The world of the XO!

[Lostmixup]

What to do as an XO!

This is generally a small guide explaining some of the in's and out's of being an XO. There's very little detail in this guide, it's just more of a what to do rather than how to do things.
The XO The XO is a role that is very open to many kinds of play. Without the responsibilities of the CO, or the strict job of the BO, the XO is left with a very peculiar job position. You could simply be another BO and manage a squad, or you could go to the ground and command the marines yourself; you could also be left on the sulaco to manage things while the commander gets himself/herself killed goes down to the ground to command the troops. The position is very open for many different styles of play.

The major thing that you should do as an XO is adapt to yourself to the current game. You and the CO are partners, and need to learn to work with each other asap. If the CO is managing everything on the sulaco, but is ignoring the ground troops, then you need to be the in the bridge giving the orders. Likewise, if the commander is giving the orders to the troops (like he should be) then you should manage the problems that crop up on the sulaco like the RO going missing, or an alien on the sulaco. You need to be as adaptable as possible when you play XO.
Beginning of the round In the beginning of the round, if you don't want to be a BO for the rest of your life, or leave a squad without overwatch, assign someone as BO asap (an admin may even be willing to free up a bridge officer slot so you don't have to do the work). Having 4 BO's means you are free to do your job (or lack there of) as XO. The next step is to figure out what kind of CO your CO is. If they're generally the kind of micro managing commander that handles all marine affairs, you'll be free to handle everything on the sulaco yourself. If they're the kind of CO that simply ignores the marines after briefing, you'll have to manage the marines yourself.
As the round progresses Mid round, like for all sulaco roles, is the worst for the XO. It is usually the time when absolutely nothing is happening for the XO unless you've got direct control of the troops. During this time, you should be making sure all the sulaco staff are doing their jobs and not blowing the place up or setting things on fire. Especially the RO. The minute the RO is confirmed SSD you should rush over there and get him into cryo so you can get a replacement asap. You may even have to put supply drops together for your squads to ensure that everyone is well supplied.
End Round Depending on how well the marines are doing, it could either be the same as an hour ago on the sulaco, or all hell is breaking loose. If the latter is happening, your goal is to get everyone to safety and to make sure that defenses have been set up and are prepared. Do not immediately tell everyone to go to the shuttle, that should be the last fall back point in your defenses; rather, set up defenses in briefing, the canteen, and the hallways leading to the shuttles. This will buy you the valuable time you need to evacuate all the injured and unarmed personnel, and maybe even get out alive.

As XO, you're most likely one of the few command staff actually still alive or SSD, so it's going to fall to you to make sure everyone gets out safely in the end.

When the CO goes missing
When this happens, it blows. All the freedom you had as an XO to sit around in the cafeteria telling war stories is now gone; now you're important. Figure out what happened to the CO as fast as possible! If they've gone ssd, shove them into cryo so you can get back to doing nothing with a new CO. If they're dead then you are the CO now, you will have to assign a new XO asap and promote yourself to CO so people know what's what. Once you've become CO, you're the big cheese. You will have to actually manage everything like you would as a CO (what to do as CO will not be covered in the XO guide). If a new CO appears while you're acting CO, inform them of what is going on, and of the general situation.

END

This was just a quick guide I threw together as a mini guideline on what to do as the XO. I may update this later with more detail, or remake it entirely later. Of course, all good XO tips are recommended to be posted and may be added to the guide.

[Sargeantmuffinman]

Good enough for marine work.

[Arachnidnexus]

In order to follow proper sci-fi cliches, you should be an alcoholic, grizzled old XO who still manages to pull it together when it counts.