Xim's Expansionist Period

Xer VIII, Xim's father, had previously established a substantial domain within the Tion Cluster, known as the Kingdom of Cron, through a series of military operations. However, Xer's territorial ambitions were curtailed following his defeat by the Livien League in the Battles of Amarin and Lorrad. Despite this setback, the courtly customs of the Kingdom of Cron continued to acknowledge the Four Thrones of Cron: Chandaar, Raxus Prime, Cadinth, and Desevro, the League's still-independent capital.

In 25,130 BBY, Xer abdicated and passed the throne to his son Xim, who had cultivated a reputation for both his ruthlessness and his strategic prowess during the Cronese Sweeps. Xim made the decision to finalize his father's objective of conquering the Livien League.

At the Battle of Jhantoria, Xim's military forces swiftly overwhelmed the League. Xim initially intended to obliterate Desevro, the League's capital, as a warning to any potential opposition. However, Maslovar Tiatiov, Desevro's military leader, intervened and convinced Xim to reconsider by showcasing the world's advanced military academies and administrative systems, explaining the Desevrar tradition of educating the sons of distant worlds as janissaries and government officials.

Xim, duly impressed, chose to spare Desevro and declared it the Fourth Throne. The Desevrar philosophy would significantly influence the subsequent phases of Xim's Expansionist Period. With the Four Thrones united under his rule, the Kingdom of Cron was officially renamed Xim's empire.

The conquest of the Thanium Worlds, which took place from 25,126 BBY to 25,116 BBY, constituted the second phase of the Expansionist Period. Situated spinward of Xim's empire, these planets derived their name from the world of Thanium, the Fifth Throne and location of Xim's military command. One force advanced from Barseg to Thanium, and then proceeded to conquer Maldont. From Maldont, the force divided, seizing Pesegam and Thule. Simultaneously, another force captured Ethain and Far Thanium.

Another division moved from Thanium to seize Galuch, Mossak, Galidraan, Draukyze and Rhen Var. Finally, a third division originating from Arcan subjugated Nardolin, Vartholium, Ethullum and Bynas.

Xim's empire expanded to encompass numerous planets, establishing new hyperspace beacons to enhance the empire's navigation infrastructure and preparing for a large-scale settlement of Tionese colonists. Certain species deemed "worthy" by the Despot, such as the Vurk and Stenax, were subjected to enslavement, while others faced extermination. Uninhabited worlds were populated by Tionese colonists, whose numbers steadily increased as part of Xim's overall strategy of territorial control. The Thanium Worlds evolved into the most extensive and prosperous of Xim's newly acquired territories.

Xim's spinward expansion concluded at Far Thanium, Vynx, and Thule, situated just within the region that later generations would designate as the Gordian Reach. Beyond Thule lay the Radama Void, a vast, empty expanse that dictated the direction of Xim's subsequent military campaigns.

Xim's military forces then shifted their focus rimward, advancing from Kanaver to Janodral Mizar before dividing their forces to conquer Makem Te and Quermia, and then turning south to capture Tinatorn and Pakuuni. The second force moved from Janodral Mizar to Utavurk and Yutusk, before encountering a formidable challenge at the Battle of Ranroon. Hylei Indrexu Cortess, the Queen of Ranroon, fiercely resisted Xim's invading janissaries, contesting every inch of her planet. Despite her defeat, Indrexu clearly left a lasting impression on Xim, who renamed the Ihala Spiral nebula to the Indrexu Spiral in her honor. The Far Indrexu became the sixth province of Xim's empire, with Yutusk designated as the Sixth Throne.

The conquest of the Kiirium Reaches, rich in the then-valuable military resource kiirium, occurred concurrently with the war in the Thanium Worlds, spanning from 25,120 BBY to 25,096 BBY. The Reaches were a crucial addition to Xim's military-industrial capabilities, and three forces were deployed to conquer the region. One force advanced from Pakuuni to Xoraes via Ulonsus. The second force moved from Caluula to Dellalt, then to Balshebr and Astigone. From there it moved via Kveror to Gwynhes, where it linked up with the third force sent from Murkhana to take Huronom and Far Barseg. Both forces then moved to conquer Gwynhes Minor. Huronom and Astigone subsequently became the Seventh and Eighth Thrones of the empire.

Following the conquest of the Kiirium Reaches, Xim first became aware of the Hutts through encounters with Sakiyan and Nimbanel traders. Recognizing from these accounts that the Hutt Empire could not be easily defeated, he aimed to coexist with them while simultaneously preparing for potential conflict. However, diplomatic relations between the Hutts and the Tion deteriorated, initiating the Hutt–Xim conflict in 25,102 BBY, which ultimately led to the downfall of Xim's empire. Hylei Indrexu Cortess remained a subject of historical debate for millennia after the Xim Wars. According to Direus'pei, a later Hutt playwright, in his drama Evocar, Xim murdered his father upon discovering that he had married Indrexu. Other scholars dismissed this as a purely fictional narrative, with some even questioning Indrexu's very existence. Still others acknowledged her existence but debated her role within Xim's empire and her ultimate fate. Some viewed her as a minor figure, a permanent fixture at Xim's court whose name survived, while others considered her the central figure around whom the empire revolved, and even the underlying cause of the Cronese Wars, Xim's expansion, and all subsequent events.

Xim the Despot's military was exceptionally advanced for its time, utilizing lost Rakatan technology. Due to the scale of his armies and conquests, numerous examples of Xim's weaponry persisted into the era of the Galactic Civil War. Xim's infantry were organized into distinct castes. The majority consisted of janissaries recruited from conquered worlds, trained from a young age to serve as soldiers. They wore armor and helmets made of lightweight ceramic alloy and were armed with either slugthrowers or heatbeams, which employed lasers to generate jets of plasma. Heatbeam operators wore durable, fireproof padded gloves and kamas to protect against the superheated exhaust from their weapons. The kama would later be adopted by the Thyrsus Sun Guard and the Mandalorian people as part of their cultural identity.

Among Xim's elite units were the Duinarbulon Star Lancers, who wore gloss-black ceramic armor and wielded advanced (for the time) beam tubes, early precursors to the blaster. The infantry received support from tracked tanks, armored groundcars, and floaters equipped with beam tube cannons. Elite vehicles were reinforced with kiirium armor to deflect energy weapons. Xim's most renowned soldiers were the war-robots, three-meter tall battle droids armed with heatbeams, particle dischargers, and pulse-wave cannons. These war-robots were typically reserved as shock troops.

Xim's warships were smaller than those used during the Imperial era and featured unique designs, reflecting the ancient Tionese view of warship construction as an art form rather than an industrial process. Using the standards of the Anaxes War College System, the majority of Xim's warships would be classified as frigates or corvettes, and included Argaian hemiolia, Livien cutters, Thanium star-glaives, and Cronian battlebirds in mixed squadrons. Larger vessels, comparable in size to a cruiser, included Cronese harpices, Brigian penteconters, Thanium polyremes, Yutuski rakehells and Xolochi Dreadnoughts. Xim's flagships included the Eibon Scimitar and the Deathknell.

Xim's naval arsenal primarily consisted of torpedos, concussion missiles, and pulse cannons, which utilized radiation bursts to melt enemy hulls and disrupt circuitry. The Despot's ships were armored with kiirium, a superconducting alloy that gave each ship a mirrored exterior capable of reflecting energy weapons. Mytag crystals were integrated into communications and sensor systems to shield them from electromagnetic attacks. Bordhell fuel slugs provided Xim's warships with exceptional range and speed.