Corona Squadron was a squadron of starfighters serving both the Alliance to Restore the Republic, and subsequently, the New Republic. While primarily intended for reconnaissance missions, it also saw action in both the Battle of Hoth and the Battle of Endor. The squadron's craft of choice were X-wing starfighters.
In the early years of the Galactic Civil War, Squadron Corona consisted of the Contessa (Corona Leader), Yendor (Corona Two), Smikes (Corona Three), Thane Kyrell (Corona Four), and Kendy Idele (Corona Five). This diverse group hailed from all corners of the galaxy, each bringing their own unique history to the table.
In 3 ABY, Corona Squadron found itself stationed on the ice planet Hoth. The Galactic Empire unexpectedly discovered the secret rebel base located there. With the Imperial fleet arriving sooner than anticipated, Corona Squadron was tasked with delaying the advancing army to allow rebel transports time to evacuate the base. Thane Kyrell and Yendor, two members of Corona Squadron, co-piloted a snowspeeder and successfully brought down an Imperial AT-AT by targeting its vulnerable joints. After the transports departed, the squadron boarded their X-wings and joined the rest of the rebel fleet in space.
Following the Battle of Hoth, Mon Mothma, the Rebel Alliance's leader, personally expressed her gratitude for their service. She then assigned them a special reconnaissance mission for the Alliance, basing them aboard the MC80 Liberty Type Heavy Star Cruiser Liberty. They participated in numerous intelligence-gathering operations in the months that followed.
Corona Squadron participated in a reconnaissance mission to the Outer Rim planet D'Qar to look for any evidence of an Imperial outpost. The Alliance had received intelligence from undercover agents on Coruscant indicating that vast quantities of materials were being processed for the Imperial fleet, including rumors of a new, large-scale shipbuilding facility, but confirmation was lacking. While the Squadron found no signs of artificial power sources or Imperial activity, they identified D'Qar as a potential location for a future rebel base. With their mission complete, the squadron returned to the Liberty for X-wing maintenance.
Later, Corona Squadron was reassigned to the Alliance Fleet's new headquarters, a small, uninhabited planet designated 5251977. The Alliance had constructed a significantly larger hangar than usual, capable of accommodating a fleet twice the size of what it had been two months prior.
Ten hours after arriving at 5251977, the squadron received information about a large gathering of ships in the Hudalla system and were dispatched on an intelligence mission to investigate. There, they discovered a large Imperial fleet and learned about the construction of the second Death Star. Despite attempting to remain undetected in the rings of the planet by operating in low-power mode, the Imperial fleet detected them, and a squadron of four TIE fighters was dispatched to eliminate them. Smikes (Corona Three) was shot down during the battle before the X-wings could escape.
In 4 ABY, following the discovery of the second Death Star, Corona Squadron was assigned to provide cover for the starfighters of Gold, Red, Green, and Gray squadrons as they attacked the Death Star. Due to Endor's shields being active when they emerged from hyperspace, they were forced to engage a large number of TIE fighters and Imperial Star Destroyers. Acting on orders from Gold Leader aboard the Millennium Falcon, they moved in close to the Star Destroyers, working together to successfully disable the engines of the Subjugator. When the shields surrounding the second Death Star were deactivated, they protected the other squadrons as they entered the Death Star. The squadron suffered no casualties during the battle, but they did lose their headquarters, the Liberty, which was instantly destroyed by a single blast from the Death Star's superlaser.
Corona Squadron continued to fight in a full-scale war nearly a year after the Battle of Endor, now serving the New Republic, although its composition had changed. The Contessa had left the squadron to run for president on her homeworld, and Yendor had become the new Corona Leader. They also gained two new members: an exile from Coruscant and a rookie from Nea Dajanam. As the Empire attempted to regain control of Naboo, the squadron fought in several battles on the planet.
Shortly thereafter, Corona Squadron took part in the Battle of Jakku. Given their prior Imperial service and familiarity with ship design and procedures, General Carlist Rieekan assigned Kyrell, who had recently been promoted to commander, and Lieutenant Idele to lead a boarding party to seize the Imperial Star Destroyer Inflictor. The boarding party disabled the ship's engines and self-destruct system, prompting the Star Destroyer's captain — Ciena Ree, Kyrell's childhood friend and lover — to order her crew to abandon ship while she remained on board to scuttle it on the surface of Jakku. Kyrell recognized her voice over the intercom and went to the bridge to persuade Ree to leave with him, but she refused, fearing retribution against her parents from the Empire. After a brief struggle, Kyrell stunned Ree with his blaster, and they escaped in an escape pod. After crash-landing on the planet's surface, New Republic soldiers found them and took Ree, a high-ranking Imperial officer, into custody.
Two decades later, Yendor had become the ambassador from his homeworld of Ryloth to the Republic, and Senator Leia Organa mentioned meeting the squadron to him during her investigation on the planet.
Corona Squadron made its debut in Claudia Gray's 2015 young adult novel Lost Stars, which was released as part of the Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens multimedia project.