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[[Image:Starwarsdroids.jpg|thumb|right|The [[C-3PO]] and R2-D2 on [[Tatooine]] ]]
'''R2-D2''' is an astromech [[droid]] in the [[Star Wars]] universe.  Its purpose is [[starship]] repair and navigation, but it is also a first-rate [[information security|computer hacker]].

==Technical Data==
R2-D2 is an astromech droid built by Industrial Automaton.  The design includes an assortment of tools for [[starship]] diagnosis and repair, as well as a magnetic roller assembly and small rocket engines for maneuvering around starships to make repairs in space.  They have navigational computing capacity suitable for plotting hyperspace jumps for small interstellar vessels like [[N-1 Starfighter|N-1]] and [[X-wing]] [[starfighter]]s.  Additional features include a computer interface, small [[sensor]] package, and a [[hologram|holographic]] recorder/projector system.

==History==
=== ''[[Star Wars: The Phantom Menace]]'' ===
R2-D2 served as one of the maintenance droids for Queen [[Padmé Amidala|Amidala]]'s [[Naboo Royal Starship|yacht]].  During the queen's escape from the [[Trade Federation]] blockade around [[Naboo]], R2-D2 distinguished itself by performing an emergency repair to the yacht's shields, giving the crew the time they needed to fly past the Trade Federation's [[Lucrehulk-class battleship|battleships]].  R2-D2 remained near the queen during the ship's brief stay on Tatooine and returned with her to Naboo.  There, it boarded a [[N-1 Starfighter|Naboo starfighter]] that ended up being flown by [[Anakin Skywalker]] into a battle to destroy the Trade Federation's droid control ship, providing maintenance and control assistance during the battle.

=== ''[[Star Wars: Attack of the Clones]]'' ===
R2-D2 accompanied [[Padmé Amidala|Senator Amidala]] to [[Coruscant]] for a vote on whether to grant [[Supreme Chancellor|Chancellor]] [[Palpatine]] emergency powers in the event of war with a [[Confederacy of Independent Systems|Separatist]] movement lead by [[Count Dooku]].  As she was threated by an assassin, it remained in her quarters at night to provide extra security, but its sensor package proved insufficient.  Palpatine convinced Amidala to return to [[Naboo]] for her own safety, and R2-D2 travelled with her, and it remained with her when she accompanied her bodyguard, [[Anakin Skywalker]], to [[Tatooine]] to search for his mother.  From Tatooine, the group travelled to [[Geonosis]], hoping to assist [[Obi-Wan Kenobi]], who was captured after contacting them about Separatist activity there.  On Geonosis, R2-D2 deactivated an automated droid assembly line to save the lives of Padmé and Anakin.

=== ''[[Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith]]'' ===
R2-D2 served as the maintenance droid for Anakin's Jedi starfighter during the [[Battle of Coruscant]].  When Anakin and Obi-Wan Kenobi boarded the ''[[Invisible Hand]]'' to find and rescue Chancellor Palpatine, R2-D2 hacked into the ship's computer system to aid their search.  It accompanied Anakin to [[Mustafar]] following the Jedi Purge, and left the planet with [[Padmé Amidala|Padmé]] and Obi-Wan to join [[Bail Organa|Senator Organa]] on the ''[[Tantive IV]]''.  Following Padmé's death, Senator Organa took ownership of R2-D2 and assigned it to do maintenance on the ''Tantive IV''.

=== ''[[Star Wars: A New Hope]]'' ===
R2-D2 was serving aboard the ''[[Tantive IV]]'' when the ship received a transmission from [[Rebel Alliance|Rebel]] spies that contained the technical schematics for the [[Death Star]].  [[Galactic Empire|Imperial]] forces pursued the ship to [[Tatooine]], where [[Leia Organa|Princess Leia]] was attempting to contact [[Obi-Wan Kenobi]] for assistance.  When her ship was disabled and boarded, the Princess download the plans into R2-D2, ordering him to abandon the ship in an [[escape pod]] and deliver the Death Star plans to Obi-Wan Kenobi, who she believed would be able to take them to [[Bail Organa|her father]] on [[Alderaan]].

R2 escaped with [[C-3PO]], but the [[droid]]s were captured by [[Jawa]]s and sold to the [[Lars family]] before R2 could locate Kenobi.  R2 fled the Lars moisture farm to find Kenobi, who was eventually found when the old [[Jedi]] rescued the droids and [[Luke Skywalker]] (who was pursuing R2) from [[Tusken Raider]]s.  Kenobi hired [[Han Solo]] to take the group to Alderaan, only to find the planet destroyed and have [[Millennium Falcon|their ship]] captured by the Death Star.  R2 was able to [[information security|hack]] into the Death Star's computers to both find Princess Leia in the station's brig and assist in their escape.  Following their escape, Rebel engineers at the [[Yavin IV]] base extracted the Death Star plans from the droid.

R2 served as the in-flight maintenance droid for Luke's [[X-wing]] [[starfighter]] during the [[Battle of Yavin]] and was seriously damaged by a blast from [[Darth Vader]]'s [[TIE fighter]] during the battle.  It was fully repaired by Rebel technicians afterward.

=== ''[[Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back]]'' ===
Following the [[Battle of Hoth]], R2 accompanied [[Luke Skywalker|Luke]] to [[Dagobah]] (again serving as Luke's [[X-wing]] maintenance droid).  He remained with Luke when the Jedi trainee left Dagobah for [[Bespin]] in an effort to rescue [[Leia Organa|Leia]] and [[Han Solo]] from [[Darth Vader]].

In [[Cloud City]], R2 was separated from Luke but met with Leia and [[Chewbacca]] as [[Lando Calrissian]] helped them flee the city.  R2 provided assistance by interfacing with the city's computer system, discovering in the process that ''[[Millennium Falcon]]'s'' [[hyperdrive]] had been deactivated.  Knowing how the ship had been sabotaged, R2 was able to reactivate the ''Falcon's'' hyperdrive to enable the group's escape.

=== ''[[Star Wars: Return of the Jedi]]'' ===
[[Luke Skywalker|Luke]] sent R2 with [[C-3PO]] to the palace of [[Jabba the Hutt]] on [[Tatooine]], ostensibly as a gift to encourage the crime lord to release [[Han Solo]].  R2 was put to work serving drinks on Jabba's sail barge.  When Jabba flew the barge to the [[Sarlacc]] pit to execute his enemies, R2 was present.  The droid carried Luke's [[lightsabre]] in a concealed compartment and launched it just before Luke was thrown into the pit.  As the now-armed Jedi attacked Jabba's defenders, R2 freed [[Leia Organa|Leia]] and abandoned the barge before it was destroyed.

R2 accompanied Luke, Leia, and Han Solo on the mission to [[Endor]] to sabotage the [[planetary shield|deflector shield]] protecting the second [[Death Star]].  R2 was disabled by a [[blaster]] shot from a [[Stormtrooper]] while trying to hack into the computer system of the Imperial base to open a bunker door.

[[Category: Star Wars]]
[[Category: Droids]]
[[Category:SW Characters]]