The son of Han Solo and Leia Organa, Ben Solo was seduced by the dark side of the Force and renamed himself Kylo Ren, becoming the First Order’s champion and Supreme Leader Snoke’s student. Kylo killed his father and seeks to destroy his mother’s Resistance and the remnants of the Jedi Order. Though a servant of the dark side, he still struggles against the pull of the light side of the Force.

A young, ruthless officer in the First Order, General Hux has complete confidence in his troops, training methods and weapons. A rival of Kylo Ren’s, Hux eagerly awaits the day when the First Order’s technological innovations will help bring down the hated New Republic and the Resistance, and considers it his destiny to rule the galaxy.

Deep in the Unknown Regions, the First Order constructed a superweapon that used an entire planet as its weapons platform. The deadly Starkiller harvested energy from its system’s star, contained it within magnetic fields inside the planetary core, and then converted that energy into an ultra-powerful beam that blasted through hyperspace, able to sterilize the worlds of a distant star system with a single shot. Starkiller Base’s first shot obliterated the New Republic capital of Hosnian Prime. The planet was then destroyed in a daring Resistance raid.

The First Order’s infantry units wear stark white armor derived from that worn by the Republic’s clone troopers and the Empire’s stormtroopers. 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.

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.

The Galactic Empire ruled for years through fear, intimidation, and tyranny. With a mighty military force including stormtroopers, spy technology like probe droids, and the planet-destroying Death Star, Emperor Palpatine’s regime seemed unstoppable and permanent. But some dared to strike back…