Never thought I would have to fight another fellow droid. A Sith droid who can use the force, at that."
"Never thought I'd have an opponent so weak!
—Unit 8311 and Darth Tyler
The Battle of Nar Shaddaa was a fierce battle between the Galactic Droid Empire and the Steel Legion, which started after a communiqué between its leaders went badly wrong. It resulted in a pact between the GDE and Legion, but also caused severe damage to several Nar Shaddaa districts. Both factions took casualties in the battle, and the two commanders themselves—Darth Tyler and Unit 8311—engaged in a ferocious duel on the planet in a refinery, with both of them bringing to brunt their finest abilities and, in 8311's case, equipment and gadgetry.
Meanwhile, in space and on the ground, both sides focused on outdoing each other in firepower, with large civilian casualties caused in the crossfire. Throughout the battle, the GDE had the advantage in quantity, and the Legion in quality. The two factions soon brought out their finest soldiers and equipment in a bid to overwhelm one another, but this merely led to more destruction being caused. The battle was comparable to the Battle of Coruscant in terms of its epic scale. However, eventually, Tyler and 8311 got so worn down in their duel that both asked one another for a truce, ending the ferocious battle. Both sides took heavy casualties in the battle, which lasted for some time. Fighting between pockets of forces from both sides that had failed to receive communications of the truce would continue for a few weeks.
Background and prelude[]
Ah, a fellow droid. Wait, what the hell, it's a Sith?
—Unit 8311
In the turmoil of the post Endor galaxy, the Sith battle droid, Darth Tyler, was in need of funds and resources to fuel his plans of conquest. He approached several companies and corporations discreetly, hoping to obtain funds from them, but they quickly refused him. With that, he began scrutinizing the more shadowy galactic crime syndicates, but with Black Sun and the Hutt Cartel reeling from the deaths of Xizor and Jabba respectively, his options were limited. Soon, after studying all intelligence on major crime organizations he noticed a droid crime lord, Unit 8311. 8311, head of the massive crime syndicate known as the Steel Legion, was, like Tyler, was an ex-CIS battle droid, although any details on 8311's past were unknown to Tyler. He also learned that 8311 also had access to vast funds and resources, and Tyler thought that 8311 would be more than willing to give him funds, as they shared similar backgrounds and he assumed that 8311 would also want to see droids dominating the galaxy. Tyler contacted 8311 personally via the HoloNet, with 8311 being initially surprised to learn that he was not the only ex-battle droid in a position of power. The two began to engage in conversation, exchanging information about one another.
However, upon learning of Tyler's usage of the Force, 8311 quickly considered Tyler a freak due to this, and also feared that Tyler would start new wars, which would be detrimental on his profits. Viewing Tyler as a disgrace to droids, 8311 quickly declared war on Tyler, wishing to purge him from the galaxy, and communications between the two quickly broke down. Tyler, after quickly getting over the shock of being rejected, realized that he would have to end the conflict quickly to avoid being brought down by the Legion, which had forces and assets galaxy-wide, so he immediately planned and commenced an attack on Nar Shaddaa, headquarters of the Legion. The GDE was still a fledgling government, and still had a rudimentary industrial base and a minimal galactic presence. 8311 was expecting this, however, and had already prepped available Legion forces for attack, and also had his own droid forces built at his home of Hypori on standby, although these were few in number and would not have an overly great effect on the upcoming battle. Meanwhile, 8311 received great protest from his inner circle over his decision, but ignored it.
OOM-8, are your forces ready?"
"Yes, they are ready, sir. I placed several ships around Nar Shaddaa.
—Tyler and OOM-8, a general
With both fleets ready for a huge battle, Tyler and 8311 each quietly planned out strategic locations for the placement of forces. 8311 placed several sniper divisions and Infiltrators equipped with jetpacks on top of buildings and he bribed the local Nar Shaddaa militia into giving him some extra support. 8311 was much more experienced with the layout of the city, being aware of various little-known strategic locations, which also gave him an advantage over Tyler's forces, and so was able to predict the locations of GDE landing zones and move his troops accordingly. 8311 was sure that Tyler's droids would quickly be depleted by the snipers and militia. The survivors would be demolished by various turrets around the city that he had had set up. Meanwhile, he recalled several Legion battalions to the moon, and prepared his most elite troops for a defense of his palace just in case.
Tyler, however, was much more experienced in battles than 8311, having served in the Trade Federation invasion of Naboo and the Clone Wars years before, so he drew upon this experience to formulate a battle plan, after analyzing all available intelligence on the Legion and Nar Shaddaa. With his lightsaber and use of Force lightning, he was absolutely sure he could knock out several droids just using these tools. He also prepared a Guardian for emergency contact in case something went wrong. He moved his ships in strategic formations, and specially selected a squadron of bombers for a run over the palace's shield. He was confident that his larger fleet of more outdated ships would overwhelm the Legion fleet, which was smaller but utilized more advanced ships and black market technology. Tyler had much confidence in victory. However, as the GDE fleet exited hyperspace, orbital mines were straight ahead, with civilian traffic restricting the fleet to only certain hyperspace entrances.
The battle[]
The space battle[]
Wipe them out. All of them.
—Tyler quoting a line from Darth Sidious
The orbital mines crippled Tyler's fleet above Nar Shaddaa, causing considerable damage to the smaller ships but less to the larger ones.. A Legion fleet began engaging Tyler's ships, and whilst this was happening, Tyler led forces in landing craft down to the planet to commence an attack on 8311's palace, using several decoys to distract Legion ground-space guns located on the planet. Any Legion fighters or missiles that got close to Tyler's shuttle were shot down. However, a large part of the GDE landing force was demolished due to Legion ion cannons on the surface targeting the landing ships. Meanwhile, GDE fighters began clearing the remaining Legion mines.
Above the planet, Legion and GDE ships furiously engaged in combat. The Legion vessels were led by one of 8311's favored admirals, who had had experience serving in the Empire. Both sides were more or less evenly matched in all respects, but the GDE had the advantage in starfighters, which were overwhelming the outdated Legion Z-95s. In response, Legion ships deployed mines which severely crippled the GDE's capital ships. Both sides began boarding each other's ships and attempted to jam one another's communications, which resulted in interference with communications equipment all over the planet. Legion Infiltrators managed to seize one of the GDE's Lucrehulks and used it to confuse and scatter part of the droid fleet, stymieing the GDE efforts, but in return GDE Providences caused critical damage to the Legion flagship, forcing the Legion space commander to transfer his command. Falling debris from ships destroyed large parts of the Nar Shaddaa cityscape below, which further hindered both sides fighting on the surface.
Soon, both the Legion and GDE admirals were trying to turn the tide in their favor, almost mindlessly throwing as much firepower as they could at each other. A GDE commander sent a squadron of tri-fighters equipped with small-scale nuclear weapons to try and smash through the Legion line of capital ships, only to be shocked when the squadron was decimated by fire that came from nowhere. It became apparent that the Legion had deployed its specially modified cloaked V-wings, which began to wreck havoc amongst the GDE starfighters, boosting morale for the scattered Legion Z-95 pilots. However, buzz droids deployed by GDE Vultures in strategic locations crippled the squadrons of cloaked V-wings. Both sides began calling in reinforcements and their biggest guns, with the Legion sending in their Keldabes and the GDE bringing in more Lucrehulks and bombers. They also both tried to take advantage of various civilian satellites and space stations above the city, with both droid and Legion technicians quickly converting various satellites and stations into missile platforms and communications jammers by reprogramming onboard systems and wielding weapons from critically damaged ships to said satellites. The Legion was marginally more successful, as it managed to disable many GDE droid starfighters with these comm jammers, giving the remaining V-wings more breathing room. However, the GDE managed to construct missile launchers on some satellites, destroying some light Legion capital ships. Both sides launched sorties on one another's orbital assets, which resulted in more chaos. After a while, most of the satellites belonging to both sides were destroyed, which further stymied communications amongst both sides on the surface.
During the space battle, some pirate and smuggler vessels entered, hoping to scavenge what they could from the wrecks of ships from both sides. They ended up getting caught in the crossfire, and fired back, starting small skirmishes. However, the pirates did little more than get in the way of the two major factions of the battle, and as a result were never counted as an official side in the warfare. Nonetheless, some of them managed to get parts from some of the more intact wrecks, which would later end up on the black market.
Hundreds of thousands of ships, including reinforcements and civilian vessels, were destroyed each hour, and the battle went on for some time. Eventually however, concurrent with the ground battle, the outcome of the space battle was a truce, and the space battle was over as soon as the surface battle was. However, the casualties of each side were unheard of, and both Tyler and 8311 both secretly wished, even after the truce, that their side had won. Nevertheless, they still traded as an act of peace.
The surface battle[]
A droid army? What kinda enemy are we up against? Ta hell with it, let's turn 'em into pizza!
—A Legion soldier upon seeing the GDE forces
Tyler and his personal contingent successfully landed, but came under heavy Legion fire from all around. 8311 had also bribed the local militia, which further hindered Tyler's droids. However, most of the local militia was destroyed by orbital bombardment from Tyler's flagship, the Medal, but then as GDE and Legion troops began to mix orbital bombardment from both sides became less of an option. Meanwhile, Legion troops, 8311's droids and Tyler's soldiers engaged in brutal urban combat, leveling several buildings. Legion forces used the city's monorail system to quickly transport troops to battle hotspots. A Guardian of Tyler's, however, entered the battle, confusing the Legion troops, who had never seen such a thing, and as a result many Legion foot troops were killed by it. However, they were soon able to fight back, and squads of Legion Defilers began to turn the tide in favor of the Legion, crippling the Guardian. Eventually, the Guardian fell, boosting morale amongst the Legion troops, who managed to repulse the GDE forces out of several key areas.
During the battle, much confusion was sowed amongst the civilian populace. When they saw Legion vessels engaging what to them appeared to be CIS ships, many were absolutely stunned, with some thinking that the CIS had returned. Despite broadcast Legion messages planet-wide instructing civilians to calmly evacuate to the deeper city levels, complete panic and disorder in the city made fighting between the two sides even more difficult. Several Nar Shaddaa landmarks were leveled as both sides tried to demolish the cityscape to their advantage. The Legion forces, who were familiar with Nar Shaddaa, had the advantage in knowing the layout of the city, allowing them to perform pincer movements on GDE divisions. The GDE forces, in response, relied heavily on support from orbit, with orbital bombardment from GDE ships crippling Legion contingents. Both sides tried to take strategic locations–the Legion attempted to seize spaceports that the GDE were using as landing zones, and the GDE droids tried to attack 8311's palace, the headquarters of the Legion, which was protected by a shield. However, the massive array of defenses around the palace annihilated any enemy that got near and several GDE bombers that performed attempted bombing runs on the palace were brought down. Meanwhile, Tyler supported his troops, terrorizing Legion soldiers, who were shocked at the sight of a Force-wielding droid. He also managed to destroy several Legion vehicle battalions by bringing down debris on them, which managed to even the odds slightly in favor of the GDE.
One notable sortie took place in the Legion's prestigious Imperial Casino, where GDE shock troops entered, surprising guests and attendees at the casino, intending to exploit the casino's strategic location in the city, as it was also a major monorail terminal and a viable resupply point. Teams of Legion Defilers, Infiltrators and foot soldiers entered the building, with intense corridor-corridor fighting taking place throughout the building, partly reducing it to rubble. However, the GDE droids managed to get down to the lower levels of the casino, where various Legion funds and weapons were stored away in the vaults. Locating various vehicles and advanced prototype weaponry, the droids were able to turn the tide on the Legion troops. Exasperated, what remained of the Legion force was forced to call in an EMP strike. This completely wiped the droids in the Casino, but also disabled the equipment of the Legion soldiers, heavily hindering them, forcing them to resort to using melee weaponry and even orang fruits. Both sides then pulled out of that area.
As the battle raged planet-wide, Tyler got word that 8311 was waiting for him in an abandoned smelting refinery not too far from his palace. Tyler headed there, confident his Force powers would put an end to 8311 once and for all.
The Duel[]
Well, well, well. If it ain't the skinny little B1 freak who thinks he's so clever just 'cause he can wave a glowstick about. Now, I recommend you commence preparations to get your skinny durasteel ass kicked."
"Your language betrays your simplicity and stupidity, fool.
Very nice. Now I suggest you run while my weapons warm up.
—8311 and Tyler
Tyler entered the refinery, where 8311 was waiting. Tyler was sure that he would gain the advantage over 8311, who was lumbered with a B2 body that he had uploaded himself into, having viewed his nominal droideka body as being too cumbersome. To be safe, Tyler had given himself extra armor and molecular shielding prior to the battle. To his horror, Tyler discovered that 8311 had also heavily modified his body in preparation for the fight. Now 8311 was equipped with repulsorlifts, a seismic blast generator, a droideka shield generator, a density projector, and an EMP blaster, with most of this equipment tailored to counter all of Tyler's force abilities.
After a brief mud-slinging match between the two droids, the battle commenced. Tyler found his efforts to Force Push 8311 futile due to his density projector, and his attempts to throw objects at 8311 were also rendered ineffective due to 8311's shield. He then tried bringing down the floor 8311 was standing on, but 8311's fast reflexes enabled him to get out of the away even as Tyler was lowering his arm. Meanwhile, 8311 began attacking Tyler with blasters and missiles, but Tyler dodged them quickly, even for a Force-sensitive. 8311 intensified his fire, but this did little more than cause more damage to the surroundings.
Realizing his projected attacks to be futile, 8311 converted his blasters into electromagnetic grapples, and leapt at Tyler, attacking him with such force that he knocked his lightsaber away. The two furiously engaged in hand-to-hand combat, with Tyler nimbly dodging 8311's grapples. 8311 suffered damage to his midpoint, severely slowing him down, and Tyler lost an arm, heavily crippling and almost destroying him. During the fight, much of the surroundings were destroyed, reducing a large part of the refinery to ruin. Both combatants pulled off various acrobatics to dodge falling debris, and the fight moved to another part of the refinery, above the central reactor. Tyler used the Force to pull his lightsaber to his other arm and pointed it at 8311, trying to get the super battle droid to give up. However, 8311 punched Tyler in the face, blurring his sensors and nearly tearing it off, and then smashed some nearby coolant tubes, spilling oily liquid on Tyler, further damaging him. Tyler then electrified 8311's body, almost destroying him, but 8311 found enough strength to leap at Tyler once more and make him fall to the ground. Very quickly, both combatants were exhausted and damaged, and had come to a stalemate, with both of them now weakened to the extent that they could hardly move. Tyler offered to make peace. 8311, desperate to end the fighting, quickly agreed.
Aftermath[]
Let us not explode into war again, 8311."
"Agreed. I've decided that there's more than enough room in the galaxy for both of us.
—Tyler and 8311, before signing
With that, both recalled their forces, and shortly after they signed a treaty promising not to fight each other, although fighting between a few remnant Legion and GDE forces who had not received orders to ceasefire in the lowest levels of the Nar Shaddaa city would continue for a few weeks. 8311 would occasionally provide large quantities of funding for Tyler (since the Steel Legion had far more credits than the GDE), who in turn allowed him to open Legion activities on his worlds (since the GDE had far more planets that the Steel Legion, with the GDE having a very weak economic presence at this time). When the GDE merged with the New CIS, the Steel Legion doubled their funding, and the New CIS/GDE's planets doubled to over three hundred. When the New CIS/GDE managed to secure its objective in conquering the galaxy, most major criminal organizations were eradicated save for the Legion, allowing it to virtually monopolize galactic crime. This made 8311 and the Legion tremendously rich and powerful and also allowed Tyler to have some control over the underworld, benefiting both parties.
Meanwhile, both sides contributed to the rebuilding of the damaged Nar Shaddaa infrastructure. 8311 helped finance the reconstruction efforts, and as a gesture of goodwill, Tyler sent a small army of VRO12 worker droids and materials. The newly-formed New Republic, although busy with fighting the Imperial remnant, also sent aid to the moon. News of the battle, meanwhile, spread, although due to the abrupt way it had begun and the fact that the GDE was not yet fully known, there was much confusion over why it had occurred or, for that matter, who had attacked the moon. The Legion itself said very little, and a variety of theories appeared about the battle. However, the Republic managed to divert media attention from the battle with news of its various achievements against the crumbling Empire.
Tyler was able to get a new arm from a battle droid, and he was able to fix his lightsaber. 8311 found a new chest plate since it was stained with the lightning blast, but would soon afterwards transfer himself back into his modified droideka body. However, there was one problem: Tyler's sensors were blurred so he could not see well, so they were replaced with that of an unfinished battle droid's. Now Tyler felt prepared to accelerate his plans.
Legacy[]
Due to its isolated nature, the battle did not have much of an overt impact outside of Nar Shaddaa. Nonetheless, thousands were rendered homeless by the battle, and the Legion decided to address this by setting up temporary shelters. Of course, it also used these to gain new recruits to replace the troops it had lost, and set up a number of protection and drug rackets. Meanwhile, debris from the battle would linger above the planet for years, occasionally descending and impacting into the city. Mostly this did little damage; however, larger chunks would cause damage similar to that of an asteroid impact. The Legion would help repair the damage, however, and coupled with the civilian aid it doled out, it gained a reputation of philanthropy over time on the moon.
Meanwhile, the Legion also lost some assets on other worlds thanks to the battle. By recalling so many of its forces to the moon, it had been forced to abandon some of its holdings elsewhere, and other crime groups such as the Zann Consortium would seize said assets. However, the Legion would regain them in the New CIS/GDE wars.
The battle also had an impact on the two figures who had started it. 8311 would from then on be very hesitant in starting conflicts, and would no longer declare war on a whim as he had done. Tyler, meanwhile, came to respect the power the underworld could wield, and used it to his advantage later by using the Legion and other crime groups in the upcoming war. He would also augment his forces, upon the suggestion of 8311, with black market technology.
Meanwhile, many Legion subordinates would abandon the syndicate following the battle. Many were angry with 8311 for declaring war for what they perceived to be a silly reason, and others were also objecting to his decision to make a deal with the enemy he had preached against, viewing him as a hypocrite. As well as that, the Legion decided to hold its more violent activities as it consolidated to replace what it had lost in the battle.
Behind the scenes[]
This article was created in a collaboration between Darthtyler and Unit 8311. It came about when 8311 proposed a collaboration one day when asking Tyler a favor. Tyler agreed, and 8311 made a rough draft on a user subpage. Eventually, he made it into an actual article, and suggested making it into a featured article. Tyler agreed.
To this end, both users expanded the article greatly. Tyler made most of the article images from various sources, after discussing them with 8311. Eventually, the article was nominated, and passed.
It does not count as part of Unit 8311's fanon continuity, although it counts as part of Darthtyler's. This is because Tyler's fanon ultimately contradicts 8311's, which is designed to fit in with canon as much as possible. For this reason, this battle is incorporated into Tyler's fanon universe only, which 8311 regards as an alternate universe from his own.