Star Army Science Officer

Star Army Science Officer is a career officer occupation and duty position in the Star Army of Yamatai. Science officers product support to their unit in the fields of science and exploration. As such, they are valuable experts as the Star Army continues to expand and explore the known universe.

The occupational uniform color for Science Officers is Green. The MOS code for this career occupation is 07.

Star Army Science Officers are highly trained and highly knowledgeable from their studies. Scientists may work on the bridge to assist in interpreting sensors and scanners there but are more often seen with away teams to assist and study that which they find. As a trained Star Army science officer progresses throughout their career, they may come to specialize within a particular field.

The most influential work a Star Army scientist does is often done in the ship's downtime when studying what was procured during a mission or working on making one of their hypotheses into a working theory.

A great science officer should be the go-to person for solving many of the ship's problems and will find the answers to those questions by employing the scientific method, reasoning, and inventiveness. They are also the go-to person for handing back samples and can often be found in the science sections of the ships during the appropriate periods for being at work during the ship's schedule.

There have been Science Officers in the Star Army of Yamatai since its founding in YE 21.

In YE 45.7, this became an officer occupation¹⁾.

Educational Facility 1 on Ketsurui no Iori and Star Army Academy on Yamatai (Planet) are the primary locations for teaching science officers in the Star Army of Yamatai. On top of the standard training times for basic, education in the scientific field takes around 4 years to receive a degree and begin work as a science officer.

The minimum rank for this occupation is Shoi Kohosei²⁾ and the maximum rank is Taisa.

Scientists gained a major upgrade to their toolkit in YE 43 with the addition of the Star Army Science Pad and Kit Type 43 an Multi-Role Science Drone Type 43. Scientists are often seen wearing white lab coats to avoid staining of their duty uniforms or interaction of its components with the sometimes volatile substances of their work.

They are often found in Star Army Combined Sciences Laboratory or deployed to a planet in a Star Army Field Laboratory Type 43.

There is a list of minor products for the sciences, Star Army Minor Science Equipment. This includes simple products like labware and glassware.

A trained Star Army science officer will have general knowledge in a large breadth of disciplines. Though later in their career a scientist may begin specializing, Star Army scientists just out of scientific training will be generalists, both knowledgeable and capable in all of the following areas:

• Planetology: The origin, composition, and distribution of matter throughout space.
• Astrophysics: The application of physics and chemistry to astronomy.
• Astrochemistry: The study of composition, property changes, and states of matter of chemical elements and molecules in space.
• Meteorology: The application of atmospheric chemistry and atmospheric physics to weather observation and forecasting.

• Astrobiology: The study of the origin, distribution, and evolution of life in space.
• Genetics: Genes, gene variation, and heredity in all living organisms.
• Cybernetics: The study of the fusing of living organism and machine.

• Xenology: The study of the social, psychological, and biological evolution of foreign species.
• Anthropology: The study of past and present aspects of societies, such as norms, values, histories, social life, and the cause and effect of those things.
• Psychology: All aspects of conscious and unconscious thought are studied by psychology and it delves into the mind and behavior in order to better understand individuals and groups.
• Linguistics: The study of language and its structure across different planets and cultures.

• Computer Science: The theory of computation and design, including coding, algorithms, programming language, computer security and cryptology as well as interfering with communications, signals, and surveillance, as well as seeking out and exploiting weaknesses in computer systems.
  • Artificial Intelligence (AI): Deep understanding of artificial intelligence systems at work in order to work with MEGAMI, PANTHEON, and AI of enemies of the Star Army. The Nekovalkyrja Operating System is not something that is taught.

This is a great position for a character that wants to investigate old lore and create new lore through their player character!

Science Officers need to know science, physics, etc, well enough IRL to allow their characters to be able to use it in game. This should require considerable work on the player's part, and there should be few science officers because of this, but ultimately that should be why science is the 'fast track' in Yamatai's Star Army. The amount of things a science officer can do in this setting is staggering! Ship design is probably the most popular but there is also forensics. Bypass razorwire by throwing a blanket over it, remind the captain that trying to put out an electrical fire with any Fire Extinguisher 🧯 that uses water will only cause more damage, navigate the ship when it has been damaged by putting on a space suit and using a scanner, find out where the assassin fired from by looking at the impact angle and depth of their bullet holes, stop a sulfuric acid leak with a chocolate bar, and generally look for ways to apply science skills to the problems being faced by the crew. Most of the time tech inconsistencies and super-science shouldn't even be an issue.

These are the characters currently listed as Star Army Science Officers.

Original written by Ametheliana. Andrew updated using the Occupation Template then Ame messed it up a bit.

Conversion was approved by Wes in this thread.