Captain Joshua Jerome Rigg
After First Officer Joshua Rigg mutinies against the captain of his cargo hauler to save the crew from an necro-storm, it looks like he's headed for a jail cell…until Admiral Siddarth Prakash offers him a way out: Rigg can return to his old command post captain of the Charon, the most notable retrieval ship in the Galactic Service fleet. It's unclear exactly how seriously he takes the Charon's duties, but one thing is for certain: he has his own hidden goals, and he will allow nobody to endanger their achievement.
- Bad Boss: Rigg tests crew readiness by ordering the Ship Navigator to steer the Charon into an uncommonly haunted star system, leading to crew members suffering Demonic Possession and occult monstrosities manifesting in the corridors physically. At the end of the ordeal, he declares the test a success because the ship and crew only suffer damage that they can repair and missing limbs that they can regrow.
- Byronic Hero: He's a qualified captain, possessing the force of personality, years of experience, and rapid decision-making skills necessary to keep the Charon running despite the perils of interstellar space. However, it's his selfish goals that drive him to save the lives of crew members rather than recognizing their individual value, and his troubled past and habit of brooding over a past tragedy place him firmly in this category.
- The Captain: He was captain of the Charon a number of years back, lost the position for unspecified reasons to go work on utility ships, and reluctantly reclaims the title as a way to avoid jail and to pursue a lost loved one in the outer darkness.
- Dark and Troubled Past: We meet Joshua Rigg as he stares towards other galaxies and ponders the loss of Rochelle, his old love interest. After the mutiny in the opening sequence, Admiral Prakash reminds Rigg that it was his second offense of that level of seriousness.
- The Lost Lenore: Broods over losing his love interest Rochelle to Siddarth before she died. As Rigg says, she loved him, but she loved Siddarth more. The fact that Soreena is her daughter doesn't make things any easier for him.
Ship/Service Administrator Soreena Prakash
As Ship Administrator for the Galactic Service ship Charon, Soreena Prakash is responsible for keeping day-to-day operations running without a hitch, and for maintaining the operational security of the Charon's nine-month mission in light of the Service's serious war with the dryx. Her camaraderie with First Officer Alastor Satalis places her at odds with Captain Rigg—perhaps even to the point of plotting direct action against the Captain.
- Fashionable Asymmetry: The Galactic Service allows command staff to customize their equipment and uniforms; Prakash modified hers to incorporate shapes reminiscent of saris, including a double-sleeve on her left that recalls the extra fabric present in many types of sari wrap.
- Military Brat: Her father is Admiral Prakash.
- Missing Mom: Her mother Rochelle is dead by the time the story begins.
- Silk Hiding Steel: Elements of Prakash's visual design seem to deliberately invoke elegance and femininity. She's the only female character that appears to wear a dress (as opposed to the Crone's kigurumi-style getup or Infantry Commander Baxter's high boots/pants combination), and her hair fits the Motherly Side Plait style in comparison to Baxter's Braids of Action. She also directly rebuffs Captain Rigg when he makes it clear that he wants to disseminate the details of the Charon's mission to the whole crew as soon as he gains access to that information, insisting that the command crew keep the mission's target a secret.
- Vague Age: The series hasn't explicitly stated any character's age yet (and the complexities of future health care and regenerated bodies muddle the setting), but a few lines suggest that Prakash strikes Rigg as unusually young for her level of authority. However, it's also possible to interpret his remarks as exaggerating her youth in order to be deliberately disrespectful and not representative of her actual age.
