Wookieepedia:Featured article queue/April 20, 2011

Col Serra, a Human male, was a smuggler who operated during the Galactic Civil War and was an old friend of another smuggler, Han Solo. After the Battle of Yavin, Serra was asked by Solo, who had joined the Rebel Alliance, to assemble a new unit of trained soldiers for the Rebellion. Serra scoured the galaxy, recruiting a ragtag bunch of scoundrels, pirates, bounty hunters, and other outlaws, forming Renegade Squadron in the process. Serra himself became the commander of the new unit. The Renegades first saw action during the evacuation of the Rebel base on Yavin 4, where they acted as a cover for the retreating Rebel troops, who fled from the invading forces of the Galactic Empire. During the battle, Serra was assisted by the Force-sensitive clone trooper X2, and the two of them managed to take down an Imperial-class Star Destroyer by destroying its reactor core. Following the evacuation, Serra and Renegade Squadron helped Commander Ackbar to find a suitable location for a new Rebel base. Once it was established on the planet Boz Pity, though, the Rebels had to escape again, as the Empire had followed them to the planet.

When the Alliance had finally settled on Hoth, Serra and Renegade Squadron began carrying out constant strikes against the Empire. They attacked an Imperial starship repair facility on Rori, and an Imperial weapons depot on Naboo. During the latter mission, Serra and his men uncovered evidence about a new Imperial superweapon, the superlaser-equipped Star Destroyer Conqueror. Serra and Renegade Squadron undertook a daring mission to the Mustafar system to destroy the Conqueror and successfully carried out their objective despite the intervention of the Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Vader himself. When the Empire finally discovered Echo Base on Hoth in 3 ABY, Serra and the Renegades once again assumed the role of a rearguard for the Rebel evacuation, planting explosives throughout the base and escaping in the last moment before its destruction.

One year later, Serra's squadron played a crucial role in both the run-up to the Battle of Endor and the battle itself, during which they assisted Solo's strike team in destroying the shield generator bunker that projected the deflector shield protecting the second Imperial Death Star. On Endor, Serra once again teamed up with X2, and together they helped Rebel ground and space forces, sabotaging the Imperial communications network and taking down shields of enemy Star Destroyers. After the battle was won by the Alliance, Serra and his men disbanded Renegade Squadron, returning to their underworld activities. Many years later, Serra was located by the Jedi archivist Tionne, who was compiling a record on Renegade Squadron. Serra then told her about his and his squadron's role in the Rebellion's fight against the Empire.