Orta

Orta was a male Bajoran in the 24th century.

He was born on Bajor as Gan Orta, the son of Gan Marta and Gan Treo. He was orphaned as an infant, after which he went only by the name Orta. He was taken in by foster parents, a Bajoran couple who collaborated with the Cardassians who then occupied Bajor. When Orta was ten, both foster parents were executed for double-crossing the Cardassians and providing aid to their fellow Bajorans. He then stowed away on a Ferengi freighter, and traveled to the Bajoran refugee camp on Valo II.

On Valo II, Orta met Tova Syed, who would become a lifelong friend and loyal associate. Both joined an anti-Cardassian terrorist cell, striking at a number of Cardassian worlds. Over the next twenty years, Orta became one of the most infamous Bajoran terrorists, to the point where any off-world act against the Cardassians was attributed to him.

In his thirtieth year, Orta was betrayed by a Yridian weapons dealer, captured by the Cardassians, and returned to Bajor as a prisoner. En route, a Cardassian glinn burned his face with acid, and once on Bajor, an Obsidian Order interrogator cut out his vocal cords. He was then to be turned over to Gul Madred for furth interrogation, but was then rescued by Tova Syed and fellow members of his resistance cell. Orta did succeed, however, in murdering the Obsidian Order agent before leaving Bajor. (novel: The Brave and the Bold)

Though scarred, Orta was still able to rally his followers. However, his supply lines were severely curtailed by the Cardassians, to the point where his cell could no longer maintain warp-speed ships, and were restricted to the Valo system. (TNG episode: "Ensign Ro")

In 2370, two years after the end of the Cardassian Occupation, he agreed to return to the Bajoran system, purportedly to farm Bajor's newly arable second moon. In actuality, he had hoped to spark a new war between Bajor and the Federation, using Akwar's Ninth Prophecy as a pretext. Orta's plans were aided when he discovered the second of the four Malkus Artifacts, which acted as a powerful energy weapon. He attempted to tie this Artifact into the weapons array of the Starfleet runabout USS Rio Grande, but was foiled by an anti-Maquis protocols programmed into the vessel's systems.

Orta was turned over to Starfleet, in the person of Captain Declan Keogh of the USS Odyssey. (novel: The Brave and the Bold) He was still being held in the Odyssey's brig when that ship was destroyed in a confrontation with the Jem'Hadar. (DS9 episode: "The Jem'Hadar")