Empire 16: To the Last Man, Part 1 represents the sixteenth installment within the Star Wars: Empire comic book series. Dark Horse Comics released it to the public on January 28, 2004.
Despite his failure to complete pilot training at the Imperial Academy, Lieutenant Janek Sunber has transitioned to a role within the ground forces. Sunber initially desired an assignment where he could actively fight against the Rebels. Instead, he is stationed on the jungle planet Maridun, serving within a regiment tasked with supervising the building of a new Imperial base. Just as Sunber accepts the prospect of a monotonous and quiet deployment, circumstances change dramatically. The alien natives are agitated and are now actively seeking Human skulls. Sunber will soon discover a key principle of infantry service: all service demands sacrifice, and within the infantry, that sacrifice frequently involves bloodshed.