A TIE BigGun is blasted by a Bandit Squadron Z-95 Headhunter.
Bandit Squadron was initially put together for a mission related to the investigation of the TIE Experimental Project. Pilot Ace Azzameen was a member of this squadron.
Because of the covert nature of the mission, it was deemed necessary to conceal Alliance involvement, thus starfighters less closely associated with the Rebels than X-wings, Y-wings, B-wings, or A-wings were chosen. The Z-95 was considered an appropriate craft.
Armed with ion pulse warheads, the Z-95s of Bandit Squadron disabled a modified Escort transport in addition to examples of a TIE Warhead and a TIE BigGun.
Because of the success of this mission in both securing the prototypes and concealing the involvement of the Alliance, Bandit Squadron found a further role as the covert operations unit operating from the Liberty.
The squadron again played a key role after the destruction of the Rebel supply center on Gal Milnor. With the loss of critical food and munitions, the Alliance urgently required an alternative means of supplying its fleet massing at Sullust immediately before the Battle of Endor. Lando Calrissian provided a list of trading contacts in the sector, of which the most influential was the entrepreneur and casino owner Dunari.
Bandit Squadron defends the Raw Deal from attack by Imperial forces.
Ace Azzameen and his fellow pilots reprised their roles as members of Bandit Squadron, escorting the Muurian transport Saloon, which carried Alliance delegates to a clandestine meeting with Dunari aboard his Personal Luxury Yacht 3000, the Raw Deal.
The meeting was interrupted by the arrival of the pirate Marauder Corvette Vulture and its accompanying Toscan 8-Q starfighter group Fury, and Y-wing group Pirate.
Bandit Squadron fought off this threat, only to be interrupted a second time when an Imperial patrol led by SCT Scout Craft Omicron 023 arrived in the system, followed by the Imperial II-class Star Destroyer Corrupter. The Corrupter launched starfighters to attack the docked craft, so the meeting was hastily adjourned, and both Dunari and the Rebel delegates escaped into hyperspace, with Bandit Squadron covering their retreat.
Later, Alliance analysts concluded that Bandit Squadron's use of Z-95s had allowed them to avoid revealing to the Empire their true identity as Rebel ships.