Assault on the Gray Syndicate The Galactic Empire carried out an assault on the headquarters of the Gray Syndicate , located in the building once known Ake ' s Tavern in the northern market district of Lothal ' s Capital City . The assault was a complete success , with everyone within the building apparently killed , save Merei Spanjaf , who was believed to be an innocent hostage . Prelude . Merei Spanjaf , a teenage human girl living on Lothal , was forced to employ the services of the Gray Syndicate when she needed help gaining access to a snooper . She was able to get what she needed , but was left in debt to the crime syndicate ' s boss , Yahenna Laxo . Laxo later chose to call in Spanjaf ' s debt , sending her on a number of errands that utilized her particular talents . During these errands and her conversations with Laxo , Spanjaf came to learn the ins - and - outs of the organization and realized that Laxo was largely loyal to credit s rather than individuals . As she witnessed him selling people that he had been hiding from the Galactic Empire to bounty hunter s , she came to realize that she herself was safe only so long as Laxo didn ' t find it more profitable to give her up to Imperial authorities , knowing what he did about her involvement in illicit activities . The battle . The assault on Ake ' s Tavern by Imperial forces was essentially a complete rout . Provided with the exact location of the building via Merei Spanjaf ' s tracking device , they were able to catch the Syndicate completely off - guard with an efficient strike carried out by a squad of stormtrooper s . For the members of the Syndicate , there was barely enough time for one to yell out a warning before the building ' s windows exploded and stormtroopers rappelled down from cables launched from a gunship stationed above . As stormtroopers that had already entered downstairs carried out their assault , the stormtroopers above fired upon Yahenna Laxo , though in the confusion , it was unclear to Spanjaf whether Laxo had panicked and reached for a blaster or one of the stormtroopers had panicked . With Laxo dead , the assault was at a swift end , as the forces downstairs had already " cleaned the whole nest out . " Aftermath . Following the Empire ' s assault , Merei Spanjaf was left staring into Yahenna Laxo ' s lifeless eyes . She was safe , as the stormtrooper commander in charge of the mission believed her to be only an innocent hostage who had been forced to send a message to her mother claiming that she would be killed by the Gray Syndicate if her mother didn ' t call off her investigation into recent suspicious activities . Furthermore , Spanjaf was now entirely in the clear when it came to being implicated in said investigation , as she had erased all evidence leading to her . Several other members of the Syndicate were killed in the assault and any not present at the headquarters at the time were likely in danger . Additionally , a number of individuals being sheltered by Laxo in exchange for credit s were left in the position of having to make new arrangements to stay safe from Imperial attention . The assault , however , had a positive effect for at least one of these individuals . Immediately prior to the assault , Holshef , an elderly human male wanted for his poet ic and artist ic expressions by the Empire , had been sold to a bounty hunter by Laxo . It was Spanjaf ' s task , however , to inform the bounty hunter of Holshef ' s location . With Laxo dead and Spanjaf free of the group ' s influence , Holshef had a chance to escape . Spanjaf would later personally work to ensure that he did .