Thelos Auburn

Thelos Auburn
Personal
Died	24 December 3042
Affiliation	House Auburn
Profile
Position(s)	Court Historian
Profession	Historian
Family
Spouse	Cassandra Auburn
Children	eight daughters including Misha Auburn (eldest) and possibly Melissa Auburn

Thelos Auburn was House Steiner's family historian in the first half of the thirty-first century and the author of numerous books and other works. Many BattleTech sourcebooks contain sections that purport to be excerpts from in-universe works attributed to him.

He may or may not be a descendant of Dimitri Auburn, who authored "Lost Paradise", published by Commonwealth Historical Press in 2826. (Dimitri Auburn was also mentioned for a work published in 2380 though context suggests this should read 2830 instead.)

History

Beyond his position at the Steiner court, Thelos Auburn was well connected among important people of his time. He got along particularly well with Cranston Snord, once the latter set up a museum for his collection on Clinton, and would visit him often. He was also described by Dr. B. Banzai as a good friend of both himself and of Jaime Wolf. Auburn's former student Norma Aliota is credited for helping Dr. Banzai with his comprehensive report on the Fourth Succession War.

At some point prior to ca. 3025, Alessandro Steiner gave interviews to Thelos Auburn despite declining official interviews with ComStar, though even these few interviews shed little light on the motivation and reasons behind Alessandro's controversial "Concentrated Weakness" strategy.

Operation Junk Yard Dog

When Free Worlds League forces staged a retaliation raid against Cranston Snord's museum on 14 February 3017, the otherwise timid Thelos Auburn was present and was caught up in the battle, narrowly escaping death several times over. His attempts to safeguard the invaluable historical objects saw him witness or even inadvertently cause the successive deaths of several infantrymen who tried to help or rescue him. Faced with the deaths of men who had wanted to help him, and the utter disregard of enemy troops for the artifacts he treasured, Auburn was inspired to reach the local ComStar station to call for help (ComStar's accepted neutrality preventing the invaders from attacking the station once he had arrived inside).

Auburn had overheard that the attackers were going to bring looted artifacts to Nathan, and that crucial piece of information enabled Snord to set out on Operation JUNK YARD DOG in response.

Death

While working in the main library of Cranston Snord's museum on Clinton, Thelos Auburn suffered a seizure on 22 December 3042. Despite the efforts of the best doctors Snord could muster, his condition was terminal. Realizing that his friend was dying, Cranston Snord had Thelos Auburn brought to the operating room of the SLDF Castle Brian facility that the museum was built on, but which Snord had kept secret.

On his deathbed, the historian learned the full truth from Cranston Snord about Kerensky's Exodus, the Clans, the true mission of Wolf's Dragoons, and that a Clan Invasion was coming — seven years before the actual invasion would hit the Inner Sphere. Thelos Auburn died in that room on 24 December 3042, beneath a faded Cameron Star and holding a medallion from Cranston in his hands that had once belonged to an (unnamed) founder of a Blood Line, the first of a Bloodname.

Works

Thelos Auburn was named as the author of the following in-universe works (and implicitly many others):

• A History of Philosophy, Commonwealth Historical Press, 2998
• Commonwealth Popular Culture: Insights from our Leisure, Commonwealth Historical Press, 3014
• Commonwealth Symbols: Insights Through the Icons, Commonwealth Historical Press, 3000
• Encyclopedia Res Publica (Ed.), Commonwealth Historical Press, 3022, 3025
• Gone but Not Forgotten - Families Lost to the Exodus, Commonwealth Press, 3032
• Mercenaries of the Succession Wars
• Mysticism and the Occult in Commonwealth History, Commonwealth Historical Press, 3005
• Political Intrigue in the Lyran Commonwealth, Regal Press, 3005
• Origins of the Three Great Families, Commonwealth Historical Press, 3011
• Questions Raised by the Ouster of Alessandro Steiner, Commonwealth Historical Press, 3022
• Shards of the Mirror: History as the Future's Reflection, Commonwealth Historical Press, 3023
• The Conventions of War Throughout Man's History, Commonwealth Historical Press, 3023
• History and the Present: The Current State of the Lyran Commonwealth, Commonwealth Historical Press, 3025
• The Lyran Commonwealth Before the Steiners, Commonwealth Historical Press, 3022
• The Martin Luther Memorial Hospital: A Mirror of Our World, Commonwealth Historical Press, 3012
• The Periphery During the Wars, Commonwealth Historical Press, 3017
• The Star League and the Commonwealth, Commonwealth Historical Press, 3014
• The Steiner Dynasty (3+ volumes), Commonwealth Historical Press, 3019
• Wars of One World, Commonwealth Historical Press, 3002

Quotes

• "History has proven that giving away bars of chocolate often does far better than a speech in quelling an uprising."
• "You have to question the sanity of anyone who claims that history is filled with honor and moral deeds. Either the man is a lunatic or too stupid to understand what historians throughout the ages have been trying to say." (in: Shards of the Mirror: History as the Future's Reflection)
• "I'm not saying that the Steiners are perpetually on the thin line between sanity and looney tunes, because that's a myth. The Steiner family has such a reputation for being icy cool that when they do show a strong emotion like anger, love, or humor, people around them are so startled that they wonder if that Steiner has lost his wits. Of course, holding one's emotions in is another kind of madness." (3024 interview)

Notes

• By ca. 3062, the International Zone of Solaris City on Solaris VII features an attraction called "Thelos Auburn Grove", a statue dedicated to the late House Steiner historian located at the Solaris River and Swift Shore Drive.
• There is an apocryphal scenario named The Further Adventures of Cranston Snord's Irregulars: The Bribery Gambit by Blaine Pardoe (who authored the two Snord's Irregulars scenario packs, and frequently used Thelos Auburn as a side character), published in Stardate Vol. 3 #6. In this scenario, Marik forces aim to kidnap his daughter Misha Auburn, in order to pressure Thelos into assassinating Archon Katrina Steiner and Archon-Designate Melissa Steiner. However, the LIC learned of the plan and a trap is set on Clinton. When bandit forces consisting of seven 'Mechs and five tanks make planetfall in 3025, the entire Snord's Irregulars company, plus Thelos Auburn himself piloting a Crusader, engage them on a terrain feature called the Ferrald Slopes.
  Piloting a 'Mech in battle seems notably out of character for Thelos Auburn, who is otherwise consistently portrayed as an academic with no military training or acumen whatsoever.
  The piloting/gunnery stats given in the scenario, if taken at face value as boardgame stats, would mark Snord's mercenaries decidedly mediocre MechWarriors while giving Thelos Auburn extremely elite skills; it is thus generally assumed that the stats given are for MechWarrior: The BattleTech Role Playing Game, in which case they would translate as competent skills for the mercenaries and very poor skills for Thelos Auburn in boardgame terms.

Bibliography

• 20 Year Update
• Cranston Snord's Irregulars (scenario pack)
• The Further Adventures of Cranston Snord's Irregulars: The Bribery Gambit
• House Liao (The Capellan Confederation)
• House Steiner (The Lyran Commonwealth)
• MechWarrior's Guide to Solaris VII
• NAIS The Fourth Succession War Military Atlas Volume 1
• NAIS The Fourth Succession War Military Atlas Volume 2
• Permanent Losses (short story)
• Rhonda's Irregulars