The Duel on Bastion was a short confrontation between the deposed Emperor Roan Fel and the Sith Lord Darth Kruhl, who had been dispatched by Darth Maladi to assassinate Fel. The duel ended with the death of Kruhl, who was unexpectedly shot by the holdout blaster pistol of Roan Fel.
Darth Maladi had recently learned that Roan Fel, the deposed ruler of the Fel Dynasty, had retaken the Imperial stronghold-planet of Bastion. Maladi knew that a frontal assault on the heavily fortified planet would not only stretch the entire Sith fleet thin, she also that some of the fleet might defect if they learned that it was former Emperor Fel they would be attacking. However, Fel's resistance depended on his survival. With all this in mind, Maladi dispatched her assassin Darth Kruhl to Bastion with the covert mission of ending the life of Roan Fel. Lady Maladi devised a plan to allow Lord Kruhl to infiltrate Bastion by using the defection of Governor Vikar Dorn and the entire crew of the Pellaeon-class Star Destroyer Dauntless as bait.
With Dorn allowed to land, Darth Kruhl infiltrated the Pellaeon Gardens where Emperor Fel was meditating. Kruhl, believing he had the element of surprise, was caught off guard by Fel, who had sensed his presence via the Force and was quick to react with a lightsaber. When Kruhl tried to slash Fel with his own blade, it struck the Emperor's cortosis gauntlet, shorting out Kruhl's lightsaber on contact. Kruhl then unleashed a barrage of Force lightning against Fel, who was able to absorb it with his lightsaber. Kruhl finally used Telekinesis against Fel, slamming the trees of the garden into him. The duel then became a fist fight, but Fel soon unfurled a holdout blaster and shot Kruhl, killing him. Before the Sith Lord's death, Fel demanded that Kruhl surrender, even if he succeeded in killing him, he would not leave Bastion alive. Antares Draco rushed into the gardens, having sensed Kruhl as well. Fel told Draco he was all right, and ordered him to bring him Governor Dorn.
Vikar Dorn is killed by Darth Maladi.
Following the duel and the death of Lord Kruhl, Emperor Fel had Vikar Dorn order the Dauntless crew to debark for "debriefing". However, when the crew was gathered, Fel ordered their execution, with only Dorn being spared. He was then dropped in a escape pod close to Sith-loyal ships, taking Kruhl's lightsaber with him. Dorn was taken to Coruscant, having revealed nothing of the assassination plot. He was executed by Lady Maladi, however, after he revealed to her the course of events that culminated with the death of Lord Kruhl.
While Emperor Darth Krayt chided Maladi for her failure, she revealed to Krayt that she was confident a new chance to assassinate Fel would come, this time from within his own ranks. However, Krayt reprimanded her, reminding Maladi not to lose sight of both her goal and his will.
Darth Maladi's statement would eventually proved true a year later when Fel was killed by one of his own Imperial Knights, Draco himself, to prevent him from launching Omega Red he acquired from her after he fell into the dark side.
- The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia, Vol. I