R2-F2

R2-F2 was an R2 series astromech droid that served as part of Red Squadron in the Alliance to Restore the Republic during the Galactic Civil War against the Galactic Empire. It flew with rebel pilot Biggs Darklighter, and the pair were stationed at the moon Yavin 4's Great Temple.

In 0 BBY, Red Squadron were deployed to try and destroy the Imperial Death Star superweapon and flew in a T-65B X-wing starfighter. The Alliance's X-wing starfighters were at first used to draw away fire from the BTL-A4 Y-wing assault starfighter/bombers of Gold Squadron by engaging enemy TIE/ln space superiority starfighters or turrets. After most of the bombers were destroyed, Darklighter and R2-F2 were part of an attempted attack run on the Death Star's vulnerable thermal exhaust port; however, they were both killed during the run by the Sith Lord Darth Vader.

Biography[]

R2-F2 was the designation of an R2 series astromech droid^[4] manufactured by Industrial Automaton.^[3] During the Galactic Civil War between the Alliance to Restore the Republic and the Galactic Empire, it served in the Alliance's Massassi Group, which was based out of their headquarters in the Great Temple on the moon Yavin 4. The astromech droid flew with the Rebel pilot Biggs Darklighter as Red Three in the Rebel Alliance Starfighter Corps' Red Squadron.^[2]

R2-F2 White — R2-F2 flew with Biggs Darklighter in the Battle of Yavin.

When the Empire's Death Star superweapon arrived in the Yavin system^[2] in 0 BBY,^[6] R2-F2 and Darklighter completed their pre-flight checks together^[7] then launched with the rest of Red Squadron in order to try and destroy the battle station before it could obliterate Yavin 4. The Red Squadron starfighters were tasked with drawing fire away from the BTL-A4 Y-wing assault starfighter/bombers of Gold Squadron, who made an attack run on the Death Star's one weakness: its thermal exhaust port^[2]

Gold Squadron were mostly destroyed during their failed attack run, leaving Red Squadron to attempt runs on the port instead. Darklighter and R2-F2 flew with pilots Luke Skywalker and Wedge Antilles down the Death Star's meridian trench toward the port, but before they could reach it, Darklighter and R2-F2 were killed when the Sith Lord Darth Vader shot down their X-wing starfighter. The Death Star was ultimately destroyed when Skywalker managed to launch a proton torpedo down the exhaust port.^[2]

Characteristics[]

R2-F2 had black and gray paneling and a black sensor.^[4] Like all R2 units, it stood 0.96 meters (3ft 2in) tall.^[5]

Behind the scenes[]

R2-F2 first appeared in the 1977 original trilogy film, Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope.^[2] In the current canon, the droid was first identified on an action figure set from the Star Wars: The Black Series released in 2018 by Hasbro Inc.^[4]

The name originated in the Star Wars Legends continuity, where it was first used on a card in the 2012 Core Set of the Star Wars: X-Wing Miniatures Game.^[8] Prior to this though, the astromech droid R2-Q2 had been described in several Legends sources as being the droid used by Darklighter at Yavin.^[9]^[10] R2-Q2 is in fact a separate droid that appears in the opening sequence of A New Hope, albeit with an incredibly similar color scheme to R2-F2.^[11] This mistake was repeated in the 2018 "X-Wing Starfighter" LEGO set, in which R2-Q2 was included with Darklighter instead of R2-F2.^[12]