#operation return

hmmmmmmmmmm. wait a sec

I see a lot of Mass Effect in there, particularly the Battle of Rannoch in ME3 as you board the Geth Dreadnought.  Apart from the similarities between the Kaylon and the Geth, the camera motion and immersion in the midst of the battle is very evocative of the Normandy maneuvering between the Geth and Quarian fleets.  The spherical nature of Kaylon ships is also reminiscent of the Reaper Oculus fighter.

I see a lot of the Battle of Sector 001 from Star Trek: First Contact in there, particularly as the Kaylon ships break through the lines and bear down on Earth.  The spherical Kaylon ships are very evocative of the Borg Sphere which the Cube launches just before it is destroyed, and which likewise bypass the ships of Starfleet to move towards Earth directly.  Plus the sudden appearance of the Krill in the darkest hour mirrors the arrival of the Enterprise at the climax of the battle.

The pursuit of the Kaylon ships after they break through the fleet lines is very similar to the climax of Operation Return in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.  The other ships falling down one by one as the Orville presses ahead comes straight from the Defiant breaking through the Dominion fleets in “Sacrifice of Angels” in the Starfleet push to retake the station and the wormhole, losing its fellow ships one by one until it’s the only one left.

The Battle of Wolf 359 from Star Trek: The Next Generation is more of a thematic inspiration than a direct visual origin, primarily since we don’t really see the Battle of Wolf 359, but Admiral Halsey’s transmission to the Orville is almost a direct lift from Admiral Hanson’s transmission during the same.