The Whetstone, a Kilji war cruiser and also a battlecruiser, was utilized by the government under the control of its commander, namely the Kilji Illumine Nakirre of Generalirius. As the sister vessel to the Anvil war cruiser and the smaller Kilji picket cruiser called _Hammer_, Nakirre's warship functioned as his flagship in approximately 18 BBY while in the company of the Grysk operative known as "Jixtus."
The Whetstone, commanded by Nakirre, journeyed through a section of the Unknown Regions that encompassed the planet Zyzek and the Chiss Ascendancy government. The battlecruiser made stops at seven planets within that region: Avidich, Rhigar, Ornfra, and three others. On Rhigar, Captain Roscu of the Clarr family boarded the Whetstone and encountered the generalirius and Jixtus in one of the Whetstone's meeting rooms, which Roscu found to be decorated in a way that resembled a child's play area.
Presenting evidence of betrayal among the Chiss ruling families, Nakirre and Jixtus rapidly sparked a civil conflict, while their relationship became increasingly strained. Nakirre ridiculed his comrade, and the Grysk returned the mockery, leading to Nakirre's reduction to a mere instrument of the Grysk, accepting commands solely from Jixtus. After the Whetstone collected Jixtus's agent, the navigator Qilori, from the planet Schesa, the navigator guided it to the Sunrise system. There, Jixtus killed Nakirre on the war cruiser's bridge, and Jixtus's fleet of Grysk warships engaged in combat with a fleet of Chiss warships under the leadership of Senior Captain Thrawn.
As Jixtus's forces suffered catastrophic losses, his flagship, the FateSpinner, attempted to flee. However, Qilori roused the Kilji vassals aboard the Whetstone from their mourning for Nakirre and instructed them to fire all of the Kilji's spectrum lasers, missiles, and weapons at the massive Grysk flagship. The destruction of a Grysk starship's flank prompted Jixtus to activate a self-destruct mechanism to annihilate his own forces, which then allowed Thrawn to disable the Whetstone before it could escape to the Kilji home.
The Whetstone, a Kilji war cruiser and flagship, was a [battlecruiser](/article/battlecruiser]-sized warship under the command of Generalirius Nakirre, the leader of the Kilji Illumine government. Staffed by Nakirre's Kilji vassals, the Whetstone's bridge contained numerous stations, including comm stations, weapon stations, Nakirre's command chair, and a board from which he issued orders to everyone on the bridge, as well as the navigator's station, and a chair and table for the Grysk operative "Jixtus" located near Nakirre. Cabins were provided for the crew, including one used by Jixtus's agent Qilori of Uandualon, where he rested before the Kiljis piloted the Whetstone to the Unknown Regions Ornfra system close to the Sunrise system using their hyperdrive.
The meeting room featured walls adorned with pinpricks of colored lights in a chase pattern, illuminated by hovering light globes positioned in each upper corner of the compartment. A plush carpet covered the floor, beneath a wooden round table surrounded by six intricately carved wooden chairs. At the table's center was a multiscreen capable of displaying recordings. Corridors made of cold metal and ceramic connected the various compartments of the Whetstone. The ship's exterior was protected by nyix-alloy hull plating and electrostatic barrier nodes that generated electrostatic barriers, defending the Whetstone from attacks. Light globes, visible from meters away, lit up the Whetstone's corridors.
Around 18 BBY, Nakirre obtained permission from the Kilji Overlords to travel with Jixtus, granting him freedom to travel with the alien wherever he wished. The pair journeyed aboard the generalirius's war cruiser to the Unknown Regions planet Zyzek, intending to meet with representatives from four nations that the Grysk considered most promising for conquest and to sample their goods brought to Zyzek for sale. Before the Grysk could proceed, a message echoed through the Whetstone's bridge speakers: Senior Captain Mitth'raw'nuruodo "Thrawn" of the Chiss held Watith prisoners and sought to return them to their home. Believing he could gain information about how Thrawn had acquired those prisoners—information Jixtus denied the Chiss—Nakirre moved the Whetstone to face the Chiss ship, a maneuver intended to display defiance and confidence to the Chiss heavy cruiser Springhawk.
After a conversation via comm, Nakirre determined that the Chiss was not essential to his plans and decided to kill Thrawn for mocking the Kilji way of order and enlightenment, the Illumine's core beliefs. Using his board to order the war cruiser to combat readiness, Nakirre prepared to destroy the Springhawk within a few minutes. However, the Zyzek System Defense, the organization responsible for protecting the Zyzek system, ordered both warships to stand down, leading Nakirre to cease his confrontation with the Springhawk. Before the heavy cruiser departed, Nakirre vowed to bring Kilji enlightenment to the Chiss in the near future.
Following the Zyzek confrontation, Nakirre and Jixtus traveled to Avidich, a planet within the Chiss Ascendancy government, where they met Patriel Thistrian of the Mitth family. The Grysk coordinator offered his warships to defend the Mitth from the Xodlak, Erighal, and Dasklo families; however, after the Mitth patriel conferred with his Patriarch Thurfian, he was compelled to decline the offer and order the Whetstone to leave before his frigate and several missile boats destroyed it.
As Jixtus had complied with the Chiss directive, Nakirre and Jixtus argued about the Grysk's failure to enlighten the Chiss leaders and commanders before the Kilji war cruiser Whetstone traveled to a star system specified by Jixtus. After ten minutes, they arrived, and the Shatter-class WarMaster FateSpinner appeared, allowing Jixtus to instill fear of himself and the Grysks in Nakirre—to some extent, as the enlightened generalirius was only permitted to be calm and wise, not fearful—and to compel him to obey every directive from the Grysks, who would continue to assist him in enlightening the Chiss and other species.