User:Green tentacle/Notepad

Biography
Mitth'raw'nuruodo learned to speak several languages used throughout the Unknown Regions and picked up some Galactic Basic Standard when Corellian traders first made contact with his people during the final years of the Galactic Republic. After joining the Chiss Expansionary Defense Force, Thrawn rose to the rank of commander and was given command of a small border patrol fleet.

Shortly before the Clone Wars, Outbound Flight departed the Republic carrying, among others, a group of Jedi Masters, on a mission to explore beyond the edge of the galaxy. Before departing the galaxy, Outbound Flight was to explore the Unknown Regions and it was to there that Palpatine, already plotting the destruction of the Jedi, dispatched an assault force to wait for their arrival and destroy them. Palpatine's force, consisting of fifteen of his best starships, moved to their ambush point, unaware that they had entered the Chiss Ascendancy. When Thrawn encountered the unknown interlopers, his forces engaged them and, despite his twelve, small ships being outnumbered and outgunned, Thrawn's fleet emerged victorious. All but one of Palpatine's ships were destroyed&mdash;Thrawn spared the other in order to interrogate the survivors. Among the survivors was Kinman Doriana, leader of the task force and adviser to Palpatine. Doriana explained the nature of his mission to Thrawn and was able to persuade the Chiss commander that Outbound Flight had to be destroyed. When Outbound Flight arrived two weeks later, Thrawn was waiting and his forces destroyed the vessel.

Exile
"I do not need permission to fight on their behalf."

- Thrawn

However, Thrawn's actions brought him into conflict with the Chiss Ruling Families as his people did not accept a preemptive strike as a valid military tactic and saw his actions as tantamount to murder. Thrawn was able to persuade them to let him keep his rank but, 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 attempt to secure the commander's services for the coming Galactic Empire. Yet Thrawn remained in service to his people until, some time before the end of the Clone Wars, his actions in dealing with the Chiss's enemies pushed the Ruling Families too far. After attacking an enemy ground installation that was manufacturing weapons for an upcoming attack, Thrawn was judged to have acted against everything his people believed 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.

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 once 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.

His 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&mdash;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 paks 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 paks, after first removing the 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.

Early Imperial service
Many in the Imperial Court thought Parck should have been disciplined for bringing Thrawn back to Coruscant but, in fact, there was no risk to Parck and Palpatine was most pleased to have the commander responsible for Outbound Flight's destruction before him, although the Empire's political situation led him to hide his enthusiasm. With Parck initially acting as his mentor, Thrawn was given private academy training and 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. Even after reaching the rank of colonel, Thrawn was assigned to command other undesirable officers including Uwlla Iillor.

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 ambitious Dark Jedi and Inquisitor Jerec. 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&mdash;to lure the Rebels out by attacking the G-Tap. The Rebels fought better than either Jerec or Thrawn expected but were ultimately defeated and Katarn captured.

During his time on the Vengeance, Thrawn continued to pursue his interest in art. When the Vengeance visited 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 Gardens. 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&mdash;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.

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 wingsong 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&mdash;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&mdash;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&mdash;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 wingsong 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.

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

- Thrawn to Dagon Niriz

Thrawn continued to impress and eventually achieved promotion to vice admiral. 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's enemies 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 mapping assignment to the Unknown Regions. In truth, Thrawn had long wanted to take an Imperial presence to the Unknown Regions and, together with Palpatine, had planned his apparent defeat and exile to provide a convenient cover for his true purpose&mdash;to bring the untamed area under Imperial control and to seek out and eliminate potential threats to the Empire, as well as to fulfill his long term goal of protecting his own people. Thrawn was initially given only one ship to assist in his goal&mdash;the Imperial I-class Star Destroyer Admonitor, under the command of Captain Dagon Niriz. Many of Thrawn's senior officers, including Niriz and the ship's infantry commander, General Larr Haverel, were unhappy with what they perceived as a dead-end assignment but Thrawn would have one ally onboard&mdash;Voss Parck, who had recently been serving as Thrawn's aide, had been demoted to commander by Thrawn's enemies and assigned as the Admonitor's executive officer.

The long journey to the Unknown Regions took the Admonitor through the Outer Rim and Wild Space, and Thrawn took the opportunity to ensure the ships's pilots and crew were familiar with its hyperdrive-equiped TIE scouts. Upon reaching the Unknown Regions, the Admonitor began scouting systems. It was not until reaching the fifteenth system that they encountered intelligent life. Upon seeing the three unknown ships approaching, Niriz ordered TIEs to intercept but Thrawn countermanded the order and had the fighters take escort positions ahead of the Admonitor. Thrawn hailed the aliens, hiding their true purpose by identifying the Admonitor as an Alderaanian colony ship, and received a response from the Ebruchi Creysis, who claimed to be the ruler of the system. When thirty-eight more Ebruchi ships appeared from behind a small moon, Thrawn had the TIEs pull back into a tight escort formation, dismissing Niriz's concerns that the aliens might attack by pointing out that they would want to determine the Admonitor's capabilities first. To Creysis, Thrawn offered an apology for intruding and explained that they were seeking a home for the ship's 40,000 colonists. When Creysis offered his assistance in finding a suitable world, Thrawn suggested that they meet aboard the Admonitor. Leaving the ship at battle readiness, Thrawn and Niriz went to greet Creysis in the hangar, offering the Ebruchi a gift of a golden sculpture and agreeing to send the Council of Colonists to Creysis's ship with a list of parameters for a suitable world and to discuss a deal.

Niriz was suspicious of the aliens and thought sending men to Creysis's ship was an unnecessary risk. Unknown to the captain, as well as General Haverel, Thrawn too held suspicions and was already planning to ascertain the Ebruchi's true intentions, as well as ascertain the loyalty of his senior officers. Thrawn suspected that, despite his claims, Creysis was not the true Ebruchi leader as no genuine commander would have agreed to visit an unknown and potentially hostile ship. As a result, Thrawn had had a transponder hidden in the sculpture presented to Creysis. This, he hoped would eventually lead them to the true Ebruchi leader. The Council of Colonists would consist of Commander Parck and six of Haverel's best troops. To escort their shuttle, Thrawn asked Niriz to select three TIE pilots who could remain calm under fire. After personally briefing the selected men, Thrawn had technicians work on the shuttle and one of the TIEs selected for the mission. The TIE was modified to remove key components and hide the fighter's true capabilities while the shuttle's starboard fuel tank was emptied to allow a dozen stormtroopers to hide inside. He also arranged for sensor-stealthed shuttles to monitor the proceedings. Four hours after Creysis left the Admonitor, the mission was ready to launch.

The Zeta-class shuttle and its TIE escorts approached the Ebruchi vessels with the Admonitor several minutes away. The shuttle soon landed and, as the TIEs began to return to the Admonitor they came under fire from the Ebruchi starfighters. The modified TIE was soon surrounded and caught by grappling lines while the remaining two, acting on Thrawn's orders, returned to the Admonitor without engaging. As the Ebruchi moved away with the captured vessels, Niriz ordered the Admonitor to engage at full speed but Thrawn suspected that Creysis was attempting to ascertain the Star Destroyer's abilities so maintained his deception by having the ship pursue at a low speed. Thrawn had concluded that the Ebruchi were in fact pirates. The golden sculpture was intended to establish the Admonitor as a lucrative target and Thrawn was now certain that Creysis would not harm the prisoners or attempt to escape until his people had examined the captured vessels to determine the Imperials' level of technology. However, his apparent lack of a response concerned Niriz and Haverel who thought that, at best, Thrawn was incompetent and, at worst, in league with Creysis.

Haverel voiced his concerns to Niriz and suggested that they relieve Thrawn of command. Niriz, however, was not prepared to mutiny against his commander, regardless of his personal concerns, and decided to warn Thrawn. His warning proved too late as, moments after speaking to Thrawn, Haverel arrived on the bridge with six troopers to take him into custody. While the confrontation continued on the bridge, eight of the Ebruchi fighters broke formation and jumped to hyperspace on different vectors to summon the rest of the pirates for the kill. This was what Thrawn had been waiting for and, after confirming that the stealth shuttles had ascertained the hyperspace vectors, he gave the order to attack. On Thrawn's command, the hidden stormtroopers emerged from the shuttle and opened fire on the Ebruci troops holding their comrades captive. Meanwhile, the Admonitor went to full speed and Thrawn launched a squadron of TIEs which quickly cut through the unprepared enemy fighter screen. The Ebruchi fighters were soon destroyed and their command ship captured&mdash;the Imperial forces sustained no casualties. The sculpture had been placed aboard one of the eight Ebruchi fighters and taken to Creysis's commander to demonstrate the Admonitor's worth. With the hyperspace vectors obtained by the stealth shuttles, Thrawn now knew the location of the Ebruchi base. He also knew that they would soon be preparing to attack the Admonitor, so took the ship to hyperspace quickly to destroy the enemy base before they launched.

Once the Ebruchi threat was eliminated, Thrawn had Haverel sent back to Coruscant for his attempted mutiny. Niriz too offered his resignation but Thrawn refused to accept it as, unlike Haverel, Niriz had proved that he could overcome his personal feelings and remain loyal to his commander. As a result, the captain was finally told the true nature of their mission.

Over the following years, Thrawn spent much 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. His campaign 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, found themselves becoming part of the Empire, while worlds which defied Thrawn suffered severe consequences&mdash;when the inhabitants of the planet UR41-284 initially refused to submit to the Empire's rule, Thrawn ordered the Victory-class Star Destroyer Iron Fist to destroy everything within a seventy kilometer radius of the major village cluster's museum district, leaving the planet's artwork intact. Only once did he fail to bring a world under Imperial control&mdash;when he found himself unable to subjugate the inhabitants, Thrawn destroyed their planet. 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, discovering and subjugating many species in the process.

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 of 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 indegenous 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 one of the galaxy's most extensive databases installed in the fortress.

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.

Eventually, his successful career earned him the title of Warlord and, despite Palpatine's well-known prejudice against aliens, saw his promotion to Grand Admiral&mdash;the only non-Human to achieve the rank. Even so, Thrawn's importance to the Empire was known only to a few&mdash;his promotion to Grand Admiral took place in a secret ceremony on Coruscant, following the public dedication of the Imperial Palace's Assemblage wing, with few present to witness. Likewise, Thrawn was one of the few Palpatine trusted with knowledge the Emperor's Hands, revealing Mara Jade's true purpose during the 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&mdash;after the resulting attack proved unsuccessful, Palpatine developed a greater respect for Thrawn's opinion.

On 2:9:13 ABY, Cynabar's InfoNet reported that the Grand Admiral had been recalled to Coruscant after several years commanding an armada in border systems on the Outer Rim, presumably a cover for his true mission to the Unknown Regions. The NewsNet also identified him as a Grand Admiral, although his promotion was not believed to be public knowledge. After his return, Thrawn attended the official commissioning ceremony for the Super Star Destroyer Executor at the Imperial Transfer Post near the Kuat system on 2:10:23 ABY. Back on Coruscant, Thrawn was invited to join the elite Order of the Canted Circle on Palpatine's behest and in recognition of his recent successes. The invitation suprised many due to Thrawn's alien orgins and particularly Grand Admiral Rufaan Tigellinus, who saw Thrawn's return as a threat to the powerful faction he had assembled within the Imperial Court. Nevertheless, on 2:11:13 ABY, he was inducted into the Order in a ceremony at the Skydome Botanical Gardens. That same year, Thrawn became intrigued by a reference to Myrkr, a world which had been inhabited for three centuries, yet left largely untouched by the Galactic Republic and the Jedi. When his original assumption that it was a frontier world of little interest proved incorrect, Thrawn investigated further, eventually learning that the indigenous ysalamiri had the ability to repel the Force using a Force-neutral bubble. Thrawn kept the discovery in mind until he found a use for the creatures several years later.

Before Thrawn returned to the Unknown Regions, he assisted Darth Vader in his campaign against Prince Xizor and Black Sun. The Dark Lord of the Sith saw Xizor as a threat but, since Palpatine had an arrangement with the Falleen crime lord to let Black Sun operate without Imperial interference, was unable to eliminate him directly. Instead, he sought a means of distracting Xizor. Thrawn agreed to provide such a distraction and, at the same time, to determine the location of a Rebel stronghold. In exchange for his help, Vader agreed to give Thrawn command of the Noghri. The Dark Lord had once come to the aid of the Noghri, whose homeworld was devastated by a nearby space battle. In exchange for the Empire's help in repairing the damage to their world, the Noghri had pledged their allegiance to the Empire, acting as Palpatine and Vader's private commandos.

Thrawn's target would be Zekka Thyne, the vigo in charge of Black Sun's operation on Corellia. Knowing that either a major Imperial attack or the use of Vader's mercenary connections would draw Xizor's suspicion to the Dark Lord, Thrawn decided to use a small attack by the local garrison that could not be traced to Vader. However, he would need to provide just cause for such an attack. He therefore anonymously alerted Colonel Maximilian Veers that a Rebel force was gathering in the forest near Thyne's fortress. All that remained was to ensure that Thyne's forces opened fire, thereby providing an excuse for the Imperials to storm the fortress. Unwilling to trust the assignment to anybody else, Thrawn decided to infiltrate Thyne's fortress in person, disguised in the Mandalorian armor of the bounty hunter Jodo Kast.

However, even as Kast, Thrawn needed a rationale for his visit to the fortress. To this end, he had the Admonitor intercept the freighter Hopskip and the crew taken before Captain Niriz. Niriz explained that he needed a civilian ship to transport a cargo of 200 boxes to Corellia and intended to hold their current cargo until they completed the delivery. With little choice, the Hopskip's crew agreed to make the delivery and were introduced to Thrawn, already disguised as Kast, who Niriz explained would accompany them on the delivery. The group set traveled to Coronet City where Thrawn directed them to a curio shop in Treasure Ship Row for instructions on how to make contact with Borbor Crisk the cargo's intended recipient.

True to his word, Vader accompanied Thrawn to Honoghr, where the Dark Lord of the Sith explained that his duties in the war against the Empire's enemies required his full attention and named Thrawn as his heir. The news was initially greeted with sadness by the Noghri for whom Vader had provided hope and a purpose but they continued their loyal service to their new master and, in time, came to find these things in Thrawn's leadership. One of Thrawn's earliest Noghri recruits was Rukh, who impressed the Grand Admiral by not appearing intimidated by the Empire's technology. Thrawn would eventually choose Rukh to serve as his bodyguard and the Noghri would rarely stray far from his master thereafter.

Shortly before the Battle of Hoth in 3 ABY, the Empire discovered that the Rebels were moving supplies through Derra IV. Thrawn worked with Darth Vader in planning an Imperial strike on the Rebels, eliminating their supply line and weakening the Alliance. Though it was Thrawn who devised the strategy, Vader presented it to the pilots of the 181st Imperial Fighter Group while Thrawn stood to the side as his subordinate. The Battle of Derra IV was a resounding victory for the Empire and several pilots from the 181st were hailed as heroes. The battle saw promotions for Evir Derricote, Soontir Fel and Turr Phennir while the architect of the victory went uncredited.

The Empire's victory at Hoth scattered the Rebel Alliance throughout the Outer Rim Territories. Palpatine sought to capitalize on their momentum by calling for the Imperial Navy to complete the destruction of the Alliance. To this end, while Palpatine addresssed naval commanders on Coruscant, Thrawn accompanied a fleet under the command of Darth Vader in an assault on a Rebel space station in the Outer Rim. On Vader's signal, Thrawn launched his TIE squadrons and, catching the Rebels unprepared, the Imperial forces soon destroyed the base and the fleeing Rebel starfighters.

Battle for the Pakuuni system
Shortly after, Thrawn received an envoy from the Emperor who briefed him on the growing pirate activity in the Pakuuni system. Thrawn was tasked with eliminating the pirates and establishing a permanent Imperial presence in the system to ensure the safety of nearby trade routes. Thrawn, aboard the Victory-class Star Destroyer Stalwart, traveled to a cargo area near Argoon to retrieve the material needed for the construction of a new Imperial space station. Finding the base abandoned, the Imperials suspected an imminent Rebel attack and, sure enough, Rebel forces soon arrived. However, Thrawn launched TIEs to cover the loading operation and the Rebels were quickly defeated.

Thrawn gave the task of pacifying the system to Commander Buckeye of the Nebulon-B2 frigate Ludwick, holding the Stalwart ready until needed. Buckeye proceeded to the Pakuuni system and quickly destroyed the pirate base. With the pirate's main staging area neutralized, Thrawn took the Stalwart to the system, escorting the convoy carrying the equipment for the new installation. The system, however, was not yet pacified and Thrawn's convoy arrived during a combined attack from pirate and Rebel forces. Although the Ludwick took major damage, the remaining enemy forces fled upon the arrival of the Stalwart and its convoy. Work on the station NL-1 proceeded quickly and Thrawn left the Ludwick to oversee construction. The Rebels made an attempt to prevent the station's completion, but were defeated by the Ludwick and its fighters before Thrawn returned in the Stalwart. The station sustained minor damage in the attack but repairs proceeded quickly and it was soon almost operational.

Despite all the Ludwick's TIE fighters and TIE interceptors being repaired and refurbished, Thrawn was eager to inspect the new facility and ensure it would suit the Emperor's purposes, forcing the Ludwick to deploy TIE bombers as a defensive shield. Thrawn left the Stalwart in a Delta-class DX-9 stormtrooper transport and headed to the station but soon became the target of a Rebel starfighter attack. His bomber escorts made short work of the Rebels and was able to land on the station to conduct his inspection. After approving of the construction effort, Thrawn returned to the Stalwart&mdash;again coming under attack, this time from pirate shuttles. After returning safely, due to the efforts of his escorts, Thrawn sent his personal compliments to the pilots for their ability to improvise in using the TIE bomber in a defensive role.

Thrawn kept the Stalwart nearby during the final stages of NL-1's construction, leaving briefly to oversee the delivered of two IPV-1 System Patrol Craft, and again to escort the final convoy to the station&mdash;an Imperial relief force. The Rebels made one final attempt to destroy the station but were again defeated and the Stalwart returned with the relief force to find the battle almost over. With the station fully staffed, Thrawn remained to oversee repairs from the final Rebel attack before his forces were relieved.

Treachery at Coruscant
There followed a period of instability for the Empire with the defection of Admiral Harkov to the Rebel Alliance. Though Harkov was swiftly brought to justice, while Darth Vader was tracking down the remnants of his fleet, Grand Admiral Demetrius Zaarin, head of new starfighter technology, launched a coup d'état against the Emperor. Crippling Vader's Star Destroyer, Zaarin moved to Coruscant in his flagship, the Glory, and attempted to abduct Palpatine. Vader followed, flying a new TIE/D Defender, ironically designed under Zaarin's supervision, in a group led by Colonel Maarek Stele. Thrawn too rushed to the Emperor's aid in the Imperial-class Star Destroyer Vanguard. Zaarin caused severe damage to the Emperor's Star Destroyer, Majestic and his forces boarded the ship and escaped with Palpatine aboard an escort shuttle. By the time Thrawn arrived, Stele had successfully disabled Palpatine's shuttle, and the Assassin-class corvette Mescue was conducting a rescue operation. Thrawn launched the Vanguard's TIE bombers to assist the battle against Zaarin's forces but, when the Emperor was safely aboard the Mescue, the Glory fled to hyperspace with the Vanguard in pursuit.

Arms race
"I have studied Zaarin's ways and discovered a weakness in his reliance on technology. When our newest starfighter is completed, our forces will strip Zaarin of his technological advantage."

- Grand Admiral Thrawn

Though Zaarin eluded the Vanguard, Thrawn, having transferred his flag to the the Victory-class Star Destroyer Sceltor, put the ship on red alert. Zaarin's coup put the Empire on the defensive and, using his knowledge of their facilities, Zaarin began a campaign to weaken the Empire's starfighter manufacturing capabilities, while simultaneously attempting to gather supplies to begin his own TIE Advanced and TIE Defender production. After losing several facilities to Zaarin's attacks, Thrawn was charged with preventing Zaarin from inflicting any further damage to Imperial facilities.

Although three facilities in the Omar system were destroyed by Zaarin, Imperial forces were able to secure Deep Space Manufacturing Facility ZA-13. However, Rebel forces, attempting to take advantage of the Zaarin situation, attacked the facility. Although the attack was defeated, the Rebels' use of new magnetic pulse warheads led Imperial Intelligence to begin a search for their base of operations. After the search revealed the Rebel station RS-32, an attack was soon planned. TIE Defenders would be sent in first, to disable the station and eliminate enemy fighters. Once the station was disabled, boarding craft would deliver troops to capture it, after which Thrawn would arrive on the Sceltor to retrieve the fighters and the magnetic pulse warheads for use in the developing arms race against Zaarin. The operation went well and, by the time Thrawn arrived, only a handful of Rebel fighters remained.

However, an information leak allowed Zaarin to strike. While the Sceltor moved against RS-32, Zaarin's forces attacked and destroyed ZA-13. Furthermore, Zaarin attempted to ambush Thrawn near RS-32, dispatching the Immobilizer 418 cruiser Grappler to prevent his escape, while the Nebulon-B2 frigate Shadow and Strike-class medium cruiser Serpent attacked the Sceltor. With reinforcements unable to arrive in time, Thrawn was forced to make the most of what was available. With only three TIE bombers available, Thrawn held them in reserve, first launching the Sceltor's two operational TIE Defenders, armed with magnetic pulse warheads, to disable the weapons systems on the Grappler, while the ship's single TIE Advanced fought enemy fighters. Maarek Stele, flying one of the TIE Defenders, quickly delivered a magnetic pulse warhead to the Grappler, as well as the two attacking capital ships. Thrawn launched his TIE bombers which moved against the Grappler while Stele held off enemy fighters. Eventually, the Grappler was destroyed and, though the Sceltor sustained damage during the battle, Thrawn was able to escape to hyperspace.

The loss of ZA-13 left the Empire without most of its ability to produce TIE Advanced fighters. The Emperor wanted retribution against Zaarin and commanded Thrawn to track him down and destroy his forces. Palpatine officially promoted Thrawn to admiral and made the best resources in the Imperial Navy available to him, among them Maarek Stele who had greatly impressed Thrawn. Zaarin, meanwhile, moved his forces to the Outer Rim to prepare for further attacks against the Empire.

Some time later, Zaarin's forces began looting the facility where he oversaw development of the TIE Defender. Imperial forces were able to briefly regain control of the space station but, a subsequent attack by Zaarin forced them to evacuate. Three TIE Defenders were loaded onto the BFF-1 bulk freighter Mharsup, while the key members of the design team fled in the shuttle G'nabgib. The unarmed freighter soon transferred its cargo to corvette group Hashim, who were under instructions to deliver them to Thrawn who, on orders from Palpatine, was to see them to a secret location on Coruscant for safekeeping. The journey, however, proved hazardous with multiple attacks from Zaarin, Rebel and pirate forces. Although the convoy's escorts were able to eliminate the Rebel and treacherous Imperial forces, Rneekii pirates were able to use the distraction to capture the scientists and data from the G'nabgib, while Nami pirates captured one of the corvettes&mdash;both of which presented the risk of the proliferation of TIE Defender technology. The attacks also forced the remaining prototypes to be moved once more, this time to cargo ferry group Mssan. Mssan group finally reached Thrawn and transferred the prototypes to his Star Destroyer&mdash;Thrawn took them directly to Coruscant.

Since being charged with eliminating Zaarin, Thrawn had studied the former Grand Admiral's strategy and had found a weakness in his dependence on technology. Working with Cygnus Spaceworks, Thrawn began secretly developing the Missile Boat as a countermeasure to the TIE Defender. Thrawn believed that the Empire's latest starfighter would provide them with the technological advantage needed to defeat Zaarin and prevent TIE Defender technology from spreading to other factions.

Meanwhile, the Rneekii attempted to ransom the lead TIE Defender scientist. The Empire, as the highest bidders, met with the Rneekii representatives to make the exchange but planned a double cross&mdash;the Interdictor Red Claw would prevent the Rneekii from escaping while Imperial forces recovered both the scientist and ransom money. Thrawn suspected that the Nami may attempt to interfere with the exchange in an effort to capture the scientist themselves. He therefore gave the Red Claw instructions to capture and Nami ships and take the pirate leader into custody. Thrawn's suspicion was proved correct but, though a Nami vessel was captured during the exhange, Tarrak was not aboard. Furthermore, the unsuccessful Nami attack did leave the Red Claw damaged and stranded in the system pending hyperdrive repairs and, in a subsequent attack, Zaarin was able to capture the scientist.

The situation deteriorated further with the news that Tarrak's forces were attacking an Imperial cargo transfer area in the Yrrna system. The Nami were using TIE Defenders in the attack, which was being observed by the Alliance, indicating that not only had they managed to begin production of the fighters, but were negotiating to supply them to the Rebels. Thrawn was determined to prevent TIE Defenders from falling into Rebel hands so planned an assault on a Nami Strike cruiser delivering a shipment of the fighters. The attack on the Nuance saw the debut of the newly completed Missile Boat, escorting Assault Gunboats while they disabled the Strike cruiser. With the Nuance disabled, Thrawn arrived in his new flagship, the Imperial-class Star Destroyer Grey Wolf, to oversee its capture, along with its cargo&mdash;simultaneously depriving the Rebels of the TIE Defenders while boosting the Empire's own supply. Along with eight TIE Defenders, the attack resulted in the capture of several prisoners and led the Empire to the location of Tarrak's TIE Defender manufacturing facility.

Before Thrawn could attack, however, the Rebels attempted to retrieve the TIE Defenders. Thrawn decided to make a stand and defeat the coming attack on the Grey Wolf. Thrawn led the attack against three Carrack-class light cruisers while Stele, flying a Missile Boat, intercepted proton torpedoes headed for the Grey Wolf. Even so, the Rebel bombers succeeded in taking out the Grey Wolf's shields before the Rebel assault was ultimately defeated, ensuring that they would not acquire TIE Defenders. With no time to waste, Thrawn recalled the Imperial fighters and took the Grey Wolf to engage Tarrak's manufacturing facility. Thrawn sought the destruction of the facility but also intended to capture Ali Tarrak&mdash;the pirate leader reminded him of himself and he had convinced Palpatine to offer her the chance to serve the Empire. The factory was protected by numerous starfighters which moved to engage the Grey Wolf. Thrawn launched TIE interceptors to engage incoming fighters while Stele's Missile Boat cleared the way for a TIE bomber attack on the factory. As Tarrak fled the doomed facility, her transport was disabled and the Nami was taken into custody for delivery to Palpatine. The destruction of the Nami facility left Zaarin's forces as the only other faction in possession of the TIE Defender. Thrawn, however, was convinced that the Missile Boat would prove decisive.

Thrawn was soon called to meet with the Emperor on Coruscant. Palpatine was pleased with Thrawn's performance during the Nami crisis and his continued loyalty to the Empire. He, therefore decided to make his promotion to Grand Admiral official, with Thrawn formally taking Zaarin's place among the twelve. Now, with the Nami threat eliminated, Palpatine ordered Thrawn to resume his hunt for the renegade Imperial and bring about the destruction of Zaarin's forces.

Hunt for Zaarin
"The traitor Zaarin cannot run forever. Soon, he will be in our grasp."

- Grand Admiral Thrawn

Zaarin was attempting to flee to the Unknown Regions to gather his forces and Thrawn soon learned of a supply convoy headed for a rendezvous with Zaarin's forces to deliver critical supplies. Thrawn dispatched one of his most promising commanders, Captain Kuuztin, on the Star Destroyer Courageous to intercept the rendezvous. Kuuztin's orders were to capture any military equipment but Thrawn also hoped that the captured ships might reveal Zaarin's location to hasten his defeat. The attack went smoothly and, though Zaarin's location remained unknown, the loss of the vital supplies would force him to alter his plans and delay his retreat. Thrawn hoped that Zaarin would soon become desperate and make a mistake on which he could capitalize. Zaarin, however, went back on the offensive, preparing to ambush Imperial forces. Kuuztin learned of Zaarin's plans and, hoping to gain a major victory which would lead to his promotion, decided to launch a preemptive strike on Zaarin's staging location. Thrawn was not informed of Kuuztin's plan as the ambitious captain was ultimately hoping to replace the Grand Admiral. However, Kuuztin was leading his forces into a trap and he was killed when the Courageous was ambushed and destroyed by two Star Destroyers.

Thrawn soon planned his own trap for Zaarin, taking advantage of his weakness for technology by leaking news of a convoy which was supposedly carrying Missile Boats. In fact, Stele's Missile Boat would be the only one present and was charged with protecting the convoy until it escaped. Once the convoy was safe and, with Zaarin's forces fully committed, Thrawn would arrive with a task force to wipe out the renegade's fleet. Zaarin, however, was alerted to the deception and only committed five corvettes to the attack. Thrawn was suspicious that a spy within the Empire had informed Zaarin of the attack but was certain that the principle was sound and resolved to try again with more tempting bait&mdash;a second convoy transporting an entire squadron of Missile Boats.

Thrawn's plan was for a task force led by the Interdictor Whirlwind to move against Zaarin's forces after they engaged the convoy and prevent the renegade's escape. Thrawn would then arrive with his own task force to ensure Zaarin's destruction. However, Zaarin again discovered Thrawn's plan and sent a strike force to attack the Whirlwind. Though the attack was defeated, the Whirlwind suffered damage and was forced to undergo repairs, making it unable to assist the convoy. With Zaarin's attack on the convoy already underway, only Stele's Missile Boat could intervene in time and attempt to prevent it's loss before Thrawn could arrive. Although Thrawn's plan had been thrown into disarray, Stele was able to hold off Zaarin's forces until the Grey Wolf and Resolution arrived. However, despite destroying several of Zaarin's ships and saving the convoy, without the Interdictor, Thrawn was unable to prevent the Glory from fleeing to hyperspace and Zaarin once again evaded capture.

Zaarin soon resumed his assaults on Imperial research facilities. During his time with the Empire, Zaarin had been aware of to Vorknkx Project, an attempt to create a cloaking device for small starships, and when his source within the Empire revealed news of sudden progress, Zaarin moved against the testbed ship, the CR90 corvette Vorknkx. Thrawn moved quickly to defend the project, dispatching several Assault Gunboats, two System Patrol Craft and Stele's Missile Boat to stop Zaarin's attack. Though the assault was defeated, the project's security was compromised and the Imperials were forced to evacuate. The project was transferred to a new location and work resumed on the almost completed cloaking device. However, Thrawn was made aware of an instability caused by using the device in combination with a hyperdrive and began to formulate a plan to use the device against Zaarin.

Endgame
The Vorknkx was relocated to To-phalion Base, a former mining facility converted to serve as a research station. However, it was not long before Zaarin's spy led him to the new location and the renegade initiated a new attack to capture the cloaking device. Thrawn had anticipated Zaarin's assault and made plans to trap him&mdash;first Zaarin would need to be drawn to To-phalion Base in person, then the Grey Wolf was to lead a task force consisting of two Strike cruisers and the Interdictor Corvus to prevent his escape. However, Thrawn still needed time to position his forces when the battle commenced.

The first wave of the attack consisted of TIE Defenders and Muurian transports, which quickly overwhemled the base's starfighters and moved against its static defenses. Knowing that Zaarin must be delayed until he could arrive, Thrawn dispatched TIE Advanced fighters to aid in the defense of the base. Despite heavy opposition, the Imperial forces successfully defeated the first wave and finally eliminated Zaarin's spy, but not before he sabotaged the defensive weapon systems. With a second attack wave approaching the base, Thrawn still needed to buy time for his forces, so transferred to the EF76 Nebulon-B escort frigate Maru Ki and moved to To-phalion Base to personally lead the counterattack.

Thrawn arrived after the defeat of the second wave and, as he expected, Zaarin soon arrived in person on the Glory to lead the third wave. Zaarin was where Thrawn wanted him but, with To-phalion Base now vulnerable, it was uncertain if the loyalist forces would arrive in time to spring the trap. However, Thrawn had studied Zaarin and was counting on the renegade's hatred of him to provide them with the time they needed&mdash;while Zaarin was distracted attempting to kill Thrawn, the Grey Wolf would have time to arrive and prevent the capture of the Vorknkx. As expected, the Glory first targeted the Maru Ki in an attempt to eliminate Thrawn. Eventually, the frigate took heavy damage and was forced to flee into hyperspace, though Thrawn first launched on a shuttle to continue commanding the battle. The Grey Wolf's arrival was imminent but Zaarin still had more supporters within To-phalion Base and the traitors were able to capture the Vorknkx and fly it to safety aboard the Glory. Zaarin destroyed the base before retreating into hyperspace, moments before Thrawn's forces arrived to spring the trap.

However, Thrawn had allowed for this eventuality and placed a homing beacon aboard the Vorknkx, allowing him to track Zaarin's decimated forces to their regrouping point deep in the Unknown Regions. Thrawn was quick to move after Zaarin, taking command of the Grey Wolf once more and leading his task force to Zaarin's location. The Grand Admiral's plan was to use the Corvus to prevent Zaarin's escape. While the Grey Wolf protected the Interdictor, both Strike cruisers would move against the Glory. Once Zaarin's fighter screen was eliminated, all Imperial fighters would converge on his flagship and destroy it. With so many losses in the previous battle, Zaarin found himself outgunned and it wasn't long before the Glory was destroyed and he was forced to evacuate. To best enable him to slip away, Zaarin chose to make his escape in the Vorknkx, using its cloaking device to evade the Imperials. However, Thrawn had anticipated this and reports showing the cloaking device as functional had been altered by Thrawn to hide its hyperspace instability. From the bridge of the Grey Wolf, Thrawn looked on with satisfaction as Zaarin attempted to take the cloaked corvette into hyperspace and was killed when the unstable device caused the vessel to explode.

Reemergence
"I am Grand Admiral Thrawn. I have been away, but now I have returned. I know some of what has occurred. You will fill in the details of the rest when I come aboard. Rejoice, Captain, for the Empire will rise again."

- Thrawn greet Gilad Pellaeon

The death of the Emperor in the Empire's shock defeat at the Battle of Endor, shortly after Thrawn's victory over Zaarin, saw the New Order spiral into chaos. While Thrawn remained in the Unknown Regions, the Empire found itself steadily pushed back from the Core Worlds as the Rebellion transformed into the New Republic and, in time, began to fragment as many within the Empire began to fight for personal power. During this time, Thrawn remained in contact with Director of Imperial Intelligence Ysanne Isard who rose to fill the power vacuum left by Palpatine's death. Six months after the Battle of Endor in 4 ABY, Soontir Fel defected to the New Republic and joined Rogue Squadron. An enraged Isard was determined to locate the traitor but Thrawn, recognizing the need for skilled officers such as Fel, devised a plan to capture the pilot. Isard had Thrawn's plan put into action and, a year and a half after Endor, Fel was captured and sent to Thrawn on Nirauan. There, Thrawn showed Fel the dangers they faced in the Unknown Regions and that even the combined forces of the Empire and the New Republic may not guarantee victory. Convinced of the threat, Fel agreed to join Thrawn. Around 6.5 ABY, Isard, realizing that the Empire could no longer afford to waste its personnel, had Major Wortin transferred to the Star Destroyer Inexorable to serve under Thrawn, after his failure to capture Bror Jace. However, ultimately, the Empire's decline began to impact on Thrawn's mission, and he found his forces in the Unknown Regions dwindling as ships were recalled to the Empire.

Sometime in the same year, Thrawn made a brief return from the Unknown Regions when he traveled on the Vaathkree with his Noghri bodyguard Ovruk to the shipyard system of Sluis Van, then cautiously neutral in the ongoing Galactic Civil War. Thrawn arrived shortly after a senatorial delegation from the New Republic, led by Baron Jonas Stern and the Bothan Borsk Fey'lya, as the New Republic looked to gain the support of the Sluissi Council. Thrawn, however, had analyzed the situation and concluded that Sluis Van was already lost to the Empire in diplomatic terms and the purpose of the Grand Admiral's visit was to acquire a Star Destroyer under construction in the docks, against the New Republic's objections, and to gather intelligence in anticipation of a future military reconquest of the system. As a result, he showed little interest in the diplomatic negotiations, refusing on several occasions to meet with Slui-Koronar of the pro-Imperial United Party.

During his visit, Thrawn attended a diplomatic function hosted by the New Republic delegation. At the reception, the Grand Admiral found himself drawn to Stern's collection of statues, particularly a Rodian statuette, which he inquired about purchasing. Baron Stern, however, had only just bought the statuette and was reluctant to sell it, though he promised to provide Thrawn with details of his supplier. However, the conversation was overheard by Slui-Koronar, who saw an opportunity to sabotage the New Republic negotiations and gain favor with the Grand Admiral. Later that night, a Defel, hired by Slui-Koronar, murdered Stern as he slept and stole the statuette as a gift for Thrawn. The New Republic attempted to hide the truth while they conducted an investigation, with Fey'lya taking over negotiations until a replacement for Stern could arrive. However, it was not long before Thrawn's network of informants revealed Stern's fate to the Grand Admiral and, realizing that he would be the prime suspect, he decided to conduct his own investigation.

Thrawn soon uncovered Slui-Koronar's involvement in Stern's death. Furthermore, he learned that the New Republic investigators were to interview the Sluissi. Two hours before they arrived, Thrawn dispatched Ovruk to kill Slui-Koronar and had recording equipment hidden in his home. When the New Republic agents arrived later and discovered the Sluissi's body, they retrieved the statuette and fled the premises. Thrawn quickly had the holographic footage edited to implicate the Rebels in Slui-Koronar's murder and had 15,000 credits deposited in Stern's account, supposedly from the Sluissi. When Dogh Stoya arrived to take charge of the New Republic delegation, Thrawn presented his evidence and used it to force a settlement to the diplomatic stand-off. Later that day, Thrawn announced that he would leave it to the Sluissi to decide their world's future&mdash;in exhange Dogh announced that the New Republic was withdrawing its objection to letting the Empire take the Star Destroyer. His mission completed, Thrawn returned to the Unknown Regions.

Within four years of the Battle of Endor, the Empire was in control of barely a quarter of its former systems. Finally, in 8 ABY, the Grand Admiral decided the time had come to return to the Empire. Thrawn sent an encrypted holographic transmission to the Imperial II-class Star Destroyer Chimaera on the Emperor's private channel. When the message was received by the ship's commanding officer, Captain Gilad Pellaeon, Thrawn announced his return and gave the captain coordinates at which he was to rendezvous with the Grand Admiral's shuttle. After boarding the Chimaera, Thrawn transferred his flag to the ship and named Pellaeon as his second in command. With the New Order on the verge of collapse, Thrawn began the process of rebuilding the Empire by uniting its fragmented elements and assuming command of the Imperial Military. One of his first acts upon taking command of the Chimaera was to convert the former commander's luxury entertainment suite into a private command room which could effectively function as a secondary bridge. After the refitting was complete, the Grand Admiral would spend much of his time meditating there.

The Chimaera was to serve as the flagship and one of five Star Destroyers in Thrawn's armada, around which he began gathering Imperial forces for a major campaign against the New Republic. The armada also included a number of Strike-class and Carrack-class cruisers, along with the starfighter complements of each. With the Empire's resources severely handicapped they were forced to use inexperienced crews, many conscripted by threat of force. Despite this, Thrawn made every effort to reinstate training programs and ensure that rookies were teamed with older officers with academy training. He also had the most promising personnel transferred to ships within his armada and, by the time he launched his campaign, all personnel were trained to such a high level that even unconventional and typically difficult maneuvers like hyperspace micro-jumps became almost routine. The Imperial Army also received attention from the Grand Admiral with a revitalization program aimed at recruiting and preparing troops for the campaign ahead. Along with the focus on augmenting the Empire's personnel, Thrawn ordered the construction of new weapons and ships. Although the Empire's industrial capability had been seriously reduced, resulting in a lower production level than Thrawn wanted, the production effort soon led to new ships entering service and the introduction of the Scimitar assault bomber. As Thrawn drew more ships to his fleet, Imperial worlds complained that they were left unprotected so Thrawn had the fleet's aging Dreadnaught-class heavy cruisers assigned to defend Imperial territory and, in order not to tie up experienced naval personnel, had Imperial Army troops trained to operate them.

The Emperor's storehouse
"There's a degree of risk involved. But risk has always been an inescapable part of warfare. In this case, the potential benefits far outweigh the potential dangers."

- Thrawn on recruiting Joruus C'baoth

Thrawn soon began to formulate a grand strategy to defeat the New Republic and restore Imperial control. Though many details of this strategy are unclear, it is known that it included detailed campaigns for the next five years and that he considered his forces in the Unknown Regions to be the key to the Empire's ultimate victory. The first part of the Grand Admiral's strategy required locating a secret storehouse where the Emperor had kept various technologies acquired by the Empire. Two items of technology contained in the storehouse particular interested Thrawn&mdash;the schematics to a practical cloaking device developed by the Empire shortly before the Battle of Endor, and at least 20,000 Spaarti cloning cylinders. With the cloning cylinders, Thrawn could quickly produce the personnel required for a major campaign against the New Republic. The effects of the Force on a clone that was grown too quickly could result in clone madness, but Thrawn's earlier discovery that ysalamiri could repel the Force provided him a way to overcome this&mdash;Thrawn planned to use the creatures to push back the Force from the cloning tanks and avoid clone madness.

Thrawn spent over a year searching for the location of the storehouse. During this time Thrawn ordered a series of tactical surveys conducted in systems near Imperial space and hit-and-fade attacks in nearby systems, with targets including Draukyze and Paonnid. Thrawn's forces also fought against those of former Republic Senator Garm Bel Iblis, achieving a victory at Linuri which put a temporary end to Bel Iblis's guerrilla attacks against the Empire. Word eventually reached the New Republic that a new leader had emerged in the Empire, but Thrawn's identity remained illusive.

The location of the storehouse finally came to light following a scan raid to the Obroa system. A download from Obroa-skai's central library system revealed the location of the Emperor's storehouse in Mount Tantiss on Wayland. However, the raid did not run entirely as planned and the Imperial scoutships returned to the Chimaera pursued by New Republic forces. Although the Chimeara was outgunned by four incoming Assault Frigates, Thrawn chose not to retreat or call for reinforcements and risk revealing the strength of his forces. Instead he dispatched three sentry ships towards the incoming vessels and observed the enemy shift to respond&mdash;the pattern of their response was enough for Thrawn to identify the New Republic commander as an Elom. This was all the information Thrawn needed and he promptly ordered a Marg Sabl maneuver, knowing that the Elom commander would struggle to cope with the unstructured attack. The New Republic forces were defeated within the hour.

With the location of the Emperor's storehouse in his grasp it was time for Thrawn to put his plan into action. Breaking the Chimaera from the rest of the fleet, Thrawn set course for Myrkr where he dispatched shuttles to begin harvesting ysalamiri. From Myrkr, Thrawn traveled to Wayland. During the five day journey he had the Chimaera's engineers develop portable frames to support and nourish the harvested ysalamiri. Thrawn was aware that Palpatine had left a guardian to watch over the storehouse and, working under the assumption that the guardian would be a Dark Jedi, intended to use the ysalamiri to provide protection. Upon arriving at Wayland, Thrawn, Pellaeon and Rukh took a shuttle down to the surface to locate the guardian. Thrawn had long suspected that Palpatine used battle meditation to coordinate the Imperial fleet in battle, and had reached the conclusion that the shock defeat at the Battle of Endor was prompted by death of Palpatine and the sudden absence of his controlling influence&mdash;as well as retrieving the technology within Mount Tantiss, Thrawn also hoped to recruit the guardian to enhance the coordination of the Imperial forces during their campaign against the New Republic.

However, instead of the guardian, they were met by Joruus C'baoth, a clone of the Jedi Master Jorus C'baoth who had perished in Thrawn's destruction of Outbound Flight. C'baoth claimed to have killed the original guardian and taken his place as ruler of Wayland before launching an attack on the Imperials, though his Force lightning proved useless against the ysalamiri. Despite C'baoth's clearly unstable personality&mdash;a result of clone madness&mdash;Thrawn attempted to persuade him to join them. C'baoth was initially reluctant but Thrawn made an offer that convinced him&mdash;in exchange for fighting for Thrawn, the Empire would capture Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa Solo and her unborn twins so that he could take them as his apprentices.

Thrawn quickly began transforming Mount Tantiss into an active Imperial facility, ordering the power and defense systems restored to full power. Nearly eighty percent of the Spaarti cylinders were either functional or could be restored and Thrawn ordered that they too be brought into use as quickly as possible. Soon after he enacted a policy of having field commanders recommend the best performing personnel for immediate transfer to Wayland to serve as clone templates. Conventional wisdom dictated that clones needed to be grown for a year to be mentally stable but, by using the ysalamiri to repel the Force, Thrawn found that stable clones could be produced in a cycle of just fifteen to twenty days. With the cloning operation underway, Thrawn had the Imperial shipyards at Bilbringi, Ord Trasi and Yaga Minor increase production to provide ships for the newly created clones.

Though most clones were straight copies of their templates, Thrawn also experimented with creating a new class of warrior. By mixing some of his own knowledge into the flash training matrix, Thrawn hoped to produce soldiers who combined the combat strength of a stormtrooper with his tactical ability. The template chosen for the prototype was former Royal Guard Grodin Tierce but the resulting clone was little more than a tactically brilliant stormtrooper without the long-term vision Thrawn had sought. With the prototype having resulted in a failure, Thrawn abandoned the project.

Preliminary strikes
"They've never yet met any foe they can't handle, Master C'baoth. One group or another will succeed. Until then&mdash;a few Noghri, more or less, won't seriously drain our resources."

- Thrawn on the Noghri

Thrawn wasted no time in attempting to deliver on his promise to C'baoth. From his source in the Imperial Palace he learned that Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa Solo would be making a diplomatic trip to Bimmisaari and dispatched a Noghri commando team to capture them. However, the Noghri proved unprepared for Skywalker's abilities and the pair were able to escape. Thrawn was disappointed with the Noghri's failure but ordered a second team to begin preparing for a mission. C'baoth, however, was already growing impatient and declared that if Thrawn could deliver Leia to him, he would take care of Luke himself. With the Empire preparing for a major attack on the shipyards at Sluis Van and unable to spare C'baoth, Thrawn was reluctant to let him go and agreed only to Pellaeon's suggestion of starting a rumor that C'baoth had been spotted on Jomark in order to lure Skywalker into coming to him.

The attack on Sluis Van was prompted by the Empire's ability to produce cloned crews for ships quicker than the ships themselves&mdash;rather than decimating the New Republic forces, he planned to capture as many ships as possible. To this end, he planned a series of raids throughout the Sluis Sector, aimed at forcing the New Republic to send reinforcements to protect Sluis Van and stretching their forces out to leave each ship undermanned and vulnerable. This process began with a three-prong hit-and-fade attack in which Thrawn led a five-ship task force in an attack on Bpfassh while C'baoth used battle meditation to coordinate simultaneous attacks on two other systems. Thrawn's objective was simply to inflict damage and to frighten the enemy and, after destroying the orbital defense platform and several enemy ships, he ordered all three Imperial task forces to withdraw to the rendezvous point, leaving a few hundred dead in the Bpfassh system alone and the New Republic to waste resources sending reinforcements. It was during a visit to reassure the Bpfasshi following the attack that Leia Organa Solo again came under attack from Thrawn's Noghri. To Thrawn's displeasure, the Noghri failed once again.

Part of Thrawn's plan for Sluis Van involved stealing a number of mole miners from Lando Calrissian's mining operation on Nkllon. The planet's unusually high level of sunlight intensity would pose a problem to most ships, but Thrawn knew that a Star Destroyer would be able to handle the direct sunlight for a few minutes and, although they would need to reinforce the viewports and remove external communications equipment&mdash;effectively leaving the ship blind and deaf&mdash;C'baoth would be able to ensure that the ship's performance was not hampered. The Judicator's raid went as planned and the Empire relieved Calrissian of 51 mole miners. Thrawn, observing the raid from the Chimaera at the outskirts of the Athega system, was interested to learn that C'baoth had made contact with Luke Skywalker during the battle. C'baoth insisted on being taken to Jomark to wait for Skywalker, to which Thrawn agreed. However, Thrawn actually planned to capture Skywalker himself and had probes left at the edge of the system, to watch for his departure. Thrawn planned to deliver C'baoth to Jomark then backtrack at least twenty light years to intercept Skywalker on his way there and take him into custody. In addition, he suspected that, with Skywalker on Nkllon, the Millennium Falcon may not be far away, and hoped that the probes would also lead the Imperials to Leia Organa Solo. Thrawn's hunch proved correct when a probe detected not only Skywalker's T-65 X-wing starfighter departing on a course for Jomark, but also the departure of the Millennium Falcon and Calrissian's Personal Luxury Yacht 3000, the Lady Luck, bound for Kashyyyk. Concluding that Leia was on the Lady Luck and seeking refuge with the Wookiees, Thrawn dispatched a Noghri team to Kashyyyk.

After dropping off C'baoth, Thrawn took the Chimaera to set a trap for Skywalker. In order to hide his deception from C'baoth, Thrawn planned to make the ambush look like an accident and summoned an expendable light freighter and an Immobilizer 418 cruiser to the ambush point&mdash;when Skywalker emerged from hyperspace prematurely due to the Interdictor's artificial gravity well, he would see what appeared to be an Imperial attack on the freighter and assume that snaring him was merely a coincidence. Thrawn's plan worked and Skywalker's X-wing was caught in the Interdictor's gravity well. However, after the Chimaera locked a tractor beam on the starfighter, Skywalker acted quickly to reverse-trigger his acceleration compensator, bringing the ship to a stop, and simultaneously fire a proton torpedo which was instead snared by the tractor beam. Skywalker was able to escape as the tractor beam pulled the torpedo towards it, causing minor damage to the Chimaera. Thrawn had Rukh promptly execute the crewman responsible for his inability to adapt to the situation. However, Thrawn was aware that Skywalker's maneuver would have damaged his hyperdrive and he was unlikely to get further than one light year before becoming stranded. With the fleet too busy preparing for Sluis Van to conduct a search, Thrawn offered a bounty of 30,000 credits for Skywalker's capture.

Some time later Thrawn headed back to Myrkr to meet with the smuggler and information broker Talon Karrde, who had declined the Empire's request for assistance with the search for Skywalker. As his shuttle descended to the surface, Thrawn witnessed a chase involving two GAT-12 Skipray Blastboats which resulted in both crashing in the forest. During his meeting with Karrde he inquired about the Blastboats and was told that a former employee had stolen one and that another employee had pursued. The truth was that Karrde had already found Skywalker but had yet to decide whether to turn him over to the Empire and it was the young Jedi who was attempting to flee in the stolen Blastboat. Although unaware of this, the lack of communication from the pursuing Blastboat was enough for Thrawn to conclude that Karrde's people didn't want him to know what was happening. Furthermore, when Karrde sounded surprised that the search for Skywalker was still proceeding, Thrawn began to suspect the truth. Though he admitted it was unlikely, Thrawn felt that it was worth pursuing and, after stormtroopers found the crash site deserted, he dispatched ground forces to Hyllyard City, the most likely destination for for the survivors.

Battle of Sluis Van
"You were expecting, perhaps, that I'd order an all-out attack? That I would seek to cover our defeat in a frenzy of false and futile heroics?" "Of course not." "We haven't been defeated, Captain. Merely slowed down a bit."

- Thrawn and Gilad Pellaeon after the defeat at Sluis Van

Meanwhile, Thrawn left to oversee the final stage of preparations for the attack on Sluis Van. The battle plan would take full advantage of the cloaking device constructed from the schematics found in Mount Tantiss. Instead of cloaking an entire ship, Thrawn's plan involved cloaking only the contents of the cargo hold on a PCL 27 freighter. Any New Republic defenses that scanned the ship on its way in to Sluis Van would see only an empty freighter, allowing it to deliver its true contents, the stolen mole miners and forty escorting TIE fighters, to the heart of the shipyards. While the New Republic defenses were occupied with Thrawn's task force, the mole miners would be free to steal any of the 112 warships in the system, using their plasma jets to cut through bridge emergency escape hatches and deliver stormtroopers to take control of the ships' command centers.

With typically precise timing, Thrawn brought the Imperial fleet into the system moments after the TIE fighters and mole miners launched from the freighter. The battle seemed to be going as planned and, before long, 39 ships were under Imperial control and heading for the perimeter. However, the unexpected presence of Lando Calrissian on the Millennium Falcon provided the New Republic with a way to foil Thrawn's plan. Calrissian used remote control codes to make the mole miners activate their plasma jets, burning through vital equipment on the captured ships and leaving them dead in space. Realizing that his plan had failed, Thrawn ordered the Imperial forces to withdraw, having successfully captured just a single ship.

Unfinished business
"The entire Noghri populace, I think, needs to be reminded of who it is they serve."

- Thrawn plans a visit to Honoghr

The defeat at Sluis Van was a setback, but it had resulted in severe damage to many New Republic vessels and Thrawn remained confident that the Empire would be victorious. However, with the cloning operation firmly under way, the Empire still required ships and Thrawn authorized Pellaeon to contact fifteen underworld groups for assistance in acquiring them, offering a bounty of twenty percent above market value for any armed ships over 100 thousand tons. The bounty soon started to yield results with several ships delivered to the Empire, though nothing larger than a Star Galleon.

There was also one other matter to attend to&mdash;Karrde had assisted in Skywalker's escape from the Imperial forces in Hyllyard City and Thrawn planned to deal with the smuggler. Though he knew that Karrde would already have evacuated his base on Myrkr, he ordered ground forces to begin a search, suspecting that the smuggler would be watching. Spotting a nearby asteroid, Thrawn reasoned that this was the most likely hiding place for Karrde and called for the Interdictor Constrainer to trap them. However, the plan was foiled by Karrde's second-in-command, former Emperor's Hand Mara Jade, who sensed the trap through the Force and took the Wild Karrde to safety moments before the arriving Interdictor could intervene. Still determined to deal with Karrde, Thrawn offered a bounty of 20,000 credits for the smuggler.

Meanwhile, Thrawn continued to undermine the New Republic. A series of raids against New Republic convoys along major trade routes were designed to force the Republic to commit additional forces to escort duty or risk abandoning cargo shipments. Thrawn also devised a plan to destabilize the New Republic by targeting its Supreme Commander, Admiral Ackbar. On the same day as the Sluis Van attack, Imperial Intelligence conducted an electronic break-in at the central clearing bank on Coruscant and placed a large deposit in Ackbar's account. Though hardly conclusive proof, it was enough for Ackbar to be relieved of duty and placed under house arrest. Thrawn knew that vacuum-tight evidence would have led to Ackbar being replaced quickly and hoped that the ambiguous evidence would cause uncertainty within the New Republic. His gamble paid off when Councilor Borsk Fey'lya took the opportunity to attempt to seize Ackbar's position, leading to divisions within the New Republic Defense Fleet.

The Noghri had once again failed to apprehend Leia on Kashyyyk and the displeased Grand Admiral planned to visit Honoghr personally to call a convocate of the clan dynasts and remind them of their duty&mdash;there he would remain until the Noghri succeeded in capturing Leia. The Chimaera arrived at Honoghr shortly before Khabarakh, the only surviving member of the failed Kashyyyk mission. When news of this reached Thrawn, he broke off the convocate to visit Khabarakh's village and find out personally why it took him a month to return home. When Thrawn confronted Khabarakh in his clan's dukha, the young Noghri explained that he had spent the month meditating on his failure and had now returned to discuss it with the clan maitrakh, but Thrawn was convinced that he was hiding something. The truth was that the Noghri had identified Leia as the daughter of his former master and had now brought her, along with the Wookiee Chewbacca, to Honoghr to see for herself the plight of his people. Thrawn's suspicions were enough for him to order a thorough search of Khabarakh's shuttle, revealing Wookiee hairs above the ship. Jumping to the wrong conclusion, Thrawn assumed that Khabarakh was captured and interrogated on Kashyyyk before being released. The logical reason for his release being that he revealed information to the New Republic, Thrawn had Khabarakh arrested as a traitor and sent to the dynasts in Nystao for punishment and to serve as an example to his people. However, with news that the Millennium Falcon had been found in orbit of Endor, Thrawn was concerned that the New Republic may be seeking the location of the Emperor's storehouse and searching for clues, so decided to cut short his stay on Honoghr and proceed to Endor.

Resurrecting the Dark Force
"I rule the Empire now. Not some long-dead Emperor; certainly not you."

- Thrawn to Mara Jade

Thrawn arrived to find the Millennium Falcon deserted&mdash;the ship had been left there when Leia Organa and Chewbacca rendezvoused with Khabarakh&mdash;but ordered it brought aboard for closer examination. While at Endor, Thrawn had an unexpected reunion. Mara Jade had been captured by the Adamant in the Abregado system and, identifying herself as the Emperor's Hand, demanded to speak to the Grand Admiral. Jade proposed a deal&mdash;in exchange for Thrawn canceling the bounty on Karrde, Jade would provide the location of the legendary Katana fleet. The fleet disappeared before the Clone Wars but their location had become known to Karrde early in his career. The two hundred slave-rigged Dreadnaughts would solve the Empire's ship shortages so Thrawn agreed to Jade's deal. However, he was aware that Karrde might not be so cooperative and made arrangements to ensure the deal went through. To this end, he had a homing beacon placed aboard Jade's ship, the Etherway, and followed her back to Karrde's base where they captured the smuggler and his associates. A furious Jade was brought before Thrawn and, drawing on her rudimentary training in the Force, attempted to choke him. Thrawn remained calm as Rukh leaped on the threat and, eventually Jade released her grip. Thrawn offered her the chance to return to Imperial service, as executive officer on a Katana Dreadnaught, but warned that any further outbursts would result in her being turned over to C'baoth. In exchange for her service, he would uphold his end of the deal, releasing Karrde's people immediately and Karrde himself after the smuggler provided the location of the Katana fleet.

Though Jade appeared to agree, Thrawn's casual betrayal convinced her that the Empire she once loved was dead and she resolved to find Skywalker and enlist his help in rescuing Karrde. Skywalker had finally made his way to Jomark to find C'baoth and it was here that Jade caught up with him. Jade warned Skywalker that the Jedi Master was working for the Empire and, after escaping from C'baoth, the two headed for Wistril where they stole and Imperial shuttle to board the Chimaera. When Pellaeon later reported that an Imperial patrol has discovered Jade's abandoned Skipray Blastboat on Wistril, Thrawn quickly realized what was happening and sent troops to check on Karrde, as well as ordering the ship's main computer shut down to prevent Jade using using her access codes to gain entry. However, by the time the Imperials checked Karrde's cell, he was already gone. Thrawn ordered a search of the ship and, when one of the search teams was killed by a lightsaber, concluded that Skywalker was assisting in the rescue. He therefore ordered ysalamiri taken to the hangar bays, along with extra troops. He also correctly assumed that Karrde would choose to bypass the main hangar bays and attempt to steal a ship from deep storage but Imperial troops were unable to arrive in time to prevent the fugitives from boarding the captured Millennium Falcon and, with the computer still offline, the Chimaera was powerless to prevent their escape.

Skywalker's involvement in Karrde's rescue made it seem likely that Karrde would now supply the location of the Katana fleet to the New Republic. Fortunately, Thrawn had already taken steps to acquire the fleet by other means. The Star Destroyer Relentless had recently come under attack from Dreadnaughts under Garm Bel Iblis&mdash;Dreadnaughts which Thrawn had since realized were from the Katana fleet. With this information, Thrawn had already tasked the ship thief Niles Ferrier with finding Bel Iblis's supplier, starting with former shipmates of Talon Karrde. Ferrier led the Empire to Hoffner, Karrde's former captain, at the Coral Vanda casino on Pantolomin. The Chimaera arrived and fired on the submersible casino, forcing it to the surface and allowing them to capture Hoffner.

Hoffner soon revealed the location of the Katana fleet and the Empire mounted a recovery operation. Meanwhile, Karrde had revealed the location to the New Republic but the turmoil caused by Fey'lya's power grab slowed their own recovery effort and, by the time New Republic forces reached the fleet, almost 180 of the 200 Dreadnaughts had been recovered by the Empire. When the Judicator reported encountering New Republic forces at what was left of the fleet, Thrawn decided to take the Chimaera to assist in the battle. However, just as they were preparing to leave, C'baoth arrived aboard a Lancer-class frigate and demanded to speak to Thrawn. The Grand Admiral told C'baoth to wait until he returned but C'baoth used the Force to take control of the Chimaera's navigator, forcing Thrawn to agree to meet and to send the Peremptory instead. However, in Thrawn's absence, the battle went against the Empire and resulted in the loss of the Peremptory before the Judicator withdrew&mdash;a loss Thrawn blamed on C'baoth for delaying him. C'baoth had become increasingly arrogant and had gone so far as to disobey orders while coordinating an attack at Taanab. Thrawn had not considered C'baoth a great threat, relying on the ysalamiri to keep the Jedi Master under control but now, following his failure to bend Skywalker to his will, C'baoth declared himself the ruler of the Empire. Although Thrawn still saw C'baoth as a valuable weapon in the campaign, it was becoming clear that he would soon have to put an end to the Jedi's desire for power.

The campaign intensifies
"Have a care, Grand Admiral Thrawn. I rule the Empire, not you." "Do you really?"

- Joruus C'baoth and Thrawn

The acquisition of the Katana fleet provided the ships needed for Thrawn's clone army and the Imperial forces began preparing for the campaign to begin in earnest. Despite this, Thrawn continued to allow for all contingencies and implemented backup plans in case his campaign proved unsuccessful. Returning at some point to Nirauan, Thrawn had a single Spaarti cloning cylinger installed in a hidden section of the Hand of Thrawn, known only to the Grand Admiral. Within the cloning cylinder, Thrawn planned to grow a single, unaltered clone of himself in case he should be killed. The cloning cylinder was located in an alcove off a large room, behind a transparisteel screen and powered by a Braxxon-Fipps 590 fusion generator. The room itself contained everything the clone would need to survive upon emerging, while it used the provided consoles to catch up on galactic events. In order to protect the clone, Thrawn installed a variety of security measures. Most were designed to prevent intrusion from the native Qom Jha, but the Grand Admiral's typical caution led him to utilise cortosis armored sentinel droids and to provide a pair of ysalamiri in case of a Jedi incursion. The cloning cylinder was set to a ten-year cycle and, while those who served under him were unaware of his clone's existence, Thrawn informed them that, should he ever be reported dead, they should continue their operations and wait for his return ten years later. Back in the known galaxy, Thrawn had a Chiss homing beacon installed in a dummy file in the central Imperial Records Library. Thrawn knew that, if he was killed, the Empire would likely move its seat of government, and the homing beacon would allow his forces in the Unknown Regions to keep track of its movements. Finally, Thrawn implemented his ultimate contingency plan&mdash;sleeper cells of cloned soldiers and pilots were scattered throughout the New Republic and the Empire to form the basis of resistance cells in the event that both governments fell to one of the threats in the Unknown Regions.

After almost a month of preparation, the campaign was ready to proceed and the Grand Admiral launched a major attack aimed at capturing the food production facilities in the Ukio system. Thrawn dispatched elements of the Imperial fleet to attack Ando, Filve and Crondre simultaneously, with each raid designed to draw ships away from the New Republic base at Ord Pardon. When the Imperials subsequently hit the now lightly defended base, it would call for reinforcements and leave Thrawn's true target unprotected. As anticipated, by the time Thrawn took the Chimaera's task force to Ukio, only the planet's defense shield prevented its conquest. However, Thrawn had devised a method to overcome the shield without causing major damage to the planet below. Sending two freighters in advance, each towing two cloaked Dreadnaughts, Thrawn was able to infiltrate the Dreadnaughts under the shield. When the overliege of Ukio failed to acknowledge Thrawn's call for his surrender, the Grand Admiral had the Chimaera open fire on the planet. The shots were absorbed by the planetary shield but, using C'baoth's ability to coordinate with the cloaked ships, the Dreadnaughts, positioned under the shield at the exact points hit, opened fire and created the illusion that the Chimaera had fired through the shield. Believing that the Empire had a new superweapon, the Ukians promptly surrendered. The success at Ukio was echoed in numerous other Imperial victories as the Republic struggled to cope with the Empire's newfound manpower, combined with Thrawn's innovative tactics, such as using Interdictors to ensure Imperial ships emerged from hyperspace in precise locations, and Thrawn's enlarged fleet had soon attacked over twenty New Republic systems.

The imminent birth of Organa Solo's twins led C'baoth to begin pushing for a direct assault on Coruscant but, although Thrawn had his own plans for the Republic capital, he felt the time was not yet right. Instead, Thrawn dispatched C'baoth on the Death's Head to repeat the technique in an assault on Woostri and, having lost faith in the Noghri, an Imperial Intelligence team to Coruscant to kidnap Leia and the children, promising them to C'baoth upon his return. Though the commandos were again unsuccessful in kidnapping Organa Solo, they were able to achieve Thrawn's secondary objective of implicating Mara Jade, now on Coruscant, as an Imperial agent, discrediting her in the eyes of the New Republic and ensuring that she would not reveal the location of Wayland.

Although Mount Tantiss remained a secret, word of the cloning project had reached the New Republic. The Republic began to search for the clones' origin but the Empire planted clues to lead them to Poderis. When Skywalker himself traveled to Poderis to investigate, Thrawn took the Chimaera to Poderis to capture him. Despite Thrawn's warnings not to underestimate the Jedi, Skywalker was able to escape an Imperial Intelligence trap on the planet&mdash;for which Thrawn had his shadower demoted&mdash;forcing Thrawn to attempt to capture him as he fled the planet. As the Chimaera's tractor beam locked on to Skywalker's freighter, he activated the self-destruct mechanism, escaping in his X-wing as the freighter broke into pieces, the covert shroud causing the tractor beam to lose its lock. However, Thrawn was unconcerned&mdash;Skywalker's narrow escape would only serve to convince the New Republic that they had discovered the Empire's clone conduit.

The Republic, meanwhile, was maintaining pressure on the Imperial shipyard supply lines, in an effort to disrupt the Empire's ongoing shipbuilding&mdash;as a result the Bilbringi Shipyards were running low on raw materials including Tibanna gas, Hfredium and Kammris. In response, Thrawn ordered another raid on Calrissian's mining operation on Nkllon to acquire the needed supplies&mdash;in order to avoid the damage caused to the Judicator on the previous raid, this time he sent three Dreadnaughts under the cover of a shieldship to avoid direct sunlight. At the same time as the Nkllon raid, Thrawn led an assault on Ord Mantell aimed at creating fear in surrounding systems as well as drawing Republic ships away from other duties, relieving the pressure on the supply lines.

Thrawn soon learned that Talon Karrde was meeting with several smuggling groups on Trogan in an attempt to persuade them to supply information to the New Republic. Knowing that the smugglers would not want to get involved and would reject Karrde, Thrawn ordered the local garrison not to interfere with the meeting. However, Niles Ferrier persuaded Lieutenant Reynol Kosk to lead an attack on the meeting, helping to defeat the Imperials and, therefore, earn the trust of the other smugglers. When Thrawn learned what had transpired he was furious. The apparent Imperial attack had only served to unite the smugglers and Thrawn did not take the deaths of Imperial personnel lightly. Forced to make the most of the situation, Thrawn summoned Ferrier and instructed him to attend the next meeting with the smugglers, taking with him a "stolen" Imperial shuttle to help earn their trust. He would then continue to report on Karrde's activities and await further orders. When the time was right, Thrawn would have Ferrier plant evidence to implicate Karrde in arranging the Imperial attack to gain the others' support, saving the Empire the trouble of tracking him down. Thrawn also made it clear to Ferrier that the cost of another failure would be severe. Despite this, Ferrier's actions soon had repercussions as Mazzic and Ellor launched a guerrilla attack on the Bilbringi Shipyards which destroyed a half-completed Star Destroyer. Thrawn visited Bilbringi in the aftermath of the attack and ordered an evaluation of the shipyards' security.

Siege of Coruscant
"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."

- Thrawn to Gilad Pellaeon

Despite such setbacks, the campaign proceeded swiftly and Thrawn soon looked to making strides towards the Core Worlds, first capturing the planet Mrisst for use as a forward base. Finally, the time came to launch an attack on Coruscant itself. Though Thrawn was not yet prepared for a lengthy blockade or invasion of the Republic capital, he developed a strategy that would essentially take the world out of the war, with minimal risk to Imperial forces. To this end, he had 22 midsize asteroids taken to Bilbringi and fitted with cloaking devices. Upon completion, the asteroids were taken aboard Star Destroyers and the fleet prepared to leave for Coruscant. C'baoth misinterpreted Thrawn's intentions, believing that he was going to use the asteroids to destroy the planet and, therefore, kill Organa Solo and her newborn children. C'baoth reacted angrily, using the Force to take control of the Chimaera's crew and announcing his intention to proceed to Coruscant and kidnap Organa Solo but Thrawn, protected by a nearby ysalamir, pointed out that C'baoth could hardly control the entire fleet and lacked the tactical knowledge to defeat the Republic. C'baoth reluctantly released his control but Thrawn was forced to have 500 crewmen sent from the Relentless while his crew recovered, forcing a delay to the Coruscant operation. By the time the fleet was ready to launch, however, C'baoth had experienced and apparent change of heart and instead demanded to be taken to Wayland to take immediate control of Mount Tantiss. Thrawn was suspicious of C'baoth's reasoning and so agreed, but insisted on sending supplementary troops under the command of General Freja Covell. Once the Jedi Master departed, Thrawn took the Imperial fleet to Coruscant.

Thrawn's fleet for the Siege of Coruscant comprised six Star Destroyers, together with Interdictors to pull ships out of hyperspace in position and Dreadnaught escorts. After arriving in the Coruscant system, the Imperials quickly destroyed a relay station to prevent the Republic calling for the Coruscant Sector Fleet. Although the charges against Admiral Ackbar had now been dropped and he had resumed command of Republic forces, the Mon Calamari was off-planet and the defense eventually fell to Bel Iblis. The Corellian presented Thrawn with a choice; either engage the well defended Golan III defense platforms or follow the Republic forces into range of the ground-based defenses. Thrawn, however, had another option in mind. The Star Destroyers began launching the cloaked asteroids, launching all 22, interspersed with dry firings to create the illusion of considerably more launches. When Bel Iblis realised what was happening and disabled one of the asteroid's cloaking device, making it visible, Thrawn allowed the enemy a clear view of what they were up against before destroying the asteroid and ordering the withdrawal of the fleet. The Republic were left with the impression that 286 asteroids lay in orbit of the planet, preventing them from lowering the planetary shield until all were destroyed and leaving Coruscant effectively blockaded.

Shortly after the attack on Coruscant, Thrawn made his move against Karrde. Mazic was captured by Imperial forces near Joiol and taken to the Chimaera but, instead of punishing him for the attack on Bilbringi, Thrawn explained that he understood their desire for revenge after Trogan but that he had given orders not to attack and that Lieutenant Kosk appeared to have been bought off. Allowing Mazic to develop his own suspicions, Thrawn let him go and tasked Ferrier with planting incriminating evidence in the Wild Karrde. However, Ferrier's deception was ultimately discovered by the smugglers, further uniting them against the Empire.

Battle of Bilbringi
"But it was so artistically done."

- Thrawn's last words

Meanwhile, the New Republic's efforts to remove the asteroids from Coruscant were meeting with limited success. In an effort to speed up the process, Admiral Ackbar and General Crix Madine planned to acquire a crystal gravfield trap. With the only three available CGTs located in Imperial space, the Republic identified the one at Tangrene as the easiest target but, believing that it may be a trap, prepared a raid for the CGT at the Bilbringi Shipyards&mdash;providing the additional opportunity to hamper the Empire's shipbuilding capabilities. In order to cover their tracks, they began a misdirection campaign to make it appear that they were intent on hitting Tangrene. By the time Thrawn had completed the capture of Xa Fel, news had begun to reach the Imperials of New Republic movements near Tangrene but Thrawn saw through the deception and, despite Pellaeon's insistence that Tangrene was the target, began preparing the fleet to defend Bilbringi.

However, before Thrawn could depart for Bilbringi, news reached him that General Covell had been found dead shortly after arriving on Wayland. Suspecting C'baoth's involvement in the general's death, Thrawn decided that the time had come to deal with the Jedi Master and ordered Colonel Kleyn Selid to place him under arrest. Thrawn still had one final use for the Dark Jedi and planned to have C'baoth cloned&mdash;away from the ysalamiri effect and slow enough to avoid clone madness. However, the opportunity to clone C'baoth was soon lost as. Leia Organa had believed Mara Jade was innocent in the Imperial attack and had helped to free her. In exchange, Jade led a Republic team to Wayland where C'baoth was killed in combat with Jade and Skywalker, before the Rebels destroyed Mount Tantiss itself.

Thrawn, unaware of events on Wayland, arrived at Bilbringi where he had the fleet take positions to trap the New Republic fleet as their Interdictors forced it out of hyperspace. His gamble proved correct when the Republic fleet fell into the trap. While the Interdictors prevented the Republic ships from escaping, Thrawn had his forces engage. The battle quickly went in favour of the Imperials and Pellaeon suggested allowing one ship to survive to tell of the Imperial victory&mdash;Thrawn agreed and designated Ackbar's command ship to escape, knowing that the inevitable allegations of incompetence would finally ruin the Mon Calamari's career. However, the battle soon took an unexpected turn. Talon Karrde, belieiving the New Republic would be attacking Tangrene, had organized a smuggler raid for the CGT at Bilbringi for the same time. Despite the unexpected battle raging around them, the smugglers proceeded with the plan and, while making their escape, attacked one of the shipyard's Golan II platforms, allowing the New Republic forces to move in on the shipyard itself, and forcing Thrawn to divide his fleet. However, before the Grand Admiral could respond to the new threat, news of the attack on Wayland arrived&mdash;including the involvement of a group of Noghri aiding the Republic team. After Thrawn left Honoghr, Leia Organa had been able to prove that the Empire was deceiving the Noghri&mdash;making it appear that they were helping to clean their world, while actually ensuring their perpetual service&mdash;and the Noghri had pledged themselves to serve the Republic. News of the Noghri betrayal came too late and, as Thrawn sat in his command chair, Rukh turned on his master, stabbing him through the chest from behind before fleeing the bridge. As Thrawn died, Pellaeon was forced to admit defeat and ordered the Imperial forces to withdraw. In just six months since launching his campaign, Thrawn had extended the Empire's power to half the known galaxy but, with his death, the future of the Empire was once again uncertain and the infighting that had plagued it before his return soon resurfaced.

Thrawn's final death
"The ability to manipulate his enemies was one of Thrawn's greatest talents."

- Borsk Fey'lya

The Empire's decline continued over the next ten years until, in 19 ABY, the now Supreme Commander Gilad Pellaeon decided the time had come for a peace treaty with the New Republic. Pellaeon's plan met with opposition from many within the Council of Moffs, though all but one eventually accepted the need for peace. Only Moff Vilim Disra actively opposed peace, forming a triumvirate with a con artist called Flim and the clone of Major Grodin Tierce in a bid to prevent it. Disra would provide the political brains behind the scheme and Tierce, with his knowledge of Thrawn's own tactics, would oversee the military aspects. However, it was Flim who would serve as the focal point for the plot by impersonating Thrawn himself. Thrawn's apparent return undermined Pellaeon's position as Supreme Commander and Imperial forces soon began to rally around the Grand Admiral. Meanwhile, the triumvirate began a campaign to destabilise the New Republic by exploiting the crisis caused by the recent discovery of the Caamas Document in the rubble of Mount Tantiss.

Meanwhile, the single clone of Thrawn, which was being grown at the Hand of Thrawn complex, had remained undisturbed for almost ten years. Voss Parck, Soontir Fel, and many Chiss soldiers had spent the previous decade continuing Thrawn's fight against threats from the Unknown Regions while waiting for his prophesied return. Upon hearing HoloNet rumours that the Grand Admiral had returned to lead the Imperial Remnant, they decided to investigate further. However, Thrawn's goal had always been to protect the galaxy from the dangers it faced. With the Empire's strength greatly diminished, Thrawn may have decided to work with the New Republic instead. Therefore, they were unwilling to reveal their operation to the Empire itself and instead chose to make contact with Mara Jade and acquire her knowledge and expertise of both sides before making a decision.

Mara Jade was successfully lured to the Hand of Thrawn complex on Nirauan, with Luke Skywalker following after Karrde's people lost contact with her. With the help of the Qom Jha, the two infiltrated the Hand of Thrawn through the caves beneath, arriving in the hidden section which contained Thrawn's clone. After Jade rejected Parck's offer and sabotaged their ships to prevent them contacting the Empire, she and Skywalker returned to explore the hidden section of the fortress. In the course of their investigation, the two discovered the cloning chamber and found a fully mature clone of Thrawn still in the cloning cylinder. The two were uncertain what to do with the clone&mdash;though he could represent a threat to the New Republic, since he was not actually Thrawn, he should not be held accountable for his predecessor's actions. However, while they decided what to do, they activated the room's security systems and came under attack from the sentinel droids. When their lightsabers proved ineffective against the droids' cortosis armor, Mara used her blade to cut through the cavern wall and flood it from the nearby lake, destroying the droids but cutting off their only escape route. Left with only one chance of escape, Mara cut through the transparisteel around the cloaking alcove. When the water hit the generator, it exploded and blew a hole in the wall through which they escaped. However, Thrawn's clone was killed in the process. When the triumvirate's scam was revealed to Admiral Pellaeon by Talon Karrde and Shada D'ukal, using information they had received from Jorj Car'das, Parck had no further reason to contact the Empire, though the operation in the Unknown Regions would continue.

Behind the scenes
Thrawn had an entry in Andy Mangels's The Essential Guide to Characters, though the book incorrectly states that he attacked the Bilbringi Shipyards in an effort to capture the remaining ships of the Katana fleet, which were docked there at the time.

Thrawn appeared in the ambiguously canon article ""Statue" quo à Sluis Van" in the French roleplaying magazine Casus Belli 89 which describes Thrawn's brief visit to Sluis Van before his official return from the Unknown Regions. Though other sources state that Thrawn was unknown to the New Republic prior to launching his campaign, this article, set three years earlier in 6 ABY, shows him meeting several New Republic officials, including Borsk Fey'lya. Thrawn's depiction in the article also differs from other sources, showing him with long hair and an elaborate costume instead of his Imperial uniform.

Appearances

 * Dark Forces: Soldier for the Empire
 * Star Wars: Rebellion
 * Galaxy of Fear: The Swarm
 * X-wing Rogue Squadron 25: The Making of Baron Fel
 * Star Wars: TIE Fighter
 * X-wing: Rogue Squadron
 * X-wing: Wedge's Gamble
 * A Grand Admiral Returns
 * Heir to the Empire
 * Heir to the Empire comic adaptation
 * Dark Force Rising
 * Dark Force Rising comic adaptation
 * The Last Command
 * The Last Command comic adaptation
 * I, Jedi
 * Jedi Search
 * Dark Apprentice
 * Champions of the Force
 * Children of the Jedi
 * Darksaber
 * Planet of Twilight
 * Before the Storm
 * The New Rebellion
 * Specter of the Past
 * Vision of the Future
 * Darksaber
 * Planet of Twilight
 * Before the Storm
 * The New Rebellion
 * Specter of the Past
 * Vision of the Future