- "Oh, dear. You say the engine needs a new supply of space crystals?"
[R2-D2's circuits light up and whirr]
"And they can only be found in the deepest cave on this planet? Then let's go!" - ―C-3PO and R2-D2
Space crystals were blue crystals that could be essential components of a starship's engines. A deposit of the crystals could be found in the deepest cave on a planet that was once visited by the protocol droid C-3PO and the astromech droid R2-D2. When the droids realized their starship required a new supply of space crystals, they trekked across the planet's surface in order to retrieve a deposit of the material from the planet's cave.
Description
- [R2-D2 loudly clicks and beeps]
"You say the crystals are always found near a smelly orange fungus." - ―R2-D2 and C-3PO
Space crystals were a type of blue-colored crystal. They could be found in deep caves, and a type of orange fungus commonly grew in the vicinity of the crystals' deposits. Space crystals could be an essential component to the operation of the engines of a starship, with an example being a single-pilot craft at some point used by the protocol droid C-3PO and the astromech droid R2-D2.[1]
History
- "We must be very close!"
- ―C-3PO, to R2-D2 while at the mouth of a cave
At one point, C-3PO and R2-D2 found themselves needing to replace their starship's supply of space crystals.
At one point, the pair of droids used the starship to land on a terrestrial planet. Before they could travel to[1] the Outer Rim Territories planet[2] Tatooine, however, R2-D2 discovered that their ship needed a new supply of space crystals. The astromech droid informed his companion that they could only find a deposit of the crystals in the deepest cave on the planet, at which point the pair undertook a trip to obtain the material.[1]
Ultimately, the droids arrived at the cave, where C-3PO inferred from the presence of the particular fungus at the cave's mouth that they were close to the deposit. Shortly thereafter, R2-D2 and C-3PO noticed space crystals shining through an opening in the cave wall. The satisfied droids subsequently took an amount of the crystals back to their spacecraft and, loading them into its engine, proceeded to travel offworld.[1]
Behind the scenes
- "Young children will find that outer space is no farther than their fingertips when they stroke a serpent's scaly stomach, touch a strange hairy plant, scratch and sniff an alien fungus—and more—while helping Artoo-Detoo and See-Threepio search for the crystal they need to fix their spacecraft."
- ―Back cover of Shiny as a Droid
Space crystals appeared in Shiny as a Droid, a 1986 children's book written by Virginia Holt and illustrated by Feito.[1]