Wookieepedia:Featured article queue/Week 46, 2013/0

The Hand of Judgment was a group of five stormtrooper deserters who performed multiple vigilante operations across the Empire in the months following the Battle of Yavin. They left their post aboard the Imperial-class Star Destroyer Reprisal after the leader of the group, Daric LaRone, killed Major Drelfin of the Imperial Security Bureau. The Major had threatened LaRone after accusing him of insubordination during a mission to the planet Teardrop and LaRone was forced to kill the Major in self-defense. The four witnesses to the event&mdash;Korlo Brightwater, Taxtro Grave, Saberan Marcross and Joak Quiller&mdash;decided to desert with their friend as they feared the ISB would severely punish them for doing nothing to save the Major. They were able to steal a modified Suwantek TL-1800 freighter, the Gillia, which was outfitted with a substantial amount of military supplies and weaponry. Hoping to avoid capture by the ISB, the group traveled to Drunost, a planet controlled by Consolidated Shipping&mdash;where they encountered and destroyed a swoop gang which was attacking a group of farmers, who in truth were Rebel smugglers&mdash;and to Janusar city on Ranklinge, where they removed the corrupt Patroller Chief Cav'Saran from power.

They first went by the name "Hand of Judgment" when on Ranklinge, when LaRone&mdash;who had been chosen to be the group's spokesman&mdash;was unable to come up with an authentic-sounding fake operating number. From Cav'Saran's files the stormtroopers discovered a connection to the BloodScar pirates, who had been recruiting other illegal groups in the Shelsha sector, and who were also involved with the swoop gang they had destroyed earlier. They returned to Drunost, where they encountered Han Solo and Luke Skywalker&mdash;two Rebels who were there to learn more about the fight between the five stormtroopers and the swoop gang, when the Hand of Judgment had inadvertently rescued Rebel smugglers. Together with Solo and Skywalker, who were also interested in tracking the pirates, the Hand of Judgment headed to the BloodScar's base on the mining planet Gepparin, where they found a link between the pirates and Barshnis Choard, the governor of the Shelsha sector. They followed the lead to Shelkonwa, where the crew of the YT-1300 light freighter Millennium Falcon&mdash;Solo, Skywalker and Solo's Wookiee co-pilot Chewbacca&mdash;also wanted to go as they had a friend who had gotten into trouble on the capital, Makrin City.

Leaving the Rebels to search for their friend, the Hand of Judgment went to help a downed ship which had landed near them and encountered an Imperial agent, Mara Jade. They helped her stop a stolen AT-ST which had been put on autopilot by a pirate. After the fight, Jade protected LaRone and his companions when they were questioned by a member of the 501st Legion, but demanded their help as a return favor in infiltrating the governor's palace&mdash;Jade had a reason to believe Governor Choard was a traitor to the Empire. The group got into the palace and the Hand of Judgment arrested the Governor to stand trial for his treason. While separated from the stormtroopers, Jade had heard about a group of five stormtrooper deserters and realized that they were the Hand of Judgment, but when Darth Vader questioned the group, she covered them again, claiming they belonged to her. After hearing the truth about the Hand of Judgment and why they had deserted, Jade decided to let them go while she investigated the matter.

For the next two months the Hand of Judgment traveled from one place to another continuing their vigilante activities. When Jade got another mission which involved infiltrating the governmental palace on Poln Major&mdash;according to her information Governor Bidor Ferrouz of the Poln system was planning to defect to Rebellion&mdash;she decided to employ the Hand of Judgment again. When Jade found out that the Governor had been coerced to co-operate with the Rebels&mdash;his family had been abducted under the orders of warlord Nuso Esva&mdash;the Hand of Judgment took him under protective custody while she went after the kidnappers. With help from a group of alien refugees identifying themselves as the Troukree, led by their spokesman called Vaantaar they had met in the capital of Poln Major, Whitestone City, the stormtroopers were able to ward off the attacks on the Governor's life by Nuso Esva's followers. When the Governor and his family had been secured, Vaantaar took the Hand of Judgment to meet his master aboard the Imperial Star Destroyer Admonitor. Senior Captain Thrawn was interested in having LaRone and his companions under his command in his shadow Empire in the Unknown Regions. He wanted them to train a new group of stormtroopers where aliens would also be welcomed, and in the end the Hand of Judgment accepted the offer and named their new unit the 501st Legion.