Table of Contents
Customs Officer
- Access: Handle Contraband, Carry Weapons Permit, Arrivals, Security.
- Additional Access: N/A
- Difficulty: Easy to Hard
- Supervisors: Head of Security
- Duties: Maintain the Arrivals Checkpoint, make sure that contraband stays off the ship, check in passengers to the passenger manifest
- Quote: “Papers, please…”
You are a Customs Officer, part of Security meant to check visitors for contraband and make sure they are registered with Visitor IDs if they do not already have a NovusCorp ID. This means that you are the first one up against the wall should Syndicate forces hijack a shuttle, and sometimes the only security presence in Arrivals if the Head of Security can't spare backup. Your domain is the Arrivals Checkpoint near the Docking Shuttle Bay. Your job is to welcome shuttlecraft and make sure their paperwork is in order. Most authorized shuttles have paperwork befitting their reason for stopping by, and if they happen to be Corporate Command, you want to make sure they are greeted appropriately. Conversely, you are also responsible for confiscating contraband or requiring it to remain aboard the shuttle in question, and as a member of Security you are partially responsible for the early defense of the ship should troublemakers come aboard with guns blazing.
If Cargo Technicians are nowhere to be found, you may also find yourself doing some unloading of freight from shuttles; just remember to yell at them to come get it after it's off the shuttle so it isn't obstructing the docking bays.
Bare minimum requirements: Don't let just anyone bring a pallet of weed on board the ship, don't leave the door to the Arrivals Checkpoint open, and don't let anyone past the Checkpoint without trying to make sure visitors are sane and safe.
Your Chain of Command
As a Customs Officer, your immediate superior is the Head of Security. You may receive some support from Security in the performance of your job, at least if the Docking Bay is particularly busy or an alert about a hijacked shuttle comes through. In times of war, you may even have a squad of Marines prepared to repel boarders, and doing an excellent job of making your energy gun look like a toy foamsoft pistol.
You sit around in the Customs Office by arrivals, doing paperwork and pressing buttons. Unlike other security personnel, chances are good you won't see any action unless the station has been utterly compromised. Unlike the Head of Personnel or the Quartermaster, you'll have difficulty passing the time and so is a job recommended to heavy roleplayers and people who enjoy slow rounds rather than action.
Despite your job that predominately revolves around checking ID's and bags for everybody that joins a round late, you are still, for all intents and purposes, a Security Officer and as such you are obligated to carry out Space Law. However, due to your job requiring a near constant vigil at the arrivals checkpoint, you won't have many, if any, opportunities to brig someone; and, if in the rare case you need to apprehend a criminal, take them to one of the holding cells in the checkpoint and call a more general security officer to take them to the brig.
Additionally, under no circumstances should you bolt the arrival checkpoint and then leave it unattended. This will essentially block players from being able to enter the station without breaking down reinforced walls or spacewalking. It's considered terrible form and will likely earn you a job ban.
Tips
- Your PDA comes with a Form Printer that allows you to prepare people's paperwork efficiently and without a lot of fuss.
- Red-and-black shuttles are always from the Syndicate, so you can judge books by their cover here (there aren't any traitors fleeing from the Syndicate at this time.)
- Familiarity with the Guide to Contraband will make doing your job much easier.
- Wearing the body armor and security equipment in the Arrivals office will extend your survivability. Combine with robust combat skills and you can thwart individual threats easily.
- Against multiple threats, the best recommendation is to lock yourself in your office and call Security; if you see combat mechs, Syndicate death squads, or other significant threats, you can probably justify calling the Marines in later. Just don't abuse this privilege or you may be replaced with someone who can use it correctly.
- You have access to Security barricades to help you seal off the bay if you know trouble is coming; don't forget to use them.
Papers Please, Comrade
“I got into this job because I believed that contraband was dangerous. Now that I've turned against the man, I know they were right.”
The biggest problem with a Traitor Customs Officer is that you aren't really expected to stray far from your post unless you can get someone to cover the Arrivals Checkpoint for you, and even then you'll look out of place anywhere but the Bar, Cafeteria, or personnel areas of the ship. However, you have the ability to confiscate contraband, including dangerous technologies and weaponry, which means that if you do your job properly, it won't matter. A more cautious Customs Traitor may choose to slip off to the dorms to get hold of a spare uniform for the area they want to visit, especially if they can get an Agent card or hack the ID computer.