Armitage Armitage was a Human male who lived during the Imperial Period . Hailing from the Colonies world of Faro , Armitage studied as an artist and planned to attend the PanGalactic Arts Conservatory on Miele Nova until he joined the Galactic Empire as an officer in the Imperial Corrections Service . Early in his career , Armitage was stationed aboard the Imperial prison barge " Purge " under the command of Captain Jareth Sartoris . During his time on the vessel , he had difficulty fraternizing with his fellow officers , as his artistic spirit was often at odds with their crass behavior . In 1 BBY , the " Purge " suffered serious damage to its thrusters while transporting prisoners to the corrections facility on the detention moon Gradient Seven , leaving the ship stranded in space in the Unknown Regions . The " Purge " was in fact the prey of the seemingly derelict Imperial Star Destroyer " Vector " , which was being controlled by the undead victims of Imperial bioweapons Project I71A . Believing the Star Destroyer to be a ghost ship , " Purge " Warden Bissley Kloth ordered that a party of Imperial Corrections Officers and engineers board the warship and salvage it for usable parts . Armitage was a member of the ten - man party sent to the Star Destroyer , where he was separated from the rest of his team during his effort to avoid conversation with his colleagues . While exploring the " Vector " , he came upon a laboratory containing a vat filled with Human lungs that he was transfixed upon for a period of time . Before he was able to return to his team and the " Purge " , Armitage was killed by the " Vector " undead inhabitants . Biography . Life with Imperial Corrections . Armitage was a Human male hailing from the Colonies world of Faro . He lived on the world with his younger brothers and sisters and studied as an artist in his youth . Armitage specialized in airpaint mural s and often created works for his siblings with this medium . He hoped to one day attend the PanGalactic Arts Conservatory on Miele Nova , but before this dream was realized , Armitage joined the Galactic Empire and entered into the Imperial Corrections Service . As an Imperial Corrections Officer , Armitage was charged with guarding prisoners of the Empire in various detention facilities . One of his first assignments as a rookie officer was aboard the Imperial prison barge " Purge " , where the young man served alongside stormtroopers and other ICOs under Warden Bissley Kloth and Imperial Corrections Captain Jareth Sartoris . During this time , Armitage ' s talent as an artist went largely unused , save for the few times that his comrades requested that he craft an image of the female form or a beloved piece of machinery from their homeworld , such as a speeder or flitter . When he had the opportunity , the rookie officer made an effort to avoid the company of his fellow ICOs , as his artistic disposition did not mesh well with their generally obtuse conduct . In 1 BBY , the " Purge " undertook a journey to the prison on the Imperial detention moon Gradient Seven . After collecting approximately 500 criminals from across the galaxy , the prison barge began its trek to the moon . Several weeks into the voyage , the prisoners aboard the " Purge " initiated a riot in the General Population level , instigated by inmates Han Solo and Chewbacca . The riot was quickly quelled by ICOs and stormtroopers , and Solo and Chewbacca were removed from General Population to solitary confinement . A short time after the riot , the " Purge " suffered critical damage to its thrusters while traveling through the Unknown Regions . In response to the crisis , Warden Kloth summoned Armitage to his office , alongside Captain Sartoris and fellow ICOs Austin and Vesek . After the three officers met up with Sartoris en route to the Warden ' s office , Austin and Vasek discussed the issues that had befallen the " Purge " and speculated on the chances of the Empire rescuing them . Austin teased Armitage after questioning him on the matter , claiming he would enjoy isolation in the Unknown Regions due to his " artistic temperament . " Austin continued to ridicule the rookie for his manicured and well - tended hair and joked that Armitage had spent extra time arranging it in order to catch the attention of Chief medical officer Doctor Zahara Cody , the lone female aboard the " Purge " . Sartoris silenced Austin , saving Armitage from further derisive remarks from his fellow officers . Upon the group ' s arrival at his office , Kloth explained to the four ICOs that the barge ' s thrusters were damaged beyond repair . As they were still seven days out from Gradient Seven , those aboard the " Purge " were all but stranded in space . Armitage groaned in exasperation upon hearing the news , but his expression of despair was heard only by Sartoris . Kloth continued on to inform the men that the " Purge " navicomputer had scanned the system and detected another Imperial vessel — an Imperial Star Destroyer identified as the " Vector " . Although the " Purge " had attempted to hail the " Vector " to request assistance , the Star Destroyer failed to respond , prompting the prison barge ' s commanders to initiate a bioscan on the vessel . The scan indicated that the destroyer , which was capable of accommodating a crew of 10 , 000 or more , was only carrying ten or twelve living beings . The revelation shocked the officers , who doubted that the Empire would abandon an entire Star Destroyer in the Unknown Regions . Despite Sartoris ' s voiced concerns that the situation was far too risky , Kloth insisted that there may have been a misreading on the part of the " Purge " sensors . The Warden claimed that the " Vector " represented the only hope that the " Purge " had for returning to their scheduled journey to Gradient Seven , and so ordered that Sartoris , Austin , Vesek , and Armitage lead a scouting party up to the Star Destroyer to salvage it for parts that could be used to repair the barge ' s thrusters . Death on the " Vector " . After leaving Kloth ' s office , Armitage and the three other ICOs were joined by four mechanical engineers — Greeley , Blandings , Phibes , and Quatermass . The eight men made their way through the " Purge " administration level toward the pilot ' s station , where a docking shaft had been connected to the underbelly of the " Vector " . Just before entering the tube , they were joined by two stormtroopers , who had been sent by Kloth for extra protection . The ten - man scouting party entered the shaft and were carried upward toward the " Vector " by an interior turbolift . Although they were silent for the majority of the ascent , Austin eventually started a conversation with Vesek and Greeley regarding the derelict destroyer and their plan of action once they boarded it . Sartoris cut in , explaining that the party was to split into two teams of five — he would lead Austin , Vesek , Greeley , and Blandings in the first team , while Armitage would lead the second , comprising Phibes , Quatermass , and the two troopers . The lift reached its destination and deposited the ICOs , engineers , and troopers into the " Vector " main hangar . The men were overwhelmed by the sheer size of the vessel , prompting Sartoris to insist that the two teams keep contact with one another and return to the docking shaft in exactly one hour . As Armitage and the rest of the men prepared to disperse throughout the Star Destroyer , they noticed an array of starships scattered across the far end of the hangar , behind which a dark figure was moving . The figure frightened the men , as the landing bay was supposedly free of life forms . Much to the relief of the scouting party , the dark figure was simply a group of CLL - series binary loadlifter droids continuing their work despite the disappearance of their masters . After the discovery , the two teams split up , with Sartoris ' s team heading for the lower maintenance levels while Armitage led his crew toward quadrant seventeen . In spite of being their leader , Armitage still had difficulty communicating with the engineers and troopers in his team . While the four of them discussed the poor quality of the food in the " Purge " mess hall and speculated on what body parts Dr . Zahara Cody washed in the shower , the rookie corrections officer remained silent . His comrades noticed this and began to imply that his silence was reflective of a displeasure with his career in Imperial Corrections , suggesting that he would prefer a life in the " cowardly " Rebel Alliance . In an effort to escape their contemptuous remarks , Armitage broke off from his team , claiming to be investigating the supply dump on sublevel twelve . Instead , he made his way to Bio - Lab 177 , where he came upon a large vat filled with bubbling fluid , in which small pink organisms floated . After closer investigation , Armitage realized the organisms were sets of Human lungs , all breathing in unison and connected to wires that ran to a monitoring console beside the vat . The peculiar sight intrigued Armitage , who counted at least thirty - three sets of lungs in the vat and noticed that they had all their organs of sound carefully preserved . As he drew nearer , he also realized that a thick , grey fluid was being siphoned out of the organs and into a series of black tanks lining the side of the vat . Armitage admired the strange view for a period of time while the lungs began to breathe more and more rapidly until they suddenly began to emit a high - pitched scream . The noise emitting from the lungs was so loud and difficult to bear that Armitage had to cover his ears . Although Vesek was attempting to contact him on his comlink , the rookie ICO was unable to hear his comrade or explain his situation . As Armitage turned to leave the Bio - Lab , he realized that he was not alone . He was , in fact , in one of several labs in the " Vector " that had been used to research and cultivate Imperial bioweapons Project I71A . The bioweapon had killed the Star Destroyer ' s entire crew and transformed them into undead cannibals who were now stalking the ship in search of victims . Armitage and the rest of his team were assaulted and killed by these creatures while Sartoris led his men back to the " Purge " under the assumption that Armitage ' s team had already returned to the prison barge . Personality and traits . Armitage was an artistically - minded individual from an early age . He began his study of art as a youth on Faro and used that passion to entertain his family . Despite this interest , circumstances resulted in his employment in the Imperial Corrections Service — a far cry from his former dream of attending the PanGalactic Arts Conservatory . While working for the service , Armitage continued to create airpaint murals , but in an extremely reduced capacity , as his fellow officers held little interest in his artistic talents . When they did ask that he produce a work of art , their usual requests were on the subject of females or vehicles . The requests greatly upset Armitage , as he hated painting machinery . The experience drove him away from his artistic pursuits , although the other ICOs still knew him for his background in painting . While serving the Empire , Armitage found it difficult to fit into the culture established by his fellow officers . Unlike the other ICOs , Armitage took some level of care in grooming himself and wore his hair in a pompadour while on the " Purge " . The rookie guard was also unwilling to participate in their mundane and repetitive conversations regarding the " Purge " mess hall food and their sexual objectification of Dr . Zahara Cody . His silence on these matters , in addition to his reputed " artistic temperament " and his well - groomed appearance , earned him callous remarks from the guards and troopers he served with on the prison barge . It was these remarks that caused him to leave his team on the " Vector " while he explored the " ghost ship " alone . Upon discovering the vat of lungs in Bio - Lab 177 , Armitage was immediately dazed by its perplexing beauty , even comparing the organs to small , skinned Angels . He felt as if he had some strange familiarity with the lungs , and as if he were breathing in unison with them as they were breathing in unison with one another . Entirely hypnotized by the sight , Armitage decided that he would paint the vat — which he had dubbed the " lung bath " — at his closest possible opportunity in order to express his emotions of shock and awe . Once the lungs began to scream , his feelings toward the strange experiment changed drastically , and all he wished was to be away from the Bio - Lab . Armitage never escaped and was killed aboard the " Vector " . Behind the scenes . Armitage was introduced as a minor character in the 2009 " Star Wars " horror novel " Death Troopers " , written by Joe Schreiber .