Blade Squadron was a fighter grouping of B-wing starfighters, an elite collection of pilots, that fought for the Rebel Alliance and subsequently the New Republic during the Galactic Civil War.
During the Battle of Endor, the squadron participated in combat and were solely responsible for the destruction of the Devastator, an Imperial-class Star Destroyer. The squadron's emblem displayed a B-wing above a lightning bolt, accompanied by the Aurebesh phrase "strike as lightning."
Blade Squadron also saw action in 5 ABY at the Battle of Malastare, where Gina Moonsong went against the orders of Blade Leader Braylen Stramm and launched an attack on Pandion's vacation palace, belonging to Moff Pandion on the planet. Later, X-wing starfighters were integrated to escort the B-wings during the Battle for Kuat Drive Yards and the Battle of Jakku.
On the Taris system, Blade Squadron executed an attack targeting a shipyard of the Imperial forces. X-wings from Luke Skywalker's Rogue Squadron provided support for the bombers as they made their bombing runs on the shipyard.
Under the leadership of Wing Commander Adon Fox, Blade Squadron was involved in the Battle of Endor, fielding a complete B-wing flight, with numerous new recruits from the detachment taking part in their first combat mission. When the Empire's trap was discovered, the squadron's initial rearguard assignment was immediately cancelled, and Blade Squadron received new orders to engage the Imperial ships forming the blockade. Adon Fox directed his B-wings to focus their attacks on the _Imperial-class Star Destroyer Devastator, which he identified as the vessel that destroyed his wife's transport during the evacuation of Hoth in 3 ABY. The Devastator was successfully eliminated, along with its commanding officer, Admiral Jhared Montferrat. This action cleared a path, enabling the remaining Rebel Alliance starfighters to commence their assault on the Death Star. Blade Squadron experienced significant casualties, including the death of Blade Leader at the hands of Commander Gradd's TIE Interceptor.
Following the Endor victory, each of the B-wing pilots who survived were awarded a Medal of Bravery. Braylen Stramm was promoted to Wing Commander and put in charge of Blade Squadron. Gina Moonsong advanced to the rank of Lieutenant. Due to the considerable losses sustained in the battle, the squadron gained three new cadets: Cutter Poole, Yori Dahn, and Jordan Karls, who were assigned to Moonsong's unit. With the cadets lacking experience and with minimal time for training, Moonsong quickly interviewed each cadet and then introduced them to Fanty, who would begin their training early the next day.
The Battle of Malastare was Blade Squadron's subsequent operation. Their objective was to destroy an Imperial communications hub situated on the planet of Malastare. To penetrate the planetary shield, Admiral Ackbar's technicians determined that the B-wings needed to combine their ion cannon beams, focusing them at the same coordinates on the shield to create a temporary opening, allowing the squadron to pass. The electromagnetic disturbance caused by the flickering shield proved too much for Jordan Karls (Blade Seven), resulting in the destruction of his ship. Stramm and his B-wings concentrated on bombing runs targeting the objective, while Moonsong and the remainder of the squadron diverted TIE Fighters and ground-based defense batteries. Cutter Poole (Blade Five) was killed by a TIE fighter pursuing him. Stramm's orders were to only attack the planet's shield generator and communications hub, but Moonsong disobeyed these orders and destroyed Valco Pandion's vacation palace, belonging to Moff Valco Pandion.
Before the Battle for Kuat Drive Yards, Stramm was removed from flight duties and assigned to the MC80 Star Cruiser Amalthea to assist Commodore Kyrsta Agate in coordinating the overall fleet operation, which encompassed numerous squadrons of fighters and cruisers. The battle was extensive and prolonged, spanning several days. An X-wing escort unit was added to Blade Squadron, now under Moonsong's command, to reinforce her B-wings. The squadron suffered during the battle, so when Johan Volk, an X-wing pilot, was injured and unable to fly, Stramm temporarily took Volk's place, flying as Sandara Li's wingman.
Blade Squadron, still consisting of B-wings and X-wings, participated in the Battle of Jakku. During the assault on the Executor-class Star Dreadnought Ravager, Moonsong's B-wing was ensnared in the tractor beam used to pull the Ravager down to the planet's surface, causing both ships to crash on Jakku. Moonsong survived the crash, but her ship was destroyed, leaving her without a means of communicating with Ackbar and Fighter Command on Home One. Together with Temmin Wexley from Phantom Squadron, whose X-wing his had also crashed, they located New Republic ground soldiers nearby. Due to strict orders regarding radio silence, Moonsong was still unable to request assistance. With no alternative, they assisted ground troops in attacking an Imperial supply convoy. Moonsong then attempted to transmit a distress signal using the Imperial equipment from the convoy. Stramm led Blade Squadron's B-wings to the planet's surface on a rescue mission and successfully extracted them from the remaining Imperial forces.
A group of B-wing starfighters initially appeared in the 1983 film Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi. It wasn't until the 2014 short story Blade Squadron that their designation as Blade Squadron was established.
When the short story was published on StarWars.com, the character Fanty was replaced by an unnamed character as Blade Four, with Gina Moonsong taking over the former's lines. This substitution has resulted in some confusion among fans. StarWars.com states that Blade Four was destroyed at Endor, but Fanty reappears in the subsequent short story Blade Squadron: Zero Hour.
In Part I of the short story Blade Squadron, Adon Fox is described as flying an A-wing at Endor, but later in the same battle he is in a B-wing. This inconsistency is likely a typo, as the ship is only identified as an A-wing once, and the story references features specific to the B-wing, such as its gyro-stabilized cockpit.