Ash Cai

Ash Cai is a Star Navy Captain. He served aboard the ERS Valkyrie from 2152-53 (December Universe) and then 2152-2155 (Prime Universe), and commanded it from July 2153 until June 2155. He has since commanded the ERS Argo, ERS Maelstrom and briefly the ERS Takshaka. Ash Cai is one the few survivors of the December Universe who remains in active play.

Family
Ash was born in 2136. Ash's mother, Alice Cai, died in an accident cleaning toxic waste in 2135. His father Dian Cai was an unstable alcoholic, who died of untreated organ degeneration in 2145.

Ash has no living relatives, but one alternate dimension twin (more often known under the alias "Val Embury").

December Universe
Ash Cai entered the Star Navy Academy in 2146 with exemplary aptitude test scores, but poor grades. He graduated in 2150, and was immediately detailed to KapStar starbase to work in logistics. He was transferred to activy duty aboard the ERS Valkyrie in June 2152. He served aboard its bridge for a year, splitting his duties between scanning and gunnery as crew complement dictated. Over the following year, the Praezorians executed the December Offensive and systematically razed or captured every single human settlement, ending with the Battle of Earth in June 2153. The ERS Valkyrie was the last Star Destroyer to be destroyed in that battle, while defneding civilian refuges. A dimensional anomaly brought the Prime Universe's ERS Valkyrie into the system. The active crew of the now-disabled December Valkyrie boarded the Prime Valkyrie and fled out the dimensional portal that it arrived through.

Ash Cai in Prime Universe
Ash Cai arrived in the Prime Universe with the rest of the December Valkyrie's crew and they collectively opted to complete the Prime Valkyrie's original mission, using the energy dancers' support to bomb Praezor and attempt to cripple their production capacity. In doing this, Ash found his unconscious Prime Universe counterpart, slumped over the missile console.

Ash served under captains Paderau Kearney and Cade Adesida before being promoted to the rank of Commander in July 2153 to assume command of the ship. He led it in an early expedition into the Xi Sector, searching for the missing ERS Wadjet, making contact with the Ginali and Ra along the way.

He remained in command of the ship through the Third Praezorian War, allying with the Minzera clan of Praezorians against the Zera'ha and helping establish the Star Navy stronghold at Pollux. He was relieved of his command early in the war with the Liberators, by Captain Nell Dorian, under the charge of being under enemy influence. The charge was never substantiated, and he was ultimately restored to active duty by an admiralty board to assume command of the ERS Argo.

Ash commanded the ERS Maelstrom during the Z attack on Earth, and used it in taking Lyra 758, alongside many of his additional core crew from the Valkyrie, particularly many of those who accompanied him from the December Universe (such as Kal Utopia and Winter Matsumoto), and an XO transferred from the ERS Medusa for the purpose, Søra Kuromoto. When he was given command of the larger taskforce to assault Mu Arae, he transferred his flag and crew to the far more powerful ERS Takshaka. A series of devastating attacks against Z worlds led to their complete surrender to the ERSN taskforce, which Ash initially negotiated.

Val Embury - Ash Cai from the Prime Universe
Prime Ash's life diverged from December Ash's during the mission to bomb Preazor. He was knocked unconscious when the Preazorians attacked the Energy Dancers transporting the Valkyrie, and awoke in Indoc Center 5 to discover that he'd been replaced in active service by his more experienced, better-trained counterpart. Ash broke out of the hospital, and hired an expert to help him manufacture a new identity under the name "Val Embury". As Embury, he got a job as the Ship's Master of the HS Albatross. When that ship was impounded, he was jailed for a year for desertion. Val Embury is necessarily a year younger than Captain Ash Cai, and though he has the training requisite for a commissioned officer, he is generally treated as far less useful than his December counterpart by the Star Navy. He is also more human, capable of romantic feelings and not affected by the extreme but functional PTSD and delusions of grandeur that drive his December counterpart--nor does he share the same vision of humanity alone in the night or his zealous mission to save mankind.