Star Empire of Rator
- You may also be looking for the Old Romulan Star Empire, the Romulan Republic or the Romulan Free State
The Romulan Star Empire is one of the factions that arose from the collapse of the Old Romulan Star Empire after the Romulan supernova in 2387. Claiming to be the legitimate continuation of that government, it controls less than half of the previous territory, is no longer supported by the Tal Shiar, and with the loss of Romulus has been forced to establish its new Senate on the world of Rator II. Unlike the other states, the current Romulan Star Empire holds largely onto the traditions of the last 2,000 years and has remained largely unchanged in policies.
Government
Senators are selected by election or legislative appointment however, following the Romulan Supernova which destroyed the Romulan system, there have been no new members elected to the Senate in order to stabilise and provide consistency within government. Most represent an entire Romulan world or systems, though Romulus possesses multiple Senators and special arrangements are made for Romulans living on predominantly alien worlds. The Senate is responsible for setting legislation to decide all foreign and many domestic matters; the execution of Romulan law is overseen by a series of Consuls, who are appointed on a basis of one per sector. The Proconsul directly controls this apparatus; while having no seat in the Senate, the position is viewed as an ideal stepping-stone to Praetorship. The Senate, and by extension the Praetor, has direct command over the fleet commanders and thus the Star Navy. This highly centralized command structure allows for smooth, efficient military operations.
An extension of the Senate is the Continuing Committee, an executive body headed by the Praetor which will at times meet separately from the Senate at large to decide matters of particular importance with speed. Previously, this has commonly been made up of Senators, though this is not a requirement and other high officials (such as the chairman of the Tal'Shiar or, rarely, the Proconsul) may at times be appointed as well. The Praetor is the only permanent member of the Committee; all other members serve staggered eight-year terms, then must be reappointed by the other seven and confirmed by the Senate at large. The Commander of the Romulan Navy currently sits on the continuing committee due to the ongoing crisis following the supernova event.
All Romulan worlds are overseen by a governor. In the case of Romulan worlds, this official is elected and then confirmed by the Senate; for alien worlds, the governor is appointed by the Senate directly. Alien worlds, however, may use whatever political structure they possess to select a Viceroy to serve with the governor in a dual-executive capacity. The Viceroy need not be confirmed by the Senate, but the degree of power the office holds is dictated on a world-by-world basis by Senatorial edict. On some well-favored alien worlds, the Viceroy's power eclipses that of the governor; but on others, the office of Viceroy is essentially meaningless and the governor exercises complete control.
History
Following the destruction of Romulus and Remus as a result of the supernova, the Empire split into multiple factions in various sizes and volumes of power. The Romulan Star Empire relocated to Rator III, led by the Preator and largely supported by the Romulan Star Navy, the Romulan Free State is supported by the vast majority of the Tal Shiar, managing to keep the Free State in line, and the Romulan Republic, a democratic state within the former Empire supported by a more modern, yet smaller military. The entirety of Romulan space is in dispute by the major factions and consistently hindered by smaller pirate, rogue or rebel factions, all vying for control of Romulan space.
There is varying degrees of hostility from the Star Empire towards the Federation following their abandoned rescue plan and relief effort. Starfleets Task Force 93 has taken the brunt of this hostility over the years.
The Romulan Star Navy, better known to the Romulan people as the Galae Command, Imperial Command or the Romulan Guard, is a collection of warships and support craft that compose the Romulan Star Empire military, which is formally tasked with tactical and strategic missions at the Senate's discretion. Its authority is entirely logistica, however, as the Star Navy is controlled directly by either the Continuing Committee or the Senate at large; and within the military itself command is centralized at Galae Command on Rator III. The highest military position a Romulan can achieve is command of an Imperial Fleet -- one of the five fleets which make up the entire military force. However there are also sector commanders, also known as squadron commanders sometimes, which make for the major stepping stone to possibly achieving a position as a fleet commander. There is intentionally a great deal of overlap in these operating areas as this structure gives Romulan admirals considerable autonomy, they are expected to keep each other in check to a certain degree. The five Imperial Fleets are typically broken up into squadrons which are then broken up into wings. Each squadron will typically be assigned to a specific sector or area of operations.
All Romulans are required to perform service in some public institution or other, and the Star Navy's membership is therefore substantially larger than its Federation counterpart (though still slightly smaller than the Klingon Defense Force). Moreover, the political nature of the Star Navy's command structure tends to lend itself to maneuvering and power plays within and between military units; the Senate tolerates this as a means of honing its soldiers' skills, but looks very unkindly on any action that harms Romulan personnel, assets or interests. While it is not uncommon for political influence to dictate the assignment of certain officers, ranks are awarded on an entirely meritocratic basis; an older officer with a desirable assignment but low rank is not well looked upon.
Since the Romulan supernova, the Romulan Star Navy has largely remained intact and loyal to the Star Empire, with some elements of it defecting to the Romulan Republic over the years. However, the Star Navy has also largely suffered from the inability to build new ship classes over the years due to limited resources, and has been fielding the same military hardware for over a decade with few new ship classes at their disposal.