Michael Cameron (27th c.)

This article is about the First Lord. For the Lord Protector, see Michael Cameron (24th c.).


Michael Cameron II
Personal
Born2622[1]
Died2692[1]
AffiliationHouse Cameron
Career
Title(s)First Lord
Position(s)Director-General
ProfessionNoble
Family
ParentsJoseph Cameron II (father)[1]
Josephine Franks (mother)[1]
SpouseKatarina Mann[1]
ChildrenJonathan Cameron[1]
Jocasta Cameron[1]
William Cameron[1]

Michael Cameron was the First Lord of the Star League and Director-General of the Terran Hegemony in the twenty-seventh century.

History

Appointed heir to the title of First Lord of the Star League by his grandfather Nicholas Cameron in 2646, Michael possessed a scholastic inclination and had spent most of his military career aboard the WarShip SLS Arkansas as its science officer and second-in-command. Upon Nicholas' death in 2649, Michael took the throne of the League and quickly moved to demonstrate his political skills by responding to the Rim Worlds Republic's intensive military expansion with Council Edict 2650, which significantly reduced the legal size of all the Great Houses and Periphery States' militaries.[2] While Commanding General Killian Squarn-Turk pushed to allow mustered-out soldiers to purchase their equipment in order to create well-armed reserve forces for combatting bandit groups, the simultaneous rise of bushido ideology within the Draconis Combine lead many former Combine soldiers to become ronin. These former Combine soldiers, while officially disavowed by their government, sought increasingly greater challenges in order to prove their combat abilities, later leading to conflict between ronin and Star League Defense Force troops.[3][4]

In 2657, Cameron fell in love with Duchess Katarina Mann, who was herself a scholar and former naval officer. After two years of courting and publicity-generating games with the media, the First Lord proposed to the duchess and the two were married in what would historically be recognized as one of the grandest events in the League's history. An additional two-year goodwill tour of the League's member states and Periphery realms followed, which benefitted Cameron's relations with his subservient nobles and enabled him to make economic reforms using firsthand knowledge attained during the trip. Although the realities of rulership of the Star League put a great strain on his marriage upon the couple's return to Terra, Mann ultimately became Cameron's closest advisor and a constant voice for peace in the face of turmoil.[5]

As a result of Cameron's Council Edict 2650, the First Hidden War officially began in 2681 when Combine ronin Amanda Kazutoyo easily defeated and killed SLDF Lieutenant Bradley Grebbers in a duel on Benjamin. While Coordinator Urizen Kurita refused to acknowledge the ronin had intentionally been allowed to keep their BattleMechs upon leaving the Draconis Combine Mustered Soldiery, it was the Coordinator's hope that destroying the reputation of the SLDF would prevent the Combine's valuable labor pool from diminishing by discouraging his people from enlisting in the tarnished SLDF. This threatened to destroy the sense of superiority the SLDF had acquired after the Reunification War, until First Lord Cameron's creation of the Gunslinger Program in 2687 produced Star League warriors capable of reliably defeating ronin forces. Although the First Hidden War would last longer than Cameron's tenure as First Lord of the Star League, his response to ronin aggression served to strengthen the SLDF's sense of identity.[6][4][7][8]

Despite the ongoing First Hidden War, much of Cameron's reign as First Lord was defined by a general sense of peace throughout the Inner Sphere.[9] In 2680, Cameron appointed Admiral David Peterson as the new Commanding General of the Star League Defense Force. While positioning a naval officer at the head of the SLDF contravened standing wisdom, Peterson instituted sweeping changes within the Star League military and helmed the development of the first Land-Air BattleMechs.[10] First Lord Cameron was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer after a routine medical appointment in 2690 and his poor prognosis lead Michael to relinquish his post as First Lord on 13 October that year. After being succeeded by his son Jonathan, Michael spent the last years of his life writing the 26-volume history of mankind Journey of Humanity, a copy of which survived into the thirty-first century in the possession of ComStar.[9]

Later amendments made to Cameron's Edict of 2650 by the Great Houses—although unsigned by First Lord Richard Cameron II's representative Aleksandr Kerensky—removed the military size limits placed on the the member states. This move led to a sharp decline in relations with the Periphery States and contributed directly to the onset of the Star League Civil War.[11][12]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 The Star League, p. 183: Cameron Family Tree
  2. ↑ The Star League, p. 56: "Council Edict 2650"
  3. ↑ Field Manual: Star League Defense Force, p. 10: "The Commanding Generals - General Killian Squarn-Turk"
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Field Manual: SLDF, pp. 7–8: "First Hidden War"
  5. ↑ The Star League, p. 57: "A Fortunate Marriage"
  6. ↑ The Star League, p. 58: "First Hidden War"
  7. ↑ Field Manual: SLDF, p. 24: "The Gunslinger Program"
  8. ↑ The Star League, pp. 58–59: "Urizen's Scheme"
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 The Star League, p. 60: "Terra's Importance"
  10. ↑ Technical Readout: 3085, p. 286: "LAMs"
  11. ↑ Handbook: Major Periphery States, p. 26: "No Taxation Without Representation"
  12. ↑ House Kurita (The Draconis Combine), p. 51 (PDF Version): "Gutting of the Star League"

Bibliography

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