Wedge
Antilles
(human
male from Corellia)
One of the greatest heroes of
the Galactic Civil War yet also one of the least
known. Such is the life of a career fighter pilot.
Wedge Antilles grew up in the neutral Corellian Sector
unaware of the growing unrest in the greater Empire.
Half of each year he spent on a farm in Corellia's
northern hemisphere and the other half working at his
parents fuel depot in Outer Gus Treta System where he
learned to pilot tugs and shuttles. It was a tough
life and one Wedge's older sister, Syal, wasn't suited
for. She left the Corellian Sector while in her teens
and Wedge wouldn't discover until years later she had
become the famous holostar Wynssa Starflare and
married the infamous Baron Fel.
Tragedy struck
derailing Wedge's dreams and eventually sending him into
the arms of the Rebellion. His parents were killed
when a pirate ship tore away from their fueling station
igniting the fuel lines. Having evacuated everyone
from their module, his parents - Jagged and Zena - stayed behind to
prevent the fire from spreading to the rest of the
station. Wedge had to watch it all from the safety of
Booster Terrik's ship. Seeking revenge, he later took Booster's Z-95
Headhunter, caught up to the fleeing pirates and
destroyed their freighter in a battle that would
foreshadow his later years as an ace fighter pilot.
Wedge used the
insurance money and went into business using many of
Booster's smuggling contacts. He soon began hauling
items for the Rebellion and when an open call for
fighter pilots reached him, Wedge signed up and soon
was leading small missions.
Everything changed for Wedge
and the Rebellion when a rag-tag group of fighter
pilots went up against the Imperial Death Star. The
Empire had discovered their base and only two
squadrons stood to defend them. Wedge was Red 2 and
piloting an X-wing. Their ranks were decimated by
opposing TIE Fighters and the artillery of the
station. But three pilots survived, including Wedge,
and Luke Skywalker had fired the fateful shot that
destroyed the Death Star.
From there Luke and Wedge
became fast friends. They proposed a new fighter
squadron to the Rebel Alliance council, one with no
set mission parameters. It would be called Rogue
Squadron. They recruited the best pilots and were sent
on the most dangerous missions. They captured the
Imperial "ace" Kasan Moor. Helped Crix
Madine defect from the Empire. After the evacuation of
Hoth, Luke took a leave of absence, and Wedge took
command and turned Rogue Squadron into the Rebel
Fleet's most elite starfighter unit. When the
Rebellion faced off against a second Death Star, this
time with the Emperor aboard, Rogue Squadron,
christened Red Group in remembrance of Yavin IV, was
one of the two units assigned to enter the
superstructure and blow the station from the inside.
Wedge, alongside Lando Calrissian in the Millennium
Falcon, fired the shots that won them that victory.
After accompanying Rogue
Squadron on a series of political missions to show off
the Rogues as "Heroes of the Rebellion" to
new planets joining the Alliance, Wedge along with
Admiral Ackbar and Colonel Salm restructured Rogue
Squadron allowing for political appointees as well as
qualified candidates. The move was successful and the
new squadron spearheaded the taking of Coruscant form
Ysaane Isard who rose to power after the Emperor's
death.
Then
came Grand Admiral Thrawn. Devastating battles were
fought and more often then not, Thrawn and his
Imperial forces were the victors. The Rogues faced his
forces several times and while not winning very often,
they managed to stay alive. Wedge was promoted to
General in the aftermath and while not forced to leave
Rogue Squadron, he took on a new slew of duties. But
first he had to finish some old business, Ysanne Isard
had returned and it took Wedge and Rogue Squadron
to stop her again. But then he had to leave the unit behind when the clone-Emperor
surfaced and retook Coruscant. Alongside Lando Calrissian,
he helped plan and lead the battles
against the clone-Emperor's forces and evetually won back
Coruscant.
His
successes earned Wedge a post as commander of the
Super Star Destroyer Lusankya, which had been captured
during Isard's return. The
continued success of Rogue Squadron's however elicited a restructuring
from Starfighter Command.
Wedge was ordered to resume command and expand Rogue Squadron from its
12-fighter squad into a unit consisting of 100+ fighters of varying designs. His
objections over-ruled, Wedge chose to lead this new
unit from the command chair of the Lusankya rather
than attempt a return to the cockpit. Intense training and
simulation battles followed before the new unit saw
action at the Battle of Phaeda. Wedge dispatched a
squadron of B-wings, A-wings and more which utterly decimated
the Imperial forces over Phaeda and liberated the planet
below.
Wedge's distaste for
bureaucratic decisions led him to take a ground
assignment assisting in the rebuilding of Imperial
City from the destruction incurred from the
clone-Emperor's 'force storms'. From there he became
the bodyguard to Qwi Xux, a former Imperial scientist
who helped design the Death Star. The two began a
romance that was abruptly threatened when rogue Jedi
Knight Kyp Durron erased Qwi's memory. With time she
regained her semblance of self and the two struggled
to stay together but it was never the same and the two
split on good terms.
Turning his attention back to
Starfighter Command, Wedge took a more active interest
in the military then he had in months. He ran
real-life battle simulations against Admiral Ackbar in
the Nal Hutta system. He helped in the formation and
training of the New Republic's Fifth Fleet. Wedge
commanded the Mon Calamari Star Cruiser Yavin in what
became known as the 'New Rebellion'. But he found
himself missing the cockpit of an X-wing.
Finding excuses to put
himself back in the pilot's seat, Wedge flew an
enhanced X-wing during the evacuation of Thanta Zilbra.
These excursions didn't go unnoticed by Admiral Ackbar.
Together they reached the same compromise they had
made before Ysanne Isard's return. Wedge would command
Rogue Squadron but retain his position as General and
he and Rogue Squadron would be assigned duties
befitting his position.
The flexibility of his
position proved advantageous when it was thought Grand
Admiral Thrawn had returned to lead the struggling
Imperial forces. Assigned to New Republic General Garm Bel
Iblis and stationed aboard his flagship, the Peregrine, Wedge led
Rogue Squadron and ordered battle maneuvers from the
cockpit of his X-wing. He also went on a covert
mission to Bothawui when the Bothan homeworld was
threatened. Before discovering anything, Wedge was
recalled for the massive assault at Yaga
Minor. This
became the deciding battle of the New Republic
over the Empire. Soon after, the truce was signed and
the war had ended.
With peace a reality, Wedge
found time to marry, have two children and retire from
active duty. Years later when that peace was
threatened by the invading Yuuzhan Vong, Wedge came
out of retirement and took the fight back to the
aliens alongside the latest incarnation of Rogue
Squadron.
Chronological
Order of Appearance:
X-Wing / Wizard #½ (Dark Horse Comics)
Star Wars A New Hope (20th Century Fox)
Planet Plague (Bantam Books)
The Empire Strikes Back (LucasFilm)
Shadows of the Empire (Bantam Books, Dark Horse
Comics)
Return of the Jedi (LucasFilm)
The Truce at Bakura (Bantam Books)
The Rebel Opposition (Dark Horse Comics)
The Phantom Affair (Dark Horse Comics)
Battleground: Tatooine (Dark Horse Comics)
The Warrior Princess (Dark Horse Comics)
Requiem for a Rogue (Dark Horse Comics)
In the Empire's Service (Dark Horse Comics)
Blood & Honor (Dark Horse Comics)
Masquerade (Dark Horse Comics)
Mandatory Retirement (Dark Horse Comics)
Rogue Squadron (Bantam Books)
Wedge's Gamble (Bantam Books)
The Krytos Trap (Bantam Books)
The Bacta War (Bantam Books)
Wraith Squadron (Bantam Books)
Iron Fist (Bantam Books)
Solo Command (Bantam Books)
Heir to the Empire (Bantam Books)
Dark Force Rising (Bantam Books)
The Last Command (Bantam Books)
Isards' Revenge (Bantam Books)
Dark Empire (Dark Horse Comics)
Dark Empire II (Dark Horse Comics)
Crimson Empire (Dark Horse Comics)
Jedi Search (Bantam Books)
Dark Apprentice (Bantam Books)
Champions of the Force (Bantam Books)
I, Jedi (Bantam Books)
Starfighters of Adumar (Bantam Books)
Planet of Twilight (Bantam Books)
The New Rebellion (Bantam Books)
Assault at Selonia (Bantam Books)
Specter of the Past (Bantam Books)
Vision of the Future (Bantam Books)
Union (Dark Horse Comics)
Chewbacca (Dark Horse Comics)
Dark Tide I: Onslaught (Del Rey)
Dark Tide II: Ruin (Del Rey)
Edge of Victory II: Rebirth (Del Rey)
Customizable Card Game (Decipher)
Dark Empire Sourcebook (West End Games)
The Jedi Academy Sourcebook (West End Games)
Movie Trilogy Sourcebook (West End Games)
Shadows of the Empire Sourcebook (West End Games)
Star War Encyclopedia (Del Rey)
Star Wars Handbook: Rogue Squadron (Dark Horse Comics)
Star Wars Handbook: Crimson Empire (Dark Horse Comics)
Star Wars Handbook: Dark Empire (Dark Horse Comics) |