The Romulan Fleet before the War

[Dukhat]

The Romulan power elite. Do you think the Tal Shiar gives a flying fuck about the street urchins huddling in rags on the streets of Ki Baratan? They cared about their continuity. They shed the useless bulk of the hoi polloi and had to deal with fewer contingents/threats to their power.

They got their entire planet and empire destroyed in the process. Pretty stupid, if you ask me.

 

[Arpy]

Meh, there are many worlds in the Empire, Romulus was but one. (That is, if there was any saving it: the supernova could have been a natural phenomenon or not of their doing.) And the breakdown into multiple Romulan fiefdoms might suit the Romulan families just fine in their inner clashes with one another. Similar to the Klingons of earlier centuries. We don’t know how united the Star-Empire actually was or what was going on inside. I mean, they disappeared for 50 years and came back looking very differently than before.

They could still be...and probably are playing their 4-D game of chess with the rest of the galaxy. I mean, the Klingons or the Breen or other powers haven’t taken over the regional empires. They’re maybe not as out of the astro-political game as we might think. With probably greater concentrated power and control on their fewer, traumatized, citizens, and less bulk to worry about.

And, again, with the synths now on the biologics’ side.

PS: let’s not forget these are Vulcanoids we’re talking about. If not for their turn to logic their volatile emotions would have completely destroyed them back on Vulcan. Some think Vulcan itself was a green world before they nuked themselves to near total annihilation and rebuilt on the ruins of their old world. Those that stayed adapted, those that left became the volatile Romulans we know. Here, further casting their death wishes into the void.

 

[evilchumlee]

We don’t know how united the Star-Empire actually was or what was going on inside. I mean, they disappeared for 50 years and came back looking very differently than before.

It feels like civil wars / coups are not terribly uncommon.

They could still be...and probably are playing their 4-D game of chess with the rest of the galaxy. I mean, the Klingons or the Breen or other powers haven’t taken over the regional empires. They’re maybe not as out of the astro-political game as we might think. With probably greater concentrated power and control on their fewer, traumatized, citizens, and less bulk to worry about.

It something to consider. The Romulans, speaking in broad terms and not "The Star Empire" specifically, appear to be still be a threat in the early 25th century. While the Federation tends to be war averse just in general, they clearly did not want to risk war with the Romulan Free State.

What is unclear is if the Zhat Vash/Tal Shiar were affiliated with the Romulan Free State, or if they were another polity. It was clear the Federation had formal relations with them, given the end of PIC S1 featured a dialogue about claim rights to a planet. I would find it hard to believe that the Tal Shiar would allow a "Romulan Free State" to exist and be a part of it, so I would tend to believe that they're a splinter empire/remnant of the old Star Empire, similar to how it is in Star Trek Online. The Romulan Republic exists alongside the Romulan Star Empire.