Blade Squadron (short story)

"Blade Squadron" is a two-part short story written by David J. Williams and Mark S. Williams that appeared in Star Wars Insider 149 and Star Wars Insider 150. It was inspired by artwork depicting an unused battle scene from Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi, and the story focuses on an elite squadron of B-wing starfighters on a suicide mission during the Battle of Endor.

Blade Squadron is the first Insider short story, and the first story outside of the films and The Clone Wars TV series, that is part of the new canon, as defined since the April 25, 2014 reboot. The story was later reprinted on StarWars.com.

Development
The two-part story Blade Squadron was published as the monthly short fiction of the 149th and 150th issues of the Star Wars Insider magazine. The announcement of the new Lucasfilm canon policy on April 25, 2014 was released between the publication of the two issues, leaving the state of the short story uncertain. In the Star Wars Insider 150, it was announced that Blade Squadron does belong to the new canon, making it the first prose work and story in general to be considered as canon outside from the movies and the TV series Star Wars: The Clone Wars.