Orion Syndicate
| |
| Orion Syndicate, Ur'eon Valqi | |
| INFORMATION | |
| Quadrant: |
Alpha / Beta |
| Year Founded: |
200,000+ years ago |
| Status: |
Extant |
| First Contact: |
2153 |
| Major Languages: |
Kolari, Orion Trade Tongue
|
| Major Species: |
Orion; dozens of others, though never in positions that allow them to learn the secrets of the Sym Valqi |
| Currency: |
Latinum |
| SOCIO-POLITICAL DATA | |
| Capitol: |
None |
| Government Name: |
The Sym Valqi
|
| Government Type: |
Cell-based Cartels with "Tahedrins" or Kaheedi"
|
| Head of State: |
K'Stahji |
| Fleets in Service: |
Syndicate Raptors |
| END OF BRIEFING | |
| Template:Organization | |
At a Glance
The Orion Syndicate is understood to be the most sophisticated and likely the most widespread criminal cartel in either the Alpha or Beta Quadrants. Soal Qonsur, Freecloud, the Shadow Nagus, the petty criminals of Nimbus III; they have nothing on the Syndicate's level of rooted subversion. And that is exactly what the Syndicate wants the Alpha Quadrant to think- because it is a front.
Starfleet Intelligence, Klingon Intelligence, the (former by 2372) Obsidian Order- all were never able to truly glean the body of the beast. Like a great magician, the Syndicate has them watching its hands and barbed smiles, and they completely ignore the body. The Syndicate is both a Hydra and a Chimera, constantly evolving and growing. Only the Romulan Tal'Shiar has bested the Syndicate in the shadow game- and the Tal Shiar were more than happy to aid them in being a thorn for the Federation and Klingons. The Dominion's Vorta Intelligence officers came into contact with the Orion Syndicate's cartel front, but the Syndicate did not see Dominion rule was preferable to Starfleet. They used proxies to misdirect the Dominion with trade in ketracel white, while simultaneously using those proxies to gather intelligence.
The Syndicate is a criminal mafia, yes, but it is also so much more. It is a philosophy, a conspiracy, and an ancient ordered society with many byzantine layers. It is a school of thought that has brought down Empires. It is a revolution that forced equality at the point of a sword. Those who learn the truth are given two options: join and die later, or die now.
Territorial Control
False Fronts and Franchises
True Territorial Extent
Strongholds
Farius Prime
Kolar
Vondem
Verex III
Markal
Boslic
Tilonus
Balanchar
Kobliad
Political Structure
The "Truth" (Is a Lie)
The Tip of the Iceberg
Kstahji (a.k.a. The Source)
Pau Lotra Nikei Qolaar Jeycli Thrakkaar
CLXIV K'Stahji of Her Name
In practice, the K'Stahji is concerned only with the most overarching of Syndicate dealings- most Tahedrin in the various Syndicate cells and fronts attract no interest from her and do not know of her existence. The K'Stahji's only regular contact is with the Sym Valqi whom she directs according to the disclosures of information she receives from them.
The current K'Stahji is "Pau-Lotra," (meaning "Temple Gardener") who is none other than the late Thakokaheed Shai-Rannu's younger sister. Her origins- even existence- are unknown to those outside of the inner workings of the Syndicate, the Sym Valqi. Pau-Lotra is understood, through an alternate identity, to be a wealthy Kolari named Teshkouvi Kindi who owns an estate on Kolar but spends most of her time in her gardens on Risa. Her alter ego is known as a welcoming humanitarian and tireless patron of Risan cultural heritage. Though of an aristocratic air, she is a genteel, charitable hostess and matron.
Sym Valqi (The Petals)
Pearl
Jade
Opal
Obsidian
Ghoja (The Thorns)
Mykaaja (The Roots)
Mykaaja means several things in the Kolari tongue- roots (Mykaa), Houses (Qaj), and the school (Q'jal) are all stem-words coming from the origin point of Mykaaja. For those who study High Kolari culture, Qajal were the Houses of Pleasure that courtesans sent their sons and daughters to in order to learn how to function in the Thakolarivaj Qaju-courts.
"Tahedrin"
Syndicate Culture
Point of Origin
By nature, Orions are not explorers: they are traders and libertarian capitalists, far more consumed by their own culture than interested in others. Over 200,000 years ago, Orions left their homeworld out of necessity. They stayed in space for the opportunities. But ancient Orion culture was unprepared to encounter alien civilizations, especially those with vastly superior technology. Orions had been comfortably insulated by the notion that they were the only intelligence in a lonely universe: losing that comfort, in typically Orion style, was compartmentalized and dealt with in very patchwork fashion. Some Qaju embraced the idea of alien trade, others did not.
Those that did, went on to dominate early Orion settlements on Vondem while the highly conservative Caju, bordering on xenophobia, tended toward Kolar; the Syndicate's origins are found on Kolar and it's vassal worlds. The Orion Diaspora from the homeworld would lead to a series of empires loosely founded on balanced tension, its people vacillating between relative openness and isolationist thinking for the next two hundred millennia. The Syndicate sought a third path.
If alien contact was inevitable, the Syndicate reasoned, then its influence on the Orion sphere must be blunted. Orion interests and survival must come first, according to the Syndicate. Its early members were more philosophers and politicians than criminal thugs, a mixture of ethnocentric idealists, political powers in the roles of diplomacy and advising, and very, very old Orion oligarchs. The Syndicate has no desire to destroy alien life or rule vast stretches of interstellar space; when it comes to Orion interests, they will control the situation and steer it to slow the erosion of Orion ideals. The Syndicate sees itself as the guardians of Orion culture and it's weaponized sword arm when dealing with the alien.