Theft of the TIE Defender Elite

"Lothal looks like it's dying.''" "''Your home isn't exactly the place you remember, kid. Better prepare yourself."

- Ezra Bridger and Cikatro Vizago

The Spectres of the Alliance to Restore the Republic undertook a mission to Lothal in 1 BBY. Their goal was to aid Ryder Azadi and the Lothal resistance in liberating the Outer Rim planet from the Galactic Empire. The Alliance had previously planned an attack on Lothal, but they were forced to call it off when their forces were decimated by Grand Admiral Thrawn during the battle of Atollon.

Prelude
In 2 BBY, the Alliance to Restore the Republic intended to attack the Galactic Empire on the planet Lothal, a major source of Imperial weapons development. These plans were thwarted, however, when Grand Admiral Thrawn of the Empire's Seventh Fleet discovered Chopper Base, from where the Alliance intended to launch its attack. Phoenix Squadron, a Rebel cell, was left largely decimated in the attack, while Massassi Group, poised to join the Lothal operation, also lost a number of forces. The Alliance forces regrouped on Yavin 4 and put aisde their plans to liberate Lothal.

Lieutenant Commander Ezra Bridger, a Jedi Padawan and Phoenix Rebel who grew up on Lothal, continued to urge the Alliance to honor the commitment they made to Lothal and its resistance leader, Ryder Azadi, when the Rebellion promised to free Lothal. Senator Mon Mothma, leader of the Rebel Alliance, was sympathetic to Bridger's pleas but could not authorize an operation after so many Alliance forces were destroyed at Atollon. This changed, however, when Azadi sent word to the Alliance that the Empire was testing a new TIE/D Defender Elite starfighter. Mothma herself was once witness to the destructive capabilities of the TIE Defender and recognized it as an imminent threat to the future of the Alliance. She authorized a mission to Lothal to gather intelligence about the starfighter, a mission that Bridger and the rest of his crew volunteered for.

Departure for Lothal
The Spectres could not travel to Lothal on their starship, the Ghost, as it was too familiar to Imperial authorities. Ezra, through Hondo Ohnaka, learned that the crime lord Cikatro Vizago, a former associate of the crew, had acquired a contract to legitimately ship supplies to the planet. The Rebels persuaded Vizago to smuggle them onto Lothal by paying him with highly valuable puffer pigs. Rex and Kallus were left to mind the Ghost. The Spectres donned civilian disguises, with their weapons and normal clothing concealed in crates carried by Chopper on an attached rig. When Vizago's ship, the Broken Horn, arrived above Lothal, it was given landing clearance. However, the Imperial cruiser dealing with the vessel detected anomalies in its thermal scan, and deduced that there were multiple unregistered lifeforms aboard. The cruiser's captain allowed the Broken Horn past, but ordered an ISB patrol to be alerted.

Behind the scenes
The mission serves as the main plot of three episodes of the fourth season of Star Wars Rebels: "The Occupation", "Flight of the Defender" and "Kindred".