«If we continue our current trajectory, that fleet will catch us!» "That's not important. My people have encountered the Yuuzhan Vong before. Even a few of them were nearly impossible to stop. We must give Artorias a chance; we must inform them that the Yuuzhan Vong are approaching." —Sarkkin and Panha Sarkkin was a male Wookiee explorer who was active around the time the Yuuzhan Vong War commenced in 25 ABY. Working alongside Panha, Sarkkin and his partner explored the fringes of the galaxy aboard their starship, the Pythea, acting as its sole crew. In the early months of that year, Sarkkin received a transmission from an unknown source. He and Panha were surprised to hear a warning from a member of a species nearly wiped out by the invasion of a powerful race known as the Yuuzhan Vong. The two explorers soon realized they were in the path of an oncoming Yuuzhan Vong fleet, and they hurried to the nearby world of Artorias to alert its inhabitants to the impending danger.
As Sarkkin and Panha sped toward Artorias in the Pythea, frantically trying to contact the planet's inhabitants, they understood that boosting power to the communications system to effectively warn Artorias meant sacrificing their own escape from the Yuuzhan Vong. Just as Panha managed to deliver the warning, the Yuuzhan Vong boarded the Pythea, forcing Sarkkin and his partner to defend themselves. Though they defeated the entire boarding party, Sarkkin sustained serious injuries. Rather than be captured by the Yuuzhan Vong, Sarkkin and Panha decided to ram an approaching Yuuzhan Vong cruiser. The Wookiee explorer perished on the Pythea when it collided with the cruiser's front.
Sarkkin was a male Wookiee who, by the early months of 25 ABY, was exploring the edge of the galaxy with his partner, Panha. As the only crew of their starship, Sarkkin and Panha enjoyed a friendly and trusting relationship, although Sarkkin's personal hygiene was a recurring, lighthearted joke between them. The Wookiee typically served as the ship's pilot, though Panha was equally capable at the controls.
While piloting the starship during their exploration of the galaxy's outer reaches, Sarkkin detected a weak communications signal. He brought the ship to a complete stop, checked the long-range scanners to ensure the immediate area was clear, and then climbed to the ship's small communications center to receive the transmission. As Sarkkin tried to amplify the faint signal, Panha arrived in the bridge below. Noticing the empty pilot's chair, she went to find the Wookiee.
Sarkkin called his partner up to the communications array, brushing off her comments about his hygiene. He managed to boost the signal enough for them to watch the message together. To Sarkkin's surprise, the message came from a humanoid warrior of primitive appearance, who began describing the customs of his people. The warrior spoke of his culture's focus on warfare and martial skill, explaining how their lives revolved around conflict and battle. With deep sorrow, he then spoke of a race known as the Yuuzhan Vong, as Sarkkin and Panha watched silently.
The warrior explained that despite his race's martial nature, the Yuuzhan Vong had easily annihilated them, pushing them to the brink of extinction. The message wasn't intended to rally a defense against the race, but rather to warn others to flee the approaching threat, as fighting the Yuuzhan Vong was, in his view, pointless. As the message ended, leaving Sarkkin confused, Panha reacted swiftly, rushing to the bridge in a panic.
Sarkkin followed her down to the bridge, where Panha was quickly working the navigational controls. She told him to check the long-range scanners. Despite his protest that he already had, Sarkkin was surprised to see a massive object through the bridge viewport. Panha engaged the ship's engines as they examined the object on a monitor. Sarkkin was shocked to realize the mass was moving on the scanners, indicating it wasn't a natural object. Panha explained it was an armada and urgently asked Sarkkin to plot its trajectory to determine which inhabited planet the massive armada would reach first.
The Wookiee explorer ran the scans and determined that the first planet in the fleet's path was Artorias, but the world was too far away for them to send a warning. Panha ignored this fact, stating they had to move closer to Artorias, despite the danger Sarkkin said that would put them in. She revealed that her people had fought the Yuuzhan Vong before in small numbers and that they were, as the unknown warrior had said, an incredibly dangerous enemy. Sarkkin stared at the image of the giant fleet on the monitor as they sped toward Artorias.
Sarkkin was a good-natured individual who had an amicable relationship with his companion Panha. The Wookiee explorer was knowledgeable about the starship he and Panha flew and was sensible regarding operational procedures, ensuring the long-range scanner was clear and the ship was fully stopped before leaving the controls. Confused by the message, its contents, and Panha's reaction, Sarkkin responded quickly and trusted her agitated requests. When he realized that warning Artorias would endanger them, Sarkkin voiced his concerns about risking their lives to save the planet's inhabitants.
Sarkkin and his fellow explorer Panha appeared in the two-part, sixteen-page online preview of the Star Wars: Invasion comic series, though both characters died by the issue's conclusion. Created by Dark Horse comics, Star Wars: Invasion officially launched in July and was set in 25 ABY during the Yuuzhan Vong War, a four-year conflict previously explored in Del Rey's nineteen-book New Jedi Order series. The first half of the online issue was released in May 2009, and the second in June. The Wookiee Sarkkin was drawn by artist Colin Wilson and was colored by Wes Dzioba.