LEGION OF ONE
What breaks the unbreakable? The system they serve.
The Eiserne Legion was the perfect weapon—an elite force of hive-minded soldiers, unstoppable and unfeeling. But war has a way of unravelling even the most flawless design.
Told through a haunting collection of interconnected short stories, this book traces the fallout of a fractured mind: from trench warfare and political machinations to forbidden love and the quiet ruin of memory.
Each chapter stands alone, but together they reveal the slow, systemic breakdown of something once whole.
Behind The Scenes
You're looking at the original cover of the book. At that point, the plan for this story was purely vibes-based and the writing reflected it. The first snippets came to life on my iPad in the back of a KC-30, mid-flight to Tasmania for Operation COVID Assist. It was moody, edgy… and destined for deletion.
Originally, the story followed three main characters who had once been part of a hive mind. Each one experienced a different phase of the war—one in the trenches, one in the capital, and one years later. It seemed like a perfect structure… but it turned out to be wildly confusing.
Having three characters across three timelines, all retroactively interpreting each other’s experiences? It was a mess.
This world was created from John and I's games we played as kids. How could I capture the essence of that whilst still writing the moody and edgy story I wanted?
You'll have to explore the story behind the story. Find out more below:
The games John and I played as kids laid the groundwork—but this story took on a life of its own.
Don’t let the backstory fool you—this story is DARK. At its core, this book explores broken identities, the profound effects of war, and the power imbalances that arise from systems designed to fail. But how could I capture the ever-evolving, unpredictable nature of childhood imagination? This isn't a shot-for-shot remake of those games, but pays homage to the times we had. When you play together as children, your stories - and your interests - don't follow a linear path; they shift, they grow, and they change. And that’s exactly what I’ve done here. This book is a collection of short stories, each one standing on its own, but connected in a way that builds something powerful.
When I was a kid, my best mate John and I used to swing sticks through the air, cutting down orcs, droids, and just about anything you could (literally) poke a stick at. We weren’t just playing—we were building worlds. After I started writing around 13, I always knew that one day I’d try to capture that feeling, that story we were living in. I knew even then that I’d dedicate this to him. Since John’s passing, it’s been hard to know how to tell that part of the story. How do you honour someone’s legacy without making it feel like a sales pitch? Well... maybe it’s here. Quietly. Not on the front page or the announcement post. Just tucked away for those who felt like looking behind the curtain. So if you’ve found your way here, thank you. Legion of One is dedicated to John, and to his family. Not because of any one thing he did—but because this story wouldn’t exist without the worlds we created together.
I've always seen my life as a series of stages, each one marking a different version of myself. It’s a fragmented way to view things, but it helps me leave behind the challenges of each stage as I move forward. When I look back on the toughest moments, I can pinpoint the essence of each phase, which allows me to find a "way in" for each of my characters. Each stage of my life unfolded in different places, and on their own, they might seem like a collection of random events. But when viewed together, they offer a deeper perspective on the world around us. The same applies to the Legion. Each of their individual experiences carries weight, but together, they create a more expansive view of the world they inhabit.
The World of Gonda has a complicated history. As we played together we'd imagine huge armies and fantastical battles, only to retcon it and decide that sci-fi was all the rage. The only constant was that the story of our games always took place in Gonda. To try and capture each and every event in a child's game would be to catch lightning in a bottle, so I needed to focus on the core elements. Its not a world as much as it is three wearing a trenchcoat. You have elements of WWI battles, fantasy, romance, horror - magic and monsters. Wildly varying levels of technology. Its batshit insane, but I love it.
I always knew I wanted to self-publish. There’s just more creative freedom; you’re not bound to trends or pressured to add, cut, or reshape your work to fit someone else's idea of what sells. But that freedom still comes with limitations. Legion of One was published through Draft2Digital, which offers a streamlined path for indie authors but it has its constraints, especially when it comes to interior design. Their automated system detects your headings to generate the Table of Contents, which means any custom preamble (like a character introducing the story) gets pushed aside. Originally, I had big plans. I wanted a Legionnaire to greet the reader, setting the tone before leading into the chapters. I wanted fading text for scenes where someone’s bleeding out. I even wanted to flip the text upside down for the more psychedelic sections. These things can be done through services like Barnes & Noble or Lulu, but they often come with a hefty price tag. Maybe one day, down the line, I’ll release a special edition with all the wild formatting I had in mind. For now, the core of the story is here and it’s stronger than the polish I couldn’t quite afford yet.
There’s almost 60,000 words of cut content sitting in the graveyard. In the original version, the story followed three characters, like it does now, but the centrepiece was very different. It focused on the last surviving Legionnaire, walking the ruined world and reflecting on everything he’d lost. It was less an epic and more a sob story. He just wandered around feeling sorry for himself while the war played out through flashbacks soaked in sadness and regret. It wasn’t bad writing, exactly, it just didn’t go anywhere. It didn’t say anything. The biggest issue was the dialogue. I had so much of it. Conversations that stretched for pages without moving the plot or deepening the world. When I finally started stripping things back and asking, “What am I trying to say in this scene?”, the answer was often: “Nothing.” So, I cut it. A lot of it. Whole scenes disappeared. What remained was sharper, clearer, and far more honest to what Legion of One was always meant to be.
Port Arthur Asylum, Tasmania
One of the real-world places that shaped Legion of One in unexpected ways was Port Arthur, Tasmania. It’s a haunting place. Beautiful, quiet, and steeped in sorrow.
When I visited, I spent time in the old asylum, where I learned that silence was used as a weapon. Inmates were kept in total silence and stripped of identity. The masks weren’t just for the guards. Everyone wore them. No talking. No names. Just menial tasks and total sensory deprivation. The same tasks. The same meals. The same silence.
It shook me.
The asylum church, with its echoing emptiness and oppressive individual booths, became a major inspiration for the island where the Legionnaires are made. I won’t spoil the details, but that sense of enforced obedience, ritual, and isolation became central to how I built their origin.
There’s a cold logic to it, break the mind, rebuild the body, and call it service. But as you’ll see in the story, it leaves fractures. Cracks where the human spirit still shines through.
Caltowie, South Australia
This is one of many places that John and I used to play. The paddock, turned golf course, turned music festival venue was once the stomping ground of a group of boys.
The trees, planted in neat rows, became towering walls. Sand bunkers were trenches. Pine lattices turned into fortresses. Sticks, of course, were swords, rifles, or staffs, whatever the mission required.
There was a tree that fell once. It lay there for what must’ve been years. That fallen giant became everything: a spaceship, a hideout, a hut, a windbreak when the weather turned. It was whatever we needed it to be. The stories we told there could've filled volumes and maybe, in a way, they have.
Even now, when I look at Caltowie Oval, I don’t just see grass and trees. I still see the kingdom. I see us running around. And I see the spark of a story that’s grown into something far bigger than either of us ever imagined back then.
The Field
The third place isn’t marked on any map, but I know it better than any street or landmark. It’s the field.
Not a specific one, really, but the many nameless stretches of dirt and grass I walked while in uniform. Cold mornings. Heavy packs. The silence of waiting. The chaos of moving. The long nights filled with stars and static. In those places, I learned about brotherhood, about endurance, about what weariness feels like when it’s not just in your head but in your bones.
Those experiences didn’t just influence the world of Legion of One, they helped build it. The sense of duty. The isolation. The unspoken bond between those who march forward when everything inside them is screaming to stop. Gonda isn’t just fiction. It’s memory, reshaped.
You won’t find “The Field” in any travel guide. But if you’ve ever served or even stood in a place where silence speaks louder than words you’ll know it when you see it in the story.
ROUGH DRAFT - The Rhyme and Reason Behind My Worst Writing
Embark on a whimsical literary journey through the comically chaotic mind of Hemi Croft, a wordsmith unafraid to lay bare the quirkiest corners of their creativity. In "Rough Drafts" every page is a delightful stumble through the hilarious missteps of a poet who wears their literary faux pas like a badge of honor.
Prepare for a rollercoaster ride of rhyme and reason dysfunction, where the absurdity of misplaced metaphors and the beauty of awkwardly crafted stanzas collide. Dive headfirst into a world where ink blots become characters, where typos dance with intention, and where every verse is a testament to the joy found in embracing imperfections.
WHOSE NAME WE SHARE
Tel el Kebir hosted the establishment of the first AIF and with it the birth of many Australian units that persist to this day. One such unit was the 103rd Battery.
This unassuming battery made of eager Australian volunteers would participate in some of the bloodiest battles of the Great War and would fire 42,000 rounds in support of Australian Troops in that conflict alone.
This battery has worked tirelessly behind the scenes in some of the most well known battles in Australian History. These include the 100 Days Offensive, Battle of Long Tan, and even missions in Afghanistan.
This is the complete history of that battery.
The Story Behind the History
As I mentioned, this tells the history of the Australian Army unit I served with, however this is more than just your weekend history project. In October of 2019 I suffered a freak accident that left me with a broken back, ankles, neck and with a fractured skull. I was placed on medical leave for about 5 months and when I returned I was only on half days as I tried to recover.
My boss at the time suggested I chase up some history leads to keep me involved and I fell down the rabbit hole of our unit’s history, leading to the book you see here now. I networked with veterans, previous commanders and volunteers to trace the origins of the battery. Once it was complete, I’d offered it to my new friends at the Australian Artillery Association, a non-profit dedicated to the preservation of Australian Artillery history.
And there it has remained ever since. Completely free.
