History Awesome / XWingSeries

[[AC: Comics]]

[[AC:Rogue Squadron]]

* Corran helping vape a ''Lancer''-class frigate, an Imperial ship specifically designed to kill starfighters, by having a squadron of Y-Wings target him with their torpedoes so he can lead their shots into the enemy.
** And Whistler for saving Corran's bacon when one of the Y-Wings fires his torps too late to hit the frigate. Corran's struggling with the stick [[HighSpeedMissileDodge trying to shake the friendly missiles that are locked on to his signal.]] [[MundaneSolution Whistler just cuts off the signal.]]

* Early in the book there's a description of the kill silhouettes painted on [[AcePilot Wedge's]] fighter; so many of them that the mechanic has had to resort to colour coding to indicate squadrons of kills rather than individual ships and to top it off the whole to display is ''bracketed by two half [[Film/ANewHope Death]] [[Film/ReturnOfTheJedi Stars]]''.

[[AC:Wedge's Gamble]]

[[AC:The Krytos Trap]]

* When the politicians try and force Rogue Squadron to abandon their pursuit of Isard (and the other Lusankya prisoners) and go after Zsinj, the members of Rogue Squadron resign ''en masse'', starting with Corran, and eventually including every current member except Pash Cracken (who, as of the next novel, admits he would like to go, if Wedge wanted; Wedge declines because Pash is a little too prominent, being the son of General Airen Cracken).

[[AC:The Bacta War]]

* Tycho shooting down Isard's shuttle. With an assist from Corran thanks to the targeting data he was (accidentally) relaying.
* High Admiral Teradoc gets one after the failed ambush at the Graveyard. He tells the ''Head of Imperial Intelligence, who essentially runs the Empire'' that he'll only lend her toys if she promises they won't return broken (referring to the Interdictor he lent her, which was damaged in the ambush).
* Erisi leads an Imperial attack force against a peaceful colony that was harboring Gavin Darklighter. Knowing that the colony had zero defenses, Gavin jumps into his starfighter to fight a one man battle against a Star Destroyer and its fighters, to buy the colonists as much time as he could. It's explicitly mentioned he only had 10 minutes of dogfighting time, due to fuel concerns, and he makes them count. He takes out three TIE Interceptors, and uses his X-Wing's laser cannons to utterly destroy some stormtroopers before being forced to break off the fight. He also refuses to rise to Erisi's bait to duel her, knowing that'll give the Destroyer time to cut him off. It's a pretty awesome moment for someone who is still in his teens.
* The battle in Alderaan's graveyard. A double handful of snubfighters [[spoiler: with a little help from an automated frigate]] manage to destroy a lesser ''Victory-II'' class Star Destroyer, damage an Interdicor cruiser to the point it is forced to flee and its owner withdraws it from further service to Issard, ''and'' shoot down 24 out of 36 enemy fighters.

[[AC:Wraith Squadron]]

* One of the NewMeat mouths off about how Wedge is getting too old to be an effective pilot, and should leave the flying to the young. Wedge responds by challenging them to a land race: first to drive a hover-truck past a certain point wins. The race begins, and Wedge seems to be having trouble. As TheRookie approaches the finish line, Wedge drive his truck up a ramp, lands on the rookie's truck (which slows it to a near stop), and then rushes ahead to victory. When she complains that he cheated, he points out to her that if he were an enemy pilot that cheated, she'd be too dead to complain. She gets the point and shuts up.

-->''Thank you, thank you. Performances every hour, on the hour. Imperial madmen a speciality.''

[[AC:Iron Fist]]

[[AC:Solo Command]]

* Wedge ''intentionally allowing'' himself to be shot at during a battle, even ordering his squadron to let the attacker continue, on Squeaky's say-so. Granted, the attacker was using powered down lasers and was actually transmitting crucial information to him, but only Squeaky knew that at the time. It wasn't until after the battle that Wedge got a full explanation.

* When [[spoiler:Tal'Dira's]] brainwashing gets activated, he attempts to shoot down Wedge while they are on a mission. However, a small part of the pilot's mind rebels at the horrible thing he is being forced to do, and [[spoiler:he manages to break through the brainwashing for long enough to switch his shields to the rear, allowing another pilot in front of him to vape him, preventing him from killing Wedge.]]
* For most of the novels, Myn Donos has been TheStoic, and not prone to joking, much of it thanks to aftereffects from losing Talon Squadron. Late in the final novel, we see him [[DefrostingIceQueen rediscovering his sense of humor at last]]:
-->'''Donos''': "Pretty. What do we blow up first?"\\
'''Wedge''': "Write that down. That should be the Wraith Squadron slogan."
** And late in the story, Donos saves most of the squadron from an ambush because he recognized one of Zsinj's old tactics at work, and was able to get the warning out before it was sprung. At first he (and several others) thought Donos was going crazy from his PTSD again, but thankfully that wasn't the case, and also thankfully, the warning was heeded before too many people got killed.

[[AC:Isard's Revenge]]

* Booster Terrik gets the SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome of ''all'' Crowning Moments of Awesome in ''Isard's Revenge'' when he ''beats the ever-loving shit'' out of [[spoiler: [[CorruptPolitician Borsk Fey'lya]]]], ''bare-handed'', over the his attempt to manipulate a Rogue Squadron pilot for his own political gain. Never in ''Star Wars'' has a [[CurbStompBattle beatdown]] been so thoroughly earned, and [[AndThereWasMuchRejoicing made the audience so happy]] to see it done.

[[AC:Starfighters of Adumar]]
* ''Starfighters of Adumar'' has one for Wedge when he is given the mission assignment. When General Cracken, the [=HMFIC=] of the pilots in the books up until this point, shows up telling Wedge that his vacation is cancelled, Wedge immediately begins unleashing snark and vitriol on him. When Cracken threatens him with charges of insubordination, Wedge reminds him that he is a General now and "what I am is dangerously close to is violence."

* During their escape, Janson's ship is hit and he's forced to eject. Wedge watches as a fighter closes in on his parachute, assuming his friend is toast. Janson pulls a blaster and somehow manages to destroy the fighter. With one shot. From a pistol. [[spoiler:Turns out the fighter was actually destroyed by Hobbie, who was protecting his wingman.]]
* The final battle itself. The free Adumari forces and Red Flight hit Cartann with everything they've got, timing it so that the enemy's initiative will be sluggish from sleeping in to be ready for their favored time of attack, multiple layers of deception, and using each craft type they've got where it excels the most. And up until the TIE Interceptors show up, they are actually winning. So to deal with the [=TIEs=], they plan on getting Red Flight back into their X-Wings (which [[spoiler: Darpen had confiscated before setting them up to die.]]) As Wedge himself notes; the Adumari wanted to see X-Wings in action in lethal dogfights. [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor They got their wish.]] [[CurbstompBattle The more fool them.]]
* Non-combat one. Non-Cartann pilots come to learn from Red Flight. Wedge takes them in and treats them just like any of the other pilots and helps them learn. This comes up later, where the squadron that helps them after the four-on-thirty duel [[BigDamnHeroes comes in to help their teachers, using those tactics on the enemy]], and the other Adumari nations note that Wedge had gained a lot of allies by taking the time to ''teach'' the pilots instead of just killing them for the honor coupons.
** Tied to this; Darpen tells Wedge to cut the simulated duels because the 181st was eating up honor coupons. Wedge basically blows him off and points out that if they act like the Empire they would become the Empire in all but name, and that he would not kill young men and women simply because they wanted to duel with Wedge for the honor.
** And finally, when Wedge [[{{Deconstruction}} takes apart the concept]] of a ProudWarriorRaceGuy:
---> '''Wedge''': "[[CircularReasoning Circular thinking. I'm honorable because I kill the enemy, and I kill the enemy for the honor]]. There's nothing there, Cheriss. Here's the truth: I kill the enemy so someone, somewhere - probably someone I've never met and never will meet - will be happy. [...] I told you how I lost my parents. Nothing I ever do can make up for that loss. But if I put myself in the way of people just as bad as the ones who killed my family, if I burn them down, then someone else ''they'' would have hurt gets to stay happy. That's the only honorable thing about my profession. It's not the killing. It's making the galaxy a little better."

* Speaking of Darpen, how Wedge, upon returning to Cartann victorious, completely undercuts everything he says, puts him under gunpoint along with Tycho, forces him to give the order to end the communications blackout (after which the leader of the Republic flagship "wants very much to speak with him"), and puts him under arrest until he can stand trial. He's last seen in prison, planning a defense for a trial he cannot win, thanks to Hallis's recording that implicates him.


[[AC:Mercy Kill]]
* The major showdown in Mercy Kill where [[spoiler:Piggy banks completely on the assumption that Thaal has already completed his disguise]]. Followed by [[spoiler:Face returning from the dead and completely owning the head of GA Intelligence.]]

* A villainous example: when a certain capital ship completely inverts a ColonyDrop at the end of ''The Krytos Trap''.
** Said ship just so happens to be the ''Lusankya'', the personal flagship of Ysanne Isard and the sister ship of the ''Executor'', Darth Vader's personal command ship. After being buried under Coruscant, Isard decides it's time to leave. The massive ship blasts its way through dozens of kilometers of planet before slicing through Coruscant's shields, exchanging fire with a Golan defense platform and jumping to hyperspace.

* Captain Sair Yonka's resignation from Isard's service, complete with epic TheReasonYouSuckSpeech.

* Lara/Gara, who at this point is ''not'' on the Wraiths' side and is only trying to infiltrate them, takes out Colonel Repness' corrupt smuggling operation single-handed. Her "hacker" letter she uses to expose him is worth quoting in its entirety (sans deliberate spelling and grammatical errors). Also a CMOF, since she points out that it sounds like it's from the Star Wars equivalent of a 4channer. Also? She forgot one...LITTLE detail when confronting Repness. Namely? What to do if he decides to just punch her out. Even so, [[CantStopTheSignal the message is already out]], and ultimately Repness's attempts to stop Lara don't prevent him from getting arrested for his crimes.

* The battle in Alderaan's graveyard. A double handful of snubfighters [[spoiler: with a little help from an automated frigate]]manage to destroy a lesser ''Victory-II'' class Star Destroyer, damage an Interdicor cruiser to the point it is forced to flee and its owner withdraws it from further service to Issard, ''and'' shoot down 24 out of 36 enemy fighters.

** Said ship just so happens to be the Lusankya, the personal flagship of Ysanne Isard and the sister ship of the Executor, Darth Vader's personal command ship. After being buried under Coruscant, Isard decides it's time to leave. The massive ship blasts its way through dozens of kilometers of planet before slicing through Coruscant's shields, exchanging fire with a Golan defense platform and jumping to hyperspace.

* Face Loran gets a simultaneous CrowningMomentOfAwesome and CMOF while impersonating Imperial Captain [[SmallNameBigEgo Darillian]]. His cover almost, ''almost'' slips in front of [[BigBad Admiral Trigit]], but he keeps it in place just barely with a totally [[LargeHam OTT monologue]] about Darillian's unrequited love for '''Ysanne Isard.'''

* Booster Terrik gets the CrowningMomentOfAwesome of ''all'' Crowning Moments of Awesome in ''Isard's Revenge'' when he ''beats the ever-loving shit'' out of [[spoiler: [[CorruptPolitician Borsk Fey'lya]]]], ''bare-handed'', over the his attempt to manipulate a Rogue Squadron pilot for his own political gain. Never in ''Star Wars'' has a [[CurbStompBattle beatdown]] been so thoroughly earned, and [[AndThereWasMuchRejoicing made the audience so happy]] to see it done.

** Janson starts by using his blastsword to [[CrowningMomentOfFunny draw stick figures in the air]] [[IShallTauntYou and insult his opponent further]] - [[IAmNotLeftHanded using his left hand]]. Wes blocks his foe's first swing, disarms him, and introduces him to the fine art of brawling, [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech all while explaining the difference between warriors and dilettantes.]]

* Corran helping vape a ''Lancer''-class frigate, an Imperial ship specifically designed to kill starfighters, by having a squadron of Y-Wings target him with their torpedoes so he can lead them into the enemy.

* Early in the book there's a description of the kill silhouettes painted on Wedge's fighter; so many of them that the mechanic has had to result to colour coding to indicate squadrons of kills rather than individual ships and to top it off the whole to display is ''bracketed by two half Death Stars''.

* Lara/Gara, who at this point is ''not'' on the Wraiths' side and is only trying to infiltrate them, takes out Colonel Repness' corrupt smuggling operation single-handed. Her "hacker" letter she uses to expose him is worth quoting in its entirety (sans deliberate spelling and grammatical errors). Also a CMOF, since she points out that it sounds like it's from the Star Wars equivalent of a 4channer. Also? She forgot one...LITTLE detail when confronting Repness. Namely? What to do if he decides to just punch her out.

* When the Wraiths are infiltrating Zsinj's medical research facility, it turns out to be a trap, and a particularly sadistic one involving an incinerator. Some quick thinking and explosives allow them to escape, but they're all battered, bloodied and burned (except for Tyria, somehow). And the only order Face can give them is "no rules, no mercy. Take out everything that gets between us and home."

* Lara/Gara, who at this point is ''not'' on the Wraiths' side and is only trying to infiltrate them, takes out Colonel Repness' corrupt smuggling operation single-handed. Her "hacker" letter she uses to expose him is worth quoting in its entirety (sans deliberate spelling and grammatical errors).

* Wes Janson's oh-so-satisfying beatdown of a very deserving Adumari noble.
** The way he does it is awesome too, because he chews out the guy while literally beating the point Wedge had been trying to make into his head and only giving him a glimmer of hope before crushing it and moving onto the next glimmer.
--->'''Wes''': "I punch. You suffer. Got it?"

->'''Donos''': "Pretty. What do we blow up first?"\\

* When the politicians try and force Rogue Squadron to abandon their pursuit of Isard and go after Zsinj, they resign ''en masse'', starting with Corran, and eventually including every current member except Pash Cracken (who, as of the next novel, admits he ''wanted'' to go).

** And Wedge ran with it and explained how, according to New Republic regulations, Piggy would be able to apply for the captaincy of the ''Night Crawler'', while making clear that Piggy would probably prefer to remain a pilot.

* Iella Wessari's LittleNo at the end of ''Isard's Revenge'' and making "Iceheart" ''panic''.

** The way he does it is awesome too, because he chews out the guy while literally beating the point Wedge had been trying to make into his head and only giving him a glimmer of hope before crushing it and moving onto the next glimmer.

* During their escape, Janson's ship is hit and he's forced to eject. Wedge watches as a fighter closes in on his parachute, assuming his friend is toast. Jansen pulls a blaster and somehow manages to destroy the fighter. With one shot. From a pistol. [[spoiler:Turns out the fighter was actually destroyed by Hobbie, who was protecting his wingman.]]

** And Whistler for saving Corran's bacon when one of the Y-Wings fires his torps too late to hit the frigate.

* Erisi leads an Imperial attack force against a peaceful colony that was harboring Gavin Darklighter. Knowing that the colony had zero defenses, Gavin jumps into his starfighter to fight a one man battle against a Star Destroyer and its fighters, to buy the colonists as much time as he could. It's explicitly mentioned he only had 10 minutes of dogfighting time, due to fuel concerns, and he makes them count. He takes out three TIE Interceptors, and uses his X-Wing's laser cannons to utterly destroy some stormtroopers before being forced to break off the fight. He also refuses to rise to Erisi's bait to duel her, knowing that'll give the Destroyer time to cut him off. Its a pretty awesome moment for someone who is still in his teens.

** The kicker is that, as we learn with Wedge several books later, ''this wasn't enough to destroy it''. Even after what the Rogues did do her, there was enough of the ''Lusankya'' left for the New Republic to salvage. So the Rogues were able to give the good guys one of the baddest capital ships in the galaxy, a ship that Wedge would later use as his flagship after being promoted to general. That's several kinds of Awesome, there.

* When the Wraiths are infiltrating Zsinj's medical research facility, it turns out to be a trap, and a particularly sadistic one involving an incinerator. Some quick thinking and explosives allows them to escape, but they're all battered, bloodied and burned (except for Tyria, somehow). And the only order Face can give them is "no rules, no mercy. Take out everything that gets between us and home."

* Anyone who played ''TIEFighter'' might {{squee}} when a certain triple-winged starfighter design shows up in ''Isard's Revenge''.

** Beforehand, that Super Star Destroyer and a sister ship attack a rusty space station run by Booster Terrik. A minute later he's asking for their surrender as they desperately try to flee. And Booster finally finds a spaceship he's willing to captain again.
** Tycho shooting down Isard's shuttle. With an assist from Corran thanks to the targeting data he was (accidentally) relaying.

* Lara/Gara, who at this point is ''not'' on the Wraiths' side and is only trying to infiltrate them, takes out Colonel Repness' corrupt smuggling operation single-handed. Her "hacker" letter she uses to expose him is worth quoting in its entirety.

** Random, painful misspellings and grammar errors not included.

-->'''Lara Notsil''': "''Iron Fist'' is now in the Selaggis system with her hyperdrive inoperable... I recommend you come by and take a look. Oh, bring your fleet too."

* When [[spoiler:Tal'Dira's]] brainwashing gets activated, he attempts to shoot down Wedge while they are on a mission. However, a small part of [[spoiler:his]] mind rebels at the horrible thing [[spoiler:he]] is being forced to do, and [[spoiler:he manages to break through the brainwashing for long enough to switch his shields to the rear, allowing another pilot in front of him to vape him, preventing him from killing Wedge.]]

** Even better, when another lot of Adumari fighters challenge Red Flight immediately afterwards, a ''third'' Adumari squadron--Strike the Moons, [[ChekhovsGunman the first squadron to engage in Wedge's simulated duels]]--challenges ''their'' challengers to allow Red Flight time to escape. Because if four beat thirty, those four have damn well ''earned'' an escape.

* Early in the book there's a description of the kill silhouettes painted on Wedge's fighter; so many of them that the mechanic has had to result to colour coding to indicate squadrons of kills rather than individual ships and to top it off the whole to display is ''bracketed by two half Death Stars''.

* Ersi leads an Imperial attack force against a peaceful colony that was harboring Gavin Darklighter. Knowing that the colony had zero defenses, Gavin jumps into his starfighter to fight a one man battle against a Star Destroyer and its fighters, to buy the colonists as much time as he could. It's explicitly mentioned he only had 10 minutes of dogfighting time, due to fuel concerns, and he makes them count. He takes out three TIE Interceptors, and uses his X-Wing's laser cannons to utterly destroy some stormtroopers before being forced to break off the fight. He also refuses to rise to Ersi's bait to duel her, knowing that'll give the Destroyer time to cut him off. Its a pretty awesome moment for someone who is still in his teens

* When Kell returns to battle in ''Wraith Squadron''. Yes, he ran away, but he conquered his fear and ''came back''.

-->''I am the unseen, the unknowable, the unstoppable.''
-->''No computer can stand before me. Gates open for me. Back doors are revealed to me. Knowledge willingly spools itself out for my inspection. I am the Jedi of the electronic world.''
-->''I have found evil aboard ''Tedevium''. I have found corruption. Like the Jedi, I shall cut it down.''
-->''Examine these files. Test them for integrity. You will find they are the truth.''
-->''Go where these files lead you.''
-->''Do what you must do, as I do what I must do.''
-->''Signed, White Lancer.''
** Random, painful misspellings and grammar errors not included.

* Face gets one in deducing one of Zsinj's main strategic goals weeks before it's confirmed: the acquisition of a new Star Destroyer under construction in Imperial space.

** Even better, when another lot of Adumari fighters challenge Red Flight immediately afterwards, a ''third'' Adumari squadron challenges ''their'' challengers to allow Red Flight time to escape. Because if four beat thirty, those four have damn well ''earned'' an escape.

* During their escape, Janson's ship is hit and he's forced to eject. Wedge watches as a fighter closes in on his parachute, assuming his friend is toast. Jansen pulls a blaster and somehow manages to destroy the fighter. With one shot. From a pistol.
* The final battle itself. The free Adumari forces and Red Flight hit Cartann with everything they've got, timing it so that the enemy's initiative will be sluggish from sleeping in to be ready for their favored time of attack, multiple layers of deception, and using each craft type they've got where it excels the most. And up until the TIE Interceptors show up, they are actually winning. So to deal with the [=TIEs=], they plan on getting Red Flight back into their X-Wings (which [[spoiler: Darpen had confiscated before setting the up to die.]]) As Wedge himself notes; the Adumari wanted to see X-Wings in action in lethal dogfights. [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor They got their wish.]] [[CurbstompBattle The more fool them.]]

* Speaking of Darpen, how Wedge, upon returning to Cartann victorious, completely undercuts everything he says, puts his under gunpoint along with Tycho, forces him to give the order to end the communications blackout (after which the leader of the Republic flagship "wants very much to speak with him"), and puts him under arrest until he can stand trial. He's last seen in prison, planning a defense for a trial he cannot win, thanks to Hallis's recording that implicates him.

* Piggy's alibi for the assault charge that landed him in Wraith Squadron. The "victim's" charge claimed the "attack" had occurred thirty minutes before the charge was filed. Piggy pointed out that if he had ''actually'' hit the man, thirty minutes later the man would still be unconscious. (He really blocked a punch thrown at him by the "victim.")

* ''Starfighters of Adumar'' has one for Wedge when he is given the mission assignment. When General Cracken, the [=HMFIC=] of the pilots in the books up until this point, shows up telling Wedge that his vacation is cancelled, Wedge immediately begins unleashing snark and vitriol on him. When Cracken threatens him with insubordination, Wedge reminds him that he is a General now and "what I am is dangerously close to is violence."

* The final battle itself. The free Adumari forces and Red Flight hit Cartann with everything they've got, timing it so that the enemy's initiative will be sluggish from sleeping in to be ready for their favored time of attack, multiple layers of deception, and using each craft type they've got where it excels the most. And up until the TIE Interceptors show up, they are actually winning. So to deal with the TIEs, they plan on getting Red Flight back into their X-Wings (which [[spoiler: Darpen had confiscated before setting the up to die.]]) As Wedge himself notes; the Adumari wanted to see X-Wings in action in lethal dogfights. [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor They got their wish,]] [[CurbstompBattle and boy did it suck for them.]]
* Non-combat one. Non-Cartann pilots come to learn from Red Flight. Wedge takes them in and treats them just like any of the other pilots and helps them learn. This comes up later, where the squadron that helps them after the four-on-thirty duel [[BigDamnHeroes comes in to help their teachers, but actually use those tactics on them]] and the other Adumari nations note that Wedge had gained a lot of allies by taking the time to ''teach'' the pilots instead of just killing them for the honor coupons.

* Diplomatic one for Wedge. After Darpen makes Wedge and Red Flight a [[Pun rogue squadron]], Wedge points out that he is still the man in charge of the New Republic mission there because his orders did not tie to intelligence and technically speaking he was not to know who Darpen was. So what does he do? He makes a rough alliance with other Adumari powers because as a combined force they could A) succeed, and B) accomplish the New Republic mission even if the Empire gets Cartann.

* Non-combat one. Non-Cartann pilots come to learn from Red Flight. Wedge takes them in and treats them just like any of the other pilots and helps them learn. This comes up later, where the squadron that helps them after the four-on-thirty duel [[BigDamnHeroes comes in to help their teachers, but actually use those tactics on them]] and the other Adumari nations note that Wedge had gained a lot of allies by