When someone talks about Orion they either mean the mythical planet or the mythical race that once inhabited that planet. While name of the planet and the People that once inhabited it have become interchangeable over eons, there are far more to it than you will ever know.
Orion (Race)
The Orions, or Orionites, were an ancient, enigmatic and incredibly technological advanced race that once rule Orion Sector of the Galaxy. Ancient myths and legends tell that the Orions were a gentle race of beings who loved, nurtured and protected life in all its forms, teaching and protecting younger races until they are ready to join them among the stars. They even transferred populations from one planet to another to ensure the survival of species.
Orions and Antarans
(Excerpted from “Pre-Psilonic Galactic Civilizations” Vol. II, by Ectron Victor, retired Master Adjudicator, Psilon Central History Institute.)
As a story is told and retold over the course of generations, no matter the attention paid to detail and no matter the importance of the tale, the truth is gradually nibbled away by little mistakes and innocent exaggerations. Carried off on these well-intentioned, tiny feet, the facts deteriorate softly and painlessly into a condition generally referred to as “shrouded by time.”
The legends concerning the Orions and Antarans are shrouded by time. What is certain is that at one time both races coexisted in the galaxy. The scope of their power and technical advancement has surely been enhanced by hyperbole, but that they were far superior to anything now known is indisputable. Perhaps it was inevitable that two such behemoths meet in violence. The legends paint the Antarans as ruthless, xenophobic killers, but we all know that history is written by the victors. The Orion-Antaran war was a protracted holocaust of galactic proportions. While we can never know if they truly flung entire star systems across deep space as weapons (as the storytellers claim), our astrophysicists have uncovered evidence of directed energy bursts the power of which staggers the imagination. That both races had the ability to raze planets no one contests. The Orions eventually defeated the Antarans. Rather than exterminating the race, as the stories claim the Antarans would certainly have done, the Orions chose to imprison their enemies in a “pocket dimension”—a volume the size of a single star system, formed and carved somehow out of the fabric of space-time. Physicists to this day puzzle over the theory and the technique, but the result was obvious; the Antarans were banished one and all from this dimension.
At this point, even the storytellers admit that the legends become vague. Sometime after the war, the Orion race inexplicably disappeared. They left only two legacies for the galaxy’s future inhabitants. One was the tales of their power and legends of the Antaran war; the other is the Orion system itself. One planet circles this star, and it is reputed to be the original home world of the Orion race. Despite the incredible potential this abandoned world must hold, no one has yet plundered or colonized it. The reason for this is that the system is only uninhabited, not undefended. The Orions left a single Guardian to protect their home. Perhaps they intend to return some day.
Perhaps the Antarans intend to return, too.
Loknar, the Last Orion
Loknar is a ship leader that appeared in Master of Orion II: Battle at Antares, he will join your empire if you defeat Orion's Guardian.
Orion (Planet/System)
Located somewhere in Galaxy lies a planet only mentioned in ancient myth and legends,
The Orion system hosts a gaia class planet which is protected by the "Guardian", a huge battlestation with advanced weapons and defense systems.
Whoever manages to defeat the guardian and colonize the planet unlocks advanced technologies.