| This article is a fanon expansion of a topic from the Expanded Universe. For the canon page entry, see here. |
The Empire that Senior Captain Thrawn is carving into the evil that pervades our worlds is not the Empire you chose to leave. His is an Empire of justice and dignity for all beings. His Empire is one we gladly serve. One we are willing to die for.
—Vaantaar
The Empire of the Hand also referred to as The Hand, was an autocratic confederation secretly established in the Unknown Regions by Grand Admiral Thrawn of the Galactic Empire.
In 18 BBY, Thrawn organized an expedition to explore the Unknown Regions while the Empire consolidated its rule over the known galaxy. Though the Hand was created as an extension of the Empire, its ideology was an amalgamation of Imperial ideals and Chiss principles, and it quickly split itself from it's corrupt mother country. As a result, non-Human aliens and women were permitted to enter military service. The main objective of the Hand was to defend the galaxy from various threats within the Unknown Regions, as well the extra-galactic invaders: The Yuuzhan Vong.
History
Formation
Thrawn was found by the Empire in 19 BBY and brought before the Emperor. He was sent to the Carida military academy for training in Imperial procedures. Ensign Eli Vanto was assigned to Thrawn as an aid and translator during this time. Before long, Thrawn sent Vanto back to the Chiss Ascendancy, to inform his supporters of his fate. Vanto joined the crew of the Steadfast, flagship of Thrawn’s longtime ally Admiral Ar’alani.
Senior Captain Thrawn was dispatched by Palpatine to bring the Unknown Regions under Imperial rule, given the Imperial-class Star Destroyer Admonitor for his mission, commanded by Captain Dagon Nirez and Commander Voss Parck. His forces also included the Star Destroyers Grey Wolf under Captain Karyn Faro, the Retribution under Captain Rel Bentin, the Inexorable under Captain and Iron Fist under Captain Ferob, as well as an assortment of cruisers and support ships.
Thrawn also reestablished contact with the Chiss. Many of Thrawn's own people flocked to his banner, because they had been battling an assortment of dark threats from the Unknown Regions, and looked to Thrawn as a new source of hope for the Chiss. However, the Empire of the Hand was viewed with distrust by the Ruling Families of the Chiss Ascendancy, who still considered Thrawn an outcast from Chiss society. But agreeing with Thrawn's vision, many Chiss aristocrats unofficially supported Thrawn's renegade actions. Thrawn’s Household Phalanx returned to him, and many of his supporters and allies followed suit.
In 10 BBY, Thrawn built a vast information complex on Nirauan, the Hand of Thrawn, and made it his base of operations. By this time he had formally separated his holdings from the Empire, though he did not inform Palpatine of this, of course. He began to promote his subordinates on his own, rather than waiting for Palpatine to do so. Karyn Faro was promoted to Commodore and given command of Task Force Grey Wolf, while Dagon Nirez was made a Senior Captain and given command of the Star Destroyer Sirond. Voss Parck was promoted to Captain of the Admonitor.
At some point, Captain Faro was promoted to Commodore and given command of Task Force Grey Wolf. Captain Dagon Niriz promoted to Senior Captain and given command of the Star Destroyer Sirond. Commander Parck became Captain of the Admonitor.
Peace-keeper of the Unknown Regions
The Hand fought in many conflicts with Unknown Regions warlords, Nuso Esva’s Empire being one of their long term enemies. The war with Esva lasted for over twenty years, starting before 0 ABY and lasted until 8 ABY.
In 1 ABY, Captain Krennel and the ISD Reckoning were transferred to Thrawn.
An Imperial-class Star Destroyer.
In 0 ABY, the Battle of the Poln System was a major Hand victory over Esva. This battle occurred within the Galactic Empire’s territory..
In 1.5 ABY, Thrawn was unofficially to Grand Admiral by the Emperor. Thrawn returned to the Empire several times over the next few years, but spent most of his time in the Unknown Regions.
In 4 ABY, Admiral Krennel was sent back to the Empire for punishment after disobeying Thrawn’s orders and causing major civilian casualties. He was not in fact punished at all, as the Emperor died immediately after. Just a few days later, the VSD Iron Fist graduated from the Filter, after her Captain Ferob was executed.
In 8 ABY, a battle took place on the planet Quethold between the Empire of the Hand and the combined forces of the alien warlord Nuso Esva and the Quesoth species. Before the battle, a blockade had been in place over the planet, which was made up of ships from Battlegroup Admonitor.
Under Admiral Parck
When Thrawn returned to Imperial space in 8 ABY, he promoted Voss Parck to Admiral and placed him in command of the Hand’s forces.
During the Caamas Document Crisis in 19 ABY, the Empire of the Hand was discovered by Luke Skywalker and Mara Jade when they were searching for the source of the clones and mysterious starfighters that had suddenly appeared. They found the Hand of Thrawn and met Admiral Parck, General Fel and Phalanx Commander Stent, still waiting for Grand Admiral Thrawn's return. Luke and Mara informed them of Thrawn's death. The Jedi refused to join them but accepted to not reveal the existence of this shadow empire. They found an almost mature clone of Thrawn and a map of the Empire of the Hand. They decided that the clone had done nothing wrong yet so they wouldn't kill him, but when two defense droids attacked them, they involuntarily destroy the clone to escape. Before they did, R2-D2 managed to download an unaltered copy of the Caamas Document.
Parck established contact with Fleet Admiral Gilad Pellaeon, commander of the Imperial Remnant, who was also a follower of Thrawn. Parck knew that Thrawn had respected Pellaeon, so he felt that Pellaeon deserved to know of the Hand's existence.
In 22 ABY, the Empire of the Hand was involved in a local conflict on the planet Kariek. Stormtroopers of the 501st Legion were dispatched to overthrow a warlord who had invaded and conquered Kariek, where he established a tyrannical regime.
In the same year, the Empire assisted the Chiss Ascendancy and the New Republic against a third Vagaari invasion. The Vagaari were defeated in the Chiss Redoubt by the Chiss, the Jedi and the Hand. In the aftermath of the battle, many of the surviving colonists from Outbound Flight chose to join the Empire of the Hand.
The Yuuzhan Vong War
The Yuuzhan Vong.
In 25 ABY, the Yuuzhan Vong invasion began. The Hand received thousands of Yuuzhan Vong forces, loosing much territory fast.
A few weeks after this, the Empire of the Hand intercepted a transmission from Supreme Commander Gilad Pellaeon recalling all forces to active duty in order to aid the New Republic against the Yuuzhan Vong invasion of the galaxy. Soontir Fel sent Force Spike of the Household Phalanx to aid Pellaeon's forces. He wished to send more, but he had to oversee his own war with the Vong, as well as attacks from the Killiks. Pellaeon eagerly accepted the Chiss group's aid. They accompanied his task force to Garqi, where they unexpectedly intervened to protect the extraction of Jedi Corran Horn and Jacen Solo from the Yuuzhan Vong-occupied world. Fel opened contact with Rogue Squadron and told them that the Chiss would take care of the enemy coralskippers. His force quickly eliminated the fighters, impressing the Rogues with their precise flying; for his part, Fel took satisfaction in saving the elite pilots of Rogue Squadron.
Horn's expedition had discovered that Yuuzhan Vong armor was allergic to the pollen of the Bafforr tree. Knowing this could be a key to winning the war, Pellaeon's forces, as well as those of Traest Kre'fey, the New Republic admiral whose forces they had aided, went to Ithor to protect the Bafforr homeworld. They prepared a joint defense, and Fel flew many simulator missions against Imperial and New Republic pilots in order to prepare for battle and get a feel for those he would fly alongside. Fel systematically worked his way down the ranks of top pilots, starting with the best, scoring kills against each. He was only killed twice in simulation, once each by retired New Republic legends Wedge Antilles and Tycho Celchu. He developed a respect for the other pilots, who hardly made it easy for him, but kept to himself among the rest of the Chiss contingent.
The Victory-class Star Destroyer Iron Fist during the Yuuzahn Vong War.
Fel encountered Jania Solo was there, and he engaged her in conversation. Sixteen years old, she was surprised by his maturity and grim nature at only eighteen years of age. Fel was surprised himself by her adolescent nature, a stage of his life quickly skipped amid Chiss culture. The two chatted, with Solo developing a slight attraction to him, and discussed maturity and Chiss culture.
When Shai's attack on Ithor came, Fel led his clawcraft against the invaders. The Yuuzhan Vong made landfall, but Horn was able to challenge Shai to a duel in which he staked the bones of Shai's ancestors, possession of which he had gained, against Ithor's freedom, with a one-week truce in advance of the duel so that more refugees could be evacuated. The attack was called off, and one week later the two battled on the surface of Ithor. Shai was killed, but his lieutenant, Deign Lian, did not abide by the agreement and instead unleashed a plague which wiped Ithor bare of life. It was a massive loss for the New Republic, and caused the Imperial Remnant to recall its forces to provide defense.
The Hand’s forces were too few at this point to defeat the Vong, and the Hand lost well over half of it's territory. Before the war broke out, they were stronger than they had ever been before. Now, they were in a very bad place, with nearly a third of their fleet destroyed.
Jag Fel decided to send one of his squadrons back with Pellaeon to report to his father, but kept the other two in Republic space to fight alongside the Rogues and learn more about the enemy. Imperial forces requested Fel's aid in liaising with the Chiss, but he preferred to remain in New Republic space and fight. Fel continued to fight with the Rogues for much of the next year, growing closer to Solo, with clawcraft present as late as the Battle of Kalarba, in which Solo was wounded and put on medical leave. By 27 ABY, however, Fel returned to the Unknown Regions, recalled when General Baron Fel decided his squadrons were not making a significant impact, and would be better used guarding the Hand's remaining territory.
Admonitor continued to serve a the Hand's Flagship through the Vong War.
Disappearance
By this time, many of the Chiss aristocrats who still held grudges against Thrawn had retired, and younger Chiss’ attitude was very different. The Chiss Ascendancy now recognized the Hand, and diplomacy slowly opened. Thought the Chiss did not posses the unfair bias against the Hand anymore, that did not mean that they were immediately on good terms with the Hand. Soontir Fel was appointed as one of many liaisons to the Ascendancy and settled on the Chiss home-planet Csilla.
The Jedi initially believed that the Killiks destroyed the Hand, however, remarks made by Aristocra Chaf'orm'bintrano shortly before the Swarm War assured the Jedi that this was not the case, and suggested that the Empire of the Hand was simply disbanded.
Return to the Galactic scene
In 44 ABY, Natasi Daala, the deposed Chief of State of the Galactic Alliance and admiral of the Maw Irregular Fleet developed a plot to seize control of the Remnant. With his position threatened by Daala's ambition to become Empress, Chief of State Jagged Fel mobilized a fleet of loyal supporters and moved to destroy Daala and her subversives with a preemptive strike at Exodo II. At the same time, he requested aid from the Empire of the Hand, which dispatched a vanguard of its forces to aid the Remnant. After converging on Daala's position, a battle commenced to determine the future of the Imperial Remnant.
Government and Politics
Non-Imperial Philosophy
The Empire of the Hand was a faction that Grand Admiral Thrawn founded in the Unknown Regions by combining Chiss and Imperial ideologies and weaponry into a new military and political force. Thrawn's empire was intended to establish the order and efficiency of Emperor Palpatine's New Order, but without the Emperor's megalomania, the Tarkin Doctrine, and the institutionalized xenophobia. It was meant to be a fair place for all beings to live.
The Hand recruited Aliens as Stormtroopers.
The Empire of the Hand drew its name from the Hand of Thrawn, the Grand Admiral's main fortress based on Nirauan. The Hand also grew to symbolize unity – the hundreds of member states working as one.
Though largely based on the authoritarian structure of the Galactic Empire, the government of the Empire of the Hand operated more like a confederation than a true empire. The Hand worked to form alliances with the native governments within the Unknown Regions as opposed to conquering them through brute force. Also unlike the Empire, the Hand accepted the alien races that lived in the Unknown Regions of space into the ranks of their military. They also accepted women into their ranks, and there were many women that made it to high positions within the Hand, including at least two Admirals. The connection between the Galactic Empire and the Empire of the Hand was kept mainly for historical aspects.
The Empire of the Hand's military ethics were based on Thrawn's vision. It was an original combination of Chiss and Imperial tactics personally arranged by the Grand Admiral, such as respect of the enemies, careful consideration of soldiers' lives, surgical strikes, demonstrative invasions, preventive strikes and the significant use of intelligence gathering.
Many of its political and social values gradually infiltrated the Imperial Remnant, thanks in part to the leadership of Gilad Pellaeon, a former follower of Thrawn. The recruitment of aliens and female Humans into the Imperial Military's ranks, as well as the decrease in xenophobic behavior, improved the Remnant.
Foreign relations
Chiss Ascendancy
For many decades, the Ascendancy refused to even acknowledge the Hand's existence as a sovereign state. Most Chiss leaders still harbored grudges against Thrawn, and extended that to all of his followers. Many Chiss did support him, and joined the Hand, some openly, some quietly. However, by the time of the Zuuzhan Vong War, the Chiss had begun to conduct dipl with the Hand.
Galactic Empire
Though the Hand was formed from the Empire, most people within the Hand disrespected and resented the Empire. They viewed it as corrupt and oppressive.
Yuuzhan Vong Empire
The Hand was mainly founded to turn away the Vong invasion, and they had no diplomatic relations whatsoever. The two factions had nothing but hostile encounters.
Grysk Hegemony
The Hand was formed in part to deal with the Grysks. They were at war continuously from their founding until 5 ABY, when the Grysks were defeated.
Nuso Esva's Empire
The Hand first tried to establish an alliance with Esva, but Esva refused, declaring war. The war lasted over ten years. Esva was defeated and killed.
Ssi-ruuk Imperium
The Hand declared war on the Imperium when they attacked the Chiss Ascendancy around 2 ABY. They were at war with the Imperium until 5 ABY.
Imperial splinter factions and warlords
The Hand had no contact with Warlords such as Zsinj, Teradoc, Delvardus or Harrsk. The Hand disapproved of the idea of warlordism.
New Republic
The Hand had no contact with the NR until 19 ABY, and then it was limited. Though there were never any hostilities, they never opened diplomacy until the Vong war. Many in the Hand believed that the New Republic's governemnt structure was unstable.
Imperial Remnant
They had no contact until 19 ABY, when Admiral Parck met with Fleet Admiral Pelleaon. Pelleaon supported the Hand, and expressed an interest in having the Remnant join the Hand.
Other Unknown Regions states
The Hand had no tolerance for corruption in government. They would engage any faction they found to be corrupt. These were usually large invasive governments. Small states generally were absorbed, the populations joining the Hand voluntarily.
Military
Rank System
The Hand used a system similar to that of the Empire, though there were several changes. Admirals and Generals were the highest positions within the Hand. Other ranking positions included Commodore, Phalanx Commander, Force Commander and Senior Captains.
The Hand had at least four Imperial I-class Star Destroyer, many dozens of Dorbanda-class Star Destroyers, Venator-class Star Destroyers, severalVictory I-class Star Destroyers, Dreadnought-class Heavy Cruisers, Immobilizer 418 cruisers, Firekilns, Strike-class medium cruisers, Carrack-class light cruisers. TIE Defenders, TIE Interceptors, Nssis-class Clawcraft, and AirStraekers were their primary Starfighters.
Aurek-Seven, a unit of the 501st Legion.
Stormtrooper Corps
The Hand used stormtroopers as an Elite ground force. They were organized into Legions, though they were much smaller than the normal Legions - only 2,000 fighting troops. The Empire's Legions were closer to 10,000 troops. The Stormtrooper Corps was a sub-branch of the Army, which was under the athority of the Military Council, along with the Navy. The highest stormtrooper rank was a Commander, who was the chief trooper of a Legion, with a Colonel commanding the whole group.
Astrography
Thrawn explored the Unknown Regions more than anyone else before him. During his expedition, Thrawn established laboratories, military installations, intel centers, listening posts, garrison bases, and shipyards. By 19 ABY, the Empire of the Hand stretched across the equivalent of 250 sectors, as opposed to the Imperial Remnant's 8 sectors. In 22 ABY, the Wild Space system Kariek joined the Empire of the Hand, meaning that the Hand was not exclusive to the Unknown Regions. They also extended into at least one satellite galaxy by 36 ABY.
Known Planets
- Nirauan, the location of the Hand of Thrawn, the Hand’s military Headquarters.
- Troukree, the home of the Troukree people.
- Oristrom, the homeworld of the Stromma.
- Rihgar, a Chiss planet in the Rata Nebula, this was a secret location for the Hand, holding the Syndic Mitth'raw'nuruodo Training Academy.
- Csalick, a colony where many Chiss settled.
- Daaris II, a major shipyard.
- Serich, another major shipyard.
Behind the scenes
The Empire of the Hand in legends had many timeline errors and discrepancies surrounding it. I have done my best to explain and iron out many of these, though some I have no explanation for, such as Thrawn not being a Nuruodo despite his name.
Appearances
- The Kavvitz War
- Choices of One
- Command Decision
- Liberation of Oristrom
- X-wing: Wedge's Gamble (Indirect mention only)
- Crisis of Faith
- Specter of the Past (First appearance)
- Vision of the Future
- Fool's Bargain
- Survivor's Quest (First identified as Empire of the Hand)
- Red Sky, Blue Flame
- The New Jedi Order: Dark Tide II: Ruin
- The New Jedi Order: Balance Point