The Symbol of the First Order, Successor of the Galactic Empire
The First Order, simply referred to as the Order, was a political and military faction ruled by Supreme Leader Snoke and allied with the Knights of Ren that came into existence as a result of the fall of the Galactic Empire. After the Empire had lost the Battle of Endor and both Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader dying on the second Death Star, the Rebel Alliance reorganized itself into the New Republic while the Empire fell into disarray. Following an additional year into the Galactic Civil War, the fractured Empire would make its last stand over the sandy wastes of Jakku against the New Republic. Defeated and facing severe internal unrest, the Empire would be forced to sign the Galactic Concordance, severely limiting its ability to wage war and ushering in its transformation into a mere rump state. In response, many Imperial nobles, technologists, warlords, and officers fled into the Unknown Regions in an effort to escape the prying eyes of the New Republic. They used information derived from Grand Admiral Thrawn, and the survey teams and droids that the late Palpatine had sent to explore the Unknown Regions.
At the request of the dying Counselor to the Empire Gallius Rax, Grand Admiral Rae Sloane alongside Commandant Brendol Hux rendezvoused with the Super Star Destroyer Eclipse, with Sloane seeing an opportunity to rebuild the Empire. There, isolated from the galaxy, these former members of the Imperial Military plotted their return to power by forming the First Order, which was influenced by the principles of their fallen government. Over time, the remnants of the old Galactic Empire reorganized itself, and spent the next three decades gradually rebuilding its military strength, secretly re-arming in violation of its armistice agreements. The vestigial Empire also secretly expanded from its original few sectors, aggressively pushing into the Unknown Regions to seize new unclaimed worlds there to supplement their resource base, as well as build new shipyards and industrial infrastructure far from the eyes of the New Republic. Despite further acts of defiance to the treaty, the Senate did not regard the First Order as a serious threat to the Republic. However, the Senate's inaction motivated the Rebel veteran Princess Leia Organa to found the Resistance.
History
Their cause would grow in support through Imperial sympathizers who once inhabited a wing of Republic politics before abandoning democracy to join the Imperial-based movement in the Unknown Regions. With the New Republic now the dominant force in the galaxy, it continuously stressed upholding the values of democracy throughout the stars. In spite of such, however, the New Republic was not without its critics, many of them being disgruntled sympathizers of the Old Imperial ways, some of whom were a part of the political structure. Once disagreements between the loyalists and Imperial sympathizers became too severe, the latter group would eventually secede, whereupon they would establish the First Order along with the former elements of the Imperial military that still inhabited the Unknown Regions.
First Order Leadership
Rulers of the First Order
Supreme Leader of First Order
The title of the Supreme Leader within the First Order was given to an individual who stood as the leader of this military junta organization that succeeded the old Galactic Empire. For a time the First Order was led by Supreme Leader Snoke who had overseen their colonization of the Unknown Regions and set into motion the end of Luke Skywalker's New Jedi Order. Under Snoke's leadership and guidance, the First Order had gained enough strength and resources to rebuild the military and forces lost during the Galactic Civil War and proceed to claim control of their galaxy from the New Republic. Snoke's rule as Supreme Leader of First Order was not destined to last forever, as he would be betrayed by a student of the Dark Side of the Force Kylo Ren who assumed the mantle of Supreme Leader of First Order. Prior to becoming First Order Supreme Leader, Kylo's place in their First Order was much like Lord Darth Vader in the Empire, as Kylo Ren then existed outside their formal command structure of the Order, and frequently came into an conflict with officials owing to his agenda consistently trumping military objectives. Kylo Ren's placement in the hierarchy would not only maintain fear within the First Order upper ranks, but also intentionally resembled that of Sith-Lord Darth Vader's during the reign of an old Empire. As the Supreme Leader, Kylo Ren sought to remake the galaxy in his own image and create his own legacy.
First Leaders of the First Order
Before their appointment of the Supreme Leader, this early Imperial Remnant group that would call itself First Order was led by a group of former officers of the Galactic Empire like their Grand Admiral Rae Sloane, Commandant Brendol Hux, a Imperial Director Ysanne Isard, and several others who would unite to form a governing body of the Imperial Remnant as its first set of leaders. This council of their Imperial loyalists was in existence as early as early as the months following great setbacks as a result of the defeat at the Battle of Jakku, which forced many Imperials to flee to a unknown regions part of space to escape New Republic justice. As with the rest of their growing forces, these leaders were stationed in a part of space unexplored space called the Unknown Regions while often meeting on their Eclipse Super Star Destroyer where they would take advantage of the data of maps collected by late Emperor Palpatine using knowledge from Grand Admiral Thrawn to explore these Unknown Regions of space. Each of the leaders sought to use the knowledge and the experience from the Old Empire to forge a new and superior Order, with such actions being the creation of a new breed of soldiers, building a new series of warships to make up the fleets, or making new intelligence gathering groups. These people would be regarded by First Order as heroes who had helped create a power that would restore their former glory.
First Order Military Leadership
First Order High Command
The High Command was the military leadership council of the First Order. General Armitage Hux was a part of the High Command. Twice a day, the High Command broadcast-ed recorded speeches, most often from General Hux himself, to its Stormtroopers through holoprojectors detailing the deplorable conditions of the New Republic and the First Order's alleged many victories over the Republic.
Supreme Leader
- Snoke- Founder of the First Order
Members
- General Armitage Hux
Inquisitors
After the fall of the Galactic Empire, Snoke sought out the Inquisitors as a both a means of recruiting a massive amount of Dark Side wielders and training future generations of Knights of Ren.
- Antinnis Tremayne (Instructor)
Dark Side-Affiliated Groups
Although the Sith perished with Darth Sidious and Darth Vader, some sought to ensure the continuation of the traditions that the Sith practiced including remnants of the Code of the Sith, which would be used in the making of the Knights of Ren, the new generation of Dark Side Force-Sensitives. Due to more recent laws of the Sith before they were destroyed, the Knights of Ren contained very few ranks so to ensure that the power of the Dark Side would not be diluted amongst too many and instead be concentrated into a select number of warriors. Members of the Knights of Ren weren't part of the formal hierarchy within the First Order but nonetheless operated with freedom among military command, who would tolerate their presence with some hesitation as their agenda trumped their own. At the time of the group founding there were their first seven members including their leader Kylo, who had taken a place as Snoke's apprentice, while the other six original members of the Knights of Ren would be deployed to various regions of the galaxy serving in a capacity a lot like an old Dark Side group called the Inquisitorius of the Galactic Empire. As time went by, the Knights of Ren took on a similar trait of an Inquisitor, searching for Force-Sensitives beings who would either prove to be agents of darkness or a threat to be killed, thus ensuring control over the people in the galaxy who might have a connection to the Force power.
Knights of Ren
The Knights of Ren, also referred to as the Order of Ren, named to honor the ancient Revan, were a faction of warriors loyal to the Dark Side born in the decades following the Galactic Civil War by Snoke, the Supreme Leader of First Order. These disciples of the Dark Side of the Force fell under the command of one whom had the title of Master of the Knights of Ren, Kylo Ren. This dark faction came to be in the time when a Jedi Master Luke Skywalker was creating a New Jedi Order to return the Jedi to their former glory, during which time his students would be taught the ways of the Force. But Skywalker's hope to bring the Jedi back from the brink of extinction failed when his nephew Ben Solo had given himself to the Dark Side through Snoke's manipulation and become Kylo Ren. The fallen Ben Solo recruited several like-minded students, and together they slaughtered all other members of Luke's Jedi Order, the act that would mark the birth of the Knights of Ren. With the New Jedi Order decimated, a newly reborn Kylo Ren took the fellow fallen Jedi with him on his quest to serve the will of Snoke. Members of the Knights of Ren would take on the surname "Ren" as a part of their new identities upon joining the order, similar to the manner in which members of the Sith Order took their title "Darth" as part of their new persona as agents of the Dark Side. This would prove to be one of many inspirations from the Order of Sith.
With Kylo Ren's bloodline as the grandson of the infamous Lord Darth Vader, many considered the Knights of Ren to be the rightful inheritors of the mantle the Dark Lords of old left behind, viewing them as a reincarnated Sith Order. Like the Sith of old, a Knight of Ren would often wear black and silver battle gear as to honor the ways of the Dark Side. Knights were encouraged to follow a path similar to Revan, in that they use the teachings from Luke's Jedi Order along with the arcane Dark Side lore, contradictory teaching that gave them strength through discord. These teachings made a Knight of Ren the new breed of Dark Side Force-Sensitives that filled a void left when the Sith were defeated and were made a extinct religion. It was in part through the machinations of the Dark Lady Lumiya that the Knights would be born in dark image of the Sith. Lumiya had studied under Darth Vader and Darth Sidious during the time of the Galactic Empire, and after they passed Lumiya made it her purpose in life to avenge them and bring about the coming of a new breed of Sith, a purpose which she fulfilled. In time the Knights were widely known by many names, including Lumiya's Order by the people who still were loyal to the Sith Order. With Skywalker's survival having resulted in the training of a New Jedi, the Knights, particularly Kylo, sought to hunt the last Jedi to stop the Jedi Order from being restored and fulfill their destiny.
Elite Praetorian Guard
The Elite Praetorian Guard was a force of eight Human warriors tasked with guarding their Supreme Leader Snoke, the leader of the First Order. As the First Order mirrored many dark traditions of the Galactic Empire, Elite Praetorian Guards originated from the Imperial Royal Guard, the personal protectors of an Emperor Sheev Palpatine. Elite Praetorian Guard was an elite force of eight humanwarriors who protected the First Order's leader, Snoke. They then flanked the Supreme Leader in the throne room, and held in Snoke's Mega-Class Star Dreadnought, the Supremacy. Aside from their obvious origin from the Imperial Royal Guard, they also were derived to some extent from the Atrisian Emperor's royal guards, in particular how each of them operated in pairs. They specialized in a variety of different martial arts, including Teräs Käsi, and carried various high-tech melee weapons. The Elite Praetorian Guards were clad in the ornate crimson armor, robes and plastoid helmet. Nine plates of armor protected the Praetorian arms and shoulders. They were merciless, persistent, and specialized in melee combat. Elite Praetorian Guards boasted a arsenal of weapons that were high-tech versions of unpowered analogs found in primitive societies across the galaxy. Following Snoke's death at Kylo Ren's hand, they did try to avenge him. They fought well, and, for a brief time, did almost overwhelm Ren and Rey but were killed by this duo.
Politicians
Centrists
The Centrists were one of the two major, yet unofficial, political factions that had formed in the Galactic Senate of the New Republic over the two decades following the founding of the regime. Unlike the Populists, they were in favor of a stronger galactic government and a more powerful military, with Centrist worlds priding themselves on their values of law and order. Due to this, many Centrist Senators secretly supported and praised Palpatine's Empire. At some point, the tension between the two factions became so intense that the Centrists called for the election of a "First Senator" whose charisma would bring order to the divided Senate.
- Erudo Ro-Kiintor
- Carise Sindian
- Orris Madmund
- Mortan
- Arbo
- Apolin
- Giller
- Fatil
- Bevicard
First Order Military
Following the defeat of the Galactic Empire, the First Order and subsequently its military would rapidly expand in clear violation of the Galactic Concordance and Republic laws, and would plan its return to power throughout its tenure in the Unknown Regions. There, military bases and shipyards were constructed to churn out some of the technologically superior weapons and starfighters utilized by the military, with many of the Old Empire's greatest military secrets falling into the hands of the new successor state. To avoid treaty restrictions banning the sale of weaponry to the First Order, galactic arms manufacturers BlasTech Industries and Merr-Sonn Munitions, spun off a subsidiary known as the Sonn-Blas Corporation, which manufactured much of the First Order's weaponry within First Order space, while Sienar-Jaemus Army Systems and Aratech-Loratus Corporationprovided spacecraft and vehicles to the Order.
The First Order Navy, also referred to as the First Order fleet, was the naval branch of the First Order military mainly based on Battlecruisers like its Imperial predecessor Created from the remnants of the Navy of the fallen Galactic Empire, it would be paramount to the gradual conquest and colonization of the Unknown Regions by the Imperial successor faction. In violation of New Republic laws regarding capital ships, the Resurgent-Class Battlecruiser would be developed by Kuat-Entralla Engineering and feature more than three-thousand turbolasers and ion cannons, and was specifically designed to evoke the fearful image of the Old Empire's Imperial-Class Star Destroyers. Resurgent-Class Battlecruisers were the threatening capital ships deployed against the Order's targets, but the Resistance believed that vessels even larger than them were in existence. The First Order also used older Imperial-Class Star Destroyers and smaller ships compared to Resurgent-Class Battlecruisers, such as Lancer-Class Frigates.
TIE Pilot Corps
The TIE Pilot Corps was a Starfighter unit of the First Order which consisted of First Order TIE Fighter pilots. These TIE Fighter Pilots were skilled Pilots that served their First Order, hunting down enemy vessels and protecting space around installations and warships in their advanced TIE/fo space superiority fighters. Elite TIE pilots had access to TIE/sf space superiority fighters, two-seater TIE ships equipped with enhanced weaponry and sensor systems. First Order treated its fighter pilots as important parts in their First Order war machine, unlike the TIE Pilots in the old Empire that were treated as expendable, and sent into combat objectives with unshielded TIE Fighters. Potential First Order pilots were identified while they were children and often given a rigorous training often within the corridors of warships, then tested ruthlessly throughout their careers to ensure their reflexes, visual acuity and coordination measure up. Their uniforms consisted of a black jumpsuit with chestplate with life support gear, pauldrons on their shoulders, gauntlets, an belt with a holster for a blaster pistol, boots, and an helmet with goggles and a gas transfer tube to be plugged in to the suits life support box.
Special Forces
The Special Forces were an elite unit of the First Order military. They were used by the First Order to pilot TIE/sf space superiority fighters. Visual difference to normal TIE fighter pilots was that the Elite Special Forces fighter pilots bear red flashes on their helmets.
Elite Special Forces fighter pilots bear red flashes on their helmets, and report to the upper ranks of the First Order hierarchy.
First Order Army
Following the defeat of the Galactic Empire at the Battle of Jakku and its surrender with the signing of the Galactic Concordance, the First Order and its military would eventually form in the Unknown Regions where it would plot its eventual return to power. The First Order Army was the ground-based service branch of the First Order military. Formed from the previous Imperial Army of the Galactic Empire, it would be responsible for maintaining order throughout First Order space and the gradual conquest and colonization of the Unknown Regions.
First Order Stormtroopers
The First Order’s infantry units wear stark white armor derived from that worn by the Republic’s Clone Troopers and the Empire’s Storm Troopers. Members of this new generation of stormtroopers are trained from birth, growing up with unit designations instead of names and fed a steady diet of First Order propaganda to ensure absolute loyalty. Where the Empire opted for numbing routine, the First Order’s training simulations and live-fire drills encourage improvisation on the battlefield, making these stormtroopers more dangerous than their Imperial predecessors.
FN Corps
The FN Corps was a Stormtrooper unit in the First Order military. Prior to their first deployment, members of the FN Corps were trained by Captain Phasma, who believed their class to be the greatest in the First Order.
Snowtroopers
Flametroopers
First Order Intelligence
A Shadow Trooper of First Order Intelligence - By: PlainBen
First Order Intelligence, abbreviated as FOI, and also known as Military Intelligence, was the central intelligence service of the First Order, brought together from the remnants of the Galactic Empire's Imperial Intelligence. It was dedicated to collecting information, secret and otherwise, for the government of the First Order. Organized into central bureaus, themselves divided into divisions, and with various other units and operations in addition to the central bureaus, First Order Intelligence was at its peak performance during the First Order's rise to power in the midst of the three decades of Imperial regrouping. Though in the aftermath of the Galactic Civil War the Imperial Intelligence was left largely gutted, its former leader Cronal who had retreated into the Unknown Regions three years prior, reforming its infrastructure and incorporating its resources into the growing First Order. Intelligence would provide information and services to various warlords, and other leaders of the Imperial Remnant.
Intelligence Director
- Lord Cronal
Church of the Dark Side
Shadow Troopers
Office of Imperial Promotion, Galactic Truth, and Fact Correction
The Office of Imperial Promotion, Galactic Truth, and Fact Correction (OIP) was an Imperial propaganda service formed from the ashes of COMPNOR in an effort to countermand the influence of the New Republic in the months following the Battle of Endor.
OIP Director
In Progress
Bounty Hunters
Bounty Hunters are highly skilled mercenaries who work for large amounts of credits. These Bounty Hunters work usually for the First Order.
- Mirta Vel (Formerly)
- Durge
- Gorm
- Cragus 12
- GX-99
- IG-90
- IG-88
- C-21 Highsinger
- Black Krrsantan
Additional Members
Droids
Battle Droids
Battle droids were a type of droid designed for combat. The Battle droids, were reactivated after the Clone Wars due to the Galactic Empire losing its rather large-scale number of Stormtroopers. However most of these attempts during the Galactic Civil War were stopped by the New Republic, but the designs were recovered by the Empire and were used in the creation of First Order factories and the commission of new Battle Droids to help fill the ranks.
Protocol Droids
Protocol droids are vital in smoothing differences encountered by the many farflung cultures interacting on a regular basis throughout the galaxy. Programmed in etiquette and equipped with formidable language skills, protocol droids assist diplomats and politicians and also serve as administrative aides and companions for high-ranking officials. They come in many shapes and sizes, but most are humanoid, like the company they keep.