ORS-class heavy cruiser

ORS-class heavy cruiser
Production information
Class:	Cruiser
Role:	Survey, occupation support
Technical specifications
Length:	3,000 meters (9,843 feet)
Width:	1,451 meters (4,760 feet)
Engine(s):	Repulsor engines
Slipspace drive:	Equipped
Hull:	Nanolaminate hull plating Equipped with energy shields;
Armament:	2 energy projectors; 7 plasma turrets; Pulse laser turrets;
Complement:	Seraph starfighters
Crew:	Several thousand
Chronological and affiliation
Era:	Human-Covenant War
Affiliation:	Covenant fleet; Joyous Exultation alliance; Vata 'Gajat's mercenary group

The ORS-class heavy cruiser^[1] (ORS for Ordained, Reverence, Salvation) is a capital warship classification within the now-defunct Covenant fleet. It is used for planetary occupation and naval command, as well as to support Covenant flagships.^[3] Following the Great Schism, these ships have become invaluable to warlords.^[4]

Specifications

Equipped with a variety of stealth technology, an energy projector, and plasma turrets, the ORS-class is considerably more powerful than any other cruiser class used by the Covenant.^[2] The "O", or Ordained, in the cruiser's three-letter classification code, ORS, indicates that the class is not a mission type and has been improved upon with Forerunner technology—a weapons-core. The "R", or Reverence, denotes that the cruiser is capable of conducting reconnaissance missions and is capable of excavating Forerunner artifacts. The "S", or Salvation, indicates that the ORS-class heavy cruiser is a dedicated warship capable of destroying its opponents with energy projectors.^[5]

The ORS-class heavy cruiser fields a vast complement of soldiers and is used as a flagship for small task forces. Although the Reverence-class boasts at least two energy projectors and seven plasma turrets,^[6] it is constrained by energy costs. This means it can only fire one energy projector at a time, typically combining its forward-mounted projector with two plasma torpedoes.^[7]

Ships of the line

Incorruptible – Destroyed during the Battle of Onyx.

Behind the scenes

The ORS-class heavy cruiser was originally mentioned in 2011's Halo: The Essential Visual Guide. The class' first canonical visual appearance will be a yet unnamed tabletop miniature wargame to be released in 2015. As the ORS had never appeared in any visual media prior to 2015 the class had to be designed from scratch for the game. 343 Industries' Franchise Team noted that "Spartan Games 'got' the design language of the Covenant", and so the design of the cruiser went through only a few rounds of iteration. The basic shape was decided upon immediately when the design process began.^[2]

The ORS combines design features of the CCS-class battlecruiser, the SDV-class heavy corvette, and the CSO-class supercarrier. The ORS class was intended to be the "big brother" of the CCS class while concomitantly paying homage to the CAS-class assault carrier (which is identical to the CSO). The heavy carrier was designed to be an apparent visual link between Covenant cruiser and carrier classes in terms of size.^[2]