Hiya Tony. Now, let me have a good think here.
Feds - Democracy - mature - level 4 - Normal
Hydran - Monarchy - expanding - level 3 - Normal
Gorn - Monarchy - expanding - level 3 - Normal
Klingon - Feudal - mature - level 4 - Normal
Kzinti - Feudal - expanding - level 3 - Normal
Lyran - Feudal - expanding - level 3 - Normal
Romulan - Republic - mature - level 4 - Normal
Tholian - Monarchy - expanding - level 4 - Excellent
Orions have many small factions as they're pirates, so why not create a few small empires. The only drawback to this is that you'll get Orions scattered throughout the galaxy. These are a few of the Orion factions to consider :-
- The Orion Cartel
- The Camboro Cartel
- The Crimson Shadow (The House of Korgath)
- Prime Industries
- The Tiger Heart Cartel
- The Beast Raiders
- The Syndicate
- The Wyldefire Compact
You can make each of the as strong, or as weak as you like (I always make The Syndicate stronger than the others). I'd recommend that the House of Korgath be a Klingon race and not Orion.
You can also make other Klingon 'House' factions if you wish.
Hope that's of some use to you.[:)]