Faction History

The Aurodium Legion is a formidable mercenary contingent headquartered in the Koornacht Cluster, a legendary galactic region of dazzling nebulae and ionized gases in the Farlax Sector at the edge of the Deep Core. Led by a reptilian commander known as Dorn Zeke, the Legion is dedicated to liberating worlds from tyrannical governments and bringing freedom to their downtrodden inhabitants.

It is rumored throughout the hyper-lanes that the Legionnaires are battle-scarred exiles culled from backwater worlds bordering the galaxy’s many trade routes. Their recruits are blasters-for-hire paid by the Legion’s high command to exact justice upon corrupt rulers and selfish despots.

Although the Aurodium Legion claims to be the galaxy’s only true mercenary government, knowledgeable spacers insist the organization is merely a front. Indeed, in the black markets of Altyr V, three-fingered usurers have intimated the Legionnaires are nothing more than scullions who perform the sordid tasks more cautious governments cannot publicly undertake. They posit the Legion's loyalty lies only with those governments whose subterranean vaults house the largest treasuries. In contrast, starry-eyed moisture farmers in the Tatoo system have claimed that the Legion is loyal to the Galactic Alliance and is fighting to rid the galaxy of the Imperial threat. Whatever the truth may be concerning the Aurodium Legion, its history is replete with tales of strife, greed, sacrifice and destruction.

According to Bothan sources, the Aurodium Legion was founded by a red-skinned Barabel known by his Core Worlds' name of Dorn Zeke. While trading in the Farlax Sector, Zeke witnessed barbaric cruelty when Zygerrian slavers attacked Carosi, an underdeveloped planet known for its poverty and lawlessness. Stranded in a Carosi spaceport, he watched in horror as the slavers struck hard and fast, devastating Carosi's defenses and blasting the planet's cities into rubble. Ensuing orbital bombardments against refugee shantytowns reduced its natives to abject poverty. The tragic event made a deep impression on the altruistic Barabel.

Wishing to take action on behalf of the oppressed, Zeke decided to create a mercenary unit to defend backwater planets and searched for a suitable name. As a lifelong miner with an affinity for precious metals, he was particularly fond of aurodium, a sparkling element used for ingots, coins, and jewelry that naturally occurs as nuggets or grains found in the alluvial deposits of planetary mines. Believing in the fortuitous karma of the precious metal, Zeke christened his new mercenary unit as the Aurodium Legion, and immediately began recruiting members. Among his motley recruits were Barabel warriors, Trandoshan hunters, Corellian gunrunners, and Rodian enforcers.

In its early days, the organization subsisted as a mercenary training organization teaching combat skills mainly to non-humans. The training philosophy of the Legionnaires was to use a particular species' natural physical, mental, and cultural abilities to their advantage. Gaining momentum, the Legionnaires hired out to earn enough credits to help the millions of refugees fleeing the Galactic Civil War. Indeed, the Aurodium Legion became popular heroes among the indigent natives of the Outer Rim when they raided bacta shipments and redirected them to the planets that otherwise could not afford them.

Although the Legionnaires are legendary for their ferocity, they are considered to be little more than 'dead men' among other mercenary groups due to their high mortality rate. During their early period of growth, the Legion had a fifty percent casualty rate. Several of its original members were killed when pirates raided their subterranean fortress inside the terrestrial planet of Fondor. Two Legionnaires were captured in a rescue mission to extract a condemned prisoner from the spice mines of Kessel. The Legion was almost obliterated on the aquatic world of Rathalay after their anonymous client failed to provide adequate backup.

More recently, the Legion has shown a penchant for less dangerous work and has sought to improve the lives of those less fortunate via economic strength. To this end, the Legion has turned the Koornacht Cluster into a trading nexus where the income per capita has spiked more than a thousand fold during its benevolent reign. As a result of its vigorous economic policies, the Aurodium Legion has greatly expanded its fleet and, in turn, its ability to provide military assistance to larger governments in the galaxy. Despite baseless rumors surrounding its alliances, the loyalty and talents of the Legion are available for hire.