Farns Monsbee

"We won't have long."

- Monsbee points out that Blue Squadron will need to be fast to make it through the Shield Gate above Scarif

Farns Monsbee was a human male who flew as a pilot for the Rebel Alliance during the Galactic Civil War. For a time he was the lone pilot stationed at a Rebel base on Cassidode VI, before transferring to join Blue Squadron under General Antoc Merrick at the Rebel base on Yavin 4. In 0 BBY, he flew as Blue Five in a T-65B X-wing starfighter when Blue Squadron was part of the Alliance Fleet that scrambled to aid Rebel forces on the planet Scarif in stealing the plans to the Galactic Empire's Death Star superweapon. Monsbee and the rest of Blue Squadron was ordered to aid the Rebels on the surface of Scarif, but only eight vessels from the squadron made it through the Empire's Shield Gate above the planet before it was closed. The split squadron then fought against the Empire on both sides of the gate and suffered several casualties, before the plans were transmitted to the fleet and the surviving Blue Squadron pilots retreated back to Yavin.

Lone pilot
Farns Monsbee was a human male who served the Rebel Alliance as a pilot during its war against the Galactic Empire. For a period of his service he was the sole snubfighter pilot stationed at an ill-equipped rebel outpost on Cassidode VI, where he logged a large number of flight-hours. Monsbee was eventually transferred to Blue Squadron, an unusually large starfighter squadron within the Massassi Group of Rebels operating out of the Great Temple on the moon Yavin 4. While on the moon, he often served as a recon flier.

In the year 0 BBY, Blue Squadron was under the command of General Antoc Merrick and was partially raised to attack a secret Imperial laboratory on the planet Eadu in order to try and kill the Imperial scientist Galen Erso. The squadron was successful in its mission and returned to Yavin, where a meeting of the Alliance Civil Government was held to discuss whether or not an attack should be made on the Imperial base on the planet Scarif in order to try and recover plans for the Empire's Death Star superweapon that Erso had informed his daughter Jyn Erso were kept there. Ultimately there was not enough support amongst the council, and it was decided that there would be no attack.

Scramble for Scarif
"Blue Squadron, on me."

- Merrick orders Monsbee and the rest of Blue Squadron to follow him through the Shield Gate

Despite the council's decision, Jyn Erso led a squad of rogue Rebel operatives to Scarif to try and recover the plans alone. Once the Imperials became aware of the attack, word reached Yavin of what was happening, and the entirety of Blue Squadron, was amongst forces led by Admiral Raddus that scrambled to aid the Rebels on Scarif. Monsbee flew to the battle as Blue Five in a T-65B X-wing starfighter. Upon their arrival in the space above Scarif, the admiral ordered Blue Squadron to quickly head to the surface through the Imperial's Shield Gate so that they could aid Erso's squad. Merrick ordered his pilots to follow him in, after which Monsbee warned they would not have long before the Imperials closed the gate.

Monsbee proved to be right, and only seven of the squadron's X-wing starfighters and a single UT-60D U-wing starfighter/support craft were all that made it through before the gate closed, with Vangos Grek and another Blue Squadron pilot dying as their X-wings impacted on the gate. Another Blue Squadron X-wing then crashed into the side of the gate as it tried to pull away, but at least four of Blue Squadron's X-wing pilots including Jaldine Gerams and Barion Raner managed to pull up in time and retreat from gate to aid the rest of the Alliance Fleet.

Battle of Scarif
Those Blue Squadron pilots who did make it through the gate were able to provide ariel support to the ground forces on Scarif, although Merrick and at least one other X-wing pilot died while doing so. Erso eventually managed to successfully transmit the Death Star plans to the fleet after the Shield Gate was destroyed, but she and the rest of the forces on Scarif were killed when the Death Star arrived and fired on the Imperial base.

Some portion of Blue Squadron and the Rebel fleet then managed to escape and return to Yavin, although between Eadu and Scarif Blue and Red Squadron had lost nineteen pilots and crew, leaving the Alliance unsure if it could even field Blue Squadron when the Death Star attacked Yavin not long after.

Personality and traits
Farns Monsbee was known to work well within a squadron, but had far more flight hours logged than his colleagues thanks to his time on Cassidode VI. He had fair skin, blue eyes and blonde hair.

Equipment
As a pilot of the rebellion, Farns Monsbee was equipped with blue flight suit, white flight harness and a dark green helmet. The latter was adorned with a modified version of the famous Wren Phoenix crest.

Behind the scenes
Farns Monsbee was portrayed by Simon Farnaby in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, which was released on December 16, 2016. The character was not identified in the film, but received the name Farns Monsbee&mdash;a tuckerization of Farnaby's name&mdash;in Star Wars: Rogue One: The Ultimate Visual Guide, a reference book written by Pablo Hidalgo and released on the same day as the film.

Appearances

 * Rogue One: A Star Wars Story