What Happened to the Romulans?

The Star Trek original universe Romulans that is. The recent movies raised a lot of questions as to how much they impact the original universe and when exactly events occur.

A lot of this pulls from the MMO from Cryptic. There is some debate as to whether the MMO is considered part of the original universe or is an alternate reality similar to the recent films. The events from the various television series and older movies happen in the MMO universe. Cryptic has to have CBS sign off on all storylines they introduce via the game as well. For this post I will work under what may prove to be the false assumption that the MMO is canon, but please realize that while it currently follows in the footstep of the original timeline it is also easily ignorable by CBS whenever they decide to produce another television series in the original universe. It is probably best to read this post as conjecture rather than fact because of this.

This post will be done with very broad strokes. My hope is to provide information to those interested in the original Star Trek timeline that might not want to play the game. Because of this there will be many spoilers from the game. If you have a desire to play the game and find out what happens for yourself then I recommend not reading this post.

Yes, you can have this top in game. I have yet to make a Romulan look this good.

The game confirms the events of the recent films. Romulus is indeed destroyed. So is Remus as well as planets from many other systems. Spock is amongst those counted dead as a result from being within the radius of the explosion. The explosion occurs roughly a year after the return of Voyager to the Alpha Quadrant, and the game opens twenty years after that. Approximately two years passes between the game opening and the start of the Legacy of Romulus expansion where we start to get some real explanations as to what exactly happened. While it is also not canon (although it may become so), the pilot in production for Star Trek Renegades occurs roughly ten years after the destruction of Romulus. I think it is fairly safe to assume at this point CBS considers the destruction of Romulus to be an actual part of the original timeline. At the very least it will be something they can not easily ignore.

The destruction of so many systems core to the Romulan Empire created a power vacuum in the video game universe. While Romulans were spread throughout the Alpha Quadrant and some into other quadrants as well, their central government was all but wiped out. Five different individuals stepped forward claiming to be the rightful Emperor/Empress, but who was the true heir was not something easily determined as nobody had records detailed enough to prove anything once that far out from the family tree.

The Romulan Empire shared borders with not only Federation space, but the Klingon Empire as well. The Klingons saw a chance to expand into what was once Romulan space with little resistance. In the twenty years between the destruction of Romulus and the opening of the game there was no true centralized Romulan government, but there was the remnants of the military attempting to reform the Romulan Empire. There are portions of the old Romulan Empire not claimed by the Klingons and Federation, but it is a shadow of its former self.

"This is your Empress. We need to talk."

Fast forward two years of game time through which the Federation and Klingon Defense Force are still at war. A new power is on the rise, the Romulan Republic with D'Tan as its leader. D'Tan grew up a Unificationist and was a pupil of Spock. For those unfamiliar with the Unificationists, they were Romulans that wanted Romulans and Vulcans to coexist before anyone knew about the impending destruction of Romulus. They were not a very popular faction of the Romulan Empire, espeically amongst those in power and tended to live in the shadows. The Romulan Republic's goals during the game are to build a home where Romulans and those allied with them can be left alone to simply live their lives.

The remnants of the old military trying to rebuild the Romulan Empire, the Tal'Shiar allied with the Iconians, practically push the civilian population into joining the Romulan Republic by trying to force all Romulans into service under their banner. They literally kidnap Romulans trying to colonize whatever world they can find that nobody else wants. The biggest threat to a Romulan finding any peace at all is not the Federation, the Klingon Defense Force, or even the Thollians. The biggest threat to peace is the Tal'Shiar.

The Romulan Republic can not fight the Tal'Shiar on their own. The Tal'Shiar is the bulk of what is the old military power after all. Even if the Romulan Republic outnumbers them man to man they simply do not have the combat experience nor the armament and are only really starting to build their own single flotilla. The Romulan Republic turns to both the Federation and Klingon Empire for aid. Neither is willing to assist them as they are at war with each other and they see no benefit for doing so. Also, the Romulan Republic does not have a world to call its own and is a group of ships that travel a sector of space together for protection. Nobody is willing to recognize their rights as a civilization of their own.

Borgs for the Borg Gods

If you make a Romulan character in the game one of the things you do is search for a new homeworld for the Romulan Republic. You find a world that used to be irradiated that nobody had settled. Some of the plant and animal life on the planet has greatly reduced the radiation levels on the planet in less time than anybody would have expected making it habitable. You find what appears to be an ancient Romulan artifact on the planet from when the Romulans first left Vulcan to find their own home. The main problem with the planet is the Thollians have an interest in it, particular ancient ruins found on the planet. Other than the Thollians and spots of higher radiation levels the planet is an ideal location for a new home.

You go on many merry adventures. I won't go into all of the episodic content for Romulans here, but pull a little from all of them. Along the way however you discover what caused the explosion which took out so many systems. There is a research station in the Hobus system next to the star that exploded which managed to survive enough to be rebuilt and have some of its information recovered.

On the station is one of the individuals responsible trying to find a way to either undo the damage or make things right somehow. Acting under the direction of one of the higher ranking members of the current Tal'Shiar she deployed a device into the star. She was led to believe this would help the Romulan Star Empire gain greater power than it already had. The resulting reaction caused an explosion that ripped through subspace to destroy many star systems. You never get to discover what all she has learned in the two decades since the explosion of the Hobus star as she escapes hostile forces by stepping through an Iconian gateway located on the station.

I think every Romulan ends up getting one of these.

The long story made short for where the Romulans are now is this. The Romulan Republic claims the discovered planet (previously Dewa III) as the new centralized home for the Romulan people. The Tal'Shiar cause problems, but with the new alliances the Romulan Republic is making the Tal'Shiar has less power than before yet are still dangerous. The Thollians are a concern as well as they try to unearth secrets under the surface while attempting not to draw too much attention to themselves. Thankfully they are sending small expeditionary forces at this point. Player characters have the option of working more closely either with the Federation or the Klingons as part of the new alliances, but the best ships from both factions are not available to them while the Romulan Republic is making their own ships that the Romulan captains may fly for either side. Nobody really trusts the Romulan Republic yet, but a foundation is being built for the future. There is a cease fire between the Federation and Klingon Empire that started just this Summer in game for those players that have advanced that far through the storyline so members of the Romulan Republic working for one side are no longer expected to fight other members of the Romulan Republic if met in certain places.

There is more to the story. Both already in game, and yet to come. I have simply made a general review of things. There are characters whose stories were never fully resolved and are still out there somewhere. One of the main driving forces behind the Tal'Shiar is probably dead although he has left many people loyal to him and his vision. Empress Sela was dragged through a portal by Iconians and can be practically anywhere and in any condition. We still do not know what the Iconians want other than we know they use Romulans to cultivate soldiers. Some characters that have been in the story are still alive with the potential to shift events yet again. There is too much left open to call this story done yet.

None of the images in this post are owned by myself. Some of the information for this post is pulled directly from quests in the game. This primarily references material from the From the Ashes, Allies, In Shadows, Wasteland, Vengeance, and Freedom episodic content as well as the New Romulus reputation content. Other information is from the Path to 2409 lore sections of the game.

Path to 2409 Volume 8, Chapter 5 – Q: Which group first detected radiation fluctuations in the Hobus star? A: Romulan Mining Guild

Path to 2409 Volume 8, Chapter 7 – Q: How long did the Romulan military report it would take to evacuate the home world? A: Six weeks

Path to 2409 Volume 10, Chapter 1 – Q: How many Romulans attempted to take over as Emperor in 2389? A: 5