Alpha Red (pathogen)

Development and deployment

Vergere, a Jedi, initially sabotaged the project during its early phases. While it was later reconstructed, Cal Omas, the Chief of State, ultimately placed it on hold as a weapon of last resort. This decision came amidst objections from the New Jedi Order, high-ranking members of the Defense Force, and figures within the Galactic Alliance Advisory Council. However, in preparation for the Defense of Mon Calamari, the weapon underwent field testing on Caluula, yielding disturbingly successful results: amphistaffs were rendered unable to harden, vonduun crab armor lost its rigidity, blorash jelly steadily liquefied, yorik coral faded in color, and villips experienced difficulties in transmitting images. Even post-mortem, the Yuuzhan Vong exhibited continued decay, bleeding from their eyes and ears, with their bodies eventually dissolving into liquid.

Side effects

Regrettably, the weapon also underwent mutation, a consequence of its infection across numerous individuals and subsequent adaptation to their unique genetic makeups. This occurred despite assurances from the Chiss that it would not. It began targeting other lifeforms on Caluula, including the planet's distinctive winged-star insects. Appalled by this turn of events, the Galactic Alliance swiftly initiated a quarantine of Caluula to contain the bioweapon's spread. Nevertheless, a single coralcraft, infected with Alpha Red, evaded destruction and escaped to occupied Coruscant. Shimrra Jamaane, the Supreme Overlord, recognized Alpha Red's anti-Yuuzhan Vong characteristics and correctly inferred that the weapon would also affect the living planet Zonama Sekot. In a daring attempt to obliterate the planet, Shimrra devised a plan to crash the infected coralcraft into Zonama Sekot, allowing the virus to gradually extinguish all life on the surface, as well as the world's planetary consciousness. To achieve this, he sacrificed his ships and warriors to maintain the virus's activity for its deadly mission in the upcoming battle. However, Sekot thwarted the attack by deploying a swarm of insectile craft to redirect the infected vessel into deep space. Following the war, the Galactic Alliance destroyed their remaining Alpha Red stockpiles, along with the genetic blueprints.

However, more than a century later, Darth Maladi managed to acquire Alpha Red and refine it into a strain known as Omega Red.