Format: In-universe intelligence memo (LNI SECRET//TINKER//ORCON)
Timeline: 2689.02 – 2689.03 (37 years after The Fall)
Word Count: ~12,000 words
An internal League Naval Intelligence memorandum from Fleet Admiral Alastair McKenzie to Commander Nicholas Hayes, compiling personal log excerpts from Prometheus Station personnel. The memo documents the arrival and first weeks of Commander Bekele Jones as the new yard master, his encounters with the infamous "Gorgon sisters," and his unconventional success in working with the LSS Medusa — a ship that has killed everyone who tried to help her.
The memo contains excerpts from six personal logs:
| Annex | Author | Date | Entry Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | LCDR Penelope Banli | 2689.02.13 | "Passing the Torch" |
| B | CDR Bekele Jones | 2689.02.24 | "First Week" |
| C | CDR Bekele Jones | 2689.03.03 | "The Wallace" |
| D | CDR Bekele Jones | 2689.03.04 | "Mariah and Medusa" |
| E | CWO Mariah Schmitt | 2689.03.04 | "Bekele Jones" |
| F | LCDR Quinn Lafayette | 2689.03.10 | "Yard Repairs" |
Jones arrives at Prometheus with a reputation for practical, unglamorous engineering. His philosophy: real engineering is "boring, mundane, and doesn't get accolades" but "wins wars and saves lives." He's critical of McKenzie's flashy ship designs, preferring reliable solutions over revolutionary ones.
Jones learns about "The Gallery" (called "The Morgue" by yard engineers) — the mothball section containing ships that have "somehow failed" and that McKenzie "took personally." The Gorgon sisters (Medusa, Stheno, Euryale) have collectively killed over a thousand League officers.
The only machines that can produce authentic Archigos class parts are ancient constructors in the Gallery, dating back to the original Archigos Experiment. McKenzie has "poisoned" the official plans — parts made by standard constructors look correct but fail immediately. This creates a deliberate bottleneck that Jones discovers is being exploited to starve the Archie fleet of spare parts.
Jones enters the Medusa through her reactor vents after all airlocks refuse to open. She impales him with a coolant pipe. He survives by cutting himself free over several hours, and is rescued by Mariah Schmitt.
Jones returns to the Medusa, treating her hostility as an engineering constraint rather than a threat. He cleans her CIC, sits in her command chair (something no one else has survived), and threatens to take the chair to his office if she misbehaves. When she shuts off power in jealousy after Schmitt kisses Jones in the CIC, he follows through on the threat.
Jones discovers that all Archigos class ships are critically low on spare parts. Someone is deliberately creating a supply crisis. He begins using the Medusa's constructor to produce new parts, treating the supply shortage as his primary mission.