#105 Command Structure-Orders Standing Taller Than Men
“Where there is no vision, the people perish.”
— Proverbs 29:18
The NRI is not a military unit and, consequently, maintains a far more fluid chain of command than its contemporaries in house armed forces. Authority is divided by appointment and specialisation, rather than rank. For instance, an operative assigned to lead a xenobiology research study would have authority over matters relating to their particular team and field second only to the Fleet Director, but no standing rank outside that speciality.
Informally; however, some segments of the Initiative derived from the Liberty Navy have resisted the transition to the Order’s independent structure in favour of retaining the system of officer ranks and ratings utilised by the First Fleet. This tendency is most common among fleet support elements, where the naval presence is strongest. Therefore, while the captain of a Bison-class auxiliary may be referred to by his crew and naval colleagues as ‘Lieutenant Commander Jones,’ his formal place in the command structure is that of an operative appointed to a commanding officer position.
Some common appointments have been listed below; however, the list is far from exhaustive, and appointments may be created or removed as fleet requirements dictate.
Fleet Director
Shouldering accountability for hundreds of lives, the Fleet Director is responsible for the ongoing external operations of the NRI, and the survival of Apotheosis and her attendant fleet. They assign missions, determine appointments, and, when battle is inevitable, the Fleet Director chooses the slain with a spoken order and a keystroke.
Commanding Officer: Apotheosis
Though technically no more significant than any other command appointment, the captain of Apotheosis nonetheless wields significant influence in the fleet. Responsible for the operations of fleet flagship, the Commanding Officer of Apotheosis dictates the day to day operations and missions of the largest asset available to the NRI. While the Fleet Director may task the flagship with the destruction a particular threat, it falls to Apotheosis’ CO to decide the best means to carry out those orders, whether it be by stealth, direct engagement or, more likely, the assignment of other fleet assets. As aboard any multi-crew starship, the CO is also formally responsible for shipboard matters such as security, morale, and discipline; however, these internal tasks are usually assigned to an appointed Executive Officer.
Operatives
The rank and file of the NRI, operatives generally hold varying degrees of authority appropriate to their specialisation (‘mustering’ among the ex-military members of the fleet) and appointment, whether it be as a fighter pilot, squadron leader, surgeon, or any of the countless other specialists a fleet requires on a daily basis. It is not uncommon for a single operative to fill multiple appointments. Pilots, for instance, often spend the majority of their time on-ship engaged in ‘primary duties’, which may vary from administration to mechanical work, flying only when the fleet requires them to do so. Individuals not assigned an appointment are exceptionally rare. The fleet does not have excess resources to squander on dead weight.
While the specifics of the title can vary with the origin of the ship and crew, appointments among the fleet tend to fall into the same general fields. Some possible appointments are listed below:
> Pilot > Logistician > Engineer (Propulsion) > Xenoarchaeologist > Commanding Officer (Multi-crew starships only.) > Cryptographer > Medical Staff > Marine > Astrogator > Team Leader > Gunner
