Mission to Murkhana The Mission to Murkhana was an Imperial mission undertaken by the Sith Lord Darth Vader and Moff Wilhuff Tarkin to the planet Murkhana , where a cache of communications equipment had been discovered . The cache was in fact bait meant to lure the pair to the world so that a rebel cell could steal Tarkin ' s personal starship , the " Carrion Spike " . Upon reaching Murkhana , Tarkin and Vader , accompanied by a dozen stormtrooper s traveled to the cache ' s location and checked it for traps . After entering the building via a rooftop access , they began examining the equipment , which was then left to the troopers to document and transport to the " Carrion Spike " . Vader and Tarkin then paid a visit to the Murkhana City Imperial compound , where they met with the planet ' s Imperial ambassador and the Koorivar Intelligence asset who had discovered the cache . While the meeting was taking place , the rebel cell created a false communication to the troopers in which they impersonate Tarkin and told the Imperials to return to the cache . The cell then boarded the " Carrion Spike " and killed its crew before stealing it . Tarkin and Vader were alerted to the theft , and visited a local Sugi crime lord named Faazah , who they blackmailed into giving them a ship , the " Parsec Predator " . Using the Force , Vader was then able to track the " Carrion Spike " despite its stealth equipment and gave chase , although the cell managed to escape the Murkhana system and the Imperials . Using the " Carrion Spike " the cell went on to attack a number of Imperial facilities before being outmaneuvered by Tarkin and defeated . Prelude . During the Clone Wars between the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems , the Republic Intelligence agent Berch Teller had been assigned to the Separatist controlled moon of Antar 4 , where he had helped train and organize pro - Republic resistance groups . Following the end of the war and the establishment of the Galactic Empire however , Wilhuff Tarkin had been assigned to make an example of the moon , bringing about a series of arrests , executions and disappearances which made no distinction between former Separatists and those who had been loyal to the Republic . Disaffected by the betrayal of those he had trained , Teller made complaints to the chiefs of Intelligence , but was soon reassigned to Desolation Station , a remote Imperial base responsible for a large portion of the research concerning the development of the Death Star superweapon . Soon after arriving at the station Teller vanished from Imperial awareness , and used his knowledge of Imperial plans to save several anti - Imperial journalists and former Intelligence assets from arrest . About five years after the end of the Clone Wars and the creation of the Empire , Vice - Admiral Dodd Rancit of the Naval Intelligence Agency contacted Teller , with an opportunity to get back at the Empire . Teller , who had served as an asset under Rancit in the Clone Wars , agreed to the plan and gathered together a cell of individuals to aid him , including two journalists he had rescued , Anora Fair and Hask Taff , two former operatives from Antar 4 , Salikk and Cala , and a ship designer who had also abandoned Desolation station , Artoz . Rancit , who was displeased with being removed from command of Sentinel Base and transferred to Naval Intelligence , provided the cell with access to restricted Separatist vessel parts from the war which they used to construct a warship . The cell were also given old Separatist communication technologies , which they placed some of in a cache on the planet Murkhana , a former Separatist stronghold . The crew then used some of the surveillance equipment and Taff ' s HoloNet skills to create a fake video of the cache on Murkhana , which Rancit sent from Military Intelligence to the Imperial Security Bureau under a false name , claiming that the cache needed to be investigated . ISB case officer Stellan assigned the Intelligence asset Bracchia to investigate the cache , which he found and quickly looked over before submitting a preliminary report of it , which lead local Imperial forces to place the cache ' s location under observation . About three weeks after the report was submitted , Teller and his cell then used their warship to attack Sentinel Base . The group sent a fake transmission claiming that the nearby Rampart Station was under attack , causing Tarkin to send the " Venator " - class Star Destroyer " Electrum " to aid the space station . With Sentinel ' s defenses gone , the warship quickly entered the system Sentinel Base was located in and released a few starfighter s to attack the facility , before retreating . The attack caused Tarkin to be called to the Imperial capital world Coruscant , where he spoke with Galactic Emperor Palpatine about the incident and then attended a briefing on the subject . Rancit was also present at the meeting , where Naval Intelligence chief Harus Ison informed those present of the Separatist communication cache on Murkhana , which he believed might have been linked to the false communication used in the Sentinel Base attack . The Emperor then ordered that Tarkin work with the Sith Lord Darth Vader to investigate the cache . Palpatine purposefully left it unclear if Vader or Tarkin were to be in command of the mission , telling the Sith Lord that the pair should decide it between themselves . Following the meeting , Vader informed Palpatine that in his opinion Tarkin should not accompany him on the mission , but instead return to Sentinel Base where he was needed . Palpatine dismissed the idea , claiming that it was no coincidence that the cache was on Murkhana , a planet that both Tarkin and Vader had history with , Tarkin having fought there in the Clone Wars and Vader having traveled to the world on one of his earliest missions as a Sith . Believing that Murkhana ' s involvement in the events surrounding the attack was a sign from the dark side of the Force , Palpatine thought it important that both be present for the mission , which he suspected was a trap . The following day , Vader brought the dozen troopers he had selected for the mission to the Imperial Palace landing field , where he had them load his meditation chamber onto the " Carrion Spike " . When the sphere collided briefly with the edge of the ship ' s cargo hold hatch , Vader grew angry at Sergeant Crest , the stormtrooper who was controlling the repulsorlift crane . The mission . Upon arrival at Murkhana , the " Carrion Spike " was directed to the spaceport of Murkhana City , the planet ' s capital and the location of the cache . Murkhana City spaceport control informed the Imperials that they would have to find their own landing space , as they no longer possessed the means to direct them , much to Tarkin ' s annoyance . Upon landing , Tarkin , Vader and eight stormtroopers disembarked and were greeted by the arrival of a poorly maintained Low Altitude Assault Transport / infantry , which they were informed was the only vehicle available to collect them due to sabotage by locals . After telling the " Carrion Spike ' s " comms officer to contact him if trouble arose , Tarkin and the other boarded the transport and were flown through Murkhana city to the cache ' s location , an old medcenter which had been converted into a shield generator housing by the Corporate Alliance . During the journey the ship was pelted with debris by locals , who despised the Empire for the state their world had been left in after the Clone Wars . Upon reaching the building , Tarkin and Vader were informed that the cache ' s location was covered by rooftop Imperial sniper s . They then ordered that Crest and his men follow a two AC - one s and a ASN courier droid fitted with a holotransmitter into the building and complete a full reconnaissance of all bar the central room containing the cache while the commanders observed the holo - feed from the droid at the gunship . For an hour Tarkin watched the feeds of each of the droids seeing them hit many dead ends , while Vader paced , after which Crest reported that the reconnaissance was complete and the building clear . The local stormtroopers established a perimeter , while Tarkin , Vader and the Coruscant troopers proceeded to follow one of the remotes through the building to the room containing the cache , where they met with Crest and the other troopers . The room was sealed with a sliding door , and after Crest and four trooper approached and opened it , Vader halted the group , feeling something through the Force . Tarkin then realized that the cache couldn ' t of been brought to the room through the corridors , and neither could the generator that had previously been held in the room , leading him to deduce that there was a rooftop access . Vader grew angry again at Crest for missing the other entry way , and the group then left the building and used their transport to ascend to the roof where they found a concealed turbolift shaft . The group descended in the turbolift and , being wary of traps , split , with Tarkin surveying the cache and the others investigating the secondary entrance . Vader discovered that the door had been rigged to explode if fully opened , a trap the remotes had been blind to due to the equipment in the cache . The commanders concluded that the explosives had likely been set following Bracchia ' s visit to the cache , and came to believe that they had been meant to find the cache . Tarkin ordered that all the equipment be recorded on film , with any markings taken note of and any suspect objects packed onto the " Carrion Spike " by Crest and his men , so that they could be taken back to Coruscant for analysis . Vader and Tarkin then returned to the carrier , as the Sith Lord wished to meet with Bracchia . Again using the Low Altitude Troop Transport , Vader and Tarkin traveled to the city ' s Imperial compound where they were greeted by the Imperial ambassador who led them to the Intelligence asset inside the compound . Vader first questioned the ambassador about the estate of Murkhana City , which she told him she did not have enough troops to fix , and that even with reinforcements the resentment of the people might prove too much to overcome . Tarkin the moved onto Bracchia , who described his initial visit to the cache to them , apologizing that he had missed the turbolift . The Moff was surprised to learn that the asset had investigated the building on orders from his case officer , as he had assumed Bracchia had discovered the cache himself . Before the questioning could continue , Tarkin received word from Crest , informing him that the stormtroopers had returned to the medcenter . Confused he questioned the sergeant as to why , and was told that they were following his orders . Realizing what was happening he ordered the troops to return to the " Carrion Spike " and tried to raise the ship ' s crew on comm , but to no avail . The ambassador explained the problem was due to the city ' s power grid or communication array going down , but Tarkin also failed to get a response when he tried to remotely activate the ships defense mechanisms to prevent intruders approaching it . Crest then reported back , informing Tarkin that the " Carrion Spike " was gone and that its crew and the Stormtroopers left to guard it were dead . Vader grew angry at Crest again , and then used the Force to sense that the " Carrion Spike " was still in the system . After learning that the Judicial cruiser in the spaceport was not spaceworthy , Vader ordered the Imperials to split into two groups . Tarkin , Vader and headed to the headquarters of a local criminal group known as the Sugi and made up of members of the Sugi species . Crest and his men headed to the home of Faazah , the head of the criminal group . Upon the first groups arrival at the headquarters they were escorted at blaster point by half a dozen guards to Faazah ' s throne room , where twenty more guards awaited them . Vader greeted the crime lord , who he had previously helped gain power by killing a rival in the Black Sun crime syndicate . Faazah admitted he owed Vader , hence why he had let them meet with him , but refused to hand over his ship , the " Parsec Predator " . Tarkin then revealed a hologram which showed Crest and his men in a warehouse belonging to the Sugi , which the troopers had rigged with explosives . The crime lord at first was not bothered by the potential loss , but after realizing the stormtroopers were also holding his entire family in the warehouse ready to execute , he gave in and handed over the launch codes to his ship , ordering all of his guards to leave the landing pad the ship was located on . Tarkin ordered Crest to move to the landing field with the Sugi family , and take possession of the ship , after which Vader Force choke d Faazah and slaughtered all Sugi present in the throne room , as well as several repurposed battle droid s that reinforced them . Two stormtroopers were killed in the exchange but the Imperials otherwise left unharmed . Boarding the " Parsec Predator " , Vader and Tarkin took to orbit , where Vader again used the Force to sense the " Carrion Spike " , which was hidden by its cloaking systems . The new crew of the " Carrion Spike " recognized Faazah ' s ship , and were confused as to how it was following them , suspecting a tracking beacon or a faulty stealth system . To escape they jumped to lightspeed , using the " Carrion Spike ' s " sophisticated navigation computer to jump to the nearby Fial system . Vader and Tarkin sent word to Coruscant of the theft of the " Carrion Spike " , before jumping in pursuit of the stolen vessel . Aftermath . Vader and Tarkin were able to locate the " Carrion Spike " in the Fial system , but the ship once again escaped by jumping to the Galidraan system . Again using the Force , Vader tracked them to Galidraan , where the rebels attacked Galidraan Station , a space station orbiting Galidraan III . Unable to stop the attack , Vader and Tarkin lost the " Carrion Spike " when it jettisoned Vader ' s meditation sphere and jumped to the Lucazec system . The cell went on to make attacks on several more Imperial targets , while the Empire attempted to guess where the cell would strike next . Rancit , who had provided the cell with its list of targets , eventually betrayed them and set a trap at the Nouane system where he nearly destroyed the " Carrion Spike " . Knowing they had been betrayed the cell abandoned the " Spike " and sent it on autopilot to its next destination , the Carida system where Rancit was waiting . Tarkin by this point however , had worked out the identities of those involved in the " Carrion Spike ' s " theft including the Vice - Admiral . Vader arrived in the Carida system and executed Rancit for his betrayal , while Tarkin ambushed the rebel cell during what they hoped would be their final attack , targeting a convoy carrying parts for the Death Star . All members of the crew were captured and eventually executed except Teller , who escaped and confronted Tarkin on his homeworld of Eriadu . Tarkin outsmarted the ex - agent , and left him injured on the Carrion Plateau giving him slim chance of surviving so that he might one day try and avenge his crew again . Behind the scenes . The Mission to Murkhana was created for the 2014 novel " Tarkin " by James Luceno . While the book provided no images of the event , a preview of the novel published in " Star Wars Insider " issue 153 included several images illustrated by Joe Corroney .