Sean Gaudain

Captain Sean Gaudain is the commanding officer of the starship Apollo. Originally trained as a pilot, Gaudain is cocky and self-assured. He’s used to getting his way and isn’t particularly a favorite of Starfleet Command for his tendency to skirt regulations–if not ignore them entirely. He is a veteran of the Dominion War and the Romulan Relocation Project  and is an aggressive, confident tactician that is primarily concerned with the safety of his ship and crew.

On the surface, Sean Gaudain is cocky, self-assured, and perhaps even shallow. One of the reasons that he was a first officer for over a decade before finally advancing to the center seat is a history of impulsive decisions. His time under various mentors and now as a captain have mellowed those tendencies to the point where he can be seen to act “decisively” rather than “rashly.” He is actually quite conscientious of what goes on around him, and he’s come to terms with his own feelings of loss—of his fiancé during the Dominion War and of his home and most of his family when Mars was destroyed—to the point where he can use those feelings to enhance his protective instincts as a captain. Some people assume that he is unintelligent because of his informal speaking voice (or perhaps from the Texas-like drawl he sometimes slips into), but that is a mistake: he has served as a flight controller, operations officer, and tactical officer before moving into command, so he knows starship operations better than the vast majority of officers in Starfleet. While Gaudain allows for a casual air on the bridge and jokes with his officers, when things get serious, he demands absolute perfection from them. More and more often, as he continues to be involved in crises all around the galaxy, Gaudain has been staying in his serious mood longer—feeling grim about the situation Starfleet finds itself in.

Command and Tactical Style

Gaudain takes pride in knowing every member of his crew on a first-name basis. He is familiar with their service records, their families, and their aspirations. He feels that it is his job as a leader to help them reach their goals and to inspire them to greatness. He treats them like his family, because his shipmates have always been his surrogate family. He has an open door policy, and doesn’t stand on formality or protocol. If a member of his crew needs something, he will find a way to make it happen.  As a tactician, Gaudain is explosive and unpredictable. He will skirt the line on Starfleet’s rules of engagement when necessary—while Federation starships don’t fire first, Gaudain has a more liberal interpretation of what constitutes an attack than other captains. In combat, Gaudain switches to a more authoritative command style and expects his orders to be carried out quickly and efficiently.

Romantic Relationships

Gaudain is flirtatious and often quite direct or even crass about his romantic or sexual desires. He doesn’t waste time with too much small talk—if he’s hitting on you at a bar, he’s hoping to go home with you. Following the death of his fiancé over 25 years ago, he has not engaged in a serious long-term romantic relationship. The closest he has come is an on-again-off-again “situationship” with Marcus Bancroft, a fellow Starfleet Captain, and that is in one of its off-again phases. He has had hundreds of physical encounters, however. Gaudain identifies as gay.

Relationships with Superiors

Gaudain is an example of an officer who has remained in Starfleet purely through grit and through his incredible talent at what he does. He has won several important supporters through his good work in the field, but he has never been a model officer. He dislikes following orders—particularly orders he finds to be tedious, annoying, or downright stupid. He’s not shy about expressing those opinions, either. Within the Fourth Fleet, Gaudain has managed to impress Vice Admiral Elizabeth Hayden and Admiral Liam Dahlgren, both of whom were instrumental in helping him find his way to the captain’s chair—along with the now-deceased Vice Admiral Jonathan Knox, who actually gave Gaudain command of the old Apollo. Gaudain has a more fraught relationship with his immediate superior, Fleet Captain Michael Lancaster, as the two of them have very different personalities, command styles, and even philosophies. Lancaster is also a decade younger than Gaudain, which Gaudain finds grating in its own right, and yet achieved the rank of captain before he did. The longer they work together, the better this relationship has become, but the two men have yet to come to a real understanding of one another.