Mission to Darkknell (New Sith Wars)

The Mission to Darkknell took place in 1032 BBY when the Bothan spy Narsk Ka'hane was hired by the Sith Lord Odion. Odion sent Ka'hane to Darkknell to gather information on his brother Daiman's new prototype warship, the Convergence, being built at the Black Fang testing facility, and subsequently destroy the ship. Ka'hane, using his Cyricept Personal Concealment System, Mark VI, infiltrated the Black Fang and downloaded the ship's technical readouts onto a datapad. He then planted baradium thermal charges, which he planned to activate using a detonator once he was safely away from the facility. Ka'hane left the facility, but was spotted by Jedi Knight Kerra Holt, who wanted the Mark VI for her own use against Daiman. After a chase through Xakrea, Holt incapacitated Ka'hane. After destroying Ka'hane's datapad with her lightsaber, she detonated the thermal charges, destroying the Black Fang. Holt then stuffed Ka'hane into a garbage bin, where he was later found and captured by Daiman's Correctors.
==History==
===Background===
During the Republic Dark Age, the Grumani sector in the Outer Rim Territories was the battleground between several rival Sith Lords. Two of these Sith Lords were the brothers Odion, who saw himself as the Destroyer of the Universe, and Daiman, who saw himself as the Creator of the Universe. In 1032 BBY, Odion sent the free-lance Bothan spy Narsk Ka'hane to infiltrate the Daimanate capital of Darkknell. Narsk's mission was to obtain intelligence on the Sith Lord Daiman's new Convergence Tactical Assault Vehicle, a "one–ship–fits–all" warship. He was also given a baradium thermal detonator to destroy the vessel after he collected sufficient intelligence on it. For this mission, Narsk was equipped with a Cyricept Mark VI stealth suit, which allowed him to become invisible.
Unknown to Odion and Narsk Ka'hane, a Jedi Knight errant named Kerra Holt had also embarked on a campaign of sabotage against Lord Daiman. Kerra was the lone survivor of the ill-fated Jedi Operation Influx on the planet Chelloa which had claimed the life of her Master Vannar Treece. Following the Chelloan affair, Kerra had spearheaded several strikes against weapons plants on a string of Daimanate worlds. In some cases, she was able to free the slave laborers and their families. This trail eventually led her to Darknnell, the capital of the Daimanate and the home of the Black Fang testing facility, the hub of Daiman's military research efforts. By destroying the Black facility, Kerra hoped to slow down Daiman's war production effort. For this mission, Kerra infiltrated Darkknell disguised as an itinerant laborer and found employment in the capital Xakrea as a tutor for the Sullustan girl Tan Tengo.
===Spy games===
Narsk Ka'hane spent an entire month scouting the Black Fang and collecting on the Convergence vehicle. Every night, he would visit the research facility while wearing his Cyricept Mark VI stealth suit, which allowed him to become invisible. The Bothan spent this period monitoring traffic patterns around the research facility and took note of the sentries guarding the obsidian structure's few openings. As a result of his work, Narsk located every route leading to the Black Fang test facility. Each night, he would visit a nearby secluded rooftop to change into his Cyricept Mark VI stealth suit. Over-confident, the Bothan used the same rooftop every night. Unfortunately, this proved to be his drawback since it enabled the Jedi Kerra to track his movements. While Narsk wanted to collect intelligence on the vehicle, Kerra wanted to destroy the vessel.
On the final night of his mission, Narsk collected intelligence on the Convergence's energy shield package. Narsk had been able to spy on the Black Fang facility for the past month with little hindrance because Daiman had stalled the development of the vessel by adding riot-control features to the ship. After narrowly avoiding being crushed to death by the factory's torus, he planted a baradium detonator near the Convergence vehicle and escaped into the night. While heading back to his rooftop hiding place, Narsk was stalked by Kerra, whom he assumed was one of Daiman's Correctors, Force-sensitive individuals who served as Daiman's minions. Narsk fled into the factory district but his opponent was able to outrun him by leaping across buildings.
In an attempt to evade his pursuer, Narsk fled into a rubbish dump and managed to hitch a ride on a stolen speeder bike. Narsk attempted to flee to Little Duros in his transport. However, Kerra jumped onto the speeder bike from a nearby skybridge and managed to cling on to the vehicle with a six-meter-long chain. Preoccupied with trying to dislodge his pursuer, Narsk crashed the speeder bike into a skybridge. The Bothan spy survived the crash but was bruised and wounded with a sprained right leg. Kerra introduced herself as a Jedi to her opponent. Narsk claimed that he was a member of the non-existent Darkknell resistance but Kerra saw through the deception. After uncovering his datapad containing the intelligence he had collected on the Convergence vehicle, Kerra quickly deduced that he was a spy working for Odion.
Since the Sith had destroyed her childhood and taken her parents, Kerra had a strong hatred for the Sith and their minions. Ignoring Narsk' pleas that he was not a Sith but was merely a freelancer, she destroyed the datapad. Using Narsk's remote control, she ignited the thermal detonator which destroyed the entire Black Fang facility. Kerra then forced the Bothan to strip off his stealth suit and dumped him half-naked into a nearby rubbish bin. Kerra then returned to Tengo's home, where she boarded, leaving Narsk to the tender mercies of Daiman's law enforcement agencies. Upon arriving at the Tengo family residence, Kerra explained her absence to Tan's grandfather Gub Tengo by claiming that she had to work a late-shift.
===Aftermath===
The baradium thermal detonator blast destroyed the entire Black Fang facility and Daiman's prototype Convergence Tactical Assault Vehicle. The blast also killed several of Daiman's most loyal workers, who had volunteered to work on the night-shift. Narsk Ka'hane was later captured by Daiman's enforcers and was interrogated and tortured by his Sith interrogators. Narsk was even examined by Lord Daiman himself and under the strain of torture revealed that the "errant" Jedi Knight Kerra was present on Darkknell and had destroyed the Black Fang facility. Using a Force mental probe, Daiman also discovered that Narsk had been working for Odion and that he had been collecting intelligence on the Convergence project. With the "assistance" of Kerra, Narsk managed to escape his prison and returned back to Odionate space.
Following the destruction of the Black Fang facility, Daiman purchased an arxeum, a mobile university, from the Sith Lord Ayanos Bactra, the ruler of a neighboring Sith princedom known as the Bactranate. In return, Daiman agreed to recruit the students who would be trained in the arts of war production. This exchange was to take place on the barren world of Gazzari, on the borders of the Daimanate and the Bactranate. However, this was actually a trap devised by Daiman to lure Odion to Gazzari. Daiman had also assembled a mercenary force to attack Odion on Gazzari while his fleet blockaded the planet, cutting of Odion's escape. Following a fierce battle, Daiman and Odion entered a temporary ceasefire to invade the Bactranate, under the orders of their grandmother Vilia Calimondra. Vilia had decided that Ayanos Bactra had outlived his usefulness to the Calimondra family and ordered her family members to eliminate Bactra. The Odion–Daiman sibling rivalry outlasted this temporary truce and eventually culminated in Odion's attempt to destroy the galaxy with an ancient Sith artifact known as the Helm of Ieldis.
==Behind the scenes==
The Mission to Darkknell serves as the exposition of John Jackson Miller's 2011 novel Knight Errant, which was linked to his Dark Horse Comics Star Wars: Knight Errant series. The mission is told through the perspectives of the Bothan spy Narsk Ka'hane and the Jedi Knight Kerra Holt.
==Appearances==
*Knight Errant 
==Notes and references==
Category:Battles of Darkknell
Category:Battles of the Second Charge Matrica