The 501st Legion was a stormtrooper unit in the Empire of the Hand military. The original 501st Legion, an elite unit composed primarily of clone soldiers from the Jango Fett template, was indirectly involved in the creation of the unit that shared the same designation. At the behest of Senior Captain Thrawn, the Hand of Judgment—a group of renegade stormtroopers Daric LaRone, Korlo Brightwater, Taxtro Grave, Saberan Marcross and Joak Quiller—trained a new 501st Legion that was open to both birth-born Humans and aliens.
Although the original 501st ceased to exist as a result of the collapse of the First Galactic Empire, its counterpart ultimately survived and ensured that the 501st remained a unit of elite Imperial soldiers.
The official reconstitution of the 501st was conducted by Senior Captain Voss Parck, in accordance with Thrawn's wish to see the legion revived in the Empire of the Hand. Detachments of the legion included Unit Aurek-Seven, a stormtrooper squad that participated in the Empire of the Hand's liberation of Kariek.
With the five Imperial stormtrooper deserters, after their leader, Daric LaRone shot and killed their ISB Major, were on the run from the Galactic Empire.
This group of deserters became known as the Hand of Judgment. It wasn't until when Senior Captain Thrawn noticed their abilities and friendliness to aliens. As such, he offered them to train the next generation of stormtroopers for Empire of the Hand.
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