Bridge

The Bridge is the nerve center of the station. The Head of Personnel and Captain start the round in their respective offices, both of which have easy access to the bridge. Situated in the center of the station, it provides great visibility of the central hallway and fast access for the few crewmembers with enough clearance. Security and defense can be difficult but the blast doors waiting behind every external door and window can improve that a little, and break-in attempts can be hard to hide from others wandering the central hallway. The AI upload chamber - and its SMES - can be relatively safely accessed through the reinforced walls below.

The Bridge and the communications console obviously require Bridge access to enter and use.

The bridge is full of computers. From left to right:

• Security Records
• Security Cameras
• Mining Shuttle Console
• Communications Console - the central computer; unlike the others this is hidden behind barriers and impossible to see from outside the bridge.
• Station Alert Computer
• Crew Monitoring Computer
• Medical Records

Even with all these it's often wise to construct a few more - particularly an AI upload computer, so that when your electronic friend goes haywire you don't have to wade through shocked doors and turrets to reset it. It's not impossible that the Particle Accelerator console will be dragged up here too, to instead prevent it from being used.

There are several other restricted or rare items, including an Intellicard, spare PDAs and IDs, a Fire Axe, some flashes and a secure briefcase locked with a 5-digit code. Nanotrasen have also thoughtfully provided a medkit and a box of donuts for those code-red emergency snacks.

The bridge is one of the locations that has its own Teleporter tracking beacon.

Due to the enormous window the bridge is a pretty bad place for high-clearance conversations. The peasants tend to get antsy if the blast doors stay shut for no obvious reason, too. It's usually best to use the Conference Room instead. It's not all negative, though - any improper behaviour is in full view of passers-by, so your corpse won't stay undiscovered for long!

Ordering an Evacuation

Using the Communcations Console, the Escape Shuttle can be called by any Heads of Staff, the AI and its Cyborgs, or anyone with Bridge access. The same people, except the AI and its Cyborgs, can recall the shuttle so long as 5 minutes have not passed since it was called. Typically, the shuttle should not be called without the Captain's authorization.

During Revolution, Malfunction and Blob game modes, the shuttle can be called but it will never arrive.