Character from deaths-end by
Captain of Blue Space — the man who saved his ship from the Battle of Darkness by trusting his crew to vacuum, and broadcast Trisolaris's coordinates to the galaxy.
Chu Yan is the rare commander who can hear an unbearable conclusion and act on it without performing reluctance. When all five Starship Earth captains realize they cannot all survive, he understands the math and chooses defense over preemption: he depressurizes his ship and puts his crew into suits while the others fire. Blue Space lives. Months later, when the Earth's deterrence breaks and the gravitational-wave broadcaster on Gravity becomes humanity's last possible answer, he is the one who calls the vote and pulls the trigger that reveals Trisolaris's location to the dark forest — knowing it also reveals the Sun's. He is not heroic by temperament; he is decisive by temperament, and very tired.
Tall, thin, hair shaved close. The slightly stretched proportions of a long-tour spacer. Wears the ash-colored Asian Fleet uniform with the rank stripped off after Blue Space goes rogue. A long pale scar across the back of one hand from the boarding fight. Steady, level voice; very few wasted gestures.
Also known as: 褚岩, Chu, Captain Chu