Commanding Officer Application - wiking
What is your BYOND key?
wiking
What is your Discord ID?
Wiking#2553
What is your timezone in UTC?
UTC/GMT-5
Player Name You Use Most?
Annette Lorraine (Formerly Annette Habsburg)/Gretta Swahili
Ban Appeals, Whitelist and Staff Applications:
None
Have you been banned in the last 3 months?
Once a few weeks ago for EoRG.
If so, why?
I was playing Bravo SL and using mortar for the first time and trying to get practice in. At the round’s end the CO was sending announcements asking for everyone to leave Nexus as there was a lurker present and he figured he’d OB it. I offered to use the mortar instead and it was approved. Delta Spec apparently wandered into Nexus despite the announcements and was hit by the mortar. I was perhaps a bit too eager to get more practice in dropping rounds but it was not a deliberate attempt to grief.
Command Knowledge:
How familiar are you with command positions?
I am familiar with both of the primary CIC roles: XO (47 hours) and SO (76 hours). I have decent familiarity with medbay having 24 hours as CMO. I am familiar with commanding in the field and try to command proactively and communicate with CIC when I am playing SL. I have no playtime as the other department heads but am familiar with their role in the SOP/ML and have interacted with them as XO and SO a lot.
Hours in XO:
47
Hours in SL:
164
Character Information:
Why did your character decide to become the CO of a ship?
While Annette’s ancestors held wealth and political power in the distant past, the rise of the UPP in central Europe was not kind to them. Faced with persecution, arrest, or outright execution, her family fled to the United Americas where, like so many cases of emigres fleeing from radical revolution, they entered military service with the dream of someday fighting to retake their home and power.
After the decades stretched on with their homeland still in communist hands military service simply became an unofficial tradition for the Lorraine children on behalf of their adopted homeland. Annette’s older brother and sister were both officers, her parents were officers, and her grandparents were officers. She never really considered entering a different career and continues to obediently serve how she always assumed she would serve.
How did your character attain the position of CO?
Annette’s most dramatic taste of combat was in her service as Executive Officer aboard the USS Alberta when a point-blank UPP ambush killed her CO and most of her crew. Rallying the remaining Marines and enduring point-blank ground-to-orbital defense fire she managed to avoid the total loss of her ship and crew despite long odds by ordering a rapid and risky combat drop. The success of her operation did not manage to save the Alberta from the scrapyard but it did manage to earn her an oak leaf.
Provide a short story of your CO.
Command Actions:
When do you believe it’s appropriate to pardon a prisoner?
I personally believe that the unilateral nature of the pardon means it really should only be used when I believe a crime has been mis-appealed, an offender was genuinely ignorant about their mistake, or a crime was a product of circumstances intended to further the success of the operation. A pardon should also only be used when it’s clear that the perpetrator is very unlikely to reoffend.
Give some examples of when you would or would not use pardon.
I receive a report that one of my squad leads has been found guilty of a manslaughter charge and their squad is clearly extremely upset by it. Apparently the Marine was shoved repeatedly by the Corporate Liaison and after requests to stop were ignored reacted by drawing their knife and inadvertently decapitating the Liason. I have had this marine in my squad during my time as SL and they’ve repeatedly been eager to take up responsibility as aSL and had a good attitude.
-I would likely pardon this marine, despite their inappropriate escalation and technical guilt. Given the Marine was clearly not the one initiating the fight it seems very unlikely that they’re going to reoffend. As well I believe that having quality leadership for squads is operationally important and will make the round much more enjoyable.
The ship’s sole doctor has been arrested for taking an SSD’d Marine and deciding to perform some “experimentation” by swapping their limbs for robotic ones, earning a Crimes Against Humanity charge. The doctor rather flippantly explains that hugged are reported to be coming up and that I need to pardon them so they can do their job, offering no remorse for their actions.
-I would not pardon this Marine. Even ignoring the fact that a Crimes Against Humanity charge is a capital offense necessitating a fax to the provost, I do not believe they’re even remotely remorseful of their actions and they are likely to reoffend. To keep the ship functioning in their absence I’d probably have myself or the XO on standby to help out with emergency surgery in medbay while using the combat tablet to conduct what operations we can.
I ask over engineering comms for a report on my orbital bombardment and about a minute or two thereafter get a reply that the OB is loaded and information on the type. I do not pay much attention to who sent it assuming they’re an MT or SO and simply thank them and prepare for the operation to start. Later I get a call from the brig. The person over the radio was an inexperienced CT from Bravo squad who wasn’t familiar with procedure and entered the open engineering door. After finding them there the CE ordered them arrested for trespass.
-I would likely pardon the Comtech. Given they were in active communication with the CO it feels as though I have almost given ‘de facto’ approval for their actions even if I wasn’t paying attention to who was reporting to me. In addition it seems from the fact that they were reporting things up to me that they were genuinely attempting to be helpful.
The Chief Engineer has apparently arrested the RO for theft after the RO took some material from engineering without authorization. I recognize the RO as a capable but headstrong player who has little known history of causing trouble for the MPs.
-It would depend a bit upon talking to the RO and their current attitude but I would almost certainly pardon this crime. Not only is the RO capable, unlikely to reoffend, and operationally important, they were almost certainly acting in the best interest of the operation when trying to scramble-together a good early FOB drop.
When do you believe it’s appropriate to use a Battlefield Execution?
A BE is a unique and irreversible ability to take a character out of the round at the sole judgment of a single individual. I think that it is a very important tool but also I believe that realistically speaking the sole job of the CO is to ensure the greatest number of players under their command enjoy the round. Being BE’d is extremely shitty, particularly if you don’t feel it’s deserved. Misuse of it can also reflect poorly on the role of CO as a whole and it can also deny the MPs a role in the command structure if you don’t give them the opportunity to do their job.
That being said, the inverse is also true. It’s an extremely valuable tool to protect the players underneath you from grief, incompetence, and malevolence that can derail their round. I believe that the BE should be used carefully and sparingly to keep the game on track.
Give some examples of when you would or would not use Battlefield Execution.
A PO has, several times now, strafed friendly lines. They’re unrepentant over comms and the marines are pretty upset about constantly losing barricades and taking losses to friendly fire.
-I would not use a BE for this. A PO is pretty stupid easy to arrest in their cockpit. I’d probably call the MPs to the hangar and personally supervise the arrest as it’s operationally important to get the PO out of the cockpit. If no MPs were available I would issue a BE.
A Pyro spec is wandering the briefing hall lighting fires between the squad assembly areas. They haven’t set a marine on fire yet but have been using their flamethrower to block off the nearby MPs that are demanding they stop.
-I would use a BE in this case. It’s pretty clear the player is using their title of spec to grief and the fact that they’re actively setting things on fire means they’re a clear and present threat. Nothing of value will be lost to the operation.
A mortar has been accused of several friendly fire incidents trying to use old coordinates to walk rounds into the xenos and firing mostly blindly. Friendly FTLs have been screaming at them to hold fire and let the front advance but the mortarman has been adamant that they can help. While deploying I pass through the FOB and see them continuing to sling rounds.
-I would BE in this case, a bad mortar is far worse than no mortar and it’s clear that this player has no interest in teamplay or the success of the operation.
The Liaison has been accused of breeding xenos. Coming into his office with a group of MPs we’re confronted with a storage-cell full of a small but clearly hostile hive. He’s adamant that he doesn’t know where it came from but unconfirmed reports of him buying plasma and other shady stuff have been surfacing all round.
-I would not BE in this case, despite his clear guilt and the damage he has caused to the operation he is no longer in a position where he can hinder us more than he already has. I would also not dream of stealing the opportunity of letting the MPs get a firing squad set up and executing him for sedition. It is both higher RP and much more fun for all involved (including the liaison).
