The Ryloth Campaign, alternatively referred to as the Ryloth Insurgency, was a planetary uprising. This event unfolded on the independent world of Ryloth during the Imperial Era, subsequent to the Clone Wars. Ryloth existed as a protectorate under the control of the Galactic Empire, a state of affairs known as the occupation of Ryloth. The Twi'lek freedom fighter Cham Syndulla, along with the Free Ryloth Movement, spearheaded this resistance.
The conflict's resolution came more than two decades (years) later, during the Galactic Civil War. Imperial forces withdrew following the Battle of Endor due to the Empire's crippling instability. Consequently, the planet achieved renewed independence, choosing to remain separate from the New Republic because of its past experiences.
For many centuries, the Twi'leks residing on the Outer Rim planet of Ryloth had been fighting against the dominion of the Hutts. During the Clone Wars, the Galactic Republic and the Jedi Order formed an alliance with Cham Syndulla, a Twi'lek political radical, to expel Separatist forces led by Wat Tambor during the Ryloth campaign. The Republic used the liberation of Ryloth from the Separatists as justification for annexing the world.
When the Clone Wars ended, the Republic was restructured into the totalitarian Galactic Empire. The Empire designated Ryloth as an Imperial protectorate. Although the planet was officially independent and had representation in the Imperial Senate through Senator Orn Free Taa, Imperial forces occupied Ryloth. Taa was merely an Imperial puppet who automatically approved the Empire's decisions. Twi'leks who opposed the Empire viewed him as a collaborator. In reality, the Imperial Moff Delian Mors held the true authority, delegating much of her responsibilities to Colonel Belkor Dray, who grew to resent her laziness and spice addiction.
Resistance from the Twi'leks to Imperial authority led to the rise of the Free Ryloth Movement under the leadership of Cham Syndulla. Around five years after the Empire's establishment, the Free Ryloth movement disrupted spice production on the planet, instigated riots against Imperial rule, and stole shipments of Imperial weaponry. Cham received assistance from Colonel Belkor, who harbored resentment towards Moff Delian. Later, a group of Free Ryloth operatives, led by Pok, hijacked an Imperial freighter carrying a weapons shipment at the Yaga Minor shipyards. However, Emperor Palpatine's enforcer Darth Vader and Imperial forces pursued them. Vader personally boarded the freighter and massacred Pok and his comrades.
After the death of his friend Pok, Cham determined it was time to move past "half measures" and take more decisive action against the Empire. The Emperor suspected that an insider was aiding the Free Ryloth rebels, so he devised a scheme for the two Sith Lords, Senator Taa, and his staff to travel to Ryloth on an official visit aboard the Imperial Star Destroyer Perilous. As expected, news of the Emperor and Vader's visit to Ryloth was leaked to the Free Ryloth movement. Cham and his lieutenant Isval immediately recognized this as an opportunity to end Imperial domination over Ryloth and concocted a plan to assassinate the two Sith Lords, believing that their deaths would cause the Empire to collapse.
Without revealing his assassination plan, Cham secretly met with Belkor to discuss a plan to assassinate Senator Taa and discredit Moff Mors. Implementing his plan, Cham scattered hundreds of mines in the space surrounding Ryloth. As expected, the Sith Lords' Star Destroyer Perilous struck the mines and sustained damage. Cham then deployed vulture droids to attack the Perilous's V-wing starfighter escorts. Free Ryloth operatives led by Isval then boarded the ship disguised as repair and rescue crew and killed several Imperial officers and stormtroopers.
Vader and the Emperor quickly realized that the Free Ryloth movement had a spy among Senator Taa's staff. With the Perilous badly damaged and facing an impending explosion, the two Sith Lords managed to escape on a shuttle and were pursued by a team of Free Ryloth operatives led by Isval. Moff Mor and Colonel Dray deployed rescue ships to rescue the Imperial personnel and the two Sith Lords. However, Dray secretly sabotaged the rescue efforts and leaked information to Cham, who was coordinating the battle from a hidden base on Ryloth.
Despite being pursued by Free Ryloth operatives, Vader managed to crash-land the shuttle in Ryloth's equatorial forest. Most of the Imperial personnel were killed but Vader, the Emperor, and two Emperor's Royal Guards. The two Sith Lords were forced to work together in order to survive the dangerous forest and to evade their Twi'lek pursuers. Under Cham's orders, Belkor arranged for Isval's team to raid and destroy the Equatorial Communications Hub's main satellite in order to disrupt communication between Vader, the Emperor, and Moff Delian. While helping Cham to hunt down the Sith Lords, Belkor also sowed disinformation among Imperial forces claiming that Delian was a traitor working with the Ryloth rebels.
While traveling through the jungle, the two Sith Lords and their Free Ryloth pursuers had to contend with several predatory fauna including gutkurrs and lyleks. The Sith Lords used their lightsaber skills and Force powers to destroy an entire hive of giant lyleks including the queen. After escaping the tunnel, the two Sith Lords and the surviving Royal Guard Sergeant Erstin Deez encountered an adolescent Twi'lek girl named Drua who led them to her village, which was populated by escaped slaves. Concealing their true identities, the two Sith Lords sought refuge at the village and managed to reestablish contact with Moff Delian. Eventually, Cham and Isval's forces caught up with them and prepared to attack the village.
Despite Belkor's best efforts to conceal his involvement with Cham, Moff Delian soon discovered his subterfuge and managed to win over the Imperial forces on Ryloth that were searching for the Emperor and Vader. Belkor also killed his pilot Ophim in an attempt to prevent himself from being exposed as a traitor. After learning that the Sith Lords had reached a Twi'lek village and that Cham's forces were massing nearby, Belkor ordered the V-wing pilots to bomb the area. However, Delian had convinced the pilots that Belkor was a traitor and ordered them to blast his ship; killing Belkor and depriving Cham of his spy. Cham and Isval's forces proceeded with the assault on the Twi'lek village. However, the Free Ryloth forces were thwarted by the arrival of Imperial reinforcements led by Moff Delian. After driving off Cham's forces, the Sith Lords massacred the surviving Twi'lek soldiers and villagers including the captive Isval. Cham, however, survived the battle and escaped to fight another day as a more grizzled leader.
Hera Syndulla, Cham Syndulla's daughter, became a talented pilot and starship captain. However, they disagreed on Ryloth's role in the rebellion. Cham focused solely on Ryloth's liberation, while Hera believed their homeworld's freedom was tied to the growing rebellion against the Empire. Unable to reconcile their differences, they separated. Hera eventually led a small rebel cell based on the VCX-100 light freighter Ghost. Hera's cell was part of the larger Phoenix Cell, which was a component of the wider rebellion.
Three years before the Battle of Yavin, the Galactic Empire sent a Quasar Fire-class cruiser-carrier to Ryloth. This carrier housed several TIE bombers that regularly bombed Ryloth, which lowered the morale of the Free Ryloth movement. Hera's rebel cell eliminated the cruiser-carrier threat by stealing the vessel with the help of Cham and two associates, Numa and Gobi Glie. The stolen cruiser-carrier became the new flagship of the Phoenix rebel fleet and home to its starfighter squadron, Phoenix Squadron. Hera's successful mission resulted in the destruction of an Arquitens-class command cruiser and strengthened the rebellion on Ryloth. Furthermore, Hera and Cham mended their strained relationship.
Due to their connection with Hera, Cham's Free Ryloth movement established ties with the rebellion. Two years before the Battle of Yavin, Hera and the Ghost crew returned to Ryloth to deliver supplies to Cham's forces. By then, an Imperial fleet blockaded Ryloth. Imperial forces under Grand Admiral Mitth'raw'nuruodo "Thrawn" and Captain Slavin had also occupied Tann Province and the Syndulla residence, which became the new Imperial headquarters. Thrawn studied the Twi'lek species' art, culture, philosophy and history and was able to devise successful tactics against the Free Ryloth movement. The Free Ryloth movement lost many fighters during the Tann province campaign. Cham himself was forced to flee his home and left behind a valuable family heirloom: his wife's Kalikori.
The crew of the Ghost, along with Cham, Numa, and Glie, embarked on a joint mission to recover the Kalikori. While Hera, Ezra Bridger, and Chopper infiltrated the Syndulla residence, Cham and the others staged an attack on Imperial forces in a nearby canyon. Hera and Bridger were quickly captured by Thrawn, who recognized Hera and expressed admiration for her and her father. He took the Kalikori as part of his art collection. Thrawn then handed command to Captain Slavin while he observed the ensuing "experiment." Slavin used Hera and Bridger as hostages to force Cham to surrender himself. However, Hera circumvented his plan by using Chopper to plant explosives in the Syndulla residence. This explosion enabled Hera, Bridger, and Chopper to escape without having to surrender Cham. Thrawn observed the skirmish and allowed the two rebel groups to escape on the Ghost out of respect for their ingenuity.
During the "scourge of the droids" between 3 ABY and 4 ABY, R2-D2's recently re-formed D-Squad passed through Imperial-occupied Ryloth while pursuing QT-KT, from whom they hoped to learn about the Second Revelation. However, the Scourge, pursuing R2 to prevent his efforts to stop its spread, discovered his presence on Ryloth and seized control of several Imperial KX-series security droids and DT-series sentry droids on the planet. Communicating with D-Squad through the Imperial droids, the Scourge demanded that R2 be handed over or killed, offering to spare the rest of D-Squad if they complied. Instead, R2, QT, and the rest of D-Squad attacked the Scourged Imperial units. QT was damaged in the battle but survived. Departing with the others, QT and D-Squad traveled to the Colony of the Second Revelation to meet its leader, Ajax Sigma, whom QT had mentioned on Ryloth.
In 5 ABY, following the Battle of Endor, the Galactic Empire, facing significant instability after the deaths of the Emperor and Darth Vader, abandoned its bases on Ryloth. Consequently, the planet regained its independence. Yendor Brethen, a rebel fighter, became the planet's new ambassador to the New Republic, which was the government established by the Alliance to Restore the Republic.
After the Galactic Civil War, Ryloth remained independent and did not join the New Republic. Ryloth's government expected the New Republic to suppress organized crime and patrol the space lanes. In 28 ABY, the New Republic neglected these duties due to infighting within the Galactic Senate, which allowed the Nikto crime lord Rinnrivin Di's cartel to emerge. Rinnrivin's cartel heavily impacted Ryloth's offworld trade, prompting Ambassador Yendor to appeal to the Galactic Senate for help. A subsequent New Republic investigation, led by Senators Leia Organa and Ransolm Casterfo, revealed that Rinnrivin was linked to a pro-Imperial militia called the Amaxine warriors. The Centrist senators, working for the First Order, the successor to the Old Empire, created this proxy group.
The Ryloth Rebellion was first extensively explored in Paul S. Kemp's novel, Lords of the Sith, which was published on April 28, 2015. It also appeared in Melissa Scott's 2015 short story, Mercy Mission, which was included in The Rise of the Empire omnibus. The conflict was also featured in two Star Wars Rebels episodes, "Homecoming" and "Hera's Heroes," which aired in 2016. The conflict made a brief appearance in Chuck Wendig's 2016 novel, Aftermath: Life Debt, the second book in the Aftermath Trilogy.