Jasper Ravi

Lieutenant Commander **Jasper Ravi** was an officer of the Centran Defence Force and Chief Security Officer aboard the *Avalon*. As part of the Avalon Exploratory Initiative, he made the 3,000-light-year journey to the CDC-41-Gamma nebula. Following the scattering of the Avalon Expedition Fleet, he served as temporary Defence Adjutant to Director Elizabeth Ancelet before handing over duties to Cassandra Farren, and thereafter participated in the planning that led to the recovery of some of the fleet, as well as critical Drift Gate components to enable a return to the Tantalus Cluster. Following the expedition's decision to abandon CDC-41-Gamma in the face of the Advari threat, Ravi was killed aboard the *Avalon* defending the retreat of the expedition fleet through the return gate to Tantalus.

## Biography

### Early life

Jasper Ravi was born on the planet Axius. As an adult, he was in a long-term relationship with his partner Alex. During the Frontier War, Alex and their family were on Dalais during a Frontier Union attack, which prompted Ravi to join the Centran Defence Force. Ravi was inspired by Commodore Ariana Hawker's defence of Dalais and hoped to serve under her, but the war ended before he commissioned from the CDF Academy.

Ravi rose to the rank of Lieutenant Junior Grade only three months before the departure of the Avalon Exploratory Initiative in 0304 PCU. Both Ravi and Alex attempted to join the Avalon Expedition together, but Alex's application was rejected whilst Ravi's was accepted, forcing Ravi to go without his partner.

### Avalon Exploratory Initiative

Ravi had initially been the commander of the security detachment aboard the *Avalon*. However, following the Expedition Fleet's arrival in CDC-41-Gamma, it was scattered across space, leaving many vessels missing and unaccounted for. This included the CDF ship CSV *Shabayev*, which had the Defence Adjutant, Admiral Winston Redfield aboard. Ravi received an emergency promotion to Defence Adjutant to Director Elizabeth Ancelet.

Ravi felt unqualified to handle his new position, but proved capable in organising the handful of ships that managed to re-establish contact with the *Avalon*, coordinating surveys and negotiating the multi-national character of the Expedition. Ravi became one of the first Humans to travel down a Lauralyn Conduit, taking the freighter *Belladonna* to retrieve Elizabeth Ancelet and the crew of the *Guinevere* from their rescue mission aboard the gatehauler GH-0007-VG. However, after only a few days in the position, Captain Cassandra Farren agreed to take over in his place. Ravi expressed relief in being able to return to his original post.

Following the first *Avalon* Bombing, Ravi coordinated the investigation and the evacuation of the *Avalon's* Frontier Union-born personnel to the *Abigail*. Following the second *Avalon* bombing by Michael Favara, Ravi coordinated the *Avalon's* damage control teams.

When Director Ancelet led harvesting parties to the Vitrified Planet aboard the *Siochana*, Ravi was left in command of the Avalon Expedition Fleet. In that capacity, he had to deal with the unexpected arrival of the *Triumph*, a civilian ferry that had illegally made the transit through Edric's Gate in the fleet's wake. The *Triumph's* commander, Foreman Richard Sedgewick, was convinced that the fleet was hiding a "Verdant Paradise" from the rest of the Tantalus Cluster, and angrily demanded supplies and repairs from the *Avalon*. In an effort to mollify Sedgewick, Ravi sent a team to technicians led by Midshipman Arin Bankole to inspect the *Triumph*, but Sedgewick took them hostage and demanded to know the "colony world's" location. Ravi considered deploying a team of Centran Marines, but was convinced to allow Tamara Melari and Mathias Croft of the *Guinevere* to board the *Triumph* and seek to defuse the situation. Boarding the *Triumph* through its waste disposal system, Croft and Melari successfully won over its technician, Bridget Volkova, who convinced the rest of the crew to release the hostages and detain Sedgewick, who was subsequently handed over to the *Avalon's* Marine garrison.

Following the successful resolution of the crisis, many of the families who had been aboard the *Triumph* were brought aboard the *Avalon* and Bridget Volkova was assigned the *Triumph's* temporary captain. Ravi considered reassigning many of the agricultural workers to work in the harvesting shelters on the Vitrified Planet.

With the reintegration of the CSV *Shabayev* into the Avalon Expedition Fleet, Ravi was recognised by Vice Admiral Winston Redfield for his distinguished work during the absence of the Defence Adjutant, and promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Commander.

## Personality

Ravi was a quiet but competent member of the Avalon Expedition. Despite being overpromoted into the Defence Adjutant position, he performed well in the role, and even found the work engaging. However, he regarded the fact that as junior an officer as him had been promoted to the position as proof of the dire straits the Expedition was in. He expressed relief at being able to return to his duties as Security Garrison Commander when Cassandra Farren agreed to assume the position: both Elizabeth Ancelet and Cassandra Farren agreed that Ravi is a "good kid", but also too young for his weighty position.

Ravi considered himself a poor chef. A favourite drink of his was Capstan Ale.

## Relationships

### Alex

> *"To be 3,000 light years away from you - it's more than I can really fathom. I knew it was coming, and I understood the maths and physics of it, but it isn't until you can’t send a message to someone because you’re so far away that you realize just how massive the distance is."*
> - Ravi in a letter to Alex.
>
>

Ravi was in a long-term relationship with his partner Alex, whom he was separated from owing to his deployment with the Avalon Expedition. Ravi confided much of his anxieties about the Avalon Expedition in letters he wrote to Alex, even though he knew he would be unable to send them from CDC-41-Gamma.

### Elizabeth Ancelet

> *"No crazy parties while I'm away, Lieutenant."*
> *"I think that's more your area ma'am."*
> *"Damn straight."*
> - Elizabeth Ancelet and Jasper Ravi.
>
>

Used to a more formal command style from CDF commanding officers, Ravi was initially surprised by Elizabeth Ancelet's energetic and optimistic personality and her insistence on first-name terms. Elizabeth felt able to leave Ravi in command of the *Avalon* in her absence while she accompanied the crew of the *Guinevere* on an exploratory mission down a Lauralyn Conduit.

### Cassandra Farren

> *"Ravi is a good kid, and he’s doing his best. But he’s young, and this place isn’t what we expected. There are hard decisions coming and he doesn't deserve to be the one who has to make them."*
> - Cass agrees to assume the Defence Adjutant position from Ravi.
>
>

With a background in the CDF, Cassandra Farren quickly bonded with Ravi over their shared bewilderment at Elizabeth Ancelet's eccentric command style. Recognising Ravi's inexperience in the Defence Adjutant position, Cass agreed to take on the position, despite her misgivings at returning to a military role. Although outwardly appearing relieved at being able to return to his normal duties, he in fact harbored resentment towards Cass for taking a position he felt was rightfully his so she could, in his mind, frolic around with Director Ancelet.

## Appearances

* Season 1
	+ *"Inclement Weather"*
	+ *"Yesterday's War"*
	+ *"The Promised Land"*
	+ *"Theirs Not to Make Reply"*
	+ *"Theirs Not to Reason Why"*
	+ *"Contact, Wait Out"*
	+ *"Where Angels Fear to Tread"*
	+ *"Observer Effect"*
	+ *"Forlorn Hope"*

* Anthology Shorts
	+ *"Dearest Alex"*

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 *Forlorn Hope*
2. ↑ Daniel Orrett confirmed as much here.
3. ↑ *Theirs Not to Reason Why*
4. ↑ Daniel Orrett confirmed as much here
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 *Dearest Alex*
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 *Inclement Weather*
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 *Yesterday's War*
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 *The Promised Land*
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 *Theirs Not to Make Reply*
10. ↑ "*Dearest Alex*" - "I'm going to cook you dinner. And I promise it won’t be like last time, I’ll practice when I’m off duty."
11. ↑ Observer Effect" - "I trained for this my whole life, and when I finally had an opportunity to rise to the occasion, you showed up and took it away so you could gallivant around with the Director while I filed the paperwork."