Destruction of Kijimi

Not long after the confrontation on Kef Bir, a group of Resistance fighters, minus the Jedi apprentice Rey, returned defeated to their base on Ajan Kloss. Soon thereafter, they received news of Leia Organa's passing, the princess of Alderaan, a world destroyed by the Empire's might.

Detecting both Organa's demise and Ben Solo's shift to the light, Darth Sidious reached out to First Order Allegiant General Enric Pryde, instructing him to set the Sith Eternal's grand scheme into motion. After Pryde reaffirmed his loyalty to the Sith Lord, Sidious ordered him to dispatch a Xyston-class Star Destroyer from the Sith Eternal's fleet, known as the Final Order, to a world familiar to the Resistance. Pryde selected Kijimi, officially because some of its inhabitants had recently associated with members of the Resistance during Ben Solo's quest for Rey just before his transition to the light.

The Sith Star Destroyer named Derriphan was subsequently dispatched to Kijimi. Prior to the planet's destruction, First Order personnel who had been present on the planet during the search for the Jedi Rey and her allies were evacuated under Imperial Protocol 13.

Following the order from Captain Chesille Sabrond, the Derriphan's superlaser obliterated the entire planet. This process required a sustained barrage from the Derriphan's axial superlaser, taking more time than the near-instantaneous destruction of Alderaan by its predecessor, the Death Star. Despite this, the world was shattered by the weapon's immense power, broadcasting the resurrected Emperor's continued capacity for planetary destruction across the galaxy.

The Resistance quickly became aware of the planet's annihilation. Following General Organa's death during the duel on Kef Bir between her son and former Padawan, Poe Dameron was promoted to general and assumed leadership of the Resistance. Approaching Leia's body, Dameron confessed his uncertainty and feelings of inadequacy. At that moment, Galactic Civil War veteran General Lando Calrissian arrived, reminding Dameron that he, Organa, Han Solo, and Luke Skywalker had also faced similar feelings during their war. When Dameron questioned how they managed to defeat the Galactic Empire with so little, Calrissian simply replied that they had each other.

Re-energized, Dameron elevated Finn to the rank of general, and Finn disclosed that the droid D-O possessed information about Exegol. After learning that Rey had transmitted intelligence to R2-D2 concerning the map to Exegol, the Resistance formulated a plan to attack the Sith fleet, while Calrissian and Chewbacca would use the Millennium Falcon to rally allies.