Emperor's Hand

An Emperor's Hand, or Hand of the Emperor, is a Force-sensitive operative recruited, trained, and employed by Emperor Palpatine to perform missions that are impossible, secret, or both. Use. During his reign, Palpatine uses the Emperor's Hands to kill enemies where his more obvious tools, like Darth Vader or the Imperial Navy would be ineffective, too public, or inappropriate. Common targets include rogue governors, traitorous commanders, rebellious leaders, or other internal or external concerns. The Hands are considered the best assassins of their day.

Selection. Often targeted at infancy, potential Emperor's Hands are tracked with keen interest by Palpatine until they reach maturity and impress him. Some begin as thieves, some as warriors, some as assassins, some as entertainers, but each manages to demonstrate their resourcefulness, skills and loyalty without incurring his wrath.

Training. After selection, an Emperor's Hand goes through comprehensive training in varied combat techniques, intelligence gathering and assassination. Each Hand operates independently and is often under the false impression that he or she is the only Emperor's Hand. During training, Palpatine cultivates the Hand's latent Force abilities, but avoids providing Jedi or Sith training. Thus, Hands who do not have any Force training prior to their training are not expressly dark side users. The most important of their abilities is a direct telepathic connection to Palpatine that allows them to communicate across the galaxy.

Operations. Once given the title of Emperor's Hand, the agent is granted almost unlimited access and authority to accomplish their missions. Without naming themselves as physical manifestations of the Emperor's will, Emperor's Hands can take command of military units, starships or weapons as necessary. To preserve their effectiveness, only the highest echelons of the Imperial command structure are aware of the Hands' existence. The methodology varies by agent and mission, with styles ranging from silent sniper strikes to destructive rampages. Regardless of their method, each Hand operates as a ghost; striking and vanishing, which elevates them to near mythic levels amongst those who dare cross the Emperor.

Psychology. Unaware, unconvinced, or unconcerned of the Emperor's malicious intentions, the Hands perform their missions out of sheer loyalty to Palpatine. They view their killing as a way of defending the citizens of the Empire from its most dangerous enemies, although in many cases their targets are political enemies, rather than rogue commanders or governors. Many, if not all, of the Hands are under the impression that they alone hold their particular position, and thus believed their relationship with the Emperor to be a special one. As a result of their extreme loyalty, and mental connection established through the Force, many Hands would be deeply affected by his death.