Mission on Lothal

In the third year before the Battle of Yavin, the Lothal rebels launched a raid on an Imperial depot on the planet Lothal in an attempt to hijack three Hammerhead corvettes. These corvettes were delivered to Lothal by Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan, under the guise of a mercy mission, for use by the rebellion. The rebels fought against an Imperial garrison under the command of Lieutenant Yogar Lyste, who believed Organa to be a loyal Imperial and who was unable to prevent the ships from being stolen. With the help of Leia and the former Lothalian Governor Ryder Azadi, the rebels were able to steal the three corvettes which bolstered the Phoenix rebel cell.

Prelude
The Phoenix rebel cell sustained losses during their escape from Imperial forces on Garel. Having heard of their losses the Alderaanian Senator Bail Organa, who was a secret supporter of the rebellion, had sent his adopted daughter Princess Leia Organa to deliver reinforcements to the Phoenix rebels. These reinforcements consisted of three Hammerhead corvettes. Since the Alderaanians were unable to directly deliver the ships to the rebels, Leia Organa had arranged for the ships to be delivered to Lothal, an Imperial world. There, the rebels would "steal" the ships so that the Alderaanians could not be accused of supporting the rebellion.

Princess Leia traveled to Lothal under the pretext of delivering relief supplies to the inhabitants of Lothal, who had been subject to a lockdown as a result of the rebel insurgency there. Upon arriving above Lothal, they were directed by Lieutenant Yogar Lyste to land at an Imperial depot near the town of Jalath. After landing on Jalath, Leia was greeted by two members of the Lothal rebels: the former Jedi Padawan Kanan Jarrus and his apprentice Ezra Bridger; who were disguised as a stormtrooper and an Imperial cadet. Kanan and Ezra had received instructions from Hera Syndulla to rendezvous with Leia in order to "steal" the starships.

Leia's plans encountered a stonewall when Lieutenant Lyste fastened gravity locks to the corvettes in order to deter thefts. Lyste was aware that Leia's ships had a habit of being stolen on Imperial worlds but could not find any evidence linking her to the rebellion. As a further deterrent, Lyste assigned two AT-AT walkers to guard the ships. Lacking a transport to do her "relief work", Leia borrowed Lyste's Sentinel-class landing craft and departed with Kanan and Ezra. While flying over Lothal's plains, they received a distress transmission from Chopper.

Traveling to Ryder Azadi's hideout, they found that stormtroopers had arrested the former Governor and Chopper. The Imperials had orders to execute Ryder Azadi. Kanan, still disguised as a stormtrooper, and Leia attempted to reason with them but to no avail. Their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of the rebel ship known as the Ghost. While Hera piloted the freighter, Sabine Wren and Garazeb Orrelios attacked the stormtroopers and picked up Kanan, Ezra, Leia, and Ryder. To hide Leia's rebel links, Ryder pretended to abduct her while Zeb pretended to kidnap Kanan and Ezra.