Character Interviews #3

The room has changed since last we entered it.  Now, instead of the empty room with only the chair and table, we are now on the apparently abandoned bridge of a FTL battleship.  The bridge is set up as a series of concentric rings, with each level being devoted to a separate duty.  The smallest of the circles is the captain's chair and command station.  Here he can see everything that goes on as well as taking full command of the ship if necessary.  The multitude of different panels and holographic screens shows that the captain of this vessel is always in touch with what's going on.


The second level holds all of the communication equipment.  The third the navigation units.  The fourth holds the entrances and lifts to the levels. Right now the lights, which are recessed into wall panels, are dim.  A massive area of open space shimmers overhead.


The doors down below open and a single person walks in.  You can hear the hum of the lift as he comes straight to the top of the ring and the captain's chair.  The man in question is of middling height, perhaps 5'6" or 5'7", and probably weights no more than 175 or 180 lbs.  He's got sandy blonde hair and bright blue eyes.  He's sporting a few scars, and is dressed in a dark grey ship suit with a white jacket thrown casually over one shoulder.  You can see by the brightly colored bars on the jacket's sleeve that this is the captain of the ship.


Gah!  I really need to talk to security about letting people onto the bridge of the Zenith II without my perm- Oh.  You're here for the interview.  That's right.  I really wish Anni would stop trying to skrag me.  If she wants me dead there are easier ways than a heart attack.

Frak, I hate engineering.  Hang on a sec.  *adjusts something on his screens, and what was blinking red is now green again* There.  I'm Captain Jaspen Telphys, commander of the Telphys Core militia.  The Zenith II is my new flagship.  The Zenith got fragged during a fight with the Tershanes.  Now, I'm happy to answer your questions but be warned if the klaxon goes off, you're getting off.  No civilians allowed in combat situations.  Especially not on the maiden flight of my ship.

I'm 42 years old, and I'm the third child, out of nine, of Renee and Hadrian Telphys.  My mother is the matriarch of the Telphys family.  We're a family of engineers, although I'm one of the black sheep of the family.  I know the basics but never went beyond that.  I frakking HATE engineering.  Love my family even if they don't care much for me, though.  The only one who thinks I'm worth much of anything is my little sister Eloise.  I know you met her.  Sweet girl, isn't she?

*leans back in his chair*  Let's see here.  I ran away from home when I was nineteen.  I couldn't stand dealing with the engineering shit anymore.  It was too confusing once you got me past the basic stuff.  I'd been flying since I was eleven and enrolled myself in the Pylon training course when I ran off.  I blazed through the training program, even going so far as to working up a special flight sim with a guy named Jon which was one of the most difficult runs I'd ever been on in my life.  With his help we made it almost impossible to get out unscathed.  The Telphys Run, as it came to be called, is more a test of ingenuity and restraint than it is flying skills - although without those you won't survive past the first obstacle.

Found out later that my buddy Jon was actually the only son of the Pylon matriarch.  By that time Jon and I were good friends and I'd taken my sister Eloise to meet him a few times, as well as to watch what matches we could get away to when he was playing.  Eloise managed to sweet talk my parents, and Jon browbeat his, and the two of them ultimately eloped anyway and got married.  This put my family back on top in the R&D world since it meant we had the lucrative contracts to fund our research.  Me?  I got a new ship out of the deal, which is where the Zenith II comes in.

I'm a playboy and make no excuses for my behavior.  I like women, I like sex, and I'm not into guys so that leaves me two options - crew or whores.  I pay for the services of women on the space station because my strongest rule is don't sleep with your crew.  I seldom drink, I love to gamble, and I have no problem killing people if the need arises.  I'm not as hard and cold as Jon is, and I prefer to avoid combat if I can get away with it.  Unfortunately the Tershanes -

*klaxon sounds*  Aw hell.  I'm sorry to cut this short, folks, but you're going to have to leave.  *flips a switch* All hands, battle stations.  We've got incoming!

As we're escorted off of the Zenith II we get the idea that everyone is scrambling.  Small individual fighters are launching and we can hear the sound of the massive turrets being opened on the battleship.  We're shown to a heavily shielded shuttle and sent back down to the Telphys homeworld.