Steelees were a species of quadrupedal riding mounts found on the rocky planet Elphrona. They had silver skin and duralloy hooves, which sparked when they made contact with Elphrona's metallic surface and produced an organomagnetic field that allowed the creatures to lock their feet in place. Steelees could also be tamed using the Force, in which a Force-sensitive could connect with the creature to calm it and communicate.
The Blythe family owned a herd of several steelees at their homestead on Elphrona. When members of the Nihil marauder organization kidnapped the Blythes, the raiders stole some of the family's steelees in order to transport the prisoners back to their starships. After being alerted to the raid, the Jedi stationed at the nearby Jedi Order outpost took the remaining steelees to pursue the Nihil. During the pursuit, the steelee rode by Jedi Master Porter Engle was killed by one of the Nihil, but the Jedi managed to almost catch up to the raiders, destroying one of their two vessels.
Native to the rocky, mineral-rich planet of Elphrona, steelees were long-legged quadrupedal creatures with silver skin and hooves of duralloy. The creatures had thin tails, long necks, and elongated heads, with dark eyes and pointed ears. Steelees' metal hooves would generate sparks whenever they struck against metallic rock on Elphrona's surface, additionally producing loud and sharp noises. Their hooves also generated an organomagnetic field that could allow them to lock into the ground and remain still, an ability that the steelees used to climb steep mountains on Elphrona.
Steelees could be tamed and used as riding mounts, with the rider sitting in a saddle atop the creatures and controlling the steelee with reins. They could also be trained to follow commands upon hearing a sound, such as the click of a tongue. Force-sensitives could use the Force to connect with the steelees and calm or coax the creatures. Wild steelee herds on Elphrona would run across the metallic ground at night; the planet's inhabitants considered the sight to be one of Elphrona's natural wonders.
The creatures displayed irritation with an inexperienced rider, and would whicker, sidestep, shake their head, and stamp their hooves. Steelees would travel faster if their rider was sitting properly in their saddle. The steelees would cluster around their trough excitedly when they were fed. When terrified, steelees rushed and stamped with wide eyes and flared nostrils; the creatures would also rear up at loud noises.
Jedi Master Porter Engle convinced the steelee to aid the Jedi as their mounts.
During the time of the High Republic Era, the Blythe family owned a small herd of eight steelees at their homestead on Elphrona, located a short distance away from the settlement of Ogden's Hope. Ottoh Blythe, the father of the family, cared for and trained the steelees. In 232 BBY, the Blythe family became a target of a raid by Nihil marauders at the behest of Eye of the Nihil Marchion Ro, who wished to attract the attention of the nearby Jedi Order outpost in order to capture a Jedi. The Nihil, led by the Cloud Ultident Margrona, approached on a speeder as Ottoh Blythe was feeding their steelees, and Blythe proceeded to drop the sack of feed and secure himself and his family within their house. The raiders released gas around the homestead, which incapacitated the steelees.
The Blythes managed to destroy the Nihil's speeder using a delving droid, but the marauders nevertheless broke into the house and kidnapped the family. With their speeder nonfunctional, the Nihil stole five of the family's steelees in order to return to their two waiting Cloudships, leaving the homestead in flames. The raiders harnessed two of the steelees to pull a repulsorcart that carried their prisoners, with the other three being ridden alongside; the Nihil were inexpert riders, traveling slower than the creatures' potential speed. When the Jedi—having been anonymously tipped off about the raid by Ro himself—arrived at the homestead on a Vanguard ground vehicle, the Jedi Master Porter Engle calmed the three remaining steelees with the Force. After their Vanguard was destroyed by Nihil mole mines, Engle used the Force to convince the creatures to work with them and help save their owners, and he, alongside the Jedi Master Loden Greatstorm and the Padawan Bell Zettifar, climbed atop the steelees to pursue the Nihil.
The Nihil and the Jedi utilized steelees during their clash on Elphrona.
The slowed movement of the Nihil's steelees allowed the Jedi to gain distance on the raiders. While the Nihil at first did not notice their approaching pursuers, the Blythes did. However, Asaria, the Nihil placed on guard in the cart, eventually came to notice the steelees behind them, alerting the other Nihil. At that moment, Ottoh Blythe commanded the steelees to stop, and the creatures obeyed immediately, locking their hooves into the ground. Though the steelees had stopped, the momentum of the creatures threw three of the Nihil from their saddles and launched Asaria from the cart onto the rocky surface, killing the guard. The Blythes attempted to escape, but they were prevented from doing so by the remaining Nihil.
As the Jedi approached, the Nihil continued to ride towards their starships, though two raiders waited in the nearby hills to eliminate their pursuers. One of the raiders shot and killed Engle's steelee, and he leapt from the creature, ordering his fellow Jedi to continue after the Nihil. Engle, angered by the death of the steelee, killed one of the Nihil, prompting the other to attempt to mount a steelee and escape. The steelee, however, remained still, with its head down and hooves locked into the ground, allowing Engle to run his lightsaber through the Nihil's head. As Engle calmed the steelee to commandeer it, the Nihil, having survived the wound, began to fire his blaster, but Engle was saved by Ember, the charhound owned by the Jedi on Elphrona.
Though the Jedi managed to close some distance between them and their targets, the Nihil managed to reach their ships with their prisoners. Greatstorm let go of his steelee's reins, continuing to steer the creature with his knees and the Force, and used the Vanguard's laser cannon mechanism to destroy one of the vessels. The Nihil positioned the cart between their pursuers and the remaining ship, throwing one, the mother Erika Blythe, from the cart to distract the Jedi. Greatstorm and Zettifar dismounted from their steelees to check on Blythe as the Nihil reached their starship, activating its engines. Engle resolved to take Blythe back to the outpost by steelee so that he could treat her wounds on the way, while the other Jedi pursued the Nihil craft in Jedi Vectors. The Jedi succeeded in rescuing most of the Blythes, but as Ro had planned, Greatstorm was captured by the Nihil.
In 231 BBY, while Greatstorm was a prisoner of the Nihil at the marauders' base on the planetoid Grizal, he had a dream of himself and Zettifar riding steelees across the rust plains of Elphrona as Ember ran at the creatures' feet. However, Greatstorm soon awoke from the dream, in torment from torture at the hands of Ro.
Steelees first appeared in the 2021 novel The High Republic: Light of the Jedi, written by Charles Soule as part of the Star Wars: The High Republic multimedia initiative's Phase I. Prior to the release of the Light of the Jedi, the creatures were depicted on the cover of the exclusive Out of Print special edition of the novel, illustrated by Jama Jurabaev and revealed on December 2, 2020.
- Star Wars: The High Republic: Chronicles of the Jedi
- Star Wars: Timelines