Historical Events

As renowned merchants and pirates, the Orions maintained a black market in female slaves until a crackdown in the 2270's. Orion operatives attempted to sabotage the Babel Conference of 2267. During this incident Orions fired on the Federation flagship Enterprise, which was transporting delgates to the Babel conference. At the time Orion smugglers had been raiding the Coridan system and stealing dilithium crystals and other valuable minerals to sell on their black market. Their attack was intended to prevent Coridan's admission to the Federation. They failed, and as their continued raids were halted, the Orion black market later seemingly ceased to exist around 2280 with Federation interruption of all their goods.

Orions were reported to have transported half the population of a village on Brinda V to work as slave labor in mining camps, another example of a space-faring race -- like Cardassians -- who have relied on manual labor rather than technology for tasks considered menial.

Relations

United Federation of PLanets

Originally, the Federation was five races with tenuous trade with Rigel and useful controls on Orion pirates. Orion observers attended the First Babel Conference as members of a friendly, but sovereign power. Asked to join the new alliance, the Orions came up with a 'fair and equitable' sum for their participation-ten trillion credits. Considering this request tantamount to a bribe, the five races refused to pay.

Since then, the Federation expanded into Orion space like a cancer, and Starfleet has curtailed the slave trade. Orion is now little more than a Federation protectorate, its neutrality regarded as a joke and a shield for undesirable activities, and Orions resent this deeply. Aggression is one thing, but the Federation arrogantly annexed more than one-third of all Orion worlds. To Orions, the Federation is not just an eagerly expanding association, it is an overbearing bunch of self-righteous, self-proclaimed do-gooders without history, or respect. Orions consider pious posturings of the Federation absurd. It does not make deals-it simply proclaims laws and sends its ships to enforce them. Although it refuses to play or even to acknowledge the Orion game, the UFP claims it respects the individual cultures it has swallowed whole.

The Klingon Empire

Orions do not seem to get along with Klingons. Although Orion-Klingon relations are were a well-kept secret, typically blunt Klingon expressions of opinion reveal a deep-seated distrust and loathing of Orions. By Klingon standards, the Orions are clearly a dying race, good for nothing but producing servitors, and unworthy of a challenging conquest. They tend to be smarter than their captors, and wherever they go, their noxious culture follows-and thrives. From this we may extract the provenance of the revealing Klingon saying: "Never take an Orion prisoner-they are far too devious to leave alive."

Starfleet Intelligence has only recently discovered the extent to which the Orions conducted trade both within the Klingon Empire, and between the Federation and the Empire, when the Federation and the Klingons were the deadliest of adversaries. Some suprising products of the Empire find their way into Orion space, and somehow get transported into the Federation. Though no longer illegal, it does leave Federation-and Klingon intelligence agencies mystified. Piracy is still a rather uncommon event along the Klingon-Orion border because the Klingons often ruthlessly hunt and obliterate any Orion pirates who were unfortunate enough to be captured by the Klingon Defence Forces.

Regardless of past Orion-Klingon relations, the Orions have long-successfully tapped a Klingon fondness for luxury items, which the Klingons may officially deplore. Now that trade between the Federation and the Klingons is relatively unrestricted compared to past decades, Orions serve as popular conduits for transport of goods between the two governments, and Orions have gotten wealthy beyond the dreams of avarice because of this. Nevertheless, occasionally traditional Klingon customs do get in the way of business, and these tales of woe do reach Orion Space. Traditionally, Orions refer to them as Klong, a deliberate corruption of the Klingon name with a revealing meaning: "the wall".

Romulan Star Empire

Relations between the Orions and the Romulans were never well understood. Prior to the Romulan War of Stardate 1093, the Orion colony world of Farx was obliterated in an attack. Recovered sensor scans, matched against archived Starfleet sensor scans proved later that the attackers were indeed three full squadrons of Romulan starships. Approximately 22 million Orions were killed in the attack, and affected Orion relations with the Romulans permanently. Farx remains uninhabited to this day, the Orion government consistently refuses to allow resettlement. It is well known that the Romulans are relatively resource poor, and the Orions are relatively wealthy. Both races have a long tradition of piracy, and are also secretive. An Orion diplomatic mission some fifty years ago reported the Romulans as being "Stuffy". The Romulans place high value on personal honor, something for which Orions have precious little use. While trade does occur still, unofficially and unsanctioned by the Federation, "stuffy" is probably the mildest word Orions use to describe the Romulans.

Cardassian Union

The Orions were among the few races with whom the Cardassians did not initiate a war upon first contact. The Cardassians are another race which happens to inhabit a relatively resource-poor section of space, and were more than happy to purchase raw materials from the Orions. Once the war began and a Zone of Transport Escort was initiated by the Federation in its territory bordering Cardassian claims, it began to become too difficult to transport raw materials to the Cardassians since all merchant vessels had to be escorted (and could be searched) by Starfleet escort vessels. Vessels traveling outside convoys could be attacked by Starfleet vessels. Since that time, the Cardassians do not regard the Orions very well, considering them weak. Cardassian merchants will do business with Orions, but grudgingly.

Tholian Assembly

Few races have ever been welcomed by the Tholians, who like Cardassian, tend to shoot first and ask questions later. Orions tried a unique approach to contacting the Tholians; Orion vessels would remain inside Federation or Neutral space, then transmit signals into Tholian space communicating intent to trade, and that any interested military or civilian vessels were welcome to approach under peace signals to conduct business.

Naturally, the first few ship-to-ship contacts did not go well, but the Tholians seemed to understand from the seized Orion vessels and crews, that the Orions did indeed appear to be 'legitimate' traders, but that their activities should bear monitoring. The Tholians also decided that the Orions were not to be trusted-all business transactions would be done on the Tholian-Federation border, and that no other ships from any other nationality would be allow to trade, nor would their goods be accepted. Along with these demands, a list of nearly three hundred other related demands were presented to the sole remaining surviving merchant crew, who were released along with a cargo of extremely rare Tholian Silk, as a way of demonstrating Tholian sincerity.

The Dominion

In short, the Orions do not have any contact, nor do they wish any contact with the Dominion. The Dominion are rather like the Borg in Orion eyes; soulless conquerors who desire nothing but the conquest and enslavement of others. They do not care for those whom they rule-they are simply absorbed. Orions view any Dominon conquest of Orion territory as the death knell of Orion culture.

The Ferengi Alliance

Orions often regard Humans to be brothers under the skin. Ferengi could best be described as cousins under the skin. Both Orions and Ferengi believe in spending one's fortune in the enjoyment of living, and both believe that life is meant to be enjoyed-down to the bottom of one's pockets. Both races also believe that it is better to be rich than poor.

However, there are subtle differences between Orions and Ferengi which gives Orions pause when dealing with their large-lobed associates in interstellar trade. Orions believe in wealth to the extent it provides a comfortable existence for an individual, an individuals family, and his company. While wealth is good, it is also more than a measure of greed, but more properly a measure of one's status among others, and a reference on how well one can take care of oneself and others around him. For Ferengi, the cause is greed, and by definition, it is entirely self-centered, the extent of which, even the greediest Orion would find somewhat repellent.

Nevertheless, Orions and Ferengi do have a grudging respect for each others negotiation skills, and often do business with each other, if only to ensure their mutual negotiation skills remain sharp. Needless to say, both sides of the table know enough to make sure they have their respective wallets before they depart the negotiating table.

Humans

'Humans' in this case, refer primarily to Terrans and other similar humanoids. Orion viewpoints of Humans deserves special attention.

For many decades, Orions tended to regard the Federation is an extremely negative light, but more in view of a supergovernment blythely asserting power in spaces where it had no right to. However, the Orions are pragmatic; blaming a Federation for such arrogance is one thing, blaming an individual who happened to be a Federation citizen is another matter entirely. Vulcans were entirely too logical, Andorians entirely too calculating, but Humans were most like Orions in temperment, and even philosophy, so Orions have always admired Humans; not because Humans are so Orion-like, but because Humans retained their identity regardless of the actions of the Federation to which they belong. Belief in a central ideal holds a strong attraction to Orions because they are so fleeting in Orion society. Humans were different in this aspect however, and it is something for which Orions possess a grudging admiration.

Terran cultural artifacts are enormously popular among Orions. They love Clint Eastwood 'Spaghetti Westerns', buccaneers pirating the Spanish Main, baseball, ice hockey, rock concerts, and old analog movies of the Three Stooges. Terran clothing, particularly historical fashions such as 'Western wear' , have always sold well on Orion worlds. For their part, Orions have incorporated Terran slang, particularly Russian and American-English words into Orion and Rigellian Trade Lingo. The word "okay" can be heard on Orion worlds a thousand parsecs from Terra.

Admittedly, Terra of the 24th century is far different from the Terra of that Orions romanticize. It is a civilized world now, its violent ways safely sealed in books and tapes. There are only a precious few cowboys left, and they are certainly not murdering Indians any more. Although Humans tend to appreciate Orion friendliness, its basis often makes Terrans uncomfortable.

Terrans are in part responsible for their plight; it was the Terran merchantman Marco Polo that arrived at Rigel, opening direct trade with the Orions, providing them with their first taste of fast food, Levis, and Clint Eastwood. Commercially, the trade was a blockbuster of a success, but the great-grandchildren of those early merchants must put up with beings who think Godfathers and Shoguns run Terra.

To their credit, Orions seem to be correct in their appreciation of Terrans, and Humans in general as brothers under the skin. There are many thousands of Humans in Orion employment throughout the galaxy, alongside other Orions. Actual numbers are hard to come by, but Humans are by far the most numerous beings coexisting with Orions. Humans seem to adapt to the Orion tradition of self-indulgence with disturbing ease.

The Orion Pirates

Officially, piracy is outlawed within Orion space, and the Orion Alliance Navy and most planetary governments assist Starfleet in tracking down pirate bands that seeming appear overnight and from out of the ether. Piracy is still a profitable business, but has become extremely dangerous with the advent of newer starship technologies in Starfleet and Klingon Defence Force inventories that can make a relatively small and seemingly innocuous Starfleet or Klingon vessel quite the deadly adversary in a one-on-one or multiple pirate vessel engagement. Pirates, the few that are known to exist and elude capture (there are always a few), are more selective about their targets since the result (if they are lucky) is imprisonment and reeducation in a Federation penal facility, or the infamous Rura Penthe Penal Colony if they are unlucky enough to be captured inside Klingon space.

Orion observers (and there are many), remain somewhat suprised at the precipitous decline of Orion piracy. The Orion Alliance Navy, even though a token force compared to Starfleet, the Klingon Defence Forces, or the Romulan Space Navy, lures a great many Orions into military and exploration service. At any rate, the Orion Space Navy is regarded as a viable deterrent to those youngsters so anxious to get into space that they would join a pirate band, or those hard bitten spacers looking for their next line of work, and with enough experience to know piracy is a losing proposition, regardless of how well it may pay.

Still, the astute non-Orion observing Orion culture would realize Orions do nothing without sufficient motive. Piracy may well have declined to nearly nothing as the Orions reorganize their priorities, but it is hard for many students of Orion culture to believe that the vessels and crews simply disappeared or 'went home', and many feel it quite conceivable that the pirates are still there, plying a respectable profession, until the day they are needed to defend Orion Space, whether from Romulan, Borg, or Dominion assault.

Of course, given the normalcy of relations between the Orions and the Federation and Klingons, perhaps this is a tacit acknowledgement from Orions to their two largest neighbors that they, the Orions, know who their friends are-and who they are not.

Pirate Tactics

This document is placed here as it has no other place to reside, and is an obvious continuation, being that the previous section introduces piracy. Hopefully this information will be a undeniable resource to whomever reads it, for ill or good.

Ships in Space

There are only two times to attack a vessel; when it is in open space (far from help), or when it is at sublight velocity (approaching or departing a system or planet). A ship at warp speed is hard to overhaul and may be hard to intercept, but if found and caught and is weaker than a pirate vessel, it generally surrenders rather than risk destruction. However a pirate approaches a vessel, it had better be prepared to fight a stern action, as nearly every vessel will try to run away before it fights.

Ships at sublight velocity within a star system are more vulnerable but may be much nearer help. Ships slowing down for orbit are ideal targets. With landfall looming before them, a crew will not necessarily be watching behind them, and a pirate may close to boarding range before it is detected. With drives already shut down and without maneuvering room, a ship becomes easy plucking.

A pirate never wishes to exchange fire, which tends to eat hull sheathing and damages valuable cargo. The best tactic is to appear suddenly, close and bristling with guns, to intimidate the victim. Out in space, this means either to sneak up from the stern or to make an oblique and rapid approach with weapons charged and shields up in front of an intended victim-much scarier, but also much harder to do.

Near a planet, an armed approach or the sudden display of a ship's weapons may be counterproductive, especially if there are planetside, orbital, or warship defenses close at hand. Then, the best approach is unnoticed and unannounced, or a deception to allow the pirate within beaming range of the victim. As soon as possible, a team must transport aboard the targeted ship to cut off the shields, permitting a much larger force to board swiftly and overpower the crew.

Tactics at close range are highly inventive and unpredictable. If a victim puts up shields before a boarding party is away, then a pirate must decide whether to break off, announce his intention and open fire, or just open fire without further ado. At low speeds, ramming might not only upset and unnerve the victim, but also may damage the shield mechanisms, permitting beam-in.

However, once the ship is approached and boarded, disengagement poses an often overlooked problem. A cowed crew need not stay cowed once the pirates are gone, and pirates are as vulnerable as anyone else to fire up the stern. First and foremost, communications should be smashed as completely as possible to prevent the crew from alerting the authorities. Weapons should be disabled by destroying the fire control computer, but remember that many ships mount weapons that have independent fire control. A comon mistake many pirates make is to shatter the defensive shield mechanism and let the fear of a reprisal shot forestall their firing weapons. Such tactics are just not effective. Trashing the shields or any other large and complicated mechanism takes too long and produces too many technical problems. Smashing bridge navigational displays, however, takes little time or effort, yet paralyzes a vessel and hinders their reporting the pirates true position.

Pirates escape in open space by leaving in a random directin to prevent giving away a critical bearing. Evasive actions are not necessary, unless pursuit is already within sensor range. Near a planet, the options are not as open. There is always the possibility of putting the planet between the pirate and the victim. They skim the atmosphere to mislead the victim and any pursuit into thinking that the pirates are going to land on the planet. Going to warp speed while in atmosphere can be hair-raising but very effective in throwing off a search. Remember however, that entering warp in a thick planetary atmosphere could well overload a pirates shield generators, incinerating the pirate and his ship. This tactic is recommended for planetary bodies with relatively thin or nonexistent atmospheres.

Once away from the victim, space should be clear of all hostile communications and sensor scans before a vessel assumes a heading for home. It is a good idea to travel by a circular route with an ever-changing bearing to confuse sensors trying to track the ship.

Unless there is a pressing strategic reason, like a direct order from an acknowledged higher authority, a pirate vessel should never engage any vessel of higher speed or greater armament, or a warship of any size. Even the least such vessel will get away if they cannot cripple their attacker and will report the incident in full detail. Even if destroyed, they can still send word to their higher authorities. Friends and relatives of the victims often mark such pirate ships for special attention.

Outposts in Space

Some space stations, provisioning points, and other outposts in space or on small asteroids offer certain advantages to a pirate. First, they cannot run away. Second, they often contain more suitable booty to carry away. For example, a great many asteroid mining installations fall into this category, as do merchant waystations and deep-space manufacturing installations.

However, most stations carry adequate weaponry to deal with brigands, reliable communications gear to call for help, and usually a known and listed position with whatever power controls the space they are located in. A pirate raid that does not produce swift and complete capitulation is guaranteed to be bloody or impossible. Pirates do not often attack outposts, because of the difficulties of direct assault and the lack of information regarding their cargo.

Without the option of flight, outpost personnel can be counted on to fight with any weapons they possess and to send out a distress signal calling for help. Their sensors reach farther than thouse belonging to most ships, and any approach will bring a challenge, whether the ship is armed or not. Even with maximum-speed approach and deceleration, a pirate cannot overwhelm the defenses before a call of help goes out.

The only way to attack such an outpost is by making a perfectly normal, unarmed approach and to dock there. When docked, a pirate vessel is invulnerable to any station-mounted weapons (usually, depending on station design), and has successfully boarded without firing a shot.

Seizure of the outpost can then proceed as with any vessel. Defenders may put up concerted resistance, particularly if the complement of the outpost exceeds the attacker's force. Knowledge of the outpost's layout is invaluable to enable the pirates to cut communications and seize any center of security and/or command and control.

Instead of taking oer the entire station, a pirate may take over only a loading dock and warehouse area for as long as it takes to load the booty. This option is especially valid if layout information is incomplete or lacking. If properly done, a limited raid may achieve complete suprise and prevent the outpost from knowing it has been robbed until after the pirate flees. It depends on the proximity of cargo to the dock, the number of guards and their alertness, and whether or not the pirates can disguise their purpose long enough to make good their escape. Otherwise, they may have to make a fighting withdrawal, with the chance for losses running exceptionally high.

Ruses and False Flags

Pirates often find it convenient to give out false names and identification signals when making raids, particularly when approaching an installation. These efforts may be nore more sophisticated than disabling the automatic transponder and changing the paint job. A sophisticated approach would be to alter the transponder signal, which would give out the identity of a known ship, perhaps a ship whose loss is not yet known.

Many pirates experienced in attacking outposts prefer to use captured ships for the initial approach. A ship with a known name and recognizable profile can be discarded after the raid, and sent in a random direction by autopilot to confuse pursuit. The major disadvantage to using captured merchant ships is their vulnerability. If pirates must flee under fire, merchant shields may not (and probably would not) protect them. This is why captured ships are rarely used in ship-to-ship actions.

More elaborate ruses, including ships with simulated damage, have a better chance against ships than against suspicious outposts. One of the Orions' favored ruses is to simulate a ship stricken by pirates and helpless against a second assault. Variations on this theme include hitting one ship and then hanging around to hit the next one that comes down the spacelane (risky if the area is patrolled at all), planting a fake disabled ship with explosives, tractor beams, or other hazards to entrap any investigating vessel, and playing dead next to a real or false fictim in hopes of making another ship think that both ships have exhausted each other in combat.\par The reputed faked distress signal is a creation of romantic fiction writers. Merchants on tight schedules frequently ignore distress signals and simply relay the message more often than not to attract further investigation by patrol vessels. Besides, distress signals are most likely to attract inquisitive patrol vessels, or (ironically) other pirates seeking to make an easy score against a damaged ship.

Much more common are disguised 'official' transmissions of various types-faked buoys, bogus navigational markers, ersatz storm warnings, as well as plain old-fashioned open voice communications, sometimes with synthesized voices and background sounds. They need not be fancy to produce results. The numbers of vessels that will stop when told to is a pleasantly large one. Sometimes, it is all in the tone of voice.

In deep space, where the space lanes are wide and the chance of finding a particular vessel very small, pirates using fake merchant identification can chat with a merchant vessel and thus get the vessel's precise bearing, speed, and distance. With this information, a future intercept course can be plotted with great accuracy. Instead of using one ship and circling back to make intercept, some pirates employ a small scouter vessel that obtains the needed information and relays it to a lurking corsair for immediate action.

Fleet Actions

When pirates act in concert, the effect can be quite devastating. Only well-organized bands of pirates under a central coordinator may contemplate staging such an operation. In practice among Orions, the size of the 'fleet' is really no greater than a squadron 6-15 ships.

Pirate fleet actions are most commonly used against a warship, listening posts, and other military targets. Complications dealing with how the booty is split are thus avoided, and it is a great deal easier to unite pirates around a common threat. Obnoxious starship captains with dangerous anti-piracy inclinations are the usual recipients of a fleet action, but resupply stations for anti-piracy task forces may be struck to deprive the adversary of momentum, most likely in order to protect a nearby pirate base. Of course, the danger is in gauging the will of the major power so assaulted. If the operations smashes the base or ship, but causes the owner to rebuild, fortify, and send in more ships, troops, and materiel, then the pirate effort will be for naught.

Orion pirate fleets attacked entire planets during their height, but they were more accidents of circumstance and opportunity than any attempt at concerted organization. The fleets of the infamous Half-A-Man Sooris swelled as he went from planet to planet, looting and pillaging, until the largest pirate fleet in history fell on Troyius and all but wiped civilization from its surface. After that, there were no more targets of comparable size anywhere, and the fleets melted away to seek other, easier opportunities elsewhere.

Prisoners and Ransom

Orion pirates prefer not to take captives; somebody has to guard, feed, and take care of them from the time they are taken until they are either killed, freed, or ransomed to somebody who wants them back. As a purely commercial venture, taking prisoners is a losing proposition, and not widely practiced.

There are some exceptions. If pirates take a known personage alive, they can make money by ransoming him or her back to their family or corporation. Businessmen-rhadamanen in particular-and their families are ideal targets. Unless under strange circumstances, Orion will not take a captive of another race or enslave them, wild holovids and news reports to the contrary.

When pirates inform their prisoners relatives or corporation of the ransom demand, they set a price on the captive and a time limit. If the ransom is not paid on time, either the price increases between a quarter and half, or the pirates execute the prisoner. Executions are rare, as Orions hate to destroy profits, but they must show that they mean business. Ransoms are never less than the cost of boarding the captive-around 20 credits a day for a minumum holding time of 90 days. For high-ranking archexecutives, the ransom asked is often much higher.

An even nastier trick is to set a ransom and a time limit, and when the time limit passes, decrease the amount of ransom asked. Eventually, the amount goes so low that it will be very easy for a corporation or family to pay it. However, paying too little is a mortal insult to the captive. Sometimes, pirates use this technique to increase the take per captive, be forcing the payers to hurry and pay up to avoid looking as if they valued the pirates prisoner so little. However if too high a value is initially stated, the would-be payers may simply ignore it. Too large a decrease and the effect can be lost. Successful use of this tactic as a moneymaker requires knowing the exact value of the captive, and the limits to the embarrassment of the people paying.

Orion pirates are careful with their captives and will not mistreat them. If for any reason a captive cannot be ransomed off, Orion pirates are likely to strand the captive on a strange world. Killing innocent people for a financial error fills Orions with horror, and other pirates might set a bounty on the offending pirates just to make sure such people are hunted down for the barbarians they are.