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The Callas Republic
Captain Hiyen
Captain of the battleship Reprisal and senior warship commander of the Callas Republic, a minor power which joined the Alliance for the war against the Syndicate Worlds and attached its navy to the Alliance Fleet.
- Bearer of Bad News: After the fleet has returned to Varandal from the frontier, Hiyen is forced to notify Geary that his sailors and those of the Rift Federation are preparing to mutiny and sail for home.
- Conflicting Loyalty: He respects Geary and Rione, but cares about his crew and the rest of the Republic's ships, all of whom want him to take them home.
- Genius Bruiser: A dedicated ship captain, and a decent scientific theorist who speculates on the nature of the Kicks' shielding devices.
- Put on a Bus: He and his men are sent back to the Callas Republic (officially for repair, but actually to let them go home) after returning from alien space.
- The Bus Came Back: In Boundless, the Callas Republic sends Hiyen and his men to rejoin the Alliance Fleet to avoid being shut out of their future successes.
- Wild Card: The Callas Republic refuses to recall him and his ships due to worrying they might be too loyal to the Alliance fleet, after serving with them for so long. Geary ends up exploiting a loophole in their orders to send them back to the Callas Republic for "indefinite" repair and resupply.
The Rift Federation
Captain Kapelka
Captain of the Passguard and commander of the ships that the Alliance's ally, the Rift Federation, sent to the fleet.
- Bavarian Fire Drill: In Boundless, the Rift Federation breaks ties with the Alliance and tries to ally with the Dancers independently. Kapelka makes it through Syndic space by letting them assume she's still attached to the Alliance fleet and that attacking her ships will court trouble.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: In Beyond the Frontier, she's respectful of Geary and reluctant when the attitude of her crew become hostile toward him. But in Outlands, she's haughty and dismissive when he makes an offer that could get her and her ships out of a potentially suicidal mission.
Lieutenant Velez
The weapons officer of the Passguard, Rift Federation flagship.
- Brain Bleach: After seeing the lights in jump space through a hole in the ship (he was wearing a survival suit at the time), a haunted Velez says it’s something no one should see with their naked eyes.
- Bridge Bunny: Velez is a bridge officer in charge of giving orders to the gunners.
- Mr. Exposition: Velez is the one to relate how the off-screen battle between the Enigmas and the Rift Federation went down.
- Shell-Shocked Veteran: Velez is introduced after narrowly surviving some horrific combat and is jumpy, nervous, convinced he could have done more to save people, and distraught at the idea that his ship can’t be saved.
- You Are in Command Now: He is a mid-ranking Bridge Bunny who is one of the two surviving officers on his ship and is in charge of the efforts to save the seventy-two survivors. He takes a lot of persuading to leave the wreck of his command and is deeply upset about it being scrapped.
Sol System
Lady Vitali
A British dignitary who meets with Geary and Desjani during their visit to Earth.
- Knight in Sour Armor: She's a helpful, and efficient authority figure, but talks a bit dejectedly about not so much eliminating war in the Sol System as strangling it with red tape, and how this doesn't really solve anything, but simply drive the warmongers elsewhere.
- The Spymaster: Knows a lot of the goings on in the system and provides Geary and Desjani with useful information and advice.
- Think Nothing of It Geary tries to promise her a future favor for her help but she just says to point her in the direction of the best beer if she ever visits Alliance space.
- Upper-Class Wit: Shows some, such as asking if the Vitali in Geary's fleet is a hotheaded risk-taker and then saying they're probably not related after all once Geary replies he isn't.
Commander Nkosi
An officer in charge of the blockade of Jupiter's moon of Europa, which was ravaged by a biological weapon that could still kill all of humanity if it got off-world.
- Determinator: Unyielding about maintaining the quarantine, even if it means risking his own career and life.
- Knight in Sour Armor: Given the grim, serious nature of his job.
- Morton's Fork: Faced with either allowing the Alliance to go down to Europa under controlled circumstances to rescue their captured lieutenants and kill the kidnappers (if that ends up badly then his punishment would be being sent down to Europa to die of the plague), or prevent them from going, which could increase the odds of the ship escaping and spreading the virus. In the end, he cooperates with the Alliance to decrease the risk.
- This Is Gonna Suck: Feels this way when someone makes it down to Europa.
Lieutenant Cole
Commander of the Shadow, a peacekeeping ship in the Sol System.
- By-the-Book Cop: Determined to punish any lawbreaker he can find, and also hesitant to compromise about the issue of the quarantine of Europa.
- Foil: To the rest of the Sol authorities ship captain (save Nkosi). They either don't pursue the ship with the kidnappers at all or only do so with cautious, reluctant qualifiers for their help (to the point where Desjani half-seriostl considers "accidentally" bombing one of their headquarters), but then promptly leave and ignore the Dauntless once the crisis is over. Cole doesn't waste time with bureaucracy or question Geary's word during the crisis, but once it's over, continues to follow the Dauntless (either for their own protection and/or to make sure they do leave the Sol System after what happened on Europa) while requesting regular status updates, causing Desjani some annoyance.
- Jumped at the Call: The only local authority figure unhesitant, and even eager, to pursue the kidnappers of Yuon and Castries.
Dominika Borkowski
A Sol System government official who first hails the Dauntless.
- Beleaguered Bureaucrat: There's a definite impression that she wants to do something to get rid of the Shield of Sol but is stuck following the time-consuming red tape of the system governments.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: She's quick to welcome Geary and the Dancers, while providing somewhat useful information and warnings about the Covenant formation that is antagonizing them.
Covenant of the First Stars
Captain Commodore Earun Tavistorevas
An officer of the Covenant of the First Stars, a militaristic and highly ritualized human state attempting to run roughshod over the largely unarmed and divided Sol System.
- Bling of War: Played for laughs, as his uniform is covered in so much elaborate braiding and decoration that Geary can't even spot his rank insignia, and he has dozens upon dozens of medals forming a solid sheet across the entire front of his uniform. Desjani snarks that they must get medals for waking up in the morning, to which Geary comments that they probably get new medals for wearing their previous awards correctly.
- Bullying a Dragon: Tavistorevas tries to order around the Dauntless and the Dancer ships, not realizing he's messing with the single most gifted and determined human naval tactician alive, who is backed by an aggressive and intelligent captain and a veteran crew.
- Chekhov's Gunman: While his government hasn't reappeared yet, their potential to be more than a Wacky Wayside Tribe is discussed in Outlands, with 1) the reveal that the unoccupied stars beyond their territory may be the only direction humanity can expand without encroaching into the territory of other aliens and 2) the Dancers start requesting humanity to form a Multinational Team (no matter how uneasy the Alliance is) in dealing with alien species.
- Chest of Medals: There isn't an undecorated inch on the whole front of his uniform. He has far more medals than the most decorated veteran in the Alliance, despite having never fought an actual battle before. The crew of the Dauntless sarcastically nickname him Mister Medals.
- Evil Old Folks: He's described as being "well past middle age", and is conducting an illegal blockade of a neutral star system, while also attempting to destroy Dauntless and those aboard either for money and/or because he's been told that they'll pose a threat to his government's dominance of the Sol System by people wanting to get rid of Geary and/or the senators he's escorting.
- Fantastic Racism: He shows some xenophobia towards aliens in his attitude toward the Dancers and their ships, referring to them as "tramontane creatures".
- Hypocrite: He is highly condescending towards the Alliance, but is implied to have taken money from someone in the Alliance to serve as their assassin.
- Mildly Military: Geary and Desjani comment that Tavistorevas and his ships are what happens when a military has no actual wars to fight; they become increasingly obsessed with appearances and fripperies than with actually being ready for battle.
- Miles Gloriosus: He considers himself to be an invincible leader despite having never fought a battle before. Naturally, his entire squadron is effortlessly demolished by Dauntless, an Alliance warship crewed by hardened veterans of the Forever War.
- Mouth of Sauron: There's a larger government whose agenda he's serving, but he's the one who appears in person, stating their business and enforcing their goals.
- Saying Too Much: His first com message is directed to the "barbarous government of the inconsequential so-called Alliance." The Dauntless hadn't identified itself yet, and this causes them to realize that Tavistorevas knows who they are and is apparently waiting for them with hostile intent, while likely serving as a catspaw to one of the more corrupt factions back in the Alliance (a theory which is backed up by his subsequent conduct). Before that, the senators would have been more likely to force Geary to surrender to him rather than risk an international incident (not to mention going up against a much larger force), but knowing that Tavistorevas and his flotilla are up to no good rapidly disabuses them of this notion.
- Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: Several of his sentences are about three times longer than they need to be, largely due to the big words he uses.Tavistorevas: I condescend to speak to the lowly representatives of the barbarous government of the inconsequential so-called Alliance.
- Smug Snake: A remarkably condescending man who is utterly convinced that he can decisively defeat any force that comes his way, even though his combat experience is limited to simulated battles that Geary suspects were rigged to always let him win.
- Try to Fit That on a Business Card: His full title is His Excellency Captain Commodore First Rank Stellar Guard of the Fist of the People, Paramount of the Shield of Sol, and he will thank you to use it every time you speak to him. Geary and Desjani absolutely cannot take it seriously.
- Underestimating Badassery: Tavistorevas clearly has no idea what he's in for when he picks a fight with Dauntless.
- Undignified Death: Given how it happens as a result of his stupidity in caring more about maintaining a visually impressive formation than an effective one during his attack.
- Wacky Wayside Tribe: Defeated very quickly and easily, after which (with the possible exception of the attempt to kidnap Yuon and Castries, although that could have also been corrupt Alliance powers), the Covenant of the First Stars pretty much vanishes from the story.
