Ghorman Front

For other uses, see Ghorman.

"Propaganda will only get you so far. You need a radical insurgency you can count on."
"Count on for what?"
"You need Ghorman rebels you can depend on to do the wrong thing."

―Dedra Meero explains her plans to manipulate the Ghorman Front to Director Krennic^[3]

The Ghorman Front,^[4] also known as the Ghorman rebel cell,^[5] and as the Ghorman rebels,^[6] was an anti-Imperial group that was active^[7] by 5 BBY^[8] on the planet Ghorman.^[1] Saw Gerrera, commander of the Partisans, proclaimed to the rebel Luthen Rael that the Ghorman Front, among others, were lost when discussing how to fight against the Galactic Empire.^[7]

By 3 BBY, the Front was led by Carro Rylanz, a politician and businessman from the capital city of Palmo. His daughter, Enza, was also a leading member, as was her partner Dilan.^[1] The Ghorman Front was involved in the Ghorman Massacre, where many of its members and many civilians were slaughtered by Imperial security troopers, stormtroopers, and KX-series security droids.^[2] Fennro Drogan, a native of Ghorman, was a member of the group before joining the Alliance to Restore the Republic as a member of the Bitter Pill Company.^[4] Dreena, another member of the group, similarly joined the Rebel Alliance on Yavin 4^[9]

History

The Tarkin Massacre

In 19 BBY, in the early days of the Galactic Empire, Governor Wilhuff Tarkin attempted to land his cruiser in Palmo. A large group of civilians blocked the landing pad, assuming safety in numbers. However, the Ghormans were fatally mistaken, as Tarkin chose to land his cruiser on top of the protestors, resulting in the death of 500 unarmed Ghorman civilians. This tragedy came to be known as the Tarkin Massacre and became a bitter memory for the people of Ghorman.^[1]

Early rebellion

"Kreegyr's a separatist. Maya Pei's a neo-Republican. The Ghorman front. The Partisan alliance. Sectorists. Human cultists. Galaxy partitionists. They're lost! All of them, lost!"

―Saw Gerrera, to Luthen Rael^[7]

The Ghorman Front was active as of 5 BBY. Saw Gerrera of the Partisans was aware of their existence and regarded their cause as lost.^[7] At some point, the Front was responsible for rescuing a rebel pilot, who provided them with a special radio to put them in contact with the Axis network.^[10]

In 4 BBY, the Empire began constructing a supposed office complex in the center of Palmo,^[3] causing unrest amongst the populace, who suspected it was secretly an armory and was furthered insulted that it overshadowed the Monument to the Fallen. By 3 BBY, Ghorman had begun suffered from an Imperial propaganda campaign and seemingly mindless persecution as the planet began to choke under frequently changing shipping regulations and codes that threatened their economy. Carro Rylanz, a prominent Palmo official and businessman, and secret leader of the Ghorman Front, used his position to handle the unrest by issuing public denials.^[1]

The Ghorman rebels began investigating the Imperial building to expose its true nature by slipping people into the work crews.^[10]

Around this time, the Ghorman Front began surveilling the activities of Division Chief Syril Karn at the local Imperial Bureau of Standards office, tapping the office comms and secretly breaking into his apartment. Rylanz's daughter, Enza and her boyfriend Dilan were responsible for listening in on Karn's weekly communications with his mother and came to believe him to be conflicted over all the anti-Ghormanism. Believing him to be a potential ally, the elder Rylanz had Samm slip Karn an invitation to the town hall meeting inside a ghorlectipod souvenir.^[1] However, the Front was unaware that Karn was in fact an asset of the Imperial Security Bureau, who believed he was on Ghorman to use the local rebels to attract "outside agitators, and was also aware of their surveillance on him.^[10]

Sure enough, Karn arrived at the meeting. While Rylanz handled the unrest caused by agitators such as Lezine, Enza, Dilan, and Samm approached him and got him to understand the crowd's grievances against the Empire. Following the meeting, Rylanz spoke with Karn to inquire if he had access to the Imperial annex's floor plans and when told that the plans were classified, it served only to confirm his suspicions. He then informed Karn about the Tarkin Massacre and suggested he emphasizes in his reports to the Empire that Ghormans only seek peace and prosperity. Karn then left the town hall with the Ghorman rebels believing they had recruited a sympathizer.^[1]

The next day, a surprise ISB inspection at the Bureau of Standards led by Lieutenant Grymish forced the Front's inside agent, Leeza to signal Enza and Dilan to disconnect from their listening device to avoid being traced. Later, they showed Rylanz a dossier on Karn they acquired from the Preox-Morlana database, revealing Karn's past as a deputy inspector before being dismissed by the ISB after a disastrous mission. Believing Karn to be no friend of the ISB, both Carro and Enza approached Karn as he was walking home, though he led them to believe he assumed the ISB planted the Front's bug to facilitate a ruse to plant their own listening device. Carro suggested that the ISB was running a shadow government without Emperor Palpatine's knowledge. He then inquired about what cargo the Empire was transporting through Palmo, which Karn claimed to be construction material. Upon confirming that not every transport had a bill of lading, Carro expressed interest in those ones.^[10]