The Orion Frontier Mercantile Association, also called the Orion Frontier Merchants Association, or simply the OFMA, was an independent collection of Orion clans and Orion Colonies active within the the Triangle in the 23rd century.
History[]
Following the outbreak of the Four Years War between the United Federation of Planets and the Klingon Empire on reference stardate 1/9409.29 (c. 2252), the Federation declared that the Orion Colonies could not trade with the Klingons for the duration of the war, according to the terms of their treaties with the Botchok Planetary Congress (BPC) and by the Federation Uniform Mercantile Code. Forced to choose between the two, the BPC complied, though several Orion businesses were bankrupted; the Federation was blamed, rather than the BPC. As a result, several Colonies in the Triangle declared independence from the BPC in stardate 1/9412 and formed the Orion Frontier Mercantile Association. With that, they could get around the restrictions, and continued trade with both sides. Many others followed, and the Federation–BPC agreements became worthless.
The Laxala Incident of stardate 1/9504 (c. 2253), in which a Klingon task force intercepted and apparently destroyed an Orion merchant vessel transporting dilithium to a Federation world, prompted the BPC to issue the Sacred Cargoes act, declaring that Orion merchants were to be untouchable by both sides. To back this up, both the BPC and the Orion Frontier Mercantile Association threatened to destroy all dilithium on Rigel XII if either side disrupted their trade. Both sides complied with the ultimatum. The Orions profited off the secure trade, in the process saving their worlds and economies from collapse. The Federation also benefited from the supply of dilithium and other rare war resources, which they badly needed at the time. (FASA RPG module: The Orions: Book of Common Knowledge)
Leadership[]
The Lifaq family was a leading group within the Orion Frontier Mercantile Association, and possessed a number of planets within it. Through the Association, they became a powerful and influential force within the Triangle. (FASA RPG module: The Orions: Book of Deep Knowledge)