"Dark Journey" initially appeared as a comic in Star Wars Tales 17 and was later included in the collection Star Wars Tales Volume 5.
The story unfolds during the era of the Clone Wars, where the Jedi Vydel Dir'Nul has chosen to disregard the summons from the Jedi Council to assume the role of a general. Instead, she is relentlessly pursuing a serial killer known as Kardem, seeking retribution for the death of her beloved, the freighter pilot Ash B'risko. Since Ash's demise, Kardem's victims have been exclusively female Twi'leks, and the method of their killings is particularly disturbing: the use of a lightsaber and Force lightning, suggesting that the perpetrator is a Dark Jedi.
Dir'Nul meticulously follows the clues left by Kardem, eventually discovering his eighth victim. At that moment, a cloaked figure appears and addresses her by name. A battle ensues, but the figure manages to disarm her and declares that they have come to escort her back to the Jedi Council. Dir'Nul responds with a blast of Force lightning. As the Jedi utters the name of Master Dir'Nul, she retorts that her name is Kardem.
The Jedi reveals the shocking truth: Dir'Nul is Kardem. She had discovered Ash with a Twi'lek dancer, and consumed by rage, she murdered him, thereby creating the dark side influenced mental alter ego of Kardem. Subsequently, she had been killing female Twi'leks while in the Kardem persona, only to then investigate the very murders in her Dir'Nul persona. The Jedi informs her that he was dispatched with orders to bring her back, regardless of whether she was alive or dead. Embracing the power of the dark side, Kardem uses lightning and the Jedi's own lightsaber to kill him. She then reverts back to the Dir'Nul persona and is horrified to discover that "Kardem" has claimed yet another victim, this time a Jedi. She renews her solemn pledge to bring the killer to justice.