Shale

Shale attended an Academy to become an officer after enlisting in the military. During his training, he encountered a fellow cadet, Garoche Tarkin, who was the son of Wilhuff Tarkin. Despite their competitive rivalry, they also developed a strong friendship. Shale's connection with the younger Tarkin provided him with insight into Garoche's thinking and introduced him to Garoche's influential father. By the time Shale achieved the rank of captain in the Imperial Navy, he had earned the respect and trust of the elder Tarkin, who had become a Moff.

Shortly after the Galactic Empire was established, Admiral Tarkin disappeared along with his Imperial I-class Star Destroyer while on a mission to pursue insurgents in the Ghost Nebula. This unexpected event led Moff Tarkin to request assistance from the Emperor Palpatine himself. Moff Tarkin, accompanied by Captain Shale, was present when the Emperor summoned his Sith apprentice Darth Vader to the throne room. Tarkin expressed his dissatisfaction with the Emperor's choice of Vader to locate Garoche, citing the Sith Lord's tendency to prioritize hunting Jedi fugitives over his mission objectives. Tarkin openly voiced his lack of confidence in Vader and presented Captain Shale as his contingency plan. Shale was tasked with assisting Vader in the search for Garoche and ensuring the mission's success, even if Vader deviated from the core objective.

Shale assured the Sith Lord of his usefulness in locating Admiral Tarkin, but Vader dismissed him as an annoyance and insisted that he didn't need a "shadow" monitoring his every move. However, the Emperor insisted on Captain Shale's participation, forcing Vader to concede. Consequently, Shale embarked on the mission to find his lost friend alongside Vader and two battalions of the 501st Legion.

Upon reaching the Atoan system within the [Ghost Nebula](/article/ghost_nebula], which was the last known location of Admiral Tarkin, Vader and his Imperial forces initiated their search on the planet Atoa. Shale and the Imperials arrived on the planet's surface in the same gunship as Darth Vader and a contingent of 501st stormtroopers, where they discovered a nearby inhabited city defended by armed soldiers.

While Darth Vader promptly ordered his stormtroopers to assault the city and kill many of its inhabitants, Captain Shale used the Sith Lord's distraction to secretly infiltrate the city with a squad of dark-armored stormtroopers. When a lone enemy soldier ambushed Vader and his troopers from a high vantage point, Shale swiftly incapacitated her with a single, precise strike from behind after he and his men entered the city undetected. Although Shale attempted to take credit for his actions, Vader ignored him and continued deeper into the city with Shale and the 501st in pursuit.

Discovering that the remaining city defenders were fortified in a tower guarded by heavy artillery and snipers, Commander Voca suggested using an AT-TE Walker to destroy the tower without endangering Imperial forces. However, Vader, unconcerned with Imperial lives or resources, prioritized capturing the city's leaders alive for interrogation and opted for a direct assault on the tower. Captain Shale, on the other hand, argued that Vader's objectives could be achieved with fewer casualties. To that end, Shale requested that the Dark Lord create a diversion while he and his stormtroopers infiltrated the tower. After a moment of consideration, Vader agreed.

To ensure the success of Shale's plan, Vader exposed himself to the snipers, surprising his stormtroopers. However, before the snipers could target Vader, the Dark Lord used the Force to generate a massive snowstorm, hurling it towards the tower and blinding the snipers. With the diversion working perfectly, Captain Shale and his men quickly ascended to the top of the tower and easily subdued the snipers, wounding them as instructed by Vader to capture the tower's occupants alive for questioning.

Following the battle, Vader instructed Commander Voca and the 501st stormtroopers to transport the remaining enemy soldiers to a riverbank outside the city. Captain Shale stood by and calmly observed as Vader ordered Voca to burn the city and drown the prisoners after a brief and unsuccessful interrogation. At that moment, a boat carrying white-robed figures approached the Imperials. Before Shale or Voca could open fire, Vader ordered them to stand down. A female priestess disembarked from the boat and greeted Vader and his men as "servants of the Empire." Identifying herself as High Priestess Saro of Atoa, she promised to assist the Imperials in their search.

Shortly after returning to Darth Vader's Star Destroyer, Captain Shale and Lady Saro witnessed the Dark Lord dissecting an Atoan prisoner to intimidate the priestess into unconditional cooperation. During the dissection, Vader made a surprising discovery about Atoan biology, revealing to the repulsed captain that Atoans are literally heartless. In addition to Admiral Tarkin's location, Vader demanded to know how Lady Saro understood Galactic Basic, to which she explained that she had swallowed a stormtrooper's tongue to learn the Imperial language, at the cost of the trooper's life. Before being escorted out, Lady Saro stated that her only condition for cooperation was the Empire's support for her bid to rule the entire Ghost Nebula and that she would provide false leads if Vader attempted to force her compliance.

Captain Shale suggested considering Lady Saro's request, finding it reasonable given that Emperor Palpatine had appointed lesser men as Moffs. Darth Vader disregarded the captain's advice and continued the dissection, prompting Shale to remind Vader that they needed Lady Saro more than she needed them, especially since they had no other leads to Garoche Tarkin's whereabouts. Vader, losing patience with the impertinence, seized Shale in a Force Choke, angrily asserting his authority over the mission. However, Shale defiantly threatened that it would be Vader's last command if he failed and that Moff Tarkin would ensure retribution. After a moment of contemplation, Vader released Shale and left to meditate. When the medical droid inquired whether to proceed with the dissection, Shale saw no need and ordered the droid to dispose of the body in the incinerator.

Once Vader agreed to Lady Saro's terms, provided she swore fealty to the Emperor as her sovereign ruler, the Atoan priestess guided the Imperials to the wreckage of Admiral Tarkin's missing Star Destroyer. Captain Shale assisted Darth Vader and Commander Voca in leading a squadron of V-wing starfighters to investigate the wreckage. However, they were ambushed by Atoan insurgents. Despite being caught off guard, the Imperials quickly gained the upper hand, primarily by exploiting their starfighters' superior maneuverability. After successfully interrogating a few captured insurgents, Shale met with Voca and Lady Saro to discuss the best way to rescue Tarkin.

While analyzing the features of the unknown planet where Tarkin was supposedly held prisoner, Shale deduced that the vast black oceans were actually hot tar pits. When Voca suggested orbital bombardment due to the potential cost of a ground assault, Shale immediately rejected the idea, as it could incinerate the entire planet with Tarkin still on it. While they were still devising a plan to retrieve Tarkin alive, Vader entered the room with a pair of storm commandos and ordered Commander Voca to launch a ground assault. The attack was intended as a diversion while Vader and Captain Shale conducted a stealth attack on the Atoan insurgents. However, unbeknownst to Shale, Vader had secretly obtained the Emperor's approval to assassinate Admiral Tarkin and blame it on the insurgents to further solidify Moff Tarkin's dedication to the annihilation of the Galactic Empire's enemies.

Darth Vader, under the impression that Garoche Tarkin was imprisoned in an insurgent city located on the unknown tar-pit world, instructed the 501st Legion to attack the city using several AT-AT Walkers. Captain Shale, along with a contingent of storm commandos, accompanied Vader and Lady Saro on an Imperial gunship. However, the Atoan city was designed as a mobile structure capable of traversing the tar-pit surface, allowing the insurgents to maintain distance from the approaching Walkers. Consequently, some Walkers were destroyed by the city's defenses, and several stormtrooper squads were lost.

When Captain Shale informed Vader of the casualties from the initial attack, the Dark Lord asserted that the insurgents would be unprepared for a stealth attack, believing they had escaped the Imperials. Once the gunship was within range, Vader led the first squad of commandos into the city, while the second squad followed Shale and Lady Saro. While Vader and his commandos navigated their own path to the prison center, Lady Saro guided Shale and his men. After silently eliminating the insurgent guards without alerting the rest of the ship's crew, both groups converged at the cell where they believed Tarkin was held. However, instead of finding the missing Admiral, Vader and Shale discovered Tarkin's personal protocol droid, which had been instructed to await their arrival. The droid presented a small package as a gift to Vader, as instructed by Tarkin in case Imperials came searching for him. However, the "gift" turned out to be a bomb. When the explosive detonated in Vader's hands, Shale shielded Lady Saro from the blast. Although his armor sustained some damage, Vader remained relatively unharmed. Enraged by Tarkin's apparent betrayal, he informed Shale and Lady Saro that their new objective was to storm the bridge and capture its crew.

After easily surprising the bridge's crew, Captain Shale and the storm commandos killed a few insurgents but took most of them hostage as per Vader's orders; the Dark Lord personally apprehended the ship's female captain. Shale was present at the interrogation where Vader sought information from the captives regarding Garoche Tarkin. However, the insurgent captain's answers failed to satisfy Vader, who began throwing prisoners into the tar-pit, burning them alive. Both the insurgent captain and Shale were horrified by Vader's brutal tactics. When she ran towards Vader as another prisoner fell to his death, Shale shot her in the back, claiming he thought she was trying to attack Vader.

Although the battle proved to be largely futile, Vader began to suspect that Admiral Garoche Tarkin had betrayed the Galactic Empire. He then ordered Shale to sink the city and return to the Star Destroyer with the rest of the 501st. Before Shale could leave, Vader informed the Imperial captain that they would discuss the apparent treachery of Shale's friend, Admiral Tarkin. However, upon returning to the Star Destroyer, Shale initiated his secret plan: deserting the Empire and turning the storm commandos against Darth Vader and the rest of the 501st Legion. When Vader awoke from his sleep, he was surrounded by commandos, all aiming their weapons at him. Enraged by yet another act of treason, Vader assured the commandos that Shale would pay for his treachery.

Before departing the Star Destroyer, the former Captain Shale rescued Lady Saro after killing her guards. Together, they escaped from the warship, but not before planting numerous explosive devices. Meanwhile, Vader survived the attempt on his life and, before killing the last storm commando sent to assassinate him, discovered that Shale had told the commandos that Vader was the traitor for plotting to kill Admiral Tarkin. Consequently, they believed Vader to be a traitor.

When the explosives detonated, rendering the Star Destroyer inoperable, Darth Vader and his remaining 501st stormtroopers evacuated the ship and crash-landed on another unknown planet in the Ghost Nebula. With only a handful of stormtroopers left, including Commander Voca, the Dark Lord led the search for Shale and Lady Saro. A large group of Atoan insurgents caught the Imperials completely off guard. While Vader engaged the enemy in direct combat, Voca attempted to lead his soldiers to safety, only to be ambushed by more insurgents led by Shale. Exhausted and outnumbered, the stormtroopers were in a hopeless situation. Voca inquired as to why Shale had betrayed them, but the former officer only offered an apology instead of an explanation. As the insurgents opened fire on the clones, Shale turned away rather than participate in the execution of his former comrades. Simultaneously, Lady Saro revealed her treachery to Vader, who was subsequently captured by the insurgents after sustaining severe injuries. When he awoke to find himself a prisoner, Garoche Tarkin revealed his new allegiance to Lady Saro and the Atoan insurgents to the Sith Lord.

Darth Vader's captivity was short-lived. He managed to escape and embarked on a rampage, killing numerous insurgents in his path until he confronted Shale. The former Imperial officer attempted to save Garoche Tarkin by killing Vader, hoping to use the Sith Lord's own lightsaber. However, his efforts were futile, and Vader easily overwhelmed him. When Vader accused Shale of high treason against the Empire, Shale proclaimed that the Empire had betrayed him. At that moment, Shale expressed his guilt and remorse for the crimes he had committed in the Empire's name, asserting that his oath was to be a good soldier, but in serving Emperor Palpatine, he had become a slave to a murderous tyrant.

As such, Shale pledged his allegiance to his friend, Garoche Tarkin, who shared similar sentiments regarding the cruelty and injustice of the Galactic Empire. Vader remained unmoved by the traitor's confessions of guilt and remorse. Just as the Sith Lord prepared to execute the ex-captain, Shale revealed several explosive devices strapped to his torso. He activated the explosives, intending to kill Vader in a suicide attack. With only a moment to react, Vader used the Force to hurl Shale's body away as it exploded, resulting in the traitor's death and Vader's survival.

Shale, and by extension, Garoche Tarkin, would ultimately prove to not be the only ones to harbor disgust for the atrocities they were ordered by Palpatine to commit. Less than a while after the insurgency, the Imperial Academy headmaster Gentis would establish a military coup against the Emperor in order to stop him from constantly sending soldiers out to their deaths for his warmongering ways.

As an Imperial officer, Captain Shale demonstrated efficiency as both a soldier and a strategist. In contrast to Darth Vader's overtly aggressive tactics, Shale favored stealth and proved to be a master of covert operations, as evidenced by his successful use of stealth tactics twice during his initial combat engagement on Atoa. While he did not object to the Empire's military doctrine of brute force or Vader's practice of slaughtering defeated prisoners, he did prioritize the lives of his stormtroopers for the sake of efficiency in battle.

Although he viewed Admiral Garoche Tarkin as a rival, Shale also respected him as a friend and was determined to locate the missing admiral. His skills had even earned him the respect of Garoche's father, Moff Wilhuff Tarkin, to the point where the elder Tarkin had more faith in Shale than in Darth Vader himself. Much like Moff Tarkin and unlike most of his fellow officers, Shale apparently did not fear Vader and was not afraid of suggesting more efficient ideas over the Dark Lord's orders. He was even a little too familiar with the Dark Lord, once directly addressing him as "Vader" rather than "Lord Vader".

However, despite his obedient service to the newly formed Galactic Empire, Shale's loyalty was merely a facade. In less than a year since the Empire's inception, the Imperial Military had committed numerous atrocities at the behest of Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader—atrocities that disgusted Shale and caused him to question the cause he had initially believed in. Although he lost faith in the Emperor, Shale remained loyal to his best friend, Garoche Tarkin, who shared his disillusionment with the Empire. When Tarkin aligned himself with Lady Saro and the Atoan insurgents, Shale secretly joined his friend's cause while continuing to feign loyalty to the Empire.