Karsim was a soldier who served in the Republic Army during the Great Galactic War between the Galactic Republic and the Sith Empire. Karsim was later recruited into the Republic Special Forces Division's black ops program as part of the assassination squad known as the Surgeons, though the squad was imprisoned on the planet Berrun after it started hunting the families of enemy targets.
Sergeant Fideltin Rusk, Karsim's commanding officer
A soldier in the Republic Army during the Galactic Republic's Great Galactic War with the Sith Empire, Karsim served in a squad under the command of the Chagrian Sergeant Fideltin Rusk, and its first mission was to free several Republic prisoners of war from an Imperial outpost. However, intelligence on the mission was incorrect, forcing the squad to fight through more enemy forces than it expected. Despite its disadvantage, the squad was able to rescue all of the prisoners and escape with heavy injuries, without a single fatality.
In the years following that mission, Karsim was among the squad members who were recruited into the Republic Special Forces Division's black ops program, and the squad—which included fellow veterans Naja and Eckerd—was tasked with the assassination of Imperial leaders by General Elin Garza. The squad, which became known as the "Surgeons," soon began to go after its targets' families. Karsim and the others were arrested for war crimes and imprisoned in a detention center on the planet Berrun with life sentences.
A loyal soldier, Karsim's time in the Special Forces black ops program turned the trooper into a killer who no longer respected the moral code of warfare. Sergeant Rusk was disturbed to learn that his former squadmates had crossed the line and targeted women and children, and was disappointed that Karsim and the others—whom he had considered the best soldiers to ever serve under him—had changed so much.
Karsim was first mentioned by the Jedi Knight companion character Fideltin Rusk in the 2011 video game Star Wars: The Old Republic.