Blue Wing

"Blue Wing, take your group and draw the TIE fighters away&mdash;" "I'll do what I can."

- Lando Calrissian and Blue Wing

Blue Wing was the call sign of a male Rebel Alliance starfighter pilot who served in Blue Squadron as Blue Leader Merrick Simms's second in command. Blue Wing served with the squadron during the Battle of Endor, coordinating several Rebel units and engaging in combat against the Imperial forces above the Forest Moon of Endor. Following Simms's death, Blue Wing and Blue Squadron participated in General Lando Calrissian's attack on the second Death Star. On Calrissian's orders, Blue Squadron broke off their run to lure some of the Imperials' TIE fighters away while Calrissian and the others destroyed the Death Star's reactor core.

Biography
"All fighters commence attack on the Death Star's main reactor. The deflector shield is down. Repeat. The deflector shield is down!" "I see it. We're on our way. Red group! Gold group! Blue Squad! All fighters follow me!"

- Admiral Ackbar and General Calrissian during the Battle of Endor

Though the term "Blue Wing" could refer to the Rebel Alliance's Blue Squadron, the designation was also the call sign of an individual male pilot in the squadron who served as Blue Leader Merrick Simms's second in command. The fighter pilot designated Blue Wing was tasked with directing multiple battle groups. One of these groups, Blue Squad, utilized A-wing fighters

In 4 ABY, the Rebel Alliance learned that the Galactic Empire was constructing a second Death Star in the Endor system, and that the battlestation was protected by a deflector shield projected from the Forest Moon of Endor. A commando team was dispatched to destroy the shield generator before the bulk of the Alliance Fleet, led by the Mon Calamari Admiral Ackbar, arrived in the system to destroy the Death Star. Unbeknownst to the Alliance, they had just fallen into a trap orchestrated by Emperor Palpatine. When the Alliance Fleet arrived, they found the shield active and an Imperial fleet blocking their escape. The opposing armadas engaged one another in combat while the strike team struggled to accomplish their objective on Endor. As the space battle progressed, Commander Simms was killed following a Rebel attack on the Imperial main communications ship. One of Blue Wing's battle groups, Blue Squad, utilized A-wing fighters to great effect in combating and defeating the Imperial fleet during the battle. Eventually the strike team succeeded in destroying the shield generator, leaving the Death Star vulnerable to Rebel assaults. General Lando Calrissian, flying the freighter Millennium Falcon as Gold Leader, led several starfighter squadrons&mdash;including Blue Squadron, under Blue Wing&mdash;in an attack on the Death Star.

Scores of Rebel starfighters, followed closely by Imperial TIE fighters, skimmed low over the surface of the Death Star, looking for an entrance into its superstructure so they could find and destroy the station's reactor core. Attempting to alleviate his allies, Calrissian ordered Blue Wing to take Blue Squadron and draw away the TIEs. He acknowledged as Calrissian and the remaining fighters flew into the Death Star. The Rebels succeeded in their endeavor, destroying the battlestation's reactor core and, in turn, the Death Star itself, scoring a major victory for the Alliance.

Personality and traits
A Rebel pilot, Blue Wing served as Blue Leader Merrick Simms's second in command and was tasked with leadership of more than one battle group during the Battle of Endor. In the midst of the engagement, Blue Wing followed General Calrissian in his attack run on the Death Star's superstructure, only to break off when Calrissian tasked him with luring away some of the pursuing TIE fighters.

Behind the scenes
Blue Wing briefly appeared in the 1983 novelization of Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, receiving one line of dialogue. Blue Wing is unique to the novel, as his scene does not appear in the actual film. The pilot later received entries in all three editions of A Guide to the Star Wars Universe, the Star Wars Encyclopedia, and The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia. Though his gender was originally unknown, Blue Wing was confirmed to be male in A Guide to the Star Wars Universe, Third Edition.

For the Star Wars Encyclopedia and Guide to the Star Wars Universe entries on Blue Wing, "RJ" (short for Return of the Jedi) is listed as the information source code, which would imply that Blue Wing appears in the film. It should be noted that the "RJN" code exists for entries from the film's novelization.

Appearances

 * Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi novelization