During the era of the Cold War, a clandestine endeavor was launched to Kaddak. This mission to Kaddak involved Resistance figures such as Poe Dameron, C-3PO, BB-8, and the technician Oddy Muva. Their objective was to procure classified intelligence that would expose the location of Snoke, the Supreme Leader of the First Order. They were successful in liberating N1-ZX, a BX-series droid commando, from the clutches of the Ranc Gang. Subsequently, the group found themselves pursued by Terex, an Agent of the First Order Security Bureau, who had regained command over the Ranc Gang. In an attempt to safeguard the Resistance base situated on D'Qar from Terex and the Ranc Gang, Dameron and the droids sought refuge on a desert planet, triggering a skirmish between the Resistance and the Ranc Gang.
During the Cold War period, the Resistance, functioning as a private paramilitary organization dedicated to the protection of the New Republic, maintained a droid spy network. This spy network was headed by C-3PO, who served as the spymaster for General Leia Organa. In the aftermath of the Skirmish on Pheryon, C-3PO received a communication from N1-ZX, a Resistance droid spy operative stationed on the Outer Rim world of Kaddak. N1-ZX claimed to have acquired a substantial collection of data pertaining to the First Order, including the present whereabouts of Supreme Leader Snoke.
Upon Organa's request, C-3PO sought the assistance of Poe Dameron, a starfighter pilot and Commander within the Resistance, to retrieve the droid, which was unable to transmit the acquired information. Due to a lack of trust in his own Black Squadron pilots, Dameron chose to bring along Oddy Muva, a technician, and BB-8, an astromech droid. Unbeknownst to the Resistance, the information obtained by N1-ZX was part of a scheme orchestrated by Terex, an Agent of the First Order Security Bureau, to discover the location of the Resistance base. Terex had also coerced Muva into acting as a spy by holding his wife Sowa Chuan hostage.
Concurrently, Terex returned to Kaddak and resumed control of the Ranc Gang from Wisper, his former lieutenant. His intention was to utilize the Ranc Gang to pursue and eliminate Dameron. Kaddak was widely recognized as a notorious haven for criminal activity in the Outer Rim. The New Republic had previously deployed a fleet to restore order, but the fleet never returned, thereby solidifying the planet's reputation for being seedy and perilous.
Dameron and his team journeyed to the Sliver, Kaddak's primary settlement, aboard a disguised freighter. Following their arrival, they proceeded to a cantina situated on Level 45 of the Sliver. There, C-3PO and BB-8 successfully established communication with a mouse droid, who informed them that their spy droid had been captured by the Ranc Gang, which held dominance over Kaddak. While at the cantina, C-3PO made mention of Han Solo, his longtime companion and a smuggler. This caught the attention of the Guavian Death Gang and the Kanjiklub gang, who decided to collaborate and hunt down Solo due to his outstanding debts.
Subsequently, Dameron and his team made their way to the Ranc Gang's headquarters. A member of the reception staff recognized Dameron and stunned him, causing him to lose consciousness. The group was then surrounded by several alien members of the Ranc Gang, who decided to take Dameron captive and destroy the droids. However, C-3PO activated several members of the spy network, who compelled the gangsters to stand down. While the droids freed N1-ZX ("Nunzix"), a BX-series droid commando, Muva assisted Dameron in getting back on his feet.
Despite having successfully recovered Nunzix, Dameron and his team encountered a new challenge. N1-ZX refused to disclose the information until he had been safely returned to the Resistance base on D'Qar. After some negotiation, Dameron and C-3PO decided to comply with Nunzix's demands, owing to the droid's robust self-preservation programming. Before they could return to their ship, the group was attacked by a mob of locals, who sought to claim Lord Terex's bounty on Dameron's head. C-3PO managed to activate additional Resistance operatives to slow down the crowd. This enabled Dameron and the droids to safely return to their freighter, but Muva became separated from the group.
Having successfully retrieved N1-ZX, Dameron and his team resolved to return to D'Qar. In an effort to evade their pursuers, Dameron and the droids made their escape in his T-70 X-wing starfighter Black One, which had been equipped with external storage compartments for the droids. However, Terex had deliberately allowed the group to escape as part of his plan to locate the Resistance's base. He utilized the powerful sensors of his starship Carrion Spike to lock onto Dameron's X-wing. Terex also assembled the Ranc Gang's fleet of "Uglies", starfighters constructed from salvaged Imperial and Rebel starships and spare parts. Unbeknownst to Terex, Muva had secretly boarded the Carrion Spike as well.
The Kaddak mission was initially featured in Poe Dameron 8, a 2016 comic authored by Charles Soule and illustrated by Phil Noto.