Spectres

"Who are you people? I mean, you're not thieves exactly.''" "''We're not exactly anything. We're a crew. A team. In some ways, a family."

- Ezra Bridger and Sabine Wren

The Lothal rebels, known to some as "the Spectres," and as the Ghost team, were a cell of resistance fighters who primarily operated on the Outer Rim planet Lothal several years prior to the Battle of Yavin. The rebels, who operated against the rule of the Galactic Empire, were headquartered in their ship, the Ghost, and also carried out operations on other nearby worlds. Each member of the rebellion had lost something to the Imperial regime and fought back in the hopes of someday liberating the galaxy from the Empire's rule. The rebels were part of a larger, disconnected rebel movement led by Senator Bail Organa and Ahsoka Tano. This movement would eventually give rise to the Alliance to Restore the Republic.

The rebels were led by Kanan Jarrus, a Jedi survivor of Order 66. The other rebels were Hera Syndulla, the owner and pilot of the Ghost; Lothal orphan-turned-Jedi apprentice Ezra Bridger; the Mandalorian explosives expert Sabine Wren; Garazeb Orrelios, the former captain of the Lasan High Honor Guard; and the astromech droid C1-10P, nicknamed "Chopper." Their operations attracted the attention of Agent Kallus of the Imperial Security Bureau, the Jedi hunter known as the Grand Inquisitor, and even Darth Vader, all of whom pursued the rebels in an attempt to destroy them.

Description
"We have been called criminals, but we are not. We are rebels, fighting for the people, fighting for you."

- Ezra Bridger, transmitting using a pirated Imperial tower

The Lothal rebels were a small resistance cell that operated off of the planet Lothal, primarily carrying out attacks against the operations of the Galactic Empire on the planet. For a time, the rebels were a five-person crew, with each crew member serving a different function. Kanan Jarrus, a Jedi survivor of Order 66, was the leader of the crew, while Hera Syndulla was the owner and pilot of the Ghost, the ship from which the rebels were headquartered. Garazeb Orrelios was a former member of the Lasan High Honor Guard and one of the few surviving members of the Lasat species, and he acted as the muscle of the crew. Sabine Wren was a Mandalorian warrior and explosives expert, as well as a graffiti artist; after attacks against the Empire, Wren would leave her own calling card, the starbird, behind so the Empire knew who had attacked them. The crew also had a droid, C1-10P, whom they nicknamed "Chopper." Five years before the Battle of Yavin, the rebels took in Ezra Bridger, a Lothal street orphan, as a member of the crew, and Jarrus trained him in the ways of the Force.

Origins
"We started by wanting to fight the Empire. Somebody had to do something about the terror and injustice they're spreading across the galaxy."

- Kanan Jarrus

The group that became the Lothal rebels began with Hera Syndulla, who followed in the footsteps of her father, Cham Syndulla, a resistance fighter who led the Twi'lek Resistance against the Confederacy of Independent Systems during the Clone Wars and who later rebelled against the Empire. Her operations led her to an information-gathering mission on the planet Gorse, where she met Kanan Jarrus and learned that he was a Jedi who had survived the fall of the Jedi Order and the Galactic Republic. After working together to help save Gorse and its moon, Cynda, from Count Denetrius Vidian and the Empire, Jarrus joined Syndulla and her cause.

Harrying the Empire
In the years that followed, the rebel crew of the Ghost grew with the inclusion of Sabine Wren, Garazeb Orrelios, and Chopper. They embarked on a campaign to raid Imperial supply ships, in order to steal their cargo and deliver them to other insurgents. After a successful raiding mission on Ryloth, Jarrus suggested that his crew should hit an convoy en route to the crystalline planet of Christophsis. Once again, the Ghost crew was victorious. Shortly thereafter, Hera Syndulla intercepted an Imperial signal that directed the rebels toward their next target, the Wookiee home planet of Kashyyyk. Emerging victorious once again, the Ghost crew then focused their attention on the world of Toydaria, where yet another Imperial convoy was headed. When they rebels left Toydaria behind, Sabine Wren suggested a stop at Lothal, a backwater planet in the Outer Rim, so the Ghost could be resupplied.

They carried out a number of attacks against Imperial operations on and around Lothal, including the raiding of an Imperial supply convoy, the destruction of TIE/LN starfighters on a landing pad, and a skirmish with stormtroopers in Capital City. These attacks against the Empire attracted the attention of Agent Kallus of the Imperial Security Bureau, who intended to destroy the rebels before they could spark a wider rebel movement.

The rebels sometimes worked for Cikatro Vizago, a Devaronian crime lord who ran the Broken Horn Syndicate on Lothal. One such job was the heist of weapons for Vizago, as well as supplies for the people of Lothal re-settlement camp 43, nicknamed "Tarkintown." During the mission, they were joined by Ezra Bridger, who intended to steal the supplies for himself before the crew taught him the value of helping others. These events led the rebels to rescue a group of Wookiees, who were being held as slaves by the Empire, from the spice mines of the planet Kessel. As a result, the Wookiees became allies of the rebels.Their actions on Kessel attracted the attention of the Grand Inquisitor, a Jedi hunter who intended to hunt down and kill Jarrus and Bridger, who had become Jarrus's Jedi apprentice after learning he had an affinity for the Force.

Short on funds and supplies, the crew of the Ghost accepted another job from Vizago to steal an Imperial shipment of T-7 ion disruptor rifles on the nearby planet of Garel. While on their mission, the rebels encountered the droids R2-D2 and C-3PO, who had been sent by the Alderaanian Senator Bail Organa to prevent the weapons from falling into Imperial hands. As a result, the rebels came into contact with Senator Organa, who paid Kanan enough credits to cover their fuel and living expenses. Organa became one of the founders of a wider rebel movement, the Alliance to Restore the Republic, which the Lothal rebels had a hand in forming.

Ezra initially had some difficulty adjusting to life on the Ghost and initially had an acrimonious relationship with Zeb and Chopper. Following a prank played Chopper, Ezra and Zeb got into a fight. As punishment, they were sent by Hera to buy a list of groceries. While attempting to steal a crate of meiloorun fruits, Ezra and Zeb became entangled with the Imperials and stole a TIE fighter. After fleeing the Lothalian town of Kathol, the two rebels freed several farmers who had been arrested by Imperial forces. In the process, they managed to steal a crate of meiloorun fruits. Before returning to the Ghost, they hid their stolen fighter, which would be used in a later mission.

After receiving information that the Jedi Master Luminara Unduli was being imprisoned at the Spire prison, the crew of the Ghost traveled to Stygeon Prime to rescue her. Kanan, who had not completed his Jedi training, was uncomfortable with his own abilities to train Ezra and hoped that Master Luminara would be able to help. However, they stumbled into a trap staged by the Grand Inquisitor, who fought with Kanan and Ezra. Following a skirmish, the rebels managed to escape on the Phantom. As a result of their adventure, Ezra became more appreciative of his master Kanan and agreed to continue his Jedi training.

During a mission to destroy an Imperial kyber crystal shipment, Ezra infiltrated the Lothal Imperial Academy as an Imperial cadet in order to steal a decoder containing the coordinates of the shipment. While Hera and Kanan waited aboard the Ghost, the other rebels Sabine, Chopper, and Zeb remained on stand-by to evacuate Ezra. At the Imperial Academy, Ezra encountered Zare Leonis, an underground rebel sympathizer who had infiltrated the Academy to find his missing sister Dhara Leonis, a star cadet who had disappeared the previous year. After working together to steal the decoder, Chopper passed the decoder to his rebel colleagues, who were then able to intercept the kyber shipment. The rebels then passed the decoder to Merei Spanjaf, Zare's girlfriend and a skilled slicer who was trying to hack into the Imperial data network on Lothal. Using the decoder, Merei discovered that Dhara had been forcibly inducted into Project Harvester, a secret program for screening Force-sensitive Academy cadets. As a result of the kyber crystal mission, the Spectres gained new allies.

The Stakes Heighten
Over the course of their missions against the Empire, the crew of the Ghost were supplied with information on Imperial targets by a mysterious individual known as "Fulcrum". During a supply run to Fort Anaxes, Sabine confided in her trust issues with Hera, who did not disclose that the rebels were part of a wider network but managed to allay Sabine's fears that their struggle was not in vain. After being ambushed by fyrnocks, they were rescued by their fellow crew, who picked them up and the Phantom, which had been unable to fly due to a fuel leak.

Later, the Spectres disrupted the Empire Day celebrations in Lothal's Capital City and fled the planet with the Rodian fugitive Tseebo, an Imperial Information Office employee with classified information about the Empire. Pursued by the Grand Inquisitor, Kanan and Ezra detached the Phantom above Fort Anaxes while the other crew of the Ghost traveled with Tseebo to rendezvous with "Fulcrum", who would ferry the fugitive to a safe place. Following a second confrontation with the Grand Inquisitor, Kanan decided that Ezra was ready for his Jedi Trials. The Master and his apprentice then departed to a hidden Jedi Temple on Lothal where Ezra passed his trials with the help of the Jedi Master Yoda and gained a kyber crystal, which he used to built his lightsaber.

Short on cash and having accidentally bet on Chopper during a game of sabacc, Kanan and Hera reluctantly accepted a job run from the "galactic entrepreneur" Lando Calrissian to help him steal a puffer pig from the crime lord Azmorigan. After escaping Azmorigan, the Ghost broke through the Imperial blockade above Lothal with some difficulty after Ezra and Zeb accidentally released the puffer pig. After losing their TIE pursuers, the crew of the Ghost dropped Calrissian at his farm estate on Lothal where they fought off Azmorigan and his henchmen. As payment for their services, the rebels took Calrissian's fuel tanks.

After hearing a broadcast from the dissident Senator Gall Trayvis to meet at the Old Republic Senate Building in Lothal's Capital City, the rebels decided to attend the Senator's meeting. However, since they suspected it was an Imperial trap, Zeb attempted to contact Zare Leonis's girlfriend Merei Spanjaf to consult Zare. Merei instead told them to send Chopper to contact Zare, who subsequently arranged to meet with Ezra in the marketplace. There, Leonis revealed that the Empire was staging a major operation at the Senate Building. The rebels rescued Senator Trayvis and managed to elude their Imperial pursuers. However, Trayvis quickly revealed that he was an Imperial spy and attempted to apprehend Hera and Ezra. After knocking out Trayvis, the rebels fled back into hiding.

The rebel's activities on Lothal and the incompetence of the local Imperial authorities' efforts to apprehend them led Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin, the Governor of the Outer Rim Territories, to visit the planet to eliminate the rebel cell once and for all. Under Tarkin's direction, Agent Kallus and the Grand Inquisitor devised a plan to trap the rebels at the Imperial Communications Center near Jalath. The Lothal rebels had wanted to issue a broadcast in order to counteract the Imperial propaganda on HoloNet. During the mission, Kanan was captured by the Imperials but Ezra managed to deliver his broadcast, which reached Lothal and several neighboring systems. In response, the Empire destroyed the main communications tower to prevent people from hearing their broadcast.

Despite Fulcrum's orders, the crew of the Ghost refused to abandon Kanan and devised a plan to rescue him. After Chopper infiltrated an Imperial communications cruiser and hacked into the Imperial database, the rebels discovered that Kanan had been transferred to the Mustafar system. The Imperials wanted to interrogate Kanan about his knowledge of Fulcrum and the rebel network. Using a stolen Imperial freighter, the rebels managed to infiltrate Tarkin's flagship Sovereign, rescue Kanan, and kill the Grand Inquisitor. After escaping the doomed warship, the rebels were picked up by Fulcrum and several members of the Phoenix rebel cell. Following the rescue mission, the Lothal rebels learnt that they were part of a wider rebel network and that Fulcrum was the Jedi Purge survivor Ahsoka Tano. In response, the Emperor dispatched Darth Vader to deal with the rebels once and for all.

At some later point, the crew of the Ghost helped to ferry the slicer Merei, her family, the Leonis family, and the fugitive poet Holshef into hiding on the planet Garel. Since the Spectres were unable to travel to Lothal, they made an arrangement with the Ithorian tavern keeper Old Jho to transport the Spanjafs and Leonises to the edge of the Garel system where the Ghost would pick them up. After sheltering the Lothalian fugitives Zeb, Sabine, Ezra along with Merei and her mother Jessa borrowed the Ghost and took part in an unauthorized mission to rescue Zare, who had been exposed as a traitor and scheduled for execution on Arkanis. Following a skirmish at Area Null, the rebels succeeded in rescuing both Zare and his sister Dhara.

A Greater Struggle
Following the rescue of Kanan, the crew of the Ghost joined the Phoenix rebel cell, which was part of a wider rebel network. On one occasion, the crew helped members of the Phoenix rebel cell steal shield generators from an Imperial convoy. While Hera and the other rebels were happy to be part of a large struggle, Kanan was reluctant to commit himself to the rebel network since he was still traumatized by the Clone Wars. Shortly later, the rebels returned to Lothal to rescue the Imperial Minister Maketh Tua, who was planning to defect from the Empire. However, Tua was killed by an explosion during the escape attempt, which was then blamed on the crew of the Ghost.

The Lothal rebels then infiltrated the Imperial Complex in Capital City where they were ambushed by Darth Vader, who engaged Kanan and Ezra in a lightsaber duel. The rebels managed to escape Vader in a stolen shuttle but were unable to flee offworld due to an Imperial blockade. After the rebels discovered that Imperial forces had razed Tarkintown to the ground in retaliation for its inhabitants accepting rebel help, they resolved not to return to Lothal in order to avoid endangering the local people. With the help of Calrissian's droid W1-LE, the Lothal rebels managed to flee the Lothal system by creating sensor buoys that replicated the signal of the shuttle and baffled the Imperial trackers.

Unknown to the rebels, Darth Vader had attached a homing beacon to their shuttle with the intention of tracking down the Phoenix rebel fleet. The Spectres managed to rejoin the Phoenix but were soon followed by Darth Vader in his TIE Advanced starfighter. Vader's TIE fighter ravaged the Phoenix A-wing starfighters and destroyed the Phoenix flagship Phoenix Home. During the battle, Ahsoka flew with the crew of the Ghost and managed to probe the mysterious TIE pilot, whom she discovered was her former master Anakin Skywalker. Despite the arrival of Imperial reinforcements, the crew of the Ghost then managed to flee into hyperspace with the surviving Phoenix forces.

Following the destruction of Phoenix Home, the rebels were on the run. While the rebels discussed their next move, Ahsoka sent the crew of the Ghost to seek out an old friend on the desert planet of Seelos. This old friend turned out to be the former Clone Captain Rex, who lived with two other Clone veterans Gregor and Wolffe in an antiquated AT-TE walker. Despite initial tensions, Rex agreed to supply the rebels with a list of abandoned Republic bases and facilities in the Outer Rim in exchange for the rebels taking part in a joopa hunt. The rebels' mission was complicated by the arrival of an Imperial attack force of AT-AT walkers led by Agent Kallus, a perennial foe of the crew of the Ghost. With the help of the clones, the rebels managed to defeat the Imperials. Rex then accompanied the rebels back to the Phoenix fleet.

With the help of Rex, the rebel network gained access to information on abandoned Republic bases and facilities. Sabine, Zeb, Chopper, and Ezra traveled on the Phantom to an abandoned Republic medical station to salvage medical supplies. During the course of their mission, they encountered two Inquisitors known as the Seventh Sister and the Fifth Brother, who ambushed them. Following a struggle, the four rebels managed to escape and warn their fellow rebels about the existence of more Inquisitors.

Later, the crew of the Ghost took part in a mission to collect fuel cells to relieve the people of the frigid planet of Rinn, which was experiencing an energy crisis. While most of the rebels went to explore the streets of Garel City, Ezra and Chopper stayed aboard the Ghost to clean and repair the ship. Shortly later, they received a distress transmission from the crime lord Cikatro Vizago's starship, the Broken Horn. Ezra and Chopper abandoned their chores and traveled on the Phantom to rescue Vizago. Upon arriving in the Broken Horn, they encountered Hondo Ohnaka, who claimed he had acquired the Broken Horn during a sabacc match with Vizago.

The two rebels agreed to help Hondo deliver a shipment of five power generators to an unknown customer, who turned out to be the crime lord Azmorigan, an old enemy of the crew of the Ghost. After a skirmish with Azmorigan, Ezra, Chopper, and Hondo traveled back to Garel. On the journey back, they discovered and freed the captive Vizago, who drove Hondo off his ship. Hondo fled on the Phantom with the power generators. Enraged at having lost his cargo, Vizago sent Ezra and Chopper back to Garel in an escape pod. Fortunately for them, the Phantom had been programmed to fly back to the Ghost. Vizago agreed to surrender the power generators to the crew of the Ghost in return for keeping the proceeds from his sale to Azmorigan.

The crew of the Ghost later helped the Phoenix cell deliver supplies to the famine-stricken planet Ibaar, which was being blockaded by an Imperial fleet. After the failure of the first blockade run, Hera along with Sabine and Zeb traveled to the planet Shantipole where they made contact with the Mon Calamari engineer Quarrie, who had designed a prototype Blade Wing starfighter. Following a test run, Hera agreed to pilot the prototype starfighter, which proved crucial during the Phoenix rebels' second attempt to break the Imperial blockade. During the second blockade run, Kanan, Ezra, and Chopper helmed the Ghost which managed to deliver the supplies to the Ibaarians. Meanwhile, Hera successfully tested the Blade Wing's combat prowess by destroying an Imperial light cruiser. Due to the success of the mission, Hera was promoted to Phoenix Leader; tying the crew of the Ghost closer to the rebel network. In addition, the Phoenix rebel cell agreed to produce more B-wing starfighters. The rebels also received an unexpected boost when Quarrie installed a hyperdrive in the Phantom.

As Phoenix Leader, Hera gained more responsibilities in the Phoenix rebel cell. She dispatched Sabine, with Ezra and Chopper as back-up, on a mission to pick up a courier who would respond to the phrase: "It's a long way to Alderaan." This courier turned out to be a GNK power droid called EG-86. Before the rebels could complete their mission, they were cornered by the bounty hunter Ketsu Onyo, a former classmate of Sabine who had left her for dead and joined the Black Sun crime syndicate. Following a struggle in Garel's spaceport and space, the rebels and Ketsu were forced to work together to escape an Imperial light cruiser. They managed to escape the Imperials by exploding a stolen passenger shuttle and escaping into hyperspace in Ketsu' ship Shadow Caster. With Kestu's help, Sabine succeeded in delivering EG-86 to other members of the rebel network.

Following the disappearance of a rebel patrol in the Del Zennis system, Ezra along with Commander Sato traveled there to investigate its disappearance. They were quickly captured by a new Imperial warship known as the Imperial Interdictor, which was equipped with four Gravity well projectors that were capable of pulling ships out of hyperspace. In response, Hera devised a rescue mission which involved sending Kanan and Rex (who were disguised as stormtroopers) and Chopper (disguised as an Imperial astromech droid) to infiltrate the warship. This rescue mission proved successful and the rebels not only succeeded in rescuing their compatriots but also managed to destroy the Imperial Interdictor and two Imperial light cruisers.

Later, Kanan along with Ezra, Chopper, and Zeb agreed to help the former Jedi Padawan Ahsoka Tano, who had been tracking down the Inquisitors. She discovered that the Inquisitors were also involved in kidnapping Force-sensitive children and sent the crew of the Ghost to investigate a set of coordinates on the planet Takobo's Hammertown. The four rebels managed to rescue two infants named Alora and Pypey from the Fifth Brother and the Seventh Sister but were unable to defeat the two Inquisitors in combat. Ahsoka arrived on the scene and managed to defeat the two Inquisitors. Together with Ahsoka, the crew of the Ghost managed to flee Takobo before the arrival of Imperial reinforcements.

Eluding the Empire
Following an Imperial assault on the planet Garel, the crew of the Ghost and the rest of the Phoenix rebels were forced to flee into hiding. After escaping their Imperial pursuers, the rebels split into two groups. While Hera, Sabine, and Zeb joined the rest of the Phoenix fleet, Ezra along with Kanan and Chopper traveled back to Lothal. Ezra had received a Force vision of his parents Ephraim and Mira Bridger, which had coincided with a prison break-out on that planet. After arriving, Ezra and his companions managed to track down a former prison inmate called "Prisoner X-10", who used to be the former Governor Ryder Azadi. From Azadi, Ezra and his companions learned that his parents had heard his passionate broadcast which had inspired them to stage a break-out. However, they were killed during the escape attempt. Having learned about the fate of his parents, Ezra was able to make peace with his past.

The Lothal rebels subsequently participated in a mission to obtain ships for the Rebellion. Senator Bail Organa had heard about the Phoenix rebels' losses on Garel and sent his adopted daughter Princess Leia Organa to deliver three Hammerhead corvettes to the rebels. Since the Alderaanians could not be seen directly supporting the rebels, Princess Leia had arranged for the corvettes to be delivered to Lothal, where they would be stolen by the rebels there. Hera relayed their instructions to Kanan and Ezra, who infiltrated the Imperial depot where Leia was scheduled to arrive. The two rebels, who were disguised in Imperial uniforms, managed to make contact with Princess Leia.

However, the rebels' problems were complicated when the Imperial lieutenant Yogar Lyste fastened gravity locks to the ships. After reuniting in Lothal's wilderness, the crew of the Ghost rescued Ryder Azadi, who had been detained by a roving Imperial patrol, and pretended to "kidnap" Princess Leia. With the help of Leia and Azadi, the rebels devised a plan to infiltrate the Imperial depot and steal the three corvettes. While Leia along with Kanan and Ezra entered the base under the ruse of having escaped the rebels, Chopper, Sabine, Kanan, and Azadi disabled the gravity locks on the corvettes. During the ensuing raid, Hera and Zeb provided air support by using the Ghost to harry the Imperial garrison. The mission proved successful and the rebels succeeded in delivering all three Hammerhead corvettes to the Phoenix fleet.

Hera and Sabine later led a mission to negotiate safe passage through the Concord Dawn system with Fenn Rau, the leader of a Mandalorian faction known as the Protectors. With the Empire hunting them down, the rebellion needed a short cut into the Lothal sector. However, the rebel mission was attacked by Rau's Fang fighters and Hera was gravely wounded. Rau had aligned the Protectors with the Empire and represented the Empire on Concord Dawn. Following the attack, Sabine along with Kanan and Chopper took part in a mission to destroy the Protectors' Fang fighters. After a second failed round of talks with Rau, the rebels destroyed the remaining Fang fighters and kidnapped Rau, who agreed to grant the rebels safe passage through the system in return for keeping his capture a secret from the Empire.

After Ezra received a tip-off from his one-time business partner Hondo Ohnaka, the crew of the Ghost rescued two Lasat named Gron and Chava the Wise from Nixus Hub 218. The two Lasat were on a quest to find Lira San, a legendary safe refuge for the Lasat species. Zeb reluctantly agreed to help his compatriots in their quest by fulfilling an ancient Lasat prophecy. Using his bo-rifle to interact with the Force, Zeb guided the Ghost through a collapsed star cluster that led them to Lira San. There, Zeb and the other Lasat discovered that Lira San was the original Lasat homeworld and that it was already teeming with millions of Lasat. Due to his role in the rediscovery of Lira San, Zeb gained a greater sense of destiny and confidence. The crew of the Ghost then departed back into the known galaxy.

Short of fuel, the rebels raided a Mining Guild Asteroid Belt Gas Refinery to obtain more fuel for the Ghost and the Phoenix rebel cell. On the way, they encountered a herd of purrgil, large space-dwelling creatures capable of traveling through hyperspace. While Hera and Zeb manned the ship's controls, Kanan, Sabine, Chopper, and Ezra raided the facility and fought with Mining Guild security forces under Boss Yushyn. With the help of the purrgil, the rebels managed to steal the fuel canisters and to power up the Ghost. They then traveled into hyperspace with the purrgil.

Later, the Lothal rebels took part in a mission to steal an Imperial Quasar Fire-class cruiser-carrier orbiting the Twi'lek homeworld of Ryloth. Phoenix Squadron had sustained the loss of one starfighter during a mission and needed a place to land their remaining vessels. In response, Commander Sato suggested that they steal the Imperial fighter carrier. Hera and the crew of the Ghost made contact with the Twi'lek Resistance and their leader Cham Syndulla, her father. Together, the rebels hatched a plan to steal the carrier. However, the mission was complicated by Cham's own agenda to destroy the carrier. After a struggle with both Cham's resistance fighters and Imperial reinforcements, the crew of the Ghost managed to capture the fighter carrier for the rebellion.

The Lothal rebels later traveled to Geonosis with Rex to investigate an Imperial construction module. However, they quickly stumbled into a trap set by Agent Kallus. Following a struggle, the rebels with the exception of Zeb managed to escape back to the Ghost and flee into space. Zeb fled into an escape pod but was followed by Kallus. Together, the two landed on the icy moon of Bahryn where they struck up an unlikely friendship to survive the cold and to fight off several bonzami predator]]s. Meanwhile, the other crew of the Ghost embarked on a search-and-rescue mission for Zeb. After some frantic searching, Zeb was able to activate his transponder which enabled his fellow rebels to pick him up on Bahryn.

Several months later, Kanan, Chopper, and Ezra scouted the planet Oosalon as the site of a potential rebel base. However, Kanan and Ezra were ambushed by two Inquisitors known as the Fifth Brother and the Seventh Sister. Despite escaping, Kanan realized that he and Ezra would be unable to help the rebellion as long as the Inquisitors were hunting them down. Together with Ahsoka, Kanan, Ezra and Chopper left their comrades behind on the Ghost while they traveled on the Phantom to the Jedi Temple on Lothal to seek answers from Master Yoda on how to deal with the threat of the Inquisitors. On Lothal, Kanan passed his Jedi trials and became a Jedi Knight while Ezra met with Yoda. The Jedi and Chopper managed to escape before the Inquisitors and Darth Vader arrived.

Finding a new base
Later, the Lothal rebels took part in a mission to steal fuel from the Imperial depot at Horizon Base. The Phoenix rebels had identified Berzite's moon in the Yost system as a potential site for a rebel base but the fleet's fighter-carrier lacked sufficient fuel to travel there. While Kanan, Hera, Ezra, Zeb, and Sabine raided the heist, Chopper was assigned to guard the ship. However, the droid neglected his duties and became distracted by a droid leg being sold. Despite stealing the fuel, the other rebels were forced to leave Chopper behind when he was nowhere to be found. While the other rebels headed back to the Phoenix fleet, Chopper fled aboard an Imperial cargo ship and befriended a maltreated Imperial inventory droid named AP-5. Joining forces, they managed to seize control of the ship and drive out most of the Imperial crew with the exception of the captain.

Meanwhile, Hera and the other rebels managed to return to the fleet only to find it under attack from Imperial forces under Admiral Kassius Konstantine. With some difficulty, they managed to dock in the rebel fighter carrier and deliver the necessary fuel supplies. Chopper and AP-5 then informed Hera that the Empire had set a trap in the Yost system. Despite being attacked by the Imperial captain, AP-5, with Chopper's help, managed to relay the coordinates for Atollon to Hera and Commander Sato. Using this information, the rebel fleet was able to flee to Atollon. Chopper and AP-5 rejoined them there with their stolen cargo ship. Sabine also managed to repair AP-5, who had been badly damaged by the Imperial captain, using parts from Chopper's stolen droid leg.

The Lothal rebels aided the Phoenix rebel cell's efforts to establish a base on Atollon. In honor of Chopper's efforts to find the planet, the base was named Chopper Base. While delivering supplies to Chopper Base, tensions developed between Hera and Kanan over the latter and Ezra's plans to travel with the former Jedi Padawan Ahsoka Tano on a quest to the planet Malachor. Hera wanted to accompany Kanan and Ezra but Kanan insisted that it was a journey alone for the Jedi to make. After the disappearance of Lieutenant Dicer, the crew of the Ghost and Rex were involved in a confrontation with a nest of spider-like creatures called krykna. Following a struggle, the crew of the Ghost managed to escape the krykna. Later, Kanan made a promise to Hera to return safely before departing with Ezra and Ahsoka for Malachor.

While Hera, Sabine, and Zeb stayed behind on Atollon, Kanan, Ezra, Chopper accompanied Ahsoka on a mission to seek knowledge on how to defeat the Sith from the Malachor Sith temple. During the course of their mission, the Jedi and Ahsoka encountered an Inquisitor known as the Eighth Brother. During the struggle, Ezra was separated and encountered the former Sith apprentice known as Maul; who sought to tempt Ezra over to the dark side of the Force. Together, Ezra and Maul worked to obtain a Sith holocron which Maul claimed contained the knowledge necessary to defeat the Sith. Meanwhile, Kanan and Ahsoka captured the Eighth Brother with the help of Chopper. However, they were later ambushed by the Fifth Brother and the Seventh Sister.

With the help of Maul, the Jedi and Ahsoka managed to drive the Inquisitors away. Since the Inquisitors had alerted Darth Vader to their presence, Maul convinced the Jedi and Ahsoka to work with him to place the holocron in the temple's obelisk. Maul managed to slay the Inquisitors but then blinded Kanan and attacked Ahsoka. Despite being blinded, Kanan managed to use his Force powers and other senses to push Maul into a chasm. Meanwhile, Ezra placed the holocron in the temple's obelisk only to discover that the Sith temple was a battle station capable of destroying all life.

The rebels' predicament was further aggravated by the arrival of Darth Vader, who bested Ezra and destroyed his lightsaber. Working together, Ezra and Kanan managed to remove the Sith holocron; causing the temple to undergo an implosion. Ezra and Kanan managed to flee with Chopper aboard the Ghost but Ahsoka stayed behind to confront her former mentor. The Sith temple imploded and Ahsoka was presumed dead by Ezra and Kanan. Upon returning to Chopper Base, the Lothal rebels were forced to come to terms with Kanan's blindness and Ahsoka's presumed death. The events on Malachor increased Ezra's interest in the dark side and he managed to open the Sith holocron in secret.

Members
"We were a well-oiled unit. Things were going good. And then, this Loth-rat came along."

- Kanan Jarrus, referring to Ezra Bridger

The earliest member of the crew to begin rebelling against the Empire was Hera Syndulla, a Twi'lek female who was inspired to fight by her father, Cham Syndulla. Hera (codename Spectre-2 ), the owner and pilot of the Ghost, became dissatisfied with life under the Empire and its treatment of her people, and so she began seeking like-minded individuals to join a resistance movement. This led her to Gorse, where she met Kanan Jarrus (codename Spectre-1). Jarrus was a Human male who trained as a Jedi under Jedi Master Depa Billaba during the Clone Wars. At the time, he was known by his birth name of Caleb Dume. Billaba was killed during the execution of Order 66, but Dume survived and heard a message from Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi warning all Jedi that the Grand Army of the Republic had been turned against the Jedi Order. At the urging of Kenobi's message, Dume went into hiding and changed his name to Kanan Jarrus, spending years as a transient and taking odd jobs before joining Syndulla's cause.

Over the next several years, the cause would be joined by others. Sabine Wren (codename Spectre-5 ), a Human female, hailed from the planet Mandalore and was a trained Mandalorian warrior, whose expertise was in explosives. She was also an artist and enjoyed giving her explosive work some flare, filling them with many different colors. She also left behind her own calling card, the starbird, after attacks in order to let the Empire know that it was the rebels who attacked them. Another member of the crew was Garazeb Orrelios (codename Spectre-4 ), a male Lasat who survived the fall of his home planet and the near-destruction of his species. Orrelios was the muscle of the group and possessed a strength that he used when fighting stormtroopers, who he called "bucketheads." He was devastated by the destruction of his species and possessed a great antipathy for the Empire. The crew also had their own astromech droid, Chopper (codename Spectre-3 ), who, despite his grumpy demeanor, was an essential member for the crew who often repaired the ship.

Five years before the Battle of Yavin, the crew was joined by Ezra Bridger (codename Spectre-6 ), a Human male orphan who grew up on the streets of Lothal. Unknowingly, Bridger possessed an affinity for the Force, an affinity that was detected by Jarrus. In order to train the boy and continue the way of the Jedi, the crew took Bridger in, and he joined them on many missions while training with Jarrus to become a Jedi. One such mission was when he temporarily joined the Imperial Academy on Lothal in order to steal the decoder with the location of the kyber crystal. During the mission, he met fellow cadet Zare Leonis, whose sister, Dhara, was a star pupil at the Imperial Academy before she vanished. The Empire claimed that Dhara ran away, but Leonis believed that she was taken by the Empire, and possibly the Grand Inquisitor. He remained behind in the Academy when Bridger left, but he became an ally of the rebels and passed information to them.

Behind the scenes
The rebels are the primary characters of the animated television series Star Wars Rebels, and made their full series debut in the premiere television film Star Wars Rebels: Spark of Rebellion.