Most of us know Darth Vader as cold and ruthless – a figure driven by rage, hatred, and nothing else. That’s who he was for years after becoming a Sith. After Anakin Skywalker died inside him, there wasn’t much left but fire and obedience. But there was a time, long before he met Luke, when something inside him stirred again. A small moment when he felt… human.
And that rare moment happened right after his biggest failure – the destruction of the first Death Star.
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Vader Barely Made It Out
Right after Yavin, Vader was barely holding it together. His TIE Advanced was wrecked, but he still managed to crash-land on the planet Vaal, a wild and forgotten place with just one small Imperial outpost. It was run by Sergeant Reybn, along with two other officers who honestly couldn’t care less about their jobs. They didn’t even notice when the most feared man in the galaxy crashed nearby.
So Vader was on his own. No Empire, no Emperor. Just silence.
The Pack Found Him First
It didn’t take long before hyenax – some vicious, wolf-like creatures – came after him. And yeah, he didn’t hesitate. Vader tore through them with his saber, killing the pack leader without breaking a sweat. But what happened next caught me off guard: the rest of the pack backed off… and started following him.
It wasn’t just fear. It felt like respect.
That was the turning point. Vader wasn’t acting on any orders. He didn’t use fear backed by rank or title. He earned it, with his own strength, for no one but himself. And that gave him a kind of pride he hadn’t felt in a long time.
He could’ve made his way straight to the outpost. But he didn’t. He stayed in the wild, soaking in that rare sense of freedom. That night, the same pack returned. But this time, they brought him the body of the alpha he’d killed – laying it at his feet like a ritual offering. They were giving him leadership of the pack.
And Vader accepted.
It wasn’t spoken. It didn’t need to be. For once, he didn’t need to dominate through fear or push others into submission. He just stood there, and they followed. That quiet sense of control? I could tell it meant something to him.
Loyalty From The Dark Lord
At sunrise, trouble came again. The pack was under attack by a massive horned creature. Vader could’ve left them to fend for themselves. But he didn’t. He jumped into the fight – not because someone told him to, not for some mission – but because he chose to protect them.
That fight wasn’t like the others. It wasn’t just a Sith crushing something weaker. It felt like someone fighting for his people. I don’t think Vader had felt that kind of loyalty – or acted on it – since the Clone Wars.
He took down the beast and led the survivors toward the Imperial outpost. His pack followed, step for step.
And Then It Was Over
When they arrived, the officers at the base were stunned. Imagine their faces: Darth Vader walking out of the jungle, armor cracked, cape torn, and a pack of wild beasts trailing behind him.
They tried to explain themselves, but he didn’t even respond. He walked past them into the Lambda-class shuttle waiting nearby.
As soon as he left, the pack turned on the three officers and tore them apart.
He didn’t look back.
Vader flew to Coruscant, straight into the Emperor’s wrath. The moment was gone. All that pride, freedom, and loyalty – buried again. He gave one final order before fully slipping back into darkness: send a team to retrieve his TIE from Vaal, and treat it with their lives.
This story is from Star Wars: Empire #14, a 2003 comic from the Legends timeline. It’s short, but powerful. In the middle of failure and isolation, Vader found a tiny piece of himself again. And then, like everything else he once cared about, it was gone.