The non-aggression protocols, also known as the preemptive-strike laws or the non-intervention policy, were a collection of statutes within the legal framework of the Chiss Ascendancy. These statutes prohibited preemptive military actions, with violators facing the penalty of exile. Heavily influenced by the Ascendancy's dedication to isolationism and its libertarian perspective on the galaxy at large, this policy was a fundamental principle of engagement for the Chiss military. The protocols mandated that the Chiss military exhaust all possible avenues to prevent initiating combat against potential enemies.
Although initiating attacks was forbidden by these protocols, retaliatory measures and punitive strikes were authorized against confirmed aggressors who violated Chiss territorial integrity or disrupted trade routes. Following the attack on Csilla perpetrated by unidentified forces, the Chiss Syndicure and the Defense Hierarchy Council made the decision to attack the Paataatus. Their reasoning was that even if the Paataatus were not the perpetrators of the initial attack, their repeated encroachments upon the Ascendancy's borders warranted a retaliatory response.
A key objective of the Chiss Expansionary Defense Fleet was to gather intelligence and assess potential threats beyond the Ascendancy's sphere of influence. The combination of the Fleet's reconnaissance mission and the non-aggression protocols fostered a strong inclination towards covert operations when venturing into inhabited systems unknown to the Chiss. Any intrusion into foreign territory, even for the purpose of information gathering, was considered a dangerous step towards initiating preemptive conflict.
Chiss Senior Captain Mitth'raw'nuruodo faced specific scrutiny regarding preemptive strike protocols following his unauthorized, albeit successful, actions during the Vagaari pirate operations. The Senior Captain, also known by his core name Thrawn, affirmed his understanding of these protocols.
General Yiv the Benevolent of the Nikardun Destiny attempted to exploit the laws against preemptive strikes by conquering or otherwise dominating several civilizations bordering Chiss space. Yiv's strategy involved encircling the Chiss, rendering them unable to respond until it was too late. However, Senior Captain Thrawn of the Chiss Expansionary Defense Fleet's Picket Force Six exposed Yiv's scheme, demonstrating the threat posed by the Nikardun, and ultimately defeated them above Primea. As a result, Thrawn captured Yiv and delivered him to the Ascendancy.
During the raid on Rapacc, Thrawn was engaged by Nikardun blockade forces. He then seized a Nikardun blockade frigate and transported it back to the Ascendancy for thorough structural and technological analysis. Supreme General Ba'kif cautioned Thrawn that certain members of the Syndicure might interpret his actions as a breach of the preemptive strike laws, suggesting it would have been simpler to destroy the captured vessel. Indeed, Syndic Thurfian explicitly declared the ship's capture unlawful. Ba'kif speculated that some Aristocra might even demand the warship's return to the Nikardun. Thrawn was unable to comply, as the entire crew of the vessel had committed mass suicide just before Chiss boarding parties arrived. This led Ba'kif to classify the frigate's capture as a "gray area" pending clarification from the Syndicure.
Following Yiv's capture and subsequent interrogation, he divulged the locations of the dispersed remnants of his forces. The ruling Chiss Syndicure, now fully convinced of the danger presented by the Nikardun Destiny, authorized the Ascendancy military to interpret the non-aggression policy more flexibly in order to pursue and eliminate the remaining Nikardun forces. During the Imperial Era, Imperial Navy elements encountered an exiled Chiss man named Mitth'raw'nuruodo on an uncharted world. Thrawn explained that he had been exiled for violating the policy by launching preemptive strikes against a known threat to the Chiss Ascendancy.
Years later, Thrawn confided in select trusted members of the Galactic Empire that his exile was a fabrication. It was a strategic deception designed to allow him to approach the burgeoning Empire, assess its potential, and determine if it could serve as a viable ally for the Chiss Ascendancy against the Grysk Hegemony. Thrawn had not anticipated becoming an officer in the Imperial Navy, much less being brought directly before the Emperor. However, the Emperor sought the Chiss's knowledge of his native Unknown Regions for his own purposes.
The concept of preemptive-strike laws was introduced into the relaunched canon in the 2017 novel Thrawn authored by Timothy Zahn. Comprehensive details concerning these laws were initially revealed in the 2020 novel Thrawn Ascendancy: Chaos Rising. While referenced in various canonical works, they were definitively labeled as "preemptive-strike laws" in the 2021 novel Thrawn Ascendancy: Greater Good. Nevertheless, the anti-aggression policy has not consistently been referred to using the same precise terminology.
Within the Star Wars Legends continuity, the Chiss policy against initiating combat was first presented as a law in the novel Vision of the Future, also penned by Timothy Zahn and released in 1998 by Bantam Spectra. Zahn's 2006 novel Outbound Flight identified it as the "defensive-only doctrine."