Summary
- The origin of the X-wing starfighter has been brought back in Star Wars, with a dark twist involving Saw Gerrera and the Battle of Fresia.
- In Star Wars Legends, dissident scientists at Incom revealed the location of prototype X-wings to the Rebel Alliance on Fresia.
- Saw Gerrera, a brutal rebel leader, absconds with several X-wings after a violent raid on an Incom warehouse on Fresia, naming his squadron the Cavern Angels.
Star Wars has brought back the Legends origin of the X-wing, but with a dark twist linking it to Saw Gerrera. The Incom T-65 starfighter, better known as the X-wing, is a staple ship used by the Rebel Alliance and later the New Republic. The most famous X-wing of all is undoubtedly the starfighter flown by Luke Skywalker during the Battle of Yavin, when he fired "the shot heard across the galaxy" – destroying the Death Star and igniting the Galactic Civil War.
This is Star Wars, of course, where everything has a backstory and origin – right down to the background aliens in Jabba the Hutt's palace. It will come as no surprise to viewers, then, to learn the X-wing too has an established history. In fact, this history was first laid out in the old Star Wars Expanded Universe, but has since become canon once again. Here's all we know to date about the X-wing's origin.
The Battle Of Fresia Was First Mentioned In Star Wars Legends How the Rebel Alliance acquired the X-wing 
In Star Wars Legends, dissident scientists at Incom told the Rebel Alliance the location of four prototype X-wings on the planet Fresia. The rebels sent a task force to retrieve them, but didn't expect the Imperial Star Destroyer Tyranny in orbit. This led to a complex operation in which the rebels lured the Tyranny back to the shipyard planet Kuat while they sliced into the Imperial network on Wayland. Unfortunately the subsequent attack on Fresia itself went badly wrong, in large part because of hidden defenses. The Battle of Fresia had already been referenced in Star Wars canon, but Dawn of Rebellion by Pablo Hidalgo gives exciting details.
"Saw Gerrera is one of the first rebel leaders to see the potential of the Incom T-65 starfighter, and absconds with several after a violent raid on an Incom warehouse on Fresia. He dubs his squadron of eight the Cavern Angels for the partisans' penchant of storing military hardwore in caves."
