Imperial Complex (Lothal)

The Imperial Complex was a huge mushroom–shaped Imperial Planetary Occupation Facility that served as the Galactic Empire's headquarters on the Outer Rim world of Lothal. It dwarfed and supplanted the nearby Lothal City Capitol Building. As a mobile planetary occupation facility, the Imperial Complex was equipped with thrusters which allowed it to fly into the upper atmosphere of Lothal.

The vessel housed the offices of the Imperial Governor of Lothal, Minister Maketh Tua, and Imperial Security Bureau Agent Kallus. The Imperial Complex also had a hangar bay at its upper level that was large enough to accommodate several Sentinel-class landing crafts and troops for parades. Other hangars stored TIE fighters and AT-DP walkers.

In addition, the Imperial Complex also housed the Academy for Young Imperials and the Imperial Armory Complex. The Imperial Complex later included an office for Grand Admiral Thrawn, who studied the art, history, and philosophy of his enemies. Thrawn's office included various arts and objects associated with the Spectres rebel cell including images of Hera Syndulla and Ezra Bridger, Sabine Wren's Mandalorian graffiti, and a Jedi Temple Guard's helmet.

It was installed around 18 BBY, within months of Lothal joining the Empire.

During the Imperial Era, Governor Ryder Azadi maintained an office at the Imperial Complex until he was dismissed and imprisoned by the Empire. Azadi's former supporters had looted the room of all his personal effects after his arrest. His successor Governor Arihnda Pryce kept the room sparsely decorated to emphasize her focus on building up Imperial power and industry on Lothal.

By 5 BBY, promising Imperial cadets at the Lothal Imperial Academy were given work details at the Imperial Complex's offices. Following a grueling training exercise in the Well, cadets Zare Leonis, Jai Kell and an undercover Spectres rebel Ezra Bridger were assigned to work at the Imperial Complex. There, Leonis and Bridger struck up a friendship and alliance to steal a decoder from ISB Agent Kallus. In the process, Ezra discovered that the Grand Inquisitor had shown interest in Jai Kei's Force sensitivity. Leonis and Bridger subsequently engineered Kell's escape from the Academy. While on work details, Leonis also used Minister Tua's hologram to contact his girlfriend Merei Spanjaf, who was helping him find his missing sister Dhara Leonis.

After the Spectres disrupted the Empire Day celebrations in 4 BBY and rescued the Rodian Imperial Information Office employee Tseebo, the Grand Inquisitor and two TIE fighter pilots boarded a TIE Advanced v1 and two TIE fighters in one of the Imperial Complex's hangars to pursue the rebels.

Following the failure of local Imperial authorities to apprehend the Spectres, Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin landed in a shuttle at the Imperial Complex and chastised Minister Tua, Agent Kallus, and the Grand Inquisitor for their failings. He later summoned the Imperial Academy's Commandant Cumberlayne Aresko and Taskmaster Myles Grint and executed them as a warning that failure would no longer be tolerated. Tarkin then devised a plan to trap the Spectres at the Imperial Communications Center near Jalath.

After the Spectres freed Kanan Jarrus with the help of Phoenix Cell, Darth Vader arrived in a shuttle at the Imperial Complex to deal with the rebels on Lothal. During the Siege of Lothal, Lord Vader confronted Minister Tua in her office for her failings and warned her that Grand Moff Tarkin had summoned her for a meeting. This led Tua to contact the Spectres in an attempt to defect from the Empire. However, the rescue mission failed when Agent Kallus blew up Tua's escape Sentinel-class landing craft and blamed her death on the rebels. To avoid the Imperial manhunt, the Spectres infiltrated the Imperial Complex. They then tried to steal a landing craft but were ambushed by Darth Vader. Following a fierce duel, the Spectres managed to escape the Imperial Complex.

In 2 BBY, Grand Admiral Thrawn coordinated the lockdown of the Imperial Armory Complex from his office inside the Imperial Complex, which was decorated with art pieces and images associated with the rebels he was fighting against. While meeting with Agent Kallus and Lieutenant Yogar Lyste to discuss Wren's art, Thrawn deduced that the Spectres had a special connection with Lothal. After the Spectres escaped with the plans for his TIE/d "Defender" Multi-Role Starfighter's initiative, Thrawn was briefed by Lieutenant Lyste in his office. In private, he told Governor Pryce and Agent Kallus that he suspected that the Empire had a mole within their ranks. While Pryce was alarmed, Thrawn advised patience in rooting out the traitor.

Later, Admiral Kassius Konstantine briefed Thrawn and Governor Pryce about former Senator Mon Mothma's escape into space with the help of the Spectres. The three planned their operation to capture the rebels. Despite careful planning, the rebels were able to escape due to the piloting skills of Hera. As a result, Mon Mothma was able to form the Alliance to Restore the Republic, creating a galaxy–wide rebellion.

Prior to the Battle of Atollon, Thrawn arrived at the Imperial Complex's hangar bay aboard a shuttle with a detachment of Imperial death troopers. He then convened a secret meeting with Governor Pryce, Admiral Konstantine, and Grand Moff Tarkin; with the latter via hologram. Thrawn disclosed that he had obtained intelligence about the Rebel Alliance's plan to attack the Imperial Armory Complex on Lothal. Agent Kallus, who had become a rebel operative, used an MSE-6 series repair droid to spy on their conversation. However, Thrawn was aware of Kallus' treachery and captured him. Thrawn then used the trajectory of Kallus' transmitter to ascertain that Phoenix Group's base was on the planet Atollon.

During the Rebel Alliance's air raid on Lothal, Governor Pryce coordinated the ground defense from the Imperial Complex. After Thrawn's Seventh Fleet shot down Hera's strike force, Pryce supervised the hunt for escaped pilots from the complex. The Noghri tracker Rukh delivered the captured rebel pilot Secon Daree to Governor Pryce at a ground hangar in the Imperial Complex.

Following Hera's capture, Governor Pryce had her tortured inside her office in the Imperial Complex. However, Hera refused to reveal the location of the Alliance Fleet. Before departing for Coruscant to lobby for continued funding for the TIE Defender program, Thrawn visited Hera and told her that her Kalikori now belonged to him. Using loth-bat gliders, Kanan, Ezra, and Sabine infiltrated the Imperial Complex through the garbage chute in the south entrance.

While Ezra and Sabine stole a patrol transport, Kanan recovered the Kalikori and freed Hera, throwing LS-261 and his fellow stormtrooper out of the building in the process. Using magnetic climbers, Kanan and Hera ascended to the top. After fighting off Rukh and several Death troopers, they escaped on a glider. Following Kanan's death and the destruction of the Lothal City fuel depot, Pryce briefed Thrawn in her office. Thrawn chastised her for destroying the fuel depot and disrupting the TIE Defender factory. Thrawn then instructed Rukh to hunt down Kanan's fellow Spectres.

The remaining Spectres, assisting the Lothal resistance group, made plans to liberate Lothal from Imperial control once and for all. Ezra came up with a plan that involved using Protocol 13 to lure all Imperial personnel on the planet inside the Dome before launching it into the sky and setting off its self-destruct mechanism. After capturing Governor Pryce in a battle at the rebel base by taking advantage of Thrawn's absence, the rebels intimidated her into going along with their plan.

The strike team flew in on two Imperial patrol transports under the ruse of a victorious Pryce returning with prisoners. They swiftly took over the control room and issued the protocol, having Azadi impersonate ISB Colonel Wullf Yularen in order to intimidate some reluctant Imperials into going along with it. However, Thrawn's personal assassin Rukh had survived the battle at the rebel base and alerted Grand Admiral Thrawn, who was returning from Coruscant, about the situation. Upon Thrawn's arrival in the Chimaera, Rukh was in position to shut down the generator that powered the Dome's shields.

Knowing that his entire army was safely inside the Dome, Thrawn began bombarding Capital City. This prompted Ezra to surrender himself while the other rebels discussed how to retake the deflector shield generator. This gave the other Rebels time to use a strategy, proposed by Sabine, of sending two teams to attack Rukh and the troops in the generator room. Sabine's plan work and the rebels were able to use the Dome's deflector shield to protect Capital City from a second bombardment wave. Shortly later, Ezra's back-up plan arrived in the form of a large pod of purrgil including many enormous Purrgil Ultras which attacked Thrawn's Seventh Fleet. Five of the Ultras attacked and latched onto the Chimaera and dragged it away into hyperspace, taking Ezra and Thrawn with it to an unknown fate.

The rest of the Rebels then set out the "Dome" to launch into Lothal's upper atmosphere before fleeing on the Ghost. Governor Pryce elected to stay behind and subsequently perished with most of the Imperial garrison aboard the "Dome." Once the "Dome" had reached a sufficient height, Sabine detonated the former Imperial headquarters, leading to cheers from the civilians of Lothal City.

The Imperial Complex first appeared in the television movie Star Wars Rebels: Spark of Rebellion, which premiered on September 26, 2014. The Dome was first identified as the Imperial headquarters in the 2014 reference book Star Wars Rebels: The Visual Guide.

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