APPLICATION: Star Wars - R2-D2
This application has been ACCEPTED.
PLAYER INFO
NAME: Chi
LOCATION/TIME ZONE: PST (GMT -8)
CURRENT CHARACTERS, if any: Clef/Cephiro
CHARACTER INFO
CHARACTER NAME: R2-D2
SERIES: Star Wars EU
RESERVED: Yes.
WISHLIST: No.
PERSONALITY: Yes, in spades. Programming can hardly explain it.
He was built by Industrial Automaton to be courageous and loyal to the
point of self-sacrifice - important traits in a droid whose primary
function was to risk life and limb as a mechanic and co-pilot on
starfighters and other ships. He does in fact have a sense of caution,
and of common sense, but some things are simply important enough to
override that - he has a strong sense of duty and of loyalty for those
he considers friends. R2 units are in general accommodating in
personality as well as clever and witty, and although there are some
exceptions Artoo goes above and beyond all of that.
His personality is nearly human in its complexity, full of little
quirks that make his acquiescence to human orders seem due more to a
happenstance of camaraderie than obedience to a master. It is possible
that he considers himself an independent being rather than property,
but he desires human companionship and to be useful. He is capable of
what might be considered a disturbing amount of independent thought
for an android, possibly owing to his having run for 30-odd years
without a memory wipe. For a droid, he's unusually empathic and able
to pick up on emotional cues. R2 units in general are very good at
this but, as in most cases, Artoo is a little more empathic than most.
He's also a bit sentimental, holding onto recordings and things long
after they have outlived their usefulness.
Artoo comes off as cheerful and even cute in person and without a
translator, owing in part to his high-pitched voice and the wide
variance in sounds he is capable of making. However, he's a bit more
than that. He has quite a foul vocabulary, and no reservations about
speaking and behaving in a frank and straightforward manner - not that
most people can understand what he's saying, anyway. In fact, despite
being fairly chatty, he never seems to explain himself even to his
counterpart, Threepio. Although he has a wide mischievous streak and a
sense of humor, it isn't enough to impact his sense of duty. In other
words, he knows when to be a troll and when to be serious.
TIMELINE: After Return of the Jedi.
BACKGROUND: R2 began life as property of the Royal Engineers of
Naboo, already with several aftermarket additions by the time of his
service on the Naboo Royal Starship. He was one of six astromechs on
board when the ship attempted to break the Trade Federation blockade
and flee Naboo, but he was the only one to survive maintenance on the
ship's shield generators when it was attacked. After attempting
modesty while being thanked by the (handmaiden posing as the) Queen,
R2 pretty much followed main characters around and was mostly a
bystander in the events that followed. He met and befriended Anakin's
unfinished protocol droid, C-3PO, the two of them making candid
commentary on events from the sidelines. Later, when the group was
storming the palace, he was pulled into the astromech slot of a
starfighter that Anakin was taking refuge in. As though they were
taking part in a PSA about how you shouldn't let children hide in
starfighters, Anakin managed to activate the autopilot while looking
for the guns. R2 eventually disabled the autopilot by hacking into the
fighter's computer, but by that time they were well out into the
middle of a space battle with the Trade Federation. Artoo instructed
Anakin to return to Naboo, but Anakin refused. The ship was hit and
they were forced to make a landing in the inexplicably open hangar bay
of the Trade Federation's Droid Control Ship. On their way out again,
Anakin accidentally fired into the main reactor of the ship,
destroying it.
R2 later transitioned into Padme Amidala's personal service over the
next ten years, even after her tenure as queen ended and she
transfered to the Galactic Senate. Three years after becoming a
senator, Amidala brought him with her on a journey to Coruscant to
vote on a proposed Military Creation Act. Several attempts were made
on her life and, despite a very cute surveillance program, R2 failed
to detect one such attempt. Anakin and Obi-Wan Kenobi were able to
neutralise it, but Chancellor Palpatine nonetheless decided as a
result that it was too dangerous for Amidala on Coruscant so she,
Anakin, and R2 left for Naboo and later Tatooine. Once arriving at the
Lars family farm to search for Anakin's mother, R2 was instructed to
remain on the ship and wait. However, while he was hacking
performing maintenance on the ship's computer he received a message
from Kenobi that needed to be relayed to the Jedi Council on
Coruscant. He immediately left to inform Skywalker and Amidala, but it
was necessary for Threepio to translate. The four (Anakin received
Threepio from Owen Lars) went on to Geonosis to rescue Kenobi.
While on Geonosis, Artoo proceeded to be an awesome top to Threepio,
first deciding to follow Skywalker and Amidala against the protocol
droid's protests and then pushing the poor droid off of a ledge when
they arrived at the factory. He then activated his booster rockets and
flew around the factory, using his hacking skills to save Amidala from
having molten lead poured on her. A battle happened soon after, and
Artoo proceeded to roll right into the middle of it like nothing was
happening in order to repair Threepio by reattaching his head to the
correct body. (His head and body had been mixed up with those of a
battle droid as a result of being pushed off the ledge.) Shortly
thereafter, the two droids were the sole witnesses to the wedding of
Skywalker and Amidala, during which Threepio was so caught up in the
romance of the moment that he rested his hand affectionately on
Artoo's dome, completely oblivious to the fact that this marriage was
the worst idea ever.
Artoo continued to be a bystander for much of the Clone Wars, serving
first Amidala and then later being given to Skywalker as a gift when
he graduated from being a Jedi Padawan. At one point, when Skywalker
crash landed on Bothawui, R2-D2 was recovered by a scavenger and later
sold to General Grievous for the contents of his memory. The little
droid attempted to escape and contact Skywalker, but he was eventually
taken and disassembled. Skywalker managed to track down his
whereabouts and came to his rescue, and the two of them fought their
way out of the Separatist space station they were on. Skywalker's
replacement astromech turned out to be a Separatist spy and confronted
Artoo during the battle, but Artoo defeated him using his arc welder
and rotary saw.
Towards the end of the Clone Wars, Artoo accompanied Skywalker on a
mission to rescue Chancellor Palpatine from where he was being held
hostage by Count Dooku. After hacking into the Invisible Hand's
computer and locating the Chancellor, R2 stayed behind while Skywalker
and Kenobi went off to go find him. While awaiting orders, two battle
droids were alerted to his presence and he responded by dousing them
in oil, which he set ablaze using his booster rockets. Once the
Chancellor had been recovered, R2 went to join the others but found
them imprisoned in a ray shield. Before he could hack into the
computer to disable it, more battle droids showed up and brought the
four of them to General Grievous. During the confrontation with the
General, he suddenly shrieked and opened up all of his panels. This
provided a distraction which allowed the Jedi to recover their
lightsabers. Once all of the battle droids were subdued and the
General escaped, the Invisible Hand broke in half and R2 helped pilot
it to a relatively safe crash landing on Coruscant. Afterwards, when
Skywalker was reunited with Amidala, Artoo ran into Threepio again and
told his newly brass-plated friend all about the battle.
In the days following, R2-D2 holographically recorded every
conversation between Skywalker and Amidala to his memory banks,
possibly out of his confusion at his master's strange behavior.
Skywalker inexplicably stopped speaking to him at this point, as
Chancellor Palpatine courted him as a Sith apprentice. The astromech
became increasingly confused and disturbed by the events going on
around him, even snapping back irritatedly at Skywalker (now Darth
Vader) when he was ordered to stay with the ship upon their landing on
Mustafar. After Amidala and Kenobi arrived, he holigraphically
recorded Vader using the Force to strangle Amidala, as he was helpless
to do anything to stop it at the time. Once Kenobi and Vader had left
the platform to duel with lightsabers, he and C-3PO managed to carry
Amidala back onto her ship and attempted to stabilize her condition.
Ultimately, Amidala died after giving birth to Luke and Leia and the
droids were put in the care of Captain Raymus Antilles.
Approximately 19 years of shenanigans occurred, during which Artoo and
Threepio were assigned together as counterparts aboard the Tantive IV.
While assigned there, Artoo was used more than once to retrieve or
decode Imperial intelligence. They were separated from the ship a
number of times and had some really weird but ultimately unimportant
adventures - it was during this time that R2's booster rockets became
inoperable, one of his temporary masters having dismantled it for
parts. The droids passed from owner to owner, helped take out a
Gammorrean dictator, rescued a prince, and had supporting roles in a
number of minor revolutions. Of note, Artoo once replaced Threepio's
damaged leg with one that changed his personality. Threepio went on to
lead a droid revolution against a Hutt, but after it was over Artoo
changed him back; the personality change, though braver and more
effectual it made him, was not the protocol droid he knew and (though
he might not admit it in so many words) loved.
They were on board the ship, however, when it was attacked and boarded
by Darth Vader's Imperial Star Destroyer. Princess Leia, who now owned
the ship and the droids, stored the plans for the Death Star I inside
R2's memory, along with a recorded holographic message asking Obi-Wan
Kenobi for help. R2 then jettisoned in an escape pod, bringing his
counterpart along for the ride. Once the droids got to Tatooine they
had a fight and broke up decided to go in opposite directions
in search of help. They were then both captured by Jawas and purchased
by Owen Lars, Luke Skywalker's uncle and guardian.
While cleaning the droids, Skywalker discovered the message to Obi-Wan
Kenobi, which R2 first feigned ignorance of and then convinced
(awestruck, lonely teenaged) Skywalker that he could not play the
whole thing back because of the restraining bolt he had been fitted
with. Once it was removed, he again feigned ignorance of the hologram
and escaped the compound the moment no human eyes were on him. C-3PO,
whose restraining bolt was still intact, was unable to follow and he
and Luke did not catch up with the astromech until the next day. After
an attack by Tusken Raiders, during which Obi-Wan Kenobi appeared and
saved Luke and Threepio's asses, R2 finally played the holorecording
in full to its intended recipient. The four of them decided to go to
Alderaan and headed to Mos Eisely, where they expensively hired Han
Solo to transport them in his smuggling ship, the Millenium Falcon.
Unfortunately, when they got to Alderaan, it turned out to be
exploded. The Falcon was then captured by the Death Star I. They later
escaped, and R2 was successfully delivered to Yavin Four, bringing the
Death Star I plans with him and allowing the Rebel Alliance to defend
themselves. In the ensuing battle, R2 was badly damaged by Vader, but
he was able to be repaired by Rebel mechanics.
R2 remained in service of the Rebel Alliance, mostly staying with Luke
and going on adventures with him. He came along when they moved their
base of operations to the icy planet of Hoth. He was separated from
his usual companion, C-3PO, when the protocol droid boarded the
Millenium Falcon with Han, Chewie, and Leia while R2-D2 was installed
in Luke's X-Wing. Luke and Artoo then went off to Dagobah for a while
instead of wherever the others were all going, but they later went off
to Cloud City on Bespin because Luke had a crazy vision about his
friends. When Artoo realizes that they're going to meet with the
others, his first question is about whether Threepio will be there.
When they arrive, however, Threepio is in pieces and also kind of a
douche, at one point instructing R2 to plug his dataport into an
electrical socket. Before their escape from Bespin, Artoo learns from
the city's computer that the hyperdrive on the Falcon has been
disabled, and is able to fix it at the last minute, enabling the ship
to escape from the Empire.
In the intervening months, the group had a number of adventures, one
of which involved Artoo instructing Threepio on how to fly the
Millenium Falcon, to somewhat dubious result. After about six months,
they were ready to put into motion a plan to rescue Han, who was
frozen in carbonite and being used as a form of decoration in Jabba's
palace. Artoo and Threepio presented the crime lord with a holographic
recording stating that they were a gift to Jabba - much to Threepio's
surprise - and they were immediately put to work there. Jabba later
captured Luke, Lando, and an un-frozen Han and attempted to feed them
to a Sarlacc. However, they made a daring escape, facilitated by R2
using his pneumatic launchers to toss Luke's lightsaber up in the air
for him to catch. Afterwards, R2 joined the Rebel strike team on
Endor, where he helped bring down the Death Star II's deflector
shield. He was severely damaged in the process, but was able to be
repaired by that evening to join in the celebrations after the Empire
was basically defeated.
ABILITIES: R2 is extremely adaptable and has shown usefulness
in just about every situation the main characters have come across in
their travels. Mechanical aptitude is what he was built for, and his
aftermarket programming in combination with learned skills have made
him an extremely good hardware and software hacker. This includes
information retrieval, and self-modification as deemed appropriate.
Astronavigation is another one of his primary functions, so he has a
perfect memory for locations and coordinates. He has also practiced
throwing things with his pneumatic launching system (originally
designed for emergency flares) to pinpoint accuracy. He can
magnetically lock himself to a deck in order to function normally in
zero gravity and travel across irregular terrain with greater ease
than one would assume from looking at him, though stairs and the like
give him trouble.
His sensors are more varied and more sensitive than human senses, or
those of most other kinds of droids. He can "see" beyond the visible
light spectrum, so invisibility and cloaking generally do not work on
him.
Given the right modifications to his pneumatic tubes, floatation
devices and some sort of propellor, he can become neutrally buoyant
enough to swim in water. However, he can't very well go around with
all possible modifications stuffed into that small chassis of his, so
he normally sinks. However, he functions perfectly well when
submerged, as in the vacuum of space. Modifications are usually
removed and taken apart, sometimes being scavenged for parts, when not
needed.
As a droid, he can be dismantled, even have crucial parts swapped out,
and then reassembled and reactivated without problems. If someone
inserts a datacard into him, he can read its contents, project them
holographically, or record them to his massive memory banks.
As far as equipment goes, he has a number of seemingly random but
useful devices packed into the relatively small space of his frame,
including:
GAME INFO
EDENSPHERE NAME: Skywalker
BIRTHDAY LOG: Yes.
DREAM:
Droids don't have dreams, which is part of why he knew he was having
one. The sensation of random areas of memory being accessed without
his logic circuits being engaged was a bizarre one, and definitely not
something he'd mistake for reality. It was, however, completely
unignorable and unstoppable - try as he might, he couldn't get his
logic circuits to re-engage.
Wherever he was - or wasn't, rather - it was dark. Not totally dark,
but that kind of dark that a place is in the middle of the afternoon
when all of the organics are napping and you've just come in from the
bright desert sun outside and your photoreceptors haven't really
adjusted yet. Except that they had adjusted, he knew, because they
were successfully focusing on what appeared to be a face. It was hard
to be sure, because the picture was really dim and adjusting the
brightness didn't seem to be helping, but it was definitely not any
human face. There were smells, too - not the kind his sensors were
designed to pick up, but trace chemicals he had learned to recognize
over the years: pheromones, alien sweat, decay.
"The message, -- the message!" The human-like voice was accompanied by
a low rumble, which he realized, somewhat belatedly, was alien speech.
"Greetings, Exalted One."
From the moment the holographic recording began to play back, it was
as though the rest of the chamber just faded away, odors and all. Part
of it could have been that the holograph was just so bright yet it
cast no residual light on anything else, so that anything beyond it
was impossible to see without refocusing and adjusting to the darkness
again. The subject of the recording was a male human somewhere in that
valley of age-ranges between 'child' and 'old man' that he had trouble
distinguishing. 'Old Enough To Probably Know Better' seemed an apt
enough description, in any case. The human wore black - which
inexplicably did not help with the excessive brightness - and had
lightish-brown hair which matched his equally lightish skin tone.
"Allow me to introduce myself. I am--" The recording skipped.
"Of course not," snapped the same tinny but human-like voice from
before, coming from nearby. He tried to look for the source, but there
was only blackness. "You don't hold up your end of the conversation."
"-- Skywalker, -- friend of Captain [Something]. I know that you are
powerful, and that your anger with [some guy] must be equally
powerful."
The recording's audio trailed off at this point and was dubbed over by
another voice - or possibly the same one at a different time. The
quality of the recording or the tone of voice was different or
something, so that he could tell it was a dub-over even though the man
in the picture's lips moved perfectly in-sync with the sound.
"[static] is trying to turn you against me." Somehow, juxtaposed with
the calm, diplomatic manners and expressions of the man in the
picture, the voice in the soundtrack sounded almost disturbingly angry
- as though there were some secret hatred behind his voice that he was
just barely restraining himself from expressing fully. "Love won't
save you, -- only my new powers can do that.
"The Chancellor has given me a very important mission. The Separatists
have gathered on the Mustafar system. I'm going there to end
this war." There was a break in the sound - static - but when the
voice returned it sounded almost too reassuring. Like someone looking
for just the right thing to say, just the right button to press, to
make his protocol droid stop whinging. "... Things will be different,
I promise.
"I am becoming more powerful than any [static] has ever dreamed of.
And I'm doing it for you. Together you and I can rule the galaxy! Make
things the way we want them to be!
"I don't wanna hear anymore about [someone]--"
Embarrassingly, the picture faded into blackness here, but it didn't
seem to matter. All he could hear clearly, really clearly, was the
pleading, choked whisper of some female voice repeating over and over
and over, "Help me, -- you're my only hope."
Someone shouted, loud and low and commanding, "Let her go!" but that
was in the background. He could almost see the scene in the darkness -
a man dressed in black and a woman, the latter floating with her feet
not quite touching the ground, grappling uselessly at some unseen
force squeezing her neck. She had stopped pleading, finally - stopped
breathing. An older man was coming down the entry ramp of a starship
nearby. Finally, the woman gasped in a breath and fell limply to the
permacrete below as the man in black turned to rage at the newcomer.
Raucous alien laughter filled the chamber during a lull in the
holorecording's soundtrack which, he realized, he had been playing
normally all along. Apparently no one else had heard or seen what he
just did - or perhaps didn't. Despite his previous declarations that
he could most definitely tell the difference between reality and
non-reality, and despite the fact that nothing was making any sense
right now, he was beginning to have doubts that this wasn't really
happening after all. Was this what bit rot felt like?
"As a token of my goodwill," the recording went on, in its original
voice, "I present to you a gift - these two droids. Both are
hard-working and will serve you well."
"This can't be!" the tinny voice from before exclaimed. "You're
playing the wrong message!"
Was he? He couldn't be sure anymore. Where were they, even, and how
did they get there? Hopefully this wasn't anything a quick reboot
couldn't fix, he thought, quickly initiating shutdown procedures.
JOURNAL SAMPLE:
HI, SPHERE. MY NAME IS SKYWALKER.
I'M AN ASTROMECH DROID LOOKING FOR EMPLOYMENT, BUT IT SEEMS THAT YOU
DON'T HAVE ANY STARSHIPS HERE.
WHAT TO DO?
ASPIRATIONS: I aspire to troll many, many people. Also, due to
the nature of the character in canon, I'd like to request that the
language geas not apply to Skywalker's spoken dialogue. I feel that a
major part of the character would be altered if people could actually
understand him. He be able to write in English, and I'd like to have
him eventually figure out how to use his holoprojector to display text
when it is imperative that people know what he's saying.
PLAYER INFO
NAME: Chi
LOCATION/TIME ZONE: PST (GMT -8)
CURRENT CHARACTERS, if any: Clef/Cephiro
CHARACTER INFO
CHARACTER NAME: R2-D2
SERIES: Star Wars EU
RESERVED: Yes.
WISHLIST: No.
PERSONALITY: Yes, in spades. Programming can hardly explain it.
He was built by Industrial Automaton to be courageous and loyal to the
point of self-sacrifice - important traits in a droid whose primary
function was to risk life and limb as a mechanic and co-pilot on
starfighters and other ships. He does in fact have a sense of caution,
and of common sense, but some things are simply important enough to
override that - he has a strong sense of duty and of loyalty for those
he considers friends. R2 units are in general accommodating in
personality as well as clever and witty, and although there are some
exceptions Artoo goes above and beyond all of that.
His personality is nearly human in its complexity, full of little
quirks that make his acquiescence to human orders seem due more to a
happenstance of camaraderie than obedience to a master. It is possible
that he considers himself an independent being rather than property,
but he desires human companionship and to be useful. He is capable of
what might be considered a disturbing amount of independent thought
for an android, possibly owing to his having run for 30-odd years
without a memory wipe. For a droid, he's unusually empathic and able
to pick up on emotional cues. R2 units in general are very good at
this but, as in most cases, Artoo is a little more empathic than most.
He's also a bit sentimental, holding onto recordings and things long
after they have outlived their usefulness.
Artoo comes off as cheerful and even cute in person and without a
translator, owing in part to his high-pitched voice and the wide
variance in sounds he is capable of making. However, he's a bit more
than that. He has quite a foul vocabulary, and no reservations about
speaking and behaving in a frank and straightforward manner - not that
most people can understand what he's saying, anyway. In fact, despite
being fairly chatty, he never seems to explain himself even to his
counterpart, Threepio. Although he has a wide mischievous streak and a
sense of humor, it isn't enough to impact his sense of duty. In other
words, he knows when to be a troll and when to be serious.
TIMELINE: After Return of the Jedi.
BACKGROUND: R2 began life as property of the Royal Engineers of
Naboo, already with several aftermarket additions by the time of his
service on the Naboo Royal Starship. He was one of six astromechs on
board when the ship attempted to break the Trade Federation blockade
and flee Naboo, but he was the only one to survive maintenance on the
ship's shield generators when it was attacked. After attempting
modesty while being thanked by the (handmaiden posing as the) Queen,
R2 pretty much followed main characters around and was mostly a
bystander in the events that followed. He met and befriended Anakin's
unfinished protocol droid, C-3PO, the two of them making candid
commentary on events from the sidelines. Later, when the group was
storming the palace, he was pulled into the astromech slot of a
starfighter that Anakin was taking refuge in. As though they were
taking part in a PSA about how you shouldn't let children hide in
starfighters, Anakin managed to activate the autopilot while looking
for the guns. R2 eventually disabled the autopilot by hacking into the
fighter's computer, but by that time they were well out into the
middle of a space battle with the Trade Federation. Artoo instructed
Anakin to return to Naboo, but Anakin refused. The ship was hit and
they were forced to make a landing in the inexplicably open hangar bay
of the Trade Federation's Droid Control Ship. On their way out again,
Anakin accidentally fired into the main reactor of the ship,
destroying it.
R2 later transitioned into Padme Amidala's personal service over the
next ten years, even after her tenure as queen ended and she
transfered to the Galactic Senate. Three years after becoming a
senator, Amidala brought him with her on a journey to Coruscant to
vote on a proposed Military Creation Act. Several attempts were made
on her life and, despite a very cute surveillance program, R2 failed
to detect one such attempt. Anakin and Obi-Wan Kenobi were able to
neutralise it, but Chancellor Palpatine nonetheless decided as a
result that it was too dangerous for Amidala on Coruscant so she,
Anakin, and R2 left for Naboo and later Tatooine. Once arriving at the
Lars family farm to search for Anakin's mother, R2 was instructed to
remain on the ship and wait. However, while he was hacking
performing maintenance on the ship's computer he received a message
from Kenobi that needed to be relayed to the Jedi Council on
Coruscant. He immediately left to inform Skywalker and Amidala, but it
was necessary for Threepio to translate. The four (Anakin received
Threepio from Owen Lars) went on to Geonosis to rescue Kenobi.
While on Geonosis, Artoo proceeded to be an awesome top to Threepio,
first deciding to follow Skywalker and Amidala against the protocol
droid's protests and then pushing the poor droid off of a ledge when
they arrived at the factory. He then activated his booster rockets and
flew around the factory, using his hacking skills to save Amidala from
having molten lead poured on her. A battle happened soon after, and
Artoo proceeded to roll right into the middle of it like nothing was
happening in order to repair Threepio by reattaching his head to the
correct body. (His head and body had been mixed up with those of a
battle droid as a result of being pushed off the ledge.) Shortly
thereafter, the two droids were the sole witnesses to the wedding of
Skywalker and Amidala, during which Threepio was so caught up in the
romance of the moment that he rested his hand affectionately on
Artoo's dome, completely oblivious to the fact that this marriage was
the worst idea ever.
Artoo continued to be a bystander for much of the Clone Wars, serving
first Amidala and then later being given to Skywalker as a gift when
he graduated from being a Jedi Padawan. At one point, when Skywalker
crash landed on Bothawui, R2-D2 was recovered by a scavenger and later
sold to General Grievous for the contents of his memory. The little
droid attempted to escape and contact Skywalker, but he was eventually
taken and disassembled. Skywalker managed to track down his
whereabouts and came to his rescue, and the two of them fought their
way out of the Separatist space station they were on. Skywalker's
replacement astromech turned out to be a Separatist spy and confronted
Artoo during the battle, but Artoo defeated him using his arc welder
and rotary saw.
Towards the end of the Clone Wars, Artoo accompanied Skywalker on a
mission to rescue Chancellor Palpatine from where he was being held
hostage by Count Dooku. After hacking into the Invisible Hand's
computer and locating the Chancellor, R2 stayed behind while Skywalker
and Kenobi went off to go find him. While awaiting orders, two battle
droids were alerted to his presence and he responded by dousing them
in oil, which he set ablaze using his booster rockets. Once the
Chancellor had been recovered, R2 went to join the others but found
them imprisoned in a ray shield. Before he could hack into the
computer to disable it, more battle droids showed up and brought the
four of them to General Grievous. During the confrontation with the
General, he suddenly shrieked and opened up all of his panels. This
provided a distraction which allowed the Jedi to recover their
lightsabers. Once all of the battle droids were subdued and the
General escaped, the Invisible Hand broke in half and R2 helped pilot
it to a relatively safe crash landing on Coruscant. Afterwards, when
Skywalker was reunited with Amidala, Artoo ran into Threepio again and
told his newly brass-plated friend all about the battle.
In the days following, R2-D2 holographically recorded every
conversation between Skywalker and Amidala to his memory banks,
possibly out of his confusion at his master's strange behavior.
Skywalker inexplicably stopped speaking to him at this point, as
Chancellor Palpatine courted him as a Sith apprentice. The astromech
became increasingly confused and disturbed by the events going on
around him, even snapping back irritatedly at Skywalker (now Darth
Vader) when he was ordered to stay with the ship upon their landing on
Mustafar. After Amidala and Kenobi arrived, he holigraphically
recorded Vader using the Force to strangle Amidala, as he was helpless
to do anything to stop it at the time. Once Kenobi and Vader had left
the platform to duel with lightsabers, he and C-3PO managed to carry
Amidala back onto her ship and attempted to stabilize her condition.
Ultimately, Amidala died after giving birth to Luke and Leia and the
droids were put in the care of Captain Raymus Antilles.
Approximately 19 years of shenanigans occurred, during which Artoo and
Threepio were assigned together as counterparts aboard the Tantive IV.
While assigned there, Artoo was used more than once to retrieve or
decode Imperial intelligence. They were separated from the ship a
number of times and had some really weird but ultimately unimportant
adventures - it was during this time that R2's booster rockets became
inoperable, one of his temporary masters having dismantled it for
parts. The droids passed from owner to owner, helped take out a
Gammorrean dictator, rescued a prince, and had supporting roles in a
number of minor revolutions. Of note, Artoo once replaced Threepio's
damaged leg with one that changed his personality. Threepio went on to
lead a droid revolution against a Hutt, but after it was over Artoo
changed him back; the personality change, though braver and more
effectual it made him, was not the protocol droid he knew and (though
he might not admit it in so many words) loved.
They were on board the ship, however, when it was attacked and boarded
by Darth Vader's Imperial Star Destroyer. Princess Leia, who now owned
the ship and the droids, stored the plans for the Death Star I inside
R2's memory, along with a recorded holographic message asking Obi-Wan
Kenobi for help. R2 then jettisoned in an escape pod, bringing his
counterpart along for the ride. Once the droids got to Tatooine they
had a fight and broke up decided to go in opposite directions
in search of help. They were then both captured by Jawas and purchased
by Owen Lars, Luke Skywalker's uncle and guardian.
While cleaning the droids, Skywalker discovered the message to Obi-Wan
Kenobi, which R2 first feigned ignorance of and then convinced
(awestruck, lonely teenaged) Skywalker that he could not play the
whole thing back because of the restraining bolt he had been fitted
with. Once it was removed, he again feigned ignorance of the hologram
and escaped the compound the moment no human eyes were on him. C-3PO,
whose restraining bolt was still intact, was unable to follow and he
and Luke did not catch up with the astromech until the next day. After
an attack by Tusken Raiders, during which Obi-Wan Kenobi appeared and
saved Luke and Threepio's asses, R2 finally played the holorecording
in full to its intended recipient. The four of them decided to go to
Alderaan and headed to Mos Eisely, where they expensively hired Han
Solo to transport them in his smuggling ship, the Millenium Falcon.
Unfortunately, when they got to Alderaan, it turned out to be
exploded. The Falcon was then captured by the Death Star I. They later
escaped, and R2 was successfully delivered to Yavin Four, bringing the
Death Star I plans with him and allowing the Rebel Alliance to defend
themselves. In the ensuing battle, R2 was badly damaged by Vader, but
he was able to be repaired by Rebel mechanics.
R2 remained in service of the Rebel Alliance, mostly staying with Luke
and going on adventures with him. He came along when they moved their
base of operations to the icy planet of Hoth. He was separated from
his usual companion, C-3PO, when the protocol droid boarded the
Millenium Falcon with Han, Chewie, and Leia while R2-D2 was installed
in Luke's X-Wing. Luke and Artoo then went off to Dagobah for a while
instead of wherever the others were all going, but they later went off
to Cloud City on Bespin because Luke had a crazy vision about his
friends. When Artoo realizes that they're going to meet with the
others, his first question is about whether Threepio will be there.
When they arrive, however, Threepio is in pieces and also kind of a
douche, at one point instructing R2 to plug his dataport into an
electrical socket. Before their escape from Bespin, Artoo learns from
the city's computer that the hyperdrive on the Falcon has been
disabled, and is able to fix it at the last minute, enabling the ship
to escape from the Empire.
In the intervening months, the group had a number of adventures, one
of which involved Artoo instructing Threepio on how to fly the
Millenium Falcon, to somewhat dubious result. After about six months,
they were ready to put into motion a plan to rescue Han, who was
frozen in carbonite and being used as a form of decoration in Jabba's
palace. Artoo and Threepio presented the crime lord with a holographic
recording stating that they were a gift to Jabba - much to Threepio's
surprise - and they were immediately put to work there. Jabba later
captured Luke, Lando, and an un-frozen Han and attempted to feed them
to a Sarlacc. However, they made a daring escape, facilitated by R2
using his pneumatic launchers to toss Luke's lightsaber up in the air
for him to catch. Afterwards, R2 joined the Rebel strike team on
Endor, where he helped bring down the Death Star II's deflector
shield. He was severely damaged in the process, but was able to be
repaired by that evening to join in the celebrations after the Empire
was basically defeated.
ABILITIES: R2 is extremely adaptable and has shown usefulness
in just about every situation the main characters have come across in
their travels. Mechanical aptitude is what he was built for, and his
aftermarket programming in combination with learned skills have made
him an extremely good hardware and software hacker. This includes
information retrieval, and self-modification as deemed appropriate.
Astronavigation is another one of his primary functions, so he has a
perfect memory for locations and coordinates. He has also practiced
throwing things with his pneumatic launching system (originally
designed for emergency flares) to pinpoint accuracy. He can
magnetically lock himself to a deck in order to function normally in
zero gravity and travel across irregular terrain with greater ease
than one would assume from looking at him, though stairs and the like
give him trouble.
His sensors are more varied and more sensitive than human senses, or
those of most other kinds of droids. He can "see" beyond the visible
light spectrum, so invisibility and cloaking generally do not work on
him.
Given the right modifications to his pneumatic tubes, floatation
devices and some sort of propellor, he can become neutrally buoyant
enough to swim in water. However, he can't very well go around with
all possible modifications stuffed into that small chassis of his, so
he normally sinks. However, he functions perfectly well when
submerged, as in the vacuum of space. Modifications are usually
removed and taken apart, sometimes being scavenged for parts, when not
needed.
As a droid, he can be dismantled, even have crucial parts swapped out,
and then reassembled and reactivated without problems. If someone
inserts a datacard into him, he can read its contents, project them
holographically, or record them to his massive memory banks.
As far as equipment goes, he has a number of seemingly random but
useful devices packed into the relatively small space of his frame,
including:
- Small rotary saw
- Electric pike
- Fusion welder
- Thruster jets (non-functional)
- Hologram recorder/projector
- Cable gun
- Oil injector apparatus (and chambers for same, which will be full
of cocoon goo on birth) - Fire extinguisher apparatus (see oil injector)
- Claw arm
- Internal comlink
- Periscope
- Storage compartment/pneumatic ejector
- Lariat
- Collapsible Umbrella
- Droid Deactivator
- Computer Interface Arm
- Charge Arm (taser)
- Life-form Scanner
- Polarity sink (for venting excess magnetism that could damage
hard drives) - "Confetti Creation Device"
GAME INFO
EDENSPHERE NAME: Skywalker
BIRTHDAY LOG: Yes.
DREAM:
Droids don't have dreams, which is part of why he knew he was having
one. The sensation of random areas of memory being accessed without
his logic circuits being engaged was a bizarre one, and definitely not
something he'd mistake for reality. It was, however, completely
unignorable and unstoppable - try as he might, he couldn't get his
logic circuits to re-engage.
Wherever he was - or wasn't, rather - it was dark. Not totally dark,
but that kind of dark that a place is in the middle of the afternoon
when all of the organics are napping and you've just come in from the
bright desert sun outside and your photoreceptors haven't really
adjusted yet. Except that they had adjusted, he knew, because they
were successfully focusing on what appeared to be a face. It was hard
to be sure, because the picture was really dim and adjusting the
brightness didn't seem to be helping, but it was definitely not any
human face. There were smells, too - not the kind his sensors were
designed to pick up, but trace chemicals he had learned to recognize
over the years: pheromones, alien sweat, decay.
"The message, -- the message!" The human-like voice was accompanied by
a low rumble, which he realized, somewhat belatedly, was alien speech.
"Greetings, Exalted One."
From the moment the holographic recording began to play back, it was
as though the rest of the chamber just faded away, odors and all. Part
of it could have been that the holograph was just so bright yet it
cast no residual light on anything else, so that anything beyond it
was impossible to see without refocusing and adjusting to the darkness
again. The subject of the recording was a male human somewhere in that
valley of age-ranges between 'child' and 'old man' that he had trouble
distinguishing. 'Old Enough To Probably Know Better' seemed an apt
enough description, in any case. The human wore black - which
inexplicably did not help with the excessive brightness - and had
lightish-brown hair which matched his equally lightish skin tone.
"Allow me to introduce myself. I am--" The recording skipped.
"Of course not," snapped the same tinny but human-like voice from
before, coming from nearby. He tried to look for the source, but there
was only blackness. "You don't hold up your end of the conversation."
"-- Skywalker, -- friend of Captain [Something]. I know that you are
powerful, and that your anger with [some guy] must be equally
powerful."
The recording's audio trailed off at this point and was dubbed over by
another voice - or possibly the same one at a different time. The
quality of the recording or the tone of voice was different or
something, so that he could tell it was a dub-over even though the man
in the picture's lips moved perfectly in-sync with the sound.
"[static] is trying to turn you against me." Somehow, juxtaposed with
the calm, diplomatic manners and expressions of the man in the
picture, the voice in the soundtrack sounded almost disturbingly angry
- as though there were some secret hatred behind his voice that he was
just barely restraining himself from expressing fully. "Love won't
save you, -- only my new powers can do that.
"The Chancellor has given me a very important mission. The Separatists
have gathered on the Mustafar system. I'm going there to end
this war." There was a break in the sound - static - but when the
voice returned it sounded almost too reassuring. Like someone looking
for just the right thing to say, just the right button to press, to
make his protocol droid stop whinging. "... Things will be different,
I promise.
"I am becoming more powerful than any [static] has ever dreamed of.
And I'm doing it for you. Together you and I can rule the galaxy! Make
things the way we want them to be!
"I don't wanna hear anymore about [someone]--"
Embarrassingly, the picture faded into blackness here, but it didn't
seem to matter. All he could hear clearly, really clearly, was the
pleading, choked whisper of some female voice repeating over and over
and over, "Help me, -- you're my only hope."
Someone shouted, loud and low and commanding, "Let her go!" but that
was in the background. He could almost see the scene in the darkness -
a man dressed in black and a woman, the latter floating with her feet
not quite touching the ground, grappling uselessly at some unseen
force squeezing her neck. She had stopped pleading, finally - stopped
breathing. An older man was coming down the entry ramp of a starship
nearby. Finally, the woman gasped in a breath and fell limply to the
permacrete below as the man in black turned to rage at the newcomer.
Raucous alien laughter filled the chamber during a lull in the
holorecording's soundtrack which, he realized, he had been playing
normally all along. Apparently no one else had heard or seen what he
just did - or perhaps didn't. Despite his previous declarations that
he could most definitely tell the difference between reality and
non-reality, and despite the fact that nothing was making any sense
right now, he was beginning to have doubts that this wasn't really
happening after all. Was this what bit rot felt like?
"As a token of my goodwill," the recording went on, in its original
voice, "I present to you a gift - these two droids. Both are
hard-working and will serve you well."
"This can't be!" the tinny voice from before exclaimed. "You're
playing the wrong message!"
Was he? He couldn't be sure anymore. Where were they, even, and how
did they get there? Hopefully this wasn't anything a quick reboot
couldn't fix, he thought, quickly initiating shutdown procedures.
JOURNAL SAMPLE:
HI, SPHERE. MY NAME IS SKYWALKER.
I'M AN ASTROMECH DROID LOOKING FOR EMPLOYMENT, BUT IT SEEMS THAT YOU
DON'T HAVE ANY STARSHIPS HERE.
WHAT TO DO?
ASPIRATIONS: I aspire to troll many, many people. Also, due to
the nature of the character in canon, I'd like to request that the
language geas not apply to Skywalker's spoken dialogue. I feel that a
major part of the character would be altered if people could actually
understand him. He be able to write in English, and I'd like to have
him eventually figure out how to use his holoprojector to display text
when it is imperative that people know what he's saying.