Starflash was a secret superweapon that could fire an enormous blast of tachyonic and lightspeed energy at a star, causing a return burst that was far more powerful. It was brought to the Chiss Ascendancy around five thousand years before the Battle of Yavin and did not see use until the Final Assault on Csilla, hundreds of years later. Once the enemy fleet had gathered closely together, the weapon was fired and the fleet was destroyed, along with Starflash and the twenty Chiss who operated it. A second Starflash, referred to only as the item was obtained millennia later and was still owned by the Stybla family at the end of the Clone Wars.
Starflash was created by an unknown alien species over five thousand years before the Battle of Yavin and was acquired by the Stybla family during a period of Chiss exploration around 5000 BBY. Due to its destructive nature, it was hidden away in the Bastion (the predecessor of the Universal Analysis Group) with the intent of never using it.
Many hundreds of years later, the Chiss Ascendancy was attacked by an unidentified enemy. They conquered every planet in the Ascendancy except for Csilla. It was then that the Stybla Patriarch remembered Starflash. Twenty Mitth warriors, including Mitth'omo'rossodo's four sons, volunteered to operate the device. It was placed in a ship which moved to the center of the enemy fleet and was fired at Csilla's sun. The resulting burst destroyed the fleet and Starflash, though some of its pieces remained. This did cause Csilla's star to dim significantly over the few next decades, eventually forcing the Chiss to move underground.
The Patriarchs decided that the truth of the Final Assault on Csilla and the existence of Starflash would be suppressed. When new Patriarchs were selected, their Senior Aides would inform them of this ancient Chiss history. Many centuries later, the Stybla acquired another Starflash and hid it away in the vaults of the Universal Analysis Group on Sposia. The existence of this second one was known only to the Patriarch and Senior Aide of this family, and occasionally a few others. Around the time of the Clone Wars, Supreme Admiral Ja'fosk and Supreme General Ba'kif knew about it. Then-Senior Commander Mitth'raw'nuruodo and Syndic Mitth'ras'safis were also informed of it after they retrieved a piece of it with Senior Aide Stybla'ppin'cykok.
Starflash was first mentioned in the 2021 novel Thrawn Ascendancy: Greater Good, the second installment of Star Wars: The Ascendancy Trilogy written by Timothy Zahn.
- Star Wars: Timelines