Khar Delba, a frigid and snowy planet steeped in icy conditions, resided within the Sith Worlds. This region was incorporated into the Sith Empire around 5000 BBY. This planet, located at the fringe of Sith Space, possessed a single moon named Khar Shian. It was the original habitat of the Sith war behemoth. It housed a citadel constructed by Naga Sadow, but unknown to the broader Sith community, this was merely a diversion, as his actual stronghold was situated on Khar Shian. In 5000 BBY, during a power struggle between Naga Sadow and his adversary, Ludo Kressh, Khar Delba endured an attack from orbit launched by Kressh's loyalists. Although the citadel sustained substantial damage from Kressh's orbital bombardment, Sadow secured victory by deploying his hidden fleet from the opposite side of Khar Shian to counter Kressh's offensive. In the months that followed, Khar Delba underwent reconstruction and became the epicenter of Naga Sadow's influence as he amassed forces for an invasion of the Galactic Republic, an event that would be remembered as the Great Hyperspace War.
Khar Delba was positioned in the Outer Rim Territories region, specifically within the Sith Worlds of the Esstran sector. This planet was situated on the outer reaches of Sith Space, which was shielded by a vast nebula known as the Stygian Caldera, effectively concealing the area from external detection. Khar Delba, in conjunction with Ziost, Rhelg, Krayiss II, and Korriban, constituted one of the five revered Sith planets interconnected by the looping Nache Bhelfia hyperlane. Furthermore, Khar Delba served as the termination point for the Kamat Aegit hyperlane, extending to Begeren within the inner regions of Sith Space.
From a vantage point in space, Khar Delba bore a resemblance to an asteroid, characterized by a rocky terrain with numerous mountains and craters. The planet was perpetually enveloped in snow and ice. Khar Delba was accompanied by a single moon called Khar Shian. One of the native species indigenous to Khar Delba was the formidable Sith war behemoth. Originally docile herd animals, these creatures underwent transformation into ferocious war beasts through the application of Sith alchemy. The planet's frigid mountain ranges provided habitat for the Sith warbird, a sizable, flightless bird species utilized by the Sith as an artillery mount.
Following an invasion by the Infinite Empire of the Rakata species and a civil war on their homeworld Korriban circa 27,700 BBY, surviving members of the Sith race colonized Khar Delba using Rakatan vessels, thus integrating the planet into the ancient Sith Empire. This planet, along with the rest of Sith Space, came under the control of 12 influential Dark Jedi—notably including XoXaan and Sorzus Syn—who had pursued accounts of an ancient Sith Kingdom and discovered the planet along the Nache Bhelfia hyperlane after escaping the Galactic Republic following their defeat in the Hundred-Year Darkness in 6900 BBY. Sorzus Syn later documented the planet in her chronicle, which was subsequently compiled by Darth Sidious into his Book of Sith.
Around 5000 BBY, Dark Lord of the Sith claimant Naga Sadow employed Khar Delba as a strategic outpost, erecting a substantial decoy fortress there, while his actual citadel was strategically positioned on Khar Shian, where Sadow held the title of viceroy. In the same year, two hyperspace explorers hailing from the Republic, Gav and Jori Daragon, made their way into Sith Space, plunging the Sith Empire into disarray. The pair were incarcerated on Ziost, and capitalizing on an opportunity to seize the title of Dark Lord of the Sith, Sadow initiated an attack on their cell at the Sith Citadel and abducted them. Sadow transported them to his stronghold on Khar Delba before returning to Ziost, where he proclaimed himself Dark Lord. Subsequently, Sadow separated the siblings, housing Jori at Khar Delba while dispatching Gav to his clandestine fortress on Khar Shian.
However, Sadow's rival Ludo Kressh, accompanied by two of his Sith Lord allies, Horak-mul and Dor Gal-ram, assembled a fleet with the intention of attacking Sadow's fortress situated on Khar Delba. Kressh's forces initiated an orbital bombardment targeting Sadow's fortress, but Sadow had foreseen this eventuality. Sadow instructed his Massassi warriors to operate the defensive turrets of his fortress. While Kressh's attention was diverted by the fortress, Sadow summoned his hidden fleet from the far side of Khar Shian, which launched a surprise attack on Kressh's flank. Furthermore, Sadow commanded the subordinates of Horak-mul and Dor Gal-ram, who were in fact double agents, to betray and murder their respective masters. This strategy proved highly effective, resulting in the demise of the two Sith Lords; Kressh found himself isolated and retreated. Sadow emerged victorious from the Battle of Khar Delba. Amidst the conflict, Sadow facilitated Jori Daragon's escape aboard her ship, the Starbreaker 12, enabling her return to Republic space. However, Sadow discreetly affixed a tracking device to the ship's hull, which later guided Sadow to the Republic, allowing him to pursue his expansionist objectives. On Khar Delba, Sadow methodically reconstructed his fortress, utilizing the planet as a base to gather his invasion fleet.
In the subsequent months, Sadow amassed a fleet with the intent of invading and conquering the Galactic Republic. During a gathering on Khar Delba, where he formally announced the readiness of his forces for deployment, Sadow received unexpected news; Ludo Kressh had resurfaced at Khar Delba. Kressh's solitary flagship had entered the planet's atmosphere, and following Kressh's transmission of a message denouncing Sadow, Sadow instructed Gav Daragon, now his Sith apprentice, to activate the controls to prevent the transmission. Unbeknownst to Daragon, however, Sadow manipulated him into pressing a button that triggered the ship's destruction, seemingly resulting in Kressh's death. Despite Daragon's fury at this deception, Sadow convinced him of its necessity. The Sith fleet was soon fully assembled and prepared for battle, and Sadow embarked on a mission to conquer the Republic. However, Sadow's Sith forces were ultimately defeated in the ensuing Great Hyperspace War, compelling Sadow to feign his demise and flee to the distant moon of Yavin 4.
Following the defeat of the Sith Empire, the Sith virtually vanished from Sith Space and the galaxy at large. Sith Space was subsequently conquered by the Mandalorian Neo-Crusaders during the Mandalorian Wars, and later by Dark Lord of the Sith and former Jedi Knight Revan in the Jedi Civil War. Around 3638 BBY, the Sith Lord Darth Marr of the reconstituted Sith Empire departed the planet Makeb to rendezvous with a fleet positioned above Khar Delba, as the Empire was engaged in the Galactic War against the Republic.
The region surrounding Khar Delba eventually fell under the control of the Brotherhood of Darkness, a Sith faction that launched a campaign to dominate the galaxy during the New Sith Wars. During the New Sith Wars, Brotherhood of Darkness member Seviss Vaa conducted research on the worlds of the Sith Empire, noting that the planet had been largely stripped of its Sith treasures by Republic scouts following the conclusion of the Great Hyperspace War in his recordings within the Telos Holocron. In his addendum, Emperor Palpatine disputed Vaa's assertion, stating that he had recovered valuable relics there. The contents of the holocron were later published as part of the compendium Jedi vs. Sith: The Essential Guide to the Force authored by Jedi Master Tionne Solusar in 40 ABY.
The area was largely unaffected by the rise of the Galactic Empire and the Galactic Civil War, but the region encompassing Sith Space eventually fell under the control of Warlord Zsinj around 7 ABY. In 44 ABY, Luke Skywalker and Jaina Solo tasked Natua Wan with gathering information on ancient Sith planets to locate Abeloth and a Sith Meditation Sphere known as Ship. Khar Delba was among the planets that Ben Skywalker reviewed from the datapad and deemed to be "Top Ten Worst Places to Vacation." More than ninety years later, the region surrounding Khar Delba came under the dominion of Darth Krayt's Galactic Empire.
Khar Delba was exclusively inhabited by Naga Sadow and his retinue, many of whom belonged to the Sith's Massassi warrior caste. Sadow ostensibly maintained his primary residence on Khar Delba, while secretly operating his secondary fortress on Khar Shian. Jori Daragon also resided on the planet for a brief period, occupying the guest quarters within the fortress. The structure also housed a substantial contingent of Massassi warriors. Although the planet and Sith Space as a whole were originally inhabited by the Sith, they largely disappeared from the area following the events of 5000 BBY.
Khar Delba, a desolate and unremarkable planet, was the site of Naga Sadow's citadel, which served as a strategic decoy for the Sith Lord, intended to divert attention while Sadow conducted his operations from Khar Delba's moon, Khar Shian. The citadel sustained significant damage as a result of Ludo Kressh's bombardment of the planet during the Battle of Khar Delba, but Sadow subsequently rebuilt it and assembled a fleet that would later launch an assault on the Republic during the Great Hyperspace War.
The planet Khar Delba made its initial appearance in the third issue of the comic miniseries Tales of the Jedi: The Golden Age of the Sith, authored by Kevin J. Anderson, and published by Dark Horse Comics on December 11, 1996. The 2009 reference book The Essential Atlas located the world in grid square R-5.