The Mission to Ahakista was masterminded by the criminal kingpin Raze alongside his partner Sardoth, who was the proprietor of Daystar Casino. Their objective was to infiltrate and extract data from the Hub, a critical supercomputer responsible for managing all traffic for the entire Imperial Fleet, with the intent to then destroy the Hub. It was hypothesized that the Empire's interest in Ahakista, the Hub's location, would cease upon its destruction, leading to their withdrawal from the planet. However, as the mission failed, the validity of this assumption remains uncertain.
After discovering that his operative Wyl Tarson was actually a mole for the Alliance, the crime boss Raze opted not to immediately eliminate him. Instead, he decided to exploit him for another purpose. Raze had Tarson rendered unconscious and surgically implanted a bomb within his skull. In addition, he installed a comlink that facilitated communication between Raze and Tarson. Crucially, this comlink also granted Raze the ability to remotely detonate the bomb should the situation warrant it. Upon regaining consciousness, Raze informed Wyl of the procedure and the "new... relationship" that the bomb entailed. Raze cautioned Wyl that any disobedience would result in the bomb's detonation and forbade him from disclosing this arrangement to anyone.
Shortly thereafter, Raze dispatched Wyl, along with another member of his organization named Laynara, on a mission to Ahakista. Raze revealed minimal information regarding the mission's specifics, only stating that Tarson was to meet with an associate named Sardoth, who would provide further instructions. He also instructed Tarson to assemble a team of individuals "accustomed to infiltrating... precarious places". Raze granted Wyl some autonomy in selecting his team, aware of Wyl's connections to the Alliance.
However, Tarson was hesitant to expose active Alliance agents, considering this a problem of his own making. Therefore, he chose to recruit only those agents whom the Rebellion no longer required. Their initial recruit was Baco Par, renowned as "one of the galaxy's best lockbreakers". Instead of persuading Baco to join him, Wyl resorted to kidnapping him. He also attempted to enlist an experienced Alliance agent named Darca Nyl, who, despite lacking Force sensitivity, possessed proficiency with a red lightsaber. Initially hesitant, Nyl eventually agreed to join Tarson's crew as they departed for Ahakista.
Upon their arrival on Ahakista, Wyl realized that Raze had misrepresented the planet as "a sleepy little backwater". In reality, Ahakista was embroiled in a civil war, prompting the Empire to intervene in order to protect its installed government. Adding to the complexity, Darth Vader was personally overseeing the operation. Upon landing at the Daystar Casino, Wyl and his team were greeted by Sardoth, the casino's owner. Tarson attempted to elicit more information about the mission, but Sardoth informed them that he would provide the details in the morning.
The following day, the group convened at the designated meeting location, where Wyl encountered Rasha Bex, an Imperial officer assisting them in exchange for information from Raze regarding the whereabouts of an imprisoned smuggler. He also met Dunlan, the leader of the local resistance movement. It was then that he discovered that their target was The Hub.
Tarson's team was tasked with infiltrating the pyramid, which housed the Hub, by navigating the tunnels beneath it and then breaching a blast door protected by a force field. The force field could only be deactivated by disabling the pyramid's power grid. According to Sardoth's plan, this task was to be carried out by Dunlan and his rebels, who possessed the weaponry to destroy the power control station from outside the pyramid. However, Dunlan refused to participate and abruptly left the meeting. When Officer Bex announced her withdrawal from the team, Wyl objected strongly, making it clear that she would never see BoShek again if she abandoned them. He then declared that they would commence their attack on The Hub immediately.
Wyl led Laynara, Baco, Nyl, and Sardoth into the tunnels leading to the Hub. After eliminating the stormtrooper guards, Sardoth guided them through the tunnels, eventually reaching the energy barrier blocking the path to the door they needed to breach. However, officer Bex's attempt at sabotage was unsuccessful, and the force field remained active.
Meanwhile, Imperial Stormtroopers were systematically eliminating the local Ahakistan rebels. While Vader and his troops were occupied with suppressing Dunlan's fellow rebels, Dunlan managed to escape. He then decided to do precisely what he had previously refused: destroy the power control station on the pyramid's tenth floor using a surface-to-air missile. Just ahead of Vader and the stormtroopers, Dunlan commandeered a landspeeder and located a suitable launch site to fire his missile at the pyramid. After Dunlan destroyed the power control station, Vader finally caught up with him and killed him.
While the others were still waiting for Bex to disable the energy shield, Nyl decided to scout ahead for an alternative route. Sardoth followed him into the tunnels, away from the group, and confronted him, revealing that he had once been an apprentice to Dark Jedi Lycan, whom Darca had killed many years ago. Sardoth engaged Nyl in a lightsaber duel, and Nyl, being a non-Force user and less skilled, sustained a wound to his shoulder. However, sensing Sardoth's connection to the Force, Darth Vader himself appeared in the tunnels, intent on eliminating both combatants. While Vader focused on Sardoth, Nyl managed to land a glancing blow to Vader's helmet. Vader Force-pushed him away, and Nyl watched the Dark Lord of the Sith kill Sardoth before fleeing into the tunnels.
After Dunlan succeeded in disabling the energy shield, Wyl, Laynara, and Baco proceeded to the door leading to the Hub. Baco was shot moments after opening the doors by arriving Imperial stormtroopers. After Baco extracted a promise to deliver the Hub's information to the Rebellion, Wyl and Laynara entered the compound, leaving Baco behind to seal the doors.
Wyl and Laynara reached the Hub, and Laynara prepared a device to extract and transmit the data stored within. At this point, Wyl attempted to honor his promise to Baco by transmitting the data to the Rebel fleet. However, Raze had other plans, using the implant to inflict pain on Wyl. When Laynara threatened to abandon the mission, Raze ceased the torture. This delay allowed the Imperials to breach the blast door, incapacitating Laynara and surrounding her and Wyl. Despite Raze's urging, Wyl refused to activate the device to transmit Raze the information, so Raze activated the bomb in Wyl's brain. Surprisingly, Wyl awoke moments later to see Darth Vader standing over him, having temporarily deactivated the bomb. When Vader threatened to kill Laynara, Wyl surrendered all information he possessed about Raze, as well as the Rebellion's spy network. Satisfied, Vader deactivated Raze's bomb and took Tarson into his service.
Using the intelligence provided by Tarson, the Empire eliminated Raze, utilizing orbital bombardment to obliterate his stronghold. Tarson continued to provide information for Darth Vader. The only other survivor of the mission was Darca Nyl, who escaped into a pipe system and, seeing Par dead, concluded that Tarson had betrayed the group and vowed revenge.