ORI BATTLECRUISER

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The Ori battlecruiser is a fictional spacecraft belonging to the Ori in the science fiction television series Stargate SG-1.

HISTORY

The Ori battlecruisers first appeared under construction in the episode "Crusade" and invaded the Milky Way galaxy in the following episode "Camelot". Four of these ships were responsible for the destruction of combined Asgard, Human, Jaffa, Lucian Alliance and Tok'ra fleet that attempted to prevent the Ori invasion at the Battle of P3Y-229. Aboard one of the battlecruisers was Vala Mal Doran, who had been stranded in the Ori galaxy.

After defeating the allied fleet at the Supergate, the Ori battlecruisers made their way to the Free Jaffa Nation world of Chulak where they quickly gained control. After orbiting Chulak one ship that carried the Orici landed while the other remained in orbit and launched their fighters. The Jaffa were powerless against this invasion force with none of their weapons being effective. Even ramming a Ha'tak class warship directly into an Ori battlecruiser was not successful. The Ori continued their efforts in converting the galaxy and it was stated that since the crusade began, six more worlds had fallen.

General Characteristics
Fighters Ori fighters
Armaments

  		 Energy weapons:
1 main cannon
Several pulse cannons
Defense Shields
Propulsion Hyperdrive

 

In the episode "The Pegasus Project", SG-1 managed to access the Supergate from the Pegasus Galaxy, at least temporarily preventing the Ori from sending additional forces. In the process, one of the four Ori battlecruisers already in the Milky Way was destroyed by the unstable vortex (The "Kawoosh") of the activating Supergate. This left only three battlecruisers within the Milky Way galaxy.

A few weeks later, an Ori battlecruiser was encountered landed on a recently converted planet inhabited by thousands of people. This particular ship also carried Adria who was spreading Origin to the locals when an energy wave from the Dakara Superweapon destroyed all organic life on the planet except for the Orici herself. The ship was nearly captured by SG-1 and Free Jaffa, who were at odds for control of the vessel until Adria arrived to take control once again. This lone ship devastated all Jaffa opposition in its path as it laid waste to the Free Jaffa Nation homeworld of Dakara.
 

TECHNOLOGY & DESIGN
Little is known about the Ori ship's technology or capabilities. What is known is that it has extremely powerful white shields, protecting it from any attack. The vessels are powered by a central power core, and are mostly crewed by ordinary humans, with Priors controlling the main systems. The bridge of the Battlecruiser has a control chair that resembles the chairs in Atlantis and Ancient outposts. This has been theorized to mean that only a Prior can operate and directly control the ship. However, Adria's more advanced powers allow her to control an Ori ship without using the chair.

Aboard, there are prayer rooms where followers worship the Ori, armories, and quarters for the crew. The bridge simply consists of a computer console on one side, the mentioned control chair, and a view screen. The inner halls are structurally simple and tinted blue. The doors are controlled by a nearby sensor which is waved at to open the door, similar to the doors on Atlantis. The central power core of the ship consists a large room with a device that glows with an internal white light and shaped liked the symbol of Origin. It is still unknown what the energy source is.

The interior section of the ship is completely hollow where the hull curves around what appears to be a device based on the Stargate's design that glows white when powered. It was these devices that were seen to initialize when the Priors activated the ships in "Crusade". However, "Counterstrike" indicated the ship was powered by a device contained in a sealed chamber, suggesting the ring-like device was not powering the vessel.

The Battlecruiser appears to have one main weapon, housed at the base of the bow, that can destroy a Goa'uld Ha'tak mothership with a single blast or a BC-304 battlecruiser in at least two simultaneous direct hits. In addition to the massive main cannon, the ship is also equipped with rapid-fire energy pulse cannons spread about the hull. A Ha'tak appeared capable of surviving a few hits from these weapons, but not without taking heavy damage. The battlecruiser also carried a complement of smaller ships, fighters, similar in size to an Al'kesh which battled Death Gliders and Al'kesh above Chulak. This means that like most of the races in the Stargate universe, the Ori ships have a carrier style function, notable exceptions are the Replicators, the Asgard, and the Ancients, who do not appear to use fighters (Puddle Jumpers are too few in number to have originated as a fighter wing, rather they are armed shuttles). The Ori Battlecruiser has a functioning hyperdrive to travel between stars. However, the only known way these vessels can move between the Ori galaxy and the Milky Way is by use of an Ori Supergate, implying that the Ori galaxy is too far away from the Milky Way for practical hyperspace travel. The ship also has transmission systems capable of translating and transmitting, at the least, text messages to other spacecraft.

For its size, the Ori Battlecruiser is superior to any ship known to the SGC. The Wraith Hive-Ship, Ancient City Ship and an Aurora class battleship are probably the only ships comparable to the Ori battlecruiser in size.
 

DEFEATING AN ORI BATTLECRUISER
Protected by its incredibly powerful shields, an Ori battlecruiser is impervious to most known weapons.  The only known defeat of a battlecruiser was when the Supergate was opened by SG-1 and the unstable vortex emerging from the gate destroyed the ship. Various other standing theories on means of destroying an Ori Battlecruiser are a black hole, the Ancient Drone Weapons, and possibly ringing explosives aboard.

One failed attempt was made at beaming a high explosive device aboard one of the battlecruisers using Asgard beaming technology by using the oscillation point between the shields that coincides with the firing of their main weapon. However, using a Ring Transporter, Daniel Jackson managed to beam himself on board. Another attempt at ringing onboard an explosive was made by a Ha'tak under the command of Bra'tac but it is unknown why it failed. It is possibly the Prior stopped the detonation with his telekinetic power.

Although technically not destroying the ship itself, the Dakara Superweapon managed to kill the entire crew of a battlecruiser, with the exception of the Orici who was wearing a special personal shield. The weapon was considered the only threat to their invasion of the Milky Way by the Ori themselves.