Empirical The ISS " Empirical " was a mobile research laboratory , a modified cruiser that belonged to Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Vader . Rumored to be one of many such vessels in Vader ' s fleet , the " Empirical " housed the Dark Lord ' s experiments on prisoners and studies conducted on unique alien species . Top - secret , moving only between lifeless star systems in the Outer Rim Territories and escaping even the eyes of Emperor Palpatine ' s spy network , the vessel was crewed by a platoon of Imperial soldiers personally selected by Vader , who monitored the test subjects and eliminated those that escaped confinement before they could get off the ship . One of the many such experiments was Lieutenant Rom Mohc ' s Dark Trooper Phase Zero project , which operated out of the " Empirical " until it was shut down for practical reasons . When Vader ' s apprentice Galen Marek was injured close to death on the orders of Palpatine , Vader brought him to the " Empirical " to be rehabilitated , bringing along Marek ' s ship , the " Rogue Shadow " , and his droid , PROXY . Vader later sent Marek ' s pilot , Juno Eclipse , to the vessel after she was arrested for treason . When Marek awoke after six months , PROXY helped him escape the vessel , kill many of the crew — who thought he was one of Vader ' s experiments and had orders to terminate him — and free Eclipse . Under orders from Vader to remove all evidence that Marek had been there , including the crew , PROXY disabled the ship ' s navigational systems and set it on a course into the Dominus system ' s primary star . Marek , Eclipse , and PROXY escaped on the " Rogue Shadow " as the " Empirical " plunged into the star and exploded . Description . The ISS " Empirical " was a mobile research laboratory owned by Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Vader . A modified cruiser , the " Empirical " was rumored to be one of many similar research vessels in Vader ' s fleet . The " Empirical " purpose was to house Vader ' s experiments on prisoners , as well as study unique alien species . The ship was propelled by five engines , four in the stern and one mounted nearer the bow , on a spur of the ship emerging from its ventral side . It was armed with at least two turbolasers . The vessel was equipped with at least six escape pods , the room for which was accessible by turbolift from other decks , and had a docking bay suitable for berthing a transport - sized ship . The ship also had an intercom system that was operated by an announcer who reported updates on the ship ' s operations . The " Empirical " was a top - secret vessel ; even Emperor Palpatine ' s spy network could not track it . The vessel stuck to lifeless star systems in the Outer Rim Territories , traveling courses between them that had long been forgotten . Medical and experimental facilities . Fitting with its primary function , the " Empirical " had a number of rooms with testing and medical facilities . One such room , located in Sector Ten — the stern of the vessel between its engines — was used to hold Galen Marek during his recuperation aboard the " Empirical " . Marek was kept restrained to a table inside a glassed - off portion of the room , where several medical droids could operate on him . The room began piping in poisonous gas when Marek tried to escape , and the crew was alerted to the security breach . This same room held half a dozen similar operating tables , all of them empty at the time . A nearby room contained a number of chambers filled with a toxic gas . Surrounded by catwalks , it was monitored by several stormtroopers , including EVO trooper s , and watched over from a small observation room by an Imperial officer . Detention cells . Detention cells were located near the bow of the vessel . The detainment area was large and difficult for soldiers to defend from an assault . Force fields could be thrown up to ward off attacks for a time , but they could be taken down by cutting the power . Prisoners were suspended in their cells by magna locks . Though they were usually left to die , those that Vader wanted kept alive were occasionally let down for short periods , in which they were allowed to use the refresher and drink water , but not always eat . History . One of several projects conducted aboard the " Empirical " was the Dark Trooper Phase Zero project , overseen by Lieutenant Rom Mohc . A way to supplement the Empire ' s troop shortage after the shutdown of the Kamino cloning facilities , the Phase Zero project involved taking aging clone trooper veterans of the Clone Wars and , using much of the same cybernetic technology involved in Darth Vader ' s own creation , converting them into cyborgs through the replacement of organs and limbs with cybernetics . Though moderately successful , the Phase Zero project was dismantled when the Empire ' s recruitment picked up . In 3 BBY , Emperor Palpatine confronted Vader on Vader ' s flagship , the " Executor " , over his taking of an apprentice , Galen Marek . To prove his loyalty , Vader impaled Marek with his lightsaber and cast him out into the vacuum of space . Secretly , however , a droid retrieved Marek ' s unconscious body and took him to the " Empirical " . Vader ' s medical droids spent six months rebuilding Marek , as the apprentice lay unconscious . To the rest of the ship , Marek was viewed as another of Vader ' s experiments , and he was designated " Subject Zeta " and " Subject 1138 . " Vader had Marek ' s droid PROXY and ship , the " Rogue Shadow " , delivered to the vessel as well , and to aid in his mission Marek was given a new lightsaber . His pilot , Juno Eclipse , had meanwhile been arrested for treason ; after some time , she too was transported to the " Empirical " , where she feared she would become part of a Sith experiment . When Marek at last awoke after six months , by which time the " Empirical " had moved into the Dominus system , he was greeted by Vader , transmitting his image through PROXY . Vader told Marek that Palpatine believed him to be dead , then assigned him the task of building an army to oppose Palpatine . The Dark Lord threatened to activate the " Empirical " self - destruct sequence if Marek did not comply , but Marek gave in . PROXY , too , had been given instructions , and when Vader cut his transmission , the droid set about fulfilling his orders to help Marek escape , and to eliminate all evidence of Marek ' s survival , including the vessel and its crew . Marek broke out of his chamber , and his room began to flood with poison gas ; he turned it off , but a squad was sent to monitor the situation . An alert was sent through the ship warning that Vader ' s subject had escaped . Having heard from PROXY that Eclipse was aboard , Marek went for her first , slaughtering his way through the crew , all of whom had orders to kill him . PROXY , meanwhile , accessed the vessel ' s main computer , and , determining it was the quickest way to eliminate everyone aboard , set the ship on a course into the system ' s star . The crew of the ship was alarmed when their navigation began malfunctioning , and a series of announcements apprised the rest of the vessel of the deteriorating situation . An evacuation was ordered , but PROXY continued with his work , disabling security systems and , to make sure no crew members made it out , ejecting the ship ' s escape pods . Marek made it to Eclipse ' s detention cell to find several of the ship ' s officers with her , behind a force field . After killing the stormtroopers outside it , Marek brought down the field , eliminated the rest of the crew in the vicinity , and rescued Eclipse from her restraints . He helped Eclipse get to the " Rogue Shadow " , which PROXY had gotten ready , and they evacuated the research vessel . The " Empirical " , meanwhile , continued on its doomed course , exploding as it fell into the system ' s sun . Commanders and crew . The " Empirical " crew was composed of the elite , a platoon of soldiers personally selected by Vader . A wide variety of stormtrooper classes protected the ship , including Shadow Trooper s , purge trooper s , and even the hazardous - environment EVO troopers . A number of interrogation droid s were also used aboard the vessel to watch and control troublesome alien subjects . The vessel ' s complement of soldiers was trained to quickly handle threats that broke out aboard the ship , and they would take any measures to prevent test subjects from escaping alive . Vader also had control of the ship ' s self - destruct , which he could use to exterminate everyone aboard if necessary . The entire crew and vessel were disposable to Vader ; he would ultimately order all their deaths to conceal the survival of his apprentice , Galen Marek . Behind the scenes . The " Empirical " was created for the 2008 multimedia project " " , and appears in all adaptations of " The Force Unleashed " story . The " Empirical " is a level of the for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 ; for the Wii , PlayStation 2 , and all other versions produced by Krome Studios , the events on the " Empirical " occur in a cutscene . In the Xbox / PlayStation version , the room where Marek first awakens has monitors on which the name of Lucasfilm Ltd . employee Victor Tancredi - Ballugera is written in Aurebesh . In the PS3 / Xbox 360 versions of the game , stormtroopers mention that Galen Marek ' s code name on the ship is ' Subject 1138 ' , which is a reference to George Lucas ' first film , " THX - 1138 " . Despite all adaptations of " The Force Unleashed " telling the same story , the events , and even the layout , of the " Empirical " change between them . In both the novel and , PROXY joins Marek as he travels through the ship ; in the game , he leaves for the " Rogue Shadow " and meets Marek there . Different aspects of the ship ' s design also vary between adaptations . For instance , the exterior views shown in the comic and game differ greatly . Similarly , in the game , Juno Eclipse ' s cell is located in an area that looks like the bridge of the vessel ; however , in the comic , it looks very different . The interior design of the " Empirical " was inspired by the sterile , military feel of Imperial facilities shown in the " Star Wars " films . The room Marek awakens in , called " Vader ' s Laboratory , " is reminiscent of the lab in the EmPal SuRecon Center , where Darth Vader ' s body is reconstructed in " " . The general tone of the " Empirical " level in the game was meant to evoke a sense of foreboding and dread for the player .