Droid Gotra

The Droid Gotra was a droid group that supported droid rights. It was originally formed by a band of lethal repurposed battle droids with grievances against the Galactic Empire for having been abandoned after their service during the Clone Wars. At one time, the group was confined to an industrial complex in the bowels of the planet Coruscant, but it later managed to expand. They were known to support droid emancipation and served as muscle for the Crymorah Syndicate. The group continued to operate into the New Republic Era.
==Description==
Originally confined to an industrial complex located in the bowels of the planet Coruscant, the Droid Gotra was formed by a lethal band of repurposed battle droids that supported droid emancipationStar Wars Propaganda: A History of Persuasive Art in the Galaxy and served as muscle for the Crymorah Syndicate in robberies, kidnapping, illegal salvage, and extortion. The Gotra managed to expand out into the galaxy.
==History==
===Under the Empire===
During the Imperial Era, the group was formed by repurposed battle droids in the year 19 BBY. These combat units had what some considered legitimate grievances against the Galactic Empire for having been abandoned after their service during the Clone Wars. The Gotra recruited Q2-B3KO, an articulated holographic color separator who produced propaganda supporting the Separatist Droid Army during the Clone Wars, to disseminate messages of mechanical emancipation.
In 14 BBY,Star Wars: Timelines dates the events of Tarkin to 14 BBY. the Empire's base on the Sentinel moon came under attack by insurgents using Separatist equipment and droids. The installation's commander, Moff Wilhuff Tarkin, initially suspected that the Gotra was responsible, but found it unlikely that they would make use of obsolete weapons to send a message to the Empire. Phoca Soot, the Coruscant Security Force prefect of level 1331, hired himself out to the Droid Gotra instead of controlling crime within his sector. However, his duplicity did not go unnoticed and he was executed by the Sith Lord Darth Vader as an example to Coruscant's criminal elements, advising them to relocate their operations to sectors in the galaxy's Outer Rim Territories, lest their activities infringe upon Emperor Palpatine's designs.
Around 13 BBY, the Droid Gotra were attempting to place a foothold on Corellia.
===Amid open war===
In 0 ABY, the Droid Gotra hired the rogue archaeologist Doctor Aphra to recover the Triple-Zero protocol personality matrix, which could turn a protocol droid into a torture specialist, and the prototype BT-1 assassin droid on their behalf. They also meant to have her liberate a droid factoryDarth Vader (2015) 4 from Karina,Star Wars: Galactic Atlas a Geonosian queen who survived the Empire's sterilization of Geonosis. Although successful in retrieving the droids, she instead turned them over to Darth Vader and helped him secure Karina's droid factory, as he needed personal troops for his own ends without the Empire knowing.
The Cyban Front, an organization who worked with the Droid Gotra, were hired to participate in the auction of the Rur crystal so it could be destroyed due to its technopathy abilities.Doctor Aphra (2016) 10 Their attempt was unsuccessful, and the two Cyban Front droids were destroyed during a skirmish on the Sorca Retreat.Doctor Aphra (2016) 12Doctor Aphra (2016) 13
As part of the machinations of Qi'ra and her agents in the Crimson Dawn, the group was soon pulled into the Syndicate War along with other organizations such as the Hutt Clan, Black Sun and the Pyke Syndicate. The Droid Gotra and the other organizations were eventually contacted jointly by Emperor Palpatine himself. Palpatine informed them of Qi'ra's real reason for starting the war, while also reminding them that their power and influence only existed due to his due diligence. Thus he ordered all of them to seek out and destroy Crimson Dawn, stating that whoever managed to bring Qi'ra's corpse to the Emperor would rise high in his estimation.Hidden Empire 1
===New Republic Era===
The Droid Gotra continued to operate after the fall of the Empire in 5 ABY. Sometime after Supreme Leader Snoke's assumption of leadership within the First Order, the Gotra attacked and eliminated an armed Ubrikkian freighter commanded by Red Key Raiders at the Perlemian Spur Waypoint 643Besh. After Gamma-bit 669753 sweeped the wreckage, they found Maz Kanata's Journal and flagged valuable datapoints from the contents within. They then began to transmit orders to all members of the Gotra and the Cyban Front stationed in the Rim Territories, ordering them to target the closest data cache. The transmission was promptly intercepted by the Guavian Death Gang, who then broadcast their own counteracting broadcast and somehow removed Kanata's Journal from the Gotra's possession.
Despite the Gotra only being formed after the Clone Wars, the police files of Tanivos Exantor Divo, who worked during the late Republic Era, made reference to the Gotra, but those files were only released by his grandson, Exantor Divo, during the New Republic Era. The files claimed that KRONOS-841 and other members of the Gotra attended a Xrexus Cartel auction of a Jedi Padawan named Eldra Kaitis before the Invasion of Naboo. The group was unsuccessful in acquiring the Padawan.
==Behind the scenes==
The Droid Gotra was set to appear in the cancelled video game Star Wars: 1313. After 1313 cancellation, the Droid Gotra was first mentioned in the 2014 novel Tarkin, written by James Luceno. Despite Tarkin and the novel Most Wanted affirming that the gotra was formed after the Clone Wars, the reference book Star Wars: Scum and Villainy: Case Files on the Galaxy's Most Notorious stated that the Gotra was active before the Invasion of Naboo. As Scum and Villainy is framed as an in-universe text, this article assumes it to be an in-universe error as well.
According to Star Wars: Timelines, the Gotra was formed circa 18 BBY.Star Wars: Timelines However, information provided by Scum and Villainy narrows the formation date down to 19 BBY. As Timelines only provided an approximate date with room for flexibility, this article assumes Scum and Villainy is correct.
==Appearances==
*Tarkin 
*Most Wanted 
*Doctor Aphra: An Audiobook Original 
*Darth Vader (2015) 3 
*Darth Vader (2015) 4 
*Doctor Aphra (2016) 9 
*Doctor Aphra (2016) 10 
*Hidden Empire 1 
*Last Shot 
==Sources==
*Star Wars Propaganda: A History of Persuasive Art in the Galaxy
*Star Wars: The Rebel Files
*Solo: A Star Wars Story The Official Guide
*Solo: A Star Wars Story: Tales from Vandor
*Star Wars: Scum and Villainy: Case Files on the Galaxy's Most Notorious
*Star Wars: Smuggler's Guide
*Ultimate Star Wars, New Edition
*Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker: The Visual Dictionary
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*Star Wars: Timelines
*Star Wars: Dawn of Rebellion: The Visual Guide
*Star Wars Encyclopedia: The Comprehensive Guide to the Star Wars Galaxy
==Notes and references==
Category:Droid rights organizations