Did Wedge call off sick?

TheRandomMenace · Jedi Knight Joined: Mar 30, 2004 Posts: 1886

Well you have to look at the status of both armies at the Battle of Yavin... which heavily influenced their strategies. The Empire had sheer numbers and could afford heavy casualties, hence building the majority of their snub fighters without shields. TIE pilots and stormtroopers were disposable. Therefore they could afford to take a "strength in numbers" approach to battle.

The Rebellion, on the other hand, was a rag-tag army that was down in numbers. Each and every soldier was a "body" to them, and they couldn't afford to lose anyone until their numbers rivaled the Empire's. I'm sure knowing Luke's piloting abilities, that they'd rather Wedge pulled out of the battle to fight another day than cover Luke and die (perhaps unnecessarily). I agree with Geoff, that Wedge was "limping back" to base, not hightailing out of there. If that were the case, he'd need a head start on the Rebels to make it out of the battle alive anyway.

I really don't think Wedge chickened out... when he left, he told Luke "sorry." If he really was chicken, he would leave saying something like "you guys are on your own! I'm getting the heck out of here!" and would have been seen with jittering teeth in his cockpit. Wedge would have rather participated more in the battle but knew the importance of living to fly another day.

tml1138 · Jedi Knight Joined: Jan 17, 2005 Posts: 409

jedi_bmack wrote:

if his inertial compensator was out, the strain of trying to put the snubfighter through such a turn immediately after making a previous change of direction could have torn the ship apart. keep in mind that the x-wing's top speed in atmosphere is 1050 km/h... out of atmosphere, such as the trench run, they would have no air resistance and could be going faster. changes in direction at that speed would rip a ship to shreds if the inertial compensator goes out.

-b-

*techie geek alert* *techie geek alert* Sheesh Bmack. Wink

I think it's safe to say there was no way Wedge could engage in such intense battle at the final moments of the Death Star's existence. But leaving the trench and probably hobbling back to the planet (or even hovering on standby just in case he had to do his best) Luke and Han would have caught up to his damaged ship and/or Wedge waited for them.

Krash wrote:

Luke and Han would have easily been able to catch up with Wedge and the shot you see in the film is 4 ships (Luke, the Falcon, Wedge, and Farlander) heading back to base.

Farlander? I assume that is his EU name. It was a Y-Wing left, correct? So what's the EU explanation for his survival? I don't recall there being anything in the film itself about it.

jedi_bmack · Communication Councillor Joined: Feb 08, 2004 Posts: 1248

tml1138 wrote:

*techie geek alert* *techie geek alert* Sheesh Bmack. Wink

hehehe... i think i'm gonna enter code on the website that prefaces all my posts with that... Razz

-b-

Satxer · Jedi Knight Joined: Jul 04, 2005 Posts: 805

Well, remember when he pulled out of the trench...it looked and sounded like he was struggling to pull up to get out. And, when he was saying "sorry" it sounded like he was having quite a time getting out.

But, I can't argue with the possibility that he chicked out was the case...