Attack on an Imperial convoy During their rebellion against the Galactic Empire , the rebel crew of the starship " Ghost " carried out an attack against an Imperial convoy on Lothal . The intelligence for the attack came from Ahsoka Tano , a Rebel Intelligence operative who secretly coordinated with cells such as the " Ghost " crew under the codename " Fulcrum . " The information about the convoy ' s timing and route was accurate , but Tano ' s intelligence underestimated Imperial defenses . This led to at least four TIE / ln space superiority starfighter s chasing the " Phantom " , the " Ghost " attack shuttle , which was carrying pilot Hera Syndulla , Mandalorian explosives expert Sabine Wren , and Jedi Padawan Ezra Bridger . Syndulla was able to outfly and destroy the TIE fighters , allowing the " Phantom " to escape . Fulcrum ' s identity and the intelligence she provided became a point of contention for Wren , who wanted to know why the rebels were risking their lives on operations like the convoy attack . Syndulla assured her that they were part of something bigger and that there was a plan for fighting the Empire . After a mission to Fort Anaxes , where they were attacked by fyrnock s that inhabited the abandoned Grand Army of the Republic asteroid base and had to rely on one another to survive , Wren learned to trust Syndulla about the crew ' s mission . Prelude . In the fifth year before the Battle of Yavin the rebel crew of the starship " Ghost " encountered Senator Bail Organa of Alderaan during an operation that led to Organa ' s droids , C - 3PO and R2 - D2 , falling into their care . The droid s saw the rebels ' insurgency against the Galactic Empire on the Outer Rim world of Lothal first hand , and , upon their return to the senator , R2 - D2 reported what he learned about the rebels to Organa . Organa thought highly of the rebels , and , as a result , the crew ' s captain , Hera Syndulla , came into contact with Ahsoka Tano . Tano , a former Padawan of the Jedi Order , was a member of a growing rebel movement that Senator Organa secretly championed . Tano , operating under the codename " Fulcrum , " passed a number of missions to Syndulla for her cell to carry out against the Empire , though the intelligence was sometimes incomplete . The attack . Utilizing intelligence that Fulcrum provided , three of the rebels — Syndulla , Mandalorian warrior Sabine Wren , and Padawan Ezra Bridger — assaulted an Imperial supply convoy on Lothal in their attack shuttle , the " Phantom " . Syndulla was privy to the intelligence and the purpose of the mission , but she kept Wren and Bridger in the dark due to Fulcrum ' s intelligence being on a need - to - know basis . Fulcrum ' s information was correct about the timing of the convoy ' s arrival and the route it had taken , but the intelligence underestimated the strength of the Imperial defenses . As a result , the " Phantom " was pursued by a TIE / ln space superiority starfighter . Syndulla led the fighter on a chase across the Lothal landscape , outmaneuvering the TIE pilot at every turn . She flew around stone circle s , large rock formations on the surface , to lose them , and was able to shoot the TIE fighter out of the sky . Moments later , three more fighters approached and opened fire on the shuttle . The chase led to Syndulla pilot ing the shuttle through a close collection of stone circles , causing damage to the bottom of the ship as it briefly impacted one of the stones ; the damage caused an issue with the shuttle ' s steering . One of the TIE fighters crashed into the stone circle and was destroyed , while the other two kept up the pursuit . The rebels continued to evade the Imperial fighters , while the intelligence failure became a point of contention amongst Syndulla and Wren . The Twi ' lek pilot had not shared the full nature of their involvement with the larger rebellion with her crew , thus protecting the secrets of the rebel collective in the event any of the " Ghost " team was captured , but Wren demanded to know more , including why the mission to assault the supply convoy was important . Syndulla would not say anymore , however , telling her that Fulcrum ' s intelligence was on a strict need - to - know basis , and Wren did not need to know . Syndulla fired a shot at one of the stone circles , causing a plume of smoke to rise into the air . As the TIE fighters flew out of the smoke , one of the pilots flew too close to the other vessel and the ships collided . They both exploded midair , bringing an end to the attack . With the Empire off their tail , the " Phantom " set a course to rendezvous with the " Ghost " . Unknown to the rebels , however , was that the shuttle was leaking fuel . Aftermath . Shortly after returning to the " Ghost " , Syndulla prepared for a scheduled meeting with Fulcrum at Fort Anaxes , a base on the surface of asteroid PM - 1203 that served as a Grand Army of the Republic military outpost during the Clone Wars . Wren insisted on joining her on the trip to learn more about Fulcrum , and Syndulla reluctantly agreed to let Wren join the mission . Fulcrum contacted the " Phantom " while they were en route to Fort Anaxes , saying that she had left a crate of supplies for the rebels at the base . Wren interjected during their conversation , telling Fulcrum that she wanted to meet , which was a breach in rebel protocol . The nature of the crew ' s relationship to Fulcrum remained a point of debate between Syndulla and Wren when they arrived at Fort Anaxes , where Fulcrum was nowhere to be found . Wren , who had once been a cadet at the Imperial Academy on her homeworld of Mandalore , knew firsthand the dangers of blind trust and felt she deserved to know more about their mission . Syndulla urged her to have faith that there was a bigger plan to fight the Empire . The two rebels collected the crates and attempted to leave Fort Anaxes , but they discovered the fuel leak from the damage caused to the " Phantom " during the escape from the TIE fighters — damage that Bridger and fellow crewmember Garazeb Orrelios had neglected to fix after the shuttle returned from the previous operation . Making matters worse , Syndulla and Wren were attacked by fyrnock s , creatures who lived in the shadows of the asteroid base . The two rebels rigged canisters of rhydonium fuel to explode once triggered , which they used to kill the fyrnocks as they attempted to attack the rebels . Syndulla and Wren held out until the rest of the crew arrived aboard the " Ghost " to rescue them . Their experience at Fort Anaxes and the trust they placed in one another led Wren to have more faith in the rebels ' secret mission . Wren ultimately learned about their role in the rebellion , as well as Fulcrum ' s identity , once the rebel collective helped rescue Kanan Jarrus , the leader of the Lothal rebels , from Imperial captivity some time afterward . Behind the scenes . The attack on the Imperial supply convoy , specifically the " Phantom " escape from the TIE fighters , was depicted in the opening moments of " Out of Darkness , " the fifth episode of the first season of the animated television series " Star Wars Rebels " . The event marked the first reference to Fulcrum on the series , as well as Wren ' s concerns over the secrecy amongst the rebel crew . This plotline was carried through the season finale , " Fire Across the Galaxy , " in which the crew learned that Ahsoka Tano was Fulcrum and that they were part of a larger rebellion against the Empire .