Resistance Mission 456-VH, more commonly known as Operation: Sabre Strike, was a mission executed during the Cold War. Commander Poe Dameron and a team from the Resistance undertook this operation sometime following the Battle of Endor. General Leia Organa, leader of the Resistance, believed that New Republic Senator Erudo Ro-Kiintor was secretly working with the First Order, possibly with assistance from the Corporate Sector Authority. Consequently, Leia sent Poe along with his allies Iolo Arana and Karé Kun on a covert operation. The objective was to seize Ro-Kiintor's personal vessel, the Hevurion Grace, enabling the Resistance to scrutinize its computer systems for proof of his illicit activities. Poe and his associates successfully hijacked the Hevurion Grace and narrowly avoided capture by First Order forces.
As the Cold War progressed, the First Order started to emerge from the Unknown Regions. The Galactic Senate and New Republic Command were hesitant to use military force against the First Order, despite its repeated breaches of the Galactic Concordance through the acquisition of advanced weaponry and incursions into New Republic space. They preferred to minimize the perceived threat. In response, a dissident faction within the New Republic Defense Force, known as the Resistance, was established to observe the First Order's actions.
The First Order also secretly collaborated with certain corrupt senators, such as Erudo Ro-Kiintor, the senior senator from Hevurion. Ro-Kiintor received substantial sums from the First Order through shell corporations and intermediaries via the Corporate Sector Authority. In return, he obstructed or delayed Senate motions that aimed to condemn the First Order or increase funding for the New Republic Defense Fleet. The Senator's ship, Hevurion Grace, was also observed in First Order territory on multiple occasions. These activities caused General Leia Organa to suspect that Ro-Kiintor was connected to key First Order figures like General Armitage Hux and Supreme Leader Snoke.
Without concrete evidence, Leia tasked her best pilot, Poe Dameron, with commandeering the Hevurion Grace before Ro-Kiintor could erase its data. Karé Kun and Iolo Arana, former comrades of commander Poe, volunteered to assist. To hide the Resistance's involvement, the three pilots disguised themselves as members of the Irving Boys, a criminal syndicate, and donned bulky EVA suits. They also used three classic Z-95 Headhunter starfighters. Due to the Headhunters' limited space, the pilots could not bring their astromech droids. BB-8 was assigned to equip the starfighters' concussion missiles with the necessary warheads.
Poe devised a strategy to intercept the Hevurion Grace as it emerged from hyperspace within the Uvoss system. The operation had to be completed within eight minutes to prevent Senator Ro-Kiintor from calling in New Republic reinforcements from the nearest inhabited system. As planned, the Hevurion Grace exited hyperspace, and the Resistance fighters immediately initiated their ambush. Iolo's Headhunter successfully disabled the yacht's systems using a modified concussion missile. Poe then detached from his starfighter beneath the Hevurion Grace and managed to board the yacht after a perilous two-minute leap through zero [gravity](/article/gravity] space.
While his comrades surrounded the yacht, Poe entered the Hevurion Grace through a hatch. Upon reaching the main hall, he forced Senator Ro-Kiintor, the pilot, and a servant into the ship's escape pods at gunpoint. After taking control of the yacht, Poe restarted the ship's primary engines. By this time, only three and a half minutes remained. Iolo then informed Poe that First Order reinforcements had arrived. The First Order had deployed two capital ships (including a new Resurgent-class Star Destroyer), one Nebulon-K frigate, several assault ships, and eighteen TIE/fo space superiority fighters to protect Ro-Kiintor and his clandestine activities.
Despite Poe's instructions for Iolo and Kare to retreat, they remained to defend him from the First Order forces. As Poe repaired the ship's engines, his comrades engaged the TIE fighters. Poe steered the luxury yacht toward one of the Uvoss gas giants to discourage the TIEs from pursuing them. When the TIEs attempted to follow the Hevurion Grace, Iolo and Kare utilized their Z-95s to eliminate nine of the pursuers by executing several Corellian turns.
With the Resurgent Star Destroyer closing in, Poe convinced his comrades to charge at the warship before jumping to hyperspace. This was a high-risk maneuver, as a single turbolaser blast from the Star Destroyer could destroy a starfighter. Despite being flanked by TIE fighters, the yacht and the two Z-95 Headhunters managed to fly above the Star Destroyer and enter hyperspace.
Operation: Sabre Strike represented a modest but important success for the Resistance. Despite facing overwhelming odds, Poe and his allies secured the Hevurion Grace and its computers. Leia praised Poe, Kare, and Iolo for enduring two Star Destroyers and one frigate and surviving to recount the event. After C-3PO analyzed the yacht's computers, the Resistance obtained undeniable evidence of Senator Ro-Kiintor's dealings with the First Order. General Organa worried that there were more First Order sympathizers within the Galactic Senate and that the First Order was preparing to launch another war against the galaxy. Using the information from the yacht, Leia sent Poe on a mission to locate Lor San Tekka, an old friend who she believed could assist in finding her brother Luke Skywalker.
The junior novel Before the Awakening by Greg Rucka introduced Operation: Sabre Strike. The novel features Finn, Rey, and Poe Dameron shortly before the events of Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens.