Empire 35 : A Model Officer Empire 35 : A Model Officer is the thirty - fifth issue in the " " series of comics . It was published on September 14 , 2005 by Dark Horse Comics . Publisher ' s summary . " Information obtained from a prisoner captured on Jabiim has set Darth Vader on the trail of the Rebel Fleet . No Alliance defense can divert Vader from his target , and if he is successful it will mean the destruction of the fleet and the end of the Rebellion . " " But there is one small hope for the Rebels , and it all comes down to one man pursuing his duties with an unshakable zeal , and remaining a " model officer " to the end … " " " Iron Man " writer John Jackson Miller joins the " Star Wars " team with this one - shot story of duty , honor , and betrayal within the Empire . " Plot summary . When the crew of the orbiting " Reprisal " destroy a Rebel scout party before they can be questioned as to the location of the Rebel Fleet , Darth Vader is angered and seeks the head of the Star Destroyer ' s commander : Demmings . The officer is proud of the result when questioned , however , so is warned to be sure to take the second group of Rebels known to be in the sector alive . Eventually the Imperials discover and give chase to a Blockade Runner . With the Sith Lord watching over his shoulder , Demmings orders his crew to cut them off and disable the ship with precision shots . Successful , gunner Garil Dox is then told to ready the tractor beam but the Alliance ship explodes in the process . Failed again , Vader chokes Demmings with the Force while in shock from the destroyed vessel . Demmings protests that he was not at fault and cites the destruction of Alderaan as an example of why he will not apologize for the Rebellion ' s dead . Vader suddenly releases Demmings from his grip and commends the gasping Imperial for his bloodlust before reminding him that such traits must defer to the plans of the Emperor . He then orders the commander to follow him . Back on the bridge and now over the Ejolus system , Demmings tells his crew that redemption of their failure will come with a " third " Rebel patrol on the planet below . Their final chance , the commander prepares for a surgical strike that will take the site which for all intents and purposes appears to be an agrarian settlement . Dox is told to use turbolasers targeted precisely at a power generator . The guns fire and the base is completely annihilated , so the Sith then blames the man responsible for all the failures : Garil Dox . Vader reveals the gunner ' s birth on Alderaan and underlying Rebel sympathies as well as informing the crew that when the Dark Lord boarded , Lieutenant Dox had increased firepower in an attempt to hide the location of the Alliance fleet and have loyal Demmings die in the process as scapegoat . Dox confesses , telling Vader that the deaths were worth the price to keep the fleet hidden and he ' s been ready to die since his home was destroyed . Demmings informs him that Alderaanian refugees had set up a hidden colony from the Empire and that he could have visited it , if , Vader adds , Dox hadn ' t just destroyed it . His actions allowing the Empire to remove a traitor and permanently subdue dissidents , Dox pleads for death . Vader , however , commends the actions and ' rewards ' his service to the Emperor by allowing it to continue in an Imperial labor camp . Yet he also laments that for striking in vengeance and his willingness to kill his supposed allies , Dox was well on the way to becoming a model officer .