Warning! Spoilers ahead for Star Wars Adventures: Smuggler's Run #2
An Imperial officer comes to a rather important realization the moment her Star Destroyer almost careens into a city when in hot pursuit of the Millennium Falcon. The decision this Star Wars character inevitably makes will determine whether her vessel will blow the city to kingdom come. More importantly, her mentality reveals that she would have undoubtedly saved the Empire and crushed the Rebellion had she played a more crucial role—even serving as Grand Moff Tarkin's superior.
IDW Publishing's Star Wars Adventures: Smuggler's Run follows Han Solo and Chewbacca as they spearhead a mission to save the only surviving member of a special recon group that is in charge of identifying, preparing and securing new bases for the Rebellion. As the series takes place before The Empire Strikes Back, readers can assume that the intel this man has is the key to the Rebels relocating from Yavin 4 to Hoth. Solo later locates this crucial Rebellion asset, but the dynamic duo and their smuggled passenger soon find themselves at the mercy of a Star Destroyer in Star Wars Adventures: Smuggler's Run #2 written by Greg Rucka and Alec Worley with art by Ingo Romling.
Barking the orders aboard the Star Destroyer is Commander Alecia Beck. Much like Solo, Commander Beck faces her own set of problems. She can't simply destroy the Millennium Falcon, though doing so would make her life much easier, as she wishes to squeeze the crucial intel out of Solo's passenger. Also, based on an earlier interaction, she seems to relish in the concept of interrogations and would have undoubtedly enjoyed exposing Solo to the same unpleasant procedures just for kicks. She needs to pull in the ship via a tractor beam, a method she doesn't mind utilizing even at the expense of her TIE fighters.
Solo soon complicates Beck's already annoying predicament when he steers the Millennium Falcon into the planet's atmosphere. Beck later comes to the realization that pulling him into the tractor beam would risk decimating the city and millions witnessing the Empire having murdered so many lives. This could result in some of these witnesses seeking vengeance by joining the Rebellion. Her decision to back off, while a blow to her pride, reveals she could have saved the Empire.
Obviously, many Imperial Commanders in Star Wars didn't seem to worry about witnesses. In fact, some embraced or even relied on this possibility, making their strategies wholly contingent on the idea of people witnessing the power of the Empire. The most famous of these decisions was made by Grand Moff Tarkin when he chose to flex by destroying Alderaan. As he said, "Fear will keep the local systems in line. Fear of this battle station." Turns out, this mindset wasn't very effective. Well, it was for the Rebellion. It can be argued that the very thing Beck feared would transpire did in fact come to pass, not on account of her actions, but those of her colleagues. Following Beck's logic, millions who bore witness to the atrocities perpetrated by the Empire, most especially with the first Death Star, undoubtedly rose up, joined the Rebellion and helped destroy the Empire and bring peace to the galaxy. If Commander Alecia Beck had been in charge, perhaps the Empire could have avoided this fate.