The Rise of the First Order and Some Other Shit TM

ghouls-beneath:

So, The First Order wiki page (that cites the Star Wars: The Force Awakens: The Visual Dictionary a great deal, as well as the official Star Wars Databank.) has a fuckton of good info. 

What happened right after the Galactic Civil War?

• It basically ended after this huge ass brawl above Jakku, where the Empire made their last stand. 
• Obvious, since we see all the fallen bits and pieces of Empire stuff all over Jakku.
• But after this, the Empire was forced to sign basically a peace treaty with the hopes that it’d neuter them. This was called the Galactic Concordance. 
• With this agreement this, the Empire had to:
• Stay within certain areas set by the Republic.
• IMMEDIATELY stop their acts of aggression.
• Cut that shit out with the stormtroopers: don’t recruit, don’t mobilize. 
• Finally, abandon their famed Imperial Academies where they trained people for their army/navy/etc.
• Fun Fact: Luke actually wanted to join up, but his uncle forbade him. (That’s an AU in the making…)
• Additionally, Galactic Republic companies were restricted from selling weapons/etc to them. 

How did they get away and rebuild?

• They fucked right off into the unknown, that’s how. Literally into the Unknown Regions, away from where the Republic could see their shenanigans.
• Still wanting to carry out the Empire’s principles, former Officers came together to form the First Order. 
• They started colonizing worlds, building shipyards and research centers and training troops, essentially licking their wounds and preparing for another mass militarization effort.
• Snoke caught notice and decided to bequeath himself to the First Order. It’s not stated how exactly how he got to be in charge.
• It’s implied he already had Kylo Ren under him as an apprentice by then, but definitely not stated explicitly.

The First Order military itself

• Knowing that the Republic was now the powerhouse in terms of numbers, First Order training shifted.
• Guerrilla tactics and improvisation became standard.
• Troops used vivid simulations for training exercises.
• Training continued onboard on capital ships.
• They also wanted to be better equipped. Several Galactic companies spun off subsidiaries just to sell to the First Order, to work around Galactic Republic Restrictions.
• Sonn-Blas Corporation, Sinear-Jaemus Army Systems, Aratech-Loratus Corporation, Kuat-Entralla Engineering are listed as creators of a huge amount of Order equipment, ships, and weaponry. 

• Basically: they had help. They didn’t make all their tech all themselves.

• A note regarding out favorite TR-8R: Every ten member sqad had one of three specialized stormtroopers: 
• the megablaster heavy assault troopers – the automatic/high rate of fure weaponry
• flametroopers
• riot control stormtroopers– much like TR-8R!

Colonization and the population of the First order at large

•  Snoke and Kylo Ren

  (specifically noted) continue to colonize the Unknown Regions over the years.

• Because of this colonization, the First Order lacked an official capital. Snoke often moved it before Starkiller became the unofficial base. 
• Because of the Order’s early work, a new generation was born and raised exclusively in the off world planets, treated to a sterilized and Empire-favored slant on history.
• Pre-recorded propaganda often played, playing up the Order and down the Republic.
• While they favored the patriotic, they were ruthless on those that weren’t/protestors. Live-fire dispersal was permitted.
• A number– if not most– of them are like Finn, raised from birth into first order training. no name, possibly taken from a family, etc.
• Additionally, it’s noted that there are many labor camps and mining operations in First Order space, mostly populated by non-human species.

Kylo Ren

• Kylo and his Knights of Ren did not just destroy Luke Skywalker’s attempt at restarting the Jedi Order: they also subsequently purged and hunted down those with Force affinity.
• He was granted independent power separate from the military ranks of the Order.
• Sound familiar? This was a deliberate move to mirror to Vader’s own role.
• Bonus effect: this kept upper ranking military officials afraid of him/Snoke by extension, as they often ran into him when trying to accomplish their own goals that were in conflict with Kylo’s.

How did they get away with it?

• The New Republic Senate basically believed that the Order posed no real threat to the galaxy at large– as long as they followed the rules.
• Yeah. So of course they didn’t.
• They blatantly defied that, as outlined above.
• Prominent members of the Republic voiced concern over this, but especially Leia .
• They were scoffed at by the Senate, and her especially for being an alarmist and warmonger.
• Saying fuck THIS, Leia recruited as many former and forgotten military officers as possible to form the Resistance.
• The Republic had passed the Military Disarmament Act which was designed to cut the size of the Republic military.
• They were funded by like minded members of the Republic Senate, as noted in the film.

Phew! That’s a lot of shit. If any of it is wrong please let me know, I tried to put it in as much order as I could. 

The general timeline of the First Order is not 100% clean, so it’s unknown how much they colonized before Snoke, when Kylo Ren showed up or even when he massacred Luke’s pupils. If you’ve any textual insight I’d love to read them! rai