Jeffrey Bridges

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Jeffrey Bridges was the captain of the USS Defiant. He was married to a Bajoran woman (Laine Rael) who also acted as his chief medical officer. He is well known for his scruffy face. (Star Trek: Defiant)

Background

Very little is known of Jeffrey Bridges' history before his command of the Defiant. What is known is that he started out as a science officer, specializing in Geology and Vulcanology before swapping over to command at the behest of Jean-Luc Picard. Bridges served on multiple starships and fought in several fleet engagements, including the Battle of Wolf 359 and the Battle of Cardassia. The losses and casualties continued to haunt him. This made him very protective of the crew. Despite that, he was a skilled diplomat as well as an accomplished tactician. He had earned multiple awards and commendations from several commands. Though he displayed them, it was more to remind him of the cost in lives rather than his skill or gallantry in combat. The years of conflict and the stress of battle contributed to him coming down with a neuromuscular disorder that caused him to lose all feeling in the lower part of his body. Despite this, he managed to recover and return to duty.

Relationships

With His Superiors

Senator Dreschik

Bridges first met Romulan Senator Dreschik onboard the Transport Moon Six following his rescue from the Romulan Prison known as Zy'yd. It isolated the prisoners in their own separate time bubble so it progressed differently inside their cells. Though being a captive for only a few days, Jeffrey lived through eight years imprisonment in relative time. Senator Dreschik had been captive for nine years, but to him it felt like ninety. Grateful for his rescue, the Senator was pivotal to the survival of the Defiant in its battle with the Romulan warbird Shin'Aqi and its sadistic Commander Mnet. In exchange for ceasing hostilities with the Defiant following the rescue of their kidnapped crewmembers, Dreschik would allow Mnet to transport him home aboard his ship. An action sure to garner considerable prestige. Dreschik was also the lone dissenting voice when militarists seized power and started a war with the Federation. He later died of a broken heart, unable to bear what his people were becoming.

Admiral Anuka Bavrotti

Admiral T'Lar's replacement. Bavrotti and Bridges started with an adversarial relationship, occasionally interrupted by humor with the Admiral teasing him about his unkempt facial hair. At one point, the relationship got so tense that the Captain fretted that the Admiral was far more dangerous to his crew than any Romulans. One example was after an engagement with a single warbird. Captain Bridges needed 48 more hours to test ships systems following major repairs. The Admiral brusquely gave him 2 hours to get underway. Their relationship warmed somewhat with Bavrotti's appointment as Ambassador to Romulus. She intervened on Defiant's behalf on multiple occasions. One such instance was a violation of the Prime Directive when the ship went to planet Veridian IV to procure grain to help feed the Romulans. She returned to her position following the arrest of her successor, Admiral George Meade.

Admiral T'Lar

A female Vulcan Flag Officer and Captain Bridges' superior at Starfleet Command. Typically detached and stand-offish, Admiral T'Lar was, in fact, a Romulan agent placed to destabilize the region of space she was assigned, in preparation for an upcoming Romulan offensive. She murdered the Defiant's Borg crewmember, Bishop, and framed Bridges for the deed. Continuing her work, she attacked Defiant crewmembers and sowed discontent among the crew by promoting the First officer, Commander Adam Liben to Captain and giving him command of the Defiant. Her machinations were exposed with the help of the Cardassian Gul Otek, who also snapped her neck following her capture by the senior staff,

Admiral George Meade

A terran male from Earth. Admiral Meade replaced Anuka Bavrotti at Starfleet Command. From the beginning of their relationship, it was adversarial. The first instance was his insistence that Gold channel access be modified so that he could contact any individual onboard, circumventing the chain of command. Bridges steadfastly refused, maintaining that such an order would not only breach the chain of command, but would not be lawful. Matters deteriorated from there. During Defiant's visit to Vulcan following its withdrawal from the Federation, Meade ordered Bridges to seize certain Vulcan scientists and bring them to Starfleet Headquarters. It was revealed that Meade was behind multiple violations of Federation law, such as violation of the Prime Directive on Arubi, Hiring an [assassin]] to murder Jeffrey Bridges, framing a recovered Borg on trumped up charges of sabotage, and, failing all that, ordering the Defiant decommissioned, and the crew scattered. Meade was, in fact, involved in an "Earth first" movement that considered non-terrans as second class sentients. His plot and conspiracy were exposed during his final visit to the Defiant. He was arrested on charges of treason and demoted to Ensign prior to his court-martial.

With His Peers

Begrugia

At some point in the past Bridges invited the Klingon female to come aboard the Defiant and join his crew. She declined, until the day her "Idiot husband" passed on to Stovokor. To Jeffrey's delight she joined the crew and took over the running of "3 forward" the crew's lounge. She was an instant hit, despite the fact that she knew absolutely nothing about bartending. "You pour a few drinks, you kick out the loud obnoxious ones. How hard could it be?" She knew a great deal about Captain Bridges, to the point of being familiar with his favorite music.

Commander Mnet

The Romulan Commander had an unhealthy obsession with the Captain and crew of the Defiant, wanting to "Test them". It started with the Task force crewmembers. Capturing them following their visit to a derelict Borg station, he started with Oren Gannix. Following their escape and recovery by Captain Bridges and the Defiant, Mnet was excited for the chance to finally test the legendary Captain Jeffrey Bridges. The 'test' was cut short by the timely intervention of the Romulan Senator Dreschik. Despite that, Mnet never gave up on his obsessive desire to 'test' those he considered inferior, right to the end.

Gul Erel Otek

From the beginning, Captain Bridges held Gul Otek at arm's length. Not only because of what he'd done, but by the very nature of his personality. Deceit and misdirection were the tools of his trade. The only time he conceded to anything offered by the Cardassian spy when it was at the behest of the senior staff or Starfleet Command. When Otek returned to Defiant following his betrayal of Ry Emeras, He sat quietly while his wife punched Otek in the mouth.

Captain Gabriel Stonelake

Terran male, Commanding Officer of the Ambassador-class Starship USS Wayfarer (NCC-10536). Best friends with Captain Bridges for many years. Captain Stonelake (Or Stone, as his friends call him) was born and raised in Texas, on planet Earth, and spoke with a southern drawl. Had been romantically pursuing Bergrugia, despite Jeffrey's warnings and Begrugia's rebuffs. Despite this, She considered Stonelake "Passably handsome for a human". Captain Stonelake also commanded the joint Romulan/Cardassian/Federation Task Force at Docent Sigma.

With His Subordinates

Lieutenant Commander Tom Backus

Following the (apparent) death of LCDR Ry Emeras following the rescue mission to the Cardassian facility at Destor Muht, Tom Backus refused to accept that "The Sister of my Heart" was dead. He said he would've felt it. He insisted she was alive, and something had happened to her. Bridges called him in, urging him to deal with this, because couldn't afford to lose them both. Following his chat with Tom, his own doubts began to surface, and after talking to his wife and Chief medical officer Laine Rael, he slowly came around to Tom's side. After Tom was contacted by the Cardassian Gul Otek with proof, Bridges, as well as the Cardassian and Romulan governments organized a joint task for the purpose of apprehending her kidnapper, Commander Mnet, and terminate his experiments in the environmentally delicate Docent Sigma system

Lieutenant Commander Kit Barton

Assigned to the Defiant at the behest of Admiral Bavrotti, His arrival engendered immediate suspicion, especially from the Captain. "I have no objection to you personally, Commander Barton, only to the circumstances of your assignment." When Barton promised to try to stay out of the way, Bridges countered; "This ship is too small for anyone to simply stay out of the way. We all depend on each other onboard the Defiant".

Lieutenant Kiahi Darcy

As Captain of the Defiant, Captain Bridges had the rare privilege of officiating at the wedding of LT Kiahi Darcy and LT Oren Ganix. He also assigned Kiahi as crew captain representing the Federation at the Starfleet/ Cardassian Regatta.

Lieutenant Commander Judah Friese

During the Romulan war, Judah asked Captain Bridges for permission to return to the remnants of the Romulan prison at Zaid to study the temporal anomalies permeating there. He wanted to be a scientist again, just for a little bit. With the war occupying everyone, Being an explorer again appealed to him. The Captain grudgingly granted permission. As a precaution, however, he dispatched Firefly as cover without informing Commander Friese. It turned out to be a sound decision as the shuttle Judah and Ensign Suren were on was ambushed by the Romulan Warbird Shin'Aqi. Her new Captain, Commander Truen was hoping for an easy capture. Thanks to the Captain's foresight, she came away empty handed. The Captain then reluctantly ordered all the research data turned over to the Federation Science Bureau and the Vulcan Science Academy, as Defiant had been ordered back to the battlefront.

Ensign Holubiak

The male El-Aurian was one of the survivors of the transport ship Lakul. He joined the ship late, along with Magus Brel. At his request, the Captain accompanied the Counselor to Captain James T. Kirk's grave on Veridian III.

Commander Laine Rael

The Bajoran Chief medical officer was Jeffrey's wife, best friend, sounding board, confidante. Their relationship was balanced between her duties to the ship, crew and captain, and his duties to her, the mission, the crew and the ship. That did not mean there weren't clashes. Jeffrey intervened when Magus pleaded with Laine to be returned to duty during a battle with a Romulan warbird. She had been injured on a earlier mission, and her eyes required regular treatment. Magus finally did an end run and pleaded her case directly to the Captain. Jeffrey then called Dr. Laine urging her to release Magus so she could return to the bridge. Over her better judgement, Rael relented. After the battle, Bridges had to endure "The wrath of my wife".

Commander Adam Lebin

Captain Bridges' First officer for over 15 years, Lebin was rooted in rules and regulations. So when Admiral T'Lar had Captain Bridges arrested for the murder of the Borg Bishop, He did his duty and assumed command of the Defiant. The crew did not react well. Four of the crew took off in a Firefly-class auxiliary craft to find evidence clearing the Captain. Another group went AWOL to try and locate and free the captain. This left Lebin feeling abandoned by the senior staff. It wasn't until Counselor Holubiak intervened on behalf of the Commander did the crew come around. Later, when Bridges came down with his neuromuscular disorder, he challenged Lebin to make sure his decisions were still sound, and to relieve him if he felt his infirmity had compromised his ability to remain in command. Following Defiant's mission to Vulcan, Lebin asked him to step down before the CMO, his wife would be forced to relieve him for medical reasons. In a lighter vein, Commander Lebin was a consummate tinkerer, to the point Captain Bridges had to insist: "This an order from your Captain. Do not disassemble my baby grand. Understood?"

Lieutenant Magas Brel

Though quite young for her rank, Bridges made the young Bajoran his new Security chief. She performed her duties with distinction, but was easily frustrated by her own high standards. She crossed the line when she accepted a Gold channel call direct from Admiral Bavrotti, circumventing the Captain. She assigned her, as well as Task Force Defiant on a secret mission to the Breen homeworld. The mission succeeded, but Lieutenant Oren Ganix was killed. Guilt ridden, she confessed to Bridges and apologized. The Admiral offered her a promotion as a bribe for her silence, but she declined. She also set up a bypass so that any Gold channel transmission would go directly to the Captain from now on.

Lieutenant Commander Ry Emeras

Captain Bridges fretted that Ry Emeras was continually putting herself in harm's way because of Hubris. He tried to talk her out of mounting a rescue mission to the Cardassian planet Destur Muht for Gul Otek's children as well as her brother, Ry Arlnan. He warned her that Otek could not be trusted, and he would betray her at the first opportunity. True to form, he incapacitated her and left her on a facility rigged to explode as he made his escape. Mounting a joint Romulan/Cardassian/Federation Task Force, he went to where she was being held a planet named Docent Sigma, and rescued her, Magas Brel, and the last survivor of the Rossilyn Mine, a terran named George.

Ensign Suren

When Vulcan separated from the Federation, Captain Bridges offered to arrange for transport back to Vulcan for the young Ensign. Surren politely declined, saying that he was a Starfleet Officer. Bridges offered, "Let me know if you change your mind and want to go home." Surren quietly replied, "Sir, the Defiant IS my home."

Memorable Quotes

"Adam, I want you to listen carefully to what I'm about to tell you. This is a direct order from your Captain. DO NOT disassemble my baby grand. Understood?" - Episode 35

"Let's not do the polite thing, Otek. I don't have the time, or the inclination."

"I sacrificed Brel today. When will it be my duty to sacrifice you, Rael?" - Episode 37

"Space, the final frontier. These are the chronicles of the starship Defiant. To keep the charge entrusted by those who had gone before. To continue the quest of the new and the unknown. To go with honor and courage. The far and wondrous distance." - Opening, all episodes up to 50