Raiding missions on Imperial supply ships

The Spectres band of rebels undertook a series of raiding missions on Imperial supply ships during their early rebellion against the Galactic Empire in 5 BBY. They targeted Imperial shuttles on the occupied worlds of Ryloth, Christophsis, Kashyyyk, Toydaria, and Lothal, downing TIE fighters, Imperial Troop Transports, and All Terrain Defense Pods that defended the supply ships. Hera Syndulla piloted the Spectres' ship, the Ghost; Kanan Jarrus fired its laser cannon turrets; Sabine Wren dropped her ion bombs; and Garazeb Orrelios transferred cargo from the shuttles to the Ghost, during which it was defended by its detachable fighter, the Phantom. The raids concluded with the Spectres' stay on Lothal, having struck a significant blow against the Empire and strengthened the growing rebel movement.

Prelude

Among the various groups that resisted the oppressive Galactic Empire regime were a ragtag band of rebels named the Spectres. They flew in the Ghost, a VCX-100 light freighter piloted by Hera Syndulla that included the detachable VCX-series auxiliary starfighter, the Phantom. The ships were crewed by the other Spectres—C1-10P, Kanan Jarrus, Garazeb Orrelios, and Sabine Wren.^[4] In 5 BBY,^[2] Jarrus led the Ghost crew on a daring series of strikes on Lambda-class T-4a shuttles that were used by the Empire as supply ships on various worlds under Imperial occupation. The team hoped to capture the ships' cargo for delivery to the growing resistance movement^[3] that would become known as the Alliance to Restore the Republic.^[2]

Raiders of the Lambdas

The Spectres firstly engaged TIE/ln space superiority starfighters and K79-S80 Imperial Troop Transports defending the Empire's supply ships in the deserts of Ryloth.^[3] It was the Outer Rim homeworld of Hera Syndulla, whose father led the Ryloth Insurgency.^[4] While Syndulla maneuvered the Ghost, Jarrus fired its laser cannon turrets and Wren dropped her homemade ion bombs. Once they had penetrated an Imperial shuttle's deflector shield and destroyed its aft blaster cannon and engines, the Ghost landed beside it so that Orrelios could take the Empire's supplies aboard. As the supplies were transferred, the Phantom detached from the Ghost to defend its mother ship with its laser cannon.^[3]

The crew successfully raided supplies on Ryloth and agreed with Jarrus' suggestion that they then strike the Imperial convoy traveling to the crystalline^[3] world of Christophsis—another part of the Outer Rim that was associated with rebel activity and had been bombarded as Imperial retaliation in 3 BBY.^[5] The crew conducted their raids in the same fashion, plundering shuttle supplies and destroying TIE/ln fighters, Imperial Troop Transports, and All Terrain Defense Pod walkers in an urbanized area. The Spectres' attack on Christophsis was profitable, and Syndulla subsequently intercepted an Imperial transmission involving the Wookiee homeworld of Kashyyyk^[3] in the Mid Rim, which had been placed under strict occupation with its Wookiees enslaved.^[4] The Ghost crew conducted their next raids along the beaches of wroshyr tree cities, securing the supplies and downing Imperial craft such as the Lambda, the TIE/ln, the K79-S80, and the AT-DP.^[3]

The crew's success led them to focus on the next stop of the Imperial convoy:^[3] the Mid Rim world of Toydaria.^[6] Above the green and misty land around^[3] the Royal City,^[6] the Spectres marauded and wrecked additional Imperial shuttles, TIE fighters, troop transports, and AT-DPs. The crew then took up Wren's proposal for a stop-over on Lothal, a backwater planet^[3] in the Outer Rim.^[4] They intended to resupply the Ghost and had the consideration that Imperial forces could be found and raided even on the backwater world. Indeed, the Spectres pillaged and eliminated extra machinery, including the same models of Imperial supply ships, fighters, transports, and walkers, amidst the Lothalian prairies and comm towers.^[3]

Aftermath

The Spectres' efforts had dealt a sizeable blow against Imperial tyranny and bolstered the nascent rebellion. They chose to remain on Lothal following their raids in pursuit of another opportunity after hearing from one of their contacts.^[3] The rebels took jobs from the local crime lord Cikatro Vizago during their time on Lothal,^[7] and in the same year,^[8] Jarrus proposed mounting another raid^[9]—according to chatter on an Imperial Military comm frequency unscrambled by C1-10P, cargo ships nearby were carrying minerals for Imperial war machines. However, the cargo report was a trap; Jarrus, Syndulla, and C1-10P were forced to repel an attack on the Ghost by TIE fighters in Outer Rim space.^[10] The Spectres soon met Ezra Bridger,^[3] a young and rebellious Lothalite who became entangled with the group during a raid on the streets of Lothal's Capital City.^[7]

Behind the scenes

The 2014 browser game Star Wars Rebels: Ghost Raid features the raiding missions on Imperial supply ships. The game consists of five levels, each corresponding to the worlds raided by the Ghost crew with attacks against varying amounts of Imperial vehicles and set amounts of Lambda shuttles—three on Ryloth, six on Christophsis, nine on Kashyyyk, fourteen on Toydaria, and eighteen on Lothal—which add up to fifty in total. The player controls the Ghost and the Phantom in the game and earn points by eliminating Imperial forces.^[3]

Defeated forces occasionally drop Imperial credits that contribute to the player's points and power-ups, such as extra repairs that replenish the player's health and unlocking dorsal laser cannon turrets. If the player fails to maintain their health, then the Spectres flee from battle, and the game explains that despite heavy damage, the Ghost was able to escape, be repaired and refueled, and continue the raids. This article assumes that the player completes the entire game successfully but does not define the number of Imperial vehicles destroyed on any world.^[3]

Appearances

• Star Wars Rebels: Ghost Raid on StarWars.com (backup link) (original link is obsolete) (First appearance)

Sources

• Star Wars Rebels: The Visual Guide (Indirect mention only)

Notes and references