Executive Officer

The Executive Officer is the second-in-command of a spacecraft, in support of the Ship Captain. In civilian vessels the XO is typically responsible for the day-to-day tasks on board the ship, allowing the Captain to focus on more critical tasks. In military vessels this role is often expanded into a more collaborative relationship with the Captain. In military vessels of the Active Defense Legion and Militant Order of Descendants, a ship's Executive Officer is located in a different section of the spacecraft than the Captain while on duty. This minimizes the risk of losing both senior officers if the ship is severely damaged during an attack. On board Sparnell Armed Forces and Mordena military craft this decision is left to the Captain, as each craft carries at least two necromancers for Hyperjumping, while the Spacecraft AI are already housed in a separate space buried deep within the ship. On an average military vessel the Executive Officer will also carry the rank of Commander, although lower ranks may serve as XO on smaller ships. Flagships and other critical ships captained by an officer of higher rank than Captain often hold XOs of higher rank than Commander, in which case they are addressed as XO rather than their rank.