Confrontation at Zyzek

In 18 BBY, a Grysk operative known as "Jixtus" allied himself with Generalirius Nakirre, the ruler of the Kilji Illumine nation, promising to teach the Illumine the concept of conquests and guide a series of conquests of enlightenment to spread the Illumine's Kilji way of order and enlightenment religion. In exchange, Nakirre allowed him to travel aboard his flagship, the Kilji war cruiser Whetstone. With the approval of the Illumine's Kilji Overlords, the pair traveled to the Unknown Regions planet Zyzek.

In that year, the Watith captain Fsir attacked the Chiss Expansionary Defense Fleet heavy cruiser Springhawk after Jixtus hired him to do so; however, Thrawn defeated the captain and captured his freighter, the Saltbarrel, studying it. After studying the starship, Thrawn was convinced that Fsir had been hired to attack the Saltbarrel at Zyzek, and he brought his heavy cruiser there.

As Nakirre and Jixtus prepared to speak with merchants of four nations the Kiljis sought to conquer, the Springhawk arrived. Thrawn broadcast a message that claimed that he held several Watith prisoners, prompting the Kilji ruler to ask his ally if any Watith were present and after the Grysk claimed that the Watith who had attacked the Springhawk had died during their attack, Nakirre moved his warship to face the Chiss heavy cruiser.

The Kilji offered to take the Watith to their home although he did not know where that home was located. Nakirre remarked that the Kilji religious beliefs he followed required that he served others; however, Thrawn refused the offer. Angered, the generalirius had his crew prepare his war cruiser for combat, vowing to enlighten the Chiss species to the Kilji way soon. Thrawn declared that the Chiss were not interested in the Kilji way, remarking that it was not superior to the Chiss religion in an attempt to goad the generalirius into attacking him so that the senior captain could obtain data on the Whetstones capabilities and Nakirre's abilities as the vessel's commander.

Zyzek System Defense, an organization that protected the Zyzek system, sent two pairs of patrol ships to confront each cruiser while requesting they stand down. As destroying the newcomers would kill their crews, preventing their enlightenment to the Kilji religion, Nakirre complied with the organization's request, resulting in both cruisers' departure from Zyzek.

As Thrawn had not accepted Nakirre's offer and denigrated the Kilji religion, Nakirre sought to enlighten Thrawn to the Kilji way himself. The generalirius and Jixtus visited several of the Chiss Ascendancy nation's worlds as they instigated a civil war in the Ascendancy, and Nakirre was confident that his religion was superior; however, his Grysk ally reminded him that Thrawn had told him that the Chiss were not interested in the Kilji beliefs at Zyzek.

After the Whetstone traveled to the Unknown Regions' "Sunrise" system, encountering a dead Chiss fleet under Thrawn's command, the senior captain told Nakirre that he had arrived too late to bring him the enlightenment the generalirius had promised him at Zyzek.

The confrontation at Zyzek appeared in the 2021 novel Thrawn Ascendancy: Lesser Evil, the final installment in the Star Wars: The Ascendancy Trilogy written by Timothy Zahn.