Faced with a daring attack on their seemingly unstoppable
Death Star battle station by tiny Rebel starfighters,
the Empire was willing to trust the technological giant to crush the smaller foe. Yet for all its power, the Death Star's ponderous
turbolaser cannons could not track the swift Rebel fighters. One person saw the pride in the Death Star as misplaced --
Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the
Sith. Unwilling to underestimate the Rebel threat, Vader personally commanded a hand-picked squadron of
TIE fighters into battle. As the Imperial fighter craft screamed into space, Vader sat at the controls of his own customized fighter. Unlike the standard TIE, Vader's had larger, angular wings. The rear engine was considerably longer, and the support struts connecting the cockpit ball to the wings were much thicker than standard.
Vader was responsible for the death of many Rebel pilots in the assault. A well-placed shot from the Millennium Falcon's laser cannons destroyed one of Vader's wingmen. In the confusion that followed, the remaining wingman collided with Vader's ship, sending the Dark Lord spinning out of control into space.