Yiv

At some point before the Nikardun conquests, Yiv was trained by "Jixtus," an agent of the Grysk Hegemony. Jixtus trained both Yiv and the Nikardun Destiny in the arts of conquest for years. Jixtus would orchestrate the Nikardun conquests of the regions surrounding the Chiss Ascendancy. At some point, Jixtus also ordered Yiv to construct the Listening post KR20 and Listening post KR21.

At some point, Yiv and the Nikardun allied themselves to the Lioaoin Regime, united in their desires to destroy the Chiss Ascendancy. He would also conquer and subjugate the Tower Dimension and the Paataatus Hiveborn. He would also start an effort to subjugate the Vak Combine. At some point during Yiv's conquests, the Nikardun was made aware of a refugee ship from the planet of Sunrise, where the Agbui orchestrated a civil war that destroyed the entire species. Since the Agbui didn't want the refugees telling anyone about the destruction of their world, a nearby Nikardun ship was notified that the ship was carrying a group of combatants that intended to destroy the Nikardun Destiny. The Nikardun pursued the refugee ship to Rapacc, where, upon not finding the refugees, they would blockade and weakly attempt to subjugate the nation. Yiv would also personally visit Rapacc to demand tribute.

In 19 BBY, Yiv the benevolent is instructed to blockade the Rapacc system of the Paccian Governance, where Magysian refugees are hiding. He successfully blockades the complicated box system and personally visited Rapacc to demand tribute. However, two ships (one holding Paccosh and the other holding some of the Magysian refugees), escaped the system via Shadow Number One or Shadow Number Two. Yiv, in leagues with the Void Guides navigating the ships, sent a Nikardun taskforce to destroy the refugee ship at the edge of the Chiss Ascendancy's Dioya system. Yiv never learned of the second ship's location, due to the Void Guides not knowing of the system it resided in. To distract the Chiss from this slaughter, he also sent the Paataatus Hiveborn, one of the nations controlled by the Nikardun, to attack the ice planet of Csilla, the capital planet of the Chiss Ascendancy. Coincidentally, the Ascendancy were planning on attacking the Paataatus in retaliation for several Paataatus raids into Chiss space. Admiral Ar'alani's Picket Force Six and Senior Captain Mitth'raw'nuruodo's (Thrawn's) participated in and defeated around fifty Paataatus fighters in a battle above the Paataatus homeworld of Nettehi.

Thrawn would be tasked with investigating the murder of the Magysian refugees at Dioya. His efforts led him to the Rapacc box system. Thrawn's Chiss heavy cruiser Springhawk and Admiral Ar'alani's Nightdragon man-of-war traveled to the Rapacc System. Upon their arrival, they found Nikardun forces (which the Chiss did not recognize) patrolling and blockading the system. The Springhawk investigated the inner Rapacc system, while Thrawn and his sky-walker's caregiver, Mitth'ali'astov (Thalias) visited an abandoned asteroid mining station. At the station, some Paccosh, under the leadership of Uingali foar Marocsaa, informed Thrawn of the existence of Yiv and the Nikardun destiny. As Thrawn and Thalias departed the mining station Uingali gave Thrawn a double ring depicting a Chimaera. At a later date, Thrawn returned to the Rapacc system and raided the blockade, capturing a Nikardun blockade frigate in the process with the unintended aid of a pathfinder, Qilori, an agent of the Nikardun. All of the Nikardun warriors aboard this captured frigate committed suicide. After Qilori was returned to his station, Guild Consource 447, he departed to the Vak Combine homeworld of Primea, where he would inform Yiv of details surrounding this Nikardun ship capture. Specifically, Yiv learned of Thrawn's name, and he tasked Qilori of finding the Chiss's full name.

Looking to exact revenge, Yiv would instruct the Tower Dimension to invite a Chiss ambassador to Urch for the purpose of capturing a Chiss vessel. Ar'alani and Thrawn traveled with Chiss Ambassador Boadil'par'gasoi "Ilparg" aboard the Vigilant to the Urch system. When Ilparg attempted to contact senior members of the nation, the Urchiv-ki rejected him and the Chiss' visit. Six Urchiv-ki ships, alongside a Nikardun ship and a Lioaoin ship, attempted to surround, defeat, and capture the Vigilant. However, their attempt was unsuccessful, due to some tricky maneuvering on the part of the Vigilant. Thrawn and Ar'alani would then travel to the Lioaoin heartworld to demand answers, where they would learn of the alliance between the Nikardun and the Lioaoin Regime. Thrawn, wanting to learn more about the Nikardun's reign over the nearby regions of the Chaos, met with Second Defense Overlord Frangelic, of the Garwian Unity, at their capital world of Solitair. During their conversations, Frangelic offered Thrawn aboard a Garwian diplomatic mission to the Vak Combine homeworld of Primea.

At a foreign reception on Primea, Qilori would witness Thrawn's presence, noting that he is traveling under the false name of Artistic Master Svorno. Qilori also overhears Thrawn address his "companion", Mitth'al'iastov (Thalias), as his "family hostage". Thrawn is playing an act, hoping that Yiv, upon learning of this "family hostage" culture, would question if there were any other parts of Chiss culture he was unaware of, thus potentially delaying his conquest of the Chiss Ascendancy. Thrawn asks Qilori to be introduced to Yiv. Qilori approaches Yiv, who is conversing with a group of Vaks, and informs him of Thrawn's presence and false name. Yiv permits Qilori to bring Thrawn to him. Qilori introduces Thrawn to Yiv, and the two start a conversation, in which they discuss and challenge each other about Vak art and architecture. Yiv discussed the implications of a secret tunnel from the reception area to the Vak premier's private office. Thrawn discussed a Vak tapestry that Yiv believed showed "inexpert" design, but Thrawn replied that it in fact showed that the Vaks valued both the individual and the whole, working for unity while, at the same time, celebrating difference and uniqueness. The two also discuss Yiv's symbiont's tendrils, noting that the outside tendrils sample drinks for poison and the inside tendrils sample the air for toxic gases. Thrawn said that he saw a great deal of artwork at the reception, all of which displayed the Vaks' culture. Thrawn then asked what Yiv saw in the Vaks, and the Nikardun stated that he saw opportunity and, upon further questioning, that if the Combine did not accept his and the Nikardun's friendship, he would deal with it. The general complimented Thrawn on his observational skills, stating that the Chiss grasped concepts far quicker than most. Thalias, still pretending to be Thrawn's "family hostage", returns, and Thrawn introduces her as a "person of no consequence" to a curious Yiv. He also notes that he must retire for the evening and exchanges farewell with Yiv. Following Thrawn's departure, Qilori discussed the Chiss with Yiv. The general stated that he now understood Thrawn and the danger he posed to the Nikardun and complimented the Pathfinder for bringing the Chiss before him, Qilori then brought up the subject of Chiss family hostages he had observed, to which Yiv reveals that the family hostages' supposed existence was an attempt at making himself think he did not know the Chiss. Yiv called it a bluff, but Qilori notes that he detected hesitation in Yiv's voice. Yiv also reveals his plan to capture and kill Thrawn as the Garwian diplomatic ship left Primea, and he instructs Qilori to make sure that the ship does not go into hyperspace prematurely.

Later, Yiv discovers that Thrawn was not aboard the Garwian ship. Instead, he and Thalias would stay on Primea. As they made their way to a Vak spaceport, where a shipping container was waiting for their use, Thrawn would talk to as many Vak citizens as possible, hoping to plant seeds of distrust towards the Nikardun and their intentions for the Combine. Thrawn would tell citizens that the Nikardun, if given power over the Combine, would do away with the Vak culture of considering every citizen's unique thoughtline. After a couple of days in this shipping container, Thrawn and Thalias would be transported to the interior of the Vak spaceport, where they would commandeer a Vak patrol craft. Yiv planned for a Chiss extraction mission for Thrawn, and instructed four Lioaoin warships to stand ready to attack any Chiss vessel that made its way to Primea.

Admiral Ar'alani and the Vigilant was sent by the Defense Hierarchy Council to retrieve Thrawn and Thalias from Primea. The Chiss force called the Primea diplomatic office to ask the whereabouts of artistic master Svorno. The Vaks responded that the Garwian diplomatic ship that Thrawn had arrived on had departed three days ago. Meanwhile, the Chiss ships were confronted by thirteen Vak patrol boats arranged in a lens formation. A fourteenth Vak patrol boat, the one commandeered by Thrawn, joined the other thirteen. Thrawn's patrol boat opened fire on the Vigilant with modulated laserfire, which appeared to be a Vak attack on the Chiss. The other Vak patrol ships, recognizing that Thrawn's patrol ship had been commandeered, started to pursue Thrawn. Just before the Vigilant could fire to disable the Vak fighters, the four Lioaoin warships appeared from hyperspace. The Lioaoi commander hailed Ar'alani from his flagship, identified themself and his forces as part of the Lioaoin military, and told the Chiss they had disrupted the peace of the Vak Combine. They told the Chiss to depart immediately, however, Ar'alani replied that they were only there to search for one of their people. At that point, the warships attacked the Chiss. Ar'alani was fully aware that she did not have enough plasma spheres to destroy all their attackers and decided to retreat. Thrawn's patrol ship, no longer pursued by the Vaks (who did not want to take part in this battle), fired upon and disabled the weapons clusters of the outermost Lioaoin ship, allowing the Vigilant time to secure him and leave the system.

Although the Chiss Ascendancy's laws forbade pre-emtive strikes, it allowed retaliatory strikes against enemies who had established their identity as enemies. Therefore, the Lioaoin attack at Primea required the Chiss Expansionary Defense Fleet to counterattack the Lioaoin Regime. Yiv wanted to see whether the Chiss would send an overwhelming attack force or a small retaliation. The Syndicure and Defense Hierarchy Council then sent the Vigilant and the Springhawk to attack the Lioaoin heartworld.

After the Chiss forces arrived at the heartworld, they witnessed twelve Lioaoin warships. Thrawn knew that no more than four would engage the Springhawk and Vigilant, as the Chiss had a reputation that they would have reinforcements waiting. If the Lioaoi sent their entire fleet to engage two Chiss ships, they would open their planet to attack by the Chiss reinforcements they believed would come. At that point, Ar'alani hailed the Lioaoin ships, asking for an "explanation" of their attack at Primea. The Lioaoi did not attempt to deny or justify the attack, leading Thrawn to reason that Nikardun forces were present and the Lioaoi feared reprisals by the Nikardun if they downplayed their aggression at Primea. A battle ensued, with the Springhawk and the Vigilant using shuttles as decoys and bombs containing breachers (missiles with acid payloads which weakened enemy hulls and disabled electronic systems near the point of impact). The Chiss were victorious, and maximized their message while minimizing permanent damage to the Lioaoin Regime in the hopes that the Lioaoi would remember the Ascendancy's restraint in the future.

Many weeks later, Thrawn sent Thalias and Chiss sky-walker Che'ri, disguised as Chiss "family hostages", to Primea aboard the Vak patrol boat he had previously stolen with an apology and a warning to the Vak Combine. However, Yiv would instruct the Vaks to capture the two Chiss and for Qilori to deliver them to the Deathless. He would also replace the message with one of less political potency. Thrawn's original message included a warning to the Vak Combine that included data he had collected on other civilizations that Yiv had made treaties with, which he hoped to convince the Vaks that Yiv's promises and words were, in fact, deception. The message also included an invitation for the Vak Combine to form an alliance with the Chiss Ascendancy against the Nikardun. Yiv replaced the message with one containing a simple apology and an "earnest hope" that Vak-Chiss relations wouldn't be soured in the future. He then sent a message to Csilla demanding that Thrawn deliver a monetary ransom of univers aboard an unarmed freighter in exchange for the release of the captive Chiss, which was false, as Yiv wanted to kill Thrawn. The message specified coordinates in high orbit of Primea, and demanded that Thrawn came alone in an unarmed freighter, but in reality, Yiv arranged for the navigator to be Qilori and Qilori to bring Thrawn and the freighter somewhere in the outer reaches of the Primea system. Aboard the Deathless, Yiv would discuss the situation with Thalias, noting that he would miss Thrawn's ability to read his opponents. He also discovers a canister of tava mist on Thalias's belt.

As Thrawn arrived at the Primea system, Thrawn and his navigator, Qilori, saw the Deathless accompanied by three other Nikardun Battle Dreadnoughts. Thrawn announced his arrival to the Nikardun general personally, and also announced the arrival of the univers, the ransom. Yiv said that Thrawn misunderstood, and that Thrawn was the ransom, not the univers. The Nikardun leader told the Chiss officer that he had earned death for capturing one of his ship and killing Nikardun. Yiv then asked the Chiss if he wanted the General to shoot his freighter instead of bringing him aboard to be killed at the hands of Yiv, to which Thrawn replied that he did not prefer that. The Chiss complimented Yiv for his cleverness in arranging the meeting at a different location than promised, and asked if that meant the other provisions of the meeting had changed too. The General fooled probably before proceeding to brag about the Vaks' awareness of his substantial military forces in the system and nearby. As Thrawn's freighter approached the Deathless, Thrawn said he wished to revisit the provision that he came to Primea alone.

At that time, the Vigilant, Springhawk, and other Chiss cruisers arrived in the Primea system from hyperspace. They called Primea Central Command to announce their arrival and inform the locals of the presence of Nikardun warships. After the Chiss vessels performed a sensor scan, they discover that the Nikardun dreadnoughts had formed a blockade formation. The Chiss understood that the blockade was meant to prevent the Vaks or any others in the system from stumbling upon Yiv's covert meeting with Thrawn, however, the Combine did not suspect that. Yiv was furious after seeing the arrival of the Chiss fleet at Primea. Thrawn angered the General even more by pointing out a dilemma the Chiss had set for him, the Chiss fleet was much stronger than the Nikardun patrol boats forming the apparent blockade of Primea. Although Yiv could sacrifice those small warships, that would bring disgrace on Yiv as the Vaks knew that Yiv had stronger battle dreadnoughts that could reinforce his patrol boats. On the other hand, Yiv was able to send his dreadnoughts to reinforce his blockade formation, but if he sent all of them, it would seem that he was fleeing an unarmed freighter, which would be humiliating. Additionally, even if Yiv sent all three of the Deathless companion dreadnoughts to reinforce his blockade ships, it would appear that Yiv was too cowardly to join the battle himself. Ultimately, Yiv settled on the third. Thrawn also revealed that he had placed a second copy of his message to the Vaks that informed them of the possibility that Yiv could have replaced the original message with own fabricated one. The Vaks, upon seeing this second message, had decided to rethink their relationship with the Nikardun and started to consider partnering with the Chiss. Ar'alani then sent the Nikardun formation data to Primea Central Command, who also came to the conclusion that they were being blockaded. Ar'alani then asked for the Vaks' permission to clear out the blockading vessels from the system, which the Vaks granted. As a result, a battle commenced between the Chiss Expansionary Defense Fleet on one side and the Nikardun on the other, with the Combine remaining neutral. Yiv, upon learning of this, became shocked and angry at Thrawn, threatening to destroy the entire Chiss Ascendancy for his treachery. Yiv's growing anger notably frightened the Nikardun warriors on the Deathless's bridge.

The Chiss were then able to trick the Vaks into joining the battle against the Nikardun. One of the Chiss ships, the Springhawk, feigned being in critical condition, and the Vaks were asked to render humanitarian aid. However, the Nikardun fired upon and destroyed the two Vak patrol crafts sent to render this aid, prompting the Vaks to join the battle. This new development angered Yiv even more, and he began hurting Thalias to try to learn Thrawn's plan. Thrawn, still on the comm display, informed the Nikardun that there was no need for such actions, and laid out his plan transparently for the General. Thrawn wanted to trap Yiv in a box, which he insisted he had. He told Yiv the only way forward would be for Yiv to capture Thrawn's freighter with the Deathless tractor beams and release Thalias and Che'ri, as provided in the two's original agreement. Yiv rebuked that he had always wished something like that, but said he would kill and dismember Che'ri and Thalias in front of Thrawn so that he would know what he had planned for the entire Chiss species. Yiv finally ordered Thrawn's freighter to be captured by tractor beams. Meanwhile, Che'ri and Thalias began stripping their hostage makeup, releasing a potent amount of tava mist. This limited the reaction time and reflexes of the Deathless bridge crew, but, nevertheless, Yiv ordered the Deathless to fire upon Thrawn's freighter, which had escaped the tractor beams and was heading for the viewport. However, using a prototype shield generator (reverse-engineered from a Republic shield generator Thrawn has previously stolen), Thrawn's freighter endured the Nikardun laser fire. Thrawn's ship crashed into the bridge of the Deathless and sealed it with the perfectly shaped custom nose the Chiss Fleet had installed on Thrawn's freighter. Yiv would retrieve his blaster, but, being weakened by the tava mist, Thalias and Che'ri were able to prevent him from using it before Thrawn was able to completely knock him unconscious with more tava mist. Thrawn then seized the General, his questis data-link reader, and his data banks before escaping the Deathless's bridge. The departure of Thrawn's freighter once again opened the bridge of the Deathless to the vacuum, killing all of Yiv's bridge crew.

Without the general, the Nikardun Destiny quickly collapsed. Following the battle over Primea, the Chiss Syndicure called several hearings regarding the Nikardun threat, how they had been discovered, and how they were defeated. After Yiv's capture and interrogation, the Syndicure became convinced that the remnants of Yiv's forces had to be eliminated. As such, they authorized the Nikardun campaigns to neutralize any Nikardun remnants in the Chaos. Thrawn also participated in the campaigns. With Yiv captured, the Nikardun would initiate a power struggle within themselves, resulting in their specific defeat at Rapacc.

Around 18 BBY, Ar'alani visited Yiv on his personal jail at Csilla, Yiv sat in his casual arrogant position, and told her that in the months since his capture, he had grown fond of solitude. Ar'alani began the topic of betrayal, and informed him that his empire had scattered and that the nations conquered by it were free. He dismissed her statement, as many had told him that, and he believe the Chiss would not keep him alive for nothing, but, that they kept him alive so when the Nikardun Destiny returns, they have something to stop their conquests. She stated that the Chiss did not kill defeated enemies, and that they kept him alive in case they needed information.

Ar'alani asked him about Jixtus' allies, the general initially attempted to say nothing, however, when he heard of the Kilji Illumine and the Agbui, his arrogance did not let him keep silence. He expressed his dislike towards the Agbui, calling them arrogant and useless creatures. He also asked the Admiral why she was there, the Nikardun leader was informed that Jixtus—his master—had destroyed his listening posts, as the Nikardun did not do their listening posts well, Jixtus had killed them all and sent his own people. Yiv dismissed the Chiss' statements, however, Ar'alani showed him recordings of the Nikardun being killed. Yiv asked Ar'alani to stop them, softly, showing sadness from the one who had shown none throughout his campaigns.

The Chiss asked him for more names, not the Grysks, that Yiv had already shared, but more allies that Yiv had mentioned, more of Jixtus' tools like Generalirius Nakirre's Illumine or Haplif's Agbui. Yiv told her that the price to pay for all those names was his exile, at an unknown planet in which he could live the rest of his life, feel wind, see the sun, him alone, with some supplies to begin his life once again. Ar'alani told him she was going to attempt to give him his exile, with no promises, as the Aristocra probably did not want him alone with the possibility of the Nikardun coming back. After leaving, Ar'alani informed Supreme General Ba'kif that Yiv expected the Chiss to lose, and that he wanted to get off Csilla before the "final assault on Csilla" happened.

Yiv was an arrogant and extremely confident male Nikardun, which eventually was his undoing, with his arrogance, he easily became furious, which had an effect on his thinking, and strategizing. Yiv had two living epaulets on his shoulders, two fungoid strands of strange creatures he took on as symbionts, which tested the air for toxins and other harmful substances. Yiv considered himself fearless, however, instead of fear, he became constantly enraged. The Nikardun also had much knowledge on architecture, which he was proud of. He was ruthless, being able to kill an entire species just to have revenge on one member of the species, he only cared about his nation and his personal gain.

Jixtus was an ally of Yiv, who had trained him in the arts of conquests, as well as the Nikardun species. The Nikardun general believed the Nikardun were the single allies of the Grysks, however, when Yiv failed, Jixtus got new allies, the Kilji Illumine and the Agbui. During the Agbui attempt to precipitate a Chiss Ascendancy civil war, Nikardun worked on two listening posts in the Chaos, Listening post KR20 and Listening post KR21. However, when Jixtus considered the Nikardun useless to his cause, his forces entered the listening posts and killed every Nikardun aboard. After Ar'alani informed the general of this development, Yiv thought it was false, however, upon seeing many recordings of Nikarduns lying dead, he accepted the truth, getting weak at first, but getting apoplectic quickly.

Although General Yiv held a hatred for all members of the Chiss species, the reason and main focus of his malice was Thrawn. The Chiss Senior Captain had killed members of Yiv's species, the Nikardun—which affected Yiv—and also captured a Nikardun blockade frigate. Thrawn also discovered and alerted the Chiss Ascendancy of the Nikardun Destiny and the threat it produced, which the Aristocra and the Ascendancy had not noticed and would not notice for some time, removing the element of surprise from Yiv's conquests. He also weakened the Paataatus Hiveborn, and later evaded capture by the Tower Dimension and Yiv's forces, frustrating Yiv.

The Chiss continued to slow and complicate Yiv's conquests, he prevented the Vak Combine from joining the Nikardun Destiny by sending them many messages, above the planet, Thrawn's "games" frustrated and angered Yiv, clouding his judgment, which was his undoing. Allowing Thrawn to defeat him and once again, kill Nikardun. Thanks to Thrawn's efforts, Yiv was sent to prison, where he spent his time since the end of the Nikardun conquests until his exile.

The Nikardun could analayze architecture, identifying cultural elements in buildings and constructions. He was also able to convince and manipulate alien species and governments, which aided him during his conquests. He was a powerful leader, and a good tactician thanks to Jixtus' training on the matter.

Yiv first appeared in the 2020 novel Thrawn Ascendancy: Chaos Rising, the first volume in Star Wars: The Ascendancy Trilogy written by Timothy Zahn. In the novel, he was the main antagonist.

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