In the year that was four before the Battle of Yavin, Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin, a highly-ranked officer within the Galactic Empire, became aware of the actions of a rebel cell operating on Lothal, a planet situated in the Outer Rim, when they launched an assault on the communications tower. Having heard the accounts of this rebel group, and knowing that their commander, Kanan Jarrus, was a Jedi, Tarkin initiated a scheme which resulted in Jarrus's capture. This occurred during a rebel operation to infiltrate Lothal's Imperial Communications Center with the aim of sending a transmission to the people of Lothal, aiming to correct the narrative surrounding their rebellion. The rebels successfully transmitted the signal, after Jarrus willingly surrendered himself to facilitate their escape, but the Empire subsequently destroyed the tower to halt the broadcast.
During the Age of the Empire, a rebel group called the "Spectres" began operations on the Outer Rim planet of Lothal. This group of six was composed of the Twi'lek captain Hera Syndulla, the former Jedi Padawan Kanan Jarrus, the astromech droid Chopper, the Lasat warrior Garazeb Orrelios, the Mandalorian weapons expert Sabine Wren, and Ezra Bridger, a young Lothalian man and Jedi apprentice. For a period of time, this rebel group disrupted Imperial operations on Lothal, attacked Imperial personnel, and evaded numerous attempts by local Imperial forces to apprehend them.
The activities of this rebel cell eventually garnered the attention of Wilhuff Tarkin, the Grand Moff who was also the Governor of the Outer Rim territories. Annoyed by the incompetence of his subordinates, Tarkin journeyed to Lothal with the intention of eliminating the rebels. He questioned the reports that one of the rebels, Kanan, was a Jedi. After executing Commandant Cumberlayne Aresko and Taskmaster Myles Grint for their failures, Tarkin initiated a plan designed to capture the rebels. He instructed Agent Kallus of the Imperial Security Bureau to deploy probe droids to all known locations of "insurgent" activity.
In the meantime, the Spectres, encouraged by Kanan, resolved to take control of the Imperial Communications Center located near Jalath with the objective of broadcasting a message to the citizens of Lothal. The Spectres had been negatively impacted by the betrayal of Gall Trayvis, a Senator-in-exile and prominent critic of the Empire who the rebels had unmasked as an Imperial agent. The rebels were further angered by the official Imperial propaganda disseminated through HoloNet News, which portrayed them as terrorists. By seizing the main communications tower, Kanan aimed to transmit the rebels' perspective on the situation.
While Hera remained on the Phantom to serve as an escape vessel, Kanan and the other four rebels – Ezra, Zeb, Sabine, and Chopper – would participate in the raid. Chopper's primary task was to upload a data spike into the tower's communication system, temporarily overloading it and allowing Kanan to connect a holotransmitter to the tower for broadcasting his message. As they infiltrated the communication tower's compound, the rebels encountered and disabled one of Agent Kallus's probe droids. However, before being disabled, the droid managed to transmit footage of them to Grand Moff Tarkin.
Despite discovering the rebels' location, Tarkin instructed Kallus not to take any further action, as he wanted the rebels to maintain the illusion of having the element of surprise. Later that night, the rebels executed their plan and invaded the communications tower. They successfully overpowered the small stormtrooper garrison stationed there with relative ease. After securing the tower, Chopper uploaded his data spike into the main tower's communication system. This overloaded the tower's system, enabling Kanan to attach a holotransmitter. Before Kanan could commence his broadcast, the other rebels spotted approaching Imperial reinforcements.
While the other rebels ascended the tower to rendezvous with Hera, Kanan remained behind to delay the Imperials. Kanan was quickly surrounded by several Imperial Troop Transports and stormtroopers led by Agent Kallus. When Kanan refused to surrender, Kallus then initiated the trap. A patrol transport carrying the Grand Inquisitor landed above Kanan, and the two Force-users engaged in a lightsaber duel. Meanwhile, the other rebels reached the top only to be cornered by another patrol transport. However, Sabine threw a grenade at the transport, causing it to crash to the ground.
Back on the ground, the Grand Inquisitor reiterated his ultimatum to Kanan. He offered to spare the lives of Kanan and his companions if they surrendered, adding that someone was interested in meeting him. Kanan, however, rejected the Grand Inquisitor's ultimatum and destroyed the elevator's control panel to delay the Imperials. Meanwhile, Hera arrived in the Phantom and shot down a second police gunship. She then evacuated Ezra, Sabine, Zeb, and Chopper to safety. Despite her protests, Kanan insisted on staying behind and surrendered himself to the Imperials.
At dawn, Grand Moff Tarkin arrived in a police gunship to meet the Jedi Kanan. However, Tarkin's victory was tempered by news that the rebels were remotely controlling the main communications tower. In Kanan's absence, Ezra had taken it upon himself to broadcast a message to the people of Lothal, condemning the Empire and urging them to revolt. Having failed to prevent the rebels from disseminating their propaganda, Tarkin ordered his patrol transport to destroy the main communications tower. In the presence of Kanan, he emphasized his willingness to do anything to achieve victory in the war.
Despite capturing Kanan Jarrus, Grand Moff Tarkin was unable to contain the spread of rebellion on Lothal. The destruction of the main communications tower resulted in the disruption of all offworld communications on Lothal. Consequently, the Imperial government and military on Lothal were forced to rely on courier droids to transport information to Arquitens-class command cruisers orbiting the planet. After failing to break Kanan's will, Tarkin ordered the Jedi to be transferred to the Mustafar system for further interrogation. Furthermore, the Empire increased restrictions on offworld travel on Lothal.
Meanwhile, the Spectres struggled with the decision of whether to rescue Kanan. The rebels' ally Fulcrum advised Hera against rescuing Kanan to avoid exposing the rebellion to the Empire. Defying Hera's orders, Ezra, Sabine, Zeb, and Chopper initiated a plan to rescue their co-leader. Following a tip-off from the crime lord Cikatro Vizago, the rebels used Chopper to infiltrate an Imperial light cruiser. After discovering that Kanan was scheduled to be transported to Mustafar, the Spectres devised a plan to rescue Kanan.
The raid on the communications tower made its first appearance in the Star Wars Rebels episode "Call to Action," which was initially broadcast on February 2, 2015. It was later included in Michael Kogge's Battle to the End, a chapter book adaptation of the concluding arc of the first season of Star Wars Rebels.