Legion of the Damned

Basic Information

The LE is a military group that’s based off the Gallic Royal Navy. While it became famous in the last few years, the Legion is nearly as ancient as the Navy itself. Being the elite group of the Navy, it’s mainly deployed against the most dangerous enemies of the throne, at the Gallic Borders. While it is led independently by the Lord Mareshal, he still responds to the King and the Legion can also be deployed against threats in the core worlds. Their base of operation is basically whole Gallia, and the Lord Mareshal only takes orders from the King himself and the Grand Mareshal herself.

Although until now, no attacks against Sirian people were made, King Charles XI regards the Legion as his ace against anyone, anytime, anywhere. The men and women who have the luck to be a part of the Legion are handpicked by the highest members from all over Gallia and are generally considered to be one of the best pilots, having both excellent physical as well as mental skills.

As the Gallic Borders have been recently opened by the Council, the King needed more backup and thus has elected a new, more-capable Lord Mareshal. Although he’s younger than most of his predecessors, the King sees him as the Chosen One of Gallia. His name is Enzo du Sable.

History of the Legion of the Damned

As mentioned before, the LE was based off the original Gallic Navy, but was founded later in 99 A.G.S., 13 years after the landing on New Paris. To understand why it was even founded we must take a look at the situation going on at that time. Millions of Gallic people of all classes were trying to build a new life on a never before seen or known planet. They were all depressed and disappointed by their former Alliance partners who made them not worthy of having an own sleeper ship. Thus, many conflicts began to raid between the people and the crime rate increased dramatically. Each day new rogue groups were founded to unleash terror upon humble citizens. It was that time of chaos when Queen Madeleine chose one man out of his people to solve this situation once and for all. He was known as Comte Andre Le Benevole (Lord Andre the Helper). It was during those darkest times when the first ideology and principes of the Legion were created. Andre believed that every man and woman has to be valued by what he/she can do for a certain purpose, no matter what origins or beliefs he/she has. And so, he made up a small squad of loyal men, and the fundament for the Legion has been set. He and his men were travelling from town to town, from village to village and from fields to fields to unite the people to believe in Gallia and the Queen. Those who did not agree to this were simply executed infront of everyone. That’s how he managed to unite even rogues with merchants and humble citizens to create the “perfect” population, although under heavy military surveillance. After their great success on New Paris, the Queen ordered them to the recently colonized Planet Lyonnais, where under-paid workers were striking and damaging the whole colonization process.Back then, they were called "The Damned Ones", as most men in this squad were damned to death. So, they arrived and, with most of the workers back to their contruction sites, within 3 months the colonization could start again. Queen Madeleine was so delighted by their success that she finally created “The Damned Legion”. However, one day before the official foundation of the Legion, Andre was murdered silently and thus a new leader had to be elected. It was a man named Leon du Sable, one of the very early relatives of the current leader Enzo. A great nubmer of people, from every part of Gallia joined, and it really became a Legion. Most of them were simple commoners, but a great number of former prisoners and criminals have also been recruit by Leon, in accordance with the main ideology of the Legion. Those men have either been damned to death in their former life, or are now damned to death (again), as they would be sent to the most dangerous missions, also "suicide-missions", long time before the Navy would finally arrive, if it even arrives.

The exact date of the foundation of the Legion was 104 A.G.S. After the death of the Queen, the newly-ascended King Josef grants the Legion pure independence as military group (they still have to respond to the King). The goal has been finally reached, and Leon started a total overhaul of the Legion, including ranks and members, and those rules by him have hardly changed even until our date today. As time passed on and new planets were discovered and inhabitated, the Legion stepped more and more into the shadows, finally becoming unknown to the majority of the Gaulois. During the Golden Age they completely vanished from the surface, heavily operating in the background. Everything was running perfectly for Gallia: The cities were flourishing, the wealth was rising, the population was happy, politicians were fair and crime and corruption was too low to be dangerous. And all that while the Legion was controlling from the background, undetected by their clever methods: Members of the Legion could not be percieved as law-enforcers; they were dressed as usual citizens, did the same as usual citizens and acted like them. People all around Gallia didn’t notice those hidden agents around them, so that they acted as they were not under surveillance, and exactly that was the source of the Legion’s success. If incidents amongst civilians happened, they reacted quickly as law-enforcers; much more quickly than the actual police, solved the problem and then stepped back into the shadows before the police even reached the location. Of course this was not always the case, but it was enough to keep greater incidents from happening and rogues from uniting to a bigger group. That was the real secret behind the Golden Age of Gallia.

In the Dark Ages however, things were starting to get worse, as some politicians started to get corrupt and throw critics at the King. Most of these politicians were liberal, and most of them were those who would later join the Council. As it was much harder to hide the murdering of greater numbers of politicians, the Legion tried to place their agents to keep the majority of Gallics from listening to the Liberals, leaving the actual assassination a matter of the Royal Assassins. But as they failed, the politicians gained more and more admirers and later finally created the Council (720 A.S.). This was the time when the Legion has first suffered a loss in over 700 years; it was their first and last loss. King Louis IV disbanded the Legion and called all members into the Navy to aid for the upcoming civil war. With the Council gaining more and more influence over the Gallic population, their power was finally so big that they declared war in 794 A.S. The war started and the Council gained control of the two border system, Champagne and Languedoc. When the Council finished their way through the minefield to Orkney and thus opening Gallia to whole Sirius, King Charles XI needed a new ace in his hands to eliminate any remaining traitors. He knew his only hope to ban these unworthy scum was to recreate the Legion, which was disbanded from 720-816 A.S.

King Charles XI called in the only descendant of Leon du Sable, the man who had the most success wtih the Legion and made it so papoular that it was engraved in the Gallic history. The last du Sable was a young man named Enzo who, when the Royal Searchers found him, was in a club in the Gallic underground on New Paris, living the life of a street gang leader. That’s how the leader of a small mobster gang became Lord Mareshal. When Enzo asked the King why he chose him over his most feared Lords, he answered: “It was a du Sable who made the Legion what it was, and it will be a du Sable who will make the Legion os the Damned what it will be.” Enzo swore infinte allegiance to the crown and the King and was finally granted the highest rank of the Legion. Before the King gave him orders, he passed him the Bible of the Legion and the Blade of the Legion. As the nomination finally ended, the King published his orders to the Legion:.

Objectives

Deploy a large amount of forces against Gallic unlwafuls (Council, Maquis, Brigands, pirates...) at the borders and eliminate their presence. Furhermore, the Legion has to deploy hidden agents in the rank of the Junkers as the King still has doubts about their intentions in Gallia.

Protect Gallia with every effort possible and eliminate any Gallic enemies of the throne
Eliminate any Sirians wanting to damage Gallia in any way and keep Gallia clean of Sirian influences
Actively be ready to hunt down Sirians when the order will be given
Maintain an outer-Gallic presence all the time to ensure the ultimate safety of Gallia from Sirian attacks, when the order will be given

After Enzo read the Legion’s Bible, he gave their main ideology a new sense. The most important rule of the Legion is: “Every man and woman has to be valued by what he/she can do for a certain purpose, no matter what origins or beliefs he/she has.”

This is why most Legionnaires are former criminals/prisoners. Most of them simply join the Legion because else, they would be executed. Of course, as Legionnaires they are also damned to death, but not at a fixed date. Most of them choose this way because they can live on, regardless of the fact that it's a very brutal and hard life. This is why, in the Legionnaire Initiation Ritual, a small portion of unknown poison is injected onto the body. Technically it serves as a substance to locate the Legionnaires, whereever they are, as some of them could turn their backs on the Navy and become criminal again, so it's a security method. But the primary sense of this injection is the acceptance of death. Who does not accept that will be killed on spot. Of course, not many survive the poison and die aswell, but those who do survive become true Legionnaires, that have already faced death and don't have to worry about dying "again".

Current Legion

1% Nobles
4% Fallen Nobles
15% Former Navy
30% Commoners
40% Former Prisoners/Criminals

all that at a survival rate of the Initiation Ritual at an average of 78.9 per cent.

The 9 Commandments of a Legionnaire

Never question the will of the King or the Lord Mareshal
Never show mercy for your enemies, as they do not deserve it
Anywhere you go, always keep the Gallic morals and those of the Legion, regardless what you were in your life before joining us
Be neutral to everyone you encounter but only if you’ve never met them before
Always be suspicious of Sirians and never trust them, if any sign of treachery appera, kill them
Do not change yourself and your beliefs to Sirians ones, even if you have to leave Gallia for your whole life
Never bring shame over the Legion or decieve it, if you do, prepare for the worst punishments
Always aid the Royals or Gallic lawful organizations when they are under attack
Never be racist towards another Legion member, even if they are former criminals/prisoners, as the past does not count anymore and we are all brothers in arms and blood.

"First in, last out"

Legionnaires would go right into the battle, before the Gallic troops came, holding the position for as long as possible and taking all the fire. If the Gallic troops faced a loss, the Legionnaires would secure their retreat with every effort possible, even sacrificing their own life, as they should not face a loss of honour in any way, because they are damned to death.

Zone of influence

Primary ZoI: Languedoc, stationed on Battleship Carcassonne

Secondary ZoI: Rest of Royalist Gallia, most Legion troops are stationed on Battleship Grande Guillotine

Ranks

Lord Marechal: He has the supreme power over the Legion and only answers to the King. He is representing the Legion both militarily and politically, if needed. He can access all of the available Legion ships and is the captain of La Grande Guillotine, the Valor-class Flagship of the Legion.

Military Ranks

General: The General of the Legion has the full power over his own fleet. The General is a Legionnaire who is the second, after the Lord Mareshal. Can use anything up to a Cruiser. If a General proves worthy enough, the Lord Mareshal can grant him the right to fly a Battleship, which would be a symbol for ultimate honour.

Colonel: They are the right hands of the General of the Legion, and they are 3 high ranking commanders. Only the best and most dangerous pilots can become Colonel, and only if they are able to lead a large attack formation. They can use any ship up to a Cruiser.

Commandant: The various commanders of the Legion have shown their leader-skill many times, and thus can lead a mid-sized attack squad. They can use all ships up to a Gunboat.

Capitaine: A Capitaine was once an elite soldier, a Lieutenant, who got promoted because of his keen leading skills, even in the most extreme situations. They are usually seen leading a group of up to 4 people into high-classed missions. They can use any ship up to a VHF / bomber and is allowed to use special coded weaponary* directly given from the higher ranks. They can also request a the construction of the Gunboat.

Lieutenant: An elite soldier - these men have shown their over-average skill in a battle and thus have become Lieutenants. If no Capitain is around, one Lt. gains the temporary control over a small squad. They can use any ship up to a bomber / VHF.

Sous-lieutenant: Usually a veteran soldier, they are the backbone of the Legion. They are still working hard to become Lt. and act as mentor for the Aspirantes and Cadetes. They can use everything up to a VHF, but can't use any bomber.

Aspirant: The typical frontline-soldier of the Legion, able to obliterate any equally-armed enemy thanks to the secret Legion training. They can only use ships up to a Heavy Fighter.

Cadet: A typical recruit and rookie, these men have to undergo a test phase of 1 or 2 weeks, if they show remarkable skill they can even be promoted to Aspirant. They can only use the LF.

Honorary titles

Hero of the Legion: The most honourful title a Legionnaire can carry. Only one Hero of the Legion is written down in the history books, and it was Andre le Benevole himself, the grand-ancestor of the Legion. Since then, no-one has ever reached this ultimate rank of honour. But, who knows, maybe a Hero will step up from the current Legionnaires - the One will earn infinite honour and respect even after death.

Champion - Legionnaire: Those who wish to become a Champion Legionnaire have to go a long way. Chevalier, already marked by the hundreds of battles they were in, are dedicating their whole life just to reach this rank. Most of them fail. Only a handful of Champions have stepped out from the Legion. They are respected and seen as idols of the lower ranks.

Chevalier: Those that become Chevaliers have had many victorious battles behind them. In the Legion history books, there were 42 confirmed Chevaliers. Which indeed makes them also rare. A Chevalier is the sword and shield of the Legion. His body is the shield. His skill is the sword.