Thrawn sees her cunning plan, and orders Skerris to break off his pursuit. So she takes a daring move by charging towards one of the Star Destroyers. She finds herself outmatched by Skerris' TIE. He easily takes out two X-Wings, and then pursues Hera. Just then, Vult Skerris joins the fight in a TIE Defender. Among the Rebel Pilots are Mart Mattin and his droid, R3-A3. Though outnumbered, Hera's squadron puts up a good fight against the TIEs. Meanwhile, the Rebels on the surface plant explosives and destroy gun towers that protect the factory. The Rebels move in and engage incoming TIE Fighters.
Their mission is to destroy the Imperial factory on the surface, but they will have to get pass the blockade first. With a huge Imperial blockade surrounding Lothal, ready and waiting, Hera Syndulla leads a squadron of twenty-four fighters, a mixture of X-Wings and Y-Wings.
