Black Squadron
From Wookieepedia, the Star Wars wiki.
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| Black Squadron | |
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| General information | |
| Founder(s) | |
| Leader(s) | |
| Notable members | |
| Headquarters | |
| Fragmentation | |
| Restoration |
1 ABY as the Black Eight |
| Other information | |
| Era(s) | |
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- "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[src]
Black Squadron was an elite unit of eight TIE Fighter pilots serving under Darth Vader's direct command.
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[edit] History
Sometime prior to the Galactic Civil War, Juno Eclipse, through quick promotions, eventually gained control of Black Squadron before being further promoted by Darth Vader.
Juno Eclipse was only squad leader for a short period of time, which was not abnormal for the Black Squadron; her predecessor lasted barely longer than she did, and that pilot's predecessor only lasted one standard month. 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, a pilot with the call sign “Redline” was promoted to head of the squadron. Redline was described by Juno as “psychopathic” in her logs and in her experience he was the coldest, cruelest, least considerate being she had ever flown with. He was one of three pilots under her command who complained about the withdrawal from Callos. Another pilot who had flown with Juno, call sign "Youngster", had followed Juno into the squadron and seemingly would rise quickly in the ranks of enlisted officers. He left the squadron after Juno had been reassigned. He flew transport ships for a while and then returned to active duty as a sentry around Imperial construction sites. He was stationed and killed on Kashyyyk when Starkiller destroyed the Skyhook.
Stationed aboard the first Death Star during the Battle of Yavin, Black Squadron was the TIE unit which Vader led into battle against the attacking Rebel snubfighters - the only TIE unit to deploy against the Rebels during the battle. As Moff Tarkin and most of the rest of the Death Star's chain of command refused to take the threat the Rebellion posed seriously, only the squadron that Vader personally commanded launched—fortunately for the Alliance, as the giant station carried several thousand TIEs that would have easily overwhelmed the few dozen snubfighters the Rebels managed to throw against it. An element of six TIEs attacked the X-wings providing top cover, while Vader himself and two wing guards engaged the ships making the trench run. It is not often appreciated that the Imperials were significantly outnumbered in the air during the battle, but the pilots of Black Squadron were among the finest the Empire had to offer: they fought hard, and were responsible for many of the Alliance casualties.
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. Known as the Black Eight, this unit should probably be seen as the successors to Black Squadron.
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, when Millavec ordered his wingmen to destroy him, Ghent instead wiped them out, and Millavec covered himself by claiming that the attack had been staged on Vader's orders as a test.
He then replaced the dead pilots with the worst psychopaths he could find in the Imperial prison system, and waited for them to destroy Ghent. The subsequent fate of the unit is unknown.
[edit] Battle of Callos
Juno Eclipse had been squadron leader for the mission. The planet was being destroyed to make an example of those who stood against the Empire. Juno's orders were for her and her squadron to blanket bomb the surface of the planet. Juno viewed this as a completely unnecessary waste of life...that it would be genocide. She voiced her opinion tactfully and Darth Vader gave an alternative course of action. He ordered her to strike the planetary reactor instead. Once she finished with that he would consider the mission complete. After completing the mission she ordered her units to withdrawal and 3 pilots (including Redline) complained about it. Soon after Juno Eclipse was reassigned to the Rogue Shadow and Redline was promoted to Black Squadron leader.
[edit] Battle of Yavin
With only eight pilots, Black Squadron was obviously organized differently from a standard TIE squadron, and 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.
During the Battle of Yavin, the pilots of Black Squadron bore DS-61 designations, but this does not mean that they were specifically created or regularly assigned as part of the Death Star's TIE force—rather, their designations indicated the fact that they were assigned to the Death Star at that time, just as the pilots of the 181st Imperial Fighter Group bore DS-181 designations during the Battle of Endor. More clearly, the DS-61 designation does suggest that the squadron was associated with a numerical designation as the 61st, though it is unclear whether this denoted Black Squadron itself, or a wing or group that they were part of.
It is sometimes assumed that Darth Vader held the position of Black Leader, but there is no direct evidence for this. His two wing guards were "Mauler" Mithel, flying as "Black 2" and DS-61-3, nicknamed "Backstabber" as "Black 3" .
The composition of the rest of the squadron is less clear, but it is known that they included DS-61-4 "Dark Curse" (the pilot who scored a hit on Luke Skywalker's X-wing) and DS-61-8. Lieutenant Tanbris was the unit's non-flying executive officer.
As Black Squadron were the only fighters actually deployed in the battle, it seems almost certain that Qorl was also a member of the unit, although he may in fact have been one of the pilots already mentioned. Additionally, Qorl's operating number was CE3K-1977, giving further evidence that the DS-61 designations were not static assignments, but were given in addition to the pilots' individual Imperial identifications.
[edit] Behind the scenes
Jeremy Barlow has hinted that a future Rebellion arc could feature Ghent recruiting BoShek into the squadron.
The Star Wars Pocket Model TCG includes both Black Squadron and Black Eight Squadron in the game.
[edit] Appearances
- The Force Unleashed novel
- Star Wars: The Force Unleashed comic
- Death Star
- Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (First appearance)
- LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (Non-canonical appearance)
- LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga (Non-canonical appearance)
- Walking the Path That's Given
