First Order

The First Order (21 ABY-35 ABY), or simply the Order, was a fascist military junta which dwelled in the Unknown Regions of the galaxy during the era of the New Republic. The First Order was ruled by a Supreme Leader from their mobile headquarters instead of a traditional planetary capital. A militaristic dictatorship that wished to remove disorder from existence and had a fanatical devotion to the totalitarian notions of order and a disdain for democracy. To this end, it became locked in a Cold War with the New Republic and spreading influence from beyond the confines of unknown space, ending with the First Order staging an invasion of the galaxy, but were repelled by the Resistance and Jedi Order, causing the First Order to fall.

After the death of Darth Sidious, publicly known as Galactic Emperor Sheev Palpatine, in the Battle of Endor, the Galactic Empire fell and broke into various Imperial Remnants. Spearheaded by Counselor to the Empire Gallius Rax, some of the Imperial Military retreated into the Unknown Regions, which the Empire had secretly charted in the past. After blazing through ancient hyperspace trails, retreating Imperials met secret reinforcements, where Grand Admiral Rae Sloane intended to build a stronger and purer Empire. In the years after, Sloane's remnant forces formed the First Order that plotted a return to power and sought to reclaim lost Imperial legacy.

Sloane and Commandant Brendol Hux were among the first leaders of the First Order. The fleets and armies that they secretly built comprised a vast and technologically superior military at the First Order's disposal. Through Project Resurrection, the First Order conscripted children—thousands of whom were abducted from outlying star systems—and trained them as the new generation of stormtroopers. The First Order also undertook a major offensive to seize several hermetic kingdoms and their resources in the Unknown Regions. Eventually, the mysterious Snoke rose to power as Supreme Leader, who was in fact an artificial Strand-Cast that served as the proxy the revived Darth Sidious from the hidden world of Exegol. With its original leaders mostly sidelined, the First Order become subservient to the Sith Eternal cult that Sidious and his plans to use turn the First Order into a template for a resurgent Sith Empire. Much of the First Order, however, was unaware of the Sith's influence over their organization.

The First Order was publicly formed by the Centrist-aligned star systems that seceded from the New Republic as a result of instability in the Galactic Senate. Throughout the Cold War, the First Order and the New Republic existed in a state of tension with occasional skirmishes but no direct fighting. As the First Order became increasingly hostile toward the New Republic, former Senator Leia Organa founded the Resistance to monitor its activities. However, the Senate refused to take forceful military action against them, believing that they posed no credible threat. The First Order also began to search for Jedi Master Luke Skywalker, to prevent the rise of a new Jedi.

In 34 ABY, the galaxy fell into a state of crisis when the First Order fired its superweapon, Starkiller Base, at the Hosnian system, completely destroying the New Republic capital of Hosnian Prime. Although the Resistance succeeded in destroying the weapon during the Battle of Starkiller Base, they were unable to stop the First Order's invasion of the galaxy. During the Battle of Oetchi, Snoke was assassinated by his apprentice, the warlord Kylo Ren, who usurped the title of Supreme Leader. The First Order conquered much of the known galaxy under Ren's leadership, which was met with defiance and rebellion, to which Ren responded by enforcing a heavily brutal suppression of dissent.

In 35 ABY, Ren formed an alliance with Sidious after discovering the Final Order—a massive fleet of Xyston-class Star Destroyers built by the Sith Eternal—on Exegol. Sidious promised Ren control of his forces and the chance to succeed him as Galactic Emperor if he killed the Jedi apprentice Rey. However, Ren's ambition to rule the First Order as a true Empire ended when he renounced the dark side of the Force and returned to the light side as Ben Solo. Despite the loss of the Supreme Leader, Allegiant General Enric Pryde swore his allegiance to Sidious, who declared himself Emperor once more. However, his plans for the Sith resurrection were thwarted by Rey and Ben Solo during the Battle of Exegol, where the Emperor was ultimately destroyed along with his followers. Without the support of Sith reinforcements, the First Order failed to quell the uprising against its rule and ultimately collapsed in the wake of the Resistance's victory at Exegol, even though an entire generation consisting of countless officers and stormtroopers remained along with missing foundries and hubs of manufacturing unaccounted for.

History

Rise and fall of Empire

Main articles: Galactic Empire and Contingency

For roughly a millennium, the Galactic Republic maintained peace and stability within the galaxy, aided by the efforts of the monastic Jedi Order and the Judicial Forces. With the believed extinction of the Sith—ancient enemies of the Jedi and the Republic—the ruling Dark Lord Darth Sidious secretly plotted to overthrow the Republic with the formation of his own Sith Empire.^[19][20] Sidious, along with his Sith apprentice Darth Tyranus, orchestrated the Separatist Crisis by fomenting political chaos across the galaxy. Through his apprentice, Sidious secretly commanded a rival galactic government known as the Confederacy of Independent Systems throughout the destructive three-year period that was the Clone Wars, while he remained the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic as Sheev Palpatine long beyond the expiration of his term. Gradually amassing far more emergency powers than would be ordinarily allowed through the Galactic Senate, along with radically amending the Galactic Constitution, Sidious eventually oversaw the destruction of the Jedi Order and the defeat of the Separatists through his new apprentice, Darth Vader. Sidious, as Chancellor Palpatine, then issued the proclamation of the New Order,^[21] officially transforming the thousand-year-old democracy into the Galactic Empire and installing himself as the first Galactic Emperor with the support of the Senate.^[22]

With the purge of the Jedi and a massive military to enforce his will, Sidious remained largely unchallenged as Emperor throughout the initial nineteen years of his reign, embarking on a gradual conquest of the galaxy. Eventually, the Alliance to Restore the Republic was formed to oppose his aggressive expansion and genocidal actions,^[23] resulting in the outbreak of the Galactic Civil War^[24] that spanned years of galactic history.^[25] Four years after the destruction of the first Death Star by Luke Skywalker,^[24] the Empire suffered a decisive defeat at the Battle of Endor, where the more powerful Death Star II was destroyed, and along with it, the Emperor and his apprentice, Darth Vader.^[26]

Unknown to anyone but a select few, however, the Emperor had long been sending Imperial scouts and other constructive efforts to the Unknown Regions of space,^[27] with assistance from a collection of high-ranking power players within the Empire, including his advisor Yupe Tashu and the individuals that went on to form the Imperial Future Council.^[18] Over the course of decades, the Unknown Regions had been seeded with shipyards, laboratories, and storehouses that would serve to prepare for the Empire's rebirth as part of Sidious' Contingency in the rare event of his death.^[27] His plan was to ensure the Galactic Empire's destruction as he believed that an Empire should not outlive its Emperor^[28] and its' inability to defend him made it unworthy of continued existence.^[29] However, he also planned the creation of a new Empire beyond the borders of known space; resources and select personnel were discreetly funnelled to the Unknown Regions, where the Empire could begin anew.^[27] Per Sidious's plans, only the most ruthless of Imperial personnel would remain to forge the new state.^[2] Sidious entrusted the task of executing the Contingency to his protégé, Gallius Rax.^[28]

Following another year of bloody conflict, the fractured Empire made its last stand over the sandy wastes of Jakku, which had become a rallying point for retreating Imperials, against the New Republic, resulting in many casualties on both sides of the conflict^[8] as part of the Battle of Jakku.^[30] On Jakku, a secret Imperial research base,^[8] the Jakku Observatory, housed ancient computers which plotted out computerized routes through the Unknown Regions. These computers used information derived from Grand Admiral Thrawn,^[28] who hailed from the Chiss Ascendancy,^[31] and the survey teams and probe droids that the Emperor had previously sent to explore these routes.^[28] Jakku came to serve as a jumping-off point for Imperial warships heading into the Unknown Regions,^[32] and the retreating Imperials destroyed the research base before the New Republic could reach it.^[8]

As part of the Contingency, Rax's secret objective in the Battle of Jakku was to destroy the planet to cripple both the remnants of the Empire and the New Republic; however, he was prevented from carrying out this phase by Grand Admiral Rae Sloane, who killed Rax. In his dying words, Rax urged Sloane to take his place in the Contingency with Commandant Brendol Hux, his son Armitage Hux, and their child soldiers aboard the starship Imperialis and rendezvous with the Emperor's flagship, the Super Star Destroyer Eclipse, which had been dispatched in advance to the Unknown Regions. Their journey took several months and consisted of many short hyperspace jumps, during which time Sloane discovered that the Imperialis had been transmitting coordinates to other Imperial fleets. Upon regrouping with the Eclipse, Sloane ordered the Sentinel piloting the Imperialis to bring the ship in and rejoin with the others. There, she intended to board and saw an opportunity to rebuild the Empire; one that was stronger and purer, and not given to the backstabbing and incest of the Galactic Empire.^[28]

Defeated at Jakku and facing severe internal unrest, the Empire was forced to sign the Galactic Concordance, severely limiting its ability to wage war and ushering in its demise^[8] Imperial Grand Vizier Mas Amedda and New Republic Chancellor Mon Mothma signed the Galactic Concordance, which called for the dissolution of the Galactic Empire. Chancellor Mothma then issued another declaration designating all surviving Imperial officers as war criminals,^[28] while the Empire began to break into remnants. A remnant of Imperial vessels was confined to predetermined boundaries by the New Republic in the Core and Inner Rim^[30] while a provisional government led by Amedda was established on Coruscant, the former capital of the Old Republic^[19] and throneworld of the Empire, where it was overseen by Republic observers.^[28]

After the signing of the Galactic Concordance, the New Republic arrived in systems still under Imperial control to announce the signing of the historic peace treaty. However, by the time the Republic reached these systems, fleets had already retreated to the Unknown Regions. The battle's end at Jakku was marked by the sudden departure of the surviving Imperial warships into the Unknown Regions following the announcement of the treaty, where they had seemingly disappeared.^[8] During the New Republic Era, multiple Imperial Remnants were represented on the Shadow Council, allowing them to coordinate efforts that subvert the New Republic.^[33] The original Council was created by Rax^[34] prior to his death on Jakku.^[28]

Early foundations

Main article: Unknown Regions Imperial remnant

In an effort to escape the prying eyes of the New Republic and restore the Empire after the Battle of Jakku,^[28] a major remnant of warships,^[9] officers, nobles, technologists,^[36] and warlords^[8] fled the known galaxy^[9] as part of an exodus^[8] into the Unknown Regions spearheaded by Rax, Sloane, and Hux.^[9] Beyond the Imperialis's signal to Imperial fleets,^[28] the Imperials were also guided into uncharted space thanks to the dark side adept known as Snoke, whose Attendants had access to ancient hyperspace routes the Imperials likely would have died without.^[27] All the same, the Imperial remnant blazed across the badly mapped star systems of the Unknown Regions over the course of years. Eventually, however, they found a foothold on planets the Empire had secretly charted in the past.^[9] Within the Unknown Regions, they met secret reinforcements^[1] and plotted a return to power, for which they began to build fleets and armies in secret to reclaim the Imperial legacy.^[36] By 9 ABY,^[37] Brendol Hux represented his remnant in the Shadow Council, overseeing affairs related to Project Necromancer,^[33] a cloning operation that had been of great interest to the late Emperor during early years of his reign.^[38] Meanwhile, the Imperial remnant in the galaxy proper^[28] withered away into a remnant of political hardliners locked in a cold war with the New Republic until they reformed into^[8] what became^[36] the mysterious First Order^[8] that started in the Unknown Regions.^[2]

The emerging^[39] First Order began kidnapping children to fill out the ranks of its new military,^[1] specifically targeting the children of former Rebel leaders. Amongst those taken was the daughter of Rebel General Landonis Balthazar Calrissian,^[4] Kadara, who was kidnapped in 15 ABY. All the same, in 21 ABY,^[40] the Imperial Military sat in tatters and had fled across the galaxy's farthest reaches,^[41] with even the Imperial hideouts of the Unknown Regions remaining scattered. Still,^[39] those hidden^[2] Unknown Regions Imperial holdouts^[9] started to form a new chain of command, albeit an obscure and skeletal one, for Imperial survivors. Amongst their followers was Enric Pryde, who was ordered to establish ties with the Corporate Sector Authority. The Sith Eternal secretly trusted Pryde as a valuable follower and thus dispatched Ochi of Bestoon to meet with him during the assassin's mission for the Emperor.^[39] Later in 21 ABY, the First Order was founded^[15] by the Unknown Regions remnant, who regrouped themselves^[9] from once scattered hideouts^[39] into the First Order.^[2][9] Indeed, the rise of the First Order entailed festering Imperial remnants uniting and blooming into that singular, new force.^[42]

The First Order specifically grew from the political, military, and spiritual^[9] elements of the New Order,^[1] with Sloane and Hux becoming part of its first set of leaders.^[2] A military junta^[3] influenced by the principles of the fallen Empire,^[43] the origins of the First Order thus dated back to the Galactic Empire, with the remnants of the Imperial Military forming the basis of the First Order military. The Sith Eternal was the First Order's secretive spiritual branch;^[9] as a Sith cult, they preserved the Sith religion and revered the dark side of the Force from their base of operations on the planet Exegol. Additionally, the Sith Eternal cultists were dedicated to building a new Sith Empire, secretly working to ensure the First Order's conquest of the galaxy.^[1] The rise of the First Order took advantage of the New Republic's failure to properly exert its authority or truly patrol the Outer Rim.^[44] Beyond that, the First Order would keep its emerging military might hidden within the Unknown Regions, where they avoided the eyes of the New Republic. The First Order Navy's ideology would be focused on mobility and individual firepower due to its much smaller fleet in comparison to the Old Empire.^[45] As an entity that claimed the mantle of a successor to the fallen Empire, the elite of the First Order included within its numbers the members of the wealthy dynasties that had once belonged to the Imperial aristocracy during Palpatine’s reign. Having maintained their devotion to the Imperial vision for building a better galactic order that was formed through any means necessary, these lineages — including the Jerjerrod family — were counted among the upper class of the First Order and commanded respect from various members.^[46]

The rise of Snoke

Just as many of the Emperor's servants carried the Old Empire's greatest military secrets to the Unknown Regions, so too did Snoke, who eventually rose to become^[27] the Supreme Leader of the First Order.^[6] Had it not been for the ancient hyperspace trails blazed through the Unknown Regions by Snoke's Attendants, most of the former Imperial officers would have likely perished crossing into the uncharted realm.^[12] Snoke was a mysterious humanoid, with very scant details as to regarding his origins,^[9] strong with the dark side of the Force.^[12] Despite his abilities not being explicitly Sith in origin, Snoke's powerful abilities as a force user and knowledge made him the undisputed heir as the leader to the forces gathered under the Contingency.^[1]

Snoke was, in fact, one of the many artificial strandcasts created by the Emperor and his cult following, the Sith Eternal, prior to his demise, and discarded as a potential vessel for the Sith Lord's dark essence.^[29] Instead, Snoke was made to serve as a proxy ruler for his creator and influenced by the zombified Sith Lord from afar^[9] to gather the forces that would go to make the armies of the First Order and spread his influence across the galaxy through less direct means. With that, Sidious ensured that the new empire which arose after the Battle of Jakku was his to control.^[29] The First Order did not know of Snoke's origins, though some came to peer behind the veil of secrecy and realized that he was subservient to some unseen force.^[1] Snoke himself was possibly unaware of the factual nature surrounding his existence,^[9] and indeed remained unaware of his status as a pawn in Sidious's larger game for his entire life.^[47]

The Emperor's resurrection, the existence of his followers, the Sith Eternal, and their hidden base of operations, Exegol, were all secrets unknown to even the highest echelons of the First Order. Much of the First Order was even unaware of the Contingency itself nor their ultimate purpose in it, for as the First Order served as its military wing, the Sith Eternal lay at its spiritual heart. The true leadership of the First Order operated from behind a veil of secrecy, driven by the tenets of the dark side of the Force and the ancient ways of the Sith.^[1] From afar, the phantom Emperor, working from the shadows,^[7] forged the remnants of the Empire into the First Order as he plotted his return to power.^[48] Once the time was right, Sidious would return at the head of a new Sith Empire, which would absorb the First Order and sweep aside any other pretenders or states to control the galaxy.^[2]

Snoke's choices when governing the faction only added to his mysterious nature. The dark side adept made no designs toward the old title Emperor, relied on mysticism and focusing on spiritual matters while allowing his generals to wield the First Order military in his name, and was unwilling to meet in person with his subordinates, instead relying on large casting presence holograms to communicate with and to administer orders to the underlings who served him.^[1] Gallius Rax, Rae Sloane, Ormes Apolin, and Brendol Hux were originally seen as potential leaders of the Empire's remnants by the admirals and generals who had survived the implosion of the Empire and the New Republic's wrath, but they were sidelined, co-opted, or destroyed by Snoke. Brendol's son, General Armitage Hux, was spared in the long term by Snoke in order to use him as a political tool in his rise to power.^[27] Pryde was eventually made privy to Palpatine's survival and became the Emperor's contact within the regime. In addition to Pryde, many of the young generation that the Sith Eternal harvested for their army were originally conscripted into the First Order as children, but, due to their potential, spies culled and "disappeared" them, allowing them to become the red-armored Sith troopers that comprised the infantry of Darth Sidious' new forces.^[4]

New leaders

As the son of a founding member of the First Order, Armitage Hux was raised in the organization's military wing^[1] which Captain Phasma joined after leaving her homeworld of Parnassos with Brendol.^[5] Following the Destruction of the Jedi Temple, former Padawan Ben Solo joined the First Order under the persona of Kylo Ren. He became the master of the Knights of Ren as well as the apprentice of Supreme Leader Snoke. Hailing from the powerful bloodline of the Skywalker family, Ren had in his master's estimation the potential to become as strong as his grandfather Darth Vader.^[10] Unlike Armitage and Phasma, Ren did not possess an official rank in the First Order military. Nonetheless, as Snoke's apprentice he wielded the authority to command his master's forces.^[8]

Ren, Armitage, and Phasma represented a new generation of leaders that supplanted the old guard in the First Order's command structure.^[1] As part of this turnover, Armitage and Phasma conspired to assassinate Brendol; Armitage had been abused by his father from his youth, while Phasma sought to erase her past. Armitage left the actual murder up to Phasma with his only instruction being to make it untraceable. Phasma carried out the killing of Brendol using the toxin from the bite of a Parnassos beetle. Armitage then gave a brief address to Captain Cardinal and the Stormtrooper Corps informing them of Brendol's passing and ascended to his leadership role in the military, taking over from his late father.^[5]

At some point, a cargo ship was ambushed containing military gear which the ship's crew claimed was meant for the First Order. Among the possessions seized was a set of stormtrooper armor which was later presented to Terex, a former Imperial stormtrooper and, at the time, a crime lord of the Ranc Gang. Terex immediately became curious about the modern design and confirmed that it was not of Imperial design. After Terex asked of its origin, he continued to think about the implications of this new information. Sometime later, he subsequently joined the ranks of the First Order Security Bureau.^[50]

Meanwhile, the First Order had to contend with several threats that lurked within the Unknown Regions: hermetic kingdoms which were confronted by the Order. On Supreme Leader Snoke's instruction, the new military undertook a major offensive against several of these kingdoms to seize their worlds and resources to fuel their rise.^[27] Phasma herself led from the front as the First Order charted through the wilderness of the Unknown Regions,^[8] while Admiral Frantis Griss found himself gaining valuable experience from the expansion.^[1]

Cold War

The First Order emerges

Main articles: Amaxine warrior crisis and First Order secession

The First Order sought to weaken the New Republic and to generate funding to build up the new navy. The First Order had used a militia group called the Amaxine warriors as proxies to fund the Nikto crime lord Rinnrivin Di's cartel to achieve this. Seven years prior to the "Napkin Bombing" at the New Republic senatorial complex on Hosnian Prime, the First Order used the Amaxines to inject billions of credits as start-up capital into Rinnrivin's cartel, turning the hitherto minor cartel into a major crime syndicate. Establishing a mutual relationship with the Amaxines, Rinnrivin embarked on lucrative smuggling and gambling operations with the proceeds being channeled through shadowy corporations and Centrist sources back to the First Order, which used the money to rebuild its fleet. In addition, the Order also recruited several Centrist senators like Lady Carise Sindian as clandestine agents who worked to subvert the Republic from within. Many Centrists, an informal faction who were the rivals to the Populists in the New Republic Senate, and who favored a greater central government and military, admired the Old Empire's leaders and practices. Another proxy of the First Order was Arliz Hadrassian, a former TIE fighter pilot who had become the leader of the Amaxine warriors. While Hadrassian saw the Amaxines as the vanguard of the First Order, Lady Carise regarded her as too volatile to manage. Hadrassian in return was impatient with the Centrists for refusing to secede from the Republic.^[51]

The First Order's operations were almost exposed when Rinnrivin Di's criminal activities began to exact a devastating toll on the planet Ryloth's off-world trade. In response, the New Republic senators Leia Organa and Ransolm Casterfo embarked on an investigation which uncovered Rinnrivin's links to the Amaxine warriors. However, the two senators failed to discover the Order's linkages to the Amaxines and Rinnrivin's cartel. In an attempt to sow chaos, Arliz Hadrassian bombed the New Republic's senatorial complex. This set in motion a chain of events that led to the death of Rinnrivin and the destruction of most of the Amaxine warriors' forces on the planet Sibensko. Hadrassian killed herself after assassinating the Republic senator Tai-Lin Garr. While most Republic senators and the media believed that the demise of Rinnrivin's cartel and the Amaxines eliminated all threats to the Republic, Senator Organa disagreed with the New Republic's complacency. However, she was sidelined from the political process following a political scandal that led to the public revelation that her father was Darth Vader, which discredited Organa and forced her to resign from the Senate.^[51]

After the assassination of Tai-Lin Garr, Lady Carise and her Centrist counterparts began preparing a motion to secede from the New Republic in order to join and support the First Order.^[51] Acting as a political coalition of worlds advocating centralized authority,^[9] star systems aligned with the Centrists—including the planets Arkanis, Orinda, and Kuat^[35]—formally withdrew from the New Republic and joined the First Order^[1] in 29 ABY,^[16] marking the official formation of the First Order as a regime and beginning the Cold War between the First Order and the New Republic.^[1] While some in the Galactic Senate applauded the notion, others realized that without New Republic supervision, the former Imperials would return to the draconian ways of their predecessors.^[14] Supreme Leader Snoke initiated a vast rearmament program, which would go on to produce a technologically superior military over the one that once existed under the Galactic Empire, and began subverting the Republic, as the First Order was keenly aware that it lacked the superior numbers and support of the former Imperial state.^[27]

Preparations for war

Entering the scene

The Centrist worlds that seceded from the New Republic provided the First Order with a foothold in the known galaxy,^[14] by which time its military forces emerged from the Unknown Regions, precipitating the return of fascism and militarism.^[1] In defiance of the Galactic Concordance, First Order forces frequently crossed the Borderlands, launching several incursions into both Republic space and other sectors.^[52][43][53] The term "cold war" was used because there was no direct, large-scale fighting, but instead occasional minor skirmishes. Despite mounting First Order aggression, the New Republic refused to take forceful military action against the Order, seeking to avoid provoking another devastating galactic war at all costs.^[52] Meanwhile, the First Order utilized its political supporters and puppets within the Galactic Senate to ensure that the wider galaxy continued to consider them harmless, which also served to begin turning public opinion against those that opposed the Imperial successor.^[54]

During this time, the Resistance, an offshoot of the New Republic Defense Force, was founded by General Leia Organa, who realized that the Senate could not protect the New Republic, alongside her few remaining allies, like Gial Ackbar, C-3PO, Joph Seastriker, and Temmin Wexley. The Resistance acted as a check on the military designs of the First Order.^[51] General Organa released the Grace Report to the New Republic Senate, which publicly claimed that the Order was building hidden shipyards, armories, research-and-development labs, and academies, detailing the fact that facilities were working day and night on the massive military buildup.^[43] Meanwhile, the First Order began to expand and took over star systems with ease.^[55] During their career as a mercenaries that offered their services to unprotected star systems, Zulay Ulor and Caracara Squadron were brought into conflict with the First Order, which chased the starfighter squadron from restricted zones.^[1]

In 33 ABY,^[15] Kylo Ren led First Order forces against the expanding Benathy kingdom and—following his victory over the Benathy's "god," a Zillo Beast—declared the Benathy subjects of the First Order, which he ordered the Benathy to worship.^[56] By 34 ABY,^[15] the First Order—having driven the Hutt crime lady Harra from her stronghold on the swamp planet Vodran—proceeded to utilize the fortress as a detention center that was overseen by Commander Wanten, who was assigned as punishment for having allowed the building's previous owner to escape.^[46]

New Republic "relations"

Even as the First Order expanded its sphere of influence,^[57] the New Republic Senate believed that the First Order posed no real, credible threat to the galaxy at large and the hard-won galactic peace. Echoing these sentiments, Chancellor Lanever Villecham argued there was no need for concern as long as the Order adhered to the dictates of the Galactic Concordance. Despite this, the First Order blatantly defied the accords by ushering in the mass mobilization of superior stormtrooper forces, along with violating Republic bans on the sale of weapons to the First Order. Testing the resolve of the New Republic, small skirmishes occasionally erupted between the First Order and Republic, all while the Starkiller operation sought a suitable planet for implementation.^[8]

With the First Order's growing threat and rapid mobilization for war, prominent members of the Republic voiced concern over the First Order, with the most vocal being former Senator Leia Organa.^[8] However, Organa—holding a reputation that was already damaged thanks to the revelations about her parentage^[51]—was largely scoffed at by the Senate at large as an alarmist and warmonger. Nonetheless, Organa used her influence as a prominent member of the former Rebel Alliance to recruit many former military officers who had been left forgotten by the Military Disarmament Act passed by the Galactic Senate. Funded by like-minded senators who shared Organa's fears about the First Order, the Resistance came to serve as the opposing force to the Order's growing power, sparking a new phase of the continued Cold War.^[8]

Meanwhile, the Republic Senate had become mired in corruption, darkness,^[57] and bureaucracy,^[52] amplified by the political gridlock caused by the divide between the Populists and the Centrists.^[51] Some Centrist politicians,^[58] including senators like Erudo Ro-Kiintor, also colluded with the First Order for promises of wealth and power^[52] or out of a legitimate belief in what they saw as the values of fascistic governance.^[51][58] Large sums of credits were discreetly transferred to Ro-Kiintor through the Corporate Sector Authority. Thanks to the work of such politicians^[52] and a general fear in the Senate of wanting to avoid a new war,^[58] the Resistance was forced to work on its own until it could obtain irrefutable evidence of First Order violations of the peace that could be presented to New Republic Command. During Operation: Sabre Strike, Resistance pilot Poe Dameron and General Organa discovered that Senator Erudo had been colluding with the First Order and that he had valuable information about Lor San Tekka, whom Organa believed could lead them to her brother, Luke Skywalker, who had gone into self-exile.^[52]

Annexation of the Colossus

Main article: Occupation of the Colossus

The First Order began an occupation of the Colossus refueling station on the planet Castilon as part of their preparations for their planned war against the rest of the galaxy. The First Order occupied the Colossus under the guise of peacekeepers in wake of several pirate raids on the platform, which the Order itself had secretly manufactured as a pretext of intervention so that the Colossus could be used as a staging ground.^[59]

The First Order had prior interest on the station; it had placed a large bounty of twenty thousand credits on Kel and Eila, which the Order claimed were members of a high-ranking First Order family from outside its military hierarchy. In actuality, Kel and Eila were orphaned survivors of the First Order's aggressive actions against the people on Tehar.^[11]

The First Order's presence was welcomed by some civilians on the Colossus, but others opposed the Order's measures, leading to a riot among the alien population.^[59] In response, the First Order targeted residents who opposed or defied their control and placed them under arrest to be sent offworld under the pretext of an interest in security.^[60]

The search for the last Jedi

Main article: Hunt for Lor San Tekka

In response to the Resistance's Operation: Sabre Strike, Captain Phasma dispatched Agent Terex to recover the information that Poe Dameron obtained from Senator Erudo. Terex's First Order strike force pursued Dameron and his Black Squadron to the planet Ovanis.^[17] With the help of the unwilling spy, Oddy Muva,^[61] Terex planted a tracker on Dameron's T-70 X-wing starfighter.^[62] A skirmish took place on the skies over Ovanis and the Cave of the Crèche, which was complicated by the presence of the Crèche cult and the hatching of two winged creatures. Ultimately, Terex and his landing force were defeated. The Crèche elder gave the information on Lor San Tekka to Dameron. To avoid war between the First Order and the New Republic, Terex and his surviving men were allowed to leave on their Maxima-A class heavy cruiser.^[63]

Terex later obtained intelligence that Black Squadron were traveling to Megalox prison on the high-gravity world of Megalox Beta. Dameron traveled to the prison world to question the Hutt crime lord Grakkus Jahibakti Tingi about his knowledge of San Tekka's whereabouts. Terex bribed Warden Luta into abandoning Black Squadron to the prison population. Though Grakkus had made a deal with Terex to disclose the information, Grakkus changed his mind and decided to sell the information to whoever got him out first.^[64]

Incensed at Grakkus' double-cross, Terex hired the crime lords Isin, Kan Be, and Toren to use their gangs to storm Grakkus' fortress and kill Black Squadron. He planned to interrogate Grakkus and then kill him.^[65] Grakkus' plan was, however, foiled by Black Squadron's astromech droids including BB-8, who deactivated Megalox's gravity shield. While Black Squadron and Grakkus escaped, Terex and his mercenaries were pinned down by the high gravity. Terex managed to escape aboard the Carrion Spike and attacked the Megalox space station, seeking to punish Luta for letting Black Squadron escape. His ship blasted several shuttles but was forced to retreat when Black Squadron turned around and inflicted considerable damage on the Carrion Spike. Captain Phasma summoned Terex back to First Order space to report for debriefing, but Terex instead chose to pursue his nemesis Dameron.^[66]

Later, the Galaxy Beacon journalist and former New Republic Starfleet member Suralinda Javos discovered that the First Order was building military installations, shipyards, weapons research facilities, and "something bigger" in violation of the Galactic Concordance. She met with Dameron on the Inner Rim gas giant of Pheryon, hoping to sell the information to the Resistance in order to boost her journalistic career. However, the First Order Security Bureau Agent Weel and his stormtroopers captured Javos and Dameron. During interrogation, Javos managed to kill Weel and free Dameron. After escaping, Javos decided to join the Resistance.^[67]

Instead of returning to First Order space, Terex traveled to the crime haven of Kaddak.^[68] There, he retook control of the Ranc Gang,^[69] which he had helped create after the Battle of Jakku.^[50] Against Captain Phasma's orders, Terex decided to use his Ranc Gang to destroy Poe and the Resistance. His plan involved giving false intelligence on the First Order to the Resistance droid spy N1-ZX and tracking Dameron back to the Resistance base. Terex wanted to destroy the Resistance once and for all to aid the First Order's conquest of the galaxy. Terex's plans were upended when Dameron realized the deception and led Terex's Ranc Gang fleet to a remote desert planet.^[61]

In addition, Oddy decided to break Terex's leverage on him by rescuing his wife Sowa Chuan and several slaves from Terex's flagship, Carrion Spike. While Terex led a landing party in pursuit of Dameron and the droids, Black Squadron assailed Terex's ship and armada of "Uglies."^[70] Oddy and most of the slaves managed to escape in escape pods while Black Squadron provided firing cover. Terex's landing party was also wiped out by N1-ZX, who had been reprogrammed with Mister Bones's droid personality template. Terex also fought with Dameron and BB-8 but was disarmed following a struggle. The battle came to an end when First Order forces under Commander Malarus arrived and wiped out Terex's Ranc Gang fleet and flagship Carrion Spike.^[71]

Malarus had been dispatched by the First Order to arrest Terex, whose rogue mission violated Supreme Leader Snoke's directive to avoid open conflict with the New Republic and New Republic-aligned forces such as the Resistance. Malarus also led a landing party who met with Dameron and took the captive Terex into custody.^[71] Malarus and Terex then went to Abednedo to capture Oddy Muva.^[54] While onboard a transport, she had Terex interrogate Muva for information on the Resistance.^[72] Malarus however lost Muva with the aid of Dameron and Wexley, Malarus was then forced to watched as Muva made a suicide run on the Enshado and followed by her escape into hyperspace.^[73] Malarus then went to Cato Neimoidia where she fought with Dameron. She was confronted by an official of House Reya, who arrested her and said they would give her a trial.^[74]

Seeking to locate a fragment of a map that led to Jedi Master Luke Skywalker^[6]—who had gone into self-imposed exile following the failed resurrection of the Jedi Order, for which he blamed himself^[10]—Supreme Leader Snoke believed that if Skywalker were to ever return, the new Jedi would rise, which would threaten the First Order's rise to power.^[6] As a result, the Supreme Leader deployed the Starkiller commanding triumvirate^[8]—General Hux, Captain Phasma, and Kylo Ren—to Jakku, where Dameron and BB-8 had recovered the star map fragment from Lor San Tekka, an old ally of General Organa. Seeking to capture the droid, the First Order assaulted^[6] the Church of the Force settlement of Tuanul^[8] where San Tekka resided, but BB-8 was able to escape with the piece of the map.^[6]

The villagers of Tuanul fought back but were defeated; the survivors were then herded into a large group while San Tekka was brought to Ren himself, who demanded he turn over information on the map to the First Order. San Tekka claimed that Ren could not deny the truth that was his own family, causing Ren to slay the old man with his lightsaber. Dameron then fired on Ren in retaliation, but the dark warrior caught the blast while his stormtroopers captured the pilot and brought him to^[6] their flagship, the Resurgent-class Star Destroyer Finalizer.^[8] Captain Phasma and her stormtroopers—except for FN-2187—executed the remaining villagers on Ren's orders.^[6]

FN-2187 and Dameron escaped the Finalizer aboard a stolen TIE/sf space superiority fighter^[75] though not before Ren tortured Dameron and discovered the map fragment to be in a BB-unit droid back on Jakku. During their escape, Dameron dubbed the renegade stormtrooper Finn. The pair crash landed in the Goazon Badlands on Jakku, where Finn presumed Dameron deceased. Finn eventually found BB-8 alongside a scavenger named Rey, but the First Order also found them, leading them to mark Rey as well and pursue the three across Jakku. However, Rey, Finn, and BB-8 were able to escape Jakku aboard the Millennium Falcon. They eventually stumbled on Rebellion war heroes and smugglers Han Solo and Chewbacca in space, and the five of them traveled to Takodana, where they sought the help of Maz Kanata in order to deliver BB-8 and the map fragment to General Organa at the Resistance base.^[6]

On the First Order's secret Starkiller Base, General Hux informed Supreme Leader Snoke that their superweapon was ready and proposed using it on the New Republic in order to draw out the Resistance. Supreme Leader Snoke authorized the operation and dismissed Hux before he conferred with Kylo Ren, with whom he discussed an apparent awakening in the Force. The Supreme Leader then informed his dark apprentice that the droid had fallen into the hands of his father, Han Solo, before cutting his holographic transmission to Starkiller Base.^[6]

First Order-Resistance War

Starkiller unleashed

Main article: First Order-Resistance War

On the very eve of the planned war, General Hux delivered^[6] a passionate^[76] speech to the legions of stormtroopers under his command who assembled to witness the destructive firepower of the weapon. Hux declared that the day would mark the end of the New Republic and denounced the Republic for lying to the galaxy, claiming that the Republic secretly supported the Resistance.^[6]

After proclaiming that the remaining systems would bow to the First Order, General Hux commanded that the weapon be fired, and massive beams of energy were fired across the galaxy^[6] from Ilum^[1] towards the Hosnian system. When the beams arrived, the astronomical bodies of the system were destroyed, including the galactic capital of Hosnian Prime, and with it, the New Republic Senate and a portion of its Defense Fleet.^[6]

As the First Order rose to power through the Starkiller crisis, it continued the hunt for the map to Skywalker, seeking to prevent the rise of the new Jedi. Its forces swiftly laid siege to Maz Kanata's castle on Takodana and leveled it. Rey fled into the forests surrounding the castle, but Ren deployed stormtroopers to the woods before heading into the woods himself, hunting Rey down and eventually finding and capturing her. He probed her mind with the Force and realized that she had seen the map. Ren then decided that he would not need the droid, believing that he could instead interrogate her to find out what she had seen. Ren was notified of a Resistance surprise attack by a stormtrooper officer, who requested more troops, but Ren instead ordered the First Order division to pull out, claiming that they had what they came for. First Order troops then boarded their ships and withdrew, taking the unconscious Rey along with them.^[6]

Aided by the deserter FN-2187 "Finn," Solo and Chewbacca infiltrated Starkiller Base to rescue Rey and disable the planetary shields, allowing a Resistance strike to destroy the planet-converted superweapon. With the First Order minutes away from destroying the Resistance base on D'Qar, the team achieved their objectives, although Solo died in the process while trying to reconcile with Ren, his son with Organa. Escaping the planet with seconds to spare, the First Order's sun-harvesting superweapon was destroyed by the Resistance Starfighter Corps, forming a new star where the planet once was. Supreme Leader Snoke ordered General Hux to leave the planet and come to him with Kylo Ren in order to complete his training.^[6] As Starkiller blew up, the damaged Retribution that was under the command of Gideon Hask pulled out of hyperspace, its hyperdrive destroyed by Resistance agents Iden Versio, Zay Versio, and Shriv Suurgav, who were on a mission to learn more about the First Order's Project Resurrection.^[13]

Chasing the Resistance

The First Order fleet had in large numbers regrouped for the new galactic war after the fall of Starkiller. Phasma returned from chasing down and dispatching the true culprit on Luprora who she blamed for being behind the one who had turned off the shields at Starkiller Base. She named Lieutenant Sol Rivas as the perpetrator to General Hux.^[77] The surviving Starkiller aerial defense force pilots, such as Poldin LeHuse, were re-integrated into the fleet. They expressed a desire for vengeance and to prove themselves after failing to save the superweapon.^[12]

Despite the loss of Starkiller Base, the First Order still possessed a secure and intact chain of command and massive military strength in the form of hundreds of battle-cruisers and millions of troops, emerging from the shadows to seize control of the galaxy by force. Following the loss of the Galactic Senate and the Hosnian system, the New Republic lost its leadership and its entire home fleet, which, due to the Military Disarmament Act, had been the majority of the Republic military.^[12]

Because of this imbalance, the New Republic was virtually helpless as First Order fleets spread across the galaxy,^[12] all while the galaxy at large remained unaware of the destruction of Starkiller Base.^[78] These events quickly led to the collapse of the New Republic's authority over the galaxy as individual planets and governments began looking to their own interests. Surviving senators dissolved the Republic's remaining task forces in an effort to protect their own homeworlds^[27] while other worlds capitulated to the First Order in order to avoid direct military confrontation.^[12] As a result, the galaxy, as a whole, became divided.^[79]

The core Resistance group found itself greatly outmatched by the First Order,^[10] though the First Order also had to contend with other Resistance cells.^[80] The First Order failed to prevent the loss of intelligence on the specifications of the Mandator IV-class Siege Dreadnought,^[13] and further lost its grip over the Colossus, which escaped Castilon into space.^[81] However, with the loss of the New Republic and its unofficial support of their forces, the Resistance only possessed a few military ships and a few hundred soldiers. This led General Leia Organa to order the complete evacuation of the Resistance base on D'Qar while a First Order fleet led by General Hux was on its way to destroy the Resistance once and for all.^[10]

Setting their sights on the Resistance base, Hux's forces arrived in battle and destroyed the base, but the Resistance was able to escape before the First Order could finish them off. Despite escaping, the Resistance's speedy evacuation had cost them the vast majority of their remaining fleet and left them as fugitives wandering in space. Meanwhile, Supreme Leader Snoke summoned his apprentice, Kylo Ren, to his throne room on the Supremacy, the First Order flagship, and mocked him for his failure at Starkiller Base and his ambitions to emulate Darth Vader.^[10]

The mobile supertanker fuel depot, the Colossus, shortly arrived in the aftermath of the D'Qar evacuation and tried to retrieve coaxium from the wreckage of the Fulminatrix. Phasma tasked Pyre and Agent Tierny with recovering the station or destroying it if recovery proved impossible due to its strategic importance and sought to prevent them from gaining the fuel, however this effort failed and the Resistance was able to successfully recovers coaxium and flee. Pyre and Tierny vowed to hunt for the Colossus.^[82] Soon afterwards, Nikto engineer Nenavakasa Nalor was sent sabotage the platform. Posing as a stranded spacer, but was discovered as a First Order spy. Though Nena escaped, they were able to managed to undo her sabotage and escape First Order forces.^[83]

Using hyperspace tracking, a newly developed technology descended and finally perfected from the Empire's Tarkin Initiative, the First Order tracked the Resistance to the Oetchi system,^[84] catching them completely off guard and destroying one of their cruisers instantly. Kylo Ren, leading a TIE squadron in his personal fighter, attacked the Resistance's command ship Raddus and blew up its hangar bay, taking out all of the Resistance's remaining fighters before he set his sights on the ship's bridge, where his mother, General Leia Organa, was. Though Ren was ultimately unable to bring himself to fire, his wingmen had no such qualms and fired on the bridge, exposing it to the vacuum of space and killing the majority of the Resistance's leadership, including Admiral Gial Ackbar. Organa was able to use the Force to pull herself back aboard, but she was left incapacitated. The Resistance's chain of command fell onto Vice Admiral Amilyn Holdo, who oversaw their outrunning of the First Order, but their fuel supplies were dangerously low, and one by one their other ships were running dry and being destroyed by the Supremacy's turbolasers.^[10]

Once the Raddus was almost out of fuel, the Resistance began to fragment as desertions dramatically increased as members saw the struggle against the First Order as a lost cause. Later, a full-blown mutiny occurred as two sides formed among the crew: those who wanted to escape and hide from the enemy, and those who wanted to fight. This mutiny, led by Poe Dameron, was put down by the recovered General Organa, and the Resistance attempted to slip down to the former Rebel world of Crait. However, due to the capture of the Resistance infiltration team on the Supremacy, the First Order learned of the plan when the team code breaker DJ betrayed the Resistance for his freedom and payment. This led the Supremacy to fire on the unarmed and unarmored^[10] U-55 orbital loadlifters,^[12] destroying roughly half of them.^[10]

Meanwhile, Kylo Ren brought Rey to Snoke's throne room onboard the Supremacy, but Snoke's short reign over the galaxy ended as Ren killed his master along with his guards, while in a desperate sacrificial gamble to save the Resistance, Vice Admiral Holdo aimed the Raddus at the Supremacy and entered lightspeed. As a result, the ship collided with the First Order flagship and cleaved it and several Resurgent-class Star Destroyers in half, saving the Resistance remnant and causing heavy damage to the First Order fleet.^[10]

Ren seized the title of Supreme Leader after the demise of Snoke. Driven by his rejection of the past, Ren endeavored to build a new galactic order by destroying the combined legacy of the Jedi, the Sith, the Rebellion, and all that came before. The First Order's forces quickly recovered, and, under the orders of the newly proclaimed Supreme Leader, sent an invading force of All Terrain Armored Transport and All Terrain MegaCaliber Six walkers down to the abandoned rebel base on Crait where the Resistance was taking shelter.^[10] Ren personally led the siege of the Resistance's forces^[12] at the Battle of Crait.^[10]

During the battle, the Millennium Falcon, piloted by Chewbacca and Rey, arrived and attacked the First Order's TIE fighters, drawing them away from the battlefield. Even so, the battle led to the continued deaths of many of the remaining Resistance soldiers and personnel and the further depletion of its equipment. In addition, the Resistance's allies in the Outer Rim were called on for reinforcements, but did not arrive. However, Luke Skywalker unexpectedly appeared and confronted the First Order alone on the battlefield. Ren ordered all of the walkers to open fire on Skywalker in an attempt to destroy him. However, Skywalker miraculously emerged unscathed, and Ren went down to the surface to personally face his old Jedi Master. During their duel, Ren realized he was actually fighting a Force projection of Skywalker, who was still on Ahch-To. Skywalker's projection vanished, leaving Ren furious as the distraction bought time for the remaining few dozen Resistance personnel to flee aboard the Millennium Falcon with Rey's help.^[10]

Long live the Supreme Leader

Following the Battle of Crait, Kylo Ren returned to the First Order flagship, the Finalizer, where he introduced himself as the new Supreme Leader to an assembly of stormtroopers and officers, including General Hux, in the Star Destroyer's hangar. During his speech, Ren displayed the bisected corpse of Snoke to his troops and attributed his predecessor's death to the enemies of the First Order. After using the Force to cast Snoke's remains into the vacuum of space, Ren declared that his reign marked a new beginning for the First Order, which he would lead to glory. Ultimately, Ren's claim to power was accepted by the soldiers who collectively saluted their new leader.^[85]

After the speech, Ren summoned Hux to discuss the current state of the First Order, including Snoke' future plans and the resources at their disposal. Hux told Ren that, although the First Order still commanded the largest military in the galaxy, a large portion of their fleet was destroyed along with the Supremacy. In addition, the destruction of Starkiller Base deprived the First Order of its shipyard. When Hux offered to assemble a strike force to seize the resources they required, Ren ordered the general to instead focus on building a throne that was worthy of the new Supreme Leader.^[85]

Conquering the galaxy

Across the stars

The new Supreme Leader set out to establish his dominion over the galaxy,^[86] with entire worlds surrendering in fear.^[83] The First Order had taken possession of the Outer Rim world of Bracca and even the Core World of Corellia with little resistance as the galaxy having been left largely defenseless following the Starkiller incident. Stormtrooper forces raided the hometown of Pacer Agoyo, injuring his sister and burning down their house, which earned the First Order the hatred of Agoyo, who later joined the Resistance. An emergency election on Akiva resulted in the victory of a pro-First Order merchant while the First Order arrived on Ryloth, giving the Ryloth shipping guild five days to tithe before the shipping lanes would be blockaded. The Resistance had fled to Ryloth, setting up in a Ryloth Defense Authority base, until a resident of Lessu betrayed them to the First Order. Despite a First Order attack on the base, the Resistance escaped the planet.^[87]

At some point, the First Order had annexed the planet Didyma V and assumed control of its lommite production, causing the native miner Engi Golba to flee his homeworld and join the Resistance, while the Lumini pirates were rendered defunct after an attack by the military junta left a young lieutenant named Kuimi Enissa as the sole surviving member.^[1] Meanwhile, as the First Order continued its march towards galactic conquest. Rebellious worlds^[88] such as Kijimi, Odynnia Gavo and Torost became contested locations that the First Order deployed its ground forces to under the command of General Bellava Parnadee.^[1]

Resistance sightings

Sometime later, General Hux was informed of a sighting of Resistance operative Finn, but he dismissed it and told the lieutenant who had given him the information that the First Order wouldn't listen to every little word somebody said about the Resistance. Right then, Supreme Leader Ren came up to the bridge of the Finalizer and chastised Hux in front of the lieutenant, informing him that the First Order would in fact do anything to destroy the Resistance. To set an example, the First Order launched an assault that resulted in the destruction of the neutral world of Tah'Nuhna for assisting the Resistance after their escape from Crait.^[89]

Meanwhile, Mika Grey, a traveler searching for Sith artifacts to keep them out of the First Order's hands, was being tracked by Agent Raith and a squad of First Order Raiders, stormtroopers commissioned by their commander, Supreme Leader Ren, with hunting down ancient Sith artifacts.^[90] The Raiders were searching for a Sith relic from a buried temple on Ashas Ree, where they encountered the Colossus Resistance cell and Mika Grey, a Force-sensitive archaeologist who was also looking to acquire the relic. However, the First Order Raiders failed to acquire it and perished when the Sith relic unleashed an explosive wave of energy that incinerated Raith and his troops.^[91]

The First Order then went to neutral world of Fondor, where a Resistance party had been spotted. A thorough, brutal interrogation of a Fondor official revealed that while the Resistance group went through the system, the official wouldn't lend any assistance. However, Supreme Leader Ren declared that even mere contact with the enemy was treason, and it gave him the excuse that he needed to put the Fondor Shipyards under complete First Order control. Ren then personally beheaded the official for this perceived treason with a swipe of his lightsaber—stating that the Empire had been too lenient.^[92]

The First Order then prepared to make an example of Mon Cala after a fleet of at least twelve Resurgent-class warships arrived over Mon Cala acting on intelligence that the Resistance was there. There, a fleet of Mon Cala warships led by Aftab Ackbar managed to escape the planet's surface from the far side and jump to hyperspace, making the First Order aware that the Mon Calamari and Quarrens had chosen not to remain neutral and instead had given their support to the Resistance.^[93] By then, the First Order had already had established a presence on Corellia.^[94]

Batuu and beyond

As the war progressed, the First Order continued its manhunt for the surviving members of the Resistance, deploying forces to various locations across the galaxy,^[95] while also dealing with cases of planetary and system rebellion.^[57] Ren personally oversaw the search for Resistance fugitives at the Black Spire Outpost on Batuu, having traveled to the remote installation via a TIE/es assault shuttle after receiving word that Rey had apparently been sighted on Batuu. Upon his arrival at Docking Bay 9, Ren was greeted by a First Order officer whom he deemed incompetent, and consequently strangled the officer by way of the Force.^[95] The First Order established First Order Cargo to sell propaganda items to those passing through.^[96]

First Order forces gained control of a bacta production plant on Tevel, but it was retaken by the Resistance and the Tevellans.^[97] Sometime later, the First Order light cruiser, the Ladara Vex, was dispatched to Minfar in order to obtain a weapon that could control the Zixon known as the Echo Horn, but it was destroyed by Resistance member sympathizers.^[98]

The First Order seized control of the planet Dantooine,^[99] which was once used as a base by the Rebel Alliance during the Galactic Civil War,^[100] and established a blockade, trapping a group of Resistance recruits on Dantooine until the arrival of the Colossus cell.^[99] As punishment for Aeosian kingdom after it briefly hosted the Colossus, a First Order fleet was dispatched to and bombarded the planet Aeos Prime. The attack proved to be too much for recent recruit Tamara Ryvora, who was rescued by the Colossus crew in a battle that destroyed the Star Destroyer Thunderer. Whereas Agent Tierny was executed by Ren for their failings,^[80] Commander Pyre went down with the ship.^[2]

A dark alliance

In 35 ABY,^[101] the Sith Eternal cult revealed itself to the galaxy by broadcasting a message that declared revenge using the voice of Emperor Palpatine, the widely known and public identity of the Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Sidious, who was still believed to be dead. After this event, Supreme Leader Kylo Ren, who was determined to destroy any potential threats to his rule over the galaxy, diverted First Order resources to search for the truth, resulting in him finding a Sith wayfinder on Mustafar owned by his grandfather, Darth Vader, which had been imbued by means of the Force with coordinates.^[7]

Ren utlized the wayfinder to travel alone to his destination, where he discovered the hidden world of the Sith, Exegol, in the Unknown Regions. Within the Sith Citadel, Sidious revealed himself to Ren and divulged that he had created the former Supreme Leader Snoke. Ren, unwilling to humor the phantom Emperor's attempts to intimidate him, readied himself to strike down Sidious. Before the killing blow could be delivered, Sidious revealed the culmination of his thirty-year Contingency: the Final Order.^[7] This massive fleet of planet-destroying Xyston-class Star Destroyers had been created alongside an army of Sith troopers by the Sith Eternal cult, standing by on Exegol in preparation to wreak havoc upon the galaxy at large.^[1]

After a generation, the work of the Emperor's followers was effectively complete;^[4] the Sith Eternal military was on the verge of launching a full-scale invasion of the galaxy, its objective to restore Sith rule in the form of a new Sith Empire.^[1] The Emperor advised Ren that he could use the Sith fleet to succeed where his grandfather Vader failed, ruling the galaxy as the new Emperor. He offered Ren the fleet on the condition of killing the Jedi apprentice Rey. The Dark Lord then warned Ren that Rey was, in fact, his granddaughter, and thus a Palpatine herself.^[7]

At a meeting of the Supreme Council on the Resurgent-class Star Destroyer Steadfast,^[1] Ren informed the First Order officers that a spy in their ranks had supplied information to the Resistance. Though he was unaware of the mole's identity, Ren was confident that the fleet on Exegol would make him invincible, transforming the First Order into a true Empire. General Domaric Quinn expressed distrust over the Sith Eternal, denouncing them as a cult of conjurers and soothsayers. Allegiant General Enric Pryde countered that the Sith fleet would increase their resources ten thousandfold, correcting what he believed was the "error" of Starkiller Base. Ren choked General Quinn to death after he openly questioned the Supreme Leader as to what the Emperor was asking for in return. He then ordered the council to crush any worlds that defied them, and announced that he and his Knights of Ren were going hunting for "the scavenger," Rey.^[7]

The First Order found Rey, alongside Finn, Dameron, and Chewbacca, on Pasaana and alerted the local garrison. First Order jet troopers pursued them into the desert plains of Pasaana as the First Order arrived to Pasaana; the group escaped, though Chewbacca was captured by the Knights of Ren and brought on board Ren's Star Destroyer while Rey and Ren confronted each other in the desert. Later, the Knights of Ren tracked the group to Kijimi, a world occupied by the First Order.^[7]

Ren arrived at Kijimi on his Star Destroyer and locked down the city. Finn and Poe Dameron were captured and, alongside Chewbacca, sentenced to execution, but Hux freed them, revealing himself to be the spy. The group liberated the Millennium Falcon and escaped, though not before Ren revealed to Rey that she was the granddaughter of Sidious and that they formed a Force dyad. Pryde deduced Hux to be the spy and executed him on sight with a blaster rifle. Ren meanwhile conferred with Sidious over the Force; the Sith Lord threatened to turn his fleet against Ren if he betrayed their agreement, but Ren told Sidious he knew where Rey was going.^[7]

Battle of Exegol

Ren confronted Rey alone among the Death Star ruins on Kef Bir, an ocean moon of Endor. The two fought in a lightsaber duel; Ren bested Rey, but was distracted when his mother Organa reached out to him through the Force, allowing Rey to stab him with his own lightsaber before sensing Organa's presence. Rey healed her archenemy with the Force before leaving with his ship. Motivated by a memory of his late father, Han Solo, Ren renounced the dark side and reclaimed his identity as Ben Solo,^[7] abandoning the First Order in the process.^[102] Although Organa's sacrifice interfered with Sidious' plan, the Emperor was not deterred and instead refocused his efforts toward his granddaughter, Rey.^[7] With the Supreme Leader suddenly gone,^[102] Pryde became highest ranking member of the First Order,^[7] leaving him free to take his orders directly from the Emperor^[102] as he had in secret.^[4]

Pryde was contacted by Sidious while on board the Steadfast.^[7] The Imperial veteran,^[1] having served the Emperor during the Galactic Civil War, pledged his allegiance and the First Order's to the Sith Lord,^[7] who in turn granted Pryde control over the Sith fleet, starting a unholy alliance with the Sith Eternal.^[103] With Pryde's support, Sidious decided that the time had come to deploy the Final Order throughout the galaxy. He summoned Pryde to Exegol and sent him a Sith Star Destroyer from the fleet,^[7] the Derriphan,^[1] to destroy Kijimi as a show of force against the Resistance. Following the destruction of Kijimi, Pryde oversaw the fleet, which was in the process of departure when the Resistance arrived prior to the Citizens' Fleet, resulting in the Battle of Exegol.^[7]

During the battle, Pryde had the source of a navigation signal that the fleet needed to deploy off world switched from a navigation tower on Exegol to a beacon on his command ship. However, a Resistance landing team made landing on Pryde's command ship. Former stormtroopers of Company 77 covered Resistance troopers from their orbaks as they fought against Sith troopers that landed to defend the ship. The landing team successfully knocked out the navigation tower and retreated, but the First Order personnel were able to reset it. At the same time Darth Sidious, after healing himself, attacked the Resistance and galactic forces, but he was stopped by Rey.^[7]

She deflected Sidious' lightning back towards him, causing the Emperor to disintegrate and be destroyed at last, preventing the rebirth of the Sith. Meanwhile, former stormtroopers Finn and Jannah stayed behind on the hull of the ship and turned the ship's own turbolasers against it, killing Pryde and destroying the Steadfast, and with it, the navigation signal, preventing the remaining Sith Star Destroyers from launching off of Exegol and reinforcing the First Order. Finn and Jannah narrowly escaped aboard the Millennium Falcon with the help of General Lando Calrissian and Chewbacca as the Steadfast exploded and plunged to Exegol's surface.^[7]

Uprisings and the Downfall

Main article: Uprising against the First Order

In the aftermath of the Battle of Exegol, the First Order's forces came under attack by the populations that they had subjugated. Inspired by the victory of the Resistance and their rallied citizens' fleet, people rose up all over the galaxy against the First Order, including on Bespin, Endor, Jakku,^[7] Coruscant, Naboo, Corellia, Lothal, and Thyferra.^[104] The First Order fell across the galaxy, and was ultimately defeated in the war.^[9]

Legacy

With the war over, the galaxy's population began the long process of rebuilding as many First Order officers were captured and questioned by the Resistance in its immediate aftermath, which was recorded in the historian Beaumont Kin's book, The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire, where he stated that the First Order bought death and tyranny with them out of the Unknown Regions. However, although Kin expressed satisfaction that the capture of numerous Imperial war criminals would see these individuals finally face justice for their atrocities, he also expressed his belief that the Resistance had a moral duty to help the countless young officers and stormtroopers that the First Order had raised inside its neo-Imperial doctrine from near-birth.^[58]

Organization

Government

Main articles: Supreme Leader and First Order Supreme Council

The Supreme Leader was a self-appointed position with absolute power over the First Order^[9] who delegated power to a number of high-ranking officers and advisors, effectively removing any distinction between military and state. This formed an upper cadre of high-ranking officials, the First Order High Command, who had the authority to govern the First Order in the Supreme Leader's name. As Supreme Leader, Snoke was content to focus on spiritual matters, ceding control of military matters to generals and the shaping of the First Order's public image to propaganda masterminds. However, any and all alterations to the strategy required the Supreme Leader's approval, with personal interests regarded as secondary to orders from the Leader, while a "commanding triumvirate" of the First Order existed consisting of Kylo Ren, General Armitage Hux, and Captain Phasma, the leaders of Starkiller Base.^[6]

Unbeknownst to even the highest echelons of the First Order, however, Snoke was in fact an artificial creation engineered by a hidden Sith cult, the Sith Eternal, under the directive of their master, Darth Sidious who returned from the dead, the Emperor of the Old Empire. Several addition clones of Snoke were stored on their hidden redoubt world, Exegol.^[7] Snoke served Darth Sidious and the Sith Eternal as a means to groom Ben Solo as Kylo Ren. Snoke kept his homeworld and origins concealed from the First Order so as to avoid revealing himself to be an artificial creation; nonetheless, some came to realize that Snoke was subservient to an unseen force and master.^[1]

Due to the Supreme Leader's status in the First Order, an officer who had direct access to his person effectively wielded greater authority than their military rank would indicate.^[12] They oversaw the colonization of the Unknown Regions and destruction of the last Jedi. Much like Darth Vader in the former Empire, Kylo Ren existed outside the formal command structure of the First Order and frequently came into conflict with military officials owing to his agenda consistently trumping military objectives. Kylo's placement in the hierarchy not only maintained fear within the Order's upper ranks but also intentionally resembled that of Darth Vader's during the reign of the Old Empire.^[6] As a result, Ren was regarded as "the exception" to everything by his rival General Armitage Hux.^[4] It was the prerogative of the Supreme Leader to summon his subordinates at his pleasure, as well as to administer punishment to those who failed him.^[10]

The Supreme Council was established under Supreme Leader Kylo Ren as an advisory board to replace the former triumvirate. It was formed by high-ranking members of High Command who served as aides to Ren and had direct access to the highest levels of authority in the First Order, including the Supreme Leader. The council's purpose was to chart and implement the ongoing galactic conquest and plan the future of governing the galaxy. It was composed of Allegiant General Enric Pryde, Admiral Frantis Griss, Lieutenant Draper, and Generals Amret Engell, Armitage Hux, Bellava Parnadee, and Domaric Quinn, allowing Ren to focus on spiritual matters as his predecessor had.^[1]

Ren anticipated the council would be filled with infighting, to which he considered it good for his reign, as he preferred that they direct their energies against each other, thereby diminishing their chances of uniting against him.^[1]

Starkiller Base, a superweapon constructed within the planet Ilum,^[1] hosted the largest military deployment in the First Order. However, it was not considered the official capital of the First Order because of Supreme Leader Snoke's policy of keeping the Order's headquarters mobile.^[8]

Although various officers and allies of the First Order argued for a planet to act as their capital, Snoke rejected this idea and refused to designate capital command to a world either under direct First Order control or within the Unknown Regions, instead opting to command his underlings from his mobile command post, the Mega-class Star Dreadnought Supremacy, making it the First Order's de facto capital.^[105]

Military

Main article: First Order military

With its rapidly expanding military in clear violation of the Galactic Concordance and Republic laws, the massive militarization effort of the First Order continued throughout its tenure in the Unknown Regions. There, military bases and shipyards were constructed to churn out some of the technologically superior weapons and starfighters utilized by the Order's military. To avoid treaty restrictions banning the sale of weapons to the First Order, galactic arms manufacturers BlasTech Industries and Merr-Sonn Munitions, Inc. spun off a subsidiary known as the Sonn-Blas Corporation, which manufactured much of the First Order's weaponry within First Order space. Sienar-Jaemus Fleet Systems also helped produce vessels such as the Upsilon-class command shuttle and TIE/fo space superiority fighter, along with its two-seated variant the TIE/sf space superiority fighter.^[8]

Additionally, Sienar-Jaemus Army Systems manufactured the widely used Atmospheric Assault Landers which could deploy twenty stormtroopers into the frontlines of combat, while the Aratech-Loratus Corporation developed the LIUV;^[8] When planetside, the First Order utilized a wide range of four-legged walkers similar to Imperial AT-ATs,^[6] as well as the more advanced All terrain Megacaliber Six. In violation of New Republic laws regarding capital ships, Kuat-Entralla Engineering developed the Resurgent-class Star Destroyer, which featured more than 1,500 turbolasers, point-defense laser cannons and ion cannons, and was specifically designed to evoke the fearful image of the Old Empire's Imperial-class Star Destroyers. Though smaller than the Imperial Navy at its height, the First Order Navy established itself as a formidable flotilla of destructive potential. Owing to the New Republic's disarmament efforts, the First Order armada swiftly conquered the galaxy virtually unchallenged.^[8]

Like its predecessor, the First Order Stormtrooper Corps was a component of the military that employed the use of stormtroopers,^[106] including variants such as snowtroopers. It also utilized specialists including megablaster heavy assault troopers, flametroopers, and riot control stormtroopers and selectively had one of the three variants placed in every ten-member stormtrooper squad. Unlike the inconsistent academy standards of the previous Galactic Empire, training of the new generation of stormtroopers emphasized improvisation and counter-insurgency operations, including guerrilla tactics. With the First Order lacking the numerical superiority of the Galactic Empire, better-equipped and -trained soldiers resulted in higher trooper proficiency than the previous Galactic Empire. Soldiers were often trained on capital ships and underwent vivid simulations to create the most loyal soldiers, which was an extension of the ideas of Commandant Brendol Hux and his Commandant's Cadets.^[8] It was strictly forbidden for a stormtrooper to initiate any contact with a officer in line with the First Order view on hierarchy.^[27]

One of its primary bases of operations was Starkiller Base, an ice planet converted into a stronghold. Seeking to rule the galaxy through fear, the base housed a superweapon capable of destroying entire star systems by firing a planet-destroying beam through hyperspace, and was led by an unofficial triumvirate of General Armitage Hux, Kylo Ren, and Captain Phasma until it was destroyed in the Assault on Starkiller Base.^[6][107][8]

The scale of the First Order's military operation shocked complacent New Republic observers, who had believed such shows of force were merely part of local defense forces and ceremonial guards.^[14] With the rapid expansion of the First Order's stormtrooper ranks and military capabilities, the Resistance believed that more trooper specializations were yet to be discovered, and ships even larger than the Resurgent-class Star Destroyers existed,^[8] such as the Mandator IV-class Siege Dreadnought and the Mega-class Star Dreadnought.^[12] During both the Cold War and open conflict with the Resistance that followed, the First Order also employed its sympathizers for patrol and surveillance duties, utilizing older Imperial Gozanti-class cruiser during such operations,^[108] while other collaborators made use of Raider-class corvettes, which remained a symbol of terror across the galaxy, even decades after the fall of the Galactic Empire that had first manufactured it.^[109]

The First Order continued the research into dark energy translations and hyperspace tunneling that had began under the Old Empire, where they repurposed an ice world for the development of a mobile superweapon called Starkiller Base, which used a dark energy called "quintessence" as it offered a virtual unlimited power source,^[8][6] this was made possible after securing logs from secret Imperial laboratories detailing a suitable planet needed with the correct specifications for what would become Starkiller Base with the colossal superlaser array itself built into the planetary crust and would to the Order represent a technological step forward in power.^[110]

The First Order also developed the hyperspace tracker which was a type of active tracker with the ability to detect starships traveling through hyperspace developed by First Order scientists. Originally studied by the Tarkin Initiative during the reign of the Empire, the technology was not established for several more decades when a team assembled by General Armitage Hux discovered how to implement the technology. The hyperspace tracker utilized a complex static hyperspace field generator, which enveloped arrays of databanks and computers in a localized hyperspace field that accelerated their calculation speeds to unimaginable rates.^[12]

Additionally, the First Order constructed a superlaser siege cannon, which was a form of miniaturized Death Star technology that was capable of firing a devastating energy pulse along a targeting tracer beam to cause a powerful detonation upon impact. Being a two-hundred-meter cannon, it required support, such as having vehicles that were able to maneuver it into position during a siege and could be deployed to have a retractable stabilizing outrigger to ground its bulk.^[12] The First Order had also developed huge data banks loaded with centuries of combat reports and astrogation data. This was aided by a static hyperspace field that accelerated their processing power to an unprecedented level, which was overseen by the Shipboard Tracking Control Complex that was the size of a planetary intelligence hub.^[105]

Intelligence

Main article: First Order Security Bureau

The First Order Security Bureau was the intelligence-gathering arm of the First Order, and was tasked with guarding state secrets and recovering information that had been stolen by the First Order's enemies.^[17][67]

Under Supreme Leader Snoke's directive, First Order agents and other First Order military forces were prohibited from seeking open hostility against forces aligned with the New Republic including the Resistance.^[61]

Outside affairs

Relationship with the New Republic

The First Order despised the New Republic as an illegitimate regime that tolerated disorder in the galaxy,^[6] while the Republic did not officially recognize the First Order as a government,^[87] and instead viewed the Order as an ill-organized, poorly equipped, and badly funded group of Imperial loyalists.^[52] As a result, the Republic maintained an almost non-existent relationship with the First Order, resulting in ignored diplomatic protests and observers being denied access; an example of this was during the First Order blockade of the Otomok system, to which the galactic government objected. However, the First Order informed them that the matter was an internal affair, which the Republic accepted.^[43]

In an effort to subvert the New Republic, the First Order also channeled funds through shell and third-party corporations in the Corporate Sector to corrupt Republic senators like Erudo Ro-Kiintor, who blocked motions advocating sanctions against the First Order and increasing support for the New Republic Defense Fleet.^[52] Consequently, the First Order's main military adversary was the Resistance, a private military organization founded by General Leia Organa in response to the Republic's unwillingness to take action against the Order.^[8] The First Order saw its primary mission as restoring order to a lawless galaxy and viewed the Republic and Resistance as obstacles to achieving these goals.^[52]

Even though the First Order itself did not see the New Republic as a legitimate government,^[6] the regime was willing to exploit its rival government's laws when possible. For example, the First Order could find blackmail in the form of discovering violations of Republic laws and use that discovery to its advantage; if the body with which the First Order was negotiating was not willing to agree to its terms, the First Order might threaten to inform the New Republic of actions, such as sanction violations, that body was responsible for. Alternatively, the First Order could use that possible blackmail as a counter to any threat of revealing First Order coercion; if the party wanted to reveal the First Order's actions, the First Order possessed the knowledge to damage that other body's standing.^[111]

Relationships with other bodies

The First Order was also known to have dealings with other entities like the Corporate Sector Authority,^[52] the Guavian Death Gang,^[6] Sheh Soahi's pirates,^[43] and Benathy kingdom, which the First Order attempted negotiations with before outright annexing after a battle.^[56] The First Order also established an alliance with the Warbird pirate gang while also attempting to make inroads with the government of the Colossus refueling platform,^[112] which they intended to use as a staging ground for their further operations.^[59] Puppeteering both ends of the pirate-Colossus conflict, the First Order funded Warbird gang and supported its raids on the Colossus, all while attempting to negotiate with the Colossus on the promise that a First Order security detail could prevent those same raids.^[112]

Captain Doza, the governing figure of the Colossus, initially rejected these attempted inroads,^[111] much to the frustration of the First Order.^[112] In one meeting with Doza, Major Vonreg offered protection from the pirate raids and a supply of fuel, only for Doza to counter that Vonreg was effectively attempting to coerce him. While Doza threatened to report the meeting as an act of coercion, Vonreg threated to, in turn, report Doza's own underworld dealings to the New Republic, which violated New Republic trade sanctions.^[111]

Meanwhile, among individuals that continued to harbor sympathies for the Imperial state, the First Order and its claims to being a legitimate successor to the Galactic Empire was a matter of dispute. Although some veterans from the Imperial Military—such as Captain Edrison Peavey, Captain Yago,^[27] and the former stormtrooper Terex^[17]—saw the Order as being a continuation of the stratocratic regime that such individuals proceeded to join,^[27] it was known to the former journalist Suralinda Javos that a significant number of other individuals, while they identified as being Imperial, harbored little affinity for the military junta that sought to reclaim the Empire's legacy, regarding the Order as an "upstart." Some who had come to disagree with the Empire—like the warlord Teza Nasz—even proceeded to oppose the First Order, joining the Resistance in its efforts to fight the neo-Imperial rule.^[87]

Relations as the ruling government

About thirty years after the Battle of Endor, the First Order launched a preemptive attack on the Hosnian system in order to destroy the Republic and force the wider galaxy into submission. Later, the First Order successfully destroyed the Resistance's base on D'Qar. However, the remaining Resistance forces were able to evacuate^[6] and continue their fight against the First Order.^[7] Under Supreme Leader Snoke, the First Order military rapidly expanded into the galaxy to wrestle control of space,^[10] taking full advantage of the destruction of the New Republic and the collapse of whatever remained of the government.^[27]

The expansion effort was carried on under the rule of Supreme Leader Kylo Ren, who further led the Order as an incredibly aggressive, punishing body. To Ren, the First Order needed to evolve beyond even the policies of the Empire, which he described as being "too lenient." As such, even the once neutral Fondor shipyards were nationalized by the First Order. Mere contact with the Resistance was regarded as an act of treason worthy of such a revocation of tolerance.^[92]

Judiciary

There was no line between the military and justice in the First Order, which had a merciless attitude towards treason among other things, where it dispensed final justice on anyone with even slight loyalty issues per day; this was done as several public executions with the executioners coming from the ranks of the Stormtrooper Corps anonymously in rotations, with it being considered an effective method of stormtrooper training. Unlike most stormtrooper variants, they were not from a specialist unit, but were instead randomly picked among regular stormtroopers for that day depending on various assignments and their identity was left anonymous.^[12]

Assigned to keep order on worlds within First Order territory, a specialized variant of the standard stormtrooper were trained in riot-control tactics and given non-lethal equipment to suppress any disorder,^[114] as well as some lethal weapons, such as the Sonn-Blas F-11D blaster rifle, in case situations spiraled out of control.^[8]

The First Order also used cybernetics as a form of punishment by turning someone into a cyborg to ensure loyalty, as was the case with rogue agent Terex.^[115] The First Order would also dismiss any strike action and would send in stormtroopers to enforce and "restore order" as part of a law and order operation, and would simply kill any negotiators to resolve any strike.^[52]

The First Order made it illegal to even communicate with the Resistance and considered it an act of treason that would result in being executed,^[92] and the act of speaking ill of the Supreme Leader was determined as a crime.^[87]

Society and culture

Overview

Main article: Neo-Imperialism

Due to being in isolation^[8] in the Unknown Regions,^[58] citizens of the First Order believed in an Imperially-skewed version of galactic history^[8] and adopted a radical fascist,^[117] neo-Imperialist-based political ideology. That ideology's values were based on a fanatical devotion to the totalitarian notions of "order," violent disdain for the New Republic and democracy,^[2] and survival of the fittest.^[118] Under the guidance of Imperial veterans, along with approved literature, vids, and mandatory viewings of morale sessions twice a day for stormtrooper cadets, officers learned of their glorious past and how they had been robbed of it by terrorists and rebels, who later called themselves the New Republic.^[8]

Relationship with the "Old Empire"

Despite the guiding hand of old-style Imperials in forming the First Order,^[8] the First Order's relationship with the Old Empire was a controversial subject even within the government.^[27] A culture clash emerged within the government's ranks between those old Imperial loyalists and the younger generation, who were much more dismissive of the fallen Empire and, in particular, Emperor Palpatine for the failure of the old Imperial state. The younger generation effectively believed in a vision of the Empire without need for the emperor himself, which created problems when Palpatine re-emerged^[119] in 35 ABY.^[15] The fallen Galactic Empire, overall, had a strange place in First Order culture^[119] as it represented both a glorious past^[8] and a failed institution that needed to be grown past.^[119]

The presence of old loyalists such as Allegiant General Enric Pryde^[119] and Agent Terex, who openly longed for an outright return of the Empire, was counteracted by the likes of Captain Phasma^[17] and Kylo Ren, whose personal ideology of "letting the past die" spoke to the First Order's attitude to the empire that preceded it.^[119] General Domaric Quinn, despite his prior service in the Empire,^[1] stood politically with the younger generation.^[119]

While many of the old hands among the First Order officer corps, those who had once served during the Imperial Era, believed the First Order would restore the Empire to power, younger generations believed differently. General Armitage Hux, although raised to admire the accomplishments of the former Empire, believed that the war with the Rebel Alliance had been lost because of the internal flaws that existed inside the Imperial state. As a result, Hux saw the First Order as a more refined and pure version of what the Empire sought to become, but never achieved.^[27] Similarly, Phasma disagreed with Terex about his comparing the First Order to the Empire, claiming that the former was purer than the latter had ever been, having been put through the crucible and emerged stronger as a result.^[17]

Propaganda and moral

Many within the First Order believed only they could have the power necessary to wrestle the galaxy from a path of chaos and corruption.^[8] While the New Republic's corruption and ineffectiveness was plain to see across the galaxy, from its citizens to the Resistance and the First Order,^[52] the First Order claimed its fascist policies were the answer the galaxy needed^[117] while, in secret, actively contributing to the Republic's decline through its agents in the Senate.^[58] The New Republic's corruption was one of the First Order's most potent weapons, as they ensured their agenda met with no interference from the Senate. The First Order's citizens saw this as proof the Rebellion was built on false promises, and that rebels could only tear down a government, not build one.^[5] All the while, however, First Order officers were driven by ego^[120] and personal ambition,^[119] damaging the overall mission of the state in the name of their personal pride.^[120] A large number of individuals in the First Order were non-human aliens who were effectively second-class citizens. This was apparent in the First Order propaganda and labor policies.^[52]

Pre-recorded speeches often filled the airwaves, in which General Armitage Hux commented on instances of the Republic's depravity, including famines on Ibaar and Adarlon, the brutal suppression of the people of Balamak, and unchecked alien advances throughout the Outer Rim. Following these reports were stories of First Order victories such as liberating labor camps on Iktotch or winning a fleet battle in the Bormea sector. Despite these patriotic functions and rallies, the First Order heavily relied on the brutal suppression of dissent and unpatriotic activities. Riot control stormtroopers were specially trained to quash insurrection, with live-fire dispersal of protesters permitted. Industrial unrest such as the Strike at Pressy's Tumble were blamed on New Republic agents. According to the First Order, the Jedi were officially extinct, and it was forbidden to pronounce Kylo Ren's birth name by order of Supreme Leader Snoke.^[52][8] To boost morale, the First Order utilized a commemorative rank insignia system, issuing armbands bearing the names of famous units and heroes of the Galactic Civil War. Many in the military believed that despite being outnumbered by the New Republic Starfleet, their technological superiority was so complete that even their smaller navy stood virtually unchallenged.^[8]

Recruitment and indoctrination

The First Order had no qualms with inducting children into direct combat.^[12] The most infamous example of the latter was the stormtroopers of the First Order, which forcibly subjected any children of worlds conquered by the First Order to military training.^[12][8] Because the First Order trained its soldiers from childhood, several members had very high ranks despite their youth technically making them closer to junior officers, in contrast to the Empire's Sub-Adult Group, which promoted patriotism without subjecting its members to direct combat.^[12] The First Order also instilled its pilots and gunners with a fanatical devotion to it, training them to prioritize victory over their own survival.^[121]

However brutal, the First Order's recruitment methods were lauded by their personnel and even by some of their conscripts. Many of the children the First Order recruited came from poor, impoverished Outer Rim worlds, where lawlessness was rampant and the residents had few to no prospects in life. Due to these horrific conditions, many of the people happily surrendered their children to the First Order willingly, either hoping they would have a better life or simply desiring payment and/or one or more fewer mouths to feed. Some freelance recruiters for the First Order agreed these children were better off under the First Order than on their homeworlds; one bragged that Athulla was such a "nightmare" the First Order was doing its children a favor.^[13] One of these impoverished children inducted into the First Order's ranks, from the desert world of Jakku, would rise to become a respected officer in the First Order: Captain Cardinal. Other orphan children were recruited by force against their will while others were outright kidnapped from their families.^[5]

Once recruited, citizens and soldiers of the First Order were indoctrinated to have a strong sense of duty, loyalty, and obedience to the state, and taught to forgo their personal desires for the greater good of the First Order. To this end, recruits abandoned their previous lives and identities upon their induction into the First Order and submitted to being identified by a numerical code. Senior officers and distinguished members of the Stormtrooper Corps, such as Phasma and Cardinal, were not expected to do so. First Order citizens were educated to believe it had been the pursuit of individual selfishness and desires that led the Rebel Alliance to topple the Old Empire. They were also taught that the rebels were short-sighted terrorists who could not see the benefit of the Old Empire, and instead started a war that forced it to crack down on personal liberties in response.^[5] The Benathy were not only indoctrinated into First Order ideology but worshiped the totalitarian regime itself after the death of the Zillo Beast that they worshiped as their god.^[56]

Despite this doctrine, First Order military training heavily emphasized individual strength and improvisation, both physically and mentally. Training programs that were mandatory for all recruits beginning at a young age became progressively more severe as they grew to adulthood. The First Order, like the Empire before it, believed the strong naturally rose to power, while the weaker were left to serve their natural leaders.^[5] Sometime during one's life within the First Order, they took an oath, one in which both high-ranking members such as General Artimage Hux or soldiers such as the former FN-2187 were cited as recipients, and in the First Order, renouncing that oath made them seen as something worse than even a Resistance fighter.^[116]

Economy

The First Order economy was tightly controlled, partly due to treaty restrictions that prevented major galactic corporations from selling arms to the First Order, owing to its Imperial origins. Nevertheless, they had dealings with the Aratech-Loratus Corporation, Rebaxan Columni, Sienar-Jaemus Fleet Systems, Kuat-Entralla Engineering, and Sonn-Blas Corporation—a subsidiary of the First Order military's major arms manufacturers, Merr-Sonn Munitions, Inc. and BlasTech Industries. The First Order plundered the worlds within its domain in order to fill its coffers with various currencies, particularly coins minted from precious metals, such as aurei, peggats, and zemids, all of which had universal value as they could be melted down.^[12] The credit was also a recognized currency in the First Order economy,^[11] although by then coinage made from valuable metals was considered preferable to electronic currencies, especially in an era of instability.^[12]

Having amassed a vast treasury through conquest and plunder,^[12] the First Order used its profits to purchase weapons from war profiteers on Cantonica in the Corporate Sector.^[122][10] They also channeled large sums of money through shells and third-party corporations with help from the Corporate Sector Authority.^[52]

To avoid the terms of the Galactic Concordance which included the sale of weapons to the Order, arms manufacturers BlasTech Industries and Merr-Sonn Munitions, Inc. opted to bypass these restrictions by forming a subsidiary known as the Sonn-Blas Corporation, which manufactured all weapons within First Order space, while Sienar-Jaemus Army Systems and Aratech-Loratus Corporation would develop spacecraft and vehicles to the Order.^[8]

Infrastructure

The airwaves infrastructure in the First Order was under full state oversight and had tight restrictions and censorship imposed on it, which were often filled with pre recorded speeches in line with military objectives, this was there-for used by the ruling junta to maintain its control of the masses by using propaganda.^[52][8] The First Order utilized a form of holographic technology that could show the user in full color and lacked any scan lines as part of its communications systems.^[6]

The Supremacy communication complex was used to watch HoloNet traffic throughout the galaxy, this was to help identify trends and weaknesses that the First Order could use to further their goals, it could also be used to dispatched orders to agents operating within both New Republic and independent space.^[12] The Supremacy also held industrial capabilities including research labs and factories onboard, this housed departments for conception, research and well-stocked raw materials reserves, eight durasteel foundries as well as an asteroid mining complex for harvesting raw materials directly from asteroid fields, as well as state-of-the-art production lines that could not be cut off from supply lines. It also had at least eight droid manufacturing facilities.^[105]

Station Theta Black space station was used to mine and process dedlanite to make blasters for the army.^[123]

Astrography

Unknown Regions and Centrist worlds

The territory ruled over by the First Order was identified simply as "First Order Space."^[124] Initially, the territory of the First Order was located in the large, unexplored Unknown Regions to the west of the Core. An area of space outside of the New Republic's supervision, it served as the First Order and its associates' refuge.^[52] The overall territory was known as First Order Space^[2] with the emerging power having expanded across the vast swaths of space left untouched for millennia by galactic explorers,^[12] including Demir.^[125] Numerous shipyards, bases, and research facilities were also built on newly explored star systems and colonized worlds as the Order slowly expanded and plotted its eventual return to the galaxy at large.^[8] The First Order undertook a major offensive against several of these kingdoms to seize their worlds and resources to fuel their rise.^[27][46][53]

The First Order also expanded into the Outer Rim Territories^[2] beyond 29 ABY,^[16] through the claiming of a bloc of star systems that seceded from the New Republic^[1] and more underhanded tactics.^[43] The Centrists, a political faction in the Galactic Senate,^[51] wanted a more centralized government than the one offered by the New Republic. As a result, the systems that identified with Centrist politics joined the First Order, marking its official formation as a galactic government.^[1] At the time when the Centrists called for secession, the planets that supported their political goals included Arkanis, Comra, Coruscant, Daxam IV, Hevurion, Kuat, Orinda, and Riosa.^[51]

Borderlands and pre-war expansion

A narrow region of neutral systems known as the Trans-Hydian Borderlands existed between New Republic and First Order space as a result of the Cold War between the two galactic powers, with peace negotiations leading to its service as a formal buffer zone. Despite frequent First Order incursions into Republic space, the Galactic Senate did not wish to spark a conflict, and thus was limited to formal diplomatic protest.^[52] First Order assets, including galactic arms-manufacturing corporations such as BlasTech Industries and Merr-Sonn Munitions, Inc.'s Sonn-Blas Corporation subsidiary, took root and operated from within the region to evade the arms-selling restrictions mandated by First Order–New Republic treaty.^[8]

In 33 ABY,^[15] the First Order assumed control over the Benathy kingdom, which ruled over an area of Wild Space.^[56] The First Order also made efforts to expand into the Cassander sector within the borderland by covertly supporting Sheh Soahi's pirates, only for Resistance personnel to oppose those efforts via an anti-piracy campaign.^[43] In the immediate leadup to the First Order-Resistance War, a number of planets that were not yet part of the First Order government considered joining it in return from the security the First Order promised.^[12]

Conquest of the galaxy

The First Order increased its territorial extent from the Unknown Regions^[58] through galactic conquest after the New Republic^[1] was scattered^[58] and destroyed.^[12] At the unveiling of Starkiller Base, General Armitage Hux had promised that every system in the galaxy would bow to their regime with the New Republic's demise.^[6] Indeed, Rey knew that the First Order would claim every one of the galaxy's major systems in a matter of weeks^[10] after the unveiling of Starkiller Base,^[6] the subsequent destruction of which had not become public knowledge.^[78] Hux's words about a galaxy-scale surrender contained great truth^[76] as planets surrendered to the incoming First Order,^[12] yet the regime would need to deal with cases of rebellion from planets and whole star systems during its reign over the galaxy.^[57]

With its conquest of the galaxy, the First Order's military presence extended to various inhabited worlds, including Bespin, Jakku, and Endor.^[7] Kijimi was also conquered and placed under military occupation. No longer required to observe treaties with a fallen government, the First Order deployed its stormtroopers across the galaxy, making the white-armored soldier a common sight once more.^[1] By 35 ABY,^[126] the First Order had annexed the world of Didyma V, taking control of its lommite production.^[1]

Behind the scenes

The First Order was created for the 2015 film Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens and was developed through conversations amongst the production team. According to J.J. Abrams, the film's director, the team wondered what would have happened if the Nazis who went into hiding in Argentina after World War II started working together again. Abrams hinted that the First Order would therefore be a group that admired the Galactic Empire and felt that its work was unfulfilled.^[127]

The First Order's exact nature during the development of the film was kept secret since the film's announcement. On August 10, 2015, the official Star Wars Twitter and GooglePlus accounts unveiled an image of the First Order congregating at Starkiller Base.^[128]

Costume designer Michael Kaplan said the First Order uniforms were designed to look severe, "very hard edge, very broad shoulders, very angular, geometric." He cited inspiration from French fashion designer Thierry Mugler.^[129]

Star Wars: The Rebel Files states that the Resistance did not have any spies within the First Order.^[130] However, Poe Dameron: Flight Log previously established that the Resistance spy droid network did have spies, including RA-7-D4, within the First Order.^[131]

Appearances

Non-canon appearances

• Roblox
• LEGO Star Wars: The Resistance Rises — "Poe to the Rescue"
• LEGO Star Wars: The Resistance Rises — "The Trouble with Rathtars"
• LEGO Star Wars: The Resistance Rises — "Attack of the Conscience"
• LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens
• Star Wars: Puzzle Droids
• Star Wars Blips — "The Chase"
• LEGO Star Wars: All-Stars — "Scouting for Leia"
• LEGO Star Wars: All-Stars — "A Mission with Maz"
• LEGO Star Wars: All-Stars — "Rolling with BB-8"
• LEGO Star Wars: All-Stars — "Resistance on the Run"
• LEGO STAR WARS: Celebrate the Season — "Sithmas Battle"
• LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga

Sources

Non-canon sources

• The Art of Star Wars: Visions
• Strap in Starfighter, Star Wars is Taking Over in Fortnite: GALACTIC BATTLE! on Fortnite's official website (backup link)

Notes and references