Wookieepedia

READ MORE

Wookieepedia
Don't have an account?
Register
Advertisement
Register
Wookieepedia
In a galaxy far, far away....
190,478
pages
in: Canon articles, Articles in need of updating, Infoboxes with missing parameters,
and 7 more

Gold Squadron (Rebel Alliance)

Revision as of 14:22, 10 June 2018 by AL-BRT (talk | contribs) (Cleanup and formatting fixes)
Edit
This article covers the Canon version of this subject.  Click here for Wookieepedia's article on the Legends version of this subject. 
For other uses, see Gold Squadron.
Z-95 Headhunter

Content approaching. From a Certain Point of View, Star Wars: The Rebel Files–class.

Parts of this article are no longer up to date.

Please update the article to include missing information, and remove this template when finished.

Warning: This infobox has missing parameters: restored and unrecognized parameters: members, era


Gold Squadron, also referred to as Gold Group, was a starfighter squadron in the Massassi Group rebel cell, the Alliance to Restore the Republic, and eventually the New Republic. The squadron, headquartered on Yavin 4, was commanded by Captain Jon "Dutch" Vander and flew BTL-A4 Y-wing light bombers. The group fought in some of the earliest consequential battles of the Galactic Civil War.

In 2 BBY, during the early days of the rebellion against the Empire, Gold Squadron participated in Operation Handoff to ensure the safety of Senator Mon Mothma of Chandrila, who spoke out against and defected from the Empire. The operation resulted in the formation of the Rebel Alliance. Later, in 0 BBY, Gold Squadron flew in the Battle of Scarif that marked the start of the war and allowed the Alliance to capture the plans to the Death Star superweapon. Not long after, as a result of the events of Scarif, Gold Squadron fought in and was completely decimated during the Battle of Yavin, which resulted in the destruction of the Death Star.

Later in the war, a reformed Gold Squadron fought in the climactic Battle of Endor under the command of General Lando Calrissian, where they were part of the destruction of the Death Star II. Following the Alliance's victory and the reformation of the Republic, Gold Squadron became part of the New Republic Defense Fleet.

History

The rebellion

Gold Squadron began as a rebel cell fighting against the Galactic Empire,[3] part of the unit led by General Jan Dodonna, which itself was part of Senator Bail Organa's larger rebellion.[12] It was commanded by an Onderonian, Captain Jon "Dutch" Vander, flying as Gold Leader.[3] Members of this unit flew BTL Y-wing starfighters, five of which were former Republic Navy bombers, stolen from the Imperial Reklam Station by the Phoenix Cell and delivered to Dodonna's unit[13] in 2 BBY.[14]

Operation Handoff

"Phoenix Leader, this is Gold Squadron. We catch you at a bad time?"
―Captain Jon Vander to Captain Hera Syndulla[src]

Shortly after the delivery of the Y-wing starfighters, Senator Mon Mothma was forced to flee her homeworld of Chandrila as a branded traitor after publicly denouncing the Empire.[4] Gold Squadron took on the duty of protecting the Senator and escorting her to Dantooine, where they would rendezvous with other rebel cells. Meeting up with elements of Phoenix Group for refueling[3] of the Senator's Taylander shuttle Chandrila Mistress,[8] the squadron was attacked by TIE fighters and forced to jump to hyperspace. At the advice of Phoenix Leader Hera Syndulla, the rebels took the old smuggler's route through the Archeon Nebula to escape the Lothal sector undetected. However, an experimental TIE/D Defender starfighter decimated the squadron, until it was stopped by Vander and Ezra Bridger (flying as Gold Two). The remaining squadron members, Vander and the original Gold Two, then arrived safely with the Senator at Dantooine, where the Alliance to Restore the Republic would be formed.[3]

Alliance to Restore the Republic

Battle of Scarif

"Red and Gold Squadrons, attack formation. Defend the fleet."
―Admrial Raddus giving Red and Gold Squadrons their orders[src]
File:Gold-Squadron-Scarif.jpeg

Gold Squadron about to fire ion torpedoes on the Intimidator

Following the official formation of the Rebellion as a unified entity, Gold Squadron participated in the Battle of Scarif, again behind Jon Vander as Gold Leader, shortly before the Battle of Yavin. During the battle, elements of Gold Squadron conducted bombing runs on the Shield Gate that was preventing reinforcements from reaching beleaguered forces on the planet below. Gold Squadron also attacked the Imperial Star Destroyer Intimidator, disabling it with ion torpedoes. The destroyer was forced into the space station, disabling the planetary shield and allowing reinforcements to land.[10]

Battle of Yavin

"Gold Squadron, begin takeoff procedure."
―A rebel technician[src]

Under the command of Jon "Dutch" Vander, Gold Squadron's eight spaceworthy Y-wing bombers participated in the Battle of Yavin.[5] Three Gold Squadron Y-wings, flown by Vander, Dex Tiree, and Davish Krail, were the first to make an attack run down the Death Star's meridian trench in an attempt to destroy the station's main reactor by exploiting the weakness presented by the thermal exhaust port. All three were shot down by Darth Vader in his TIE Advanced x1 before Jon Vander had the opportunity to launch proton torpedoes.[1] While this skirmish was ongoing, all other Imperial fighters were ordered to engage the rebel ships at the magnetic perimeter. This allowed Senior Lieutenant Iden Versio the opportunity to shoot down two Y-wings, and was even in the process of locking onto a third when the Death Star abruptly exploded.[15] Evaan Verlaine was the only Y-wing pilot of Gold Squadron to survive the assault, and returned to the Rebellion's headquarters on Yavin IV with the other survivors. Luke Skywalker, R2-D2, Wedge Antilles, Han Solo, Chewbacca, and Verlaine were the only rebel survivors of the starfighter assault.[16][1]

  • Gold Leader: Captain Jon "Dutch" Vander[1] (KIA)
  • Gold Two: Dex Tiree[1] (KIA)
  • Gold Three: Evaan Verlaine[4]
  • Gold Four: Unidentified Y-Wing pilot (KIA)
  • Gold Five: Davish "Pops" Krail[1] (KIA)
  • Gold Seven: Gazdo Woolcob[17] (KIA)

Battle of Endor

"Red Group. Gold Group. All fighters, follow me."
―General Lando Calrissian, to Red and Gold Squadrons[src]

Gold Squadron participated in the Battle of Endor under the command of General Lando Calrissian. Composed of a mix of different starfighters and the Millennium Falcon, members of Gold Squadron participated in the attack on the Death Star's main reactor.[2]

New Republic

Several months after the events of Endor, Gold Squadron became part of the New Republic military and took part in the war against the remnants of the Empire. The Gold Squadron pilot Norra returned to her homeworld of Akiva to reunite with her estranged teenage son Temmin Wexley. Mother and son became involved in the rebellion on Akiva, which coincided with a secret Imperial summit on Akiva. Later, Captain Saff Melor recommended sending Gold Squadron and two light cruisers as a show of military force on Akiva. However, he was overruled by Chancellor Mon Mothma and Admiral Gial Ackbar. Norra later won an award for her role in the uprising on Akiva and for trying to pursue Admiral Rae Sloane.[7]

Appearances

Non-canon appearances

Sources

Notes and references

  1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 Star Wars Episode IV A New Hope
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi
  3. ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 Rebels-mini-logo Star Wars Rebels — "Secret Cargo"
  4. ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 Star Wars: Rogue One: The Ultimate Visual Guide
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Ultimate Star Wars
  6. ↑ Star Wars: Galactic Atlas
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 Aftermath
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 StarWars-DatabankII Chandrila Mistress in the Databank (backup link)
  9. ↑ Shattered Empire, Part I
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
  11. ↑ In Star Wars Rebels: Steps Into Shadow it's said that the Y-wings liberated by Phoenix Cell are for Jan Dodonna's unit. As such, Gold Squadron, who utilizes these Y-wings, must be part of Jan Dodonna's unit.
  12. ↑ Star Wars Rebels: Steps Into Shadow
  13. ↑ The events of this article take place in or after Star Wars Rebels: Steps Into Shadow, which is the first known episode to take place in the second year before the Battle of Yavin. As such, we can deduce that this event takes place in the second year before the Battle of Yavin. For more information, see 's Timeline of Star Wars Rebels Events.
  14. ↑ Battlefront II: Inferno Squad
  15. ↑ Princess Leia, Part I
  16. ↑ "Grounded" — From a Certain Point of View
In other languages
Community content is available under CC-BY-SA unless otherwise noted.
More Fandoms
Advertisement

Fan Feed

More Wookieepedia