Steel Legion

"Back then, it seemed like the Steel Legion and that bastard 8311 ruled the galaxy. Believe me, you didn't want to mess with him."

- Anonymous Black Sun thug

The Steel Legion was a highly powerful criminal organisation, based on Nar Shadda, ruled by the old CIS battle droid Unit 8311.

Formation
The Steel Legion was first formed shortly after the end of the Clone Wars, when Unit 8311, in his second incarnation, set about using a Twi'lek puppet to recruit thugs and commit minor crimes. However, shortly after, it rocketed upwards in power when 8311 transferred billions of credits from other bank accounts in his own. With that, he set up its headquarters in an old disused club house and began taking over the Nar Shadda underworld.

Reign
Quickly, the Steel Legion converted disused buildings in the lower levels of Nar Shadda into drug-houses, brothels, and other illegal venues. It purchased several old tunneling machines, used for mining, and used them to drill into a supposedly impregnable credit depot, stealing billions. Imperial forces, their hands already full with all the crime infesting Nar Shadda, could do nothing about it. Soon afterwards, Steel Legion thugs captured a freighter carrying Imperial military equipment, including AT-ATs, AT-TEs, other various walkers, and old LAATs.

Shortly afterwards, a large force of AT-ATs and other war machines attacked a large nova crystal depot, known as Fort Tox. The Imperial militia stationed at the fortress were shocked to see their own walkers approachin and offered minimal resistance. The communications centre at the facility was destroyed, so the thugs driving the walkers ransacked the depot at their leisure. After about twelve hours, every single nova crystal had been stored aboard several old CR20 troop carriers and the thugs leaved. An outcry followed, and Darth Vader himself had to cover up the incident. Hundreds of billions worth of credits of crystals had been stolen, and nobody seemed to notice 8311's bank account suddenly increase rapidly.

Within weeks, the Steel Legion subtely controlled the Nar Shadda underworld, and extended to Nal Hutta and even Coruscant. It's military capabilities were demonstrated when a large contingent of it's Plasma Tanks assualted an Imperial cash and nova crystal depot. A large battle ensured, and ultimately the Steel Legion tanks had to retreat, but this all proved to be a distraction whilst Legion thugs looted the depot, stealing astronomical amounts. The Empire quickly worked out that the organisation that had attacked the depot was the same as the one that had overrun the nova crystal depot, but still did not realise that it was a relatively unheard of Nar Shadda criminal organisation.

The Good Days
By now the Steel Legion was immensely powerful, with access to much resources, hundreds of billions of credits (not including 8311's personal wealth), tremendous manpower, powerful influence on countless worlds, and even a large space fleet. It was now that it attracted the attention of the Empire. Darth Vader himself asked 8311 to help manipulated the underworld in the Empire's favour.

8311 agreed, and ironically soon his forces raided another cash depot. Emperor Palpatine took an interest in him, and although he was almost certain that the Steel Legion was behind the depot attacks, he continued to observe 8311's activities. Sensing a potential resoruce or asset, the Emperor used false intelligence information to trick the Rebel Alliance forces into attacking a Steel Legion drugs factory on Zaadja, hoping to weaken the Rebel Alliance and the Legion, weakening two potential threats.

Ultimately, that battle was a draw, and both Legion and Rebel forces retreated.

Increasing suspicion
Soon, 8311 was visited by Darth Vader and given a job in Imperial Intelligence/ This was partly so that the Empire could monitor 8311 and control his resources. Quickly, 8311 began concentrating on his work with the Empire rather than running his crime syndicate, and gave more power to his more trusted underlings. However, he still co-ordinated raids on cash depots and banks, and now the Steel Legion effectively had a military. 8311 then purchased some old pre-Clone Wars capital ships, and began commencing with pirate raids on merchant ships. Soon, the Legion had a considerable starfleet itself, equipped with capital ships such as Keldabe-class battleships, Venator-class star destroyers, as well as Z-95 Headhunters and Rihkxyrk Attack Ships. Shortly afterwards, 8311 had a special Keldable-class with extra modifications built for him to serve as his flagship--he christened it the Iron Harbinger.

Shortly afterwards, 8311 discovered the location of an old but powerful Mandator II-class Star Dreadnought, floating in space after being abandoned in the Clone Wars. Taking it over, he used it to cause chaos on major trade routes, stealing large amounts of credits from merchantmen, as well as destroying some pirate groups that stood in the way after the Legion. After he no longer had any use for the old ship, he sold it to both the Empire and Rebellion for an enormous amount of money, and arranged for both of them to pick it up at the same place. Rebel and Empire forces arrived at the same spot 8311 had arranged, and promptly began fighting each other. Eventually, the Empire triumphed and got the Star Dreadnaught, and then Legion ships purged the area of any valuable components which it sold on the black market. 8311 made a tremendous amount of credits from the operation, which he spent mostly on expanding the ever-growing Legion.

8311 continued to purchase old shipyards which he used to produce further space forces, and hired groups of scientists and engineers to start designing original starships exclusively for the Legion. However, the Emperor was now certain that 8311 was the head of the now very powerful Steel Legion, after carefully monitoring him.

Disintegration
Finally, the Emperor was not only aware of 8311's role as head of the Steel Legion but was also aware that he was becoming too powerful. Squads of elite Imperial Stormtroopers stormed 8311's palace on Nar Shadda. 8311 escaped, but he was forced go into hiding, and the Steel Legion collapsed.

Collapse
With 8311's fall, the Steel Legion collapsed, and it's assets fell into the hands of groups like the Empire, Black Sun, the Hutt Cartel, the Zann Consortium, and the Rebellion. 8311's personal accounts were frozen. Quickly, Nar Shadda became how it was before the arrival of 8311.

Aftermath of Endor
In the aftermath of the Empire's defeat, 8311 joined in the celebration, whilst continuing to expand his droid army using the old droid factories on Hypori. However, he was beginning to focus more on expanding his political power rather than his criminal assets. The Steel Legion continued to be an influential crime gang on Nar Shadda, but still nowhere near as powerful as it was once. Notable acts it commited during this era of stagnation were multiple drug smuggling campaigns and expansion into piracy on the Corellian Trade Spine, but it was still nothing to what it was when in its prime.

Age of the New Republic
The Steel Legion continued to decline during the New Republic, as 8311 found out that supplying weapons to the New Republic and Imperial Remnant was more profitable than his crime organisation. Slowly, it began to collapse. Black Sun and crime cartels based on Nar Shadda decided that they had had enough of the Legion, and they began commencing assaults on the Legion's bases, destroying several casinos and brothels. 8311 was unconcerned, and eventually he decided to 'retire' and gave command to one of his second-in-commands, Ferd Swqaru. Some of the other major figures in the Legion did not approve, and either left or defected to other crime organisations.

The Black Sun Wars
Ferd was quite pleased to recieve control of the Legion, and he was desperate to see it return to the 'good old days', as he put it. He began a gang war with Black Sun, destroying one of their Nar Shadda headquarters. Black Sun retaliated by commencing an all-out military assault on the Imperial Casino, the Legion's largest casino, which was also legitimate, and contained most of the Legion's funds in its vaults. Fortunately, 8311 had been using the vault to store some of his droidekas which were being manufuctured at his private droid foundry on Hypori, and they repelled the Black Sun forces. Undeterred, Black Sun successfully attacked and looted one of the Legion's cash depots.

With this dent on the Legion's financial status, Ferd put into effect Operation Steel Fist. He raided a musuem on Coruscant and stole an old SPHA-T, which he used to attack and destroy a large section of Black Sun's Nar Shadda headquarters. He also broke into its vaults, stealing most of the Nar Shadda vigo's funding. This was a major victory for Legion, and postponed the gang war.

Yuuzhan Vong war
For the next several years, the Legion continued to deal with both legitimate and illigetimate businesses. The occassional gang war with Black Sun cropped up, but these were over quickly. 8311 had lost interest completely in his child organisation. Indeed, he had not been seen for sometime, and became an ubran myth on Nar Shadda. Ferd struggled to bring the Legion to what it once was, and he doubted that he ever would. However, he did expand the Legion's fleets to a considerable size, and put 8311's old plans of Legion-exclusive capital ships into motion, with new vessels such as Metal Fury-class cruisers being churned out of hidden Legion shipyards. These ships proved more than a match against the capital ships of major galactic governments.

However, the Yuuzhan Vong war then broke out, which would change the galaxy. Ferd feared the worst as the Vong began vongforming worlds, and relocated the Legion from Nar Shadda to his homeworld of Mon Calamari. His hunch was right, as Nar Shadda ended up being vongformed and the city destroyed. Meanwhile, Legion fleets began harassing and crippling Vong forces in many areas. Mon Calamari became the new capital of the newly-established Galactic Federation of Free Alliances.

Later years
With Ferd's death in 97 ABY, years after the Yuuzhan Vong war, the Legion would disintegrate into splinter groups, with each one's leader believing itself to be the truthful heir to the Legion. After a long dispute, the leaders turned to the original founder, 8311, who was residing at his retreat on Hypori. His answer:

"I quite frankly couldn't care less."

- Unit 8311

This did not encourage the Legion factions to unite, and they continued warring for a while. However, one of the factions purchased a large quantity of battle droids from 8311, and quickly took control of the rest of the Legion, which began to ascend back to power, but did not quite reach the levels it had once had. By the Legacy era and the rise of the New Empire, the Legion was an influential body with presence on many worlds, ruled by a council rather than a single leader, but it never quite reached the power it had under 8311.