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- "Ignite the Spark. Light the Fire."
- ―Resistance motto
The Resistance (28 ABY–), also known as the Rebellion or the Resistance military, was a military resistance movement that fought against the First Order to both preserve democracy and to restore the New Republic. Emerging as a private military force and splinter of the New Republic Defense Force during the cold war between the New Republic and the First Order, a mysterious Imperial remnant located in the Unknown Regions. The Resistance was founded by General Leia Organa to protect the New Republic. Modeled to an extent on the Alliance to Restore the Republic, which Organa served with in the Galactic Civil War, the Resistance was composed of human and alien members that shared Organa's views on the threat that the First Order posed to the Republic and the galaxy at large. Among the organization's personnel were members of the New Republic military, such as the pilots Poe Dameron and Kazuda Xiono, who supported the Resistance in lieu of direct action from the Galactic Senate, while others like Paige and Rose Tico rallied to Organa's cause as a result of the First Order's exploitation of their homeworld. Their organization was small, however, and therefore resources were limited. As such, the Resistance relied on the support of sympathetic senators who discreetly funneled credit, starships, and weapons to Organa's cash-strapped movement.
Though tolerated by the Republic, the galactic government regarded Organa and her followers as extremists that risked open warfare with the First Order—an outcome the Senate wished to avoid even as the Order disregarded the terms of the Galactic Concordance. Organa herself had been sidelined from the political process, with her concerns about the Galactic Empire's successor dismissed as paranoid warmongering. Further isolated by the public revelation that the Sith Lord Darth Vader was, in fact, her biological father, Organa struck out on her own to oppose the First Order as founder of the Resistance. A period of hostility ensued between the two organizations characterized by various methods short of open warfare, such as espionage and propaganda. The Resistance also competed against the First Order during the search for the Jedi Master Luke Skywalker, who disappeared into self-imposed exile following his failed attempt to restore the Jedi Order.
The cold war escalated into open conflict when the First Order launched an attack on the New Republic, annihilating the Senate and its capital on Hosnian Prime with the power of Starkiller Base in 34 ABY. In the wake of the Hosnian Cataclysm, the Resistance launched a direct assault on Starkiller Base and ultimately destroyed the superweapon. Their victory was short-lived, however, as the military forces of the First Order struck back, inflicting heavy losses on the the Resistance, which was forced to evacuate their headquarters on D'Qar. The Resistance fleet whittled away under the relentless assault by the First Order Navy. The surviving members of the Resistance sought refuge in an abandoned outpost on Crait, but Supreme Leader Kylo Ren pursued them with the armies of the First Order under his command. The Resistance narrowly survived the Battle of Crait due to the efforts of the Jedi Luke Skywalker, who emerged from his hermitage to save his twin sister's rebellion, although this action would cost Skywalker his life. Nevertheless, his death had invigorated the Resistance, inspiring them to rebuild and continue the war against the First Order.
Over the next year, the Resistance rebuilt its forces while the First Order pursued its conquest of the galaxy. When a broadcast was sent out from the Unknown Regions using the voice of the late Galactic Emperor Darth Sidious, the Resistance sought a safe passage through the Unknown Regions to Exegol, where, as a mole in the First Order revealed to the Resistance, Supreme Leader Kylo Ren had met with the returned Emperor. Eventually, the First Order joined forces with the Emperor's Final Order, a fleet of new Star Destroyers built by the Sith Eternal, but the Resistance had gathered intel on Exegol and charted a safe route. With Leia Organa passing away into the Force, Generals Poe Dameron and Finn led the Resistance in mounting an attack at the Battle of Exegol in an effort to prevent the Final Order from taking off from Exegol and attacking the free worlds. The Resistance was reinforced by the combined citizens' fleet, led by General Lando Calrissian, and successfully prevented the Sith fleet from leaving Exegol after taking out their command ship while Rey, the last Jedi, trained by Skywalker and Organa, destroyed Sidious. The Final Order's destruction led to a galactic-wide uprising against the First Order by the inhabitants of the galaxy, who were inspired and empowered by the Resistance's victory.
History
Formation
- "The sun is setting on the New Republic. It's time for the Resistance to rise."
- ―Leia Organa
The Resistance was founded by General Leia Organa, a hero of the Rebel Alliance, to monitor the actions of the First Order.
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[11] and remain inside predetermined borders within the Core Worlds and the Inner Rim.[16] 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 Defense Fleet, 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.[11]
Leia Organa had formerly been an influential member of the Republic's Senate, but lost almost all credibility with the legislature and was forced to resign following the public revelation of her father having been Darth Vader. Following the Mission to Sibensko, Leia was partially vindicated when she discovered evidence that a paramilitary faction called the Amaxine warriors was colluding with Rinnrivin Di's cartel to overthrow the New Republic. While Leia warned that there were more threats, much of the Senate disagreed, with some accusing her of warmongering. Realizing that the Senate could not protect the New Republic, Leia along with the few remaining allies she could trust, such as Gial Ackbar, C-3PO, Joph Seastriker, and Temmin Wexley, formed a paramilitary outfit called the Resistance.[17]
Fearing an occupation of their independent homeworld, Ryloth, by the First Order during their rise of power, numerous Twi'leks pledged their allegiance to Leia Organa and the Resistance.[8]
Cold war
- "I'm a Republic officer, General. I swore an oath to protect the Republic, to—"
"No, you misunderstand. I like it. It was rash of you, as I said, it was foolish. But we could use some rash these days, and foolish and passionate are often confused, and passion is something we desperately need." - ―Poe Dameron and Leia Organa
Requiring a hidden base of operations, the Resistance chose D'Qar due to the planet's obscurity.
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,[11] 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 exposed the New Republic senator Erudo Ro-Kiintor as a First Order agent.[18]
Lor San Tekka possessed the key to finding the legendary Jedi Master Luke Skywalker.
Following Operation: Sabre Strike, 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.[18] Believing that Lor San Tekka held the key to finding Skywalker, General Organa sent Poe Dameron and his Black Squadron on a quest to find the ancient explorer. Using the information acquired during Operation: Sabre Strike, Black Squadron undertook a mission to Ovanis to question the Crèche cultists about Tekka's whereabouts.[19]
Their mission was complicated when the First Order dispatched Agent Terex to recover the information that Poe had acquired during Operation: Sabre Strike. While Poe dealt with the Crèche and Terex's landing party, Black Squadron at the urging of L'ulo L'ampar attacked Terex's TIE fighters and landing platform.[20] The fighting was complicated when two large winged creatures hatched from the Crèche egg and fought. Ultimately, Poe defeated Terex in physical combat and forced the First Order agent to withdraw his forces. Having obtained the information from the Crèche elder, Poe and Black Squadron departed Ovanis.[21]
Continuing their search for Lor San Tekka, General Organa bribed Warden Luta into letting Black Squadron enter Megalox prison on the high-gravity world of Megalox Beta to question Grakkus the Hutt. However, Terex found his way first and managed to bribe Luta into abandoning Black Squadron inside the prison. Despite Terex's tactics, Poe and his fellow pilots managed to reach Grakkus' fortress. Grakkus then offered to sell the information to whoever got him out of the prison first.[22] In response, Poe got BB-8 and the other astromech droids to embark on a mission to disable Megalox space station's gravity shield. Jess's droid O-R10N was destroyed by a security droid.[23]
When Terex hired an army of gangsters to attack Grakkus' fortress, Black Squadron joined Grakkus' posse in fighting off the rival gangs.[23] They held out long enough for BB-8 and his team to deactivate the gravity shield. While Terex and the other gangsters were crushed under the weight of Megalox Beta's high gravity, Poe and his fellow pilots were unaffected since they wore gravity belts. After rescuing Grakkus, they convinced Luta to let them go in return for restoring control of the prison. Before escorting Grakkus into hyperspace, Black Squadron stopped Terex's starship Carrion Spike from attacking the Megalox prison shuttles rushing to evacuate the prisoners. Having extracted the necessary information from Grakkus, Black Squadron allowed him to flee into hyperspace.[24]
The cold war was a state of hostility that existed between the Resistance and the First Order prior to the New Republic's collapse.
Despite outsmarting the First Order, Poe and General Organa realized that the First Order had a spy among their ranks and suspended the search for Tekka.[24] Poe subsequently embarked on a solo mission to the Inner Rim gas giant of Pheryon to meet with the Galaxy Beacon journalist Suralinda Javos, who wanted to sell information about the First Order's illegal rearmament efforts to General Organa. During the course of the mission, the two were captured by the First Order Security Bureau Agent Weel. Javos managed to kill Weel and free Poe. After escaping, Javos experienced a change of heart and decided to join the Resistance.[25]
At the request of General Organa's spymaster C-3PO, Poe along with BB-8 and the technician Oddy Muva undertook a mission to Kaddak to retrieve a member of the Resistance spy droid network who had obtained data on the First Order including the location of Supreme Leader Snoke.[26] However, Agent Terex had planted the data as part of a rogue mission to destroy the Resistance.[27] Terex had retaken control of the Ranc gang and was determined to continue his pursuit for Poe. Poe, BB-8, and C-3PO managed to retrieve the spy droid, who turned out to be the BX-series droid commando N1-ZX.[28]
Poe's mission was complicated further by Oddy Muva embarking on a mission to rescue his wife, Sowa Chuan, who had been kidnapped by Terex in order to exert leverage against Oddy.[29] Terex had forced Oddy to spy on Poe and Black Squadron. Meanwhile, Poe realized that Terex was planning to track him back to the Resistance Base on D'Qar. Poe and the droids crash-landed on a desert world in an attempt to evade Terex and his Ranc gang.[27] Poe's Black Squadron mates soon arrived and fought with Terex's "Uglies." The Resistance pilot L'ulo L'ampar and N1-ZX were killed during the skirmish. Terex's forces were wiped out by First Order forces under Commander Malarus, who had been sent to chastise the prodigal First Order agent. Poe allowed Malarus to arrest Terex, and the two factions departed peacefully in an effort to avoid open warfare.[30]
Sometime later General Organa at the height of the galactic tensions released the Grace Report to the Galactic Senate where she claimed the First Order has violated the Galactic Concordance and was building hidden shipyards, armories, research-and-development labs, and academies, detailing the fact facilities were working day and night on the massive military buildup, one far larger than the First Order would need to defend its member worlds. It also included accounts of testimony from refugees who fled from First Order space to warn the Resistance of what life is under their rule with stories about property seized, populations relocated, children kidnapped, and dissenters exterminated and accusing the Order cooperation agreements with the neutral systems being enforced by the business end of blasters as well as threatening the neutral worlds in the galactic borderlands. And that the First Order calls to civilize the galactic frontier were all but a story they told to cover their colonization of star systems.[31]
Following a series of adventures, 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 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.[1]
A new galactic war
- "We are the spark that will light the fire that will burn the First Order down."
- ―Poe Dameron
Without the New Republic, the Resistance stood alone against the armies of the First Order.
General Hux declared war on the New Republic and then commanded that the Starkiller Base weapon be fired, it was then one massive beams of energy was fired across the galaxy towards the Hosnian system which was destroyed, including Hosnian Prime and other astronomical bodies of the system as the First Order set out to takeover the galaxy.[1]
Chancellor Lanever Villecham, Resistance commander Korr Sella, countless senators, and all the inhabitants of the Hosnian system were victims in the destruction of the system.[1] In the resulting pocket nova, Hosnian Prime became a second star in its system.[32]
Rising from the ashes
- "People are counting on us! The galaxy is counting on us!"
- ―Han Solo, to Finn
Following the loss of the senate and the Hosnian System,[10] the New Republic was virtually helpless as the First Order fleet spread across the galaxy as many Republic member worlds to surrender to the First Order without a fight. These events quickly led to the collapse of the New Republic where its surviving senators had dissolved the remaining task forces in a effort to protect their own homeworlds.[33] The few Republic military forces that remained were completely outclassed and destroyed by the First Order, convincing many Republic member worlds to surrender to the First Order without a fight, rather than risk defeat and devastation.[33]
In the immediate aftermath of the Hosnian Cataclysm as open war, the Resistance became a successor to the fallen New Republic, upholding the ideals of democracy and freedom.[5] Organa first command was to send Commander Dameron, who had escaped from the First Order with Finn's help, to Maz Kanata's castle on the forest planet of Takodana to retrieve BB-8 and counter the First Order's assault on the planet. Poe arrived with several T-70 X-wing starfighters squadrons and fought the First Order off, though Rey was captured as part of the First Order's quest to find Skywalker as well. The Resistance engaged in a fierce dogfight, resulting in the destruction of many First Order TIEs and the deaths of many stormtroopers. As the battle raged on above the castle, the remaining First Order troops boarded their ships and withdrew, taking the captured and unconscious Rey along with them.[1]
Using information provided by a rogue stormtrooper, the Resistance infiltrated Starkiller Base, intending to destroy the First Order superweapon.
Upon arriving on D'Qar, the site of the Resistance's headquarters, they planned an counterattack, Finn had given them the Base's blueprints, which revealed that the base drained the energy of the sun in order to charge its superweapon, and that it required a thermal oscillator, which sustained the energy on the planet, that, if destroyed, would destabilize the planet's core and implode the Base. However, they would need to do it before the Base fully charged its weapon. Finn, Solo, and Chewbacca were to go to Starkiller Base, who also intended to rescue Rey from the base and to disabled the shields protecting a oscillator.[1]
The Resistance however had some early successes with one notable example being able to liberate the Colossus station on Castilon from the First Order grip and was able to escape into deep space while being pursued by the First Order.[34] Inferno Squad was also able to escape the First Order as large-scale fighting between Jinata Security forces, and the First Order began in Kestro, the ruined abandoned capital city of Vardos, as the Order burned the city.[8]
Meanwhile, Solo piloted the Millennium Falcon to Starkiller Base accompanied by Chewbacca and Finn and snuck into the main base and captured Captain Phasma, whom they forced to disable the shields before disposing of her in a garbage chute. They reunited with Rey, who had already escaped on her own. Upon arriving at the junction, Rey quickly went to work. Within a very short span of time she managed to rig the junction properly, leading to a service hatch opening upon the complex Han and Chewie were sneaking within. Han and Chewie then planned a proper strategy to make maximum use of the explosives at their disposal before getting to work. Han confronted Kylo Ren on a bridge over a large pit, pleading with his son to reject Snoke and return to the light side of the Force. However, Ren refused, and killed his father with his lightsaber who with love stroked Ren's face before he plummeted down a shaft as Finn, Rey, and Chewbacca looked on in horror. Ren then felt weakened and horrified by his actions. Meanwhile Chewbacca was able to injure Ren with his bow-caster and proceeded to shoot down several stormtroopers.[1]
Rey, a scavenger strong with the Force, fought for the Resistance against the First Order's champion, Kylo Ren, General Organa's own son.
Chewbacca then detonated explosives on columns supporting an access tunnel that led into the thermal oscillator's conduit. Finn and Rey exited the base into the forest, but were followed by Ren. in the forest and knocked out Rey, then Finn ignited Anakin Skywalker's old lightsaber. Ren claimed that the lightsaber rightfully belonged to him and dueled over it. All of a sudden the lightsaber flew out from the snow into Rey hand and begun her own duel with Ren. With the tunnel open, Dameron, entered it and began a chain reaction of explosions across the planet's surface as it imploded and then exploded. Before Rey could move to finish Ren off, the planet ruptured between where they were standing and they were separated and the stored material from the drained sun then began to expand to create a new star in the planet's place,[1] turning the star system into a binary.[32]
Rey, Finn and the rest Resistance then returned to the base for a strategic gathering concerning the map to Skywalker's location, 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 from an incomplete galactic map from the Imperial archives, only completed with BB-8's fragment. Rey, accompanied by Chewbacca and R2-D2, traveled to the planet Ahch-To to find Skywalker, but he refused to join the Resistance, overcome with grief and shame over his disastrous failure to train Kylo Ren. Rey eventually left to confront Ren herself, leaving Skywalker behind.[1]
Organa held a funeral was held on D'Qar for Solo and thought that it would provide a chance to inspire troops with the old rebel spirit from the days of the Galactic Civil War. Organa also took the opportunity to read out the names of the pilots who never made it back from Starkiller.[33] Zay had ordered Suurgav to contact the Resistance and tell them that the war was just beginning.[8]
Survival
- "In every corner of the galaxy, the downtrodden and oppressed know our symbol, and they put their hope in it. We are the spark that will light the fire that will restore the Republic. That spark, this Resistance, must survive. That is our mission."
- ―Amilyn Holdo
The First Order struck back against the Resistance, destroying their headquarters on D'Qar shortly after the Battle of Starkiller Base.
While Rey was on Ahch-To, the Resistance moved to hastily evacuate its primary base on D'Qar. The destruction of Starkiller Base had saved the planet from immediate destruction, but the First Order still knew the base's location, and moved to launch a conventional attack. With the exception of some small cells, agents, fighting groups, the entire Resistance navy was summoned to help evacuate the planet and search for a new home base.[10] Knowing desperately that they needed aid, Organa dispatched Black Squadron[35] and Inferno Squad to gather allies in the Outer Rim.[8]
The First Order Fleet arrived near the end of the evacuation of the base, using a Mandator IV-class Siege Dreadnought to destroy it. To give the Resistance fleet time to escape, Wing Commander Dameron disabled its defenses in a high-speed attack run before a bomber attack led by Tallissan Lintra, defying Organa's orders to fall back. The attack led to the dreadnaught's destruction, but the entire Resistance bomber fleet was lost in the process. For his costly and disobedient action, Organa demoted Dameron to the rank of Captain.[5]
A Resistance cell in control of the Colossus arrived too late to assist with the evacuation of D'Qar.
In the aftermath of the evacuation, Captain Doza and a band of Resistance fighters arrived with the Colossus to retrieve coaxium from the wreckage of the Fulminatrix. The Resistance effort led by Hype Fazon was able to get the coaxium and depart as the First Order began to resume it hunt for the Colossus. Senator Xiono shortly before contacted Kazuda Xiono, his son via a special coded message and revealed that both himself and his family had survived the Hosnian Cataclysm. However, the First Order had identified Kazuda as a spy. The senator further warned Kaz that bounty hunters would be after him.[36] After departing, the Aces who were in need of combat training, the Colossus went to the mostly uninhabited ice moon Celsor 3 to train.[37]
After coming out of hyperspace, the Resistance Fleet headed to Crait, only to find a fleet of First Order ships, including the Supremacy. Low on fuel and supplies, the fleet was slowly destroyed as ship after ship ran out of fuel and was destroyed by the Supremacy. Kylo Ren, the corrupted son of Organa and Solo who had joined the First Order years prior, led a TIE Fighter attack that wiped out the Resistance's starfighter wing, but hesitated to open fire at the bridge of the Resistance's flagship, the Raddus, upon sensing his mother's presence. His escorts fired instead, killing the entire bridge crew except for Organa, who was rendered unconscious in the attack. Vice Admiral Amilyn Holdo was assigned to temporarily replace Organa, remaining passive about the situation, much to Dameron's irritation.[5]
Without Organa, the Resistance became divided between supporters of Vice Admiral Amilyn Holdo and those who followed Captain Poe Dameron.
Finn and the maintenance worker Rose Tico later informed Dameron that the First Order was tracking them through hyperspace. The two had devised a plan to sneak on board the Supremacy to disable the tracking device to allow the Resistance to flee to safety. Knowing Holdo would never sanction their plan, Dameron decided to keep it on a need-to-know basis. Teaming up with Lieutenant Kaydel Ko Connix, they covered Finn, Tico, and BB-8 fleeing the Raddus aboard a small transport as they traveled to Canto Bight to recruit a codebreaker to help get past the Supremacy's sensor grid.[5]
As all but the Raddus fell to the First Order's guns, Holdo announced her plan to use unarmed transports to evacuate the Raddus. Furious with the decision, Dameron staged a mutiny with C'ai Threnalli on the ship to stop her to buy his friends more time. Unfortunately, Finn's group was discovered and captured aboard the Supremacy before they could disable the tracking device. At this time, Organa recovered and incapacitated Dameron, allowing Holdo's evacuation plan to go forward. When Dameron regained consciousness, Leia informed him that Holdo was well aware that the First Order was tracking them and thus had the transports cloaked from their sensors so they could reach Crait and wait until the enemy fleet had departed the system. Unfortunately, Finn's group's codebreaker, DJ, sold out the Resistance to the First Order, allowing the Supremacy to spot the fleeing transports and begin firing on them, wiping out all but six of the thirty. Holdo subsequently sacrificed herself to destroy the Supremacy by ramming the First Order's fleet at light speed.[5]
During the battle, Rey boarded the Supremacy and tried to convince Kylo Ren to turn back to the light side of the Force and join the Resistance. However, Ren refused and later framed her for his murder of Snoke after she fled the ship.[5]
Retreating to an abandoned Rebel outpost on Crait, the Resistance was forced to rely on obsolete ski speeders against the First Order war machine.
The remaining transports arrived on Crait and prepared to send a transmission to the Resistance's allies in the Outer Rim. However, the First Order struck again, with Kylo Ren, now the new Supreme Leader, leading an attack on the former Rebel base. Finn's group, having escaped, crash-landed in a Xi-class light shuttle after escaping the Supremacy, initially being shot at by the Resistance soldiers in the confusion, they would then join the last of the Resistance as they readied for their last stand, whose numbers were rapidly depleted by the invaders. The Millennium Falcon, piloted by Rey and Chewbacca, arrived to help, but this still was not enough to slow the First Order's advance. As the battering ram prepared to fire, Dameron ordered all speeders to fall back as it would be a suicide run. Finn, however, disobeyed and piloted his speeder directly towards the barrel of the cannon. Unwilling to let Finn die, Tico crashed her speeder into his, saving Finn's life but badly injuring herself.[5]
As the cannon opened fire through the main doors of the base. The Resistance realized that all of the messages sent to their allies had been received, but none had responded. Greatly saddened, Organa gave up all hope and said the spark was out with all seemed lost before Skywalker intervened via a Force projection. Organa and Skywalker spoke one last time before he went to face Ren.[5]
Luke Skywalker died saving the Resistance from his fallen nephew Kylo Ren, and in doing so he inspired a new wave of hope across the galaxy.
Ren ordered all of the walkers to open fire on Skywalker as he appeared outside in a futile attempt to destroy him. However, the Jedi Master was unscathed, Ren then arrived on the surface and confronted Skywalker in an epic lightsaber duel, Rey meanwhile helped the remaining Resistance members escape. Before his projection faded and he died from exhaustion, Skywalker stated that the Rebellion would be reborn from the last of the Resistance, and that the legacy of the Jedi would endure through Rey. Following a remaining vulptex, having left through a natural exit. Dameron led the surviving Resistance members in search of the exit and escaped on Falcon. Skywalker passed away peacefully and became one with the Force. His passing was felt by Rey and Organa, who noted that he was content and at peace. What remained of the Resistance retreated, on a quest to build their new Rebellion. Ren had failed to destroy the Jedi Order as the last Jedi, Rey, had survived.[5]
Resistance reborn
Ventures directly after Crait
- "We have everything we need."
- ―Leia Organa, on rebuilding the Resistance
In the aftermath of the Battle of Crait, the First Order had reduced the Resistance to a handful of freedom fighters.
In a rare moment of peace, Dameron, Rey, and Finn all sat together on the Millennium Falcon, and reflected on recent events. As the group finished talking about their past adventures together and while C-3PO was translating one of the sacred Jedi texts to Rey in the Millennium Falcon, BB-8,[35] opened a distress call from the Resistance's Black Squadron, who were currently aiding the struggling Ikkrukk resistance led by Prime Minister Grist against the First Order and sympathizers.[38] After Poe got Leia Organa's permission to help and repromotion to commander, he got a ship loaned from Grakkus, who was supporting the Resistance after the Battle of Crait, and rescued the squadron by shooting down TIE fighters so as to serve as bombs to a Star Destroyer and trick the assaulters by bringing down the shield and using ground cannons to finish the job. This in turn earned the Ikkrukk's alliance with the Resistance,[13] but they later retracted from helping them.[14]
Believing an old friend, Ambassador Yendor, could help them, Organa and the other members of the Resistance aboard the Falcon traveled to the world of Ryloth. Once there, they were brought to a Ryloth Defense Authority base, and, although he knew that Chancellor Drelomon and General Ishel would not agree with the idea, Yendor allowed the Resistance to stay at the base. However, the First Order, for what appeared to be unrelated reasons, arrived in Ryloth's capital of Lessu. Organa continued their current plans, however, and[14] Commander[13] Dameron, Black Squadron, Inferno Squad, and new allies they had gathered arrived on Ryloth. After launching a mission to Bracca and a mission to Corellia, however, someone in Lessu betrayed them, and the First Order launched an attack. The Resistance, including Organa, Yendor, and Rey, escaped the planet and regrouped at a location provided by the Collective.[14]
Tah'Nuhna
The Resistance then had gone to the neutral world of Tah'Nuhna who gave assistance to them shortly after the Battle of Crait, but this came at a heavy price, as this was soon discovered by the First Order who quickly destroyed Tah'Nuhna. The Resistance themselves had retreated to its camp on the garbage planet of Anoat.[39]
Mon Cala and the Moon of Avedot
The Resistance fleet and First Order fighting over Mon Cala.
Sometime later Dameron was tasked to go to the Moon of Avedot to obtain munitions that the New Republic had impounded from the pirates to help rebuild the Resistance. While General Organa and Rey traveled to Mon Cala following the news on Tah'Nuhna in the hopes of negotiating an alliance and adding Mon Calamari ships to the Resistance's armada, however they were confronted by Chadkol Gee who was fiercely isolationist, and the advisor of General Nossor Ri,[39] an ex Separatist,[40] but were stopped by Aftab Ackbar, son of the late Admiral Gial Ackbar, who provided the Resistance with starship,[41] with King Ech-Char and the Mon Cala joining the Resistance, this led to the First Order to making an example of Mon Cala after learning that the Mon Calamari and Quarren were supporting the Resistance.[12]
Black Spire Outpost
Resistance spy Vi Moradi in the Black Spire Outpost on the planet Batuu.
The Resistance later was able to establish a presence on Batuu, where they set up a temporary encampment outside Black Spire Outpost which the Resistance picked largely because it had been ideal for their needs and included a DF.12 Com Turret for security.[42] The pirate Hondo Ohnaka made a deal with Chewbacca to use the ship, and hired a temporary crew to take part in one of Ohnaka's jobs, where they were tasked with hijacking a First Order train containing coaxium.[43] The Resistance also began to locate allies, sanctuary and firepower. However, two weeks after the arrival of Resistance forces on the planet,[44] the First Order's 709th Legion landed on Docking Bay 9 in Black Spire Outpost under command of Lieutenant Agnon, the forces of the 709th, commonly referred to as the "Red Fury," searched the outpost for Resistance spies,[45] who were presided by Supreme Leader Ren himself[43] to take over the the Outpost in an effort to remove the Resistance.[45] Several Resistance recruits were once scrambled there alongside BB-8 to their fighters, while another a group of recruits departed from the ruins on a mission in an transport before the vessel's capture and eventual escape from a Star Destroyer.[46]
Tevel
Some time later at a bacta production plant on Tevel was liberated from First Order forces and was successfully retaken by the Resistance and the Tevellan.[47]
Minfar
The First Order sometime after went to Minfar to obtain the Echo Horn, a weapon to control the Zixon but was destroyed by Dameron, Rey, Tico, Resistance members and sympathizers.[41]
Lighting the spark
- "People are rising up all over the galaxy. Poe, we did it."
"We did it." - ―Finn and Poe Dameron
At some point, the Resistance set up a base on Ajan Kloss from where they operated. After a broadcast using the voice of the thought-to-be dead Emperor Palpatine that threatened revenge was sent out across the galaxy, Resistance members Poe Dameron, Finn, Chewbacca, and Klaud undertook a mission to the Sinta Glacier Colony, where they gathered intelligence from an ally, Boolio, who had, in turn, received the information from a spy in the First Order. The team returned to Ajan Kloss, where they decoded the intel and learned that Emperor Palpatine was alive on a hidden planet, Exegol, in the Unknown Regions. The intel also revealed that Emperor Palpatine was behind the First Order, and that he and his followers had built the largest fleet the galaxy had ever known, the Final Order. Meanwhile, the First Order had already established contact with Emperor Palpatine after Supreme Leader Kylo Ren acquired a wayfinder beloning to Darth Vader from Mustafar. Rey learned from Luke Skywalker's journals that he had been searching for a wayfinder, and decided to finish Skywalker's mission in order to find Palpatine and his followers and stop them with the reluctant approval of General Leia Organa. Rey was joined by Finn, Dameron, Chewbacca, C-3PO, and BB-8 on the Millennium Falcon.[4]
A Resistance team arrived on Pasaana on a mission to acquire a wayfinder that could lead them to Exegol.
The team traveled to Pasaana, where Skywalker's mission had ended. There, they found General Lando Calrissian, who had been tracking down a Sith assassin, Ochi of Bestoon, with Skywalker. Calrissian pointed the team in the direction towards Ochi's ship. The team also located Ochi's blade underground, which had ingrained on it the coordinates to the Emperor's wayfinder in the Sith language. C-3PO was forbidden by Old Republic law to translate Sith, however. They used the ship to escape off Pasaana after the First Order tracked them down and confiscated the Falcon, though Chewbacca was captured by the Knights of Ren and believed to be dead. On Ochi's ship, BB-8 reactivated Ochi's droid, D-O, who befriended the group.[4]
The team then traveled to the First Order occupied world of Kijimi, where Dameron knew someone who could bypass C-3PO's programming. They ran into Dameron's contact prematurely: Zorii Bliss and the Spice Runners of Kijimi. Despite Dameron leaving the group behind earlier, Bliss agreed to help them and took them to their droidsmith, Babu Frik, who successfully bypassed C-3PO's programming. They learned that the Emperor's wayfinder was located in a vault in the Endor system, reasoning it to be the Death Star ruins on Kef Bir. Rey sensed through the Force that Chewbacca was still alive on Kylo Ren's ship, and the team rescued him. However, Rey learned through Kylo Ren that she was Emperor Palpatine's granddaughter and that they formed a dyad in the Force.[4]
The Resistance plotted their course to victory over the First Order and Final Order on Ajan Kloss.
The group then went to Kef Bir, where they met Jannah and her tribe of orbak riders and learned that they were former First Order stormtroopers who had deserted, like Finn. Rey went rogue and recovered the Emperor's wayfinder amidst the ruins of the second Death Star, but she was confronted by Ren. The two fought in a lightsaber duel among the wreckage in the oceans; Ren nearly bested Rey, but General Leia Organa sacrificed herself by using her last bit of energy to reach out to her son through the Force, and a distracted Ren was impaled with his lightsaber by an enraged Rey before she realized Leia's presence. Rey healed Ren through the Force and took his ship to Ahch-To, where she considered exiling herself. However, she was motivated by the ghost of Skywalker to confront her fears and continue on. Rey traveled to Exegol using Ren's wayfinder and Red Five and transmitted Red Five's tracking beacon to the Resistance, allowing them to trace her route through the Unknown Regions to Exegol. On Ajan Kloss, Poe Dameron became the new leading general of the Resistance and promoted Finn to general. Lando Calrissian arrived on Ajan Kloss to help the Resistance; he and Chewbacca were sent to the Core Worlds on the Falcon to try and rally the free worlds.[4]
The Resistance defeated the Final Order at Exegol, preventing the Sith fleet from deploying and reinforcing the First Order.
The Resistance, led by Generals Poe Dameron and Finn following Leia Organa's passing, attacked Exegol in an attempt to prevent the Sith fleet from deploying and forming a New Empire. On Exegol, the Resistance faced the full might of the Final Order, led by Allegiant General Enric Pryde. Although the Resistance was initially vastly outnumbered and nearly beaten, General Lando Calrissian and Chewbacca arrived with reinforcements in the form of a citizens' fleet. A healed Emperor Palpatine attacked the Resistance and galactic forces, but he was stopped by Rey. While General Dameron led the air team, General Finn led the landing team onto Pryde's command ship after he switched the source of the navigation signal needed for the Sith fleet to deploy off of Exegol from a navigation tower on Exegol to his ship's beacon. Finn and Jannah turned Pryde's turbolasers against his own ship, destroying it, and with it, the navigation signal. With the remaining ships of the Sith fleet trapped on Exegol, the Resistance and galaxy fleet retreated back to Ajan Kloss, where they celebrated their victory. During their retreat, the Resistance learned that their victory had inspired an uprising against the First Order by the inhabitants of the galaxy, thereby fulfilling their stated goal of being the spark to light the fire to burn the First Order down.[4]
Organization
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 Leia Organa
Resistance High Command consisted of General Leia Organa and other veterans of the Galactic Civil War.
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 ultimate authority lay in its 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.[48][11] All commanders of the Resistance carried out their duties in the belief that they would be able to restore the New Republic and return the galaxy to democratic rule.[5]
Other members of Resistance command included Major Caluan Ematt,[48] Admiral Statura, Admiral Gial Ackbar, and Major Taslin Brance.[11] Organa's droids C-3PO and R2-D2[49] 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.[11]
During the attack on the Resistance fleet, most of the Resistance high command were killed when Ren's wingmen destroyed the bridge of the Resistance Flagship Raddus, leaving Organa as the only survivor.[5]
Military
- "Just because something doesn't matter to the First Order doesn't mean it lacks value. The Resistance is built on hope. People need something to believe in, a symbol to stand behind. So we go to places where the First Order doesn't have a foothold, win the people over, and create a place where anyone who stands for freedom can find their home—or park their X-wing and wait for orders. By now, you probably know how few people we have left. We lost most of our fleet, tons of our allies. Every bolt-hole we can build to hide and gas up our ships is one more pocket of hope."
- ―Vi Moradi, to Archex
The Resistance was a small, secretive private military force, and therefore dependent on funding and supplies from outside sources.
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.[18] An organized group, the Resistance had a designated rank system for members in both the army and navy.[50] Ranks that the army used were General, Commander, Captain, Lieutenant, Colonel, among others.[11]
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.[11]
Members of the Resistance were recruited from the ranks of the New Republic military.
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.[18] 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.[10] All members of the Resistance, including pilots, technicians and ground crew were given infantry training.[31]
As a symbol in their struggle against the First Order, the Resistance adopted the starbird[48] once used by the Rebel Alliance.[51] The symbol adorned the helmets of Resistance starfighter pilots,[49] who were known to use T-70 X-wing starfighters in combat, which were older than the New Republic T-85 X-wing.[52] 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 led both squadrons as Black Leader, not as an indication of a special squadron, but to denote his specialized fighter, Black One.[53][11]
Foreign relations
- "Our distress signal's been received at multiple points…but no response."
"They've heard us…but no one's coming." - ―Kaydel Ko Connix and Larma D'Acy
A Resistance sympathizer flying a scavenged YT-1300 light freighter.
As a splinter group of the New Republic military,[18] 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.[11][18] While the Republic officially tolerated the Resistance,[11] 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.[18] 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.[1]
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[54] 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[48] and The Weapon of a Jedi: A Luke Skywalker Adventure.[49] Actor Oscar Isaac, who portrayed Resistance pilot Poe Dameron in the sequel trilogy, compared the Resistance to guerrilla fighters.[55]
Appearances
Non-canon appearances
- LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens
LEGO Star Wars: The Resistance Rises — "Poe to the Rescue"- LEGO Star Wars: The Resistance Rises — "The Trouble with Rathtars" (Mentioned only in opening crawl)
- LEGO Star Wars: The Resistance Rises — "Attack of the Conscience" (Mentioned only)
- LEGO Star Wars: All-Stars — "The Power at Jakku"
- LEGO Star Wars: All-Stars — "What Goes Up..."
- LEGO Star Wars: All-Stars — "The Droid Rescue Gambit"
- LEGO Star Wars: All-Stars — "Yub Nub!"
- LEGO Star Wars: All-Stars — "Scouting for Leia/A Mission with Maz"
- LEGO Star Wars: All-Stars — "Rolling with BB-8/Resistance on the Run"
