
Officer Roles
The following roles are typically staffed on UCN Skirmish and Hoplite class vessels. Depending on crew complement and needs of assignment, not all of these roles are always viable or necessary; multiple roles can be staffed by one officer if necessitated by crew size.
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Helms
OPERATIONS TEAM
Skills
- Good reflexes
- Steady hand
- Quick-thinking
Description
Navigate around asteroids, go to warp speed, corner your foes - piloting the ship is the Helm Officer’s trade.
Helm Officer Vijay Wei saved forty-five lives when weapons systems failed on the UCS Garland. Wei’s skilled piloting through an asteroid field left enemy forces unable to give chase.
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Weapons - Beams
OPERATIONS TEAM
Skills
- Accuracy
- Initiative
- Situational awareness
Description
Operating the ship’s beams and shields, the Beams Officer is both the ship's first line of defence and their primary means of attack.
During a close fought single-ship action of the First Adamas War, Gunnery Officer Second Class Apollo Kiriakou was awarded commendation for having remained at his station despite massive system overheat. His beam capacitors peaked out at 847°C.
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Weapons - Missiles
OPERATIONS TEAM
Skills
- Accuracy
- Initiative
- Situational awareness
Description
Railguns, torpedoes, EMPs and Mines - everything in the ship’s formidable ballistic arsenal is the responsibility of the Missiles Officer.
The longest-range unguided hit in the UCN’s history was achieved by Weapons Officer Walter ‘Crosshairs’ Emerson, who fired six rounds of railgun ammunition at an oncoming enemy frigate. Five of the six rounds struck their target, 51.9 kilometres from Emerson’s firing location.
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Communications
SCIENCE TEAM
Skills
- Self-assurance
- Diplomacy
- Level-headedness
Description
Plan tactical manoeuvres with your allies, relay orders, negotiate with or threaten your enemies - the Comms Officer is the voice of the crew.
A major disaster was avoided when Communications Officer Mo Gruffud kept their cool and defused a stand-off between UCN forces after an enemy deception strategy led to accusations of treason. Gruffud kept lines of communication open and, together with their fellow officers, exposed the enemy interference.
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Radar
SCIENCE TEAM
Skills
- Eye for detail
- Alertness
- Lateral thinking
Description
Every mission brings back new findings - a Radar Officer gathers and distributes crucial information, whether to find a tactical edge in combat, or whilst researching and recording the wonders of space.
Science Officer Sofia Bulgakova of the UCS Ajax used an encyclopedic understanding of shield technology to detect weaknesses in a pursuing much larger enemy vessel. Her speedy calculations saved three thousand lives.
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Skills
- Map-reading
- Coordination
- Seeing the big picture
Description
Plan a route, find your way out of a jam. Keep the captain and crew informed of the whereabouts of you, your friends, and your foes.
When his flotilla’s sensor arrays became inhibited, Commander Helmut 'Sextant' Rothwell became famous for his precision as a navigator when he successfully led the entire group out of an asteroid-filled nebula near the Adamas Belt. All of his plotting and calculations were based entirely on his naked-eye astral observations.
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Chief Engineer
ENGINEERING TEAM
Skills
- Team Coordination
- Long term planning
- Imagination
Description
Redirect coolant, monitor energy levels, full power to the engines - a starship is a complex beast, and the Chief Engineer keeps it running smoothly.
The Engineering Team of the UCS Ajax earned medals after an asteroid collision severely damaged their reactor. Making use of jury-rigged fuses and displaying excellent initiative under pressure, they prevented total power failure and got the ship and her crew home in one piece.
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Physical Repair Engineer
ENGINEERING TEAM
Skills
- Multitasking
- Snap decisions
- Cool under pressure
Description
Repair bots or duct tape - a good Physical Repair officer uses whatever they can to keep a ship in one piece.
Thanks to Engineering Officer Second Class Christina Mtimbe, the heavily damaged UCS Bradley was able to limp home with her impulse drive completely destroyed, forcing a dangerously long journey at warp speed. The warp core came within seconds of catastrophic instability, but Mtimbe used emergency coolant at the last possible moment, ensuring the ship safely reached a UCN station.
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Drone Control
ENGINEERING TEAM
Skills
- Initiative
- Organisation
- Decisiveness
Description
Wielding a diverse fleet of drone craft, the Drone Controller can leap to the ship’s defence or provide deadly assistance in attack.
Drone Controller Gil Suarez unwittingly pioneered the tactical application of mine laying drones. Usually deployed for the placement of strategic, area-denial mine fields, Suarez employed mine-layer drones for a last ditch defence of the crippled UCS Makhanda, launching mines directly at oncoming hostiles.
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Shuttle Helm
SHUTTLE TEAM
Skills
- Good reflexes
- Steady hand
- Quick-thinking
Description
Piloting the smaller, more maneuverable shuttle, the Shuttle Helm can position their craft to strike where larger ships cannot.
Now-celebrated Rear Admiral Morgan Xi began their career as the humble Helm Officer of a personnel transfer shuttle. They often cite their experience of conversing with a diverse array of officers as foundational to their deep understanding of UCN leadership structures, and crucial to their later success in reforming UCN fleet doctrine.
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Shuttle Systems
SHUTTLE TEAM
Skills
- Alertness
- Multitasking
- Communication
Description
A jack-of-all-trades and a master of them too, a good Shuttle Systems Officer serves as communicator, gunner and navigator for their small craft.
Sub Lieutenant Rosie ‘Good Cop’ Tanaka gained UCN fame when she saved her shuttle from pirate ambushers. Alone on the vessel due to a previous boarding action, Tanaka convinced hostile elements that she was barely reining in her trigger happy weapons operator from deploying nuclear arms - in reality she quickly switched between her roles as ship’s communicator, scientist, and weapons officer, spooling up heat beams to mimic a larger weapons array.
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Shuttle Engineer
SHUTTLE TEAM
Skills
- Attention to Detail
- Responsiveness
- Problem-solving
Description
With power levels, coolant and damage control systems at their disposal, the Shuttle Engineer must seize every opportunity to get the most out of their compact vessel.
Despite running on only a single fuel cell, Shuttle Engineer Grace Denby sustained her shuttle, The UCS Bellerophon-S, over a 49 sector warp by rerouting latent chemical energy from the vessel’s munitions.
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First Officer
COMMAND TEAM
Skills
- Collaboration
- Decisiveness
- Compassion
Description
A Captain cannot be everywhere at once. Also called an Executive Officer or XO, the First Officer is the Captain’s right hand, providing counsel, and taking command when necessary. When the ship's shuttle is deployed, a First Officer commands its crew.
92% of Captains in the UCN today gained their first experience of command while serving as a First Officer. One such was Captain Athena Hamilton, who currently serves as Captain of the UCS Falchion – part of the Warspite Task Group in the Adamas Belt.
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Captain
COMMAND TEAM
Skills
- Leadership
- Decision-making
- Delegation
Description
Every good captain knows how to seize command, but also knows how to listen to their crew - the Captain must give their crew direction, purpose and cohesion.
Vice Admiral Nilsson, then-Captain of the UCS Mandela, was awarded the Confederation Star for her quick-thinking and bravery at the Second Battle of Iaptus three years ago. By rallying her crew, communicating with other UCN ships, and planning a precise flanking manoeuvre, Nilsson was able to hold off enemy forces until reinforcements arrived - no mean feat, given the UCS Mandela was a light scouting vessel.