Starborn Smith [Stargate, Battletech Multicross]

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POV: Arthur Sinclair

I found myself in Elder James' quarters the next morning. Elder Callum had taken the Diagnostic Tool and rushed straight up to the Manassas so that he could start scanning stuff. I hadn't seen him since, so I assumed that he was still at it. 

I knocked on the bulkhead and waited for several moments before they opened up. Elder James looked up at me and smiled. "Arthur. Come take a seat, I have some things to discuss."

I took a seat and looked at the Elder. He looked rather exhausted. "Are you alright?"

He nodded. "Yes, yes, I'll be fine. I just couldn't sleep; I spent the whole night contemplating the nature of reality."

I nodded and waited for the Elder to continue. He took a moment and began. "Arthur, you are aware that we revived the commander of one of the Dropships, yes?"

That sounded vaguely familiar. "I believe so, yes."

The Elder continued. "We revived one Major Marcus Novak. He is the commanding officer of the SLS Claymore – the dropship that is currently in lockdown."

My eyes lit up in realization. "Ohh right. So what's the problem?"

The Elder groaned slightly. "He's refusing to open up the dropship and he outranks me."

I nodded. "Alright, so what do you want from me?"

He sat back slightly and stared at me for a few moments. "Arthur, how far are you willing to go to try and fix the Inner Sphere?"

I raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean? I won't be the one to drop a nuke on a city if that's what you're asking."

The Elder seemed to shudder slightly. "No. Arthur…" 

He seemed almost hesitant to continue. "The Cameron name means a lot in the Inner Sphere – you probably know that more than anyone else. That name opens up a lot of doors for you – for us. So, are you willing to use the Cameron name if it is necessary?"

That's what this was about. "Absolutely. It's not like I can deny the name anyway."

Elder James stared at me for several long moments. "Are you absolutely certain about that?"

I nodded. The Elder seemed to let out a tired sigh and stand up. "Alright then. I plan to tell the Major about your heritage."

I blinked, "Right now?"

The Elder nodded. I followed him out of the room and down the hallway. There, the Elder knocked twice and a voice came from inside. "Come in."

Elder James opened the door, and gestured for me to enter first. I entered the room, and the Major raised an eyebrow as he got a look at me. Elder James entered and pulled out a compad. "Sir, it's time I showed you this."

The Major took the compad and looked at it. He looked between James and the compad several times. Finally, he sighed. "Cromwell, how is this possible?"

"That is a long story, sir. Captain Sinclair was the first child of Simon Cameron. He gave up any right to the title of First Lord when he joined the SLDF and the THIB." 

The Major slowly placed the compad down on the nearby coffee table and began rubbing his temples vigorously. After a few moments, he looked up at me. "I suppose we haven't been introduced. Major Novak, sir."

Sir? Elder James wasn't kidding. "Errm, I apologize that Elder James didn't tell you sooner. I'd rather prefer that it isn't mentioned to the rest of the crew."

The Major nodded. "I understand." 

A palpable silence fills the room. Finally, Major Novak sighs. "I suppose this means that you'd like me to unlock the Claymore?"

I nodded. "If you'd be so kind."

He sits there for several moments. "I can agree to that, but only on one condition."

I raised an eyebrow. "Name it."

His eyes bored into me, "When you return to the Inner Sphere, do what you can to rebuild the Star League."

I winced. "I'm afraid I can't do that."

Both the Major and Elder James seemed taken aback. The Major, with both his eyes wide open, stared at me for several long moments. "May I ask why?'

I stared right back. "The Star League was a failure. The High Council required a majority vote, something which was nearly impossible under most circumstances. Then you had the high lords themselves. I think it was Simon Cameron's first session as First Lord where the Archon of the Lyran Commonwealth accused the Coordinator of the Draconis Combine of sending mercenaries to raid Lyran worlds, then the Coordinator actually admitted to it. Simon Cameron did nothing."

I took a deep breath. "Hard times make hard men, hard men make easy times, easy times make easy men, easy men make hard times. The Star League was a success while those at the top were hardened, but a nation is not the men who founded it, it is the men who lead it after those founders have passed on."

I looked at the two of them. "Let's start with the Successor States – the five great houses."

I brought up my thumb. "The Lyran Commonwealth are probably the least problematic of the member states, but they still caused a lot of problems. When the Star League opened up the markets of the periphery worlds, the companies of the Commonwealth jumped in and stripped everything of value from the periphery states. That had a non-insignificant effect on the later periphery uprisings, but it wasn't exactly a surprising outcome all things considered."

I brought up my pointer finger next. "The Federated Suns are almost as militaristic as the Draconis Combine, but they suffered from continuous internal rebellion, not to mention that damn succession crisis orchestrated by Takiro Kurita. The corporations had a significant effect on their internal politics as well, not as much as the Commonwealth, but still."

My middle finger; "the Free Worlds League has the issues of the Federated Suns, without a lot of the bite. They suffered extreme legislative gridlock from their parliament. Their people are oppressed, despite them claiming to be a free system."

I sighed. "Despite all that, these three are still somewhat redeemable. The other two aren't."

I pulled up my ring finger. "The Capellans are an absolute mess. They survive purely because no one has had the guts to keep fighting them till they run out of bodies. It is only a matter of time until the Capellans fall apart as a nation as it is."

Especially if I change the timeline enough so that Sun Tzu was never born. Something to consider later.

Finally, I lifted my pinky finger. "The Draconis Combine. They were a constant thorne in the side of both the Lyrans and the Suns. Even during the Star League, as I have already stated, they were still starting wars with their neighbors."

I took a deep breath. "The Draconis Combine, and the Confederacy as well, need to be dissolved, preferably into a half dozen smaller states. Since I have a say in it, I'll be attempting to abolish Cameron Neo-Feudalism as well."

I looked up at the major. He was staring at me, blankly. "I have no plans to recreate the Star League. The Star League was a loose alliance based around the Terran Hegemony. I want to create something greater. I plan to shatter the Successor States and create a truly unified nation. It'll take decades, several centuries even, but if the Inner Sphere ever wants to truly be a unified whole again, that is the bare minimum."

The room was silent for several long moments before the Major seemed to shake himself out of his shock. He seemed almost reserved, but I could see a fire burning in his eyes. "That is an acceptable alternative." 

He stood up. "I shall unlock the Claymore, if that is what you would like, sir."

I smiled and followed after him; Elder James followed after me. We took the Ring Transporter up to Manassas. From there, it was down to Deck 14. The Major opened up a panel and began inputting a series of codes. With a woosh, the locked door rushed open. 

The Claymore's primary bay was smaller than on most confederates. The center of the bay had been modified to make room for other stuff, but what really caught my eye was the six massive crawlers, each with a satellite dish. I didn't even have to imagine what these were. 

I touched all three as quickly as I could, my excitement getting the better of me. 

First Perk Activated. Complete Blueprint Acquired: Mobile Hyper-Pulse Generator (HPG)

Generator Core, Hyperspace Pulse Initiator, Double Heat Sink, Control Unit, Focusing Dish, Signal Strengthener

"Hehehe…" I almost started cackling. What a fascinating way to make use of Hyperspace Physics. 

Elder James coughed behind me. I immediately stopped and turned to the Major. "So, Mobile HPGs?"

The Major nodded, ignoring my outburst, and began. "That was our secondary cargo. Our primary cargo is this way."

I raised an eyebrow, but gestured for us to follow him towards the center of the ship. We followed behind him until we arrived at a small room filled to the brim with what appeared like late 20th century filing cabinets. I walked to one and opened it up. Inside was a file, the insignia for DoME on the front. 

I carefully put the paper back. The Major began speaking. "This is all that remains of the DoME backup library. Five Hundred tons of paper documents, the only copies that Amaris didn't burn in the civil war. "

He chuckled and continued. "All together, these are the paper copies, we have a memory core with most of the same information as well. General Kerensky locked it down before we left Terra, so we can't access it, but everything is here. Every project that the Department of Mega Engineering ever worked on." 

He looked around. "Come, I'll give you the rest of the tour."

I followed him around the rest of the Dropship. As we reached the first of the main floors, he began. "This is a DoME Survey Dropship. A DoME Jumpship would carry a few of these things during survey missions. We'd land and perform a comprehensive analysis of the planet From atmospheric testing, geological surveys and mineral prospecting, to biochemical compatibility testing. You name it and we can do it. The higher ups would use that information when deciding what they would utilize that world for."

The Major showed us around the state of the art laboratories that the ship maintained, and its crew quarters. Eventually we reached the bridge where the Major stopped. "That's the ship. I hope it's everything you were expecting."

I chuckled a bit. "Just the Mobile HPGs are already more than I was hoping for. An entire DoME Survey Dropship is more than I could have imagined. Once the Drive is repaired, I believe that Elder James is planning on moving the Manassas."

The Major nodded. "I am here to help you how I can."

I nodded. That had been easier than I expected, but I guess the Elder knew what he was talking about. I looked down at my watch. "I have a meeting with Ma'chello in an hour. I'll see you again, Major."

He nodded, and I made the return journey back to Nekhara, and through the Stargate.

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POV: Major Marcus Novak

I watched as Arthur left the bridge. A light chuckle escaped me when he was finally gone. "That kid has some serious dreams."

Captain Cromwell nodded. "Far more than even I was aware of."

I carefully turned to the nearby console and opened a hidden port, the Captain watched behind me. "Are you sure you want to do that?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Only if you have something to hide."

James chuckled, this was not the same man who had commanded the Manassas, he was much calmer, more patient… mellower, you could say. All the same dangerous tendencies that made Captain (formerly Major) James Cromwell such a dangerous person, sharpened to a point. I was glad to see that his time had mellowed him out. 

He smiled bitterly. "I do, it's just not what you're thinking. Remember, whatever you see on that test, it doesn't leave this room."

I raised an eyebrow and waited for the results of the test to come out while the Captain left the bridge. 

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Author's Note:

Read up to Chapter #50 on Discord: [ LINK: https://discord.com/invite/dbVKfqYw5T ]