Chiss officer

Chiss officer
Historical information
Established by	Chiss Ascendancy
Organizational information
Government	Chiss Ascendancy Empire of the Hand
Position type	Military officer

"As an officer of the Expansionary Defense Force, I believe it is my duty to ensure the safety and security of the Chiss realm. That directive, as you are well aware, supersedes all others. It is my firm belief that I am following that directive right now."

―Commander Hess'irolia'nuruodo

Chiss officers were military officers who served in the Chiss Ascendancy and the Empire of the Hand. Unlike the Chiss warriors, the officers wore a pair of silver bars on the collar of their uniform indicating the owner's military rank.

Overview

"You said he was commanding a small picket force at the time. Did every junior Chiss officer know how to get in and out of the Redoubt cluster?"

―Mara Jade Skywalker, to Chaf'orm'bintrano

Chiss Expansionary Defense Force officers were held to an incredibly high standard of physical fitness and mental acuity. Chiss officers that were a part of either the Expansionary Fleet or the Defense Fleet wore specialized black Defense Fleet uniforms, as this color was a combination of all colors, which signified that the military drew its members from all of the Chiss families.

Chiss officers that belonged to the Defense Hierarchy wore white uniforms.

The Defense Fleet officers were required to prove themselves similar to how the Ruling Families selected merit adoptives to be taken into the Defense Hierarchy. Those promoted to a senior rank were stripped of family name and privilege and made part of the Hierarchy in order that they may serve all Chiss without deference or prejudice. Unlike the regular officers of the Expansionary or Defense Fleet, the Defense Hierarchy officers wore dazzling white uniforms. The Corellian smuggler Jorj Car'das incorrectly believed that the reason Admiral Ar'alani wore a white uniform was because she was connected to the Defense Fleet instead of the Expansionary Fleet.

Chiss officers that were a part of a fleet belonging to a Ruling Family wore uniforms in the color of their respective family. In particular, the crew of the Fifth Ruling Family flagship Chaf Exalted—a vessel under the fleet of Aristocra Chaf'orm'bintrano—wore yellow uniforms.

Some officers wore a purple-and-black variant of the uniform, or a black long tunic comparable to the robes of state. Despite her claim of being an officer of the Expansionary Defense Force, Commander Hess'irolia'nuruodo wore a burgundy-and-black uniform, a color scheme previously associated with the Mitth family and Syndic Mitth'raw'nuruodo's Household Phalanx.

History

Great Galactic War and Cold War

"Ensign Raina Temple, Chiss Expansionary Defense Force. Welcome to Zero Station."

―Raina Temple

Chiss officers were in service as early as the Great Galactic War and subsequent Cold War. They were present on Hoth, helping the reconstituted Sith Empire wage war against the Galactic Republic. The Chiss officers there were armed with blaster rifles, poison darts, and knives. Several officers were stationed at the Chiss Zero Station, located in the middle of the Icefall Plains region.

Outbound Flight Project

"I'm Commander Mitth'raw'nuruodo of the Chiss Ascendancy. This is the Springhawk, Picket Force Two command vessel of the Expansionary Defense Fleet."

―Mitth'raw'nuruodo

In 27 BBY, a Chiss junior officer Mitth'raw'nuruodo, better known by his core name "Thrawn," served as a Force Commander in the Chiss Expansionary Fleet and was the youngest Chiss ever to achieve the rank. He was the commanding officer of the Picket Force Two, a small border patrol fleet based out of an asteroid in the Crustai system on the Chiss Ascendancy's frontier. Thrawn and his picket force of warships were involved in crippling the Galactic Republic exploration and colonization vessel Outbound Flight.

Yuuzhan Vong War

"Shawnkyr is a true member of a renegade phalanx, sir. She would not stay behind if I ordered her to."

―Jagged Fel, to Soontir Fel

During the rise of the Empire of the Hand, several former Ascendancy officers went on to join Thrawn's new government. Some officers occupied various positions of authority in Syndic Mitth'raw'nuruodo's Household Phalanx. The Empire of the Hand seemed to disappear sometime during the late Yuuzhan Vong War. Many of the Hand's officers joined the Ascendancy. Soontir Fel, a general that served in Thrawn's Household Phalanx received the political title of an Assistant Syndic in the Expansionary Defense Fleet. Colonel Jagged Fel also joined the Chiss Ascendancy.

Appearances

• Star Wars: The Old Republic
• Star Wars: The Old Republic: Knights of the Eternal Throne
• Outbound Flight (and unabridged audiobook)
• The Clone Wars: Secret Missions 2: Curse of the Black Hole Pirates
• Survivor's Quest (and unabridged audiobook)
• The New Jedi Order: Dark Journey (First appearance)
• The New Jedi Order: Enemy Lines II: Rebel Stand (First identified as Chiss officer)
• The New Jedi Order: Force Heretic I: Remnant
• The New Jedi Order: Force Heretic II: Refugee
• The New Jedi Order: Force Heretic III: Reunion
• Dark Nest I: The Joiner King
• Dark Nest III: The Swarm War

Sources

• A Guide to the Star Wars Universe, Third Edition, Revised and Expanded
• The Official Star Wars Fact File 86 CBA 1-4: Joruus C'Baoth
• The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia (Mentioned in multiple entries, but without own entry)
• Legacy Era Campaign Guide (Picture only)
• The Essential Atlas
• The Essential Guide to Warfare