Death Troopers

Death Troopers is a novel by Joe Schreiber that was released on October 13, 2009. It takes place about a year before A New Hope.

Back cover
No fate could be more terrifying than being trapped in deep space.

Unless there's something unknown out there with you.

Internal flap
When the Imperial prison barge Purge &mdash; temporary home to five hundred of the galaxy's'' most ruthless killers, rebels, scoundrels and thieves &mdash; breaks down in a distant, uninhabited part of space, its only hope seems to lie with a Star Destroyer found drifting, derelict and seemingly abandoned. But when a boarding party is sent to scavenge for parts, only half of them come back &mdash; bringing with them a horrific disease so lethal that within hours, nearly all aboard the Purge will die in ways too hideous to imagine.''

And death is only the beginning.

The Purge's'' half-dozen survivors &mdash; two teenage brothers, a sadistic captain of the guards, a couple of rogue smugglers and the chief medical officer, the lone woman on board &mdash; will do whatever it takes to stay alive. But nothing can prepare them for what lies waiting onboard the Star Destroyer amid its vast creaking emptiness that isn't really empty at all. The dead are rising, soulless, unstoppable, and unspeakably hungry.''

Behind the scenes
On September 10, 2009, the tie in Death Troopers: Recovered Messages from Purge was released over various Star Wars fan sites.

On October 12, 2009, Star Wars Galaxies released an update in which players could interact with the Death Troopers story.

"'After a mysterious turn of events the Empire has mustered an enormous military presence in a remote location on Dathomir. Imperial High Command has issued a travel warning to notify citizens to avoid travel to the planet if possible. Citizens that cannot avoid travel to Dathomir should be aware that certain locations are now considered restricted areas. Unauthorized travel by citizenry to these restricted areas may result in fines, arrest or both. While rumors have circulated that restricted areas are being used to contain a biological threat, no official report has been confirmed or denied by High Command.'"