Editing Battle of the Pentagon Run

The '''Battle of the Pentagon Run''' was a series of naval engagements fought during [[Operation Klondike]] against fleeing elements of the spacefarers who resided above the various [[Pentagon Worlds]].<ref name=HOK46>''Historical: Operation Klondike'', p. 46, "Pentagon Run"</ref>

{{InfoBoxConflict
| image       = 
| partof      = Early phases [[Operation KLONDIKE]]
| date        = July 2821
| enddate     = December 2821
| place       = Multiple star systems coreward of the [[Caliban Nebula]]
| planet      = Babylon, Circe, [[Outpost One]], Fasa, EC821-387D
| commander1  = Rafe Kardaan, de facto Admiral of the Clans<ref name=HOK47/>
| forces1     = Multi-Clan naval task force
| commander2  = Bands of independent Spacefarers above and near Pentagon Worlds
| forces2     = Several JumpShips and WarShips
| commander3  =
| forces3     =
| environment = Deep Space
| conditions  = 
| result      = Victory for the fledgling Clans in their very first test of naval resolve
}}

==Summary of Events==

===Initial Engagements===
When Operation Klondike was launched, the first order of business was the securing of jump points and approaches in each system above the Pentagon Worlds.

The space above each planetary system was host to bands of independent spacefarers who remained aloof to the plight of the people on the ground.  Many had never even set foot on a terrestrial body.<ref>''Historical: Operation Klondike'', p. 47, "Chief of Education and Mental Services Scientist Randa ''Report''"</ref> In order to ensure safe landing for their ground forces, as well as the complete dominance of Nicholas Kerensky's new society in general, these people would be the first military target of the fledgling [[Clan]] navy.

The jump into [[Arcadia (Clan)|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 (Clan)|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 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 jump point.  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.<ref>''Historical: Operation Klondike'', p. 46 "Eden"</ref>

===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.<ref name=HOK46/>

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 (WarShip)|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 counterattack, but succeeded only in handing the Clans a one-sided victory over most of the rebels' few remaining WarShips.<ref name=HOK47>''Historical: Operation Klondike'', p. 47, "Pentagon Run"</ref>

===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'' successfully jumped out of the system, never to be seen again.<ref name=HOK47/>

==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==
<references/>

==Bibliography==
* ''[[Historical: Operation Klondike]]''

[[Category:First Succession War Era Military Operations]]