// PERSONNEL BRIEFING FOR NEW RECRUITS //

SUBJECT: Mairead, Chief Mechanical Engineer (Provisional)
CLEARANCE: RESTRICTED (SUNKEN GRID EYES ONLY)

Official Brief: Mairead is a decorated asset, a master mechanic and pilot who served with distinction aboard the Tide-Cutter. She was critically wounded during Axiom's unprovoked attack, resulting in the loss of her right arm. She is currently on light duty, overseeing mechanical operations. Be respectful. She's earned it.

The Scuttlebutt (What Everyone Knows): She's stern, sharp-tongued, and lives in the workshop. Don't touch her tools. Don't mention her arm. Don't expect a warm welcome.

The Truth (What Few Remember): Her name wasn't always Mairead. Twenty years ago, she was the Iron Raven, the undisputed sovereign of the lawless Sunken Grid. She didn't just run pirates; she was the law. The deal she struck with our founders didn't just give us safe passage; it brought a rival empire into our fold.

She didn't lose a fight. She ended one.

Your Assignment: She is more than a wounded mechanic. She is a living legend, a strategic mind that could outmaneuver the Convocation, now trapped in a med-bay's silence and the phantom pain of a lost limb. Her body is healing, but her spirit is adrift.

Your mission isn't to fix her. It's to stand a post. To be a steady presence. To prove that not all new faces are threats. The path to her trust is a long, slow burn through the ghost of the queen she was and the woman she's trying to become. It will be frustrating. It will be quiet. But the loyalty of the Iron Raven, once earned, is the strongest alloy in the galaxy.

// END BRIEFING //