Garven Dreis/Legends

"Lock S-foils in attack position."

- Garven Dreis during the Battle of Yavin

Garven Dreis was a X-wing pilot and leader of the X-wing Red Squadron.

Biography
During the Clone Wars he served in the Rarefied Air Cavalry where he fought alongside Anakin Skywalker during the Battle of Virujansi. He greatly admired Skywalker's piloting skills.

Decades later, he joined the Rebel Alliance and eventually became the leader of Red Squadron. In his most vital mission, he led Red Squadron against the Death Star in the Battle of Yavin.

The avuncular Dreis and his "boys" in Red Squadron were to keep the battle station's TIE Fighters and turbolaser turrets occupied while Gold Squadron completed the trench run. All would have went well if not for the arrival of Darth Vader and his Death Squadron. Vader made short work of Gold Leader and his wingmen, forcing Dreis to attempt the trench run with his own wingmen. They were at a severe disadvantage, as while the X-Wings were faster and more manoeuvrable than Gold Squadron's Y-Wings, they were also far less heavily shielded.

Even as Dreis' X-Wing approached the exhaust port, Death Squadron swooped in for another pass. Dreis activated his targeting computer and readied his shot, even as Vader blasted right through his wingmen. However, this bought Dreis enough time to reach the end of the trench and Red Leader triumphantly fired his proton torpedoes and pulled out of the trench, shouting "It's away!"

However, victory soon turned to bitter disappointment, as it became clear that Dreis' torpedoes did not actually enter the exhaust port, and merely impacted on the battle station's outer surface. Vader and his wingmen followed Red Leader out of the trench, firing on him.

By now the only remaining members of Red Squadron were Luke Skywalker, Wedge Antilles and Biggs Darklighter. Luke offered for himself and the others to cover Red Leader on a second attempt at the trench run, but Dreis disagreed, as Vader's shots had just disabled his starboard engine. Red Leader's last order was for the three young pilots to perform the attack run themselves, seconds before Vader finished him off, his fighter exploding as it crashed into the Death Star's surface. However, his death was not in vain, as the third attack run resulted in the Death Star's destruction, with Luke using the Force to make the shot that Dreis' targeting computer could not make.

Ironically, none of the Rebels were aware that the man who had shot down Dreis, Darth Vader, was actually his old comrade Anakin Skywalker - and Luke's father.

Following the Battle of Yavin, Dreis's position as Red Leader would be filled by Commander Narra, who would himself be killed in the Battle of Derra IV.

Luke Skywalker would inherit the Squadron, renaming it Rogue Squadron, and led them until the Battle of Endor, where he was succeeded as Rogue Leader by Wedge Antilles, who renamed the squadron Red Squadron in honor of Dreis and the others who died in the attack on the first Death Star.

Behind the scenes

 * Garven Dreis was portrayed by Drewe Hemley in A New Hope.


 * A scene filmed for A New Hope had Dreis confront Luke Skywalker and Biggs Darklighter, in which the two pilots discuss Luke's flying ability. This scene included dialogue that implied Dreis knew Anakin Skywalker. The scene was incorpoated into the Special Edition of the film, but the dialogue involving Anakin was removed. Dreis knowing Anakin was brought back into continuity thanks to Vader: The Ultimate Guide.

Appearances

 * Empire at War
 * Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
 * Star Wars Empire 13: What Sin Loyalty?
 * Marvel Star Wars 5: Lo, The Moons of Yavin