88th Flight

88th Flight was a Vulture-class droid starfighter squadron in the service of the navy of the Confederacy of Independent Systems.

Characteristics
Vulture droids of 88th Flight were marked with the slate-gray, blue and light-grey colors of the Confederate Navy, uniquely striped diagonally across the hull of the droids' hull plating to identify them apart from other Vulture droid squadrons. Droid starfighters of the squadron were equipped with comparatively minimal defenses and shielding, as well as blaster cannons, discord missiles, and energy torpedoes. They were provided with basic targeting and defensive systems. When grounded, 88th Flight droids were less maneuverable on land than in flight. However, units were able to redirect power not being used for starfighter combat into weapons and shields, balancing their performance as ground assault units.

Certain units of the squadron were upgraded for command operations, and were equipped with better targeting and shielding systems. These command units were marked with vertical yellow stripes on the fore and aft ends of their upper wings, identifying them apart from their subordinate squadron members.

Mission to Skytop Station
Units of the 88th Flight were present during the infiltration of the Separatist listening post, Skytop Station, by a Republic squad led by Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano. They were activated by R3-S6 along with B2 super battle droids to attack Skywalker and the Clone troopers.

Battle of Patitite Pattuna
About 21 BBY, 88th Flight participated in an ambush led by Separatist General Grievous. One of the squadron's Vulture droids pursued a BTL-B Y-wing starfighter&mdash;commandeered by R2-D2 and C-3PO escaping the destruction of Jedi Master Adi Gallia's Venator-class Star Destroyer&mdash;through the midst of the conflict and into Patitite Pattuna's atmosphere. The droid fighter scored a damaging hit on the Republic bomber, only to be destroyed following an evasive maneuver performed by R2-D2. The rest of the squadron engaged in the battle assisted in the repulsion of Republic forces&mdash;as well as the destruction of Adi Gallia's flagship&mdash;resulting in the capture of the Jedi by Grievous.

Behind the scenes
On July 26, 2008, the 88th Flight was first represented as a miniature in the Clone Wars expansion of WizKids's Star Wars PocketModel TCG. The squadron was then featured in Ambush in Season One, and in subsequent episodes of the Star Wars: The Clone Wars television series, such as Duel of the Droids and Nomad Droids in Season Four. The expansion also included representative 88th Flight Command units, which were elite members of the squadron marked with yellow stripes on their wing pods.

Images of the Vulture droid squadron were provided by Lucasfilm, Ltd., taken directly from episodes of the series to be printed by WizKids on styrene miniatures. As with other units in the game, the name 88th Flight was provided by Lucasfilm, Ltd. to WizKids to identify the squadron in the supplied episode images. The coloration and design of the units&mdash;as with other color and design schemes for other flights and squadrons&mdash;served to distinctly identify the unit apart from other squadrons. This was done to preview the material of the series to the public only just before the airing of episodes, giving fans supplemental information of characters and organizations outside of episode dialog. Such information concerning the series material was strictly protected by Lucasfilm until the time of distribution.

Also on July 26, 2008, Hasbro released a "Vulture Droid" action vehicle for The Clone Wars line of their Star Wars action figure toys.