Blade Squadron

"Blade Squadron.... start your attack run!"

- Adon Fox, during the Battle of Endor

Blade Squadron was a B-wing starfighter squadron that served with the Rebel Alliance and later the New Republic during the Galactic Civil War. The squadron fought during the Battle of Endor, where they single-handedly destroyed the Imperial-class Star Destroyer Devastator. The squadron's patch, a B-wing over a lightning bolt, was captioned with the words "strike as lightning" in Aurebesh.

In 5 ABY, Blade Squadron also saw action at the Battle of Malastare, during which Gina Moonsong disobeyed Blade Leader Braylen Stramm's orders and attacked Moff Pandion's vacation palace on the planet. Later, a group of X-wing starfighters were added to escort the B-wings in Battle for Kuat Drive Yards and Battle of Jakku.

Battle of Endor
"That's a negative Moonsong. Regroup and form up to assist the fleet. Nobody's called off the war on my account."

- Adon Fox, unable to eject from his crippled B-wing at Endor

Blade Squadron participated in the Battle of Endor, led by Wing Commander Adon Fox. Upon realising the trap the Empire had set, the squadron's rearguard mission was promptly aborted, and Blade Squadron was reassigned to attack the blockade of Imperial ships. Adon Fox ordered his B-wings to target the Imperial-class Star Destroyer Devastator, which he recognised as the ship that destroyed his wife's transport during the evacuation of Hoth in 3 ABY. Devastator was successfully destroyed along with Admiral Jhared Montferrat, its commanding officer. This cleared a pathway for the remaining Rebel Alliance starfighters to start their attack on the Death Star. Blade Squadron suffered heavy losses, including the death of Blade Leader at the hands of Commander Gradd's TIE Interceptor.

Members

 * Blade Leader: Wing Commander Adon Fox (KIA)
 * Blade One: "Blade One" (KIA)
 * Blade Two: Lieutenant Braylen Stramm
 * Blade Three: Cadet Gina Moonsong
 * Blade Four: Fanty

After Endor
Following the victory at Endor, the surviving B-wing pilots each received a Medal of Bravery. Braylen Stramm was promoted to Wing Commander and given command of Blade Squadron. Gina Moonsong was promoted to Lieutenant. Due to heavy losses suffered in the battle, the squadron received three new cadets, which fell to Moonsong to interview them and Fanty to start their training.

Battle of Malastare
Blade Squadron participated in the Battle of Malastare, their task was to target an Imperial communications hub on the planet of Malastare. To get through the planet's shield, Ackbar's techies found a solution that required the B-wings to aggregate their ion cannon beams, converged at precisely the same coordinates on the shield to create a temporary aperture, which allowed the squadron to pass through. Unfortunately for Blade Seven Cadet Jordan Karls, the electromagnetic surge of the flickering shield was too much for him and destroyed his ship. Stramm and his B-wings concentrated on bombing runs of the target, while Lieutenant Gina Moonsong and the rest of the squadron distracted incoming TIE Fighters and ground defence batteries. Unfortunately, Blade Five Cadet Cutter Poole was killed by a TIE. Stramm's orders were to target just the planet's shield generator and communications hub, however Moonsong disobeyed orders and attacked Moff Valco Pandion's vacation palace.

Members

 * Blade Leader: Wing Commander Braylen Stramm
 * Blade Three: Lieutenant Gina Moonsong
 * Blade Five: Cadet Cutter Poole (KIA)
 * Blade Six: Cadet Yori Dahn
 * Blade Seven: Cadet Jordan Karls (KIA)
 * Fanty

Battle for Kuat Drive Yards
Blade Squadron, now led by Gina Moonsong, participated in the Battle for Kuat Drive Yards, composed of B-wings backed up by a number of X-wings as their vanguard escorts. Later, Braylen Stramm temporarily returned to the squadron as a wingman for Sandara Li, this time flying an X-wing.

Members

 * Blade Leader: Lieutenant Gina Moonsong (B-wing)
 * Blade Four: Fanty (B-wing)
 * Blade Six: Cadet Yori Dahn (B-wing)
 * Blade Nine: Unidentified B-wing Pilot (KIA)
 * Lieutenant Sandara Li (X-wing)
 * Johan Volk (X-wing)
 * Braylen Stramm (X-wing)

Battle of Jakku
Blade Squadron participated in the Battle of Jakku, still composed of B-wings and X-wings. During the attack on the Executor-class Star Dreadnought Ravager, Moonsong's B-wing was caught in the tractor beam used to pull the Ravager down to the planet's surface and resulted in both ships crashing on Jakku. Moonsong survived the crash, however her ship was destroyed and she had no way of communication back to Alliance High Command. Together with Temmin Wexley from Phantom Squadron, who crashed his X-wing too, they managed to find Alliance ground soldiers nearby. However, due to strict radio silence orders, Moonsong was still unable to call for help. With no other option, they assisted ground forces in a mission to attack an Imperial supply convoy. Moonsong then attempted to broadcast a distress message using the Imperial equipment from the convoy. Braylen Stramm led Blade Squadron's B-wings down to the surface in a rescue mission and successfully saved them from remaining Imperial forces.

Members

 * Blade Leader: Lieutenant Gina Moonsong (B-wing)
 * Fanty (B-wing)
 * Lieutenant Sandara Li (X-wing)
 * Johan Volk (X-wing)
 * Braylen Stramm (X-wing)

Behind the scenes
A group of B-wing starfighters first appeared in the 1983 film Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi. It wasn't until the 2014 short story Blade Squadron that they were identified as Blade Squadron. When the short story was published on StarWars.com, the character Fanty was replaced by an unnamed character as Blade Four, with the former's lines given to Gina Moonsong instead. This has since led to some confusion among fans.

Appearances

 * Star Wars Battlefront II
 * Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi
 * "The Levers of Power"&mdash;The Rise of the Empire
 * Aftermath: Empire's End
 * Aftermath: Empire's End
 * Aftermath: Empire's End
 * Aftermath: Empire's End