Star wars virus

It even struck the Manarai Heights area of Coruscant, leading to public service announcements and awareness campaigns by the Coruscant Health Office. Germ and chemical warfare has been a common and despicable weapon for military forces through the ages but for the agents of the Imperial Security Bureau, such moral concerns were an irrelevance. Vira was synthetically developed to take down its enemies and was fatal without exception.

Only a precise course of injections could counter its effects and as a means of holding sway over an enemy it was devastatingly effective. Imagine, holding the serum to keep a killer disease at bay and the power it would give one individual over another. Occasionally the effects of hibernation sickness lead to death but more often than not they wane and retreat after a day or so.

Potentially the victim could be held for weeks, months, even years in such a frozen state and as such the effects of the hibernation sickness would be worse still. Not strictly a disease, more a side-effect of a traumatic process, but it certainly reminds us to not cross your future in-laws.

Being a largely aquatic species, Mon Calamari children had extra levels of danger to face when growing up. Fatal if not immunized against, the disease would lay dormant for years before exploding inside its host and attacking the nervous system.

By this time it was already too late to save the patient and so a process of immunization was started to inoculate Mon Cal youngsters and bypass the diseases terrible effects. A debilitating disease, this causes so much excruciating pain to its victim that only large doses of the painkiller perigen can hold it at bay, but no medical intervention can cure it.

In the novel, the trainee Jedi Nichos Marr is stricken by the disease and, unable to cure him, his lover Cray Mingla attempts and fails to transfer his consciousness to a droid body, proving that even in the Star wars galaxy there are some things you quan do and some things you quannot….

In a galaxy serviced by automatons for millennia the thought that people might be afraid of droids may seem somewhat akin to having a fear of fridges. But as technology developed and grew, some droids were designed to be more and more human-like in appearance.

This in turn led to the discovery of Eerie Coulee Disorder or ECD , whereby humanoid species felt wary and uncomfortable around such machines. This one might be the most terrifying of the seven. A mere bite or scratch from an infected host and within a span of six to 48 hours you turn into a Rakghoul, a monstrous, mindless creature brought about by a Sith engineered disease concocted by the ancient Sith Lord Lord Karness Muur.

Attempting to cheat death as all Sith do, Muur transferred his will and power into the Muur Talisman, an amulet which could transform nearby sentient beings into Rakghouls and in turn those Rakghouls could infect and turn almost any other sentient being other than Force-sensitives.

Surviving from ancient Sith times through to the era of Cade Skywalker, this was as easily transferred as a firm handshake and was carried by every Rakghoul in existence. Derricote and his scientists began making requisition requests for test subjects starting with Gamorreans, who provided a good platform for creating a virus that could also migrate to other species.

Isard had subjects rounded up from the Alien Protection Zone , an area in Coruscant the Empire used to segregate aliens from the Human population; in fact, Isard believed Derricote's demands to be too conservative and demanded that more aliens be kidnapped than he requested. Some Gamorreans were dissected to give Derricote and his men a better sense of the biology of the species, while others were used to test the earliest stages of the Krytos virus.

Despite the significant step forward, Isard found the results unacceptable, demanding a shorter incubation period and an airborne virus, although Derricote knew the latter demand was impossible. Derricote found the metabolism of the Gamorreans was too sluggish and requested Quarren subjects, which had less cross-species susceptibility but a higher metabolic rate.

Isard also began to grow impatient with the slow-moving progress and started threatening to kill everyone involved with the project, but agreed to all of Derricote's requests, provided he cut the incubation period to one week. The Quarren subjects proved extremely helpful, allowing Derricote to lower the incubation period and improve the virus so that only a milliliter of a patient's blood could infect an adult.

It was during this point in his work that Derricote named the virus Krytos, a combination of the world names of the viruses he combined. The scientists next moved on to a species more similar to other races in order to further develop cross-species infections. Derricote originally requested Wookiees, but Kirtan Loor rejected the request because he did not want to eliminate a slave labor source, so Derricote instead asked for Sullustans because they could serve as a bridge race to Shistavanens and Bothans.

While this species was also not preferred because its SoroSuub Corporation designed many useful weapons, droids and vehicles, Isard felt the prospect of eliminating Bothans outweighed the disadvantages. By then, the growing kidnappings in the Alien Protection Zone was creating an environment of fear and resentment, leading to the formation of an all-alien, anti-Human group called the Alien Combine , which would resort to violence against Humans deemed suspicious.

The Combine did little to prevent the abductions, however, and when Derricote grew impatient he even started conducting his own raids on the Alien Protection Zone for Sullustans. He personally reviewed his kidnapped aliens to choose the healthiest possible specimens; during one such raid, he unknowingly took and infected Aril Nunb , an undercover Rogue Squadron pilot. After liberating Coruscant, the New Republic inherited a world infected with the Krytos virus.

By the time Ysanne Isard's deadline for the Krytos virus ended, she was furious to learn that not only did the virus continue to resist airborne transmission, but the incubation period was a complete twelve days, much longer than Evir Derricote had anticipated, or wanted. Derricote requested four more days in order to develop enough of the strain to infect the whole planet, but Isard's patience had come to an end, and she demanded Derricote begin replication of the current virus strains.

Since the flesh-contract was greater when the virus was ingested, rather than simply via flesh contact, she ordered the virus to be released into the water supply, where it could also freeze into glaciers for a longer effect. Kirtan Loor also ordered Derricote, against his wishes, to release his still-experimental myriad versions because he no longer trusted the general's transmission numbers.

Loor also demanded he test bacta on a few of the Sullustan subjects, a measure Derricote had argued was unnecessary; in doing so, Loor unwittingly saved the life of Aril Nunb. Shortly after the virus was soon released, Isard allowed the planet to fall during the Seizure of Coruscant , with the hope that the New Republic would collapse under the strain of the Krytos outbreak. Meanwhile, Isard herself remained hidden aboard the Lusankya , her secret Executor -class Star Dreadnought buried beneath Coruscant's surface, where she awaited the expected downfall of the newly established government.

Isard also ordered Derricote imprisoned in her private prison on the Lusankya , for his failure to design the virus to her specifications.

Once the twelve-day incubation period ended, millions of Coruscanti aliens began to die, creating waves of panic not only among the infected races, but among Humans and other non-infected species who feared the Krytos virus would eventually spread to them. Resentment quickly grew among the non-Human populations due to the Human immunity, and that resentment made any initial precautions by Human bureaucrats ineffective.

Although Humans and Bothans both volunteered to treat infected citizens, their presence was yet another reminder of their apparent immunity to the disease. The New Republic's entire store of bacta was insufficient to cure all Krytos cases, which further induced panic among citizens. The price of bacta shot up and the New Republic had no choice but to pay to avoid dooming billions of aliens to die. As a result, the newly forming government began to suffer financially, almost to the point of bankruptcy.

As bacta supplies dwindled, the black market began to thrive, even though the quality of the medicine dropped and the prices grew to astronomical heights. Some people started hoarding bacta, which further built a sense of resentment and distrust.

In order to accommodate the shortage of bacta, the New Republic Defense Force became drained of their supply, leaving the military susceptible to attacks by Ysanne Isard and Warlord Zsinj. Visiting Coruscant became an act of extreme bravery, and both the world and ships coming from Imperial Center were quarantined so the disease would not be spread, further disrupting the New Republic's weak economy and damaging its authority.

Some infected citizens believed bacta was simply out of reach to them and failed to seek medical assistance, which resulted not only in their deaths, but in a failure to effectively contain the virus, and consequently, more infections.

Some victims who sought help failed to do so until the virus was so far along that bacta therapy was useless, creating a sense among others that there was no hope of being cured. All of these problems were further perpetuated by military attacks, both abroad and on Coruscant. Kirtan Loor, who was running a pro-Imperial terrorist organization called the Palpatine Counter-Insurgency Front , launched attacks against public locations, bacta supplies and medical facilities. These attacks created a further sense of panic, leaving citizens to choose between seeking a cure or risk falling prey to acts of terrorism.

Loor kept a supply of bacta for himself and sold it in small lots to the New Republic, thus using the government's own money to finance an organization dedicated to destroying it. Conspiracy theories soon emerged regarding the virus.

Although the New Republic tried to inform citizens that the Krytos virus was an Imperial creation, many began to believe that New Republic Humans were encouraging infected aliens to return to their native worlds specifically to spread the disease and kill off entire planetary populations.

Citizens who witnessed failed attempts to treat the virus became convinced that medevac units were actually thinly disguised extermination units that took the sick away and destroyed them. Others accused the New Republic of not providing bacta to those who needed it most, and rumors spread that members of the Provisional Council were practicing favoritism by obtaining bacta for themselves and chosen constituents.

Since the Zaltin and Xucphra Corporations , the two bacta-producing combines on Thyferra , were run by Humans, any batches of bad bacta also ran the risk of non-Humans pointing to another Human conspiracy.

As the Provisional Council began to discuss treatment programs that would be fair to all victims of the Krytos virus, debates raged over the best methods to heal and prevent the disease. Virtually all of the public bacta supply went toward treating infected individuals, which public health officials argued could limit the spread of the disease.

But others, mostly members of uninfected species, argued that a prophylactic use of bacta to prevent the spread of the illness to new populations was the best approach. Bothan Councilor Borsk Fey'lya , seeking to improve his political standing and appeal to his constituents, who were not impacted by the Krytos virus, became the key spokesman for this argument.

He cited reports, which he failed to provide, that claimed a few hours of mist therapy per week would be sufficient to destroy the virus before it had time to incubate.

Fey'lya proposed preventative therapy centers be established to stop the spread of the disease. Public health officials, however, argued there was no proof that pre-exposure bacta therapy could prevent infections. Councilor Leia Organa argued Fey'lya's approach would simply waste much-needed bacta; Admiral Gial Ackbar further countered that it would bring vast numbers of people congregating in an environment where contact with infectious fluids was likely, and that overexposure of bacta could lead to a bacta-resistant strain of the Krytos virus, which could then destroy the entire galaxy.

The Provisional Council instead opted for an approach suggested by Ackbar, which included securing the water supply where the virus started, removing infected glaciers that still had not melted and continuing intensive treatment for infected citizens.

The Council also agreed to Ackbar's proposal to project the image that the Krytos threat could be defeated and treating the virus as an enemy against which everyone was enlisted. This morale-building technique was similar to those used by the Rebel Alliance after devastating losses at the battles of Derra IV and Hoth. Provisional Councilor Borsk Fey'lya created additional unrest by attempting to use the Krytos virus for political gain. Although his treatment proposal was rejected, Fey'lya continued his attempts to improve his political standing in the face of the Krytos virus, so much so that Ackbar even speculated that Isard purposely designed the virus to leave Bothans alive so they could help split the New Republic apart.

Fey'lya made veiled allegations of Humanocentrism and speciesism against Human members of the council, including Organa and Doman Beruss. In private, Fey'lya cited the creation of the virus as an accomplishment of Human excesses. He also unsuccessfully petitioned Rogue Squadron pilot Asyr Sei'lar , a Bothan, to falsely blame the Humans of her squadron for military losses. Although Fey'lya ultimately fell short of the influence he attempted to command during the Krytos scare, his politicking helped create further unrest among both the Provisional Council and the Coruscanti population.

In an attempt to distract the public from the Krytos outbreak, the Provisional Council also politicized the trial of Tycho Celchu , the Rogue Squadron pilot falsely accused of serving as a spy to Ysanne Isard and killing Corran Horn. New Republic officials feared showing leniency toward Celchu would be taken as a pro-Human bias, and hoped his alleged Imperial associations would draw some of the public outrage on Coruscant toward the Empire.

Ultimately, however, defense attorney and fellow Rogue Nawara Ven presented a powerful defense that revealed the weakness of the case, which hurt the government in the eyes of the public even more. During this time, the Vratix , a bacta-producing insectoid race native to Thyferra, wished to be represented in the New Republic government.

The alien species knew it would be impossible because the move would risk the Republic's bacta supply by upsetting the Zaltin and Xucphra Corporations. The companies held a monopoly on the bacta market and the New Republic, which was already suffering financially, could not afford the startup costs to manufacture its own bacta.

The Ashern Circle, a sect of Vratix disenchanted with the Human-controlled bacta cartels, decided curing the Krytos virus would provide their race with an opportunity to join the New Republic. Ashern representative Qlaern Hirf tipped the New Republic off to the location of a large bacta shipment and convoy being stored at a Zsinj-controlled space station , which was subsequently captured by Rogue Squadron.

Rumors began to spread that the government now had enough bacta to take care of all its residents, which, although false, helped boost morale and drop the black market bacta prices. Having earned the trust of Rogue Leader Wedge Antilles , Hirf requested that the commander agree to represent the Vratix before the New Republic in exchange for helping develop a cure to the Krytos virus. Antilles agreed, and was particularly impressed that the race would risk possible infection in order to provide assistance.

General Pash Cracken assisted the Vratix in setting up their secret research on a New Republic outpost on Borleias , a planet in the Pyria system , knowledge of which was concealed even from Mon Mothma. Hirf and the Vratix analyzed the virus and determined that ryll had some effect on the virus, and that the ryll kor classification of the spice could be combined with bacta to form rylca, a medicine strong enough to defeat the virus.

Ryll kor was the rarest of the ryll classifications, and in turn Ryloth merchants rarely exported it, but Antilles was able to secure a significant amount during an expedition to the Twi'lek planet with the help of Tal'dira , a warrior who eventually joined Rogue Squadron.

Word of the trip spread quickly and the Zaltin and Xucphra Corporations became angry, with some even proposing to cut off the Republic's bacta supply altogether, although neither corporation made good on their threats.

The Vratix, a bacta-producing species from Thyferra, developed the rylca that eradicated the Krytos virus. The Xucphra faction agreed to supply the New Republic with a substantial portion of bacta, under the condition that the transfer be disguised as a private transaction with Mirax Terrik , a smuggler secretly working with Rogue Squadron, in order for Xucphra to maintain an appearance of neutrality so it could sell to both sides.

Isard leaked the information to Warlord Zsinj, who destroyed the bacta and presumably killed Terrik. Zsinj sent a HoloNet transmission to Coruscant encouraging the citizens to flock to his banner and claiming he destroyed the bacta because it was tainted by the New Republic in a deliberate attempt to kill the Coruscanti alien population.

His effort was thwarted by Rogue Squadron, which transmitted evidence of the truth behind the attack, but the loss of the bacta was nevertheless a blow to the people's morale. Terrik secretly survived the attack because her ship, the Pulsar Skate , was not present at the bacta transaction, but instead had been ordered by General Airen Cracken to bring the ryll kor to Borleias and allow the Vratix to develop rylca.

Her mission was a secret to everyone in the New Republic except for Cracken, Antilles and the Vratix themselves, and they allowed the public to continue to believe Terrik was dead so she could conduct her mission covertly. The ryll kor was synthesized at the planet's Alderaan Biotics facility, a hydroponics factory used by Evir Derricote before New Republic forces took control of the planet during the Second Battle of Borleias.

Soon, the Vratix were able to use the ryll kor to enhance the alazhi component of bacta, thus creating enough rylca to cure all cases of the Krytos virus.

The rylca was secretly transported to Coruscant and distributed to the infected. Tensions were not immediately soothed among the population due to a governmental accounting office report that indicated less ryll was available than previously expected, leading to rumors that the supply had been stolen. Although New Republic officials assured the public that the shortage was actually due to the fact that the medicine was being well distributed to the people, the Coruscanti citizens were suspicious of governmental lies after years of living under the Empire.

Nevertheless, the rylca was circulated rapidly and, within a matter of weeks, the Krytos virus was eradicated. The quick treatment helped end the resentment building between the New Republic Human and non-Human population, but the Krytos virus had already claimed millions of alien lives by this time. The Battle of Thyferra , the final battle of the Bacta War, a brief conflict that immediately followed the Krytos virus outbreak.

As rylca was being generated to eradicate the Krytos virus, Ysanne Isard committed her forces to support a revolution on Thyferra that placed the Xucphra Corporation in charge of the entire bacta cartel and effectively gave Isard control of both the planet and bacta distribution for the entire galaxy.

Although Mon Mothma assured Coruscanti citizens that the New Republic was generating enough rylca to destroy the Krytos virus, Isard incorrectly dismissed this as Rebel propaganda and believed cutting off the supply of New Republic bacta would allow the virus to ravage Coruscant. The Provisional Council could not order military action against Isard because the revolution was considered an internal Thyferran conflict, and interfering could frighten other potential member states from joining the New Republic.

Wedge Antilles and his fellow Rogue Squadron pilots, however, resigned from the New Republic in order to launch a private assault against Isard, thus launching what would later become known as the Bacta War.

During this conflict, Rogue Squadron launched several hit-and-run attacks against Thyferran bacta convoys and refineries. Although they used the stolen bacta to finance their war, they also donated a great deal of it to the New Republic to help fight the Krytos virus. This bacta was used along with the rylca, and was helpful in speeding up the treatment of the final Krytos cases. Anti-human terrorist groups like the Diversity Alliance, led by the Twi'lek Nolaa Tarkona, used the Krytos virus to further their speciesist doctrines.

Some aliens species that were hit hard by the Krytos virus, like the Baragwin, threw their support behind the New Republic in response to the Imperial-crafted bioweapon. The Alien Combine movement on Coruscant during the virus outbreak was a precursor for the much more violent Diversity Alliance in 24 ABY , seventeen years after the Krytos virus was eradicated.

Nolaa Tarkona , the Twi'lek leader of the anti-Human terrorist group, often referred to the Krytos virus in recruiting aliens and denouncing Humans.