Star Wars: Squadrons' story covers a total of 15 missions that take place between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens. It deals with Project Starhawk, the New Republic’s answer to the devastating Star Destroyer ships. Players must control both sides of the conflict as they battle for supremacy and freedom.
The story is well-paced and expands upon the lore of the Star Wars series without being a direct link to any particular film. Being able to play as both the Empire and the Republic serves to further humanize both sides of the conflict. While it is still clear who the good guys are, it is interesting to get to understand the general motivations behind individual Imperial leaders and troops.
While this isn’t the best story to come out of the Star Wars universe, it is certainly a well-crafted experience for fans. It is nice to have a story that is self-contained and that doesn’t require players to know all about the expanded universe in order to follow along. Here’s the whole story of Star Wars: Squadrons explained.
The Complete Story of Star Wars: Squadrons
Star Wars: Squadrons begins with a reluctant Captain Javes and his squad of tie fighters. They are instructed to hunt down and destroy a group of refugees attempting to find shelter after the destruction of Alderaan. During the search, Javes uses a surprise attack as his chance to escape from the Empire and defect to the Rebellion. His efforts are successful and his squadmates are left baffled.
Five years pass and players are introduced to their squadron of young flyers. Captain Javes has been given command of Vanguard Squadron and assigned a new mission called “Project Starhawk.” In the briefing, the squad is informed that the Empire has been jamming communications, but no one is certain why. Vanguard is tasked with going there and destroying the jamming ships, while hopefully finding out why they are doing this. It turns out that the jamming was a set-up for an ambush. The squad has some trouble finding the jammers, but is able to scan wreckage and find their heading. They are successful and return to base.
Wedge Antilles from Rogue Squadron goes to Vanguard for help with stealing an intact Star Destroyer, which is needed for Project Starhawk. Vanguard and Rogue Squadron fight side-by-side to provide cover for the ground teams as they board the Star Destroyer and take control from the Empire. The operation is successful, but there is a snag on the way back to the base.
The ship suddenly drops out of lightspeed and the Empire attempts to reclaim it. The Rebellion launches the player and a full team of A-Wings to save the day and restart the Star Destroyer’s hyperdrive. The team just barely escapes with the stolen ship intact. Project Starhawk is revealed to be a super-weapon being developed by the Rebellion for the purposes of annihilating the Empire. The project requires multiple Imperial ships to be stolen and salvaged for parts.
Meanwhile, the Empire is attempting to figure out what exactly Project Starhawk is. They have failed to stop the Rebels twice and have now assigned Captain Kerrill to eliminate Javes and his project. Kerrill was a close friend of Javes during his time with the Empire. She seems unconflicted with the morality of killing her former friend. Kerrill commands Titan Squadron to rescue an Imperial spy from behind enemy lines, who has information about the Starhawk.
The spy is located at an outpost within Rebel territory, so Titan Squadron will have to be precise if they want to get in and out safely. Titan Squadron arrives and swiftly takes out the defenses of the outpost. The spy is picked up and the Imperial squads attempt their escape. After quite a bit of resistance from the Rebels, Titan Squad is able to leave and return to base.
The intelligence gathered by the spy proves to be valuable to the Empire. A convoy of Rebel engineers are on their way to the Starhawk base to help with construction. Titan Squadron is tasked with following the convoy and using their trajectory to find the hidden base without alerting the Rebels. During the mission, a different Imperial captain interferes and attempts to kill the Rebel convoy before their hyperspace jump location can be tracked. Titan Squadron is able to find the coordinates to the Starhawk’s general location but is unable to get all of the information needed. They destroy the convoy killing all of the Rebel engineers.
Back on the Rebel base, Captain Javes tells his crew about Captain Kerrill and their time together in the Empire. Vanguard squadron is tasked with destroying an Imperial-owned listening post. This action is meant to trick the Empire into thinking that there is something that the Rebels are trying to hide near said base, and take the bait. Vanguard Squadron pulls this off in a series of coordinated strikes to the base's weakest points. Unbeknownst to the Empire, the Starhawk prototype has been completed. The plan is to draw them into the trap and test the prototype by destroying Imperial ships. Vanguard Squadron lures in the Imperial ships and the Starhawk is activated. During the attack, the Imperials make a reckless escape.
Star Wars: Squadrons Ending
The Kerrill's ship jumps to a system owned by the Empire. Captain Kerrill’s crew is not offered help by fellow Imperial teams, and thus begins a plan to steal the supplies they need and get out of there before another Rebel attack. Their treachery goes undiscovered until the last minute. Kerrill gets her people out of there successfully and begins plans to make another attempt to destroy Starhawk. They carry out a plan to get the Rebels to leave the Starhawk unguarded and are successful. The Empire converges on the Starhawk and prevents it from being able to hyperjump to safety.
The Rebels attempt to survive this by performing a careful attack on the Empire’s fleet. The Empire traps them within a dangerous Nebula in a move to destroy the Starhawk and eliminate all of the people who built it. While many Rebel troops were uncertain about how Captain Javes planned to save the day, it is stated that saving the people involved is ultimately more important than saving the Starhawk. The Empire is successful in their attacks on the Starhawk, and end up disabling Captain Javes’ ship in the process.
The Rebellion goes back to the Starhawk to find that Captain Javes survived the attack and is able to help them get away safely. What seemed to be a major loss for the Rebellion turned out to be a successful attempt to save lives. While the Starhawk prototype was destroyed, Project Starhawk lives on through its many members. Star Wars: Squadrons ends with the Rebels renewing their efforts to fight against the Empire’s oppression and rebuild stronger than ever.