Thanks for all the replies! I'll be getting more CiC experience as I go; It's been a bit hard for me to join games as of late, however, I'll see if I can get more rounds as an XO/SO here-and-there!
To answer both questions, I'd like to say that I've
never seen a Battlefield Execution happen before. I don't know if it's simply tough luck, whether or not the rounds I've been in happened to be filled with the most loveable marines you could imagine, or if I simply forgot about that one time one happened, but that's the honest truth here. However, I do have a good idea on what it is;
1.1)
A Battlefield Execution is, at its core, a quick, effective 'solution' for problems when there are no other options available. If the Commanding Officer sees either his command, his crew, or his ship threatened by anyone, they may
personally put a bullet in their head(s), strictly for the safety and/or betterment of every single soul on the vessel and/or themselves. After having done so, they must then make an announcement, explaining the 'why' and 'who', as it is required by the law. In a sense, it is a brilliantly articulated failsafe protocol - in case the current situation makes it impossible for the Military Police to act, the Captain would be allowed to prevent any further mishap/escalation on their accord.
1.2)
- The announcement of a Battlefield Executions happens after the act, where-as standard procedure Executions are to be declared beforehand.
- Battlefield Executions are more of a means of protection, where-as standard procedure Executions are more of a means of upholding the importance of law.
- Nobody other than the Commanding Officer may legally perform a Battlefield Execution, where-as standard procedure Executions may be authorized by XO and CMP in unison.
- Battlefield Executions are often unexpected, where-as standard procedure Executions are planned in time.
2.1)
Rising in Severity...
- Insubordination: Failure to follow orders due to incompetence, ignorance, unsolicited actions, and the kind, causing great disrespect in/during the process.
- Neglect of Duty: Failure to perform one's duty and to neglect one's expected procedures at any given, official assignment.
- Sedition: Failure to act upon commands and/or to engage in actions with ill intentions, intending to topple the chain of command.
- Desertion: Failure to perform by leaving one's essential post without authorization and refusing to return.
Insubordination is to be taken with a grain of salt, as it is the least enforced rule. If you get called names and are showed great disrespect, you might as well bite your teeth down and ignore it, or give them a scolding. If one does a rather horrible job of following what they are said to do, you might as well be happy that one of the meek is destined to be culled by acting as mere fodder (instead of sending Military Police planetside to apprehend an idiot).
Neglect of Duty is differentiated by competence in a different manner. If you are a Maintenance Technician on a vessel, you are to be expected to repair damages on the ship. If you are a Requisitions Officer, you are to be expected to fulfill the station's cargo needs. It is a far greater crime to neglect orders you are, in your own duty, supposed to follow than to neglect orders which would not impact your role's viability, such as a single mere Marine not sticking with their designated squad, and rather following a completely different, rear platoon.
Sedition is always accompanied by harm to the integrity and should be clear without further explanation. If a Marine is calling up to overthrow the Command, they aren't just severely breaking the law, but are also endangering any operation and bringing inequity and destruction to the very military concept they are supposed to have accepted ages ago in boot camp.
Desertion is unavoidable. It is in every man's wish to save their sorry buttocks in the face of a grand danger. However, in war, it is a great crime. Every marine has been given a weapon to fight, not to flee. The words they have spoken when they first finished training were those of respect, those of patriotism; to never flee so that those you have left behind aren't being threatened with far greater danger. That is a goal, not a temporary idea. And those who sully this goal should be punished as greatly as those who directly wish to damage the whole, as their action are on-par with those of said felons.
2.2)
Marines aren't just figurines you can push and pull around your little playing board, gun and knife in their hands, with you as the captain being their undisputed puppeteer. Every soldier has their own needs, their own thoughts, and their own will to survive. Insubordination, neglect of duty, sedition, desertion... Call it whatever you want - in the end, they are all come with a reason. And that reason would often be your utter incompetence to give your people proper goals, proper explanation, and guidance. While it is in every warmonger's interest to remove the minds of their followers, something like that is simply impossible.
However, tending to the needs of everyone is a fool's task; encountering these problems is to be expected. And for that, the Marine Law exists to suppress,
never to stop, said problems. With you as the captain on the tip, keep your supporting base as stable as possible,
or it all comes breaking down in its entirety.