In 1 BBY, the Spectres were sent on a mission to Jalindi during the Galactic Civil War. The objective was to hijack the Galactic Empire's Jalindi Station in order to eavesdrop on Imperial transmissions sent through the station. Three members of the crew, Ezra Bridger, Sabine Wren, and Chopper, sky-dived onto the station's dish from the Ghost in order to install a spike. The mission was complicated by the arrival of the Arquitens-class command cruiser Marauder, which wound up detecting the rebels, prompting Sabine to change the objective and attempt to destroy the relay. Notorious rebel extremist Saw Gerrera arrived and destroyed the dish himself, the explosion also taking down the Marauder. All of the rebels escaped, but Sabine, Ezra and Chopper were forced to accompany Gerrera on another mission after the arrival of a Star Destroyer prevented them from being picked up by the Ghost.
The Rebel Alliance planing their attack on the Jalindi relay
Rebel Alliance missions, including a supply run attempted by Captain Hera Syndulla and her squadron, had recently been constantly intercepted by the Galactic Empire. Alderaanian Viceroy Bail Organa discovered that the Empire had built a new communications relay on the planet Jalindi. The Alliance had heard rumors about the relay from notorious extremist Saw Gerrera, leader of the Partisans, but had been skeptical of them because they came from Gerrera, who was not considered the most reliable of sources. At the briefing where the relay was discussed, in answer to Rex's question of how Gerrera and his small, ragtag band had better intelligence than the entire Rebel Alliance, Imperial defector Alexsandr Kallus pointed out that it was because Gerrera, unlike the Alliance, had no qualms whatsoever about how he acquired his intelligence.
Kallus suggested that the Alliance could hack the relay and eavesdrop on Imperial communications, thereby enabling them to stage their operations to avoid Imperial fleets. Alliance leader Mon Mothma approved the plan, and gave the Spectres, Syndulla's group, the mission. Spectres member Ezra Bridger thought it would be more effective to simply destroy the relay, but Syndulla pointed out that the Empire would just build another one.
Gerrera condemned Mon Mothma, who ejected the Partisans from the Alliance.
That evening, Gerrera contacted the Alliance's headquarters at Yavin 4, smugly pointing out that the Alliance had to take his information seriously now and insinuating that Mothma's leadership would lead them to ruin. Syndulla privately agreed that the relay should be destroyed, as after what had happened to her squadron on the failed supply run, she wanted to hurt the Empire as badly as it constantly hurt the rebels. However, she was committed to following her orders.
Commander Brom Titus, an old enemy of the Spectres
The Spectres' ship, the Ghost, arrived above Jalindi, and Syndulla scrambled the ship's signature so the Empire wouldn't detect it. As planned, the ship passed high above the relay, and Bridger, Sabine Wren and Chopper leaped out, freefalling to the station. Bridger and Wren were wearing jetpacks, and Chopper, as an astromech droid, had a rocket booster. At less than 500 meters above the station, low enough that they would not be detected, the three activated their rockets. They landed on the dish at a high rate of speed, and Chopper crashed into the main antenna, causing a momentary disruption in the station's signal. Before they could get to work installing the spike, aboard the Ghost, Garazeb Orrelios reported the arrival of an Arquitens-class command cruiser. Bridger, Wren and Chopper were forced to run to the other side of the antenna, and Bridger reported that they did not appear to have been spotted by the cruiser.
Wren and Chopper began hacking into the relay station, and Wren ordered the droid to patch into the secondary comm relay before installing the spike. When a transmission from the cruiser, the Marauder, came through, it became clear they had accidentally patched into the main communications channel. The Marauders commander was requesting docking clearance from the station. Wren ordered Chopper to put the ship through to the relay station so the Imperials wouldn't suspect anything was wrong. Bridger had a different idea, and asked Chopper to put him through to the ship. Affecting an accent, he attempted to impersonate the Jalindi relay's commander, claiming that the Marauder had not been expected for another rotation and was causing the station difficulties, ending by asking them to return the next day. The Marauders commander demanded to know who he was speaking to, and Bridger claimed that he was "Commander Brom Titus." However, Titus was the officer Bridger was speaking to, and he demanded to know if this was a joke.
The station's dish was realigned, causing Bridger and Wren to slide into view of the Marauders bridge. When Titus looked at the rebels through a pair of electrobinoculars, he was incensed to recognize Bridger waving at him. He had tangled with the boy on two previous occasions, the first of which had gotten him demoted from the rank of Admiral. Titus ordered one of his bridge crew to get him the real commander of the relay station. Stormtroopers were sent onto the dish, and Bridger and Wren fought them. She contacted Syndulla to report that they had been spotted and request a pickup. Wren decided to attempt to blow the station up, as a way to salvage the mission. As she and Bridger fought the stormtroopers, she attempted to plant detonators on the dish. Bridger had Chopper realign the dish, throwing the stormtroopers off-balance as everyone slid back into the dish's center.
Ezra, Sabine, and Saw watching the Jalindi relay explode along with the Marauder.
When Titus was informed that a small ship, the Ghost, was approaching, he ordered his cruiser's weapons prepped and their two new fighters launched. Onboard the Ghost, Orrelios reported to Syndulla that the fighters were the highly advanced TIE/d "Defender" Multi-Role Starfighters, and she was forced to break off her approach. On the dish, Bridger ordered Chopper to realign it again, as more stormtroopers had arrived. He and Wren slid towards the other side of the dish. Wren caught hold of a support strut for one of the smaller secondary dishes, and grabbed Bridger by the hand before he could slide off. The stormtroopers, however, were not so lucky.
As the Ghost was being pursued by the heavily-shielded Defenders, Syndulla's copilot, Jedi Knight Kanan Jarrus, advised her to head into the foggy depths surrounding the stone pillars of the local landscape. Using the Force, he gave her directions through the pillars. As the pilots of the Defenders were unable to perceive the pillars in the same way, both fighters eventually crashed. Back at the relay, Titus was informed of the arrival of another rebel ship, a UT-60D U-wing starfighter/support craft, which fired on the Marauder and severely damaged it, disabling its deflector shields. The ship flew up to the dish, and Bridger and Wren were surprised to see Gerrera on board. Gerrera invited them onboard, as he pushed several sets of proton bombs onto the dish, warning that he had set them on short fuses. Bridger, Wren, and Chopper boarded Gerrera's ship, which was copiloted by Edrio Two Tubes.
The stormtroopers on the dish, noting the bombs' short timers, attempted to flee, and Titus, onboard his cruiser, ordered his bridge crew to pursue the fleeing U-wing. However, it was too late, as the detonation of the proton bombs destroyed the relay station and the nearby Marauder. Syndulla, returning from dealing with the Defenders, witnessed the explosion from the Ghost. Contacting Bridger and Wren, she was relieved to know that they were safe, but less so to know that they were with Gerrera.
Saw Gerrera and Edrio, who rescued the Spectres
The two rebel ships left Jalindi's atmosphere. Syndulla intended to dock the Ghost with Gerrera's U-wing in order to retrieve Bridger, Wren, and Chopper, but was prevented by the arrival of a Star Destroyer, forcing both ships to flee into hyperspace. Bridger, Wren, and Chopper, separated from the rest of the Spectres, accompanied Gerrera on a mission to investigate a mysterious Imperial shipment.