Orison

Orison
Orison
Location	Stanton system — On Crusader
Type	Landing zone
Classification	City
Habitability	Habitable
Affiliation	Crusader Industries; UEE;
Features
Shops	Admin Office; Cousin Crow's; Covalex Shipping; Crusader Showroom; Discovery Center; Ellroy's; Kel-To; Makau; Providence Surplus; TDD; Voyager Bar; Whammer's;
Services	Crusader Security office; Discovery Tours; Greencircle Habitation; Hospital; Ship rentals; Ship repair & refueling; Vision Center;
Lore
Founded	2865 CE; 89 years ago
Other sites Official sites Galactapedia; ARK Starmap;

Orison is a network of large interconnected platforms floating in the atmosphere of the planet Crusader. It is built upon a military-constructed latticework of inhabitable floating platforms which Crusader Industries uses to manufacture their large-scale ships. The shipyards themselves are famously beautiful and have made Orison a prime tourist destination in the Stanton system.^[1] It offers a breathtaking view of Crusader's commercial shipbuilding platforms.^[2]

Orison maintains its precise orbital height through controlled firing of Seraph-class thrusters situated below each platform. Precisely timed to prevent shearing and destabilization of the connected network of struts, each thruster is activated for a short burst allowing Orison to stay firmly in place. Crusader locals often describe the gentle vibrations that accompany the periodic adjustments as "Orison’s free massage."^[3]^[4]

History

The first orbital platforms were built by the UEE Navy in 2855 and considered an engineering marvel at the time. Providence industrial platform played an important role in the repair of capital ships.^[5] In 2865, CEO Kelly Caplan purchased the gas giant Crusader when the UEE decided to sell the planets in the Stanton system.^[6] Soon after, Providence Platform was converted into one of the most advanced shipyards ever in operation and the city of Orison developed around the existing latticework.

Transit

The Orison Skyway Shuttle Service is served by the following lines:

Main Line, which links the August Dunlow Spaceport with the Cloudview and Providence platforms.
Vision Center Line, which links with Vision Center
Inspiration Park Line, which links with Inspiration Park and is itself served by three internal lines:
- Solanki-Brushwood Line; which links Solanki platform with Brushwood platform.
- Solanki-Hartmoore Line; which links Solanki platform with Hartmoore platform.
- Hartmoore-Brushwood Line; which links Hartmoore platform with Brushwood platform.
Discovery Tours, a tour line.

Districts

Currently, four districts are open for players to visit. Public transport between them is conducted by Skyway Shuttle services.^[7]^[8]

Cloudview Center

Cloudview Center is Orison's main commercial platform and home to the Stratus shopping center, Greencircle habs, Voyager Bar, Orison General Hospital, the Crusader Industries Showroom, a Stormwal sculpture, a Trade and Development Division, as well as numerous scenic points overlooking Crusader's cloudscapes.^[9]

Arriving at the Crusader Visitor's Center, you head straight down the elevators to the Grande Observatory, where the transparent flooring provides unparalleled views of the tempestuous atmosphere below.^[10]

"Once past the windbreak, she slowed her pace, used her badge to shortcut customs and turned towards the promenade. The wide garden-lined walkway provided access to most of the various shopping plazas and services that comprised the bulk of the hub's structures, with the added bonus of serving up some of the best vistas of Crusader's massive vessels being constructed. Even at this early hour, tourists congregated along the length of the overlook...
...As she approached the starport's entrance, she bypassed the long line that snaked outside and beelined straight for the maintenance area...
...The massive maintenance bay held several starliners in different states of repair."
Hostile Negotiations ^[7]^[11]

This is where the Crusader Security Office is located.

" With its pleasant atmosphere and abundance of ergonomics, you could tell that "team flow experts" and environmental psychologists who specialized in harmonizing workers with their surroundings had probably been consulted during construction. Basically, there was a lot of natural light, way too many potted plants and hallways that nearly all lead towards the "interface lounge," i.e., the break room."
Hostile Negotiations ^[7]

Skyway Shuttle Cloudview station is located there.^[8]

Providence industrial platform

Providence industrial platform is an industrial platform in Orison. Skyway Shuttle Providence station is located in there.^[8] Visitors can take a tour of the facility via the Crusader Discovery Center.^[12] Other amenities include Covalex Shipping and Self Storage, Cousin Crow's Custom Craft, Providence Surplus, and Orison Municipal Services.^[13]

Providence Platform was originally constructed as a Naval drydock in 2855 to take advantage of the lower gravity and breathable atmosphere found here. This is also why they made this Crusader’s new headquarters. When the company purchased Stanton II in 2865, Providence Platform underwent major renovations to transform it into the manufacturing center that it is today. Of course, while it may not be an official Navy site any longer, Crusader carries on the tradition of working to help people across the empire.^[3]

August Dunlow Spaceport

Orison's spaceport (named after August Dunlow, the founder of Crusader Industries), serves as the main point of entry for the landing zone. Skyway Shuttle Dunlow station is located there.^[8] It is connected to several Aeroview hangar platforms.

Shipyard complex

Floating in a nest of complicated latticeworks, the Crusader Industries Shipyards are prized examples of unintentional art, where one may watch massive transport ships emerge from nothing as they are constructed by a delicately choreographed ballet of bots and workers.^[14]

This is where the Genesis Starliner is built.^{[citation needed]}

Stormwal sanctuary

Stormwals live in the vicinity of Orison, and visitors can board a Discovery Tour shuttle for a chance to see these beasts.^[13]

Vision Center

Vision Center platform is a convention and conference center platform. Events such as IAE and ILW are hosted there but when they are not the Expo Hall is home to a PTV racetrack.

Inspiration Park

Inspiration Park is a series of four platforms that serve as the administrative headquarters of Crusader Industries and also to showcase the company's portfolio for corporate clients.

Other platforms

Orison contains more than a hundred platforms in total, with several sections of them interconnected to one another. These can all be classified by different platform types:^[15]

Name	Function	Description
Magna-class halo	Residential/commercial	O-shaped platform with several towers, gardens and landing pads on them
Paulus-class halo	Residential/commercial	Smaller O-shaped platform with some towers and gardens
Pearl-class platform	Residential/commercial	Medium T-shaped residential platform with several layers of gardens, and multiple buildings on them
Envoy-class platform	Residential/commercial	Medium F-shaped platform with gardens, multiple landing pads, a hangar, and several towers
Prestige-class platform	Residential/commercial	Medium h-shaped residential platform with gardens, landing platforms and several buildings on them
Saga-class platform	Residential/commercial	Small I-shaped utility platform with several hangars in a row, gardens and some buildings on them
Ottima-class platform	Residential	Smaller I-shaped residential platform with gardens, a landing pad and a single tower. Sometimes these platforms can be found attached to a different platform
(Unnamed)	Industrial	Massive rectangular industrial platform with a skeleton-like undercarriage, each with a different name, such as Providence, Caplan, Shimura, Milford
Australis	Industrial	Medium industrial platform, similar to Providence, but thinner in shape
(Unnamed)	Industrial	Small industrial platform, with stacks of containers on the end and buildings in the middle
(Unnamed)	Industrial	Cargo platform, containing thousands of cargo containers
August Dunlow Platform (A/B)	Commercial	Platforms containing (rentable) Aeroview hangars. A portion of them is connected to August Dunlow Spaceport.

Significant characters

Liaison Officers Lisa Gibbs (ID# 91G66BW0) and Devin Bautista (ID# 948J030K) work Crusader Security's 'lemonade stand', the small auxiliary community outreach office in Orison. They are already the points of contact for Crusader Security contracts via mobiGlas as of Alpha 3.3.0, but datamined audio reveals that they will also be voiced mission givers. The lemonade stand's parent - the Crusader Security Office, is run by Section Chief Captain Pontayo, and is where Liaison Officer Kayla Frost works in dispatch. Frost features in the Hostile Negotiations storyline along with cameo appearances by Gibbs and Bautista.^[7]^[11]

Trivia

Crusader gardeners could not find a tree that would fit well in their city, so they created one themselves. Something that was well adapted to high winds and low humidity, that could self-pollinate, and most importantly, was beautiful. They created a cross-combination of flowering dogwoods and taverbark pines: the Hosanna tree features strong roots, flexible branches, delicately scented pink flowers.^[3]
2955 marks the centennial anniversary of the first orbital platform built on Crusader.^[16]
The word "orison" means "prayer." Many of Crusader Industries' products and locations are named after mystic or religious concepts.

Gallery

Crusader-orison-voyager-bar-lookout-daytime-3.14.jpg

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Note that these apparently were never approved by Chris Roberts, released instead by concept artist Ken Fairclough as part of his portfolio. Making it unlike most other concept art found. May or may not relate to what Crusader's landing zone finally looks like.