Lothal

Lothal is a planet in the Outer Rim Territories. During the early years of the Galactic Empire, Lothal was in a state of economic disrepair and invited the Empire to take over the planet's industries, with the promise of prosperity and security. Although many people said the Empire would bring doom, the ones preaching new jobs and prosperity were vindicated.
== Rebellion ==
In 1971, a nightclub was raided by the Empire under orders from Governor Arihnda Pryce due to its all-male clientele and had everyone inside executed for what was claimed to be "Crimes Against Morality". This caused major rioting in the streets until Pryce had it crushed by Imperial troops.
By 1972, Lothal became the nesting ground for the Spectres, a small rebel cell which operated from the starship Ghost. After harrying Imperial forces and disrupting Imperial activities for at least a year, the Spectres eventually attracted the attention of Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin and Darth Vader, who tried unsuccessfully to stamp out these rebels. Vader even imposed a blockade on the planet, but the Spectres managed to slip through and rejoin the larger rebellion.
A prison revolt led to the escape of several prisoners, including former Governor Ryder Azadi, who would go on to start another rebel cell on Lothal. The Imperial blockade would come to cause severe hardship and led Princess Leia Organa to undertake a mercy mission to Lothal. However, this mission was a ruse for the Organas to deliver ships to the rebellion. In 1975, the ongoing rebellion led Azadi's successor, Arihnda Pryce, to invite Grand Admiral Thrawn and his Seventh Fleet to establish a presence on Lothal. Ryder's rebel cell's efforts to sabotage Imperial vehicles at the Capital City Imperial Armory Complex soon drew Thrawn's attention.
== Liberation ==
Around 1976, the planet was under both heavy Imperial blockade and occupation, with her once pristine environment ruined and on the brink of collapse. Almost all traces of natural resources had been stripped from the planet. With fires scattered throughout, extreme pollution covering the planet was visible from orbit. Though pockets of resistance remained, the planet was by-and-large under Imperial control and those who remained who had not willingly joined the Empire were either pressed into service or simply killed. However, a ragtag group of rebels led by the Spectres spearheaded a daring move which completely expunged the Imperial presence on and around Lothal. For a time, the planet's citizens lived with the concern that the Empire might attempt to retake it, but the Empire was now fractured by the growing threat of the Rebel Alliance. This allowed the planet to be restored to its former glory by the time of the Battle of Endor. However, many civilians were killed and local hero Ezra Bridger was declared missing along with Thrawn.
== New Republic Era ==
Following the Battle of Endor, Lothal was among the planets swept into the New Republic. While the Republic continued to maintain the industrial presence on Lothal, it did so with more care for the planet's overall environment and its citizens then the Empire had as the workers were paid a proper wage and allowed to prosper. The citizens were also allowed to elect their local officials every four years with no official allowed to serve more then two terms in office. By 2018, Jai Kell was serving his first term as the planet's Governor.
In 2003, Lothal's citizens chose to become neutral following the signing of the Pellaeon–Gavrisom Treaty which formally ended the Galactic Civil War.
== A Spectre's Return ==
In 2018, Ezra Bridger surfaced on the planet Earth and took possession of the Ghost from the Remnant that had replaced the Empire in 2003. Bridger's sudden arrival also triggered a Disturbance in The Force that caused the Sith Lord Darth Sidious (who had been the Galactic Emperor Palpatine) to order his apprentice Darth Caedus and First Order General Armitage Hux to deploy their fleet to Lothal in an effort to lure Bridger out. When Hux's fleet arrived, Kell was able to send a signal that reached Coruscant advising of the appearance of Hux's fleet in the system. The New Republic sent two Jedi Masters to Lothal in the forms of Corran Horn and Kyle Katarn who confirmed Kell's claim of a First Order fleet being in orbit around the planet. Meanwhile on Earth, Bridger and New York City Police Department Officer Jamal Wilkins had managed to uncover a First Order sleeper agent who told Bridger about the invasion and then said that there was nothing Bridger could do or so it was thought. Bridger quickly rounded up a new crew for the Ghost and took off for Lothal while Wanda Houston arranged some sort of defense for Lothal. Although Bridger and Horn were severely outnumbered by Hux's forces, they did manage to run enough interference until the arrival of a fleet from Earth commanded by Remnant Admiral Firmus Piett and Remnant General Tevin Felth which inflicted heavy losses on Hux's fleet before being joined by a New Republic fleet commanded by General Wedge Antilles and containing Mart Mattin who had also taken part in the liberation of Lothal in 1976. Following this, an arrangement was worked out to keep Lothal under the protection of one ship from each government to be rotated on a regular basis for a total of four ships and each ship's starfighters from the New Republic, United States, United Kingdom, and Israel with Mattin serving as Commander of the Lothal Defense Fleet at Kell's request. Lothal also enjoyed a new market as a tourist destination and American Spaceways added regular service to and from the planet. 
Later in 2018, two ASW flights to Earth were targeted for hijacking by agents of Black Sun who were out for revenge against Bridger after his actions led to the Remnant ordered execution of Grinta the Hutt. The first hijacking was foiled by Israeli soldiers on board the ship who overpowered the hijackers while the second one was more successful and resulted in a rescue being carried out by the Remnant and the Spectres on Nar Shaddaa.
In 2019, Bridger visited the planet along with Sabine Wren and Darius Carpenter where the three met with Kell and Mattin while retrieving the last of Wren's belongings as she had moved to Earth.
Category:Planets
Category:Spectres
Category:Locations