Empire of the Hand

The Empire of the Hand was a shadow Galactic Empire secretly established by Grand Admiral Thrawn before his departure from the Unknown Regions in 9 ABY.

History
"The Unknown Regions are the future of the Empire, Captain. It's only fitting that the Imperial Fleet lead the way."

- Mitth'raw'nuruodo to Dagon Niriz

Thrawn's empire was intended to establish the order and efficiency of Emperor Palpatine's New Order without the Emperor's megalomania, the Tarkin Doctrine, and the institutionalized xenophobia (minus that of the average Chiss and Imperial officers).

Although close to Chiss Ascendancy space, the Empire of the Hand was viewed with distrust by the Chiss, who still considered Thrawn an outcast from Chiss society despite his galactic fame.

The Empire of the Hand was discovered by Luke and Mara Jade Skywalker when they were searching for the source of the clones and mysterious starfighters that had suddenly appeared. These clones and starfighters were, in fact, searching for Grand Admiral Thrawn, who had said he would return ten years after his death.

Luke and Mara were the ones who found Thrawn, right under the fortress on Nirauan. They found an almost mature clone and a map that revealed that the Empire of the Hand stretched across 200 sectors, as opposed to the Imperial Remnant's mere 8 sectors. They decided that the clone had done nothing wrong yet so they wouldn't destroy it, but, when two defense droids activated, they were forced to destroy the clone of Thrawn to escape. Before they did, R2-D2 managed to download an unaltered copy of the Caamas Document.

The Empire of the Hand disappeared sometime around the Yuuzhan Vong War. The Jedi believe that the Killiks destroyed it, while the Chiss claim that it was merely absorbed either by the Imperial Remnant or the Chiss Ascendancy itself, although remarks by Aristocra Chaf'orm'bintrano shortly before the Swarm War may suggest that the Empire of the Hand was simply disbanded.

Government and politics
Based on Nirauan, the Empire of the Hand drew its name from the Hand of Thrawn, a fortress left behind under the leadership of Admiral Voss Parck. Parck, a select group of top Imperial officers, pilots, and soldiers (including General Soontir Fel), and a cadre of Thrawn-loyal Chiss were given the responsibility of upholding Thrawn's vision and expanding his empire.

Military
The Empire of the Hand maintained many visual connections to the Galactic Empire through its warships, use of stormtrooper armor and Imperial uniforms. Many regular soldiers were given stormtrooper armor to promote order amongst the Empire of the Hand's citizenry. Traditional, elite stormtroopers remained, but were relatively rare. Unlike the Galactic Empire of old, the Empire of the Hand allowed aliens, who had joined their nation, to join their ranks either as pilots or as stormtroopers.

Appearances

 * Specter of the Past
 * Vision of the Future
 * Fool's Bargain
 * Survivor's Quest
 * Dark Tide II: Ruin
 * Balance Point
 * Dark Nest I: The Joiner King