Green Squadron pilot (Battle of Endor)

"Split up and head back to the surface. And see if you can get a few of those TIE fighters to follow you." "Copy, Gold Leader."

- The pilot acknowledges Lando Calrissian's order to draw off Imperial pursuit.

This pilot, a Human male, flew combat missions for the Alliance to Restore the Republic at the height of the Galactic Civil War. Known as a top X-wing pilot, he transferred to an A-wing squadron when the newer, more agile craft became available to Alliance forces following the Battle of Yavin. By the time of the Battle of Endor in 4 ABY, he was considered to be among the best A-wing pilots, and so was chosen to fly with Green Squadron in the assault on the Imperial battlestation, the second Death Star. Participating in the starfighter attack on the Death Star's main reactor, the pilot followed the order of Gold Leader Lando Calrissian to break off his run and head for the surface of the station, drawing off some of the Imperial TIE fighters in pursuit.

Biography
The pilot flew T-65 X-wing starfighters in combat for the Alliance to Restore the Republic, and was considered one of the top X-wing pilots. When the RZ-1 A-wing interceptor was released following the Battle of Yavin, he transferred to an A-wing unit.

When the time came for the Rebel Alliance to attack the Imperial battlestation, the second Death Star, as one of the best A-wing operators in the Alliance, the pilot was chosen to fly with Green Group, led by Arvel Crynyd. In the initial stages of the battle, Green Squadron and other A-wing units used their jamming units to disrupt Imperial targeting computers.

Following the battle plan, once the deflector shield around the Death Star was deactivated by Rebel operatives, the leader of the starfighter assault, Gold Leader Lando Calrissian, called for fighters to follow him into the superstructure of the battlestation in a strike on the main reactor. The Green Squadron pilot, among a group of others including Red Leader Wedge Antilles, Gray Leader Horton Salm, Tycho Celchu, and Keir Santage, complied, diving into the workings of the partially-completed station. Following Antilles' X-wing, the pilot flew ahead of the Millennium Falcon, which was followed by Celchu's A-wing, Salm's Y-wing, and Santage's X-wing.

Imperial fighters&mdash;two TIE Fighters and four TIE Interceptors&mdash;chased the Rebel fighters as they flew through the Death Star, posing a threat to the success of the mission. Initially, two of the Imperial ships were destroyed when one collided with a wall. However, after Santage's X-wing was shot down, Calrissian ordered a number of the fighters to split up and head back to the surface, in order to draw off some of the pursuit. The Green Squadron pilot was the first to comply, followed by Celchu and Salm&mdash;he and the others who broke off managed to draw off two Imperial fighters&mdash;reducing Calrissian's remaining pursuit by half. Because of the lessened number of pursuers, Calrissian and Antilles were able to complete their mission of destroying the reactor, taking the Death Star out of commission and winning the battle for the Rebel Alliance.

Personality and traits
The pilot was among the top X-wing pilots in the Rebel Alliance before the introduction of the A-wing interceptor, and so transferred to an A-wing unit when the new craft became available. By the time of the Battle of Endor, he was already considered to be one of the best A-wing pilots, as well, and so was chosen to fly in Green Squadron alongside such notables as Arvel Crynyd and Tycho Celchu. When Calrissian gave the order for a number of fighters to break off the assault on the Death Star's main reactor in order to draw off pursuit, the Green Group pilot complied, allowing his fellow pilots to complete the mission, for which they received accolade.

Behind the scenes
The pilot can be seen briefly in Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, where he acknowledges Lando Calrissian's order for the Rebel fighters to split up in order to draw off Imperial pursuers. In the script for Return of the Jedi, he is simply credited as "Pilot." This pilot's backstory was fleshed out in a Decipher, Inc. Star Wars Customizable Card Game card, where he was established as a top A-wing and former top X-wing pilot.

In the novelization of Return of the Jedi, Green Leader is said to have followed Calrissian into the Death Star, and is given the line, instead. However, in the movie Green Leader does not enter the superstructure, and the line is spoken by a separate pilot entirely. Return of the Jedi: The National Public Radio Dramatization gives the line to Red Two, the character who in the film flew a Y-wing and shot down a TIE Interceptor, which had been responsible for the destruction of Red Three, another A-wing pilot. Red Two is expanded as a character in the dramatization, having several other lines of dialogue, including that spoken by the Green Squadron pilot in the film.

For a time there was fan speculation as to the identity of the pilot, as author Michael Stackpole had established Tycho Celchu as an A-wing pilot who survived the Death Star run in the Battle of Endor in his 1996 novel X-wing: Rogue Squadron. However, Stackpole denies these claims on his website, where he states that Celchu was the other A-wing pilot present, that he does not look like the character from the movie, and that the unnamed pilot flew the first A-wing, while Celchu piloted the second. Furthermore, other cards released by Decipher for the card game indicate Celchu as the pilot of the second A-wing in the chase sequence and one of the background characters during the Alliance briefing before the battle, who does not look like the unnamed Green Group pilot.

The LucasArts video game Star Wars: Rebel Assault depicts a R-22 Spearhead pilot and instructor named Jake Farrell, the appearance of whom is quite similar to that of the Green Squadron pilot from Return of the Jedi. However, to date no retcon has been made establishing that the two characters are one and the same.

Appearances

 * Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
 * Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi Photo Comic
 * Star Wars: X-Wing Alliance