Ahrir'fvahir mnean? Ilhael 2 (What are we? Book 2)

Ahrir'fvahir mnean? (ilhael 2)

(What are we? [book 2])

~ Rihanh:  Na Caevuus ih'Shiar ~

Romulans:  The Imperial Era

Although the origins of our culture are vital for understanding what we are, both as Rihanh and as agents of the Tal'Diann, an examination of our beginnings as a people will not alone suffice to convey understanding, of Romulans or of the Tal'Diann.  We therefore turn our attention to the Age of Expansion, that is, the time of renewed space travel and the birth of Empire.

By the Terran 8th century (700s), the Rihanh had resumed space exploration using unmanned vessels.  By the Terran year 803, the Romulan Tribal Confederation had become simply the Romulan Confederation, a league of all the city-states on the two planets ch'Rihan and ch'Havran, and in Terran year 804, the Rihanh resumed manned space exploration.  Colonies began to be established and later, worlds began to be conquered, as the Romulan Confederation began moving from colonialism in the direction of imperialism.  A famous space pilot of the time, the Romulan woman S'Tanet, has become so legendary that sifting the history from the legends has become nearly impossible (but one legend known to be false is the story that she was the first Rihanha to land on ch'Havran, which had of course already been inhabited by our people for several hundred years by her time, and travel between the Twin Worlds was common).  By the Terran year 900, the Rihanh had circa 100 settlements on other planets.  The administration of these colonies and conquered territories proved to be very unwieldy for the Romulan Confederation, and the love of freedom, which has ever been na mnhei'sahe hachaen lamne'elh s'Rihan (the central ruling passion of the Romulan collective psyche, the defining ideal which was responsible for Rihanh becoming Rihanh in the first place, rather than submitting to Vulcan orthodoxy), resulted in colonial independence movements, leading to a series of conflicts known as the Romulan Civil War.  Toward the end of these conflicts, a khre'Enriov (Admiral) by the name of Valkis declared himself Rhiyrh (Emperor) and undertook a reformation of the D'Ekhiel and Ekhiel Rahaen, forming the Deihuit ih'Shiar Rihan (the Imperial Romulan Senate).  The official formation of the Shiar ih'Saeihr Rihan (Romulan Star Empire) was effected during the first meeting of the Deihuit ih'Shiar Rihan in the Terran year A.D. 938.

In the Terran year 1411, scientists in the Tal'Diann (the exact founding date of the Tal'Diann is lost to history, but we do know that the Tal'Diann existed prior to the time of Valkis, and at least as long ago as the latter half of the era of the Romulan Tribal Confederation) succeeded in creating an artificial quantum singularity, containing it, and harnessing its power.  These artificial singularities began to be used in Romulan starships, at first only on vessels of the Tal'Diann, and soon thereafter, when testing had proven successful, the Romulan Star Navy was given access to the technology.  Outsiders have often claimed that the Rihanh did not have faster-than-light speed prior to the alliance, in the 23rd century (Terran reckoning), with the Nneikha Klling'hann, but this claim is ridiculous;  not only did the Rihanh have this knowledge prior to leaving Thaei (or else reaching ch'Rihan and ch'Havran as early in our history as we did would have been impossible), but it was also further refined with the harnessing of the power of artificial quantum singularities 800 years prior to the alliance in question.

In the Terran year 1698, the Deihuit ih'Shiar Rihan abolished the office of Rhiyrh following an extended period of rule by various holders of the office who were incompetent, corrupt, and decadent.  The Deihuit revived the office of Fvillha (which Valkis had ended) and made the Fvillha the Commander-in-Chief of the Phiraifv Rihan (Romulan Military).  How much other authority they intended for the office to involve eventually became a subject of fierce debate, with some appealing to the original office involving judiciary and executive power, while others pointed out that the new office had been created by the Deihuit and holders of the office had so far been appointed by the Deihuit.  Regardless of what may or may not have been the intention of the Deihuit when they revived the office, eventually the Fvillha became more than simply the Commander-in-Chief of the Phiraifv, and more akin to a position somewhere between the office of Rhiyrh and what the office of Fvillha had been before the formation of the Shiar ih'Saeihr Rihan, although still held in check by the Deihuit.  This situation would not last, however, as the exact meaning and nature of the office vacillated considerably (during some periods in history, the Praetorate would even be divided into several offices, with a dozen or so different Rihannsu holding the title of Fvillha simultaneously), and there would be more than one Rhiyrh, and more than one ri'Rhiyrh (Empress), as time went on.  The first to hold the revived office of Fvillha in the Imperial Era was Pontilus, whose statue was the largest among the statues of many other important historical personages which stood in Victory Square in Ki Baratan on ch'Rihan until the destruction of the Eisn system.

Deihu'kri Rihan (Romulan Senate Building)

In Terran year 1875, the office of Rhiyrh had been revived, and the office was then held by Vitellius, who died in this year in battle with the Andorsu.

Passing over several centuries involving assorted wars in space (not always instigated by the Shiar ih'Saeihr Rihan, although some certainly were, especially most -- although not all -- of the wars of conquest), the growth of Romulan-controlled territory, and various political intrigues, pausing only to mention the One-Hundred Year War between Vulcan and the Shiar ih'Saeihr Rihan (the Tal'Diann recently learned, after covertly gaining access to, and making a copy of, the database of the Federation's Starfleet Military Intelligence, that this war was caused by the mischief of a member of the Q Continuum), we come to what Terran reckoning regards as the 22nd century.  Precision in describing some of the events of the 22nd century is necessarily awkward because of the Temporal Cold War, in which various powers from sundry points in history (including what would have been "the present" to those who lived during the events in the 22nd century, as well as assorted times in what to both them and us would be "the future") tampered with the timeline at various points in history, including especially the 22nd century.

The very first encounter, for example, between our people and people from United Earth (which would shortly thereafter play a central role in the founding of the United Federation of Planets) was contaminated by effects of the Temporal Cold War, specifically in the matter of the use of certain vessels by the Galae s'Shiar at the time.  Before examining this paradox, however, we should recount the events of the encounter itself.  In the Terran year 2152, an Earth starship, the Enterprise NX-01, discovered a previously uncharted star system, and entered the system in order to explore.  Upon entry into the system, however, the vessel was damaged by orbital mines in a cloaked minefield.  During the course of repairs and efforts to defuse one of the mines which had become attached to the ship's hull, a T'varo Light Warbird decloaked within weapon range and hailed the Earth vessel, informing the crew that the planet in the system had been annexed by the Shiar ih'Saeihr Rihan, and ordering the intruders to immediately leave the system or be destroyed.  When the NX-01 Enterprise did not comply, the Warbird began firing warning shots, and the Earth ship began moving away, slowly, their reduced speed calculated to avoid collision with any additional mines and also to protect one of their crewmen who was outside the ship attempting to defuse the mine attached to their hull.  This was tolerated for a while, but some time later, after further instructions from the Warbird to leave immediately were met with non-compliance, the Warbird descended on the Enterprise NX-01, just as the crew of the Terran vessel succeeded in removing the threat from the mine and saving their crewman who had been outside.  The NX-01 Enterprise then warped out of the system, the T'varo Light Warbird did not give pursuit once the intruders left the system, and thus the encounter came to a close.

The anomalous T'varo Light Warbird engaging its cloaking device while in pursuit of the Earth ship Enterprise NX-01.

Daesn kivoi Temnein Sien'oielhai s'Kreh'dhhokh s'Mol'Rihan (the Temporal Assessment Group of the New Romulan Republic), working with Arifv Vriafwen Sien'oielh s'Tal'Diann (the Temporal Sciences Division of the Tal'Diann) has concluded, after extensive investigations (involving, among other things, examination of the Tal'Diann copy of the Federation's Starfleet Military Intelligence database and the archive of the Tal'Diann itself), that such Romulan vessels should not have existed in the 22nd century, especially not with the cloaking technology with which the ships involved were equipped, nor the material from which the vessels were constructed.  While the Tal'Diann had indeed developed stealth technology at the time, it was still being tested, and the first successful application was the cloaked minefield involved in the encounter in question.  The stealth technology used to cloak the minefield had not yet been released to the Galae s'Shiar, because the mines involved were prototypes.  Ostensibly, then, the T'varo Warbirds involved in the encounter would not have been vessels of the Galae s'Shiar in general, but rather, of the Tal'Diann in particular.  As late as the Terran year 2266, over an hundred years later, the cloaking device installed on a T'liss Light Warbird used so much power that the ship was incapable of using its quantum singularity drive while the cloak was active, yet the T'varo Warbirds involved in the encounter in 2152 were able to cloak and use their quantum singularity drives simultaneously.  The material from which the vessels were constructed was not in use by Romulan shipwrights until well over a century after the encounter.  Exactly how these T'varo Warbirds came to be present at the time has yet to be determined, nor have we conclusively determined who was responsible or what their motives may have been.  Regardless of the questions of why, who, and how, at least two of these T'varo Warbirds were involved in the encounter.  Nevertheless, no discernible alteration to the timeline resulted from this;  the Arifv Vriafwen Sien'oielh s'Tal'Diann maintains therefore that the T'varo Warbirds were actually present in order to prevent any alteration to the timeline, and that the Terran vessel was not supposed to be at that place at that time, but had come to be there then as a result of some (as yet undetermined) effect of the Temporal Cold War.  Nevertheless, at least one T'varo Warbird, the ch'R Fvillha Pontilus, named in historical records as one of two prototype Light Warbirds equipped with cloaking technology, is recorded as having been destroyed not long after the encounter, due to antimatter containment failure resulting from complications over the amount of power necessary to cloak the vessel.  Vriafwen Sien'oielh s'Tal'Diann holds that this event was actually a successful covert operation run by Temporal Agents to prevent the timeline from further contamination after they used the two T'varo Warbirds to drive off the NX-01 Enterprise from Romulan territory.

A few decades before the events involved in the first encounter with Humans, the Shiar ih'Saeihr Rihan hatched a plot to reunify with the Thaessu, or rather, to take over Thaei, thereby effecting Reunification under Romulan rule.  To accomplish this scheme, a deep cover Romulan spy who had been living and working on Thaei for some time under the assumed name Talok, having been commissioned as an officer in the Vulcan military, began working with a known sympathizer, a Thaesha named V'Las.  By the Terran year 2154, V'Las had become the Administrator of the Confederacy of Vulcan, and thus the Commander-in-Chief of the Vulcan High Command.  The orthodox (and false) interpretation of the teachings of Surak was still dominant on Thaei, but their dogma had changed over time.  By the time V'Las was approved as Administrator by the Vulcan Council, the "guardians" of Vulcan orthodoxy had begun to, if not blatantly ignore the teachings of Surak concerning pacifism and truth, then to at least tolerate both violence and deception, if only among governmental and military personnel.  V'Las claimed that the Andorsu (Andorians), who had a long-standing rivalry with the Thaessu, had begun developing weapons of mass destruction using Xindi technology. Based on these claims, V'Las called for a first strike on the Andorsu, hoping that this would destabilize the region, but one group stood in his way:  a pacifist sect then under the leadership of a Thaesha named Syrran, based on whose name their opponents had designated them "Syrranites," attempting to depict them as a new heresy, although the sect had been in existence since before The Sundering.

Believing that the Syrranites could interfere with his plans to destabilize the region, V'Las had the United Earth Embassy on Thaei bombed, and evidence planted to implicate the Syrranites in the deed.  The same Terran vessel involved in the first Romulan encounter with Humans, the Enterprise NX-01, was sent to investigate.  Although the Battle of ch'Andor did occur, the Andorsu were warned in advance, and so the planned destabilization of the Alpha Quadrant did not occur.  The immediate results of the investigation were the rediscovery of the Kir'Shara (vindicating the Syrranite interpretation of Cthia and thus discrediting the previously established orthodoxy on Thaei, as well as the elevation of the Syrranite interpretation to the position of a new established orthodoxy) clearing the Syrranites of any involvement in the bombing of the United Earth Embassy on Thaei, the removal of V'Las from power, the rise of the Syrranite woman T'Pau to power and her becoming the "First Minister" (although she would later be called "Administrator") of the Confederacy of Vulcan, the return of Talok from Thaei to ch'Rihan, the abolition of the Vulcan High Command, a setback in Romulan plans for Reunification with the Thaessu under Romulan rule, and a greater attention paid to Humans by the Raenasa ih'Saeihr Rihan ih'Shiar (Imperial Romulan Star Command).

Later in the same Terran year 2154, khre'Enriov Valdor i'Kaleh tr'Ihaimehn (known to Federation history as "Admiral Valdore") led another operation to destabilize the Alpha Quadrant and destroy the fragile state of peace then existing among the species there.  His plan was to instigate a war between ch'Andor (Andoria) and ch'Telhar (Tellar Prime), by use of modified T'liss Light Warbirds remotely controlled by telepresence and equipped with holo-emitters so as to enable the vessel to disguise itself.  How many of these drone-vessels were used in Valdor's operation is uncertain, but they were fairly effective, until Captain Jonathan Archer, the Terhaha (Earthman, Human) in command of the United Earth vessel Enterprise NX-01, the same Terhaha and same vessel which had been involved in the two previously-discussed events, uncovered the truth, even as United Earth was mediating a peace conference on a neutral planet known as Babel.  Captain Archer then organized a united fleet action involving Andor (Andorian), Thaes (Vulcan), Telhar (Tellarite), and Terrhain (Earth Human) vessels to thwart Valdore's operation.  This cooperation resulted in the establishment, in the Terran year 2155, of the Coalition of Planets, which was the forerunner of the United Federation of Planets.

In 2156, relations between the Shiar ih'Saeihr Rihan and United Earth had become so bad that open warfare broke out, with the other member-worlds of the United Federation of Planets (the Andorsu, Telharsu, and Thaessu were, besides the Terrhasu, the member-species of the UFP at that time) joining in soon after the beginning of hostilities.  The Shiar ih'Saeihr Rihan was led during the war and, for some time prior, by Fvillha D'deridex.  Throughout the conflict, members of both sides never saw one another or interacted in any manner other than through their ships (in part because many of the Romulan ships involved were drone ships, as these had been found to be quite useful), which only served to prevent either side from coming to any understanding of the other.  The Earth-Romulan War lasted until 2160, following the Battle of Cheron, in which the Romulans suffered a tremendous defeat, as a result of actions ordered by D'deridex.

The father of D'deridex, who had also been Fvillha, had sent personnel to invade and occupy Haakona Prime (the Haakona system is located in the Onias sector of the Psi Velorum block of the Beta Quadrant) over two decades prior to the start of the Earth-Romulan War, but a successful rebellion (in Terran year 2155, with assistance from the Thaessu in the form of weapons) had ended the two-decade-long Romulan occupation, and many Romulan lives were lost during the rebellion.  D'deridex became increasingly obsessed with conquering Haakona Prime during the course of the Earth-Romulan War, and this obsession eventually led to his order to attack Haakona Prime, which resulted in Haakonan counter-attacks, forcing Valdor to divert forces away from the Earth-Romulan War.  As this campaign was still underway (but already beginning to fail), the Battle of Cheron began, and the Federation forces were overwhelmingly victorious.  D'deridex made many such irrational decisions during the course of his Praetorship, due to having Tuvan Syndrome, which affected his mind.  The fact of his medical condition was not discovered until after his death, for he had kept it secret, and thus many believed him to be insane.  Valdor was among those who held this view, and he, together with the First Consul, T'Leikha, conspired to arrange a fatal accident for D'deridex, a scheme which was successful.  The Deihuit ih'Shiar Rihan then appointed Karzan as the new Fvillha.  That same year, a treaty was negotiated between the United Federation of Planets and the Shiar ih'Saeihr Rihan by means of subspace radio, and the Earth-Romulan Neutral Zone was established.  Following this treaty, T'Leikha, who had already tried to assassinate Valdor once following the assassination of D'deridex, now outraged over the treaty, killed Valdor in his office, but she was herself then killed by his aide, Terix Val'Danadex Trel tr'Llweii.  For the next 106 Earth years, the Rihanh remained within the territory delineated by the Earth-Romulan Neutral Zone, busy with other matters.

Among the other matters which occupied the Shiar ih'Saeihr Rihan during this (from the UFP's perspective) "isolationist" phase was the conquest of Haakona Prime.  Having freed up military resources through this treaty, Karzan turned his attention to Haakona again.  As this system was on the Romulan side of the Neutral Zone, the UFP could not interfere (not that they knew much about the situation anyway, incorrectly believing that their victory at the Battle of Cheron had been due to the Andorsu, Telharsu, and Thaessu rejoining the Terrhasu for the battle, and having written this fiction into their "history" along with false claims about Romulan struggles with the Haakonans, including an assertion that the Haakonans were defeated before the Battle of Cheron, and that the Federation forces therefore faced the entirety of Romulan forces at the battle), and the Haakonans had continued to attack Romulan targets.  Although the conquest of Haakona Prime was not an easy task and took several more years, it was successful on this third attempt, and the entire system has remained under either Rihan or Havran control ever since.

Karzan was succeeded by Praetor Vrax, who took office some decades before 2265;  in 2266, he ordered Keras to test the Federation's strength by taking a T'liss Light Warbird, equipped with a newly-developed and properly-functioning cloaking device, across the Neutral Zone, which resulted in the destruction of the vessel and the death of Keras;  Vrax held office till assassinated in 2266/2267 by Arenn, his new wife and the widow of Keras, on their wedding night.  He was succeeded in the office by his stepson and legal heir, Gaius, the son of Keras and Arenn.

A T'liss Light Warbird

Riov Keras

The T'liss commanded by Keras

Under Gaius Fvillha, Riov Di'on t'Charvon of the Tal'Diann was given command of a fleet of Imperial Romulan D7 Battle Cruisers constructed by Klingons (a share of the benefits of alliance with the Klingon Empire).  There were also T'liss Light Warbirds in the fleet.  In Terran year 2267, Riov t'Charvon used this fleet to surround and capture the Enterprise NCC 1701, flagship of the United Federation of Planets Starfleet, after that vessel intruded into the sovereign territory of the Shiar ih'Saeihr Rihan.  Gambling by all parties involved resulted in no immediate losses or gains of any merit.  The Federation obtained cloaking technology from this incident between the Enterprise and the Memenda.  The Shiar ih'Saeihr Rihan gained an asset whom it might be able to turn in the future.

The D7 flagship of the fleet of Riov Di'on t'Charvon, the Memenda

Riov Di'on t'Charvon

The Memenda confronts the Enterprise.

Riov t'Charvon was captured along with a prototype cloaking device, but she was released at the nearest Federation starbase, and returned to Romulan territory.  In subsequent adventures, she continued aid to Gaius during his time as Praetor, eventually playing a key role in the end of the alliance between the Shiar ih'Saeihr Rihan and the Nneikha Klling'hann.

A different Starfleet vessel of the same type disabled by Riov t'Charvon at an earlier time could not be captured due to the captain of the vessel activating the self-destruct mechanism.

Aratenik succeeded Gaius as Praetor, but was not in the office long before he branded Riov t'Charvon a treasonous double agent working with the Federation.  Her family connections (she was the niece of the famed Riov, Ael t'Rllaillieu) saved her from execution, but she was sent into exile.  In Terran year 2276, Riov Di'on t'Charvon was released from exile following a coup in which her aunt, Ael t'Rllaillieu, defeated the corrupt Tricameron which ruled the Shiar ih'Saeihr Rihan at the time, and took the throne;  following this, Di'on t'Charvon changed her name to Liviana t'Charvanek, as her former name had been ceremonially cursed as part of her exile, and she has never used her original name since.  Ael t'Rllaillieu would remain Empress until 2293, after which Shiarkiek, an uncle of t'Charvanek on the other side of her family, became Emperor.

Dralath (whom some suspect of having assassinated Aratenik, and while the evidence is inconclusive, it does support this theory) was the next to hold the office of Praetor of the Romulan Star Empire.  Dralath was quite insane, even going so far as to kill a Deihu on the floor of the Deihu'rhe,  In Terran year 2344, Dralath ordered an unprovoked attack on the Klingon outpost at Narendra-III, and the Federation flaghip, the Enterprise NCC 1701-C, went to the aid of the Klingons and was destroyed in the battle.  Liviana t'Charvanek had also taken the Memenda out of spacedock to aid the Federation in this battle.  The result was to strengthen relations between the Federation and the Klingon Empire.  Liviana t'Charvanek was captured and taken to ch'Rihan, but her old First Officer, Subcommander Tal, intervened and contacted  Kuramano Spahkh s'Thaei (Ambassador Spock of Vulcan), who rescued her.  Soon afterwards, Devoras Narviat arrested and deposed Dralath and took his place as Fvillha (Praetor).  Subsequently, Liviana t'Charvanek and Fvillha Devoras Narviat were wed.  She was also known as Fvillha Thea (Praetor Thea), for she shared the office with Narviat.  In the same Terran year 2344, Fvillha Devoras Narviat formed the Tal'Shiar, naming them in honor of Rhiyrh Shiarkiek.

Fvillha Thea (Liviana t'Charvanek / Di'on t'Charvon)

In 2373, Fvillha Narviat was assassinated, and Liviana t'Charvanek chose to focus on her work in the Tal'Diann, hoping to discover the assassin;  she used her skill at disguise to conceal her identity from enemies of her husband, and so remained unmolested for four more years.  Narviat was therefore succeeded as Fvillha by Neral.  Between 2373 and 2375, the Shiar ih'Saeihr Rihan was involved in a coalition with the Klingon Empire, the United Federation of Planets, the Cardassian Union, and others, against the Dominion, a power located in the Gamma Quadrant.  In 2374, the aged Emperor Sharkiek was assassinated by a Romulan Archpriest, N'Gathan, who was then killed in revenge by Ruanek, after the crime was successfully solved by Ambassador Spahkh.

By Terran year 2377, Liviana t'Charvanek was the hru'arifv Dhenom (head of the Security Division) of the Tal'Diann in the Office of Homeland Peace.  However, Devoras Narviat was responsible, as noted above, for forming the Tal'Shiar in 2344.  This new organization would in time come to undermine Romulan cultural values and accelerate the internal rot eating at the Empire.  In 2377, they had already become "persons of interest" to the Tal'Diann, due to Tal'Shiar involvement in numerous criminal military acts, and Neral had Liviana t'Charvanek taken into protective custody by priests who tended the shrine at Gal Gath'thong not long before he was assassinated by Hiren, who then took the office of Fvillha in 2377.

In Terran year 2379, Fvillha Hiren was among those assembled on the floor of the Deihu'rhe who were assassinated by ri-Deihu Tal'Aura using a thalaron weapon and acting under orders from Shinzon of ch'Havran.  At this, riots broke out across Ki Baratan, and with the support of elements within the Romulan Star Navy, Shinzon assumed the office and title of Fvillha against the laws and traditions of the Rihanh.  The subsequent unpleasant events of the next three days were ameliorated to some extent by the cooperation of Riov Donatra of the ch'R Valdor and Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC 1701-E.

Following the death of Shinzon, the Shiar ih'Saeihr Rihan descended into internal chaos.  Rival factions arose, with Tal'Aura claiming the office of Fvillha supported by Tomalak, the new head of the Imperial Defense Force, while Donatra led a faction within the Romulan Star Navy in opposition, and additional factions vied for power, even as civil war broke out between the Havrannsu and the Rihanh.  In the midst of these crises, Liviana t'Charvanek escaped her confinement and joined Spahkh on ch'Havran, where he was working for the cause of Unification.  After this, she disappears from history among the Havrannsu.

The civil war would last until October of Terran year 2380, after which Tal'Aura consolidated her power as Fvillha.  Donatra continued to lead a rogue faction until December of 2380, when she, having several Romulan worlds loyal to her, proclaimed the formation of the Jahkaer ih'Shiar Rihan (Imperial Romulan State) with herself as ri'Rhiyrh (Empress), her capitol on Achenar Prime.  In 2381, Kuramano Spahkh returned to Thaei.  The war and hard economic conditions continued throughout both the Jahkaer ih'Shiar Rihan and the Shiar ih'Saeihr Rihan for the next several years.

Donatra, ri'Rhiyrh s'Jahkaer ih'Shiar Rihanai

In Terran year 2383, Spahkh returned to ch'Rihan and the Unificationist movement, now also known as "Reunificationists."  In the same year, khre'Enriov Taris defected to the Jahkaer ih'Shiar Rihan, taking with her the squadron of vessels under her command, and Ehkifv Temjahaere (Proconsul) Tomalak was forced to "retire" to his estates following defeat by Donatra.  Sela, a Terrhain-Rihan hybrid with experience in the Romulan Star Navy and the Tal'Shiar, was made the new Commander-General of the Imperial Defense Forces, Ehkifv Temjahaere of Tal'Aura.

In Terran year 2384, Fvillha Tal'Aura was found in her quarters, murdered in her sleep.  Ehkifv Temjahaere Sela publicly laid the blame on the Havrannsu and the Reunificationists.  The Deihuit had granted temporary executive powers to Sela, and she took the opportunity to replace several of the more populist Deihur with members of the Great Houses, including Chulan of the Line of Tellus.

In Terran year 2385, following the cautious reconciliation between Donatra and the Shiar ih'Saeihr Rihan, Deihu Chulan was named Fvillha, and Donatra traveled to ch'Havran with offers of full citizenship in the empire and representation in the Romulan Senate in exchange for their support.  Xiomek of ch'Havran became the first of his people to take a seat in the Deihuit, and the economic situation began to improve.

In Terran year 2386, following a a multi-year study of ch'Havran by the Romulan Mining Guild and much discussion, the Havrannsu were offered resettlement on Crateris, a failed Romulan colony world with harsh conditions but with rich mineral deposits.  Xiomek accepted this on behalf of his people, even the harsh conditions of Crateris being an improvement on conditions of ch'Havran, and thousands of Havrannsu thereafter boarded ships and were relocated to Crateris.  In the same year, Rehaek, the head of the Tal'Shiar, announced that he had concluded his investigation into the death of Tal'Aura, and found that she was assassinated by agents loyal to a coalition of Great Houses opposed to her reformation of the Deihuit.  Donatra and Sela both requested to see the evidence, but Rehaek refused to reveal his full findings.  The Tal'Shiar then began arresting dozens of nobles and seizing their assets.  Sela opposed this and convinced the Deihuit to cut the Tal'Shiar budget.  Donatra prevailed upon Fvillha Chulan to appoint a committee in the Deihuit to conduct their own investigation, but they did very little before Rehaek's home was destroyed by an explosion.  Remains were found in the ruins, but none were those of Rehaek, whom investigators believed to have been vaporized in the explosion.  Two hours after the explosion, Tal Shiar forces stormed Sela’s home and took her and her personal guard into custody for the murder of Rehaek.  In a secret trial held days later, Sela was sentenced to death, but Donatra interceded, pointing out that the evidence was not overwhelming, and Donatra was then able to persuade Chulan to allow Sela and her supporters to accept permanent exile instead of death.  Near the end of the year, Taris informed Donatra that she was taking her ship to Levaeri-V to investigate the possibility of the rediscovery of the Sword of the Raptor Star.

Onre:  ilhael 3 - Eisn:  Na Llaekh
(Next: book 3 - Eisn:  The Murder)