When implemented, Protocol 13 dictated the immediate withdrawal of all Galactic Empire personnel to their base for a complete departure from an occupied planet. The Empire's utilization of this directive often preceded catastrophic events inflicted upon a world, such as the destruction that befell Jedha City at the hands of the Death Star.
The First Order also employed Protocol 13; Allegiant General Enric Pryde initiated it to evacuate the garrison stationed on Kijimi. This evacuation was a precursor to the planet's destruction, orchestrated by Darth Sidious and his Sith Eternal cult residing on the dark planet of Exegol in the Unknown Regions, with the intent of conveying a message that the Resistance had been defeated in the war.
During the reign of the Galactic Empire, Protocol 13 served as the mechanism for the swift recall of personnel to their base, facilitating a total evacuation from a seized planet before a calamitous event unfolded. In 1 BBY, Alliance High Command discovered that the Empire had triggered Protocol 13 on Lothal. This revelation, signaling Lothal's impending doom, motivated Captain Hera Syndulla to successfully petition Alliance High Command for authorization to lead Phoenix Squadron in an Attack to obliterate the Imperial weapons factory on Lothal, where the mass production of a formidable new TIE Defender starfighter was underway. Rebel forces later activated it again during the liberating the planet, to bait the Imperial garrison inside the Imperial Dome in Capital City before launching it into the atmosphere and activating its self-destruct. Despite Grand Admiral Thrawn's intervention, the scheme succeeded, resulting in the Dome's destruction and the deaths of Governor Arihnda Pryce and the Imperial garrison.
Director Orson Krennic initiated Protocol 13 on the sacred moon of Jedha in 0 BBY, where the Empire conducted a low-power test of the Death Star's superlaser. Following the evacuation of the majority of the Imperial forces, a single reactor ignition from the Death Star destroyed Jedha City, claiming the lives of approximately three percent of the Imperial forces stationed on the planet who were unable to evacuate. Shortly thereafter, during the Battle of Scarif, Protocol 13 was not invoked by the Death Star’s new skipper and Krennic’s rival Governor Wilhuff Tarkin when he ordered General Hurst Romodi to obliterate the Imperial security complex on Scarif. This decision led to the deaths of Imperial personnel on the planet, including Krennic and the commander of the planet's garrison, General Sotorus Ramda.
In 35 ABY, the First Order's garrison occupying Kijimi activated Protocol 13, evacuating the planet. Subsequently, the Xyston-class Star Destroyer Derriphan, dispatched by the Sith Eternal's fleet, the Final Order, from Exegol, arrived and destroyed Kijimi.