Escape from Skystrike Academy In 2 BBY , Imperial cadet s Wedge Antilles and Derek Klivian were able to escape from Skystrike Academy with the help of Sabine Wren and the rebels of Phoenix Cell . The escape began after Antilles , Klivian , and Rake Gahree expressed sympathies towards the rebellion against the Galactic Empire , which was reported to Phoenix Squadron by Agent Alexsandr Kallus of the Imperial Security Bureau — and secretly a rebel informant who operated under the codename Fulcrum . Phoenix Squadron tasked Wren , a former Imperial cadet herself , with infiltrating Skystrike Academy and making contact with the would - be defectors . Wren entered the installation while two other rebels , Jedi Knight Kanan Jarrus and his Padawan , Lieutenant Commander Ezra Bridger , waited for a signal to help exfiltrate the cadets . Wren ' s mission encountered an obstacle when Arihnda Pryce , Governor of the Lothal sector , arrived with Agent Kallus to hunt the defecting cadets . During the first escape attempt , Rake was killed while Wren and the cadets were captured . Wren managed to free herself and the two others , however , and made their way through the facility with the covert help of Agent Kallus . Wren and the cadets were picked up by the Jedi and returned to Chopper Base on Atollon , where Antilles and Klivian joined Phoenix Squadron . Both went on to fight for the Alliance to Restore the Republic during the Galactic Civil War , with Antilles becoming a noted pilot in both the Rebel Alliance and the New Republic . Prelude . In 2 BBY , Imperial forces attacked a rebel convoy near Teralov . The Imperials ignored the rebels ' pleas for mercy , and massacred the entire convoy . Around the same time , three disillusioned Imperial cadet s at the elite Skystrike Academy , Wedge Antilles , Hobbie , and Rake Gahree , decided to defect from the Empire . They sent a transmission through the auspices of a rebel agent named Fulcrum , who relayed their message to Phoenix Cell . Unbeknownst to the Spectres and Phoenix Squadron , Fulcrum was actually Imperial Security Bureau Agent Alexsandr Kallus , a former long - standing enemy of the Spectres , who had become sympathetic to the rebellion after an encounter with Spectres member Garazeb Orrelios on the Geonosian moon Bahryn . Reeling from the loss of the rebel convoy , Phoenix Leader Hera Syndulla dispatched Mandalorian former Imperial cadet Sabine Wren on a mission to infiltrate Skystrike Academy and extract the cadets . The former Imperial RA - 7 protocol droid AP - 5 prepared fake identification for Sabine , who adopted the persona Ria Talla . Jedi Knight Kanan Jarrus , his apprentice Ezra Bridger , and the astromech droid Chopper were assigned to dispatch Sabine to the Academy and to await picking her up . The mission . Going undercover . Sabine managed to infiltrate Skystrike Academy with little problems . She met Wedge during a simulator training session , and the two quickly befriended each other . Sabine and Wedge shared an unease with the Academy ' s curriculum , which encouraged Imperial cadets to take no prisoners and to shoot unarmed , surrendering transports . Later , Sabine overheard Wedge and his friends Hobbie and Rake talking in secret about the message they ' d sent , which gave her confirmation that they were the would - be defectors . While alone with Wedge , Sabine disclosed that she was a rebel agent and reassured him that the rebellion had received his transmission . She told Wedge and his friends to be ready to leave at a moment ' s notice . Sabine ' s plan to extricate the defecting cadets was complicated by the arrival of Governor Arihnda Pryce and Agent Kallus , who had received word about the defectors . Governor Pryce issued orders to Instructor Goran to lock down the Academy while Agent Kallus questioned the cadets . When Kallus ' investigation yielded no evidence of defectors , Governor Pryce and Instructor Goran set a trap by ordering the cadets to engage in a mock combat exercise in space . Pryce had secretly had kill switch es installed on the TIE fighters the cadets would be flying . Sabine and the cadets took their chance to escape , attempting to rendezvous with Ezra ' s CR90 corvette . However , Governor Pryce then activated the kill switches , detaching the four cadets ' TIE fighters ' solar collector panels ; leaving them stranded in space . She then dispatched Captain Vult Skerris and three TIE interceptors into the fray . Skerris destroyed Rake ' s TIE fighter before leading an attack on Ezra ' s corvette , inflicting substantial damage to the hull . Despite Ezra ' s protests , Kanan and Chopper withdrew the corvette from the engagement . Second escape . Sabine , Wedge , and Hobbie were brought before Governor Pryce , who demanded to know which one of them was the rebel agent . To save Wedge from being tortured , Sabine identified herself as the rebel agent . Wedge , worried about Sabine , accidentally let her real name slip while he and Hobbie were led out of the cell . While Pryce prepared to interrogate Sabine , Kallus led the other cadets into a holding cell . After identifying Sabine as a former Imperial cadet and telling her that she ' d come " home " , Pryce ordered her stormtrooper s to fasten Sabine to the torture device . However , the former cadet broke free of her captors and engaged Pryce in a fist fight . Despite Pryce putting up stiff resistance , Sabine managed to knock her out by pushing her into the path of the torture device ' s stinger . Sabine then went to Wedge and Hobbie ' s holding cell . After knocking out two stormtrooper sentries , she freed the two cadets . Together , the three fled down a corridor while dodging stormtroopers and blast door s . They encountered Agent Kallus , who , to Sabine ' s considerable surprise and suspicion , helped Sabine and the cadets escape by directing them to Hangar Bay 24 . By way of explanation for his actions , he told Sabine to tell her Lasat friend Garazeb Orrelios that they were now even . Due to Kallus ' history with the Spectres , it did not occur to Sabine that he might be Fulcrum , as Zeb had not told the others about what had happened on Bahryn . The trio managed to commandeer a TIE bomber , chosen because it could take a hit , and fled into the atmosphere outside Skystrike Academy . The cadets were pursued by Captain Skerris in his TIE Interceptor , which inflicted damage on the slow - moving bomber . Fortunately for Sabine and the cadets , they were picked up by Ezra ' s CR90 corvette . After being safely evacuated aboard the corvette , the rebels and the defecting cadets escaped into hyperspace . Aftermath . At Atollon ' s Chopper Base , Sabine presented Wedge and Hobbie to her commanding officer , Commander Jun Sato . When Wedge asked whether the rebellion had been looking for pilots , Sato confirmed that this was the case and welcomed the two young men into the rebellion . Wedge and Hobbie both became rebel pilots , and Wedge , in particular , became a famous war hero , flying against both Death Stars . The Spectres and Phoenix Squadron did not find out that Kallus was Fulcrum until later , when Kanan , Ezra and Chopper infiltrated the Imperial Armory Complex on Lothal . When Kanan and Ezra informed the rest of the team about Kallus ' assistance , they were shocked and suspicious . Zeb was as surprised as the others , reasoning that he had " accidentally " recruited the ISB agent , and was forced to admit that Kallus had been on Bahryn . Hera , suspicious that Kallus was playing a kind of long game , decided that they would use caution with their new ally . Sabine ' s experience with kill switches became useful later , on the Spectres ' mission to Lothal the next year . She and Ezra wound up stealing the prototype TIE / D Defender Elite , which was equipped with one as an anti - theft measure . While deactivating the starfighter ' s homing beacon , Sabine discovered the switch and immediately advised Ezra , who was piloting , to land . When the switch was activated , the crash was not as bad as it would have been because the Elite was already being brought in for a landing , allowing Ezra and Sabine to escape with the fighter ' s flight data recorder and hyperdrive . Behind the scenes . The escape from Skystrike Academy first appeared in the " Star Wars Rebels " episode " The Antilles Extraction " , which premiered on Disney XD on October 8 , 2016 .