Gather ye round, and listen, as I tell the sad tale of Damios the Damnéd...
Damios was a Federation pilot, new to the conflict, but not lacking in heart. Born on an isolated binary system, he learned his craft in the small speeders of his homeworld. On a fine day a few weeks before his Ceremony of Manhood, the Rebel fleet came at last. Nothing was spared their wrath. Whole cities burned with their fury. Damios' family was slain in the first salvos. Embittered, the young pilot swore his life to the overthrow of the Rebels.
Fast forward 5 years. Damios has risen through the ranks, taking command of the Nero - first of the Stealth Cruisers to be born from the desperation and ashes of Engi technology. He and his crew fought bravely from star to star, never flinching or retreating even in the face of tremendous odds. Ship after ship succumbed to the fires of his rage. And so it seemed the small Mantis craft in his sights would surely share the same fate.
Suddenly, strident alarms ring out! Mantis boarders! The sounds of fighting echoed through the labyrinthine corridors of the ship, desperate sounds of struggle, with death or victory the only outcomes. His crew fought valiantly, tearing down at least one attacker in a furious battle. The battle blazed as hot outside as in. The Mantis cruiser tried everything, but the Nero's weapons proved too much. The Mantis ship silently blossomed into petals of fire and twisted metals.
The remaining boarders trebled their efforts, knowing no quarter would be given. The defenders rallied - but one by one they were overwhelmed by the relentless attack. With a terrifying fury, the raiders converged on the cockpit. Damios fled, twisting and jinking as he made his way past blood-covered warriors and burning, spitting systems to the Medibay. There was a sudden stifling of noise, of air. The Mantis had destroyed the life-support systems, sealing their own fate as well as his.
Wounded, the brave pilot fought on. To surrender, to cease, never formed as a thought in his mind. He would take these Mantis with him to his grave; a Captain going down with his ship, as in the histories of old. Straining the life-giving abilities of the decrepit Medibay to their utmost, he held the last Mantis at bay, until at last the vacuum of space choked the life from the chitinous warrior. The ship fell silent; the battle won. Damios cast his gaze about at the destruction wreaked upon his ship. Damaged beyond the ability to restore, the Medibay could keep him alive - but barely. The atmosphere inside the ship continued to leak away, til at last it was exhausted. Damios was trapped.
The Medibay hummed, pushed to its limits. It could keep him alive - but he would be captive, held slave to the life engineered by the Medibots, held in thrall for countless years to slowly turn insane. A difficult choice loomed. In a final superhuman effort, our intrepid hero ran through the airless ship, praying to any and all Gods he could think of. Using what little oxygen was left from the Medibots, he reached the shattered controls of the O2 generators. He fought in a desperate race to repair them before the last of the oxygen failed. Visions swam before him. Doggedly, he plunged on. The darkness inexorably closed in. His last sight would be of the controls lighting up at last, bringing life too late to a ship now crewed by ghosts...