Sheard Sheard was a human male who served as station commander of Station Control West onboard the Galactic Empire ' s DS - 1 Orbital Battle Station . In the year 0 BBY , the crew of the YT - 1300 light freighter known as the " Millennium Falcon " set off alarms in Detention Block AA - 23 of the Death Star while trying to rescue Prince ss Leia Organa just as Sheard ' s shift was starting . He and the previous shift commander Pamel Poul then attempted to discover what was going on in the detention block and listened to Ensign Toos speak to the smuggler Han Solo , who was trying to convince them everything was fine in the block . Biography . A problematic handover . Sheard was a human male who served the Galactic Empire as a station commander onboard the DS - 1 Orbital Battle Station , sharing command of Station Control West with Commander Pamel Poul . In the year 0 BBY , he arrived in the station control room by turbolift to relieve Poul at the end of her twelve hour shift . They casually saluted each other , and Poul handed over her datapad and informed Sheard of the events of her shift , particularly focusing on the arrival of the YT - 1300 light freighter known as the " Millennium Falcon " in Docking Bay 327 , which fell under their jurisdiction . The freighter had been pulled into the dock by a tractor beam and was holding up incoming traffic while an inspection team led by Captain Edmos Khurgee checked it out . Sheard ordered Ensign Toos to show him the vessel on the main screen and then he , Poul , Toos and Sublieutenant Slallen discussed the heavily modified vessel and Slallen ' s brother . Just as Poul was about to leave , an alarm began to sound and Toos informed the commanders that all the sensor s in Detention Block AA - 23 had just gone down . Unbeknownst to the occupants of Station Control West , the crew of the " Millennium Falcon " had taken out the scanning crew and made their way to the detention block in order to try and rescue Prince ss Leia Organa , who was being held in a cell there . A boring conversation . Poul ordered Toos to open comms , but as the detention block held political prisoner s it had secured comms and so they would have to wait for someone to answer . The smuggler Han Solo , captain of the " Falcon " , answered the comms as he and his allies had already incapacitated the Imperial staff of the detention block . Solo unconvincingly attempted to persuade Toos and the others that everything was fine , but the ensign informed the smuggler that they were sending a squad to investigate . Solo then claimed there was a reactor leak in order to try and dissuade them . Sheard asked who was commanding the detention block , and when Poul answered that it should be Shann Childsen , Toos stated that Solo ' s voice clearly wasn ' t Childsen ' s and asked for the smugglers operating number . Panicking , Solo shot the comm unit with his blaster and ended the conversation . After Poul had Toos verify that there was no reactor leak she ordered she ordered the ensign to send in a security squad and contact Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin . Tarkin initially was not available , but when Sheard declared it a priority red request the Grand Moff answered and upon hearing the alert was from Detention Block AA - 23 ordered that all sections be put on alert . Sheard invited Poul to remain while the situation played out , but she chose to leave and get some rest . The crew of the " Falcon " soon managed to escape with the princess on their freighter and returned her to the Rebel Alliance ' s headquarters on the moon Yavin 4 . The Death Star tracked them there , but was then destroyed above the moon by the Alliance . Personality and traits . Sheard had a thick moustache , and drew a finger along its underside while Poul updated her on the events of her shift . He was surprised to see an YT - 1300 still active in 0 BBY . Behind the scenes . Sheard first appeared in the short story " End of Watch " , which was written by Adam Christopher and published in the " From a Certain Point of View " anthology book on October 3 , 2017 . Sheard shares his name and thick mustache with actor Michael Sheard , who portrayed Admiral Ozzel in .