So for Christmas I decided to paint up some X-Wing pilots and give them to my brother, nephew, and future brother-in-law. We're all 49ers fans in my family (couple of exceptions; nephew is a Raiders fan and my wife used to cheer for the Cowboys). Regardless, I thought I'd do up some pilots in Niners colors. I even have a back story.
The mining colony Sa'Fran was a small outpost in the Mid-Rim. Like many at the time, they didn't care about the Republic, the Empire, or the Rebel Alliance. They just wanted to do some honest work away from politics. Whoever was in charge would pretty much do the same thing; tax the colony, pay for the minerals, and think them nothing but outback yokels. One day, the Empire decided it best to acquire all mineral rights and pay the colonists less than the value of the mines and mining facility. They said no and a small Imperial task force soon came to take possession. In preparation, a ragtag fleet of shuttles, old Z95's, even a couple of ARC-170's and one LAAT/i; ships that were worked on by hobbyists of classic space vehicles. The Imperial task force barely won. Of the 65 ships the colony was able to launch, 16 barely survived. They were forced to land their ships. Instead of being punished by the Imperial commander, he let them go with the rest of the colonists to be resettled on a new planet. When they made planetfall on their new "home", twelve of the pilots decided to leave for the Rebellion. Upon arrival at a Rebel base, they requested to stay together and form their own squadron. Reluctant to do so, the base commander did so only after finding out that one of the pilots was a former Corellian Fleet officer. The pilots named their squadron the 49ers in remembrance of their fellow pilots lost at the battle of Sa'Fran.
Commander Joj, Captain Brod, Lt. Sey, and Lt. Naton are the first of these customs