Rogue Squadron/Legends

"Well, you know the Rogues. All we need is a ship and rock to land it on."

- Wedge Antilles

Rogue Squadron was an elite Rebel X-wing starfighter squadron founded by Wedge Antilles and Luke Skywalker shortly after the Battle of Yavin out of Red Squadron. Their service to the New Republic continued through the Yuuzhan Vong War. Command of Rogue Squadron changed hands from Luke Skywalker to Wedge Antilles, then briefly to Derek Klivian while the Rogues went independent to battle Ysanne Isard on Thyferra and while Wedge was leading Wraith Squadron, to Tycho Celchu then to Gavin Darklighter and eventually to Jaina Solo.

Yavin, Hoth, and Endor
The origins of Rogue Squadron could be traced back to the Battle of Yavin, where the two pilots who would ultimately establish Rogue Squadron&mdash;Luke Skywalker and Wedge Antilles&mdash;were the only members of the Rebel Alliance's Red Squadron to survive the battle.

After the battle, Red Squadron was reformed and would operate as two groups. The first was Renegade Flight under Commander Narra, the squadron leader; the second was Rogue Flight under Luke Skywalker. The core of Rogue Flight was Luke Skywalker, Wedge Antilles, Zev Senesca, Wes Janson, and later Kasan Moor.

Renegade Flight was destroyed after the Battle of Yavin on an escort mission at Ison, coming from Derra IV with a convoy carrying supplies for the Rebel base. A little while later, Rogue Flight and some other fighters arrived in the Ison Corridor, where they discovered the wreckage of Renegade Flight and the convoy they were escorting. Then Rogue Flight and its convoy were ambushed on all sides in what became the Battle of the Ison Corridor. After this, Rogue Flight became Rogue Squadron, with Luke Skywalker as their commander, and with new pilots added to their roster, like Tycho Celchu and Red Squadron veteran Derek "Hobbie" Klivian. As the Rogues became more autonomous, they became a group with no standing orders, ready any time or place for urgent missions that would arise. During the Battle of Hoth the Rogues had eleven pilots in the squadron, but added some 'guest' members into their squadron, including the visiting smuggler Dash Rendar, in order to fill out empty gunner seats. The snowspeeders of the Rogues gave the Rebels enough time to evacuate Echo Base, although three of the squadron's members lost their lives in doing so.



After the evacuation of Hoth, Antilles took command during the absence of Skywalker during his trials on Dagobah, leading a dangerous mission at the Maw. Then Wedge led important missions such as the Battle of Dubrillion, the Mission at Destrillion, the Battle of Kothlis (this eventually resulted in the capture of information relating to the second Death Star) and the Battle of Fondor. After the capture of Han Solo, Skywalker and Antilles formed a squadron of 12 units around the core group and the Rogue Squadron was formed. Antilles often commanded the squadron when Luke had important off-flight missions. One of Luke's last missions with the squadron was the Battle of Gall against the Imperials, in an attempt to flush out the bounty hunter who had abducted Han Solo.

Rogue squadron participated in countless important missions during the year leading up to the battle of Endor. The Squadron participated in the stealing of the shuttle Tydirium, the rescuing of prisoners captured on Hoth, the First Battle of Bakura, the subsequent pursuit of the Imperial Escort carrier Exploiter to Geonosis, and last but not least, the Battle of Bespin.

During the Battle of Endor, Rogue Squadron was dissolved and absorbed into the general fleet, with many of its pilots distributed to other squadrons. The remaining Rogues and new pilots were grouped into a unit called Red Squadron, which Antilles named in memory of the Battle of Yavin; he himself took the role of "Red Leader". In fact, only five pilots remained in Rogue Squadron&mdash;Wedge Antilles (Red Leader, X-wing), Tycho Celchu (Green Three, A-wing), Wes Janson, Derek Klivian (Red Four, X-wing), and an unidentified Human male as Red Five (X-wing). All of them (except Red Five) survived the battle.

Fighting for the New Republic


After Endor, the squadron was hastily and temporarily reformed with available rebel pilots who could be spared in the aftermath of the battle, in order to defend the planet Bakura under Luke Skywalker, who was still considered Rogue Leader.

Rogue Squadron, officially reformed under Antilles, was considered the best of the best, undertaking their first mission to Cilpar with a lean team of six: Antilles, Janson, Klivian, Celchu, Plourr Ilo and Dllr Nep. Joined by Elscol Loro following this mission the squadron moved on to Mrlsst and then Tatooine where Elscol moved on to new things with a converted Imperial Intelligence team led by Sixtus Quinn.

During the following year, Rogue Squadron eventually swelled to twelve&mdash;regular size for a New Republic starfighter squadron. They were involved in skirmishes on various worlds, including Brentaal IV where the captured Baron Soontir Fel defected and joined his brother-in-law, Wedge. They were also involved in the failed defection and rescue of Sate Pestage on Ciutric.

Of the remaining squadron members, Janson and Klivian went to train new squadrons, Fel disappeared, Celchu took on a mission for NRI and Nrin Vakil transferred out to deal with his grief. Antilles undertook a publicity tour on numerous New Republic worlds. When using diplomacy had reached its limits in getting worlds to join the New Republic, it was decided to that taking Coruscant was required.

Antilles was then tasked with reforming Rogue Squadron in 6.5 ABY. The reconstituted Rogue Squadron would be an instrumental part of the New Republic's push against Imperial forces led by Ysanne Isard, with the ultimate goal of capturing Coruscant. Over 1200 pilots volunteered to join the resurrected Rogues.

The reformed squadron was quickly trained with a variety of missions designed to test the Rogue's abilities in numerous areas. It was comprised of pilots like Corran Horn, Gavin Darklighter, Erisi Dlarit, Lujayne Forge, and Bror Jace. Antilles chose Tycho Celchu as his Executive Officer, a choice he fought for with some of the upper echelons of the New Republic's military, as Celchu was under suspicion from previous encounters. The pilots of their command were quickly thrust into the line of fire in the disastrous First Battle of Borleias. Very soon after, Borleias was taken in a second, heated assault. From Borleias, the New Republic was in position to take an offensive action toward the core, particularly the capital world of Coruscant. Rogue Squadron would continue to lead the way.



With two new additions of Aril Nunb and Pash Cracken, Rogue Squadron infiltrated Coruscant. They went in as teams of two but all subsequently met up, gaining an ally in Asyr Sei'lar, a Bothan who was an alumnus of the Bothan Martial Academy. Celchu shocked the Rogues, when he showed up on Coruscant after having been presumed killed in a disastrous attack by Warlord Zsinj on Noquivzor. He had been brought in beforehand by Wedge as backup. Tycho had purchased six Z-95 Headhunters, of which five were used in the attack to bring down Coruscant's orbital shields. The sixth was flown by Corran Horn into a storm created by the Rogues by boiling the city's water supply with Coruscant's orbital mirrors. Their goal was to take down a power Grid Subsystem buried under a Statue. Although this endeavor was successful, Horn was subsequently captured by Ysanne Isard using the Headhunter's override codes (given to her by turncoat Erisi Dlarit). Horn was taken to Lusankya but presumed dead in the rubble where the storm and his attack had taken place.

Tycho Celchu was accused of being the traitor and was brought on trial, defended by fellow Rogue Nawara Ven. Meanwhile, Corran Horn was trapped in Isard's Lusankya facility. He managed to escape, while Celchu's trial was tearing Rogue Squadron apart. Finally, when Ysanne Isard blasted out of Coruscant on the Lusankya, Erisi Dlarit, the real traitor, faked being pulled by a tractor beam, and rendezvoused with the Super Star Destroyer.

The Bacta War
"No choice at all Luke. We're, ah, we were Rogue Squadron. We do."

- Wedge Antilles to Luke Skywalker on going after Ysanne Isard

To pursue Isard, Rogue Squadron resigned their commissions and participated in the Bacta War. With only minimal resources, they managed to lure the Star Destroyer Avarice to the New Republic, and they heavily damaged Lusankya, making her surrender. Ysanne Isard was presumed dead, shot down by the Rogues as she tried to escape. Thyferra was liberated, and Rogue Squadron gained a pilot in Tal'dira. However, Nawara Ven became the Squadron's XO, never to fly an X-Wing again, for he had lost his leg and wasn't able to fly well enough with a prosthetic.

"Wrong Designation, sir. We're Rogue Squadron. You're simply a rogue squadron."

- Derek Klivian to Wedge Antilles

During that time, Klivian led a temporary Rogue Squadron during the "true" Rogue Squadron's absence. However, an alleged filing error kept the resignations from being documented, and the Rogues were again New Republic officers, and the mission on Thyferra was retroactively considered a New Republic-sanctioned campaign. Antilles turned command over to Celchu and founded Wraith Squadron. Antilles commanded both squadrons against Warlord Zsinj and after that he returned to his command as Rogue Leader.

Later action
Rogue Squadron saw a great deal of combat during the Thrawn Crisis, including the Battle of Sluis Van and the Battle of Bilbringi, and immediately afterwards, the conquest of Prince-Admiral Delak Krennel's Ciutric Hegemony. The New Republic took one of its outlying planets and then prepared to attack Ciutric, the capital planet of the Hegemony, while simultaneously looking for clues that would lead to the remaining Lusankya prisoners. One of them, Urlor Sette, unexpectedly turned up at a party for the squadron, but when Corran Horn recognized him and said his name, an implanted device killed Sette. The Squadron went on a mission to Commenor, finding some of the prisoners and learning that Isard might be alive. During the attack on one of Krennel's outlying planets, Horn was shot down. He found a secret facility that showed evidence of a Pulsar Station, not unlike the Death Star, and the Rogues moved to attack it at a moon orbiting a gas giant, only to be ambushed. They were saved by two squadrons of TIE Defenders, Stranger and Interloper Squadrons, under the command of Colonel Broak Vessery, and taken to a secret base, having suffered the death of 2 pilots and the critical injury and presumed death of 2 more. Surprisingly, they met Ysanne Isard, who was responsible for their rescue. She revealed that the Isard they had thought they had killed was a clone, and she had survived to make herself a threat, and that all Isard wanted was her demise.

The squadron was trained to use TIE Defenders and then attacked Ciutric. The New Republic attacked at the same time, killing Krennel in the ensuing space battle. The real Isard tried to recapture Lusankya at Bilbringi, but was shot and said to be killed in the attempt by Iella Wessiri. There are reliable sources that suggest Isard might have actually been kept alive near the bow that was sealed off and tended by droids. This hint comes from the fact that Iella Wessiri coughed as soon as Corran Horn mentioned that area of the Lusankya. The real Isard had already betrayed Rogue Squadron by not supporting them in their attempt to kill the clone Isard and rescue the rest of the Lusankya prisoners at Ciutric. Rogue Squadron was successful however, and the clone of Isard was killed.



Following the return of Emperor Palpatine, the Rogues were back, flying mission after mission to safeguard the New Republic. After the fall of Coruscant, Antilles was ordered to reconfigure Rogue Squadron into a multi-fighter unit. Antilles felt this would destroy the cohesion of the unit, but his commanders felt that the prestige coming from using the Rogue Squadron name would be worth it. Antilles established a force using V-wing airspeeders, B-wings, and E-wings, with over 100 starfighters in total devoted to Rogue Squadron. For that reason, he chose to base it on Lusankya. During this time it fought in the First Battle of Mon Calamari and Second Battle of Phaeda, although the Lusankya did not join the squadron in battle until the latter conflict.

In 11 ABY, the Rogues were deployed on a number of campaigns, most notable of which was against the Invids led by former Imperial Admiral Tavira. Corran Horn, now trained as a Jedi, was instrumental in this campaign as he found the Dark Side users behind the Invids and stopped them. In 12.5 ABY they were one of the few New Republic survivors of the Battle of Orinda.

A situation on the newly found planet of Adumar called for Wedge to return to the cockpit with Tycho Celchu, Wes Janson and Hobbie Klivian in 13 ABY. Antilles led a diplomatic envoy which succeeded in bringing the neutral world to the New Republic. The four pilots used Rogue Squadron markings on their X-wings and flew as Red Flight with call signs Red 1 through Red 4.

The Caamas Document incident also called for Rogue Squadron's unique talents as they were pressed into ground-based service in an attempt to find out the truth behind the document. The return of Thrawn also saw the Rogues thrust back into the frontlines in an attempt to protect the New Republic.

The signing of the peace treaty ending the Galactic Civil War marked the time for many pilots from Rogue Squadron to retire.

Yuuzhan Vong War
"Rogue Squadron to Borleias. We're back. We kicked your butt twenty years ago. Now we're here to do it again."

- Colonel Gavin Darklighter, 27.5 ABY

Under the leadership of Colonel Gavin Darklighter, Rogue Squadron played a central role in a number of battles against the Yuuzhan Vong. The conflict saw Rogue Squadron take heavy losses, including nine pilots killed, one resignation and one transfer. In the Battle of Dantooine and its run-up alone, half the squadron were killed. During the war of attrition, several new weapons were developed, including the shadow bomb, and the X-Wing fighters were completely upgraded to become XJ3s.

Second Corellian Insurrection
During the Second Corellian Insurrection, Rogue Squadron was once again called upon to defend the Galactic Alliance. Under the command of Jacen and Jaina Solo, Rogue Squadron made a first strike at Corellia thus starting a full scale war.

Crest
During reformed Rogue Squadron's training they were put into simulated combat against a wing of Y-wings. The base commander, General Horton Salm, agreed to the competition on the belief that the Rogues could not possibly beat 36 Y-wings even with 12 X-wings. The Y-wings of Defender Wing, led by Horton Salm, were decimated with 30 out of the 36 ships destroyed. The Rogues only lost 4 of their own. As if the 8-1 kill ratio wasn't galling enough, a number of Rogue Squadron pilots, led by Corran Horn (with the help of Horn's astromech, Whistler), hacked into the TAARS package. Upon their "death," instead of their flight information, the Defender Wing pilots would have the Rogue Squadron crest shown on their screen. Gavin Darklighter designed the unofficial crest for the prank and the unit adopted it as their own. The crest was described as "a twelve-pointed red star with the Alliance crest in blue at the center, and an X-wing at each point of the star." It was soon adopted by the squadron, painted on their X-wings, and sewn onto their flight suits.

In addition to the unit patches, all Rogue Squadron X-wings had their S-foils painted with red stripes in the far corner near the cannon. The 181st Imperial Fighter Group had a similar design on their TIE Interceptors, and as a result red stripes on the wings became a sign of supreme skill and honor in the pilot community.

Uniform and kit
Prior to the invasion of Coruscant, Rogue Squadron pilots often supplied their own flight suits or wore standard orange jumpsuits. Subsequently, to honor Corran Horn's "death", official unit uniforms were created based on his CorSec flight suit's color scheme. The new uniforms were described as an "evergreen overall, with dark gray flank panels, black sleeves, leg stripes, and trim. On the left sleeve and breast rode the Rogue Squadron crest."

In 25 ABY, Colonel Darklighter wore a silver ring that bore the squadron crest. Its inclusion of his rank marker makes it an unlikely personal effect, but it is unknown if the use of such symbols of command were common across the Defense Force or a Rogue Squadron tradition.

Commanders
In chronological order
 * 1) Luke Skywalker
 * 2) Wedge Antilles
 * 3) Tycho Celchu
 * 4) Gavin Darklighter
 * 5) Jaina Solo
 * 6) Jacen Solo

Other pilots
In alphabetical order
 * Alph
 * Feylis Ardele
 * Berl
 * Avan Beruss
 * Shira Brie
 * Anni Capstan
 * Carithlee
 * Pash Cracken
 * Tarrin Datch
 * Deegan
 * Dinger
 * Erisi Dlarit
 * Myn Donos
 * Samoc Farr
 * Soontir Fel
 * Inyri Forge
 * Lujayne Forge
 * Gemmer
 * Nala Hetsime
 * Barlon Hightower
 * Corran Horn
 * Andoorni Hui
 * Xarcce Huwla
 * Ibtisam
 * Plourr Ilo
 * Herian I'ngre
 * Bror Jace
 * Wes Janson
 * Standro Jcir
 * Zev Kabir
 * Ran Kether
 * Dar Keyis
 * Kirst
 * Derek "Hobbie" Klivian
 * Tenk Lenso
 * Leth Liav
 * Elscol Loro
 * Kasan Moor
 * Dllr Nep
 * Karie Neth
 * Kral Nevil
 * Koobis Nu
 * Aril Nunb
 * Ten Numb
 * Kesin Ommis
 * Ligg Panat
 * Ooryl Qrygg
 * Dak Ralter
 * Dash Rendar (at Battle of Hoth only)
 * Gayla Riemann
 * Dix Rivan
 * Keir Santage
 * Sarkli
 * Pedna Scotian
 * Will Scotian
 * Asyr Sei'lar
 * Zev Senesca
 * Riv Shiel
 * Khe-Jeen Slee
 * Jacen Solo
 * Jaina Solo
 * Tal'dira
 * Cinda Tarheel
 * Hanc Thorben
 * Tik
 * Nrin Vakil
 * Kit Valent
 * Alinn Varth
 * Nawara Ven
 * Peshk Vri'syk
 * Vurrulf
 * Wald
 * Wister
 * Rhysati Ynr
 * Zekk

Support personnel

 * Carter
 * Reina Faleur
 * Harthis
 * Koyi Komad
 * M-3PO (Emtrey)
 * Pirgi
 * R5-D2 (Mynock)
 * R2-B3
 * R2-D2
 * R5-G8 (Gate)
 * Shabba
 * Sparky
 * Toughcatch
 * Whistler
 * Zraii

Behind the scenes
The comic series by Michael A. Stackpole and Dark Horse Comics, X-Wing: Rogue Squadron tells of the first reformation of the squadron after the Battle of Endor.

The X-wing book series, also by Stackpole, tells of the squadron's second reformation, two and a half years after Endor, and details the capture of Coruscant. The titles in that series are Rogue Squadron, Wedge's Gamble, The Krytos Trap and The Bacta War. Another series of books, written by Aaron Allston, follows Wraith Squadron, a pilot/commando squad formed by Antilles after the Bacta War which worked closely with the Rogues. These books are Wraith Squadron, Iron Fist, and Solo Command.



Stackpole returned to the series with Isard's Revenge, and Allston ended it with Starfighters of Adumar, a novel about Antilles and his closest compatriots, Tycho Celchu, Wes Janson, and Derek Klivian. Corran Horn, one of Rogue Squadron's pilots, is the subject of I, Jedi, another novel by Stackpole.

There are also three video games developed by Factor 5 and published by LucasArts: Star Wars: Rogue Squadron for the Nintendo 64 (and later available on PC CD-ROM), and Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader and Star Wars: Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike, both for the Nintendo GameCube.

It can be noticed that "Rouge" (French translation from "Red") and "Rogue" (the squadron keeps its name in France) are anagrams.