During the Great Galactic War, one of the most renowned and celebrated units of the Republic was Dagger Wing, a Starfighter squadron. The stories of their missions became legendary, and every pilot in the unit was considered a hero.
Despite numerous soldiers volunteering to search for the missing pilots amidst enemy fire, the Republic secretly closed the case of Dagger Wing. The actual reason was much more damaging than the story of lost heroes. Dagger Wing committed a war crime – the unauthorized bombing of thousands of Imperial civilians on Fest based on false information. They believed they were targeting a Sith Lord named Ondorru. This act would have severely damaged the Republic's reputation and caused a major diplomatic crisis. Only the leadership of Conrad Gall, Dagger Wing's commander, prevented his wingmates from becoming rogue. Republic High Command publicly disavowed their actions and imprisoned the entire squadron on Belsavis. The announcement that Dagger Wing was missing in action dealt a significant blow to morale.
When the Galactic War began, with the Empire renewing its conflict against the Republic under General Rakton's command, General Elin Garza sent Havoc Squad to Belsavis. Their mission was to extract Dagger Wing for the war effort, regardless of their past transgressions, because skilled pilots were scarce. At that time, Dagger Wing was actively helping prison security deal with an Imperial-led breakout, and Havoc Squad assisted them. However, Gall discovered Ondorru was on Belsavis and chased after him to clear his squadron's name. Havoc followed them into the Deep Prison, where they faced a difficult decision: abandon the injured Gall to a rancor and continue pursuing Ondorru, or save the commander of Dagger Wing. Regardless, Dagger Wing was now committed to participating in the war.