Marcus Ransom

Marcus Ransom, son of Pendragon Andrei Ransom, was himself regarded a hero. Though his life took a different path, he eventually stood beside his father and received the highest honor the Alliance can bestow: Favored of the Pendragon.

Early Life

Marcus was born in Arindell and raised in Valley Gale Keep. He was an inquisitive child, often able to converse at an adult level, which made him well-liked by his father's inner circle. Being the son of a Pendragon, he had close relations with all Slayer Dragons, as with many high-ranking members of the military and heads of state from all over the Alliance. Of particular note were early relationships with the Gudersnipe Foundation, whose representatives (many of them hundreds of years old and graduates of Gudersnipe School) were impressed by the boy's ability and his interest in the broader matters of the Multi-Verse. For their interest in him, Marcus was granted free use of the GATE network and unlimited access to GSNet.

Adulthood

When Marcus came of age, he set off for a world called Altronis: formally a part of the Alliance, but which severed all ties during the Ninety-nine-years war, and was not heard from since; far from well-traveled shipping routes and cut off before the Foundation extended the GATE Network into Alliance territory. Marcus bartered for a small FTL-capable ship from one of his old Foundation friends, and booked passage via freighter as close to Altronis as he could.

When Marcus arrived, he discovered the planet's atmosphere thick with pollution, and thought at first its population had been wiped out by war. During attempts to land his ship, his Ion vacuum drive inhaled radioactive isotopes and was irreparably damaged. The ion-vacuum drive got him safely to the ground, but his ship would never again leave atmosphere.

Exploring the world, Marcus discovered a dense population, under the control of a few mega-corporations, with no standing government to speak of. Instead, the companies simply ran everything, suppressing individual human rights. The average citizens lived short life spans; survived on inadequate food; suffered allergies; contracted age-related diseases in their youth; lost their memories in old age; misunderstood their own religions; etc.

Furious with this arrangement, Marcus first tried to signal for help. His ship's sublight engines were damaged beyond repair, but he still had nearly every other system intact (it is reported that the ship's only lavatory was also damaged in the emergency landing). First, Marcus contacted his father, who offered to send rescue, but said there was nothing to be done for Altronis. The planet was sovereign soil, and according to Alliance Law, the Alliance was not allowed to intervene in its affairs. Further, Altronis had not signed any of the much later treaties regarding human rights and Alliance-wide laws; wherefore the Alliance could not intervene on behalf of the population.

Then, Marcus turned to his old friends in the Foundation. His request made it as far as the Blind Consul, but the Foundation also refused to intercede. As a sovereign nation and member of the Alliance, Altronis could not be invaded without officially declaring war on the entire Alliance: a move the Foundation was simply not willing to make. However, the Chorus promised the Foundation's standard "non-interference".

Revolution

Backed by a crack team based in Gudersnipe School, Marcus built a resistance movement. His only help from the outside world came through his communications array, where experts on technology, espionage, and insurgency helped Marcus build weapons and equipment to thwart the corpocracy. In particular was a process named "N-Dimensional Travel", which allowed his few rebels (known as Ransom's Crew) to travel vast distances untraceably.

Marcus used his ship as the heart of the operation, with its power plant and computer systems organizing the rebellion all over the globe. With the Foundation's help, the rebels modified local computers and created a fully-independent communications network, encrypted until the local corporations simply lacked the technology to crack it. Unknown to his Crew, Marcus himself carried out investigations to prove the existence of business connections between the local corporations and the ruling class of The Corporate Era proper, and with the Dark Order as well.

The rebels sabotaged nearly every industrial operation, except for those vital to maintaining the food supply. Since the corporations lacked any law to enforce, they were left with only "company policy", to which most citizens refused to subscribe after a given company had been blown up. One by one, the mega-corporations were broken apart or left in shambles, until the citizens gained enough independent power to organize democratic elections. Their first act was to appeal to the Alliance and Foundation for outside aid;–– a request immediately granted.

Altronis officially became an Alliance Member World and part of joint-space. The Gudersnipe Foundation extensively rebuilt the economy, and relocated nearly a third of the population to a new colony world to ease Altronis' taxed ecosystem. Only after his work was done, Marcus returned to Arindell for a visit, where he stood beside his father. The Foundation would never formally admit to supporting the rebellion, and Marcus alone was praised for it. In truth, none of it could have happened without his extraordinary character and strength of will.

Later Life

Marcus returned to Altronis and married Nicole Iaggi, a local, who had been one of his lieutenants during the revolution. They had a son named Nathan. Nathan himself bypassed secondary school to enter University at the age of 12; but left it after 3 years to rescue his mother from the remaining Dark Order, accompanied by Traroth and A.E. Clipson.

Death

By most accounts, Marcus lived long enough to know his grandchildren; but died shortly after the death of Nicole. A few reports claim that he lived 100 years thereafter; but 'Which is the true story' remains in doubt.