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New Republic era

History is on the move, Captain. Those who cannot keep up will be left behind, to watch from a distance. And those who stand in our way will not watch at all.
—Grand Admiral Thrawn to Captain Gilad Pellaeon.[src]

The Thrawn campaign was a conflict of the Galactic Civil War, fought between 8–10 ABY. Its primary belligerents were the New Republic and Thrawn's Empire of the Hand, an Imperial splinter faction dedicated to restore the Empire into a system which did not rely on oppression but was still totalitarian. Due to the extensive amounts of fighting in the Outer Rim and Wild Space, many nations in those areas participated in the war, usually in the form of border skirmishes, proxy wars, weapons trade or, in the case of the Kaminoan Federation, clone trade.

The campaign started in 8 ABY, when Grand Admiral Mitth'raw'nuruodo returned from the Unknown Regions to the Imperial fortress world of Bastion with a fleet consisting of the Imperial I-class Star Destroyer Admonitor, two Victory-class Star Destroyers and a number of smaller warships. The leader of the Imperial Remnant, Grand Moff Ardus Kaine pledged his assistance to Thrawn, offering the efficient and well-known Star Destroyer Chimaera as a flagship. This was the core around which the new Imperial fleets were formed.

Thrawn began his first attack with only ten Imperial-class Star Destroyers and their supports. Nevertheless, he annexed the Utegetu Nebula and secured the planet of Rago, proceeding to attack the Core Worlds. The inexperienced New Republic fleets thrown in hastily were no match for the growing number of Imperial forces, but the arrival of experienced commanders, such as Garm Bel Iblis or Ackbar prevented the fall of Coruscant. This led to a stalemate, which eventually ended with the Treaty of Kalee in 10 ABY, thus confirming the status of the Empire of the Hand as a legitimate state.

History[]

Origins[]

The Battle of Endor in 4 ABY meant the end of the Galactic Empire as a single political entity. The once-mighty regime was divided between numerous warlords, allowing the Rebel Alliance—reorganized into the Alliance of Free Planets and the New Republic—to conquer them one by one. After Coruscant was captured by the Republic forces, many smaller pro-Imperial factions sought peace and a period of relative calmness followed. The New Republic stretched its borders as far as the Mid Rim and the inhabitants of the pacified regions could again experience prosperity.

Moff Council

Grand Moff Ardus Kaine addresses the Moff Council.

Into this situation stepped one of the most experienced Imperial commanders, Grand Admiral Thrawn in late 6 ABY, who arrived at the Imperial fortress world of Bastion, located at the very edge of Wild Space, near the Utegetu Nebula with his fleet after years of exploration in the Unknown Regions. Grand Moff Ardus Kaine, the leader of the de juro Imperial Remnant saw that he was their only chance to avoid absorption by the New Republic and persuaded his fellow Moffs to provide Thrawn with the resources necessary to start an effective invasion. The Grand Admiral agreed and chose the symbolic Imperial II-class Star Destroyer Chimaera as his flagship, and devised a plan to reanimate the Empire.

The Imperial Remnant—now better known as the Empire of the Hand—had the nearby thriving shipyards of Yaga Minor at their disposal and the new leaders made good use of them. Construction works began on two unfinished Executor-class Star Dreadnought hulls, now known as Bastion and Enforcer. The remote location of the area effectively minimized the danger of new Republic entanglement, while Grand Moff Ardus had some of his outer worlds surrender to make the Republic think that no more Imperial forces were present. This diversion was useful, and the New Republic turned its attention elsewhere. This allowed the Empire to secretly seize the backwater planet of Celdaru, notable for its vast antium deposits, which could be used to build powered armor and penetrators.

Nkllon approach

An Imperial Fierce-class special transport approaches Celdaru.

After the antium was secured, Thrawn continued to train the Imperial army to the highest level. Training featured combat simulations on unknown worlds or difficult tactical problems designed by the Grand Admiral himself to sort out the weak. In the meantime, the Empire's leadership chose one of the first targets of their future attack; the Utegetu Nebula, home to a Killik colony and a New Republic outpost. The nebula was the gateway of the only trade route to Chiss space, and its Imperial control would have increased the Ascendancy's dependence from Thrawn. In late 7 ABY, the Empire dispatched an intelligence team to undermine Killik and Republic operations on the planet, but a battle ensued between the Imperials and a group of CNAP commandos sent there for the same reason.

Grand Moff Ardus Kaine then purchased about 100,000 "surplus" clones from the Kaminoan Federation. A task force of seven Acclamator I-class troop transports and two Imperial I-class Star Destroyers was sent to Kamino to pick up the soldiers, but the fleet ran into a New Republic unit on a "goodwill visit" to the planet. This was the first battle of the to-be Thrawn campaign.

First strikes (8 ABY)[]

Battle of Kamino[]

Blue Glass Arrow Main article: Battle of Kamino (Thrawn campaign)
WhatTheKriff-ESB

A CR90 corvette roars past the bridge of the Imperial II-class Star Destroyer Chimaera.

The Kaminoan Federation had cloned 100,000 soldiers in 2 BBY, which had since reached maturity. Thrawn's Empire of the Hand highly sought these troopers due to the lack of population and combatant personnel. Grand Moff Ardus' diplomatic envoy arrived to Kamino on schedule and set up an embassy in Sigirum City. However, the Kaminoans requested that the Empire come for the clones, and the Imperial ambassadors were unable to negotiate a better deal. Fortunately, Thrawn's time in the Unknown Regions meant that he got to know many hyperroutes, so an Imperial fleet was sent to Kamino with haste.

Upon arrival, however, the Imperials spotted a small convoy of New Republic ships heading towards Kamino. Grand Admiral Thrawn and Captain Pellaeon, who were leading the Empire's force immediatly ordered their units to attack Republic fleet. The numerically inferior enemy was quickly destroyed, but a CR90 corvette escaped from the system. Although this unit reported the skirmish to its superiors on Sullust, the "trademark" bureaucracy delayed the arrival of the news to Coruscant.

Annexation of the Utegetu Nebula[]

Blue Glass Arrow Main article: Annexation of the Utegetu Nebula

As the New Republic got to know the existence of the Empire of the Hand, Thrawn had to act quickly. He decided to put his plans into action and took his personal fleet of ten Imperial-class Star Destroyers to the Utegetu Nebula, where he met with Killik Queen UnuThul. The Killik Colony was peacefully absorbed by the Empire, so Thrawn placed an Imperial adviser alongside UnuThul and proceeded to secure the Murgo Choke.

Clash above Rago[]

Blue Glass Arrow Main article: Battle of Rago (Thrawn campaign)

After swaying the Killiks' allegiance to the Empire, Thrawn led his fleet along the Murgo Choke to the uninhabited planet of Rago. The Imperial force was surprised by the arrival of a Republic task force seeking to investigate the previous events that resulted in the disappearance of their envoy and the abrupt recall of the Killik ambassador to the New Republic. However, the Imperial-class Star Destroyer Judicator spotted the incoming enemy in time, which resulted in the destruction of the majority of the Republic unit.

See also[]

Thrawn campaign
(8–10 ABY)
Galactic timeline

Previous: Early Galactic Civil War
(19 BBY–8 ABY)

Concurrent: Lefan-CNAP War
(8–10 ABY)

Next: Late Galactic Civil War
(10–20 ABY)

Battles of the Thrawn campaign
First strikes
(8 ABY)

TenupeKaminoRagoGlee AnselmBilbringiYinchorrCoruscantAnsion

Commerce raids and stealth engagements
(9 ABY)

Second Glee AnselmStation 88Hydian WaySecond KaminoCorsin

Republic counter-offensive
(10 ABY)

Third Glee AnselmSecond BilbringiThird Kamino

Related topics and articles

Bastion Fleet · Annexation of the Utegetu Nebula · Treaty of Kalee · Thrawn-Mothma peace talks

  [Source]
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