The reign of the First Galactic Empire was an unprecedented era in galactic politics.
Whereas the Old Republic it replaced was a loose association of planetary governments
and other sovereign states, the Empire was an autocratic regime with an immense bureaucracy
that sought to enforce the same standard of rule across every planet under its dominion.
With the death of the Emperor however and the victory of the Rebel Alliance, the reformed
New Republic summarily rejected the centralized authority, vast military spending, and strict
control over independent governments that had defined Imperial Rule.
The age of the Empire had seemingly ended.
Yet the ultimate ambition of the Empire; a united galaxy driven by a singular purpose,
was not so easily cast away.
In the far frontiers of the Unknown Regions, a new regime began to rise from the ashes
of the Empire, one determined to fix the mistakes of its predecessor and see through what had
been left unfinished.
This is the task of the First Order.
A military-junta which draws its inspiration from the Imperial hierarchy that came before
it, the First Order is led by Supreme Leader Snoke, a being of remarkable power whose origins,
as of yet, remain a mystery.
Acting as the head of a military apparatus rather than a traditional state, Snoke delegates
responsibility to an upper cadre of military officers, in effect removing any distinction
between military and civilian authority.
Under this system, the armed forces of the First Order dominate all political, economic
and ideological aspects of society, granting it a primary position in state affairs as
well as guiding all domestic policy and foreign interactions.
The First Order inherited much of the remnants of the Imperial military, including its doctrines,
equipment, and institutional knowledge.
Their armed forces consist of an Army and Navy with various specialized component services
within each branch.
An elite ceremonial unit known as the Praetorian Guard serve as the personal bodyguard of Snoke,
crimson warriors who specialize in close quarter combat.
While their fleets and armies operate modernized or newly designed equipment, their military
strategy is essentially identical to that of the Empire, albeit with a greater emphasis
on crew and soldier survivability.
In space, the backbone of the First Order fleet is the Resurgent Class Star Destroyer.
Like the Imperial class before it, the Resurgent carries extensive anti-ship batteries, a complement
of starfighter wings, and the requisite ground forces necessary to conduct a planetary invasion.
Although capable of performing a variety of roles, the Resurgent class is supplemented
by specialized orbital siege platforms as well as the Supremacy, flagship of Supreme
Leader Snoke and rumored to function as a mobile headquarters of the First Order in
lieu of a planetary capital.
During ground based operations, the First Order utilizes the venerable AT-AT, AT-ST
and a sophisticated artillery walker known as the AT-M6.
These support dedicated stromtrooper units, which are entrusted with far greater operational
flexibility compared to their Imperial counterparts leading to superior personal initiative among
unit commanders.
At the infantry level, soldiers are trained from birth and indoctrinated with the core
values of the First Order to the level where they are assigned alphanumeric designations
in place of names.
The ubiquitous nature of state-propaganda campaigns extends through all levels of society
and pre-recorded speeches focusing on the depravity of the New Republic and the need
to sacrifice personal well-being for the sake of the First Order are routinely broadcast.
Students are taught a skewed version of Imperial history, one that propagates the notion that
the Galactic Empire did not lose on the battlefield, but was instead robbed of its chance to succeed
due to the immoral efforts of terrorists and rebels.
The distorted version of history detailing how the First Order rose to power can likely
be discounted, but there remains a great deal of uncertainty regarding the group's true
origins.
It is likely however that the First Order arose from the turmoil surrounding the Galactic
Concordance, a peace treaty intended to dissolve the Empire and bring an end to the Galactic
Civil War.
Unable to assert its control over the galaxy to the same extent as the Empire, the New
Republic was forced to contend with numerous rival factions including a revived Separatist
Union, numerous pirate states, and a sizeable Imperial remnant.
During this confusion, many Imperial nobles, industrialists, warlords and other key personnel
fled to the Unknown Regions utilizing information derived from Grand Admiral Thrawn.
These hardliners carried with them some of the most important secrets of the Galactic
Empire including a great deal of information related to the mysterious nature of the Unknown
Regions itself.
As the New Republic consolidated its power and spread across the galaxy, it was noted
by many senior military analysts and observers that a sizeable portion of the former Imperial
Navy and Army could not be accounted for.
Missing equipment ranged from hundreds of thousands of blasters and sets of stromtrooper
armor, to the Super Star Destroyer Eclipse, flagship of Emperor Palpatine.
While still motivated to pursue Imperial war criminals and account for this missing military
equipment, galactic peace remained far too fragile for the New Republic to embark on
such a campaign.
Over time, the Imperial remnants that had gathered in the Unknown Regions were dismissed
and then forgotten.
When the First Order re-emerged on the Galactic scene it had fallen under the control of Supreme
Leader Snoke and began to slowly assert its growing power.
Whether Snoke’s rise to supreme authority occurred independently from the establishment
of the First Order remains unknown, but he is believed to have the full support of both
the military and a mysterious group of supposed Jedi Hunters known as the Knights of Ren.
Operating through a network of criminal proxies, the First Order invested in numerous cartels
and terrorist groups with illicit profits channeled back into the Unknown Regions.
Despite probes by Republic senators into the true nature of these criminal groups, the
First Order’s involvement was never discovered and the group was still considered largely
inert by the Senate and unlikely to be a major threat.
Unknown to the Republic, the First Order had, in fact, used this funding to embark on a
massive re-militarization campaign, ignoring all of the restrictions placed on it as part
of the Galactic Concordance.
Intermittent skirmishes between Republic and First Order ships would occasionally break
out in the Trans-Hydian Borderlands as Snoke began testing the resolve of the New Republic’s
leadership.
Despite every provocation, the New Republic was unwilling to commit itself to another
potential war, and ignored the growing strength of the First Order.
Within the Senate, they were still widely seen as ill-organized, poorly equipped, and
unable to support a coordinated war effort.
Part of this perception was supported by the First Order itself, who successfully infiltrated
the Senate and corrupted several of its members.
A growing faction of “Centrists” who favored the policies advocated by the Old Empire and
now the First Order grew out of this clandestine arrangement, giving the First Order a base
of power within the Republic itself.
Just over thirty years after the defeat of the Empire, the First Order made its first
move.
Using the recently completed Starkiller Base, a planet based superweapon reminiscent of
the Imperial Death Stars, the First Order annihilated the Hosnian System, home to the
Republic Senate and a large portion of the New Republic Starfleet.
While the Resistance, a militant group dedicated to monitoring and combating the First Order
would destroy Starkiller base soon after, the attack decapitated the Republic’s leadership
and crippled its capacity to resist.
The time of the First Order, had finally arrived.