Mission to Lothal ( 4 BBY ) In 4 BBY , the rebel crew of the " Ghost " undertook a mission to the planet Lothal , where the team had previously primarily operated , to help Minister Maketh Tua defect from the Galactic Empire . The mission was a failure and resulted in the rebels being pursued by Imperial forces . Prelude . Following the rescue of Kanan Jarrus in the Mustafar system , the Galactic Empire imposed a siege on the planet Lothal . Darth Vader , the Emperor ' s second - in - command intended to use the siege to ferret the elusive Lothal rebel cell out of hiding . This rebel cell consisted of the Twi ' lek pilot Hera Syndulla , the former Jedi Padawan Kanan Jarrus , the astromech droid Chopper , the Lasat warrior Garazeb Orrelios , the Mandalorian weapons expert Sabine Wren , and the Lothalian Jedi apprentice Ezra Bridger . After deducing that the rebels had left Lothal , Vader realized that the rebels had to be drawn back to Lothal . An opportunity to draw the Spectres back to Lothal emerged when the Imperial Minister Maketh Tua initiated contact with the rebel cell through the auspices of the Ithorian bartender Old Jho . Fearful of receiving punishment from Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin , Minister Tua had offered to defect to the rebellion in return for providing valuable intelligence on the Empire ' s operations on Lothal . After some discussion , the Spectres , who had by then joined forces with the Phoenix Cell , agreed to help Tua escape offworld . Since their starship " Ghost " was familiar to the local Imperial authorities , the Spectres opted to travel to the planet in a Star Commuter 2000 shuttle . Their plan was to rendezvous with Minister Tua in Capital City while she was scheduled to leave on a shuttle to meet with Governor Tarkin . Unknown to Tua , her movements were being monitored by an Imperial probe droid sent by Agent Kallus . The mission . Putting their plans into action , the Spectres managed to slip past the Imperial blockade of Lothal . After being given clearance to land on Lothal , the rebels headed towards the planet ' s Capital City to rendezvous with Minister Tua . While Chopper and Zeb stayed aboard the Star Commuter shuttle to provide a quick exit , the other four rebels headed to their rendezvous point ; which turned out to be a landing pad containing the shuttle . However , the rebels found that a number of Imperial stormtrooper s were guarding the landing pad . To enter the landing pad , Kanan assaulted a stormtrooper commander and stole his armor . Meanwhile Hera , Ezra , and Sabine hid on the rooftops to attack the Imperials from above . Shortly later , Minister Tua arrived with Agent Kallus in a landspeeder . Kallus had been personally sent by Darth Vader to guarantee her personal safety . After Tua and Kallus entered the landing pad with a disguised Kanan , the Spectres launched their attack . Kanan then took the opportunity to attack Kallus and his men . Meanwhile , the other rebels rescued Tua and headed to the Imperial shuttle . Tua managed to enter the vessel . Before Hera could follow her , the shuttle was destroyed by a bomb , which threw both the rebels and stormtroopers backwards . In the presence of an Imperial probe droid , a seemingly outraged Agent Kallus lambasted the Spectres for " murdering " Minister Tua . The skirmish at the landing pad was observed by Darth Vader , who was pleased to see his plan unfolding . Aftermath . The Spectres ' mission to rescue Minister Maketh Tua was a failed operation that provided a propaganda boost to the Imperial authorities on Lothal . In an attempt to turn Lothal ' s population against the rebels , the Imperial broadcaster Alton Kastle claimed the rebels were " terrorists " who had murdered a public servant . The Spectres attempted to flee in their Star Commuter Shuttle but it was shot down by an AT - DP walker . The rebels then hid in the former Bridger household but were driven out by Imperial forces . With Imperial forces searching the streets of Capital City , the rebels decided to infiltrate the Imperial Headquarters on Lothal . Putting their escape plan into action , the rebels managed to infiltrate the Imperial Headquarters and also found several deflector shield generator s . They were about to leave the compound in an Imperial shuttle when they were confronted by Darth Vader . The Sith Lord bested Kanan and Ezra in a lightsaber duel but the rebels managed to escape following a fierce skirmish . With the help of Lando Calrissian , the rebels managed to escape offworld by using sensor buoys to baffle the orbiting Imperial fleet . Unknown to the Spectres however , Vader had arranged for their escape in order to use them to lead the Empire to the Phoenix rebel fleet in deep space . This led the Empire to launch a devastating attack on the Phoenix fleet . Behind the scenes . The mission to Lothal first appeared in the one - hour television movie " " , which first premiered at the Celebration Anaheim on April 18 , 2015 . It was later released on Disney XD on June 20 , 2015 .