Orion history

This page details the history of the Orion people, which extends back tens of thousands of years, as well as that of the Orion Congeries/Colonies.

Prehistory
The first known record of the Orion species dates to around 18,000 BCE (reference stardate -200/00). The Rigellian Trade Authority had been active since at least 100,000 BCE, but no sentient life had ever been recorded on Botchok (Rigel VIII), a planet that had been settled by races such as the Yugai and the Sugg. The primitive Orions-- wielding no more than clubs and stones-- attacked a Yugai colony, first bringing them to the notice of the many races frequenting the Rigel system. The commander of the Yugai contingent repulsed the attack easily with his people's superior technology, destroyed the attackers' village of origin, and forgot about them. It is not known whether the Orions had always been on the planet or whether some other race transplanted them there.

The alien races that had settled Botchok soon came to appreciate the value of the Orions as slaves. The Orions, though traditionally warriors, easily took to agricultural tasks. They were considered difficult to capture alive and to "tame", but once broken, the Orion slaves were quite useful. Over time, the primitive tribes of Orions came to accept slavery. Some tribes would capture other Orions to trade with the settlers, and on occasion, Orions would even offer themselves into slavery. The value of Orion slaves was such that the Sugg soon began to export them offworld.

Other races soon began to raid Botchok for slaves, preferring to take them from settlements, rather than "the wild", so that they would already be accustomed to slavery. The Sugg armed their slaves with slugthrowers, considering them their own best defense against raiders-- the Orion slaves would fight to prevent themselves from being torn away from their families and homes. Over time, the arming of the Orions escalated, and soon the aliens were using Orions as slavers to capture other Orions. By 16,000 BCE (reference stardate -180/00), the Orion slave trade was well-established. 

Beginning of the Orion Era
By around 15,900 BCE, Orions were growing so well-armed that the local races foresaw a time when Orion barbarians would overrun all of space. As a result, the Orion-using races convened on the planet Kammzdast and on reference stardate -179/56, they signed the Treaty of Kammzdast. (Modern historians consider this date the beginning of the Orion Era.) This document placed a number of restrictions on the use of Orion slaves: they could not carry weapons outside of the Rigel system, and they were only permitted to engage in combat on the "unsettled" Rigel worlds (which included Botchok itself). Though this was of great benefit to the signatory races-- local space was kept in a relatively peaceful state for over ten thousand years-- Botchok was now a battlefield for the masters of the Orions. In actuality, however, proxy warfare on Botchok was not that common as had been intended, as disputants often did not have adjacent holdings on the planet.

The Orion people revolted against the stipulation of disarmament, on Botchok and elsewhere. Because few of the slave-holding races had the capacity for continuous policing of their slaves, they began educating their slaves so that they could be used in less militaristic capacities. The number of revolts decreased slowly over time, but the alien schools gave the Orions new perspectives on life, as they learned the cultural values of their conquerers, and a hope to be independent of their masters began to slowly arise. Some of these educated Orions revolted, but their lack of knowledge of government and diplomacy meant that most of these revolts were short-lived. Realizing that they would have to be more than barbarians before they could gain their freedom, the Orions ceased their attempts at revolution.

With the peace brought to the Rigel system by the Treaty of Kammzdast, the slave-owning races were now more likely to settle, even on Botchok itself. The Orions were divided up into territories/nations, and the settlers even built cities for their slaves, so as to facilitate the industries of educating the slaves; the Orions were also easier to keep under control in a civilized, urban setting. The Orions were now taught to respect and obey their masters from the moments they were born. However, as their level of education increased, so did their yearning for freedom. 

The Long Winter and the First Stage
Over time, the Orions came to be quite civilized, and as a result of their servitude, their masters granted them a good amount of whatever it was they required. The 21st Rigel Conference, held in 12,327 BCE (reference stardate -143/27), went so far as to grant the Orions nuclear technology. The Orions had learned from millennia of peace negotiations that the threat of nuclear war was an excellent deterrent, and by constructing nuclear weapons of their own, they claimed that they could reduce or even eliminate warfare on Botchok.

But in 12,237 BCE (reference stardate -142/37), when the Orions completed their nuclear weapons, it turned out that they had a different purpose in mind: they ordered their masters to depart the Rigel system or be destroyed. After a secret meeting, their masters responded by detonating their own nuclear weapons, reasoning that they could do without Botchok for a generation. The brief event became known as the Atom War; it was followed by the Long Winter, which lasted twenty years. During this time, 80% of the Orions on Botchok died.

It was another twenty-eight years before the 22nd Rigel Conference allowed the resettlement of Botchok. During the First Stage, offworld Orions, free from radiation damage and other defects, were taken back to their ancestral homeworld to repopulate the planet and to repair the damage. The Orions vowed in the Book of Tears to never allow themselves to be held at the whim of an alien power ever again. To do so, they continued the plan that had been in effect before the Atom War: quiet, faithful service as they worked to diminish their reputation as barbarians. Around 8000 BCE, they also began to smuggle technology back to Botchok and the colonies. They also began to function as crews aboard alien starships around this time.

In 9143 BCE, the Namazz Accord (part of the 59th Rigel Conference) granted the Orion people the authority to carry out the reconstruction of Botchok with their own money, labor, and technology. This was the first public responsibility allowed the Orions. The First Stage was concluded in 7730 BC (reference stardate -97/30), causing the offworld powers to reinstitute proxy warfare on Botchok, but the Orions created rules for conduct that would ensure lower casualties without compromising their masters' authority. 

23rd Century
In 2254 Orions were amongst a brigand, including; Arcturans, Khodini and renegade Humans, in the Marrat Nebula region to attack Starbase 13 in response to Starfleet's Project Pharos; a scheme to bring order to the region and control illegal activity by building a huge galactic lighthouse. 

The United Federation of Planets abolished the trafficking of Orion slave girls inside Federation space in 2259. Federation economic sanctions force the Orion government to officially abolish slavery - essentially a meaningless gesture. 

By as late as the 23rd century, the Orions were allegedly maintaining a policy of neutrality in interstellar affairs. Often an Orion Pirate ship would be found raiding Federation colonies, but when faced with capture the ships would activate a self-destruct device and the Orion government would disavow them as rogues. 

The USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) was once successful in capturing an Orion ship, however it is unclear as to the extent this helped shed light on Orion duplicity

24th Century
There was an Orion present for the trade conference on Deep Space 9 in 2370.