Destruction of Tahv

"Abeloth&hellip;''" "She was here?" "''No. In&hellip;dream&hellip; My ship&mdash;take me to my ship. And awaken the Lords. And the defenses&mdash;the city&hellip;she is going to&hellip;to make the city pay&hellip;"

- Darish Vol and Revar, following Vol's mental duel with Abeloth

A skirmish took place at the city of Tahv on the planet Kesh in 44 ABY. After the dark side entity Abeloth was brought to the city to ally with the Lost Tribe of Sith to destroy the Jedi and conquer the galaxy, she staged an attack on the Sith Grand Lord Darish Vol that left both of them weakened. In her frustration, Abeloth released waves of Force energy upon the city, leaving it in ruins and killing many of its residents. As she fled in the Sith Meditation Sphere Ship, she was joined by several Sith who deserted the Tribe. They fought off an attack by the Tribe's armada for long enough to flee the world.

Prelude
"To imagine, even for a moment, that anything human could even conceive of the vastness that is Abeloth, let alone trap me for your own tiny-minded purposes. Now you shall die, and your world shall become mine."

- Abeloth, to Darish Vol

In 43 ABY, the Lost Tribe of Sith discovered the existence of the dark side entity Abeloth and encountered the New Jedi Order. They hoped to capture Abeloth for their own use and destroy the Jedi, but their numerous attempts failed. After a defeat on the planet Nam Chorios, Sith Saber Gavar Khai, leader of the Sith armada there, was approached by Abeloth with the proposition of an alliance to eliminate the Jedi. Khai brought Abeloth to the Sith homeworld Kesh, where a celebration for her arrival was held in the capital city of Tahv.

The skirmish
"Shields up. We stand with Abeloth. Ship&mdash;''" "is sending coordinates." "''Follow them! Tell all vessels to retreat."

- Gavar Khai and Tola Annax, ordering the Sith to cover Abeloth's escape

The Sith Grand Lord Darish Vol did not trust Abeloth, and he secretly convened with several members of the Tribe's ruling Circle of Lords after the celebrations. That night, while Abeloth walked the streets of Tahv, she appeared to Vol in his sleep in her true form and attempted to kill him, wrapping her tendrils around him and into his ears, mouth, and nose. She quickly began to consume him, and he desperately used a Force technique to delve into her mind. There, he discovered that her greatest need was to feel loved. She grew angrier, and her attack turned more and more violent. He tried to cause her as much pain as possible, telling her over and over again that she would never be loved; and her attack finally morpheed into an attempt to flee. Vol attempted to kill her as she fought to break free from his grasp, but she managed to repulse him, waking him up and leaving him extremely weak. He was quickly attended to by the Sith Saber Revar, whom he ordered to take him to his ship, awaken the Lords, and warn the Tribe's defenses of Abeloth's inevitable attack on Tahv.

In her agony, Abeloth lashed out against the city&mdash;unable to hold on to the illusion of her appearance, she reverted back to her true form and attacked Tahv with surges of of Force energy. The Sith were unprepared for her attack, and beings in her immediate vicinity were imploded by her attack, while those a little farther away were completely torn apart by the energy. The city itself was also assaulted, and glass and weapons were taken up and flung throughout Tahv, serving Abeloth's will of needing to hurt and kill everyone in the city. The buildings melted to the ground beneath her onslaught, and the city was left rife with flames, with thousands dead.

Saber Gavar Khai and several other Sith aboard his vessel, the ChaseMaster frigate Black Wave, were awakened by Abeloth's radiating agony. Abeloth met the Sith Meditation Sphere Ship and began to flee in the vessel while several frigates launched from the city's relatively undamaged spaceport. Khai finally decided to ally fully with Abeloth and desert the Tribe, and issued orders to all frigates to retreat from the planet with Abeloth. Not all of the ships followed Khai's orders, however, and those that were still loyal to the Tribe opened fire. Two ChaseMaster frigates that had followed the Black Wave were shot down, and Khai ordered his crew to return fire. Now considering himself a member of Abeloth's fleet, Khai ordered that all vessels alter course to their rendezvous spot, and stated that all who did not would be considered traitors and attacked.

One vessel, the Dark Dancer, did not reply at all, and Khai's second-in-command, Tola Annax, reported that the ship had been hit and might be on their side, but too damaged to move or reply. Khai, however, refused to accept the risk of allowing them to live, and ordered Annax to fire on the vessel. The Black Wave opened fire, destroying the Dark Dancer, and Annax soon afterward successfully completed the Black Wave hyperspace jump.

Aftermath
"We must not allow ourselves to be traced. I&hellip;need time to recover, and to decide the next course of action. Lead them on a merry chase, Gavar Khai."

- Abeloth

Abeloth suspected that Grand Lord Vol might decide to ally with the Jedi again in another attempt to bring her down. After they were safely away from Kesh, Abeloth spoke with Khai regarding his loyalties and his daughter Vestara's actions&mdash;she had been sent on a mission to infiltrate the Jedi by becoming close to young Jedi Knight Ben Skywalker, but the Tribe had come to suspect that she may have begun to turn traitor to the Sith&mdash;and forced him to accept that Vestara may have betrayed him. Abeloth also denounced the idea of paying any attention to the prophecy of a Jedi queen who might one day prevent the Sith from rising to power in the galaxy, and ordered Khai to lead anyone who attempted to pursue them down the wrong path.

Behind the scenes
The skirmish at Tahv first appeared in Christie Golden's Ascension, the eighth book in the nine-part Fate of the Jedi series.

Appearances

 * Ascension