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.

Much of the Federation's knowledge of Orion history comes from research missions to the Time Planet, where the Guardian of Forever is located. (TAS episode: "Yesteryear")

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. (RPG reference: The Orions: Book of Common Knowledge)

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 as 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. (RPG reference: The Orions: Book of Common Knowledge)

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.

In 9143 BCE, the Accord of Namazz (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. (RPG reference: The Orions: Book of Common Knowledge)

The Orion Dawn

Around 8000 BCE, the Orions began to smuggle technology back to Botchok and the colonies. They also began to function as crews aboard alien starships around this time. The prospect of Orions being allowed to have warp drives frightened some of the master races, and the issue was debated at the 42nd Rigel Conference, but the move to ban Orion use of warp drive was vetoed by races who believed that it would be too restraining on future trade. (The first official mention of Orion crews, however, would not come until 3587 BCE- on an insurance claim.)

A report from reference stardate -74/50 (5450 BCE) indicates that at that time, Orions were in service to 32 different races, and their colonies were present on 79 separate planets. Orion influence in their own affairs continued to grow: an Orion delegation was permitted to attend the 113th Rigel Conference in 4712 BCE, where the Orions proposed rules for the proxy war system that would ensure lower casualties without compromising their masters' authority. In 2351 BCE, Orion forces were used for offworld combat at the Battle of Lomatin IV, and though the involved master races were censured under Kammzdast, the practice would nevertheless continue.

In 1508 BCE (reference stardate -35/0811), the event popularly referred to as the "Orion Dawn" took place: two Orion spacers named Ombrey and Maark, who served as senior officers on a Buban freighter, organized an operation where they captured two trading vessels that they dubbed the Revenge and the Fate. Unable to return to Botchok, these Orions took the ships to the Rigel BC system, where they established bases on the planets Avali and Ugoan. They began to capture other vessels to add to their fleet, leading to the birth of Orion piracy.

Botchok and the Orion Colonies covertly supported the pirates in their efforts to make star travel available, but they were able to maintain appearances with their master races. The facade of proper behavior was convincing enough that in 1317 BCE, the Orions were permitted to launch vessels that they built and crewed entirely themselves, as long as they were unarmed merchant craft. Around this time, the Orions also became involved in the Trade Halls of Rigel IV. After only a few decades, they were present in almost ever Hall on the planet, and by 1100 BCE, they made up the majority of the Rigellian Trade Authority's clerical workforce. The master races permitted this because of the increased riches it brought them-- but not everyone was pleased with the growing Orion independence. In 891 BCE, following the 144th Rigel Conference, an anti-Orion pogrom was bloodily put down.

Around 700 BCE, the Nine Worlds Confederation was formed, a conglomeration of the nine most powerful races operating near the Rigel system. The Nine Worlds believed that the Orions had been allowed to stretch the terms of the Treaty of Kammzdast too far, and they began enforcing them strictly. The Orions, as well as the Rigellians, complained that efficiency had been severely reduced by the number of required inspections, but the opposition was faint, as the Nine Worlds were entirely within their legal rights. The Nine Worlds were especially concerned about Botchok's complicity in the supposed renegade pirate movement, especially after the Taunpymi Incident of 111 BCE. Riots against Orions became increasingly common over time. (RPG reference: The Orions: Book of Common Knowledge)

Independence

Having had success in curtailing Orion freedoms so far, the Nine Worlds called the 187th Rigel Conference on reference stardate -20/9507.14 (14 July 95 BCE), where they issued what became known as the Ultimatum of the Nine Worlds, a list of prohibitions that restricted Orions from participating in any commercial activities in or out of the Rigel system. The Orions, however, had known what was coming, and as soon as the resolution was announced, someone (history does not record who) cut off the Conference's link to the outside world. Minutes later, Orion troops seized all ships orbiting Rigel IV. All Orions knew that this was the time to act; their own legends indicate that it was the result of centuries of planning, but in actuality, their actions were spontaneous and unrehearsed.

An Orion delegation arrived at the Conference (the first to which they had not been invited since the 113th), lead by Nallin Oplate, who presented a counter to the Ultimatum: all Orions would be granted their freedom or there would be war on all of the Nine Worlds. While the delegates at the Conference conferred, Nallin returned to Botchok with a contingent of rhadamanen from the Rigel Trade Halls and informed his people of the revolt.

By the end of August, the Orions had seized control of the planet from their overseers, who were imprisoned. Nallin created the Botchok Planetary Congress to govern the newly independent world. Proxy warfare on Botchok was finally ended permanently, and the troops began to ready to defend the planet. The Recall of the Pirates was issued to provide the planet with a space fleet.

Half of the Orion pirates had arrived at Rigel by the time a Nine Worlds fleet arrived on reference stardate -20/9401.03 (3 January 94 BCE) to investigate the silence from the Rigel Conference. The Battle of Botchok, which was just barely a victory for the Orions, became the opening conflict of the Orion War. The war was thirty-seven years long, as the signatories to the Treaty of Kammzdast refused to surrender the valuable resource of Orion labor. But it came to an end in December 57 BCE with the Battle of Rhinate, when the Nine Worlds and the other Kammzdast signatories sued for peace.

Immediately following the cease-fire, Nallin issued the Declaration of Nallin, which delcared Botchok a free world and denied the power of the Treaty of Kammzdast. It made all Orions free citizens of the Orion Congeries, governed over by the Botchok Planetary Congress. It also declared that the Orions would have no enemies and hold no grudges, for they wished to resume all of their pre-war trade relations. It would not be so easy as that, however, for the Orions had made enemies all across local space. (RPG reference: The Orions: Book of Common Knowledge)

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. (EV comic: "The Fires of Pharos")

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. (RPG reference: Star Trek IV Sourcebook Update)

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. (TOS comic: "All of Me")

The USS Enterprise was once successful in capturing an Orion ship, however it is unclear as to the extent this helped shed light on Orion duplicity (TOS comic: "All of Me")

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24th Century

There was an Orion present for the trade conference on Deep Space 9 in 2370. (DS9 novel: Betrayal)