The Orion Federation

The Orion Federation emerged in the aftermath of the Version War and the ComEmp. It is the youngest of the major central empires, and still largely an outsider in interstellar politics.

In the region corewards of the Christmas Tree Cluster a small cluster of independent planets had been colonised in the 3400's by refugees from the Taurus Nexus and Djangalla Reformism, calling themselves the Orion Federation. The cluster became dominated by the Enremdea system, a populous, relatively wealthy and fairly diverse culture. Outwards the Federation kept a low profile, and was largely unknown to the surrounding powers. Over the next millennium the Federation quietly prospered.

As the Version War broke out, the Federation kept to itself and hunkered down. The worried citizens sought ways of protecting themselves should the relativistic fleets approach their cluster, and some took a gamble. In the 4600's more and more Enremdeans attempted the Eden AI symbiosis solution, with a surprisingly benign AI calling itself Orion emerging.

In the chaos of the aftermath of the Version War many systems formerly belonging to the Sophic League, the NoCoZo, Metasoft, Communion and the Solar Dominion in the region outwards from the Orion nebula complex found themselves isolated from their home empires, often seriously damaged by warfare and economic collapse. The Orion Federation began to contact them, offering support, trade and information. The original cluster was soon engaged in a highly profitable diplomacy and wormhole network construction effort. Several worlds joined the federation formally and many declared themselves at least temporary members until contact with the main Inner Sphere had been restored.

When contact with the Wormhole Nexus was restored in 5200 the Orion Federation managed to establish itself politically and diplomatically by exploiting the still relevant power of the ComEmp Ontology. By furthering its spread in the local volume the Federation caused a regional renaissance, making many of the provisional members join it rather than return to their by now alien home empires. The decadence of the old empires and waves of emigrants helped the growth of the fresh, untested and democratic Federation.

In 6083 a Metasoft fleet attempted to reclaim a number of former Metasoft worlds from their "renegade programming". This was the first real test of the strength of the Federation. The first attacks were devastating, but the Federation managed to mount an adequate defence and hold them off long enough for diplomatic negotiations through NoCoZo and Communion trade allies to enable a ceasefire. In the following Orion Accords the Federation were granted the volume around the Orion Nebula, while the Federation turned over a number of systems within Metasoft territory to it. After nearly a century of emigration and occasional bursts of terrorism, ethnic/species rivalry and a few ugly military incidents the current borders were defined.

Since then the Federation has expanded modestly outwards, mainly through enclaves in Sophic territory and by far-flung wormholes into the outer volumes. In the 7100's a number of Sophic systems joined the Federation in protest over the handling of the Saint Warwick Rebellion. They now form the Objector Alliance, a political fraction with noticeable pull.

Over time the Federation has become known as the refuge of the eccentric or dissident, a highly diverse place where it is possible to survive without having to fend for oneself as in the outer volumes but without the strict control of the other empires. It is on the outskirts of "civilised space" and many think it of it as the gateway to the counterspinwards parts of the Perseus Gap. Due to the relative scarcity of naturally habitable planets in the volume a larger population than elsewhere live in orbital habitats. The worlds within the nebulae are rather inhospitable to organics, but several vec species and bizarre tweak clades thrive there and trade He3, antimatter and other forms of energy sources with the organics on the outside.

The Federation Assembly is housed in a grand nanotech structure on Enremdea, known simply as the Palace. Each member system or state sends one representative to the Assembly. Internally the different systems have many kinds of political systems ranging from dictatorships over direct democracies to market minds, although the Federation Constitution places some restrictions on the powers and actions of local governments and lists citizens rights; one of the most important being the freedom to emigrate.

The Enremdean Orion biont-AI symbionts exist spread across the Federation, monitoring events and sometimes acting as advisors or oracles. It is common knowledge that Orion is a rather Homeric AI and does get involved in real politics, but unlike its mythological counterpart it is diplomatic and clever. Some worry that it might be too clever for anybody's good.

Politically Orion is a small untested player that might have great potential - or implode into internal schisms if the wrong political decisions are made. It has some support from the Communion and the NoCoZo, mainly as trade allies. Metasoft is cool but not hostile, while the Sophic League has been consistently trying to convert the Federation worlds to the Reformulation and especially get back the Objector Alliance.

Home | Search | Site Map | Glossary | Encyclopaedia Galactica | Intro | Timeline | Galactography | Sophonts | Topics | Extras | Community | Top of Page | Parent Node/Parent Node

Unless otherwise specified,
this work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.