Karkaris

"Your aqua droids are no match for the Mon Calamari. What makes you think these secret weapons you've brought from your homeworld will fare any better?"

―Nossor Ri, expressing doubts about the Hydroid Medusas^[7]

Karkaris was an aquatic planet in the Nilgaard sector of the Outer Rim Territories. Its expansive oceans were home to much of the world's biodiversity, including the native Karkarodon species. Despite its prior membership in Galactic Republic, Karkaris declared itself neutral during the Clone Wars and informally aligned with the Confederacy of Independent Systems, with many Karkarodons outright joining the Separatist cause.

Description

Karkaris lay at the far end of the Perlemian Trade Route, in the Nilgaard sector of the Outer Rim Territories,^[1] in grid square S-5 on the Standard Galactic Grid.^[3] Its star system neighbored Mon Cala,^[8] another aquatic planet in the nearby Calamari sector that was home to the Mon Calamari and Quarren.^[6]^[7]

A temperate oceanic world, Karkaris was home to abundant biodiversity. The sentient Karkarodons lived deep in the ocean undercurrents, inhabiting sprawling, decentralized cities that rested in the middle of tectonic plates. The planet's undersea volcanic vents were used to power geothermal plants, which in turn powered the world's industrial economy.^[1] From Karkaris' native undersea life, the Karkarodons engineered the semi-organic war beast known as the Hydroid Medusa.^[5]

Karkaris's oceans were punctuated by small, scattered landmasses, which hosted the planet's spaceports and heavy industry. These areas suffered from thick industrial pollution, threatening to kill off the reefs and poison the environment for the native Karkarodons.^[1]

History

During the Republic Era, Karkaris was a member of the Galactic Republic, and enjoyed representation in the Galactic Senate. However, the Karkarodons were largely uninterested in galactic politics, and their senator had little real authority.^[1] Pulling away from the Republic,^[9] Karkaris declared itself neutral in the Clone Wars. Nevertheless, the Republic recognized that the planet, like the rest of the Nilgaard sector, was unofficially allied with the Confederacy of Independent Systems. The world's aggressive representatives in the Separatist Senate saw the war as an opportunity to expand Karkarodon territory and claim other ocean worlds, like nearby Mon Cala,^[1] and many Karkarodons—foremost amongst them a Karkarodon named Riff Tamson—outright joined the CIS. A legitimate believer in the Separatist cause, which he saw as a way to uplift his people,^[9] Tamson would serve the CIS as a warlord^[10] and commander.^[7] During the Battle of Mon Cala, Tamson and his personal enforcers fought the Republic and the Mon Calamari, further employing Hydroid Medusas sent from Karkaris.^[11]