Admiral Michael Souther

Admiral Michael Souther was an Admiral in the United Nations Navy, initially serving as Fleet Admiral before stepping down and being assigned to command the Jupiter Fleet and the UNN Agatha King.

Souther is honorable, steadfast, and rational. Unlike many of his colleagues in military command, he heavily dislikes war and violence and is always seen attempting to dissuade hostile responses and dissolve conflicts. He values the lives of his soldiers above all else, and is reticent to commit troops to any maneuvers that would be deemed as an escalation. His character and experience have garnered a lot of respect and admiration from UN soldiers, as roughly half of the UN fleet was willing to oppose direct orders from Commander Nguyen and defect, on Souther's word alone.

Souther has a discrete and reasonable approach, refusing to jump to conclusions when he doesn't have all the information, and is uncompromising when it comes to his morals, as he stepped down from his prestigious position in fleet command due to his ethical disagreements with UN leadership. Avasarala has pointed out that this quality of his is a flaw as well as a virtue; after all, his refusal to be complicit in the UN's actions caused him to lose all of his influence, which ended up costing him and his soldiers heavily.