Lastok, who carried the designation TK-7834, was a male Imperial AT-AT pilot. During the Battle of Hoth in 3 ABY, he served with Blizzard Force. He was the assigned pilot of Blizzard 1, the AT-AT commanded by General Maximilian Veers, working alongside the gunner TK-5187. A Rebel snowspeeder, piloted by rebel pilot Derek Klivian, brought down the vehicle by crashing into its cabin. Lastok survived the crash and was instrumental in locating and rescuing General Veers from the wreckage of the AT-AT.
The AT-AT pilot who would eventually be known as Lastok made his initial appearance in the 1980 movie Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back, which was directed by Irvin Kershner. An uncredited extra portrayed him, and he is only visible from the rear. Notably, there are inconsistencies in his visual depiction within the film. At the start of the battle sequence, his helmet is completely white; however, later on, a distinct red line is clearly present down the helmet's back. Lastok's identity, along with his designation TK-7834, was later revealed in the short story "The Truest Duty," which Christie Golden penned as part of the 2020 short story compilation From a Certain Point of View: The Empire Strikes Back.
Lastok is a tuckerization of the surname of George Kostal, the individual behind the @VeersWatch Twitter account. VeersWatch was dedicated to monitoring all new Star Wars content for potential appearances by Maximillian Veers, who is the central figure of "The Truest Duty." The announcement tweet revealing Veers as the story's subject even made reference to the VeersWatch account, declaring that the "watch has ended" with Veers' return. Similar to how TK-5187's designation number represents the birth date of Mollie Damon, a video creator from "Star Wars Explained," Lastok's designation number, 7834, is a rearranged version of the birth date of Alex Damon from "Star Wars Explained."