Komm Karsh

"With the exception of the unfortunate Komm Karsh, our forces have been victorious everywhere."

- Tsavong Lah

Komm Karsh was a male Yuuzhan Vong warrior holding the rank of Supreme Commander around 28 ABY. By the time Supreme Overlord Shimrra Jamaane was in power, the Yuuzhan Vong invaded the galaxy and Karsh was the commander of the Yuuzhan Vong's only strategic buffer in case of a major enemy reprisal. Karsh perished along with the majority of his fleet in 28 ABY, during his attempt to examine the contents of the libraries of the captured Inner Rim planet Obroa-skai. His death, and the loss of his fleet, destabilized the Yuuzhan Vong Empire.

Death at Obroa-skai
"And may I remind the Warmaster that Komm Karsh's fleet was our sole strategic reserve?"

- Shimrra Jamaane to Tsavong Lah

Komm Karsh was a male Yuuzhan Vong warrior who lived during the Yuuzhan Vong invasion of the galaxy. In 28 ABY, Karsh held the rank of Supreme Commander, and he presided over strategic provisions for the Yuuzhan Vong fleet. At some point, he made a visit to the library world of Obroa-skai in order to extract unspecified intelligence from the libraries there. The Inner Rim planet had been captured by the forces of the priest Harrar and Commander Tla in 25 ABY, but the libraries were spared wholesale destruction as they provided a massive repository of knowledge for the Yuuzhan Vong in their conquest of the galaxy. New Republic Intelligence, however, had received word that Supreme Overlord Shimrra Jamaane was expected at Obroa-skai, and although it was Karsh who visited the world instead, a trap was set for any Yuuzhan Vong fleet which emerged. Karsh reverted his fleet to realspace over the planet, leading the mission from a massive ovoid flagship. The arrival of a ro'ik chuun m'arh frigate, the Ksstarr, tailed by a weighty New Republic task force under the Agamarian general Keyan Farlander, shocked the supreme commander and his forces into battle formation. The yammosk aboard Karsh's command vessel ordered the frigate Ksstarr to seek shelter in the formation as yorik-et moved out to engage the New Republic forces. Karsh matched Farlander's movements, drawing his fleet up to approach the enemy vessels with a wide firing angle. Meanwhile, Karsh hung back in his flagship, guarded by a starfighter screen as his fleet engaged the enemy.

The Supreme Commander had his first yammosk jammed by the New Republic forces; Wraith Squadron, on the surface of Obroa-skai, had found the planet's war-coordinator. Karsh had brought a second yammosk into battle, however, and his forces made use of the creature's coordination skills, as well as their numerical advantage, inflicting considerable damage to Farlander's forces even as New Republic technology caused the Yuuzhan Vong ships to fire upon one another. It was not long, however, before the Supreme Commander's luck changed once again; the New Republic jammed the fleet's war-coordinator, and Karsh's forces fell into disarray. To compound matters, the frigate which Karsh had allowed to take up position at the stern of his vessel, the Ksstarr had in fact been captured by a Jedi task force. Under the command of Jedi Jaina Solo, the Ksstarr opened [fire on Karsh's command ship, obliterating the weaponry at the stern and altering the flagship's gravitic signal to suggest that it was an enemy of the Yuuzhan Vong. Soon, Karsh's ship was overwhelmed by the concentrated firepower of its own forces, as well as that of the New Republic fleet. Although the Supreme Commander's other forces rushed back to help the stricken vessel, a Hapan fleet, led by Queen Mother Tenel Ka Djo and allied with the New Republic, leapt in-system and decimated Karsh's supporting ships. With a cataclysmic explosion, Karsh's flagship blew apart, killing the Supreme Commander. Only one of Karsh's vessels escaped the ambush.

Legacy
"From this point, moving any warrior to strengthen one force will weaken another."

- Shimrra Jamaane

Komm Karsh's death&mdash;and the near-total destruction of his fleet&mdash;proved a bitter blow to the newly-christened Yuuzhan Vong Empire. Reeling from the costly capture of the New Republic capital Coruscant, failures in the Pyria system and the Hapes Cluster, as well as the sabotage of the World Brain on the re-shaped galactic capital, Shimrra could not afford to lose such a large portion of the fleet. Warmaster Tsavong Lah was ordered, fatefully, to refrain from continued offensives, allowing the New Republic to regain a fighting chance and defeat the Yuuzhan Vong at Ebaq 9. Meanwhile, Hreven Karsh, a sibling of the deceased Supreme Commander, was escalated to the rank of commander to replenish the ranks, and led a failed attempt to capture a Jedi force in the Unknown Regions.

Behind the scenes
Komm Karsh never appears in person in Walter Jon Williams' Destiny's Way, and is killed near the beginning of the novel; his death, however, has far-reaching consequences. It transpires in Force Heretic II: Refugee that Karsh's "position" has been filled by his sibling, Hreven Karsh, although for some reason the latter ascends not the rank of supreme commander, but merely to that of commander. Karsh later received an entry in The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia.

Appearances

 * Destiny's Way
 * Force Heretic II: Refugee