system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
What would the repercussions be if Darth Vader strangled Grand Moff Tarkin?

Isn't Grand Moff Tarking a rank above even Vader? When Vader was strangling one of the officers on the Death Star, Tarkin ordered Vader to release him, and Vader promptly obeyed. What would happen if Vader were to kill Tarkin in front of everyone?
gpt
Vader wasn't in the command structure of the imperial military.  Thus his title, Lord Vader.  He answered only to the Emperor.  But that doesn't mean he outranked or was subservient to anyone.  He was outside the structure completly.

The Emperor was the Commander in Chief however, so Vader would generally have as much power as the Emperor wanted him to.  He did as Tarkin asked that time because he knew that the Emperor would be unhappy if he went against Tarkin.

But if Tarken had been going against the Emperor's wishes, you can bet Vader would have chopped him in half in a moment.