When an Imperial prison barge goes dark, a Star Destroyer is sent to investigate. Unbeknownst to them, everyone on board is still alive (one way or another), and every single one of them wants off! Join the Legendary Adventures as we encounter the terrifying Death Troopers!
“Yeah, well, we’re on a Star Destroyer, being chased by the living dead. None of this feels right.”
There’s a famous adage that warns us that history tends to repeat itself. Thousands of years prior to the Battle of Yavin, the Sith Empire and the Republic, aided by the Jedi under Grand Master Satele Shan, were at war. The Sith Empire was crumbling: unrest grew amongst the Dark Council, and individual Sith Lords had started to harbor their own private doubts. Belief in the Sith Empire was crumbling, and opportunistic Sith Lords used this as a chance to use their ideas to bolster the Empire – or even become Emperor themselves. Sith alchemist Darth Scarborous studies his magicks at the Sith Academy on Odacer-Faustin. He experiments on promising Sith students, promising them unlimited power. Unfortunately, his experiments only prove to make them monstrous beasts; the students turn from evil Sith warriors to mindless eating machines, bent on consuming everything in their path. Jedi Knight Hestizo Trace contains the virus (and the ghastly students), perhaps even providing a cure for the students. The virus never leaves the planet, and the Sith Empire is never allowed to take over the entire galaxy with these horrid creatures.
Thousands of years later, another Empire led by a Sith Lord is at war with a ragtag Alliance, a rebellion designed to restore the Republic that Darth Sidious had torn down. Rumors spread over the Empire of what the Imperials do with their prisoners. Some become slaves, forced to work on machines that supply a mysterious battle station. Some become employees on the battle station itself. Some are sentenced to countless years of solitude and penalty on prison barges, such as the Purge. These prisoners have no idea what’s in store for them, now more than ever.
Two such prisoners are smugglers Han Solo and Chewbacca the Wookiee. Having been recently betrayed by a close friend, the two are more desperate for work than ever. Even though they avoided Imperial entanglements when they dumped Jabba the Hutt’s spice, Imperial justice soon catches up with them and they are imprisoned on the Purge. Sometime during their stay on the ship, the other prisoners begin to die of mysterious causes. The two use this opportunity to escape, but might wish they hadn’t…
Topside, the crew of the Purge realize that the ship is running out of fuel. They all note how odd this is, considering it’s an Imperial ship going to a top-rated secret facility. No problem, though: luckily enough, a derelict Star Destroyer is floating in space nearby, and agent Sartoris is tasked with retrieving fuel and supplies for the Purge. Like any good horror movie, the crew wonders why the Empire would leave an Imperial Star Destroyer floating aimlessly, but they are satisfied knowing that there are supplies waiting for them. Sartoris’s team boards the Star Destroyer with immediate bad side effects. The crew members start getting deathly ill, and even succumb to fatal disease on the ship. A few Imperials survive on the Star Destroyer, locked away from…something. Sartoris brings a sick crewman back to the Purge, which would strike most, if not all, members of the ship as an extremely bad idea.
The sick crew members’ disease starts to spread to the rest of the prisoners, killing them and reviving them as terrifying monsters. Sartoris notes that the derelict Star Destroyer did have a sealed experimentation room, and surviving crew members of the Star Destroyer confirm terrible experiments had taken place on the ship. The dead prisoners then start raising themselves back to life, attacking other prisoners and trying to consume their flesh.
Satoris and Dr. Cody, the lone woman and doctor onboard the Purge, realize that they are immune to the virus. Han Solo and Chewbacca are mostly unaffected, but Chewbacca’s Wookiee DNA puts him at extreme risk of falling to the virus. A few other prisoners, including failed gangsters known as the Longo brothers, join Dr. Cody, Satoris, Han, and Chewbacca as they seek to escape the ship. Unfortunately, the sick crewpeople need to leave the ship as well – they want to spread their disease across the galaxy. Dr. Cody develops an anti-virus while fending off the undead crewmates, saving the few living members.
The novel never explains how Darth Scarborous’s disease left the Academy. In meta-chronology, Death Troopers was written before Red Harvest, as this novel proved popular enough to warrant a sequel. Or, in this case, a prequel. Either way, this novel does not address how the virus was spread. Instead, it suggests that Sheev Palpatine’s desire for power has led him down the path of hunting Sith artifacts and practicing Sith magic. Darth Plagueis had ideas about how to manipulate the Force to prolong his life. Maybe Sheev thought Scarborous was onto something and hoped to extend his own life here?
You can follow Chris on Twitter @ChrisWerms, and of course, you can follow the Manor on Twitter @MynockManor and Instagram @mynockmanor!
Essential Legends Collection: Darth Bane: Path of Destruction | Darth Bane: Rule of Tw0 | Darth Bane: Dynasty of Evil | Darth Plagueis | Shatterpoint | Kenobi | Rogue Squadron | Rogue Squadron: Wedge’s Gamble | Rogue Squadron: The Krytos Trap | Heir to the Empire | Dark Force Rising | The Last Command | Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter