Chin Chin was a Human male smuggler and chief associate of Talon Karrde ' s organization . A native of the planet Myrkr , Chin was one of Karrde ' s longest - serving and most trusted associates , and served as the smuggler ' s chief of operations for Karrde ' s headquarters on the planet . An expert on Myrkr ' s native wildlife , Chin trained and domesticated Karrde ' s pet vornskr s , and was skilled in the removal of ysalamir i from their tree branches . He filled many roles within Karrde ' s organization , including caring for the vornskrs Sturm and Drang , and crewing aboard Karrde ' s main vessel , the " Wild Karrde " . Chin served Karrde throughout the entirety of the Thrawn campaign , and was still part of the organization during the Caamas Document Crisis ten years later . A skilled engineer and gunner , Chin would most often be found manning the communications console during missions . A veteran smuggler , he was middle - aged by 9 ABY , and in later years adopted a grandfatherly approach toward the new members of the organization . Biography . Working with Talon Karrde . Chin was a Human male who hailed from the planet Myrkr . He was part of smuggler Talon Karrde ' s organization , whose headquarters were located on Myrkr . One of Karrde ' s longest - serving associates , Chin had extensive knowledge about his homeworld ' s native wildlife , and his expertise was put to use by Karrde . Karrde had acquired two native vornskr s , which he named Sturm and Drang , and Chin was responsible for training and domesticating the wild predators to serve as Karrde ' s bodyguards . Chin also understood the ysalamir i , mysterious Force - neutralizing creatures that lived on Myrkr , and knew how to remove the ysalamir from their tree branches without killing them . In addition to these duties , Chin also oversaw base security and operations . In 8 ABY , Chin was responsible for gimmicking the hyperdrive on one of Karrde ' s ships , the " Uwana Buyer " , so that the smuggler chief would have a legitimate reason to land on the planet Varonat on the Ison Corridor . Karrde had heard rumors that a Krish crime lord named Gamgalon was using Morodin - hunting safaris as a cover for other , more illegal , enterprises and wanted to investigate what said business entailed and whether or not he could get in on the action himself . Chin adjusted the power flux connector on the ship four degrees out of alignment , and assured Karrde that an average hyperdrive mechanic would take at least a day to find it . As it turned out , the mechanic — the former Emperor ' s Hand , Mara Jade — on the planet found it quicker . Due to a series of events on Varonat that culminated in Jade saving Karrde ' s life , he brought her into his organization . The Thrawn Crisis . Five and a half months later , Chin was serving as Karrde ' s chief of operations at Myrkr Base when the planet was visited by the " Imperial II " - class Star Destroyer " Chimaera " , the flagship of Imperial Grand Admiral Thrawn . The Imperial forces under Thrawn ' s leadership were interested in procuring ysalamiri from Myrkr ' s jungles . Karrde , in an effort to learn more about Thrawn ' s plans , offered the captain of the " Chimaera " , Gilad Pellaeon , Chin ' s assistance in teaching the Imperial personnel how to safely remove the ysalamir from their branches . The Captain thanked Karrde for his generosity , and Chin , along with Dankin , took a Skipray Blastboat out to meet with the Imperial force . Karrde knew that he could trust Chin and Dankin to subtly acquire information from the Imperial shuttle crews , and was content to have some of his personnel watching the Imperials for the duration of their visit . Once the Imperials left the planet , Chin and Dankin reported their findings to Karrde . Shortly after the Imperial visit , the " Wild Karrde " rescued Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker from deep space after the latter had been ambushed by the " Chimaera " , damaging his T - 65 X - wing starfighter ' s hyperdrive in the process . The Empire was actively searching for Skywalker , and had posted a 30 , 000 credit bounty on his capture . Karrde had declined from participating in the search , wishing to remain neutral in the ongoing conflict between the Empire and the New Republic , but finding Skywalker by chance threatened his stance . Chin was present with two other associates in the greatroom of Myrkr Base when Karrde met with Skywalker . As Skywalker approached Karrde , both of the smuggler ' s vornskrs — who used the Force to hunt prey — reacted to the Jedi ' s presence and began to growl . Despite Karrde ' s admonishment , the two beasts refused to back down . Karrde called upon Chin to take the vornskrs away , and he took the two beasts for a walk . Unable to decide what to do with Skywalker , as most options would inevitably lead the Empire to believe that he had sided with the New Republic , Karrde was forced to keep Skywalker as a " guest " for the time being . A short while later , Chin was present with Jade and two of Karrde ' s other associates — Wadewarn , and Zakarisz Ghent — at dinner when Karrde brought in two emissaries of the New Republic , Han Solo and Lando Calrissian . The pair had been attempting to persuade Karrde to contract his ships out to the New Republic for use as legitimate cargo haulers . Karrde had refused , citing the need to remain neutral , but did invite them to stay for dinner as a courtesy . During the meal , Karrde was called away and informed that Grand Admiral Thrawn himself was en route to the base to discuss the acquiring or warships and Karrde ' s refusal to search for Skywalker . Not wanting to be caught with high - profile New Republic members in attendance , he arranged for Solo and Calrissian to be hidden , and for Chin to make the appropriate arrangements to receive their Imperial guests . During the Grand Admiral ' s visit , Skywalker escaped from the base in a Blastboat , with Jade in pursuit , and both vessels crashed in the jungle . Karrde attempted to bluff Thrawn by claiming it was an internal matter , but the Grand Admiral became interested in the situation and suspected that Skywalker had been Karrde ' s guest . Before the " Chimaera " left orbit , Thrawn deployed a force of stormtroopers and Chariot LAVs to Hyllyard City with orders to wait for the survivors to leave the jungle . Karrde was forced to admit that Skywalker had been at the base to Solo and Calrissian , and the three formulated a plan to rescue Skywalker and Jade from inevitable Imperial captivity . In Hyllyard City , Chin and three others presented Solo to the Major in charge of the Imperial force . They claimed to have found him snooping around the edge of the jungle , and , aware that the Empire was actively searching for something or someone , had decided to take him to the Major in the hopes of a reward . The Imperial Major took Solo into custody , unaware of his true identity , and dismissed Chin and the others by promising them a reward if their prisoner turned out to be worth anything . As Chin cleared the area , Calrissian , aided by Karrde ' s associate Aves , staged an ambush on the Imperial forces that rescued the captives . Following their blatant assistance of the New Republic in Hyllyard City that could not be hidden from Thrawn , Karrde evacuated Myrkr Base . Chin was aboard the " Wild Karrde " while the vessel was hiding behind an asteroid in the Myrkr system observing the subsequent Imperial raid on the base . Chin was attempting to keep control of Karrde ' s vornskrs when they pulled him to the bridge of the vessel and began staring intently at Mara Jade . Karrde admonished the pair of them , pointing out that Jade was a friend , and suggested Chin take them below and walk them around the main hold for exercise . What Karrde was unaware of was that the predators had picked up on Jade ' s unconscious use of the Force . Karrde ' s organization subsequently decamped to the planet Rishi and activated a backup base that Karrde had set up in case of emergency . During the organization ' s stay on the planet , Mara Jade encountered a bounty hunter , Dengar Roth , who was actively searching for Karrde and his associates . Although Jade effectively dealt with the bounty hunter , Karrde was forced to retreat once more . While an associate named Lachton was assigned to dismantle the base , Chin led a team to repack the equipment dumps . As Grand Admiral Thrawn ' s campaign against the New Republic intensified with his acquisition of Spaarti cloning cylinder s to grow fresh troops and the legendary Katana fleet of " Dreadnaught " - class heavy cruisers , Karrde found himself hunted by the Empire and reluctantly began to assist the New Republic . Chin was aboard the " Wild Karrde " when Karrde took the vessel to the Chazwa system to infiltrate the Imperial garrison on Chazwa to see if he could obtain information on Thrawn ' s cloning program . While in the system , he met with former smuggler Samuel Tomas Gillespee aboard the " Kern ' s Pride " . The " Kern ' s Pride " , which had escaped from the Imperial occupation of Ukio , drew the attention of a pair of " Lancer " - class frigates . Karrde ordered Chin , Lachton , and fellow crewmember Corvis to man the freighter ' s turbolasers and steamed in to rescue the " Kern ' s Pride " . Chin engaged the " Lancer " s with his turbolaser , and both Imperial vessels were forced to retreat when Karrde and Gillespee called in their respective backup fleets . Karrde set up his new headquarters on the planet Hijarna , and Chin was among the personnel at the base . To formalize an alliance between disparate groups of smugglers to oppose the Empire , Karrde arranged for a summit at the Fortress of Hijarna . As the groups assembled , Chin took Drang and Sturm for a walk near the " Wild Karrde " when he saw something moving in the shadows near the ship . He called it in and Karrde and Aves headed for the vessel immediately . Chin commandeered some of the crew from the " Etherway " , one of Karrde ' s other ships , and began searching the south - end rooms on the ship while Dankin and another team took the north - end rooms . The search turned up no intruders , and Chin apologized for being mistaken . Karrde told him not to worry about it , not entirely convinced that Chin had been wrong at all . In actuality , Chin had not been mistaken , and had seen ship thief Niles Ferrier ' s Defel associate stealing aboard the " Wild Karrde " . The smugglers had come together in defiance against the Empire following an Imperial attack on their meeting at Whistler ' s Whirlpool Tapcafe on Trogan . Ferrier , in league with Thrawn , attempted to plant evidence that Karrde had arranged for the Imperial attack in an effort to unite the smugglers under his control . Karrde was able to prove his innocence when Ferrier slipped up , mentioning details of the raid that only the planted evidence documented , during the subsequent meeting of the smuggler chiefs . During the final days of Thrawn ' s campaign against the New Republic , a small team was sent to the planet Wayland to destroy Thrawn ' s cloning operation which included Skywalker , Solo , Calrissian , the Wookiee Chewbacca , and Mara Jade . Karrde learned of the mission from New Republic Councilor Leia Organa Solo whilst on Coruscant , the galactic capital . Organa Solo had recently discovered that Thrawn ' s cloning process relied on ysalamiri to create null - Force bubbles around the cloning cylinders to prevent clone madness , and realized that Skywalker would be cut off from the Force once he reached his objective . Organa Solo contracted the " Wild Karrde " to take her to Wayland to warn her brother . Chin crewed on the ship , and made sure Karrde ' s vornskrs were harnessed and ready to track the New Republic team once the vessel had landed on the planet . Shortly after , the team succeeded in destroying the Mount Tantiss cloning operation , and Thrawn was killed during the Battle of Bilbringi , bringing an end to his campaign . Later activities . Chin stayed with Karrde ' s organization following the resolution of the Thrawn Crisis , and was also part of the Smugglers ' Alliance that Karrde had founded . Under Mara Jade ' s command while Karrde was conducting business in the Gekto system , the crew of the " Wild Karrde " — including Chin — were captured by industrialist Ja Bardrin . Bardrin ' s daughter , Sansia , had been captured by the Drach ' nam Chay Praysh , and Bardrin wanted to enlist Karrde ' s help in rescuing her . With Karrde absent , he turned to Jade . Although she initially refused , Bardrin persuaded her to undertake the mission by threatening to execute the crew of the " Wild Karrde " . While Jade went to the planet Torpris and successfully rescued Sansia , Chin and the crew of the " Wild Karrde " were rescued by Karrde with the assistance of Noghri commandos loaned to him by Leia Organa Solo . By 19 ABY , Chin was still part of the crew of the " Wild Karrde " and regularly manned the vessel ' s communications console on the bridge . While on route to a meeting with former smuggler Booster Terrik ' s ship , the " Errant Venture " , in the Nosken system , the crew decided to test the reactions of their newest crewmate , the Togorian H ' sishi . Part initiation ritual , part test of resolve , the crew waited to see the reaction of the Togorian once the ship dropped out of hyperspace in front of an " Imperial " - class Star Destroyer . Karrde wondered about the wisdom of startling and possibly enraging a Togorian in a confined space , but Chin and the others convinced him that they needed to gauge H ' sishi ' s reactions under stress to determine her suitability to remain a member of the crew . The initiation went as planned ; H ' sishi was momentarily stunned but went back to her duty quickly . A volatile situation arose at Bothawui , when it was claimed that Bothan agents had been responsible for deactivating the planetary shields on the planet Caamas on Emperor Palpatine ' s order , which allowed the Empire to bombard the world in 19 BBY . As a result , Caamas was rendered near uninhabitable , and the Caamasi scattered through the galaxy . Only a copy of the Caamas Document could potentially resolve the situation without bloodshed , and the only one in existence was in Imperial hands . Karrde , however , knew of a potential source for a copy — within the library of his old mentor , Jorj Car ' das . Karrde took the " Wild Karrde " deep into the remote Kathol sector , heading for the world of Exocron . Chin crewed aboard the vessel , manning the communications console as the ship visited Pembric II , Dayark , and finally Exocron , where they assisted the local Combined Air - Space Fleet in defending the planet from Rei ' Kas and his slavers . Chin acted as the communications relay between Admiral Trey David , who was commanding the battle from the " Wild Karrde " , and Supreme Admiral Horzao Darr , who remained groundside . The battle was won when Car ' das arranged for the mysterious Aing - Tii to enter the engagement on Exocron ' s side . Car ' das did not have a copy of the document , but was in possession of valuable information that solved the crisis and led to a peace treaty between the New Republic and the Empire . Personality and traits . Chin was a Human with light skin and black hair — that was cut in a Froffli - style — and a small goatee beard . Hailing from Myrkr , Chin ' s speech was peppered with local colloquialisms such as " hee " and " hai , " and sometimes his sentence structure missed words entirely , but he was still clear in his meaning . One of Talon Karrde ' s most trusted and longest - serving associates , Chin was one of the men that Karrde relied on on a daily basis . Technically proficient , Chin performed a myriad of duties aboard the " Wild Karrde " , including as a gunner and communications officer . A skilled hyperdrive engineer , he was fully capable of gimmicking a hyperdrive engine and making it look like a natural malfunction or the result of sloppy maintenance . Chin had an affinity for the animals living on Myrkr , and made use of his talents in Karrde ' s employ . He was also able to teach others his skills , such as removing ysalamir from tree branches . Chin was middle - aged by 9 ABY , and ten years later he had taken an almost grandfatherly approach to the organization ' s new recruits . Still , he enjoyed indulging in initiation ceremonies of new bridge personnel with the other members of the " Wild Karrde " crew . Karrde trusted Chin implicitly , entrusting the care of his pets to the man . Being from a relatively backwater planet , Chin resented the fact that others questioned his intelligence just because he did not live in a big urban center . Behind the scenes . Chin first appeared in Timothy Zahn ' s first book in the , " Heir to the Empire " , and appeared in the subsequent sequels " Dark Force Rising " , and " The Last Command " . Chin was referenced in Zahn ' s short story " First Contact " for " Star Wars Adventure Journal 1 " , and appeared in " Jade Solitaire " for the anthology series " Tales from the New Republic " . He would later appear in both books — " Specter of the Past " and " Vision of the Future " — of The Hand of Thrawn Duology . To date , Chin ' s only appearances in canon have been in works written by Timothy Zahn . Chin appeared or was mentioned in each of the comic adaptations of the Thrawn Trilogy . While his appearance in " Heir to the Empire " matched his previous description of a middle - age man , his portrayal in " The Last Command " is of a younger - looking man . " Jade Solitaire " was originally intended to be published in the " Star Wars Adventure Journal 17 " , but West End Games cancelled the issue before it was released . An image of Mara Jade and a male companion on the bridge of the " Wild Karrde " was to be included with the story ; since Chin was the only individual referenced to be on the bridge with Jade during the relevant scene , it is likely that this male was meant to be him . However , since " Star Wars Adventure Journal 17 " was never officially published , the canonicity of the image remains unclear . Chin also garnered mentions in " Heir to the Empire Sourcebook " , and the information was reprinted in " The Thrawn Trilogy Sourcebook " . Chin was later referenced in the second and third editions of " A Guide to the Star Wars Universe " , the " Star Wars Encyclopedia " , and " The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia " .