History
The 13th Legion was originally created as the military wing of the Prismatic Imperium, a group loyal to the princess Aisling Duval. The founder and original leader of the 13th Legion was CMDR Andariel, and its home base is the Cubeo system which it shares with the Prismatic Imperium. Originally, the 13th Legion focused mainly on using its forces for the furthering of power of Aisling Duval via military operations to either increase her standing, or to diminish the standing of her enemies. Aside from these tasks, the 13th Legion is known for being involved in almost all major wars in skirmishes throughout the galaxy.The earliest involvement of the 13th Legion in combat operations was at the tail end of the New Caribbean Pirate Wars. The New Caribbean consists of the systems of Leesti, Lave, and Diso, and it was the original home of the Code pirate group that used it as a home base to intercept traders running the highly profitable 34 Tauri to Leesti rare-goods trading routes. During these times, constant battles were fought between bounty hunters and the various piracy groups that stalked the New Caribbean.
The next major involvement of the 13th Legion also involved pirates and was known as the 34 Pegasi Wars. The Code pledged allegiance to the pirate lord Archon Delaine, setting up their home base in 34 Pegasi. From this location they launched piracy attacks at the surrounding systems. This drew the ire of the Empire as a whole, as they bore the brunt of their incursions by the pirates into the surrounding systems. This spawned Operation Davy Jones, a joint-Imperial operation to pound the pirates in the 34 Pegasi area into submission. Daily battles were waged in the 34 Pegasi area, as numerous Imperial groups including the 13th Legion took the fight to the pirates in their own systems. The climax of the 34 Pegasi Wars was the Battle of 34 Pegasi, in which the 13th Legion orchestrated an armada of over thirty warships which set up a blockade of the 34 Pegasi system, essentially blocking the Code from their own home system. This operation was lead by CMDR Nightshady, and the success of it led to his promotion to Combat Operations Commander of the 13th Legion by CMDR Andariel. The 34 Pegasi Wars came to an abrupt end shortly afterwards, as the Code withdrew support from Archon Delaine and returned their home base to the New Caribbean.
The next major battle involving the 13th Legion was quite controversial. One of the 13th Legion's most veteran pilots, CMDR Derrida was in the Lembava system, capitol to Li Yong-Rui of Sirius Corp, when he was attacked and his ship destroyed by pilots loyal to the Sirius Corporation CEO. This led to an immediate full on blockade of the Lembava system by the 13th Legion. Any combat ship entering the capitol of Lembava was immediately interdicted by the 13th Legion, and those that didn't immediately high-wake out of system were destroyed. In total, nearly twenty Li Yong-Rui ships were destroyed with zero losses incurred by the 13th Legion. CMDR SilentShadow is credited with a large number of those kills, augmenting his reputation as a formidable combat pilot. The heavy-handed action in Lembava drew criticism from numerous groups against the 13th Legion, including those in the Imperial High Command.
With the evacuation of the Code from 34 Pegasi, a new pirate group entered the system and took it as its home base - the Ronin of Amarok (ROA). This led to a prolonged conflict between the 13th Legion and ROA in the 34 Pegasi systems. These battles continued for several weeks, and in a strange twist of fate found the 13th Legion and Code forces fighting together against ROA.
The next major battle would be known as the Siege of Nanomam. Combat forces loyal to the Federation leader Zachary Hudson had been hitting systems loyal to the princess Aisling Duval. These repeated actions angered the Prismatic Imperium, which then ordered the 13th Legion to go on the offensive. The 13th Legion took an armada of three wings of combat ships to the Federation capitol system of Nanomam and set up a military blockade. The plans of the operation were purposefully leaked by Combat Operations Commander, CMDR Nightshady, as a brazen challenge to the Federation forces to try and stop the Imperial combat wing. The Federation forces mustered their best combat wing, led by Federation Sky Marshall, CMDR Persephonius. When the Federation wing entered Nanomam, it was immediately besieged by the 13th Legion forces, which then anchored in a second combat wing to the fight. The superior tactics caught the Federation forces completely unaware, and their ships were decimated in the quick battle, including the destruction of CMDR Persephonius' Anaconda battle cruiser. In total, over twenty Federation ships were destroyed in this operation with zero friendly losses. Video footage of battle - Click Here
After the Siege of Nanomam, the next major operation of the 13th Legion would not only change the group itself, but the entire Empire. The Prismatic Imperium, in response to Federation CMDR hostilities, declared war on Felicia Winters in an attempt to drive down her standing among the galactic powers. In order to accomplish the goal, the 13th Legion sent out a request to all Imperial player groups to organize and work together to strike systems loyal to Felicia Winters. This operation, known as the Imperial Coalition against Winters, was the first time that the Empire came together from separate powers to an organized unit fighting a common enemy. This operation, though only mildly effective in diminishing Winters' standing in the Galaxy, did open lines of communication and cooperation to numerous Imperial groups that did not exist in the past. The operation also cemented the 13th Legion as an organization that was well known throughout the Empire for working toward advancement of Imperial society as a whole.
Although the Imperial Coalition against Winters did much to further the 13th Legion's standing, it was quickly followed by events that brought the group to the precipice of collapse. First, the struggle of the Imperial powers to determine the new Emperor came to an end with the selection of Aryssa Lavigny-Duval. Since Aisling Duval did not become Emperor, there was a sudden decline in CMDR's eager to advance the People's Princess. The 13th Legion saw a drop in membership that was quite significant. Also, CMDR Andariel stepped down as Lord Commander of the 13th Legion to pursue other options. These changes saw an efflux of pilots at a rapid pace and the threat of collapse of the 13th Legion.
CMDR Nightshady, who at the time was considering leaving the 13th Legion to join the Code pirate group or the Smiling Dog Crew mercenaries, was then asked to step up to be the new leader of the group. After weighing the options, CMDR Nightshady agreed to become the second Lord Commander of the 13th Legion. Nightshady felt that the only way to save the 13th Legion was to completely overhaul the organization. A former leader of the mercenary group, the Black Wings, Nightshady was a PvP combat pilot to the core. He quickly appointed CMDR SilentShadow, his long time friend and former pirate, as Vice-Lord of the 13th Legion. Together, they created a plan to bring the 13th Legion back to its former glory. After negotiations with the Prismatic Imperium, it was decided that the 13th Legion would no longer be Aisling's 13th Legion, but the Empire's 13th Legion - the PvP combat protectors of the entire Empire.
Using their connections with the leaders of the numerous Imperial groups, as well as their formidable PvP skills to drive publicity, the duo re-branded the 13th Legion which saw a huge influx of new recruits, which could now be recruited from any Imperial power as opposed to solely Aisling as in the past. Passing their combat skills to the new recruits via frequent training, the 13th Legion quickly became known as a premier PvP combat wing.
The 13th Legion kept their home base of Cubeo, and kept extremely close ties with the Prismatic Imperium, in fact staying under their jurisdiction when it came to matters regarding Aisling space. The 13th Legion's expansion to cover the entire Empire did result in the creation of forward operating bases in other regions of Imperial space for rapid combat ship deployment to Imperial systems in threat from enemy CMDR's. With the dramatic influx of new pilots, combined with the 13th Legion's operations that followed, the group was brought back from the brink of collapse to be a major player group in the Galaxy.
The next big test for the 13th Legion would not come from the distant regions of Imperial space however, rather from their home base in Cubeo. Due to overly-generous rewards of Imperial rank progression for surface missions in Cubeo, the system saw a huge influx of CMDR traffic which resulted in a large influx of piracy. The Imperial Defense Network was created as a response, an alert system not only for enemy CMDR's in Cubeo, but the entirety of Empire space. A near constant patrol of 13th Legion pilots in Cubeo brought the Cubeo Pirate Wars to a quick end and restored security to the system. Official Announcement
The 13th Legion continued to grow notoriety and membership with the release of videos showing their training sessions that were often times conducted to point of ship destruction. The group also continued to grow as a result of their frequent operations that were conducted for the defense of Empire space. Operation: Ripley, an anti-Thargoid contingency plan that contained both military and diplomatic branches, was created by the 13th Legion along with representatives from the Prismatic Imeprium.
When the Prismatic Imperium launched a community goal in a system nearby to Cubeo, the 13th Legion was called upon to defend the system from piracy and mercenary groups. This led to the first of major and continuous clashes between the 13th Legion and the Smiling Dog Crew. The 13th Legion, despite lacking the number of top-skilled PvP pilots as the SDC, was able to route their attackers on two separate occasions using superior numbers and tactics.
The actions of the Smiling Dog Crew at the community goal, along with their involvement in the 'Mobius Incident', led to the declaration of the Smiling Dog Crew as a terrorist organization by the 13th Legion, followed by the release of a Terrorist Most Wanted List . The 13th Legion and the Smiling Dog Crew continue to participate in a drawn out conflict across countless systems that has resulted in the losses of numerous ships on both sides.
The declaration of the Smiling Dog Crew as a terrorist organization did draw support from numerous groups, including the Achenar Immortals. This led to Operation: Panty Raid, a joint-operation between the Immortals and the 13th Legion to deliver materials for the construction of a new starport at LHS 3447 in open defiance of any pirate or terrorist groups that might try to stop them. The operation was a resounding success, with over 15,000 tons of materials delivered with zero losses of trading vessels and only one combat ship lost to skirmishes with terrorist forces.
With the declaration by Zachary Hudson that a new Farragut capital ship was to be built by the Federation for deployment along the Federation/Imperial border, the 13th Legion turned its attention to an old foe. The 13th Legion declared the community goal a threat to the Empire, and set up a complete blockade of the entire system of Beta Hydri. The operation drew support from other Imperial groups including the East India Company and Lavigny's Legion. The operation resulted in a shutdown of transport vessels as the 13th Legion's combat ships could not be successfully routed from the system. 13th Legion casualties were kept to a minimum, with Federation losses totalling in the hundreds of ships destroyed.