Operation KLONDIKE

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Operation KLONDIKE (begun 02 July 2821 – concluded 26 May 2822) was the name given to the Clan attempt to retake the Pentagon Worlds from the various rebel groups that had sprung up in resistance to Aleksandr Kerensky's, and later Nicholas Kerensky's rule over the remnants of the SLDF.

“	Our victories here have proved the rightness of the Way of the Clans; let it always be so among those of the True Faith. Let these few words always announce our coming and portend our victory.	”
	— Nicholas Kerensky, 26 May 2822

Background

A few years after Aleksandr Kerensky had reached the Pentagon Worlds, many of his "dispossessed" former warriors who had been forced to work as farmers and laborers out of necessity revolted against his rule. All five of the worlds exploded into open rebellion against Kerensky, and forced him to flee with the remaining troops loyal to him.

Kerensky's forces eventually found what would later be termed the Kerensky Cluster by the Clans. However, shortly after the arrival at and subsequent colonization of the worlds, Aleksandr Kerensky died, leaving command of the SLDF in the hands of his son, Nicholas Kerensky. The younger Kerensky immediately began drawing up plans for the recapture of the Pentagon Worlds.

To form an elite force to retake the worlds, Kerensky took his newly formed Clans, originally composed of 40 MechWarriors each, and divided each Pentagon World up into occupation zones for 4 Clans to occupy on the planet. His forces trained for months for the invasion, and eventually struck the unprepared rebels.

The battles were fierce, and several of the Clans suffered great losses, but the troops loyal to Kerensky prevailed and retook the Pentagon Worlds.

Preparations

While some of the Khans wanted an immediate return to the Pentagon worlds, the Clans needed time to build up logistics capacity and also to determine what the current situation was in those worlds.

A great deal of initial intelligence on conditions in the Pentagon Worlds was provided by both refugees, and traders plying the space between colonies. While useful, much of the information was of varying quality, and it was soon determined that more detailed and accurate information would be required before Operation KLONDIKE could be launched.

Absalom Truscott, Khan of Clan Star Adder, was given charge of planning for Operation KLONDIKE. He recruited a planning group from several Clans, choosing only former senior SLDF officers. His deputies were Stephen McKenna, Khan of Clan Snow Raven, and Rafe Kardaan, saKhan of Clan Cloud Cobra. Seeing the need for greater intelligence regarding the Pentagon Worlds, they put together Operation SABLE SUN.

Operation SABLE SUN

Operation SABLE SUN was launched in May 2817. Five fleets (each containing several JumpShips with a WarShip escort) were sent out, one to each Pentagon World, to perform several phases of reconnaissance, including placement of listening posts, plotting the location of all colonies and active spacecraft, and securing any derelict spacecraft. This operation lasted roughly four years, only officially ending when each of the invading Operation KLONDIKE fleets reached their target systems.

Battles in Space

The spacefaring members of the Pentagon Worlds kept themselves largely apart from the factions doing battle on the ground. They would trade peacetime services for food, and carried on limited interstellar trade with the other systems. Still, they had possession of JumpShips and DropShips, and even some WarShips. The Clans needed those assets neutralized or under their control before the ground invasions began.

Arcadia System

Arcadia had four space objectives for the Clan forces: the enclaves at the zenith and nadir jump points, the naval cache orbiting Arcadia IV, and the WarShips in orbit over Arcadia I. Absalom Truscott oversaw the Arcadia space operations personally.

The jump points were taken easily. A Clan WarShip leading groups of JumpShips and Assault DropShips jumped to each point. Most surrendered quickly after warning shots or having their engines disabled, though some jumped away to Babylon and Eden, where they found jump points already under Clan Control.

The battle for the Arcadia IV cache was over in a quarter of an hour. Four Clan WarShips with sixteen DropShips fired on any vessel with active sensors or maneuvering. Only one defending vessel opened fire, and it hit with only one naval autocannon shell. Actually securing all the vessels for the Clans took two days, but the battle was over.

After these other objectives were secured, half of the WarShips assigned to take the cache and both WarShips from the jump points appeared at pirate points over Arcadia. The Texas-class battleship Perth surrendered after receiving warning shots. The Riga II-class destroyer Admiral Schone feigned surrender, but then destroyed the DropShip sent to board her. She broke orbit and engaged the Clan WarShips, which sent her burning hulk into the atmosphere to break up over Arcadia's southern seas.

Babylon System

saKhan Rafe Kardaan oversaw space operations in the Babylon system. He led a task force from the Star Adders, Clan Ice Hellion, and Clan Sea Fox, and a few infantry Stars from Clan Coyote. The targets were the largest of the SLDF naval caches, the sixth planet Sinclair and its resource extraction facilities, and a busy interplanetary traffic. Agents were already in place in the naval cache around the fifth planet. The jump points were easily subdued, with only three JumpShips escaping Clan-held space.

Babylon VI

Star Captain Brucalter Sheridan, commanding the Aegis-class heavy cruiser Inquisitor, led the attack on Babylon VI. His ships jumped to a Pirate Point near the planet, and after releasing their DropShips, the JumpShips used their lithium-fusion batteries to jump away. The DropShips pursued as many of the fleeing miner's craft as they could, and the Inquisitor fired what were intended as warning shots near the colony. Two of the shots landed close enough to partially collapse underground structures, however, which inspired a frenzied counterattack by over a dozen DropShips against the lone WarShip.

Sheridan first attempted to disable the oncoming ships. Overwhelmed, he then began ordering full use of force. After an enemy DropShip damaged the Inqquisitor's maneuvering thrusters, an ore carrier rammed the WarShip. The Inquisitor ultimately destroyed all the enemy vessels before Sheridan called for the naval reserve and ordered his crew to abandon ship. His inexperienced and poorly trained command suffered over two hundred casualties, and the WarShip would not be fully repaired for decades.

Babylon Naval Cache

Over a hundred vessels, from DropShips to WarShips, were part of the naval cache, with many linked to each other or the central space station. Cloud Cobra agents, inserted during SABLE SUN, worked to disable weapons turrets and sensors, activate jamming signals, and isolate vessels from one another while the four Clans sent in troops. At first, it went well.

Most of the Clan marines were security forces with little zero-g experience. Despite this, Cloud Cobra, Ice Hellion and Sea Fox forces worked according to the plan, but the Coyote troops sought glory, issuing challenges to enemies they encountered. Eight ships were able to hold the Coyote advance and turrets started coming online. saKhan Kardaan ordered fire on the turrets from the McKenna-class battleship Second Coming and then led veteran zero-g troops aboard the contested vessels. He ordered the Coyotes to withdraw, though some ignored him. After one enemy ship died under a barrage of Naval PPC fire, also claiming the lives of disobedient Coyotes, the rest of the cache surrendered.

Aftermath

Kardaan joined the rest of his Clan at the inhabited world of Babylon II, leaving the mop-up to un-Bloodnamed subordinates. Most of the Babylon fleet were eventually captured, but two JumpShips and four DropShips were never accounted for.

Circe System

Khan of Clan Snow Raven Stephen McKenna had command of naval operations in Circe. The objectives were the naval cache (reduced to one-third its original size), the zenith jump point enclave, and Outpost One, a large enclave established at a non-standard point in the system. Each enclave was guarded by active WarShips.

Zenith Enclave

McKenna jumped in to the Zenith point with the McKenna-class battleship James McKenna, the Cameron-class battlecruiser Admiral Gerda Cameron, and a squadron of combat DropShips. Arriving in close range of the stations, the Clans engaged the Congress-class frigate there, which fought to buy time for the enclave to scatter. The frigate destroyed seven Clan DropShips and landed some hits on the attacking WarShips before it was destroyed. Meanwhile, a Quixote-class frigate undocked from the station and jumped away, which would be a problem for the Clans later. Most of the escaping ships were captured, however.

Outpost One

Outpost One was a space habitat built around a recharge station using DropShips and the grav decks of several JumpShips, with a McKenna-class battleship and a Sovetskii Soyuz-class heavy cruiser on guard. The Clans attacked with the Thunderbolt Black Lion-class battlecruiser and the Avatar-class heavy cruiser Korat. Crews on both sides had little space combat experience, leading to a lengthier battle than expected. This gave time for JumpShips, DropShips, and most significatly an unexpected Potemkin-class troop cruiser to escape with the majority of the inhabitants of Outpost One.

Circe Naval Cache

McKenna sent four WarShips to the Circe cache: a Cameron, a Sovetskii Soyuz, an Essex-class destroyer, and a Whirlwind-class destroyer. They found only two Vincent-class corvettes, both undercrewed, which the Clan ships made short work of.

Dagda System

Dagda would have been a major naval objective, except the naval shipyard established under Aleksandr Kerensky had been utterly destroyed, along with the naval cache. This left only the jump points to secure. The four Clans assigned to Dagda bid to see who would secure the jump points, with the Fire Mandrills and Goliath Scorpions effectively removing themselves from competition with poor bids. Clan Burrock won the right to take the zenith jump point, while Clan Widowmaker had the task of securing the nadir point.

The Burrock Khans gave Qudi Hutchinson the temporary rank of Star Colonel and the Avatar-class heavy cruiser Constantineau. The Constantineau and the Burrock JumpShips jumped in, launching DropShips and using ECM against the enemy JumpShips. Three enclave JumpShips attempted to escape and had their engines destroyed. Of greater concern were three DropShips heading toward Dagda III carrying fuel and supplies to the McMillan Collective. The Constantineau jumped to a pirate point near the planet and intercepted the three vessels, seizing them without difficulty.

Clan Widowmaker's battle at the nadir point was far more costly. Star Captain Cyril Herling ordered his Lola III-class destroyer Black Venom to close with the enclave vessels to discourage escape. One JumpShip tried to jump but was prevented by its failsafes. Two others, blocked from the destroyer's guns, overrode their safeties and attempted a simul-jump. The resulting energy wave damaged or destroyed dozens of vessels. Less than two hours later, other Clan forces arrived and began rescuing survivors. Rescues took a week, while cleanup took months.

Eden System

The naval cache at one of Eden II's moons had remained undiscovered since the Second Exodus. It was turned into a staging ground and listening post during Operation SABLE SUN. Eden's many and unstable pirate points made this easier, but also cost the Clans a WarShip, a JumpShip, and the drives of two other ships, leading to a ban on using those points until Operation Klondike.

The sole spacefarer enclave in-system, at the nadir Jump Point, was taken with warning shots and boarding parties. Three ships jumped out but were caught in other Pentagon systems. One jumped away carrying a Clan boarding party with it, and was found derelict years later with no survivors, the boarders having disabled the drive.

Battle of the Pentagon Run

The "Battle" of the Pentagon Run was a series of small clashes across multiple systems. The spacefarers that escaped Circe fled to a hidden base they had begun ten years prior: Fasa. Boasting thirty thousand inhabitants and many transients, Fasa was the destination of the spacefarer WarShips that fled the Clan assault on the Circe enclaves. When the Potemkin arrived, evacuation began as they searched for a new home further away.

saKhan Kardaan was detached from his Clan's operation on Babylon to take command of a force of vessels from every Clan to hunt down those who had fled. For months, the Clan vessels tracked small groups of fleeing spacefarers through different systems. The remains of a refugee Riga-class destroyer gave the Clans valuable intelligence about the planned route of the spacefarers, leading to four clear victories for Kardaan: three systems attacked by the Clans, and a counterattack by the spacefarers. After the failed counterattack and two more Clan victories, the spacefarers concentrated their forces. Kardaan's ships brought them to battle in system EC821-387D. The spacefarer JumpShips were captured, along with two of their WarShips in exchange for one WarShip of the Clans. The Potemkin and Quixote escaped: the Potemkin was eventually captured it with twenty thousand people aboard, while the Quixote was never found.

The Invasion

Arcadia

The Clans assigned to Arcadia were Clan Ghost Bear, Clan Blood Spirit, Clan Steel Viper, and Clan Star Adder.

Babylon

The Clans assigned to Babylon were Clan Sea Fox, Clan Ice Hellion, Clan Coyote, and Clan Cloud Cobra

Circe

The Clans assigned to Circe were Clan Nova Cat, Clan Mongoose, Clan Wolverine, and Clan Snow Raven.

Dagda

The Clans assigned to Dagda were Clan Fire Mandrill, Clan Widowmaker, Clan Goliath Scorpion, and Clan Burrock.

Eden

The Clans assigned to conquer Eden were Clan Hell's Horses, Clan Jade Falcon, Clan Wolf, and Clan Smoke Jaguar.

Aftermath

The events directly preceding the aftermath of the invasion helped to shape the fledgling Clans into what they are today. Seeing the prowess that Clan Wolf displayed during the battles, Kerensky decided to join that Clan, a move which earned the Wolves the ire of Clan Jade Falcon. As well, the losses suffered by some Clans, Clan Ice Hellion and Clan Cloud Cobra in particular, shaped their later geopolitical situation in the Kerensky Cluster, as those Clans became greatly weakened and never achieved the same status as more successful clans such as Clan Jade Falcon or Clan Star Adder.

May 26 became the Clan holiday Liberation Day.

Bibliography

• Field Manual: Warden Clans
• Historical: Operation Klondike