Four years after the battle of Endor the Stardestroyer Cinatit was cruising through the asteroid fields of Grahhnilk. Her reinforced shields were the most superior in the Empire. Captain Htims was a veteran of the Imperial navy for over 20 years. The Cinatit was on a standard patrol and was due back at base in the next few hours. It was then that disaster struck. A strike force of seven Y-wings and a Mon Cal cruiser appeared from the darkness firing their ion cannons. The blue lightening splayed out across the hull of the ship taking electrical systems with it. The ship reeled away from her course towards a big asteroid. The rebel ships disappeared into the distance as quickly as they came. On the bridge the captain quickly turned to his first officer.
"Lieutenant Murdoch. What can we do?"
"The engineer has just reported that they have the engines on line."
"Good. Helmsman hard to starboard."
"Aye sir." The helmsman began to alter course. The asteroid got closer and closer to them, a fear of impending doom filled the bridge crew. As the ship neared the asteroid it was becoming obvious that maybe they would survive. The asteroid's form slipped towards the port side of the observation point. Murdoch took a sigh of relief. Then it all backfired. The edge of the hull was dragged along the asteroid ripping a hole through it like a knife through silver foil. The airlocks began to shut to automatically. Stormtroopers and crewman were sucked out into space, their bodies suffering the stress and strain of the Vacuum.
"What is going on?" The captain yelled.
"Sir the hull, must have been compromised on the base of the ship." Murdoch yelled. The flames began to become visible over the ship's perimeter.
"Did the airlocks close in time?"
"Yes sir." Murdoch said.
"Captain Htims we have a problem!" Ensign Lowe yelled out.
Captain Htims stepped across the bridge to where Lowe stood. Crewman Narts pointed to his console.
"From this reading I would say that the ship has only a limited time in space."
"What do you mean?"
"Sir the airlocks managed to cut off the vacuum but it is sucking the air out through the ducts. I have tried to erect shields with the minimal power available to do so."
" We must get engineering to get more power on line."
"Sir the projections for the Engineers is in about three hours." Narts said convincingly.
" How long until there is no air on the ship."
"An hour, maybe two. I am sorry Captain."
"How many crew are aboard the ship?"
"I would say some 25,000 souls left." Murdoch said slowly.
"Sir should we not get the crew to the escape pods?" Lieutenant Lightoller remarked to the Captain.
"Mmmmmm?" The Captain said distantly as the whole level of the disaster sunk in.
"Should we not get the crew to the escape pods?"
"Yes, the escape pods."
"Very good sir!" Lightoller saluted and marched from the bridge.
"This is Lieutenant Murdoch to all hands. There is a ship wide emergency, move to the nearest escape pods and try to get as far aft as possible. Also if you can please make your way to the cargo bays and to a shuttle." Murdoch spoke into the intercom.
"Ensign Phillips, send out an SOS, give them our position and dilemma." Captain Htims said calmly to the Communication officer. "And then clear the bridge."
"Sir the Carpathia says she can be here in four hours." Phillips replied.
"Four Hours!" Htims asked.
"Top speed for her sir."
Crewmen left their positions and began to leave their positions and make their way to the turbolifts. Htims marched to the observation point and stared out into space.

In the corridors troopers and crewmen were running to the escape pods and access points. The Melee was getting so bad that no one was getting into the pods. Lightoller was yelling at all the crewmen: "Back, back I say!" His accent was clear and precise and he held his head up in a manor that demanded respect. He drew his blaster pistol and pointed it at the crewmen. "Keep Order. You will board this pod with in quiet single file."
The crewmen stopped pushing and began to form a line. The look of desperation on their faces showed resignation to the upcoming disaster.
"Ensign Lowe. You have command of this pod now" Lightoller ordered.
Lowe snapped to attention and climbed in obeying the order.
"Right, is everyone allright in here?" He said as he climbed in.
Once a pod was full they moved down to the next access hatch.

In the docking bay the crew were just as scared, men trampled over stormtroopers who were abandoning their rifles and just pushing. Lieutenant Murdoch surveyed the withdrawal from the ship with dismay and sighed with disdain. He drew his pistol and pointed it at the advancing troops.
"Freeze all of you! Any of you who push or through a technician out of your way will be killed." Murdoch pointed his pistol at the stormtroopers and low ranking officers. "Technicians and Passengers first."
" Technicians and passengers first." Lieutenant Commander Wilde he was likewise echoing the order. He had also drawn his pistol. "Ensign Moody, come with me." He said. " We must begin work at the other end of the ship." The two officers marched down the corridor and began to help free up the other escape pod.

On the bridge Captain Htims stood alone at the observation point. He turned and strolled along the view ports. His head hung down on his chest, and he was running his fingers over his smooth white beard. He reached the crewpit and walked sombrely down into it and flicked on the intercom.
"Fellow crewmen. I would like to thank you for your dedicated service and for your loyalty to me over the years. I wish you all good luck." He turned and opened the recording tray and entered in a recording, closed the tray and pushed play. He turned around and went to stand before the observation point. A slow melodramatic theme came out of the speakers across the ship.
Crewmen were rigging escape pods, scrambling for the pods, as the vacuum of space got ever closer. Men bundled over the colleagues to get through the doors to freedom.

In the forward section of the ship behind the sealed doors, dead crewmen floated in stillness and bobbed around, their vacuum frozen bodies to remain like that for eternity.

"Get back!" Murdoch yelled at the crew once again. His pistol was aimed at the gathering troops, he took a step backwards but found he was on the edge of the magnetic field emitter.
"Sir you must let us out!" a junior stormtrooper officer yelled out.
"Back all of you!"
One of the stormtroopers fell on the junior officer knocking him forward and fearing he was being charged Murdoch fired killing the officer. One of the medics ran to his side and propped him up, but it was too late. "He's dead sir."
Murdoch stepped backward in shock, his gaze fell to the mans body. He snapped to attention and put his pistol to his head.
"No sir!" the medic ran forward but it was too late. The blaster bolt pierced Murdoch's skull and his headless remains fell backwards out of the magnetic field and intro the vacuum of space. The medic looked after him in sheer disbelief.
He turned his head round to face the crowd. "Back all of you!"

The front part of the ship had been swallowed up by vacuum, dead crewmen floated in the abyss that filled the corridors. Tie fighters flew around the escape pods that had been released shuttles held up formation, filled with as many people as possible. The future looked grim for those still aboard, as the accessible escape pods were filling up quickly and other escape pods were slowly being surrounded by vacuum with crewmen still trying to escape in them. In the docking bay space troopers were throwing themselves out of the magnetic field and into space, where their armour would protect them. The docking bay's atmosphere suddenly became thinner and colder. The medic looked up at the ceiling as crewmen swarmed past him to the last shuttle. The pilot began to shut the doors and crewmen were catapulted through and into the docking bay. The shuttle lifted off with a hum from the repulsor lift and shot through the magnetic field and into space. The crewmen left gazed at each other in horror as they realised that they would all die. They began to drop their belongings and weapons and stood listening to the music over the intercom. The atmosphere began to thin. The end was near. In the forward section of the ship Moody and Wilde were trying to free up another escape pod.
"Quickly, break the seals, cut them open if you have to!" Wilde yelled.
"There's no time!" Someone yelled. The atmosphere began to thin. Troopers and crewmen pushed into the pod and hit activate. The pod shot out into space. Wilde and Moody were immediately killed by the lack of atmosphere. The escape pod was also not completely sealed and several troopers were pulled out into the cold vacuum of space, the remaining troopers managed to seal the hatch and maintain the atmosphere. On the bridge Captain Htims stood watching lights dim all over the ship. His life was nearly over. According to the read outs the 7000 people had got out in shuttles and another 3000 in escape pods of a possible 22500. He shook his head in shame, his failure had caused this. He closed his eyes in thought. An alarm signalled in the background, the atmosphere was beginning to leak out into space. The Captain walked down into the crewpit and pushed a button to rewind the disk and played the first track. A loud theme that played at all major Imperial functions played across the intercom. The feeling of doom overwhelmed him. He stepped up to the observation point for the last time. The air began to thin.

Lightoller stood at the mouth of an escape pod. He knew full well that unless they got off soon they were all going to die. However that did not matter, order must be maintained at all costs. Then his survival came. A group of Stormtroopers who stood quietly muttering to themselves. He had heard the odd words like;
"I don't want to die."
And; "Charge."
He turned around to face a couple of technicians.
"You. Step this way and get into the pod." He looked around at someone in the pod. "Sit down!"
Then it happened. The six stormtroopers charged forward pushing the unwary Lightoller off his feet and into the escape pod. The trooper at the rear of the charge turned around and pushed the activate button and the pod rocketed away from the cruiser.

Deep in the bowels of the ship in the engineering department Chief Engineer Bell was struggling to get his men to escape pods, and maintain power. It was then that one of the technicians fell onto the controls and as the electricity arched through the mans body he shorted out the remaining ships power. Outside The ship descended into gloom.

Out in the gloom Ensign Lowe turned to the communication channel on to two passing shuttle.
"You Men. Pick up our pod. I want you to transfer your people aboard our pod and the other shuttle. According to my scans you are only half full. I will then take the shuttle back and pick up more survivors."
"Yes sir."
Half an hour later the shuttle was speeding towards the debris zone.
"Sir scans are inconclusive. There seems to be no one out there."
"Well keep looking. Check the scanners again."
He flicked the communication relay on to the space trooper frequency and the ship's intercom hoping that someone would have the ability to communicate with him.
"Is anyone alive out there?" He paused "Hello?"
Dead bodies surrounded the shuttle. Bodies of space troopers who had run out of oxygen and bodies of men who had fallen out of the escape portholes or from the docking bay after the magnetic field had failed.
"We left it too long." Lowe muttered mournfully. "Hello?"
A crackle of static came back in reply followed by a weak wheezing.
"What is their position?"
"Thirteen degrees starboard."
"Come about!"
In the return Lowe recovered four of the surviving space troopers.
 

The Victory class cruiser Carpathia arrived four hours later. They rescued all the men in the escape pods and shuttles. However the Tie Pilots and Space troopers were all dead, their oxygen supplies had run out the day before. The bodies were recovered and buried at the near by planet of Halifax.
This story is based on information gleened from vairious websites and the film "Titanic.". No offence is intended in fact quite the opposite it is my memorial to the brave officers of the Titanic. Please do not email me with complaints. 1