Resistance

The Galactic Civil War concluded with the Galactic Empire's final defeat at the hands of the New Republic during the Battle of Jakku. The Empire then signed the Galactic Concordance with the New Republic, stipulating peaceful relations and leaving only scattered remnants throughout the galaxy. Other remnants of the Imperial Military vanished into the Unknown Regions, secretly forming the First Order. Meanwhile, the New Republic implemented a massive demilitarization of the New Republic Defense Force to promote peace and prevent future galactic conflicts. Princess Leia Organa, a prominent leader of the Rebel Alliance during the war, strongly opposed these demilitarization policies. She warned that the New Republic couldn't trust the Imperial remnants and urged the Senate to take the threat seriously, but she was labeled a warmonger.

Senator Leia Organa, previously a significant figure in the New Republic Senate, including the Defense Council, suffered a loss of credibility and was forced to resign after the public revelation that Darth Vader was her father. Following the Mission to Sibensko, Leia's concerns were partially validated when she uncovered evidence that the Amaxine warriors, a paramilitary group, were conspiring with Rinnrivin Di's cartel to overthrow the Republic. Despite Leia's warnings about further threats, the Senate largely disagreed, accusing her of warmongering. Realizing the Senate couldn't safeguard the New Republic, Leia, along with trusted allies like Gial Ackbar, C-3PO, Joph Seastriker, and Temmin Wexley, established a paramilitary organization called the Resistance.

Due to fears of an occupation of their independent homeworld, Ryloth, by the First Order as they gained power, many Twi'leks pledged their loyalty to Leia Organa and the Resistance.

To counter the First Order's plans, Organa established the Resistance with a base on D'Qar, at a former Alliance outpost. The Resistance, a splinter group from the Republic's military, operated independently of the Republic's command structure. The Republic tacitly permitted Organa's activities as she sought evidence of the First Order's violations of the Galactic Concordance, while some Galactic Senate members secretly supported her with funding and sympathy. The Resistance engaged the First Order in combat on several occasions, even exposing senator Erudo Ro-Kiintor as a First Order agent within the New Republic.

Following Operation: Sabre Strike, General Organa realized the Resistance needed more support, so she hoped to locate her missing brother, Jedi Master Luke Skywalker, who had gone into exile after the destruction of his new generation of Jedi. Believing Lor San Tekka possessed the key to finding Skywalker, General Organa dispatched Poe Dameron and his Black Squadron on a quest to find the ancient explorer. Utilizing information from Operation: Sabre Strike, Black Squadron undertook a mission to Ovanis to question the Crèche cultists about Tekka's location.

Their mission was complicated by the First Order's dispatch of Agent Terex to retrieve the information Poe had obtained during Operation: Sabre Strike. While Poe dealt with the Crèche and Terex's landing party, Black Squadron, urged by L'ulo L'ampar, attacked Terex's TIE fighters and landing platform. The fighting grew more difficult when two large winged creatures hatched from the Crèche egg and joined the fray. Ultimately, Poe defeated Terex in hand-to-hand combat, forcing the First Order agent to withdraw. Having obtained the information from the Crèche elder, Poe and Black Squadron left Ovanis.

Continuing their search for Lor San Tekka, General Organa bribed Warden Luta to allow Black Squadron access to Megalox prison on the high-gravity world of Megalox Beta to interrogate Grakkus the Hutt. However, Terex arrived first and bribed Luta to abandon Black Squadron inside the prison. Despite Terex's actions, Poe and his fellow pilots reached Grakkus' fortress. Grakkus offered to sell the information to whoever could get him out of the prison first. In response, Poe tasked BB-8 and the other astromech droids with disabling the Megalox space station's gravity shield. Jess's droid O-R10N was destroyed by a security droid.

When Terex hired an army of gangsters to attack Grakkus' fortress, Black Squadron joined Grakkus' forces in repelling the rival gangs. They held out until BB-8 and his team deactivated the gravity shield. While Terex and the gangsters were crushed under Megalox Beta's high gravity, Poe and his pilots were unaffected due to their gravity belts. After rescuing Grakkus, they convinced Luta to let them leave in exchange for restoring control of the prison. Before escorting Grakkus into hyperspace, Black Squadron prevented Terex's starship Carrion Spike from attacking the Megalox prison shuttles evacuating the prisoners. Having obtained the necessary information from Grakkus, Black Squadron allowed him to escape into hyperspace.

Despite outmaneuvering the First Order, Poe and General Organa realized they had a spy within their ranks and suspended the search for Tekka. Poe then embarked on a solo mission to the Inner Rim gas giant of Pheryon to meet Suralinda Javos, a journalist from the Galaxy Beacon who wanted to sell information about the First Order's illegal rearmament efforts to General Organa. During the mission, they were captured by First Order Security Bureau Agent Weel. Javos killed Weel and freed Poe. After escaping, Javos had a change of heart and joined the Resistance.

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. However, Agent Terex had planted the data as part of a rogue mission to destroy the Resistance. Terex had regained control of the Ranc Gang and was determined to continue his pursuit of 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.

Poe's mission was further complicated when Oddy Muva embarked on a mission to rescue his wife, Sowa Chuan, who had been kidnapped by Terex to leverage Oddy. Terex had forced Oddy to spy on Poe and Black Squadron. Meanwhile, Poe realized 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. Poe's Black Squadron 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 eliminated by First Order forces under Commander Malarus, who had been sent to punish the rogue First Order agent. Poe allowed Malarus to arrest Terex, and the two factions departed peacefully to avoid open warfare.

Later, at the height of galactic tensions, General Organa released the Grace Report to the Galactic Senate. In it, she claimed the First Order had violated the Galactic Concordance and was building hidden shipyards, armories, research labs, and academies. She detailed how these facilities were working around the clock on a massive military buildup, far exceeding what the First Order needed for defense. The report also included refugee testimonies describing life under First Order rule, including property seizures, forced relocations, child abductions, and the extermination of dissenters. It accused the Order of enforcing cooperation agreements with neutral systems through threats and violence, and of using the pretense of civilizing the galactic frontier to mask their colonization of star systems.

Following a series of events, Organa sent her most trusted pilot, Commander Poe Dameron, to Jakku to retrieve a segment of a star map held by the legendary Lor San Tekka. Tekka gave Dameron the map, who entrusted it to his astromech droid BB-8 just before being captured. The map ended up in the possession of Finn, a stormtrooper who defected from the First Order, and Rey, a desert scavenger. With the assistance of former Alliance General and famous smuggler Han Solo and his first mate Chewbacca, Finn and Rey embarked on a mission to return BB-8 to the Resistance. They sought help from the pirate Maz Kanata on Takodana, where the First Order tracked them.

The Cold War came to an end with the Starkiller crisis. General Hux declared war on the New Republic and ordered the Starkiller Base superweapon to fire. A massive beam of energy was launched across the galaxy towards the Hosnian system, destroying it, including Hosnian Prime and other celestial bodies, as the First Order began its takeover of the galaxy.

Chancellor Lanever Villecham, Resistance commander Korr Sella, countless senators, and all the inhabitants of the Hosnian system were killed in the destruction. The resulting pocket nova turned Hosnian Prime into a second star in its system. Afterward, singer Hevasi Joy publicly denounced the First Order and urged people to join the Resistance, leading to her imprisonment by the Order.

With the Senate and the Hosnian system destroyed, the New Republic was virtually defenseless as the First Order fleet spread throughout the galaxy. Many Republic member worlds surrendered without resistance. These events rapidly led to the collapse of the New Republic, as surviving senators dissolved remaining task forces to protect their own homeworlds. The few remaining Republic military forces were outmatched and destroyed by the First Order, convincing many Republic worlds to surrender rather than risk devastation.

In the immediate aftermath of the Hosnian Cataclysm and the start of open war, the Resistance became a successor to the fallen New Republic, upholding the ideals of democracy and freedom. Organa's first order was to send Commander Dameron, who had escaped from the First Order with Finn's help, to Maz Kanata's castle on Takodana to retrieve BB-8 and counter the First Order's attack. Poe arrived with several T-70 X-wing starfighters squadrons and fought off the First Order, although Rey was captured as part of the First Order's quest to find Skywalker. The Resistance engaged in intense aerial combat, destroying many First Order TIEs and killing numerous stormtroopers. As the battle continued above the castle, the remaining First Order troops boarded their ships and retreated, taking the captured and unconscious Rey with them.

Upon their arrival at D'Qar, which served as the Resistance's central hub, they formulated a strategy for a counterattack. The blueprints of the superweapon, provided by Finn, exposed the base's method of drawing energy from the sun to power its primary weapon. Furthermore, it was revealed that the destruction of the thermal oscillator, essential for maintaining the planet's energy balance, would trigger a catastrophic implosion of the base's core. However, this action needed to be executed before the weapon reached full charge. Finn, Solo, and Chewbacca embarked on a mission to Starkiller Base, with the dual objectives of rescuing Rey and deactivating the shields protecting the oscillator.

The Resistance experienced some initial victories, most notably the liberation of the Colossus station on Castilon from First Order control. They successfully escaped into the vastness of space, pursued by the First Order. Additionally, Inferno Squad managed to evade capture as large-scale fighting erupted in Kestro, the ruined and abandoned capital city of Vardos, between Jinata Security forces and the First Order, who were burning the city.

In the meantime, Solo, accompanied by Chewbacca and Finn, piloted the Millennium Falcon to Starkiller Base. They infiltrated the base, captured Captain Phasma, and compelled her to disable the shields before disposing of her in a garbage chute. They then encountered Rey, who had already managed to escape independently. Upon reaching the junction, Rey swiftly began her work. She successfully rigged the junction, causing a service hatch to open within the complex where Han and Chewie were operating. Subsequently, Han and Chewie devised a plan to maximize the use of explosives before proceeding. Han confronted Kylo Ren on a bridge overlooking a deep chasm, imploring his son to renounce Snoke and return to the light side of the Force. However, Ren refused and fatally struck his father with his lightsaber. With love, Han stroked Ren's face before falling down the shaft as Finn, Rey, and Chewbacca watched in horror. Ren felt weakened and horrified by his actions. Chewbacca, meanwhile, injured Ren with his bowcaster and proceeded to eliminate several stormtroopers.

Chewbacca then detonated explosives on the columns supporting an access tunnel that led into the thermal oscillator's conduit. Finn and Rey exited the base into the forest, where they were pursued by Ren. He knocked Rey unconscious, and Finn ignited the Skywalker family lightsaber. Ren, Anakin Skywalker's grandson, declared that the lightsaber rightfully belonged to him and engaged in a duel for it. Suddenly, the lightsaber flew from the snow into Rey's hand, and she began her own duel with Ren. With the tunnel now open, Dameron entered and initiated a chain reaction of explosions across the planet's surface, causing it to implode and then explode. Before Rey could defeat Ren, the planet ruptured between them, separating them as the stored material from the drained sun began to expand, forming a new star in the planet's place, turning the star system into a binary.

Rey, Finn, and the other Resistance pilots returned to the base for a strategic discussion regarding the map to Skywalker's location, albeit at the cost of Solo and many starfighter pilots. Upon their return, R2-D2 awoke from a years-long slumber and provided the remaining portion of the map, completing an incomplete galactic map from the Imperial archives with the fragment held by BB-8. Rey, accompanied by Chewbacca and R2-D2, journeyed to the planet Ahch-To to find Skywalker, but he refused to rejoin the Resistance, overwhelmed by grief and guilt over his failure to train Kylo Ren. Eventually, Rey left to confront Ren herself, leaving Skywalker behind.

Organa organized a funeral for Solo on D'Qar, hoping it would inspire the troops with the spirit of the old rebel days of the Galactic Civil War. Organa also used the occasion to read the names of the pilots who did not return from Starkiller Base. Zay instructed Suurgav to contact the Resistance and inform them that the war was only beginning.

While Rey was on Ahch-To, the Resistance hastily evacuated its primary base on D'Qar. Although the destruction of Starkiller Base had prevented the planet's immediate annihilation, the First Order knew the base's location and launched a conventional assault. With the exception of a few small cells, agents, and fighting groups, the entire Resistance navy was mobilized to assist in the evacuation of the planet and search for a new home base. Desperate for assistance, Organa dispatched Black Squadron and Inferno Squad to gather allies in the Outer Rim.

The First Order fleet arrived near the end of the base's evacuation, using a Mandator IV-class Siege Dreadnought to destroy it. To buy time for the Resistance fleet to escape, Wing Commander Dameron disabled its defenses in a high-speed attack run, followed by a bomber attack led by Tallissan Lintra that destroyed the dreadnought, defying Organa's orders to retreat. Despite the success of the assault, the entire Resistance bomber fleet was lost in the process. As a consequence of his costly and disobedient actions, Organa demoted Dameron to the rank of Captain.

Following the evacuation, Captain Imanuel Doza and a group of Resistance fighters arrived with the Colossus to retrieve coaxium from the wreckage of the Fulminatrix. The Resistance force, led by Hype Fazon, successfully acquired the coaxium and departed as the First Order resumed its pursuit of the Colossus. Senator Xiono contacted his son, Kazuda Xiono, shortly before via a special coded message, revealing that he 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. After departing, the Aces who were in need of combat training, the Colossus traveled to the mostly uninhabited ice moon Celsor 3 for training.

After exiting hyperspace, the Resistance fleet arrived at Crait, only to encounter a fleet of First Order ships, including the Mega-class Star Dreadnought Supremacy. Running low on fuel and supplies, the fleet was gradually destroyed as ship after ship depleted its fuel and was destroyed by the Supremacy. Kylo Ren led a TIE fighter attack that decimated the Resistance's starfighter wing, but hesitated to fire upon the bridge of the Resistance's flagship, the MC85 Star Cruiser Raddus, sensing his mother's presence. His escorts fired instead, killing the entire bridge crew except for Organa, who survived exposure to the vacuum of space but was rendered unconscious. With Organa incapacitated and most other senior leaders, including Admiral Ackbar, dead, Vice Admiral Amilyn Holdo was appointed to temporarily replace Organa, maintaining a passive stance that irritated Dameron.

Finn and the maintenance worker Rose Tico later informed Dameron that the First Order was tracking them through hyperspace. They had developed a plan to infiltrate the Supremacy and disable the tracking device, allowing the Resistance to escape to safety. Knowing that Holdo would never approve their plan, Dameron decided to keep it secret. Collaborating with Lieutenant Kaydel Ko Connix, they aided Finn, Tico, and BB-8 in fleeing the Raddus aboard a small transport, traveling to Canto Bight to recruit a codebreaker who could bypass the Supremacy's sensor grid.

As all but the Raddus succumbed to the First Order's firepower, Holdo announced her intention to use unarmed transports to evacuate the Raddus. Enraged by this decision, Dameron staged a mutiny with C'ai Threnalli, Kaydel Ko Connix, and a few others on the ship to stop her and 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 moment, Organa recovered and incapacitated Dameron, allowing Holdo's evacuation plan to proceed. When Dameron regained consciousness, Leia informed him that Holdo was aware that the First Order was tracking them and had cloaked the transports to evade their sensors, enabling them to reach Crait and await the enemy fleet's departure. However, Finn's group's codebreaker, DJ, betrayed the Resistance to the First Order, allowing the Supremacy to detect the fleeing transports and begin firing upon them, destroying all but six of the thirty. Subsequently, Holdo sacrificed herself to destroy the Supremacy by ramming the First Order's fleet at light speed.

During the battle, Rey boarded the Supremacy and attempted to persuade Kylo Ren to return 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 Mega-Destroyer.

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 attacked 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 Mega-Destroyer. Initially fired upon by the Resistance soldiers in the confusion, they joined the last of the Resistance as they prepared for their final stand, their numbers dwindling rapidly due to the invaders. The Millennium Falcon, piloted by Rey and Chewbacca, arrived to assist, but it was not enough to halt the First Order's advance. As the battering ram prepared to fire, Dameron ordered all speeders to retreat, deeming it a suicide mission. Finn, however, disobeyed and piloted his speeder directly towards the cannon's barrel. To prevent Finn's death, Tico crashed her speeder into his, saving his life but severely injuring herself.

As the cannon fired through the base's main doors, the Resistance realized that all of their messages to allies had been received, but none had responded. Overcome with despair, Organa lost all hope and declared that the spark was extinguished. Just when all seemed lost, Skywalker intervened through a Force projection. Organa and Skywalker shared a final conversation before he confronted Ren.

Ren commanded all walkers to fire upon Skywalker as he appeared outside, but the Jedi Master remained unscathed. Ren then arrived on the surface and engaged Skywalker in an epic lightsaber duel, while Rey assisted the remaining Resistance members in escaping. Before his projection faded and he died from exhaustion, Skywalker proclaimed that the Rebellion would be reborn from the remnants of the Resistance, and that the Jedi legacy 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 both sensed his contentment and peace. The remnants of the Resistance retreated, embarking on a quest to rebuild their Rebellion. Ren had failed to extinguish the Jedi Order, as the last Jedi, Rey, had survived.

In a moment of respite, Dameron, Rey, and Finn gathered on the Millennium Falcon to reflect on recent events. As they reminisced about their shared adventures, and while C-3PO translated one of the sacred Jedi texts for Rey on the Millennium Falcon, BB-8 intercepted a distress call from the Resistance's Black Squadron, who were currently assisting the struggling Ikkrukk resistance, led by Prime Minister Grist, against the First Order and its sympathizers. After Poe obtained permission from Leia Organa to assist and was repromoted to commander, he acquired a ship loaned from Grakkus, who was supporting the Resistance after the Battle of Crait, and rescued the squadron by using TIE fighters as bombs against a Star Destroyer, deceiving the attackers by lowering the shield and using ground cannons to finish the job. This secured the Ikkrukk's alliance with the Resistance, although they later withdrew their support.

Believing that an old friend, Ambassador Yendor, could assist them, Organa and the other Resistance members aboard the Falcon traveled to the world of Ryloth. Upon arrival, they were taken to a Ryloth Defense Authority base. Despite knowing that Chancellor Drelomon and General Ishel would disapprove, Yendor allowed the Resistance to stay at the base. However, the First Order, seemingly for unrelated reasons, arrived in Ryloth's capital of Lessu. Organa proceeded with their plans, and Commander Dameron, Black Squadron, Inferno Squad, and newly acquired allies arrived on Ryloth. Following a mission to Bracca and a mission to Corellia, 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.

The Resistance then journeyed to the neutral world of Tah'Nuhna, which had provided assistance shortly after the Battle of Crait. However, this came at a steep price, as the First Order soon discovered their actions and promptly destroyed Tah'Nuhna. The Resistance retreated to its camp on the garbage planet of Anoat.

Some time later, Dameron was tasked to go to the Moon of Avedot to acquire munitions that the New Republic had confiscated from pirates to aid in rebuilding the Resistance. Meanwhile, General Organa and Rey traveled to Mon Cala following the news from Tah'Nuhna, hoping to negotiate an alliance and add Mon Calamari ships to the Resistance's armada. However, they were confronted by Chadkol Gee, a staunch isolationist and advisor to General Nossor Ri, a former Separatist, but were assisted by Aftab Ackbar, son of the late Admiral Gial Ackbar, who provided the Resistance with a starship. With King Ech-Char and the Mon Cala joining the Resistance, the First Order made an example of Mon Cala after learning that the Mon Calamari and Quarren were supporting the Resistance.

The Resistance later established a presence on Batuu, setting up a temporary encampment outside Black Spire Outpost, which they chose primarily because it suited their needs and included a DF.12 Com Turret for security. The pirate Hondo Ohnaka struck a deal with Chewbacca to use the ship and hired a temporary crew to participate in one of Ohnaka's jobs, which involved hijacking a First Order train carrying coaxium. The Resistance also began seeking allies, sanctuary, and firepower. However, two weeks after the arrival of Resistance forces on the planet, the First Order's 709th Legion landed on Docking Bay 9 in Black Spire Outpost under the command of Lieutenant Agnon. The forces of the 709th, known as the "Red Fury," searched the outpost for Resistance spies. Supreme Leader Ren himself oversaw the search and the effort to take over the Outpost, intending to eliminate the Resistance.

With their presence compromised, the Resistance decided to evacuate, with a Pacara base having been established by that time. Several Resistance recruits were scrambled there alongside BB-8 to their fighters, while another 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.

Sometime later, a bacta production plant on Tevel was liberated from First Order forces and successfully retaken by the Resistance and the Tevellan.

The First Order later went to Minfar to obtain the Echo Horn, a weapon to control the Zixon, but it was destroyed by Dameron, Rey, Tico, Resistance members, and sympathizers.

At some point, the Resistance established a base on Ajan Kloss from which they operated. After a broadcast using the voice of the thought-to-be dead Galactic Emperor Sheev Palpatine alias Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Sidious, threatening revenge, was sent across the galaxy, Resistance members Poe Dameron, Finn, Chewbacca, and Klaud embarked on a mission to the Sinta Glacier Colony, where they gathered intelligence from an ally, Boolio, who had received the information from a spy within the First Order. The team returned to Ajan Kloss, where they decoded the intel and discovered that Darth Sidious had returned from his grave and was hiding on a secret planet, Exegol, in the Unknown Regions. He was behind the creation of the First Order, and he and his followers had constructed the largest fleet the galaxy had ever known, the Final Order, as part of a contingency plan to complete the Revenge of the Sith. Meanwhile, the First Order had already established contact with the Sith Lord after Supreme Leader Ren acquired a wayfinder beloning to his grandfather Darth Vader from Mustafar. Rey learned from Skywalker's journals that he had been searching for a wayfinder and decided to complete his mission to find Sidious and his followers, intending to stop them and destroy the Sith once and for all. She received reluctant approval from General Organa, who knew that if Sidious combined his fleet with the First Order, it would be too late to prevent him from establishing a new Sith Empire. However, Organa warned them about the spy's information, stating that they had only sixteen hours before Darth Sidious launched the Sith fleet from their base on Exegol to attack the free worlds. Rey was joined by Finn, Dameron, Chewbacca, C-3PO, and BB-8 on the Millennium Falcon.

The team made a journey to Pasaana, which was the location where Skywalker's quest concluded. It was there that they encountered General Lando Calrissian, who had been in pursuit of a Sith assassin, specifically Ochi of Bestoon, alongside Skywalker. Calrissian guided the team toward the location of Ochi's vessel. Additionally, the team unearthed Ochi's weapon buried underground, which had the coordinates for the Emperor's wayfinder inscribed in the Sith language. However, C-3PO was restricted from translating Sith due to laws from the Old Republic era. After being tracked down by the First Order, they utilized the ship to make their escape from Pasaana, but the Falcon was seized, and Chewbacca was taken by the Knights of Ren and presumed dead. Aboard Ochi's ship, BB-8 brought Ochi's droid, D-O, back online, and D-O became friends with the group.

Following this, the team ventured to Kijimi, a world under the control of the First Order, where Dameron knew someone capable of overriding C-3PO's programming. They unexpectedly encountered Dameron's contact: Zorii Bliss and the Spice Runners of Kijimi. Despite Dameron's prior abandonment of the group, Bliss consented to assist them and escorted them to their droid expert, Babu Frik, who successfully bypassed C-3PO's programming. They discovered that the Emperor's wayfinder was situated within a vault in the Endor system, deducing that it was located in the Death Star wreckage on Kef Bir. Through the Force, Rey sensed that Chewbacca was still alive on Kylo Ren's flagship, the Steadfast, leading to the team's rescue mission. Nevertheless, Rey discovered from Kylo Ren that she was the granddaughter of Darth Sidious and that they shared a Force dyad.

Subsequently, the group made their way to Kef Bir, where they encountered Jannah and her group of orbak riders, learning that they were former First Order stormtroopers who had defected, similar to Finn. Rey acted independently and retrieved the Emperor's wayfinder from the ruins of the second Death Star, but Ren confronted her and destroyed the device to prevent her from facing her grandfather and eliminating the Sith without his involvement. They engaged in a lightsaber battle amidst the wreckage in the oceans; Ren nearly gained the upper hand, but General Organa sacrificed herself by using her remaining energy to connect with her son through the Force. A distracted Ren was then impaled with his lightsaber by an enraged Rey before she realized Leia's presence. Rey used the Force to heal Ren and then used his ship to travel to Ahch-To, where she contemplated exiling herself. However, the Force ghost of Skywalker motivated her to confront her fears and persevere. Using Ren's wayfinder and Luke's T-65B X-wing Red Five, Rey journeyed to Exegol and transmitted Red Five's tracking beacon to the Resistance, enabling them to trace her route through the Unknown Regions to Exegol. On Ajan Kloss, Dameron assumed the role of the new leading General of the Resistance and promoted Finn to General. Calrissian arrived on Ajan Kloss to support the Resistance; he and Chewbacca were dispatched to the Core Worlds on the Falcon to attempt to rally the free worlds.

Following General Organa's passing, the Resistance, under the leadership of Generals Dameron and Finn, launched an assault on Exegol to prevent the Sith Eternal from deploying the Xyston-class Star Destroyers and establishing a new Sith Empire. On Exegol, the Resistance encountered the full power of the Sith Eternal forces, commanded by Allegiant General Enric Pryde. Despite being initially outnumbered and on the verge of defeat, General Calrissian and Chewbacca arrived with reinforcements in the form of a fleet of civilian ships. After healing himself, Darth Sidious attacked the Resistance and galactic forces, but Rey stopped him by redirecting Sidious' lightning back at him, resulting in the Emperor's disintegration and final destruction, thus preventing the resurgence of the Sith. While General Dameron led the aerial forces, General Finn commanded the ground team aboard the Steadfast after rerouting the navigation signal required for the Sith fleet to deploy from Exegol from a navigation structure on Exegol to his ship's beacon. Finn and Jannah turned Pryde's turbolasers against his own ship, destroying it and the navigation signal along with it. With the remaining Sith Star Destroyers of the Sith fleet trapped and destroyed on Exegol, the Resistance and galactic fleet retreated to Ajan Kloss, where they celebrated their victory over Sidious and the Sith Eternal. During their retreat, the Resistance learned that their victory had sparked a rebellion against the First Order by the galaxy's inhabitants, thereby achieving their stated objective of igniting the spark to dismantle the First Order.

The Resistance was a collection of fighters, aviators, spies, and various other freedom advocates, who participated in a struggle against the First Order in the years following the Battle of Endor. The ultimate power within the Resistance was held by its General, Leia Organa, who had previously been a crucial figure in the Alliance to Restore the Republic during the Galactic Civil War, and was said to know the name of every member within her organization. Commanders in the Resistance carried out their responsibilities with the conviction that they could reestablish the New Republic and restore the galaxy to democratic governance.

Additional members of Resistance High Command included Major Caluan Ematt, Admiral Statura, Admiral Gial Ackbar, and Major Taslin Brance. Organa's droids C-3PO and R2-D2 also served within the Resistance, while PZ-4CO oversaw operations in the control center, assisted by C-3PO. Numerous other individuals performed tasks such as starfighter and droid maintenance at the Resistance base on D'Qar.

During the Battle of Oetchi, the majority of Resistance High Command perished when Kylo Ren's wingmen destroyed the bridge of the Resistance flagship Raddus, leaving Organa as the sole survivor. Command of the Resistance then transferred to the next highest ranking Resistance officer, Vice Admiral Amilyn Holdo, who acted as the interim leader of the Resistance until Organa regained consciousness.

General Organa remained the leader of the Resistance until her death one year later. Her last order was appointing Poe Dameron as the acting general of the Resistance. Dameron then promoted Finn to the rank of general.

Mirroring its predecessor, the Rebel Alliance, the Resistance employed hit-and-run strategies against the First Order's forces. The Resistance's military strategy involved delaying the First Order's movements and acquiring conclusive evidence of unlawful military incursions into New Republic territory for presentation to Republic Command. As a structured organization, the Resistance had a defined rank structure for members in both the army and navy. The ranks were straightforward but often varied. The Army used the following ranks in descending order: General, Colonel, Commander, Major, Captain, and Lieutenant. The Navy employed similar ranks, listed here in descending order: Admiral, Vice Admiral, Colonel, Commander, Major, Captain, Lieutenant. Nien Nunb used an additional rank, lieutenant commander, following the Battle of Crait. Rank badges featuring rank symbols indicated a soldier, officer, or pilot's rank. Red badges were used by the army, while blue ones were used by the navy. The ranks of Vice Admiral and lieutenant commander did not have specific badges.

Due to limited resources and outdated equipment compared to the New Republic, the Resistance was understaffed, forcing most personnel to perform multiple roles as scanner technicians, droid programmers, starship mechanics, and regular foot soldiers. Given its smaller pool of manpower, the Resistance prioritized treating the wounded and returning them to duty, making medical equipment a high priority. Resistance troopers commonly used the BlasTech EL-16HFE blaster rifle and were transported into combat on Resistance transports, which were heavily modified transports assembled from various vessels from previous wars. Gian-211 patrol speeders and an army of droids helped maintain the Resistance's operations, with many robotic workers given more responsibility and independence than elsewhere in the galaxy, seen as more than just droids, continuing the ideals of the Rebel Alliance. Many Rebel Alliance protocols remained in use, with code K-one-zero signaling the evacuation of a base, most notably used during the Battle of Hoth. Additionally, C-3PO managed the Resistance's droid spy network, with GA-97 informing the Resistance of BB-8's location on Takodana.

Many Resistance members were recruited from the New Republic military, including Poe Dameron, C'ai Threnalli, Iolo Arana, Karé Kun, and Temmin "Snap" Wexley, while others were seasoned officers and soldiers from the Galactic Civil War who had fought alongside and remained loyal to Leia Organa. The upper echelons of Resistance command consisted of Galactic Civil War veterans who had remained loyal to Leia Organa. With numerous skilled commanders left unemployed by the Military Disarmament Act, many former rebels readily answered Leia's call to action. Officers like Admiral Ackbar were highly respected by Resistance personnel, reflecting a generational divide, with many young "victory kids" in their early twenties having never experienced the horrors of tyranny firsthand. Many of the youngest recruits filled the ranks of the Starfighter Corps and were drawn from local planetary defense forces. Spirited and idealistic, many of the pilots formed close bonds and were eager to engage the First Order. All Resistance members, including pilots, technicians, and ground crew, received infantry training.

As a symbol in their struggle against the First Order, the Resistance adopted the starbird previously used by the Rebel Alliance. This symbol adorned the helmets of Resistance starfighter pilots, who were known to use T-70 X-wing starfighters in combat, which were older than the New Republic T-85 X-wing. Due to New Republic demilitarization efforts, acquiring capital ships was nearly impossible. Consequently, the Resistance base on D'Qar housed two starfighter wings, code-named Red and Blue. Blue Squadron served as the primary 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.

Due to the Resistance's limited manpower and resources, personnel in both the Resistance army and Resistance navy sometimes switched roles. The core of the Resistance army was composed of Resistance troopers, but the army also included specialized units such as rocket-jumpers, Wookiee Warriors, medics, and scouts. During battles, military officers led the army. The scarcity of skilled personnel led to army and navy personnel often switching service branches. One example was the evacuation of D'Qar, where the soldiers present on the MC85 Star Cruiser Raddus were assigned to shipboard security as bridge guard. Shortly after, the navy returned the favor when the pilots flew army V-4X-D ski speeders during the Battle of Crait. The Resistance army used several artillery emplacements, including the V-120 artillery emplacement, the V-232 artillery emplacement, and the DF.12 Com Turret. The army was equipped with planetary shield generators. The Resistance army possessed several vehicles, including V-4X-D ski speeders, Gian-211 patrol speeders, and old Imperial All Terrain Scout Transports. Resistance army personnel were equipped with blaster pistols and blaster rifles. Blaster pistol models used by the army included DT-15 blaster pistols, Glie-44 blaster pistols, and DH-17 blaster pistols. The Resistance also had a few NN-14 blaster pistols. Rifles used were EL-16 blaster rifles, EL-16HFE blaster rifles, DH-17 blaster rifles, and "Roba" M-45 repeating ion blasters. Members of the Resistance army were also outfitted with thermal detonators, comlinks, TE4.4 field quadnoculars, and RM-45 ammunition and tool pouches.

The Resistance navy utilized various types of capital ships and frigates. These included the MC85 Star Cruiser (The Raddus), as well as the MC80A Home One Type Heavy Star Cruiser (Home One), a variant of the MC80 Star Cruiser (Echo of Hope), a MC95 Star Cruiser (Aftab Ackbar's starship). The Resistance navy employed two frigate variants, including 4 Nebulon-C escort frigates (Anodyne), and 3 hybrid Vakbeor-class cargo frigate (Vigil). The Nebulon Cs served as escorts and medical cruisers, while the Vakbeor Frigates were used as cargo ships. The Resistance navy also utilized smaller craft in its fight against the First Order, including at least three model types of corvettes; two CR90 corvette (Tantive IV), four Free Virgilla-class Bunkerbuster (Ninka), and one Sphyrna-class Hammerhead corvette (Sterdic Star). The Resistance also used a class of bomber, the MG-100 StarFortress SF-17. The Millennium Falcon, Jungle X-hopper, as well as a stolen Xi-class light shuttle, and a stolen Griffin-class light shuttle were also vessels used by the Resistance. The Resistance navy employed several types of transports throughout its history, such as the GR-75 medium transport, the Resistance transport pod, the Resistance transport, the U-55 orbital load-lifter, YC-123B transport hauler, and a stolen AAL-1971/9.1 Troop Transport was used at one time by forces loyal to the Resistance. The Resistance navy deployed a variety of starfighters. Such starfighters included the RZ-1 and RZ-2 A-wing interceptors, the BTL-S3 Y-wing Starfighter, BTA-NR2 Y-wing starfighter, B-Wing Fighter, the HH-87 Starhopper, the T-65B, T-85, and T-70 X-wing starfighters, the Z-95 Headhunter, the Alpha-3 Nimbus-class V-wing starfighters, and in certain situations, stolen TIE/sf space superiority fighters. The Resistance also used Clone Wars-era starfighters, such as the Aggressive ReConnaissance-170 starfighter, V-19 Torrent starfighter, the Clone variant of the Z-95 Headhunter, and the Eta-2 Actis-class light interceptor.

Resistance Spy Kazuda Xiono guided Team Colossus in freeing the Colossus, an old Imperial fuel station. Captain Doza was the station's commanding officer. After receiving a distress call from Lando Calrissian, the Colossus promptly participated in the decisive battle at Exegol to combat the Sith Eternal forces. Yeager's ship, Blue Ace, and the Fireball, piloted by Kazuda Xiono, were among the battle's other participants.

As a dissenting faction, the Resistance maintained a difficult relationship with its primary benefactor, the New Republic. The New Republic aimed to circumvent conflict with the First Order, even as the Order defied the stipulations of the Galactic Concordance. Key figures within the Resistance, such as Leia Organa and Poe Dameron, grew impatient with the sluggish pace of decision-making within the Galactic Senate and its reluctance to confront the First Order. While the New Republic Defense Force tacitly accepted the Resistance's existence, certain military leaders, including Major Lonno Deso, harbored animosity towards the group, accusing them of inflating the threat posed by the First Order. The Republic considered the First Order a minor, yet irritating, Imperial remnant that exaggerated its power. Conversely, the Resistance perceived the Order as a grave danger to both the New Republic and the broader galaxy. Some members of the New Republic viewed the Resistance as radical extremists. Others dismissed General Organa, who had been marginalized from the political arena by a new wave of political figures, especially following the revelation that Darth Vader was her father, as an alarmist at best, and a warmonger at worst. Nevertheless, the financially strained Resistance depended on the clandestine support of sympathetic senators, who discreetly funneled credits, ships, equipment, and recruits to the small, clandestine military organization.

Because it was actively resisting the First Order's expansion, the military regime identified the Resistance as a major impediment to its goal of galactic control and made an unsuccessful attempt to obliterate its base on D'Qar.

The Resistance was conceived for the 2015 cinematic release, Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens. Its designation was initially unveiled at Celebration Anaheim in April of 2015. It then debuted in the opening and closing sections of the Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens series of young adult novels, specifically Moving Target: A Princess Leia Adventure and The Weapon of a Jedi: A Luke Skywalker Adventure. Oscar Isaac, the actor who brought Resistance pilot Poe Dameron to life in the sequel trilogy, likened the Resistance to guerrilla combatants.