I am Admiral Vansen Tyree, AMA

[Vansen Tyree]

(because bandwagons are sexy :uhoh)

If you have not seen the other AMA / Ask Me Anything threads, then do not believe them: this was my awesome idea and anyone who claims otherwise is lying. (;)) Questions will be answered in character with as little scowling and as few insults as possible, but since this didn't really happen all insights are strictly OOC.

So, if you have any questions for Admiral Vansen Tyree, hero of Rendili, defender of Bothuwai, and commander of the Fourth Fleet: ask away.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

How did you lose your eye?

[Kyle Krogen]

And has losing it diminished your capacity to command?

[Vansen Tyree]

How did you lose your eye?

And has losing it diminished your capacity to command?

Broadly speaking, there are two answers to that question: a short one, and a long one.

The short answer is: Pirates.

The long answer takes me back a good few years, to the early days of the Galactic Empire. Everyone was still a bit iffy about just about everything being done by clones, and Vader had gone and killed off all of the Jedi Generals who'd been calling the shots, so us original copies found ourselves commanding ships and leading missions until Palpatine and his New Order could conjure up enough theatrics to terrify himself a new crop of officers.

I was commanding the Valkyrie, one of the Victor-class escort cruisers left over from the War; course, the bureaucrats thought it'd be inspirational as hell to rename them Victory-class Star Destroyers in celebration of how we'd won the day by ruthlessly butchering the leaders of the opposition. My orders were to hunt down a small-scale Separatist holdout by the name of General Rurrick Grov; someone I'd crossed paths with before he'd turned into a sore looser. We tracked him down, trying to play pirate somewhere on the Corellian Run; it's not even worth going into details on how spectacularly he was taken care of, it was over so fast. We messed up his ship pretty bad, and piece of debris hit him in the face and took out his left eye; and of course, the Empire wasn't exactly all that enthusiastic about providing medical treatment to a captured war criminal; last I heard they'd bolted a metal plate over it and thrown him into general population.

Of course, I thought that would be the end of it; General Grov had other ideas. My mentor, Anpher Inirial - the commanding officer who'd nurtured me and groomed me for command during the war - was one of the people who died on Alderaan; I retired pretty soon after. Rendili made a big fuss over it when I came home, treated me like some sort of conquering hero. Don't know how Grov managed it; don't know who he paid; but some guy burst out of the crowd with a knife. It all happened so fast I couldn't react, but let me assure you: when people talk about a headache hurting like a knife in the eye, they're exaggerating.

Got a message from Grov a few days later, something about making me the other side of the coin, or something overdramatic like that. He thinks he's some sort of nemesis now, but in truth he's given me a gift: turns out the scowl and growl routine is that much more menacing when you've only got the one eye to do it.

As for whether it affects my ability to command? I have to turn a little more than I used to so that I can see all the displays, but beyond that? I've been with the Alliance since just after Endor. I've lost count of how many battles I've fought, and how many planets I've helped to liberate. Maybe it has, but lets be honest: diminished from exceptional is still pretty damned good, wouldn't you say? ;)

[Taataani Meorrrei]

Have you considered what you will do after all of this? I mean surely you aren't planning on dying in the uniform right? Retirement? Marriage? Family?

Aside from having a good taste in spirits, what do you like to do off hours?

[Vansen Tyree]

I tried retirement once. After Alderaan I left the Empire behind, settled down on Rendili, and married the sweetheart of my youth. We managed three years before the universe decided to take her away from me. When Endor happened I couldn't pull on an Alliance uniform fast enough. I am the last of the Tyrees, and I left it too late in life to have children of my own: so yes, when I die it will be wearing the uniform, surrounded by my crew: the only family I have left.

And as for off hours, Senator? I sit on my shelf with all the other dusty old relics waiting for someone to find a use for me. Entertainment and distractions are for the young of heart and young of body; sadly, it has been a long time since I have been either.


Note: Vansen does actually have children with the woman he married, but they're from their previous relationship when they were both young, they were put up for adoption, and Vansen doesn't know they exist. Yet. :uhoh