The Shadow Broker has agents in every corner of the galaxy. Right now, covert operatives are watching our every move, spying on us from every angle. Every bit of juicy information they relay back to the Broker. Catching them is like trying to outrun your own shadow.
—Mako
The Shadow League is a loose term describing the network of agents, operatives and private military that belonged to the infamous Shadow Broker. The Shadow League was a vast criminal syndicate that was responsible for collecting information from across the galaxy and relaying them back to the Shadow Broker, who used such information to further his or hers own ultimate endgame.
The Shadow League was founded by the first Shadow Broker, Dorne Teague, in an effort to find his long lost childhood sweetheart, Eyna. Originally a small cadre of spies consisting of former SIS operatives and Black Sun gangsters, the Shadow League developed into a powerful syndicate, growing more powerful with each passing decade.
History[]
Formation[]
The Shadow League was formed at the conclusion of the Coruscanti Gang War, a violent power struggle between rival factions of the Exchange criminal syndicate fighting over the remnants of the Black Sun's illegal arms trade, promptly destroyed through the combined efforts of Dorne Teague and Myros Bekkal, the latter who was; unbeknownst to all, a highly infamous criminal and con artist playing all sides of the war. Teague was promptly betrayed by Bekkal and in retaliation formed a group of former SIS operatives and Black Sun gangsters, specializing in subterfuge, spying, and the collecting of otherwise clandestine information.
Coruscanti Gang War[]
Dorne Teague, a member of the esteemed Teague family had since lost his childhood sweetheart, a girl named Eyna, after a raid conducted by the Sith. In an effort to find her, Teague initially joined the SIS; believing their expertise and access to information would be enough to find her. However, this proved futile; while Teague was drawn deeper and deeper into Coruscant's criminal underworld; much to his chagrin.
His boss at the time, Bekkal, instructed him to dismantle the Exchange's operations within the Coruscant underworld. Months prior, Teague operated as an informant within the Black Sun crime syndicate; who held an illegal arms trade and evaded capture by exploiting the complex bureaucratic apparatus of Coruscant. Thanks to his dealings, the Black Sun was promptly driven from the planet and one of their most esteemed underbosses, Mors "the Duke" Altan, was arrested. Afterwards, the Exchange arrived on Coruscant and took over Black Sun's businesses.
Halfway through the operation, however, it all went completely awry. Teague had sent his own informant within the Exchange; a man named Faelon, but he was discovered and later executed. Earlier, Teague and Faelon had set up a specialized force of SIS agents and sent them into the Exchange; causing a drift between the Compeer - the Exchange's leader, and his underboss; Ukabi, who each later formed respective factions against each other; sparking the crime war.
This was all thanks to the secret dealings of Bekkal, who caused these events to unfold in a way to grab power in the Coruscant criminal circuit. He revealed himself to Teague after kidnapping his associate; a woman named Mensa Dis, explaining his intentions and how valuable an asset Teague had become. Bekkal attempted to execute Teague, but he later recovered from his wounds only to find out that the SIS had driven Vergak, a close friend and colleague of Teague's, from his position thanks to Bekkal; whom the SIS still trusted.
To claim their vengeance, Teague and Vergak teamed up with the recently escaped Altan, and together they took over the HoloNet and uncovered Bekkal's true past; using it against him. Bekkal was a renowned criminal long on the Republic's Most Wanted list, and he owed several crime lords money. Teague organized these resentful crime lords into a private militia; who quickly gained the nickname "Shadow League", as a play on Teague's self-styled title; the "Shadow Broker". Together they anonymously turned Bekkal over to the SIS after draining him of his former power and influence, and Bekkal gave a brief fight before being shot.
Rise to power[]
Over the years, the Shadow League grew in size and power, establishing fruitful partnerships with respected gangsters, wealthy businessmen, and corrupt politicians. Their main focus was to gain access to any information on a galactic scale, and in this period they employed countless agents and operatives. Although Teague initially set up the Shadow League to find his kidnapped childhood sweetheart, the fruit of his labor evolved into the dominant player of the galactic criminal world.
One of the Shadow League's most powerful allies was Alistair Kuat, a wealthy and renowned businessman, the CEO of Kuat Drive Yards, a member of the Techno Union's ruling board, and the owner of more than ten holdings on Corellia. It was Kuat who constructed the Shadow Fortress, the Shadow League's primary headquarters on the planet Tarilla.
Organization[]
Although the Shadow League described itself as a spy network, it was in fact a powerful syndicate composed of multiple branches concerning private military, espionage, political subterfuge, and illegal trafficking. The Shadow League overall was led by the Shadow Broker, a mysterious individual whose identity was unknown throughout the entire galaxy. Most members of the Shadow League were unaware of who or what the Shadow Broker was. Rumors circulated the organization that the Shadow Broker was in fact a group of people working closely together. Nevertheless, the Shadow Broker held the strings in the syndicate, and extended their power to underbosses, all the way down to associates and contacts.
Since the Shadow Broker never publicly revealed themselves - not even to their underlings - they required a long and complex bureaucratic system of power concerning countless lieutenants and soldiers. The Shadow Broker transmitted their will to their second-in-command, the only person in the entire syndicate who knew who the Shadow Broker was and how they looked like.