A mission to the moon of the planet Arli was undertaken in 228 BBY by Jordanna Sparkburn, a member of the San Tekka family, whose relatives lived on the moon. Arli's star system had fallen within the Occlusion Zone, the territory established behind the Stormwall barrier by the Nihil marauders, and Sparkburn wished to ensure their safety. After making her way into the Occlusion Zone, Sparkburn was directed to a cousin of hers, the smuggler Cair San Tekka, by Graf family scion Xylan Graf, recruiting San Tekka's aid in reaching Arli. Upon arriving within the system in San Tekka's starship, the Brightbird—registered as a Nihil vessel under the name of Blood Vulture—they were confronted by three Nihil vessels. San Tekka's story of collecting items left on Arli's moon did not fool the Nihil, who fired upon the Brightbird as it flew by, but the marauders did not pursue into the moon's atmosphere. Arriving on Arli's moon, the pair discovered that a desiccating blight was slowly consuming its surface.
Sparkburn and San Tekka landed in the city Birage, where they met the former's relatives, including her brother Harth, who was reluctant to leave their home despite the Nihil and the blight. The trio went to investigate the blight, learning that it had weakened a system of caves that stretched underneath Birage. As a result, Harth accepted that the people of Arli's moon had no choice but to leave. The inhabitants were escorted aboard the Brightbird and off of the moon, and the starship was able to enter hyperspace after a brief firefight with the Nihil vessels. While in hyperspace, San Tekka discovered that the blight had infected his hand and would soon kill him. However, with the help of the Sparkburn siblings, San Tekka's hand was amputated and isolated in a . After leaving her family and the others from Arli on the planet Seswenna, Sparkburn delivered San Tekka's hand to Jedi Knight Vernestra Rwoh, who in turn presented it to the Jedi Order as evidence of the new danger that the blight posed.