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, often known simply as the Legion, was a powerful criminal organization, based on Nar Shaddaa and later Dac, ruled by the old CIS battle droid Unit 8311, during the times of the Empire and beyond. At its height, it had influence and presence on countless worlds in every sector in the galaxy, and was feared by many.
It dealt with many criminal activities, from piracy to major theft to drug running. Over time, it gained a reputation for its large galaxy-wide activities, which provided it with a near-constant source of income. With these large amounts of funds, it gained large military forces, augmented by various technologies, some of which were exclusive to the Legion. Unlike other criminal organizations, the Legion was not afraid to attack the Empire and other governments in its quest for profit.
The Legion, despite being broken up shortly before the Battle of Yavin, would later be reformed. Throughout its history, it remained an influential body, rivaled only by Black Sun and the Hutt Cartel, as well as the Zann Consortium. After the Yuuzhan Vong War, it would become the most powerful criminal syndicate in the galaxy due to the elimination of its main rivals. It would go on to survive into the age of the New Empire.
History[]
Formation[]
We might start off as nothing, but mark my words, eventually even Black Sun will tremble before me.
—8311 during the formation of the Legion
The Steel Legion was first officially formed a few months 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, after assassinating a Hutt boss he was working for and taking control of his assets. 8311 announced that his motivation for this was to gain respect; in the aftermath of the Clone Wars, droids were distrusted, and 8311 decided that the only way to gain respect was to accumulate money and power.
For the first few weeks of its existence, the Legion was little more than a minor street gang in Nar Shaddaa consisting of several dozen thugs and several of 8311's puppet representatives. The most powerful gangs chose to ignore it, not seeing it as a threat. However, shortly after, it rocketed upwards in power when 8311 transferred millions of credits worth from other bank accounts--mostly those of his rivals--on his own using his skills in hacking. This sparked a panic amongst the With that, he set up its formal headquarters in an old disused club house and began gradually taking over the Nar Shaddaa underworld by assassinating major rival crime bosses and transferring all their credits to his bank accounts. The Imperial garrison on Nar Shaddaa noticed these sudden power vacuums appearing and being rapidly filled up by the Legion, but did little about it. Meanwhile, 8311 began spending his newfound wealth on recruitment campaigns for the Legion across Nar Shaddaa.
Reign[]
A Legion task force destroying Imeprials, along with Mandalorians bribed by a Legion Defiler
We would also like to report the recent rise of a previously insignificant crime organization, the Steel Legion. But we recommend that no action is taken; Black Sun will get rid of it for us.
—A part of an annual Moff report around 17 BBY
Quickly, the Steel Legion converted disused buildings in the lower levels of Nar Shaddaa 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 Shaddaa, could do nothing about it. Soon afterwards, Steel Legion thugs captured a freighter carrying Imperial military equipment, including outdated AT-ATs, AT-TEs, other various walkers, and old LAATs, having bribed corrupt officials into making sure it was sparsely guarded.
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 approaching and offered minimal resistance. The communications center 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 millions worth of credits of crystals had been stolen, although some noted that several bank accounts on Nar Shaddaa had recieved substantial deposits. At this time, 8311 constructed a large palace for himself on top of some disused power plants on Nar Shaddaa and relocated the Legion's headquarters there.
Within months, the Steel Legion subtly controlled the Nar Shaddaa underworld, and extended to Nal Hutta and even Coruscant. It's military capabilities were demonstrated when a large contingent of its MZ-8 Mobile Pulse Cannons assaulted 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 considerable amounts. The Empire quickly worked out that the organization that had attacked the depot was the same as the one that had overrun the nova crystal depot, but still did not realize that it was a relatively unheard of Nar Shaddaa criminal organization.
Meanwhile, 8311 began spending part of the vast wealth he had been accumulating on new weapons and troops for the Legion's expanding miilitary. Initially, he purchased mainly from Hutt and Black Sun weapons dealers, but when these sources began to either run dry or attempt to extort more credits from him, he hired several expert engineers and used his Separatist background to locate some old abandoned CIS war factories, which 8311 had converted into Legion weapons production facilities to churn out hardware for his forces. He also discovered large weapons dumps at some of these factories, which he would strip and sell to various customers, sometimes to the weapons dealers he had initially purchased arms from. However, 8311's scheme was not a total success. The Empire got wind of some of the newly activated factories and as a result some of the Legion's newly acquired production facilities were either sabotaged by Imperial covert agents or destroyed outright by force. Larger crime groups like the Hutt Cartel also hindered Legion progress in some sectors.
8311 then purchased some old pre-Clone Wars capital ships from surplus stores and black market figures, 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. He then proceeded to purchase or rent shipyards across the galaxy to reproduce these vessels.
The Good Days[]
Legion Rihkxyrk Attack ships engage Imperial TIE bombers
By now, the Steel Legion was considered an influential body, with access to many resources, a virtually unlimited amount of credits (not including 8311's personal wealth), large manpower, powerful influence on a number of worlds, and even a comparatively efficient space fleet. It was now that it attracted the attention of the Empire. Darth Vader himself asked 8311 to help manipulate the underworld in the Empire's favor.
8311 agreed (although he did not do so as extensively as Vader wanted) 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 resource or asset, the Emperor used false intelligence information to trick 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, the battle was a draw, and both Legion and Rebel forces retreated.
Legion MZ-8s assaulting an Imperial base
Soon afterwards, the Rebels, sensing a potential ally in the Legion, approached it, asking it to help them rob an Imperial vault on Coruscant for knowledge of Imperial troop movements. Coincidentally, the Legion had been planning to do just that--Legion spies in the Empire had found about a device called the Impervious Device, a machine capable of rendering any object invincible. The Legion assisted the rebels in the attack on the vault and took the opportunity to steal some prototypes of the device. However, the prototypes did not work, which led the Legion to raid another Imperial base on Mygeeto in search for the location of an operational one. They learned of a working device on Byss, and launched a massive assault there. The Legion triumphed and stole the device.
We may have failed to replicate the device, but thanks to those blueprints, Legion credit totals are going off the scale.
—8311
Realizing that the Legion could not replicate it, 8311 sold the blueprints on the black market for billions of credits, and kept the device. This was one of the most successful and profitable Legion operations.
Increasing suspicion[]
A Legion Venator-class star destroyer alongside a Legion-employed pirate CR90 corvette
Heh. Soon I'll be able to buy the entire galaxy at this rate.
—8311 checking his Legion credit account
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. However, the Empire was not certain as to whether 8311 was in charge of the Legion, only that he was a powerful underworld figure. 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 by now the Steel Legion military was one of the largest and most effective armed forces in the galaxy. Shortly afterwards, 8311 had a special Keldabe-class with extra modifications built for him to serve as his flagship--he christened it the Iron Harbinger, and installed the Impervious Device on it.
Shortly afterwards, 8311 discovered the location of an old but powerful Mandator II-class Star Dreadnought, floating in a desolate region of space after being abandoned in the Clone Wars, having been largely assumed as lost. 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 sweeped the area, locating any valuable components which it sold on the black market. 8311 made a large amount of credits from the operation, which he spent mostly on expanding the ever-growing Legion.
At around this time, the Legion entered into a conflict with an Imperial Moff named Deras, who wished to destroy the Legion after it humiliated him by raiding a space station of his. 8311 realized that Deras was a serious threat and the Legion fought several battles with him. The Legion eventually triumphed, but this also increased Imperial hostilities towards it.
Legion troops, along with a bribed AT-ST, stand triumphant.
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 noticeably powerful Steel Legion, after carefully monitoring him.
Fall[]
Collapse[]
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 Shaddaa, overwhelming the defences. 8311 escaped, but was forced to go into hiding, and the Steel Legion collapsed as its leaders tried to exploit the power vacuum by fighting amongst themselves. The Legion armies and fleets were split amongst the various former leaders of the Legion. Former Legion leaders such as Ferd Swqaru used their own pieces of the Legion's military for their personal gain, and other Legion remnants became private armies for hire. Loyal Legion soldiers, such as its Defilers, carried on their duty by sabotaging the Legion's rivals, which were capitalizing on its collapse.
Disintegration[]
With 8311's fall, the Steel Legion collapsed, and its 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 Shaddaa became how it was before the arrival of 8311. 8311's palace fell into disuse and became abandoned, and the Legion's various brothels and nightclubs on Nar Shaddaa were either privatized, assimilated by other organizations, or shut down completely. Meanwhile, various prospective penniless people would come to Nar Shaddaa, attracted by the legend of the Legion's vast hidden cache of various valuable spices and treasures acquired via its piracy operations. None of them would ever succeed, although one tramp managed to find a small Legion vault hidden beneath one of it's old nightclubs.
Shortly after the Legion's collapse, the Zann Consortium also fell apart following Tyber Zann's arrest on Felucia, further altering the balance of power in the underworld.
Re-emergence[]
Aftermath of Endor[]
It's a brave new galaxy out there--time to make the most of it.
—8311
In the aftermath of the Empire's defeat at Endor, 8311 joined the celebration, whilst continuing to expand his droid army using the old droid factories on Hypori. Meanwhile, he gathered Legion reservists and began funding the Legion's return to power, and officially reformed it. However, he was beginning to focus more on expanding his political power rather than his criminal assets. Many crime bodies which had capitalized on the Legion's collapse were surprised to see it revived. Fortunately for the new Legion, most of them did nothing--Black Sun was reeling from Xizor's death, the Hutt Cartel was filling in on Jabba's death, and the Zann Consortium was busy making use of its recent victory at Kuat. Due to this, few opposed the Legion's official reformation.
The newly-reformed Steel Legion continued to be an influential crime organization on Nar Shaddaa, but still nowhere near as powerful as it once was. Organizations such as Black Sun and the Zann Consortium were taken aback by its sudden return, although they mostly decided that it would not become a threat and focused on reaping the rewards of the Empire's decline, giving the Legion more elbow room. 8311 took the opportunity to re-assemble the various splinters of the Legion's military and re-acquire its old holdings on Nar Shaddaa, and renovating its headquarters to symbolize the Legion's return. Notable acts it committed during this era of stagnation were multiple drug smuggling campaigns and expansion into piracy on the Corellian Trade Spine. Regardless, it was still not quite what it was in its prime.
Age of the New Republic[]
It is the start of a new era for the galaxy...and the Legion.
—8311
The Steel Legion's power 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 organization, and hence he began to focus on it less. Slowly, it began to collapse. Various crime cartels based on Nar Shaddaa and elsewhere 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 of the legion 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 organizations. However, the Legion still remained powerful, and often turned to 8311 for guidance, and a part of 8311's wealth still came from the Legion.
Under Ferd's control, the Legion rose up rapidly after a campaign of credit theft and smuggling across the galaxy, and it began to approach the level of power it was when under command of 8311. With the Empire no longer the dominant government, laws were relaxed, allowing the Legion to set up criminal activities galaxy-wide with ease. Ferd set up massive credit counterfeiting operations on many worlds, intending to increase the Legion's power by printing tremendous amounts of fake credits for it to use, but was discouraged after realizing what effects it would have on the galactic economy. Nevertheless, much of the Legion's profit came from Ferd's counterfeiting operations in this era.
The Black Sun Wars[]
Will I bring the Legion to what it once was? Probably not. But I'll sure as hell get close.
—Ferd Swqaru
Ferd was quite pleased to receive control of the Legion, and was desperate to see it return to the 'good old days', as he put it. In order to do so, he began a gang war with Black Sun, traditionally the Legion's greatest rival, destroying one of their Nar Shaddaa headquarters, and taking advantage of Black Sun's fragility following Xizor's death. Black Sun retaliated by commencing an all-out military assault on the Imperial Casino on Nar Shaddaa, the Legion's largest casino, which was also legitimate, and contained part of the Legion's funds in its vaults. Fortunately, 8311 had been using the vault to store some of his droidekas which were being manufactured at his private droid foundry on Hypori, and they repelled the Black Sun forces, along with Legion-employed militia. 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 a new campaign he dubbed 'Operation Steel Fist'. Due to the Legion's loss of heavy military equipment because of its downfall, Legion Defilers raided a museum on Coruscant and stole an old SPHA-T, which he used to attack and destroy a large section of Black Sun's Nar Shaddaa headquarters. Under Ferd's direction, Legion soldiers also broke into its vaults, stealing most of the Nar Shaddaa vigo's funding. This was a major victory for the Legion, and forced the vigo to propose a truce, a move which postponed the gang war and gave Ferd extra credit amongst his underlings. Any further risk of another war with Black Sun was removed when the New Republic practically destroyed it after Czerthros's failed coup.
Yuuzhan Vong war[]
The Steel Legion must now focus on helping to destroy this threat if it is to survive.
—Ferd Swqaru
For the next several years, the Legion continued to deal with both legitimate and illegitimate businesses. The occasional gang war with Black Sun remnants cropped up, but these ended quickly. 8311 had lost interest completely in his child organization. Indeed, he had not been seen for sometime, and became an urban myth on Nar Shaddaa. Due to the Legion's fund problems brought about by New Republic crackdowns and wars with other crime groups, 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 constructed in hidden Legion shipyards. These ships proved more than a match against the capital ships of major galactic governments, although they were produced in very small numbers due to their cost.
The Legion's new headquarters on Dac
However, the Yuuzhan Vong war then broke out, which would change the galaxy. Ferd feared the worst as the Yuuzhan Vong began vongforming worlds, and relocated the Legion from Nar Shaddaa to his homeworld of Dac, shutting down Legion operations on the moon and relocating them to planets he considered safe. Although this resulted in a dramatic decrease in Legion profits, Ferd was glad to see that his hunch was right, as Nar Shaddaa 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, allowing the Legion to have mild influence in galactic politics as well.
Later years[]
After the war, the Legion was weakened, with the loss of Nar Shaddaa, but it soon recovered by selling supplies and arms to various damaged worlds via the black market. Meanwhile, 8311 sent a large amount of arms to the Legion from his factory on Hypori. Ferd promptly kept 50% of the arms for the Legion, and sold the rest.
A division of Legion MZ-10 Attack Tanks on a mission, circa 130 ABY
Seeing as how Black Sun was eliminated, the Zann Consortium had faded into obscurity with Zann's passing away, and the Hutts were still smarting over their disastrous deal with the Vong, the Legion finally achieved the title of being the most powerful criminal organization in the galaxy, though not quite as powerful as it was in the Imperial era. In the post-Vong chaos, the Legion was able to expand far more rapidly, to the extent that it could do whatever it wanted on some worlds. Extensive Legion revenues, from brothels to drug dealerships to illegal seedy nightclubs, were set up on many planets neglected by the overstretched GFFA in the chaos. by the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances in the chaos. Legion profits increased dramatically, filling its depleted coffers and once again bringing its bank account totals into the billions. However, Ferd had to delegate more power to his underlings as old age took hold, resulting in power rifts. Ferd meanwhile elongated his life with cybernetic implants, but he began to become somewhat senile.
With Ferd's death in 97 ABY, decades 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, causing hope in smaller crime groups that the Legion would soon collapse for good. 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 rapidly. By the the rise of the New Empire, the Legion was an influential body with presence on many worlds, with a large and technologically advantaged army at its disposal, ruled by a council rather than a single leader, but it never quite reached the power it had under 8311.
Legion Army[]
Soon, not even Black Sun will stand in our way.
—A Legion general
A group of Legion Infiltrators led by a Legion Defiler, backed up by some Legion Assault Speeders
At its height, the Legion Army was one of the most organized, well-equipped, and largest non-government armies in the galaxy, rivalling the forces of Black Sun and the Zann Consortium, as it made sure to hire the best mercenaries available. During the early years of the Legion, most of it's manpower came from stolen vehicles, hired thugs and mercenaries, as well as some craft purchased from the black market, but over time it began to evolve into something far more formidable. The Legion army mainly focused on infantry, made evident by its intense infantry training but generally inferior vehicles, which were largely scavenged or purchased on the black market.
When it accumulated enough power, the Legion began copying and reproducing stolen vehicles, but with improvements. It had an advantage in 8311's old Confederate affiliation, so as a result it was able to locate old CIS bases throughout the galaxy and copy, steal or sell vehicles and equipment it found. Also, 8311 had all soldiers in indefinite service to the Legion, such as its Infiltrators and Defilers, conditioned to favor 8311 and the Legion above all, although said conditioning and their training made them too expensive to become widespread.
After Ferd Swqaru's death, the Legion army began to focus more on brute force and armour, with various new forms of tanks and artillery being added to its ranks, rather than the quantity-over-quality attitude to vehicles the Legion previously had, as reflected by the addition of new heavy armour such as the MZ-10 and AT-VA.
Infantry[]
- Various hired mercenaries and thugs
- Legion Anti-Armour Division. These soldiers were armed with missile launchers of Legion design, and were capable of eradicating most armor with ease.
- Legion Infiltrators. These were elite soldiers in the Legion that were equipped with tough body armor that allowed them to absorb most small-arms fire, and had intensive training.
- Legion Defilers. The most elite Legion soldiers, these were similar to Consortium Defilers of the rival Zann Consortium organization, except they were more proficient but were incapable of corrupting worlds.
- Scorpenek annihilator droids. Thanks to 8311's knowledge of old CIS weapons laboratories, the Legion gained a number of these amazingly powerful droids. However, some were too old or damaged to be usable, so their parts were cannibalized and added to existing Legion vehicles.
- Other various classes of soldiers
A Legion Defiler by 130 ABY
Vehicles[]
- Legion Assault Speeders. These were modified swamp speeders equipped with cloaking devices. They were amongst the most common vehicles in the Legion armies.
- Stolen or reproduced AT-AAs. These served as anti-air vehicles for the Legion.
- MZ-8 Mobile Pulse cannons. These served as the artillery and heavy armor of the Legion forces.
- Some old GATs. These served as light armor; however they were very flimsy and rare.
- Ostracoda-class gunboats. These old CIS vehicles were used in swamp battlefields.
- A small number of Canderous-class assault tanks. Ferd Swqaru would pilot a heavily upgraded Canderous.
- MZ-10 Attack Tanks. These were mainstay heavy Legion vehicles around 130 ABY.
- All Terrain Variable Artillery. These massive artillery walkers were used by the Legion in conjunction with the MZ-10.
Legion Fleet[]
A Legion fleet prepares for battle
Let's see those pirates laugh at me now!
—8311 upon inspecting an assembled Legion fleet
As trade increased across the galaxy during the times of the Empire, 8311 sensed a rich opportunity for piracy. The Legion Fleet started off as a few hired pirates, but then it rapidly grew into a force to be reckoned with. Armed with a number of varying classes of ships, the Legion Fleet was at its height nearly the largest and most powerful non-government navies in the galaxy, although it was on the most part inferior in all respects to the Imperial Navy. Upon 8311's purchase of various shipyards, the Legion began producing its own ships with lesser quality rather than buying them, although at first it reproduced ships from other parties instead of its own. When 8311 built several secret shipyards across the galaxy to which the Legion had exclusive access to, it further increased in size.
Throughout its history, many different classes of ships became part of the Legion Fleet. Often, the Legion would hire mercenary or pirate ships, such as Corellian Corvettes or Crusader frigates. Nonetheless, after it was reformed following Endor, the Legion fleet proved difficult to reassemble, and most of its constituent ships in that era proved inferior and relatively small in numbers.
Fighters[]
- Z-95 Headhunter. The Z-95 was the most commonly used starfighter in Legion fleets for a long time, and despite being regarded as obsolete, Legion Z-95s were often upgraded and modified to keep with the times. A number of Legion Z-95s were fitted with modified Vulture droid brains to save money on hiring pilots, making them even more vicious.
- Rihkxyrk Attack ship. This was regarded as the standard bomber of the Legion, and was refitted with bombs and often with Concussion missiles.
- Alpha-3 Nimbus-class V-wing starfighter. These were the advanced interceptors of the Legion fleets. They were upgraded beyond the original Republic V-wings and many were given cloaking devices. As a result, Legion V-wings were on par, if not surpassing, the Rebel A-wing.
- ARC-170. These were rare in Legion fleets due to their high cost and the large amount of crews necessary for them. Nevertheless, 8311 kept a number of modified ARCs in Legion fleets, although he rarely deployed them.
Capital ships[]
A Legion Iron Glory-class destroyer, introduced during New Republic times
- Interceptor IV frigate. Large amounts of these frigates were used in Legion fleets, and were often outfitted with long-range missiles.
- Venator-class star destroyer. A common sight in Legion fleets, Legion Venators were initially old Clone Wars era Venators saved from scrap piles or purchased at merchant shipyards. However, 8311 sensed potential in this ship, and as soon as the Legion had its own shipyards he began churning out large numbers of Venators, often with extra modifications. During the New Republic era, the Legion continued to use these ships, but upgraded them with extremely powerful turbolasers of Legion design.
- Keldabe-class battleships. Manufactured by the Legion by Mandal Hypernautics, the Legion eventually began producing its own Keldabes, which were often even more powerful than those wielded by the Zann Consortium. A small amount of these Keldabes were modified with hangar bays.
- Metal Fury-class cruisers. Made during the New Republic era, a short while before the Yuuzhan Vong War, these ships were amongst the first Legion ships to be completely exclusive to the Legion. Equipped with enough weaponry to take on the major capital ships of the day, Metal Furys were nonetheless somewhat flimsy.
- Iron Glory-class destroyers. Made shortly after the advent of the Metal Fury, these lumbering, huge ships were the most powerful vessels in the Legion Fleet, equal--some would say surpassing--an Imperial-class star destroyer. Equipped with many weapons, enhanced shielding, and a very large complement of fighters, these were very expensive, and were not extensively produced.
Transports[]
- CR20 transport ships. These old freighters from the Clone Wars were used by the Legion to transport infantry, and were also used as kamikaze vessels in space battles.
- Vehicle Armored Carrier. Salvaged from old CIS weapons dumps, modified VACs were used by the Legion to transport vehicles and were sometimes used as boarding ships.
- TZ-86 transport. TZ-86s were used in conjunction with the VAC to land small quantities of vehicles for light raids, and some were equipped with sensor jamming.
- Nu-class attack shuttle. Nus were used as personal transports for Legion Defilers and personal shuttles for top Legion leaders.
- TZ-15 shuttle. Rarely used in the Legion, TZ-15s were nonetheless used as transportation for Legion infiltrators, and 8311 used a heavily modified one as his personal shuttle.
Tactics and operations[]
There are debates over whether the pen is truly mightier than the sword. We consider them to be equal.
—Ferd Swqaru
Being a major criminal organization, the Legion was capable of resorting to various tactics, from brute force to scheming manipulation. It was capable of taking down various smaller figures who defied it with force, but for larger bodies such as the Empire, it had to resort to other, more subtle means.
Criminal operations[]
Legion MZ-8 Mobile Pulse Cannons engaging enemy forces whilst raiding a stygium mine
In order to gain funds, the Legion often simply raided banks or mines with its forces, although when this was out of the question it often bribed the appropriate figures, such as when it bribed the administrator of a stygium crystal mine to supply the Legion with 40% of the mine's output. If any individual was immune to the Legion's promises, then it would resort to blackmail, either with threats of assassination or kidnapping.
The Legion also had plenty of friends in high places. For example, a member of 8311's inner circle was friends with a Moff, whom he convinced to supply an pro-Imperial organization with new technology and funding. Of course, this so-called organization was the Legion, so the Moff was unwittingly providing the Legion with state-of-the-art weaponry and large amounts of credits.
As well as that, the Legion also managed to set up a near-constant supply of credits for itself by siphoning money from many sources, from nova crystal mines to bank accounts of rich figures. To do this, it either hired or employed expert hackers who slowly transferred money from banks to Legion accounts, or hired smugglers and thieves to steal from mines or warehouses. Even Prince Xizor had a large amount of money slowly siphoned off his account by Legion activities, before he realised this and had extra firewalls added to his account's computer defence.
The Legion also dealt with piracy, which was another major source of income. Raiding merchant fleets and undefended merchantmen was easy for its well-trained and large space fleets, but for larger prey, which was often guarded, it often resorted to sabotaging defenders of said prey to minimize casualties, resulting in easy pickings.
The Legion even had exclusive control of some planets and systems, which were mainly uninhabited. For example, the deserted resource-rich world of Jui'Kle II had several Legion mines and smelting facilities built on it, which provided raw materials to Legion factories and shipyards.
Almost every form of crime was dealt with by the Legion. It dealt with drug smuggling, prostitution, credit siphoning, piracy, manipulation, and major theft, as well as other illegal deeds. Although it was not quite as powerful as Black Sun, it was considerably more aggressive and scheming, and it had a reasonably more powerful military than the Hutt Cartel.
During the New Republic's reign, Ferd Swqaru decided to increase Legion income by setting up legitimate casinos and clubs all over the galaxy. Of course, there was an illegitimate element in all of this; some games in the casinos were rigged in order to strip players of their credits, and there was a seedy element to some of the clubs.
Battle tactics[]
Legion soldiers and assault speeders, as well as various Mandalorians, take down Imperial forces
Although the Legion army was surprisingly large and well-organized for a crime syndicate, it preferred not to get into direct confrontation, as replacing losses proved very expensive for it. In space battles, Legion fleets tended to cripple their opponents with mines and other booby traps before engaging them in order to minimize casualties, which were expensive to replace. However, in battles when the odds were in the Legion's favor, it tended just to go into a direct battle.
On the ground, the Legion tended to cripple enemies with mines and bombs, as in the space front, before attacking them. When attacking, it tended to smash the enemy with brute force in order to end the battle quickly, if said enemy was inferior in number. If not, the Legion would either retreat or try to further weaken said enemy with indirect fire.
The Legion army also focused much on infantry, reflected by the skill and advanced equipment of Legion soldiers such as the Legion Infiltrators. Legion infantry was often more than a match for ground troops of other crime organizations such as Black Sun and even the troops of major galactic governments, such as stormtroopers. However, for the most part, its vehicles were generally flimsy and outdated models salvaged or purchased from black market venues.
Astrography[]
You see, the Legion's power comes from the fact that we have presence on almost any civilized world you can name. This fact is also a contributing factor to why the Legion has so many credits that we couldn't spend them all if we tried, heh heh.
—8311
The Legion throughout its history had presence and power on innumerable worlds. Often, it tailored its activities on these worlds to their nature. However, Legion operations on worlds fluctuated for a variety of reasons, such as eradication of them by law enforcement or rival crime bodies. These are some examples of worlds upon which the Legion had much influence:
- Alderaan. The Legion maintained several drug smuggling operations on the world, although these assets were destroyed by the destruction of the planet.
- Anaxes. Much to the Empire's embarrassment, the Legion had a heavy presence on this world. It would extort money from wealthy Imperial families living there, and would often sabotage Imperial training facilities, or kidnap promising cadets in order to force or brainwash them into becoming Legion soldiers.
- Ando Prime. Legion presence on this world was sparse, but it did organize illegal podraces and had extensive racketeering and drug dealing operations there.
- Bespin. The Legion controlled several casinos discreetly via bribery and manipulation, and would siphon money from them. It would also raid the tibanna extraction facilities, or would bribe or threaten the facility administrators into supplying tibanna to the Legion.
- Byss. The Legion installed various contacts on this planet, and through them it obtained valuable Imperial technology which it either sold to the highest bidder or kept for itself.
Legion headquarters on Nar Shaddaa, which doubled as 8311's palace and home until his attempted arrest.
- Cato Neimoidia. Legion agents on Cato Neimoidia were tasked with siphoning or stealing money from the rich Neimoidians there. Sometimes the Legion would launch all-out assaults on Neimoidian treasure stores.
- Corellia. The Legion often raided the Corellian Trade Spine with piracy and had many drug smuggling operations on the planet.
- Coruscant. Legion activity was extensive on Coruscant. It discreetly gained political power by bribing Imperial senators and owned various illegitimate seedy venues there.
- Dac. Ferd Swqaru often took charge of operations on Dac. Legion Shipyards would often make use of the Mon Calamari shipyards.
- Dantooine. The Legion often sold cheap arms to farmers on Dantooine at inflated prices.
- Felucia. The Legion hid various factories and training centers on Felucia, and would raid Gossam facilities there for credits and technology.
- Fondor. Legion Shipyards owned several shipyards above Fondor, and the Legion would often sabotage Imperial construction operations there unless certain Imperial Moffs secretly paid it protection money.
- Fyir Xan. Due to the fact that it was practically uninhabited, Fyir was virtually owned by the Legion. The Legion set up many mines on the planet to reap its nova crystal and gold supplies. Overall, Fyir Xan provided the Legion in a week more credits than an entire system produced in a year.
- Geonosis. Being a remote world, Geonosis was easy for the Legion to establish a presence on. The Legion would churn out vehicles for itself using old CIS factories and would often collect old droids from the historic battle there to sell on the black market.
- Kuat. The Legion owned some of the shipyards above this world, and like with Fondor, would extort money from Imperial officials with threats of sabotaging ship construction. However, once construction began on the Eclipse and the Empire tightened security, the Legion was forced to largely abandon its operations there.
- Mustafar. The Legion would siphon resources from the old Techno Union mines there to sell or keep, despite the dangers of the lava.
- Muunilinst. Muunilinst was a source of vast income for the Legion. It would raid Muun banks or cash depots, or would siphon money from the banks, or would take control of financial assets by extorting or bribing off information from Muun bankers.
- Mygeeto. The Legion set up several illegal crystal mines there, and would often hijack shipments of valuable crystals.
- Nal Hutta. Although it often came into contact with the Hutt Cartel here, the Legion owned extensive racketeering operations there, as well as drug smuggling, credit siphoning, and raids on Hutt credit stashes.
- Nar Shaddaa. Being the Legion's headquarters for a long time, Nar Shaddaa was rife with Legion activity. Racketeering, drug dealing, prostitution, and smuggling organized by the Legion was everywhere.
- Tatooine. Although Jabba the Hutt largely controlled this world, the Legion nonetheless had several drug smuggling operations there, and also held illegal podraces.
- Trandosha. With bounty hunting an important element of Trandoshan culture, the Legion often recruited Trandoshan mercenaries and bounty hunters, and would also sell cheap arms at high prices to Trandoshan slavers. It also preyed on various trade lines around Trandosha.
- Utapau. Like on Geonosis, The Legion would use several old CIS droid factories on this planet to manufacture arms for itself or to sell on the black market. It would also siphon resources mined from the mines there.
Enemies and rivals[]
The Legion doesn't have enemies. It has thorns in its side.
—8311
Being a major criminal organization, the Legion made many enemies, and often came into rivalry with other crime bodies. 8311 tended not to go into all-out conflict unless absolutely necessary.
Black Sun[]
Black Sun, being the most powerful criminal organization in the galaxy, was the largest obstacle in the Legion's desire to dominate the underworld. Xizor regarded the Legion as a threat, but was unable to truly bring his wrath down upon it due to its extensiveness and the fact that he could not be sure if 8311 was really its leader. 8311 meanwhile was careful not to anger Black Sun too much, recognizing its power and influence, and therefore would harm it in more discreet ways, such as slowly siphoning its bank accounts and blackmailing vigos.
Zann Consortium[]
The Zann Consortium, being another obstacle in the Legion's path, was not afraid to interfere or muscle in on Legion operations and rackets. Tyber Zann was not overly afraid of the Legion, but did make sure not to anger it too much to avoid expensive losses, hoping that Black Sun would get in the way of the Legion for him. In return, the Legion often took control of Consortium operations. The Legion and Consortium also had some things in common, such as the same craft in their respective armies, and both had Defiler soldiers at their disposal, resulting in debates as to who came up with the Defiler originally.
8311 and Zann occasionally crossed paths in their respective operations. Although they rarely actually came into violent conflict with one another, they almost always came dangerously close to doing so. 8311 and Zann both had a strong contempt for one another for this reason, with 8311 almost always mocking Zann's hair.
Hutt Cartel[]
The Hutt Cartel was somewhat embarrassed by the fact that the Legion had plenty of influence in Hutt Space. Generally, the Hutts ignored the Legion, but a few Hutts, such as Jabba Desilijic Tiure were not afraid to attack Legion holdings if they were annoyed by them. The Legion often answered by sabotaging Hutt operations with its Legion Defilers. Very occasionally, the Legion would trade or make deals with some Hutts, such as making deals with influential Hutt weapon dealers.
The Legion also often tangled with Gourbuh the Hutt, who disliked the fact that the Legion had much assets in Hutt territory, and also was frustrated by the fact that it often raided his spice and drugs rackets. Gourbuh would often raid nearby Legion bases as retaliation, but 8311 rarely concerned himself much about him.
Behind the scenes[]
- The Steel Legion was created when Unit 8311 was brainstorming for his userpage fanon on Wookieepedia. Inspired after watching an early trailer for Forces of Corruption, he decided to put his namesake in charge of a criminal organization. He named it the 'Steel Legion' as he felt at the time that the name suited an organization led by a droid. Following the article's degrading from a Featured Article, 8311 adjusted many parts of it.
- The Legion insignia is a combination of the Mandalorian and CIS insignias, made using the power of Photoshop.
- The Legion has its own theme.
Appearances[]
- Forces of Corruption: The Empire's Beggining
- Steel Destiny
- Star Wars: Legion Commando