Legion of Steel

Legion of Steel
Unit Information
Active:	35 ABY - present
Allegiance:	House Odan-Urr
Branch:	Army
Type:	Droid
Role:	Guerrilla Fighters Heavy Support
Size:	32x BX-series droid commandos 32x Droideka 1x Support staff
Garrison:	The Foundry, New Tython
Nickname:	"Chrome Domes"
Patron:	The Maker
Motto:	01001001 01110010 01101111 01101110 00100000 01010111 01101001 01101100 01101100
Colors:	Dark Brown
Equipment:	2x Armored Interface Craft-4
Commander(s)
Commanders:	Solari
[ Source ]

"As one, faster than any spoken command, they snapped to obey"

―Solari, recounting the Battle of the New Tython

The Legion of Steel have been an active asset of Odan-Urr since 35 ABY, and was a direct result of the Tenth Great Jedi War. They are a military unit made up completely of custom-made droids, constructed by the Geonosian Hive called the Remnant.

The Legion helped the Jedi in the retaking of New Tython, and have been led by the Shard, Solari, and have gone from victory to victory. They keep close ties with the Remnant hive, as well as The Ratchets Maintenance Department, who sometimes maintain them.

History

Commissioned

At the end of the Tenth Great Jedi War, the Kotahitanga-Unity Defense Force was created to be the basis for all of New Tython’s military. Of course, at this time, many military units were re-organised to fit with the new template. Other units were created to directly counter their foes. The Legion of Steel were one of these units. Not long before this, a small Geonosian Hive had arrived on New Tython, under the leadership of Xaezhul. They called themselves the Remnant, and they posed a unique and ideal opportunity.

Xaezhul approached the Jedi personally looking for an ideal location to settle his hive and hoped that they would allow their stay. It was then that the Council of Urr presented their proposal. They proposed that Xaezhul’s hive create a foundry and they commissioned the creation of a unit of battle droids. If the Remnant did this, they could become citizens of New Tython. It was an easy decision for Xaezhul: he accepted. Xaezhul discussed with the Council the best places for the Hive to settle, and the Council discussed with Xaezhul which Droids would be best. The Remnant settled in the desert, naturally, and the Council decided on a company of Commandos and a company of Droidekas.

The construction of the droids took only a few weeks after the Foundry’s creation, due to the skills of the Geonosians.

Recent History

Most recently, the Legion aided the Jedi in the Eleventh Great Jedi War. Even though they were ultimately unsuccessful in their crusade, the Summit admired the role that the Legion had played. The Legion’s creation was due to the Tenth Great Jedi War, and they performed as valiantly as it is possible for droids to perform.

Assets

Headquarters: The Foundry

The Foundry was created by the hive without the presence of their leader Xaezhul, who had enrolled with the Jedi, quickly becoming a Padawan. Instead, the construction of the Foundry was overseen by other Jedi, most frequently Solari, who seemed to take quite a bit of interest in the group. It took some time to have the foundry constructed so that it would fulfil its purpose, the creation and housing of the Legion.

When it was finished Xaezhul returned to oversee the creation of the Droids, along with him personally adding the hives symbol onto the droids as well as designing and constructing the troubleshooting and testing sections of the foundry.

The foundry itself was not large as the number of droids to be created did not exceed one-hundred, after some deliberation it was decided that a portion of the foundry were to be modified for testing the Droids and improving them, thus sacrificing the ability to mass-produce efficiently but enabling the creation of more capable units.

Droids

The Legion consists of two Droid designs, the Droideka and the BX-series Droid Commando designs, both fulfil different roles within the Legion and as such there are 32 Droids of each design. Both are programmed to complement one another in the Battlefield. A number of droids were left without memory-wipes in the hope that this would enable them to be better warriors and leaders. So far, that has worked.

The Commando Droids

BX-series droid commando

Main article: [[BX-series droid commando|BX-series droid commando]]

The Commando droids work mainly as Guerrilla fighters, often waiting for the enemy to expose a weakness before attacking, they also double up as cover for the Droidekas making sure they do not get destroyed before they can set up in a strong position. The Commando Droids are armed with an E-5 blaster rifle and a Thermal detonator, and every one has some compact Electrobinoculars fitted. The Commandos, or “Coms” as Solari calls them, stand at an imposing 1.91 meters tall, which is meant to be intimidating and pose certain tactical advantages.

There are 32 Commandos, led by the self-aware BX-07. The team is separated into four groups of 8 droids each, then further into subgroups consisting of 4 droids. They train using varying tactics, including as one large assault team, four smaller squads, and eight strike teams.

The Droidekas

A Droideka, during the assault on Vard Mislu

Main article: [[Droideka|Droideka]]

The Droidekas work as heavy support and will most be used for extreme offensive attacks firing from a strong position whether it be the high ground or in a flanking manoeuvre. They are armed with two twin built-in blaster cannons, and have a built-in shield projector. This combination makes them pretty tricky to hit. The Droidekas are often called the “autobots” by Solari. No-one knows why. They have posed a difficult opponent for decades. Their shield means that it is difficult to defeat unless in near proximity. When rolling, they can move very quickly, which makes them harder to hit.

In the past, it was usual to see Droidekas deployed individually or in pairs. This was flawed, as the true strength of Droidekas come in their numbers. There are 32 droidekas in the Legion, and they are split in the same way as the Commandos. The droidekas are put into 8 groups of four droids, which can also be rearranged into four groups of eight droids.

Transport

Main article: [[Armored Interface Craft-4|Armored Interface Craft-4]]

File:Aic4.jpg

Armored Interface Craft-4

Before transport was issued to the Legion of Steel, Xaezhul offered to modify the robots themselves to improve their personal transportation, however doing so also offered the possibility that the Droids would not function correctly or to their full potential.

Two Armoured Interface Craft 4s were transferred to the squad and received a small brand to show that they were the transport used specifically by the Legion, The brand is not large and only serves as a form of identification for the Droids, the brand is shared on all members of the Legion.

Unit Leaders

The result of a forgotten memory-wipe, several members of the Legion developed personality traits that meant they could make faster decisions, or lead better. Out of these better droids, the best were picked as the ‘leaders’ of their team, and they were installed with some added ‘leadership’ programming.

BX-07, Leader of the Commandos

BX-07

• Role: BX-07, or Skynet as he’s more commonly known, is the bold leader of the Coms. He leads the group when they are fighting as one, and helps to coordinate the Comando droids on the battlefield if they are unaided by Solari.
• Motto: “I’ll be back.”
• ’’’Nickname:’’’ Commander Skynet
• Biography:’’’ After developing a personality, BX-07 showed advanced strategic skills and promise in leadership. After a few training sessions and field work, it was clear that Skynet was a natural leader. Once this was decided, his programming was altered to further improve his leadership, as well as fill in some necessary protocol.
• Personality:Skynet can sometimes be impatient towards the other Commandos, but he is generally very effective as a commander. He is quick-thinking and completely rational. He can be cold, but this is “good” for battle.

D-666, Leader of the Droidekas

D-666

• Role: D-666, or Opprimus as he’s more commonly known, is the strategic leader of the Droidekas. He leads the group when they are fighting as one, and helps to coordinate the droids on the battlefield if they are unaided by Solari.
• Motto: “Autobots, roll out.”
• ’’’Nickname:’’’ Opprimus Time
• Biography: When Solari first saw the Droidekas, he started calling them weird names like “Bumblebee” and “Ratchet”. Most faded into nothing, but D-666’s nickname stuck - “Opprimus Time” - which was often shortened to Time. Time and again, Time would prove his proficiency for heavy support work, as well as strategically deploying his team. To this day, he has led his team with the lowest number of casualties seen in a long time. However, with his name being ‘Time’, it did hinder some of the commands and dialogue between the droids and their human counterparts. Therefore, his shortened nickname was changed to Opprimus.
• Personality: Opprimus isn’t as cold and mercenary as Skynet, but he is tactically superior, and values his droids safety.

Gary Timber, the Engineer

Gary

• Role: Gary is the primary Engineer for the Legion. He repairs them after battle, maintains them when not in use, and sometimes uses his skills as an engineer to propose/experiment with upgrades.
• Equipment: Multi-tool, Wrench
• Motto: “Droids, droids, glorious droids!”
• Biography: Gary’s past seems patchy, in places. No single person knows the full story, and indeed, no one actually thinks he is interesting enough to probe him. Gary was born on Corellia, but his family emigrated to New Tython when he was very young. He gained a significant amount of skill in mechanics and engineering, and he developed a profound love for droids. He spends a lot of time with the Legion, rarely having much human contact. Despite this lack of social interaction, he somehow still seems quite grounded and sane.
• Personality: Gary can come across and completely and utterly boring, which most of the time he is. He likes to ramble about droid specifications, or some useless component that would make the blaster cannon shoot ‘’’that’’’ much quicker. He doesn’t spend much time with humans at all, but when he does talk to actual people, he seems quite sane, even though he’s dull.

Tactics and Operations

Naturally, the Legion is split into two ‘battalions’ of 32: the Commandos and the Droidekas. These two divisions have their respective commanders, BX-07 and D-666. In each battalion, the droids are split further into two teams of 16. Each team is split into two patrols of 8, and then further split into squads of 4. Therefore, each droid has a battalion, team, patrol and squad. The Legion can split into different size groups - this tactic means that the Legion can adapt to any situation, especially when led wirelessly by Solari, who is an avid tactician.

Combat doctrine

As the Legion is comprised solely by droids, any training exercises are mainly to see a) how quickly the Legion can adapt, b) how well the Legion fits within the New Tythonian Army, and c) to develop the skills of self-aware droids like BX-07 and D-666.

Any drilling or training can merely be programmed into the droids. In between missions, the droids power down, and Gary takes care of them.

Deployment

When deployed, the Droids are powered up and loaded onto the AIC-4s, which take them to their target destination. Depending on whether Solari accompanies them, they carry out their mission to the letter.

Famous encounters

"BX-series commando droids littered the ground around the Thuronian soldiers, twisting and leaping as they knocked their foes to the ground and broke their necks."

―Solari’s account of the attack on the Tanduran Settlement

New Tython

Led by Solari, the Legion took down row after row of Thuronian soldiers, proving to be a key factor in the victory at the Tanduran Settlement.

Bosthirda

Solari led a small task force comprised of the Legion’s best droids. He led them through the ancient city of Bosthirda, aiding the Jedi of Odan-Urr by thinning the lines of enemy soldiers.

Korriban

In the Eleventh Great Jedi War, the Legion were instrumental, fighting on the front lines and protecting the lives of both the Jedi and the other detachments of the Army. They did sustain quite heavy battle damage, but they were ironed out quite quickly by Gary.