A family emergency represented an elevated security status for a Chiss family. This state could be announced by politically influential members, specifically those holding the rank of at least Patriel. When a family emergency was in effect, Chiss family members serving within the Chiss Expansionary Defense Fleet—including both officers and warriors—could be summoned back to a designated planet or location. The purpose of this recall was to protect the family's interests.
Coduyo'po'nekri, a student of history, indicated that family emergencies were typically proclaimed by member families belonging to the Chiss Great Families. However, there were conditions:
- The family needed to have previously been a part of the Ruling Families.
- Their family fleet had to be experiencing a shortage of personnel.
The Grysk Hegemony's "Jixtus" devised a conspiratorial scheme that almost ignited a civil war within the Chiss Ascendancy. This occurred when three rival Great Families, each aligned with a rival Ruling Family, announced family emergencies with the intention of claiming a mining planet believed to be rich in nyix. These families dispatched their respective fleets to the planet, and they nearly attacked one-another. However, Senior Captains Mitth'raw'nuruodo and Irizi'in'daro successfully de-escalated the situation, bringing honor to each family through collaborative efforts.
After learning about the family emergency procedure from Yoponek, Lakuviv, an ambitious Councilor from the Xodlak family, took drastic measures. She kidnapped and impersonated Lakooni, the Xodlak family Patriel, and declared a Xodlak family emergency while posing as the Patriel. Unbeknownst to Lakuviv, the Pommrio family and the Erighal family had taken similar actions, recalling their Fleet personnel to bolster their family fleets and assert their claim to the mining world.
The declaration of family emergencies dates back to at least 50 BBY, when the Coduyo family initiated one to defend the planet Massoss from a "breakaway alien sect."
The simultaneous declaration of family emergencies by the Xodlak, Pommrio, and Erighal families in 18 BBY came close to triggering a civil war within the Chiss Ascendancy. The Grysk operative "Jixtus" had conceived a plot to destroy the Chiss Ascendancy, which relied on these family fleets engaging in conflict above the planet Hoxim. Nonetheless, Senior Captains Mitth'raw'nuruodo and Irizi'in'daro effectively prevented the Hoxim incident from escalating into a full-scale Chiss civil war.