The New Republic’s rise reduced the once-mighty Empire to a rump state hemmed in by strict disarmament treaties and punishing reparations. But in the galaxy’s Unknown Regions, former Imperial officers, nobles and technologists plotted a return to power, building fleets and armies in secret. This movement became the First Order, ruled by Supreme Leader Snoke, and is now ready to reclaim the Imperial legacy.
The latest starfighter in the storied TIE line looks similar to its predecessors, but the TIE/FO boasts improved solar cells and higher-capacity converters, making these ships deadlier than the TIEs that saw service in the Imperial era. Unlike the Empire, the First Order values its pilots as key military assets, protecting them with onboard deflector shields.
A two-seat strike fighter used by the First Order’s elite Special Forces pilots, the TIE/SF boasts weapons far more powerful than a standard TIE, combining laser cannons with a heavy turret and warhead launcher. Special Forces TIEs have hyperdrives, deflector shields and high-yield cells that provide additional power to onboard systems. These versatile attack ships are used for everything from reconnaissance to combat operations.
The Incom T-70 X-wing is the latest incarnation of a classic design, and the signature combat craft of the Resistance’s Starfighter Corps. Faster than the Alliance-era T-65s, Resistance X-wings are maneuverable enough to engage TIE fighters in dogfights, but powerful enough to take down capital ships. The credit-strapped Resistance relies on X-wings donated or lent by sympathetic New Republic senators and local security forces. During the assault on Starkiller Base, Poe Dameron flies a customized, dark-hulled X-wing under the call sign Black Leader.
A harsh desert world, Jakku is a lawless place that’s home to thieves, outlaws and refugees. During the final years of the Galactic Civil War, Jakku was the site of a secret Imperial research base and served as a jumping-off point for warships heading into the Unknown Regions. The Empire made a last stand above the frontier planet, leading to a pitched battle between rebel and Imperial fleets. Jakku’s sandy wastes are littered with old wrecks, picked over by desperate scavengers searching for parts that can be salvaged and sold.
Deep in the Unknown Regions, the First Order has constructed a superweapon that uses an entire planet as its weapons platform. The deadly Starkiller harvests energy from its system’s star, contains it within magnetic fields inside its base’s planetary core, and then converts that energy into an ultra-powerful beam that blasts through hyperspace, able to sterilize the worlds of a distant star system with a single shot. The icy world that houses the Starkiller is the First Order’s greatest secret, and essential to its plan to conquer the galaxy.