Disillusioned by the justice system and what they viewed as its lenient stance on crime, a number of New York City Police Department officers came together to form an organization that would permanently kill criminals, rather than simply jailing them. Calling themselves the "Cabal", the group commissioned Stane International to give them an edge in their crusade. Stane's company designed and manufactured a suit of powered armor for them, the "Savage Steel" battlesuit, based on technology stolen from Stark Enterprises. Different members of the Cabal all took turns wearing the resulting powered armor, including Paul Trent and former members Harry Lennox, Johnny Leone, and Jimmy Zafar. Savage Steel was first seen battling Darkhawk, and killed some drug dealers. Savage Steel then tried to kill the Punisher, then battled the Punisher, Darkhawk, and weapons dealers. Savage Steel attacked Phillippe Bazin during his trial, and was revealed as Harry Lennox. It was revealed how the Cabal created the Savage Steel identity, and the Cabal was defeated by Darkhawk and most of its members taken into custody. The Savage Steel armor was then stolen by police van driver Arthur Vale, who adopted the Savage Steel identity. Vale attempted to gain new weaponry, but was defeated by Iron Man, who targeted the Savage Steel armor in an attempt to regain his stolen technology, and then deactivated the armor. Jimmy Zafar rescued the imprisoned Vale and Lennox from the Cabal, and faked their deaths and his own. With Vale, Lennox, and Leone, Zafar joined the Witness Relocation Program. Zafar later stole the rebuilt armor from renegade Stane technicians, and adopted the Savage Steel identity. With Darkhawk as an ally, the new Savage Steel battled terrorists. He later attempted to aid Darkhawk against an invasion of Mahari space pirates led by Overhawk, but was knocked out of the fight. He met up with Darkhawk and his other allies after the battle.
The Initiative
Jimmy Zafar was considered as a "potential recruit" for the program, according to Civil War: Battle Damage Report.
Original Sin
A version of the Savage Steel armor was obtained through unknown means by a criminal. This man was stopped after a robbery by the Black Knight who nearly killed him during a bout of instability caused by the Ebony Blade.
Powers and abilities
The Savage Steel armor, constructed and modified by former Stane International engineers based on designs stolen from Tony Stark, is an armored battlesuit which serves as an exoskeleton greatly amplifying the user's strength. The armor is equipped with hand-blasters firing multi-directional high-frequency electrical bolts, and also comes with gas grenades, flares, sonic weaponry, a targeting computer, a self-contained air supply for one hour, and boot jets which allow flight.
