Conkesta

Conkesta was a floating-city built by Dark Jedi Karae Nalvas over the gas giant Genarius.

History

In 31 BBY, Karae Nalvas deceived Dr. Shilaea Motacc, a galaxy-wide expert in large scale propulsion systems, to work for him. Nalvas pretended to be Fesvk Wefos, a manager of a company called Usable Resource Location, Recovery, and Development Corporation (U.R.L.R.D.), and told Motacc that he wanted her to develop a new kind of propulsion system for flying cities. However, Nalvas really wanted to use her designs in the Conkesta.

Nalvas managed to build a shielded, armored, flying fortress with enough firepower to destroy any of the cities on Genarius. He staffed the Conkesta with some six thousand sentients, which he brought in several small trips from outside the system. The propulsion systems were based on Motacc's designs, and as such they were very advanced.

Nalvas had made a deal with a local pirate gang, the Red Fury Brotherhood. The pirates provided the Conkesta with supplies and needed technology following a schedule. Conkesta communications officer, Gus-Gus Tren, considered the pirates too irregular to be liked, but accepted the much-needed shipments.

Alec, a Jedi Knight and Nalvas's enemy, managed to steal Nalvas's blueprints and hid on the Genariusan city of Depatar; however, Nalvas distracted Alec with a plot and recovered the prints. At that point, Alec had already copied the prints and, due to the plot, he made some contacts that he would later use in his own plot to destroy the Conkesta two weeks later.

Alec provided Dr. Mottac with a team of slicers, and they developed a computer virus to take advantage of a bug in the propulsion system. Mottac believed that the virus would hurtle the Conkesta to outer space, where the non-spaceworthy city would explode; however, the untested program was to send the Conkesta down, to the planetary core, where it also exploded. The difference was that, as Nalvas was hiding the Conkesta as close to the core as possible to avoid detection, it would take much less time and difficult the escape of the raiders.

Many centuries after Nalvas' death, Jedi Dazen Mok spent many years investigating the disappearance of the Nub Saar in orbit around Genarius; a floating-city that was thought to have been destroyed by a manifestation of dark side energies. These powers were thought to have been created by Nalvas, and centered around the Conkesta. When Nalvas' fortress was destroyed over time, the energy returned to Genarius' core. Years later, the dark side was reawakened during the construction of Nub Saar, ending in its total annihilation. Dazen Mok's ideas were met with a strong opposition from the citizens of Cularin and their officials.

Alec discovered the pirate implication thanks to some intelligence reports. He also discovered that the bulk of the Brotherhood was going to the annual SoroSuub party on nearby flying city Tolea Biqua, leaving their base in asteroid L-7 relatively unprotected. Alec decided to send a raider team to the pirate base, where they were to steal a shuttle of the Brotherhood. As the Conkesta was waiting a delayed shipment from the pirates, they would allow the entrance of that specific ship. The raiders would then access the main computer, upload Dr. Mottac's virus and get out of the Conkesta before the city be destroyed.

The intruders managed to infiltrate the Conkesta and, although they found several security agents such as Tar Jiloma, they got to the propulsion main control and uploaded the virus. This did not went unnoticed, as the station sounded all its alarms for an immediate evacuation. Some of the security guards that were supposed to stop the intruders deserted to attempt their own escape. Finally, only Nalvas's personal dark apprentice Saren Valek and a handful of soldiers fought against the trespassers in the main hangar. They were unable to stop them.

When the Conkesta reached the planetary core, it exploded and sent rubble and debris everywhere. Those items were a danger to the escaping ships. Some of the wreckage seemed to be powerful in the dark side, tempting the sentients it reached. However, the Force ghost of Jedi master Nerra Ziveri was nearby and ready to intercede, offering an alternative to the affected people.

The Conkesta was at a very low height and went down during its destruction, so the operation could be kept as a secret. However, several years after it, the Conkesta and Nalvas's acts were public knowledge, and a prolific source of local rumors.

Speculations about Conkesta

Nalvas's final goal for the Conkesta is unclear. Nalvas's enemy, the Jedi Knight Alec, speculated that he could destroy all of the cities in Genarius, which were the main business, industrial and handling centers of the Cularin system, and this obliteration could unleash a war.

Years after the destruction of the Conkesta, former-Jedi-turned-scholar Dazen Mok researched the disappearance of the city Nub Saar in orbit around Genarius, that he believed had been destroyed by a manifestation of dark side energies. These powers were thought to have been intense in the planet core, and allowed the Conkesta nearby only because Nalvas was a dark sider. When Nalvas' fortress was destroyed over time, the energy returned to Genarius' core. Dazen Mok's ideas were met with a strong opposition from the citizens of Cularin and their officials.

Appearances

• Clouded Paths (First mentioned) (Indirect mention only)
• Into the Storm Clouds (First appearance)
• Blown Away (Mentioned only)
• Coruscani Dawn (Fragment only)
• The Air Up Thaere (Mentioned only)
• In the Name of the Maker (Indirect mention only)
• A Mon Alone (Indirect mention only)

Sources

• Living Force Campaign Guide
• "Celebrate SoroSuub" (original article link) on Wizards.com (content now obsolete; backup link)
• Coruscani Dawn (Mentioned only)
• "Tales of Nub Saar" (original article link) on Wizards.com (content now obsolete; backup link) (Mentioned only)