A brief conflict unfolded within a Dathomir landing meadow during 43.5 ABY. Vestara Khai, a Sith apprentice and the only one left alive from a Sith strike team that had previously ambushed the Jedi Luke and Ben Skywalker, escaped to Dathomir. From there, she dispatched a hypercomm message to her Sith Tribe, requesting extraction. On Dathomir, Khai encountered a group of Nightsisters and, recognizing their power stemming from the dark side, orchestrated their capture by her Tribe. A Sith convoy, under the command of Lord Viun Gaalan, arrived on the planet to collect the Nightsisters. However, the Nightsisters launched an attack upon discovering the presence of men among the Sith. The Sith swiftly overcame the Nightsisters, capturing them and killing their rancors.
In the year 43.5 ABY, Vestara Khai, a Sith apprentice who was the single remaining member of a Sith strike team that had previously battled the Jedi duo of Luke and Ben Skywalker, journeyed to the planet of Dathomir. From there, she transmitted a hypercomm message to the Sith Order originating from her homeworld of Kesh, requesting their assistance in retrieving her. While on Dathomir, she made contact with the Nightsisters, who wielded the power of the dark side. She attempted to convince them to ally with the Sith, suggesting that the two factions could mutually benefit from sharing knowledge of their respective powers. However, Khai's true intention was simply to transform them into Sith.
When a group of shuttles, led by Sith Lord Viun Gaalan, landed on Dathomir, Khai instructed the Nightsisters to gather in a meadow. Approximately 24 Nightsisters, accompanied by at least 18 rancors, assembled to await the arrival of the Sith. However, when Gaalan landed and revealed himself, the Nightsisters felt betrayed. Their culture held that women were superior to men, and the idea of collaborating with a man filled them with disgust. Their leader, Dresdema, ordered an attack, but they were quickly outmaneuvered by seven additional Sith. The Nightsisters' powers proved insufficient against the Sith, who swiftly dispatched the rancors and incapacitated the Nightsisters. The Sith then loaded them onto a shuttle and transported them to the larger Sith fleet positioned in orbit above Dathomir. Despite continued resistance from many of the Nightsisters, the Sith intended to break their will and convert them into Sith.
Following these events, the Skywalkers, having tracked Khai and discovered her living among the Raining Leaves Clan of Dathomiri Witches, arrived with their Force-sensitive friend Dyon Stadd. They confronted Gaalan and two Sith Sabers who had remained to retrieve Khai, ultimately defeating them and capturing the apprentice. However, they were then confronted by the Sith fleet in orbit and coerced into forming an alliance with the Sith for a mission aimed at eliminating the dark side entity known as Abeloth.
During the conflict with Abeloth, the Sith utilized a technique learned from the captured Nightsisters, the control web, in an attempt to ensnare Abeloth.
This skirmish was initially depicted in Fate of the Jedi: Backlash, the fourth installment in the nine-part Fate of the Jedi series, authored by Aaron Allston.