X-Wing Book 9: Starfighters of Adumar Quiz

Answer: Red Flight

Years after being promoted to General, Wedge was no longer in command of a single squadron, and spent most of his time behind a desk. A starfighter squadron was considered twelve fighters, with a flight being only four fighters. Wedge was allowed to bring three other pilots with him, and chose the temporary name Red Flight, a reference to the squadrons that he flew with during both Death Star battles.

Answer: Tycho Celchu, Wes Janson, Derek "Hobbie" Klivian

Being allowed to bring any three pilots with him for his ambassador mission, Wedge chose three veterans who had all joined before the Battle of Hoth. Their abilities to survive over a decade in the Rebel Alliance's and New Republic's Starfighter Command spoke volumes of their skill. This was an excellent choice because the people of Adumar worshiped pilots as celebrities, and Wedge brought the best.

Corran Horn, Ooryl Qrygg, and Inyri Forge were all part of three flight in Rogue Squadron. Garik "Face" Loran, Kell Tainer, and Voort "Piggy" saBinring were all members of the relatively new Wraith Squadron.

Soontir Fel, Turr Phennir, and Maarek Stele were all members of the 181st Imperial Fighter Wing, which was an elite fighting unit considered Rogue Squadron's counterpart in the Imperial Forces. Soontir Fel joined Rogue Squadron for a time, and was Wedge's brother-in-law. Turr Phenrir was the Imperial ambassador to Adumar during Wedge's stay on the planet. Maarek Stele was the player character for the video game "Star Wars: TIE Fighter", which provided a lot of information and inspiration for the "X-wing" novel series.

Answer: They killed each other in duels.

The Adumari culture, or at least that of the Cartann nation, revolved around dueling. Duelists would fight for honor, and with more honor, would seek out duels worth more honor. Duels occurred both on the ground and in the air.

Wedge was made uneasy by the unnecessary loss of life, and refused to partake in lethal duels. Wedge's counterpart, Imperial ambassador Turr Phenrir, had no problem accepting duels, and quickly gained a large kill count. The Adumari started leaning in favor of the Imperials, who embraced their customs.

Answer: A path to the orbiting ship.

Adumar was not united by a single world government, which made relations with the New Republic and Empire more difficult. The largest nation on Adumar, Cartann, declared itself the foundation of a world government, and decided that the other nations should willingly join it. Naturally, there was resistance to this idea. The leader of Cartann asked the eight pilots from the New Republic and Empire to lead their forces against those who did not submit to Cartann rule. The Imperials readily stepped up, but Wedge refused. Wedge was then ordered to run the Gauntlet to the safety of the New Republic's orbiting ship.

Running the Gauntlet meant that between the palace grounds and the hangar, Wedge and his flight were considered fair game, and anyone could legally kill them. Once Wedge and crew made it through the streets to the safety of the hangar, enemy fighters were already waiting to shoot them as soon as they took off.

Answer: He moved to the side of the transport.

The Adumari mostly used wheeled transports, and did not have many that hovered. When Wedge arrived, the crowds were so thick that their transport could not make it through the streets. Wedge moved to the side of the transport to shake hands, and the crowd started moving away from the front.

Answer: By doing what they least expected.

In order to survive as long as possible, Wedge ordered his crew to do whatever it was that the Adumari did not expect them to do.

On the ground, at the palace, instead of making a run for it out of the main gate, they instead went off to the side to steal a vehicle. When their vehicle was too damaged to move quickly, instead of setting down and stealing another, the pilots jumped onto a balcony, and stole some garments from the household to better blend in with the crowd. Once they were in the hangar, the Adumari expected the New Republic pilots to fly out into their well-prepared kill zones. Instead, Red Flight shot a hole in the back of the hangar and flew out their new exit.

Using this policy, and a few other tricks, Red Flight was able to stay alive long enough to go into temporary hiding.

Answer: Hallis Saper

Hallis Saper was a documentarian from the New Republic on Adumar to record the New Republic's attempt to persuade Adumar to join it. She had the head of a protocol droid mounted on her shoulder to help her record everything. Most people found the look unsettling. She eventually started using a more inconspicuous camera hidden in her hair.

Wedge was initially irritated by having a civilian constantly trying to record him, but eventually grew to appreciate her once he and his pilots ran into trouble on Adumar. He was especially grateful when Hallis exposed Tomer Darpen's (the New Republic chief Intelligence officer on Adumar) shady dealings.

Cheriss ke Hanadi was Red Flight's Adumari guide, and an excellent duelist on land. Tomer Drapen was Red Flight's "Diplomatic Corps" advisor on Adumar. Pekaelic ke Teldan was the Perator (leader) of Cartann.

Answer: That the duelists use simulated weapons.

Wedge refused to duel anyone with lethal weapons, and had Red Flight outfitted with simulated weapons. They used weakened lasers and sensors, as well as paint rockets, and offered to duel anyone who was similarly equipped.

Because the Adumari never trained in simulators, and only trained to win duels, compared to the New Republic and Imperials, they were just not very good pilots. After Wedge's Red Flight easily took down a challenging flight, they were able to offer constructive criticism to help improve their challengers' performance. Wedge eventually got a small gathering of pilots who took to simulated weapons and duels, and began an unofficial flight school.

Answer: Blastsword

For ground-side duels, the Adumari used blastswords. They were a sword that ended with a blaster nozzle instead of a conventional pointy tip. When struck, the nozzle would emit a blast that would severely wound the target. While personal defense weapons, such as blasters, were not permitted in most buildings, blastswords were allowed everywhere. Cheriss ke Hanadi, Red Flight's Adumari guide, was the Cartann Ground Champion, and very skilled with a blastsword and vibroblade. With all the dueling focusing on swordplay, Wes Janson was able to surprise his opponent in a duel by switching to hand-to-hand combat, after which he handily (it's a pun!) won.

Blasters were not permitted in most residential buildings and the Perator's palace. There were no Jedi or Force- users on Adumar to use Lightsabers. Amphistaffs were a unique Yuuzhan Vong weapon that had not yet appeared.

Answer: Iella Wessiri

Iella Wessiri was a former CorSec agent, and was working for New Republic Intelligence. She and Wedge had gotten along well in the past, but had become busy and moved apart. Iella was recovering from the death of her husband, which Wedge had respected. Wedge later began and ended a relationship with the scientist Qui Xux. Iella had given up on the idea of a relationship with Wedge, and Wedge had not even realized that he and Iella had stopped being friends.

Wedge saw Iella on Adumar and contacted her. She had almost convinced Wedge that they had no future and that they should stop even trying to see each other. Wedge managed to come to his senses at the last minute, though, and refused to accept that there was no chance left. The two began a relationship on Adumar then and there. After Adumar, they married and had two daughters, Syal (named after Wedge's sister), and Myri.