Mist Encounter Mist Encounter is a short story written by Timothy Zahn and illustrated by Doug Shuler , originally published in " Star Wars Adventure Journal 7 " by West End Games in August 1995 . It was later printed in the paperback version of " Outbound Flight " which was published by Del Rey in January 2007 , and has also been made available online at ; however , the newer version contains some changes made presumably to fit in with the events in the prequels since the story ' s original printing . One such edit includes an early mention of Palpatine as " Chancellor " of the Republic and his reorganization of the government into the Galactic Empire , two details not revealed until the release of " " in 1999 and " " in 2005 . " Mist Encounter " was also included in a Czech - language anthology " Setkání v mlze " in 2009 . Plot summary . This story is about how the exiled Mitth ' raw ' nuruodo came into Imperial service . Imperial Star Destroyer " Strikefast " was chasing the smuggler Booster Terrik into the Unknown Regions . After a blind jump trying ( and failing ) to escape the pursuing " Strikefast " , Terrik discovered an inhabitable planet at the edge of Known Space . With his hyperdrive damaged from the last jump , Terrik made for the planet to hole up in a cave ( shooting down two pursuing TIE fighters in the process ) , using an ' unknown energy signature ' to cover his landing position from the pursuing Star Destroyer . Meanwhile , on the " Strikefast " , a fuming Captain Voss Parck received the report about the ' unknown energy signature ' . Hampered by the standing Navy " Unknown Alien Encounter " orders , he was forced to send down a detachment of soldiers and technicians under the command of Colonel Mosh Barris to check it out , instead of proceeding with an orbital bombardment to flush the smugglers out . After a while , Barris reported in that the signature was from a small encampment , probably from a shipwreck , and definitely from unknown origin , as the team ' s 3 - PO droid was unable to identify the markings on the more technologically advanced items . Parck started to order him to settle down for the local night , but they were interrupted by Lieutenant Kraven , who demanded his colonel ' s presence at one of the downed TIE ' s crash site . Once arrived , Barris saw that the pilot ' s body had disappeared , and that his flight suit had been stuffed with grasses and berries . More importantly , his survival pack , along with his blaster and grenades had been taken away as well . Believing this to be the work of savage natives , Barris ordered his second - in - command , Major Wyan to set up a secure perimeter and to call down reinforcements from the " Strikefast " , while he had the flight suit and it ' s bizarre content returned to camp for further examination . A short time later , while Barris and Wyan perplexed over the content of the flight suit , a sudden explosion stirred up the encampment . As both officers spurred into action , trying to determine who or what was attacking them , a second explosion destroyed the tent they just exited , still without any sign of attackers . Wyan theorized that these explosions came from an overloaded power pack , and that the whole show with the flight suit was a feint from the smugglers . Barris agreed and reported in to Parck , who immediately launched TIE fighters to scan the area . However , as soon as their search began , one of the TIE fighters crashed . Rushing there , Barris and his men found the pilot ' s body , but again lacking his survival gear , blaster and grenades . Barris immediately conferred with Parck , wondering at their opponent ' s tactics , until Parck suggested to check if the built - in comlink were still in both dead pilot ' s flight suits . Soon enough , they concluded that one was missing , and Parck had that comlink ' s frequency shut off . He then ordered Barris and his team to stand down for the night , and to wait for the light hours to continue their investigation . It would not be an easy night however : three sentries died at the hand of the invisible attackers , and two more shot each other , believing they had found an intruder . By dawn , a sleep - deprived and very angry Barris suggested to conduct an orbital bombardment in spite of standing orders . Parck ordered him to calm down , and to conduct his analysis while he sent down stormtroopers to secure the site and flush out their enemies . Suddenly , as they proceeded , all comlinks started to emit bursts of static , making communications impossible . Fearing yet another assault , and fed up with wasting the lives of his men , Barris then ordered to forcefully embark the whole of the encampment into the landing crafts , and to return to the " Strikefast " . At the same time , reports came in from the stormtroopers that one of them was missing . Barris ' team complied , and before embarking , the colonel turned to one of the stormtroopers to announce they were leaving . To his horror , the trooper was then utterly annihilated by yet another explosion , leaving only small bits of his armor behind . Barris then ordered to take off ASAP , fearing an all - out assault . However they made it back to the " Strikefast " without further incidents . Once aboard , a dejected Barris faced Parck , defending his decision of leaving , and expecting a serious reprimand . Parck , merely ordered the docking bay to be deserted and bade Barris to follow him to the bay control tower . There they waited in darkness for a few hours until a lone figure emerged hesitantly from the transports . Parck then ordered a squad of stormtroopers to take the intruder into custody . Moments later , the intruder , actually Thrawn , was brought before both officers . There he explained his exile , his desire to continue defending his people no matter what , and his strategy to force down stormtroopers , so he could steal one of their armors and sneak on the spaceships . Impressed by his resourcefulness , Parck then proposed to Thrawn to be brought before the Emperor , to whom he could be a valuable asset , and from whom he could get the means to defend his people . Barris scoffed at the idea , saying the Emperor would never employ an alien , which prompted Parck to give his word that he would release Thrawn wherever he wanted to go in case the Emperor refused . Thrawn agreed , and Parck ordered his ship back to Coruscant immediately , much to the surprise of Booster Terrik . Behind the scenes . After Walt Disney ' s acquisition of Lucasfilm in 2012 , the old expanded universe was rebranded into " Legends " , with both " Mist Encounter " and Thrawn deemed no longer canon along with the rest of the continuity . In 2016 however , Thrawn was made canon once again , and a year later a book about him was written by Zahn . The first two chapters of the book are in fact almost an exact retelling of " Mist Encounter " , down to each individual character , with only several alterations , such as the incorporation of the POV character Eli Vanto and the changing of the " Strikefast " from a Victory - class Star Destroyer to a Venator - class Star Destroyer . In 2018 , the novel was adapted into ; the first issue adapted the sections of the novel corresponding to " Mist Encounter " , with artist Luke Ross basing his depictions of Thrawn and Parck on Doug Shuler ' s illustrations of them from the original 1995 short story .