Imperial Complex ( Lothal ) The Imperial Complex ( also known as the Imperial Command Center and the " Dome " ) of the planet Lothal was a huge mushroom – shaped vessel that housed the headquarters of the Galactic Empire on that world . Built in Capital City after the Empire started occupying Lothal , the Imperial Complex both dwarfed and supplanted the Lothal City Capitol Building . It was destroyed in 1 BBY during the Liberation of Lothal . Description . The Imperial Complex was a huge mushroom – shaped Imperial Planetary Occupation Facility that served as the Galactic Empire ' s headquarters on Lothal . It dwarfed and supplanted the nearby Lothal City Capitol Building . The building housed the offices of the Imperial Governor of Lothal , Minister Maketh Tua , and Imperial Security Bureau Agent Kallus . The Imperial Complex also had a hangar bay at its upper level that was large enough to accommodate several " Sentinel " - class landing crafts and troops for parades . Other hangars stored TIE fighters and AT - DP walkers . In addition , the Imperial Complex also housed the Academy for Young Imperials and the Imperial Armory Complex . The Imperial Complex later included an office for Grand Admiral Thrawn , who studied the art , history , and philosophy of his enemies . Thrawn ' s office included various arts and objects associated with the Spectres rebel cell including images of Hera Syndulla and Ezra Bridger , Sabine Wren ' s Mandalorian graffiti , and a Jedi Temple Guard ' s helmet . History . Imperialization . It was installed around 18 BBY , within months of Lothal joining the Empire . During the Imperial Era , Governor Ryder Azadi maintained an office at the Imperial Complex until he was dismissed and imprisoned by the Empire . Azadi ' s former supporters had looted the room of all his personal effects after his arrest . His successor Governor Arihnda Pryce kept the room sparesly decorated to emphasize her focus on building up Imperial power and industry on Lothal . The Rising Rebellion . By 5 BBY , promising Imperial cadet s at the Lothal Imperial Academy were given work details at the Imperial Complex ' s offices . Following a grueling training exercise in the Well , cadets Zare Leonis , Jai Kell and an undercover Spectres rebel Ezra Bridger were assigned to work at the Imperial Complex . There , Leonis and Bridger struck up a friendship and alliance to steal a decoder from ISB Agent Kallus . In the process , Ezra discovered that the Grand Inquisitor had shown interest in Jai Kei ' s Force sensitivity . Leonis and Bridger subsequently engineered Kell ' s escape from the Academy . While on work details , Leonis also used Minister Tua ' s hologram to contact his girlfriend Merei Spanjaf , who was helping him find his missing sister Dhara Leonis . After the Spectres disrupted the Empire Day celebrations in 4 BBY and rescued the Rodian Imperial Information Office employee Tseebo , the Grand Inquisitor and two TIE fighter pilot s boarded a TIE Advanced v1 and two TIE fighters in one of the Imperial Complex ' s hangars to pursue the rebels . Following the failure of local Imperial authorities to apprehend the Spectres , Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin landed in a shuttle at the Imperial Complex and chastised Minister Tua , Agent Kallus , and the Grand Inquisitor for their failings . He later summoned the Imperial Academy ' s Commandant Cumberlayne Aresko and Taskmaster Myles Grint and executed them as a warning that failure would no longer be tolerated . Tarkin then devised a plan to trap the Spectres at the Imperial Communications Center near Jalath . Imperial counter - insurgency . After the Spectres freed Kanan Jarrus with the help of Phoenix Cell , Darth Vader arrived in a shuttle at the Imperial Complex to deal with the rebels on Lothal . During the Siege of Lothal , Lord Vader confronted Minister Tua in her office for her failings and warned her that Grand Moff Tarkin had summoned her for a meeting . This led Tua to contact the Spectres in an attempt to defect from the Empire . However , the rescue mission failed when Agent Kallus blew up Tua ' s escape " Sentinel " - class landing craft and blamed her death on the rebels . To avoid the Imperial manhunt , the Spectres infiltrated the Imperial Complex . They then tried to steal a landing craft but were ambushed by Darth Vader . Following a fierce duel , the Spectres managed to escape the Imperial Complex . In 2 BBY , Grand Admiral Thrawn coordinated the lockdown of the Imperial Armory Complex from his office inside the Imperial Complex , which was decorated with art pieces and images associated with the rebels he was fighting against . While meeting with Agent Kallus and Lieutenant Yogar Lyste to discuss Sabine Wren ' s art , Thrawn deduced that the Spectres had a special connection with Lothal . After the Spectres escaped with the plans for his TIE / D Defender ' s initiative , Thrawn was briefed by Lieutenant Lyste in his office . In private , he told Governor Pryce and Agent Kallus that he suspected that the Empire had a mole within their ranks . While Pryce was alarmed , Thrawn advised patience in rooting out the traitor . Later , Admiral Kassius Konstantine briefed Thrawn and Governor Pryce about former Senator Mon Mothma ' s escape into space with the help of the Spectres . The three planned their operation to capture the rebels . Despite careful planning , the rebels were able to escape due to the piloting skills of Hera . As a result , Mon Mothma was able to form the Alliance to Restore the Republic , creating a galaxy – wide rebellion . Prior to the Battle of Atollon , Thrawn arrived at the Imperial Complex ' s hangar bay aboard a shuttle with a detachment of Imperial Death trooper s . He then convened a secret meeting with Governor Pryce , Admiral Konstantine , and Grand Moff Tarkin ; with the latter via hologram . Thrawn disclosed that he had obtained intelligence about the Rebel Alliance ' s plan to attack the Imperial Armory Complex on Lothal . Agent Kallus , who had become a rebel operative , used an MSE - 6 series repair droid to spy on their conversation . However , Thrawn was aware of Kallus ' treachery and captured him . Thrawn then used the trajectory of Kallus ' transmitter to ascertain that Phoenix Group ' s base was on the planet Atollon . During the Rebel Alliance ' s air raid on Lothal , Governor Pryce coordinated the ground defense from the Imperial Complex . After Thrawn ' s Seventh Fleet shot down Hera ' s strike force , Pryce supervised the hunt for escaped pilots from the complex . The Noghri tracker Rukh delivered the captured rebel pilot Secon Daree to Governor Pryce at a ground hangar in the Imperial Complex . Following Hera ' s capture , Governor Pryce had her torture d inside her office in the Imperial Complex . However , Hera refused to reveal the location of the Alliance Fleet . Before departing for Coruscant to lobby for continued funding for the TIE Defender program , Thrawn visited Hera and told her that her Kalikori now belonged to him . Using loth - bat glider s , Kanan , Ezra , and Sabine infiltrated the Imperial Complex through the garbage chute in the south entrance . While Ezra and Sabine stole a patrol transport , Kanan recovered the Kalikori and freed Hera , throwing LS - 261 and his fellow stormtrooper out of the building in the process . Using magnetic climber s , Kanan and Hera ascended to the top . After fighting off Rukh and several Death troopers , they escaped on a glider . Following Kanan ' s death and the destruction of the Lothal City fuel depot , Pryce briefed Thrawn in her office . Thrawn chastised her for destroying the fuel depot and disrupting the TIE Defender factory . Thrawn then instructed Rukh to hunt down Kanan ' s fellow Spectres . Capture and destruction . The remaining Spectres , assisting the Lothal resistance , made plans to liberate Lothal from Imperial control once and for all . Ezra came up with a plan that involved using Protocol 13 to lure all Imperial personnel on the planet inside the Dome before launching it into the sky and setting off its self - destruct mechanism . After capturing Governor Pryce in a battle at the rebel base by taking advantage of Thrawn ' s absence , the rebels intimidated her into going along with their plan . The strike team flew in on two Imperial patrol transport s under the ruse of a victorious Pryce returning with prisoners . They swiftly took over the control room and issued the protocol , having former governor Ryder Azadi impersonate ISB Colonel Wullf Yularen in order to intimidate some reluctant Imperials into going along with it . However , Thrawn ' s personal assassin Rukh had survived the battle at the rebel base and alerted Grand Admiral Thrawn , who was returning from Coruscant , about the situation . Upon Thrawn ' s arrival in the " Chimaera " , Rukh was in position to shut down the generator that powered the Dome ' s shields . Knowing that his entire army was safely inside the Dome , Thrawn began bombarding Capital City . This prompted Ezra to surrender himself while the other rebels discussed how to retake the deflector shield generator . This gave the other Rebels time to use a strategy , proposed by Sabine , of sending two teams to attack Rukh and the troops in the generator room . Sabine ' s plan work and the rebels were able to use the Dome ' s deflector shield to protect Capital City from a second bombardment wave . Shortly later , Ezra ' s back - up plan arrived in the form of a large pod of purrgil including many enormous Purrgil Ultra s which attacked Thrawn ' s Seventh Fleet . Five of the Ultras attacked and latched onto the " Chimaera " and dragged it away into hyperspace , taking Ezra and Thrawn with it to an unknown fate . The rest of the Rebels then set out the " Dome " to launch into Lothal ' s upper atmosphere before fleeing on the " Ghost " . Governor Pryce elected to stay behind and subsequently perished with most of the Imperial garrison aboard the " Dome . " Once the " Dome " had reached a sufficient height , Sabine detonated the former Imperial headquarters , leading to cheers from the civilians of Lothal City . Behind the scenes . The Imperial Complex first appeared in the television movie " " , which premiered on September 26 , 2014 . The building was first identified as the Imperial headquarters in the 2014 reference book " " . The Imperial Complex has since appeared in the " Star Wars Rebels " animated television series and spinoff publications such as " Star Wars Rebels Magazine " and Jason Fry ' s " " junior novels .