Years before 19 BBY, the Chiss Ascendancy undertook a diplomatic mission to Bardram Scoft, the homeworld of the Scofti species. Junior Commander Mitth'raw'nuru "Thrawn" served as a pilot for the mission, while Pathfinder navigator Qilori of Uandualon navigated a Chiss diplomatic cruiser through hyperspace.
The Scoftic government changed frequently due to the Scoftic culture of assassinations and coup-d'états, and new Scofti rulers known as Prefects liked to replace their predecessors' rules, customs, artwork, and decorations. As a result, nations with diplomatic relations with the Scofti frequently had to relearn customs when regime change occurred on Bardram Scoft.
During the mission at Bardram Scoft, Junior Commander Thrawn noticed starships bearing a resemblance to the pirates who had recently been raiding Chiss merchants at the Ascendancy's borders. After identifying the ships as being of Lioaoin design, Thrawn concluded that the pirates were being supported by the Lioaoin Regime, the government of the Lioaoi species native to the Unknown Regions.
Junior Commander Thrawn (pictured) served as pilot for the mission.
The Scofti people, a species native to the Unknown Regions planet Bardram Scoft, had diplomatic relations with the Chiss Ascendancy. Each time the Prefect—the ruler of the Scoftic government—changed, the new Prefect would impose new customs and regulations, requiring neighboring nations to send new ambassadors to Bardram Scoft and learn new customs. Furthermore, the Scofti underwent frequent regime changes as assassinations and usurpations of power were common.
Years before 19 BBY, the Chiss Ascendancy dispatched a Chiss diplomatic cruiser to deliver an ambassador to Bardram Scoft because the planet's previous Prefect had been assassinated. Junior Commander Mitth'raw'nuru—known by his core name "Thrawn"—of the Chiss Expansionary Defense Fleet served as a pilot for the mission. Due to the perilous nature of hyperspace travel within the Unknown Regions, the nations in the region relied on Force-sensitive navigators to travel safely. The Navigators' Guild provided navigators for hire to various parties in the region, maintaining Guild Concourses where spacecraft could hire navigators for their journeys.
The Chiss diplomatic cruiser that was dispatched to Bardram Scoft stopped at one such concourse, Guild Concourse 447, to hire one of the Guild's Pathfinder navigators. The chosen Pathfinder was named Qilori of Uandualon, whose talents navigating with the the Force led the ship to arrive at Bardram Scoft several minutes ahead of the captain's schedule.
Before the mission, the Chiss had been faced with pirates attacking their merchants' shipping freighters in the outer reaches of their territory for several months. The Chiss Defense Force had not yet identified the attackers, and the Ascendancy's preemptive-strike laws prohibited retaliatory military strikes until culpability could be established.
Once the Chiss warship arrived at Bardram Scoft, Qilori came out of his navigational trance, and he and Thrawn were the only people present on the cruiser's bridge. Qilori inquired about the locations of the other bridge personnel. The Junior Commander then explained the ambassador was undergoing preparations to meet the new Prefect, explaining that the previous Scofti ruler been assassinated and the new Prefect had replaced many diplomatic practices. In line with Scofti culture, the highest-ranking military officer aboard the Chiss cruiser needed to join the ambassador and Prefect.
Out the viewport, Thrawn noticed a starship of alien design. Thrawn asked the Pathfinder if he was familiar with the design, leading Qilori to guess it was a Lioaoin ship. Thrawn explained it resembled the pirate craft that had been attacking Chiss freighters recently. The navigator had heard rumors that the Lioaoin Regime—the government of the Lioaoi species based in the Unknown Regions—had turned to piracy to save its imperiled economy. However, the Navigators' Guild had strict rules about neutrality that prevented him from informing Thrawn, and Qilori became anxious that Thrawn appeared to suspect the Regime's involvement in piracy. The Junior Commander suggested the pirates could have bought their starships from a local manufacturer also used by the Lioaoin Regime, allaying Qilori's concerns.
The Chiss Ascendancy (logo pictured) sent an ambassador to Bardram Scoft
Thrawn asked Qilori whether he had traveled to Lioaoin space, which the navigator confirmed. Thrawn asked him if he could travel there from either Chiss space or Bardram Scoft. Qilori said he could, and asked Thrawn if he wanted to travel to Lioaoin space at present. Thrawn said they would not head from Bardram Scoft into Lioaoin space, but made a note to learn Qilori's name and base of operations at Concourse 447. The Junior Commander then proposed that they could work together again in the future and introduced himself as Thrawn, stating he would specifically seek out Qilori's service. The Pathfinder privately scorned the notion of working with Thrawn again; however, he lied by telling Thrawn it would be a pleasure.
Despite downplaying his suspicions, Thrawn correctly detected the connection between the Lioaoin Regime and the pirates who had recently attacked the Chiss. Moreover, the Junior Commander reasoned that Qilori knew more than he had shared, as a secret as grave as a government's support for piracy would certainly reach the Navigators' Guild, who were ubiquitous in the Unknown Regions. Thrawn also detected the Pathfinder navigators' "style" evident in the tactics of some of the ongoing pirate raids on the Chiss, which led him to discern that the Lioaoin pirates were collaborating with Pathfinders to conduct raids.
After Qilori returned to Concourse 447, Thrawn researched the Pathfinders, discovering the deep secret that they could track each-other through hyperspace. Armed with this insight, together with what he uncovered during the mission, he proposed a response to the raids to Ba'kif, the Supreme General of the Chiss Expansionary Defense Fleet. During their meeting, Thrawn argued that the pirate and Lioaoin ships had notable similarities, but he suggested they attack the pirates alone instead of assaulting the Lioaoin Regime. Ba'kif reminded Thrawn of the Ascendancy's strict preemptive-strike laws, which forbade military action against anyone except forces known to have previously attacked the Chiss.
Despite believing he would be able to distinguish enemy and neutral ships, Thrawn promised he would take no action if he could not differentiate enemies from civilians. The general approved the Junior Commander's mission, believing the Ascendancy's non-response to pirates would send a message of weakness and vulnerability to neighboring nations. If Thrawn could establish the Lioaoin Regime's culpability, a swift and decisive counter-strike would make nearby peoples reconsider attacking the Chiss. As a result, Ba'kif approved the Junior Commander's request for three ships for a mission to the Lioaoin heartworld.
The mission to Bardram Scoft appeared as a flashback in the 2020 novel Thrawn Ascendancy: Chaos Rising by Timothy Zahn, the first installment in Star Wars: The Ascendancy Trilogy.