The dartship represented a starfighter design utilized by the Killik. These fighters were manufactured in large quantities during the Dark Nest Crisis, and they saw combat against both the forces of the Chiss Ascendancy and the Galactic Alliance. Two primary versions existed: one powered by a rocket engine, and another employing an ion drive. As the Gorog became more involved within the Colony and began to prepare for conflict, the ion drive version became far more prevalent.
It appears that rocket-powered dartships utilized two distinct types of fuel. For a time, the nests at Qoribu used methane as fuel. Jaina Solo posited that the colony's hesitation to adopt hydrogen stemmed from the Killiks' ability to produce methane independently. R2-D2 later determined that a swarm of these craft, which attacked the Millennium Falcon, were fueled by hydrogen, exhibiting a significantly improved performance compared to standard dartships. It was subsequently revealed that these particular fighters belonged to the Gorog; however, ion propulsion became the main form of propulsion as the Dark Nest increased its power over the colonies.
These fighters gained notoriety for their ramming strategies, exemplified by an incident near Qoribu where a large number of dartships collectively rammed and destroyed a Star Destroyer belonging to the Chiss Ascendancy.
Furthermore, dartships were equipped with payloads consisting of "primitive" chemical explosives.