Dogfight over Concord Dawn During the early rebellion against the Galactic Empire , the rebels of Phoenix Cell were engaged by the Protectors of Concord Dawn in a dogfight over Concord Dawn . The skirmish arose after the rebels tried to secure the right to pass through the Concord Dawn system as part of a new hyperspace route to the planet Lothal . Fenn Rau , leader of the Protectors and an ally of the Empire , attacked Phoenix Squadron with his fellow Mandalorian starfighter pilot s . Multiple Phoenix pilots were killed and Captain Hera Syndulla was seriously injured in their retreat . After the battle , the rebels Kanan Jarrus and Sabine Wren travelled to the Protectors Camp on the third moon of Concord Dawn and , after some hostilities , were able to secure the help of Fenn Rau . Prelude . Following the Imperial assault on Garel , the Phoenix Cell was compelled to travel through the Outer Rim Territories in order to evade the Galactic Empire . In response to this situation , the rebel Commander Jun Sato convened a meeting with Rex and the Spectres to discuss their options for opening a new route through the Lothal sector . The Mandalorian Sabine Wren suggested the Concord Dawn system , which was home to a Mandalorian community known as the Journeyman Protector s . The Concord Dawn system was not yet part of the Empire . The Protectors were fierce Mandalorian warriors who had helped the Old Republic to train Clone trooper s during the Clone Wars . Believing that reasoning with the Mandalorians was impossible , Commander Sato recommended sending a military force to the system . However , Phoenix Leader Hera Syndulla and and the Jedi Kanan Jarrus counseled that the rebels use diplomacy to secure safe passage through the Concord Dawn system . Hera and Kanan also suggested recruiting the Protectors to the rebellion . Sato reluctantly authorized Hera ' s mission and Sabine volunteered to come along . The dogfight . Phoenix Leader Syndulla led Phoenix Squadron to the Concord Dawn system . Upon arriving , their RZ - 1 A - wing interceptor s were met by three Mandalorian Fang fighter s led by Fenn Rau , the leader of the Protectors and the " Protector of Concord Dawn . " When Fenn demanded to know what the rebels were doing in the system , Hera explained that the rebellion was seeking safe passage through the Concord Dawn system . When Rau asked who were they were , Syndulla responded that they were those who would stand with Concord Dawn against the Empire . Since Rau had aligned the Protectors with the Empire , he promptly identified Phoenix Squadron as a threat and ordered his fighters to destroy the rebels . Ignoring Hera ' s pleas , the Fang fighters launched a devastating attack on Phoenix Squadron . During the dogfight , two pilots , Phoenix Three and Phoenix Four , were killed when their fighters were hit by enemy fire . With diplomacy no longer an option , Captain Syndulla ordered a retreat and led Rau on a chase in order to give enough time for Sabine and the surviving Phoenix pilot to jump into hyperspace . Before leaving , Hera promised Sabine that she would be behind her . Despite Hera ' s best efforts , she was unable to outrun Fenn ' s Fang fighter and her A - wing was badly hit by enemy fire . Hera managed to jump into hyperspace but was badly wounded by Fenn ' s attack . She was picked up by Sabine , Kanan , and the crew of Commander Sato ' s CR90 corvette " Liberator " . Due to timely medical intervention , Hera survived her injuries and continued her leadership role in the rebellion . Aftermath . While the dogfight above Concord Dawn was a victory for the Protectors , it earned them the enmity of the rebellion . With negotiations no longer an option , the Phoenix and Lothal rebel cells considered retaliatory measures against the Protectors . Outraged by the Protectors ' unprovoked assault on her comrades , Sabine advocated destroying the Protectors ' starfighter s so that they could not longer pose a threat to the rebellion . She had managed to track the Fang fighters to a base on the third moon of Concord Dawn . Unwilling to draw the Empire ' s attention to Concord Dawn , Kanan recommended infiltrating the base and destroying the Fang fighters . Since he was reluctant to risk the lives of more crew members , he only took the astromech droid Chopper along for the mission . Despite Kanan ' s orders , Sabine secretly stowed aboard the " Phantom " . After further negotiations with Fenn failed , the rebels destroyed the Protectors ' starfighters and kidnapped Rau . Behind the scenes . The dogfight over Concord Dawn first appeared in the " Star Wars Rebels " episode " The Protector of Concord Dawn " , which premiered on January 27 , 2016 . It reintroduced two elements from " Star Wars " Legends : the Journeyman Protector s and the planet Concord Dawn .