The expansive fortress known as the Hand of Thrawn, situated on the planet of Nirauan, functioned as the capital for the Empire of the Hand. Its moniker stemmed from its five towers, which bore a loose resemblance to an extended hand.
Grand Admiral Thrawn selected this location to be the focal point of his operations within the Unknown Regions. His goal was to seize territory for the Galactic Empire and shield it against threats originating from the galaxy's outer edges or beyond the galaxy itself. Inside, there was a fully operational command center, a library, and a cloning lab where Thrawn kept a clone of himself in suspended animation. An sophisticated database was also housed within the complex, along with a holomap displaying the sectors under Thrawn's dominion.
The Hand of Thrawn enjoyed considerable security against assaults, thanks to its surrounding turbolaser batteries and a hangar bay equipped with a squadron of starfighters. With a substantial garrison of Chiss soldiers providing heavy protection, penetrating the complex would prove futile.
By 19 ABY, the Hand of Thrawn had risen to prominence as the foremost stronghold of the Empire of the Hand. Voss Parck, an Imperial officer, commanded its garrison, which largely consisted of Chiss troops. Soontir Fel also served as a member of the Hand of Thrawn's personnel. When Mara Jade vanished during a mission to locate the source of clones and mysterious starfighters that had recently become active, Luke Skywalker and R2-D2 tracked her down. Teaming up with some of the local Qom Jha and Qom Qae, they infiltrated the base. To prevent the Hand of Thrawn from surrendering to Bastion and the Empire, Mara Jade used a beckon call to crash her ship, Jade's Fire, into the complex, causing damage to the main hangar and destroying all remaining ships. Subsequently, Luke and Mara reentered the compound, discovering Thrawn's clandestine cloning chamber. During a battle with two sentry droids, the chamber was flooded, but they were able to escape by detonating Thrawn's cloning cylinder, which drained the water and allowed them to flee. After their escape, Luke learned that R2-D2 had successfully downloaded an unedited version of the Caamas Document.
Following the intervention of Luke Skywalker and Mara Jade, the Cavrilhu Pirates, who had previously clashed with the Jedi and followed them to Nirauan, launched an attack and plundered the Hand of Thrawn. The destruction of the base's defenses by the Jedi forced its personnel to evacuate. Commander Stent, fearing that the pirates might have acquired information about the secret Chiss installations within the ruins, journeyed to the Syndic Mitth'raw'nuruodo training academy in the Rata Nebula to avert a pirate assault.
Eventually, the fortress underwent renovations and was brought back into operation. In 22 ABY, Luke Skywalker and Mara Jade returned to Nirauan after receiving a communication from Parck at the Hand of Thrawn.