Hail Squadron

Hail Squadron was a New Republic bomber squadron of BTL Y-wing starfighters that was part General Hera Syndulla's Barma Battle Group. The squadron was led by a squadron leader who would be referred to under the callsign Hail Leader. The squadron was headquartered on Syndulla's flagship, the Lodestar, but following its destruction, were relocated to the Deliverance, and reassigned to the Deliverance's starfighter wing under the command of Commander Wyl Lark. Mechanic Ragnell was responsible for the maintenance of Hail's starfighters.

Hail squadron's Y-wings were marked with gold and blue stripes. Despite disliking the pilots of Hail Squadron, as they seemed too proud of landing a spot aboard Syndulla's flagship, Alphabet Squadron's Nath Tensent compared notes on Y-wing repair with them, and later grew close to the Hail pilots, frequently ate and drank with them.

In 4 ABY, sometime after the Battle of Endor, the New Republic attacked Imperial forces in the Treinhaus Citadel on Argai Minor. Barma Battle Group sent Vanguard Squadron to aid ground forces. They were later joined by Hail Squadron and Meteor Squadron. The fighting on Argai Minor had been brutal and later became a salvage operation. Syndulla brought in Alphabet Squadron to help with patrols, and allow a New Republic salvage team to collect data from the wreckage. New Republic Intelligence suspected Imperial forces planetside had received logistical support from elsewhere. The enemy had been decimated by orbital bombardment and precision strikes from the fleet. The citadel, a fortress full of gun emplacements, had been wrecked, its kilometers-high eastern wall was destroyed by Imperial sappers, and the battlefield was littered with speeders, troop carriers, walkers and other vehicles, destroyed by Imperial guerrillas. The mission was a success.

Shortly after, Hail Squadron's Y-wings were decimated by a run-in with an unidentified cruiser-carrier, which the New Republic speculated was a vessel from the 204th Imperial Fighter Wing, but more likely an escapee from Argai Minor.

Sometime later, Hail Squadron participated in a battle in the Haldeen sector, in which Hail, along with support from Alphabet Squadron, engaged a half-wrecked Star Destroyer that had been limping through the sector for weeks. Between Alphabet and Hail, they managed to deliver the killing blow to the enemy craft.

Hail Squadron provided support during the attack on Pandem Nai, which saw Alphabet Squadron in a battle against Colonel Shakara Nuress and the 204th. The role of Syndulla's fleet, including Hail, Meteor and Vanguard Squadrons, was to provide a blockade in orbit above the planet and ensure nothing interfered with Caern's working group — if the 204th acted unpredictably, the fleet would respond. Alphabet Squadron were able to successfully neutralize the threat from the 204th, but at the cost of igniting the tibanna gas, which caused a fireball that rained debris from the wreckage of Orbital One onto the planet below. The battle quickly turned into a rescue mission, as the Alphabet pilots tried desperately to disintegrate the larger chunks of falling debris with their cannons to reduce collateral damage, while the remaining members of the 204th escaped.

Around 5 ABY, after Pandem Nai, Hail Squadron, as part of General Hera Syndulla's Barma Battle Group, were involved in a campaign in the Cerberon system, which saw the squadron deployed to the Troithe operation, which stretched on for weeks. Hail had lost many of of its Y-wing bombers at Cerberon.

Four years after the battle at Fostar Haven, General Hera Syndulla sent Hail and Meteor Squadrons to secure the Nadiri Dockyards after it was attacked by Imperial forces led by Captain Terisa Kerrill.

Following the destruction of Hail Squadron's headquarters, the Lodestar, at the hands of the 204th over Troithe, the New Republic started using captured Imperial Star Destroyers, refitted and repurposed to fighting the Empire. One of which was renamed Deliverance and assigned to Syndulla's battle group, which became the new headquarters for the starfighter squadrons. Recently promoted, Commander Wyl Lark was given command of the Deliverances starfighter wing, which included Hail Squadron, Flare Squadron and Wild Squadron. With the new flagship, its primary objective was to continue its hunt for Shadow Wing, following intelligence that the 204th were operating in the Croynar sector.

In 5 ABY, Hail Squadron, along with the rest of Syndulla's New Republic forces, participated in a heavy reconnaissance mission that that took them to Midgor. They stumbled across an Imperial convoy that was left damaged and disabled after being attacked by the 204th. Commander Wyl Lark told Hail and Wild Squadrons to hold back, while he took Flare Squadron in closer to investigate. Lark initiated contact with the convoy, and Captain Oultovar Misk of the Imperial freighter Diamond Tor surrendered and asked for assistance. Lark offered New Republic help and brought in more ships.

Later, Hail Squadron was present on board the Deliverance when it was attacked by sabotage droids, which led to the death of the Deliverances captain, and one of its engineers.

Two days after the Deliverance completed emergency repairs following the sabotage droid attack, Syndulla's forces arrived into the Ciaox Verith system after receiving comm bursts that gave away clues to the position of the 204th's flagship, the bulk freighter Yadeez. Hail Squadron were launched, alongside Flare and Wild Squadrons, however the New Republic forces were unable to get close enough to stop the 204th from escaping and jumping to lightspeed. One TIE was destroyed, however Lourgh T'oknell, a pilot from Flare Squadron was killed.

Later, Syndulla's forces caught up to the 204th in the Red Yars system. Hail Squadron were launched to intercept the Yadeez. One of Hail's pilots, Boyvech Toons, and Alphabet Squadron pilot Chass na Chadic, were the only New Republic pilots to loose shots, but neither was in range when the 204th jumped to lightspeed.

The third encounter with the 204th occurred after the comm burst had ceased and the Deliverance resumed its system-by-system search. Within hours, the 204th had been found, and after the Deliverance emerged from hyperspace with its tractor beam primed and was able to lock on to the Yadeez. The squadrons, including Hail, were deployed to stay close and protect the tractor beam projector under the cover of the Star Destroyer's point-defense weaponry. Two TIEs managed to break through, although unable to damage with their cannons, one TIE impacted the beam projector in a suicide run and obliterated it, killing three crew members aboard the Deliverance. The 204th escaped again.

A few days later, another comm burst came through. With no tractor beam, the Deliverance emerged from hyperspace deep in-system in a surprise encounter in a unmapped system with a alphanumeric designation, that was cluttered with planetoids and debris. The Yadeez and its escorts were forced toward one of the planetoids, to prevent it from jumping. Hail and the other squadrons skirmished with the 204th TIEs that lasted six minutes before they escaped. Two TIEs were destroyed with no New Republic casualties, other than a single minor injury to Genni Avremif (Hail Six) after his ejector seat had accidentally triggered on landing.

Syndulla's forces caught up to the 204th, after they stopped in the Ghonoath system to permit one of their Raider-class corvettes to refuel. The Yadeez and its escorts had dropped into the atmosphere of a radioactive deathworld to slow down the New Republic forces, and buy time for the Raider. The 204th deployed their TIE squadrons and a battle ensued with the New Republic starfighter squadrons. TIE/sa bombers dropped proton bombs without detonator timers to drift like mines in the planet's fierce winds, which managed to destroy two X-wings. 204th pilot Garl "Snapper" Lykan, known by Alphabet Squadron for his Needle maneuver, was killed by a trio of X-wings that converged on him. After the TIEs boarded the Yadeez and exited the planet's atmosphere, it jumped to lightspeed with its escorts.

Syndulla's force continued their pursuit of the 204th and one such encounter led them to the G'Tep'Noi system, where Lark and the more nimble fighters worked their way through an asteroid field to find a path, while the slower fighters and bombers, such as Hail Squadron, held back. As they neared, the 204th left themselves open to attack as the Yadeez was leaving the asteroid field to jump to lightspeed. Lark ordered the fighters to attack, Flare and Hail Squadron moved to either side of him, while Wild prepared to flank the bulk freighter. Out of nowhere, former Alphabet leader and traitor, Lieutenant Yrica Quell, announced over the comm her allegiance to the 204th, warning the New Republic forces to withdraw or be destroyed. This was a surprise to Syndulla and her forces, particularly the other members of Alphabet Squadron, because she was presumed dead at Cerberon. Quell fired at Lark and during the confusion, Quell's TIE boarded the freighter. But it was too late for Flare and Hail to reach it, and the Yadeez disappeared once again into hyperspace.

Later, Hail Squadron participated in a battle that took place over the planet Chadawa, in which Syndulla's New Republic forces tried to prevent the 204th from destroying the Imperial-aligned planet as part of a second Operation: Cinder. The Chadawan government was under the protection of Colonel Madrighast's Imperial forces, who decided to retreat to the far side of the planet, and left the New Republic and the 204th to battle it out over a couple of days.

Hail Squadron's final moment came when they were tasked on a stealthy bombing mission against the 204th's two Raider-class corvettes, led by Captain Nath Tensent, by sneaking around the planet undetected in the particle tide's radiation, while Flare and Wild Squadron attacked head on. As the particle tide increased to high levels, Syndulla called off the attack and the New Republic forces retreated. However, Commander Wyl Lark taunted Colonel Soran Keize into a duel, which Tensent saw as a cue to continue Hail's bombing run, while everyone was focused on the duel. As Hail approached the Raiders, one the Y-wings exploded, killing Jaith Omir (Hail Three), as the particle tide's high levels of radiation interfered with the safeties on his proton torpedoes and detonated. The Y-wing bombers managed to destroy the first Raider, losing three Hail pilots in the process, before Colonel Madrighast's Imperial-class Star Destroyer Unyielding closed in and fired openly on both sides, including the 204th's second Raider. Two more Hail pilots were hit before the second Raider was destroyed and so the 204th initiated their escape from Chadawa. Syndulla ordered the Deliverance in pursuit, which caught the attention of the Unyielding, which attacked the Deliverance. Flare and Wild Squadrons attacked the Yadeez while the Deliverance concentrated its defenses on destroying the Unyielding.

Only 4 Hail pilots survived the battle, which was roughly a third of the squadron that it had started the mission with. Hail played a massive role in saving the planet Chadawa from destruction, preventing the 204th from killing its occupants. Following the battle, Jiona (Hail Ten) approached Tensent after he landed in the Deliverances hangar bay, and told him she saw Hail Nine had ejected when his Y-wing was blown apart by one of the Raiders, and insisted they go back.

Following the battle at Chadawa, Syndulla's forces joined the rest of the amassed Alliance fleet at the Battle of Jakku. Hail Squadron was present, however, there were only three working Y-wing bombers that participated. Following Lark's refusal to enter battle and taking any further life, Tensent took command and led the wing into battle. Tensent, in his own Y-wing, led the bombing runs on the Yadeez, alongside Chadic in her A/SF-01 B-wing starfighter. The starfighters from Flare and Wild Squadrons provided protection for the bombers from the 204th's TIEs, which they sufferered many casualties from. One by one, the Hail pilots died at the hands of the 204th, until only one Hail pilot, Genni Avremif (Hail Six) was left when Tensent bowed out of the battle, which he claimed was due to critical damage to his ship. Lieutenant Itina (Wild Eight) assumed leadership of the remaining fighters and Avremif continued to fight under her leadership, alongside Flare Two and Wild Seven. The battle was a decisive victory for the New Republic, and marked the end of the Galactic Civil War.

Hail Squadron first appeared in the 2019 novel Alphabet Squadron, written by Alexander Freed.

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