Orion Colonies

Good

There is no official name for the area of space that is predominantly occupied by the Orion race, centered on the Rigel system in the Orion sector of the Beta Quadrant. To the Federation, it is officially the Orion Neutrality Area. The most commonly used name however is Orion Space.

Other terms are the Orion Congeries and the Orion Union, though it is unclear as to whether these represent the full extent of Orion Space or are simply Orion alliances or even businesses within Orion Space.

Unlike many other spacefaring states, the Orions are not a unified population, but are instead spread out into several large factions and a great many smaller ones, separated by space, allegiances and cultural differences, and they are decentralized with a network of bases. . Though they have a homeworld in the Rigel system, they have no overarching government or controlling influence, and no Orion has the authority to speak for the entire species. The Orions are not an imperial power, and co-exist with other races on the planets they occupy (though not necessarily peacefully).

Only the Orion homeworld is developed enough to possess a government and legal entities, though its influence on the rest of the species is no greater than that of any other group of Orions. This homeworld is either Botchok (Rigel VIII), and governed by the Botchok Planetary Congress (, or it is Kolar (Rigel VII, also known as Orion) and dominated by the Thakolarivaj, the Great Orion Empire (or simply the Vaj, the 'Empire') and other kingdoms. In Orion society, there is a clear cultural distinction and rivalry between the homeworld and the Orion Colonies.

Apparently important posts within Orion Space are the Potentate of Orion, and the Orion chancellor.

Orion society is loosely organized by caju, or great families, that can also be called clans, which are lead by clan lords, chiefs and chieftains. Each caj acts as a merchant house that organizes trade networks and inter-clan marriages, funds explorers and mercenaries, and conducts trade and crime as each chooses. Each caj takes care of its own, and local Orion governments more closely resemble loose patchworks of individual subcontractors paid by the local caju to negotiate with foreigners, construct public works, run court systems and so on. 

The most significant and dominant organization within Orion Space is the Orion Syndicate, an interplanetary criminal organization.


 * The definition of a 'syndicate' as 'a group of individuals or companies formed to transact some specific business, or to promote a common interest; a self-coordinating group' (Wiktionary:Syndicate) indicates that the Orion Syndicate may have begun as an alliance of caju and may still be one.

Another group operating in Orion Space are the Orion Free Traders.