GA - 97 GA - 97 was an unassuming servant droid who served at the castle of the pirate Maz Kanata on the planet Takodana , but was secretly aligned with the Resistance . In the year 34 ABY , it was present when the smuggler Han Solo entered with the scavenger Rey , the former stormtrooper Finn and the astromech droid BB - 8 . Recognizing BB - 8 as a missing Resistance droid , GA - 97 contacted them via their intelligence network to inform them of the astromech ' s location . Based on the droid ' s report , Resistance forces were mobilized to travel to Takodana . Before they arrived the castle was destroyed in an attack by the First Order . Biography . GA - 97 was a GA servant droid that was aligned with the Resistance during their conflict with the First Order and plugged into their intelligence network . The droid was spending time in the castle of the pirate Maz Kanata on the planet Takodana , when the smuggler Han Solo led a group of three fugitives from the First Order into the structure . Kanata , an old friend of Solo ' s , recognized the smuggler shortly after he entered and cried out to him , causing everyone in the castle to turn their attention to the new - comers including GA - 97 and those seated at the fighting droid table he was sat against . After the crowd lost interest , GA - 97 turned his attention to the Dengue sisters , a group of three Culisetto s gambling on a table nearby . The sisters ' game was interrupted when the dismembered arm of the junk dealer Unkar Plutt landed on their table , having been tossed by the Wookiee Chewbacca after he tore it off defending the scavenger Rey , one of Solo ' s companions . The sisters tossed the arm away absently and continued with the gambling , but GA - 97 ' s attention was drawn to Rey and then her companion , the astromech droid BB - 8 . Recognizing the astromech as a missing Resistance droid , an internal sequence was activated inside GA - 97 which triggered him to send out a compressed signal that was bounced around , coded , decoded , encrypted , and then sent into deep space . The signal was then picked up by the protocol droid C - 3PO in the Resistance base on the planet D ' Qar . Overjoyed , C - 3PO relayed the message that BB - 8 was on Takodana to General Leia Organa , who then left for Takodana to collect the droid . Before the Resistance could arrive , the occupants of Kanata ' s castle were drawn outside by the sound of the First Order ' s Starkiller Base firing at the Hosnian system . In the castle ' s courtyard they stood and watched as it destroyed the whole star system , and the Galactic Senate of the New Republic with it . Almost immediately after the horrific spectacle was over , the First Order attacked the castle and quickly destroyed it . Those that survived the destruction were then spared , when the Resistance arrived and fought off the First Order ' s troops , driving them offworld . Characteristics . GA - 97 was an unassuming droid with masculine programming . He had a bipedal body , with a power plant in its chest and collapsible legs to allow for compact storage . It had black sensor s and red , yellow and green plating . When reporting to the Resistance , GA - 97 spoke in an alien dialect . Behind the scenes . GA - 97 first appeared in , which was released in 2015 . Its lines were provided by voice actor David Acord , who also provided the voices of several other minor characters in the film including Sidon Ithano , Teedo and FN - 2199 . The droid was not identified in the film , but received a name in " " , a reference book written by Pablo Hidalgo and released the same day as the film . The GA - 97 model was a puppet capable of walking around when controlled by a team of three puppeteers with a fourth controlling electronic functions . GA - 97 ' s vocabulator is made from a 55SH microphone , with the Shure branding removed .