Editing Ace of Spades

{{Status|Canon}}

{{Outdated|Halo: Smoke and Shadow}}

|image      = [[File:HPOL Ace of Spades.jpg|300px]]

|slipspace drive=[[Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine]] {{c|upgraded}}

|lastsight  =

|battles    = *[[Mission to Mount Kilimanjaro]]

|affiliation =

*[[Kip Silas]] (2556 - 2557)

*[[Little Bit]] (2557, 2558 - )

*[[343 Guilty Spark]] (2557 - 2558)

[[Rion Forge]] acquired the ''Ace of Spades'' sometime soon after she became the captain of another cargo ship, the ''[[Hakon]]'', in [[2551]]. Ever since she took it over, she made her own modifications to it so that by [[2557#January|January of 2557]], she considered it to have been "seven years in the making".{{Ref/Note|At most, Rion could have only worked on the ship for around six years, meaning that it was likely having work done on it by its previous owner.}} The crew of the ''Ace'' made a name for themselves as [[salvager]]s operating out of [[New Tyne]], [[Venezia]] and scoring finds all along the [[Via Casilina Trade Route]]. In July of [[2556]], the crew vacationed on Sundown, and by December of that same year, it fell into one of its largest paydays ever. Rion personally participated in a four-way bidding war for a small piece of a [[Forerunner]] navigational databoard at a small bazaar on [[Komoya]]. In January of the new year, the crew returned to Venezia after having been gone for six weeks. The ship was docked on E-level of a hangar bay of the [[New Tyne Airfield]] while Rion, [[Lessa]], and the newest hire, [[Kip Silas]], journeyed into the city. There, they received intel on a crashed ship on a moon in the [[Ectanus 45 system]] known as [[Eiro]], which they left for straightaway. The ship turned out to be the remains of the {{UNSCShip|Roman Blue}}, a {{Class|Halcyon|light cruiser}}. While the crew was on the ''Roman Blue'', it was suddenly fired upon. Being the furthest away, Rion told the others to take off without her and that she would send a signal when she was clear. Despite the initial hesitation the rest of the crew agreed and made their way to the ship, promptly taking off and remaining hidden from the aggressors.{{Ref/Reuse|fire}}

 

 

 

 

 

==Design details==

The ''Ace of Spades'' is a decent-sized ship, but it isn't huge on crew space. Most of her volume is reserved for cargo. There are five crew quarters, the captain's quarters, a mess/lounger combo with an observation deck, a med bay with eight cryotubes, and a small attached gym with showers. Everything else is storage space, support systems, and engineering. Aside from preparing for the next job, Rion uses all her [[credit]]s on the ship, making several additions over the years. Early on, the staging bay was converted to a locker room and was equipped with an array of gear for virtually any type of known weather and terrain. The staging bay is connected to an airlock that leads to the hangar. Additions include an advanced passive-sensor array, a military-grade [[slipspace drive]], two-pivoting [[fusion engine]]s on each wing, six thrusters, a sensor-baffling-suite, and souped-up navigation and communication systems that Niko could use his technical expertise with. ''Ace's'' hull also was covered with [[Stealth ablative coating|black ablative coating]] at one point that gave it a dark edge and provides it with stealth capability. The coating requires regular maintenance, though it is rare that  it requires consistent refinishing. When the ship is on the ground, a ramp leads into its cargo hold. From within the hold, stairs take one up to the second level, where a catwalk places one in a perfect position for performing maintenance on the track system. The mess hall/lounger holds a food dispenser and a table and chairs. Rion has a small desk in her quarters. Landing gear can be engaged.{{Ref/Reuse|fire}}

 

Due to a [[Forerunner]] [[upgrade seed]] designed and installed by [[343 Guilty Spark]], the ship has received many upgrades. The outer appearance is not at all changed, but instead has its existing materials strengthened by [[hard light]] bonding. Quantum and hard light filaments intertwine with the ship's existing systems, all directed by smart upgrade code written by Spark to create a custom integration between Forerunner technology and the ship's original specifications and technology. As a result, the upgrades are limited by the ship's human design. The fully integrated Forerunner technologies include stealth capability, upgraded weapons, comm and navigational systems kept within the framework of human operating functional capability. The biggest upgrade is to the ship's [[slipspace]] drive: a combination of the ''Ace of Spades'' existing drive, Forerunner translight technology and [[Slipspace flake|a flake]] of [[Slipspace core|Forerunner crystal]] make the ship far faster than any regular human ship.{{Ref/Novel|Ren|Page=226}} These upgrades allowed it to take off into slipspace faster than an ONI [[prowler]] could react or track and to escape from [[Earth]] undetected by the entire [[Home Fleet]].{{Ref/Reuse|Renegades}} However, even the upgraded slipspace drive had its limits to how far it could travel that Forerunner vessels lacked. For example, travel from the [[Orion complex]] to [[Earth]] - a journey of over a thousand light years - would take so long even with the upgraded slipspace drive that Rion would be dead many times over before it was completed, and the ship was only capable of traveling such a distance using a static [[slipspace portal]].{{Ref/Novel|PoL|38}}

*[[Ram Chalva]]

*[[Little Bit]] — [[Forerunner]] [[ancilla]]; shipboard AI after being repaired by Spark

*[[Cade McDonough]] — Military expert; killed by [[Gek 'Lhar]] in [[2557#January|January 2557]]

File:Halo Smoke and Shadow clean cover.jpg|The ''Ace of Spades'' on the cover of ''[[Halo: Smoke and Shadow]]''.

File:Renegades_AceOfSpades.jpg|The ''Ace of Spades'' on the cover of ''[[Halo: Renegades]]''.

==Notes==

{{Ref/Notes}}

{{Ref/Sources}}

[[Category:Human ships]]