In the year 29 ABY, Galactic Alliance Intelligence orchestrated a mission targeting the war-coordinating yammosk, which the occupying Yuuzhan Vong had installed on Caluula. The Galactic Alliance High Command anticipated that the Yuuzhan Vong would launch an attack on Mon Calamari, the temporary capital of the Galactic Alliance, and believed Caluula would serve as an invasion staging ground.
The governor of Caluula had surrendered the world without resistance, but only if a select group of scientists were allowed to study the Nocturne of the Winged-Stars, a unique natural phenomenon. Consequently, Han Solo, Leia Organa Solo, Kyp Durron, Judder Page, and Wraw, a Bothan Intelligence officer, disguised themselves as the support team for the Ho'Din scientist Meloque. Unknown to everyone except Wraw, the governor's surrender was actually a ploy to allow the Galactic Alliance to test Alpha Red, an airborne pathogen designed to kill the Yuuzhan Vong and their living weapons. Wraw's assignment was to observe and report on the pathogen's effectiveness in the field. Solo, suspecting a hidden agenda, recruited Booster Terrik, a smuggler, to bring his Star Destroyer, the Errant Venture, into the system for support.
Once on the planet's surface, Team Meloque connected with Ferfer from the Ryn Network and Sasso of the Caluula Resistance. Over the next two days, they observed numerous Yuuzhan Vong warriors and biots suffering from illness and exhaustion. After being captured by a squad of Yuuzhan Vong Slayers, they were brought to the minshal where the yammosk was located. There, they encountered Malik Carr, the Yuuzhan Vong Commander, who, along with his soldiers, died due to the effects of Alpha Red.
As Team Meloque tried to understand the situation, Lando Calrissian, Talon Karrde, and Shada D'ukal, all friends of the Solos who had joined Booster Terrik's operation, entered the room. They greeted the team and reported seeing dying Yuuzhan Vong both at the spaceport and throughout the city's streets. Durron, who had previously known about Alpha Red, quickly realized what had transpired. Wraw then casually revealed the true purpose of the mission to the others, expressing his hope that the Slayers who had left the planet would carry the pathogen to Yuuzhan Vong-occupied Coruscant, thus ending the ongoing war. However, his companions recalled seeing dead insects and realized that Alpha Red affected more than just the Yuuzhan Vong. Karrde commed Crev Bombaasa on the Errant Venture, only to discover, to the team's dismay, that a Yuuzhan Vong coralskipper had escaped into hyperspace.