Defective R2 unit
This malfunctioning R2 unit functioned as an astromech droid serving the Galactic Empire during the period of the Galactic Civil War.
Biography
A short time prior to the Battle of Hoth, this R2-series astromech droid was aboard the Executor. Unbeknownst to Darth Vader, it was actually a spy working for Emperor Palpatine. After Palpatine learned about one of Vader's secret apprentices, Tao, he tried to send a message to Vader using the droid's holoprojector.
At first, the droid began to fail, and it collided with Vader while he was standing on the bridge. Vader instructed one of his officers to destroy the droid, but before the Imperial could comply, Palpatine's voice and image came from the droid. Palpatine's appearance shocked Vader, particularly when Palpatine revealed his knowledge of Tao. Two Royal Guardsmen then brought Tao before Vader, and Palpatine's image commanded his apprentice to eliminate the boy. Vader followed the order, and Palpatine, satisfied, deactivated the hologram. The R2 unit, confused by the takeover, resumed its regular functions.
Behind the scenes
This droid, whose identity is unknown, is featured solely in the story Perfect Evil, which encompassed issues Black and Silver of Star Wars Manga. Lucasfilm regarded these stories, initially released in Japan, as having "fuzzy" continuity. They were later re-released in English in the United Kingdom under the Infinities label, establishing their material as non-canonical. Shumari, a planet, was subsequently mentioned in The Essential Atlas, which contained the Shumari system within its appendix. However, Jason Fry stated that "its inclusion shouldn't be interpreted as a statement of canonicity for anything beyond the geography."