Olaf Smith
Template:CharacterInfobox Olaf Smith served as the President of the Federation from 2866 to 2874.[1]
In 2867, the disappearances of several traders near Zelada prompted President Smith to send a Federal Navy task force to investigate. Ships also disappeared in the Ququve and Aymiay systems that same year, totaling 13 ships lost in three months. In response, the Federation fortified the Laedla system into a major military base of operations to defend against an "alien threat". Although it has never been determined if Thargoid or other alien involvement caused the disappearances and little documentation is available on the Federal battlegroup's activities in the sector during this period, Smith claimed to be "driving away the alien threat" and became popular as a result. Smith's actions led to the enhancement of the Federal Navy and did much to erase the taint of Isaac Gellan's corrupt administration from the reputation of the Presidency.[2]
Decades later, a pirate known as "The Black Prince" claimed in his infamous cinematic biography that he was behind the traders' disappearances, using a small but highly mobile fleet of matte-black Anacondas, each carrying a one-man fighter, in careful coordination. The attacks stopped not because of Federal intervention, but because The Black Prince and his partners retired. While the facts do not check out and many doubt The Black Prince's account, others claim he had simply exaggerated a story that mostly true but far seedier.[3]