Hess'irolia'nuruodo

Commander Hess'irolia'nuruodo, also known by her core name Irolia, was a Chiss military officer. In 29 ABY, she was in command of the Chiss frigate that intercepted the Jade Shadow during its mission to the Unknown Regions, and escorted it to Csilla. To the eyes of Luke Skywalker, she seemed no older than his niece Jaina, then twenty years old&mdash;she may even have been younger.

Irolia claimed to be an officer of the Chiss Expansionary Defense Fleet, but instead of the predominantly black jumpsuits of most CEDF officers, she wore a burgundy uniform with black flashes, a color-scheme previously only seen among troops from Grand Admiral Thrawn's rogue Household Phalanx. Also, her ship was escorted by Nssis-class Clawcraft, hybrid TIE-series starfighters that had previously only been seen in combat with House Phalanx forces.

It is unclear what, if anything, these hints at House Phalanx allegiance may signify. It is possible, for example, that Irolia was a House Phalanx officer who had joined the CEDF with Soontir Fel in the series of military and political upheavals in the Chiss Ascendancy that were then apparently drawing to a close; but this, like any other proposed explanation, remains at best tentative speculation.

Behind the scenes
In the real world, the reason for Irolia and her subordinates using House Phalanx-style equipment and uniforms may be nothing more than a failure of the New Jedi Order authors and editors to understand the distinction between Thrawn's forces and those of the Chiss Ascendancy; but on present evidence, this too remains only a hypothesis.

Hess'irolia'nuruodo was named after Yuuzhan Vong Database creator and author, Nick Hess as a nod for his help to the authors with his knowledge of the New Jedi Order's signature villains.

Appearances

 * Force Heretic II: Refugee