Black Eight Squadron

"You're to find a group of independent thinkers who can operate outside of the Empire's bureaucracy. Pull them from the Imperial prison system if you have to."

- Darth Vader, to Dorin Millavec

The Black Eight Squadron was initially a starfighter squadron that flew TIE/ln starfighters and TIE/sa bombers shortly after the fall of the Republic. Pilots of the Black Eight were handpicked from among the best aces in the Imperial Navy and personally assigned missions by Darth Vader.

After the Battle of Yavin, Black Eight Squadron was reformed out of a group of convicted pilots recruited by Darth Vader. Led by the former-CIS starfighter ace Nas Ghent, the squadron was formed on the Imperial Star Destroyer Crucible as a response to the Rebel Alliance recent upsurge in minor space battle victories.

Bombing of Callos
Sometime prior to the Galactic Civil War, Juno Eclipse, through quick promotions, eventually gained control of the earliest recorded incarnation of Black Eight Squadron, before being further promoted by Darth Vader. At the Bombing of Callos, Black Eight received orders to carpet bomb the surface of the planet to make an example of those who would stand against the Empire. Eclipse considered this a completely unnecessary waste of life and an act of genocide. She tactfully voiced her opinion and Lord Vader suggested an alternative course of action&mdash;he ordered her to strike the planetary reactor instead. Once they finished with that, he would consider their mission complete. After completing the mission she ordered her unit to withdraw, an order which three of her pilots (including a pilot with the call sign "Redline") would complain about.

After Juno was reassigned to the Rogue Shadow, she had recommended a pilot with the call sign "Chaser" to take over as squadron leader. At the time, Chaser was fourth in line. Instead, "Redline" was promoted to head of the squadron. He was described by Juno as "psychopathic" in her logs; in her experience, he was the coldest, cruelest, and least considerate being she had ever flown with.

A pilot with the call sign "Youngster" was expected to rise in the ranks of the Black Eight, yet left the squadron after the departure of Captain Eclipse.



The squadron under Nas Ghent
One year after the Battle of Yavin, Vader recruited former Separatist ace Nas Ghent to train and command a new squadron of eight elite pilots who could operate outside the normal chain of command.

To accomplish this, Ghent was posted to the Star Destroyer Crucible, working under the Star Destroyer's fighter operations officer, Commander Dorin Millavec. Ghent arrived aboard as a civilian, and even in uniform remained a tired cynic with little respect for military discipline, rapidly arousing Millavec's paranoia and hatred. However, he found himself reinvigorated when Millavec ordered Ghent's wingmen to destroy him on his first familiarization flight in a TIE fighter; Ghent instead wiped them out and Millavec covered his actions by claiming that the attack had been staged on Vader's orders as a test. Ghent swore to mold the squadron into the best fighting force the Empire had ever seen, harboring a strong grudge against Millavec. Millavec then filled the squadron's roster with the worst psychopaths he could find in the Imperial prison system and planned for them to destroy Ghent for him.

Organization
Black Eight Squadron seemed to have a high turnover rate for its commanding officers. Juno Eclipse was only squadron commander for a short period of time while her predecessor commanded barely longer than she did, and that pilot's predecessor held the position for only one standard month. With only eight pilots, Black Eight Squadron was obviously organized differently from a standard TIE squadron, and&mdash;in reference to the second incarnation of the squadron&mdash;Vader later told Ghent and Millavec that he viewed original thinking and an ability to ignore rules and regulations as assets for the pilots of the new unit they were to create; unfortunately, such attitudes mean that evidence is sparse as to the formation's exact position in the chain of command.

Behind the scenes
Jeremy Barlow has hinted that a future Rebellion arc could feature Ghent recruiting BoShek into the squadron. This is now unlikely, as Rebellion was cancelled to allow for Star Wars: Invasion.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: The Force Unleashed novel
 * Star Wars: The Force Unleashed comic
 * Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II novel