Talon Karrde

Karrde, born before 31 BBY on a planet he intentionally kept secret to avoid political labeling, entered the criminal world early in life. He began working for Jorj Car'das, who headed a smuggling and information-brokering operation. Karrde quickly advanced, gaining extensive experience in both smuggling and information sales. By 6 BBY, Karrde was a navigator and sensor specialist on one of Car'das's ships under Captain Hoffner, a position he held for two years. During one smuggling run, Karrde executed a short, risky blind jump to evade pursuing Carrack-class cruisers. This jump placed them directly in front of a Dreadnaught-class cruiser. The ship fled in terror, damaging its hyperdrive and killing several crew members. Later, Karrde realized from sensor records that they had encountered hundreds of Dreadnaughts; he had stumbled upon the lost Katana fleet. He memorized the coordinates before deleting them from the ship's navigation computer, believing he was the only one who knew the fleet's location. He recognized the potential for great wealth but lacked the resources to exploit his discovery. Earlier in his career, Karrde also involved a young Ellor in a smuggling run, drawing the Duros into the smuggling world.

Later, Karrde attempted to recruit a young Wedge Antilles, but Antilles declined. Despite his discreet operations, Karrde had a strong, positive reputation with no widespread negative rumors. He cultivated numerous contacts in the underworld, including Billey, Samuel Tomas Gillespee, Jett and Fenig Nabon, Par'tah, Lando Calrissian, and Booster Terrik. His relationship with Terrik started poorly; Karrde hired a spacer to intimidate Terrik after he interfered in Karrde's business. However, their relationship evolved into a friendly rivalry based on mutual skill and a shared love for information brokering, leading to cooperation. Karrde usually gained the upper hand in their deals, but both valued the partnership. When Terrik was imprisoned on Kessel, Karrde helped Car'das incorporate much of Terrik's network. Karrde also cultivated allies within major galactic factions, such as Tarn Innis of the Imperial Army's Supply Branch.

In 0 BBY, Car'das disappeared along with his extensive private information collection. Karrde, then a top lieutenant, consulted with the others about the organization's future as Car'das's absence stretched to three months. A violent internal conflict nearly erupted, with suggestions to divide the organization. Instead, Karrde seized control, neutralizing the other lieutenants in a single night. He thwarted two immediate attempts to regain control and solidified his position by early 0 ABY. He quickly gained a reputation for trustworthiness and respectability within the fringe. Karrde's operation was smaller than Black Sun or the Hutt kajidics, but he was a significant underworld figure and a leading information broker with ambitions for further expansion, always prioritizing a low profile and concealed power. Only those truly informed understood his importance, although the Imperial Security Bureau recognized his stature early in his career. Karrde's organization initially retained the name Car'das, but the name eventually fell out of use. Six more takeover attempts by former lieutenants or their supporters occurred between the first two and 3 ABY, all unsuccessful. The leaders of four of these attempts confessed under interrogation to being backed by Car'das, leaving Karrde worried about Car'das's return and terrified of his former boss, known for his ruthlessness, deadliness, and apparent prescience.

Karrde maintained strict neutrality in the Galactic Civil War, assisting either side for profit but never aligning with any one party, avoiding significant involvement in galactic politics. He used the heavily modified bulk freighter Wild Karrde as his flagship, optimized for performance. He also installed offices on the ship to manage the vast amount of information fed to his sensor-stealthed vessel. He also owned the luxurious private yacht Uwana Buyer, but preferred the Wild Karrde and used the yacht only for undercover missions or impressing potential partners. During this time, Karrde was loosely affiliated with some members of Billey's organization in what was sometimes called the Smugglers' Alliance.

In 1 ABY, Karrde spent time in Doaba Guerfel on Corellia, recruiting an operative for minor deliveries and to undercut a Hutt rival, Shalera. He then sought operatives in Mos Eisley on Tatooine. Karrde's excellent treatment of his employees made him a desirable employer, fostering strong loyalty. At this time, Karrde sold information on Imperial troop movements to the Rebel Alliance. Despite his attempts at impartiality, this angered the Galactic Empire, placing Karrde on the Emperor's Most Wanted list. Zuckuss and another bounty hunter tried to collect the bounty by arranging a meeting between the second hunter and Karrde on the Wild Karrde. Zuckuss was smuggled aboard, and when a suspicious Karrde called his guards, the hunters attacked, overpowering the guards and capturing Karrde. He was imprisoned near Bestine on Tatooine but quickly freed by the Rebellion along with other prisoners.

In 4 ABY, Karrde recruited Aves, a young smuggler who became one of his top associates and advisors. Also in 4 ABY, Karrde hired Fenig Nabon to deliver cargo to Sullust, where he knew the Alliance Fleet was gathering to strike the Galactic Empire. He learned of Jabba Desilijic Tiure's death at the hands of Leia Organa and was among the first to hear that Luke Skywalker had defeated Galactic Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader as the Alliance to Restore the Republic destroyed the Death Star II. He recognized a major power shift and anticipated a resurgence of the Jedi Order under Skywalker, which he believed would threaten the fringe by cracking down on smuggling and enforcing law. However, Jabba's death also presented opportunities.

Upon Nabon's return, Karrde met her at the Black Dust Tavern on Socorro, where they discussed recent events and exchanged information. Karrde earned some credits by informing her that Han Solo had survived and escaped Jabba's custody. Karrde, aiming to expand his organization amidst the chaos, offered Nabon a position, which she declined. He then offered her a deal to find a new base location, one large enough for expansion and secure against Jedi. Nabon promised to search for a suitable location and earned money from Karrde for information about a new arrival, Ghitsa Dogder. Karrde left as a bar fight erupted, leaving Nabon with a large tab to compensate for overpaying for the Dogder information.

Karrde viewed Jabba the Hutt's demise as an ideal chance to transform his syndicate into a larger enterprise. He desired a large, secret facility, as he had confided to Nabon. Her investigations led her to Myrkr, a remote forest world with sensor-jamming flora and Force-repelling fauna, specifically the rare ysalamiri. Myrkr became Karrde's home base, its location kept secret. While in the forest, he defended himself against a local vornskr predator, accidentally shooting off its tail. This reduced the creature's aggression, so Karrde named it Sturm and began domesticating it with the help of Chin, a Myrkr native and one of Karrde's top employees skilled with animals. Later, he encountered another vornskr in a trap, docked its tail, named it Drang, and domesticated it as well, keeping both as pets. Karrde eventually wrote an article for Galactic Zoology Monthly about his vornskr domestication. Karrde immediately began absorbing many of Jabba's former personnel, such as Melina Carniss, a former member of Jabba's security team who became one of Karrde's top lieutenants.

Around the same time, Karrde rescued Quelev Tapper and his small smuggling organization from an Imperial attack, merging the two groups. Tapper became Karrde's trusted second-in-command. Another crucial acquisition was Zakarisz Ghent, a highly skilled slicer. Karrde, hearing of his reputation, went to Sibisime to recruit him, but Ghent had gone to Chibias on another offer. Karrde tracked him down and rescued him after the deal went bad, securing the city against Imperial and Rebel pursuit while persuading Ghent to work for him. Karrde also made more routine acquisitions, such as purchasing two G2 "Goose Droid" models after the Star Tours corporation dissolved. Karrde's organization quickly became the galaxy's top smuggling gang, though he kept his prominence hidden from all but the best-connected. By approximately 9 ABY, Karrde employed over eight hundred individuals and nearly two dozen ships. Karrde's expansion was unique because he avoided the bloodshed and feuding typical of other underworld efforts. He was willing to work for both the Empire and New Republic, taking cargo jobs but never allying with either.

In 6 ABY, Karrde learned that, after Palpatine's death, Jeng Droga had crashed one of the Emperor's private yachts, equipped with a cloaking device, on an unnamed waterworld. Eager to acquire this valuable technology, Karrde searched likely locations, settling on Kaal as the most probable. He exploited negotiations offered by Tirgee Benyalle for contracts to harvest the world's aquaculture, hoping to use the operation to conceal his extraction of the yacht. Arriving as Syndic Pandis Hart, chief purchasing agent for the Sif-Uwana Council, he worked the casinos before negotiations opened, with Admiral Uther Kermen of the Empire, warlord Moff Utoxx Prentioch, and a team of New Republic agents also competing. Meanwhile, Tapper led a team in searching for the downed ship and located it. During negotiations, Karrde and the others toured the harvesting facilities and made offers. Karrde offered to establish an independent operation with generous terms for Benyalle around the Unis Islands, where the yacht had crashed, allowing another bidder to run the main operations. However, Kermen infiltrated agents aboard Benyalle's barge and attacked to seize the facilities. Karrde, Benyalle, and the New Republic agents secured the bridge, but the barge remained full of Kermen's agents. Karrde had the barge rendezvous with Tapper's submersible and escaped, evacuating the others. Realizing he could not recover the yacht discreetly, he had Tapper destroy it rather than let someone else exploit it before leaving Kaal.

In early 7 ABY, Karrde was contacted by Booster Terrik and his daughter Mirax, who had taken over the family business while Booster was imprisoned on Kessel. They supported Wedge Antilles's guerrilla war against Ysanne Isard and wanted Karrde, temporarily operating from an asteroid base found by Tapper's group (or so he claimed, possibly to conceal the Myrkr base), to help supply the effort. Terrik bought three hundred missile launchers and three thousand concussion missiles and proton torpedoes from Karrde, a large order paid for with stolen bacta. Terrik arranged rendezvous locations for shipping; Karrde's people were not allowed near Antilles's base. Karrde had Carniss handle his end of the shipments. However, she betrayed him, selling the rendezvous location to Isard. Antilles's Rogue Squadron destroyed the Victory II-class Star Destroyer and damaged the Interdictor that ambushed Karrde's convoy, and the transfer proceeded smoothly, with Tapper gaining salvage. The evidence suggested a leak from Karrde's operation, and Karrde quickly realized Carniss was responsible. He watched her to determine the extent of her treachery and discovered she was acting alone.

When the Terriks arrived to discuss the security breach, Karrde was prepared to have them kill her. When they demanded she live, Karrde refused, unwilling to tolerate betrayal. The Terriks, who wanted to use her to feed Isard misinformation, bought her life by giving Karrde several lucrative contracts—acquiring a gravity well projector, and refitting several TIE fighters with lucrative pay in bacta and sole control of the Coruscant market for the Terriks' bacta. With Coruscant in chaos due to the Krytos virus, Karrde donated most of the bacta to charity, reserving a portion for the black market, which he subcontracted to Billey and his new lieutenant, Dravis. He also sold a recently acquired Sith lanvarok to Mirax Terrik, who specialized in exotic items. Antilles's rebel group used Carniss to lure Isard's forces into a trap and defeated them. With Thyferra freed, Karrde arrived in the system and joined Booster Terrik, who had taken control of the Virulence, one of Isard's Star Destroyers, in negotiations. Airen Cracken of New Republic Intelligence was appalled at Terrik possessing the Star Destroyer, but Karrde devised an acceptable compromise, manipulating Admiralty law regarding salvage to buy the Virulence's surplus weaponry and TIE fighters from Terrik for enough to give him full control of the ship, then selling the hardware to Cracken and the New Republic for a seventeen-million-credit profit. Karrde profited further when he bet Terrik, with favorable odds, that Mirax would immediately marry Rogue Squadron's Lieutenant Corran Horn, having just announced their engagement, to prevent Booster from opposing the marriage. Terrik refitted the ship, renamed the Errant Venture, as a mobile casino and smuggling center after the deal was finalized. With her usefulness over, Karrde had Carniss killed.

Six months into 8 ABY, Karrde and Tapper made their way to Varonat, understanding that the Krish crime boss, Gamgalon, was running a safari business there. Karrde's goal was to uncover Gamgalon's genuine intentions and potentially get involved in the operation. Disguising himself again as Pandis Hart, with Tapper acting as his pilot, Seoul, Karrde fabricated a story about his ship experiencing a hyperdrive malfunction. He joined one of the Morodin hunting safaris to pass the time while waiting for repairs. Celina Marniss, a young woman working as his hyperdrive mechanic, impressed him with her skill and extensive knowledge, and the similarity of her name to "Carniss" piqued his curiosity. During the safari, Karrde spotted something resembling a transponder before being pulled away by the guides. Examining the Morodin trails, Karrde grew increasingly suspicious of the guides' actions, and when he finally caught up to one, he hesitated to fire, noticing it didn't attack; another hunter then killed it. Upon returning to camp, Karrde adjusted his comm relay to intercept Gamgalon's transponders. While in the forest with Tapper, following the Morodin trails, he realized that the Morodins were actually sentient and the trails formed a maze. Gamgalon's crew, along with Gamgalon himself, then captured Karrde and Tapper. Gamgalon confessed that the safaris were merely a front for harvesting modified aleudrupe berries, which could be used to produce blaster gas. In a desperate escape attempt, Tapper seized a blaster rifle from a guard, but a hidden Krish sniper fatally shot him. As Karrde was being escorted back through the forest, Marniss unexpectedly rescued him, having recognized him as Talon Karrde from his penchant for pun-based aliases. Karrde offered her a reward for her assistance, and she requested a job. Impressed by her capabilities and adaptability, he agreed to hire Marniss, who then revealed her real name: Mara Jade.

After observing Jade's performance for five and a half months, consistently impressed by her abilities and character, Karrde made the decision to promote her to a lieutenant position. His long-term plan was to train her to succeed the late Tapper as his second-in-command. Karrde invited her to a private dinner to share the news, but their meeting was interrupted by the arrival of the Imperial-class Star Destroyer Chimaera above Myrkr. Karrde was aware through his sources that this ship was the flagship of the Empire's new secret military leader, Grand Admiral Thrawn. When shuttles were deployed, clearly intending to land near Karrde's forest base, Karrde contacted the Chimaera directly, offering his assistance while demonstrating his surprising knowledge of Imperial activities. Captain Gilad Pellaeon remained skeptical, but Karrde freely offered his help in safely removing the ysalamiri from their branches. He had deduced that the Imperials were after the ysalamiri and hoped to gain favor with Thrawn. Reasoning that Thrawn must have a purpose for collecting so many ysalamiri, he began transporting them aboard his personal freighter, the Wild Karrde. He then resumed his conversation with Jade, who presented several ideas for comprehensive organizational reforms that she believed would improve efficiency, and he generally agreed with her assessment.

Karrde kept Jade close, expanding her knowledge of the higher levels of his operations and introducing her to his regular business contacts. During a delivery in the Sluis sector, several of Thrawn's Star Destroyers launched a hit-and-fade attack, forcing Karrde to cancel the delivery. However, he remained to observe the battle, fascinated by Thrawn's unconventional use of Star Destroyers for such an attack. When Thrawn attempted to capture Luke Skywalker, Skywalker escaped using a technique that would soon damage his hyperdrive, but Thrawn lacked the time to pursue him. Instead, he contacted Karrde and other smugglers, offering a reward for capturing Skywalker along his route and delivering him to Thrawn. Karrde declined, citing a busy schedule, but in reality, he simply didn't want to become heavily involved in Thrawn's war effort. However, during a routine journey, Jade, acting on a hunch, brought the Wild Karrde out of hyperspace near Skywalker's disabled X-wing. Karrde rescued Skywalker and questioned him about the intense hatred Jade harbored for him, which Karrde had noticed in his conversations with her. When Skywalker couldn't provide an answer, Karrde ended the conversation and had Skywalker stunned by crewmen protected by ysalamiri. He then transported Skywalker back to Myrkr, where he was imprisoned and cut off from the Force.

Upon Skywalker's awakening, Karrde interviewed him, inquiring about why he had suddenly become a target of the Empire. Skywalker was unsure, but offered to pay for his release. Karrde realized that releasing Skywalker to the New Republic would alert Thrawn, an outcome he couldn't risk. However, he was also hesitant to hand Skywalker over to the Empire, fearing the New Republic's reaction. He resolved to investigate the Empire's interest in Skywalker and keep the Jedi imprisoned on Myrkr until he had more information. Karrde kept Skywalker's captivity a secret, even from most of those on Myrkr. While Skywalker was imprisoned, Fynn Torve, one of Karrde's captains, arrived with Lando Calrissian and Han Solo. The pair had rescued Torve on Abregado-rae, and he felt obligated to grant them an audience with Karrde, which they desired. Karrde quickly moved Skywalker to an outbuilding and concealed his fighter before their arrival. Karrde met with Solo and Calrissian, and Solo presented the same proposal he had offered to other smuggling groups: the New Republic, facing a shortage of cargo transport, would hire his organization to haul legitimate cargo at favorable rates, without repercussions for their past activities. Karrde declined, not wanting to commit to the New Republic, and informed the two smugglers-turned-generals of his decision. Solo had other matters to discuss, so Karrde suggested they continue over dinner.

During the meal, the Chimaera reappeared in orbit. Karrde rushed to speak with Pellaeon, but Thrawn himself appeared on the other end of the transmission. When Thrawn expressed his desire for Karrde's assistance in acquiring capital ships, Karrde briefly worried that Thrawn had discovered his knowledge of the Katana fleet's location, but that proved not to be the case. The Grand Admiral had decided to visit Karrde personally, forcing Karrde to once again scramble to hide the Millennium Falcon and its two passengers. Just before the Imperials landed, Skywalker escaped and stole a Skipray blastboat, and Jade pursued him in another Skipray. Upon Thrawn's arrival, Karrde dismissed the incident as a disgruntled employee stealing a ship, but Thrawn sent a team of stormtroopers to investigate the crash site in the forest, ostensibly as a favor to Karrde. They found nothing, and Thrawn soon departed after discussing his bounty for captured warships with Karrde. Solo and Calrissian returned from the forest, having secretly observed Karrde's conversation with Thrawn. Karrde assured them that he wasn't working with the Empire. However, they began investigating the base and discovered the storage shed where Skywalker had been held. They deduced that Skywalker had been imprisoned there, and Karrde admitted to it. By emphasizing that he hadn't turned over Skywalker, Solo, or Calrissian, he managed to regain some of their trust.

Karrde felt obligated to protect Solo and Calrissian as his guests. He believed that taking someone in as a guest implied a guarantee of protection, a trust he wouldn't break. After Thrawn left the system—leaving a small force in nearby Hyllyard City to await Skywalker and Jade—Karrde began organizing a search party for the forest. He couldn't allow Skywalker to fall into Thrawn's hands alive, as the Grand Admiral would then perceive Karrde as an enemy and retaliate. Karrde was prepared to kill the Jedi rather than allow Thrawn's forces to capture him. Karrde felt sadness as he realized he would eventually have to leave Myrkr, a place that had become his home. When Skywalker used R2-D2 to send a counterpart-encrypted message to his X-wing, Karrde received his and Jade's report and replied, warning them about the Imperials in Hyllyard City and relaying the cover story he had told Thrawn. Karrde couldn't intercept them before they reached the city, but a team of his personnel, working with Solo and Calrissian, ambushed the Imperials as they escorted their captives through the city, freeing the pair. Karrde visited the battle site afterward and was impressed by Skywalker's role in defeating most of the stormtroopers and the Chariot Light Assault Vehicle. However, some forces had escaped, and Thrawn would likely deduce what had happened. Karrde knew he had to leave Myrkr. He instructed Aves to begin an evacuation while he spoke with Solo and Skywalker. They mostly resolved their differences, and Karrde requested a warship to assist with the evacuation, hoping to regain Thrawn's favor while letting Skywalker go. However, Solo said that aid was unlikely, and Karrde knew that Thrawn wouldn't be easily appeased. He had made the Empire an enemy, something he had long avoided, and began to fear Thrawn's retribution.

Karrde successfully evacuated the Myrkr base and established a new one on Rishi. By this point, Jade had been promoted to second-in-command status. When Thrawn returned to Myrkr to deal with him, Karrde remained hidden behind an asteroid, observing Thrawn's attack on the abandoned base to ensure nothing important had been left behind. Jade grew increasingly anxious as they waited, sensing an imminent attack. Against Karrde's advice, she finally powered up the Wild Karrde, giving them just enough time to escape the gravitic effect of the Interdictor that suddenly jumped into the system. Karrde was impressed by Jade's apparent prescience, adding it to the list of mysteries surrounding her.

Karrde went back to his base on Rishi, which was set up in a townhouse in the middle of one of Rishi's major cities and had a drop site in the swamp. Once there, he tried to get Mara Jade to tell him about her hunches, but she changed the subject to Karrde's strange reaction to Thrawn's request for warships on Myrkr, which he had promised to explain. Karrde told her that he knew where the Katana fleet was located, and Jade suggested that he sell the information to Thrawn. Karrde refused, believing that while helping the Empire might be profitable in the short term, the New Republic was more likely to win in the long run, and making an enemy of either would be bad. Jade left to get some supplies, and while she was gone, a bounty hunter attacked her, trying to collect the twenty-thousand-credit bounty that Thrawn had put on Karrde. Because their location had been compromised, Karrde began to move out of the Rishi base, even though it wasn't fully set up yet. The group packed up their equipment and left in the middle of the night.

When Jade was captured while picking up the Etherway from impoundment on Abregado-Rae, she decided that the only way to escape Thrawn's custody was to give up the location of the Katana fleet, hoping to get Karrde out of trouble. Thrawn agreed and released Jade to find Karrde and get the location for the trade. However, Thrawn tracked her ship. Karrde had been worried about her delay and came out to meet her in person. As soon as he was in the open, stormtroopers rappelled into the docking bay and surrounded him. When Jade disarmed him while he was fighting back, Karrde realized that her strange reactions to mentions of Palpatine and Skywalker were remnants of an Imperial past that she had returned to. Karrde was sad that he had been tricked and was losing his second-in-command, but he couldn't bring himself to be angry with her. Karrde was imprisoned on the Chimaera and left alone for the first few days. Thrawn hoped to wear him down mentally and emotionally before the actual interrogation began. If he answered quickly, Thrawn would give him the pay he had agreed upon with Jade and let him go, and the bounties on his organization had already been canceled. His captors tried to make him think that Jade had knowingly betrayed him, but their efforts were so strong that he became convinced that the opposite was true.

Meanwhile, Jade was released. Thrawn's ambush had destroyed any faith she might have had in the Empire. Karrde's group thought she was a traitor and wouldn't work with her, but Aves trusted her enough to lend her a ship and other supplies. Jade recruited Skywalker to help her rescue Karrde, and the two of them infiltrated the Chimaera in a supply ship. Karrde was surprised to see Skywalker enter his cell. The heavy interrogation hadn't started yet, and Karrde was in good spirits. They escaped the detention area through the trash compactor, and Karrde put on a TIE pilot suit, as Skywalker and Jade already had. Before they could get back to the supply shuttle, Thrawn detected their attempt and raised the alert on the Star Destroyer. Karrde suggested that they steal a vehicle from deep storage instead, a move that he thought the Imperials wouldn't expect. Karrde distracted the first search party that came across them and armed himself. In deep storage, they found the Millennium Falcon, which Thrawn had captured and abandoned over Endor. They took back the ship, which Karrde piloted out of storage, out of the hangar bay, and along the Chimaera's hull and exhaust trail, maximizing his cover, until he could jump to hyperspace while Skywalker held off pursuing TIEs from the gun turret.

They went to Coruscant, where Karrde had decided to sell the location of the Katana fleet to the New Republic, since the Empire was now clearly his enemy. On Coruscant, he learned that Thrawn had tracked down Hoffner, who had apparently realized the true nature of the Dreadnaughts and had his own copy of the coordinates. Karrde was rushed to negotiations with the New Republic Advisory Council, where Councilor Borsk Fey'lya was hostile, questioning Karrde's honesty. When Fey'lya delayed a recovery effort until after a reconnaissance team, launching the next day, had checked the location, Karrde felt that too much time would be wasted. Karrde sent Jade to the Trogan system, where Aves had hidden after taking temporary command of the organization. Karrde had Aves gather all the forces he could and meet him at the Katana fleet's location. He also sent Ghent to Coruscant to investigate suspicious bank transfers regarding Admiral Gial Ackbar, which had led to the New Republic's supreme commander being imprisoned under suspicion of treason. By disproving the allegations, Karrde knew he would weaken Fey'lya's political position and hopefully prevent the Bothan politician from holding a grudge against him. Karrde also met privately with Councilor Leia Organa Solo, and they agreed to launch a quiet mission of their own that night to get ahead of Fey'lya's group and prevent his handpicked personnel from being the only ones present.

Han Solo and Luke Skywalker left overnight in charge of a small task force. By morning, the news had spread, and Fey'lya was furious. He prepared to lead the recovery team himself and ordered Solo and Skywalker's arrest. Karrde and Organa Solo invited themselves along on Fey'lya's force. Enraged as he was, Fey'lya couldn't refuse Karrde, who was still the only one on Coruscant who knew the fleet's location. When they arrived at the fleet's location, Fey'lya ordered the arrest of the prior party, which had already boarded the Katana. Before any orders could be carried out, the Imperial Star Destroyer Judicator entered the area. Fey'lya intended to abandon the first group, which outraged Organa Solo. Karrde quietly showed Organa Solo a datapad message telling her to turn on the intercom and comm using the Force, then prodded Fey'lya into a conversation in which the politician confessed that he didn't care about the lives of the soldiers who formed his growing ranks of supporters in the military, but instead regarded them merely as tools for his political ambitions. The rest of the task force heard this and abandoned Fey'lya, pressing the fight against the Judicator. A small fleet of Karrde's men soon arrived as well, led by Aves and Jade. Further reinforcements under the long-disappeared Senator Garm Bel Iblis also arrived, summoned by Han Solo, who had recently contacted his small resistance group. Karrde had scanned the area and realized that only fifteen Dreadnaughts were left. The Empire had already been there and retrieved the rest. When a second Star Destroyer arrived, Aves called a retreat, which Karrde approved. They didn't have the forces to oppose two of the battleships. The team aboard the Katana was able to use the fleet's slave rig system to ram a Dreadnaught into the Peremptory, causing the Judicator to retreat and winning the battle for the New Republic. Jade had been forced to eject from her fighter, however, and was injured when she passed across the path of an ion beam. Skywalker was able to find and rescue her, and she was brought in for medical care and eventually moved to Coruscant to recover. While Karrde remained grateful to the New Republic for their care of Jade, he still refused to side directly with the New Republic and insisted that he was neutral. He had made an enemy of Thrawn but didn't feel that the New Republic was a good long-term ally for a smuggler like himself, especially with the notoriously anti-smuggler Ackbar back in command after Ghent successfully cleared him of wrongdoing.

During the Battle for the Katana fleet, the New Republic discovered that Thrawn was using cloned troops. Karrde, deeply concerned about Thrawn's potential victory, began searching for the location of Thrawn's cloning facility by tracing the flow of clones back to the battlefront. One month after the Katana fleet incident, his investigations led him to Calius saj Leeloo on Berchest. Despite the fifty-thousand-credit bounty on his head and Berchest's status as Imperial territory, Karrde was able to move relatively freely there due to his longstanding smuggling contact with Governor Raccyx Staffa. There, he encountered Skywalker investigating the clone pipeline himself. Skywalker convinced Karrde to sell the New Republic information about the Empire, but Karrde retained the right to choose which information he would sell. When he returned to Coruscant, Skywalker established a line of credit that Karrde could draw against in exchange for his information.

Karrde continued tracing the clone supply back to Chazwa, where he met his old friend Samuel Tomas Gillespee in orbit. Gillespee had retired to Ukio, but that world had recently fallen to Thrawn due to a mysterious superweapon. Gillespee had macrobinocular records of the bombardment, which Karrde realized would be valuable to the New Republic, which was still unsure about what had happened on Ukio. He arranged to sell the record to the New Republic, but they were interrupted by the approach of a pair of Lancer-class frigates, which Karrde assumed were after him. He started to run, but saw that they were actually pursuing Gillespee's ship. He could have continued his mission to pull the garrison records on Chazwa, but Karrde refused to abandon his friend and took his small force into battle against the Lancers. Both were able to escape, and Karrde arranged a rendezvous with Gillespee in eight days on Trogan. He had Gillespee extend the invitation to any other major smugglers as well.

Karrde gathered the group at the Whistler's Whirlpool, a disused tapcafe situated on Trogan. After his team secured the place, Karrde obtained a list of attendees from Gillespee. The roster included Dravis, Brasck, Par'tah, Ellor, Mazzic, Clyngunn, and also Niles Ferrier. Ferrier's presence irked Karrde, since he was primarily a starship thief who had been directly employed by Thrawn in the capture of Hoffner; Karrde harbored distrust for him. Upon their arrival, Karrde proposed an alliance against the Empire, which he believed was detrimental to the smuggling trade. Brasck and Mazzic gave a lukewarm response, but Par'tah seemed more receptive. Just as Karrde was about to concede defeat and end the meeting, Imperial forces launched a surprise raid. The smugglers retaliated, eliminating the attacking force. This ambush swayed the others against the Empire, leading them to join Karrde's scheme to locate the clone supply network. Mazzic, who had lost a friend in the skirmish, and Ellor favored a more direct confrontation with the Empire but nonetheless supported Karrde's strategy. Only Brasck declined to join, though he pledged not to betray them to Thrawn; Karrde wasn't overly concerned, as he personally disliked Brasck's methods. Before departing, Karrde arranged to reconvene with Par'tah and Clyngunn in five days over Chazwa.

Karrde dedicated a significant portion of his resources to discovering the clone pipeline. Ferrier managed to acquire an assault shuttle for Karrde, but due to his lack of faith in the ship thief, Karrde had the shuttle transported to the Roche system for inspection by his Verpine contacts. During the Chazwa meeting, Par'tah delivered a suggestion from Mazzic that they visit Bilbringi; Karrde journeyed there, where he spotted several unusual objects in the Imperial shipyards and, upon scanning them, discovered twenty-two asteroids undergoing modifications. While he was en route, Mazzic initiated an assault on an Imperial Star Destroyer under construction in the shipyards, destroying it. Karrde almost intervened to cover Mazzic's escape, but Ellor arrived and eliminated Mazzic's pursuers. Karrde understood that this attack would incite serious animosity from the Empire, and he felt that uniting their groups to counter the threat was more crucial than ever. Karrde shifted his operations to a long-abandoned fortress situated on Hijarna, where he continued to compile intelligence reports. However, as they failed to uncover the cloning source, the smugglers were losing business and running low on funds; Gillespee confided in Karrde that most of them were ready to abandon the effort. To salvage the alliance, Karrde decided to have Ghent hack into the New Republic's financial system and redirect payments to the group; Karrde viewed it as an advance to keep them afloat until they located the cloning facility. He planned one more meeting to present this idea to the other smugglers.

Karrde chose not to invite Ferrier to this gathering, yet the man appeared regardless; he surmised that one of the other smugglers had invited Ferrier because of his previous involvement. Before the meeting could commence, Karrde received a report from Fynn Torve about an intruder and proceeded to the Wild Karrde's docking bay, where Chin believed he had seen someone moving. Karrde concealed the disturbance from his guests and went to handle it himself, leading a search of the ship and its surroundings, which yielded nothing. Upon his return, he was unnerved to find that Mazzic had brought a squad of bodyguards. Mazzic began to confront him, demanding that the meeting be held aboard the Wild Karrde and accusing Karrde of concealing something. Karrde realized that the intruder had been the nearly-invisible Defel employed by Ferrier and that he had been framed. He agreed to the change of venue, but Karrde's employees were uneasy about Mazzic's actions and stalled the group, prompting one of Mazzic's bodyguards to draw a blaster on Karrde and insist they be allowed aboard. Karrde refused to allow anyone other than the eight smuggler chiefs on board, where Mazzic demanded all of Karrde's datacards. Karrde complied, and Mazzic revealed that Thrawn had captured him and told him that the attack at Trogan had been orchestrated; someone had paid the troops to attack the meeting. Ellor discovered the datacard containing details of the deal in Karrde's collection; Karrde realized that the Defel had planted it. Karrde attempted to convince the others that he had been set up by Thrawn and Ferrier, who was becoming increasingly defensive; eventually, Ferrier blurted out information he should not have known, and suspicion fell squarely on him. Ferrier managed to pull a thermal detonator and force Karrde to the bridge, where Karrde used the external lights to attract the attention of his employees outside. Karrde transported Ferrier to his ship, but the ship thief failed to escape as Mazzic's fighters pursued him and shot him down. Ferrier's betrayal re-solidified the alliance, keeping the smugglers angry at the Empire and willing to collaborate.

Karrde's informants managed to gather intelligence about a major New Republic offensive forming against Tangrene to capture a crystal gravfield trap array for use in clearing Coruscant of a mysterious threat that had blocked civilian traffic from entering. Karrde shared this information with the other smugglers and suggested their alliance plan its own raid on Bilbringi concurrently, seizing the crystal gravfield trap there for sale to the New Republic. The others concurred, and Karrde left Aves in charge of his contribution to the Bilbringi strike while he took the Wild Karrde to Coruscant himself to contact Ghent about hacking them payment and information and to retrieve Jade from the infirmary. There, he was denied landing permission but conversed via comm with Leia Organa Solo, who indicated that Jade was under arrest after being suspected of involvement in an attack on the Imperial Palace. When he was still refused permission to land, he demanded an explanation and was informed that several cloaked asteroids had been placed in orbit during a raid by Thrawn; only twenty-two of the hundreds launched had been destroyed. Karrde connected this with what he had witnessed at Bilbringi, assuring the New Republic that the twenty-two were the only asteroids to have been launched; the rest were duds. Organa Solo then cleared Karrde to land and met with him, explaining that Jade had actually been released to participate in a raid on Wayland, Thrawn's cloning center; Jade knew the location due to her time as the Emperor's Hand, a top-level assassin for Palpatine. She had realized just then that the cloning facility was full of ysalamiri and wanted Karrde to bring her there to reinforce the raid and warn Skywalker. Karrde wanted to assist Jade, but knew that leaving immediately would prevent him from having Ghent hack into the New Republic's systems and pay his smuggler allies. Fortunately, Fey'lya was discovered lurking nearby and revealed that he was desperate for the Mount Tantiss facility to be destroyed, as information detrimental to the Bothan people was stored there. Karrde managed to convince the Bothan councilor to pay him seventy thousand credits for his aid and set out for Wayland with Organa Solo.

Disguised as an Imperial supply freighter, the Wild Karrde managed to land on Wayland, feigning a crash in the forest at the last moment. Karrde set out on foot with Organa Solo and her Noghri bodyguard, along with Sturm and Drang; he had realized that the vornskrs hunted using the Force and could be used to track Force-sensitives such as Skywalker and Jade. They successfully infiltrated Mount Tantiss, where they met up with Han Solo; Skywalker and Jade had proceeded ahead. Organa Solo detected that the Force had recently been restored to the area; the ysalamiri inside the mountain had been eliminated. They suspected a trap set by Thrawn's insane Jedi clone, Joruus C'baoth, and rushed to aid the pair. They found them in the throne room, Skywalker battling a clone of himself that C'baoth had created. C'baoth attacked both the Solos, incapacitating them; he ignored Karrde, who had yet to engage him. Karrde contacted Lando Calrissian via comlink, who was leading the sabotage of the cloning chamber, and inquired if there were any ysalamiri he could bring up, but Calrissian informed him that they were all dead. C'baoth disarmed Karrde using telekinesis, but Jade managed to grab a lightsaber and kill the clone. C'baoth launched a massive telekinetic attack against the entire group in retaliation, causing much of the ceiling to collapse and blocking off the turbolift. Skywalker managed to release Karrde's vornskrs, however, which attacked C'baoth and provided enough of a distraction for Jade to kill the insane Dark Jedi. They escaped through the hole C'baoth's death had created in the wall, where the Wild Karrde picked them up and pulled clear of the mountain facility before it exploded thanks to Calrissian and Chewbacca's sabotage.

Meanwhile, Karrde's smuggler coalition was surprised to discover that the Tangrene attack was actually a diversion and the New Republic was striking at Bilbringi, a move Thrawn had anticipated. During the battle, the smugglers assisted Rogue Squadron in opening a new front while Thrawn was assassinated by his bodyguard, forcing an Imperial retreat and ending the major threat at the time. In the aftermath, Karrde decided to transform the smuggler coalition he had built into a new, formalized organization, the Smugglers' Alliance, which could represent the smugglers' interests and liaise with the New Republic to sell information and move legitimate cargo.

While working on Coruscant to help establish the Smugglers' Alliance, Karrde learned that Lando Calrissian possessed a beckon call likely belonging to Car'das. He attempted to purchase it, but Calrissian refused to sell. Instead, Karrde assigned Jade and Calrissian to track down his old boss, whose disappearance had long troubled him. Karrde himself became semiretired, running his organization from a distance and allowing Jade to handle the day-to-day operations; he contacted Jade only at prearranged times to receive her reports and lived life on the move, enjoying the private life and making his own efforts to find Car'das. He announced that he had fully retired, and this was maintained publicly, but he still quietly ran the organization and fully intended to return to full command eventually. It took some time for him to tie up loose ends, and close associates such as Booster Terrik knew he had not truly retired. Karrde's success in aiding the New Republic led to the circulation of rumors that he had been trained by New Republic Intelligence, though he flatly denied them.

Shortly after the Battle of Bilbringi, Karrde received a message purportedly from Booster Terrik requesting a meeting in Oradin on Brentaal IV, though he quickly determined it was not from the smuggler himself. He decided to meet anyway, taking some security precautions. The sender of the message was actually Corran Horn's astromech Whistler, working with Antilles's astromech R5-G8 to escape the custody of Ysanne Isard, who had secretly survived her supposed death over Thyferra and had captured Rogue Squadron, who were presumed dead by the New Republic. Whistler requested passage to the Errant Venture, which, given the sensitive nature of the information the pair carried, Karrde decided to grant. He had been preparing to turn the Lastri's Ort over to Aves, but was willing to make a detour. He brought the two droids to the Venture and turned them over to Terrik's custody.

In 11 ABY, Jade acquired interests in the Kessel glitterstim mines, now under Calrissian's management, for the Smugglers' Alliance; by this time, it had become a large, organized, and well-regulated interest group capable of working well together. Not long after that, Karrde returned full-force to active duty leading the group, having grown bored with his semi-retirement and apparently content that his deception had played out. Around 12 ABY, Karrde was approached by Nabon and her partner, Dogder, with information about what appeared to be military expenditures on the part of the Hutts; they trusted him to funnel this information into the New Republic's hands. Spending time on and off following Car'das's trail, Calrissian and Jade eventually succeeded around 13 ABY, finding that he had taken up residence in the Exocron system but, per Karrde's instructions, not making contact with him. Karrde, not knowing how he would deal with the man or what Car'das would feel, decided not to contact him at that time. Over time, the Smugglers' Alliance drifted apart, and Karrde was left running his own operation, still the top smuggling and information-brokering group. Karrde grew increasingly distant from the New Republic leadership as its politicians distanced themselves from him and the Empire grew weaker, lessening their need for fringe allies. Karrde also lost Ghent's services, with the young man becoming the Crypt Chief of the New Republic.

Over the next few years, Karrde became aware of a growingly dangerous situation in Smuggler's Run, an old smugglers' hideout. He found the new situation distasteful, with a mysterious and, he felt, sinister new influence controlling much of the business there. When the Senate Hall was bombed in 17 ABY, it created a panic, and Calrissian contacted Jade, temporarily meeting with Karrde, about the situation, and Karrde suggested he investigate Smugglers' Run. Calrissian, along with Solo, investigated the situation, and it was eventually discovered that a Dark Jedi warlord known as Kueller was leading a new secret rebellion from Almania. Chewbacca contacted Karrde and had him rendezvous with the Millennium Falcon in the Almanian system and bring ysalamiri. There, a New Republic fleet under General Wedge Antilles was engaging Kueller's forces. Karrde transferred the ysalamiri to Solo, who began to make for the planet. One of Kueller's Star Destroyers moved to cut him off, but the Wild Karrde was able to destroy the ship with a surprise barrage, covering Solo's descent. Once Solo landed, Karrde took his ship into the main battle, aiding Antilles's force. When Antilles realized the enemy ships were droid-controlled, he began firing near misses at the Wild Karrde and the other ships in his fleet, which confused the enemy friend-foe identification systems and caused them to cease fire on his ship. Karrde initially failed to understand the tactic, but Antilles used it to infiltrate the enemy fleet and line up a precision barrage on the weak points in Kueller's ships, destroying the Star Destroyers. Meanwhile, on the surface, Solo used the ysalamiri to block Kueller's powers while Leia Organa Solo killed him, ending the threat.

Later that same year, the industrialist Ja Bardrin abducted Jade and the Wile Karrde's crew while Karrde was away making a deal in the Gekto system. His daughter Sansia had fallen into the hands of the crime lord Chay Praysh, and he forced Jade to go undercover in Praysh's fortress and rescue her by threatening the crew. When Karrde learned of this, he was enraged and contacted Organa Solo, who was able to put a team of Noghri commandos at his disposal, with which he took Bardrin's private residence and captured the man. He began preparing a team to rescue Jade from Praysh's fortress, but she returned on her own with Sansia. Sansia had been betrayed by her father so that he would have a record of Praysh's defenses created by Sansia's ship with which he could return and seize a competitor's prototypes which Praysh had stolen. Irate, Sansia gave the highly advanced ship to Jade, who renamed it the Jade's Fire. Karrde remained furious at the endangerment of his people, however, and demanded a heavy fee from Bardrin in exchange for the industrialist's life. Karrde picked up a new employee as well: H'sishi, a Togorian scavenger who had aided Jade in her escape. Karrde sold the data gathered by the ship to Skywalker, who was able to lead a New Republic raid on Praysh's fortress and free his many slaves. Jade had been feeling pressured by her situation lately, and Karrde decided to give her a break by setting her up with a small legitimate cargo business aboard the Jade's Fire in which she could gain experience away from the fringe and without the responsibilities of helping run Karrde's massive organization. After about a year of independent operations, Jade returned to Karrde's organization, refreshed. At around the same time, Karrde began hiring Noghri, who had relocated to Wayland, as bodyguards for his more vulnerable informants and employees.

In 19 ABY, Karrde was approaching Wayland when he received a call from Cakhmaim, Organa Solo's chief bodyguard. A Devaronian thief, Lak Jit, had made off with a datacard stolen from the ruins of Mount Tantiss; the Wild Karrde forced Jit's ship down. He examined the datacard with Organa Solo and discovered that it was a copy of the Caamas Document, implicating a group of Bothans of complicity in the destruction of Caamas under Palpatine; any list of specific conspirators that might have been on the card had been too damaged to recover, however. They had already let Jit go free after he turned over the datacard, and realized that he would spread the story and spark a major incident as blame was placed for the long-ago but much-detested attack. Jit indeed did so before Mazzic, acting under Karrde's instructions, captured him. Karrde contacted Organa Solo to report the news but reached her husband, who took the news and informed Karrde that, in an engagement against pirates, Skywalker had sensed clones aboard the pirate ships. Karrde promised to look into it—at New Republic expense. He also dispatched Jade to aid Skywalker in a raid on the Cavrilhu Pirates after Solo mentioned it.

Karrde went on to visit the Errant Venture, where he was supposed to rendezvous with Jade. Coming aboard, he found Terrik's daughter, son-in-law, and grandchild on the bridge; Horn had come to discuss an organization called "Vengeance" which had been mentioned in relation to the growing Caamas Document Crisis. Horn's mission was secret, but Karrde got word of it and knew enough to expect Horn's son Valin to be there as well, bringing him a gift. His demonstration of knowledge convinced Horn to let him in on the request for information, and Karrde promised to look into it. Karrde asked Terrik if he had information on the Cavrilhu Pirates' new base after being chased from their former base by Skywalker, but Terrik knew nothing. Karrde also wanted to ask if Terrik knew anything of the pirates whom Skywalker had sensed using clones, but Terrik again could turn up no new information. While Jade was inbound on the Starry Ice, a small fighter of strange design buzzed the Venture's bridge, transmitting a message in a foreign language. Jade had run across a similar ship during her pirate raid, and recognized Thrawn's full name, Mitth'raw'nuruodo, in the transmission. Cross-checking the vectors of the two ships as they had jumped to lightspeed showed a common destination in the Nirauan system; Karrde sent Jade to investigate it, as the New Republic was too busy handling the political crisis to check out what Karrde felt could be a significant discovery, possibly the Hand of Thrawn mentioned on one scrambled datacard Organa Solo had recovered from Jit.

Karrde traveled to Cejansij to investigate any signs of Vengeance activity and retrieve data from an employee, Moranda Savich. She was attacked by a gang of thugs on her way to the meeting and was rescued by Skywalker, who had been seeking to contact Karrde. Skywalker accompanied him. During their conversation, Karrde received a report that Jade had been knocked unconscious on Nirauan and possibly captured. Skywalker agreed to undertake the rescue attempt, and just before his departure, he told Karrde that he had experienced a Force vision in which Jade appeared dead, leaving Karrde fearing that his trusted second-in-command had been killed. Karrde assigned Savich to Drev'starn, the capital of Bothawui, to monitor for subversive activities—particularly attempts to disable the planetary shields—as the Caamas Document Crisis intensified.

Karrde then traveled to Coruscant, but political adversaries used a traffic controller to prevent his landing; he needed to contact Organa Solo, his intended contact, to get clearance. She was in a meeting where the Ishori senator Ghic Dx'ono was trying to link Karrde to the supposed return of Thrawn, which had recently come to light. She instructed Karrde to await her at her Orowood Tower residence. Upon the arrival of Organa Solo, her husband, and Lando Calrissian, they informed him of Calrissian's capture, subsequent interview, and release by Thrawn. Unbeknownst to everyone except the conspirators, this "Thrawn" was actually a con man collaborating with a clone of a Royal Guardsman and Moff Vilim Disra in a scheme to resurrect the Imperial Remnant under their control. They discussed potential solutions, concluding that possessing a copy of the Caamas Document would resolve the Caamas issue and allow the New Republic to focus on Thrawn. Calrissian implied that Car'das might possess a copy, which would obviate the need to raid Imperial records. Karrde, disliking the prospect of confronting Car'das, grew irritated with Calrissian and privately urged him to drop the subject. Calrissian persuaded him by arguing that letting the crisis escalate was more dangerous. Karrde, convinced Car'das would kill him, was still willing to risk his life to secure the Caamas Document. They shared this plan with the Solos, but Shada D'ukal, a Mistryl Shadow Guard Karrde recognized as Mazzic's former head of security, had infiltrated the apartment and overheard their discussion. She expressed to the Solos her desire to join the New Republic, having been unable to reach them through official means. After they were satisfied with her trustworthiness, the Solos tasked her with assisting Karrde in locating Car'das and persuading him to cooperate. Karrde hoped Car'das would allow D'ukal, who was not affiliated with his organization, to leave unharmed and would also allow her to have the Caamas Document. They also offered him C-3PO to assist with translations during the trip to Exocron. Additionally, Karrde fulfilled his original purpose by informing the Solos of Jade's situation and Skywalker's rescue mission.

The Wild Karrde departed for Pembric II, the initial destination on the journey. Karrde landed and, accompanied by D'ukal, sought protection from Crev Bombaasa, the leading crime boss in the Kathol sector. As they approached ThrusterBurn, a tapcafe Bombaasa used as his headquarters, they were confronted by swoop gang members serving as guards. While D'ukal engaged the four guards, Karrde stepped aside but was captured by a group of corrupt Pembric Security Legionnaires employed by Bombaasa. Karrde managed to disarm their leader, seizing his weapon, incapacitating the last guard, and holding the Security Legionnaires at bay. Impressed, Bombaasa invited them inside, where Karrde requested protection from Bombaasa's pirate gangs in the sector as payment for a favor Jade and Calrissian had done for him, saving his life. Bombaasa agreed, but cautioned Karrde that another pirate gang, operating independently, had recently entered the area and was competing with him; he could not guarantee protection from them, and providing protection to Karrde might increase the likelihood of him being targeted.

Karrde pressed onward; after spotting a scout ship during a course change, he anticipated a pirate attack at Dayark. They were indeed ambushed upon exiting hyperspace but managed to repel the attack; D'ukal, operating a turbolaser, sustained an injury in the fight. Upon landing on Dayark, the capital of the Kathol Republic, Karrde received an invitation to meet with General Jutka, the head of their military. Accompanied by D'ukal, C-3PO, and a backup team disguised as locals, Karrde was escorted to Jutka by an aide named Entoo Needaan E-elz. Jutka provided them with the name of the rival pirate leader, Rei'Kas, and advised Karrde to leave to avoid provoking Rei'Kas. Undeterred, Karrde concluded the conversation, after which E-elz approached him. Sensing Karrde's search for Car'das, he confirmed Car'das's presence on Exocron. He offered to take Karrde there, but before Karrde could respond, they were confronted by Rei'Kas's agents. Karrde's backup team neutralized them, but D'ukal was offended that Karrde had not shared their presence with her. The Wild Karrde departed for Exocron without E-elz, and during the journey, Karrde disclosed to D'ukal the complete account of his involvement with Car'das, information she had been pressing him for. He also revealed his true motivation for bringing her along.

A week later, upon Karrde's arrival at Exocron, the authorities inquired if he was there to meet Car'das, which Karrde confirmed. They were granted permission to land, where E-elz greeted them. Taking only D'ukal and C-3PO, Karrde allowed E-elz to guide him to Car'das's residence. They were led to a small, neglected house on a mountainside where Car'das appeared as an aged, frail, and senile man in his bed. Greatly disappointed, Karrde prepared to leave but learned that Rei'Kas had apparently tracked him to Exocron and was dispatching his entire fleet to attack the planet. Feeling responsible for attracting them, Karrde stayed and prepared to defend. Admiral Trey David, second-in-command of the Exocron Combined Air-Space Fleet, boarded the Wild Karrde—the most capable ship in the defense force—to coordinate the defense. As Rei'Kas's fleet arrived, David ordered a retreat, and a squadron of Aing-Tii vessels materialized behind Rei'Kas's fleet, swiftly destroying it. Karrde quickly deduced that David had used him to draw Rei'Kas to Exocron, within range of the Aing-Tii; he also realized Car'das was the mastermind behind the deception. He sent a request to the surface to see Car'das again, which Car'das personally approved.

Returning to the house, he discovered Car'das in good health and was invited deeper into the mountain to Car'das's actual dwelling. Car'das, in a friendly manner, showed him around the house, including his extensive information archive. However, the Caamas Document was not among his files. He recounted his disappearance, explaining that Jedi Master Yoda had shamed him into renouncing his previous ruthlessness and self-centeredness, and he thanked Karrde for looking after his organization's personnel so well after he left. Relieved of his apprehension, Karrde was invited to stay the night; Car'das had arranged for the Aing-Tii to use their instantaneous transport abilities to return the Wild Karrde to the main galaxy the following day. During the night, D'ukal attempted to sneak into Car'das's library to find information about who had orchestrated the attack that devastated her people, the Mistryl, many years ago. Car'das caught her, and Karrde arrived during their conversation, summoned by Car'das. The older man told D'ukal that the Mistryl had been attacked in retaliation for a campaign of conquest they had initiated, and he offered her a choice: she could take the attackers' identities with her, or she could take a datacard that he promised held information beneficial to the New Republic. D'ukal chose the latter, and Car'das escorted them to the Aing-Tii.

Karrde and D'ukal reviewed the datacard, which revealed that "Thrawn" was an imposter and that the supposed Guardsman was actually a clone of the original Grodin Tierce with some of Thrawn's genetics spliced in and Thrawn's tactical knowledge added to his flash-learning. Realizing that delivering the data to Coruscant would take too long, he went directly to Supreme Commander Gilad Pellaeon of the Imperial Remnant, hoping Pellaeon could expose the deception immediately. He brought Pellaeon aboard the Wild Karrde and headed to Yaga Minor, where the Thrawn imposter was leading the defense of the Ubiqtorate base against an information raid by New Republic General Garm Bel Iblis, who hoped to obtain a copy of the Caamas Document. Karrde called in the favor Horn owed him to have Rogue Squadron escort the Wild Karrde through the New Republic lines; with Pellaeon aboard, the ship possessed the codes to pass through the Imperial lines. Upon reaching the base, Karrde, Pellaeon, and D'ukal made their way to the command center, where Pellaeon exposed the conspirators and regained command, ending hostilities. He had agreed to a truce with the New Republic. The conspirators had been negotiating with the Mistryl to join the Empire, and one of their leaders was present as an observer; Karrde pressured her to remove the death mark they had placed on D'ukal for deserting after refusing orders she deemed unethical.

When Karrde realized Pellaeon was preparing to negotiate a peace, he was motivated by D'ukal's desire for a more meaningful purpose to suggest that his organization become an information-sharing entity between the two factions, easing tensions by acting as a neutral intermediary to ensure both sides were equally informed. Both parties agreed, and the arrangement was finalized; Karrde was invited to the formal signing of the Pellaeon–Gavrisom Treaty. Skywalker successfully rescued Jade and returned with a copy of the Caamas Document, resolving the situation—although the pair remained secretive about their source. During the rescue, they had realized their love for each other and were now engaged. Jade would leave the organization to join the Jedi, but D'ukal formally joined Karrde's group, and he began preparing her to replace Jade; she eventually succeeded Jade as his lieutenant. D'ukal came to see herself as his bodyguard and friend and was fiercely loyal to him; Karrde also felt loyal to her as one of his people, and the Solos detected the possibility of romantic feelings as well. As part of an agreement with Terrik, the New Republic agreed to paint the Errant Venture red, a long-held desire of Terrik's. Karrde sold the New Republic the massive quantities of paint required, unbeknownst to Terrik, who boasted that he had achieved his goal without Karrde's help. Karrde was greatly amused by the entire affair.

Karrde was invited to the Skywalker-Jade wedding to act as the father of the bride. He sought a Jedi artifact from Terrik as a wedding gift, then traveled to Coruscant. There, he participated in Skywalker's bachelor party, surprising him along with several other friends in the Red Rancor cantina; he was honored to be considered a close enough friend to be invited to the party. Shortly after Skywalker arrived, however, they were attacked by a swoop gang, leading to a bar brawl that the bachelor party easily won; Karrde suggested they leave quickly to avoid attracting more attention. Karrde arrived for the wedding, which was to be a major media event, and spoke with Jade as they prepared. While they waited, they were approached by Banner Sumptor, an agent involved in a plot by the rogue Moff Derran Takkar to disrupt the wedding and assassinate Skywalker and Jade. Sumptor had come to regret his involvement and confessed that the attack was imminent. Karrde took Banner to see Skywalker and Solo. Antilles was also present and insisted that the wedding proceed as planned while he recruited Chewbacca, a few Jedi, and Rogue Squadron veterans to intercept the plotters before they could disrupt the ceremony. Karrde gave Jade away to Skywalker, but Takkar managed to infiltrate and threatened to release a computer virus across the galaxy. Using the Force and reason, Skywalker convinced Takkar to surrender, and the wedding continued peacefully.

As member systems of the New Republic increasingly sought the benefits of Karrde's information-sharing network, he was compelled to expand his organization beyond the point where he could personally know all his employees, which he regretted. He also began gradually withdrawing from the smuggling business, a process that took several years, as did Jade's departure from the organization. He maintained a respectable shipping business, but kept his trade legitimate. In 22 ABY, he dispatched the Skywalkers to inform Jerf Huxley, one of his smuggling associates, that he would no longer be part of the organization as smuggling was being phased out. While they were away on that mission, one employee, Dean Jinzler, absconded with a message for the Skywalkers from Admiral Voss Parck of the Empire of the Hand—an Imperialist territory in the Unknown Regions that had provided Skywalker's copy of the Caamas Document. Karrde was furious and disappointed in himself for employing an untrustworthy individual, and aboard the Errant Venture, he hurried to meet with them after they dealt with Huxley. They met, and Karrde explained the situation, with the Skywalkers sharing some general details of the situation on Nirauan, which Karrde had never learned. They decided to travel to Nirauan to retrieve the message personally, while Karrde attempted to track down Jinzler. Jinzler actually appeared on the mission to recover Outbound Flight, to which Parck had invited the Skywalkers; he had a sister aboard the ship and wanted to visit the site of her death. Once they returned, the Skywalkers explained the situation to Karrde and spared Jinzler from his wrath. Karrde also wrote an article at some point regarding the information he had gathered about the Aing-Tii.

When the extragalactic Yuuzhan Vong launched their invasion in 25 ABY, employing biologically engineered weapons, the New Republic and the Jedi successfully repelled their initial assault and withheld information about them from Karrde and the Remnant, releasing only minimal details. As the war escalated, information became more openly shared, with the New Republic engaged in a desperate struggle against the invaders. After the Yuuzhan Vong destroyed Jade Skywalker's ship, the Jade Sabre, Karrde assisted in equipping its replacement, the Jade Shadow, by acquiring several advanced weapons systems for the yacht.

When the Hutts forged an alliance with the Yuuzhan Vong a few months into the war, Karrde suspected they would have demanded concessions and began closely monitoring their spice shipments, theorizing that the Yuuzhan Vong would alert the Hutts to impending invasions, causing the Hutts to suspend deliveries. He observed disruptions in the spice trade to Corellia, Tynna, and Bothawui, but recognized that this was insufficient evidence for the New Republic to act upon, especially as he believed the Senate or intelligence networks had been compromised. Instead, he visited the Jedi Praxeum at Yavin 4 and requested that Skywalker send some Jedi with him for a meeting with the Hutts, hoping to confirm his suspicions; he believed that having the Jedi assist in providing this information would help restore their public image, which had been suffering. Jedi Master Kyp Durron and Jedi Knight Ganner Rhysode agreed to join his party. The two Jedi accompanied Karrde and D'ukal to a meeting with Rol'Waran, an agent of the Hutt Borga Besadii Diori. Karrde requested spice, claiming he had decided to re-enter the trade because the war had rendered his information-sharing position obsolete—the New Republic and Remnant were now sharing information directly. Their meeting was interrupted by the arrival of Bombaasa, who had gained a position in Borga's organization. Bombaasa recognized Durron but was not hostile and indirectly confirmed that Tynna, Corellia, and Bothawui had all been identified as potential targets to the Hutts; he asked Karrde to inform the New Republic that the Hutts were willing to assist both sides and that he personally was an ally of the New Republic.

Karrde conveyed the information to Belindi Kalenda and Showolter, two disgraced New Republic Intelligence officials eager to redeem themselves. They took steps to verify it, bringing Karrde along in a stealth ship to witness Tynna's fall to the Yuuzhan Vong, corroborating Karrde's account and justifying military buildups at Bothawui and Corellia. When the Hutts resumed service to Bothawui but not Corellia, Karrde brought this to the New Republic's attention, but no action was taken. The Hutts also leaked to Karrde, through Bombaasa, that the captured Jedi Knight Wurth Skidder was being held in a Yuuzhan Vong yammosk-carrying ship en route to Kalarba. Karrde immediately recruited Durron's Kyp's Dozen squadron to rescue their compatriot. However, Skidder died before a rescue could be accomplished, and the information identifying Corellia as a target proved to be Yuuzhan Vong misinformation designed to mislead the New Republic while the invaders actually struck at Fondor. Karrde and the Jedi were both discredited, and Karrde traveled to Yavin 4 to personally apologize to Skywalker, although Skywalker felt that Karrde had nothing to apologize for.

When the Yuuzhan Vong-collaborationist Peace Brigade began targeting Jedi in response to a Yuuzhan Vong bounty, Skywalker requested that Karrde evacuate the students at Yavin to prevent them from becoming easy targets. Karrde acquired a small fleet and went to pick them up, but the Peace Brigade had arrived first. He detected a firefight on the surface and immediately rushed to assist the Jedi. He contacted Imsatad, the Peace Brigade captain, and offered his assistance in capturing the Jedi, telling Imsatad he wished to ally with the Yuuzhan Vong to reopen his smuggling business through their territory. The Peace Brigade accepted his aid, and Karrde brought his vornskrs to the surface, boasting of their ability to track Jedi through the Force. He also claimed to bring an ysalamir, though the covered cage was empty. The vornskrs began tracking the Jedi, and when he was certain he had led the twenty Peace Brigaders to the Jedi hiding place inside one of the temples, he opened fire on them along with D'ukal and two other employees. Jedi Masters Kam and Tionne Solusar emerged from hiding to even the odds, then led the Jedi children out of the temple, where the Wild Karrde eliminated Peace Brigade resistance and picked them up. They were blockaded in their attempt to leave the system, however, and Karrde had to launch a desperate proton torpedo to avoid being tractored, sustaining damage in the process. That bought him enough time for the rest of his fleet to arrive, at which point he outgunned Imsatad. Knowing that Anakin Solo, Tahiri Veila, Valin Horn, and Sannah remained behind, he forced Imsatad to ground all his ships for a search but transferred the students and Tionne Solusar to the Idiot's Array, which ferried them to safety. Kam Solusar remained behind to assist in the search. Before his orders could be carried out, however, a Yuuzhan Vong fleet arrived in the system. Karrde sent D'ukal away on the Idiot's Array to get the children away and bring reinforcements, then withdrew to the edge of the system until those reinforcements arrived; he would not abandon the remaining students.

Karrde persevered through guerrilla actions, eliminating any Yuuzhan Vong ships that attempted to leave the system. Once she had delivered the children, D'ukal returned with the news that the New Republic, under Fey'lya, would not provide military aid but that Skywalker was attempting to locate Terrik and the Errant Venture. When a transport departed Yavin 4, Solusar confirmed that Solo and the other students were aboard; Karrde committed his small force to covering their escape. The fastest ships—Wild Karrde, Idiot's Array, Etherway, and Sudden Demise—raced to rendezvous with the students' transport; Demise was destroyed in the initial exchange of fire, Etherway was disabled, and Idiot's Array was destroyed but took an enemy destroyer with it, leaving Karrde anguished at the loss of D'ukal. At that moment, the Errant Venture appeared, decimating the Yuuzhan Vong forces and clearing the way for the students' recovery. A further day of battle cleared all the invaders from the system, during which the Errant Venture recovered D'ukal in an escape pod, greatly relieving Karrde. Karrde then evacuated the slaves the Yuuzhan Vong had kept on Yavin 4 and destroyed the Yuuzhan Vong base, concluding his involvement in the system.

The evacuation became a political controversy, as Fey'lya had forbidden Skywalker and the Jedi from interfering with the Yuuzhan Vong's arrival in the Yavin system on the grounds that it would violate the fragile truce that had been established. Based on Karrde's participation on Skywalker's orders, Fey'lya ordered the arrest of Luke and Mara Jade Skywalker. The pair had to flee Coruscant and go into hiding with the rest of the Jedi. Meanwhile, Karrde continued to work with the Jedi and Solos. When Han and Jacen Solo traveled to Mos Eisley to gather information from Shalo, whom they suspected of having ties to the Peace Brigade, Karrde organized their backup, eliminating Shalo's hidden enforcers around the cantina. When Shalo attempted an ambush, he was easily captured while Solo obtained the location of his contacts who shipped slaves for the Yuuzhan Vong. Karrde met with Solo and provided him with the registry of the Peace Brigade-tied freighters he had been pirating: Kuat Photonics. Unbeknownst to Karrde, Shalo had another layer of backup, who attacked while they were talking. While the Solos made it across the street to set up a crossfire, Karrde fought his way to the cantina's roof and eliminated the attackers. During further interrogation, Shalo revealed that a major convoy would stop over Tatooine the next day, and Karrde and Solo planned to ambush it. When it arrived, both Karrde and Solo sensed something was amiss and were proven correct when a Yuuzhan Vong interdictor and frigate emerged from hyperspace in an ambush. Karrde's four-ship fleet engaged the frigate and some of the Peace Brigade escort while Solo employed an unusual tactic to overwhelm the interdictor's defenses with compressed hydrogen, temporarily disabling it and allowing Karrde and the Millennium Falcon to escape.

Having mended fences with Fey'lya, the Jedi proceeded. When Skywalker devised a Jedi operation to liberate Yuuzhan Vong hostages at Talfaglio, Karrde, having learned of the impending assault, subtly provided intelligence to Generals Antilles and Bel Iblis. These generals then commandeered the newly outfitted Star Destroyers, the Elegos A'Kla and Mon Mothma, both equipped with gravity-well projectors, embarking on what they termed a "shakedown cruise" to Talfaglio, ultimately contributing to the mission's triumph. Maintaining his vigilance over galactic affairs, Karrde subsequently alerted the New Republic to the departure of a massive enemy fleet from Borleias. This fleet descended upon Coruscant, overwhelming the New Republic's defenses and seizing control of the galactic capital. Fey'lya perished during the invasion, leading to the dispersal of the New Republic's leadership. Despite this setback, Karrde's intelligence network remained robust, enabling him to continue monitoring enemy movements. He reported to Antilles, who had reclaimed Borleias and established it as a fortress to protect refugees from the Core, an increase in the Yuuzhan Vong's ability to track refugee traffic. Karrde aided Antilles and Calrissian in orchestrating a sting operation targeting the forces ambushing refugees, revealing that the Yuuzhan Vong were employing a rudimentary method: relying on refugees to betray one another for rewards. As Antilles and the Solos initiated the establishment of clandestine resistance cells on planets threatened by the invaders, Karrde supplied them with pertinent information and contacts to facilitate their efforts.

Following the New Republic's successful reestablishment of central authority on Mon Calamari, Karrde, Calrissian, and Terrik spearheaded a sixteen-ship convoy from the Smugglers' Alliance—reconstituted to oppose the Yuuzhan Vong—to the new capital. Calrissian's objective was to market his newly developed YVH-series combat droids to the government. Upon meeting with Skywalker, they were briefed on the prevailing political climate, characterized by a contest between Cal Omas and Fyor Rodan for the position of chief of state, with Ta'laam Ranth and Cola Quis also vying for votes. Karrde and Calrissian resolved to support Omas, the pro-Jedi candidate, while refraining from disclosing the specifics of their strategy to Skywalker, who expressed apprehension. Skywalker facilitated their connection with Dif Scaur and Ayddar Nylykerka, the directors of New Republic Intelligence and New Republic Fleet Intelligence, respectively, who proceeded to acquire the YVH-M model droids, renowned for their capacity to detect and track Yuuzhan Vong infiltrators. Simultaneously, Calrissian engaged in discussions with Rodan's Senate supporters, offering each a share of the relief supplies intended for the refugees on Mon Calamari—a gesture easily construed as bribery—in exchange for their support in approving the purchase of the YVH droids. Karrde meticulously documented these transactions from an adjacent chamber, and following the bill's approval, they threatened to disclose the recordings to the public unless the senators pledged their votes to Omas. They were shielded from any repercussions should the recordings surface, as they had merely suggested the senators distribute the supplies, not sell them. Karrde further leveraged his intelligence networks to unearth additional incriminating information, which he employed to exert pressure on other senators. Through these machinations, Omas was successfully elected as the New Republic's next chief of state.

Omas initiated the construction of a new administration that embraced the Jedi and formulated plans to confront the Yuuzhan Vong in war. The illustrious Admiral Ackbar emerged from retirement to orchestrate a strategic plan aimed at ensnaring the Yuuzhan Vong in a massive ambush at Ebaq 9. Karrde volunteered his Smugglers' Alliance squadron for the mission and was placed under the command of Han Solo, who was reactivated as a general to coordinate the group with the New Republic military. The contingent was tasked with supporting Admiral Traest Kre'fey's fleet, and Karrde commanded the Wild Karrde during the Battle of Ebaq 9, playing a crucial role in containing the Battle Group of Yun-Q'aah from Ebaq 9. The battle resulted in the destruction of the majority of the Yuuzhan Vong forces, and on Ebaq 9 itself, Jaina Solo vanquished Warmaster Tsavong Lah in single combat. The extraction of her group from the asteroid, the entrance of which had been destroyed, took a week. Karrde remained in the system throughout the entire period and was present to greet Solo upon her return to the fleet.

Omas restructured the New Republic into the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances, which continued to benefit from the Smugglers' Alliance's services, including the recruitment of Bombassa. When Han and Leia Solo embarked on a mission to Caluula, Karrde, Terrik, and Calrissian arrived aboard the Errant Venture to assist in their extraction. Upon their arrival, they discovered that the world had been ravaged by the Alpha Red virus, a bioweapon engineered by the Galactic Alliance to eliminate Yuuzhan Vong life forms and deployed on Caluula as a test of its efficacy. Appalled by the use of the bioweapon and concerned about potential repercussions, including the infection of life forms indigenous to the galaxy, Karrde instructed the Errant Venture to intercept and destroy any infected vessels attempting to escape. However, one ship had already evaded their blockade. Karrde and his Smugglers' Alliance allies accompanied the Solos to the living world of Zonama Sekot, which had entered orbit in the Coruscant system. The Yuuzhan Vong, who regarded it as a harbinger of doom, were so unnerved by its presence that it became safe for Galactic Alliance forces to land, despite being situated in the heart of Yuuzhan Vong territory.

When the Galactic Alliance initiated an invasion of Coruscant to reclaim the planet, Karrde's Smugglers' Alliance contingent participated. They observed silently as the colossal Galactic Alliance fleet engaged Warmaster Nas Choka's defenses, awaiting their opportunity to act. Karrde detected a small fleet breaking away from the main enemy force and heading towards Zonama Sekot. He alerted the Jedi on Sekot and immediately jumped his force to the planet's defense, where they were joined by the Hapan war fleet. Despite their efforts, they were outmatched and unable to prevent Sekot from being subjected to strafing attacks. However, Karrde and Calrissian did their utmost to hunt down the harassing ships. To their astonishment, they were pulled from the sky by Sekotan vessels. Upon disembarking, Karrde was stunned to witness the Yuuzhan Vong being similarly pulled down, where their biotic weapons abandoned them to merge with Sekot's consciousness, compelling the warriors to surrender. Meanwhile, Skywalker confronted and killed Supreme Overlord Shimrra Jamaane in battle, while Jacen Solo eliminated the true power behind the throne, Onimi. Faced with the demise of their leadership and the presence of the religiously significant living world Sekot, Choka surrendered, bringing an end to the war.

Karrde remained in the system as reclamation and pacification efforts commenced, providing assistance in various tasks and establishing his base on Sekot. On one occasion, while spending downtime with Han Solo, Terrik, and Bombaasa, Calrissian arrived and began sharing his brandy. Generals Antilles and Tycho Celchu soon joined them, and a small gathering of old friends ensued, during which they reflected on the transformative impact of the war and speculated about the future. Karrde expressed his intention to pursue legitimate profits by aiding in the rebuilding and reestablishment of trade routes.

Karrde maintained his network of informants, and ten years later, as relations between Corellia and the Galactic Alliance grew strained, Jade Skywalker sought Karrde's counsel on how to infiltrate a Jedi strike team into Corellia. The Jedi subsequently employed this advice in an attempt to apprehend the Corellian leaders and compel negotiations. Tensions eventually escalated into war, with Corellia joined by a Confederation of worlds also seeking independence from the Galactic Alliance. Jacen Solo established a new secret police force, the Galactic Alliance Guard, and ultimately arrested Omas on charges of treason. He then assumed power as co-chief of state alongside military supreme commander Cha Niathal. Having succumbed to the dark side, Solo caused Skywalker to withdraw his support from the Galactic Alliance. Meanwhile, Jade Skywalker was killed by an unknown assailant, an event that Karrde would have found deeply distressing. Solo declared the Jedi enemies of the state, but Karrde placed his organization's resources at their disposal, providing information, equipment, and information-processing capabilities that aided the Jedi in successfully raiding Solo's Star Destroyer.

In 43 ABY, two years after Jacen Solo, who was revealed to be Jade Skywalker's killer and the Sith Lord Darth Caedus, was defeated, Luke Skywalker was arrested on charges of dereliction of duty for failing to prevent Solo's descent to the dark side. He accepted a plea bargain that resulted in his exile for ten years and his removal from his Jedi responsibilities, unless he could ascertain the cause of Solo's fall. Karrde was among the many sorrowful friends who bid Skywalker farewell from Coruscant.

Karrde was deeply fascinated by information, recognizing its potential as a potent asset, often surpassing brute force in importance. He perceived himself as a refined and cultured individual, eschewing violence whenever feasible, but not hesitant to resort to it when necessary. He possessed a keen sense of humor, which manifested in his penchant for incorporating puns into the names of his ships, and frequently in his pseudonyms as well.

Karrde eschewed ostentatious displays of wealth and power, opting instead to maintain a low profile and avoid attracting potential adversaries. He did not harbor personal grudges, recognizing that enemies could transform into allies if it proved advantageous. He extended friendliness and charisma to both friends and foes. However, this demeanor led many of his contemporaries to perceive him as calculating and mercenary. He also resisted aligning himself with either faction during the Galactic Civil War, preferring to exploit both sides for his own benefit. When he was reluctantly drawn into the New Republic's orbit, he resented his growing entanglement. He continued to serve the New Republic on a strictly mercenary basis, although some believed that he was in denial about his loyalty to the New Republic. However, when the Yuuzhan Vong invaded the galaxy, he unequivocally sided with the New Republic, fighting for his survival.

Karrde adhered to a rigid code of honor, providing sanctuary to all who were his guests, regardless of his personal feelings towards them. He was steadfast in his commitment to keeping his word. He abhorred slavery and kidnapping and refused to engage in either practice. His peers acknowledged this, considering him to be as trustworthy as a fringer could be.

Karrde was fiercely devoted to his personnel and committed to their well-being. Once he made a promise, he was unwavering in his determination to fulfill it, even at significant personal cost. He treated his employees with exceptional care, earning their respect and loyalty in return. He was known as an individual who should not be crossed, and his retribution was widely feared. He would not condone any mistreatment of his people and imposed severe penalties for any harm inflicted upon members of his organization. However, he refrained from hiring bounty hunters, preferring to handle his own dirty work.

Timothy Zahn conceived the character of Talon Karrde for the Thrawn Trilogy. He initially envisioned Karrde as a representation of what Han Solo could have become had he not joined the Rebellion. His organization was also designed as the antithesis of Jabba the Hutt's, with Karrde serving as an honorable and likable leader, inspiring loyalty rather than treachery. Leia Organa Solo explicitly makes this observation in Zahn's Specter of the Past. Zahn impersonated Karrde for the Star Wars Customizable Card Game. Despite the need for hair extensions, Zahn bore a reasonable resemblance to the character.

Although A Credit for Your Thoughts places Karrde's occupation of Myrkr in 4 ABY, the ambiguously canon Star Wars Tales story "Moment of Doubt" alludes to a character being mistaken for Karrde on Myrkr, and Star Wars: Empire at War: Forces of Corruption mentions Tyber Zann receiving Karrde's loyalty if he conquered Myrkr. It is conceivable that Karrde was already based on Myrkr and only learned of the ysalamiri's effect after the events of A Credit for Your Thoughts, but the matter remains unresolved.

Karrde is a Non-Player Character (NPC) in the MMORPG Star Wars Galaxies. At the game's launch in 2003, Karrde was depicted as a wealthy, over-40s Zabrak woman. This error was rectified with the game's first major update.

Zahn has stated that "when he wrote [Karrde], he always envisioned the face and voice of Avon from "Blake's Seven."