Lothal

Lothal was a planet in the Outer Rim. During the early years of the Galactic Empire, Lothal was in a state of economic despair 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 prospering with new jobs and prosperity were vindicated. By 5 BBY, Lothal became the nesting ground for the Spectres, a rebel cell that operated from the starship Ghost. After harrying the Imperial garrison and disrupting their activities for at least a year, the Spectres eventually attracted the attention of Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin, Governor of the Outer Rim, and Sith Lord Darth Vader, who tried unsuccessfully to capture the rebels in an attempt to hunt down their strongest friend, then-Jedi Knight Jarik Shan. Vader even imposed a blockade around the planet, but the Spectres managed to slip away and join 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 of Alderaan and her handmaiden and best friend Katooni to undertake a mercy mission to Lothal. However, this mission was a ruse for Organa and the former Jedi Initiate to deliver ships to the Rebellion. In 2 BBY, Shan and the Rebellion led Azadi’s successor, Governor Arihnda Pryce, to have Tarkin invite her ally Grand Admiral Thrawn and the Seventh Fleet to establish a presence on Lothal. The efforts of the Lothal resistance group to sabotage vehicles at the Imperial Armory Complex in the capital drew attention from Thrawn and Vader. 
Around 1 BBY, the planet was under both a heavy Imperial blockade and occupation, with its 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 Azadi’s rebel cell remained, the Empire had largely consolidated control over the planet and the people that had not joined the Empire went into hiding, joined the Lothal resistance group, or died. However, a ragtag group of rebels spearheaded by the Spectres led a daring move which completely expunged the Imperial presence on Lothal and it had cemented the planet's affiliation to the Rebellion in gratitude and became a refuge world. For a time, the people lived with the concern that the Empire would attempt to retake it, but they were fractured by the threat of the Rebellion and Lothal remained a free world during the Galactic Civil War, almost completely recovering ecologically by the time the conflict came to an end.
==Appearances==
Category:Planets
Category:Location
Category:Planets of Andromeda
Category:Jedi
Category:Galactic Republic
Category:Galactic Empire
Category:Planets of the Outer Rim Territories
Category:Jedi Order