what is the status of the Orions in the 24th century? Much of what we know of the orions comes from the original series and Enterprise. In DS9, we are shown a human control syndicate and in voyager references are made of a crewman visiting an institute on Orion I. In trek literature, we see orions as both starfleet officers and syndicate members.
My personal fanboy theory isthat the Orions were a front for the ferengi...at least that the Ferengi were behind them (as the Ferengi might be considered weak & unsexy by other races)
The orions arent above using violonce. They would have dominated the Ferengi. Why werent the ferengi dominated by the way? My theory they can cause a lot of economic trouble for them by market manipulation and all knid of tricks if somebody would try that.
My guess; the immediate region around Ferenginar was relatively stable when the Ferengi first went to the stars. The nearby powers had its attention elsewhere, giving them the chance to develop an empire of their own.
Pirates work for the Ferengi who are quite willing to die for their money (er, gold pressed latinum).
The Ferengi hire people to protect themselves, in fact they hired half of the Orions to fight the other half of the Orions. The Orions never fully recovered.
Yeah why doesnt the other half the Orions hired by the Ferengi just robs them blind since they have no real defensive capabilities whatsoever.
The Ferengi have been shown to have significant defenses. In the 1st season of TNG, one of their ships paralyzes the Enterprise. They apparently have a military too, buying the technology from other race. the idea of the Ferengi buying out the services of the Orions is a good one though
The Orion Syndicate is, by the 24th century, the Space Mafia. Not all Orions are members of a/the syndicate, just like not all Sicilians are members of the Mafia. They appear to have more outward power in the time of Enterprise, but by DS9 had retreated in to the shadows.
For some crazy reason when I saw the title of this thread I thought it said "Onions in the 24th Century."
On the issue of conquering the Ferengi: if the pirates did that, they'd just get a bit of wealth and then nothing more. The Ferengi aren't rich because Ferenginar is rich, they are rich because they constantly work in gaining more wealth. If they were conquered, they'd stop doing that and poof would go the wealth. Much better to accept some Danegeld from the Ferengi, because that source of income will never dry up as long as the Ferengi are allowed to stay free - or as free as their "mercenary arrangements" or protection racket allows. I sort of like the novel/RPG/fandom idea that the Orions are a very old empire in decay, or indeed well past decay. Such an empire wouldn't necessarily be limited to just one species, explaining the diversity of Orion portrayal so far. And many different factions would claim descendancy from the original empire, there being some claims that might hold actual validity, and many more from opportunists who were not really related to the old empire at all. By the 24th century, the Syndicate may have become the dominant expression of Orion might, even if it is by now largely unrelated to the Shrek-skinned, green-skinned or blue-skinned Orion species/races of ENT, TOS and TAS fame. Timo Saloniemi