Keir Santage/Legends

"The shield is down! Commence attack on the Death Star's main reactor."
"We're on our way. Red Group, Gold Group, all fighters follow me."

―Admiral Ackbar and General Lando Calrissian, ordering the assault on the Death Star's main reactor

Keir Santage was a Human male who served in the Starfighter Corps of the Alliance to Restore the Republic. After being rescued from an Imperial detention center, Santage joined Rogue Squadron, the Alliance's premier starfighter unit. Under the command of Wedge Antilles, Santage operated under the call sign Rogue Seven. Flying a T-65 X-wing starfighter, Santage participated in several missions against the Fondor Shipyards, and often worked closely with Alliance procurement.

In 4 ABY, Santage was serving with the Rogues when they were part of the Alliance Fleet assembled in the Sullust system to strike at the second Death Star orbiting the forest moon of Endor. Adopting the call sign Red Seven—as Commander Antilles had temporarily rechristened the Rogues as Red Squadron to honor the unit that had faced the first Death Star at Yavin—Santage was one of the handful of Rebel pilots to enter the superstructure of the Death Star with the intention of destroying the reactor core. At the rear of the Rebel fighter formation, Santage's X-wing was hit by laser cannon fire from a pursuing TIE fighter; the snubfighter was destroyed, and Santage was killed.

Biography

Early service

Keir Santage was a Human male rescued from an Imperial detention center by Rogue Squadron commander Wedge Antilles, who subsequently joined the Alliance to Restore the Republic's Starfighter Corps. Qualifying as a pilot, he flew a T-65 X-wing starfighter. Assigned to the elite Rogue Squadron as Rogue Seven, Santage participated in twelve sorties against the Imperial shipyards at Fondor. He also worked closely with Alliance procurement.

By 4 ABY, Santage and Rogue Squadron were part of the Alliance Fleet assembled in the Sullust system in preparation for the assault on the Empire's second Death Star. Information had been obtained by Bothan spies that indicated Emperor Palpatine would be overseeing the final construction stages of the battlestation, and Alliance command had decided that a successful strike could eliminate both Palpatine and the Death Star.

The Battle of Endor

Briefing and arrival at Endor

Santage's T-65 X-wing starfighter

Santage, now a veteran pilot within the squadron, attended a briefing hosted by Commander Antilles on the battle plan to destroy the Death Star. The squadron was temporarily rechristened as Red Squadron to honor the original Red Squadron that had faced the first Death Star during the Battle of Yavin. Santage would operate under the call sign Red Seven during the coming battle. The Alliance battle plan called for a strike force to fly into the half-completed superstructure of the Death Star and destroy the main reactor core. The resulting chain reaction explosion would then destroy the superweapon. Red Squadron—along with Gold Squadron—was assigned the mission of taking out the reactor.

Upon arrival in the Endor system, the Alliance fleet expected the deflector shield—generated from an Imperial facility on the surface of the forest moon of Endor and intended to protect the Death Star during its construction—to have been disabled by a commando unit led by General Han Solo. However, the shield was still protecting the battlestation, forcing the Alliance fleet to engage an Imperial force led by the Star Dreadnought Executor. During the engagement—which had been a carefully planned trap orchestrated by Palpatine himself to destroy the Alliance—Red Squadron performed better than their counterparts in the newer A-wing and B-wing starfighters. They racked up an impressive kill count, and Red Squadron remained relatively intact throughout the battle, suffering only a small number of casualties compared to the losses of other units.

Assault on the second Death Star

"Now lock onto the strongest power source. It should be the power generator."

―General Lando Calrissian, issuing orders to Santage and the other pilots in the Death Star II reactor shaft

Santage's death

Eventually, Solo's team was able to destroy the shield generator, exposing the Death Star to the planned Alliance attack. General Lando Calrissian, leading the fighter wings under the call sign Gold Leader and flying the Millennium Falcon, ordered fighters from Red and Gold Squadrons to begin their attack on the main reactor. Santage joined Calrissian in the attack, along with Red Leader Commander Antilles, Gray Leader Colonel Horton Salm, Tycho Celchu, of Green Squadron, and Jake Farrell, also from Green Squadron.

Skimming the surface of the battlestation, Santage dodged turbolaser fire before entering the superstructure via an access shaft, taking up the rear position in the Alliance fighter formation. TIE fighters and interceptors followed the Rebel fighters into the shaft, intent on destroying them before they could take out the main reactor. Navigating through the tight confines of the reactor shaft, Calrissian ordered the pilots to lock onto the strongest power source to lead them to the reactor core. Although Santage successfully avoided several obstacles in the shaft, he was exposed to the enemy; his fighter was hit by several bursts of laser cannon fire from the lead TIE fighter. His fighter broke apart, and he was killed. His death prompted Calrissian to order several other fighters to break off from the assault and head back to the surface in an attempt to draw pursuit off of the strike force. Celchu, Salm, and Farrell complied, leading half of the pursuing Imperial fighters away from Calrissian and Antilles, which in turn allowed them to destroy the Death Star.

Personality and traits

Keir Santage had brown hair and light skin, and had grown a moustache. He was considered to be an excellent pilot, which led to his assignment to Rogue Squadron, the Alliance's elite starfighter squadron, alongside notable pilots like Wedge Antilles. During the Battle of Endor, Santage diligently obeyed orders and followed the Alliance battle plan by flying into the interior of the Death Star in an attempt to knock out the main reactor, a decision that cost him his life.

Behind the scenes

Keir Santage first appeared briefly in the 1983 original trilogy film, Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi, where he was portrayed by Billy J. Mitchell. Santage was one of the pilots during the Battle of Endor sequence—specifically, during the starfighter chase down an access shaft of the Death Star II. He was unnamed, and his brief scene culminated in his death as he was shot down by a TIE starfighter.

In 2000, Decipher, Inc. released their Death Star II Limited expansion for the Star Wars Customizable Card Game. The set established Keir Santage's name, the fact that he was a Rogue Squadron veteran, and that he flew as Red Seven during the battle. The image used to represent Santage's X-wing on its CCG card is actually a shot taken of Wedge Antilles' fighter from Return of the Jedi as it skims the Death Star's surface en route to the reactor shaft. It was not until the release of The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia in 2008 that Santage was confirmed to have also used the call sign of Rogue Seven during his service with the Rogues.

Appearances

• Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi novelization (Indirect mention only)
• Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi (First appearance)
• Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi junior novelization (X-wing only)
• Star Wars Manga: Return of the Jedi 4

Sources

• The Art of Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (Indirect mention only)
• Galaxy Guide 5: Return of the Jedi, Second Edition (Indirect mention only)
• Star Wars: The Annotated Screenplays (Indirect mention only)
• Star Wars Encyclopedia (Indirect mention only)
•  Star Wars Customizable Card Game – Death Star II Limited (Card: Keir Santage) (backup link) (First identified as Keir Santage, simultaneous with  Star Wars Customizable Card Game – Death Star II Limited (Card: Red Squadron 7) (backup link))
•  Star Wars Customizable Card Game – Death Star II Limited (Card: Red Squadron 7) (backup link)
• The Official Star Wars Fact File 79 (END29, The Battle of Endor) (Indirect mention only)
• Star Wars: The Complete Visual Dictionary
• The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia
• Star Wars in 100 Scenes

Notes and references

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