Resistance

"...there's a splinter of the Republic military that...that feels the Republic isn't taking certain threats as seriously as they maybe ought to be taking them. Specifically the threat posed by the First Order."

- Poe Dameron

The Resistance was a small military force founded by Leia Organa to combat the First Order. The origins of the Resistance, which took inspiration from the Alliance to Restore the Republic, dated to the end of the Galactic Civil War, when the New Republic passed the Military Disarmament Act in the wake of the signing of the Galactic Concordance with the Galactic Empire. Organa argued that the Empire, which retreated into the Unknown Regions, could not be trusted to abide by the treaty. When the First Order arose from the ashes of the Empire, Organa urged the Republic to take the threat seriously. Rebuffed and being labeled a paranoid warmonger, Organa was disgraced in the eyes of the New Republic's Senate following the revelation that her father was Darth Vader. Ignored particularly by the growing Centrists faction, many of which were in direct collusion with the rising First Order, she formed the Resistance to combat the threat she had discovered.

During their conflict with the First Order, the Resistance sought the help of the missing Jedi Master Luke Skywalker. During their search, they launched a battle to destroy Starkiller Base, the First Order superweapon that destroyed the Hosnian system and, with it, the Galactic Senate that had quietly tolerated the Resistance's activities. The assault on the Starkiller was successful and, shortly thereafter, the Resistance found Skywalker living in exile.

Formation
"The sun is setting on the New Republic. It's time for the Resistance to rise."

- Leia Organa

At the end of the Galactic Civil War, the Galactic Empire suffered their final defeat against the New Republic during the Battle of Jakku. The once-powerful Empire signed a peace treaty with the Republic called the Galactic Concordance, which mandated that they keep the peace with the Republic and remain inside predetermined borders within the Core Worlds and the Inner Rim. After the signing of the treaty, the Imperial starfleet disappeared into the Unknown Regions, where they quietly formed the First Order from the ashes of the Empire. Meanwhile, the Republic carried out the demilitarization of the New Republic Starfleet, cutting down on much of its military force in the interest of pursuing peace and preventing a galactic war from ever occurring again. Princess Leia Organa, who had been one of the leaders of the Rebel Alliance during the war, argued strongly against the demilitarization policies and said that the Republic could not trust that the Empire would honor the peace. She urged the Republic to take the threat of the First Order seriously once it arose, but was considered a warmonger. Organa herself had formerly been an influential member of the Republic's Senate, but lost almost all credibility with the organization and was forced to resign following the public revelation of her father having been Darth Vader. Along with the few remaining allies she could trust, such as Gial Ackbar and Joph Seastriker, she formed the Resistance.

First fights against the First Order
"We're on the brink of war again&mdash;one we may not survive."

- General Leia Organa

To be a check on the designs of the First Order, Organa formed the Resistance with a base on D'Qar, in an outpost that was once intended as an Alliance base during the war. The Resistance was a splinter group from the Republic's military and operated wholly independently of the Republic chain of command. The Republic quietly tolerated Organa's activities, as she pursued evidence that the First Order was violating the Galactic Concordance, while some members of the Galactic Senate secretly supported her actions with their funding and sympathies. The Resistance went into combat against the First Order on a few occasions and even rooted out Republic senators who were sympathetic to the First Order's cause.

General Organa knew that the Resistance would need more help, so she hoped to find her missing brother, Jedi Master Luke Skywalker, who had gone into exile after the destruction of his new generation of Jedi. Organa sent her most trusted pilot, Commander Poe Dameron, to Jakku to find a segment of a star map that was in the possession of the legendary explorer Lor San Tekka. Tekka gave Dameron the map, who in turn trusted it to his astromech droid BB-8 just before Dameron was captured. The map came into the possession of Finn, a stormtrooper who defected from the First Order, and a desert scavenger named Rey. With the help of former Alliance General and famed smuggler Han Solo and his first mate Chewbacca, Finn and Rey set off on a mission to return BB-8 to the Resistance. They sought the help of the pirate Maz Kanata on Takodana, where they were tracked by the First Order. Dameron, who had escaped from the First Order with Finn's help, arrived with several starfighter squadrons and fought the First Order off, though Rey was captured as part of the First Order's quest to find Skywalker as well.

Finn, Solo, and Chewbacca made it to the Resistance base, where BB-8's map was kept safe. Their more pressing concern was Starkiller Base, the First Order superweapon that had destroyed the Hosnian system and, with it, the Galactic Senate and much of the Republic fleet. The Resistance put a plan in motion to destroy the Starkiller weapon before it could target the Resistance. Finn, Solo, and Chewbacca, who also intended to rescue Rey from the base, arrived at the Starkiller first and disabled the shields protecting a thermal oscillator, the destruction of which would cause the base to be destroyed. Dameron led starfighter squadrons against the oscillator and ultimately prevailed. The base was destroyed and the Resistance returned to the base, though at the cost of Solo and many starfighter pilots. Upon their return, R2-D2 awoke from a years-long slumber and provided the remainder of the map needed to find Skywalker. Organa sent Rey to the planet Ahch-To where she could find Skywalker. When Rey arrived, she presented to Skywalker his father's old lightsaber, kept safe by Maz Kanata for many years, as a symbol of the hope that the galaxy so desperately needed.

Government
"You are the leader of the Resistance, a critical check on the designs of the First Order. You are a symbol of the Resistance and an inspiration to all soldiers who follow our cause and do their duty in hard times."

- PZ-4CO, to General Leia Organa

The Resistance was a band of soldiers and pilots who served in a struggle against the First Order many years after the Battle of Endor. The Resistance was led by its de facto leader General Leia Organa, who had once been a vital leader in the Alliance to Restore the Republic during the Galactic Civil War, and reputedly knew the name of every single member in her organization. Other members of Resistance command included Major Caluan Ematt, Admiral Statura, Admiral Gial Ackbar, and Major Taslin Brance. Famed droids C-3PO and R2-D2, also served in the Resistance, while PZ-4CO took command of the control center's operations with the assistance of C-3PO. Many other individuals performed tasks, such as starfighter and droid maintenance, in the Resistance base on D'Qar.

Military
Utilizing hit-and-run tactics against the forces of the First Order, the Resistance's military strategy was to merely delay the movements of the First Order and obtain irrefutable evidence of illegal military incursions into New Republic territory to present to Republic Command. An organized group, the Resistance had a designated rank system for members in both the army and navy.

Militarily, the Resistance was forced to make do with outdated and aging equipment unlike the New Republic, and was so undermanned that most of its personnel were forced to do double duty as scanner technicians, droid programmers, starship mechanics and regular foot soldiers. Owing to its lessened pool of manpower, the Resistance placed a greater emphasis on treating the wounded and returning them to duty, and as a result finding medical equipment was a high priority. Resistance troopers commonly utilized the BlasTech EL-16HFE blaster rifle, and were ferried into combat on Resistance transports, which were heavily modified transports assembled from varying vessels from previous wars. Gian-211 patrol speeders and an army of droids helped keep the Resistance up and running, with many robotic workers given more responsibility and independence than elsewhere in the galaxy and seen as more than just droids, which was a continuation of the ideas of the Rebel Alliance. Many protocols of the Rebel Alliance also remained in use, with code K-one-zero signaling the evacuation of a base, which was most notably used during the Battle of Hoth. In addition, C-3PO led the Resistance's droid spy network, with GA-97 alerting the Resistance to BB-8's location on Takodana.

The upper levels of Resistance command consisted of veterans of the Galactic Civil War who had remained loyal to Leia Organa. With many skilled commanders left unemployed by the Military Disarmament Act, several old rebels readily rallied to Leia's call to action. Officers such as Admiral Ackbar were treated with great respect by Resistance personnel, many of whom existed in a generational divide, with most young 'victory kids' barely in their twenties having never witnessed the horrors of tyranny firsthand. Many of the youngest kids were used to fill out the ranks of the Starfighter Corps, and were recruited from local planetary defense forces. Spirited and idealistic, many of the pilots formed a close-knit bond, and were eager to bring the fight to the First Order. As a symbol in their struggle against the First Order, the Resistance adopted the starbird once used by the Rebel Alliance. The symbol adorned the helmets of Resistance starfighter pilots, who were known to use T-70 X-wing fighters in combat, which were older than the New Republic T-85 X-wing. Owing to New Republic demilitarization efforts, acquiring capital ships was near impossible. Consequently, the Resistance base on D'Qar contained two starfighter wings, code-named Red and Blue. Blue Squadron served as the primary line of defense for the base, while Red Squadron flew as support. Commander Poe Dameron lead both squadrons as Black Leader, not as an indication of a special squadron, but to denote his specialized fighter, Black One.

Foreign relations
As a splinter group of the New Republic military, the Resistance had a tense relationship with its main sponsor, which wanted to avoid war with the First Order. Resistance members like Leia Organa and Poe Dameron were frustrated with the Galactic Senate's slow decision-making process and unwillingness to take action against the First Order. While the Republic officially tolerated the Resistance, some military commanders like Major Lonno Deso disliked the Resistance for allegedly exaggerating the threat posed by the First Order. While the Republic believed that the First Order were a minor but troublesome Imperial remnant that exaggerated their strength and power, the Resistance saw the Order as a threat to the New Republic and the galaxy. Due to its efforts to resist the First Order's advances, the military junta identified the Resistance as one of its main obstacles to galactic domination and tried unsuccessfully to destroy its base on D'Qar.

Behind the scenes
The Resistance was created for the 2015 film Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens. Its name was first revealed at Celebration Anaheim in April 2015 and made its first appearance in the prologues and epilogues of the Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens young readers novels Moving Target: A Princess Leia Adventure and The Weapon of a Jedi: A Luke Skywalker Adventure. The organization's earliest formation was detailed in the novel Bloodline.

Non-canon appearances

 * LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens