This confrontation unfolded in 5000 BBY amidst the star systems, pitting the opposing armadas of Naga Sadow against those of Ludo Kressh. These two figures, once rivals vying for the mantle of Dark Lord of the Sith, clashed high above the Sith burial planet of Korriban. Prior to this clash, Sadow had triumphed over Kressh, compelling the latter to feign his demise, thereby leaving Sadow unchallenged. Subsequently, Sadow initiated the ultimately unsuccessful Great Hyperspace War against the Galactic Republic with the ambition of conquering the galaxy. Following his setback in the Battle at Primus Goluud, Sadow retreated to the Sith Empire with the remnants of his damaged fleet. To Sadow's surprise, Kressh and his fully operational battle group ambushed him above Korriban. A fierce exchange of energy weapon fire erupted between the two sides, resulting in the destruction of numerous vessels from both factions. However, Sadow had conceived a strategic maneuver. He commanded one of his crippled ships to ram into Kressh's command ship. This tactic proved effective, leading to Kressh's death and swiftly concluding the battle with a victory for Sadow.
In the year 5000 BBY, Naga Sadow, a Dark Lord of the Sith, ascended to a position of power within the Sith Empire. Having overcome his long-standing adversary, Sith Lord Ludo Kressh, during the Battle of Khar Delba, Sadow commenced preparations for a military operation aimed at the Galactic Republic. Around the time that the fleet was completed, Ludo Kressh's flagship materialized in the skies above Khar Delba only to be shot down, seemingly killing Kressh. However, Sadow was unaware that Kressh had orchestrated a deception regarding his own demise. With no opposition in sight, Sadow launched an invasion of the Republic, thereby initiating the Great Hyperspace War. Nevertheless, the Republic successfully repelled Sadow's attempts to seize both Coruscant and the Koros system, which forced Sadow to retreat. The Sith and the Republic clashed once more in battle over Primus Goluud, which resulted in Sadow's defeat and subsequent flight back to the Sith Empire.
Sadow's forces emerged from hyperspace over the burial world of Korriban, only for the Dark Lord to be greeted by a figure he never anticipated seeing again: Ludo Kressh. Kressh declared himself the rightful Dark Lord of the Sith and revealed the truth behind the events in the skies above Khar Delba: he had deployed a decoy ship, which was the vessel Sadow had destroyed, while simultaneously assembling his own forces in preparation for an assault on Sadow. Kressh further asserted that Sadow posed a threat to the stability of the Sith Empire and proclaimed that the Dark Lord was exiled from the Sith Empire indefinitely. Sadow refused to yield, and a furious exchange of energy bolt fire erupted between the two opposing factions. The area of battle was filled with numerous aerial duels between opposing Sith starfighters, and both sides suffered the destruction of large warships due to the constant barrage of energy weapon fire. However, Sadow had devised a plan: he instructed one of his doomed and heavily damaged ships to execute a suicide attack on Ludo Kressh's command vessel. To Kressh's dismay, the incoming ship collided with his flagship in a cataclysmic impact, which resulted in Kressh's death and instantly brought the battle to an end. Sadow had finally triumphed over his longtime nemesis.
Although several ships within Kressh's fleet remained operational, they ceased fighting upon Kressh's death. Despite securing the victory, Sadow was deeply affected by the losses he had endured. Immediately following the battle, Sadow and his forces were attacked once again, this time by Republic forces that had pursued him to the Sith Empire in an attempt to secure a decisive victory against the Sith. Under the leadership of Empress Teta, the ruler of the Koros system, Sadow and the Sith were defeated. Sadow was compelled to fake his own death and flee to the distant moon of Yavin 4.
The First Battle of Korriban initially appeared in Tales of the Jedi: The Fall of the Sith Empire, a story arc within the Tales of the Jedi comic series, authored by Kevin J. Anderson and released in 1997. The battle was depicted in the arc's fifth and final issue, End of an Empire. In this portrayal, the battle was illustrated by Dario Carrasco, Jr.. The reference book The Essential Chronology, published in 2000, described the Republic's arrival amidst the battle, resulting in the simultaneous decimation of both Sadow's and Kressh's forces, which contradicted its depiction in Tales of the Jedi.