Hell's Iris is a vessel in Clan Plagueis’ Ascendant Fleet. It is a Combat Hammerhead Corvette assigned to Command Force Dread.
History
As with many current ships within Clan Plagueis' navy, the Hell's Iris was purchased and put into service during the New Order era. Purchased in 34 ABY, it was drafted into the third of the fleet's primary task forces and given a support role. The vessel's duties were varied typically tasked with picking up the slack of where other warships failed, or whatever role was required for any individual operation. This proved to be of great worth to Clan Plagueis, throughout the Brotherhood's civil war when opposing the Iron Throne and against the Collective threat. It was later reassigned to Command Force Dread.
Characteristics
Noted for its distinctive twin prow design, the Hell's Iris is typical of most Hammerhead Corvettes repurposed into a combat role. Although originally intended as simply an armed transport, relatively few modifications were required to turn it into a highly effective escort vessel. Armed with a variety of laser cannons and turbolasers on a variety of turret mounts, it is a highly capable ship in joining assaults on larger capital ships, or breaking up starfighter raids. This is further bolstered by the presence of a missile launcher, that augments the ship's offensive capacity and permits it to inflict heavy damage during the opening volley of an engagement.
Although only capable of relatively moderate maneuverability, the Hell's Iris is noted for its sheer speed and heavy armoring. This makes it well suited to skirmishing assaults into the heart of enemy formations or running a gauntlet of heavy firepower. Yet perhaps the most surprising strength of the ship is its carrying capacity. Due to the class' mercantile origins, it is capable of ferrying an extremely large number of passengers for a ship of its size. With reports noting the ability to easily hold up to one-hundred-and-twenty-five passengers, and some reports citing up to two thousand with some difficulty, this gives it an edge over similar vessels within the Ascendant Fleet; especially in the role of an assault ship.
Role
Primarily the Hell's Iris will act as a point defense vessel, intercepting and eliminating hostile fighters or bombers that attempt to make attack runs. However, it can also act independently as a skirmisher and reconnaissance vessel. It rarely functions on its own when it is expecting combat, but for non-combat missions can be used as a long-range transport or escort vessel. The role it has within the Task Force is flexible enough, however, to allow it to adapt to many different scenarios.