Daric LaRone

"We took an oath of allegiance to serve the Empire. These people are citizens of that Empire."

- Daric LaRone on Janusar

Daric LaRone was a Human male stormtrooper born on Copperline. He had two younger brothers. While serving on the Reprisal, he became unsatisfied with service to the New Order after being ordered to massacre civilians on Teardrop. Confronted by Imperial Security Bureau Major Drelfin over his tacit refusal to kill the civilians, he was forced to kill Drelfin in self-defense. He and fellow stormtroopers Korlo Brightwater, Taxtro Grave, Saberan Marcross, and Joak Quiller took an ISB-modified Suwantek TL-1800, the Gillia, and fled, intending to go the Outer Rim Territories.

However, still feeling compelled by their duty to Imperial citizens, LaRone led the group in a number of vigilante actions on Drunost and Janusar, with LaRone christening them the Hand of Judgment. Later, he and his four comrades met up with Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, and Chewbacca and they managed to work out a mutual working relationship between the Rebels and ex-stormtroopers. LaRone and the group ended up on Shelkonwa, where they helped Mara Jade eliminate treasonous Governor Barshnis Choard. After learning the identity of him and his men, Jade let them go and the five stormtroopers made their way across the galaxy intent on aiding other Imperial citizens.

Early service
In 18 BBY, LaRone watched as the new Imperial Military came to cleanse his home planet, Copperline, of the pirates who had plagued it for decades. In 10 BBY, when Imperial recruiters showed up, he enlisted as a stormtrooper with the call number TKR 330, not wanting to become a poor farmer like the rest of Copperline's residents. He enjoyed the first six years of duty, until his service on worlds such as Elriss and Bompreil had made him doubt his loyalty. The turning point for him came when Alderaan was destroyed and he was ordered to kill civilians during a raid on Teardrop in 0.5 ABY while stationed as part of the stormtrooper contingent onboard the Reprisal. LaRone was hesitant to open fire on the civilians and was horrified at the deaths that were caused.

Going rogue
"No matter what our current situation is, we're still soldiers of the Empire."

- Daric LaRone

Returning to Reprisal, LaRone was later confronted by Imperial Security Bureau Major Drelfin, who initially criticized him for not following regulations. Once Drelfin realized that LaRone had disregarded orders on Teardrop, though, the ISB officer grew more agitated and was intent on executing LaRone. In response, LaRone disarmed and slew Drelfin with his own blaster. The other stormtroopers who witnessed the event&mdash;Saberan Marcross, Taxtro Grave, Joak Quiller, and Korlo Brightwater, along with LaRone&mdash; realized that not only were their careers in the military over, but their lives would probably also be taken in any subsequent investigation, stole the Gillia, a Suwantek TL-1800 that had been specially modified by the ISB, and fled Reprisal. To facilitate their escape, they used ISB codes on the ship and pretended to be ISB operatives leaving Reprisal on a secret mission. Exploring the ship, the ex-stormtroopers soon found that the ship was stocked with weapons, credits, equipment for forging identities and even a pair of speeder bikes.

Journeying to Drunost in their stolen ship, the five ex-stormtroopers landed, in search of food stores and other supplies, with LaRone as the unofficial leader. LaRone and Grave were able to purchase their supplies and were returning to the ship when a group of farmers they were traveling alongside came under attack by a swoop gang. LaRone and Grave held them off with hand blasters, until Brightwater, Marcross, and Quiller arrived with vehicles and heavier weapons, handily defeating them. Unbeknownst to them, they were helping to protect a supply of arms being transported by the Rebel Alliance. Leaving the scene, they boarded their ship and left for Janusar to obtain spare parts for their speeders, as well as fuel for the ship.

Landing on Janusar, the group was shaken down by the locals, who overcharged them for landing fees and confiscated their speeder bikes for violation of planetary ordinances, annoying Brightwater. After the patrollers left, LaRone learned of the corruption of the local militia from a dockworker who was fueling their ship. The man, Krinkins, told them that Cav'Saran, the chief patroller, was behind the corruption and that the patrollers had been bullying the populace.

LaRone, outraged at the injustice, convinced the others to help him take down Cav'Saran. That evening, LaRone drove a speeder truck to Patroller Central, where he had told Krinkins to assemble any who were dissatisfied with the corruption, after having his armored comrades disarm the six patrollers outside the building. Entering the center in civilian dress, LaRone confronted Cav'Saran, who ignored his demands for justice and proper treatment of the populace. In response, Cav'Saran instructed one his men to kill LaRone. At that point, LaRone signaled the other four stormtroopers into the room, and they quickly killed the few who offered any resistance, including Cav'Saran, before the rest surrendered. Turning the town over to Krinkins and some of the former militia that Cav'Saran had forced out when he took over, LaRone coined the Hand of Judgment name for the group when Atmino asked him their unit designation so he could file a mention of appreciation to his superiors.

Rebel encounter
"Possible. But they don't feel like pirates to me."

- LaRone on the Rebels

Returning to Drunost in search of the connection they had discovered between Cav'Saran and the BloodScars they had fought earlier on Drunost, the stormtroopers began looking for more info to link them to the person behind the pirates, who they deduced would have to be high in the Imperial hierarchy. They were sitting in a tapcafe on Drunost when they saw Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, and Chewbacca, although they didn't recognize them as members of the Rebel Alliance. They also saw several known criminals in the tapcafe. When the Rebel trio confronted the criminals after Luke decided to intervene, LaRone and his men helped them when the confrontation turned violent. LaRone was suspicious about them and had Quiller follow them, unaware that they were Rebels. When Han and Luke tracked some of the pirates to the Purnham system and went to chase them, the Hand of Judgment followed them.

LaRone and the Hand of Judgment arrived in the Purnham system before the Millennium Falcon did, but when it arrived, the Falcon came under attack by pirates. LaRone and the others engaged the pirates, and decided to investigate the situation. Posing as investigators, they questioned the surviving pirates, and the Falcon's crew, who gave them what information they had on the pirates while posing as independent shippers. However, they decided to keep the Rebels on their ship for further questioning, in case the information they had been given by them was faulty. Extrapolating the data that Solo had given them and the HoloNet data they had gleaned from the pirates, they tracked the location of the pirate base to the Gepparin system.

Heading to Gepparin with the Falcon attached to their ship and the Rebels locked into cabins in the Suwantek, they arrived about the same time as Reprisal did, and they came under attack by Ozzel, who was trying to cover his own career by stopping the deserters. Meanwhile, Luke, guided by the spirit of Obi-Wan Kenobi, unlocked the cabin doors and found one of the hidden weapons compartments in the ship. Captain Kendal Ozzel threw a tractor beam onto their ship, pinning LaRone's ship in place. Fortunately for LaRone, the Falcon's crew was willing to help them. While Solo took over the controls of their Suwantek, Chewbacca took the Falcon, detached it, and destroyed two TIE fighters in the path of the tractor beam. Their destruction created enough reflective particles to disrupt the tractor beam, and both ships escaped the Star Destroyer, after Chewbacca's deceptive transmission convinced Ozzel to journey to the location of shattered Alderaan.

LaRone and his men, along with the Rebels, landed to investigate the base. Both groups had been improvisationally working together and trying to track the source of the pirate groups, but shortly afterwards, the two parties discovered each other's identities: Rebels and rogue stormtroopers respectively. Han managed to win enough of LaRone's and the others' respect that LaRone agreed to get them to Shelkonwa to help their "friend," who was actually Leia Organa, though they parted ways there.

Under the Emperor's Hand
"Understood, ma'am. Orders?"

- LaRone to Mara Jade

Landing on the capital world of the Shelsha Sector, the stormtroopers arrived to find a search operation underway, led by Darth Vader and the 501st Legion. Despite this complication, LaRone and the others resolved to find the traitor responsible for the pirate attacks, as they had deduced that someone in the Governor's office was responsible. Knowing that the Rebels would be soon discovered by the 501st if they went alone, LaRone proposed escorting them through the city, which they reluctantly agreed to. When a small ship crashed nearby, LaRone and the four stormtroopers went to investigate, leaving the Rebels to their devices.

They found Mara Jade fending off an AT-ST piloted by Caaldra, a pirate and the liaison to Vilim Disra, the man behind the pirate attacks. The stormtroopers and Mara managed to take down the AT-ST after a grueling battle, with the assistance of Chewbacca in their Suwantek.

After they defeated Caaldra&mdash;who had been piloting the AT-ST remotely and escaped&mdash;LaRone was confronted by 501st stormtroopers, but Mara Jade covered for them, saying they were on special assignment for her. Mara didn't trust the story they told her, but ordered them to obey her until she could eliminate Choard. Penetrating the perimeter of the Governor's mansion, the stormtroopers and Jade swiftly advanced, cutting through any resistance easily, and confronted the governor while Mara dealt with Caaldra once and for all. The governor blustered his way through their orders, and Marcross turned unexpectedly on the others, pointing his weapon at LaRone, as the governor was actually his uncle.

However, Marcross gave Choard just enough time to completely incriminate himself when he changed sides again, placing Choard under arrest, though LaRone insisted that they not kill him. About that time, Mara Jade and Vader arrived, but Jade again covered for LaRone, saying they were on assignment to her. Later, she made them tell her their true story in private. After some consideration, she let them go, after instructing them to lose their Hand of Judgment name. That done, LaRone and the others set off in their ship, though they resolved to keep doing good deeds wherever needed.

Personality and traits
"You stood quietly by and let everyone voice their opinions, even blow off a little steam. But then you stepped in and calmed everything down before it could degenerate into a full-fledge argument."

- Saberan Marcross to LaRone

LaRone was a dedicated soldier, having put in six years of service to the Empire. He was trained in both armed and unarmed combat by the Empire, a veteran soldier. He was also noble, refusing to murder civilians, even to the point of accepting death. During the Hand of Judgment's vigilante actions, it was often LaRone who started them. He couldn't stand to see corruption or mistreatment of Imperial citizens, feeling that they still had an oath to protect and defend citizens of the Empire. LaRone was also persuasive, but willing to listen to the opinions and concerns of others. He was able to trust his men to carry out their duty and even became the leader of the group. LaRone was also able to look beyond his political differences with the Rebels, aiding Han Solo and Luke Skywalker. Remaining idealistic, LaRone never condoned the slaughter of civilians, nor participated it, as did the rest of the Hand of Judgment. True to his nature, LaRone and the others didn't cease their string of good deeds even after a narrow escape from death courtesy of Mara Jade, who told them to stop their actions.

Appearances

 * Allegiance

Daric LaRone