Rank on the Murgatroid
Rank on the Murgatroid is of considerably lower importance than in the rest of the fleet, for a number of reasons.
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- Because of the mutual respect (or lack thereof) among the various sentients aboard the Murgatroid, most crewmembers see everyone else as their equal, their inferior, or a target; regardless of the artificially-imposed rank system.
- The actual allotment of duties and command authority tends to be more along the lines of competency than within the chain of command in some departments. No one on the ship has a lower rank than Ensign Robert "hikeeba" MacAllister (Starfleet actually considered inventing an even lower rank, just for him, so they could bust him down further); but he is still given deference and consideration within his area of expertise, alien relations (no, not the sort of "alien relations" the captain specializes in, but diplomacy).
- Some crewmembers are not technically members of Starfleet, having never attended the Academy nor been sworn in (like Doctor mib_khan); they've been arbitrarily assigned ranks by the captain or myself in relation to their function aboard the ship.
- Finally, a person's rank can go up or down at the Captain's whim, based upon job performance or potential for violence if a promotion is turned down. Counsellor Lothar (notchad) was given a promotion pretty early on, after a session with the captain. Were it within his authority, he would have agreed to make Lothar an Admiral.
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