Abal Karda

A Human male boasting a cybernetic left eye, Abal Karda was a Colonel in the Imperial Army during the Imperial Period. He served in Lightning Battalion, and in 3 BBY fought on Vestar in the Icarii Campaign. A popular soldier, Karda had the respect of his compatriots in the Battalion, and fought with them on the front line during the campaign. This was in contrast to his commanding officer General Nim, who was less favored among the troops. The campaign itself was hard-fought, the Icarii being exceedingly difficult to kill in their jungle habitat—the species' regenerative abilities was considerable, with severed limbs continuing to attack the troops.

At Camp Forty, Karda and Lightning Battalion caught the Icarii in a war raid, and subsequently attacked with a heavy fragmentation strike. Although they had laid waste to the war party, the Icarii did not wait long for retribution, counterattacking that night. In the subsequent engagement, Karda took the Icarii leader, a precognitive woman named Selestrine hostage, hoping to dissuade the Icarii assault. Selestrine, restrained before Karda, admitted that the Icarii would see defeat, but stated that Lightning Squadron would pay for it in blood—specifically, she foretold that Karda would die a painful death. The colonel, looking to avoid further casualties among his men, discovered a bioagent that would dissolve the innards of the Icarii. On the orders of General Nim, Karda had the bioagent deployed aerially, bringing a conclusion to the costly campaign.

With Selestrine now in his possession, Karda sought to use the prophetess to his own ends, hoping to utilize her precognitive abilities to further his own career. The leader of the Icarii, however, sought death, and managed to inject herself with the bioagent. Acting quickly, Karda drew a sword and severed Selestrine's head, before immediately calling for a medic. With Selestrine kept alive, her head was kept in a kneebhide casket, but the prophetess began to predict that Karda would die, and she blamed him for the death of her people. The commander protested, and blamed the genocide on Nim instead, prompting Selestrine to foretell that Nim would perish soon as well, and that Karda would receive a "promotion". Karda, pleased at the thought of there being an opening for him in the ranks soon, was suddenly confronted in his tent by the general himself. Nim brought news that Supreme Commander of the Imperial Fleet Darth Vader was very pleased with Karda's efforts in the Icarii Campaign, and suggested that a promotion to general for Karda was very near.

Nim had one further item of business to relay from Vader–the Supreme Commander was aware of Selestrine's survival, and wanted to take possession of the casket. As Nim moved nearer to it, Karda violently shoved him away. Nim collided with a table and was accidentally impaled on the sword Karda had used to decapitate the Icarii leader. Panicking, Karda shot dead Nim's personal escort of bodyguards, before abandoning his unit entirely. Declared an enemy of the Empire, Karda fled to Vestar's main settlement of Port-Esta, with the kneebhide casket in his possession. From there, he escaped the planet on the Tramp freighter Port-Esta Queen, paying the crew with a strand of Selestrine's hair, which had gold jewelry, the entire wealth of the Icarii, weaved through it. To keep a low profile, Karda kept himself disguised as a Vestaari nomad, and refused to let anyone else near the casket. He was eventually dropped off at Starstation 12. In escaping, Karda managed to elude the agents of Darth Vader, who was forced to resort to more extreme methods to hunt down the deserter.

On Starstation 12, Karda sought to apply another layer to his disguise. Under the alias of "Mixxim" he sought out tattooist Bojam Rees, and had a Duhma tribal pattern etched on his face, paying for the service with another valuable strand of Selestrine's hair. The Duhma dwelled in darkness on their , and were known to wear visors to shield their eyes from glare—Karda acquired such a visor which helped him mask his cybernetic eye as he continued his flight from the clutches of the Empire. The deserter booked a cabin aboard the passenger liner Orramas, after Selestrine predicted that the ship would be stopping at the remote volcanic world of Maryx Minor, despite it not being on the ship's predetermined route. He informed the ship's captain of his unorthodox destination, prompting confusion—and exacerbated it by refusing to leave his cabin, and having all his meals brought to him.

Sure enough, the Orramas encountered a meteor shower and had to land on Maryx Minor for repairs, whereupon Karda disembarked. He rented a landspeeder from a , and set off into the wastes. Petrified at the fact that the notorious bounty hunter Boba Fett was in pursuit of him, Karda sought the refuge of the Ancient Order of Pessimists, a sect that resided on the world. Approaching the gates of the Order's with the casket under his arm, Karda cried out for sanctuary—when he was met with reluctance from the hermits he declared that Fett would surely kill him, which prompted the Order to open their gates. As Karda entered the hermitage one of the Order's number attempted to relieve him of Selestrine's head—Karda responded by drawing his weapon, threatening any of the hermits with death should they attempt to thieve the box.

The High Hermit assuaged Karda's fears by having Brother Mabob take him to a cell where the fugitive could rest. The deserter was offered no respite though, with Selestrine continuing to insist that he would meet his death at Fett's hands. Incredulous that Fett would be able to find him on Maryx Minor, Karda flew into a fit of rage, much to the confusion of the hermits who still did not know the nature of the casket's contents. When Brother Mabob attempted to bring Karda food and drink, Karda thought him to be snooping, and gunned him down swiftly. He began to believe that the other hermits coveted the casket, and warned that he would not hesitate to wipe out the entire hermitage should they attempt to steal it. Selestrine persisted all the same, welcoming Karda's threats as she sought death for herself.

Selestrine's prediction of thirty and one days was reaching its end, and she foretold that Fett would arrive within a day's time. The hermits went through a funeral ceremony for the late Brother Mabob, and the noise they generated in doing so infuriated Karda even further. Interrupting the ceremony from his cell, he bellowed at the hermits, instructing them to deny all knowledge of his presence when Fett would inevitably arrive at the hermitage, and to kill the bounty hunter should he attempt to enter. The High Hermit protested, as such action would clash virulently with the Ancient Order's ways, but the deserter wasn't interested, promising to kill all of the hermits should they fail to comply with his instructions.

Sure enough, the next day Fett arrived at the gates of the hermitage, looking for someone boasting Duhman tattoos. Karda watched from his cell window as the High Hermit and his fellow hermits conferred with Fett froom atop the main gate, before hurling stones at the bounty hunter in an attempt to satisfy Karda's demands. When Fett utilized his arsenal of weaponry to obliterate the rocks, the hermits turned tail and ran down from the walls, infuriating Karda. The deserter opened fire on the hermits, before Fett blew open the main gates with explosive force. From his vantage point, Karda attempted to gun down the bounty hunter, but Fett was able to use his jetpack to evade the shots, forcing Karda to retreat into his cell. Fett announced that he had a warrant for Karda's execution, but was open to negotiation. He demanded jewelry from Selestrine's head—Karda believed that was all Fett was after, and that he did not yet realize that Selestrine was effectively still alive. Fett demanded that Karda bring half the jewels down to him, a suggestion that Karda scoffed at until Fett suddenly burst in through the cell door, having approached stealthily. The bounty hunter immediately fired a grappling hook into Karda's midriff, knocking the Imperial deserter straight out of the cell window, suspending him briefly over a pit of lava below. Karda protested briefly, before Fett let him plummet to his death. Selestrine's head was ultimately recovered by Darth Vader, who opted to kill the Icarii prophetess rather than have her fall into the hands of his master Emperor Palpatine. In addition, because of Fett's involvement in Karda's death before Vader had a chance to interrogate him, Vader when hiring him for future assignments made a stern request for "no disintegrations", especially if he needed the target alive.

Karda was a respected figure within the ranks of Lightning Squadron, earning the trust of his comrades by fighting on the front line during the bloody Icarii Campaign. He valued the lives of his soldiers, opting to commit genocide upon the Icarii in order to preserve the ranks of Lightning Squadron. Despite enjoying the camaraderie of his men, Karda was an ambitious man, and did not respect his superior officer at all, willing to assign blame for the Icarii genocide without a second thought. Karda was pleased at the thought that Nim would perish, allowing him to advance—he was less pleased at the revelation that Nim would effectively die by his hand. After severing Selestrine's head and making his way to Maryx Minor, Karda became increasingly paranoid, drawing his blaster at anyone who he thought would try and take Selestrine's head off him, and gunning down defenseless hermits at will. His paranoid delusions ultimately manifested themselves in violent action. Karda was also extremely thorough in his attempts to desert the Imperial Army, layering several components to his disguise including tattoos and aliases. He had black hair, and his one remaining eye was also black.

Karda possessed a cybernetic eye, which he sought to disguise when fleeing from the clutches of the Empire and Boba Fett. He made use of a blaster pistol, and also owned a sword which he used to decapitate Selestrine.

Abal Karda first appeared in the comic issue Boba Fett: Enemy of the Empire 1 (1999), written by John Wagner. The character was later killed off in the third issue of the same arc.

• Aurra Sing: Dawn of the Bounty Hunters
• The New Essential Guide to Characters
• The Official Star Wars Fact File27
• The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia