Incident in the Obroa - skai system During the Berch Teller campaign in 14 BBY , the insurgent leader Berch Teller transmitted disinformation that the corvette " Carrion Spike " was traveling to the Obroa - skai system . One of Teller ' s dissidents Knotts hired the Koorivar captain of the YT - 1000 freighter " Reticent " to travel to the Obroa - skai system as a decoy . Acting on this information , Moff Wilhuff Tarkin and Darth Vader deployed three Imperial interdictor vessel s into the Obroa - skai system hoping to recover the stolen " Carrion Spike " . However , the Immobilizer 418 ' s gravity well projector malfunctioned and yanked several civilian ships out of hyperspace including the luxury MC80 star cruiser " Stellar Vista " , the smuggling vessel " Truant " , and the " Reticent " . The " Stellar Vista " collided with a Detainer CC - 2200 , damaging both ships and causing the deaths of 1 , 100 civilians . Despite failing to capture Teller ' s dissidents , the Imperials managed to destroy the " Truant " and capture the " Reticent " . After interrogating the captain and his crew , Vader and Tarkin learned about the identity of Teller and his dissidents . Prelude . In 14 BBY , the former Republic Intelligence Agent Berch Teller launched a campaign against the Galactic Empire . Teller led a cell consisting of survivors of the Antar Atrocity and sympathetic journalist s and former Republic Intelligence operatives . Teller had a special animus for Moff Wilhuff Tarkin , the architect behind the Antar Atrocity . Teller ' s cell stole Tarkin ' s personal corvette " Carrion Spike " , which they intended to use as a symbol of resistance against the Empire . The dissidents were aided by Vice Admiral Dodd Rancit , the Director of the Naval Intelligence Agency and a rival of Tarkin . Following a skirmish in the Phindar system , Berch Teller and his fellow dissidents discovered a hidden paralight tracker aboard the " Carrion Spike " . To mislead their Imperial pursuers , the dissidents transmitted fake coordinates indicating that the " Carrion Spike " was departing from the Thustra system in the Expansion Region to the Obroa - skai system in the Inner Rim . One of Teller ' s colleagues , the information broker Knotts , also hired a Koorivar captain and his crew to travel aboard the YT - 1000 freighter " Reticent " to these coordinates as a decoy target for the Imperials . The disaster . Acting on this disinformation , Grand Moff Tarkin and Darth Vader deployed several Imperial warships to the Obroa - skai system to intercept the " Carrion Spike " . Imperial resources included three interdictor vessel s : a Detainer CC - 2200 , a newer model CC - 7700 frigate , and a prototype Immobilizer 418 cruiser . Tarkin commanded the Imperial task force from the bridge of the Imperial Star Destroyer " Executrix " Deployed in the middle distance between the Interdictors and the " Executrix " was a flotilla of frigates , pickets , and gunboats . Lord Vader and Lieutenant Crest commanded a boarding party of two dozen stormtrooper s aboard the center - most picket . While it was standard protocol to inform the local systems that Obroa - skai had been designated a no - entry zone , the Imperial Navy ' s Naval Command had opted against issuing the designation for fear of alerting the dissidents . Obroa - skai was known for its medcenter s and libraries and contained no Imperial targets . Under Moff Tarkin ' s orders , the Interdictors ' crew activated their ships ' gravity well projector s . However , the Immobilizer ' s gravitic systems malfunctioned when the overcurrent resistors failed to prevent them from redlining . As a result , the Immobilizer yanked several ships out of hyperspace including the YT - 1000 freighter " Reticcent " and multiple freighters and passenger vessels . With the interdiction field neutralized , the ships that had been caught in the field began spinning . Two ships collided with each other . A large MC80 star cruiser , the luxury liner " Stellar Vista " of Corsin , then collided with the Detainer CC - 2200 . This created an explosion that killed 1 , 100 passengers . The remaining passengers and crew fled in lifeboats and escape pod s . Tarkin ordered the frigates to render assistance and instructed the remaining interdictors to negate the interdiction field in order to facilitate rescue operations . While the " Carrion Spike " failed to appear , Tarkin ordered the Imperial fleet to contain all civilian and cargo vessels . The Lux - 400 yacht " Truant " , which was wanted for smuggling , tried to escape but was destroyed by the " Executrix " . After failing to receive any transmissions from the " Carrion Spike " paralight tracker , Tarkin realized that the insurgents had disabled the device . Realizing that the insurgents had deliberately thrown them off - scent , Lord Vader then ordered the Imperial forces to begin searching all the interdicted ships for answers . The Imperials took a special interest in the first ship " Reticent " , which was towed aboard the " Executrix " hangar bay . Aftermath . The incident in the Obroa - skai system was widely covered on HoloNet through holovid s produced by passengers aboard the luxury liner and journalists , who had received news about the Imperial operation through unidentified sources . After screening the other ships and passengers , all but the crew of the " Reticent " were allowed to leave . The damaged Detainer CC - 2200 and Mon Calamari liner were towed to Obroa - skai for repairs . Tarkin and Lord Vader then turned their attention to interrogating the Koorivar captain of the " Reticent " and his crew . The Koorivar captain claimed that he was a merchant traveling to Obroa - skai to deliver Sephi flyer s to the planetary medcenter . Under further examination , the Koorivar admitted to being hired by a human information broker from Lantillies named Knotts , who had loaned him credits to buy the " Reticent " . The Koorivar captain acknowledged being a freelancer who worked for several brokers . He explained that he had merely responded to an advert to pick up the Sephi flyers from Thrusta . While Tarkin was satisfied , Darth Vader insisted on interrogating the captain further . While Vader ' s interrogation of the Koorivar captain and crew yielded no information apart from causing the freighter ' s Sy Myrthian navigator heart failure , one of the Sith Lord ' s informants in the Crymorah syndicate informed him that Knotts had helped broker a deal to supply the Sugi smuggler Faazah with a supply of fuel cell s . These had been shipped to Murkhana shortly before the theft of the " Carrion Spike " . Meanwhile , Tarkin compared the insurgents ' holovids with Imperial files on HoloNet and discovered that Berch Teller and the insurgents were linked by the Antar Atrocity . While the reluctant insurgent Anora Fair felt uneasy about the fate of their " stand - ins " at Obroa - skai , Teller countered that they knew the risks . Following the events in the Obroa - skai system , Berch Teller ' s cell attacked an Imperial facility in the Nouane system but were rebuffed by the outpost ' s reinforced Imperial defenses . After deducing that Vice Admiral Rancit had betrayed them to cover his tracks , they transferred onto another vessel and set the " Carrion Spike " on autopilot to Carida under the pretext of attacking the Imperial Academy there . Rancit tried to destroy the " Carrion Spike " in order to hide his involvement in the insurgency . However , Tarkin caught him redhanded and had him executed . Meanwhile , Tarkin defeated Teller ' s cell as they were ambushing an Imperial convoy transporting supplies for the classified Death Star project . Behind the scenes . The Incident in the Obroa - skai system first appeared in James Luceno ' s 2014 novel " Tarkin " , the second in a line of new Canon adult novels published by Del Rey .