Mitth'raw'nuruodo, better known by his core name Thrawn(pronounced /Thräwn/), and misinterpreted as Mitthrawdo by Vicelord Siv Kav, was a male Chiss who served in the naval forces of the Galactic Empire and became the only alien Grand Admiral. Regarded by many as the best military strategist in the navy, he rose to a position of power despite the Empire's strict speciesist policies.
Thrawn hailed from Csilla, and began his career as an officer in the Defense Force of the Chiss Ascendancy in the Unknown Regions, where he demonstrated his ruthless commitment to eradicating threats to the Ascendancy. These early threats included an advance force of scouts of the extra-galacticYuuzhan Vong species, though at that point the Chiss knew them only as the "Far Outsiders". However, many of Thrawn's ways were contrary to that of Chiss society, which rejected offensive and preventive strikes. In 27 BBY, he first met the Sith Lord Darth Sidious, who held a secret double identity as Supreme Chancellor Palpatine of the Galactic Republic, after having destroyed part of Sidious's private task force. However, they both agreed with the threat posed by the Unknown Regions, most notably by the Far Outsiders. The two sealed their informal agreement when Thrawn destroyed the Republicexploration ship Outbound Flight lest it draw the Far Outsiders toward the Republic, killing many members of the Jedi Order in the process.
Thrawn's continued preventive strikes led the Chiss to exile him on an uninhabited world far in the fringes of the Chiss Ascendancy. In 19 BBY, soon after Palpatine reformed the Republic into the Galactic Empire, Imperial Navy officer Voss Parck encountered Thrawn in the Unknown Regions and brought him to Emperor Palpatine. Already aware of Thrawn's command skills, Palpatine approved his admission to the Imperial Navy. Over time, Thrawn climbed the Imperial ladder, believing that he could better defend against the the threat of the oncoming Yuuzhan Vong as an Imperial officer than if he returned to the Chiss, and circa 2 ABY became the thirteenth Grand Admiral in the Imperial Navy. The Chiss officer fought both the Rebel Alliance and rogue Imperial officers. Simultaneously, he explored the Unknown Regions and established a secret empire of his own, believing that only a strong military government could protect the galaxy's diverse species from annihilating each other, and to serve as a bulwark against the Yuuzhan Vong. In the Empire of the Hand, he commnaded several wars, including the Nuso Esva-Empire of the Hand war, the Grysk war.
The Grand Admiral remained in the Unknown Regions around the time of the Battle of Endor, which saw the death of Palpatine and the subsequent breakdown of the Empire under rival warlords. He did stay in contact with Imperial leader Ysanne Isard, but she did not know the full extent of the Hand. She thought that it was simply Imperials conquering the Unknown Regions. They exchanged ships personnel, but the only in The Filter, though Thrawn brought many into the Hand proper.
Biography[]
Chiss Ascendancy[]
Early Life[]
Mitth'raw'nuruodo was born on the planet Csilla circa 50 BBY. His species, the Chiss, controlled an area of space in the part of the galaxy known to those in the Republic as the Unknown Regions. He and his older brother, Mitth'ras'safis, were born as commoners but, after joining the Chiss Expansionary Defense Force, Mitth'raw'nuruodo was taken as a merit adoptive in the Eighth Ruling Family of Chiss society. Mitth'ras'safis also joined the Eight Ruling Family, eventually becoming a Syndic within the family.
Though the practice of military officers becoming merit adoptives in the Ruling Families, and taking on the colors of their adoptive family, was common, they usually ceased belonging to the family upon leaving the military. Mitth'raw'nuruodo, however, soon reached the rank of Force Commander—the youngest Chiss ever to achieve the rank—and impressed the Eighth Ruling Family enough during his early career to be considered a trial-born, becoming a permanent member of the family. His work with the Expansionary Defense Force gave him the opportunity to learn to speak several languages used throughout the Unknown Regions, including the trade languages Sy Bisti and Minnisiat, in addition to his native Cheunh.
First Contact[]
The Visitors[]
By 27 BBY, Mitth'raw'nuruodo was the commanding officer of Picket Force Two, a small border patrol fleet based out of an asteroid in the Crustai system on the Chiss Ascendancy's frontier. He was tasked with overseeing the surveying of the system and anticipated that the second planet would be home to a Chiss colony within a few years. While out on patrol, his picket force came across a skirmish between two unknown ships. Deciding to intervene, Mitth'raw'nuruodo ordered his forces to fire Conner nets at both ships to disable them. While the first, a Corellian light freighter called the Bargain Hunter, was disabled easily, its pursuer, a vessel under the command of Progga the Hutt, opened fire on the Chiss vessels. Within six minutes the Hutt vessel was destroyed and Mitth'raw'nuruodo had his starfighters escort the Corellian ship to his flagship, the Springhawk, while his forces began examining the wreckage.
After landing on the Springhawk, the crew of the Bargain Hunter, the Humans Captain Dubrak Qennto, Maris Ferasi and Jorj Car'das, were taken to Mitth'raw'nuruodo. With no previous recorded contact between the Chiss and Humans, neither group could understand the other's native language, but soon discovered a common ability to speak Sy Bisti—switching to the trade language, Mitth'raw'nuruodo began questioning the Humans as to their purpose in that region. The group explained that they were traders from Corellia, who were delivering a cargo of luxury clothing when they were pursued into the Unknown Regions by pirates, and thanked Mitth'raw'nuruodo for rescuing them. However, the commander explained that, before he could release them, he needed to examine their ship and confirm that they were telling the truth and not scouts for a potential threat to the Chiss. Until he was satisfied, he was taking them back to Crustai. He then dismissed the group, having them escorted to guest quarters for the duration of the journey back to his base.
During their initial meeting, Mitth'raw'nuruodo was intrigued by Car'das. The young Corellian spent his time looking around him, curious about his surroundings—a trait that Mitth'raw'nuruodo prized in others. When analysis of the Bargain Hunter suggested it was too small to cover the running costs by simply delivering cargo and too poorly armed to be a pirate vessel, Mitth'raw'nuruodo concluded that the Humans were smugglers. His suspicions were confirmed by the firegems hidden in their shipment of clothing but the commander decided to question Car'das on their true mission to determine whether he could trust the group. He summoned Car'das alone to meet with him and questioned him further. After Car'das admitted that they were smuggling the gems to avoid the customs fees associated with them, Mitth'raw'nuruodo explained that he was curious about the Humans and wanted their company for a while to learn more of their language and culture. In exchange for teaching him Galactic Basic Standard, Mitth'raw'nuruodo would satisfy Car'das's own curiosity by teaching him Cheunh. Since he had noticed that the Humans struggled to pronounce his name, he would also teach them the easier Minnisiat and suggested that they call him by his core name, Thrawn. As a prolonged stay at Crustai would delay delivery of their cargo, Thrawn also agreed to give them some valuables to offset any lateness penalties.
The Vaagari[]
The Springhawk arrived back at Crustai base three days later, but as it was preparing to dock, the ship received a warning from a sentry vessel about a small group of Vagaari starships not far from the Chiss base. The Vagaari were pirates and slavers who had been moving through the region for ten years, raiding the weaker species they encountered. Since they'd never moved against the Chiss, Thrawn had not previously had any reason to engage them. With the Vagaari so close to Crustai, however, Thrawn ordered a micro-jump, taking the Springhawk into hyperspace and emerging near the intruders; two starfighters escorting a larger Vagaari vessel whose hyperdrive had already been disabled by the Chiss sentry. The Vagaari vessel turned to run, while its fighter escort moved against the Springhawk. When the fighters were quickly destroyed, the Vagaari opened fire on their Chiss pursuers. Their attacks followed a consistent pattern, which Thrawn was easily able to counteract, and the commander concluded that they were undermanned and not prepared for a fight—he decided that he would personally lead a boarding party to the Vagaari ship. Guided through the enemy ship by the Springhawk's sensors, Thrawn's boarding party secured the vessel within half an hour and he ordered the ship taken back to his base for study.
Thrawn returned to Crustai base during a routine survey by Aristocra Chaf'orm'bintrano of the Chiss's Fifth Ruling Family. Thrawn went to greet the Aristocra, taking the Humans with him, but having them escorted to guest quarters when the other Chiss showed no interest in talking to the aliens. Chaf'orm'bintrano was uneasy with the presence of the Humans, who he considered a potential threat, and also expressed his displeasure with Thrawn's attack on the Vagaari ship. The Chiss believed that preemptive strikes were immoral and that the Vagaari should be left alone until they actually moved against the Chiss. Thrawn, however, was unwilling to sit idly by while the Vagaari preyed on others. Emphasizing his point, he informed the Aristocra of the treasure his troops had found on the Vagaari vessel, items looted from worlds throughout the region. This was not enough to sway the other Chiss and Chaf'orm'bintrano left, still displeased with Thrawn's actions.
Thrawn later returned to the Vagaari ship, taking the Humans with him. He was curious whether they might recognize any of the artifacts aboard as coming from Republic space and wanted Qennto to pick some items for them to take as compensation for the delay, in turn establishing which artifacts were valuable. The group quickly identified some Frunchettan-sai art from the Outer Rim Territories, along with some Pashv art from Wild Space, and were impressed when Thrawn was able to describe both species, simply by observing their artwork. Thrawn continued to learn more of the Republic from the Humans, including knowledge of droids and the Jedi, both concepts previously unheard of by the Chiss. In language lessons with both Car'das and Ferasi, Thrawn quickly took to Basic and, in turn, was impressed by the pair's progress with Minnisiat and Cheunh.
In time, Crustai received more visitors—Admiral Ar'alani of the Defense Hierarchy arrived to take possession of the captured Vagaari vessel, bringing Syndic Mitth'ras'safis along as a favor to the Eight Ruling Family. Thrawn went to meet the admiral and his brother as they arrived, taking Car'das and Ferasi with him. Ar'alani was uncomfortable with the Humans in Crustai base, but Thrawn assured her that they were kept under constant surveillance and that he was learning much about them. He was soon given a report of a Vagaari attack in progress and needed to distract Ar'alani while he investigated. He took the visitors on a tour of the captured Vagaari ship, eventually reaching the treasure room where Qennto was working. Ar'alani was suspicious of Qennto and insisted that she and Mitth'ras'safis take their own inventory of the treasure, providing Thrawn with the distraction he needed. He made his excuses and departed with the Humans, though he expected to be disciplined upon his return.
Thrawn's intention was simply to observe the Vagaari and to only attack if he deemed them a sufficient threat to the Chiss. He therefore took Car'das and Ferasi along as independent witnesses. The Springhawkemerged from hyperspace in a safe area outside the battlezone. They soon observed around 200 ships of varying size involved in the battle, with a further 100 Vagaari vessels waiting on the other side of the nearby planet. Thrawn realized that the waiting ships were civilian, indicating that the Vagaari were a nomadic species and not simple pirates—unless they were all destroyed at once, they would simply escape into hyperspace and regroup. As he continued to observe the battle, Thrawn realized that the Vagaari were using a number of gravity well projectors to prevent their victims escaping and decided to capture one of the vessels. He ordered his starfighters to jump to hyperspace on a course that took them through the target's gravity well, bringing them back to normal space near their objective. The Chiss fighters cleared the immediate area of any enemy vessels before Thrawn took the Springhawk to join them. An assault team was sent to the projector to neutralize the crew, before Thrawn charged an engineering team with finding a way to secure it for transport.
While the engineers worked, Thrawn's forces moved to engage the approaching Vagaari defenders. A close look at the Vagaari warships revealed bubbles located around the hull—'living shields'—each containing a prisoner to discourage their enemies from attacking the ship. Knowing that the prisoners were already effectively dead, Thrawn ordered his forces to continue their attack but vowed to find a way to stop the Vagaari before more sentients could suffer the same fate. During the battle, the Springhawk's bridgewas struck by Vagaari fire, causing a hull breach. Though the crew were already wearing enviro-suits, Thrawn's sustained a tear and the commander was knocked unconscious in the explosion. Ferasi attempted unsuccessfully to patch the hole, before lying across him to prevent the air escaping. Chiss medics soon arrived and patched the suit, before taking Thrawn to the medical bay as the Springhawk fled to hyperspace. The Chiss engineers had succeeded in capturing the gravity well projector, which was later installed in the cruiser Whirlwind. Thrawn spent two hours undergoing medical treatment before he summoned the Humans to see him and thanked them for their efforts. He also told the pair that he hoped the Vagaari would be angry enough to attack the Chiss in retribution, giving his people the excuse to eliminate the Vagaari threat.
The Springhawk returned to Crustai to find that Ar'alani had confiscated the treasure and taken Qennto into custody before leaving. Thrawn released Qennto but informed the Humans that he would be unable to release the treasure until Ar'alani returned to present her case against him. While he spoke to the Humans, Thrawn was visited by his brother, who had remained at Crustai. With four dead in the recent engagement, Mitth'ras'safis had no choice but to report the incident to the Ruling Families. He would try to portray it as a reconnaissance mission to protect his brother, but warned that the Eighth Ruling Family would disown the commander before they let him damage their reputation. Thrawn, however, was unwilling to turn his back while others suffered, though he would do everything he could to prevent his brother from sharing his fate.
Special Task Force One[]
Several days later, Thrawn's scouts reported a fleet of unknown vessels nearby and the commander took a group of twelve Chiss ships to investigate. Since the ships were unfamiliar to the Chiss, he also took Car'das in the hopes that the Human could identify them. Upon seeing the unknown fleet, Thrawn noticed hull markings similar to those on the Bargain Hunter, and Car'das confirmed that the ships belonged to the Trade Federation, but was unable to shed any light on their presence. Thrawn hailed the Trade Federation fleet in Basic, hoping to gauge their reactions—there was no response and Thrawn repeated his message for ten minutes before he was contacted by the task force's commander, who introduced himself as Commander Stratis. Stratis assured Thrawn that his forces meant the Chiss no harm, but was unwilling to reveal the nature of their mission. While the two commanders talked, the Trade Federation's Lucrehulk-class battleship Keeper launched droid starfighters to engage the Chiss. Car'das informed Thrawn that the incoming ships were remotely controlled, so Thrawn had his communications officer locate their control frequency before pulling his ships back to just outside the signal's maximum range. While the Whirlwindstayed at a safe distance, using its gravity well projector to keep the enemy from escaping, Thrawn sent a single starfighter to probe the enemy lines, observing the control signals sent to the enemy starfighters as they responded. After spotting a pattern, he was able to replicate the signal, drawing many droid fighters away from the Trade Federation fleet and moving the Springhawk into the resulting gap in the enemy formation.
As more droid fighters moved to attack, Thrawn had his fighters launch a single missile each, followed by a Conner net. The droids reacted to the incoming missiles, shooting them down only to be disabled by the shock nets. Vicelord Siv Kav, overseeing the battle from the Lucrehulk-class battleship Darkvengeresponded by launching yet more fighters, only for Thrawn to initiate full spectrum jamming to disrupt the control signal. Thrawn's forces were able to cut through the fighters and the thirteen smaller capital ships of the fleet and soon only the Darkvenge and the Keeper remained. When the signal disruption to the droid starfighters still in the Keeper's hangar caused them to auto destruct, destroying the vessel, Dorianna ordered Kav to power down the Darkvenge and surrendered to Thrawn. Despite being outnumbered and outgunned, Thrawn's fleet had emerged victorious without any casualties.
Thrawn boarded the captured Darkvenge, escorted by Car'das and two of his soldiers, and was met by Kav and Stratis on the bridge. Kav threatened the Chiss commander with a pair of droidekas but Thrawn responded calmly, thanking him for the demonstration and ordering him to send the droids away. After Kav reluctantly obeyed, Stratis explained that they were waiting to destroy Outbound Flight, six Dreadnaught-class heavy cruisers mounted around a central fuselage, which were carrying, among others, a group of Jedi Masters on a mission to explore beyond the edge of the galaxy. He claimed that the Jedi were troublemakers who not only posed a threat to the Republic, but would also attempt to impose their will on the Chiss. Thrawn listened to Stratis's claims, aware that the Human was hoping to persuade him to destroy Outbound Flight for them, then returned to his ship.[5]
Leaving the Keeper to guard the Darkvenge, Thrawn took the Springhawk back to Crustai to meet the returning Admiral Ar'alani. The admiral had recently led Chiss forces to victory in battles at Vun'Hanna and the Twilight Void against a small alien force at the edge of Chiss space. Unknown to the Chiss, this was in fact an advance reconnaissance force of the extra-galactic Yuuzhan Vong species.[12] Despite outnumbering the invaders, the battle had been extremely costly for the Chiss, and Ar'alani had come to investigate whether the Trade Federation forces belonged to the same group. Though it was soon clear that the groups were unconnected, the admiral was concerned about the prospect of fighting wars on multiple fronts and agreed to look the other way while Thrawn quickly eliminated the Vagaari threat. She dispatched him on a security sweep of nearby systems while she conducted an apparent investigation into his latest act of aggression. Thrawn took the Springhawk to rendezvous with the Darkvenge two days after its capture. He had devised a plan to use the Trade Federation forces against the Vagaari and to deal with Outbound Flight at the same time, but would only implement it if Stratis told him the full story of their mission.
With little alternative, Stratis told Thrawn that he was really Kinman Doriana, an adviser to Palpatine, who was both Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic and secretly the Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Sidious. He claimed that Sidious had information that a group known only as the "Far Outsiders" were massing an invasion force at the edge of the galaxy and was trying to strengthen the Republic against the threat. If Outbound Flight were intercepted by the Far Outsiders, it could lead them back to the Republic, so Sidious had reached the conclusion that Outbound Flight must be destroyed. To confirm his story, he contacted Darth Sidious by hologram, explaining the situation and introducing Thrawn to the Sith Lord. Sidious was impressed by Thrawn's destruction of his task force and told Doriana to provide Thrawn with their reports on the Far-Outsiders and the technical date on Outbound Flight. He also warned Thrawn to be aware of the Jedi's ability to use the Force against him, though he informed the commander that a high loss of life would dull their senses. Thrawn, realizing that the Far Outsiders were the same force that Ar'alani had encountered and aware of the damage their biotechnology weapons could do, agreed to review the data and to stop Outbound Flight. He immediately put his plan into motion, ordering the Darkvenge's crew to begin unloading their droid starfighters to a nearby asteroid and to assist his forces in reprogramming them for close-approach attacks. Twenty of the starfighters were linked into pairs with a spare fuel tank between them, in which explosives were placed. With the preparations under way, Thrawn departed, taking two droidekas, and four battle droids with him.
Around this time, Thrawn approached Car'das to assist in his plan. Thrawn told Car'das to steal the shuttle holding the battle droids and to contact the Vagaari to offer them a deal—the battle droids and Thrawn's location, in exchange for their freedom and some treasure to take back to the Republic. When the Vagaari came after Thrawn, he would be provided with the justification to destroy them. To ensure that Car'das's actions looked like those of a desperate man, Thrawn publicly accused him of being a traitor, leading Ar'alani to confine him to quarters. After Car'das set out on his mission, Thrawn took his forces to a point intersecting Outbound Flight's course and the course the Vagaari would take between their last known location and Thrawn's base. There, he had the Whirlwind activate its gravity well projector and waited.
Outbound Flight[]
Outbound Flight eventually arrived, later than expected. Kav, present with Doriana on the bridge of the Springhawk, was eager to attack but Thrawn still hoped to resolve the situation peacefully. He hailed Outbound Flight every five minutes for half an hour, finally getting a response from Jedi Master Jorus C'baoth, the leader of the expedition, who agreed to let Thrawn board his ship to talk. Aboard Outbound Flight, Thrawn was met by C'baoth and his former Padawan Lorana Jinzler. Thrawn was forthcoming, informing the pair about Darth Sidious and the Far-Outsiders. When C'baoth refused to either turn back to the Republic or adjust his course to bypass Chiss space, Thrawn gave him one hour to reconsider, or he would be forced to destroy Outbound Flight. Thrawn was escorted back to his shuttle by Jinzler. When several of Outbound Flight's colonists attempted to approach the commander, to voice their concerns about C'baoth's leadership, C'baoth used the Force to prevent them talking to him, and Thrawn left unaware of the internal conflict aboard the ship.
While Thrawn waited for C'baoth's final decision, a Vagaari fleet of over 200 ships was pulled out of hyperspace by the Whirlwind. As Thrawn had hoped, the Vagaari decided to capture Outbound Flight on Car'das's assurance that it was carrying thousands of droids. The Jedi aboard Outbound Flight moved to defend themselves against the new threat, using the Force to numb the minds of their enemies while they moved close enough to shoot without hitting the slave bubbles. The distraction provided Thrawn with the opportunity he needed. He ordered the launch of the droid starfighters, their modified programming making them attack from close range to avoid killing the slaves. At the same time, he activated the battle droids Car'das had presented to the Vagaari and the droids began to kill the Vagaari leaders from within their flagship.
The Vagaari were quickly decimated and the Jedi, taken unawares by the sudden loss of life they sensed, became disoriented. Thrawn moved his forces towards Outbound Flight and initiated a surgical strike at their weapons and shield generators. Once the vessel was defenseless, Thrawn withdrew and offered them one more chance to withdraw. He was soon contacted by C'baoth, but the Jedi Master refused to surrender and, instead, used the Force to choke him. The Springhawk's bridge crew rushed to their commander's side but were unable to halt the unseen attack. Doriana, however, acted quickly, using Thrawn's control board to redirect the droid starfighters to attack Outbound Flight. The droids followed Thrawn's programmed battle plan, striking at specific points to open the ship's hull. Those which had been modified to work in pairs then flew into the hull breaches and detonated the contents of their extra fuel tanks, unleashing a wave of radiation that killed all those aboard the six outer Dreadnaughts. With C'baoth dead, his grip on Thrawn was released.
However, Thrawn was not happy with the outcome of the battle. Not only had he hoped to spare Outbound Flight, but the droid starfighters had been intended for use against the Vagaari and their reassignment had allowed the surviving Vagaari to flee beyond the gravity well and into hyperspace, allowing them to regroup and eventually return to once more threaten the Chiss fifty years later. Nevertheless, he accompanied his forces as they began boarding the damaged Vagaari vessels to free the slaves, retrieving Car'das in the process. Ar'alani and Mitth'ras'safis soon arrived with more ships to take the freed slaves to their homeworlds, and the new arrivals joined Thrawn during an inspection of Outbound Flight. Thrawn's brother was annoyed at being manipulated, but agreed that the galaxy was better off without the Vagaari. However, he warned that Chaf'orm'bintrano was on his way with vessels of the Fifth Ruling Family and may see things differently. Thrawn suspected that the Fifth Family were attempting to take control of the remains of the Vagaari fleet and was concerned that they may also seize Outbound Flight. Though any such claim to the ship would be contested, the Fifth Ruling Family would be able to learn from its technology and threaten the delicate balance of power between the Ruling Families. To prevent this, he and Ar'alani decided to take the ship to a military base and declare it Defense Fleet property.
Before they could act, however, a Fifth Family fleet arrived and Chaf'orm'bintrano ordered Thrawn to report to him on the Chaf Exalted. When Thrawn didn't respond, the Aristocra ordered Ar'alani to place him in custody. Though Ar'alani had to obey, neither Car'das or Mitth'ras'safis was bound by the order; the two volunteered to remain aboard Outbound Flight and take the ship to a military base. The two military officers agreed, instructing them to head to the nearest Defense Fleet base at Pesfavri before leaving. Thrawn and Ar'alani reported to Chaf'orm'bintrano on the Chaf Exalted's bridge, where they were joined by Doriana. Thrawn translated while the Aristocra accused the Human of bringing weapons to use against the Chiss. Catching on quickly to the power struggle between the Chiss, Doriana claimed salvage rights as a representative of the Republic, distracting the Aristocra long enough for Outbound Flight to jump to hyperspace. Before it left, a shuttle carrying Car'das launched from the ship. Lorana Jinzler had survived the attack, along with 57 others in the Central Storage Core. In light of this, Mitth'ras'safis had decided to take the ship to the secluded area of Chiss space known as the Redoubt, where the survivors could wait while he negotiated for their safe passage, and had sent Car'das back to inform his brother.
Chaf'orm'bintrano was furious with Outbound Flight's escape and confronted Thrawn, Ar'alani, Doriana and Car'das. Records of the battle had shown that Thrawn fired first and he did not believe that the Vagaari's presence had provided sufficient cause to do so. He therefore revoked Thrawn's military position pending a trial. All four Humans would also be charged unless Thrawn was prepared to resign and renounce his status as a trial-born, never again returning to a high position in Chiss society. Thrawn responded that the Eighth Ruling Family would stand by him if he presented the gravity well projector to them, giving them an advantage over the other Ruling Families. If, however, he were to remain an active Defense Fleet officer, he would present the gravity well projector to them instead. Knowing that he was defeated, the Aristocra departed.
Ar'alani released the Humans into Thrawn's custody and dispatched him back to Crustai. Before he let them go, however, Thrawn joined Doriana and Kav back on the Darkvenge. The commander knew that the two would need to be certain that nobody ever learned of their mission and that killing him would achieve their aim. While his reading of Doriana suggested that the other would not do so, he carried a small deflector shield generator from one of the droidekas to protect him from Kav. When Kav drew his blasterand fired at Thrawn, the shot ricocheted from the shield and struck him, killing the Neimoidian. Certain that he could trust Doriana, Thrawn told him that his people had encountered the Far-Outsiders and agreed to an exchange of information. The Darkvenge departed soon after. Before the Bargain Hunter returned to the Republic, Thrawn informed Car'das that Doriana had been impressed by him and wanted to recruit the young Human to build an information network. Knowing that the Chiss and the Republic may one day need to work together, and seeing Car'das as a potential contact for the future, Thrawn encouraged him to take the job. After Thrawn gave them a share of the Vagaari treasure, the Corellians returned to the Republic.
Thrawn took his brother's title of Syndic following this, while still maintaining his military commission. This meant that while he only held the rank of Force Commander, he had power similar to that of an Admiral.
The Grysks[]
Thrawn did not fully escape the consequences of his actions. Mitth'ras'safis did not return from Outbound Flight and it would be over forty years before the Chiss (or anyone else) learned what had happened to the ship. On top of losing his brother, many in the Ruling Families still saw Thrawn's actions as tantamount to murder and from that point on, his actions were watched carefully. Palpatine, meanwhile, was impressed with Thrawn's abilities and, over the coming years, attempted on at least two occasions to contact the Chiss and secure the commander's services to assist him in carrying out his ambitions of galactic domination. Not coincidentally, the destruction of Outbound Flight had killed eighteen of the Jedi Order's most prominent Knights and Masters, furthering the Sith Lord's plans for the extermination of the Order.
For his part, Thrawn was intrigued by the idea of working for Palpatine, but knew that he could not honorably accept the offer and turn his back on the Expansionary Defense Force and his people. Instead, he remained in service to the Chiss and decided to engineer his own downfall by continuing to press for pre-emptive strikes.
Many Chiss aristocrats, such as Aristocra Chaf'orm'bintrano, prevented Thrawn from being promoted, and as such, he held the rank of Force Commander for seven years longer, though he should have been an Admiral. However, the Defense Hierarchy found ways around it. Though not being promoted, he was given command of a larger fleet than was normal for a Force Commander, similar to that of an Admiral.
One step too far[]
Around 20 BBY, the Grysks began to be active near the Chiss border. Around the same time, the Nuruodo family was pushing the other families to allow Thrawn to be promoted to Admiral. He had been given command of the Chiss Seventh Fleet several years earlier. The Mitth family supported Thrawn, simply because he was one of their own, and every CEDF Admiral loyal to them was a plus. The Nuruodo family genuinely supported his beliefs that Preemptive strikes had uses.
After attacking a Grysk ground installation that was manufacturing weapons for an upcoming attack on the Ascendancy, Thrawn was judged to have acted against everything his people believed in and was brought up on charges. Found guilty, he was stripped of all rank and exiled to a world in the Unknown Regions, just beyond the edge of the Outer Rim Territories.
However, Thrawn escaped from the Chiss Authorities, aided by his former flag-captain. His former fleet still followed his orders, despite knowing of Thrawn's trial and removal from office. He lead them against the Grysks, defeating an invasion fleet that may well have destroyed the Ascendancy otherwise.
Exile[]
After this, Thrawn turned himself back in, and was sent into exile. Thrawn's new home had a breathable atmosphere and was located close enough to the system's star to provide adequate warmth. However, life on the remote planet would be difficult. In a clearing in the planet's equatorial forest, Thrawn constructed a small dwelling out of local materials. He was forced to improvise often, making clothes out of the skins and furs of the planet's indigenous animals. Among Thrawn's few possessions from offworld were two small-base power generators, though over time one started to run empty and Thrawn began stripping it for parts to keep the second functioning. Throughout his time in exile, Thrawn sought a way to return to his people and defend them from the many dangers he perceived in the galaxy, not least of which was the burgeoning threat of the Far Outsiders.
Imperial Service[]
Joining the Empire[]
The symbol of the Galactic Empire.
Thrawn's opportunity to escape came in 19 BBY, barely a week after Palpatine's Declaration of a New Order marked the birth of the Galactic Empire. The Victory-class Star Destroyer Strikefast, in pursuit of the smuggler Booster Terrik, followed his ship on a desperate attempt to flee into uncharted space. Emerging from hyperspace to find the Star Destroyer still in pursuit, Terrik decided to try and hide on a nearby planet—the same world to which Thrawn was exiled. Captain Voss Parck, in command of the Strikefast, ordered TIE fighters to follow the smuggler and, while Terrik was able to land safely after the ensuing dogfight, one of the Imperial starfighters crashed in the forest near Thrawn's encampment.
Parck dispatched Colonel Mosh Barris to lead the Imperial forces in a search for the smuggler vessel. Landing at Thrawn's encampment and finding it deserted, the Imperials followed their Unknown Alien Encounters Orders by remaining to examine the settlement, and potentially make first contact. Thrawn, meanwhile, realized that the alien visitors presented his chance to escape and initiated a scheme to leave the planet. Arriving at the crashed TIE fighter, Thrawn had sufficient time to examine it before the Imperial troops arrived. After removing the pilot's body from his flight suit, Thrawn hid the body and stole the comlink from the helmet in order to eavesdrop on the visitors. Knowing that the Imperials would notice the missing comlink, Thrawn filled the suit with grass and fermented pyussh berries. This, he believed, would have the effect of convincing the Imperials that primitive natives had removed the body, distracting them from the missing comlink. More importantly, his plan relied on the Imperial troops being intrigued enough to take the flight suit back to their base. Before leaving the crash site, Thrawn also took the blaster, power packs and concussion grenades from the pilot's survival pack.
As expected, the Imperials returned the flight suit to their camp and, believing that they were dealing with savages, established a security perimeter for the night. Thrawn, however, had allowed for this. The pyussh berries attracted some of the planet's nocturnal creatures, to which Thrawn strapped the stolen power packs, after first removing the overload sturm dowels. The creatures were able to penetrate the Imperial perimeter before their charges exploded. Though the damage caused was minor, it had the desired effect of causing Parck to send TIE fighters to conduct a flyover of the surrounding area, looking for the Imperials' assailant. A monofilament, strung between two tall trees, caused one of the fighters to crash and Thrawn was again the first to the crash site. Ignoring the ruined fighter, Thrawn again removed the pilot's comlink, replacing it with the one from the first crash to make the pilot look untouched, before again ransacking the pilot's survival pack. Shortly after retrieving the body of the second pilot, the Imperials noticed the missing comlink which had allowed Thrawn to listen to their communications since their arrival. Parck quickly ordered the first comlink's circuit shut down, unaware that Thrawn had the second, still functional comlink. Even so, the nature of events so far began to make the Imperials discount primitives, though they now assumed their smuggler quarry to be the cause.
Thrawn did not rest during the night. In order to infiltrate the Imperial camp, Thrawn would need a disguise that hid his non-Human features. The Imperials currently on the planet did not have their faces obscured, so Thrawn needed to draw out more heavily armored troops. He, therefore, began attacking the sentry guards, using a sling to throw pyussh berries onto their armor and draw in charged animals for the kill. Five Imperial troops died during the night, three as the result of concussion grenade explosions, and two due to friendly fire from their nervous comrades. By the morning, Barris wanted to withdraw commence orbital bombardment, but Parck wanted the smugglers alive and ordered the search to continue, dispatching stormtroopers to assist. When the heavily armored troops began their search of the forest, Thrawn struck once more. Using his stolen comlink to initiate communications jamming to mask the sound of his attack, Thrawn used explosives to kill a stormtrooper in order to study his armor. After finding a way to kill the soldier within, without noticeable damage to the armor, Thrawn struck again and donned the armor of the dead trooper. The communications jamming, meanwhile, had convinced Barris that it was time to leave and the Imperials were preparing to depart as Thrawn entered their camp. Thrawn removed the armor and left it propped up by branches outside, while he entered the Imperial transport. An explosive charge within the armor soon ensured that the Imperials would not notice the missing trooper. With their orders to examine Thrawn's encampment still standing, the Imperials had loaded the structure into their ship for further study and the nearly empty power generator casing made an ideal hiding place for Thrawn on the journey to the Strikefast.
Thrawn remained hidden in the power generator casing for almost two hours after arriving at the Star Destroyer. When he was certain that the Imperial troops had all disembarked, Thrawn emerged into the darkened hangar and moved towards a group of three Kappa-class shuttles, entering the middle shuttle in a bid to make his escape and return home. It was not to be, however, as Parck had suspected that somebody may have infiltrated the Imperial transport and had kept the hangar under surveillance. As a squad of stormtroopers entered the hangar, Thrawn surrendered without resistance. Parck realized that the intruder was responsible for the events on the planet and, together with Barris, went to confront the alien. Thrawn explained that he was attempting to get home to protect his people but Parck, impressed by Thrawn's obvious abilities, suggested that by offering his service to the Empire, he may be better equipped to do so. He even hinted that Palpatine may one day send Thrawn back to the Unknown Regions with the advanced technology and capabilities of the Empire, since any threat to Thrawn's people may also threaten the Empire itself. Convinced, Thrawn agreed to join them and, in order to better integrate himself, suggested that they call him by his core name. Parck was certain that Thrawn would make up for the inability to capture Terrik and decided to abandon the search and return to the Empire. During the journey, he would begin Thrawn's Imperial orientation.
After returning to Coruscant, Parck presented Thrawn to the Emperor. Though many in the Imperial Court thought Parck should have been disciplined for bringing Thrawn back, Palpatine was most pleased to have the commander responsible for Outbound Flight's destruction before him. In their initial meeting, the Emperor attempted to provoke a reaction from Thrawn by demonstrating his distaste at the alien's presence. Thrawn's lack of reaction to Palpatine's behavior, together with his intelligence, intrigued the Emperor, who agreed to Parck's request to train him though the Empire's political situation led him to hide his enthusiasm. With Parck initially acting as his mentor, Thrawn was given private training at the Imperial Academy of Carida, alongside Cadet Vanto, who had been on the Strikefast when he was found. He had taken a liking to Vanto, and was taking him with him under the pretense that Vanto spoke Sy Bisti, and Thrawn was not yet fluent in Basic, therefore needing a translator. He rose quickly through the ranks though, as one of the few non-Human officers in the Imperial Navy, he was forced to constantly prove his abilities to other officers.
Return to the Unknown Regions[]
Within a year and a half, Thrawn had achived the rank of Senior Captain, commanding Task Force Admonitor. With Captain Karyn Faro as his flag-captain and Captain Voss Parck commanding the Strikefast(the task force's second largest ship), he had himself a fine backing. Senior Lt. Eli Vanto had served as his aid for a time, but was soon sent to the Chiss Ascendancy.
Thrawn did not spend all his time around the Core Worlds and made substantial efforts to explore the Unknown Regions. On the planet Nirauan in the Gradilis sector, on the boundary between Wild Space and the Unknown Regions, Thrawn located an abandoned fortress constructed of a resilient stone, similar to that used in the fortress on Hijarna. Due to the fortress's ability to resist attack, Thrawn selected it to serve as his personal base and, as a result of its five towers which resembled a hand, the base came to be known as the Hand of Thrawn. Though Imperial forces did not occupy the facility until the Galactic Civil War, the native Qom Jha later recalled that a species of sluglike predators residing in the caves beneath the fortress were not seen before 11 BBY, and it is possible that they were installed as a natural defense against the indigenous creatures, suggesting that Thrawn's mission may have been planned for some time. As well as a hologram of the galaxy, which allowed him to monitor the sectors falling under his control, Thrawn also had the galaxy's most extensive database installed in the fortress.
Forming the Empire of the Hand[]
Believing that only a unified galaxy could resist the numerous threats in the Unknown Regions, such as the Far Outsiders whom the Chiss had already encountered, Thrawn forged a network of alliances with native species and colonies in the area. Thrawn soon established the Empire of the Hand, named for its center of operations at the Hand of Thrawn. The government was more of a confederation than a true empire, however, with many different species retaining their autonomy inside it. The nominal connection with the Galactic Empire was kept for historical and psychological value only, as the Empire of the Hand did not adopt the speciesist policies or rule by terror of Palpatine's Empire.
While the Empire of the Hand remained unknown to the Galactic Empire and much of the galaxy, Thrawn's actions did not go unnoticed by his people. Though the Ruling Families refused to acknowledge his presence, many other Chiss did not and there was soon a flow of young Chiss rallying to his cause, most notably the warriors of his personal guard, the Household Phalanx. Among the Chiss who served under him, Thrawn came to hold the title of Syndic. A collaboration between Thrawn's forces and the Chiss led to the development of the Nssis-class Clawcraft, a starfighter that incorporated Chiss weapons with the ball cockpit and engines of the Empire's TIE series.
Baton[]
In 13 BBY, Imperial Admiral Durril failed to defeat Nightswan at the planet Baton. Thrawn was called back from the Unknown Regions to deal with this. Durril was outraged that an alien Senior Captain was being called in to replace an Admiral.
Moving into position around Scrim Island, Thrawn briefed Faro, Vanto, and the commanders of the Shyrack, Flensor, and Tumnor on the strategy he had come up with to deal with the insurgents. Ordering the three light cruisers into position, Thrawn watched as they bombarded Scrim Island's shields before being disabled by the island's previously unseen fourth ion cannon. Thrawn, however, was not surprised by the fourth ion cannon and had built his strategy around it. Speaking to Captain Yelfis of the Tumnor, Thrawn learned that the cathtron tube of the fourth ion cannon was in the process of dying.
Moving forward with his strategy, Thrawn began the Admonitor's descent towards Scrim Island, using the partially disabled light cruisers as cover against the ion cannons. Once the Admonitor reached optimal firing position, Thrawn opened fire, shooting into the ocean off Scrim Island's shore. Thrawn's gambit worked, sending a tsunami crashing into the western shoreline of Scrim Island. Firing at a second target in the sea, the Admonitor created a second tsunami that managed to hit the turbolaser emplacement. Alternating fire between targets one and two, Thrawn slammed Scrim Island with tsunami after tsunami until the water shorted out the island's turbolasers. Contacting the island, Thrawn ordered them to either lower their shields or risk the death of those operating the shoreline defenses. When the shields did not lower, Thrawn sent two more tsunamis at Scrim Island.
Faced with destruction, the insurgents of Scrim Island lowered their shield and surrendered to Thrawn. Accepting their surrender with the terms that any further resistance would be met with lethal force, Thrawn directed Vanto to send word of their victory at Scrim Island to Coruscant. Humble in the face of Faro's praise, however, Thrawn admitted that there was more to be done before the battle for Batonn was over. Asking Captain Faro to inform him when the island had been secured, Thrawn retired to his cabin.
He convinced Nightswan to meet with him in person. Nightswan agreed to see the threats in the Unknown Regions that faced the Hand. After this, Nightswan joined the Hand as an Admiral.
Continued Imperial and Hand service[]
Sometime before the Battle of Yavin, Thrawn would spearhead a major campaign against the Kaleesh species. He would study their art, and would bombard the planet Oben with his Star Destroyers in orbit. This would see the surrender of warlord Bentilais san Sk'ar, who would go on to become a rising star within the Imperial Army.
By 1 BBY, Thrawn had achieved more victories and earned more promotions than most officers who had served for twice as long. He had also reached the rank of captain and was given command of the Imperial-class Star Destroyer Vengeance under the Inquisitor Jerec. The appointment was made by Palpatine himself, who trusted Thrawn to keep the ambitious Dark Jedi in check. Jerec led the Vengeance on a mission to Sulon to eliminate the Rebel presence there. Among the Rebels on the moon was the Force-sensitive Morgan Katarn, who Jerec wanted captured alive. After Thrawn passed on Jerec's instructions, a commando team, disguised as Rebels, raided Katarn's home. When they were unable to locate Katarn, Thrawn had to inform Jerec that the Rebel had escaped, but Jerec soon came up with another plan—to lure the Rebels out by attacking Sulon's geothermal energy spring. The Rebels fought better than either Jerec or Thrawn expected but were ultimately defeated. Katarn was captured during the battle and was executed by Jerec.[24]
Two weeks after the Rebel victory at the Battle of Yavin, Thrawn was one of ten Imperial officerssummoned to the Emperor's throne room in the Imperial Palace on Coruscant. The Emperor informed them of the Death Star's destruction and that the Sith Lord Darth Vader was on his way to Coruscant to plan the Empire's revenge. Thrawn argued that they should strike at the main Rebel base quickly, but the Emperor preferred to bide his time rather than risk generating sympathy for the Rebels. In the meantime, he ordered Thrawn and the others assembled to identify the Rebel leaders and the identity of the Rebel pilot who had caused the Death Star's destruction, in the hopes of eliminating them and causing the Alliance to fall apart from within.
Eight months after the Battle of Yavin Thrawn held the rank of Senior Captain and was commanding the Task Force Admonitor, located to the edges of the known galaxy. During that time Thrawn was locked in combat against an alien Warlord known as Nuso Esva, whose tactical brilliance rivaled that of Thrawn's. At first Thrawn had tried to ally himself with Esva—around the time he was forming alliances with multiple alien species he had discovered in the Unknown Regions, among them the Troukree—but the other had turned him down.
Thrawn contacted his old accomplice Jorj Car'das, who had left his smuggling organization behind in attempt to improve his failing health, and with the human set out in attempt to turn Esva's plans against the warlord. Thrawn met with Emperor Palpatine on board Car'das's freighter, the Lost Reef, over Endor, and after advising the Emperor in the defenses of the construction site for the second Death Star the Chiss in turn requested Imperial help in dealing with Esva. Esva's fleet vastly outnumbered Thrawn's task force and the senior captain needed at least six more Star Destroyers to combat the Firekilns Esva used as the capital ships of his navy. The Emperor was unable to provide the necessary resources, but advised Thrawn to present his request to Darth Vader, which he did coming to an agreement with the Sith Lord about the arrangement: Vader would provide the additional firepower and in return Thrawn would help the sith to locate the Rebel leadership. After the meeting with Vader, Thrawn and Car'das shadowed the Star Destroyer Chimaera, on board which Esva had taken residence under the false name of "Lord Odo", to the Unknown Regions.
Through a complicated plot, which included a plan to assassinate Governor Bidor Ferrouz of Candoras sector, creating a phony alliance with the Rebellion and then framing the Rebels for the governor's murder, Esva lured Thrawn's forces into Poln system. There the warlord sabotaged Chimaera's systems and had the large ship set on a collision course with the Golan station protecting the capital planet Poln Major. Esva wanted to force Thrawn to choose if he would sacrifice the Chimaera or the Golan station to save the other, in which case the destruction of valuable military equipment would have discredited Thrawn in the Imperial military. Esva also brought in his Eastern Fleetto do battle against Thrawn's forces hoping to humiliate the Chiss officer even further and completely ruin his career. Using the Lost Reefand Chimaera's remaining tractor beam systems Thrawn was able to steer the Star Destroyer away from its predetermined course releasing not only the capital ship, as damaged as it was, but also the Golan to join the battle against Esva's fleet. When Esva called his remaining backup to Poln system, Thrawn also brought out his reinforcements: Darth Vader and Death Squadron, which was spearheaded by nothing less than the Super Star Destroyer Executor.[7]
With the Sith Lord's help, Esva's Eastern Fleet was utterly destroyed, but in the confusion of the battle the Rebel team, which had been on Poln Minor evacuated with a selection of equipment Ferrouz had set up for them on the smaller planet, as per Esva's earlier instructions. From the list of items the Rebels had taken, Thrawn was able to construct a profile of the planet where Vader would find the Rebel headquarters, and thus was able to fulfill his end of the deal with the Sith Lord. With Esva's power considerably lessened Thrawn was in a hurry to return to the Unknown Regions to seize the advantage and he bid farewell to Car'das, advising his friend to visit Wroona, where the human might help people that Esva had held hostage to coerce help from a man named Sorro.[7]
In addition to his resounding victory over part of Esva's fleet there was other gains Thrawn made from the events of Poln system. His agent, Vaantaar, who had participated in Governor Ferrouz's protection on Poln Major, returned to Admonitor with one of Esva's Whisperlike-class starfighters and a group of five stormtrooper deserters, known as the Hand of Judgment. The Whisperlike gave Thrawn new insights into Esva's philosophy and starship designs, which he intended to exploit against Esva's remaining troops. The five stormtroopers—Daric LaRone, Korlo Brightwater, Taxtro Grave, Saberan Marcross and Joak Quiller—who had been on the run from the Empire since their leader, LaRone, had killed an ISB major, had proved themselves to be capable warriors and, what was more important to Thrawn, open minded toward alien species. Instead of handing them over to ISB, Thrawn offered them a job in his fledgling Empire, asking them to train him a new strain of stormtroopers, who would be willing to accept other species among their ranks as well as humans. Having seen how Esva worked and what kinds of threats Thrawn fought against in the Unknown Regions, the Hand of Judgment accepted the offered job and decided to name their new unit as the 501st Legion[7] after the decorated Imperial legion. The new unit was dedicated to protect the Empire of the Hand[26] and included aliens as well as humans.
S'krrr Incident[]
During his time on the Vengeance, Thrawn continued to pursue his interest in art. When the Vengeancevisited S'krrr nine months after the Battle of Yavin, Thrawn took the opportunity to study S'krrr art and, accompanied by Lieutenants Wolver and Tier, took the shuttle Tessera to the planet's Sikadian Garden. The first day of his visit was uneventful but early the following morning, as Thrawn studied one of the garden's many flowerbeds while waiting for Lieutenant Wolver to join him, he encountered Zak and Tash Arranda. The two children were visiting the garden with Mammon Hoole and, unknown to Thrawn, were fugitives sought by Darth Vader after helping the Rebel Alliance several months earlier. The Arrandas were suspicious of Thrawn, fearing that his presence might precipitate an Imperial occupation of S'krrr, and had decided to learn all they could. However, while Thrawn conversed with the children, the group came across the body of Lieutenant Wolver, swarming with the garden's indigenous drog beetles.
Thrawn wasted no time in organizing an investigation into the death of his officer. Calling the Vengeance, he had his forces seal the garden and begin searching nearby ships while investigators examined the body and the surrounding area. The investigation soon brought Thrawn into conflict with Vroon, the garden's caretaker, who was concerned about the damage being caused to the garden as the Imperials conducted their search. Thrawn, however, was determined to uncover the cause of Wolver's death and had the caretaker escorted away. Eventually, the medical team revealed the likely cause of death—several large wounds on the body, most likely caused by a vibropike and enlarged after death by the beetles. Thrawn ordered all planetary transmissions monitored in case the apparent murder was the work of Rebel insurgents and, after the body was removed, began interviewing suspects. As most of the Imperials returned to the Vengeance in the evening, Thrawn and Tier remained on the planet to continue the investigation the next day.[27]
A breakthrough in the case came the next day with the discovery of a vibropike hidden in the bushes. Though there was nothing to link the weapon to Lieutenant Wolver, scans for fibre and skin samples showed it to belong to Sh'shak, a well-known Sk'rrr Wing-song poet and warrior. Thrawn and Tier found Sh'shak with Hoole and the Arrandas and placed the S'krrr under arrest. Though Sh'shak admitted the weapon was his, and that he had been practicing with it in the garden around the time of the murder, he denied killing Lieutenant Wolver. Sh'shak's story was confirmed by the children, who had been talking to the S'krrr before they encountered Thrawn. Though Thrawn was beginning to grow suspicious of Hoole and the children, and planned to take them back to the Vengeance for a background check afterwards, he did agree to examine the area where Sh'shak had been practicing. Meanwhile, he ordered Lieutenant Tier to pick up Vroon, the only suspect not yet present, from his workshop.
As Thrawn examined the area where Sh'shak had been training, Lieutenant Tier came running to the group, his clothes and hair covered with drog beetles and choking on the insects that had flown into his mouth—he died before the group could do anything to help him. Thrawn realized that Sh'shak was innocent and that the wounds on Lieutenant Wolver were made by the beetles as they ate him alive. The drog beetles were known to be aggressive in large numbers, but their population was supposed to be kept strictly under control by the predatory shreevs. For the drogs to have started killing people, the natural balance must have been disturbed. Zak Arranda thought that it was his fault as, on his first day in the garden, he had accidentally killed a shreev that he thought was attacking him. Thrawn, however, dismissed the child's concerns, realizing that the garden was far too large for the death of a single shreev to have caused such a dramatic rise in the drog population. With Sh'shak cleared as a suspect, Thrawn decided it was time to confront Vroon and find out exactly what was happening.
Accompanied by the others, Thrawn went to Vroon's workshop and inquired how to stop the beetles. Vroon, however, refused to let them harm the beetles and, when Thrawn attempted to arrest him, ran into the forest. The group gave chase but the caretaker's knowledge of the garden allowed him to escape. Eventually, the group came across a pit filled with the carcasses of shreevs and surrounded by trees covered in drog beetles. The situation was now clear. Long ago, a S'krrr cult worshiped the drog beetles, who they were believed to have evolved from, and encouraged the drog population to grow. Although the cult was forbidden when the drogs almost overran the planet, some continued to worship the beetles. Vroon was one such individual and had been killing shreevs for some time to allow the drogs to thrive.
With the scale of the problem now clear, Thrawn decided to call for reinforcements from the Vengeance, only to discover that he had lost his comlink during the chase. The drogs soon took notice of the group's presence and began to form into a swarm and Thrawn and the others were forced to flee to the safety of the Tessera. As the beetles closed in on their prey, Hoole was able to buy the group some time by using his Shi'ido shape-shifting ability to transform into a shreev and attack the swarm. However, the beetles proved too numerous and Hoole was eventually forced to retreat, having given the others the time they needed to reach the shuttle. Thrawn sealed the ramp moments before the swarm reached the vessel.
Proceeding to the cockpit, Thrawn attempted to take off but discovered the ship's systems were offline. When he went to check on the main generator, he discovered that drog beetles had entered the ship's systems and short-circuited the generator. Thrawn knew that it was only a matter of time until the Vengeance realized they'd lost contact and sent reinforcements. However, time was running out—the ship's air vents were open and beetles soon started to pour through. Realizing that his ship had become a death trap, Thrawn suggested they retreat to Vroon's workshop. As the group fled the ship, the swarm once more gave chase but was soon stopped by a flock of shreevs roused by Hoole. Hoole returned to his normal form and rejoined the group but their time was limited—the shreevs would only eat until full then sleep off their meal, leaving thousands of beetles remaining. Thrawn wanted to use the distraction to conduct repairs to the Tessera. His companions, however, decided to search Vroon's workshop for anything that might help them. Outnumbered, Thrawn decided to remain with the group.
Upon reaching the workshop, the group discovered the body of Vroon, eaten by his own beetles. After barricading the door and windows, they began their search but were unable to find anything that might help. As the roof began to weaken under the weight of drogs, Zak remembered that Vroon had mentioned that he had attempted to communicate with the beetles through wing-song and suggested that Sh'shak might be able to temporarily calm the swarm. Thrawn's studies of S'krrr art had shown that they favored patterns similar to those of drog swarms, suggesting that the two species thought alike and agreed that it might be possible to communicate with them, though he thought it unlikely that a single S'krrr could calm the swarm. Hoole agreed and transformed into a S'krrr to assist Sh'shak, telling the children to use the distraction to return to their ship, the Shroud, and fly it back to rescue him and Sh'shak. Thrawn, however, decided to use the distraction to return to the Tessera and attempt to repair the comlink to call for help. The plan worked and Thrawn was able to reach his shuttle and left the planet safely. Hoole and the Arrandas, meanwhile, used their ship to escape the planet before Thrawn could uncover their true identities.
Rise through the ranks[]
In 1.5 ABY, Senior Captain Thrawn was stationed at the Emperor's Retreat on the planet Naboo. Upon learning that Imperial Captain Dolman's shuttle had crashed on Naboo, Thrawn promised to send help immediately and tasked an experienced spacer with escorting the captain back to the safety of the Emperor's Retreat. After this, he sent the spacer to retrieve the black box from the downed shuttle. However, the spacer soon discovered that it had already been taken by a thug. After killing the thug, the individual retrieved the box.
Because of the information retrieved from the black box, it was discovered that there was in fact a Rebel base nearby which had a weapon capable of shooting down shuttles. The spacer was tasked with delivering the holodiscs recovered from the black box to an Imperial officer by the name of Geg Winthazen. Thrawn next enlisted the spacer to kill an adult fambaa and retrieve a vial of blood for him, followed by asking the individual to recover a paintbrush from a woman on Naboo. Soon after this, Thrawn hired the spacer once more to infiltrate and eradicate the Rebel cell which had been responsible for shooting down Captain Dolman's shuttle.
Around this time, Thrawn learned of a manufacturing shop in Kor Vella on Corellia, where Rebel starships were being prepared. He recruited the spacer again, dispatching the individual to Kor Vella to infiltrate the repair shop and access its database to locate the Rebel facility and place homing beacons on the ships docked there. When the spacer returned after completing the mission, Thrawn dispatched the individual to Rori to investigate another crashed Imperial transport. After retrieving a datapad and the ship's transponderfrom the crash site, the spacer delivered them to Winthazen before assisting with retrieving a prototype rocket.
Thrawn continued to impress Palpatine and achieved promotion to Vice Admiral. Thrawn also received a promotion to Grand Admiral in a small ceremony on Coruscant, following the public dedication of the Imperial Palace's Assemblage wing, with few present to witness. It was later found out that the secret promotion accompanied his official promotion to Vice Admiral. Despite achieving the position of Grand Admiral, Thrawn's importance to the Empire was known only to a few—Palpatine had declared that there could only be twelve Grand Admirals at one time so Thrawn's promotion remained off the record. Likewise, Thrawn was one of the few Palpatine trusted with knowledge the Emperor's Hands, revealing Mara Jade's true purpose during his promotion ceremony. Despite this, he risked the Emperor's displeasure on no fewer than four occasions by refusing to waste resources attacking an enemy he was unprepared for. The first time, Palpatine declared Thrawn a traitor and assigned the mission to another commander—after the resulting attack proved unsuccessful, Palpatine developed a greater respect for Thrawn's opinion. So great did Palpatine's trust in the Grand Admiral become that Thrawn selected his finest pilots to form the Emperor's Shield, who would later accompany Palpatine on his inspection of the Death Star II. Thrawn's successful career also earned him the Imperial title of Warlord.
A second, voluntary exile[]
Many high-ranking members of the Imperial Court still had not accepted Thrawn and, following his promotion, Thrawn became increasingly involved in the frequent infighting within the Imperial Palace. Thrawn initially seemed to have an ally in Grand Admiral Rufaan Tigellinus, but the Humanocentric Imperial had befriended Thrawn only to betray him. Thrawn's enemies eventually put aside their differences and united against him and he soon appeared to find himself on the wrong side of the internal politics when, together with his allies, he was banished from the Imperial Court. Whereas Thrawn's allies were demoted and reassigned to the Outer Rim, this was felt to be too good for the alien and Thrawn's enemies persuaded Palpatine to effectively exile him on a cartography mission to the Unknown Regions.
In truth, Thrawn had been taking an Imperial presence to the Unknown Regions for a long time and, together with Palpatine, had planned his apparent defeat and exile to provide a convenient cover for his true purpose—to put his full attention to the Empire of the Hand.
Over the following years, Thrawn was able to spend all of his time operating outside the borders of the Empire and Palpatine steadily sent additional ships to assist his ultimate goal of establishing Imperial bases and even colonies. Those who were unable to accept Thrawn's leadership were quickly dismissed—when Delak Krennel disobeyed Thrawn to carry out a ruthless strike on an enemy, Thrawn had Krennel sent back to the Core Worlds to be punished by Palpatine.
His campaigns in the Unknown Regions met with great success and, in time, Thrawn's forces established bases and garrisons throughout the region. Many border worlds, such as Baros, surrendered to Thrawn. Thrawn's forces also operated to a lesser degree in Wild Space but were overstretched and, despite his best efforts, the area remained largely untamed, with outlying worlds often left to defend themselves against those who still defied the Empire. Even so, Thrawn brought the main settled worlds under the control of the Empire of the Hand, discovering many new species in the process.
Legacy[]
Empire of the Hand[]
Thrawn's Shadow Empire, the Empire of the Hand, continued to function and grow in Thrawn's absence.
Clones[]
Thrawn left behind at least four clones of himself, in case he were to die. The first was killed accidentally by Mara Jade Skywalker and Luke Skywalker in 19 ABY. For unknown reasons, the backup one set to emerge four years later did not ever appear. It was not until the third clone, Mitth'raw'nuruuodo, was born in 28 ABY, that Thrawn successfully returned. This clone implied that there were more clones waiting just in case, for a total of four or more clones. Thrawn took command of the Hand and worked against the Yuuzhan Vong and Killiks, who were active at the time.
Appearances[]
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