Ko Bas

Ko Bas was a Caarite male who functioned as a government employee for the Metatheran Cartel trade organization as the Galactic Republic was coming to an end. Bas's responsibility was to manage a secret installation run by the Cartel beneath the surface of the moon Tilnes in the Cularin system, and he held the title of Overseer of Cartel Operations, Tilnes Special Detachment. Bas had an office within the base, where he kept personalized stationery bearing his name. Circa 21 BBY, the Cartel technician Celis Bol was asked to prepare some bean juice for Bas. Annoyed at having to perform such a trivial task, Bol secretly spit into the drink he had made for him. Bas detected the impurities in his juice using a purifier, and Bol's wages were reduced as punishment.

Four days following the incident with Bol and the bean juice, the Believers Sith cult secretly planted a bomb filled with a virus lethal to Caarites inside the ventilation system of the Cartel Tilnes base, near Bas's office. The cult members aimed to use their pathogen to diminish the influence of the Caarite-dominated Metatheran Cartel and considered the Tilnes base an ideal location to test their viral weapon. Bas was in his office when the bomb exploded, and the blast propelled him against the opposite wall, leaving an outline of his body imprinted on it. The virus rapidly spread throughout the base, infecting Bas and his colleagues, leading to the sudden end of most of the facility's inhabitants. By chance, Bas and two other Caarites, "U" and "G," were not killed by the virus but were instead transformed into large, violent, enraged creatures, bearing little resemblance to their former selves.

Confined within the Cartel facility, Bas and the other two mutants consumed the decaying bodies of the Caarites killed by the virus. They gathered all the bodies, except those in the front area of the base, into a large room on the south side of the facility that was significantly colder than the rest of the structure, to slow down decomposition. The trio mainly stayed in the deeper parts of the base and avoided the main entrance. Despite their efforts to preserve the bodies of the deceased Caarites, the mutants' food supply dwindled over the following days.

Two weeks after the anti-Caarite virus was released, a group of six Human Believers went to the Metatheran Cartel base to assess the results of the contagion's release. Bas ambushed them, killing three of the slower members, though the Believers Aris and Osia escaped the mutant. Bas then devoured the corpses of the fallen cultists.

Three hours after the Believers' arrival, a team of freelance operatives reached the Cartel base to investigate a distress signal sent from the facility. As they entered the base, Bas killed and ate another of the Believers at the far side of the room where he was storing the Caarite cadavers, carelessly discarding a silver case carried by the Believer that contained a fresh sample of the anti-Caarite virus. The operatives eventually found Bas; the mutant was surprised by their arrival and attacked in a rage but was defeated by them.

Before being exposed to the anti-Caarite pathogen, Bas was a cunning, treacherous, ambitious individual. The virus caused significant and grotesque physical changes to his body, making him grow to 2.5 meters tall, with a thick, strong upper body and elongated arms. He developed claws similar to those of a rancor, a predatory reptomammal species, and his head became elongated. His mouth widened, making his smile appear like a hungry grin. His transformation left him angry, hungry, and insane, with little brain function remaining and beyond any reasoning. Despite his madness, he retained some connection to other Caarites and was slightly less hostile to them than to non-Caarites. Bas was physically stronger than the similarly mutated Caarites "U" and "G."

Bas was skilled in martial arts and the use of basic blaster pistols. Besides Basic, he could read and write the languages Caarite and Filordian, though after his transformation following exposure to the anti-Caarite virus, he only retained an understanding of Caarite.

Ko Bas was created by Morrie Mullins and appeared in Caaried Away, a roleplaying game adventure released in March 2003 that was part of the Metatheran Caution trilogy of the Living Force campaign. In the adventure, the player characters play as the freelance operatives who encounter Bas in the Cartel base on Tilnes, and their choices can affect Bas's actions and decisions. If the players choose not to investigate the stricken Cartel base, Bas eventually escapes and reaches a landing bay in Tilnes' spaceport, causing loss of life and leading to a confrontation with the player characters. The adventure suggests various strategies for fighting Bas, either attacking him directly or from a distance with blaster, grenade or Force-based attacks. The player characters can then incapacitate or kill the mutated Caarite.

Bas's fighting ability during his encounter with the freelance agents depends on the player characters' roleplaying experience tier. If the players are in the lower tier, Bas is fatigued, poisoned, and injured from his fight with the last Believer he attacked before the freelance agents arrived, suffering a broken arm. He is too exhausted to run at the player characters but throws rocks and bones and strikes at them if they get too close. If the players are in the middle tier, Bas is still fatigued and unable to run but is not poisoned. If the players are in the upper tier, Bas is only slightly winded from his fight with the Believer and is otherwise in good strength. Bas focuses on attacking the player character he considers the greatest threat.