Unit 8311

"Who am I? People call me many things. A relic from another age. A crime lord. A weapons dealer. A warlord. But one thing's for sure. I'm going to kick your sorry ass."

- 8311 to a Yuuzhan Vong warrior

Unit 8311 was a rogue CIS battle droid who survived the Clone Wars and would go on to form a major criminal organization, the Steel Legion. Due to a programming glitch in his production, he was intelligent, had a free will, and had emotions. He had a somewhat cynical personality, which over the years would develop into a slightly more understanding one, although he was always characterized by his looking down upon organics and his general patronizing attitude to non-droids in general.

8311 had a somewhat turbulent history, especially during the Galactic Civil War, in which he was almost killed by Imperials, and was forced to go underground and join the Rebellion. However, via certain circumstances, he would return to his homeworld of Hypori, where he began his return to power. 8311 would play from then on a fairly important role in galactic events, although he nearly always preferred to remain inconspicuous and behind the scenes.

8311 would later reform and voluntarily relinquish control of the Legion, and in the aftermath of the Yuuzhan Vong War, he would take control of some systems devastated by the war, expanding his influence.

Over the course of his life, he would have many bodies and forms, being a droid, and was intelligent and scheming. He also possessed superfast reflexes, enabling him to destroy all but the most powerful opponents within a matter of seconds when in an armed body.

Creation
"Something's not right with that droid there."

- A Geonosian engineer moments after 8311's activation

Unit 8311, designated UN-8311, was a super battle droid produced by the CIS on the foundry world of Hypori, about halfway through the Clone Wars. A programming glitch that occurred during the first seconds activation granted him a rebellious, impish personality, but made him much more intelligent than the average battle droid. He resisted several attempts by the Geonosian engineers present to have his memory wiped and reprogrammed, but his masters decided that it would be best to leave him. 8311 tried to supervise the creation of battle droids on his foundry home by improving them, but his efforts were thwarted and his suggestions ignored. The Geonosians at the foundry were more interested as to why the glitch in 8311's programming had occurred rather than 8311 himself. Frustrated, he decided to accept it. Being a droid, he was long-lived, and able to have the long view.

8311 was stationed along with many other B2s at Hypori for the first few days of his existence, in preparation for the upcoming battle, which General Grievous had anticipated. Whilst inspecting the assembled droids under his command, 8311 was the only automaton amongst the sea of identical metal soldiers that caught Grievous's eye. Grievous would later ask the Geonosian engineers what they thought the cause of the glitch that had produced 8311's personality was, but their responses were negligible.

During those days, 8311 took the opportunity to use a computer terminal in the facility, and absorbed vast realms of knowledge about the war, weapons, galactic history, and tactics. 8311 would in his later life jokingly refer to this moment as 'the moment when I became an adult'. This knowledge would aid him greatly in the upcoming war.

Clone Wars
"That can't be a droid. That must be some sorta demon."

- A clone trooper in reaction to one of 8311's massacres



8311 served at the Battle of Hypori, his first taste of combat, and later on was moved, along with billions of his fellow battle droids, was moved to serve in theaters like Muunilist, Kashyyyk, Fyir Xan and Felucia. In the service of the CIS, 8311 killed roughly 456 clone troopers, destroyed 54 vehicles, killed two teams of ARC troopers, and smashed the skull of a clone commando on Koorivar. General Grievous took an interest in him, as did Count Dooku, as 8311's kill count increased. Estimates put him at being approximately 123.7% more efficient than standard battle droids. He also proved adept at piloting all CIS vehicles, and also learned to drive Republic ones as well. However, most CIS commanders disliked having him under their command, as he frequently talked back, questioned or disobeyed orders, and openly voiced his dislike of being ordered around. Some commanders were particularly unnerved by his disregard for organic life and the pleasure he seemingly took in killing enemy soldiers.



During a battle near the Terax Nebula, 8311 noticed a strange ship, which escaped as soon as he tried to investigate. 8311 would ponder the nature of the ship for a long time afterwards.

Towards the end of the Clone Wars, 8311 upgraded himself with electronic pincers and molecular shielding, all created by himself with the assistance of Separatist engineers. He was so successful in his new incarnation that the Grapple droid model was based on him. Later on, 8311 also added magnetic soles to his body and jet boosters to his body, allowing him to scale vertical surfaces and jump to large heights. At this point, Grievous requested that 8311 be stationed on the newly captured CIS world of Utapau. However, 8311 could now tell that the war was turning against the CIS, and after the battle of Coruscant, he abandoned his duties on Utapau and discreetly left the Confederacy, and arrived at Nar Shaddaa literally as the the droid armies were deactivated.

"Oh well, it could have been worse. They could have called it the 'New Republic' or something."

- 8311 upon learning of the new Empire.

When he first heard of the Confederacy's defeat, he was so enraged and saddened that he killed everyone he saw in a alley, just after arriving on the moon. After a brief period of feeling purposeless and lost in a hostile galaxy, 8311 decided to try and fit into the turbulent new galaxy.

Into the Underworld
"Who says droids can't get rich?"

- 8311 to a doubtful aide

For some months, 8311 was employed by a Hutt on Nar Shaddaa as a hit-droid, and killed fifteen people in the service of the Hutt. During this time, he added a wireless electronic manipulation device to his aging body, which allowed him to remotely control electronic devices. Soon, however, he grew tired of his current existence, and as he was obviously a CIS droid many disliked and distrusted him. 8311 decided to leave the service of the Hutt, but was forced to stay by the Hutt's thugs. Getting desperate, he infiltrated the Hutt's penthouse, murdered the Hutt and, having done that, activated his personal bank account. Using his expert hacking skills, he transferred all the 123,022,212 credits in the Hutt's account to his own. To get a reputation, he decided, was to become, in his words, 'filthy stinking rich'. With that in mind, he downloaded billions of credits from other accounts to his own, and was the richest, albeit also most unknown, figure on Nar Shaddaa. However, 8311 was finding his body impractical, so he upgraded again.



This time, 8311 purchased parts from an old, 4000-year old Hunter-Killer droid, but still incorporated elements of his first upgrade and original super battle droid design, and also upgraded the HK body with extra armor and molecular shielding. With that, he began recruiting various thugs off the streets of Nar Shaddaa and Nal Hutta, using a foolish Twi'lek called Rafgh that he had met whilst in the employment of the Hutt as a puppet to do so. Soon, 8311 was a powerful crime lord, and dealt with the shipping of illegal spice, drugs, gambling, bank robberies, and established multiple brothels. Soon, he was so powerful that even Jabba the Hutt and Black Sun feared him, but he was generally unknown outside criminal groups, and he gave his criminal syndicate the name of the Steel Legion.

Under 8311's command, the Legion quickly gained power, and within a few years it easily rivaled the Hutt Cartel, the Zann Consortium, and others. During this period, 8311 gained much respect, pleasing him, but he also gained several enemies, such as the Imperial Moff Deras, and Prince Xizor.

In the service of the Empire
"I have a proposition for you, droid..."

- Darth Vader

Now that 8311 was a powerful underworld figure with huge amounts of credits at his disposal and much influence, he attracted the attention of the Empire. Darth Vader, in person, arrived at a seedy nightclub on Nar Shaddaa with 8311 present and gave him a proposition: work with the Empire and manipulate the criminal underworld for the Empire, but still carry on with your own activities. 8311, knowing better than to argue with a Sith, agreed, despite knowing that he was becoming another puppet of the Empire. He was also comforted by the fact that although Vader and Palpatine were aware of his power in the underworld, they were not certain that he was head of the Steel Legion, as 8311 had done his best to make all information about the Legions' head as vague as possible.

However, Darth Vader sensed that 8311 would do better than being a mere puppet crime lord, despite the protests of the Imperial elite. He gave 8311 a job in Imperial Intelligence. Imperial officers were amazed by 8311's efficiency, and soon he was given a job as the first droid general of the Imperial Army, although his role was made discreet as to avoid public controversy, and few outside of the Imperial upper echelons knew of 8311's role in the Empire. 8311 also made sure that his subordinates in the Legion remained unaware of this new development.

Although 8311 benefited from his new position in the Empire, he was reluctant to continue, as the only reason that he had agreed to Vader was that he feared what the Sith would do to him if he refused. He also used his role in the Imperial intelligence and military departments to benefit his underworld holdings, by manipulating Imperial guard units into abandoning Legion targets and supplying the Legion with high-tech Imperial technology. Grand Moff Tarkin, one of the few who knew of 8311's Imperial role, almost found about this. Meanwhile, by spying on Tarkin, 8311 was one of the first to learn of the mysterious project of the Emperor's.

From Imperial to Rebel
"That droid is beginning to seriously unnerve me. Are we sure it was a good idea letting a droid--a criminal droid--be given a position in the Empire?"

- An Imperial general

By now 8311 was perhaps the most influential droid in the galaxy. He doubled Imperial Intelligence's efficiency rate, won several battles on Cato Neimoidia and Drongar, and was increasingly richer from his illegal doings. However, 8311 was becoming increasingly power-hungry, even going as far as to murder a Moff to promote himself. Meanwhile, under the guidance of 8311, the Steel Legion continued to expand and grow more and more powerful. The Emperor was becoming aware of the threat that 8311 was starting to present, and ordered 8311 destroyed. However, just before Imperial Stormtroopers were about to attack his palace on Nar Shaddaa, 8311 copied his consciousness and memories into the shell of an astromech droid. Then, in the shell of his new body, 8311 escaped, just as stormtroopers destroyed his previous body, mistakingly thinking that he was dead.



8311 managed to escape the Imperial assassins, who mistakenly believed him to be just another astromech, and proceeded to join the Rebel Alliance. To do so, he let himself be captured by Jawas and sold to some prospecting rebel leaders. Once in the ownership of the Rebellion, he proved himself to be more than just another maintenance droid by hacking into an Imperial computer network, amazing his rebel masters. He offered further help in exchange for a new body.

Civil War
"Yay! A war! Just what I was built for!"

- 8311



The Rebels kept their promise and granted 8311 the body of a captured IT-0 droid, which, although the rebels didn't tell him, was the only droid body they would give him. With that, 8311 managed to unblock his bank accounts, which had been frozen by the Empire, and began funding Rebel operations. He also served as a spy, and managed to infiltrate the Death Star by sneaking aboard an Imperial freighter. There, 8311 masqueraded as an ordinary IT-0, and was the droid that tortured Leia, who simply thought him to be just another torture droid. Shortly afterwards, 8311 left the battle station in a TIE bomber he took over and returned to the rebel base on Yavin IV. Shortly afterwards, after the decisive Battle of Yavin, which was possibly the only time 8311 ever felt a large amount of fear due to the approaching Death Star, he was moved to Hoth, a place he disliked immensely due to the cold. From Hoth, 8311 discreetly advised and funded the rebels, trying to stay out of the way of main leaders such as Luke Skywalker, not desiring to get a memory wipe, and usually skulked around in a storeroom within the base.

During this period, 8311 took many an opportunity to participate in rebel operations, albeit discreetly. However, due to his appearance as an Imperial droid, and the fact that the rebel leaders found his personality somewhat disturbing, 8311 rarely did so. He did, however, help co-ordinate the attack on Dubrillion by hacking rebel command networks. He also resisted rebel attempts to have restraining bolts fixed to him, sometimes violently. During his time with the rebels, 8311 learned a few things in the field of engineering, especially from a maintenance droid he liked.

Eventually, 8311 was caught up in the Battle of Hoth as Imperial forces attacked, and he managed to escape by stowing aboard a transport, which was critically damaged by fire from an star destroyer during its escape. Life support was destroyed, so the crew suffocated, leaving only 8311 alive.

Return Home
"Ah, my beloved home Hypori. How much I missed you."

- 8311

The stricken transport drifted through space for a few weeks before finally crash-landing on Hypori, with the droid factory were 8311 had been born still standing. Overjoyed, 8311 transferred himself to the body of a modified droideka and resumed production, activating worker droids and getting them to re-activate the factory's power generators. He re-opened the mines on the planet and put the deactivated mining droids to work again. Using advanced production methods that he had come up with, 8311 made sure production went smoothly.

During this time, 8311 discovered to his shock that his rival in crime the Zann Consortium had a small presence on the planet, using a factory to make droideka Mk IIs. As soon as he had a medium-sized force, 8311 dispatched and battled with the Consortium forces there. Although that particular factory was mostly wrecked in the process, the Consortium forces were eradicated. Although their modern weapons had chewed up many of 8311's droids, 8311 was able to have a live comparison of old CIS armor to modern weapons, and was thus able to modify the droid design accordingly. Over the next few weeks, the Consortium would dispatch several expeditions to Hypori to investigate their lost contact with the factory. All of these expeditions were destroyed, although several came very close to alerting Zann. Soon, the Consortium decided not to bother with Hypori any more, and 8311 could continue his production in peace.

Within a few months, 8311 had assembled an immense army consisting mainly of old CIS droids, numbering over eighty-two million, and began plotting his re-ascent to power. Shortly afterwards, with his army, he traveled to a Rebel rendezvous place, only to find that the Battle of Endor had just been won and the Empire in disarray. Overjoyed, 8311 re-positioned his army at Hypori, and offered to start producing munitions for the newly-formed New Republic to help defeat the Imperial Remnant. The rebel leaders agreed. As the galaxy celebrated, however, they were unaware that the worst was yet to come...

New Republic activities
"Thrawn, a new Emperor...where all these bastards coming from?"

- 8311

For the next twenty or so years 8311 continued to fund and assist the growing New Republic, whilst also subtly re-establishing his Nar Shaddaa criminal empire, and continuing to upgrade his droideka form. 8311 also capitalized on the fact that his greatest underworld rivals, Jabba and Xizor, were dead, and was able to locate some of their 'spare' bank accounts and transfer the substantial amount of credits from those to his own. Meanwhile, 8311 had not abandoned his eye on Galactic events; although the remains of the Empire were now in turmoil, 8311 was confident that peace was not guaranteed, and would use puppet senators under his influence to try and convince the Republic echelons that this was so.

8311's sour predications came true. Thrawn, whom 8311 had glimpsed during a battle in the fringes of the Unknown regions during the Clone Wars, commenced his devastating attack on the New Republic, using tactics that made 8311 envy him, although 8311 would never admit it. During the crisis, 8311 used his own droid and Legion forces to resist reunified Imperial attacks. Not wishing to see the Empire return, 8311 was also responsible for the sabotage of some of Thrawn's supply convoys, which Thrawn attributed to New Republic spies.

Once Thrawn was defeated, 8311 became more confident that the seemingly never-ending fighting in the galaxy would begin to wind down. For once, he was wrong. Shortly after, the cloned Emperor was the next threat to galactic peace. 8311 dispatched a force disguised as New Republic troops to Byss, and had them participate in the battle there in the guise of New Republic troops, and had them salvage as much valuable remains as possible in the aftermath. Afterwards, his forces would frequently raid Remnant territory, even when the New Republic and Remnant finally made peace.

Around this time, 8311 decided to voluntarily relinquish control of the Steel Legion, and handed control of it to Ferd Swqaru, although 8311 still often got involved with the Legion, essentially serving the role of a high adviser and monetary supplier.

Yuuzhan Vong war
"Yay! Another war!"

- 8311



Now that the effects of the Clone Wars were safely in the past, 8311 was no longer attacked for his Confederacy-related origins or his droideka appearance. For a short period, 8311 entered a period of relaxation. However, in 25 ABY, this all came to an abrupt end as the Yuuzhan Vong War began, and 8311 began to fight for the New Republic, using his immense droid army to hold off Vong forces. 8311 detested the Vong for their overuse of organic technology, and also recognized that if they won, droids like him would become extinct. Even when news that famous New Republic figures such as Chewbacca were killed, 8311 still continued to fight, even as the war turned against the galaxy. Being a droid--and therefore a work of blasphemy in the eyes of the Vong--he and his droid troops struck terror into the hearts of Vong warriors.

During the course of the war, 8311 had been severely damaged and repaired several times in his battles against the invaders, so by 29 ABY he was so repaired and upgraded that he was fairly different in terms of appearance than he was at the start of the war, and had also upgraded his droideka body with a Density projector, a seismic wave generator, and the ability to release a gas that disintegrated all organic matter, which proved highly effective against the Vong and their biots. By hacking New Republic networks, 8311 could access intelligence on Vong movements, improving the movements of his own troops. He also took advantage of Legion forces, with Swqaru focusing the Legion's efforts on the Vong. 8311 would as a result serve in theaters all over the galaxy, such as Felucia, the maw, Mygeeto, and Deko Neimoidia. Despite his fighting skills and forces, 8311 suffered several grave defeats at the hands of the Vong, and to his own surprise, he began to grow weary of fighting.



However, once Coruscant fell, 8311 feared the worst. As the war for the New Republic turned drastically bleak, he retreated back to Hypori, the sight of several attacks by the Yuuzhan Vong, and remained there for some time, awaiting news. However, once word came to him of that the New Republic was triumphant, he began touring the galaxy, mopping up Yuuzhan Vong remnants and helping rebuild the galaxy. During this time, 8311 took the opportunity to take control of some planets devastated by the war in exchange for supplying them with aid, effectively granting himself a small empire. Once that was done, he returned to Hypori, to be ready should the newly-formed Galactic Federation of Free Alliances need him.

Further Conflict
"Note to self: never make a deal with temperamental Imperial admirals."

- 8311

After the Vong war, 8311 was becoming increasingly social with the galaxy, seeing himself as one of it's 'rebuilders'. However, this had one unfortunate side effect. At some point around the Dark Nest Crisis, 8311 ended up getting into conflict with Admiral J. Nebulax when a weapons deal went badly wrong. 8311 used his personal ships manufactured at Hypori and some Steel Legion ships to combat the Admiral's forces, and several skirmishes broke out between the two factions, at locations such as Naboo, Thule, and some old dustball. 8311's forces, although outdated, had the numerical advantage, and soon the conflict developed into a stalemate.

Both sides attempted to break the stalemate. 8311 hired a bounty hunter to destroy a weapons dump belonging to the Admiral, who retaliated by destroying an orbital defense platform of 8311's above Hypori. Afterwards, with both factions battered, they both sued for peace, and a treaty was signed. Some entertainment companies released holo-games based on the brief conflict, much to the bemusement of both sides.

Finally, at the end of this minor conflict, 8311 began to feel that he had seen enough fighting in his life. He got involved with the Legion less regularly, made fewer weapons deals with corporations and minor governments, and began increasingly world-weary. He began to spend more time relaxing in his home on Hypori, which was now almost dry of resources due to 8311's military projects. After a while of this lazy existence, during which he would only leave Hypori for events such as Ferd Swqaru's funeral in 97 ABY, 8311 began to take note of events as the Federation became increasingly more politically turbulent.

Afterwards, 8311 would go on to witness the rise of the New Empire and the reign of Darth Krayt, and would go on to watch and play a part in galactic events for a long time to come.

Legacy
"Well, establishing one of the most powerful crime syndicates in history and kicking a lot of Vong ass should make me remembered..."

- 8311

Although he did not play an overly noticeable part in galactic events, 8311 still left his mark on the galaxy. The Steel Legion would go on to dominate galactic crime after the events of the Yuuzhan Vong War, although this was more under the guidance of Ferd Swqaru rather than 8311. 8311's campaigns for droid rights during the age of the Galactic Federation, which were often fronted by a puppet of 8311's rather than 8311 himself, were often supported by other notable droids such as C-3P0, and resulted in new liberties for automatons.

However, not all of 8311's marks on the galaxy were positive. Thanks largely to him, crime in Nar Shaddaa flourished despite Imperial attempts to calm it, and many were killed, blackmailed, or kidnapped due to the Legion's activities under 8311. Due to this, 8311 gained a reputation for brutality in the underworld, and after he left his position as head of the Legion, droids in the underworld were often frowned upon. This 8311 noticed, but blamed it on 'anti-droid assholes', as he put it, rather than himself. Such a carefree and sardonic attitude as his also made sure that those who heard of him more frequently gave their droids memory wipes.

8311 also had a influence on the underworld. In the aftermath of Endor, the Legion heavily buffered Consortium and Black Sun attempts to take advantage of the chaos. He changed the disorganized crime groups in places in the Outer Rim to organized operations under Legion control. When the Legion temporarily collapsed and these groups became leaderless, the Empire and then the rebels were able to eradicate them more easily. Also, thanks to him, illegal copies of Gunray on top and several saucy letters from Tarkin became in wide circulation in the outer rim, frustrating the Imperial censorship boards.

Personality and traits
"Judging by the limited observations we have, we have decided that 8311 is sadistic, anti-organic, megalomaniacal, and power-hungry. From what we know, however, he denies this, and apparently seems to believe that he 'only seeks respect'. In short, we have come to the conclusion that he is a threat."

- Excerpt from a Moff report from around 15 BBY

8311 had a sardonic--and sometimes somewhat sadistic--personality, reflected in his battle droid origins. He almost always knew what he wanted, and he was often prepared to get it through manipulation, persuasion, or sometimes just brute force. He was also highly intelligent, and despite being slightly cocky, knew when he was beaten and when to retreat. He detested being told what to do and having an authority higher than him, and enjoyed being in complete control. He rarely displayed too much concern for other organics, unless they were very close to him or had helped in him some way. However, he was nearly always displayed concern for his fellow droids, regardless of origins or purpose, and often donated money to droid charities and despised those who mistreated droids. The only droids he hated were human replica droids, such as Guri.

8311 was also not afraid of change, as reflected in his varying bodies over the ages. At some point, 8311 managed to collect all his old previous bodies and had them specially displayed in his home, despite the fact that some of them were crumbling. He was, however, sensitive to change in his lifestyle, and found his attempted arrest by the Empire somewhat jarring.

What 8311 desired most was respect. During his time as a droid in the CIS droid armies, he was constantly ordered around and treated like a disposable object. This he despised. By setting up the Steel Legion, 8311 intended to gain respect. 8311 also hated being called 'droid'.

Equipment and tools
8311 utilized differing in-built equipment and tools in each incarnation. In his original B2 incarnation, the only thing that differed 8311 from other B2s was his vastly superior mind. However, when he upgraded himself to his grapple form, he gave himself magnetic soles that allowed him to scale vertical surfaces, albeit at a slow pace, and jet boosters that allowed him to jump to large heights. He also fitted in miniaturized seismic generators into his legs, allowing him to emit seismic waves that knocked down enemies around in a wide radius. However, the disadvantage of this was that it also damaged allies. 8311 also occasionally experimented with inbuilt grenade and missile launchers, although he preferred taking enemies with his grappling pincers. He also fitted himself with a flamethrower, albeit rarely.

When he transferred himself to his HK body, 8311 initially merely gave himself modern armor, but when he discovered that he enjoyed leading Legion operations and battles, he fitted himself with concealed radiation projectors that instantly irradiated and killed any organic enemy and had several pouches for ammo clips. However, this was the extent of his extra equipment in this incarnation, and he often removed it when not going into battle. His weapon of choice in this incarnation was a massive chaingun of his own design.

In his astromech and torture droid bodies, 8311 had no extra equipment, but when he placed himself into his droideka body, he upgraded himself with better leg joints, allowing himself to move much faster in walking mode, and magnetic projectors that increased his maneuverability in wheel form. During the Yuuzhan Vong War, he modified himself to allow his blasters to configure into electromagnetic grapples, and could project organic matter-disintegrating gas that instantly killed any organic enemy, which proved immensely useful on the wholly organic Vong. He also fitted several miniaturized missile launchers that could target aerial units, as well as a density projector that allowed himself to avoid being thrown by heavy Vong soldiers. At the height of his upgrading, 8311 was a virtually unstoppable killing machine.

Fighting style
8311 was vicious in battle, using a fighting style similar to that of Grievous's; i.e. lighting-fast power attacks designed to create shock and awe. 8311 was also constantly in motion whilst on the battlefield to minimize his target profile; however, in his original B2 body, the cumbersomeness of his joints somewhat nullified this. One of 8311's main weaknesses in battle was that he never tended to focus on any particular enemy, choosing instead to take out large concentrations of them at a time; as a result of this, it was easy not to gain his attention on the battlefield. 8311's devastating moves also occasionally damaged himself as well as his enemies.

Behind the scenes

 * 8311 was originally to be 'Unit 1138'.

Appearances

 * Forces of Corruption:The Empire's Beggining
 * Star Wars: Legion Commando