The Skystrike Academy, alternatively known as the Skystrike Flight Academy or Montross Academy, represented an exclusive flight academy. Situated within the atmosphere of Montross, it functioned as a key component of the Galactic Empire's military training initiatives. Prior to the Battle of Yavin, Imperial cadets Wedge Antilles and Hobbie defected from the Academy, aided by Sabine Wren, to become early members of the rebellion against the Empire.
During the Age of the Empire, the Skystrike Academy stood as a prestigious flight academy. Its location was on the planet Montross. Led by Instructor Goran and Captain Vult Skerris, the Academy gained recognition for producing some of the most skilled TIE fighter pilots within the Imperial Navy. Goran was committed to ensuring that only the most exceptional Imperial cadets would graduate from his Academy as qualified pilots.
Early in the Empire's rule, Lieutenant Thrawn persuaded Commandant Deenlark from the Royal Imperial Academy on Coruscant to transfer three problematic cadets, including Gimm, to Skystrike Academy. Deenlark hesitated to discipline the cadets due to their connections to influential Coruscanti families. Instead, Thrawn successfully argued that transferring the troublesome cadets would encourage their accomplices, Spenc Orbar and Rosita Turuy, to improve their behavior. Thrawn also believed that the cadets possessed the necessary aptitude and coordination to become excellent starfighter pilots. This strategy proved effective, and Thrawn and his companion Eli Vanto experienced no further issues with Orbay and Turuy. Gimm later excelled as a TIE fighter pilot and mistakenly thought he had outmaneuvered Thrawn.
Two years prior to the Battle of Yavin, three cadets, namely Wedge Antilles, Derek Klivian, and Rake Gahree, grew dissatisfied with the Galactic Empire's policies and actions, including the shooting of unarmed enemy transports that had surrendered. Antilles communicated with the rebellion through Fulcrum, who was secretly Agent Kallus from the Imperial Security Bureau. The Phoenix rebel cell intercepted Fulcrum's message and tasked Sabine Wren, a former Imperial cadet and Mandalorian weapons expert, with infiltrating the Academy to extract the defectors.
After infiltrating the Academy, Wren successfully contacted Antilles. She instructed him and his comrades, Klivian and Gahree, to prepare for immediate departure. Wren's mission faced complications when Governor Arihnda Pryce and Agent Kallus arrived at the Skystrike Academy to investigate reports of cadets planning to defect to the rebellion. Kallus' investigation disrupted the Academy's activities but yielded no concrete findings. Consequently, Pryce and Goran devised a plan, involving a mock combat exercise for all cadets, to expose the defectors.
Pryce's strategy succeeded when Wren seized the opportunity to escape and arranged for her rebel allies, Ezra Bridger and Kanan Jarrus, to position their CR90 corvette near Montross. Wren and the three defectors attempted to fly their TIE fighters to the rebel corvette. However, Pryce disabled their solar collector panels, leaving them stranded in space. Subsequently, Captain Skerris destroyed Gahree's fighter before forcing the rebel ship into hyperspace. Antilles and Klivian were apprehended, while Wren was interrogated by Pryce. However, Wren resisted and incapacitated Pryce.
Wren liberated the remaining two defectors and escaped in a TIE bomber with assistance from Kallus, who admired the Mandalorian's Lasat friend Garazeb Orrelios. Skerris pursued the trio in his TIE interceptor, and despite damaging their bomber, the rebels escaped when Bridger returned in his rebel corvette. Wren's successful mission resulted in the rebellion gaining two skilled starfighter pilots.
The Skystrike Academy was a top-tier starfighter academy characterized by a demanding curriculum. Only a select few candidates successfully completed its rigorous program, designed to produce exceptional TIE fighter pilots. All cadets wore black TIE fighter pilot uniforms and helmets. The Academy's curriculum included simulator pods used for combat simulations and mock starfighter battles. Instructor Goran and Captain Vult Skerris were two known instructors. Goran oversaw training exercises, while Skerris participated in simulated exercises as an enemy starship.
The Skystrike Academy was a space station closely resembling a modified Kuat Drive Yards supertanker fuel depot that floated in the upper, gaseous layers of Montross's atmosphere. Access was only possible via starship. The Skystrike Academy also featured holding cells for rebellious cadets and multiple hangar bays capable of accommodating TIE fighters, TIE bombers, and Imperial landing craft. Cadets resided in dormitories with bunk beds.
- Instructor Goran [2]
- Captain Vult Skerris [2]
- Wedge Antilles [2]
- Rake Gahree [2]
- Gimm [3]
- Derek Klivian ("Hobbie") [2]
- "Ria Talla" (alias Sabine Wren ) [2]
The Skystrike Academy made its debut in the Star Wars Rebels episode "The Antilles Extraction," which aired on Disney XD on October 8, 2016.