Most things are done with points. Energy points, ammo points, movement points, etc.
The larger the ship, the more points you need to actually complete an action, but also, the more cards you draw and play. This makes the impact of each card smaller (and thus fixed +benefit effects from characters are stronger on smaller ships, but *benefit*card plays are stronger on larger ships).
Completing an action usually involves giving a card to the commander to take to the tactics table.

When a team completes its preparation, the commander moves to the tactics table and takes a timer. Each time his timer finishes, he takes another timer. When the last timer runs out, all remaining commanders must immediately move to the tactics table.