These ships were reported by a brave spy placed in one of Khyron's shipyards. He was able to infiltrate the front-line yard in the Berringarr asteroid belt.   This shipyard was known to produce the Heretic-class raider at a slow rate, as well as several system bound ships.   Now, however, one of the Heretic lines was converted and two hulls have been laid down, apparently for small heavy cruisers.  According to our spy, these vessels will be heavy cruisers only in name, though. It is believed that Khyron gears up the production of warships dramatically. Whether this has anything to do with the increased activities in the Eye of Terror and elsewhere remains to be seen.  Our source reports dramatic progress on both hulls and believes that these vessels are based on very simple technologies. Preliminary scans seem to prove that assumption.  The cruisers will be mainly armed with proven plasma cannons and laser lances. The former, however, will be very short ranged and only the lances seem to be planned for intermediate ranges.  Also, prow hangars were reported, similar to those found on the modern Malevolence class strike cruisers. They are probably used for standard fighters and assault boats. What other small craft a pirate force can muster, is anyone's guess, though, because there were no reported training flights with the yard's own defensive fighters.  Currently, the last report suggests a use by forces allied with Khyron.  Some shadowy figures (aside from the Warmaster's troops) in ragtag outfits were seen at the yards, discussing with the lord of the yard.  Our estimates are that these are pirates allied with Khyron.  These cruisers, while short of anything the imperium fields, would be an extremely unpleasant surprise for convoys and escort groups. A wolf pack led by such a vessel would be extremely dangerous, because it could dispatch escorts with ease and even the occasional light cruiser is not so much of a problem, because the Inferno can attack them at long range with small craft and use it's superior firepower to destroy them.