Davish Krail/Legends

"Stay on target!"

- Davish Krail, as Gold Five

Davish Krail, nicknamed "Pops," was a veteran BTL Y-wing starfighter pilot who flew for the Alliance to Restore the Republic during the Battle of Yavin as Gold 5.

Rebel
Since at least 20 BBY, Davish Krail flew starfighters, and over the course of his career, he fought in many engagements. He had kept the same helmet over the years, and eventually it was battered to a state that it was no longer useful. By the time of his joining the Alliance to Restore the Republic, he was a veteran pilot, and was given command of a BTL Y-wing starfighter squadron at the Alliance's base on Dantooine. With younger pilots such as Ryle Torsyn under his command, and eventually came to be known as "Pops," since he was in his elder years while serving the Alliance. He was later assigned to Jon Vander's Gold Squadron, and flew as Vander's wingman under the callsign of "Gold 5." Krail personally supervised all maintenance and repairs on his Y-wing. Krail and his comrades were transferred when the Alliance was later forced to abandon the Dantooine base and relocate to the Great Temple of Yavin IV.

The Battle of Yavin
In 0 BBY, the Alliance prepared to strike at and destroy the Galactic Empire's Death Star superweapon. technical readouts to the station had been delivered to the Great Temple by Princess Leia Organa, allowing Alliance High Command to devise a plan of attack. It was the intent of General Jan Dodonna to have snubfighters approach the station, fly down one of its surface trenches, and fire proton torpedos down a two-meter wide exhaust shaft. The warheads would hopefully go down the shaft into the battlestation's main reactor, and destroy the superweapon utterly. However, in bringing the plans to Yavin IV, Organa and her companions had also brought the Death Star itself to the Yavin system.

Left with little choice but to begin his attack immediately while the Death Star bore down on Yavin IV, Dodonna launched Garven Dreis' Red Squadron, Vander's Gold Squadron, and Merrick Simms' Blue Squadron against the station. Krail flew on Vander's wing as usual, and as the Alliance fighters neared the station, the veteran pilot followed his commander towards the target shaft. Meanwhile, Dreis and his "Red Boys," drew the battlestation's defensive fire away from Gold Squadron. Eventually, the Imperials launched Black Squadron, composed of TIE/ln starfighters, to deal with the Alliance fighters. While TIEs fought with Red Squadron, Vander, Krail, and Tiree began their attack run on the Death Star's exhaust port.

As the trio began their descent into the trench, Vander marked in the exhaust port's location. When in the trench itself, he ordered Krail and Tiree to switch all their power to their front deflector shield. As they were beset by cannon fire from turrets within the trench, Vander requested that Krail estimate just how many defensive turrets the trench had. The veteran completed the difficult task while hurtling down the trench, and supposed that there were approximately twenty in total, being spread between the station's surface and its towers. As they neared the exhaust port, Vander switched to his targeting computer before the defensive fire abruptly stopped. Krail suggested that they switch to rear deflector shields, and advised his comrades to be wary of possible enemy fighter attacks.

Sure enough, Vander immediately identified three enemy fighters headed for their position. One of them was a TIE Advanced x1, piloted by Lord Darth Vader. Since they could not fend off the enemy craft and attack the objective simultaneously, the trio were forced to doggedly continue towards the exhaust port, in spite of the threat. The new arrivals entered the trench behind the trio, and Vader quickly shot down Tiree. Vander began panicking, and protested that the trench was too small, restricting his evasive options. Krail continually beseeched Vander to focus on his objective, but the younger man continued to fret, urging the veteran to move away from his fighter and loosen up formation. The requests were made in vain, however, as Vader swiftly dispatched Vander as well.

Now alone in the trench with Vader on his tail, Krail pulled out of the run and contacted Dreis, informing the Red Squadron commander of Gold Squadron's failure. With his last breath he informed Krail that Vader and his wingmen had attacked them from behind, before the Dark Lord shot down and killed the veteran. Dreis would also be killed by Vader shortly thereafter, but Red Squadron pilot Luke Skywalker was eventually able to destroy the station and win the day for the Alliance.

Behind the scenes
Krail was played by Graham Ashley.

In a parody of his famous line, in the game Warcraft 3, when a Dwarven Flying Machine is shot down, the pilot will scream: "They came from behind!"

Leia Organa refers to Gold 5 as "Talos Merkin" in Star Wars Journal: Captive to Evil.

Interestingly, during his final moments, when Krail reports in to Red Leader, Red Leader calls him Gold Leader. However, this could have been because Golds One through Four were shot down, the chain of command would've made Krail Gold Leader.

Appearances

 * Star Wars Journal: Captive to Evil
 * Star Wars radio drama
 * Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
 * Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope novel
 * Star Wars: A New Hope - The Special Edition 4

Notes and references
Davish Krail