Following the Hosnian system's destruction, a conflict ignited within Kestro City, the planetary capital city of Vardos. This battle took place in 34 ABY as the First Order and the Resistance entered the initial phase of open warfare.
During the early stages of the First Order-Resistance War in 34 ABY, a conflict unfolded in Kestro City involving the First Order, Jinata Security, and Resistance fighters. This engagement stemmed from an operation led by Iden Versio, a former Imperial agent, alongside her daughter Zay Versio and their trusted ally Shriv Suurgav. Their mission was to uncover information regarding Versio's husband, Del Meeko. Upon returning to her homeworld of Vardos, Versio guided Suurgav in a search for her past mentor, Protectorate Gleb. However, they discovered Gleb's corpse, a victim of Versio's former Inferno Squad colleague, now First Order officer Gideon Hask. Hask then tormented Versio by revealing that he had personally killed Meeko, before taking both Versio and Suurgav into custody.
Subsequently, Hask commanded the Resurgent-class Star Destroyer Retribution to obliterate the Corvus, which it did. Hask then gave the order for the First Order to set the city ablaze. A battle then erupted between the trio, Jinata Security forces, and the First Order. Suurgav and Versio were still held by the First Order, until a Jinata soldier threw a thermal detonator. This action allowed the pair to break free, retrieve weaponry, and devise a strategy to escape and locate Zay. They fought their way through the city and found All Terrain Reconnaissance Transports. Gaining speed, they located a relay station and used it to search for escape pods from the Corvus. Versio and Suurgav located two pods, but both were empty. During their search for Zay, Versio and Suurgav witnessed an All Terrain MegaCaliber Six demolishing much of the rebuilt city. Suurgav also observed that Jinata Security appeared to be gaining the upper hand in the conflict, but Versio countered that Jinata stood no chance and that the First Order was merely staging a tactical retreat. Eventually, Dio detected a third signal. They traveled to the source of the signal, where they found Zay in a sniper's nest. After informing Zay about her father's fate, they journeyed to the Retribution in TIE/sf space superiority fighters.