Herron Dade

Herron Dade was a Human male born on Gandle Ott, a planet in the Kathol sector of the Outer Rim Territories. When Gandle Ott was under the control of the Galactic Empire—and later, under Warlord Moff Kentor Sarne after he withdrew the sector from the Empire following Emperor Palpatine's death at the Battle of Endor—Dade was the highest-ranking native in government, serving as commander of the planetary militia with the rank of General. Although he served the Imperial government, he had no love for the Empire but never made his feelings public.

In 8 ABY, Moff Sarne was ousted from his capital on Kal'Shebbol by the New Republic. Sarne retreated with the majority of his forces to Gandle Ott, where he claimed to be organizing a massive fleet to purge the sector of pirates and Rebels. He made no mention of his defeat at Kal'Shebbol and began uplifting supplies from Crimler Naval Base. After Sarne's departure, the population of Gandle Ott discovered that he had transferred the majority of the Imperial personnel stationed on the planet to his fleet—including the Governor—and left with most of the defense force.

With the loss of Imperial command authority on the planet, the Bank parliament—the civilian authority that had been relegated to an advisory capacity under Imperial control—re-established control over Gandle Ott. Sarne had left the Imperial Vice-Governor, Marja Lang, behind due to her fervent loyalty to the Empire over Sarne, and she began to consolidate her power base among her fellow abandoned Imperials. Dade, relieved that Sarne had gone and determined that Gandle Ott would not fall under outside control again, began to gather his own power base and worked to displace Lang as the Acting-Governor. His plan was to re-establish the dormant position of President of the Bank parliament, which had been abolished when the Empire had assumed control of Gandle Ott, and maneuver himself to be the prime candidate. However, Dade was extremely worried that the planet no longer had the means to defend itself from the pirates that plagued the sector.

Several days after Sarne's departure, the New Republic CR90 corvette FarStar arrived in orbit in pursuit of the rogue Moff. Due to work commitments, Dade was unable to join the governmental delegation, led by Acting-Governor Lang, that met the FarStar crew at Montrol Spaceport. While Dade had no intention of letting outside forces once again control Gandle Ott, he welcomed the presence of the New Republic and hoped to gain their endorsement as Gandle Ott's "native son." The following day, despite his hectic schedule, Dade presided over the Ceremonial Mushroom Cutting that he used to symbolically declare Gandle Ott's independence from the Empire. He met the New Republic delegation for the first time and used their presence at the ceremony to legitimize his stance. Dade spoke of the need for Gandle Ott to take control of its own affairs in the wake of the Imperial departure, and he was the center of attention for the media during the event while Lang, who had been maneuvered into the attending the ceremony by the General, was bored throughout the proceedings.

During the following days, Dade was kept busy consolidating the military and security forces still on the planet, restricting his availability to meet with the FarStar delegation to the evenings. Through information culled from CUTH-BRT-92-X3, the BRT supercomputer that controlled Gandle Ott's capital settlement, Montrol City, he learned that the Rodian First Officer of the FarStar, Gorak Khzam, was a former member of the Sabiador Slavers. As Khzam had kept his past a secret from his crewmates, Dade was able to use that leverage over the Rodian to influence him into encouraging the rest of the FarStar delegation to support the General. On the evening of the second day of the FarStars visit, Dade hosted a private dinner for the New Republic delegation and another ninety-five guests at his private estates. On the fourth day of their visit, Dade and other military officials met with the FarStar delegation to discuss potential military aid that the New Republic could provide to Gandle Ott. After several days on the planet, during which diplomatic relations were established between Gandle Ott and the New Republic, the FarStar departed to continue its mission.

Herron Dade was a thin, gaunt Human with iron-gray hair and mustache who chain-smoked chak-root. A military man, Dade was not particularly subtle or versed in the art of diplomacy. He would say something inappropriate or awkward at times, but he was popular with the citizens of the planet. Dade believed he could use his popularity to ascend to the position of President of Gandle Ott. Like many of his fellow natives, Dade had no love for Sarne or the Empire but kept that fact to himself. Following the departure of the Empire, Dade was welcoming of the New Republic, but was adamant that Gandle Ott should be able to rule itself and saw Lang and her Imperial faction as a threat to that goal. Dade had a talent for reading people, and he had access to vast amounts of data gathered by CUTH-BRT-92-X3.

As head of the planetary militia, Dade was trained in the use of a blaster and could operate vehicle-mounted weapons. He was also versed in ground assault tactics, and had experience with explosives and security systems. Dade had an understanding of the workings of a bureaucracy, was knowledgeable about law enforcement procedures and tactics, and specialized in investigations based on Gandle Ott. He was also well informed about the Ott system in general. He regularly carried a comlink and a ceremonial hold-out blaster.

Herron Dade was introduced in Death Is Remotely Possible, the third RPG adventure in The DarkStryder Campaign published by West End Games in 1995. During the course of the adventure, the player characters have to deal with CUTH-BRT-92-X3's attempts to delay the FarStar from pursuing Sarne, interference that manifests in several ways, including near fatal traffic accidents and an assassin droid being unleashed upon them. Dade, along with Lang, is one of the officials to whom the players can report these occurrences, along with the suspicion that CUTH-BRT-92-X3 is responsible. Dade takes the information seriously and looks into the matter, which leads to his discovery of protocol modifications made to the unit by Moff Sarne. CUTH-BRT-92-X3 is taken offline and technicians are employed to restore the droid to normal. As the player characters can report to either Dade or Lang, this article makes no assumption as to which official investigates the claims of CUTH-BRT-92-X3's aberrant behavior.

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