The JS1E1 Virus was a bio-weapon created by the
Karkouri to use against the Terrans
Origins
The JS1E1 virus was a bio-weapon created by the Karkouri Regime in response to the use of a bio-weapon by the Terrans during the days of the Karkouri occupation of 2319-2322 which killed tens of thousands of Karkouri.
JS1 was created taking samples of Terran blood and DNA and grown in a lab, with rogue Terran scientists and doctors aiding in its creation. Terran slaves were often used as test subjects
By 2355, the Karkouri Regime believed that the latest strain, JS1E1 was now stable enough and effective enough to be used as a bio-weapon.
Symptoms and Effects
JS1 affects the subject by partially inhibiting nerve transmissions, causing the victim to suffer muscle spasms, fits and even inducing strokes and a coma.
JS1 initially exhibits as cold or flu like symptoms, with a high temperature, coughing and sneezing. After around 48 hours, the virus will attack the nervous system and the victim will usually become seriously ill and then die within 48-72 hours.
JS1E1 has a communicability rate of 70% amongst humans and an excess mortality rate of 95%. It is only treatable before its reaches the attack on the nervous system, after which all that can be done is to isolate the patient and make them comfortable.
Around 5% of Terrans have a natural immunity to JS1E1.
The St Lawrence Attack
The Karkouri Regime deployed the JS1E1 weapon by detonating several aerosol bombs above the surface of
St Lawrence in the year 2366 during their attack and temporary occupation of the planet.
Around 80 million citizens died from exposure to the virus which was kept under control thanks to a strict military quarantine and fast action by the medical services on the planet.
Hundreds of bodies were brought to a black-site on Earth by the FSI for study, in order to create an antidote.
Thurston Kelic
Thurston Kelic was a former FIS agent with high level security clearance and, as of 2366, he was still operating for the agency on a consulting basis.
What wasn't known by anyone within the FIS or higher government of the
The Federated States was that Kelic had become unstable, filled with hatred and nihilism. He had been co-opted by the Union of Socialist Worlds and had agreed to take part in a terrorist attack against the Federated States.
The Earth Attack
Thurston Kelic successfully obtained workable samples of the JS1E1 virus on Earth and had planned to release them on several sites on Earth to attack the government and to cripple the Federated States. His allieagance to the Union of Sociliats Worlds was really just one of convenience and he did not expect or plan to survive the mission.
Kelic organized unwitting agents to release what they thought were radioactive elements for use of orbital tracking in major cities across the Earth including Dehli, New York, London, Berlin, Beijing and Tokyo.
The Virus spread incredibly quickly amongst the ill prepared and densely packed population of the Earth and the initial outbreaks were somehow missed by the planetary government, in large part due to confusion over the war with the USW.
By the time quarantines were put in place, the infection was burning out of control and around 45% of the planet was infected with the virus. President
Moses Zinn was left with no choice but to quarantine the planet and order martial law to try to restore order.
By the time the virus had been put under control thanks to a heroic and extremely costly effort by the Federated States Emergency Medical Council (FSEMC), 2.6 billion lives had been lost.
In the decades that followed, nearly a hundred million more people died due to fighting, rioting, malnutrition and ancillary outbreaks of previously controlled diseases.
The Earth's population would take hundreds of years to recover
Thurston Kelic was killed by armed police in Berlin and his body was quietly disposed of
Legacy
The JS1E1 attack is, as of 2545, the most devastating terrorist attack in human history and one of the most pivotal moments in the last four hundred years. Earth was so badly damaged by the attack that it ceased to have any sort of functional government for more than ten years and a deep sense of distrust and resentment was fostered by Earthers to all off-worlders
The Union of Socialist Worlds, which never quite officially took credit for the attack, was utterly defeated in the war and its leadership were largely wiped out.
The use of Bio-weapons remains a very controversial subject amongst Terrans as well as all other races in the quadrant.
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