Swqaru is the best candidate for my succession. He's clever, resourceful, loyal to me, and he knows how to spend money well.
—Unit 8311
Ferd Swqaru was a Quarren who fought for the CIS-affiliated Quarren Isolation League during the Clone Wars. He would go on to become a criminal, and would eventually take control of the major criminal organization called the Steel Legion. Due to various medical enhancements, he would live well beyond an average Quarren lifespan.
Ferd did not start off as the rich and powerful figure he would become--for most of his early life, he lived in poverty and squalor, which would later influence his materialistic lifestyle of debauchery when in the Legion. During this time, he took note of the comparatively lavish lifestyle of the Mon Cal, which would result in him harboring a fierce hatred of them for the rest of his life.
Ferd would play a major part in the Legion--he would bring back to its position of power after its reformation, commence production of Legion-exclusive capital ships, and would win a war with Black Sun. However, when the Yuuzhan Vong War broke out, Ferd had to focus on combating the Vong, and as a result of this, the Legion's advances of power would be halted. After the war, Ferd brought it to the role of the most powerful criminal organization in the galaxy, and would enjoy his newfound wealth and power.
Ferd was sharp, cunning, and intelligent, with a preference for brute force over complex tactics, but often resorted to back-stabbing to achieve his goals. However, he did have some sense of honor, and would remain loyal to those who appreciated him.
Biography[]
Early life[]
I do not like to remember my early life. When I think of it, I remember being abused and exploited by those Mon Cal bastards.
—Ferd reminiscing on his early life
Ferd was born on Dac to a family of impoverished Quarrens. Due to him lacking a birth certificate, he always remained unawares of the exact year he was born in. At a young age, he was abandoned by his family, which was unable to care for him. Ferd managed to take a job as a cook for a wealthy Mon Cal shipbuilder, and found the work tedious and difficult. In the kitchens where he worked, he was frequently jeered out by his mostly Mon Cal workmates, as well as some colleagues of other species. As a result, during this period he developed a dislike for Mon Cals, viewing them as being arrogant and opulent, especially when he saw his boss lounging around embracing debauchery and living in luxury when beings such as himself were toiling away.
Eventually, Ferd grew tired of his job, and resigned. Using what little savings he had, he toured Dac, drifted from occupation to occupation, and desired to leave the planet, but could not raise enough money to do so. Eventually, he began to go into despair, and began to embrace alcoholism and drugs.
Clone Wars[]
Glory to the Isolation League!
—Ferd making a battle cry during the Battle of Dac
Several years later, during the Separatist Crisis, Ferd heard of the Quarren Isolation League and joined it immediately. The pay was relatively good, allowing Ferd to leave his life of poverty and misery. He took on the job of distributing Isolation League propaganda across Dac, and managed to convince many Quarren across Dac to join the league as he spread League propaganda via leaflets and holos.
Tensions between the Isolation League and the Mon Cal escalated, and as the Clone Wars broke out the Isolation League began to attack the Mon Cal. With supplies of droids from the CIS, the Isolation League gained the advantage. Ferd was given command of a division of Manta droids and was tasked with eliminating Mon Cal resistance. He did so with glee, and made sure that the palace of his former shipbuilder boss was demolished. As the League overran and crushed Mon Cal resistance, Ferd felt confident that he was on the winning side.
Ferd during the battle of Dac
However, the Republic decided to intervene, which led to the Battle of Dac. Ferd fought hard against waves of SCUBA troopers and held his ground, but when the Jedi leading the attack took down the Quarren commander, Ferd realized that the battle was going against the League. Along with other Quarrens, he fled Dac in the aftermath of the battle to the CIS ocean world of Minntooine, where he oversaw construction of Recusant-class destroyers. His experience with the shipbuilder's company had given him some idea on how to run a shipyard. During this time, Ferd tried his best to make sure that production of the destroyers went smoothly, but was frustrated at being kept away from the frontline. On rare occasions his superiors allowed him to leave the planet, but even then they merely just gave him tedious propaganda distribution tasks.
Towards the end of the war, during the Outer Rim Sieges, Ferd decided that the war was going against the CIS, as he witnessed the Republic take many key CIS worlds. He resigned from the League, and quietly headed to Nar Shaddaa at about the same time as the Battle of Utapau. When he heard of the death of the Separatist Council and the dissolution of the CIS and Isolation League, he was distraught. On Nar Shaddaa, Ferd became a thug, desperate for credits and was hired by several crime bosses on the moon. Again, Ferd slunk into a depression, and was having difficulty paying off the rent for the dingy apartment he now lived in.
Into the underworld[]
My allegiance is to you, master.
—Ferd to 8311
After months of beating up people for a few credits, Ferd heard of a newly-formed crime gang known as the Steel Legion, and joined it, hearing that the pay was good. To his surprise, he found it to headed by a mysterious droid known as Unit 8311, who seemed to sense potential in Ferd. Ferd was also quick to learn that like himself, 8311 had also been affiliated with the CIS. As the Legion rapidly accumulated in power, Ferd began to gain more influence in the Legion, and rose from a simple thug working for it to a member of 8311's inner circle, mainly due to 8311's affinity for him and due to his toadying to the droid crime lord. Eventually, Ferd was a high-ranking commander in the Legion's military.
Ferd in his Canderous
Ferd would go on to lead Legion forces in many Legion operations, such as the search for an invulnerability-granting Imperial device, and credit theft operations. His prior experience in war gave him a distinct advantage, allowing him to quickly formulate tactics in the heat of battle. 8311 took note of his skills, and Ferd was soon given a special vehicle from which to lead his forces: a highly modified Canderous tank, with extra armor and firepower that perhaps exceeded that of the AT-AT. Ferd would use his Canderous well, as it often made scrap metal of any Imperial vehicles it came across. Ferd would also keep some of the loot from a few of these operations for himself, and he amassed a small fortune, enough to greatly improve the standard of his living, pleasing him greatly.
As the Legion continued amassing wealth and power, Ferd began to decide that the Legion was invulnerable. He estimated that if its power continued increasing at its current rate, it would eclipse Black Sun as the most powerful crime syndicate in the galaxy. Many agreed.
However, this was not to be. Palpatine had also seemingly thought the same, and stormtroopers stormed 8311's abode on Nar Shaddaa. The Legion disintegrated, and Ferd became an independent crime boss, leading his own segment of the Legion. For the next few years Ferd would struggle to re-assemble the Legion, and failing that, he and his most loyal soldiers became a mercenary group, hireable to anyone. Ferd experienced great frustration in this period, as he received few missions due to his operations against so many enemies of the Legion that were now filling up the power vacuum. However, he did not sink into another depression, but instead began to experience fits of violent rage. What credits he managed to make he began to spend increasingly on drugs, alcohol, and females.
Accumulation of power[]
I am now one of the most powerful people in the galaxy. All hail to me!
—Ferd upon becoming leader of the Steel Legion
Ferd as leader of the Legion
Ferd's crumbling lifestyle did not last. In the aftermath of the Battle of Endor, 8311 returned to the galaxy and large, and began reassembling the Legion. Overjoyed, Ferd joined him and assisted him, further solidifying 8311's trust in him. Along with his mercenaries, who had now re-pledged their allegiance to the Legion, Ferd led several attacks on Imperial credit and resource depots, and with the Empire in disarray, this was not a difficult task. With most of the Legion inner circle members still in hiding or unwilling to rejoin, Ferd was forced to do many reconstruction duties himself, such as tracking down former Legion military divisions to reassemble the fragmented Legion forces. Eventually, his hard work paid off, and soon the Legion was rapidly returning to power.
Ferd gained more and more power in the Legion, until he was second-in-command to 8311. With the Legion inner circle now considerably lesser than it once was, Ferd was able become even more influential. However, as 8311 began to lose interest in the Legion, having rediscovered an old CIS factory on Hypori, it began to decline, and Ferd was given more and more responsibilities in its leadership. This annoyed him somewhat, as he was more concerned with reaping the rewards of his new power rather than his administrative duties.
Soon, 8311 announced that he would be relinquishing command of the Legion. Many of his subordinates immediately began asking or begging him for his position, but the droid had his mind set. He chose Ferd Swqaru to be his successor.
Not long after, 8311 left command as he promised, and gave Ferd the reigns of the Legion. It took him a brief while to come to turns with the fact, and that now all of the Legion's armies, credits and power were essentially now his. Knowing that he was one of the most powerful figures in the underworld, Ferd began to stop the Legion's decline and began expanding it rapidly, until it began to near what it was under 8311. He worked increasingly harder, rapidly setting up Legion operations galaxy-wide, whilst also making sure that he did not come into too much conflict with the other crime syndicates reaping the rewards of the fall of Black Sun and the Empire. Unlike 8311, who spent most of his wealth from the Legion on expanding it's power, Ferd led an opulent lifestyle, dining on fine food and buying all sorts of luxuries for himself. In between his duties, he would often slip into debauchery and hedonism, making use of hookers, exotic dancers, and accumulation of trinkets. Ferd's poverty-stricken early life was the main cause for this; he was making the most of his wealth and power. During this time, he also fathered some children from getting intimate with some female Legion members he liked the look of, but sent these children to be raised by his relatives on Dac.
A brief war with the partly-regrouped Black Sun began around this time, but under Ferd's command, the Legion eventually triumphed, proving that Ferd was indeed the best leader for the Legion. He also gained a more prolific reputation in the underworld thanks to this, as previously he had been seen as a lazy opulent miser who had only become what he had become by toadying to 8311.
Soon, Black Sun completely collapsed, and Ferd immediately decided that now was the time for the Legion to gain control of the underworld. Meanwhile, he discovered a project planned by 8311 for Legion-exclusive ships before his attempted arrest. Ferd put these plans into motion, and soon massively powerful Metal Fury-class cruisers and immense Iron Glory-class destroyers were being churned out of Legion shipyards. Ferd soon made the Legion Starfleet one of the most powerful in the galaxy. It seemed that Ferd would make the Legion the most powerful crime syndicate in the galaxy, but soon an event came along that would prevent that from happening.
Yuuzhan Vong War[]
If we don't help to crushing this threat, the Legion--and all else in the galaxy--will be merely slaves of these vile creatures.
—Ferd
As the Legion neared gaining the position of the most powerful crime organization in the galaxy, the Yuuzhan Vong attacked the galaxy, and war broke out. Ferd realized that the Legion would have to forget about its criminal activities for the time being if it was to survive, and began using Legion fleets to harass and attack Vong forces. Some of his subordinates protested, feeling that the Legion should make the most of the chaos, but Ferd argued that any profit made from the war would be redundant should the Vong win. He refused to listen to any more protests.
As the war progressed on against the New Republic, Ferd took note of the fact that the Vong were vongforming worlds, and feared that Nar Shaddaa, headquarters of the Legion, would fall as well, judging by the Vong's progress. Quickly, he transferred the seat of Legion power to his homeworld, Dac. There, he placed the new Legion headquarters in the city where he was born. He also made sure that all major Legion resources were transferred off the moon. The change was slightly jarring for the Legion, but as he rightfully guessed, the Vong attacked and vongformed the Smuggler's Moon beyond recognition.
After that, Coruscant fell, and Ferd knew that if the Vong took over the galaxy, it would mean the end of the Legion and galactic civilization. He became increasingly pessimistic, and had difficulty suppressing the urge to once again submit to alcoholism and drugs. However, he continued fighting the Vong, intending to go down fighting if he lost, and ordered all Legion military activities to intensify. Again, many upper Legion figures protested, but this time Ferd began to lose patience with insubordination, and refused to tolerate any more, and had dissenters executed.
Fortunately, New Republic eventually triumphed, and Ferd stopped the Legion's war against the Vong. With Coruscant vongformed, the New Republic replaced by the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances, the galaxy was a very different place. Black Sun was now gone, the Hutts were in disarray, which left the Legion as the most powerful crime syndicate in the galaxy, in turn making Ferd one of the most powerful individuals in the galaxy.
Post-Vong[]
I think I'm beginning to feel my age.
—Ferd near his death
The Legion had suffered heavily during the war, with a large part of its military and assets destroyed, but Ferd was determined to repair the damage. By now, he was quite old, and so resorted to surgery and implants to extend his lifespan. As the Galaxy recovered after the catastrophic events of the war, the Legion continued to establish its dominance, maintaining monopolies on piracy and drug running. It also began selling food on the black market to planets devastated by the Vong, further increasing the Legion's tremendously huge credit totals. Ferd encouraged exploitation of crippled planets, and began to become increasingly unscrupulous. He also increased his decadence, setting up holiday palaces galaxy wide for himself.
Over the next few decades, Ferd grew increasingly sicker, and often kept turning to 8311 for advice, and also was forced to delegate more power to his underlings, who took the opportunity to make use of Ferd's frailty to gain more power for themselves. His surgery and implants began to fail, and he began to go senile. Many in the Legion thought that it was time for a new leader. Ferd's advisers suggested he choose a heir, but he refused to listen.
During this time, Ferd was target of several attempted assassinations, mainly from subordinates who felt that the Legion needed a new leader, but a few were sponsored by the GFFA itself, which had now established itself firmly as dominant government of the galaxy. Although most of the internally originating attempts were prevented and their perpetrators dealt with, the Legion failed to do much about the other ones. Ferd himself responded with nothing, feeling that the government would give up after a while. Eventually, it did, but not after several of Ferd's few remaining allies in the Legion had been taken out.
Death[]
Ferd's dead? The poor bastard. I rather liked him.
—8311
Eventually, in 97 ABY, over a hundred years after the Legion was formed, Ferd died of old age in his deathbed early one morning after his life-support cybernetics finally permanently failed, although many suspected that it was assassination. Fingers were pointed at some suspects, though no concrete evidence was ever found that it was a deliberate death. Ferd himself had been quite weary of life before his death, having seen the rise and fall of several galactic powers and experience of three of the most devastating wars in the galaxy. Ferd's wealth and possessions were inherited by his next of kin, specifically his grandchildren, and the Legion. Some unscrupulous accountants tried to pull strings to reap the most of his wealth, but were unsuccessful. He was buried on Dac alongside the graves of other great Quarrens, in an opulent tomb designed by his personal artist within an equally ostentatious mausoleum. His surviving family and 8311 attended the funeral.
Postmortem and legacy[]
If that idiot Ferd had remembered to choose someone to succeed him, this wouldn't be happening.
—A Legion splinter group leader
Ferd had failed to choose a successor, and so the Legion plunged into civil war, split into various factions whose leaders believed themselves to be heirs to the Legion, led by the members of his old inner circle. After a short while, one side won the civil war and the Legion was reunited. As to prevent any more such civil wars, the Legion leaders unanimously decreed that the Legion was henceforth to led by a council rather than one leader.
Ferd did have a long-lasting effect on the Legion, however. He had brought it to the position of most powerful crime organization in the galaxy, had brought its credit totals to number into the trillions, and unlike 8311, he had avoided initiating large-scale assaults government cash depots and banks, which meant that galactic governments put less effort into resisting the Legion.
Ferd's grandchildren, who inherited much of his personal wealth and possessions, had a surprising contempt for their forbearer, as they had been the product of his sexual flings, and also for his debauchery. However, they did accept his wealth, but refused to honor his memory.
Personality[]
As for me...I like blowing stuff up.
—Ferd
Ferd was cunning and clever, although slightly cocky and arrogant. He was somewhat vain and enjoyed an opulent lifestyle, a trait perhaps brought about by living in poverty during his early life. As leader of the Legion, he was slightly more forgiving than 8311, but still ruthless and not afraid to execute those guilty of insubordination. He also had a habit for losing his inhibitions and partying wildly, especially with attractive females. He also was somewhat lazy, and preferred delegating tedious tasks to subordinates.
Ferd also had some sense of loyalty. During his time with the Quarren Isolation League and the CIS, he had remained steadfastly patriotic to both until the final months of the war broke his faith. When he went into the underworld and joined the Legion, he remained loyal to 8311 and the organization, which was a factor in his becoming heir to the syndicate. Ferd believed that loyalty yielded great rewards, with that philosophy extending to the way he judged his subordinates, with disloyal minions being generally ignored or mistreated by him.
In battle, Ferd preferred brute force and sheer firepower over clever tactics. For this reason he chose to pilot a modified Canderous tank during ground battles. Upgraded with molecular dispersion armor and turbolasers scavenged together from Imperial components, this tank was devastating in combat. It was slightly less maneuverable than normal, however, but this did not concern Ferd overly.