Brett Anderson

Admiral Brett Anderson was a Human male Starfleet flag officer who lived during the mid-23rd century. 

Starfleet career
Anderson eventually joined Starfleet and, sometime prior to 2256, rose to the rank of Admiral. 

Encountering the Klingons
On May 11th, 2256, Anderson was contacted by Philippa Georgiou of the USS Shenzhou regarding contact with a Klingon artifact in Federation space. Anderson ordered Georgiou to hold her position, while the USS Europa and other Starfleet vessels in range diverted to their location. 

As Klingon reinforcements arrived and attacked the other Starfleet vessels, Anderson arrived at the site aboard the Europa, where he contacted the Klingon leader, T'Kuvma, to negotiate a cease-fire. T'Kuvma, recognizing the admiral as "someone worthy of our attention", had one of his cloaked vessels ram the Europa, with Anderson still aboard. The Europa activated its auto-destruct sequence moments later. 

Memorable quotes
"Next time, you might try not disturbing the property of a warrior race we've hardly spoken to for a hundred years."
 * - Brett Anderson, to Michael Burnham after encountering the Klingons

"The ideal outcome for any Klingon interaction is battle. They're relentlessly hostile, sir. It's in their nature."

"The Federation and the Klingon Empire have always been on the cold side of war. We've had only fleeting run-ins with them for a century. And now you presume to know their motivation because it's "in their nature"? Considering your background, I would think you're the last person to make assumptions based on race."
 * - Michael Burnham and Brett Anderson, discussing the "nature" of the Klingons

"Let's end this, so we can get–... What was that?"
 * - Brett Anderson's possible final words

Background information
Brett Anderson was portrayed by Terry Serpico.

Apocrypha
The Pocket DIS novel Desperate Hours establishes that Admiral Anderson was the superior officer for the sector of space the Shenzhou was operating in. Furthermore, he was responsible for deciding that Michael Burnham be promoted to first officer of the Shenzhou in 2255, over the more experienced Saru. That year, in response to a crisis on Sirsa III at which the Shenzhou was present, Anderson instructed Christopher Pike, Georgiou's subordinate by experience, to take the Enterprise to the planet and eliminate the threat by photon torpedo bombardment, which would involve the collateral demise of the planet's colonial population. However, his orders did not need to be enacted.

The Discovery novel Drastic Measures establishes that in 2246, Anderson was stationed at Starbase 11 when a distress call was received from the nearby colony world of Tarsus IV after they found their food supplies under attack by an exotic fungus. Anderson responded to the call, informing the colonists he would arrange for assistance as soon as possible, but warned the colonists it would probably take some time to pull ships from their current assignments to assist the colony. Anderson did manage to have the diverted to assist the colonists, the ship arrived much sooner than was expected, but not in time to stop then Governor Kodos and his people from killing 4,000 colonists. Anderson later arranged for the USS Enterprise to be diverted to the colony to follow up on the efforts of the Narbonne.