Project X271 represented an initiative by the Galactic Empire aimed at creating a weapon with the capacity to eradicate all life forms on a given planet. During 7 BBY, the Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Vader, during a tour inspecting various weapon development programs, made an appearance at the research installations located in the Outer Rim Territories. Upon his arrival on the planet Falleen aboard the Imperial I-class Star Destroyer known as the Devastator, Captain Bolvan proposed utilizing weaponry originating from Project X271 to obliterate a rapidly expanding bacterial plague that had escaped from an Imperial bacteriological research outpost. Vader refused this suggestion, instructing Lieutenant Hija to execute a turbolaser bombardment instead, which resulted in the destruction of the laboratories and everything within a forty kilometers radius. This action led to the complete destruction of the bacterium, along with the deaths of 200,000 indigenous Falleen.
The initial reference to Project X271 can be found within "The Lesser Evil," a concise story featured in the Shadows of the Empire Sourcebook, a resource released by West End Games in 1996 and authored by Peter M. Schweighofer.