Heart of Malice
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 Heart of Malice hovering over the forests of Warial.[1]
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Heart of Malice | ||||||
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- "Heart of Malice. Have to say, that's a fitting name."
- — Captain Abigail Cole[6]
Heart of Malice is a warship serving in the Banished, the flagship of the Vanguard of Zaladon.[2] The ship is a custom design original to the Vanguard of Zaladon, and unique among the Banished.[4]
Overview[edit]
Design details[edit]
At around 1,200 meters (3,900 ft) in length,[4] Heart of Malice is smaller than the massive dreadnoughts that form the core of most Banished fleets, but considered to be extremely effective in combat.[2] The ship is shaped like a jagged arrowhead, coated in naval weapons and noted to provide an air of dread and ferocity. The ship's custom design means that prior to the Battle of Venezia, it was entirely unnoted on Office of Naval Intelligence classification databases, nor was it something that Rtas 'Vadum of the Swords of Sanghelios was familiar with. After a brief analysis during combat over Venezia, the United Nations Space Command were able to ascertain that the ship has an internal honeycomb frame design similar in nature to the UNSC's own Halcyon-class light cruisers - meaning that Heart of Malice is able to endure extraordinary punishment in combat.[4]
The ship's bridge has stations for a dozen operators, mostly consisting of Jiralhanae. The centre of the room has a single holotable surrounded the crew's consoles and displays; this table is the site at which Severan and the ship commander stand. The ship commander commands the ship in naval operations, but takes orders from Severan. The bridge is connected to a long corridor that runs much of the ship's length, connected to a series of lifts that can move personnel around the ship - including to Severan's private quarters, which are the largest of all on the ship. However, given the Jiralhanae penchant for utalitarian design, this means that they are still very cramped. Severan's chamber is relatively sparsely decorated with only rudimentary furniture and essential machines alongside a handful of keepsakes from Doisac and High Charity, owing to the War Chief's tendency to spend little time in the room. The room does feature a central holotable with access to archives pulled from High Charity prior to the city's fall to the Flood.[3]
Armaments[edit]
Heart of Malice is coated in weaponry, making it a formidable foe in combat. These include twin plasma lances[5] and at least 18 naval cannons of unknown type littering the ship's dorsal surface.[1] The ship is also fitted with missiles[4] and point-defense guns.[2]
The ship's armaments are a mix of both directed-energy weapons and conventional ballistics.[4]
Crew and complement[edit]
Heart of Malice has at least one hangar bay capable of housing dropships, including at least one Trespasser.[3]
- Severan - War Chief of the Vanguard of Zaladon[3]
- Vodus - ship commander[3]
- Erutaun - communications officer[3]
- Valocanth - mobility officer[5]
Service history[edit]
Heart of Malice has been under the command of War Chief Severan for a number of years prior to 2559. On November 8 of that year, the ship was assembled at Warial along with the rest of the Vanguard of Zaladon's fleet, following Severan's promotion to leader of all remaining Banished forces in the galaxy not under the command of Atriox. The fleet was originally assembled to prepare to deploy against the UNSC in the search for the Lithos, but this order was countermanded when later that day, Warial's parent world Doisac was destroyed by the Created. Wrathful, Severan was given new orders by Escharum - the artificial intelligences of the Created were of human origin, and so the Banished were to respond in kind and sack Earth. While the majority of the Vanguard of Zaladon's fleet were ordered to the wider Banished rally point immediately, Severan ordered Heart of Malice and a small escort force to instead deploy to Venezia first.[2] At Venezia, Severan wished to extract Dovo Nesto, High Lord of the Order of Restoration - a Covenant remnant seeking to revive the old empire. Unbeknownst to the rest of the Banished, Severan was secretly aligned to the Order.
Heart of Malice deployed to Venezia with an escort of six dreadnoughts, and hid behind its moon Tiro. As such, the flotilla went unnoticed by the UNSC-Swords of Sanghelios task force that entered the system later that day, consisting of the Valiant-class super-heavy cruiser UNSC Victory of Samothrace and Kerel-pattern assault carrier Shadow of Intent. After fighting began on the ground, Severan was able to extract Dovo Nesto aboard a Trespasser dropship, prompting Heart of Malice and the fleet to emerge from hiding to retrieve the VIPs and engage the allied ships opposing them. After emerging, Heart of Malice initi