I had thought that Vader would be the Emperor's right-hand man for everything, politics, military and whatnot, as being a repressive regime, the politics and military go hand-in-hand.

El_Di"Despotism was best shown through the Empire"ablo

> The Death Star was a military station, and
> under military command and jurisdiction. As a
> "Grand Moff," presumably one of the highest, if
> not *the* highest, rankings in the imperial
> military hierarchy, Tarkin was in command
> there. Although Vader's position in imperial
> politics was about as high as one could get
> without being the Emperor, he was still a
> civilian aboard a military station, so yeah, I'd
> say that protocol dictated that Tarkin gave the
> orders, and Vader merely advised.