Theodore Cameron (26th c.)

Theodore Cameron (Born 2434) was a House Cameron nobleman, tank officer, and the 9th Director-General of the Terran Hegemony.

Character Description

Theodore's personality was heavily affected by 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.

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 an officer, and was part of the 132nd Heavy Armor Regiment command.

As Director-General of the Terran Hegemony

Theodore The Decadent

After his father's stroke in 2461, he became Director-General. Years of his father's reign had strained relations between the people and the Directorship. The people fervently hoped that Theodore would be better a leader. However, when the time came to vote for who would become Director-General, only twenty-five percent of the population voted to have Theodore installed. This showed that the public was still very wary of a new leader.

Their worries would prove correct. Though strong and decisive on the affairs of the military, he was indecisive and ineffective when making decisions regarding civilian-related issues such as re-structuring taxes. This helped fuel his people's anger at the runaway inflation and the shortage of basic goods caused by his father. Theodore continued his father's military build up plan and ignored the needs of the public. He 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.

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 for his own, oversize ranch project. This outraged the public, their anger triggering the beginning of work stoppages, which then evolved into full-blown riots. Work stoppages spanned the entire planet within three days of it beginning, with angry people rising against the excess of Theodore Cameron. People shouted the rallying cry against Theodore, "Remember the Alamo!", mirroring the cry shouted centuries before.

The High Councilors, seeing that the public would overturn 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 abruptly ended. The experience changed him, and he would become more prudent than he was before. However, it was not enough to change his taste for the good life and its excesses.

Assault of Oriente System

In 2475, House Marik had been secretly building an invasion force consisting of WarShips and a few of the League's prized BattleMech regiments. Anchored in the Oriente system, the invasion forces were poised to strike the Capellan Confederation for rejecting their treaty offers. During this time, the League's relations with the Hegemony had deteriorated to the point of general resentment. Newly-installed and slightly-unstable Captain-General Carlos Marik abruptly changed his plan to attack the Confederation and marshaled his force to attack the Terran Hegemony instead. However, before the attack began, League aides leaked the plans for the invasion of the Hegemony. Theodore then took personal command of the strike force, using the Battlecruiser Kiev, and 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.

The strike devastated the League's navy, their best and newest Warships and the most expert soldiers who were assembled in the Oriente system. 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 Brian, which was signed in 2478. Years later, Theodore attended Brion's funeral in 2511.

Family and Legacy

Theodore married and had a daughter Elizabeth. He would be remembered for his love of excess, destruction of the Alamo and for his successful military strike during the Oriente crisis.

Notes

• Theodore's army career is noted in Star League sourcebook, however it 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 campaign against FedSuns/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 this battle.

• 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.

Bibliography

• Handbook: House Marik
• House Marik (The Free Worlds League)
• Star League sourcebook