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Once there was a little droid. An astromech unit, not the latest build to be honest, standard pattern in blue and silver. This little droid came from Naboo, working with the pilots there. Nothing overtly remarkable, at the time. Just another R2 unit. One more clever, perhaps, than at first appearance, and with surprisingly good luck. Even so, its entire existence changed that fateful day it helped Padme Amidala escape the Trade Federation's blockade on Naboo in the company of two Jedi.

The Jedi's cause because R2-D2's cause, and as he grew up Anakin became R2's human, for whom the droid would go through any number of indignities. For Padme, too--but somewhere along the line there was a mix-up, and the Naboo-originating astromech became the Jedi's droid, while the translator Anakin had built became Padme's. Still, the two droids developed a strong bond, both to each other and their humans--their family.

That bond isn't all that grew. During the Clone Wars, Anakin refused to wipe his droid’s memory banks—completely flouting protocol in doing so—enabling R2 to learn and grow. No one else ever wiped his memory either. It meant that he retained far more information than anyone ever realized, knowing perhaps more than anyone in the galaxy about the private lives of the key players. And yet, he always keeps his family's secrets.

Through everything, R2-D2 just keeps on going. Firefights, swamps, deserts, wars and rebellions: whatever the universe throws at him, he handles. It's not really something anyone could have expected--the resilience, competence, commitment, intelligence, and even manipulation--out of any droid. Especially not the inconspicuous astromech in Naboo's hanger.

This little droid would help save the galaxy.

Of course, keeping secrets is easier when only Threepio speaks Beep-boop-whrr-squee.

[R2-D2 is from the Star Wars franchise, and is the property of name of... well, Disney, now, apparently. They appear here solely for the purpose of role-playing in milliways_bar, from which no profit whatsoever is being made.]