Editing Exodus Civil War

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{{InfoBoxConflict
| conflict = Exodus Civil War
| partof = [[Second Exodus]] era
| image = 
| caption = 
| date = June [[2801]]
| enddate = 26 May [[2822]]
| place = 
| planet = 
| faction1 = Different factions of [[SLDF]]
| faction2 = Different factions of SLDF
| commander1 = 
| commander2 = 
| forces1= 
| forces2= 
| forces3 = 
| result = Pentagon Worlds split along several petty kingdoms
| environment = Standard
| conditions = Normal
}}

The '''Exodus Civil War''' (alternately called '''Pentagon Civil War''') refers to the conflict fought between various nationalistic factions on the [[Pentagon Worlds]]. The members of the factions were former [[Star League]] citizens who departed the [[Inner Sphere]] under the leadership of [[Commanding General of the Star League Defense Force|Commanding General]] [[Aleksandr Kerensky]]. The War began in [[2801]] and lasted until [[2822]], ending with [[Operation KLONDIKE]] and the [[Clans]] conquering all five Pentagon Worlds.

==The War Begins==
[[File:Operation Klondike 2 (Historical, Operation Klondike).png|right|thumb|Space battle during Operation Klondike.]]
On 5 November [[2784]], approximately 80% of the SLDF, along with millions of loyal Star League citizens who sought to escape the collapse of the Star League and the inevitable [[Succession Wars (History)|Succession Wars]], followed General Kerensky in his [[Exodus]]. In [[2786]], these Star League exiles discovered five marginally habitable planets and named them the "Pentagon Worlds." Each of the worlds was settled by people who hailed from the five interstellar nations that comprised the Inner Sphere: the [[Lyran Commonwealth]], [[Draconis Combine]], [[Federated Suns]], [[Capellan Confederation]], and [[Free Worlds League]]. However, these five nations had centuries of distrust and even hatred of each other, as their philosophies and cultures dramatically differed from one another. For example, former citizens of the Lyran Commonwealth and Draconis Combine settled [[Circe]], while citizens from the Federated Suns and Capellan Confederation settled [[Eden]]. Putting these people from different cultures and national allegiances together on the same worlds would inevitably lead to conflict. Adding fuel to the fires was the fact that many of the SLDF soldiers were forced to "test out of the ranks" and become civilians, something that most of the former soldiers could not, or would not, accept. This widespread discontent amongst the former soldiers, combined with the national rivalries, became the powderkeg waiting for the spark that would blow up the volatile situation into outright war.   

On 11 June [[2801]], General Kerensky died of a heart attack, and although Kerensky had named his elder son [[Nicholas Kerensky|Nicholas]] as his heir, the death of the great leader who led the Star League exiles to their new "Promised Land" sparked a power struggle since most of the factions refused to follow Nicholas (who was at that time, the commanding officer of the [[146th Royal BattleMech Division]]) since he was not as well-regarded as his legendary father. The violent struggle to determine which of the factions would lead the "Star League-in-Exile" quickly spread like wildfire to all five Pentagon Worlds. In a strange twist of fate, the Exodus Civil War was being fought at the same time as the [[First Succession War]], which was taking place many hundreds of light-years away in the Inner Sphere, for almost the same reason: to see who would come out on top.
[[File:Operation Klondike 3 (Historical, Operation Klondike).png|right|thumb|Combined arms battle during Operation Klondike.]]

==The Second Exodus==
Nicholas Kerensky was determined not to let his father's dream of a re-formed Star League die. Nicholas traveled to all five Pentagon Worlds, calling for a [[Second Exodus]] in order to escape the violence of the Exodus Civil War and to carry on the legacy of the Star League. Thousands of people rallied to Nicholas' cause and departed with him, arriving on a planet that Nicholas named [[Strana Mechty]] (Russian for "Land of Dreams"). By [[2810]], Nicholas finished his plans for the new society that his loyal followers would build. He divided his followers into twenty Clans, each to be divided into five Castes led by that Clan's [[Warrior Caste]], and each Warrior Caste would elect two leaders: a [[Khan]] who led the entire Clan as a whole, and a [[saKhan]] who served as the Khan's deputy and commanded the Clan's military, or ''[[touman]]''. The Khans, saKhans, and all [[bloodname]]d warriors would comprise the Clan [[Grand Council]]. An [[ilKhan]] would not only oversee the deliberations of the Grand Council, but would lead all of the Clans as a collective whole. Each Clan would follow a different philosophy of life, but they all shared property (a heavily modified form of socialism) and the belief that they would eventually re-form the Star League.

==Total War==
Nicholas' loyalists' departure signaled the beginning of the real Exodus Civil War. Even compared by the savage [[Succession Wars]], the Exodus Civil War was brutal and devastating. Initially, the SLDF army which stay behind divided into factions, which began fighting each other. They resorted to [[Orbital Bombardment]]s and [[WarShip]]s space battles, but the continous fighting between them soon devastated the organized armies and fleets, and the survivors of the armies divided themselves in factions. Barely a year later, only the so called ''spacefarers'' retained control of [[DropShip]]s, [[JumpShip]]s and even some [[Warship]]s, but they remained neutral in the fights. Only they managed to mantain space traffic and travel between worlds. Like in the Inner Sphere, major cities and advanced industries were the first targeted, so in a few months, the technological level descended drastically. Besides, the different armies divided into smaller factions, generally oriented into their original communities: Lyran, Davion, Capella, Kuritan and Free Worlds League. Each faction was led by a single warlord, and great battles quickly reduced to what can be described into a semi perpetual state of gang warfare. 
Perhaps worse, amid that chaos, nature mounted a fierce and devastating counterattack. With the full force of Star League technology in ruins, the environments of the Pentagon worlds were no longer held in check. Atmospheric taints, debilitating infections, devastating microbial lifeforms, and dangerous indigenous species all combined to prey upon the survivors.

The exact amount of deaths is unknown, but up to a million died in attacks during the first few years of the civil war, while some million and a half more died due to sickness, disease and starvation. Moreover, during that two decade period, the birth rate was never able to increase to a level where the population could begin to increase.

==Operation KLONDIKE: The War Ends==
Nicholas Kerensky, as the Founder of the Clans, named himself ilKhan. He decreed that one day, his Clans would retake the war-torn Pentagon Worlds and impose the New Order among them, restoring the True Faith that the Star League would be reborn. In [[2821]], ilKhan Kerensky deemed his Clans to be ready to retake the Pentagon Worlds; the ilKhan called the campaign "Operation KLONDIKE."
{{main|Operation KLONDIKE}}
[[File:Operation Klondike 4 (Historical, Operation Klondike).png|right|thumb|Urban battle during Operation Klondike.]]

ilKhan Kerensky decided each Pentagon World would be conquered by four Clans.

*[[Arcadia (Clan System)|Arcadia]]: [[Clan Blood Spirit]], [[Clan Ghost Bear]], [[Clan Star Adder]], [[Clan Steel Viper]].

*[[Babylon]]: [[Clan Cloud Cobra]], [[Clan Coyote]], [[Clan Ice Hellion]], [[Clan Sea Fox]].

*[[Circe]]: [[Clan Mongoose]], [[Clan Nova Cat]], [[Clan Snow Raven]], [[Clan Wolverine]].

*[[Dagda (Clan System)|Dagda]]: [[Clan Burrock]], [[Clan Fire Mandrill]], [[Clan Goliath Scorpion]], [[Clan Widowmaker]].

*[[Eden]]: [[Clan Hell's Horses]], [[Clan Jade Falcon]], [[Clan Smoke Jaguar]], [[Clan Wolf]].


On 2 July [[2821]], [[Operation KLONDIKE]] commenced. The Star League units who did not accompany Nicholas Kerensky and become part of the Clans, were no match for the more technologically advanced and better trained Clan warriors. On 26 May 2822, the ilKhan declared Operation KLONDIKE a success: all five Pentagon Worlds were conquered and the Exodus Civil War was over. Thenceforth, the Clans celebrate every May 26th as '''Clan Liberation Day'''.

{{quote|''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, ilKhan of the Clans, speaking at the Clan Liberation Day festivities, 26 May 2822

==Bibliography==
*''[[The Clans: Warriors of Kerensky]]''
*''[[Invading Clans (sourcebook)|Invading Clans]]''

[[Category:Wars]]
[[Category:Rebellions]]