Thrawn, exiled by the Chiss to an inhospitable planet, is found by the Imperial Captain Voss Parck in "Mist Encounter" a short story by Zahn that was originally published in "Star Wars Adventure Journal" #7 (August 1995). Parck realizes Thrawn's value as a strategist and decides to bring him to the Emperor. In "Command Decision", a November 1996 short story by Zahn published in "Star Wars Adventure Journal" #11, Thrawn is an admiral in the Imperial Navy with Parck as his subordinate. Thrawn orchestrates a plan to locate a Rebel base in "Side Trip" by Zahn and Michael A. Stackpole, published in "Star Wars Adventure Journal" #12 (February 1997) and #13 (May 1997), and reprinted in the November 1997 anthology "Tales from the Empire". The success of this mission earns him the command of Darth Vader's Noghri commandos. Zahn's novella "Crisis of Faith", published with the 20th Anniversary Edition of "Heir to the Empire" on September 6, 2011, is set immediately before "Heir to the Empire" and finds Thrawn finally able to defeat Nuso Esva.