Sunrise incident

The Sunrise incident was a battle in the Sunrise system fought in 18 BBY between forces of the Chiss Ascendancy, the Chiss heavy cruiser Springhawk and Chiss Senior Captain Mitth'raw'nuruodo "Thrawn", the Paccosh-commandeered Nikardun blockade frigate Aelos and its complement of Paccian commandos, and a Grysk vessel of the Grysk warlike species keeping station with the Kilji picket cruiser Hammer of the Kilji nation of the Illumine.

After the attack on Rapacc carried out by the Hammer and General Crofyp's Kilji war cruiser Anvil, which resulted in the destruction of the war cruiser and its commanding officer after the Springhawk arrived, the Hammer fled, and traveled to the Sunrise system according to General Crofyp and Jixtus's instructions. The warship kept station with one of Jixtus's warships. The Nikardun blockade frigate Aelos arrived shortly, and requested permission from the Grysk vessel to dock with the Hammer, which was granted by a Grysk individual through comm. Docking with the picket cruiser, the blockade frigate was able to board the Kilji warship and kill all those aboard, including the ship's commander, Colonel Tildnis.

As the Springhawk had arrived at the star system seeking the capture of Thrawn, who was aboard the Aelos, the Grysk warship fired at it, however, after Thrawn retrieved data on the Illumine Kilhorde, the Kiljis' battle fleet, it was forced to concentrate its laser fire on the rogue Hammer. Shortly after the remaining individuals—the Hammer's navigator Sarsh, Thrawn, Paccosh Commander Uingali foar Marocsaa and his Paccian commandos—aboard the Hammer fled aboard the Aelos, Bogey One, as the Springhawk had codenamed the Grysk vessel, destroyed the Hammer and jumped to hyperspace with a warning not to return from Thrawn.

Prelude

At some point, the Grysk operative "Jixtus" allied himself with Generalirius Nakirre, the ruler of the nation of the Kilji species, the Kilji Illumine. The alliance provided the Kilji with military advise from the Grysk, which pointed the conquests of enlightenment into the peoples and worlds most easily conquered, while Nakirre provided transport to Jixtus aboard the war cruiser Whetstone across the Unknown Regions.^[1] In 18 BBY,^[2] Jixtus dispatched Illumine General Crofyp's task force to the Rapacc system, where the Kilji force encountered the Paccosh-commandeered Nikardun blockade frigate Aelos, which attacked Crofyp's war cruiser Anvil with the Chiss heavy cruiser Springhawk's assistance. After the Anvil exploded, and Crofyp was killed, the remaining warship of the task force—the Kilji picket cruiser Hammer—fled to the Sunrise system, and kept station with a Grysk vessel above the planet Sunrise.^[1]

The commander of the Springhawk—who was aboard the Aelos, Chiss Senior Captain Mitth'raw'nuruodo, found a Kilji escape pod that had escaped the Anvil's destruction, and retrieved it. After finding the Pathfinder navigator Qilori inside, Thrawn ordered him to use his abilities—which unbeknownst to Thrawn and Qilori was the Force—to track the Hammer's Pathfinder. Although the Navigators' Guild forbid that, Qilori agreed, and tracked Pathfinder Sarsh to Sunrise, where the Aelos met the Grysk and Kilji forces.^[1]

The incident

The commander of the Aelos, Paccosh Commander Uingali foar Marocsaa, requested emergency assistance from the Hammer and its ally, and a Grysk granted it, commanding the blockade frigate to position itself to portside of the picket cruiser Hammer. In the meantime, the Springhawk arrived, and called the Paccosh their prey while fighting the Grysk vessel Mid Captain Ufsa'mak'ro "Samakro" codenamed Bogey One. However, the Chiss heavy cruiser did not damage Bogey One at all, as the Grysks fired missiles screened by dibbers which prevented their destruction and disabled laserfire. Having arrived at the Hammer's side, Uingali ordered his crew to shoot a Crippler net at the Kilji cruiser's weapon cluster—which included the tractor beam that was getting them to the midships docking port, and disabled it. The Aelos docked with the Hammer, and the Kiljis aboard came to the vestibule individually, instead of different fire teams, which allowed Thrawn and the Paccian commandos Uingali had brought to kill the Kiljis easily. With Qilori as a guide, the Paccosh and the alien pair visited the bridge, where a Paccian commando killed three clusters of Kiljis and Colonel Tildnis, the starship's commander.^[1]

As the Kiljis designed their ships so their inefficient servants could use them, the Paccosh learnt the controls of the picket cruiser easily, and fired at Bogey One. Sarsh, who was at the bridge, gave Thrawn a Kilji data rectangle with information on the Illumine Kilhorde, the Kiljis' battle fleet, including design, combat doctrines, and its weaknesses. As Thrawn had obtained everything he wanted from the Hammer, he ordered the Paccian commandos to make the Hammer fire all its weapons at Bogey One while they escaped the vessel aboard the Aelos. Although the Springhawk did not damage the Grysk vessel, the Kilji weapons did, as the Grysks did not expect to be targeted from behind, and therefore destroyed the Hammer while fleeing to hyperspace.^[1]

Aftermath

Main article: Paccian slaughter

The incident was followed by the Paccian slaughter, the killing of most Grysk enslavers left on Sunrise at the hands of Paccian commandos. After the slaughter—and a follow-up battle against the remaining enslavers—the Grysk vessel that fled Sunrise reported to Jixtus, who received another report from Qilori, who had encountered two Grysks on Sunrise that told him that when Jixtus gave "the signal," they would bring the operative the "one."^[1]

The data on the Kilhorde retrieved from the Hammer was given to the Paataatus government of the Hiveborn, which deployed a Paataatus attack fleet to destroy the Kilji battle fleet. The destruction of the Illumine fleet led Jixtus to kill Nakirre.^[1]

Behind the scenes

The Sunrise incident appeared in the 2021 novel Thrawn Ascendancy: Lesser Evil, the final installment of Timothy Zahn's Star Wars: The Ascendancy Trilogy.^[1]

Appearances

• Thrawn Ascendancy: Lesser Evil (and audiobook) (First appearance)

Notes and references