The Chandrila assault unfolded during the Liberation Day celebrations—the day designated for peace negotiations between Mon Mothma representing the New Republic and Rae Sloane from the Galactic Empire—on the planet Chandrila. Newly liberated prisoners originating from Ashmead's Lock on Kashyyyk, controlled by implanted chips, were manipulated into attacking Mothma and other New Republic leaders against their will. Mothma and Kyrsta Agate sustained injuries during these attacks, while rumors circulated that Hostis Ij, Crix Madine, and others had died. Gallius Rax orchestrated the entire event, an act that appalled Sloane, who deemed the methods uncomfortably similar to those of the Rebel Alliance and the New Republic she so loathed.
By the year 5 ABY, the New Republic, which had risen as the successor to the Rebel Alliance, had successfully wrested control of significant portions of the galaxy from the struggling Galactic Empire. Following the loss of the planet Kuat along with its extensive orbital shipyards, Grand Admiral Rae Sloane, the highest-ranking Imperial Military officer and the public face of the Empire, adopted the guise of the mysterious Operator and reached out to Chancellor Mon Mothma, Fleet Admiral Gial Ackbar, and Princess Leia Organa via hologram, proposing peace talks with the New Republic.
Chancellor Mothma expressed her willingness to consider Sloane's proposal for peace talks, but she insisted that the Galactic Senate must be involved in any such negotiations. In response, Grand Admiral Sloane suggested that she would consult with her people and proposed holding the peace talks on the world of Chandrila with a minimal security presence as a display of good faith. Sloane instructed Mon Mothma to contact her through a secure channel before concluding the meeting. Following this exchange, Chancellor Mothma issued directives to convene an emergency session of the Galactic Senate to deliberate on the possibility of holding peace talks with the Empire.
Unbeknownst to most, the peace talks were merely a smokescreen for Fleet Admiral Gallius Rax's planned attack on Chandrila, the capital of the New Republic. Rax was the true power behind the Empire, operating from the shadows through Sloane and her Shadow Council. Because Sloane disagreed with his overarching strategy for the Empire, Rax intended to have her assassinated during the peace talks by his agent Adea Rite, Sloane's own aide.
While Sloane was aware that the peace talks were a deception intended to mask Rax's attack, she remained ignorant of Rax's intention to utilize the freed rebel prisoners from Ashmead's Lock to assassinate the Chancellor and key New Republic figures. Rax had implanted the prisoners with inorganic chips and coordinated with his local operative, the Senate Guardsman Windom Traducier, to "activate" the prisoners using a transponder concealed within Hanna City's opera house.
One month after Sloane's initial contact with the New Republic leaders, the Galactic Senate cast its vote in favor of proceeding with the peace talks. A public celebration known as Liberation Day was also organized to commemorate the liberation of prisoners from the secret Ashmead's Lock prison located on the Wookiee homeworld of Kashyyyk, which remained under Imperial control. Liberation Day was conceived as a public relations initiative to promote the New Republic, with live broadcasts across the HoloNet to reach audiences throughout the galaxy. Several systems were contemplating joining the New Republic, and Chancellor Mothma hoped to influence their decisions.
When Chancellor Mothma brought up the topic of liberating Kashyyyk, Princess Leia asserted that the freedom of the Wookiees was a fundamental and non-negotiable issue. Her husband Han Solo's co-pilot Chewbacca was a Wookiee, and Solo had committed himself to a campaign to liberate the Wookiees as a gesture of friendship. Despite her persistent efforts, Leia had been unable to secure the necessary votes to dispatch aid and troops to Kashyyyk, as the New Republic was already heavily engaged in protecting and assisting other worlds and systems that had been liberated from the Empire. Although Mothma had issued orders to the New Republic Defense Force to refrain from attacking Kashyyyk, this did not deter Han, Chewie, and their team of smugglers and Wookiee exiles from organizing a slave rebellion.
Acting upon Rax's instructions, Windom Traducier utilized the transponder to summon the Ashmead Lock captives and equipped each of them with small, easily concealed graphene blasters. Given that the former captives would be mingling with Chancellor Mothma and the New Republic leadership, Traducier believed they would be reliable assets. When Temmin Wexley observed his father Brentin Lore Wexley, a former Ashmead's Lock inmate, meeting with Windom, Windom ordered Brentin to "deal" with his son. Brentin stunned Temmin and confined him within a chest.
In the meantime, Grand Admiral Sloane and her aide Adea Rite arrived in Hanna City, where they were greeted by Chancellor Mothma. As arranged by Rite, the two were invited to witness the Liberation Day celebrations. Later, Temmin managed to escape with the assistance of his B1-series battle droid Mister Bones. The pair attempted to enter the Old Gather-House where the celebrations were underway, but they were blocked by Senate Guards. A scuffle ensued as Temmin and Bones attempted to force their way inside. As Chancellor Mothma delivered a speech, the former Ashmead's Lock inmates involuntarily launched an attack on their New Republic hosts.
Upon receiving Rax's signal, Brentin and the other prisoners unleashed fire upon Chancellor Mon Mothma and other New Republic officials. Norra Wexley, Brentin's wife, managed to save the Chancellor's life by diverting his arm. Simultaneously, Commodore Kyrsta Agate sustained severe injuries from the former Rodian inmate Esdo. Only Norra's swift intervention prevented the Commodore's death. Admiral Sloane was appalled by Rax's tactics but nonetheless instructed her Royal Guards to fight their way through the New Republic Guardsmen. Sloane then ordered Rite to extract them from the planet so that she could punish Fleet Admiral Rax. However, Adea betrayed Sloane and attempted to assassinate her. Following a struggle, Sloane managed to shoot Adea in the chest with her blaster.
New Republic Senate Guardsmen arrived and successfully subdued the attackers using blasters set to stun. Amidst the chaos, Norra and Temmin attempted to pursue Brentin. Temmin tried to communicate with his father, who was still recovering from the effects of the microchip implants. Still disoriented, Brentin punched Temmin in the stomach before fleeing into the night. Concurrently, Traducier carried out Rax's orders to assassinate the turncoat General Jylia Shale and freed the former Imperial adviser Yupe Tashu from New Republic custody. Norra later managed to corner Grand Admiral Sloane and attacked her, believing her to be the mastermind behind the attack. Following a fistfight, Sloane managed to escape but sustained a blaster wound to the back.
Despite her injury, Sloane managed to escape aboard a Chandrilan HHG-42 Bulkstar cargo ship, only to discover that a vengeful Brentin had stowed away. Following an initially hostile encounter, the two realized that they shared a common enemy in the form of Fleet Admiral Rax. After Brentin tended to Sloane's blaster wound, the two formed an alliance to hunt down and kill Rax. Sloane was also contacted by the bounty hunter Mercurial Swift, who informed her that he had uncovered a wealth of information about Rax on Quantxi, the moon of the planet Ord Mantell.
The attack on Chandrila achieved its objective of creating chaos and undermining confidence within the New Republic. Some senators proposed the formation of an Independent Systems Alliance. Subsequently, the New Republic suspended the practice of hiring bounty hunters, believing that it projected an image of weakness in its security services.
While Chancellor Mon Mothma survived the assassination attempt, rumors circulated that other New Republic officials, including Hostis Ij and Crix Madine, had perished. Commodore Agate survived the attack but required extensive facial reconstructive surgery. Although Chancellor Mothma offered Norra a medal in recognition of her bravery, she declined the honor and instead embarked on a quest with her son Temmin, his droid Mister Bones, the former Imperial loyalty officer Sinjir Rath Velus, and the Iridonian Zabrak bounty hunter Jas Emari to track down Grand Admiral Sloane, whom they believed to be responsible for the atrocity. Norra and her team received the personal and financial support of their new friend Princess Leia.
The New Republic authorities managed to apprehend most of the prisoners, with the exception of Brentin. Investigations conducted by the New Republic Security Bureau confirmed that the liberated Ashmead's Lock prisoners had been implanted with inorganic bio-chips. They also arrested Windom Traducier and discovered that he had placed a transponder on the roof of the Hanna City opera house, which had been used to scramble Imperial signals. Although Traducier remained unrepentant and defiant, he was killed by Sinjir. Claiming that Grand Admiral Sloane had died on Chandrila, Gallius Rax assumed the position of Counselor to the Empire and rallied the remaining Imperial forces for a showdown with the New Republic at Jakku.
In the wake of the attack on Chandrila, the New Republic relocated its capital to the Mid Rim agrarian world of Nakadia. Numerous senators, diplomats, advisers, generals, and admirals lost their lives during the attack. Efforts by the slicer Conder Kyl to access the list of targets embedded within the control chips were thwarted when the chips malfunctioned as part of a pre-programmed degradation mechanism. Due to his involvement in the events on Chandrila, Norra harbored suspicions about her husband Brentin but reconciled with him shortly before his death during the Battle of Jakku. Given the significance of the Imperial attack, Chancellor Mon Mothma decreed that the signing of the Imperial Instruments of Surrender and the Galactic Concordance would take place on Chandrila.
The Attack on Chandrila serves as one of the two climactic events in Chuck Wendig's 2016 novel Aftermath: Life Debt, alongside the liberation of Kashyyyk. The conflict received further mention in the 2017 sequel Aftermath: Empire's End.