Maris Ferasi

During the final decades of the Galactic Republic, Maris Ferasi was born on the planet Corellia. She held idealistic views and believed the galactic government was corrupt. To express her opposition to the corruption, Ferasi became involved with Dubrak Qennto, a small-time smuggler who also hailed from Corellia. While serving on Qennto's ship, the Bargain Hunter, Ferasi grew accustomed to Qennto's disposition. Around 27 BBY, Jorj Car'das joined Ferasi and Qennto as the third member of their crew, working as a navigator.

The group was transporting furs and concealed firegems to Drixo, a Hutt gangster, when Progga, a rival Hutt, ambushed the Bargain Hunter. To escape Progga, the smugglers made a risky jump to hyperspace, but their hyperdrive engine was damaged, leaving them stranded deep within the Unknown Regions of the galaxy. Progga pursued them into hyperspace and attacked them again, but both ships then came under attack from a local patrol. The Bargain Hunter was ensnared in a shock net, disabling its electronic systems, while Progga's ship was destroyed. Force Commander Mitth'raw'nuruodo of the Chiss Expansionary Fleet, the leader of the patrol, captured Ferasi and her two companions, bringing them and their ship to his base in the Crustai system.

During her time at the base, Ferasi became captivated by the Chiss commander, which created tension between her and Qennto. Ferasi and Car'das attended language lessons with Thrawn, with the two Humans teaching the commander basic, and Thrawn teaching them the Chiss language Cheunh and the local trade language Minnisiat in return.

Maris requested to accompany Thrawn and Car'das when they went to investigate the Vagaari attack. Thrawn agreed, and she and Car'das accompanied him on the Springhawk. Maris supported Thrawn even when he attempted capture of one of the Vagaari's Gravity-well projectors, a dangerous task. At one point during the battle Thrawn called for a close-up on the hull of one of the opposing warships and discovered that in each of the Zero-g plastic bubbles a slave was held. When Maris saw this, she ordered Thrawn to find a way to destroy the warships without hurting the slaves, and then got mad at him when he said he could not. She soon forgot about it, however, when there appeared a sudden flash of light and subsequent disintegration of part of the canopy. When the dust cleared, she saw Thrawn laying on the floor, wounded, with a tear in his Vacc suit. She and Car'das rushed to him and tried to fix the rip with a Sealant patch, but it would not stick to the material. Maris went chest-to-chest with Thrawn to stop the air from leaking out of his suit with her hands clasped behind his back. She stayed this way until two Chiss came with a bigger patch and transported him to a medical room. One of them declared that she had saved Thrawn's life, and Thrawn himself expressed his gratitude to her when he was better.

When they returned to base, they discovered Qennto's aggressive behavior had gotten him thrown in the brig. She convinced them to release him, but Qennto knew about Maris' 'esteem' for Thrawn and became so hostile that both he and Maris were assigned escorts whenever they tried to leave their room.

After the destruction of Outbound Flight, Maris and Dubrak Qennto returned to Republic space, managed to repay their debt to Drixo, and resumed their smuggling activities. Ferasi and Jorj Car'das would later be known to the Chiss as The Visitors because they taught Basic to the Chiss while they were Commander Thrawn's guests/captives.

Maris Ferasi made her debut in Timothy Zahn's 2006 novel, Outbound Flight. Her subsequent fate remains unknown, though Zahn once considered having her join the Rebellion.