Attack on the Illumine Kilhorde


In 18 BBY, the Unknown Regions Paataatus Hiveborn nation carried out an attack on the Illumine Kilhorde, the battle fleet of the Kilji Illumine nation, after the fleet conquered several small nations to the north and northwest of the Hiveborn's territory as part of the Illumine's conquests of enlightenment. The Hiveborn deemed the Kilhorde's operations near their borders unacceptable, tasking a multipronged Paataatus attack fleet with destroying the Kilhorde after the Chiss Senior Captain Mitth'raw'nuruodo shared data on the Kilhorde's design and battle doctrine with the Paataatus species.

The Hiveborn obliterated the Kilji battle fleet and freed the nations the Illumine's forces had conquered. The destruction of the Illumine's battle fleet prompted the Grysk "Jixtus," who had allied himself with the Illumine's ruler, Generalirius Nakirre, to murder the generalirius, as the Kilhorde's destruction rendered Nakirre useless to his ally.

Prelude


The Chiss Senior Captain Mitth'raw'nuruodo (pictured) shared data on the Kilhorde with the Paataatus Hiveborn.

The Chiss Senior Captain Mitth'raw'nuruodo (pictured) shared data on the Kilhorde with the Paataatus Hiveborn.

In 19 BBY, the Grysk operative known as "Jixtus" tasked his Nikardun associate General Yiv and his Nikardun Destiny hegemony with conquering the nations surrounding the Unknown Regions' Chiss Ascendancy nation, including the Paataatus species' Paataatus Hiveborn. Yiv conquered the Hiveborn; however, the Ascendancy reduced the Destiny to remnants, one of which controlled the Hiveborn. The Chiss Senior Captain Mitth'raw'nuruodo, core name "Thrawn," freed the Paataatus homeworld of Nettehi from the remnant's control a year later, in 18 BBY.

That year, Jixtus allied himself with the ruler of the Unknown Regions' Kilji Illumine nation, Generalirius Nakirre. The Grysks gave the Illumine's battle fleet, the Illumine Kilhorde, permission to move against the small nations to the south and southeast of the Ascendancy to prevent any Chiss refugees from fleeing to those nations as Jixtus and Nakirre instigated a civil war in the Ascendancy. However, Thrawn retrieved data on the Kilhorde's design and combat doctrine from the Kilji picket cruiser Hammer and shared the data with the Hiveborn. As the Kilji conquests took place south and southeast of the Ascendancy, they were positioned to the north and northwest of the Paataatus nation, which the Hiveborn found unacceptable. As a result, in gratitude for Thrawn's assistance in liberating their homeworld, the Paataatus sent a multipronged Paataatus attack fleet to attack the Kilhorde.

The attack


During the attack, the Hiveborn's fleet annihilated the Kilhorde and freed the conquered nations.

Aftermath


Nakirre speculated that his generals had extended their conquests to Colonial Station Chaf (bottom left).

Nakirre speculated that his generals had extended their conquests to Colonial Station Chaf (bottom left).

Nakirre was alarmed when he stopped receiving reports of victory from the Kilhorde's field commanders, prompting him to speculate that his generals had "foolishly" extended their conquests to the Ascendancy's planet of Colonial Station Chaf. He feared they had attacked the Chiss world, which would have disrupted the operation of the planet's long-range triad transmitter. The generalirius speculated that his commanders had not contacted him because they had disrupted the transmitter's operation, the only link between them and Nakirre.

After Nakirre's Kilji war cruiser Whetstone arrived at the Unknown Regions "Sunrise" system, it encountered a fleet of vessels under Thrawn's command. The senior captain told Jixtus, who was traveling aboard the Whetstone, that he had made a mistake when tasking Yiv with conquering the Paataatus, stating that he had freed the Hiveborn and that the Paataatus were thankful for his assistance. After the Chiss told Nakirre that the Hiveborn had destroyed the Kilhorde as a favor to him, the generalirius snapped at Jixtus, prompting the Grysk to murder his ally, as the Kilji fleet's destruction had rendered Nakirre useless to him.

Behind the scenes


The attack was mentioned in the final novel of Timothy Zahn's Ascendancy Trilogy, Thrawn Ascendancy: Lesser Evil, which was published in 2021.

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