Hynestians were the residents of the Colonies planet Hynestia Prime. In ancient times, Hynestians were known throughout the galaxy as great travelers and sometimes conquerors. By the time of the Galactic Empire, however, they were mostly known for farming a fur-like lichen called gherlian fur.
Hynestians living on their homeworld during the Imperial Era were ruled by the Empire-aligned Hynestian royal family, which possessed a private fleet alongside a security force to govern the populace. However, the Hynestian military was once evaded by smuggler Lando Calrissian, who assisted a rebel royal family member, Princess Rinetta Gan, in returning a sacred artifact of the planet Livno III.
A score of Hynestian Star Cruisers participated at the Battle of Exegol as part of a vast Citizens' Fleet—an armada of volunteer civilians gathered by Lando Calrissian from throughout the galaxy—to bring down the returning Sith threat raised by the resurrected Galactic Emperor Darth Sidious.