Cyban Front's intentions to destroy the crystal but reassured her of the considerable amount offered and promised to clear any debts the archaeologist possessed with the organizations that the droid represented. While Aphra was disappointed by the droids' intentions, she considered the offer but eventually awarded the crystal to the Shadow University academic institution.
Unknown to both the red droid and Aphra, the archaeologist's two assassin droids, 0-0-0 and BT-1, chose to insert the crystal into the blue droid's chassis, allowing him to be possessed by Rur once again. Before the unsuccessful guests could depart the station, an enraged Rur, in the blue droid's body and equipped with two lightsabers, emerged to attack the guests. Simultaneously, 0-0-0 activated the station's turrets and set them to automatically target the fleeing criminals. In the initial chaos, the red droid managed to evade both its partner and the station's turrets, encountering Aphra, who believed that all of the machinery in the room had fallen under the control of Rur's technopathy. However, upon noticing that the red droid was unaffected, Aphra realized that Rur did not possess his technopathy abilities, deducing 0-0-0's involvement and control over the turrets.
Darth Vader destroyed the red Cyban Front droid.
The red droid inquired whether Aphra had programmed a destruction fail-safe into its associate. Learning she had not, the droid intended to depart the station. During the skirmish, the droid became damaged, losing its right arm. As the droid attempted to leave the Sorca Retreat, forces of the Galactic Empire arrived at the station, led by the Sith Lord Darth Vader, who had been alerted to the criminal nature of the gathering by 0-0-0. The droid panicked upon observing the Imperials and tried to escape, but Vader destroyed the droid, using the Force to shatter it into pieces. The droid's partner, still possessed by Eternal Rur, was also ultimately destroyed by Vader, who took the Rur crystal from his remains.
The droid believed that technopathy was a risk to droids' marginal position in the galaxy.
The Cyban Front droid possessed red plating with black stripes on either side of its head. It had three yellow sensors on the front of its face, the larger of which was positioned above the other two. The droid had a humanoid form, with two legs and arms, and had three-fingered hands. When the droid communicated, it prefaced its words with a descriptor of the sentence that followed.
As an affiliate of the Droid Gotra, it supported rights for droids, believing their position in the galaxy was often marginal. As such, the droid opposed the existence of technopathy due to its power to control droids, wishing the Rur crystal to be destroyed despite the knowledge that it offered. The droid assumed that Doctor Chelli Aphra intended to plant a destruction fail-safe in its partner while repairing him, passive-aggressively questioning Aphra about its assumption.
The red Cyban Front droid first appeared in the ninth issue of the 2016 comic series Star Wars: Doctor Aphra. The issue was written by Kieron Gillen, pencilled by Kev Walker, and published by Marvel Comics on July 12, 2017. The panel of Doctor Aphra 9 that follows the blue droid's objection to technopathy shows the red droid arguing against the ability's existence, while the blue droid is the one to counter its point. As the preceding and subsequent panels establish the blue droid to be the one to dispute the existence of technopathy, this article assumes that the dialogue in that panel is incorrectly attributed.