- other idea i had, but its probably a bit mental.

have vader arrive at the death star by shuttle, he was in a rush

but what if the emperor arrived by star destroyer, ie, have the star destroyer LAND in DRY DOCK in a massive hangar? bearing in mind this is the first time we have seen him in the flesh for two movies (and about 25 years) so some eccentricity would be pretty essential.

there could be legions of stormtroopers waiting and marching down the docking ramp with him. some fat CGI would be required i imagine though.