Ryloth insurgency The Ryloth insurgency occurred during the Age of the Empire on the autonomous planet Ryloth , which was a protectorate of the Galactic Empire , that was led by the Twi ' lek freedom fighter Cham Syndulla . It would conclude over twenty years later following the Imperial retreat after the Battle of Endor . History . Imperial protectorate . For centuries , the Twi ' lek s of the Outer Rim planet of Ryloth had struggled against the domination of the Hutt s . During the Clone Wars , the Galactic Republic and Jedi Order had forged an alliance with the Twi ' lek political radical Cham Syndulla to drive out Separatist forces under Wat Tambor during the Ryloth campaign . Liberating Ryloth from the Separatists gave the Republic a pretext to annex the planet . Following the end of the Clone Wars , the Republic was transformed into a totalitarian regime called the Galactic Empire . The Empire designated Ryloth an Imperial protectorate . While the planet was nominally independent and was represented in the Imperial Senate by Senator Orn Free Taa , Ryloth was occupied by Imperial forces . Taa was merely a puppet of the Empire who rubber stamped the Empire ' s decrees . He was regarded as a collaborator by Twi ' leks who opposed the Empire . In reality , the real power lay in the hands of the Imperial Moff Delian Mors , who delegated much of her work to Colonel Belkor Dray ; who came to resent her indolence and spice addiction . Twi ' lek opposition to Imperial rule led to the emergence of a Free Ryloth movement led by Cham Syndulla . About five years after the establishment of the Empire , the Free Ryloth movement disrupted the planet ' s spice production , fomented riots against Imperial rule , and stole Imperial weapons shipments . Cham was aided by Colonel Belkor , who resented Moff Delian . Later , a group of Free Ryloth operatives led by Pok hijacked an Imperial freighter carrying a shipment of weapons at the Yaga Minor shipyards . However , they were pursued by Imperial forces led by the Emperor Palpatine ' s enforcer Darth Vader ; who personally boarded the freighter and slaughtered Pok and his comrades . Cham ' s gambit . Following the death of his friend Pok , Cham decided to shift from " half measures " towards taking more decisive action against the Empire . Suspecting that the Free Ryloth rebels were being aided by an insider , the Emperor devised a plot for the two Sith Lord s , Senator Orn Fee Taa , and his staff to travel on an official visit to Ryloth aboard the Imperial Star Destroyer " Perilous " . As expected , information the Emperor and Vader ' s visit to Ryloth was leaked to the Free Ryloth movement . Cham and his lieutenant Isval immediately saw this as an opportunity to end Imperial domination over Ryloth and devise a plot to assassinate the two Sith Lords . He believed that their deaths would lead to the disintegration of the Empire . Without revealing his plan to assassinate the Sith Lords , Cham secretly met with Belkor to discuss a plan to assassinate Senator Taa and to discredit Moff Mors ; two mutual objectives . Putting his plan into action , Cham sowed the space around Ryloth with hundreds of mines . As expected , the Sith Lords ' Star Destroyer " Perilous " ploughed into the mines and sustained damage . Cham then deployed vulture droids to attack the " Perilous " V - wing starfighter escorts . Free Ryloth operatives led by Isval then boarded the ship disguised as repair and rescue crew and killed several Imperial officers and stormtrooper s . Vader and the Emperor quickly deduced that the Free Ryloth movement had a spy among Senator Taa ' s staff . With the " Perilous " badly damaged and facing an impending explosion , the two Sith Lords managed to escape on a shuttle and were pursued by a team of Free Ryloth operatives led by Isval . Moff Mor and Colonel Dray deployed rescue ships to rescue the Imperial personnel and the two Sith Lords . However , Dray secretly sabotaged the rescue efforts and leaked information to Cham , who was coordinating the battle from a hidden base on Ryloth . Despite being pursued by Free Ryloth operatives , Vader managed to crash - land the shuttle in Ryloth ' s equatorial forest . Most of the Imperial personnel were killed but Vader , the Emperor , and two Emperor ' s Royal Guard s . The two Sith Lords were forced to work together in order to survive the dangerous forest and to evade their Twi ' lek pursuers . Under Cham ' s orders , Belkor arranged for Isval ' s team to raid and destroy the Equatorial Communications Hub ' s main satellite in order to disrupt communication between Vader , the Emperor , and Moff Delian . While helping Cham to hunt down the Sith Lords , Belkor also sowed disinformation among Imperial forces claiming that Delian was a traitor working with the Ryloth rebels . While traveling through the jungle , the two Sith Lords and their Free Ryloth pursuers had to contend with several predatory fauna including gutkurr s and lylek s . The Sith Lords used their lightsaber skills and Force powers to destroy an entire hive of giant lylek s including the queen . After escaping the tunnel , the two Sith Lords and the surviving Royal Guard Sergeant Erstin Deez encountered an adolescent Twi ' lek girl named Drua who led them to her village , which was populated by escaped slaves . Concealing their true identities , the two Sith Lords sought refuge at the village and managed to reestablish contact with Moff Delian . Eventually , Cham and Isval ' s forces caught up with them and prepared to attack the village . Despite Belkor ' s best efforts to conceal his involvement with Cham , Moff Delian soon discovered his subterfuge and managed to win over the Imperial forces on Ryloth that were searching for the Emperor and Vader . Belkor also killed his pilot Ophim in an attempt to prevent himself from being exposed as a traitor . After learning that the Sith Lords had reached a Twi ' lek village and that Cham ' s forces were massing nearby , Belkor ordered the V - wing pilots to bomb the area . However , Delian had convinced the pilots that Belkor was a traitor and ordered them to blast his ship ; killing Belkor and depriving Cham of his spy . Cham and Isval ' s forces proceeded with the assault on the Twi ' lek village . However , the Free Ryloth forces were thwarted by the arrival of Imperial reinforcements led by Moff Delian . After driving off Cham ' s forces , the Sith Lords massacred the surviving Twi ' lek soldiers and villagers including the captive Isval . Cham however survived the battle and escaped to fight another day . The rebellion . Cham Syndulla also sired a daughter named Hera Syndulla , who became a skilled pilot and starship captain . However , the two disagreed about Ryloth ' s involvement in the rebellion . While Cham was solely concerned with Ryloth ' s freedom , Hera believed that their homeworld ' s freedom was linked to the emerging rebellion against the Empire . Unable to resolve their differences , the two parted company . Hera eventually became the leader of a small rebel cell based aboard the VCX - 100 light freighter " Ghost " . Hera ' s rebel cell was part of the larger Phoenix Cell , which was a component of the rebellion . Three years before the Battle of Yavin , the Galactic Empire deployed a " Quasar Fire " - class cruiser - carrier to Ryloth . The carrier hosted several TIE bombers which carried out regular bombing sorties on Ryloth . This had the effect of undermining morale among the Free Ryloth movement . Hera ' s rebel cell managed to eliminate the threat posed by the cruiser - carrier by stealing the vessel with the help of Cham and two associates , Numa and Gobi Glie . The cruiser - carrier became the new flagship of the Phoenix rebel fleet and hosted its starfighter squadron Phoenix Squadron . Hera ' s successful mission led to the destruction of an " Arquitens " - class command cruiser and boosted the rebellion on Ryloth . In addition , Hera and Cham repaired their estranged relationship . Due to their contacts with Hera , Cham ' s Free Ryloth movement established connections with the rebellion . Two years before the Battle of Yavin , Hera and the crew of the " Ghost " returned to Ryloth to deliver supplies to Cham ' s forces . By that stage , Ryloth was blockaded by an Imperial fleet . Imperial forces under Grand Admiral Thrawn and Captain Slavin had also occupied Tann Province and the Syndulla residence ; with the latter becoming the new Imperial headquarters . Thrawn studied the Twi ' lek species ' art , culture , philosophy and history and was able to devise successful tactics against the Free Ryloth movement . The Free Ryloth movement lost many fighters during the Tann province campaign . Cham himself was forced to flee his home and left behind a valuable family heirloom : his wife ' s Kalikori . The crew of the " Ghost " along with Cham , Numa , and Gobi embarked on a joint mission to recover the Kalikori . While Hera , Ezra Bridger , and Chopper infiltrated the Syndulla residence , Cham and the others staged an attack on Imperial forces in the Tulara Ravine . Hera and Ezra were quickly captured by Thrawn , who recognized Hera and expressed admiration for her and her father . He took the Kalikori as part of his art collection . Thrawn then handed command to Captain Slavin while he observed the ensuing " experiment . " Slavin used Hera and Ezra as hostages to force Cham to surrender himself . However , Hera circumvented his plan by using Chopper to plant explosives in the Syndulla residence . This explosion enabled Hera , Ezra , and Chopper to escape without having to surrender Cham . Thrawn observed the skirmish and allowed the two rebel groups to escape on the " Ghost " out of respect for their ingenuity . Liberation and beyond . In 5 ABY following the Battle of Endor , the Galactic Empire , which was facing severe instability in the wake of the Emperor and Darth Vader ' s deaths , abandoned its bases on Ryloth . As a result , the planet regained its independence . The rebel fighter Yendor became the planet ' s new ambassador to the New Republic , the government created by the Alliance to Restore the Republic . Following the Galactic Civil War , Ryloth did not join the New Republic and remained independent . Ryloth ' s government expected the New Republic to suppress organized crime and to patrol the space lanes . Around 28 ABY , the New Republic came to neglect these duties due to infighting within the Galactic Senate ; which facilitated the emergence of the Nikto crime lord Rinnrivin Di ' s cartel . Rinnrivin ' s cartel exerted a heavy toll on Ryloth ' s offworld trade which prompted Ambassador Yendor to appeal to the Galactic Senate for help . A subsequent New Republic investigation spearheaded by Senator s Leia Organa and Ransolm Casterfo discovered that Rinnrivin was connected to a pro - Imperial militia called the Amaxine warriors ; a proxy group created by Centrist senators who were working for the First Order , the successor to the Old Empire . Behind the scenes . The Rebellion on Ryloth was first explored substantially in Paul S . Kemp ' s novel " Lords of the Sith " , which was released on April 28 , 2015 . It also appeared in Melissa Scott ' s 2015 short story " Mercy Mission " ; which was released as part of " The Rise of the Empire " omnibus . The conflict also appeared in two " Star Wars Rebels " episodes " Homecoming " and " Hera ' s Heroes " , which were released in 2016 . The conflict made a cameo appearance in Chuck Wendig ' s 2016 novel " " , the second book in .