Onderon rebels The Onderon rebels , also referred to as the Onderon resistance , was a group of resistance fighters who stood opposed to the reign of King Sanjay Rash and the Confederacy of Independent Systems during the Clone Wars . The rebels , with the unofficial backing of the Jedi Order , waged a successful campaign to reclaim Onderon from the Separatists and restore the deposed former King , Ramsis Dendup , to the throne of Onderon . Though unsuccessful in their initial campaigns , the support of the Jedi provided them additional training and resources , including the active participation of Padawan Ahsoka Tano and the assistance of the pirate Hondo Ohnaka . Another resource utilized by the rebels were freighters , which they used to transport soldier s to battle . At the end of the rebellion , Onderon rejoined the Galactic Republic , with rebel fighter Lux Bonteri as the planet ' s Senator . History . When the Clone Wars began , Onderon ' s king , Ramsis Dendup attempted to keep Onderon neutral by refusing to join the Republic and the Confederacy . However , he was then removed from the throne , imprisoned and then replaced with pro - Confederate Sanjay Rash . Rash allowed the Confederacy to send in the Separatist Droid Army to occupy the planet and its capital city of Iziz . However , members of the population , such as Steela Gerrera and her brother Saw , refused to recognize Rash ' s rule . The Gerrera ' s thus organized a resistance movement that fought the battle droid s in and near Iziz . With their members , the Gerreras fought the battle droid s . However , by 20 BBY , the resistance fighters planed to end the Separatists ' occupation . To that end , Saw and former Separatist senator , Lux Bonteri contacted the Jedi Council for help . At first , the Council was wary about providing aid the the rebels . However , the Council approved of Masters Obi - Wan Kenobi , Anakin Skywalker and his apprentice Ahsoka Tano to train the Rebels in fighting the droids . The Jedi then arrived at the rebels ' camp , where they trained the insurgents in fighting the battle droids and their tanks . Training ended abruptly when the base was discovered by a droid patrol and the rebels got their first taste of true combat , utterly wiping out the droid forces with minimal losses . Emboldened by this success , the rebels opted to move part of their forces into the capital city of Iziz , to take the fight to the home front . Once inside the city , the rebels proceeded to endlessly harry the droid forces stationed in the capital by ambushing lone patrols and checkpoints ; despite their usage of droid popper grenades and specifically targeting the droids , the rebels were nonetheless held in fear by the people owing to the unpredictable and often public nature of their attacks . The rebels also made a statement against King Rash by attacking the Royal carriage as it left the royal residence . Rash , perceiving the rebels as terrorists , attempted to end the insurgency by forcing his predecessor to call off the attacks ; Dendup , having nothing to do with them , refused . Frustrated with the lack of support from the people , the rebels ' Jedi allies determined that they had to show them that they were on their side . In order to do so and rob the droids of an advantage , the rebels decided to target the city ' s power generator ; without power , the droid army would literally grind to a halt . Ambushing a patrol , the rebels got its commander to request reinforcements in the form of a tank , which they proceeded to hijack and use to destroy the power generator . As Iziz descended into darkness and the droids were left in disarray , the rebels returned to their city hideout to celebrate . In light of her actions in uniting the rebels , Steela Gerrera was elected as their official leader , to the initial dismay of her brother . The rebels continued their attacks in the city , dealing much damage . However , the destruction of the power generator had prompted King Rash to petition Count Dooku for reinforcements , which came in the form of the super tactical droid general Kalani . Kalani ' s tactics were more effective , but their brutal nature did not sit well with his human counterpart , Tandin , who commanded the Royal Onderon Militia . Rash and Kalani , hoping to draw out and finish the rebels , made a public address announcing that the former king Dendup would be executed in Yolahn Square for crimes of treason . Though Saw was captured trying to free the king from prison , the rebels nonetheless resolved to save the king before he could die . At the execution , the rebels attacked just before Dendup was beheaded via an electroguillotine and managed to free the king , but were caught in a trap which resulted in the death of one rebel , Dono . However , the rebels encountered an unexpected ally in the form of General Tandin , whose previous conversation with Saw had convinced him to side with the rebels against the false rulership of the Confederacy . Storming the plaza with the royal guards in tow , Tandin held Rash on the point of a laser lance and declared his intentions to support the true king . With the Separatist forces held at bay by Tandin ' s capture of Rash , the rebels were able to escape . Tandin himself was spared from certain death by Ahsoka , whose retreat was covered by the assembled citizens ; finding solidarity with the rebels , the citizens had come to see the Confederacy as invaders . Having retreated to their base in the highlands , the rebels swore fealty to King Dendup once more , though the king delegated the military command to Tandin and Steela . Helped by the rebels in the city , Dendup broadcast a speech in which he saluted the efforts of the rebels and decried Rash ' s rule . These words inspired the citizens to rise up and attack the droids , sparking massive riots across Iziz . Knowing that they could not hold Onderon without the people ' s willing or unwilling support , the Confederacy dispatched a massive force of infantry and armor to destroy the rebels in the highlands , bolstered by new HMP droid gunships . Though the rebel forces managed to initially devastate the droids sent against them , the sudden appearance of the gunships turned the tide in favour of the droids . The gunships began decimating the rebels , who were unable to penetrate the powerful ray shields protecting them . In desperation and sustaining heavy casualties , the rebels contacted the Jedi Council for assistance . However , though the Republic could not intervene itself , Anakin came up with the idea of using a third party to aid the rebels . Through the pirate Hondo Ohnaka , Anakin secured a shipment of brand new Sienar RPS - 6 rocket launcher s capable of punching through the ray shields . This delivery once more shifted the battle in favour of the rebels , who quickly downed most of the gunships . However , Steela got word that the main base was under attack by droids seeking King Dendup and rushed there just in time to save him from a commando droid assassin whilst Saw finished off the last gunship with his rocket launcher . Unfortunately , the gunship spun out of control and crashed into the cliff where Steela and Dendup were standing , causing it to destabilize . Steela threw Dendup to safety but nearly fell to her death , saved only by grabbing onto the cliff edge . Lux ' s efforts to save her nearly caused him to fall as well , but Ahsoka lifted him to safety with the Force before attempting to do the same with Steela . Unseen by them all , however , the crashed gunship was still functional and it loosed a shot at Ahsoka which caused her to lose her concentration and drop Steela to her death dozens of feet below . Though Lux destroyed the gunship before it could fire on them again , the damage had been done . Though the rebels had won a mighty victory , celebration was cast aside as they mourned their fallen leader . After the Confederacy withdrew from Onderon , killing the now - useless King Rash as they did so , the surviving rebels gathered at the Unifar Temple alongside thousands of Onderonian citizens for Steela ' s funeral . In the wake of her death , Onderon was once more free and joined the Republic under the newly - christened Senator Lux Bonteri , who had come to see the Republic and the Jedi as the more honourable side in the conflict . Sadly , the peace and freedom which many rebels had fought and died for was lost only a year later , when the Republic fell to be replaced by the Galactic Empire . Under the New Order , Onderon was once more subjugated . This prompted an aging Saw Gerrera to reform the Onderon rebels , now going by the name of the Partisans , to fight once more against a totalitarian regime . The rebels once more won several victories and inducted a Lasat mercenary into their ranks , who helped them destroy an Imperial patrol led by Alexsandr Kallus . By 0 BBY , however , the Partisans had shifted their theater of operations to the ancient moon of Jedha . Behind the scenes . The Onderon rebels were created for a four - episode arc in the of the animated television series " " . The intention of the Onderon rebels was to show one of the seeds of what would become the Alliance to Restore the Republic . According to Dave Filoni , the supervising director of The Clone Wars , stated that he and George Lucas intended the Onderon rebels to be the first of many militias that were created by the Jedi during the Clone Wars , militias that would be brought together by characters such as Bail Organa and Mon Mothma to become the Rebel Alliance .