Resistance base The Resistance base , also known as Resistance headquarters , was the base operated by the Resistance on the Outer Rim planet D ' Qar , during their conflict with the First Order . After the destruction of the Hosnian system , the base was used to plan the assault on Starkiller Base , the First Order ' s planet - embedded superweapon . However , it was soon destroyed by First Order forces during the Evacuation of D ' Qar . Description . The Resistance base was located mostly underneath the surface of D ' Qar , with only the facility ' s landing areas and antenna arrays exposed . Inside the base was a command center , as well as as multiple hangar s , both above and underground , used to store T - 70 X - wing fighter s . Underneath the hangars was an area known as the maintenance level , where damaged vehicles could go to be repaired . Surrounding the base was thick jungle foliage , which helped hide the facility from air and ground sensor s and conceal potential power leaks . Most of the equipment used at the base was portable , a feature insisted by General Leia Organa due to her experience of the Rebel Alliance ' s near - extinction on Hoth . History . When Sith Lord Darth Vader was revealed to be Senator Leia Organa ' s biological father twenty - four years after the formation of the New Republic , Organa ' s reputation was impacted dramatically . Believing there to be a new threat facing the galaxy , Organa pleaded with the Republic to investigate , however , her protests about the Military Disarmament Act were dismissed as paranoia , while her warnings of the growing First Order were misconstrued as warmongering . Having no other option , she formed the Resistance to combat the threat of full - scale war once again engulfing the galaxy . In need of a base of operations , Organa remembered D ' Qar ' s abandoned Rebel Alliance outpost and sent engineer s to expand the facility . Over the next six years , the base was the launch point of several missions and offensives against the First Order . In the thirtieth year after the Battle of Endor , the Resistance received word that the astromech droid , BB - 8 , who was in possession of a map leading to Jedi Master Luke Skywalker , was on the Mid Rim planet , Takodana . Within minutes , the First Order , having also received the same information , arrived at the planet and attacked the castle BB - 8 was located at . Shortly after , however , Resistance pilots also arrived , and engaged the First Order ' s air and ground forces . During the battle , the First Order captured the scavenger , Rey and retreated , believing they had got what they came for . After arriving back at the Resistance base , Finn , a deserter First Order stormtrooper , gave the Resistance intel on how to destroy Starkiller Base , the First Order ' s planet - embedded superweapon , which had recently destroyed the Rebublic ' s capital , Hosnian Prime , and was now targeting D ' Qar . After identifying Starkiller Base ' s weak point as its thermal oscillator , the Resistance starfighter pilots began preparing their ships for battle , while Finn , Han Solo and Chewbacca readied Solo ' s ship , the " Millennium Falcon " . Arriving at Starkiller Base , Finn , Solo and Chewbacca managed to lower Starkiller ' s shields , rescue Rey and blow an opening in its thermal oscillator , allowing Poe Dameron , leader of the Resistance starfighter corps , to enter and destroy it . With the superweapon destroyed , D ' Qar and the Resistance base was safe from destruction . Arriving back at base , R2 - D2 , who had been in low - power mode since Skywalker ' s disappearance , overheard Rey stating that the First Order had recovered the majority of the starchart that was recovered from the Imperial archives , but they were still lacking the final piece to match with the fragment BB - 8 had acquired . The droid promptly reactivated after years of hibernation , and searched his records and found that he had previously downloaded this map while upon the first Death Star . Projecting the map into the room , R2 - D2 matched his map with the piece that BB - 8 held , revealing the location of the first Jedi Temple , and in turn , Luke Skywalker . With this revelation , R2 - D2 , Rey and Chewbacca left the base in the " Millennium Falcon " in search of the Jedi Master . Shortly after the base was evacuated by the Resistance . Anticipating a attack by the First Order , the Resistance personnel scrambled frantically to transfer personnel and equipment to the flagship " Raddus " in orbit . Led by Lieutenant Kaydel Ko Connix , they managed to completely clear the base and evacuate mere seconds before it was fired on and destroyed by the " Mandator IV " - class Siege Dreadnought " Fulminatrix " . Personnel . The upper levels of the Resistance hierarchy consisted mainly of veterans of the Galactic Civil War who had served alongside Leia Organa in the Rebel Alliance . High ranking individuals included General Cypress , a commander of the Resistance ground forces , Major Taslin Brance , a communications officer who kept Organa up - to - date on First Order operations , Major Caluan Ematt , a well - traveled veteran of the Galactic Civil War , Admiral Statura , who fought against the Empire during the liberation of his home planet of Garel , and Admiral Gial Ackbar , an experienced commander who fought in the Clone Wars and was instrumental to the Rebel Alliance ' s victory over the Galactic Empire . Poe Dameron was the leader of Red and Blue Squadron , the two starfighter squadrons of the Resistance , and went by the callsign , Black Leader . Behind the scenes . The Resistance base first appeared in the Junior novels " " and " " , two books that were part of the " " , a multimedia project of a series of at least twenty books and comics that featured content related to the film leading up to the 2015 " Star Wars " film .