Grysk

"Grysks are a species living somewhere in the Unknown Regions. Creatures half of myth, whom few have ever seen. It is said that they are nomads, with no fixed home, traveling in spacecraft so numerous they blot out the stars. They are said to be terrifying warriors, overwhelming their opponents by sheer numbers and ferocity."

- Thrawn, to Darth Vader

The Grysks were a warlike sentient species that lived in the Unknown Regions and according to Chiss Grand Admiral Thrawn, were a threat to both the Chiss Ascendancy and the Galactic Empire.

Biology and appearance
The Grysks were a species with deep-set eyes, angled brow ridges, wide shoulders, and a tapered skull.

Myths and legends
The Grysks were a species that were known to be half of myth who few had actually seen. They used a common script and a rare language. Stories about the Grysk were that they were nomads that traveled in starships numerous enough to block stars, and that the Grysk were terrifying warriors, using their numbers and ferocity to overwhelm their opponents.

The Chiss Grand Admiral Thrawn of the Galactic Empire believed that when compensating for the bias of artists on their art about the Grysk, he believed that the stories of vast hordes of the Grysk were not accurate, as it was more likely that the Grysk used unfamiliar tactics and weapons. Thrawn also did not believe the myth that the Grysk were nomadic, as most species that begin on planetary worlds do not easily surrender them and because their starships, as depicted in art pieces, strongly demonstrated a preference for sun, sky, and soil, rather than the vast darkness of space.

War capabilities and mentality
"The Grysks are not to be underestimated. If they fled from combat today, it is because they chose to do so."

- Thrawn, sharing his deductions of the Grysk

Thrawn also deducted that the Grysk should not be underestimated, if they fled, it was because they decided to do so. The Grysk, being a warlike species, had several types of starships at their disposal, including Corona-class armed frigates, a type of long-range heavy freighter, a type of small transport, a type of spacetug, and a type of warship.

Grysk warriors also utilized a type of lightning gun, as well as a type of pellet gun. Grysk warriors also made use of armor and helmets, which had curves on the left half and a distorted right half. Grysk weapons and armor were ritualistically disfigured on the right side, with the measure of degradation possibly related to the amount of animosity the Grysk had for the particular species the Grysk fought against, or perhaps, the length and bitterness of the particular conflict. The damages done to the armor and weapons also appeared to be chronological, as the deforms to the leftmost part of the right halves demonstrated more signs of age. Thrawn, believed that the trophy collection held by a particular group of Grysk warriors could be representative of overall Grysk military history, and believed that he could use it do uncover the Grysk homeworld. Thrawn also noted that there were tales of some of the Grysks' wars.

In what Thrawn believed to be an ingenious tactic, Grysk warriors had their teeth removed and replaced with upper and lower moldings that contained break-apart weapons, communicators, and lock-breakers. As such, they could participate in back and forth conversations with their coded language using ultrasound signals through the metal bulkheads of a starship, which was done on at least one occasion.

Conquest and expansion
"These are some of the artistic pieces that have been created in memorial by survivors of Grysk conquests."

- Thrawn, to other Imperial personnel

Sometime before the Battle of Atollon, the Grysks led conquests in the Unknown Regions of the galaxy, coming into conflict with the Chiss Ascendancy and other factions. Survivors of the conquests created artistic pieces in memorial.

The Chiss Ascendancy had records of many battles against the Grysks, some that they participated in and others they simply observed, while the Grysk degraded the right side of their helmets and armor on the previous wars they fought against various other species and groups.

Monitoring galactic affairs
"I propose two questions. First: How did the Grysks know that cortosis would be an effective defense against blasters and lightsabers?''" "You suggest they were studying us as far back as the Clone Wars?" "''I do, my lord. After all, the Chiss were watching you. Why not the Grysks? My second question: Once the Grysks knew the value of cortosis against blasters and lightsabers, how did the Separatists gain that knowledge?"

- Thrawn, explaining to Darth Vader Grysk activities during the Clone Wars

During the Clone Wars between the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems, the Grysk maintained surveillance on both governments. It would later supply Count Dooku, Head of State of the Confederacy, with information on cortosis, which was resistant against lightsabers. Dooku dispatched Duke Solha to Mokivj to mine the cortosis and manufacture it into B2 super battle droids. To the surprise of the Grysk, however, the Mokivj droid factory began producing clone trooper armor as well. Unknown to the Grysk, Dooku was Sith apprentice to Darth Sidious, publicly Supreme Chancellor of the Republic Sheev Palpatine, who sought to add cortosis to clone armor in order for the clone troopers to be better protected when they eventually betray their Jedi Generals.

Battle over Batuu
Shortly after the Battle of Atollon, which was part of an uprising rebellion against the Galactic Empire, the Imperial capital ship, Chimaera, traveled to Batuu in order to uncover the cause and meaning of a disturbance in the Force sensed by Emperor Palpatine. As the Chimaera was above Batuu, Sensor officer Commander Hammerly detected four small transports above the planet in loose formation, and together with the six starships already on Batuu's surface, made for ten. Commodore Karyn Faro spoke with Hammery as the crew of the Chimaera attempted to gather as much information as they could on the vessels, deducing that they could be either small freighters or small warships. As the information gathering continued, two more ships exited hyperspace straight ahead from the Chimaera at a distance of 400,000 kilometers, which Hammerly deduced where a type of long-range heavy freighter at the least, bearing straight for Batuu. Faro believed that all of the unidentified vessels were headed for Black Spire Outpost, where Grand Admiral Thrawn and Darth Vader were investigating.

Hammerly discovered that the two new starships had arrived from over the Chimaera shoulder on the same hyperlane that the Chimaera had arrived from. Shortly prior to a skirmish on Batuu between Thrawn and Vader against a group of Darshi, one of the heavy freighters was heading towards Thrawn and Vader's position while the remaining vessels maintained orbit above Batuu. Vader ordered Commander Kimmund and his unit to intercept, examine, and engage the other heavy freighter.

Shortly after the skirmish, Kimmund and his stormtroopers approached the heavy freighter in the Darkhawk, although the Grysk vessel was able to detect the Darkhawk and broke orbit. Defender Squadron One arrived and was able to prevent its escape by disabling the starship, and later chased away the other smaller transports.

Inbound invasion
"The invasion is coming, Lord Vader. But I have now bought the Empire time to prepare."

- Thrawn, to Darth Vader

After the expedition of the Chimaera, Grand Admiral Thrawn believed an invasion of the galaxy would be imminent, and had tricked the Grysk into possibly attacking the Chiss Ascendancy before the Empire.

Behind the scenes
The Grysk first appeared in Timothy Zahn's 2018 canon novel Thrawn: Alliances. The Grysk share several similarities with the Yuuzhan Vong species from Star Wars Legends, who originated from Del Rey's 1999-2003 book series Star Wars: The New Jedi Order, including parallels such as both being a threat to the Chiss Ascendancy hailing from the Unknown Regions, enslaving other races and not having Force-sensitive members of their own race.

Appearances

 * Thrawn: Alliances