The theocratic governance of the Kilji species, who firmly believed in enlightening all beings to their religious beliefs – specifically, the Kilji way of order and enlightenment – was known as the Kilji Illumine. This government maintained a formidable battle fleet, the Illumine Kilhorde, under the command of the Illumine's leader, Generalirius Nakirre. From their Kilji homeland, the Illumine initiated its expansion and conducted its conquests throughout the Unknown Regions. The decisions of the generalirius, including the alliance between the Kilji theocracy and the Grysks – particularly the Grysk operative "Jixtus," who advised Nakirre during the Kilji conquests – required the approval of the Kilji Overlords.
During Nakirre's alliance with the Grysk, Jixtus and Nakirre journeyed across the Chiss species' government, the Chiss Ascendancy, visiting several worlds in an attempt to incite a civil conflict among the Chiss families circa 18 BBY. As the generalirius and the Grysk traveled, the Grysk's agenda became clear, with General Crofyp, an officer of the Illumine, endeavoring to retrieve certain refugees of interest to Jixtus. This endeavor failed when Senior Captain Mitth'raw'nuruodo of the Chiss, whose core name was "Thrawn," obliterated the flagship of the general's task force's, the Kilji war cruiser Anvil.
A Kilji picket cruiser known as the _Hammer_, which was a part of Crofyp's task force, managed to escape the star system and fled to the Sunrise system located in the Unknown Regions. There, Thrawn's Chiss heavy cruiser, the Springhawk, captured the Hammer and extracted valuable data pertaining to the Kilhorde. Subsequent to the cruiser's destruction by a Grysk vessel, the Whetstone made its way to the Sunrise system, where it encountered a destroyed Chiss fleet under the command of Thrawn. Nakirre and Thrawn then engaged in a conversation via comm, during which Nakirre was informed about the destruction of the Kilhorde. This destruction had been orchestrated by the Paataatus' government, the Paataatus Hiveborn, thanks to Thrawn's provision of information about the battle fleet to the Hiveborn. Jixtus, perceiving Generalirius Nakirre as now useless without his fleet, assassinated Nakirre, thereby ending the alliance between his species and the Illumine.
Sometime following the defeat of Nikardun General Yiv and his nation, the Grysk operative "Jixtus" forged an alliance with Generalirius Nakirre, leader of the Kilji Illumine, which was the theocracy governing the Kilji species. Jixtus pledged to guide and advise the generalirius in the Kiljis' religious conquests, but in return, Jixtus requested passage aboard Nakirre's Kilji war cruiser, the Whetstone. From this vessel, he intended to communicate with representatives from four nations that the Grysk species considered most vulnerable to conquest. Having secured the approval of the Kilji Overlords, the generalirius commenced his travels with Jixtus, which included a visit to the planet Zyzek in the Unknown Regions. It was there that Nakirre encountered Mitth'raw'nuruodo, a Senior Captain of the Chiss, whose core name was "Thrawn." The Chiss and the generalirius engaged in a confrontation, during which Nakirre vowed that the Illumine would impart the Kilji beliefs to the Chiss.
Later in that same year, Nakirre convened with Patriel [Thistrian], a representative of the Mitth family within the Chiss. Thistrian instructed the generalirius and his Whetstone to depart. Jixtus, wishing to avoid conflict with the Chiss, complied with the order, which later led to a confrontation with Nakirre. During this confrontation, the Grysk threatened Nakirre with the destruction of the Illumine. Despite dismissing the threat, Nakirre continued to serve Jixtus—despite wanting to kill him—fearing the destruction of the Kilji homeland, the Illumine's origin point from which the theocracy expanded and undertook its conquests of enlightenment. Subsequently, Nakirre and Jixtus visited Rhigar, a planet belonging to the Clarr family. There, the Kilji and Grysk offered warships from the Illumine to Captain Clarr'os'culry, whose core name was "Roscu," as Jixtus had informed the captain that her family was threatened by another Chiss family. However, Roscu declined the generalirius's offer.
Shortly thereafter, Jixtus dispatched Illumine General Crofyp and his task force to the Rapacc system within the Unknown Regions with the intention to retrieve certain refugees. However, Uingali foar Marocsaa, an official from Paccosh, and Thrawn joined forces and destroyed Crofyp's flagship, the Kilji war cruiser Anvil. Meanwhile, the picket cruiser Hammer managed to escape to the Sunrise system in the Unknown Regions.
Following the Hammer's escape, Nakirre and Jixtus engaged with several Chiss officials representing the Nine Ruling Families, the families that governed the Chiss Ascendancy, the nation of the Chiss species. The Kilji offered ships of the Illumine, but Jixtus altered the offer to warships of the Grysks, providing ships to the Chaf and Ufsa families. After Thrawn located the Hammer at the Sunrise system with assistance from Qilori, a Pathfinder navigator who had been the navigator of the Anvil and had escaped the ship's destruction, and had been retrieved by Thrawn, Chiss and Paccosh forces boarded the picket cruiser. They obtained information regarding the Kilhorde's weaknesses and combat doctrines after assassinating all aboard. Sometime after the battle, the Chiss senior captain shared this information with the Paataatus government of the Paataatus Hiveborn. The Kilhorde battle fleet had obtained Grysk permission to conquer worlds and nations to the south and southeast of the Chiss Ascendancy, positioning the fleet near Paataatus borders. Deeming the Kilji battle force's operations unacceptable, the Hiveborn dispatched a multipronged Paataatus attack fleet to annihilate the Kilhorde, resulting in the battle force's defeat.
Nakirre and Jixtus, having been informed of the Hammer's destruction, traveled to the Sunrise system themselves. There, they observed a destroyed Chiss fleet adrift above the planet Sunrise. Thrawn, who was in command of the fleet, hailed the Whetstone via comm and informed Nakirre—and indirectly, Jixtus—of the Kilhorde's destruction. As the Grysk operative had only allied himself with the Kilji to have the Kilhorde conquer nations and encircle the Chiss Ascendancy, he shot and killed Nakirre, thus ending the alliance with the Illumine.
The Illumine was deeply rooted in religious beliefs, with its people aspiring to conquer the universe to disseminate enlightenment and, in Generalirius Nakirre's view, to establish order. The Illumine was governed by the paramount civilian leader and the chief military commander, the generalirius, whose decisions were subject to the approval of the Kilji Overlords. Represented by Generalirius Nakirre, the Illumine formed an alliance with the Grysks, traversing the Chiss Ascendancy with the objective of enlightening the Chiss.
The Kilji Illumine possessed a battle fleet referred to as the Illumine Kilhorde, which visited—and enlightened—the worlds listed for enlightenment. While the Kiljis, including Nakirre, considered the fleet "mighty and unshakable," it possessed several vulnerabilities in both its design and combat doctrines. These could be discerned by an alien visitor aboard a Kilji battleship. Ultimately, the Kilhorde was destroyed due to these weaknesses, which were exploited by Senior Captain Thrawn and the Paataatus Hiveborn, who had obtained information from the Kilji picket cruiser Hammer.
The Kilji Illumine, a theocracy populated by the Kilji species and the peoples conquered by the Kilhorde, was deeply religious, functioning as a religious empire that expanded its territory throughout the Unknown Regions. Members of the government referred to themselves as the enlightened, alluding to their "superior" status attained through enlightenment to the Kilji way of order and enlightenment. Given that the Kilji way mandated its followers to enlighten others, the Illumine was focused on enlightening the entirety of the universe. Some members of the Illumine, such as Crofyp, spoke the Kilji language.
The Kilji homeland, situated in the Unknown Regions, served as the point of origin from which the Illumine expanded and engaged in the conquest of various worlds with the aim of spreading enlightenment. Worlds conquered by the Kilhorde were placed under Illumine control, with all inhabitants receiving provisions in exchange for being enlightened.
The Kilji Illumine made its debut in the 2022 novel Thrawn Ascendancy: Lesser Evil, the concluding installment of Timothy Zahn's Ascendancy Trilogy.