Lothal resistance

A resistance cell was led by Ryder Azadi on the planet Lothal. In 2 BBY, Azadi's cell engaged in a campaign of sabotage at the Imperial Armory Complex, which manufactured vehicles for the Imperial Military. That same year, Azadi's cell joined forces with Ezra Bridger, Kanan Jarrus, and Chopper, who had been sent by the Phoenix Squadron, to collect intelligence about Grand Admiral Thrawn's new TIE/D Defender initiative. The following year, Azadi's cell joined forces with the Spectres in obtaining intelligence about an updated version of the TIE Defender and a daring rebel attempt to take out the Imperial Armory Complex.

Description
Ryder Azadi's resistance cell consisted of himself, the former farmer Morad Sumar and his wife Marida Sumar, and the Ithorian bartender Jho. They specialized in sabotaging Imperial vehicles being produced at the Imperial Armory Complex in Lothal's Capital City. They were armed with blasters and rocket launchers. The cell was known to have at least two landspeeders including a V-35 Courier. Ryder's cell was based at a stone circle in Lothal's wilderness.

Heirs to the Spectres
The former Lothalian Governor Ryder Azadi escaped an Imperial prison in late 4 BBY. By 2 BBY, Ryder had founded a resistance cell consisting of disaffected individuals including the Sumar couple and Jho. The cell sabotaged Imperial vehicles being produced at the Imperial Armory Complex in Capital City. This resulted in a high rate of accidents among Imperial personnel and caused the Empire to lose several missions and personnel.

Infiltrating the Imperial Armory Complex
That year, the Atollon–based Phoenix Squadron received intelligence that the Empire was developing a new weapon at the Lothal Imperial factory. The Squadron dispatched the former Lothal resident Ezra Bridger, the Jedi Purge survivor Kanan Jarrus, and the astromech droid Chopper to solicit Ryder's help in taking out the Imperial Armory Complex. Ryder picked up Ezra's team in Capital City. After escaping an Imperial patrol, the rebels met at Ryder's stone circle hideout. After discussing their plans, Morad, who had found work as a safety inspector at the Imperial Armory Complex, agreed to lead Ezra's team inside the factory to steal the plans.

Meanwhile, Ryder's cell's activities attracted the attention of Imperial High Command who sent the Chiss Grand Admiral Thrawn to investigate the defective vehicles and the presence of "subversives" at the Imperial Armory Complex. After dressing down the workers, Thrawn forced Morad to demonstrate a 614-AvA speeder bike that he personally inspected. During the exercise, Morad was forced to drive the speeder bike at full speed. However, the engine system was faulty and the bike exploded, killing Morad. Despite Morad's death, Ezra and his team managed to steal the plans and escape the factory with the help of Fulcrum, who was revealed to be the disillusioned Imperial Security Bureau Agent Kallus.

Ryder and Marida launched an attack on the Imperial Armory Complex's east gate. This allowed Ezra and his team to escape. Back at the resistance base, the rebels transmitted the contents of Chopper's files to the Phoenix Squadron, which decrypted them. As a result, Ryder and the other rebels learned that Thrawn was developing a new prototype starfighter equipped with deflector shields. Ryder and other members of the resistance then listended to Senator Mon Mothma's speech as she called upon other cells to come together and join the Alliance to Restore the Republic.

Stopping the TIE Defender project
The resistance then planned an attack on the TIE/D Defender factories on Lothal with help from Commander Sato's Phoenix Squadron and General Jan Dodonna's Massassi Group. However, Ryder saw that the 7th fleet had left Lothal. The resistance then lost contact with Atollon.

A year later, the Empire launched a crackdown on Lothal which claimed the life of Jho. Jho's bar was expropriated by the Empire, who brought it under the management of Baron Valen Rudor. Ryder and Marida Sumar however escaped and managed to warn the Rebel Alliance on Yavin 4 about the Empire's new TIE/D Defender Elite. After the Spectres infiltrated Lothal with the help of the crime lord Cikatro Vizago, Ryder and Marida managed to pick up the Spectres and their friend Jai Kell in their U-wing and evacuate them to their camp.

Ryder then helped the Spectres to stalk out a remote Imperial testing facility in Lothal's wilderness. Ezra and Sabine Wren managed to steal the TIE/D Defender Elite. Despite being pursued by TIE Interceptors, they managed to crashland in the wilderness and recover the ship's flight data recorder. Ryder and the other rebels retreated to their camp and were joined by Ezra and Sabine, who had found their way with the help of a loth-wolf.

The following day, Ryder and most of the Spectres remained at the camp while Ezra, Kell, and Garazeb Orrelios went to retrieve the TIE Defender Elite's hyperdrive; which Sabine believed could be installed into Ryder's U-wing. Despite being pursued by the Noghri tracker Rukh and Imperial forces led by Governor Arihnda Pryce, the rebels managed to return to the camp with the hyperdrive in a stolen Imperial Troop Transport. After installing the hyperdrive into Ryder's U-wing, Hera Syndulla and Chopper returned with the flight data recorder to Yavin 4. Ryder and the Spectres then escaped into caves with the help of loth-wolves.

After emerging in Lothal's southern hemisphere, the rebels set up camp in the caves. Ryder then helped the Spectres to a Mining Guild ore crawler Crawler 413-24 before driving away in his speeder. The crawler was staffed by indentured prisoners including Vizago and overseen by the Trandoshan Captain Seevor and the foreman Proach. Following a fight, the Spectres managed to free the slaves, kill Proach, and subdue Seevor. After narrowly avoiding an Imperial patrol, Seevor was killed by Ezra. The Spectres also managed to recruit Vizago and the former prisoners to the rebel cause. Having built a ground support team, Hera was able to convince the Alliance leadership to authorize a strike on the Imperial TIE Defender factory on Lothal.

The bolstered Lothal resistance and Spectres aided the planned rebel strike by sabotaging the Imperial artillery defenses. However, they were forced to retreat when Grand Admiral Thrawn's fleet wiped out much of Hera's strike force.

Behind the scenes
Ryder Azadi's resistance cell first appeared in the Star Wars Rebels Season Three episode "An Inside Man", which premiered on Disney XD on October 3, 2016. The resistance cell consisted of several Rebels characters who had appeared in earlier episodes including Ryder himself ("Legacy"), Morad and Marida Sumar ("Fighter Flight"), and Jho ("Empire Day"). Ryder's cell reprised their role as secondary characters in Season Four.