Orion Colonies

The **Orion Colonies** was the name given to the collection of all Orion-inhabited worlds, including their homeworld(s). These worlds were not a single state, but a group of rival clans (*caju*), corporations and independent colonies only loosely associated through groups like the Orion Trade Union, agreements like the Orion Neutrality Act, or under the thumb of the Orion Syndicate.

Unlike many other starfaring peoples, the Orions were not a unified population, but were instead spread between several large factions and a great many smaller ones, separated by space, allegiances and cultural differences. They were decentralized, with a network of bases, and their society in general was anarchic. Claiming know sovereign space, the Orions were not an imperial power. Some of the Colonies were Federation members or protectorates, while others were possessions of the Klingon Empire. By the late 23rd century, there were over one hundred individual Orion Colonies. Despite hardships, most of those worlds maintained at least one purely Orion settlement. (*DS9* novel: *Wrath of the Prophets*, *Demons of Air and Darkness*; LUG: *Star Trek: The Next Generation Core Game Book*; FASA: *The Orions: Book of Common Knowledge*)

Despite a love of travel, the Orions in general were not a pioneering people, nor did they desire conquest, only exploitation and profit. Though some Colonies were founded on unclaimed planets, Orions preferred to settle on already inhabited worlds, trading with the natives and ingratiating themselves into the local economic structure. In such a way, they expanded through the territories of most sovereign powers surrounding their own worlds, such as the Federation and the Klingon Empire. (FASA: *The Orions: Book of Deep Knowledge*)

These "colonies" could range in size from Orion neighborhoods within alien cities, to entire cities of their own located elsewhere, both bringing their own architecture and culture, but only speaking their native language when no non-Orions were around to hear. Thus, Orions were usually not the sole inhabitants of the planets they occupied, but could be found living among alien populations far greater than their own number on any given world. (LUG: *Star Trek: The Next Generation Core Game Book*; FASA: *The Orions: Book of Common Knowledge*)

The Colonies included a number of worlds scattered across the Orion sector, the Borderland, the Triangle, the former Klingon Neutral Zone, and particularly along the Rigel Highway, towards Beta Orionis and the Orion constellation, near the mineral-rich Orion Nebula, as well and on the rimward frontier sectors of the Federation in both the the Alpha and Beta Quadrants. Major population centers were Orion Prime, Beta Rigel, Saiph II, and Betelgeuse XIII. (LUG: *Star Trek: The Next Generation Core Game Book*; FASA: *The Orions: Book of Common Knowledge*)

A significant number of Orion colony worlds lay within Federation space. Some were Federation members, or had been sold to Federation businesses, and some were occupied by Starfleet. Others had Orion populations with close ties to the Federation. On the other side of the former Neutral Zone border were another large number of Orion worlds within the Klingon Empire. Most had been conquered or annexed by the Klingon, though many were left to their own devices with only a figurehead governor installed to make sure the Klingons received a "tithe" from their Orion subjects. (FASA: *The Orions: Book of Common Knowledge*)

## External links

* Orion Colonies article at ***Memory Beta***, the non-canon *Star Trek* wiki.
* Orion Colonies article at ***Star Trek Expanded Universe***, the fanon and fanworks *Star Trek* wiki.