Theodore Cameron (26th c.)

Theodore Cameron
Personal
Born2434
AffiliationHouse Cameron
Profile
ProfessionDirector-General
Family
ParentsJacob Cameron (father)
Constance Zel (mother)
SpouseJoanna Simons
ChildrenElizabeth Cameron

Theodore Cameron (b. 2434)[1] was a House Cameron noble, tank officer, and the 9th Director-General of the Terran Hegemony.

Character Description

Theodore's personality was heavily influenced during his upbringing by his egocentric father. He was a spoiled man, who lived a life of luxury while neglecting affairs of state, with the notable exception of the military.[2][3]

History

Early Life and Career

The child of Director-General Jacob Cameron and actress Constance Zel, Theodore was raised in the comfort of his wealthy family. He joined the HAF as a tank officer, and was assigned to the command of the 132nd Heavy Armor Regiment.[3]

As Director-General of the Terran Hegemony

Theodore The Decadent

Theodore became Director-General after his father suffered a fatal stroke in 2461. Years of his father's reign had strained the relation between the people and the Directorship. The people fervently hoped that Theodore would be a better leader than his late father; however, the people did not show much faith in Theodore to be the new Director-General, for when the time came to vote, only twenty-five percent of the population voted to have Theodore installed.

Their worries would prove correct. Though he was strong and decisive on the affairs of the military, Theodore was indecisive and ineffective when making decisions regarding civilian related issues such as restructuring taxes. His inability to help the people helped fuel the population's anger at the runaway inflation and the shortage of basic goods caused by the late Jacob Cameron. Theodore would continue his father's military build up plan and ignore the needs of the public. He also spent large sums of money on himself, buying and building extravagant palaces on Terra, such as restoring the Palace of Versailles and constructing new ones including the Castle-by-the-Columbia, the Chicago Palaces, and built many more on other planets nearby[3]

The Alamo and the Assault of the Oriente System

The Alamo Incident

In July 2470, Theodore had the Alamo Mission in San Antonio, Texas destroyed in order to build an oversized ranch for himself. This outraged the public to the point of triggering work stoppages which spanned the entire planet within three days. The citizens began to riot, due to the excess of Theodore Cameron, shouting the rallying cry, "Remember the Alamo!", mirroring the cry shouted centuries before.

The high councilors, realizing that the public would overthrow the government unless they acted, convinced Theodore to respond the correct way to the incident he had caused. He apologized to the people of Terra and promised to rebuild the Alamo. Within six days of the start of the incident, it ended. The experience changed him to be more prudent on personal expenditures; however, it was not enough to change his taste for the good life and its excesses.[3]

Assault of Oriente System

In 2475, House Marik had been secretly building an invasion force in the Oriente system, consisting of WarShips and a few of the League's prized BattleMech regiments. The invasion force was poised to strike the Capellan Confederation for rejecting their offer to jointly attack the Terran Hegemony. The League's relation with the Hegemony had been deteriorating for a while to culminate into general resentment.[4] That same year, newly installed and slightly unstable Captain-General Carlos Marik abruptly changed the League's plan to attack the Confederation and marshaled his force to attack the Terran Hegemony instead. Before the attack began, a league aide leaked the plans for the invasion of the Hegemony to a Terran spy.[5] Theodore, already concerned about the buildup in the Oriente system, armed with the knowledge that the force would hit his nation instead, took personal command of the strike force. Using the battlecruiser Kiev, Theodore led the Hegemony fleet on a preemptive strike at the assembled League fleet. The League forces were utterly destroyed when Theodore's fleet took them completely by surprise.[6][3]

The strike devastated the League's navy. Their best and newest Warships along with their most expert soldiers who were assembled in the Oriente system destroyed. The disaster and its aftermath triggered a hasty reevaluation of Captain-General Carlos Marik and eventually led to his unseating by his brother Brion in a bloodless coup. Years later, after the Marik internal crisis was resolved, Theodore extended a peace treaty to Captain-General Brion, which was signed in 2478. Theodore would attend Brion's funeral in 2511.[7][8]

Family and Legacy

Theodore married Joanna Simons and had a daughter, Elizabeth.

He would be remembered for his love of excess, the destruction of the Alamo, and for his successful military strike during the Oriente crisis.[9]

Notes

  • Theodore's army career is noted in Star League Sourcebook; however it is questionable due to the date. In Jacob Cameron's write up in the original Star League Sourcebook, it notes Theodore being a Major in the Terran Hegemony during the campaign against the Federated Suns and Capellan Confederation. His name is noted in the Battle of Tybalt in 2435; however, the Cameron Family Tree shows him being born on 2434. Theodore's age during the campaign as a one year old makes it impossible for him to have been in the battle.[10][11]
  • Theodore's "death" was originally recorded in 2479, Theodore originally died of pneumonia, due him partying for three days in wet season on Thorin; however, Handbook: House Marik would alter his death, allowing him to live to attend the funeral of Brion Marik in 2511, 32 years after his original death.[12]

Titles and Positions

Preceded by Director-General of the Terran Hegemony
2461-2479
Succeeded by

References

  1. Star League Sourcebook, p. 182, "Cameron Family Tree"
  2. Star League Sourcebook, p. 30, "Jacob Cameron"
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Star League Sourcebook, p. 30, "The Decadent Camerons"
  4. House Marik (The Free Worlds League), p. 17, The Free Worlds and Terra
  5. Handbook: House Marik, p. 21, Paradigm Shift
  6. Handbook: House Marik, p. 25, Timeline: The Age of War
  7. Handbook: House Marik, p. 21, Paradigm Shift
  8. BattleTech developers confirm that Theodore Cameron's death in the old Star League Sourcebook is incorrect.
  9. Star League Sourcebook, pp. 30, 32, 182 The Decadent Camerons & The Cameron Family tree - Legacy and family.
  10. Star League Sourcebook, p. 182, Cameron Family Tree
  11. Star League Sourcebook, p. 30, Jacob Cameron
  12. Star League Sourcebook, pp. 30 & 182, The Decadent Camerons & The Cameron Family tree - original publication shows the death of Theodore in 2479.

Bibliography