The Consumption

Description
The Consumption is an incredibly dangerous contact-spread virus that has killed millions across the galaxy since its discovery. First uncovered on an abandoned space vessel, the Consumption Virus was at one time the greatest threat to galactic life as a whole. A virus with no known cure, the Consumption has forced the uninfected to turn on their infected brethren in order to prevent the abomination from spreading during several outbreaks.

Discovery
The Consumption Virus was first found on the corpses of dead crewmen on a badly damaged space vessel. Upon receiving the Universal Distress Beacon, the Keg's Ventur'e, a large cruse vessel, set off to discover an apparently abandoned exploration vessel. When members of the crew boarded the abandoned vessel, the uncovered decayed and mold covered human corpses. Little did the crewmen realize that they had stumbled across the most deadly virus in the known galaxy. Inevitably, bodily contact was made with the corpses during cleanup, and the spark was lit; soon, almost everyone on the Keg's Venture were infected by the virus. Survivors fended off the reanimated bodies of the infected as they thoughtlessly charted a course for the nearest spaceport for aid. Upon reaching the spaceport, a galactic hub, the virus spread across the galaxy.

Symptoms
Part of the reason why the Consumption is so deadly lies in the ease of spreading the virus. Upon being in contact with the Consumption Virus, an irreversible chain of events is quickly set into motion. First, the victim immediately blacks out and begins to have severe convulsions as the virus rapidly travels through the skin and into the bloodstream. Infected bodily fluids seep out of orifices as the immune system tries to expel the toxin. The virus then begins to rot away large swathes of tissue and replace it with mold as the brain and nervous systems are overtaken by the infection. After several minutes of convulsion, the body of the victim stops all movement as the Consumption takes total control of the body. Once the virus has total control of bodily functions, the victim essentially becomes a zombie. This mindless being will now aggresively try to kill and infect any creature it comes across, attempting to spread the virus further. Once infected, these creatures will stop at nothing to kill and infect other beings. The zombies must be killed by non-infected people to prevent being attacked, and the bodies must be incinerated to stop the spread of the virus. Because pain receptors are destroyed by the virus, a zombie can lose a massive amount of its body before finally dying; either obliteration or decapitation will kill an infected creature. Even though infected persons become mindless, their extreme aggression and traveling in large numbers makes them an incredible threat.

Outbreaks
Through the galaxy's history, there have been several major outbreaks of this recurring scourge. The first, and greatest of all outbreaks spread to nearly ten systems, killing untold billions of people. This first outbreak, known simply as The Struggle, spread quickly and became so severe on several planets, they were destroyed to prevent further spreading of the virus. The Struggle affected every species in some way, but the Ski-Taar, the Blobs, and the Mrcillians were struck the hardest. Due to their poor isolation and eradication skills, Ski-Taar lost massive swathes of their population. The Blob's struggle was so desperate with the virus, they blew up two of their most loved planets in order to stop the virus. The Consumption wiped out untold numbers of humans as Mrcillian survivors fought back against the infected killers, trying desperately to stay alive. Eventually, like the Blobs, the Mrcillians were faced with the grim reality of being forced to blow up entire planets in order to stop the spread of the Consumption. The planet Bellar, once teeming with life, underwent orbital nuclear bombardment until almost nothing remained. Facing the reality of being overwhelmed, the Humans fought valiantly on, but were gradually losing planet after planet to the infected. However, as cruisers poised above another infected planet, ready to begin nuclear bombardment, reports gradually started coming in from Human fortresses on the surface that the zombies were dying off on their own. This unexplained phenomenon was confirmed on planet after planet. As quickly as the Consumption had taken the galactic stage, it was mysteriously gone. Not for good, however. Many centuries later, after the affected parts of the galaxy had completely rebuilt, another infection was reported in a spaceport. This led to another, far more minor outbreak that was contained after the loss of several million lives on a single planet. Sporadic, minor outbreaks of this virus across the galaxy have continued ever since, but nothing that can compare to the first great Struggle.