Unidentified Imperial commander ( Thyferra ) A Human male officer served as a commander in the Imperial Army . He participated in the search for a rogue Imperial Moff Kalast , who had been feeding the Rebel Alliance with secret information concerning the newest Imperial superweapon , the Death Star . The commander was in charge of the Imperial forces during the attempt to uncover the traitor at the assault on Thyferra . However , the Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Vader soon arrived and assumed command of the commander ' s forces . Although the battle was won , Vader executed the commander for his incompetence in making sure that the Rebels were not alerted to the Empire ' s presence on the planet , which resulted in Vader ' s failure to find the traitor . Biography . A male individual held the rank of the commander in the Imperial Army . At some point between 2 BBY and 0 BBY , it was discovered that a traitor was feeding the Rebel Alliance secret data concerning the latest Imperial project , the Death Star . It was soon revealed that a clue to the identity of that traitor could be obtained from a Rebel base located on the planet Thyferra . The commander was sent there to investigate . Before landing , the commander ' s forces jammed the Rebels ' communications in order to take the enemy by surprise . After landing on the planet , the commander discovered that the Rebels were using an abandoned communications array to receive Imperial transmissions . Meanwhile , Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Vader was personally tasked by Emperor Palpatine himself with finding the traitor . The Dark Lord soon arrived on Thyferra in his personal shuttle . The commander reported to Vader on the mission ' s progress , and Darth Vader , taking the commander ' s forces , went on to destroy the Rebel base and find the rogue Imperial , while the commander remained at Vader ' s shuttle . During the battle , however , Vader discovered that the Rebels had somehow been alerted to the Empire ' s presence . Despite the fact that the battle was won , the Dark Lord failed to find out who the traitor was . Vader confronted the commander near the shuttle and accused him of incompetence . The commander tried to explain that the traitor may have somehow been responsible for the Rebels ' state of alert . Before he could finish , Vader used the Force to choke him to death . The commander ' s failure , however , was only a minor setback for Vader . The Dark Lord soon discovered that the traitor was Moff Kalast and captured him . Personality and traits . When confronted by Lord Vader with charges of incompetence , the commander , a light - skinned Human , tried to justify his failure by putting the blame on the traitor ' s interference . Equipment . The commander wore a traditional Imperial officer ' s uniform , complete with a helmet and chestplate with a commander ' s insignia . Behind the scenes . This officer ' s only appearance was in the 2006 real - time strategy game " " , developed by Petroglyph and published by LucasArts on February 16 , 2006 . The in - game model of Field Commander is used to represent this character . Additionally , he is subtitled as the " Imperial officer " in the game . Grant Albrecht , Rupert Degas , and Timothy Watson are credited as voicing " Imperial Officer 1 , " " Imperial Officer 2 , " and " Imperial Officer , " respectively . Since there is no official indication as to which one of the officers is this one , it may have been either of the three . Although the events of the mission on Thyferra take place before the Battle of Yavin , the commander is depicted as wearing the post - Battle of Yavin style commander ' s rank plate .