Mitth'ras'safis

"Car'das and Ferasi: this is Syndic Mitth'ras'safis of the Eighth Ruling Family. My brother."

- Thrawn introducing Thrass to his quests

Mitth'ras'safis, also known by his core name Thrass, was a member of the Mitth family of the Chiss Ascendancy and the brother of Mitth'raw'nuruodo. Like his brother, Mitth'ras'safis had been born as a commoner, but had then been adopted to the Eighth ruling family and granted the title of a Syndic. Despite being devoted to his brother, Thrass did not accept all the things Thrawn did and saw some of his actions as harmful to their family&mdash;even spying on his brother and reporting back to Admiral Ar'alani of the Chiss Expansionary Defense Force. After the Battle of Outbound Flight Thrass and Jorj Car'das&mdash;a Human friend of Thrawn's&mdash;discovered a group of survivors on board while attempting to prevent the ship and its technology from falling into wrong hands. While Car'das stayed behind, Thrass and a Jedi named Lorana Jinzler flew the Outbound Flight into the Redoubt&mdash;a star cluster at the edge of Chiss space&mdash;to hide it there. Thrass and Jinzler died when crash-landing the ship on one of the small planetoids in the cluster. About fifty years later his remains were discovered by Luke Skywalker and his wife when they visited the colony created by the survivors and their offsprings.

Early life
"We were both born as commoners. I can live that way again if I have to. But I'll do what I can to assure that the Eighth Family doesn't release or rematch you on my account.''" "''I'm not worried about my own position. I'm trying to keep my brother from throwing away a fine and honorable career for nothing."

- Thrawn and Thrass

Mitth'ras'safis and his brother Mitth'raw'nuruodo were born as commoners in the Chiss Ascendancy, living their early years as simple members of Chiss society. When they were of age, they were both deemed worthy to become merit adoptives in the Mitth family, which was the eighth among the nine Ruling Families of the time. While Thrawn was a clever military strategist and gained ranks fast among the Chiss Expansionary Defense Force&mdash;becoming the youngest Chiss to reach the rank of Force Commander before 27 BBY&mdash;Thrass chose a political career, holding a status of Syndic around the time.

He was deeply devoted to his brother and watched with worry, when Thrawn took what Thrass saw as unnecessary risk by fighting enemies who had not acted directly against the Ascendancy&mdash;Chiss had strict rules concerning pre-emptive strikes against potential enemies. When Thrawn was the commander of the Crustai base he was involved in action against Vagaari&mdash;a nomadic species of aliens, who captured slaves from one planet and then moved on&mdash;who had been moving near the borders of the Ascendancy, attacking low technology planets. Thrass saw that Thrawn's active role in the matter was threatening the status the Commander held among the military, as those who broke the Non-Aggression Law could be condemned into exile.

Encounter with humans
Around the same time as the first encounters with Vagaari, Thrawn had also crossed paths with two ships from the Galactic Republic, the small time smuggling vessel Bargain Hunter&mdash;crewed by three Humans named Dubrak Qennto, Maris Ferasi and Jorj Car'das&mdash;and a ship belonging to a Hutt named Progga, who had been following the Humans into the Unknown Regions. After destroying Progga's ship Thrawn had captured the Humans and brought them to his asteroid base in Crustai system. Thrass and Admiral Ar'alani learned about the presence of Humans and Thrawn's most recent activities against the Vagaari from Chaf'orm'bintrano, a member of Chaf family who had visited the base to meet with Thrawn concerning interests the family had in the system.

Soon after Chaf'orm'bintrano's visit, Thrass and Ar'alani arrived to Crustai and found the Humans still living in the base and moving more or less freely around&mdash;Qennto and Ferasi were still accompanied by guards when ever they went outside their quarters, but Car'das was allowed to come and go as he pleased. Thrawn had also given Qennto access to the treasure he had found on board the Vagaari vessel&mdash;the Human had travelled a lot and seen many cultures, and was thus knowledgeable about many cultures&mdash;and such a liberty did not sit well with Ar'alani and Thrass. Thrawn used this as a distraction and slipped away with Car'das and Ferasi to investigate another Vagaari attack that was still ongoing in a near-by system. During the battle Thrawn's flagship, the Springhawk, suffered damage to its bridge and the Commander was wounded and would have died if his Human companions had not helped him. After their return Thrass thanked the duo for saving his brother's life, even allowing them to call him by his core name, when he also reprimanded his brother for what he had done.

Despite Thrass' warning, Thrawn soon went out with Car'das to investigate another group of unidentified vessels&mdash;it turned out to be Special Task Force One of the Trade Federation, led by Siv Kav and Commander Stratis. Thrawn disposed the task force without suffering any losses of his own, capturing its leaders and learning for the first time that another group of people from the Galactic Republic was approaching Chiss territory. It was the Outbound Flight Project, which had brought the task force out there, and Stratis intended to destroy it&mdash;with his original force all but decimated, he wanted Thrawn to do it in his stead. When Thrass learned about Thrawn's latest adventure, he contacted Ar'alani, who soon arrived to Crustai and started to work on finding out what the Commander was doing.

Destruction of the Outbound Flight
"My brother cares deeply about his blood family, including me. But he's disturbed by what he sees as my self-destructive behavior&hellip;and as a syndic of the Eighth Ruling Family, his duty is to protect that family's honor and position.''" "So he calls and admiral'' down on you?"

- Thrawn and Car'das about Thrass after Thrass called Admiral Ar'alani back to Crustai

Thrass accompanied Admiral Ar'alani and their reluctant guide, Jorj Car'das, to the scene, where Thrawn had destroyed the Trade Federation task force&mdash;Thrawn himself spent the time with the only remaining Trade Federation ship speaking with Doriana and learning more about their mission and about Outbound Flight. Car'das tried to show Thrawn's action in a positive light, but was worried about what would happen to him and his companions if the admiral chose to bring up charges against Thrawn. Three days after their return to Crustai, Car'das stole a long-range shuttle&mdash;he was unaware that Thrawn had specially prepared it for him just for that purpose&mdash;and ran away to seek help from the Vagaari. Doing so he acted according to Thrawn's plan to lure the Vagaari into the same trap he had been preparing for the Outbound Flight.

The Jedi of the Outbound Flight refused to return to the Galactic Republic as Thrawn demanded, and when the Vagaari arrived, the aliens ordered the exploration team to surrender to them&mdash;from Car'das they had learned about Trade Federation battle droids and droidekas, wanting more of the fighting machines and believing the huge ship carried more of them. The thee way battle that ensued between the Vagaari, the Outbound Flight, and Thrawn's troops finally ended when droid starfighters&mdash;specially modified by Thrawn's people to carry radiation bombs&mdash;rammed each of the six Dreadnaughts forming the large colony ship. The radiation coming out from the bombs killed every living being on board the ships, but left the Central Storage Core intact, as no one was expected to be there.

Several hours after the battle Thrass and Ar'alani arrived to the scene, the young Chiss mostly concentrating on helping the Geroons rescued from Vagaari warships, where the aliens had been used as living shields. There Thrass met Car'das, and the two spoke about the ways Thrawn had been using them as part of his plan to remove the Vagaari threat. Thrass was slightly insulted by the fact that he had been used as a pawn, but Car'das understood Thrawn's reasoning in the matter and did not mind the role the Commander had given him. Thrass also wanted to warn his brother about the possible trouble caused by Aristocra Chaf'orm'bintrano, who was also on his way to investigate the events and arrest Thrawn for overstepping his mandate as a Force Commander.

Thrass and Car'das found Thrawn and Ar'alani on Dreadnaught-One, the commanding vessel of the construction. Learning about Aristocra's intention, Thrawn and Ar'alani made a plan to move the vessel to the nearest Defense Fleet base, but Chaf'orm'bintrano arrived before they had time to leave. Thrawn warned that having the Outbound Flight falling to the hands of any one family would upset the balance of powers in the Chiss Ascendancy, and it would thus be better to destroy the entire ship if it was the only way to prevent that from happening. The Aristocra contacted Admiral Ar'alani, ordering her to put Thrawn under detention&mdash;Admiral's station in the Defence Hierarchy did not allow her to ignore a direct order from a member of a ruling family. While Ar'alani, Thrawn and the Chiss team who had been accompanying them left the Outbound Flight, Thrass and Car'das stayed behind in order to put the ship on autopilot and send it on a one way trip to the nearest star.

Death
"Your people will come here someday. Until then, they have enough food and supplies to last for generations. They'll survive. I know they will.''" "Then let us prepare for the end. I've known you and your people only briefly, Jedi Lorana Jinzler. But in that time, I've learned to admire and respect you. I hope that someday humans and Chiss will be able to work side by side in peace." "''As do I, Syndic Mitth'ras'safis of the Eighth Ruling Family."

- Lorana Jinzler and Thrass moments before their death

When Thrass and Car'das were almost ready to set the autopilot and leave, a Jedi, Lorana Jinzler, who had been among the passengers of the expedition arrived to the bridge revealing that there were still nearly sixty people on board&mdash;they had survived the radiation bombs in the Storage Core, where they had been ordered by the Jedi Master leading the expedition, Jorus C'baoth. The shuttle Thrass and Car'das had used was too small to take them all safely away from the ship in time, but Jinzler was convinced she could fly the Outbound Flight by herself through her control of the Force. Thrass was able to provide them with the information about a safe location inside a star cluster known to Chiss as the Redoubt, where they could stay out of sight while Thrass would return to negotiate with the Ruling Families about their return to the Republic. Following Jinzler's order, Car'das stayed behind while Thrass and the Jedi took the ship to its final voyage into the star cluster.

Because of the serious damage the Outbound Flight had suffered in the fight, it was taxing to Jinzler to operate the ship alone, and Thrass found no way to contact the remaining crew members, who had been left into the storage core, while Jizler had come up. Even with all the possible speed, the trip into the Redoubt took several hours. When the hyperdrive stopped working, Thrass and Jinzler had to search the system to find a planet, where they could leave the ship on an orbit to wait while the negotiations with the Chiss would be conducted. They found a small planetoid in the system, but setting a large vehicle like the Outbound Flight on an orbit when its drive systems were damaged turned out to be impossible. Thrass used what was left of the sensor systems to find a valley, filled with small stones, which was located along their route and where the impact would be less violent.

The only other hyperspace capable vehicle on board was a Delta-12 Skysprite that had been stored on Dreadnaught-Three&mdash;originally intended to be used by Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi, but left on board after they were pulled out from the expedition by Supreme Chancellor Palpatine&mdash;and which Thrass and Jinzler planned to use when returning to Chiss space to negotiate for the relocation of the survivors of the Outbound Flight. To have an easy access to the two-person ship, Jinzler and Thrass planned to land the Outbound Flight in a way that would place Dreadnaught-Six at the bottom and leave number three on top. They were forced to rethink their plan, when they learned that the survivors had moved away from the storage core and were on Dreadnaught-Four instead&mdash;which was directly opposite to Dreadnaught-One where Thrass and Jinzler were.

The two of them knew that to protect the survivors they would have to put Dreadnaught-Four on top, but it would cost their own lives as the Dreadnaught-One would be the one to first hit the ground, but neither Thrass nor Jinzler hesitated to make the sacrifice. While Thrass had been suspicious of Humans when he first encountered them, through Car'das and Jinzler he had learned to appreciate them, and in the moments before their death, he voiced this appreciation to Jinzler, sharing with her the hope that their two peoples would one day be able to work together peacefully. Their thoughts also lingered on the people for whom they would be giving their lives before the Outbound Flight slammed into the planetoid, killing Thrass and the young Jedi.

In 22 ABY a Chiss survey team located the remains of the Outbound Flight inside the Redoubt and a larger team was assembled, led by Chaf'orm'bintrano. Chiss also invited two Jedi from the New Republic to join the expedition, Jedi Master Luke Skywalker and his wife, Mara Jade Skywalker. The team discovered that the survivors had created a colony into the remains of the ship with their offsprings. The survivors believed that the Jedi had been to blame for the destruction of the Outbound Flight and they were distrustful toward Skywalker and his wife, locking them inside a turbolift car. After escaping from the trap, the duo made their way down to what was left of Dreadnaught-One and found the remains of two people on the bridge. They recognized Jinzler from her lightsaber&mdash;Jinzler's brother Dean identified the weapon&mdash;while the presence of a charric revealed that the other body belonged to a Chiss, but the Skywalkers did not know who he had been.

Personality and traits
"You're gifted in many ways, my brother. But you have yet to develop the farsightedness you will need to survive the intrigues and conflicts of political life."

- Mitth'raw'nuruodo

Thrass was devoted to his family, both to his blood family&mdash;including his brother&mdash;and his adopted family. He was worried about Thrawn's actions, which he saw as a risk to his brother's career as well as to Thrawn's relationship with the Eighth Ruling Family. He was drawn between his loyalty to Thrawn and his loyalty to what he perceived to be the good of the family, as he strictly believed in the non-aggression laws of the Chiss Ascendancy. While he respected his brother's abilities as a tactician, he often found himself unable to understand Thrawn's reasoning and plans, and also found it insulting that his brother would use him as a pawn in his plan to lure Vagaari into an aggressive strike against the Chiss.

Differently from his brother's military pursuits, Thrass was interested in politics. However, Thrawn believed that Thrass was still lacking in the farsightedness he would need to excel in his chosen career. As a merit adoptive member of a Ruling Family, Thrass wore grey clothes with burgundy highlights, which was the color of Mitth family.

Despite his initial suspicion and dislike toward Humans, he learned to admire and respect Car'das and his people&mdash;sharing his thoughts and worries about his brother's actions with the man. He also soon learned to respect Jedi Jinzler, when the two of them flew the badly damaged Outbound Flight into the Redoubt, sharing with her the hopes that Chiss and Humans could find a way to live together in peace in the times to come. In addition to Chiss language, Cheunh, Thrass spoke fluent Minnisiat and accented Sy Bisti.

Behind the scenes
Mitth'ras'safis made his first appearance in Timothy Zahn's novel Survivor's Quest in 2004, as an unrecognized Chiss skeleton discovered on the bridge of the Outbound Flight. Zahn expanded his background&mdash;revealing his name and connection to Thrawn&mdash;in his later novel, Outbound Flight in 2006.

Appearances

 * Outbound Flight
 * Survivor's Quest