Dagon Niriz

Dagon Niriz, a Human male born into a Core World family, faced pressure from a young age to follow in his family's footsteps and become the fourth generation to join naval service. He enrolled in the Academy, where he trained to become a naval officer, dedicating himself to achieving success and honoring his family's legacy. Upon entering the Imperial Navy, Niriz was stationed on a Star Destroyer, gaining practical experience to complement his command and tactical knowledge acquired from studying manuals. After a brief period as a Star Destroyer captain, Niriz's commitment was recognized with a transfer to a military affairs bureau on Coruscant, the galactic capital. There, he analyzed situation reports from across the Empire and provided recommendations to senior officers. During his time on Coruscant, Niriz became entangled in Imperial Court politics. When enemies of Admiral Thrawn conspired against him, Emperor Palpatine exiled Thrawn to a mapping expedition in the Unknown Regions, along with any officers suspected of being associated with the alien admiral, including Niriz.

Niriz was appointed as the commanding officer of Thrawn's flagship, the Admonitor, an Imperial I-class Star Destroyer. Commander Voss Parck, a longtime ally of Thrawn, served as his executive officer. While Niriz was pleased to be back on the bridge of a Star Destroyer, he felt humiliated that his career had been effectively ruined due to his association with the scandal. He considered the mission a waste of resources at a time when resistance against Imperial rule was growing. Niriz was also initially uncomfortable with Thrawn, who frequently overruled his orders and assigned him tasks that he considered demeaning.

After several hyperspace jumps that took the Admonitor through the Outer Rim Territories and Wild Space, the ship arrived in the Unknown Regions and began scouting star systems. In the fifteenth system, the Imperials encountered several ships commanded by the Ebruchi pirate Creysis. Niriz was cautious of the Ebruchi and ordered a squadron of TIE fighters to warn them away, but Thrawn countermanded his order. Instead, the admiral contacted Creysis and identified the Admonitor as an Alderaanian colony ship, accepting Creysis's offer to help find a suitable planet for the colonists and arranging a meeting aboard the Admonitor.

Niriz and Thrawn met Creysis in the Admonitor's hangar. Thrawn agreed to send the fictional "Council of Colonists" to Creysis's command ship for negotiations. In return, Creysis requested a TIE fighter, but Thrawn offered a golden sculpture instead, which Creysis accepted. After Creysis departed, Niriz advised against sending a delegation to the Ebruchi ship, suggesting a show of force. However, Thrawn insisted on exploiting the opportunity to gather more information about the Ebruchi and instructed Niriz to select three TIE pilots who could remain calm under pressure to escort the mission.

Parck and six stormtroopers, disguised as the Council of Colonists, boarded a Zeta-class shuttle heading for Creysis's vessel. As the shuttle entered the hangar, the Ebruchi's escort starfighters opened fire on its TIE escorts. Niriz immediately ordered the Admonitor to intercept, but Thrawn overruled him, ordering a slow approach to maintain the illusion of a colony ship, resulting in the capture of one of the TIEs. With Thrawn's orders endangering his men, Niriz became increasingly convinced of his commander's incompetence. General Larr Haverel, the commander of the ship's infantry complement, approached Niriz, suggesting that Thrawn was collaborating with Creysis and needed to be removed from command. Although he found the idea disturbingly plausible, Niriz's pride in his naval service and respect for authority led him to dismiss Haverel's proposal as mutiny.

Niriz intended to inform Thrawn of the situation, but Haverel preempted him, returning with six troopers and demanding that Thrawn return to his quarters and relinquish command to Niriz. However, Niriz sided with his commander, assuring Haverel that he would find no support from Niriz or the crew. As Haverel prepared to act, Thrawn received the key he had been waiting for. The admiral had allowed the TIE fighter to be captured, having previously modified it to conceal its true capabilities. After examining the captured fighter and determining that the Imperials posed no threat, Creysis had dispatched a courier to his superiors, sending the sculpture as a symbol of the Admonitor's wealth. As Niriz began to understand the depth of Thrawn's strategy and the reason for his delays and apparent inaction, the admiral swiftly took action, easily defeating Creysis and rescuing Parck's team. Following a homing beacon hidden within the sculpture, Thrawn led the Admonitor to Creysis's home base, eliminating the Ebruchi threat.

After the Ebruchi were defeated, Niriz offered Thrawn his resignation as captain of the Admonitor, expecting to be sent back to Coruscant with Haverel for court-martial. However, Parck informed Niriz that the admiral had rejected his resignation. Thrawn had been testing Niriz's loyalty, and by standing with Thrawn against Haverel, Niriz had passed the test. Parck revealed that the mission was not a punishment but a secret operation to subdue the numerous threats in the Unknown Regions and establish a foothold for future Imperial expansion. Niriz would play a crucial role in this mission. Filled with a sense of purpose, Niriz developed a renewed commitment to Thrawn and the mission.

Niriz continued to serve Thrawn faithfully, participating in numerous campaigns in the Unknown Regions under the Grand Admiral's command. In 2 ABY, Thrawn returned to the Empire proper to assist Darth Vader in undermining Prince Xizor, the head of the Black Sun crime syndicate and a personal enemy of the Dark Lord of the Sith. To achieve this, Thrawn planned to create a diversion for Xizor by removing Black Sun Vigo Zekka Thyne from Corellia, effectively ending Black Sun's operations there. Niriz and the Admonitor accompanied him on this mission.

Since Imperial intervention would implicate Vader, Thrawn sought a civilian vessel to travel to Corellia. Niriz played a key role in coercing the crew of the YT-1300 light freighter Hopskip into assisting Thrawn by seizing their freighter and abruptly imposing a licensing requirement for their cargo, which he offered to waive if they delivered a cargo for him. Niriz also introduced them to Jodo Kast, a bounty hunter who he claimed would guide them on the mission. He staged a convincing argument with Kast to conceal the fact that Kast was actually Thrawn disguised in Mandalorian armor. Once out of sight of the smugglers, Niriz, unaware of Vader's involvement and the need for Thrawn's personal involvement, expressed his concerns about the plan to the Grand Admiral, showing great worry for his safety.

The Hopskip departed after unloading and loading their cargo. Niriz and Thrawn knew that among the Hopskip's cargo of Pashkin sausages were numerous crates of blasters being smuggled to the Rebel Alliance. While waiting for the Hopskip to return, Niriz had the crates opened and homing beacons installed inside each of the hidden blasters, allowing the Empire to locate the Rebels. When Thrawn returned after successfully capturing Thyne, Niriz expressed his relief at the Grand Admiral's safe return and informed him that the plan to track the Hopskip's cargo was in place, a plan that would eventually lead to the Empire's crucial victory at the Battle of Derra IV. When Vader arrived aboard the Admonitor, Niriz overheard conversations between Thrawn and Vader detailing their plot against Xizor. After this high-level discussion, Vader departed, and the Admonitor set course for the Unknown Regions once more, but not before Thrawn revealed his payment for their assistance: control of the Noghri commandos.

In 4 ABY, Emperor Palpatine was killed at the Battle of Endor. While the New Republic fought the Empire and various rogue Imperials for control of the known galaxy, Thrawn initially remained in the Unknown Regions, where his holdings became the Empire of the Hand. In 9 ABY, Thrawn returned to the Empire to lead a renewed push against the New Republic, leaving Parck in command of the Empire of the Hand. There was no mention of Niriz after the Empire of the Hand's existence was revealed to the New Republic in 19 ABY, but Niriz never returned to official duty with the Empire.

Initially pressured by his family to attend the Academy, Dagon Niriz dedicated himself to his studies and allowed his passion for the Empire to motivate him to excel in his career. Niriz quickly gained a reputation as a diligent officer who strictly adhered to the chain of command, even when he disliked his commanding officer. He was quick to assess situations and take appropriate action as dictated by regulations. If death was part of his duty, he would accept it as necessary. Niriz took great pride in his family's tradition of naval service and was ashamed to find himself associated with Thrawn and an Imperial Court scandal.

Although he initially resented his assignment to Thrawn as an undeserved career-ending exile, he did not let it affect his performance as an officer. Thrawn's unconventional tactics left Niriz struggling between loyalty to his commander and his adherence to Imperial procedures. When forced to choose, Niriz sided with Thrawn and refused to participate in Haverel's attempted mutiny. When he realized the mission's vital importance, even without public recognition, Niriz was inspired to continue and became extremely dedicated to it, demonstrating that he sought not praise and promotions, but the opportunity to make a difference in important work.

Niriz also developed a great admiration for Thrawn, whom he had initially viewed as a fool or even incompetent. Upon fully understanding Thrawn's tactics, he became completely committed to his superior officer and was extremely protective and supportive of the admiral, believing that he could learn more from him than from any other mentor.

Timothy Zahn created the character of Dagon Niriz for the short story Command Decision, published in Star Wars Adventure Journal 11 on November 1, 1996.