Starck/Legends

Starck was an officer in the Army of the Galactic Empire during the Galactic Civil War. A colonel, Starck served in the Blizzard Force attack group under General Maximilian Veers, commanding the AT-AT walker Blizzard 4 and its group during the Battle of Hoth. In the prelude to the engagement, Starck attempted to impress the Sith Lord Darth Vader by taking Blizzard 4 and the accompanying walkers on a direct yet treacherous route through Hoth's Kerane Valley, which resulted in the loss of three walkers to shifting ice flows. Starck survived and regrouped with the rest of Blizzard Force. During the engagement with Rebel forces, Blizzard 4 was destroyed by Rebel Commander Luke Skywalker.

Biography
By 3 ABY, Starck was serving in the Imperial Army as a colonel in Blizzard Force, a ground assault unit assigned to the Imperial Death Squadron. Starck commanded the AT-AT designated Blizzard 4, along with its accompanying group of walkers. When in battle, Blizzard 4 was charged with conquering terrain not covered by the primary assault and deploying soldiers to secure the area. The Empire had recently discovered the presence of a Rebel Alliance base on the frozen world of Hoth, but the presence of a strong deflector shield negated the effect of any orbital bombardment. Blizzard Force was deployed to Hoth's surface, tasked with destroying the Rebels' shield generator and any resistance they met.

The dropships transporting Blizzard Force landed in the Moorsh Moraine located to the north of the Rebel base. The assault force emerged from the moraine into the Kerane Valley; while the other groups took a safe yet indirect westerly pathway through the valley, Starck opted for a direct route in an effort to impress the Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Vader. The move proved disastrous, as Starck lost three of the group's walkers to ice flows. Blizzard 4's group reunited with the main attack force on the North Ridge. From the top of the ridge they commenced their attack on the Rebel base. In the midst of the battle, Blizzard 4 crushed Rebel Commander Luke Skywalker's disabled snowspeeder after it had crashed in front of the walker. Skywalker used a harpoon gun to ascended to the underside of the AT-AT, cut open a small hatch with his lightsaber, and threw a land mine into the compartment before falling to the snow below. The walker proceeded forward, but its advance was cut short when the land mine detonated a short amount of time later. Blizzard 4 exploded, sending pieces of metal flying out in every direction. What remained of the walker collapsed to the ground.

Personality and traits
After landing on Hoth, Starck attempted to impress the Sith Lord Darth Vader by taking his AT-AT group on a treacherous route through the Kerane Valley. Though the Colonel survived, the move resulted in the loss of three walkers to ice flows, and Starck was forced to regroup with the rest of the assault force.

Behind the scenes
Colonel Starck was briefly mentioned in Inside the Worlds of Star Wars Trilogy, a reference book released in 2004. Information on Starck from this source was repeated in Star Wars: Complete Locations, and the colonel was briefly mentioned in Blizzard Force's entry in The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia. Both Starck's species and gender have never been identified, nor has it been confirmed if the Colonel perished when Blizzard 4 was destroyed. Although Starck's fate has yet to be mentioned in any in-universe publication, Holocron continuity database maintainer Leland Chee has stated "Colonel Starck is certainly dead by my book" when asked about the subject on his Facebook blog.