Battle of Khar Delba The Battle of Khar Delba took place in the year 5000 BBY , and served to consolidate the Dark Lord of the Sith Naga Sadow ' s power before he brought the Sith Empire into the Great Hyperspace War against the Galactic Republic . Following the death of Dark Lord Marka Ragnos , control of the Sith Empire was in contention between prominent Sith Lords Naga Sadow and Ludo Kressh . The arrival in Sith - controlled space of two explorers from the Republic , Gav and Jori Daragon , caused the two factions a great deal of alarm , leading to an inevitable conflict between Kressh and Sadow . Kressh , who believed that the Daragons ' arrival signaled an impending invasion by Republic forces , advised caution , while Sadow saw an opportunity to expand the Sith Empire ' s boundaries . Sadow managed to play upon the paranoia of the other Sith Lords , to the effect that he was named the new Dark Lord of the Sith in order to deal with this perceived threat . Although most of the Sith Council backed Sadow , Kressh and his followers , Horak - mul and Dor Gal - ram , refused to accept Sadow ' s legitimacy . When Kressh ' s fleet attacked Sadow ' s citadel on Khar Delba , the new Dark Lord was prepared , having amassed a secret fleet that he hid at his true headquarters on Khar Delba ' s moon , Khar Shian . The opposition fleet was caught off - guard and defeated , while Sadow allowed Jori Daragon to escape back to the Republic — carrying a locator beacon that would allow Sadow to lead a Sith invasion there in what would become the Great Hyperspace War . History . Background . The death of the Dark Lord of the Sith Marka Ragnos in 5000 BBY left something of a power vacuum in the Sith Empire , with the two most prominent Sith Lords , Naga Sadow and Ludo Kressh , vying for control . Following Ragnos ' s funeral on Korriban , Sadow and Kressh faced off in a duel with Sith sword s , only to be interrupted by the specter of Ragnos himself , who warned the two of an uncertain future for the insular Sith Empire , regardless of its auspicious past and present golden age . Precluding immediate further conflict between the two Sith was the arrival of a strange starship on Korriban — the " Starbreaker 12 " , flown by down - on - their - luck explorers Gav and Jori Daragon . The Daragons , native to the planet Koros Major in the Galactic Republic , had entered random coordinates into their ship ' s navicomputer as a last - ditch effort to make enough money to earn their keep . This first contact between Humans from the Republic and the Sith was met with suspicion by the Sith leaders . After ordering their guards to take the two youths prisoner , Sadow and Kressh disagreed over how to interpret their arrival . Kressh feared an impending alien invasion , while Sadow wanted to learn more of where the explorers had come from , in the hopes that the Sith Empire could expand outside of the space they had previously explored . Sadow and Kressh , along with the rest of the Sith and their new prisoners , returned to the Sith throneworld of Ziost . Sadow ' s deception . This disagreement was the root of a major rift between Sadow and Kressh , who continued to make bids for supreme control of the Sith Empire . Sadow was not beyond political manipulation to achieve his means , however , and managed through staging a false escape by Jori Daragon to convince Kressh and the Sith Council that the Republic had attacked , warranting a retaliatory invasion of the Republic . Gathering support of most of the Council , Sadow was elected to take up the mantle of Dark Lord of the Sith in order to meet this new " threat . " Kressh , however , refused to acknowledge Sadow ' s legitimacy , and left with two of his supporters , Horak - mul and Dor Gal - ram . Regardless of Kressh ' s challenge , the majority of the Sith accepted Sadow as their new master and allowed him to undertake the marking ritual , branding his forehead with the mark of the Dark Lord . Sadow continued to plot against Kressh , keeping his own goals foremost in his mind . After the staged attack and " escape , " the new Dark Lord moved Jori to his citadel on Khar Delba . Gav , whom Sadow had taken under his wing and begun to train in the use of the dark side of the Force , was in an identical stronghold on Khar Delba ' s moon of Khar Shian , where Sadow also had clandestinely amassed a fleet of warships under his direct command . Realizing that he would need Jori Daragon at least to lead him to the Republic , Sadow sent warriors of the Massassi caste to steal the " Starbreaker 12 " from Ziost , instructing the warriors to leave behind evidence with his personal symbol on it — proof that Sadow was behind the attacks . Kressh took the bait , and gathered his followers for an assault on Khar Delba . The battle . Kressh ' s forces attack . Kressh brought a fleet of " Derriphan " - class battleships to Khar Delba , supported by Horak - mul and Dor Gal - ram , and immediately commenced an attack upon Sadow ' s fortress . Orders were issued that no transmissions would be sent to the surface , and that surrender was not an option available to Sadow . The Dark Lord of the Sith , however , was pleased with this outcome , as he had anticipated it and made appropriate plans . As his rivals ' ships bombarded the fortress , Sadow deceived Jori Daragon , instructing his warriors to man the turrets and put up a defense . Kressh and his allies bought into this , as well , fully believing that the fortress ' s defenses were all Sadow had in store for them . Sadow , knowing that he had found his opportunity , urged Jori to take the " Starbreaker 12 " and escape back to the Republic . Although she expressed dismay over leaving her brother behind in the Sith Empire , Jori allowed herself to be convinced when Sadow lied that Kressh had come to interrogate her in order to gather information about the Republic . The " Starbreaker 12 " blasted out of the Khar Delba fortress amid a hail of cannon fire between the turrets and Kressh ' s attacking battleships . Kressh , recognizing the vessel , instructed his forces to shoot it down . Although Horak - mul managed to bring the " Starbreaker 12 " into his sights , Jori managed to maneuver away , jumping to the safety of hyperspace . Sadow ' s double - cross . As soon as Jori Daragon was safely away , Sadow summoned his massive fleet from the shadow of Khar Shian , ordering them to begin their attack . Caught completely off - guard , Kressh was livid . Sadow transmitted to his rival ' s ship , taunting him for his gullibility as he reached to send yet another transmission , this time to the ships of Horak - mul and Dor Gal - ram . The Massassi warriors on both vessels , having been under Sadow ' s control from the very start , turned on and murdered their masters , taking control of Horak - mul ' s and Dor Gal - ram ' s battleships and in turn firing upon Kressh ' s remaining fleet . All the while , Sadow ' s fighters and battleships of his secret fleet hammered away at those of his rival . Kressh saw no chance for victory , and ordered the remnants of his forces to retreat . Outcome . With the defeat of Ludo Kressh , nothing stood in the way of Naga Sadow ' s complete control of the Sith Empire . Returning to his real fortress on Khar Shian , Sadow was greeting by throngs of his loyal servants and warriors , reveling in his victory through guile . Gav learned of his sister ' s escape , but did not know that Sadow had orchestrated it all for his own benefit — the " Starbreaker 12 " had been fitted with a tracking device , giving the Sith a route into Republic space for Sadow ' s planned invasion . Although defeated , Kressh continued to resist Sadow , but his efforts were in vain — when Kressh ' s flagship arrived above Khar Delba once more , Sadow managed to trick Gav Daragon into destroying the vessel . Although this proved to be deception on Kressh ' s part — the craft had actually been a decoy , much as Sadow had previously tricked Kressh into attacking a decoy fortress — Kressh would never again gain the upper hand against Sadow , and was eventually killed by Sadow ' s forces in space combat . After gathering his forces , Sadow was able to follow Jori Daragon back to the Republic , launching an invasion that would become known as the Great Hyperspace War . Behind the scenes . The Battle of Khar Delba , a conflict in which Naga Sadow manages to secure control of the Sith Empire , appeared in the fourth and fifth issues of " " , a comic book story arc written by " Star Wars " author Kevin J . Anderson in 1997 as part of the larger " " comic series . Both issues were drawn by artist Dario Carrasco , Jr . . Anderson had wanted to write a history of the Sith , and was able to obtain some information from George Lucas to create a base for his work . The events of the Great Hyperspace War were laid out in the next story arc of the series , " " , also written by Anderson .