In 4 BBY, following the rescue of Kanan Jarrus in the Mustafar system, the Galactic Empire imposed a siege on the planet Lothal. Vader intended to use the siege to ferret the elusive Lothal rebel cell out of hiding. An opportunity to draw the Spectres back to Lothal emerged when the Imperial Minister Maketh Tua secretly contacted the rebel cell. Fearful of receiving punishment from Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin, Minister Tua had offered to defect to the rebellion in return for providing valuable intelligence on the Empire's operations on Lothal. The Spectres agreed to help Tua escape offworld. Since their starship Ghost was familiar to the local Imperial authorities, the Spectres opted to travel to the planet in a Star Commuter 2000 shuttle. Unknown to Tua, her movements were being monitored by an Imperial probe droid sent by Agent Kallus.The Spectres managed to slip past the Imperial blockade of Lothal. After being given clearance to land, they headed towards the planet's Capital City to rendezvous with Minister Tua. While Chopper and Zeb stayed aboard the shuttle to provide a quick exit, the other four rebels headed to their rendezvous point; which turned out to be a landing pad containing the shuttle. However, the rebels found that a number of Imperial stormtroopers were guarding the landing pad.Kanan in Stormtrooper ArmorTo enter the landing pad, Kanan assaulted a Stormtrooper Commander and stole his armor. Meanwhile Hera, Ezra, and Sabine hid on the rooftops to attack the Imperials from above. Shortly later, Minister Tua arrived with Agent Kallus in a landspeeder. Kallus had been personally sent by Darth Vader to guarantee her personal safety. After Tua and Kallus entered the landing pad with a disguised Kanan, the Spectres launched their attack. Kanan then took the opportunity to attack Kallus and his men.Meanwhile, the other rebels rescued Tua and headed to the Imperial shuttle. Tua managed to enter the vessel. Before Hera could follow her, the shuttle was destroyed by a bomb, which threw both the rebels and stormtroopers backwards. In the presence of an Imperial probe droid, a seemingly outraged Agent Kallus lambasted the Spectres for "murdering" Minister Tua. The skirmish at the landing pad was observed by Darth Vader, who was pleased to see his plan unfolding.The Spectres attempted to flee in their shuttle but it was shot down by an AT-DP walker. The rebels then hid in the former Bridger household but were driven out by Imperial forces. With Imperial forces searching the streets of Capital City, the rebels decided to infiltrate the Imperial Headquarters on Lothal.The rebels managed to infiltrate the Imperial Headquarters and also found several deflector shield generators. They were about to leave the compound in an Imperial shuttle when they were confronted by Darth Vader. The Sith Lord bested Kanan and Ezra in a lightsaber duel but the rebels managed to escape following a fierce skirmish. With the help of Lando Calrissian, the rebels managed to escape offworld by using sensor buoys to baffle the orbiting Imperial fleet. Unknown to the Spectres however, Vader had arranged for their escape in order to use them to lead the Empire to the Phoenix rebel fleet in deep space. This led the Empire to launch a devastating attack on the Phoenix fleet.
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