Evir Derricote Evir Derricote was an Imperial officer best known for creating such devastating bioweapon s as the Emperor ' s Plague and the Krytos virus , which were responsible for the deaths of millions of aliens . A brilliant military tactician and scientist , Derricote commanded the 181st Imperial Fighter Wing , which was considered one of the worst TIE pilot squadrons in the Empire until the arrival of Soontir Fel in 0 ABY . For his role in the Battle of Derra IV , Derricote was promoted to General in 3 ABY and given command of an Imperial outpost on Borleias . Before accepting the post , he was commissioned by Emperor Palpatine to develop a number of species - specific viruses , including the Emperor ' s Plague , which was nearly unleashed by the anti - Human Diversity Alliance almost twenty years after Derricote ' s death . At Borleias , Derricote used stolen Imperial funds to turn an abandoned Alderaan Biotics facility into a profitable personal enterprise , and implemented a number of secret defense measures that led to an overwhelming victory against New Republic forces at the First Battle of Borleias . Derricote was hand - picked by Ysanne Isard to develop the alien - targeting Krytos virus , which she hoped would divide the Human and non - Human factions of the New Republic and ultimately destroy the Rebel movement . When the virus did not live up to Isard ' s high standards , she punished Derricote by incarcerating him in her secret prison aboard the " Executor " - class Star Dreadnought " Lusankya " . There , he was killed by Rogue Squadron pilot Corran Horn , who he attempted to ambush during Horn ' s escape attempt . Biography . Early Imperial service . Early life . Evir Derricote was born on Kalla VII , an Imperial - occupied planet in the Corporate Sector . When he was of age , he entered the Imperial Academy system and , upon scoring in the top two percent in his entrance exams , qualified for the elite Imperial Naval Academy . After the standard 30 months of training , Derricote ranked among the top third of the cadets in his class , which made him eligible for training as a TIE pilot . Although it was during these years he developed the military genius that would eventually serve him in later years , he concentrated his strongest efforts on biological and botanical subjects . Derricote graduated from the Imperial Naval Academy and eventually gained the rank of colonel . Commander of the 181st . Prior to 1 BBY , Derricote served as commander of the 181st Imperial Fighter Wing . Under his command , the 181st was an undisciplined TIE pilot wing widely considered one of the worst in the Empire . The 181st chambers were cluttered and pilots lounged in their undershirts , drank while on duty , and spoke informally to superior officers . The unit was filled with dysfunctional washout pilots who had incurred the wrath of political enemies ; Derricote publicly hinted that he himself made such enemies , but never revealed who they were or what he did to upset them . Derricote not only recognized the wing ' s poor reputation , but he embraced it , dubbing the wing the " One - Eighty - Worst , " and allowing a banner reading " The Emperor ' s Forgotten Ones " to be draped in the pilot ' s quarters . He mocked new recruits for earning the assignment by angering superior officers , and told them the squadrons ' missions were geared towards shame and high fatalities . Derricote did not bother keeping up a clean appearance before his men , often wearing a dirty undershirt and appearing filthy and sweaty due to his gardening work . Derricote made no effort to improve the discipline or performance of the 181st not only due to indifference , but because he preferred avoiding the attention of the Empire . By maintaining the 181st as a lackluster unit , he was largely ignored by his superior officers , and thus able to pursue his horticultural interests . Derricote spent most of his time in his private greenhouse , which was adorned with dozens of small trees and exotic plants , including mycosia flower s . His work in this so - called " glass house " served as a precursor to future biotic work . Assignment to Dac . In 1 BBY , the 181st Imperial Fighter Wing was tasked with providing defense for the Imperial - controlled Dac , a planet in the Calamari system home to such species as the Mon Calamari and the Quarren . The wing operated primarily out of Heurkea Floating City , which was located on the planet ' s southern territorial zone . In keeping with Derricote ' s leadership style , the pilots were lazy and undisciplined , their living quarters were messy , and they showed no sign of respect whenever their commander entered the room or gave them orders . Likewise , Derricote maintained a disheveled and unprofessional appearance , leaving his collar loose , his uniform partially unbuttoned , his hair messy and his sleeves rolled up . Derricote spent most of his time in his greenhouse , which he dubbed the " nursery " . During this time , Heurkea was secretly infiltrated by a group of Rebels that included Senator Bail Organa , pilot Juno Eclipse and two anti - Imperial resistance leaders , the Mon Calamari Gial Ackbar and the Quarren Seggor Tels . They planned to plant and detonate several explosives around the city that would humiliate the Empire and strengthen the resolve of local resistance movements on Dac . PROXY , a holodroid working with the group , was equipped with advanced hologram technology that allowed him to adopt a wide range of elaborate and convincing - looking disguises . Prior to arriving at Heurkea , PROXY assimilated the Imperial files and obtained information about Derricote ' s physical appearance . Once the group arrived on the planet , the droid disguised himself as Derricote by taking on his appearance and voice . Now posing as Derricote , PROXY pretended that Organa and Eclipse were his informants , and that Ackbar and Tels were captured members of a Dac resistance movement on their way to an interrogation . Initially , the illusion was not persuasive , and Organa and Eclipse were forced to kill two stormtroopers who realized PROXY was a fake . After observing how filthy and poorly maintained the 181st living quarters were , Eclipse realized the problem with PROXY ' s disguise was that he was too clean and well - kempt . After making him appearing sloppier , the disguise was more convincing to the 181st pilots , and PROXY successfully ordered them to launch their TIE fighters and practice honor roll exercises over Heurkea . Meanwhile , Organa and Tels split from the other Rebels , tracked down and captured the real Derricote , who they secured in stun cuffs and brought back to the rest of the group . The Rebels originally planned to take Derricote away from Dac as their prisoner , but they were stopped when two dozen stormtroopers led by Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin surrounded and ambushed the group . Derricote was released and thanked Tarkin for rescuing him , although the Grand Moff showed little respect for the commander and admitted rescuing him was not his first priority . However , unbeknownst to the Imperials , a group of Quarren had already planted explosives , which the Rebels detonated . Because the 181st TIE fighters were performing their honor rolls as the bombs went off , Tarkin and his stormtroopers incorrectly believed they had fired upon the city . In the chaos , the Rebels opened fire on Tarkin and the stormtroopers , who fled the room as a terrified Derricote huddled in a ball in the corner of the room . Satisfied that their demonstration would humiliate the Imperials and embolden the Dac resistance movement , the Rebels decided not to take Derricote prisoner as planned , but rather release him so he could bear witness to what had happened . A suspicious Derricote believed the Rebels would gun him down , but they let him go as promised . The incident further harmed Derricote ' s standing with his Imperial superiors and damaged his career . The 181st pilots were initially arrested by the stormtroopers under suspicion of betraying the Empire and attacking Heurkea , but it was ultimately explained that the explosions were the result of bombs planted by the Rebels , not the TIE pilots . Soontir Fel joins the 181st . In 0 ABY , Captain Soontir Fel was transferred to the 181st after a number of Imperial Academy cadets trained by Fel , including Biggs Darklighter and Hobbie Klivian , hijacked the " Rand Ecliptic " and defected to the Rebel Alliance . Fel was disgusted by the lack of discipline among the 181st and asked Derricote for permission to transform the second squadron , which Fel commanded , into a proper military unit . Derricote did not object , but as the squadron improved , he did not submit the squadron ' s performance numbers to superior officers because he did not want to draw attention to the wing . Nevertheless , the 181st gradually began to improve in quality and reputation , particularly after Fel led his squadron to victory at the Second Battle of Ord Biniir . Since that battle took place on the same day as the Battle of Yavin , a devastating Imperial loss , the Empire propagandized and overplayed the importance of the Ord Biniir victory . In 0 . 5 ABY , the 181st was downsized from a wing to a group , which allowed Fel to use his expertise as an academy instructor to transform it into the Empire ' s most elite starfighter unit . During the next two years , Derricote left all 181st training entirely to Fel , who worked vigorously to prepare the group for a variety of missions . Derricote ' s own reputation improved due entirely to Fel ' s efforts , but Fel gave no indication that he objected to sharing the credit . In fact , he often collaborated with Derricote in his gardening hobby and made suggestions for how to better care for his plants . Eventually , Fel started his own garden , which Derricote helped him maintain . Battle of Derra IV . In 3 ABY , Darth Vader and Grand Admiral Thrawn selected the 181st Imperial Fighter Group to attack a Rebel supply convoy in the Battle of Derra IV . Derricote led the 181st in the battle , but it was Fel ' s training , not Derricote ' s , that led the TIE fighter pilots to victory . Nevertheless , Derricote proved a capable pilot and fighter during the battle , contributing significantly to wiping out the enemy and delivering the fatal blow that destroyed the " Hopskip " , the freighter that was tracked by Thrawn and led to the battle in the first place . Derricote also learned during the battle that he was not only skilled at killing Rebels , but derived pleasure from it . Upon returning to the " Imperial II " - class Star Destroyer the group was temporarily assigned to for the battle , Derricote happily accepted the accolades for the victory , while Fel shied away from them , disillusioned by Derricote ' s hypocrisy in embracing an attack plan concocted by Thrawn — a Chiss alien — despite Derricote ' s speciesism . Emperor Palpatine himself praised Derricote as a hero and presented him a medal for his part in the battle , along with Fel and Turr Phennir , a 181st pilot who destroyed four transports . Derricote was promoted to general and given command of the Imperial forces of the Pyria system , a star system in the Colonies region that included the planet Borleias , where Derricote would set up his base of operations . Fel inherited command of the 181st . Command of Pyria system . Creating the Emperor ' s Plague . In the time between 3 and 4 ABY , prior to assuming his new commission in the Pyria system , Derricote was selected by the Emperor himself to develop a series of devastating bioweapon s . Palpatine , who became familiar with Derricote after the Battle of Derra IV , recognized his biological expertise and commissioned him to establish a series of species - specific viruses , which would be used to wipe out entire races . Only Palpatine knew whether he intended to use these plagues to purge the galaxy of alien races or to simply use them to further exercise control and fear over them . Regardless of the Emperor ' s motives , Derricote accepted the assignment . A headquarters , which would eventually become known as the Emperor ' s Plague Storehouse , was established for Derricote in a secret research facility on an uncharted asteroid in the Deep Core , the location of which was so obscure it took six separate hyperspace jumps and many hours to reach . The depot consisted of a labyrinth of pressurized domes , tunnels and sealed chambers surrounding a central hub with an array of sealed cylinders , tubes and canisters to contain Derricote ' s future creations . Derricote began developing the viruses , which required test subjects from various species . Palpatine provided the general with all the specimens he needed , which included Wookiees , Twi ' leks , Mon Calamari , Quarren and Gamorreans , among countless others . Some of these aliens were dissected in order to give Derricote a better understanding of their biology ; others were used to test the virus samples . All of them died in horrific ways as Derricote slowly finalized a virus for each race . Eventually , although the incubation and response times varied , Derricote developed enough viruses to wipe out all known races in the galaxy . Among these viruses was what would eventually be known as the Emperor ' s Plague , a fast - moving strand that would infect and kill only Humans . Even Palpatine , a Human , considered the virus too deadly and terrible to be used , but he nevertheless had it stored with the others . When Derricote ' s work was complete , Palpatine ordered that all the viruses remain stored in the secret asteroid depot , and the general finally assumed his Borleias post sometime before the Battle of Endor in 4 ABY . Palpatine had the storehouse ' s coordinates removed from the Imperial archives to hide its location and only a few high - ranking Imperials , including Derricote , were even aware of the station ' s existence . Palpatine unleashed a handful of the diseases on some species , but died before he had the opportunity to fully utilize the bioweapons . Borleias and the Alderaan Biotics facility . On Borleias , Derricote discovered a forgotten company named Alderaan Biotics , completely abandoned except for a crew of maintenance droid s that kept it from falling apart . The facility , which specialized in exotic flora from the planet Alderaan , was little more than a tax loss for the parent company in previous years , but the market for Alderaanian goods had blossomed tremendously after the planet was destroyed by the first Death Star . Derricote not only saw an opportunity to generate a considerable profit and pursue his horticultural interests , but also a means of survival amidst the collapse of the Empire , which was beginning to crumble following the loss at the Battle of Endor . Although he still maintained a loose sense of Imperial loyalty , he also felt the Empire was doomed to die after the loss of Palpatine , and he wanted to be prepared for whatever rose to replace it . For all these reasons , Derricote not only decided to keep the venture secret from the Empire , but he siphoned money from the Empire ' s treasury to fund it . He secretly duplicated requisitions , attached intricate routing tags to them and sent them off to multiple commands , creating a series of false orders to funnel enough fuel and funds to run the Alderaan Biotics plant . The facility was soon operational , reaching its fullest production capacity in 5 ABY . Since the operation was illegally subsidized by the Empire , overhead costs were low and the plant generated 2 . 75 million credits over the next 15 months . Derricote invested the money in inventory maintained off - world , further concealing the profits of his secret operation . These investments helped Derricote establish connections for a wide range of goods , including Whyren ' s Reserve Corellian whiskey . Most of the goods , which mainly consisted of foodstuffs , were sold to the refugee Alderaanian population , which would have been viewed by his Imperial superiors as providing aid and comfort to the enemy had it not been kept secret . Although Derricote seldom showed any leadership effort with the 181st , the effort to keep his pet project secret and safe resulted in a complete reversal in his work ethic . Anticipating a future attack against his facility , he moved to improve the defenses by keeping its shield generator in good repair and his TIE fighters at a high level of readiness , and by implemented a training schedule that had his pilots logging enough time for twice their number . Derricote also implemented secret defensive measures , using his stolen funds to add additional TIE interceptor squadrons , ion cannons and a power generator that doubled the shield generator ' s capacity . To conceal his stolen funds , Derricote kept computer security nearly as tight as on Imperial Center itself but , as an extra precaution , excluded information about the base ' s secret defense measures from even his own private office datapads . Bothan spies occasionally sliced into the base ' s HoloNet communications seeking information about the facility , but Derricote kept the spies at bay by secretly feeding them data . Despite his careful precautions , Derricote was realistic enough to understand he could not keep the secret from the Empire forever , but was confident his biotics operation would be valuable enough that his skills would be recognized and his life would be spared . The Battle of Borleias . In 6 . 5 ABY , Ysanne Isard , Director of Imperial Intelligence and " de facto " ruler of the Empire , became interested in Derricote and suspected he could be helpful in her plan to establish an alien - targeting virus , which she hoped to utilize to damage the New Republic ' s relationship with non - Humans . Isard dispatched Imperial Intelligence Agent Kirtan Loor to Borleias to spy on him . Loor , however , was unaware of the reason for the assignment , and falsely believed he was dispatched to defend the planet from a suspected assault by Rogue Squadron . Just prior to Loor ' s arrival , Derricote noticed HoloNet slices by the New Republic were growing in both frequency and length , and sensed that his secret would finally be revealed to the Empire in the near future . Indeed , Loor became suspicious of Derricote ' s new work ethic , which he said was stronger than any Imperial officer outside of the Emperor himself . He recognized that Derricote was working on his own behalf , not that of the Empire , and discovered his secret operation by hacking into secret files in his office datapad , although he failed to discover the secret defense measures . Loor informed Derricote of the suspected Rogue Squadron siege against the Borleias outpost which , if successful , would give them a staging area to launch an attack against Coruscant due to the system ' s proximity to the Galactic Core . Derricote was not only confident his defenses would fend off the impending attack , but he was also looking forward to the attack , anxious to inflict harm on the Rebels as he did during the Battle of Derra IV . When the New Republic forces launched their attack , led by the Bothan General Laryn Kre ' fey and Rogue Leader Wedge Antilles , Derricote instructed his technicians to simulate a gradual failure of the shields . Kre ' fey took the bait , declining to utilize his full arsenal because he did not want to damage the base he hoped to capture , and failing to arrange a proper defensive escort because he wanted to avoid an " unnecessary delay . " As the Bothan ' s shuttle descended upon the planet , Derricote activated the secret shield generators , reinforcing the shield at twice the original strength . He then fired upon the Rebel forces with his ion cannons and launched the TIE Interceptors . Among the casualties were Kre ' fey and two Rogue pilots , Peshk Vri ' syk and Andoorni Hui . The New Republic forces fled and the battle quickly became a decisive victory for Derricote and his Imperial forces . Transfer to Coruscant . As Kirtan Loor planned his departure , Derricote knew the Intelligence agent planned to use the information about the Borleias base to his advantage , but the general showed no signs of concern and even presented Loor with a bottle of Whyren ' s Reserve as a token of appreciation for warning him about the incoming New Republic forces . Derricote expressed confidence that Isard would utilize his base and skills rather than simply destroying them both , and he even went so far as to offer Loor the opportunity to return to Borleias if the Empire collapsed . Loor , who initially underestimated Derricote , was visibly impressed with the general , but did report him to Isard . Upon receiving Loor ' s information , she dispatched a Super Star Destroyer to Borleias to collect Derricote and bring him to Coruscant . Derricote had no desire to leave his Borleias outpost or biotics facility in the hands of Isard ' s people . At the same time , he knew her forces were more than capable of overcoming his defenses , so he agreed and was transferred to Imperial City . Isard ordered Derricote to utilize his biological skills to develop an airborne disease fatal to non - Human species , but treatable with bacta . She then planned to unleash the epidemic upon Coruscant and turn the planet over to the New Republic , which she hoped would collapse due to overwhelming bacta costs and friction between Human and alien species . Isard insisted that if the work was done to her specifications , Derricote would get his Borleias facility back . He accepted , not only because he had no choice , but because the proposal also appealed to Derricote , and was similar in nature to the biological agents he had previously developed for Palpatine . A laboratory was established for Derricote in the lowest levels of the Imperial Palace . The space consisted of stark white and silver surfaces , lacking the exquisiteness of the rest of the palace , but was sufficient for Derricote ' s needs . The labyrinthine stainless steel corridors led to an array of rooms including laboratories with surgical droids for dissecting aliens , and chambers for the subjects fitted with triple - paned transparisteel windows for observation . Each room had negative air pressure to prevent any viruses from escaping the lab in the event of a problem . Loor , as part of his overarching mission to destroy Rogue Squadron , was assigned to provide Derricote with whatever assistance he needed . The Intelligence agent resented having to work with the general , and Derricote , for his part , enjoyed exposing any lack of understanding Loor had of his work . Isard also assigned Diric Wessiri to help with the project , although Derricote was unaware that Wessiri was a brainwashed sleeper agent Isard actually appointed to spy on the general . Mere weeks after Derricote ' s transfer , New Republic forces launched a second attack on Borleias . Due to reconnaissance information collected during the first battle by pilot Corran Horn ' s R2 unit , Whistler , Rogue Squadron pinpointed Derricote ' s power generator at the Alderaan Biotics facility . The Rogue Squadron pilots severed the conduit that sent the auxiliary power to the shield generators and ion cannons , and the base was captured by the New Republic forces . Derricote was distraught and outraged by the loss , complaining that the base would not have fallen if he had been present . Isard disregarded these complaints as " tantrums , " asserting that Derricote would eventually regain control of Borleias and that the capture would mean little in the grand scheme of her plan . Creation of the Krytos virus . Developing the Krytos virus . As Derricote began his work on the virus , he made requisition requests for test subjects , just as he did during his work for Emperor Palpatine three years prior . His first requests were for Gamorreans , who provided a good platform for creating a virus that could also migrate to other species . Isard had subjects rounded up from the Alien Protection Zone , an area of Coruscant where the Empire used to segregate aliens from the Human population . The Gamorreans who were not dissected were used to test the earliest stages of the Krytos virus . The subjects , only slightly ill at first , soon began to develop painful black boils ; eventually , their flesh began to crack and they began running around hysterically as blood oozed from their wounds . While these sights were understandably revolting to most observers , Derricote , who saw similar results during his time at the Emperor ' s Storehouse , took pride in his work and relished in the results , becoming personally offended if anyone expressed distaste for the virus . Soon , Derricote reached his first breakthrough by establishing a form of the virus with an incubation period of one month , which was contagious during the final four days of the infection and was fatal in 75 % of cases . Derricote found , however , that the same genetics that would make the plague transmissible by air would also greatly facilitate a spontaneous mutation that could make it affect Humans . He concluded that the virus , which could survive in the water supply for about one day , would have to be transmitted through bodily fluid . Although a significant step forward , Isard found the results unacceptable , demanding a shorter incubation period and an airborne virus . Derricote knew the latter demand was impossible , but he believed since he was engineering a strain unlike anything the galaxy had known , Isard would eventually drop her unreasonable demands . Derricote found the metabolism of the Gamorreans was too sluggish and requested Quarren subjects , which had less cross - species susceptibility but a higher metabolic rate . These increasing demands for aliens greatly annoyed Loor , especially because Derricote tended to throw tantrums when his requests were not met right away . Isard also began to grow impatient with Derricote ' s slow - moving progress and threatened both his and Loor ' s lives if the strain was not completed in time ; but , recognizing the vital importance of Derricote ' s work , she agreed to all of his demands , provided he cut the incubation period to one week . The Quarren subjects proved extremely helpful , allowing Derricote to lower the incubation period and improve the virus so that only a milliliter of a patient ' s blood could infect an adult . It was during this point in his work that Derricote named the virus " Krytos , " a combination of the world names of the viruses he combined . Derricote began making more demands , this time for a species more similar to other races so he could further develop cross - species infections . He requested a raid on Kashyyyk for Wookiees , but Loor rejected the request because he did not want to eliminate a slave labor source , so Derricote asked for Sullustans instead , because they could serve as a bridge race to Shistavanens and Bothans . While the Sullustan species was also not preferred because its SoroSuub Corporation designed many useful weapons , droids and vehicles , Isard felt the prospect of eliminating Bothans outweighed the disadvantages . Although she agreed to provide Sullustans , Derricote grew impatient and started conducting his own raids on the Alien Protection Zone . He personally reviewed his kidnapped aliens to choose the healthiest possible specimens ; during one such raid , he unknowingly took and infected Aril Nunb , an undercover Rogue Squadron pilot . Loor was furious about Derricote ' s security procedure violations , especially because the subjects were not properly screened and were injected with the Krytos virus before Loor could interrogate them . Loor requested disciplinary action against Derricote , but Isard , pleased with the new strain and Derricote ' s prediction that the incubation process could be lowered , disregarded Loor ' s complaints and took no punitive measures . However , knowing a Rogue Squadron attack against Coruscant was imminent , she did demand Derricote finish the virus to her exact specifications in two weeks . Derricote knew the virus would continue to resist airborne transmission , but still believed his unprecedented work would please Isard in the end . Dissatisfaction with the Krytos virus . By the end of the two week deadline , however , the incubation period was still twelve days , longer than Derricote had anticipated . Isard grew furious , especially about the lack of airborne transmission , and demanded Derricote begin the replication of the current virus strains and release them into the water supply . The general said he believed in four more days he would have enough of the strain to infect the whole planet , but Isard gave him no such time , and Loor demanded that he put even his still - experimental versions into the water supply because he no longer trusted Derricote ' s transmission numbers . Loor also unwittingly saved Aril Nunb ' s life when he demanded Derricote use her to test whether bacta would heal the virus on Sullustans , a measure Derricote had argued was unnecessary . Once New Republic forces launched their strike for Coruscant , Isard allowed the planet to fall and released the Krytos virus as planned . The virus killed millions of non - Humans and became one of the most notable and prolific uses of biological warfare in the galaxy . However , the impact of the virus was not as devastating as Isard hoped . The non - airborne virus was already of a milder strain than Derricote intended due to Isard ' s command to release it early , and the effect was further diminished when Rogue Squadron vaporized much of Coruscant ' s water supply during their attack . Many affected aliens were killed before they had the opportunity to spread the virus to others . And , although Isard limited the supply of bacta by taking control of the medicine - producing planet Thyferra , New Republic forces eventually developed rylca as a substitute to treat the Krytos victims . In her anger , Isard blamed Derricote for the flaws of the virus , even those that were out of his control and in no way his fault . She dubbed the general a failure and ordered that he be imprisoned on the " Lusankya " , her " Executor " - class Star Dreadnought buried beneath Coruscant ' s planetary surface . The massive flagship included her private prison for both Rebel and Imperial captives . Derricote was astonished by the punishment , feeling that he not only fulfilled his orders but developed a biological breakthrough , despite Isard ' s unreasonable expectations . Imprisonment at " Lusankya " . Along with his fellow prisoners , Derricote was forced to undergo exhausting and mind - numbing physical labor that included breaking down large rocks into smaller rocks , which was then ground to gravel and moved from one point to another . Derricote was the highest ranking Imperial prisoner at " Lusankya " , but ranks held little importance at the prison , so he realized he needed other methods to insure some level of comfort . He bribed guards with the money from his Alderaan Biotics venture , which he had hidden in numerous secret accounts ; although it did not get him out of labor , he was able to curry some favors , which included obtaining nectars Derricote used to ferment a mild ale . He shared this ale with the prisoners , winning their favor by providing them a pleasure they had long been denied . Regardless of his betrayal and imprisonment by Isard , Derricote remained proud of his Imperial service . He despised the Rebel prisoners and consciously showed little regard for them , speaking often about the superiority of the Empire and bragging about his victory at Borleias , omitting the fact that the world was captured by the New Republic a few days later . Despite these prejudices , Derricote got along relatively well with Jan Dodonna , the Rebel Alliance war hero and highest - ranking Rebel prisoner . He took an immediate dislike to Corran Horn , the Rogue Squadron pilot captured by Isard during the Battle of Coruscant . Derricote found Horn unintelligent and annoying , and nearly provoked a physical fight when he bragged about the deaths of Rogue pilots during the Battle of Borleias . Death . During a labor session , Derricote observed Horn throwing small rocks at the ceiling . Assuming Horn was planning something or attacking one of the guards , Derricote was about to report him before he noticed one of the rocks shot straight up to the ceiling and stayed there . After considering and ruling out several possible explanations , Derricote came to the same conclusion Horn had : the artificial gravity in the prison was rotated and the prisoners were standing upside down relative to the surface of the planet . Derricote realized Horn was using this knowledge to plan an escape , and saw an opportunity for his own freedom . Rather than informing the guards about Horn ' s plan , Derricote decided to tail Horn and catch him in the act , believing he could impress Isard enough that she would set him free . Derricote began watching Horn closely until he finally made his escape attempt , squeezing through a partially open gate . He then bribed a guard for the combination to the gate and followed the Rogue pilot . While Horn was descending a cavern slope , Derricote picked up a shovel and hit him in the back , incapacitating him . Just as Derricote was about to kill the defenseless pilot , he was attacked from behind by Jan Dodonna , who noticed Derricote was missing and had come to warn Horn . Derricote knocked Dodonna back and began to attack him , but Horn took the shovel and knocked Derricote to the ground . With another blow to the head , Horn broke Derricote ' s skull and killed him . Post - death . Post - death and legacy . Horn realized he could not leave Derricote ' s corpse exposed without letting the guards know the secret of the artificial gravity had been discovered , which would have made another escape attempt virtually impossible . Horn dragged the body along with him as he continued his escape , shoving him through several tight doorways and occasionally dropping him to lower levels . Finally , Horn dropped the body down a foul - smelling garbage chute . After giving Horn a sufficient head start , Dodonna reported Derricote missing , prompting Isard to order a search for the missing general . Isard learned of a supposed secret witness in the trial of Tycho Celchu , a Rogue Squadron pilot she had framed for Horn ' s murder , and assumed it was Derricote . She activated Diric Wessiri , her brainwashed sleeper agent now free on Coruscant , to lie in wait outside the court and kill Derricote . Before being gunned down himself , Wessiri ambushed and killed the actual witness , Kirtan Loor , who died disappointed that the assassination order was for Derricote and that Isard did not consider Loor important enough to target specifically . The same Alderaan Biotics facility Derricote so profited from was ultimately utilized by the New Republic to help destroy his Krytos virus . Mirax Terrik , a smuggler and ally to Rogue Squadron , was dispatched to Borleias to help develop the rylca that eventually treated the Krytos victims . Since Terrik was believed to be killed during a strike by Warlord Zsinj on a bacta convoy , she was able to conduct her rylca mission secretly and avoid angering the Thyferran bacta producers into cutting off their medicine supplies . Eventually , enough rylca was treated to obliterate the virus from Coruscant . Derricote and his work did much to fan the flames of anti - Humanism among many alien factions , starting with the Alien Combine , which originally formed in 3 ABY but grew stronger in 6 . 5 ABY in response to the abductions in Coruscant ' s Alien Protection Zone . The Alien Combine , which promoted non - violence where possible but was not averse to resorting to violence against Humans deemed suspicious , was the precursor for the much more dangerous Diversity Alliance , which formed in 24 ABY and often referred to the Krytos virus in promoting its anti - Human cause . The Emperor ' s Plague resurfacing . In 24 ABY , 17 years after Derricote ' s death , an alien scavenger named Fonterrat discovered the Emperor ' s Plague Storehouse and the viruses concealed within . Fonterrat sold the information to Nolaa Tarkona , leader of the anti - Human Diversity Alliance , who planned to use the Emperor ' s Plague to wipe out the Human race . Although Tarkona despised Humans , she described Derricote as a genius and respected him for developing the virus she believed would destroy his own species . Among the various bioweapons at the storehouse was a slow - acting , multiple - species targeting virus labeled the " Krytos Plague . " Derricote developed these plagues more than two years before engineering the Krytos virus that was unleashed upon Coruscant . The Krytos Plague stored in the Emperor ' s Plague Storehouse was either a different virus with the same name , or Derricote somehow smuggled some of the real Krytos virus into the storehouse in 6 . 5 ABY . The Emperor ' s Plague Storehouse , and Derricote ' s legacy , was ultimately destroyed by explosives planted by the young Jedi trainees Lowbacca , Jacen Solo and Jaina Solo . Tarkona escaped with a vial of the Emperor ' s Plague , but soon died from another plague she was exposed to when several of the virus containers were broken open during a firefight . The plague remained with Raabakyysh , Tarkona ' s Wookiee companion , who exiled herself to an unnamed planet in the Outer Rim Territories after realizing the extent of her former master ' s evil . Personality and traits . Evir Derricote was an obese man with a toad - like demeanor , huge double chins and a head of thinning hair . From his outward appearance , others would assume he posed no threat , and Derricote used this to his advantage . He would often present himself in such a manner and posture as to make himself appear fat and stupid to make others underestimate him , a tactic he used successfully against Kirtan Loor while trying to conceal his secret Borleias operations . In reality , Derricote was an extremely cunning and intelligent man . He graduated at the top of his classes in his Academy days , and his vast scientific knowledge allowed him to develop sophisticated bioweapons the likes of which had never been designed before in relatively short periods of time . He was also a military genius who was able to implement defensive measures at Borleias that quickly and utterly obliterated New Republic enemy forces . Derricote was a capable TIE pilot who fought with distinction at the Battle of Derra IV . He never became stressed by the concept of fighting ; in fact , he highly anticipated putting his skills to the test and found genuine enjoyment in killing his Rebel enemies . However , Derricote appeared extremely frightened while in the middle of a gun battle , such as the one that broke out on Dac , where he huddled into a ball and cowered in the corner of the room . Derricote was responsible for the deaths of countless aliens through the bioweapons he designed , especially the Krytos virus , yet he showed little regard for the lives he cost . During experiments in which test subjects died in graphic and horrendous ways , Derricote simply admired his handiwork while other observers nearly became sick , revealing a combination of cruelty , Imperial Humanocentric speciesism and a scientific detachment from his work . Many concluded based on his poor leadership of the 181st Imperial Fighter Wing that Derricote was lazy , but his work ethic at Borleias proved this was not at all the case . Rather , Derricote simply concentrated his efforts on his own personal projects , like Borleias , or projects he found challenging or intriguing , like the Emperor ' s Plague and the Krytos virus . Unlike most Imperial officers who ambitiously sought greater power and authority , Derricote simply preferred to be left to his own devices . He had immense pride in the Galactic Empire and his service to it , but nevertheless had no problem hiding information from them and , indeed , stealing funds from them to serve his personal projects . Following the death of Emperor Palpatine , he did not cling to false notions that the Empire would survive , and began actively preparing for whatever would replace it . Derricote ' s great amount of confidence convinced him that his abilities would sustain him against strict Imperial policies that often rewarded failure with fatal consequences . He understood that his secret , illegally - funded Borleias operations would eventually be discovered , but was confident his superior officers would be impressed enough with his skills to spare his life . Similarly , he expected ( though erroneously ) that Ysanne Isard would be impressed enough with the Krytos virus he designed to forgive him for failing to completely live up to her demands . Behind the scenes . Evir Derricote was created by Michael A . Stackpole for his " X - wing " series , first appearing in " " in 1996 . Stackpole later used Derricote in a " " comic issue , " " , in 1997 . Kevin J . Anderson and Rebecca Moesta also frequently mentioned Derricote in the " Young Jedi Knights " series , which take place over a dozen years after his death in " " .