R2-Q9

OnACanonArticle

"This is workplace harassment, I’ll have you know."
―TK-423, to R2-Q9, after the latter threatened them with an arc welder[2]

R2-Q9 was an astromech droid who served onboard the Death Star II battle station in 4 ABY. The droid regularly made trouble for the stormtrooper TK-423, locking them out of their quarters, running over their feet, and even threatening them with an arc welder.

Biography

R2-Q9[2] was an R-series astromech droid manufactured by Industrial Automaton[1] that served the Galactic Empire.[2] In 4 ABY,[4] the droid was stationed aboard the Death Star II battle station and was assigned to a specific floor. The floor also had a specific detachment of stormtroopers serving there. When the stormtrooper TK-423 asked if R2-Q9 would serve as the holoprojector to allow their captain to show the holovid Officer & Commander to the unit, R2-Q9 rudely responded in Binary, cursing at them and telling TK-423 that they were a pitiful individual on the lowest level of the Imperial food chain. The droid then proceeded to routinely pick on TK-423, locking the trooper out of their quarters and also locking them inside the refresher. R2-Q9 would also regularly travel through corridors at high speeds when passing TK-423's unit, which caused several accidents.[2]

When TK-423 attempted to file a report against R2-Q9's disruptive behavior, the form disappeared, causing TK-423 to suspect the astromech droid had destroyed it. Later, TK-423's companion TK-293 agreed to switch uniforms with them in hopes of thwarting R2-Q9's antics. However, the droid was still able to single out TK-423 and run over their foot. R2-Q9 was even emboldened enough to threaten TK-423 with its arc welder, forcing the trooper to hand over the food they had gathered from the cafeteria before throwing it out the trash compactor. Tk-423 would detail each of the incidents with the astromech in their log.[2]

The day of the Rebel Alliance attack on the Death Star II, R2-Q9 chased down TK-423 while the trooper was collecting equipment. As TK-423 fled, R2-Q9 attempted to shut the doors they were fleeing through. When TK-423 eventually hid inside an escape pod, R2-Q9 pushed the launch button, looking on as the helpless trooper was sent flying into the chaos of the space battle.[2]

Behind the scenes

R2-Q9 was mentioned in "Trooper Trouble," a short story written by Laura Pohl and included in the 2023 anthology From a Certain Point of View: Return of the Jedi.[2]

Appearances

Notes and references

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Trooper Trouble" establishes that R2-Q9 is an R2 series astromech droid, which is part of the R-series line and manufactured by Industrial Automaton, according to Star Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know, Updated and Expanded.
  2. ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 "Trooper Trouble" — From a Certain Point of View: Return of the Jedi
  3. ↑ Star Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know, Updated and Expanded states that R2 series astromech droids stand 0.96 meters (3ft 2in) tall. As "Trooper Trouble" shows R2-Q9 to be an R2 series astromech droid, it must also stand 0.96 meters tall.
  4. ↑ Star Wars: Galactic Atlas dates the events of Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi, which "Trooper Trouble" occurs concurrently to, to 4 ABY.