Attack on Lothal

The Attack on Lothal, also known as the Battle of Lothal, occurred during the Galactic Civil War in the year 1 BBY, when the Alliance to Restore the Republic attacked the planet Lothal in an attempt to destroy the Imperial Armory Complex, where the Galactic Empire was planning on producing TIE/d "Defender" Multi-Role Starfighters. The Rebel Alliance had attempted the attack before, with the forces of two cells, Phoenix Cell and the Massassi Group, participating, but Grand Admiral Thrawn had anticipated the planned attack and ambushed the rebels at their base on Atollon. Afterwards, Alliance High Command was quite reluctant to authorize a strike, before they learned that the Empire was planning on manufacturing the even more advanced TIE/D Defender Elite at their factories. In addition, the Empire had planned to enact Protocol 13 on Lothal, the evacuation of all Imperial personnel from the planet.

As a result, Hera Syndulla was able to persuade the rebel leadership to authorize a fighter assault on Lothal. She was promoted to general, and given command of a force of 24 fighters and bombers, a mixed group of T-65B X-wing starfighters and BTL-A4 Y-wing assault starfighter/bombers, with the goal of hitting the Lothal City fuel depot. On the ground, the rest of Syndulla's team, the Spectres, as well as members of the Lothal resistance group, destroyed the anti-air defenses that protected the factories. During the space battle, the rebel force sustained a few casualties at the hands of Imperial ace Commander Vult Skerris, before Syndulla lured him into a trap and shot him down, triggering a chain of events that led to the destruction of a Star Destroyer. This gave Syndulla's forces the opening they needed to head for their targets.

However, Thrawn had been anticipating this, and had another wave of TIE fighters at the ready. The entire strike force was shot down, several of the fighters crashing into Lothal City. Among the few survivors were Syndulla, her astromech droid Chopper, and Mart Mattin. Syndulla rescued Mattin from some stormtroopers that were attempting to arrest him, but the three were shortly pursued by Rukh, Thrawn's assassin, who had been sent to capture the surviving rebel pilots, particularly "Captain" Syndulla, alive. The Rebel trio managed to make it to a sewer hatch, but in the process of luring away the Imperial forces guarding it, Rukh caught up, and Syndulla was captured as Mattin and Chopper fled on her orders. Upon making it to an exit outside of the city, Mattin and Chopper were met by Kanan Jarrus, who told them that although there was nothing else the two of them could do to rescue Syndulla, there was something he could do.

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