At some point in the 2380s it was discovered that a star in close proximity to Romulus,
the capital world of the Romulan Star Empire was in danger of going supernova.
For some still unexplained reason, this supernova would not only destroy Romulus and its sister
world Remus, but a large portion of the Beta Quadrant.
Ambassador Spock was able to prevent the worst effects of this supernova, but he did so too
late to save Romulus, Remus, and hundreds of millions of Romulan citizens.
This was one of the largest geopolitical events in the galaxy since the discovery of the Bajorian
Wormhole, and yet, we are only now beginning to understand its ramifications.
The most important of these is that while the Romulan people were able to survive the
destruction of their homeworld, the Romulan Star Empire appears to have not.
A successor government has apparently been formed, “The Romulan Free State” and it
is the nature of this new government that I would like to talk about today.
During the Dominion War, the Vorta strategist Weyoun predicted that if its capital were
invaded and occupied, the Romulan Star Empire would split apart and be divided between various
star systems and colonies.
The Hobus Supernova seems to have produced these same results.
This is not altogether surprising During its expansionist periods the Romulan Star Empire
conquered and settled a vast amount of territory, yet its government was characterized by competing
factions and Machiavellian plots.
The Shinzon incident in particular made it clear that the Romulan government lacked flexibility
or any clear directive for the continuance of government in the event its leadership
were killed.
In the immediate aftermath of the supernova, I would assume that a number of new governments
were declared across the Empire, each vying for power and legitimacy.
These would over time be consolidated as more powerful factions subsumed weaker rivals.
The Romulan Free State was likely one such faction, and the question now is whether it
has absorbed the entirety of the old Empire, or there remain other Romulan governments
still competing with it.
There is also the question as to the nature of the Romulan Free State, is it a carbon
copy of the Star Empire, or has its policies, agendas and foreign relations changed?
The scope of the information we have is still very limited but provides a few key details
which can in turn lead to some educated guesses.
The most interesting detail is the name itself, the “Romulan Free State”.
Now, the term “free state” is rather unusual.
While in some cases it holds no special significance and can be used interchangeably with “Republic”,
in some instances it carries with it, deliberate connotations.
The most obvious of these is that by using that specific title, the Romulan Free State
is trying to assert its freedom and sovereignty from some outside force.
The Irish Free State was established following its succession from the United Kingdom, the
Free Lebanon State was established during the Lebanese Civil War, the Free State of
Costa Rica seceded from the Federal Republic of Central America, the list goes on.
Whether that freedom is actually reflected in practice is another matter, but to me this
comes off as a slightly desperate move by a government trying to establish itself as
a legitimate state.
Once that legitimacy is no longer in question, the title is almost always replaced.
The Irish Free State became the Irish Republic, the Free State of Costa Rica became the Republic
of Costa Rica, while the Free Lebanon State failed to gain international recognition and
its authority deteriorated.
But if the Romulan Free State is desperate to be recognized as a legitimate replacement
for the Romulan Star Empire, wouldn’t it make sense to keep the name?
After all, it is much easier to argue that the Romulan Star Empire is the successor to
the Romulan Star Empire.
They could even go so far as to say that they are the true continuance of that government,
the exact same nation for all intents and purposes.
If they did that, not only would their rightful authority of their government in the eyes
of the galactic community be increased, but they would be entitled to ownership over all
the Romulan Star Empire’s foreign assets.
They would also be entitled to whatever rights the Romulan Star Empire had been awarded through
international treaties.
If for example, the Cardassians, Breen and Dominion still owed the Romulan Star Empire
substantial reparations from the Dominion War, for any government competing to fill
the power vacuum that might be enough to justify keeping the name.
And yet the Romulan Free State has not done that, and there could be a number of different
reasons as to why that might be.
Maybe the Free State is claiming to be the legal successor of the Star Empire, they’re
claiming ownership over foreign assets, they want any potential Dominion War reparations,
but for whatever reason, they decided to change their name.
Maybe another rival Romulan government is calling itself the Star Empire and the Free
State needed a provisional way to differentiate itself.
But the most likely reason, in my opinion, is that the Free State is trying to walk the
line.
It wants to claim itself as the successor to the Romulan Star Empire when its advantageous,
and deny it, when it is not.
Because while any legal successor to the Romulan Star Empire would inherit all its rights,
it would also be bound to all its debts and obligations.
Maybe whatever the Star Empire was owed in Dominion War reparations pales in comparison
to loans it took out to finance the evacuation of Romulus.
Maybe the new Romulan government wants a way out of the Treaty of Algeron, the Polaric
Test Ban Treaty, or some other international agreement.
The Romulan Neutral Zone has apparently ceased to exist and fallen into chaos, the Free State
could simply not want to bother trying to stabilize it as the Star Empire would have
been bound to.
This would be a cunning, duplicitous, and very Romulan thing to do.
Once the situation changes, there’s nothing to stop them from adopting the title of Star
Empire once again, or maybe something new like the Romulan Republic, Greater Romulan
Union or something else.
A Ferengi bartender once said that the more things change, the more they stay the same.
The Romulan Free State might be more accommodating to Federation Citizens, even allowing them
to serve within one of their most secure facilities, but the nation remains under the iron grip
of the Tal Shiar, and unafraid to confront Starfleet with a fleet of warbirds.
Even after the destruction of their homeworld, the Romulans remain a riddle wrapped in a
mystery inside an enigma, hidden by a cloaking device, putting forward the hand of friendship,
even as they hold a knife in the other.
They’re acting as they’ve always done, waiting for the moment is right, before revealing
their true intentions.
But that of course is just my opinion.
And even though I have run all this through a massively complex quantum simulation that
confirmed I’m 100% right and didn’t make a single mistake, I’d like to hear your
thoughts.
Do you think there’s other Romulan governments vying for control of the Empire?
Is the Free State playing the long game, or was the name just chosen at random or because
it sounded okay?
Let me know in the comments.
Until next time, this has been Incoming.