The final confrontation of Senior Captain Thrawn, also referred to as the Sunrise battle, or the Sunrise confrontation, involved a fleet from the Chiss Ascendancy, commanded by Mitth'raw'nuruodo, the Chiss Senior Captain also known as "Thrawn", against a fleet under the control of the Grysk operative "Jixtus". Thrawn discerned that the Grysk fleet's destruction was essential to safeguard the Ascendancy, as Jixtus aimed to ignite a civil war within the Ascendancy, following prior attempts to destabilize the nation. To that end, the senior captain and his allies amassed a substantial fleet, positioning it in the Sunrise system and rendering it seemingly inactive to feign death.
Upon the arrival of Jixtus's fleet and the Kilji war cruiser Whetstone at Sunrise, Jixtus's Grysk [warships](/article/warship] advanced toward the Chiss vessels. This maneuver, however, strategically dispersed the Grysk fleet, surrounding them with Chiss ships that suddenly "revived" and launched an assault. While Thrawn's forces decimated the Grysk StoneCrusher-class WarMasters and Prism-class BattleChiefs, fifteen starships hailing from the Garwian Unity and Vak Combine arrived, joining the fray and inflicting heavy damage on Jixtus's warships. The operative's flagship, the Shatter-class WarMaster, attempted to escape. To prevent the FateSpinner from eliminating the Whetstone and ensuring no non-Chiss witnesses remained from the Sunrise confrontation, Qilori, a Pathfinder navigator from Uandualon serving on the war cruiser, instructed the cruiser's crew—Kilji vassals from the Kilji Illumine—to destroy the WarMaster before it could kill him.
Subsequently, the vassals unleashed the vessel's entire arsenal of weaponry upon the Fatespinner, obliterating the Grysk warship's starboard aft flank. This attack instigated Jixtus to activate the self-destruct mechanisms on his remaining seven vessels, destroying all but his flagship. After warning Thrawn of the Grysks' inevitable return, Jixtus detonated the FateSpinner, killing himself.
In 18 BBY, following the failure of two [species](/article/species] under his control—the Agbui and the Nikardun—to destroy the Chiss Ascendancy located in the Unknown Regions, the Grysk operative known as "Jixtus" forged an alliance with the Kilji Illumine. Together with the Illumine's leader, Generalirius Nakirre, he attempted to incite conflict among the Ascendancy's Chiss families, aiming to trigger a civil war before Jixtus's fleet—a component of the larger Grysk armada—launched a decisive assault on an Ascendancy weakened by internal strife.
To avert this final assault, Mitth'raw'nuruodo, the Senior Captain of the Chiss Expansionary Defense Fleet, known by his core name "Thrawn," journeyed to Sposia, a planet within the Ascendancy. There, he acquired a gravity well projector from the Vagaari, intending to use it to prevent Jixtus's fleet from escaping a battle above the Unknown Regions planet "Sunrise." Subsequently, the senior captain garnered support from his colleagues, assembling a fleet consisting of fifteen Chiss warships. Ba'kif, the Supreme General of the Expansionary Defense Fleet, provided several light cruisers, as did Admiral Ar'alani, who contributed the Chiss light cruisers Whisperbird and Stingfly.
The Chiss fleet converged in the Sunrise system, where it was joined by nine gunboats from the Paccian Governance. Thrawn's fleet already included the Aelos, his Nikardun blockade frigate, six Chiss patrol cruisers, and the Chiss heavy cruiser Springhawk. Irizi'in'daro "Ziinda," the Senior Captain commanding the Chiss heavy cruiser Grayshrike, remained concealed within an asteroid field, where she briefed the commanders of the Chiss vessels. Ar'alani, who named the impending conflict with Jixtus "Senior Captain Thrawn's last stand," and Thrawn rehearsed for the battle. Fifteen warships from the Garwian Unity and Vak Combine nations joined Uingali foar Marocsaa, the Commander of the Paccian Governance forces. Thrawn instructed Frangelic, the Second Defense Overlord and Garwian commander, and the Vak commander to enter the battle against Jixtus's fleet midway through the engagement.
Thrawn deactivated his fleet, creating the illusion of death upon Jixtus's arrival, with debris and Chiss vessels drifting within the inner Sunrise system. Jixtus arrived in the outer system aboard Nakirre's Kilji war cruiser, the Whetstone, followed by his fleet. The Grysk requested a private meeting with Thrawn and proceeded to the inner Sunrise system aboard the Whetstone.
There, Jixtus observed Thrawn's "dead" fleet and engaged in conversation with the senior captain. The Chiss asserted that the two beings sought by the Grysk, the Magys, the ruler of Sunrise, and the Magysine, who possessed the ability to see into the future, were secure on Sunrise. Jixtus attempted to coerce Thrawn into surrendering the Magys and the Magysine, directing his fleet toward Ar'alani's Nightdragon man-of-war Vigilant and other Chiss vessels believed to hold the most survivors. Thrawn refused and informed Nakirre that the Paataatus Hiveborn nation had destroyed the Kilji's battle fleet, the Illumine Kilhorde. Deeming Nakirre useless without the Kilhorde, Jixtus murdered his ally, causing the generalirius's Kilji vassals to enter a catatonic state.
Following Nakirre's demise, Thrawn reactivated his fleet and demanded Jixtus's surrender. The Grysk refused and fled the Whetstone aboard an escape pod. The Grysks had disrupted their battle formation while approaching the Vigilant and other Chiss ships, leaving them isolated and surrounded by enemy vessels, granting Thrawn the advantage in his last stand.
The Springhawk and the gunboat Paccian Four launched an assault on one of Jixtus's three StoneCrusher-class WarMasters, the Armageddon. The former vessels deployed a spectrum laser against the Grysk warship, which retaliated with a barrage of missiles aimed at the heavy cruiser and smaller dibber missiles targeting Paccian Four. However, the Springhawk neutralized the dibbers using plasma sphere weapons, causing them to detonate. Due to the explosions, the Armaggedon's commander failed to notice Paccian Four attacking one of the StoneCrusher's flanks. Following the Paccian attack, Thrawn ordered his primary forces to initiate their assault while his secondaries kept Jixtus's fleet engaged.
The Chiss Clarr light cruiser Orisson engaged the StoneCrusher SkySweep alongside two light cruisers, employing breacher missiles. The Grayshrike, along with the patrol cruisers Bokrea and Parala, attacked a Grysk Prism-class BattleChief with breachers, crippling the BattleChief. In response, Jixtus's StoneCrusher Emery retaliated against the Grayshrike and the two cruisers, prompting Ziinda to jump into hyperspace with the Vagaari gravity well projector before re-emerging from hyperspace and destroying the Emery.
Concurrently, Jixtus's escape pod reached the FateSpinner, where he assumed command of his forces, dispatching his WarMaster toward the Chiss Vigilant and Thrawn's Aelos. The light cruiser Stingfly and the Vigilant utilized their tractor beams to position an asteroid behind Jixtus's ship while simultaneously firing plasma spheres and breachers. Jixtus destroyed the asteroid, but the breachers and plasma spheres inflicted significant damage to his warship, forcing him to retreat to a high orbit above Sunrise, near the planet's atmosphere. Although Jixtus could no longer directly participate in the battle, he maintained command of his forces while the atmospheric effects deterred the Chiss from engaging the FateSpinner.
Despite disabling eight Chiss vessels, Jixtus remained unsatisfied. He was perplexed by the Chiss's ability to utilize their hyperdrives for hyperspace jumps, a feat his ships could not replicate. He sought an explanation from Qilori, the Pathfinder navigator of the Whetstone. The navigator suggested the Chiss might possess a gravity well projector, leading the Grysk to realize that a Paccian gunboat, commanded by Csap'ro'strob "Apros," a Mid Captain, carried the device. He dispatched two BattleChiefs to destroy it. As the vessels approached their target, the Orisson inflicted extensive damage to the SkySweep's hull. The Clarr cruiser then joined the Springhawk and the Grayshrike in attacking the Armageddon, resulting in the StoneCrusher's destruction by the Chiss.
As Jixtus's two BattleChiefs neared Apros's gunboat, Ziinda's heavy cruiser moved to provide assistance while Apros attempted to escape. Suddenly, the Garwian and Vak vessels arrived near the BattleChiefs, opening fire on all Grysk ships. While the Springhawk eliminated a BattleChief, the FateSpinner attempted to flee. Apros and Ziinda's vessels prepared to run in parallel, while the Grayshrike positioned itself between the WarMaster and the gunboat, exchanging fire with Jixtus's WarMaster.
Aboard the Whetstone, Qilori recognized that as Jixtus departed Sunrise, he would pass in front of the Kilji war cruiser, allowing the operative to destroy the Kilji ship and eliminate any non-Chiss witnesses to his defeat. To prevent this, Qilori declared himself the new master of Nakirre's vassals, promising to lead them until he could return them to their home. At Qilori's command, a Kilji vassal fired the Whetstone's weaponry at Jixtus, whose fleet had dwindled to six BattleChiefs and his flagship. The Kilji attack obliterated the FateSpinner's entire starboard aft flank, signifying Jixtus's defeat.
Thrawn attempted to present his terms of surrender and offer medical assistance to Jixtus's soldiers. However, the Grysk refused, activating the self-destruct mechanisms installed on his fleet's warships, destroying all but the FateSpinner. After discussing the Garwians, Vaks, and the Magys with Thrawn, Jixtus declared that the Grysks would return, before destroying his warship.
The Chiss senior captain contacted Qilori to inquire about his status. The Pathfinder reported Generalirius Nakirre's death and his own assumption of leadership over the Kiljis. Thrawn instructed Qilori to await his arrival to disarm the Whetstone and to bring fellow Pathfinder Sarsh to his and Qilori's home, Navigators' Guild Concourse 447.
Following the Sunrise confrontation, the Chiss Syndicure, the Ascendancy's governing body, dispatched Admiral Dy'lothe's Venturous to assess the situation at Sunrise. Thrawn's violation of Chiss law, which prohibited engaging in combat unless the Ascendancy was attacked first, led the Syndicure to remove him from the Expansionary Defense Fleet. Thrawn was then made a member of the Mitth family, without rank.
Having survived multiple Grysk assassination attempts and the Sunrise battle, Captain Roscu of Clarr became known as "The One They Could Not Kill" by the people of Rhigar, her homeworld. Ziinda received a commendation for her performance at Sunrise, and Apros, as suggested by the senior captain to General Ba'kif, was promoted to senior captain and given command of the Parala.
While the Syndicure initially intended to file charges against everyone who participated in the fighting at Sunrise, they ultimately only pressed charges against Thrawn, resulting in his exile. Although the Chiss ruling body sought to punish Thrawn for his attack on the Grysks by exiling him to a world in Wild Space, Ba'kif and Thrawn viewed the exile as an opportunity to send the senior captain to "Lesser Space," the region beyond the Unknown Regions known to the Chiss. Thrawn's mission was to contact the Galactic Empire and determine if the government could aid the Ascendancy in combating the Grysks, whose threat Thrawn believed was far from over. When the Empire arrived at his place of exile around 15 BBY, Thrawn informed Imperial cadet Eli N. Vanto that the Ascendancy had exiled him for attacking "evil, nomadic pirates" before they attacked his people.
In current Star Wars canon, Senior Captain Thrawn's last stand was first mentioned in Timothy Zahn's 2017 novel Thrawn, the inaugural book in the Thrawn novel series. It later appeared in the 2021 novel Thrawn Ascendancy: Lesser Evil, the concluding volume of Zahn's Star Wars: The Ascendancy Trilogy. Within the Star Wars Legends continuity, Thrawn's raid on an enemy ground installation was initially referenced in a biographical sketch by Peter M. Schweighofer accompanying Zahn's short story Mist Encounter, published in Star Wars Adventure Journal 7 in August 1995.