Thrawn, Grand Admiral
A consummate strategist, Grand Admiral Thrawn likened combat to art, and was
an aficionado of both. He could cite inspirations, analyze motives and determine
outcomes before his opponents had even consciously began formulating a move.
Thrawn's greatest weapon was his mind. This was long ago recognized by his
people, the Chiss, who banished Mitth'raw'nuruodo for his dangerous ideas. The
Chiss of Csilla are a disciplined species, advanced enough to build a sizable
fleet and an empire over two dozen worlds. Thrawn's tactics were controversial
in their boldness, and his activities within the Chiss Expansionary Defense
Fleet drew many a concerned, glowing red eye.
The rest of the galaxy made first contact with the Chiss when a taskforce
dispatched by Supreme Chancellor Palpatine stumbled upon Thrawn's fleet. The
young blue-skinned commander was able to decimate the intruders despite inferior
weapons and numbers.
The taskforce's commander, Kinman Doriana, asked Thrawn for a parley. The two
conversed, and Doriana was able to appeal to Thrawn's cool sense of logic and
order. He outlined his mission -- to destroy the incoming Outbound Flight vessel
-- to Thrawn, spelling out the threat that this vessel filled with Jedi Masters
posed to the Chiss people. Thrawn completed the mission that Doriana failed and
destroyed the Outbound Flight project.
Returning to Csilla, Thrawn was reprimanded for his hostilities. Though he
explained that his actions were part of a pre-emptive strike to protect Csilla
and the Chiss, the ruling houses could not wrap their minds around such radical
concepts. Thrawn was placed under close observation. In time, his activities
caused him to be altogether banished from the Chiss.
The Chiss's loss became Palpatine's gain. Agents of the new Emperor
discovered Thrawn on a barren jungle world and took him into their ranks.
Despite a strong policy against non-human officers in the Imperial Navy, Thrawn
ascended the Imperial ranks.
Before long, Thrawn attained command of an Imperial Star Destroyer, the
Vengeance. When he transferred to the Admonitor, he was given the thankless task
of mapping huge areas of the Unknown Regions. When in the depths of the galaxy's
backwater, Thrawn re-established contact with the Chiss, who in the interim had
been besieged by all manner of encroaching threats. Thrawn, who had once been
banished for his bold leadership, was now being lauded for it. Many Chiss longed
for his return, and Thrawn secretly established a base of operations on the
distant world of Nirauan.
Returning to the Empire proper, Thrawn's star continued to rise unabated. He
achieved the rank of Vice Admiral, and earned Vaders respect and access to his
secret Noghri army. After helping dispose of the traitorous Grand Admiral Zaarin,
Thrawn ascended to that rank himself.
After the Battle of Hoth, Thrawn returned to Outer Rim mapping duty. His
ascent to Grand Admiral went without notice by Alliance Intelligence, thus his
existence remained a secret. After the fall of Palpatine at Endor, Thrawn
returned to Nirauan. He did not return to the Empire until four years after
Palpatine's defeat.
Thrawn contacted Captain Gilad Pellaeon, and returned to the Imperial fleet.
He then began a systematic campaign of retaking worlds in a bid to recapture
Coruscant. His genius manifested itself best in constructing strategies from
mere fragments of information. Thrawn was able to locate one of Palpatine's
fabled storehouses, and there, found the technology necessary to begin growing a
clone army. He found vessels for this army by discovering the long lost Katana
Fleet. He recruited the maddened dark Jedi Joruus C'baoth and used his Force
talents to better coordinate his scattered strikes. Thrawn also began to secure
secret caches of cloned agents throughout the galaxy, ready to answer his call.
Thrawn's greatest oversight was the compelling leadership of Leia Organa
Solo. Leia identified and befriended Thrawn's secret Noghri attackers. On their
polluted homeworld, Leia was able to prove that the Empire had long exploited
the Noghri's sense of honor. She showed how it was the Empire who was poisoning
their world, not saving it. Incensed, the Noghri turned against their Imperial
benefactors. At the height of the Battle of Bilbringi, Thrawn's faithful Noghri
bodyguard Rukh killed the Grand Admiral with an assassin's blade.
The Imperial forces scattered, reformed, and scattered again in the ensuing power vacuum. Ten years later, word of Thrawn's miraculous return began to spread. In truth, it was not Thrawn at all, but Imperial conspirators using Thrawn's name and identity. Thrawn did, though, have some sort of plan to return. During this time, Luke Skywalker and Mara Jade made a chilling discovery on Nirauan: an incubating clone of Thrawn himself. The clone was killed before it ever drew breath, and the attempt to resurrect Thrawn's legacy was quashed.