A pathogenic bomb represented a chemical warhead engineered to combine two main ingredients, resulting in a poison cloud capable of inducing widespread disease within targeted populations. Due to the highly unstable nature of the resultant combination, the ingredients were stored separately until immediately before deployment. In the year 8 ABY, the planet of Kolatill, situated within the Kathol sector of the Outer Rim Territories, became the target of an attack orchestrated by Imperial warlord Moff Kentor Sarne. This assault served as retaliation for Kolatill's rebellion against their Imperial governor, an action taken after Sarne's own expulsion from his capital city, Kal'Shebbol, by New Republic forces. The plan involved dropping pathogenic bombs onto major cities across the planet's surface, but it was ultimately thwarted by the collaborative efforts of the Kolatill Defense Force and the starfighter squadron assigned to the New Republic CR90 corvette named FarStar.
Pathogenic bombs functioned as potent warheads capable of releasing a poison cloud across a broad expanse, thereby facilitating the spread of disease among living beings. Such armaments were comprised of two essential components that, upon mixing, generated a lethal toxin. Given the unstable nature of the resulting concoction, these components were stored separately and only combined right before the bombs were released from the delivery craft's weapons bay. The bombs remained innocuous as long as the components were kept apart.
In the year 8 ABY, the forces under the command of Imperial warlord Moff Kentor Sarne plotted to unleash pathogenic bombs upon the inhabitants of the planet Kolatill, located within the Kathol sector of the Outer Rim Territories. The assault was intended as punishment for the population's defiance of Sarne; the people had overthrown their local Imperial governor, Tetrum, and declared their loyalty to the New Republic after learning that Sarne had lost control of his capital, Kal'Shebbol. TIE/sa bombers stationed on the Ton-Falk-class escort carrier Kathol Protector—which had previously executed an assault on the planet four days prior—were equipped with these weapons and instructed to target cities on Kolatill.
While the Kathol Protector and its TIE/LN starfighters engaged the New Republic CR90 corvette FarStar—which had arrived at the planet to provide aid to the residents of the city of Domaz following the Kathol Protector's earlier attack on the world—in space, TIE bombers carrying pathogenic bombs descended toward the surface. During the ensuing aerial combat between the bombers and the fighters of the Kolatill Defense Force, along with the starfighter squadron assigned to the FarStar, one pilot noticed the presence of the pathogenic bombs aboard the bombers when one of the fighters was destroyed, and the pilot's sensors detected poisonous chemicals within the resulting debris field. Upon realizing that the bombers were carrying chemical weapons, the allied forces intensified their efforts and successfully destroyed the TIE bombers before they could deploy their payloads.
Pathogenic bombs were initially introduced in the roleplaying game adventure titled Omens, which was featured in The DarkStryder Campaign published by West End Games in the year 1995.