Battle of Crait The Battle of Crait , also known as the siege of Crait , was a major battle fought in 34 ABY during the war between the First Order and the Resistance . Shortly after the Resistance ' s victory at Starkiller Base , the Battle of Crait was the result of the First Order ' s counterattack , which had decimated the Resistance forces . Unable to escape the First Order Navy , the Resistance , led by General Leia Organa , fled to a former Rebel outpost on the salt - covered planet Crait , hoping to go unnoticed . However , the First Order became aware of the Resistance ' s plan and deployed their military forces to the planet ' s surface . Led by Supreme Leader Kylo Ren and General Armitage Hux , the First Order deployed a superlaser siege cannon , planning to break through the massive door which protected the outpost . The Resistance , limited in numbers , had planned to hold out in the base until more allies arrived , but in response to the First Order cannon , the remaining Resistance troop s utilized V - 4X - D ski speeder s to attack the weapon . The Resistance airspeeder s faced many losses against the TIE / fo space superiority fighter s of the First Order , but when the light freighter " Millennium Falcon " arrived to help the Resistance , Ren redirected the TIE fighters to pursue the starship . Although the Resistance ski speeder s were no longer targeted by the TIE fighters , their efforts were unsuccessful , and the siege cannon fired upon the outpost . With the base vulnerable and no reinforcements responding to their call , the Resistance lost hope , until Organa ' s brother , Jedi Master Luke Skywalker , appeared before them as a projection through the Force . Buying time for the Resistance to escape , Skywalker exited the outpost to face Ren in a lightsaber duel . As Skywalker confronted Ren , Captain Poe Dameron led the Resistance through the cave s of Crait , hoping to find a natural exit . When Ren realized he was fighting Skywalker ' s projection , the apparition disappeared , and Ren led his stormtroopers into the base . The First Order stormed the outpost , but with Skywalker having distracted the First Order for an ample amount of time , the Resistance survivors escaped with Rey and Chewbacca aboard the " Millennium Falcon " , inspiring rebellion across the galaxy . Prelude . Following the Resistance ' s major victory in destroying Starkiller Base , the Resistance abandoned their base on D ' Qar after the First Order invaded the Ileenium system . While the Resistance was searching the galaxy for a new base of operations , General Armitage Hux tracked the Resistance fleet through hyperspace and gave chase through space . Vice Admiral Amilyn Holdo eventually sacrificed herself and her cruiser to allow the remaining Resistance fighters to escape to the planet Crait in the Crait system . The battle . Arrival at the base . The remaining members of the Resistance landed and reactivated the old Rebel base . Finn and Rose Tico later crash - landed at the base in a " Xi " - class light shuttle after escaping the damaged First Order flagship " Supremacy " , initially being shot at by the Resistance soldiers in the confusion . General Leia Organa called upon their allies across the Outer Rim Territories for reinforcements as the group prepared the base ' s defenses , including several laser turret s and V - 4X - D ski speeder s . Meanwhile the First Order — now under the command of Supreme Leader Kylo Ren — deployed their own forces , landing eleven AT - M6s , two AT - ATs , one " Upsilon " - class command shuttle , several TIE fighters , and a superlaser siege cannon towed by a pair of AT - HHs to break through the base ' s massive steel doors . The battle begins . The Resistance launched all of their remaining forces , firing heavy artillery and dispatching thirteen of the old V - 4X - D ski speeder s to knock out the superlaser , led by Captain Poe Dameron . The First Order walker s and TIE fighters returned fire and the battle began . The Resistance suffered heavy losses from the combined ground and air assaults . The " Millennium Falcon " , pilot ed by Chewbacca and Rey , arrived unexpectedly and attacked the fighters , drawing them away from the battlefield and destroying all of the pursuers . As the battering ram prepared to open fire , Dameron ordered all speeders to fall back as it would be a suicide run . Finn , however , disobeyed and piloted his speeder directly towards the barrel of the cannon . Unwilling to let Finn die , Tico crashed her speeder into his , saving Finn ' s life but badly injuring herself . With the Resistance ' s effort nearly silenced , the First Order ' s cannon opened fire at the base , punching easily through the main doors . As snowtrooper s approached the breach , the Resistance realized that all of the messages sent to their allies had been received , but none had responded . In a last - ditch effort , the Resistance began preparing for a final stand . The duel and escape . As the Resistance contemplated their next move , Luke Skywalker unexpectedly appeared to the group and resolved to go out to face the First Order on his own as a distraction . As Skywalker emerged from the base , Ren ordered all of the walkers to open fire on Skywalker in a futile attempt to destroy him . However , the Jedi Master miraculously emerged unscathed , and Ren was forced to go down to the surface and face his old master himself . In a brief confrontation , Skywalker dodged Ren ' s lightsaber attacks . When Skywalker allowed Ren to land a blow , Ren realized that he was actually fighting a projection of the Jedi , who was still on Ahch - To . Skywalker ' s projection vanished , leaving Ren furious . Meanwhile , Dameron and C - 3PO noticed that the vulptices , creatures which resided in the cave s , had gone , leaving through a natural exit . Following a remaining vulptex , Dameron led the surviving Resistance members in search of the exit . With the time bought by Skywalker ' s distraction , the Resistance found the end of the base ' s cave system , but saw that a rockslide had blocked the exit to the outside . From the other side of the blockage , Rey used the Force to lift the rocks and cleared a path for the surviving 14 Resistance fighters to escape to the " Falcon " , living to fight another day . Aftermath . The Battle of Crait was a victory for the First Order . However , the First Order failed in its main objective of completely destroying the Resistance , as some of its members — including General Organa — escaped the battle to continue their struggle . Ren also failed to destroy the Jedi Order by murdering Skywalker , who had been projecting his image across the galaxy . After the battle , Skywalker , having heavily exerted himself in the effort to buy time for the Resistance , became one with the Force . His passing was felt by Rey and Organa , who noted that he was content and at peace . Rey worried that the Resistance was all but destroyed , but Organa reassured her , saying they had everything they needed to rebuild . The tale of Skywalker ' s stand against the First Order quickly spread across the galaxy , inspiring many to support the Resistance and stand against the First Order . Before his death , Skywalker also acknowledged Rey ' s position as the last Jedi , giving birth to another new hope for both the Jedi and the galaxy . Behind the scenes . The first footage of the battle was shown in the " Star Wars " : " The Last Jedi " theatrical trailer on October 9 , 2017 . The battle of Crait made its first appearance in " Star Wars Battlefront II " as a a free downloadable level available on December 13 , 2017 . The battle made its first formal appearance on December 15 , 2017 as the climax sequence of .