Yellow Squadron

Jagdstaffel 401 (ᛠᚨᚷᛑᛊᛏᚨᚠᚠᛂᛚ 401) (transl. '401st Fighter Squadron'), usually known simply as the Yellow Squadron or Jasta 401, is an elite fighter squadron of the Zusian Himmelkorps based at Airbase Zelden near the Kyrossic border. Along with the L-Starma, with which it maintains a fierce rivalry, Jasta 401 is often considered the cream of the Himmelkorps. The squadron is currently equipped with the Komma Kintaala.

The Yellow Squadron was created on 2 August 1934 in the run-up to the Endwar, as part of the final expansion of the Himmelkorps' strength before the start of hostilities. Though staffed entirely with green, untested pilots, Jasta 401 distinguished itself with an astonishing kill record during the invasions of Ossintoria and Lakaria, and kept up its dazzling performance in the later invasions of Redon, Valourium, and Arshavat. Distinguished by their yellow-tipped wings, the squadron became one of the most feared air units of any nation in the war.

After falling into obscurity following the deaths of most of its wartime aces, the unit again distinguished itself during the Third Kyrossic War from 1977-84, during which its stable of untested young pilots again accumulated the best kill record of any Zusian air unit. The Yellow Squadron thereafter garnered the talisman-like reputation it enjoys today, famous throughout the branches of the Vahrmacht. The squadron later served, again with unique distinction, in the Fifth Kyrossic War.

The Yellow Squadron first entered the popular consciousness after the blockbuster 1986 film , in which a rivalry between Starmer pilots and Yellow Squadron pilots plays out at the famed Zweikorps Basilikaricha Stossjägerschula, often called the Panther-Akademie.