Quarantine Zone (Dathomir)

After the Battle of Yavin, the Empire was conducting secret and dangerous scientific research in the Imperial Research and Prison Facility on Dathomir, intending to engineer the dreadful Blackwing virus in order to create super soldiers. However, in 1 ABY an accident happened in the Research Facility and the virus escaped containment. The virus killed most of the people in the area and turned them into flesh-craving undead creatures.

In place of sterilizing the area with an orbital bombardment, the Empire promptly established the Quarantine Zone to contain the infection. The Zone itself was surrounded by a tall fortified wall and its access was defended by a contingent of stormtroopers commanded by Lieutenant Liam Waurie. Very few people who survived the initial virus outbreak managed to escape the lockdown, among them were Tyla Gallamby, stormtrooper Tk-216, and Illrian Nhagy The other survivors, mostly Imperial staff and prisoners, were trapped in the Quarantine Zone. They established five camps inside the area, Camp Alpha, Camp Beta, Camp Gamma, Camp Delta and Camp Epsilon, to try to live in safety while waiting for an evacuation. These survivors included Mika Horn, Stephon Sprocketfire, Kyra 'Naa, Lieutenant Erlem Marh, Zsu Val, Jeb Maris, Volo Madine, Tripp D'jek, stormtrooper TR-522, Sogan Varga, Oona Wran, stormtroopers HX-138, KD-121 and GT-643, Nils Cridmeen, and Inquisitor Klex Fulgor. The camps all came under regular attack from the zombies. Moreover, all rescue teams were attacked upon landing in the area and their members were killed before they could find the survivors. Landing in the Quarantine Zone was eventually prohibited and Imperial authorities only tried to support the survivors with supply air drop.

The Rebel Alliance discovered the accident in the Imperial Research and Prison Facility almost as quickly as the Empire itself. Immediately after the outbreak, before the establishment of the Quarantine Zone, a small unit of Rebel troops landed near the Imperial Research and Prison Facility to investigate the place and rescue survivors. However, the Rebel forces were soon attacked by undead stormtroopers and were forced to withdraw. They suffered heavy casualties but managed to retreat to their extraction point. Nonetheless, when some Rebel soldiers started to display symptoms of the sickness, the evacuation mission was aborted and the few remaining Rebels were stuck in the Quarantine Zone.

Doctor Zahara Cody and Trig Longo soon arrived on Dathomir and were dropped in Camp Alpha from the Millennium Falcon by Han Solo and Chewbacca. The four had survived the Blackwing virus outbreak on the Star Destroyer Vector about two years before. Doctor Cody and Trig Longo had decided to distribute to the survivors of the Quarantine Zone an anti-virus developed by Dr. Cody during the Vector incident from her own immunity.

Imperial operations in the Quarantine Zone were supervised by Darth Vader himself. In fact, the Dark Lord was not eager to lose the virus and the research data. He therefore ordered Captain Piett to recruit volunteers in order to enter the quarantine zone and obtain a sample of the virus in the Imperial Research and Prison Facility. In the meantime, the situation was discovered by the Rebel Alliance and the Black Sun criminal organization. Han Solo and Chewbacca were tasked by Mon Mothma to contact Rebel agents and convince them to enter the Quarantine Zone to get the virus before the Empire. On the other hand, Guri, the lieutenant of Prince Xizor of the Black Sun, traveled to the Quarantine Zone as well and recruited unaligned adventurers to find the virus for Xizor. Both the Rebellion and the Black Sun had managed to steal Imperial authorization codes, allowing their agents to enter the Zone.

Once in the Quarantine Zone, all those spacers had to fight against an extensive amount of aggressive undeads. The undeads included Imperial soldiers and prisoners from the Imperial Research and Prison Facility as well as indigenous Dathomiri Witches. The spacers fought and killed a large number of Individuals reanimated by the virus, including Fenn Kay'lay, Vil Burren, Jawiin Danod, Salek Panaka, Snotharr, Navik Geelo, Dugo Evnul, Adol Mantid, Tal Freykaa, Kallaova, Soon Dom, Ool Awmod, Jaina Nassin, Wertsnik, Wesk Kit'pay, Ghianna Hayde, Chak Krist, Treena Moldovia, Vina Maljazara, and Pit Cornburr.

The spacers later reached the Camp Epsilon in the courtyard of the Imperial Research and Prison Facility were they found a contingent of immune stormtroopers led by HX-138. The spacers intended to help the stormtroopers to get their support in finding the virus in the Research Facility. The spacers then entered the Research Facility itself where they were attacked by the most aggressive undead creatures. They even had to fight a giant undead rancor in the depths of the Facility. The spacer also encountered some survivors, including Dr. Nomi Rhane. Finally, the spacers found Doctor Griffax Jin, chief virologist of the Imperial research project, who was still alive. However, the man was infected by the virus and soon turned into a zombie and attacked the spacers. After the scientist was definitely killed, one of the spacers managed to get a sample of the original virus in the lab, and eventually brought it to his employer.

Because of the dangers of the area, those who survived in the area, regardless of whether they were Rebel Alliance-aligned, Imperial-aligned, or neutral, were awarded with the Quarantine Zone Survivor award.

The Quarantine Zone was a location in the 2003 video game Star Wars Galaxies, a massively multiplayer online roleplaying game developed by Sony Online Entertainment and published by LucasArts, prior to its closure on December 15, 2011. The areas surrounding the Quarantine Zone were added to the game with the "Game Update 13," released on September 30, 2009, but it was only with the "Death Troopers" update, released on October 12, 2009, that players could access the area.