During the Berch Teller campaign of 14 BBY, rebel leader Berch Teller disseminated false information. This information suggested that the Carrion Spike corvette was en route to the Obroa-skai system. Subsequently, Knotts, a member of Teller's opposition, engaged the services of the Koorivar captain commanding the YT-1000 freighter named Reticent. The Reticent's mission was to journey to the Obroa-skai system, acting as a diversion. In response to this intelligence, Moff Wilhuff Tarkin and Darth Vader dispatched three Imperial interdictor class ships to the Obroa-skai system, with the goal of retrieving the hijacked Carrion Spike.
However, the gravity well projector on the Immobilizer 418 malfunctioned. This malfunction resulted in the unintended extraction of several civilian vessels from hyperspace. Among these vessels were the luxurious MC80 Star Cruiser Stellar Vista, the smuggling ship Truant, and the Reticent. The Stellar Vista then collided with a Detainer CC-2200, resulting in damage to both vessels and the loss of 1,100 civilian lives. Despite their failure to seize Teller's rebel group, Imperial forces successfully destroyed the Truant and captured the Reticent. Following the interrogation of the captain and crew, Vader and Tarkin gained knowledge regarding the identities of Teller and his associates.
Back in 14 BBY, Berch Teller, a former Agent of Republic Intelligence, initiated a campaign against the Galactic Empire. Teller spearheaded a cell comprised of survivors from the Antar Atrocity, along with sympathetic journalists and former Republic Intelligence personnel. Teller harbored particular animosity towards Moff Wilhuff Tarkin, the mastermind behind the Antar Atrocity. Teller's group managed to steal Tarkin's personal corvette, the Carrion Spike, with the intention of using it as a symbol of resistance against the Empire. They received assistance from Vice Admiral Dodd Rancit, the Director of the Naval Intelligence Agency and a rival of Tarkin.
Following a skirmish that occurred in the Phindar system, Berch Teller and his fellow rebels discovered a concealed paralight tracker on board the Carrion Spike. In an effort to mislead their Imperial pursuers, the dissidents transmitted fabricated coordinates. These coordinates indicated that the Carrion Spike was departing the Thustra system within the Expansion Region and heading towards the Obroa-skai system located in the Inner Rim. Furthermore, Knotts, Teller's associate and an information broker, hired a Koorivar captain and his crew to navigate the YT-1000 freighter Reticent to these coordinates. This was intended as a decoy to draw the attention of the Imperials.
Based on the false intelligence they received, Grand Moff Tarkin and Darth Vader dispatched several Imperial warships to the Obroa-skai system with the intention of intercepting the Carrion Spike. The Imperial deployment included three interdictor ships: a Detainer CC-2200, a more modern CC-7700 frigate, and a prototype Immobilizer 418 cruiser. Tarkin oversaw the Imperial task force from the bridge of the Imperial Star Destroyer Executrix. A flotilla of frigates, pickets, and gunboats was positioned between the Interdictors and the Executrix. Lord Vader and Lieutenant Crest led a boarding party of two dozen stormtroopers aboard the central picket ship.
Although standard procedure dictated informing local systems when Obroa-skai was designated a no-entry zone, the Imperial Navy's Naval Command chose not to issue such a designation, fearing it would alert the rebels. Obroa-skai was renowned for its medcenters and libraries, and lacked Imperial targets. Under Moff Tarkin's orders, the crews of the Interdictors activated their ships' gravity well projectors. However, the Immobilizer's gravitic systems experienced a malfunction due to overcurrent resistors failing to prevent redlining. Consequently, the Immobilizer inadvertently pulled several ships out of hyperspace, including the YT-1000 freighter Reticent, along with numerous other freighters and passenger vessels.
With the interdiction field disabled, the ships ensnared within it began to spin uncontrollably. This resulted in a collision between two vessels. The luxury liner Stellar Vista, a large MC80 Star Cruiser hailing from Corsin, collided with the Detainer CC-2200. The impact triggered an explosion, leading to the deaths of 1,100 passengers. Surviving passengers and crew evacuated using lifeboats and escape pods. Tarkin ordered the frigates to provide assistance and directed the remaining interdictors to deactivate the interdiction field to facilitate rescue efforts. While the Carrion Spike did not appear, Tarkin commanded the Imperial fleet to detain all civilian and cargo vessels.
The Lux-400 yacht Truant, wanted for smuggling, attempted to escape but was destroyed by the Executrix. After failing to receive any transmissions from the Carrion Spike's paralight tracker, Tarkin deduced that the insurgents had disabled the device. Realizing they had been deliberately misled, Lord Vader instructed Imperial forces to search all interdicted ships for answers. The Imperials focused their attention on the Reticent, the first ship intercepted, and towed it into the Executrix's hangar bay.
The incident within the Obroa-skai system received extensive coverage on the HoloNet through holovids produced by passengers from the luxury liner and journalists who had received information about the Imperial operation from undisclosed sources. Following the screening of the other ships and passengers, all except the crew of the Reticent were permitted to leave. The damaged Detainer CC-2200 and Mon Calamari liner were transported to Obroa-skai for repairs. Tarkin and Lord Vader then shifted their focus to interrogating the Koorivar captain of the Reticent and his crew.
The Koorivar captain claimed he was a merchant en route to Obroa-skai to deliver Sephi flyers to the planetary medcenter. Upon further questioning, the Koorivar confessed to being hired by a human information broker from Lantillies named Knotts, who had provided him with credits to purchase the Reticent. The Koorivar captain admitted to working as a freelancer for various brokers and explained that he had simply responded to an advertisement to collect the Sephi flyers from Thrusta. While Tarkin was satisfied with this explanation, Darth Vader insisted on further interrogation of the captain.
While Vader's interrogation of the Koorivar captain and crew yielded no useful information other than causing the freighter's Sy Myrthian navigator to suffer heart failure, one of the Sith Lord's contacts within the Crymorah Syndicate informed him that Knotts had facilitated a deal to supply the Sugi smuggler Faazah with a shipment of fuel cells. These fuel cells had been shipped to Murkhana shortly before the theft of the Carrion Spike. Meanwhile, Tarkin compared the insurgents' holovids with Imperial files on HoloNet and discovered that Berch Teller and the insurgents were connected through the Antar Atrocity. Despite Anora Fair's unease regarding the fate of their "stand-ins" at Obroa-skai, Teller argued that they were aware of the risks involved.
Following the events in the Obroa-skai system, Berch Teller's cell attacked an Imperial facility in the Nouane system, but were repelled by the outpost's fortified defenses. After realizing that Vice Admiral Rancit had betrayed them to conceal his involvement, they transferred to another vessel and set the Carrion Spike on autopilot towards Carida, under the guise of attacking the Imperial Academy located there. Rancit attempted to destroy the Carrion Spike to conceal his involvement in the insurgency. However, Darth Vader caught him in the act and had him executed. Meanwhile, Tarkin defeated Teller's cell as they were ambushing an Imperial convoy transporting supplies for the classified Death Star project.
The Incident in the Obroa-skai system was first depicted in James Luceno's 2014 novel Tarkin, the second in a series of new Canon adult novels published by Del Rey.