Changes

Two or three Orca's can transport an entire [[Hunter cadreCadre]], drones, battlesuits and all, onto a planet's surface. These would not usually be dropped directly in combat, more likely be inserted onto the planets surface some distance from the enemy before moving into battle. During major planetary invasions the Orca provides important support to the Manta. Whilst Manta's transport the bulk of the Tau forces, Orca's allow a Shas'o to be flexible in the deployment of his Hunter cadres, using the Orca for special missions – such as deploying Pathfinders or Stealth suits close to the enemy for scouting and sabotage missions, or to transport important personnel, such as Ethereals, Diplomats or the Shas'o commander himself, and their bodyguards.{{Fn|5}}

On dangerous missions or if they have to approach a battlefield, a flight of Orca's will be defended by [[Barracuda]]'s, whose job is to intercept enemy fighters or engage ground targets that threaten an Orca and its precious cargo. The Orca's ventral, pop-down turret mounted weaponry is not well suited to dog-fighting, although it provides some protection from interceptors attacking from below, climbing to intercept the descending Orca. The weaponry's main use is for sweep a landing zone with fire prior to a landing.{{Fn|5}}