Bridge Layout
Without further ado, I give you my marvelous MS Paint skills. The circles are naturally chairs. Try and use your imagination for the rest.
The Bridge is divided into two parts. The "bridge proper" is the forward section of the bridge, the half where the more important stations are, the ones that actually face forward. "Operations" is the rearward half of the bridge. Operations is generally used from planning, briefings, and the like.
Bridge ProperTactical StationThe tactical stations are those furthest forward (or those all the way on the right of the image above). They actually reside down on Deck 3 rather than Deck 2 with the rest of the Bridge. They are "open" in that there is no deck above them and one can look straight down from the deck above to see the stations. Stairs lead up along the perimeter of the ship in either direction connecting the upper area with this lower area. There is also a hallway which goes straight aft underneath the main Bridge above which connects the tactical stations to the rest of Deck 3.
In her earlier days, the Peerless's tactical stations controlled minute parts of the ship in the performance of terraforming duties. During her transport years, the stations remained much the same but merely unused. When the Syndicate took control of the ship, the old terraforming gear was all stripped but the stations remained in place. The stations were set-up to accommodate weapon systems instead of just controlling cranes and probes. Thus the Peerless's primary armament is controlled from here, both the MAC and the torpedo tubes.
Observation StationDirectly behind and looking down on tactical is a chair-less station. Several minor functions can be controlled from here, but mainly the station just provides readouts rather than accepting actual input. This station is typically not manned and serves merely as a place for someone to both observe out the main viewscreen and to simultaneously look down for basic reports.
Pilot and Copilot StationsJust behind the Observation Station and to either side of it are the pilot and copilot (pilot sits to port with copilot to starboard). These two stations have a wide console in front of them. From these seats one can control nearly every aspect of the ship though it is often best to focus on flying and delegate other responsibilities to subordinate stations.
Captain's Station Just aft of the pilot and copilot is the captain's chair. From this position the captain can easily observe most his crew on of the bridge proper, look out the main viewscreen, and glance at the consoles to his right and left to monitor the ship's systems. Although the captain's station does have access to various ship systems, they can be difficult to access and control from this location. Thus the captain's chair is a place to command and observe rather than to actually act.
Communications and Navigation StationsTo either side and slightly aft of the captain are two additional stations. These stations would be considered "non-essential" even in a potential space battle, but they can be extremely useful when well crewed. They can handle everything from receiving waves to browsing the cortex, launching and monitoring probes and satellites to intercepting communications, observing scans and signals to plotting courses to be sent ahead to the pilot and copilot.
OperationsBriefing TableDead center of the room just behind the captain's chair is a wide table with an interactive computer surface. The table also has the capability of displaying images holographically above its surface. Data from the various stations and terminals on the ship can easily be sent here to be organized and displayed to all. It is an ideal location for technical briefings or to coordinate a larger effort such as displaying the planet being terraformed and all other vessels involved in real time or even to display a skirmish in space with numerous vessels.
Miscellaneous StationsThere are a total of four stations, two port and two starboard, across from the briefing table back in operations. For the most part these stations serve little purpose. It's just another ship console you could use to access ship logs or to browse the Cortex. During combat, however, these stations can be assigned special roles depending on the number of crew available to man them. The potential duties include engineering oversight, damage control, environmental control, and gravity control. During normal circumstances these functions are either unimportant or can be easily managed by other crew members.
"Roller-coaster Seats"These four seats, two on either side of the aft wall, have no consoles or special purpose other than holding their occupants in place. Maybe you were working at the briefing table when suddenly the ship started to do loop-de-loops so now you need to sit your ass down and strap in. Maybe you have no job during a combat scenario but you'd rather be on the bridge and strapped in than sitting in your bunk and getting tossed around.
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