Difference between revisions of "Battle of the Pentagon Run"

Line 7: Line 7:
 
| place      = Multiple star systems spread out coreward of [[Caliban Nebula]]
 
| place      = Multiple star systems spread out coreward of [[Caliban Nebula]]
 
| planet      = Babylon, Circe, [[Outpost 1]], Fasa, EC821-387D
 
| planet      = Babylon, Circe, [[Outpost 1]], Fasa, EC821-387D
| commander1  = Rafe Kardaan, defacto Admiral of the Clans<ref name=HOK47>
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| commander1  = Rafe Kardaan, defacto Admiral of the Clans<ref name=HOK47>  
 
| forces1    = Multi-Clan naval task force
 
| forces1    = Multi-Clan naval task force
 
| commander2  = Bands of independent Spacefarers above and near Pentagon Worlds
 
| commander2  = Bands of independent Spacefarers above and near Pentagon Worlds

Revision as of 13:39, 13 March 2012

The Battle of the Pentagon Run (July 2821 - December 2821) was a series of naval engagements fought during Operation Klondike against fleeing elements of the spacefarers who resided above the various Pentagon Worlds.[1]

{{InfoBoxConflict | image = | partof = | date = June 2821 - December 2821 | place = Multiple star systems spread out coreward of Caliban Nebula | planet = Babylon, Circe, Outpost 1, Fasa, EC821-387D | commander1 = Rafe Kardaan, defacto Admiral of the ClansCite error: Closing </ref> missing for <ref> tag

The jump into Arcadia and engagement of naval forces was almost a complete success due to impeccable planning by Clan Star Adder's Khan Absalom Truscott and his team of strategists. No JumpShips made it out that were not immediately accounted for at other Clan-held locations in systems nearby. At Dagda, the blockades of Clan Burrock and Clan Widowmaker successfully stopped all escape attempts, in spite of a few spectacular events during the course of the engagement. Near total success like this this was not to be the case at the rest of the Pentagon Worlds.

At Babylon, two JumpShips and four DropShips escaped that were never accounted for in after-action reports. At Circe, a Quixote class Destroyer and four JumpShips escaped at the zenith jumppoint. At an orbital space station called Outpost One (Part of the Circe system), three JumpShips and a massive Potemkin class Transport Cruiser eluded capture as well. And at Eden one JumpShip was able to flee, but was found some years later with all hands dead due to the actions of a Clan boarding party that had already breached the hull before the jump.[2]

The Chase

The spacefarers of Circe had set up another colony well in advance, to help ensure survival. Located 23 light years anti-spinward of Circe, an airless planetary body with abundant water and minerals dubbed Fasa was their secret redoubt.[1]

Most of the JumpShips from Circe had made it to Fasa. But when the Potemkin class transport appeared in-system, all of the spacefarers present knew it was only a short matter of time until the invaders located their enclave looking for this huge vessel. In only two months, the spacefarers packed up everything they could take and fled.

Under orders from ilKhan Nicholas Kerensky to bring the rebels back under the aegis of Clan rule, Clan Cloud Cobra saKhan Rafe Kardaan set out in pursuit of the fleeing spacefarers. Though it took months to accomplish, mostly due to a lack of cohesion in his fleet which was made up of contingents from most of the Clans, slowly the task force tracked the spacefarers to their various hideouts.

Capturing only small, scattered groups at first, a breakthrough came in September of 2821. After learning of several key spacefarer locations from salvaged navigation computers on board a crippled Riga class Destroyer, Rafe Kardaan and his fleet won the next three engagements, capturing many JumpShips and DropShips at each battle. While the Clan fleet was in an unnamed system 110 light years from Circe, the spacefarers mustered a counter-attack, but succeeded only in handing the Clans a one-sided victory over most of the rebel's few remaining WarShips.[3]

The Catch

After two more running engagements, the rebels combined their remaining forces. The larger fleet may have offered the hope of better protection, but was impossible to hide.

Finally cornered at a system marked simply EC821-387D on Clan charts, the slower-moving rebel fleet was overtaken by Kardaan's task force. During this battle two more rebel WarShips were destroyed, with 11 of their JumpShips captured by the Clans. By contrast, the Clan fleet lost only one WarShip.

The Potemkin and Quixote that had escaped from the battle of Circe jumped out again, but were caught two weeks later in a nearby star system. The Potemkin was captured (along with 20,000 people on board it and its associated DropShips), but the Quixote successfuly jumped out of the system, never to be seen again.[3]

Aftermath

This series of engagements saw the end of the spacefarer way of life that had developed in the wake of Nicholas Kerensky's Second Exodus. Kerensky would order the remnant of the colony on Fasa dismantled and destroyed, while the 20,000 people captured on the Potemkin were sent to Strana Mechty for 'integration'. These people would go to good use later, when the Clans reactivated many of the mothballed vessels that had been stored in orbit around the Pentagon Worlds.

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Historical: Operation Klondike, p. 46, "Pentagon Run"
  2. Historical: Operation Klondike, p. 46 "Eden"
  3. 3.0 3.1 Historical: Operation Klondike, p. 47, "Pentagon Run" Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "HOK47" defined multiple times with different content

Bibliography