Unidentified radio officer A radio officer served the Galactic Empire on the planet Metalorn during the year 0 ABY . Alongside Governor Corwyth , the radio officer oversaw the hunt for Princess Leia Organa when she infiltrated the planet in the name of the Rebel Alliance . Using a tracking device implemented in a blaster rifle Organa stole , the officer followed the princess ' movements through one of Metalorn ' s factories . The hunt ultimately proved fruitless as Organa managed to use the Empire ' s weapons detection system against them by placing the stolen gun in an ore conveyor to throw off her pursuers . Corwyth tried to blame the failure in capturing Organa on the security system , but when the officer tried to reason that the system itself worked as intended , Corwyth throttled the officer by the collar . Biography . Infiltrator on Metalorn . A human male served the Galactic Empire as a radio officer on the planet Metalorn during the Galactic Civil War . Serving under Governor Corwyth , the officer worked from Monitor Control , a communications hub that oversaw Metalorn ' s security . Due to a combination of Corwyth ' s information control program and the House of Tagge weapons detection system , the factory world ' s populace knew nothing of the Empire ' s war against the Rebel Alliance . During the year 0 ABY , monitor control was paid a visit by Baron Orman Tagge . The visit happened to coincide with a rebel mission to infiltrate the planet and spread the seeds of rebellion . The infiltrator , Princess Leia Organa , eventually stole an Imperial stormtrooper rifle , which triggered a condition red . Another officer reported the situation to Corwyth , who expressed outrage by the rebel attack . After the second officer got a bead on the stormtrooper ' s stolen rifle , Corwyth sent troops in pursuit . The radio officer then monitored both the movement of the troops and the blaster . Meanwhile , the heightened activity in the area was passed off as a drill to the curious populace . Duped . The blaster ' s signal eventually made its way to an ore conveyor , prompting the radio officer to ask if he should order the conveyor to halt . The request was angrily vetoed by Corwyth , who believed such an action would be in the Rebellion ' s favor . The radio officer , however , believed that Organa was intending to sabotage something . Eventually , a platoon of soldiers had managed to reach the smelting bay ahead of the blaster ' s signal in order to cut the princess off . Corwyth was pleased with the development , but in his state of concentration , he failed to notice Baron Tagge slip from the room . Meanwhile , the waiting unit ' s ambush proved unsuccessful : Organa had learned of the rifle ' s tracking device and had ditched the weapon in the ore conveyor . Furious , Corwyth grabbed the radio officer by the collar as he attempted to downplay Organa ' s escape as an unprecedented move of using the Empire ' s technology against them . Corwyth demanded additional units to find Organa . By then , however , Organa had already completed her mission and bested Tagge in a brief duel . Afterwards , she escaped the planet . Personality and traits . The radio officer was a light - skinned human with reddish - brown hair and blue eyes . The officer dutifully followed the movements of Organa and Corwyth ' s men , and reported on the evolving incident as developments occurred . Corwyth derided the man as a fool , however , when the officer suggested a temporary halt to ore transportation in order to capture Organa . Nevertheless , when Corwyth tried to blame the failure to capture Organa based on the weapon tracking system on Tagge ' s security measures , the officer reasoned that the system had indeed worked as intended . Corwyth wanted nothing to do with the contradiction to his word , however , and throttled the hapless officer . Behind the scenes . Created for the comic book " " , an issue of the Marvel Comics " Star Wars " series , the nameless radio officer played a supporting role in the story . " A Princess Alone " was written by Archie Goodwin and illustrated by Carmine Infantino and Gene Day , and was released on December 30 , 1979 . During one panel , the officer can be seen talking to Corwyth shortly before Corwyth angrily grabs the man . However , the speech bubble is drawn so that it emanates from an entirely different character . Given the sequence of events and action of the characters , this article treats the discrepancy as an illustrator ' s mistake .