Executive Officer
| Executive Officer | |
|---|---|
 Handing out AA at the XO office, nobody tell Captain! | |
| Information | |
| Access | Full access to all civil and supply departments, Weapon Permit, Morgue, Security Office, Brig, Research Division, Medbay, Engineering, Construction Area, Maintenance, EVA, AI Upload, Bridge, Vault, Gateway, XO locker, Personal Lockers, Full ID console access. |
| Additional Access | N/A |
| Difficulty | Hard |
| Supervisors | Captain, Space Law, and Nanotrasen Officials |
| Rank | Commander (CDR) |
| Duties | Alter access on ID cards, Manage and assign squad members, ensure each department is running efficiently, promote synergy. |
| Guides | Chain of Command Guide to Paperwork Guide to squads |
You are the Executive Officer of your assigned vessel. Otherwise known as the XO, you are the second in command and are responsible for keeping the ship running as efficiently as possible. Although you look like and have a similar appearance to a Head of Personnel on a space station, you are not the HoP. Your duties as the XO go beyond access modification and instead have you serving a vital role on the ship.
Bare minimum requirements: Man the XO line for the first 10 minutes to modify identification cards, keep in touch with squad leaders, man the bridge during combat if CIC is understaffed.
Familiar surroundings[edit | edit source]
As the right hand of the Captain, you are entrusted with your own office not unlike a Head of Personnel’s, complete with shutters, a windoor, an ID modification console, and your personal equipment. Depending on the make and model of the vessel, you may also have your own personal room and restroom. Regardless of the ship, you are equipped standard with a variety of useful tools such as an Ion sabre (does brute damage unpowered, when activated has a stronger stun than a telebaton), a command glock (non-lethal stun rounds), an armored vest, and more.
Keeping things shipshape[edit | edit source]
ID Changes[edit | edit source]
Not unlike a HoP, you are expected to modify identification cards at the beginning of a shift and periodically when it is requested of you to meet the ship’s needs or perform demotions.
To use the ID console, enter the ID you wish to modify, followed by yours to authenticate it. Once there, you may select a job to automatically change the access to that job’s equivalent. Alternatively, you may select a department and grant or revoke access for specific areas, such as maintenance, toxins, the kitchen, the brig, the vault. You may also set jobs as “custom” to create and name your own new jobs or hide access from others.
Job Slots[edit | edit source]
Your ID console has the ability to open and close slots for the vast majority of jobs, changing what roles are available for players joining late into the round. You can also set certain jobs to priority which will be indicated to arriving players. This is useful for recruiting replacements for incompetent dead heads of staff, security, or other crucial roles.
Acting Captain[edit | edit source]
More likely than not, you'll find yourself captainless. Since you're the next highest in command, that makes you Acting Captain. Congrats! You get all the responsiblities of captain on top of your XO duties, without the bonus pay!
So while we wait for your boss to (hopefully) show up, you'll need to get this ship moving. The key is to delegate. You can't run an entire ship yourself, and even if you could, it's not recommended. Your original duties still stand and take precedent over your new ones. You still manage each department and you still pick up the slack where needed, the difference is that you call the shots and have the power to get things moving.
Review your assigned objectives and make sure you keep tabs on your departments while you guide the ship on its patrol. Coordinate with Engineering to keep your drive spooled and with Munitions before jumping into combat to ensure you're actually combat ready. Since you'll mostly be focused in CIC, trust your departments to handle the details. You have access to all the communications channels for a reason. Tell them what you need, and let them worry about how to carry it out. Only intervene if you have to. You got bigger fish to fry, after all.
If you have support in CIC in the form of Bridge Officers or other Heads who want to help instead of remaining in their departments, you have more wiggle room to move around, but you should still primarily be in CIC calling the shots and plotting your next course of action.
If you find yourself lacking in combat-necessary departments, its time to delegate with a firmer hand. The fact of the matter is that you need certain positions filled, and if no one wants to volunteer, you volunteer them. Power needs to be established, guns need to be loaded, guns need to be fired, and the ship needs to be flown. You are only one person, so do what you must to get the ship ship-shape. You are the Acting Captain, and whether they like it or not, your crew will have to listen.
Managing Departments[edit | edit source]
Unlike a HoP, you are in charge of managing ALL departments. This does not mean take direct control of a department’s operations, but instead relay orders from the captain or give them yourself to ensure that Engineering is spooling the FTL in a timely manner and repairing the hull, Medical is actually doing their job, Security isn’t corrupt, Science is focusing their research towards productive items and not less ethical ventures, and that Cargo and munitions are cooperating to keep the flow of ammunition to guns and fighters efficient. While this all sounds overwhelming, you’ll not have to venture to a particular department to understand it has problems - keep your eye on the radio feed, address problems, and visit departments to steer them back to work. Or don’t, take some time for yourself sometimes, man.
Squads[edit | edit source]
All civilian and service personnel are eligible to be rolled into one of (up to) four squads: Apple, Butter, Charlie, and Duff. Select individuals will also be chosen as squad leaders (toggled in job preferences) to manage and direct each squad. These squads have their own radio system which you are able to tap into so long as you have your pager in your backpack. You are also able to assign or reassign squad members or other civilians to two other squads: emergency medical and anti-boarder. Emergency medical teams, as the name suggests, act as paramedics to find, retrieve, and prevent the death or severe injury of crewmembers. Consider assigning someone trustworthy like the CMO, Clown, a medical doctor, or even yourself to be the squad leader and coordinate accordingly.
Finally, you can assign the anti-boarder team. These individuals are given standard glock pistols with lethal ammo to repel syndicate boarding parties. These weapons are not available until you or the Captain initiates the anti-boarding procedure, in which case weapons will be open at the squad vendor on loan. Once you are certain the enemy threat is gone, retract the emergency order using the squad console and instruct the anti-boarder team to return their guns. Unreturned guns can be checked at the squad vendor to see who they are on loan to. Furthermore, squad guns will emit an audible beeping noise for easier detection. Be cautious about who you assign to an anti-boarding team and use common sense to discern the loyal crewmembers from the irrational lunatics, lest you end up arming the wrong side Note that assigning civilians to the anti-boarding team is not the same as assigning them to security.
Located in briefing is the squad vendor where breach sealing equipment is dispensed to the damage control team, medical supplies to the medical response team, and weapons to the boarding team. Occasionally check this machine to find out who is loaning out what and that emergency materials are not being wasted.
For more information on squads, check out the dedicated guide
Setting conditions[edit | edit source]
You also have access, using the communications console in your office, to set the condition of the ship to any of the following:
- Standard Operation: By default the state the ship is set in - munitions, fighters, and other important job members can relax and do not need to be at their posts. Manually set the condition to this if it does not revert automatically or you deem the current situation not fitting of general quarters.
- General quarters: Automatically triggered during combat and changes the color of all lights to red for a moment. During this time all crew members are to report to their posts and squads should begin to prepare to fulfill their assigned duty.
- Condition Zebra: Setting the ship to condition Zebra indicates that the ship is in imminent critical danger. When this is in effect, the expectations of all personnel are directed to preserving the ship or evacuating. Be very cautious of engaging Zebra as departmental interlocks will activate, blocking off hallways to prevent damage.
Ian[edit | edit source]
Amidst the terror of nuclear weapons, boarders, incompetent crewmembers and traitors, you still have Ian. This faithful companion will see you through thick and thin. Above all, protect him with your life. Ian starts as a puppy but with every shift he survives grows older, becoming a fully mature dog and eventually an elder doggo you can be proud of and remember the great adventures you’ve had with. Or just chop him up for the corgi meat cargo bounty, you sadist.
