Star Trek Orion

Name: Orion
Dice: 13D
Dexterity: 2D / 4D
Knowledge: 2D / 4D
Mechanical: 2D / 4D
Perception: 2D+1 / 4D+1
Strength: 2D+1 / 4D+1
Technical: 2D+1 / 4D+1

Move: 10/13
Size: 1.5 - 2.4 m
Weight: 40 - 150 kg
Life Span:

Special Abilities:

• Greedy: Whenever profit is involved, Orions pursue it with unthinking tenacity. Orions must spend a Character Point to resist the call of money. If they do not, they pursue the object of their desire. Subtract 1D from and tests made to dissuade Orions.

Description: The Orions were a warp-capable humanoid species from the Alpha Quadrant. This species originated from the planet Orion.

Physiology and society

Orions were known for their distinctive green skin. Orion males were typically bald and, on average, taller and more muscular than the average Human male. Orion females were very animalistic in nature, known for their extreme carnal appetites and their innate skill of seduction. A Human male could rarely resist the alluring dance of the Orion slave girl. (TOS: "The Menagerie, Part II")

In Orion society, the males were slaves to the females. As a means of deceiving other species, the Orions maintained the facade that the females were the slaves. This was commonly done by selling Orion females on the Orion slave market. (ENT: "Borderland", "Bound"; TOS: "The Cage")

Once sold to a male, the Orion slave girls used their unique physiology to their advantage; their highly potent pheromones accelerated the metabolisms of males of many species, raising adrenaline production to dangerous levels which caused aggression and, ultimately, a form of delusion. Its most significant effect was to make them susceptible to suggestion. Not long after, the "owner" males began taking orders from their "slave" females. The pheromones' effects were cumulative; the longer exposed, the more pronounced the results.

Human females reacted negatively to those same pheromones, experiencing headaches, and Denobulan males found their sleep cycles interrupted by them. Vulcans were immune to effects of the pheromones.

In 2155, Dr. Phlox of the Enterprise NX-01 theorized that the pheromone acted as a defense mechanism against competition. (ENT: "Bound")

History

Orion once harbored a highly advanced civilization whose history had drawn great interest from Federation historians and archaeologists alike. (TOS: "The City on the Edge of Forever", "What Are Little Girls Made Of?"; TAS: "Yesteryear")

The Orions had been trading with Coridan for several centuries before 2155. They were trading with the Earth Cargo Service as early as 2152. (ENT: "Horizon", "Demons")

The Vulcans seemed to have been aware of the Orions, at the latest, by 2154. According to Arik Soong, the Orions had expanded their area of operations between 2144 and 2154. (ENT: "Borderland")

In 2154, Enterprise was raided by an Orion Interceptor, and nine of its crew members were taken as slaves. This soured relations between the Orion Syndicate and Starfleet. (ENT: "Borderland", "Bound")

In 2155, Tellarites suspected Orions of raiding their vessels, and demanded that the Coalition of Planets establish a trade embargo against them. The Coridanites, however, called this accusation 'Tellarite slander'. (ENT: "Demons")

During the mid-23rd century, noted Federation archaeologist Doctor Roger Korby translated medical records from the Orion ruins that helped revolutionize modern immunization techniques and became required reading at Starfleet Academy. (TOS: "What Are Little Girls Made Of?")

In the alternate reality, Orions were living and working on Earth. (Star Trek Into Darkness)

In 2269, through the assistance of the Guardian of Forever, Starfleet officers Captain James T. Kirk, Commander Spock and historian Lieutenant Erickson traveled to the dawn of Orion's civilization to view the planet's history unfolding, firsthand. (TAS: "Yesteryear")

As of the 2370s, the planet Orion was involved in interstellar trade, Orion Free Traders visited Deep Space 9, and the Orion Institute of Cosmology on Orion I was considered a prestigious cosmology academy. (DS9: "Little Green Men", "Call to Arms"; VOY: "Good Shepherd")

Politics and commerce

Little was known about the organization of the Orion government, or if indeed a government existed.

Prior to 2270, the Orions had carefully maintained an air of neutrality, especially while operating in and around Federation space. This, however, has proven to be more of a guise than a reality, and was often used as an effort to cover their usually shady operations. Nevertheless, Orion's official position of neutrality comes before ship and crew, as all unsuccessful Orion missions end in suicide. Orions would keep that rationale in good conscience, as they would otherwise fall subject to Federation retaliation, if they were to lose their neutrality. (TOS: "Journey to Babel"; TAS: "The Pirates of Orion")

In an alternate reality, there was at least one Orion cadet, Gaila, in Starfleet Academy during the 2250s. (Star Trek)

Trade entities

Despite the rich cultural history of Orion and outside of their "official" stance of neutrality, a dark side of the Orion culture exists in their active trafficking of forced labor through the Orion slave markets, especially their slave girls. Verex III and the Orion colony were well-known trade centers during the 22nd and 23rd centuries. (ENT: "Borderland"; TOS: "The Cage")

The primary entity operating within these confines was known as the Orion Syndicate, comprised of a conglomeration of traders, pirates and smugglers. These individuals were well-known for their many illegal operations outside of the slave trade, including extortion, theft, raids, kidnappings and assassinations. (DS9: "The Ascent", "Honor Among Thieves", "Prodigal Daughter") These activities were facilitated in the region of space which separated the Orion Syndicate from the Klingon Empire, known as the Borderland. During the 22nd century, this volatile region of space attracted the most dangerous elements from both sides. (ENT: "Borderland")

In 2154, the Earth starship Enterprise inadvertently made contact with Orion pirates when they encountered a number of Orion Interceptors, which kidnapped nine of Enterprise's crew. The crew was recovered from the Orion processing station on Verex III, where they had been taken. (ENT: "Borderland")

A secondary entity operating within the Orion realm was known as the Orion Free Traders. The Orion Free Traders had a partially established relationship with the Vulcans during the late 24th century. (DS9: "Call to Arms")

Orion colony

Enslaved native dancer at Pike's fantasy establishment on the Orion colony in 2254.

Despite the rich cultural history of Orion and outside of their "official" stance of neutrality, a dark side of the Orion culture exists in their active trafficking of forced labor through the Orion slave markets, especially their slave girls. Verex III and the Orion colony were well-known trade centers during the 22nd and 23rd centuries. (ENT: "Borderland"; TOS: "The Cage")

The primary entity operating within these confines was known as the Orion Syndicate, comprised of a conglomeration of traders, pirates and smugglers. These individuals were well-known for their many illegal operations outside of the slave trade, including extortion, theft, raids, kidnappings and assassinations. (DS9: "The Ascent", "Honor Among Thieves", "Prodigal Daughter") These activities were facilitated in the region of space which separated the Orion Syndicate from the Klingon Empire, known as the Borderland. During the 22nd century, this volatile region of space attracted the most dangerous elements from both sides. (ENT: "Borderland")

In 2154, the Earth starship Enterprise inadvertently made contact with Orion pirates when they encountered a number of Orion Interceptors, which kidnapped nine of Enterprise's crew. The crew was recovered from the Orion processing station on Verex III, where they had been taken. (ENT: "Borderland")

A secondary entity operating within the Orion realm was known as the Orion Free Traders. The Orion Free Traders had a partially established relationship with the Vulcans during the late 24th century. (DS9: "Call to Arms")

Trade contacts

The first known Orion contact with Humans was made with Arik Soong during the 2130s. Soong established a relationship with the Orion Syndicate in order to acquire certain goods and equipment that he and his Augments needed to survive. (ENT: "Borderland")

The Orions actively conducted trade with the Earth Cargo Service during the 2150s. In late December 2152, an Orion freighter was scheduled to rendezvous with the ECS Horizon; however the Horizon failed to make the transfer. (ENT: "Horizon")

By the mid-century, certain Orion entrepreneurs, including Harrad-Sar, had made contact with the Gorn Hegemony. (ENT: "Bound")

By 2155, the Orions had established trade with the Coridan "for centuries." That year, during the formation of the Coalition of Planets, the Tellarites pushed for an embargo against the Orions, claiming that several of their freighters had been attacked by the Orions. Considering their long history of trade with the Orions, the Coridan stated that they would have known of these apparent attacks, refusing to believe what they considered to be "Tellarite slander", which they believed was simply a Tellarite attempt to deprive them of valuable commerce. (ENT: "Demons")

Little did the Coridans know that a century later, Orion smugglers would be actively raiding dilithium from the Coridan system. The Babel Conference of stardate 3850.3, a prelude to Coridan's admission into the Federation, jeopardized future Orion raids, as Coridan would then become subject to Federation law.

In 2268, the Orions circumvented their neutrality by attacking the USS Enterprise, which was responsible for transporting delegates to the Babel Conference.

Among the delegates was an Orion spy, Thelev, disguised as an Andorian, who in association with an attacking Orion scout ship made a futile attempt to prevent the conference by destroying the USS Enterprise. Had their attack on Starfleet succeeded, they would have instigated mutual suspicion and possibly interplanetary war. Had war broken out, they would have cleaned up supplying dilithium to both sides while continuing to raid Coridan. (TOS: "Journey to Babel")

Loss of neutrality

Orion's neutrality remained in dispute ever since the Coridan planets affair and the Babel Conference of stardate 3850.3. This was again brought to light in 2270 when an Orion vessel attacked and raided the USS Huron of its cargo of dilithium and a shipment of strobolin intended for transfer to the USS Enterprise.

Following the discovery of the disabled Huron, the Enterprise tracked the Orion ship to an asteroid belt. Initially, the crew was attacked by, and was later accused of harassing, the Orions, who then threatened to file a formal protest with the Federation.

It was when the Enterprise detected the dilithium in the Orion vessel's hold that Captain James T. Kirk told the Orions that he would allow them to keep the dilithium if they would return the strobolin, and would make no mention of the encounter in his log. The Orions did not trust Kirk, and suggested a nearby asteroid to hand over the drug.

This suggestion was a ruse, however, as the Orions planned to destroy themselves and the Enterprise during the exchange to preserve the appearance of Orion neutrality. The plot failed and the Orion vessel and crew were captured, casting further doubt on the future of the Orions' claim to neutrality. (TAS: "The Pirates of Orion")

Source:

• Memory Alpha: Orion
• Memory Beta: Orion
• Star Trek RPG Players Guide (LUG) (pages 273-274)
• thedemonapostle