Wyan

During the early years of the Imperial Era, Major Wyan was an officer in the Imperial Army who was stationed on the Venator-class Star Destroyer Strikefast. The Strikefast, while returning Imperial cadets to the Myomar Academy, received new orders diverting it to pursue smugglers. During this pursuit, the ship inadvertently discovered an unmapped planet. As part of an Imperial landing party headed by Colonel Mosh Barris, Major Wyan participated in the discovery of an alien settlement situated in a forest clearing, marked by several stacks of containers. In accordance with the Unknown Alien protocols, the Imperials were obligated to examine the site and seek out any alien life.

While Colonel Barris conferred with Captain Voss Parck, Major Wyan, accompanied by several Imperial troops, proceeded to the crash site of an Imperial V-wing starfighter that had been scouting the area. Wyan discovered the pilot was missing, and his flight suit had been filled with grass, leaves, and red pyussh berries. Furthermore, the pilot's blaster, extra power packs, and concussion grenades were gone. Wyan reported this concerning discovery to Barris, his commanding officer, before initiating a search for the missing pilot. The search proved fruitless, and Wyan and his men returned to the Imperial encampment as dusk approached.

Before Wyan and Barris could further examine the flight suit, they were surprised by two explosions near the perimeter of the Imperial camp. These explosions were the work of the alien resident of the hut, the Chiss warrior Thrawn. Thrawn's mission, dispatched by the Chiss Ascendancy, was to establish contact with the Empire, seeking an alliance to confront unidentified "evil threats" lurking within the Unknown Regions. Thrawn had attached two of the pilot's power packs to small animals, intending to test the Imperials' capabilities. As Imperial Navy troopers patrolled the perimeter, Wyan engaged in conversation with Cadet Eli Vanto, who Captain Parck had assigned to study the enigmatic inscriptions on the cargo containers.

Wyan correctly deduced that the explosions were caused by blaster power packs with the sturm dowels removed. When Eli suggested that the attacker was not a "savage," Wyan complimented Vanto and inquired if the Cadet had found anything in the hut or storage crates that would provide clues about their attacker's appearance or technological level. Eli proposed that the assailant was humanoid, based on the dimensions of the bed and the design of the eating utensils. When Wyan inquired about the power generators, Vanto added that they were automated. Pondering the attacker's motives, Wyan heard Eli's suggestion that the attacker was attempting to drive them away without damaging his home. After questioning how the attacker had managed to infiltrate the camp, Wyan instructed Vanto to return to his work and discover something useful.

By that time, Colonel Barris had contacted Captain Parck, requesting V-wings for a grid search. He ordered Major Wyan to position a squad to set up floodlights around the perimeter and fine-mesh the hemisphere sensor screen. The major reminded the colonel that the perimeter was teeming with birds and small ground animals, which had almost caused him to fall a minute ago. Wyan cautioned that setting the screen to fine-mesh too far would trigger alarms throughout the night. Barris acknowledged Wyan's point and instructed him to set up the lights. Before they could proceed, a second V-wing fighter crashed into a monofilament line that had been placed by Thrawn.

Major Wyan and his men were able to retrieve the pilot's body but found that his blaster, power packs, and concussion grenades had been stolen. Cadet Vanto then informed Colonel Barris and Major Wyan that he had discovered Clone Wars–era coins within the inner and outer shells of one of the crates. This discovery led Wyan to speculate that the attacker had been stranded on the planet for several years. However, Barris was puzzled as to why the hut's inhabitant would attack them instead of seeking a ride back to civilization. Wyan suggested that the attacker was on the run when he crashed or that he had come to the location voluntarily and wanted the Imperials to leave. Barris pledged to capture the mysterious attacker.

By dawn, Colonel Barris' landing party had suffered the loss of five navy troopers; three had been incapacitated by concussion grenades, and two others had been killed in a friendly fire incident. In response, Barris requested the deployment of eighteen stormtroopers from the Strikefast. Shortly thereafter, Thrawn began to jam their comlink channels. Fearing an imminent major attack, Barris panicked and announced their departure. When Wyan reminded him of the Unidentified Alien protocols requiring them to study the site, Barris ordered the landing party to transport the settlement and cargo crates aboard the Strikefast. Wyan reluctantly complied.

Upon the stormtroopers' return, Barris and Wyan noticed that one of them was missing. This development spooked the Major, and he agreed that leaving was the best course of action. Following Barris' orders, Major Wyan first brought the technicians and their "loot" aboard the shuttle, with the Imperial Navy troopers following in standard rearguard formation. When Wyan inquired about the stormtroopers, Barris replied that they had their own troop carrier. At that moment, one of the stormtroopers standing near the hatchway of the transport exploded, leaving behind fragments of armor. Shortly later, the stormtrooper's comrades retrieved their fallen comrade from the forest.

Once back on the transport, Captain Parck instructed Major Wyan and the rest of the landing party to report for debriefing while he escorted Colonel Barris and Cadet Vanto to the hangar bay control tower. After dimming the lights, they waited for the attacker to appear. Imperial stormtroopers then apprehended the attacker, who identified himself as the Chiss warrior Thrawn. During interrogation, Thrawn openly admitted to attacking the Imperial landing party to assess their combat capabilities. He convinced Captain Parck that he could serve as an advisor to the Emperor on matters concerning the Unknown Regions. The Emperor accepted Thrawn's offer of service, paving the way for Thrawn's career progression in the Imperial Navy. Thrawn eventually attained the rank of Grand Admiral due to his role in suppressing the Batonn sector insurgency.

Wyan was a human man who held the rank of Major within the Imperial Military. Despite being under fire from Thrawn during an unplanned exploratory mission, Wyan maintained a calm and composed demeanor, in contrast to his commanding officer, Colonel Barris. Wyan possessed a strong understanding of Imperial military technology and protocols. He advised Colonel Barris against fine-meshing the hemisphere sensor screen due to the abundance of small animals in the forests that would trigger the alarms. Wyan also developed a respect for Cadet Eli Vanto, whose analysis of the crates and hut provided insights into the identity and motives of Thrawn, who sought to test the Imperials' capabilities. Wyan was initially hesitant to abandon the Imperial camp and alien settlement due to the Unidentified Alien protocols. However, he yielded after Thrawn detonated a suit of stormtrooper armor as a diversion to infiltrate the transport and reach the Strikefast.

Major Wyan made his debut appearance in Timothy Zahn's short story "Mist Encounter," which was published in Star Wars Adventure Journal 7 in August 1995. "Mist Encounter" explored Thrawn's initial interaction with members of the Galactic Empire within the Star Wars Legends continuity. Wyan later appeared in Zahn's 2017 novel Thrawn, a reimagined Canonical origin story of the titular character, which incorporated elements from the "Mist Encounter" narrative. His dialogue is presented from the perspective of Eli Vanto, the novel's deuteragonist.