Current Status of the Romulan Star Empire
Contents
The Exodus
In 2407, the star Rrhaedhannae went supernova, and the blast wave from the explosion traveled towards the Eisn system, where Romulus and Remus are located. This wave reached the two planets in early 2411. To avert what would have been a major disaster, the government of the Romulan Star Empire signed treaties with the Federation and the Klingon Empire in return for help in evacuating the Eisn system and in saving the two planets. The Federation provided planetary shields to protect the worlds from the blastwave, and the Klingons will provide technology to remove the radiation left behind by the wave so that terraforming can be accelerated and the planets can be made habitable again. Evacuations of Romulus and Remus were carried out with the Federation's help. Citizens of those two planets were relocated to several different colony worlds. The Romulan government was relocated to the planet Eilhaunn, with the exception of the Tal'Shiar, who relocated to Mendaissa.
The Romulans call the act of evacuating the planets the Temyytaera, which roughly translates to the Exodus. This is in contrast to the Hwael, or the Journey, which was the voyage that brought them from Vulcan to Romulus two thousand years ago.
The Third and Fourth Romulan Civil Wars
In 2410, as the Third Federation/Romulan Civil War was raging and the civilian population was growing increasingly contentious of the inconveniences brought on them by a conflict that benefited them little, factions within the Imperial government opposed to the expansionist policies of Enriov Vaelrith Tei, who held most of the central power within the Empire, joined forces with the Anna'eri Nuar Underground movement to stage a rebellion. The resulting conflict, known as the Third Romulan Civil War, was short and quick. Rebel forces captured and secured Romulus and Remus on the first day, forcing Tei from power and sending he and his loyal supporters in the military on the run. Civilian governments and military stations across the Empire pledged loyalty to the new coalition that formed in the Senate, further weakening efforts by Tei to retake key facilities and solidify his base. For the next year, Tei and his decreasing number of followers fought with Imperial forces on the outskirts of the Empire until he was killed in battle with the RIS Shadowhawk in early 2411.
After his death, Tei's remaining followers dispersed into several different weakened factions. These factions were successfully reunited, however, under guidance of the specially enhanced telepaths that Tei had created for use in warfare. Now calling themselves the Uihvueri, they made themselves a menace along the Federation/Romulan border, attacking both civilian and military targets and relying on terrorist tactics to advance their goal of disrupting relations between the two governments and toppling the Romulan coalition.
The Tal'Shiar itself had never been keen to cooperate with the new government. During the Exodus, the Chairman of the Tal'Shiar announced that the organization would not be relocating to Eilhaunn along with the civilian government and Central Command. Instead, they would set up their headquarters on the colony world of Mendaissa, on the opposite side of the Empire, thus removing themselves even further from governmental control. The government and Central Command was able to do little to reign them in, short of sparking another civil war, as the Tal'Shiar was allowed to grow too powerful during the Tei era. They did not side with Tei during the Third Civil War, however, and had remained neutral. They soon began secretly supplying the Uihvueri with supplies and arms in hopes of weakening the government's hold on power, and they gained influence over several worlds, virtually operating as an autonomous nation with the Empire.
In 2413, confident that the government was in a very weak position and that they and their Uivhueri allies were strong enough, they played their hand, seizing control of the Federation/Romulan Neutral Zone and militarizing it in the name of border security, citing an increase in bombing by the Uivhueri terrorists over the year, something they had instigated themselves. The Imperial government, now cutoff from their only ally, the Federation, could no longer sit by. Several days later, the Imperial Fleet simultaneously invaded several worlds in the Neutral Zone, and the Fourth Romulan Civil War had begun.
The war dragged on for two brutal years. Militarily, both sides were even, and fighting was fierce. The telepaths who led the Uivhueri, though, gave the rebel group an early advantage. Able to do such things as cause entire ships to self-destruct through mental suggestion or for friendly ships to fire on each other, it became a priority for the government to improve its own telepath program, which had been implemented only shortly before the war in response to the Uivhueri's appearance. By 2415 however, the government telepath program, using mostly Remans, had proven superior to the Uihvueri, and the group lost its advantage. In-fighting among the Uivhueri itself and the straining of their alliance with the Tal'Shiar decreased their effectiveness as a force.
Seeing a chance to bring the conflict to an end, some members of the Imperial government and military worked in conjunction with officers in Star Fleet's Second Fleet, who were concerned the conflict was about to spill over into the Federation, to send a rogue pawn into Romulan Space with a telepathic suggestion to destroy the Tal'Shiar's central base at Mendaissa. Captain Adaran 225 was selected for the task and proved successful. The destruction of Hdrael 12 resulted in the death of the Tal'Shiar's entire high command and the destruction of a third of its fleet. Weakened and without the resources to recover, the Tal'Shiar surrended and was disbanded. The Imperial Fleet then concentrated on tracking down and killing the remaining Uivhueri telepaths and rounding up any of its soldiers. The task was completed by early 2416, and the Empire was finally at peace.
The conflict and finality of its ending strengthened the Imperial coalition government and cemented its hold on power, leading to a more moderate Empire focused inward on rebuilding and healing.
Civilian Government
Head of State: Empress N'alae
Head of Government: Praetor Jisit Hrienteh
Senate
Proconsul: Aleva Mahhlie
Others
Minister of Information: Eveh Lern
Reman Viceroy: Nhaav
Status
The Romulan government currently is divided into three factions:
- Anna'eri Nuar (United Front): Led by Minister Eveh Lern. A former Underground group that is isolationist in principle but knows that it must work with other powers to keep the peace. They are rather liberal in their views toward non-Romulans. They control the Continuing Committee, and thus they can elect and dismiss Praetors.
- Hrienteh: Led by Senator Jisit Hrienteh. Composed of former senatorial opponents and disillusioned former members of the deposed s'Tei faction. They are also isolationist in principle and are rather conservative. They control the Senate.
- Lhoell: Led by Senator Rai Lhoell. Former members of the s'Tei faction who stood by Enriov Vaelrith Tei during the civil war but were allowed to keep their positions afterward as an act of reconciliation. They were found not to have personally violated any laws during Tei's time in power. They were mostly moderate members of the s'Tei faction. They are the opposition but have mellowed their stance since the end of the Fourth Romulan Civil War, seeing the need for healing within the Empire.
Military
Chairman of Central Command: Enriov Eriufv Khaethaetreh
Status
After the Third Romulan Civil War, loyalty to the ideals of the deposed and deceased Enriov Vaelrith Tei, former Chairman and virtual dictator of the RSE, was still quite high among those in the military. The Romulan military in general is more conservative than the civilian government, and during that civil war as many as 45% of all officers in the Imperial Fleet fought for the s'Tei faction. Thus, discipline wasn't always guaranteed among the ranks, and much in-fighting occurred. Supporters of the new government were appointed to key positions though, and those who refused to swear loyalty to it were stripped of their commissions. Someof those left out in the cold by the change in government drifted into the ranks of the Uihvueri, allowing it to build a solid but small military force of its own.
The Fourth Romulan Civil War quickly brought to the forefront though, for many who disliked the new ruling coalition, the need for unity and solidarity. Divisions within the military were one of the main causes that led to the conflict, and faced between the choice of the government on Eilhaunn and the prospects of a victory by the Tal'Shiar and the Uivhueri, the path was clear. Both morale and loyalty levels within the Imperial military rose and remained high after the end of the conflict.
Many ships were lost during both civil wars and the Third Federation/Romulan War, though, and with Imperial resources going into efforts for the Exodus, the military was left in a more weakened position than it was used to maintaining. Now that the peace has been restored, the government is once again pouring money into rebuilding the Imperial Fleet.
Current Threats
Both the Gorn and the Klingons are considered high-level threats at this time. Romulan officials are concerned that they might try to take advantage of the Empire's slightly weakened state and seize territory.
Relations with the Democratic Romulan Republic are still hostile, despite the RSE agreeing in its treaty with the Federation to recognize the rebel government. While recognition is official, unofficially the RSE and the DRR continue to sabotage each other, and the RSE has plans to reabsorb the rebel worlds back into the Empire at some point in the future.
The Telepathic Program
In response to the revelation of Enriov Tei's enhanced telepathic program, the Romulan government and military instituted a program of their own to combat it, breaking an almost 2,000 year old ban on the use of telepaths. Remans and Vulcan citizens of the RSE were recruited to participate, and Romulans who show telepathic aptitude were brought in for training. The program was strictly defensive in nature, aimed at detecting and blocking Tei's telepaths. Use of telepathy in the RSE is still severely restricted, and unauthorized use of telepathy is punishable by death. Now that the Fourth Civil War has ended, the telepathic program has been reduced in status.
The Remans
Due to the need for telepaths, Reman status in the Empire rose considerably after 2411. Reman telepaths helped win the civil war, and they continued to be in demand. The Reman government parlayed this into increased autonomy and civil rights for its species. The Imperial government acquiesced to some degree during the Exodus, granting them a new homeworld on a moon orbiting a gas giant in the Orundwiir system rather than relocating them to a Romulan colony world.
