Destruction of Romulus

Romulus blasted by a stellar shockwave.

The Destruction of Romulus was a 24th century catastrophic event, the disintegration of the Romulan homeworld Romulus by a supernova shockwave in the year 2387. Billions of lives were lost in the event. (TOS movie, novelization & comic adaptation: Star Trek)

History

Causes

In 2380, Romulan and Federation astronomers detected that the star of the Romulan system, Eisn, was going supernova. The Federation offered to help the Romulan Star Empire in evacuation threatened worlds. The Imperial leadership determined that a 10 lightyear radius around the system would be devastated.

Admiral Jean-Luc Picard led a Starfleet task force from the USS Verity to assess colonies and relocate their Romulan and native populations. Taking the refugees across the Federation-Romulan border to Vashti, Picard inadvertently and unilaterally dissolved the Romulan Neutral Zone.

Both Federation and Romulan astronomers determined that the supernova might have an artificial cause.

Meanwhile, Starfleet begun a massive starship construction program at the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards at Mars, focusing on mass-producing Wallenberg-class transports to help evacuate the Romulans. The Daystrom Institute provided Daystrom A500 synths to assist with the monumental effort. (PIC novel: The Last Best Hope)

The Zhat Vash were a secret cabal within the Star Empire's intelligence service Tal Shiar, and feared artificial intelligences above all else. They took control of the Martian synths, and made them obliterate Starfleet's shipbuilding facilities at Utopia Planitia and incinerate the Martian surface by setting the planet's atmosphere ablaze. (PIC episode: "The End is the Beginning")

As a result, the Council of the United Federation of Planets banned artificial life and abandoned the Romulan evacuation effort. (PIC novel: The Last Best Hope)

The Iconians manipulated Taris, Hakeev and their Reman supporters into preparing the nearby star Hobus into going supernova. (STO - In Shadows mission: "Revelation")

T'Ket, one of the last 12 surviving Iconians, plotted the destruction of Romulus in revenge for Sela's stealing of the Devil's Heart during a time travel mission to Iconia 200.000 years prior. (STO - Iconian War mission: "Midnight")

Spock and the Romulan Mining Guild learned of the threat posed by Hobus in 2387. (Countdown comic: "Number One")

In 2270, the Aegis operative Gary Seven had given Spock a temporary vision of future events, including the destruction of Romulus. (TOS - Year Five - Experienced in Loss comic: "Issue 23")

Supernova

Romulus was destroyed in 2387. Ambassador Spock stopped the expansion of the supernova, which threatened the Milky Way Galaxy, by dropping Vulcan red matter into it. It created a black hole that pulled his ship, the Jellyfish, and Prod Nero's Narada into the 23rd century. This led to the creation of a new, alternate reality, the Kelvin timeline. (TOS movie, novelization & comic adaptation: Star Trek)

Aftermath

The Romulan Star Empire disintegrated in the aftermath of losing Romulus. Major colony worlds declared themselves the new capital. Major contenders were Achernar Prime and the Rator system. Before the supernova, the Romulan Star Empire had already temporarily split into the RSE and the Imperial Romulan State but they reunited in the 2380s. (STO novel: The Needs of the Many)

The "Romulan Empire" was a successor state to the Star Empire, and deployed Romulan vessel - small warbirds - in the 2390s. (STU Issue 5: "Romulan Vessel")

The Romulan Free State was another. They controlled the Artifact, a derelict Borg cube, and had the backing of the Tal Shiar. (PIC episode: "Remembrance")

The Unification movement, led by D'Tan, organized a popular insurrection against the Tal Shiar, and formed the Romulan Republic. The new government gained recognition from the United Federation of Planets and the Klingon Empire withe colonization of New Romulus and its establishment of the new nation's capital in 2409. (STO - From the Ashes mission: "Turning Point")

In that year, the Romulan Republic Navy learned of the Iconian, Romulan and Reman involvement in the Hobus supernova. (STO - In Shadows mission: "Revelation")

In 2410, the deposed Praetor of the Romulan Star Empire Taris lived with the Iconians and tried to get them to undo the destruction of Romulus. Unbeknownst to her, Iconian physiology prevented them from time travelling. Taris was killed by Sela, and the Iconian Empire commenced the Iconian War against the Milky Way galaxy. (STO - Iconian War mission: "Uneasy Allies")

The reason for the Iconian focus on Romulus was learned by the Khitomer Alliance during a time-travel mission to the Fall of Iconia. Returning the Devil's Heart to the Iconian Whole ended the Iconian War. (STO - Iconian War mission: "Midnight")

The armed conflict between the Romulan Republic and the Tal Shiar-controlled remnant Romulan Star Empire continued into 2411. (STO website: House United: The Legendary Romulan Warbird Bundle!)

Alternate timelines

The Destruction of the alternate Romulus (insiet, top right).

In an alternate timeline created by the Khitomer Alliance and the Krenim timeship KIS Annorax, the destruction of Romulus was prevented in order to aid the Alliance in the war with the Iconians, even though this would prevent the rise of the Romulan Republic. However, this led to Romulus and its system being assimilated by the Borg Collective. The Borg overwhelmed the Romulan Star Empire entirely in the 2390s and established Unimatrix 652 in its place. Borg ships of this unimatrix operated with Romulan cloaking devices. Colonel Hakeev was designated Secundus of Borg. The Annorax undid this timeline by eradicating a Borg transwarp gate. (STO - Iconian War mission: "Butterfly")

Kelvin timelines

In an alternate Kelvin timeline, Dominion agents used red matter to destroy Romulus in the 2370s, eliminating the Romulan Star Empire as a threat. The Klingon Empire absorbed Federation and Romulan resources to continue the Dominion War. (TOS - The Q Gambit comic: "Part 3")

Mirror universes

In one permutation of the mirror universe, agents of the Klingon-Cardassian Alliance detonated a thalaron bomb on Romulus in late 2376. This rendered Romulus uninhabitable for 950 years, until 3326 in the early 34th century. Praetor of the Romulan Star Empire Hiren was forced to abandon the Romulan Star Empire at large, turning the Romulan Star Navy into a roving fleet. (NF - Mirror Universe short story: "Homecoming")

Affected worlds

• Ectis II: tagged for evacuation
• Hobus I: destroyed
• Hobus II: destroyed
• Hobus III: destroyed
• Insitor V: tagged for evacuation
• Nimbus III: massacre and forcibly evacuated by Tal Shiar
• Remus: destroyed
• Romulus: destroyed
• Tavaris IV: tagged for evacuation
• Yuyat Beta: includes native Yuyati population

Appendices

See also

• Destruction of Praxis
• Destruction of Praxis (Kelvin timeline)
• Destruction of Vulcan

Appearances and references

Appearances

• TOS movie, novelization & comic adaptation: Star Trek (first appearance)
• Countdown comic: "Number Four"
• STO - Tutorial mission: "A Day on the Farm"