Lothal campaign The Lothal campaign was a campaign launched by Grand Admiral Thrawn after Governor Arihnda Pryce requested the Seventh Fleet during the early rebellion against the Galactic Empire . At the start of the campaign , Grand Admiral Thrawn made a number of changes to his flagship , the " Chimaera " , including renovations to his staterooms , moving his art collection to his private cabin , and constructing a gallery and study . Prelude . Lothal fell under control of the Galactic Empire in 18 BBY when they dispatched an Imperial Planetary Occupation Facility onto the capital . In the following years , there was resistance to the Imperial forces from people such was Ephraim and Mira Bridger . The Empire dealt with these threats however and the Bridgers were arrested leaving their son Ezra Bridger parentless . In 5 BBY , Ezra was a pickpocket and discovered the Spectres following an attack on patrols in the city . Ezra became inspired by the Spectres and joined them in their fight against the Empire . One of the Spectres , a former Jedi Padawan called Kanan Jarrus , discovered that Ezra was Force - sensitive and began training him in the ways of the force . The Spectres performed daring acts against the Empire on Lothal , including infiltrating the Imperial Cadet program on Lothal and stealing a TIE Fighter during a mission to collect fruit . Kanan and Ezra ' s force powers attracted the attention of the Grand Inquisitor who attempted to kill them many times . The Grand Inquisitor even captured Kanan with the help of Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin . Ezra and the others infiltrated Tarkin ' s Imperial - class Star Destroyer to save Kanan , killing the Grand Inquisitor in the fight . The Spectres were then rescued by Phoenix Cell , led by Commander Jun Sato and another former Jedi Ahsoka Tano . The Spectres went on many missions for Phoenix Squadron including the mission on Lothal where they stole three " Sphyrna " - class corvettes . The Lothal resistance began under the former Governor Ryder Azadi . Kanan , Ezra and Ahsoka attracted the attention of two more inquisitors , Fifth Brother and Seventh Sister . The two inquisitors were killed hunting the trio at Malachor by Darth Maul who killed their subordinate Eighth Brother soon after . Ahsoka was lost in that fight . The Campaign . Enter Thrawn . Lothal ' s Governor Arihnda Pryce returned to Lothal with Grand Admiral Thrawn following his decisive victory over the rebels on Batonn . Thrawn and his Seventh Fleet had been requested by Governor Pryce to destroy the rebels on Lothal with the blessing of Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin . Thrawn ' s plan was to eliminate the rebels piece by piece and make them destroy themselves in the process . Thrawn then sent Admiral Konstantine , Governor Pryce and ISB agent Kallus to to Reklam Station . There , they attempted to stop the Spectres from stealing a squadron of Y - wing bombers . As Phoenix Squadron arrived to retrieve the bombers , Thrawn knew this was not the entire rebel fleet . He decide to let them go with their meager prize and await for the full rebel fleet . < nowiki > < / nowiki > Thrawn encountered one of the Spectres , Hera Syndulla , on Ryloth at her home in the Tann Province , after she and the Spectres aided her father , Cham Syndulla and the Free Ryloth movement . During the mission Thrawn captured Hera and sought to analyze and better understand her . Hera was rescued by the rest of the Spectres during an exchange and Thrawn deliberately allowed them to escape , claiming they earned it for their small victory . Testing the Rebels . The Spectres and Phoenix Squadron helped the people of Mykapo during Imperial operations there . Thrawn decided to send Admiral Kassius Konstantine as a test for the rebels and challenged him into taking only an " Arquitens " - class command cruiser . Konstantine arrived in Mykapo to face the local rebel group known as Iron Squadron . Konstantine disabled their freighter and set a trap on it . A portion of Phoenix Squadron arrived to take rescue Iron Squadron and disabled the cruiser . Thrawn stepped in on his Star Destroyer the " Chimaera " before he could lose Konstantine . Thrawn eventually came to design and began constructing the TIE / D Defender on Lothal . The rebels got curious and infiltrated the factory where Thrawn was cracking down on faults in Imperial vehicles there and they discovered that one of Thrawn ' s agents Alexsandr Kallus was a spy for them . Thrawn caught neither of them and they got out with the plans for the TIE Defender . Thrawn began committing resources to finding the location of Phoenix Cell ' s base . He sent out reconnaissance droids to many planets to search for it . However , one of them came back rigged with explosives and crippled one of Thrawns star destroyers . Thrawn took this as progress as he knew one of those planets he sent the droids to housed the rebel base . Thrawn soon became aware of a spy amidst his inner circle not realizing it was Kallus . He brought an old friend , Colonel Wullf Yularen , to question each high ranking officer . Ezra , posing as a bounty hunter , allowed himself be captured to extract Kallus and they would sabotage Thrawn ' s search for the rebels base . Kallus put evidence on Lieutenant Yogar Lyste , who Bridger impersonated , being the spy using his Code cylinder s for access to rooms . He also told Lyste that Governor Pryce was the spy and the man became paranoid and attempted to capture Pryce as she intercepted Ezra in his escape . Thrawn then arrested Lyste but when discussing the situation with Yularen after , he deduced that Kallus was the spy all along . The Spectres played a big part in starting the Alliance to Restore the Republic as they rescued the fugitive Senator Mon Mothma . After escaping the Empire at the Archeon Nebula , Mon Mothma declared the Alliance as an official faction and many rebel cells rallied at Dantooine . A short while later , a team of Imperial slicers under LT - 319 almost discovered the location of the rebel base when they got control of the Spectres droid Chopper . Their attempt was thwarted when the rebels sent a power surge to the slicers destroying them and their vessel . Soon after Phoenix Squadron began preparing an attack on the TIE Defender factories on Lothal . They rallied former Governor Ryder Azadi ' s Lothal Resistance and General Jan Dodonna ' s Massassi Group to their base at Atollon . Thrawn however , predicted this attack and let Kallus know he knew . Kallus attempted to warn the rebels and Thrawn stepped in to stop him . Thrawn then traced Kallus ' s transmission back to Atollon . Battle of Atollon . Thrawn took the Seventh Fleet to Atollon where he met the large flotilla of CR90 corvette s , Nebulon - B frigates , Dornean Gunships and many other ships owned by Phoenix Squadron and Massassi Group . He cut them off from the Lothal resistance and began destroying their ships with his TIE Bombers . Thrawn prevented the Rebel forces withdrawing from Atollon with two " Interdictor " - class Star Destroyers . Commander Sato then began attacking the Star Destroyers and Thrawn predicted the tactic and compromised his plan in order to thwart their attempts . When they got desperate , the rebels tried charging the blockade but Thrawn continued tearing them apart . As a last resort , Sato rammed his command ship into Admiral Konstantine ' s Interdictor vessel and Ezra used this window of opportunity to escape Atollon to get help . Unfortunately , Senator Mothma refused to commit anymore forces to Atollon , knowing this was what Thrawn wanted . Despite this , Bridger then decided to see aid from Clan Wren . Thrawn began the ground assault on the rebels base and quickly threw their forces into chaos . He captured Hera , Kanan and the other main rebels there and ordered their surrender . But something happened that Thrawn could not predict : the Bendu , a force sensitive being , attacked both factions and the rebels flew out on their ships before Thrawn used his All Terrain Armored Transport to shoot down the Bendu . Ezra returned with reinforcements and destroyed the last Interdictor vessel , allowing all remaining rebels to escape . When Thrawn faced the injured Bendu , the being told Thrawn of his defeat and Thrawn shot at it before it disappeared .