The Black Hand is a Helghast terrorist organization in Killzone Shadow Fall. Established in the post-Second Extrasolar War era, and primarily located in New Helghan, the Black Hand is devoted to the destruction of the Vektans in revenge for causing the Terracide that devastated Helghan. They are led by Vladko Tyran.

Background

The Black Hand are a Helghast sub-faction composed of radicals, fanatics, and former military troops who greatly despised the Vektan people for destroying Helghan in the Terracide and causing untold amounts of death and destruction on their people. Their goals are to unsettle and displace the Vektan populace with random attacks and other acts of violence.^[2] They are at odds with the New Helghan government under Hera Visari, who sought peace with their former foes rather than taking revenge on the Vektans, and they do not discriminate in killing Vektan and Helghast civilians during their operations. Furthermore, the Black Hand regard Helghast who sought refuge on the Vektan side as traitors, and have no compunctions in oppressing and harassing New Helghan citizens whom they claimed to protect.^[3]

The Black Hand possess old surplus weapons left from the Second Extrasolar War and other older, lower-tech equipment such as cloaking projectors, which allowed them to hide their combat gear and even disguise themselves as VSA Security Troopers to blend in while in enemy territory.^[2] The group has a large amount of influence in the slums of New Helghan, such as in Containment City. The Black Hand are secretly aided by rogue elements within the New Helghan government and are in league with Jorhan Stahl.

History

The Black Hand were banned by the New Helghan government for their extremist views in 2388.^[4] However, despite the government's public condemnation of the Black Hand, the organization gained clandestine support from Helghast agencies and solidified their control over New Helghan's slums, such as Containment City, in order to consolidate their power.^[5] The rivalling militias and warlords who inhabited Containment City subsequently swore their allegiance to the Black Hand.^[6] Even the local civilians refused to talk to Helghast Security, only answering to Vladko Tyran.^[7] Furthermore, Black Hand operatives were employed in the New Helghan Prison, a secretive black-site facility, to oversee the processing and detention of inmates.^[8]

On June 29, 2390, the Black Hand conducted a brazen attack on Vekta City, bombing VSA Headquarters and multiple locations in the city's Eden District such as Templar Park, that saw hundreds of fatalities and over 1,000 injured.^[9][10] The Black Hand had planned to bomb the city's central hub with hijacked trains being used as makeshift missiles, but were thwarted by the VSA.^[11]

The Black Hand's terrorism consequently led the Vektan government to deport all Helghast citizens and half-breeds residing on the Vektan side to New Helghan.^[3] The New Helghan government denied of involvement in the Black Hand's attacks and publicly condemned the terrorists; however, the Vektan government stationed ISA cruisers along The Wall which heightened tensions between the two nations.^[12]

The VSA dispatched Shadow Marshal Lucas Kellan to eliminate Tyran in Containment City, where the Black Hand's ties to Jorhan Stahl were discovered. Tyran was reportedly killed during his encounter with Kellan on July 1, 2390.^[3] Tyran's death was later announced to the public and was greeted with cheers from Vektans.^[13] The New Helghan government reacted to the news with pleasure, and falsely claimed responsibility for Tyran's death as part of a "wider program to regenerate the slums and provide safe clean housing for Helghast workers."^[14] Despite Tyran's reported death and rumours of infighting amongst Black Hand members, this did not resulted in a significant decrease in terrorist activities and acts of sabotage in Vekta and New Helghan.^[10][15] Days following the attack on Vekta City, a second Helghast terrorist attack occurred at Templar Park that killed 89 people and left 127 hospitalized.^[10] While the Black Hand lost much of their presence in Containment City, other insurgent groups took over their place.^[15] Both Vektan and New Helghan authorities accused one another of supporting these insurgents; at least one such group were using ISA military gear.^[10][15]

A month after Jorhan Stahl's death and his failure to launch his attack on Vekta, New Helghan authorities executed five alleged members of the Black Hand, claiming that the terrorist organization was dismantled and posed no further threat.^[1]

Doctrine

The Black Hand is comprised of the most extreme portion of New Helghast society, and represent the hatred that many of their compatriots have for humanity. They seek revenge against the Vektans, whom they held responsible for all of the Helghast's sufferings, the destruction of Helghan and their empire from the Terracide, forcing them to live in terrible conditions.

Not being a regular army, the Black Hand do not rely on conventional warfare, but instead they are trained as infiltrators. Black Hand operatives hide among the civilian population until they are activated. When called into action, operatives make use of cloaking projectors to hide their identity and gear before making their attack on their targets.^[2]

Personnel

Name	Description
Black Hand Operative	The Operative is the most numerous among the Black Hand. They are typically armed with the StA409 Keyzer and commit terrorist bombings, take hostages, and random attacks against civilians.
Black Hand Heavy	The Heavy is seen less often than the Operative, they are deployed alongside the operative and more armored, hence the name.

Known Members

Name	Status
Vladko Tyran	K.I.A.
Espen Huxley	Alive

Gallery

Trivia

• The Black Hand is named after the real life, historical Serbian organization of the same name, which sought for Serbian independence from Austria-Hungary and were allegedly involved in the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, precipitating the outbreak of World War I.
• The Black Hand is a possible reference to Nazi Germany's plan Werwolf in which a proposed Nazi resistance movement was to oppose the Allies during and after the Second World War.
• The Black Hand Operative are the insurgent class for the Helghast in Killzone Shadow Fall's multiplayer.
• According to Assistant Art Director Dan Calvert, the Black Hand's core identity is chaos. Their character design – the mismatched clothing, the haphazard gear and bags, the loosely attached projector straps - is expressive of their identity to differentiate from the typical New Helghan infantryman.^[2]
• While never officially confirmed, it is possible that the Black Hand was behind the attack on the prisoner exchange that caused a firefight between Helghast and VSA forces at the end of The Father, since the group has been trying to exacerbate tensions between Vekta and New Helghan for years.

References