The A3L-N sentinel droid represented a specific type of security droid. Even though this particular model had been subject to a recall many decades ago, the criminal organization known as the Crimson Dawn utilized altered A3L-N sentinel droids, placing them within reinforced frameworks. Several of these droids were assigned to patrol a prison zone located on the flagship Vermillion, which served as a fortress for Crimson Dawn. While the auction of the carbonite-encased smuggler Han Solo was taking place on the Vermillion, Doctor Chelli Lona Aphra, a renegade archaeologist, and Sana Starros, a smuggler, stumbled upon one of these droids as they tried to investigate a prohibited section of the starship. The droid communicated that access was not permitted, then subdued them both, escorting them to a prison cell.