Nakirre

Nakirre, a Kilji, was the ruler of the Kilji Illumine, his species' nation, holding the rank of generalirius. He commanded the Illumine Kilhorde, the Illumine's combat fleet, and his flagship, the Kilji war cruiser Whetstone. He adhered to the Kilji way of order and enlightenment, the Illumine's religious doctrine, and converted numerous Kiljis—including Vassal Four, a pilot, a weapons operator, and another Kilji—to the Kilji way, transforming them into his vassals, who served under him aboard the Whetstone. In 18 BBY, Nakirre formed an alliance with "Jixtus," a Grysk operative who acted as a coordinator for his species. Jixtus promised to educate the Illumine on the concept of conquest and to guide the Kilhorde's religious conquests within the Unknown Regions. In exchange, Nakirre permitted Jixtus to travel aboard the Whetstone during their expeditions in the Unknown Regions.

With the approval of the Illumine's Kilji Overlords, the pair journeyed to the Zyzek system in the Unknown Regions, seeking to establish contact with four nations that Jixtus believed could be easily and swiftly conquered. As the Whetstone orbited the planet Zyzek, the Chiss heavy cruiser Springhawk arrived, and its commander, the Chiss Senior Captain Mitth'raw'nuruodo, whose core name was "Thrawn," transmitted a message. Thrawn announced that he held Watith prisoners and intended to return them to their people—a claim that Jixtus deemed false. Despite his Grysk ally's advice to the contrary, Nakirre engaged in conversation with Thrawn, informing the Chiss about the Kilji way and requesting the prisoners so that he could return them to their home, as the Kilji enlightenment dictated that he should assist others. The senior captain refused, which prompted the generalirius to order his vassals to prepare his flagship for battle.

Zyzek System Defense, an organization responsible for safeguarding the Zyzek system, dispatched patrol ships to confront the Springhawk and Whetstone, demanding that they stand down. Nakirre considered the possibility of destroying the newcomers but ultimately decided against it, reasoning that killing those aboard the vessels would prevent their enlightenment to the Kilji way. Consequently, the generalirius complied with Zyzek System Defense's request and pledged to bring the "fuller" enlightenment of the Kiljis to the Chiss Ascendancy nation.

The Whetstone departed the Zyzek system and traveled to Avidich, an Ascendancy planet, where Nakirre sought to meet with Patriel Thistrian of the Mitth family, one of the Ascendancy's ruling families, to share the Kilji way with him. However, the Patriel ordered the Kilji's war cruiser to leave. The generalirius, believing that Jixtus had deceived him, questioned the Grysk about why they had not enlightened the Chiss at Avidich. Jixtus responded by instructing the generalirius to bring his flagship to a nearby star system, where he claimed he would address all of the Kilji's questions. Unwilling to grant Jixtus sufficient time to formulate an explanation or an apology, Nakirre instructed Vassal One to bring the war cruiser to the system in ten minutes, rather than the thirty-five minutes that the journey would have normally required.

Upon their arrival at the system, the Grysk operative summoned the FateSpinner, his Shatter-class WarMaster flagship, and threatened to use it to destroy the Kilhorde. Jixtus revealed that Nakirre's people were at the mercy of the Grysks and commanded his Kilji ally to obey his every command. However, he insisted that he would continue to assist the generalirius in enlightening the peoples of the Unknown Regions. The pair then traveled to Rhigar, an Ascendancy planet, where they met with Captain Clarr'os'culry ("Roscu") of the Clarr family aboard the Whetstone. Jixtus presented a recording of a battle between the Chiss Dasklo and Xodlak families in an attempt to sow discord among the Ascendancy's families. Nakirre offered to defend the Clarr from other families with Kilji warships; however, Roscu declined the offer and departed the war cruiser.

After Jixtus informed the generalirius that the Chiss had attacked a Grysk shipyard, Nakirre suggested that he could assign some of the Illumine's vessels to defend the facility. However, the Grysk rejected the Kilji's offer and reminded his ally that his sole purpose was to conquer nations bordering the Ascendancy. This was to prevent Chiss refugees from seeking refuge in those nations when the Grysks instigated a Chiss civil war.

While the pair visited several Chiss worlds and met with numerous Chiss officials, Jixtus dispatched General Crofyp of the Illumine and his task force to the Rapacc system in the Unknown Regions. The task force, consisting of Crofyp's war cruiser Anvil and Colonel Tildnis's Kilji picket cruiser Hammer, attempted to capture a group of refugees who had sought refuge on the planet of Rapacc. However, the Springhawk destroyed the Anvil, and the Hammer fled to the "Sunrise" system in the Unknown Regions. There, the crew of the Aelos, a Nikardun blockade frigate commandeered by the Paccosh, including Thrawn, boarded the picket cruiser and stole data on the Kilhorde.

Shortly thereafter, Nakirre and Jixtus journeyed to Ornfra, a Chiss planet. During their journey, the generalirius mocked his ally, implying that Jixtus was incapable of destroying the Ascendancy. In response, the Grysk threatened to crush the Illumine like boulders and to corrupt the Kilji culture, which Nakirre believed to be impossible, as the unenlightened could not corrupt the enlightened. The generalirius then expressed his desire to transform the Chiss into one of the Grysks' allies; however, Jixtus refused, promising to end the Ascendancy at Ornfra by killing Roscu. However, the captain survived the Grysk attempt on her life.

As the Kilhorde advanced to conquer the nations that Jixtus sought to close off as havens for Chiss refugees, the senior captain shared the data he had retrieved from the Hammer with the Paataatus Hiveborn nation. The Kilji conquests were taking place to the southeast of the Ascendancy and to the north and northwest of the Hiveborn's territory, which the nation deemed unacceptable. Consequently, the nation dispatched a Paataatus attack fleet to destroy the Kilhorde, obliterating it and liberating the worlds and peoples it had conquered.

While his field commanders had been sending glowing reports of victory, detailing the progress of their conquests, Nakirre became alarmed when the reports abruptly ceased before the Paataatus attack. He speculated that his generals had "foolishly" extended their conquests to Colonial Station Chaf, an Ascendancy planet, as conquering the world would disrupt the operation of the long-range triad transmitter located there, which served as the sole link between Nakirre and his forces. After Jixtus spoke with Clarr'ivl'exow ("Rivlex"), the Patriarch of the Clarr family, and learned that all of the families' Patriarchs would be present on Csilla, the Ascendancy's capital planet, Nakirre suggested that he could travel to Csilla and enlighten the Chiss leaders. This would allow the Grysks to subjugate the Chiss nation without firing a single blaster. This suggestion prompted Jixtus to disparage the Kilji way and reveal that he had no regard for the Illumine, as its only purpose was to serve the Grysks.

The mockery of the Illumine's religion led Nakirre to consider the possibility of killing his ally. However, he decided against it, as the Grysk's fleet knew the location of the Kilhorde and, more importantly in the generalirius's view, the Kilji homeland, allowing them to bring about the Kiljis' demise.

Shortly thereafter, the Whetstone and Jixtus's fleet traveled to the Sunrise system, hoping to crush Thrawn and the Chiss once and for all. However, they were met by a deactivated fleet of Chiss Expansionary Defense Fleet vessels under Chiss' command. Nakirre briefly spoke with the senior captain, who revealed that the Paataatus had destroyed the Kilhorde, which the generalirius initially disbelieved. However, after Thrawn explained that the data he had shared with the Paataatus contained several weaknesses in the Kilji fleet's design and combat doctrine, Nakirre accepted that the Hiveborn had destroyed his fleet, and he snapped at Jixtus. After the Kilji lamented that the Grysk had failed to provide adequate support for the Illumine's conquests, Jixtus shot the Kilji generalirius with his blaster, as Nakirre's destruction rendered him useless. Nakirre's vassals entered a catatonic state after their master's death, mourning him.

As Thrawn's fleet reactivated and began to destroy Jixtus's fleet, three of the Kiljis Nakirre had enlightened accepted Qilori, the Whetstone's navigator and a Pathfinder, as their leader until he could return them to their home. Under Qilori's command, they fired all of the Whetstone's weaponry at the FateSpinner, prompting Jixtus to activate a self-destruct mechanism to destroy his WarMaster and kill himself. After Thrawn's fleet destroyed Jixtus's fleet, Qilori reported to the senior captain, informing him that Jixtus had murdered Nakirre.

Nakirre had wrinkly, rubbery, dark-orange skin that stretched and formed patterns reflecting the Kilji's emotions, along with dark-brown hair. He was significantly taller than Jixtus and slightly taller than Captain Roscu. When Jixtus revealed that he viewed the generalirius's Illumine as a mere tool, Nakirre's skin stretched with humiliation, dread, and anger. Due to the Grysk's possession of a massive warship, the FateSpinner, the generalirius feared his ally; however, he mocked him throughout their journey. Nakirre desired to remove Jixtus's veil and cloak to see the alien he had allied himself with. However, after realizing that removing the Grysk's coverings could be interpreted as fear of the unknown, he decided against it, as the generalirius was not permitted to experience fear. Nakirre believed that he and Jixtus could have bombarded Avidich instead of leaving the world, as he considered the Ascendancy's warships insignificant, viewing the Chiss nation as a nest of ignorance and darkness. However, the Chiss did not perceive Nakirre's Whetstone and the Kiljis as a genuine threat because they believed that their warships lacked the power to confront one of the ruling families.

Initially, Nakirre believed that he was an essential component of his ally's plan. However, as he discovered that his only purpose was to conquer nations bordering the Ascendancy and to transport Jixtus around the Ascendancy, he felt humiliated and frustrated with his role, which Qilori recognized, noting that the generalirius possessed a degree of self-importance. As he believed in the might of the Illumine and the unshakable nature of the Kilhorde, he initially refused to accept that the Paataatus had destroyed the battle fleet. When Nakirre snapped at Jixtus, the Kilji's skin roiled across his body like an agitated sea.

After the Kilhorde commenced its conquests, Nakirre grew frustrated and sought to complete his part of Jixtus's scheme, bring the Grysk to the FateSpinner, and join his people in their "glorious" conquests to lead and inspire them. The Kilji's voice was less melodious than Jixtus's, but it possessed an intensity that sent a chill down Roscu's spine.

Nakirre wore an outfit composed of a dozen shades of blue.

The generalirius possessed the ability to enlighten beings to the Kilji way.

Nakirre made his debut in the 2021 novel Thrawn Ascendancy: Lesser Evil, the concluding volume in Timothy Zahn's Ascendancy Trilogy. Prior to Lesser Evil's release on November 16, 2021, Tom Hoeler, a senior editor at Del Rey, the publisher of Lesser Evil, interviewed Zahn. The author revealed that in Lesser Evil, Nakirre gradually realized that he was less important to Jixtus than he had initially believed.