First Ranger Legion

"War needs Peace, Peace needs War"-Official Ranger Motto

The  First Ranger Republic  or  Ranger Legion  and more commonly just referred to as  The Rangers  are a militaristic, authoritarian, pseudo-nerd group under a two person leadership, with 12 members. Originally they were usually isolationist and would only attack in retaliation, they eventually grew in power and more aggressive after the Santa Nella War. They have a very stratocractic social system. On their own, the faction is technically leaderless. The faction is considered by their own members and their allies to be the greatest military power on their side of the Santa Teresa region and the greatest colonial power second to no one.

The Imperial Period
Prior to the foundation of the FRL as a faction, Central Santa Teresa was a battlefield for three separate kingdoms. The Kingdom of Sakamoto was one of them, and warred with the other kingdoms: The Kingdom of Central, and the Kingdom of Samara. While dealing with the growing threat of the Great Empire to the east, they mostly focused on fighting with each other. Sakamoto desperately wanted an alliance with Central and to divide up captured lands of Samara, however, after they annexed the Western Neutral Zone, Central and Samara attempted to invade Sakamoto lands, however this failed, and the war ended with Sakamoto yielding its claim to the Neutral Zones, ending the Second Unification War. Later in 2015, Sakamoto attempted to invade Samara through Central lands with their permission, however, the Third Unification War ended in stalemate, and is considered the least successful. But in 2016, a border conflict between Samara and Central broke out into open war, and the Fourth Unification War was fought. Sakamoto and Central agreed to an Alliance, and finally unified into the Northern Canal Union, and finally defeated the Samarans and annexed their lands. After the war, the Union collapsed amid government corruption and inefficiency, along with the Great Empire in early 2017, however a provisional government was temporarily in place for three weeks before collapsing into more warlordism.

Early Days
The Earliest sign of the Rangers as an organized faction was in mid 2017 when they officially organized as a Nerf group trying to achieve the common goals of dominance and prosperity. However, a few weeks into its inception, the Legion was faced with its first conflict against warlords wanting to leave the Legion and prosper with their portion of the military. The First Legion Civil War would end in a successful victory against the warlords...and a growingly inefficient government.

The Reformist Days
In mid 2018, the Legion would see a wave of leaders who wanted to bring stability by changing the government and spending less on the military. These leaders were called Reformists and at first they were very popular policies and views, until late 2018, when the Reformists themselves were starting to become the exact thing they promised to replace.

The Second Civil War
The corruption of the Reformists along with ineffective policies led to the rise of another group of leaders who wished to spend more on the military and purge the government of corruption. These groups were referred to as the Militarists, and eventually, the Reformists decided to crack down on any Militarist activities, leading to the Second Legion Civil War. The war would last for the remainder of the month of November, and see the rise of the Traditionalist movement, which would quickly be vanquished by the temporary truce between the Militarists and the Reformists. With the Traditionalists vanquished, the Militarists were able to gain more support from the people, and the Reformists eventually went into hiding, dying out by Christmas Eve once and for all.

The Militarist Regime
With the Reformists gone, the Militarists then went on to purge the region and beyond of the Reformists, taking any strongholds by force and killing every reformist sympathizer they find. However, while the extinction of the Reformist movement was unknown to them, they would eventually find the distant region of Santa Nella, which they would turn into the Colony of Santa Nella in early January 2019. The Militarists would also go into strengthening the Ranger Army by purchasing more nerf guns, more gear, and investing in training sessions as well. However, the new government was still open and many were starting to notice less and less attention was given to its own individual members and more power and rights were given to higher up generals. In December 2019, the Third Ranger Civil War broke out between pro-democracy groups and the Militarist government. This would see the Militarist government’s true colors revealed: as much as they wanted to spend everything on the military, they had very little faith in their ability to keep the people in line and have freedom of expression. Eventually, by the end of the month, the First Ranger Legion had to surrender for the first time in its own history to the seceding groups. These groups would be the Field Hunters and the Queen Bees. They would later become founding groups of the Elementary Alliance.

The Cold War and the October War
Wanting the Queen Bees and the Field Hunters back, the Militarists would eventually have to reform their beliefs and become more autocratic and authoritarian. During the Santa Teresa Cold War, the Militarists were considered by the Elementary Alliance to be “selfish and weak dictators”. Eventually, during the Santa Nella War, the discovery of EA soldiers amongst the separatists, the Legion would mobilize for war. Alliance troops would storm the capital and temporarily control half the house until the 1st Ranger Platoon would meet up with them, and attack. Brutal warfare would ensure, and by the end of the day, the battle was still a stalemate. Eventually they reached a stalemate in the long (and technically first out of two battles) Battle of the Capital and fought for the rest of the War, as it became clear that this would be a war of attrition, where they would fight until one side capitulates and surrenders. When they eventually attack Sakamoto, the Elementary Alliance had ordered a ceasefire, and the Treaty of Sakamoto was officially announced. With the end of the war, the Pax Legion would begin, as the Elementary Alliance and the First Ranger Legion would be a part of a grand alliance, but tensions still remain, even with the terms that severely weaken the Alliance which the rangers would use to later attempt annexing them.

Post-war Period
Although the alliance was meant to be a powerful force not defend against invaders, it was not at all grand. With the EA reduced in power to a semi-autonomous state, the Rangers would begin a process known as reconciliation, in which they would slowly diminish the EA’s power to a point that the alliance is utterly useless and the Legion is free to spread its sphere of influence, finally annexing the two factions. This would in theory prevent any resurgence of war and offer a smoother transition of power. This, however, would not go on.

The Alliance War
On December 30th, as the year 2020 drew to a close, a Ranger was sent to assassinate the leader of the JD Hunters. The assassination attempt on the leader would fail, and the true meaning of Reconciliation would be exposed to the EA. Soon after, the Elementary Alliance would cut all ties with the FRL, and an all out assault was launched to take the Capital Province, termed as the January Campaign. The Rangers were taken by surprise, and by the end of the 3 hour long battle, the Elementary Alliance would occupy the Eastern Capital Regions. For the first time since the Third Legion Civil War, the Rangers surrendered. But the war would continue on throughout the year. On February 15th, 2021, the Legion annexed the independent province of Glider as a result of EA attempts at cutting it off from its eastern colonies. This was the Battle of Glider, and ended in a hard won victory for the Legion against the EA. Meanwhile the Calero War has ravaged the colony as the Republic of Calero fights the PAC

Downfall of an Empire
By the late war, the Rangers were growing more disorganized and demoralized. It’s subjects began to openly leave the Legion, and infighting began within its military. At the final hour of the war, the Ranger Legion was nothing more that a shell of its former self. It’s history of dominance and victory was all but distant memories of a different Legion, one that did not suffer such a disastrous defeat and had its prestige erased. The Legion which lasted almost 6 years, was officially dissolved. But all was not lost, for the Legion had a contingency.

The ARCATA Protocol
The ARCATA Protocol was simple: Retreat, then consolidate enough power from around the state and even beyond to eventually return and seek vengeance on the EA, now the UATC. Primary base of operations was in the most unexplored region within the entire state: the Northern Woodlands. The protocol was named after a long lost place known as Arcata somewhere in the region. Most Rangers were expected to follow this order, but because of the terrible shape of the Legion when the order was given out, only the most loyal of them would retreat. These were referred to as the Ranger Exiles, and relocated to numerous parts of California. Some former Rangers joined the UA Marine Corps and Mobile Infantry. Others became Warjockies, Gunrunners or Warlords, and all claim to be the continuation of the dead Legion. Many of these Splinter Factions are no more than faceless insurgents within UA territory who sought to cheat the ARCATA Protocol and grab power for themselves, with varying levels of success. Thus, only the Exiles in the North were considered a real threat. They were known as the Imperial Arcata Coalition, or IAC. By this time, the First Ranger Republic would leave a legacy of war and turmoil, but also for uniting most of the Region under one flag for the first time.

Social System
The Ranger's social system is based off of militaristic ideals, with a mix of centrist politics. Although from its foundation and up to the second civil war, the Rangers would practice some form of freedom like the EA, it would fall apart once the Militarists rose to power. The Central Regions, which is the location of its capital, is divided into seven different provinces, who are lead by a Governor-General. The Governor-General is appointed by the Security Council and also has authority over one of the colonies (ex: Governor-General of Santa Teresa Province is also the Governor-General of the Santa Nella Colony, Cahalan= Almaden Colony, etc.). The President/ CEO is chosen from the highest ranking figures. If the CEO is AWOL he is succeeded by his Secretary, if they go AWOL, then they are succeeded by the First General.

The governance is Authoritarian in which democracy is nearly absent, the military is also used to stop any civil disobedience. The stratocractic social system makes it so that any dissent is similar to treason and punished. The average Legion subject ranged from patriotic to traitorous, however the latter would be suppressed by the military. The colonial subjects also had mixed feelings about their colonizers. Some wanted independence while others saw opportunities with colonization.

Colonialism was a primary factor in the development of the Legion, as the more colonies established meant more potential candidates for soldiers. Although unlike real life colonialism, there was no racial discrimination or any real exploitation involved (the closest to exploiting would be the usage of the locals as soldiers, however this wasn’t against their will most of the time), however, sometimes people refer to themselves by their province/colony name (I.e Sakamotan, Caleran, Santa Nellan). This would remain so even after the Alliance Wars.

The military, despite being a formidable force, wasn't the best organized. The Mobile Infantry Corps were also within the Legion's main army. This caused the Legion to be less efficient in certain operations. However they were considerably the most experienced and well trained group within the Subregion of Santa Teresa, proudly standing with a success rate of 83% in most standard operations.

Trivia

 * Based off of my group, which does war with the Elementary Alliance most of the time
 * The Flag was designed with Photoshop
 * The Standard issue rifle from 2017-2020 is the Rapidstrike, which may be replaced by the CS-18 Turbine (refered to as the CS-20 because of its pretty stupid name and the fact the Rapidstrike is also listed as CS-18)