Battle of Starkiller Base The Battle of Starkiller Base , also referred to as the attack on Starkiller Base or the assault on Starkiller Base , was the first major battle fought between the First Order and the Resistance during the war between the two factions . The battle was fought in 34 ABY with First Order TIE fighters and Resistance T - 70 X - wing fighter s . The goal of the Resistance fighters was to disable and destroy the Starkiller Base in order to prevent Starkiller Base , which was charging up its superweapon , from destroying the Resistance base on D ' Qar and continuing a reign of terror . With the Resistance ' s victory , the conflict between the First Order and the Resistance escalated into full open warfare . Prelude . During their search for Luke Skywalker in 34 ABY , the First Order sought to use Starkiller Base to destroy the Resistance and cripple the New Republic . They first tested the weapon on the capital of the New Republic , Hosnian Prime , and four other planet s in the Hosnian system . They were successful , destroying the planets and a New Republic fleet . On Takodana , Kylo Ren realized that the scavenger and Resistance ally Rey was Force - sensitive . During the Battle of Takodana , he captured her and took her to Starkiller Base for interrogation . However , the interrogation backfired when Rey ended up probing Kylo ' s mind and discovering his fear of never becoming as great as his grandfather , the infamous Imperial enforcer Darth Vader , forcing him to leave to seek out his master Snoke ' s guidance . He then returned to attempt to continue the interrogation , but Rey had already escaped via manipulating the stormtrooper tasked with guarding her into releasing her . This angered Kylo enough that he destroyed the interrogation room in a rage - fueled tantrum , causing two patrolling stormtroopers to back away when noticing the commotion . Finn had given the Base ' s blueprints to the Resistance , which revealed that the base drained the energy of the sun in order to charge its superweapon , and that it required a thermal oscillator to sustain the energy on the planet . If this thermal oscillator was destroyed , it would destabilize the planet ' s core and implode the Base . However , they would need to do it before the Base fully charged its weapon . Finn , Han Solo , and Chewbacca volunteered to disable the Base ' s defensive shield from the inside . Han Solo pilot ed the " Millennium Falcon " to Starkiller Base accompanied by Chewbacca and Finn . Their objective was to disable the shields and allow the X - Wing squadron to strike , although Finn ' s main objective was to rescue Rey . Flying through the shields at lightspeed , the " Falcon " made a rough landing on Starkiller Base at the edge of a cliff . The battle . The ground assault . Han , Chewbacca , and Finn snuck into the main base and captured Captain Phasma , whom they forced to disable the shields before disposing of her in a garbage chute . They reunited with Rey , who had already escaped on her own . Upon leaving the base and seeing the aerial assault , Han , Chewbacca , Finn , and Rey realized the Resistance squadron s needed assistance and decided to create an opening by planting thermal detonator s inside the base . Han then confronted Kylo Ren on a bridge over a large pit , pleading with his son to reject Snoke and return to the light side of the Force . However , Ren refused and impaled his father with his lightsaber . Han lovingly stroked his son ' s faced before he plummeted down a shaft as Finn , Rey , and Chewbacca looked on . Kylo Ren felt weakened and horrified by his actions . An enraged Chewbacca injured Ren with his bowcaster and proceeded to shoot down several stormtroopers . Chewbacca then detonated the explosives , which created an opening for the Base ' s thermal oscillators . The aerial assault . With the shields down , Blue Squadron and Red Squadron , led by Poe Dameron as Black Leader , commenced their assault . All starfighter squadrons locked their S - foils in attack position to initiate the strike on the Starkiller Base ' s thermal oscillator . General Armitage Hux , seeing the fleet from outside , ordered to dispatch all TIE fighter squadrons . The X - wing fighter squadrons successfully executed one bombing run of the thermal oscillator , hitting it directly but causing no damage towards it , but then the TIE fighters were upon them . During the battle that ensued between the opposing fighters , a heavy cannon emplacement launched a missile that destroyed an X - wing fighter . With ten minutes left until the weapon became fully charged , half of the Resistance fleet had already been destroyed . The thermal detonators , triggered by Chewbacca , activated in the Base , and a new hole to the oscillator was visible to the fighter squadrons . Red Four and Red Six covered Poe while the rest of the squadron focused on firing on the target . As the squadrons soared through the trenches of the Base with the First Order TIE fighters and turbolasers trying to block the assault , Ello Asty ' s X - wing was shot down . Duel with the Knight . Kylo Ren vs FN - 2187 . Finn and Rey exited the base , but were followed by Ren , who caught up with them in the forest . Rey angrily called Ren a " monster " for murdering his own father and tried to shoot him with her blaster , but Ren knocked her out by Force push ing her into a tree . Finn , horrified , rushed over as Ren furiously accused him of treason . Failing to wake her , Finn brandished Anakin Skywalker ' s old lightsaber and attacked Ren . However , Ren easily overpowered the former stormtrooper , stabbing him in the shoulder with his lightsaber ' s crossguard blades and then slashing him across the back , incapacitating him . With the duel seemingly over , he reached out for Anakin Skywalker ' s lightsaber , which he rightfully believed to be his own , and tried to seize it with a Force pull . Kylo Ren vs Rey . All of a sudden , and without prior warning , Skywalker ' s weapon flew out from the snow , and not into Ren ' s hand , but into that of " Rey ' s " . Ren was initially taken aback , evincing a degree of surprise and stepped rearward as the saber flew past him . Rey used telekinesis to pull Skywalker ' s lightsaber into her hand and proceeded to attack the Knight with a brutal barrage of Form IV . Ren initially held the advantage , defending himself in a staunch Form V demonstration , drawing on his rage to ignore the pain . Ren became so impressed with Rey that he tried to tempt her , complimenting her strength in the Force and offering to complete her training if she would join him . This backfired , however , as it only served to reassure Rey of her own power : recalling Kanata ' s words on reaching the light within , she begins to draw on the Force to hone her attacks , and the tide of the duel shifted in her favor . Ultimately Rey overpowered Ren and dealt him a severe wound to his face . By this point Kylo had taken too many wounds to continue standing , but he still struggled in vain to rise again . Before Rey could move to finish him off , the planet ruptured between where they were standing and they were separated from finishing their fight . Final actions . Poe ordered his squadron to cover him as he entered the hole of the oscillator . A pursuing TIE fighter did not clear the gap , leaving Poe to circle in the interior of the unguarded structure , firing volley after volley of torpedoes into the oscillator , destroying it thirty second s before it finished draining the sun to charge the superweapon . This caused a chain reaction which destroyed the base and leveled the entire planet ' s terrain . Inside the main base , chaos reigned as General Hux departed the command center and First Order officers realized all hope was lost and evacuated . Hux , meanwhile , reported to Supreme Leader Snoke , who ordered him to rescue Ren and flee the Base , as he wished to complete Ren ' s training . Rey returned to Finn , despairing that he would not wake up and that they would be trapped on the rupturing planet to meet their doom . However , Chewbacca promptly arrived with the " Millennium Falcon " to rescue them . Captain Phasma was able to escape from the trash compactor , and soon made her way back to the computer terminal to erase its history , preventing anyone from knowing that it was her that lowered the shields . She soon discovered that Lieutenant Sol Rivas has accessed the terminal , and in doing so learned about Phasma ' s treason . Phasma , wanting to eliminate any loose ends , pursued Rivas to a TIE fighter facility , where he stole a TIE fighter . Phasma approached pilot TN - 3465 , who was unable to join the ongoing dogfight due to her droid , BB - K8 , performing a data update on her fighter . Phasma approached TN - 3465 and ordered her to follow Rivas in a two - seat TIE / sf space superiority fighter , eventually following Rivas to the nearby Luprora . The " Millennium Falcon " and the remainder of the Resistance fleet managed to escape Starkiller Base as it erupted into a star . With the mission complete , they entered hyperspace to return to D ' Qar . Aftermath . Following the battle , Organa sent a coded transmission to all Resistance squadrons stating that while the battle of Starkiller Base was won , the war raged on . Organa also told the squadrons to report in immediately and await further instructions . Around the same time , R2 - D2 rebooted and proceeded to merge his part of the galactic map with the piece found by BB - 8 . Chewbacca and Rey left for Skywalker ' s location on Ahch - To , while Finn was put into a medically induced coma to heal his injuries from Ren . After Phasma located Rivas , and she killed him along with TN - 3465 and BB - K8 to ensure no witnesses knew of what she did before returning to First Order space , where First Order vessels were regrouping . Surviving First Order defense force pilots , such as Poldin LeHuse , were re - integrated into the fleet . They expressed a desire for vengeance and to prove themselves after failing to save the superweapon . The Resistance victory was ultimately pyrrhic , as its members had to evacuate from D ' Qar as a result of the First Order knowing their location , and ultimately was pursued and largely decimated before ultimately escaping the First Order with the help of Skywalker . Behind the scenes . The first footage of the battle was shown in the first " The Force Awakens " teaser trailer on November 28 , 2014 .