Skirmish in OR - Kappa - 2722 During the Cold war a skirmish was initiated in OR - Kappa - 2722 when New Republic pilot Poe Dameron was on an unsanctioned mission to find the captured freighter " Yissira Zyde " . This mission brought Poe into contact with the Resistance leader General Leia Organa , who arranged for Poe and Rapier Squadron to join the Resistance . Prelude . Following the Battle of Jakku , the New Republic and the remnants of the Galactic Empire signed the Galactic Concordance which ended the Galactic Civil War . It also limited the Imperial remnants ' ability to wage war and to acquire advanced military weapons and starship s . Eventually , these Imperial remnants re - established themselves as the First Order in the Unknown Regions . About thirty years after the Battle of Endor , the First Order began to test the resolve of the Republic by making isolated strikes into Republic space . On one such incident , the First Order commandeered the freighter " Yissira Zyde " and fought with the T - 85 X - wing squadron , Rapier Squadron . During the dogfight , the pilot Muran was killed when his starfighter was shattered by the hijacked freighter ' s jump into hyperspace . Poe Dameron , the commander of Rapier Squadron , advocated investigating what the freighter was hauling and tracking its trajectory . However , he was overruled by his superior Major Lonno Deso , who stressed that Republic Command viewed these skirmishes as isolated incidents and did not regard the a First Order as a serious threat to the New Republic . Defying Major Deso ' s orders , Poe conferred with his fellow pilots Karé Kun and Iolo Arana and outlined his plan to track down the " Yissira Zyde " . To avoid getting his colleagues into trouble , Poe stressed that he was going alone . With the help of his astromech droid BB - 8 , Poe discovered that the freighter was carrying 46 high - capacity charging arrays which could be converted for military use . The skirmish . After Poe ' s fellow pilots had their astromech droid s upload all telemetry from the Suraz engagement into BB - 8 , Poe departed alone on his T - 85 X - wing into hyperspace . Using the combined data , Poe decided to randomly visit one of the five possible places that the " Yissira Zyde " had traveled to . At random , BB - 8 picked the remote OR - Kappa - 2722 system . Upon exiting hyperspace , Poe ' s starfighter encountered a fleet of First Order warship s including three Star Destroyer s , four frigate s , and two Maxima - A class heavy cruiser s and one " Dissident " - class light cruiser . Before BB - 8 could pick out the location of the " Yissira Zyde " , they were attacked by twelve TIE / fo space superiority fighter s . While BB - 8 tracked the location of the freighter , Poe used his starfighter to lead the TIEs on a wild pursuit . Using several starfighter maneuvers , Poe managed to outrun his Imperial pursuers . Two of the TIEs were clipped by friendly fire , causing them to spiral into out of control arcs . About four TIE fighters collided with each other and exploded with Poe narrowly escaping destruction himself . While flying circles around the First Order fleet , BB - 8 managed to track down the " Yissita Zyde " transponder signal to the second of the three Star Destroyers . Having completed their mission , Poe did a L ' ulo Stand maneuver before making a jump into hyperspace . Aftermath . Despite learning the contents of the " Yissira Zyde " cargo and finding the freighter ' s location , Poe Dameron ' s actions got him into trouble with the New Republic authorities on Mirrin Prime . Upon returning , he was ordered by Mirrin Control to land at Landing Bay 22 . There , he was detained by Major Caluan Ematt and two shore police who summoned him for a private meeting with General Leia Organa , the leader of the Resistance , a splinter group of the New Republic military that monitored the activities of the First Order and believed that the Republic was ignoring the threat posed by the Imperial loyalists . After learning about Poe ' s actions and the " Yissira Zyde " , Leia offered Poe the opportunity to join the Resistance . She pointed out that his unsanctioned mission was a violation of Republic military protocol that amounted to the theft of a Republic X - wing . While she had the power to whitewash Poe ' s unauthorized trip to OR - Kappa - 2722 , she conceded that he would have to operate within a military hierarchy that was reluctant to take action against the First Order . Due to Poe ' s idealism and strong desire to fight the First Order , Leia counseled Poe to leave the Republic Starfleet and join the Resistance . Poe accepted Leia ' s offer and was accompanied by his comrades Kare and Iolo . Behind the scenes . The Skirmish in OR - Kappa - 2722 first appeared in Greg Rucka ' s three - arc junior novel " Before the Awakening " . It served as a conflict that helped develop Poe Dameron ' s character and to explain his role in the 2015 movie " " . It also explored the relationship between the First Order , the New Republic , and the Resistance .