RATOR III — The new Imperial Senate of the Romulan Star Empire has invited Federation President Bacco to give an address before the legislative body in what would be an historic occasion.
Foreign affairs analysts see the move as an attempt by the new Senate on Rator III to secure its legitimacy as the rightful successor to the original Imperial Senate that was destroyed on Romulus by the Hobus supernova in 2387. If President Bacco accepts, it would be the first visit to the Romulan Star Empire by a sitting Federation president in nearly a century.
Rightful Heir
Though historically known as the Empire’s “Second System,” a nod to its economic and strategic importance after Romulus, Rator has been fighting both a political and military campaign against other Romulan worlds that have made similar claims to become the next capital of the empire.
“Certainly, a state visit by the Federation President would go a long way in not only sending a message to the Romulan people but also to the interstellar community that Rator III is truly the new Romulan capital,” said Thilene Herskoya, who served as security advisor to former President Jaresh-Inyo. “It also, though, puts the question back on President Bacco and the Federation Council: whom do we finally recognize as the legitimate head of the Romulan Star Empire?”
In the wake of the Hobus supernova, that question was tabled as the Federation focused its efforts on providing relief aid to the Romulan people directly. While certain factions within the empire took the opportunity to begin military campaigns to seize greater control of the remaining Romulan systems, Rator III has continued to rule as a stable source of government for the bulk of the empire that remains firmly under the control of the Imperial Navy and the Tal Shiar.
Romulan Politics
Both the Romulan military and the Tal Shiar have consolidated considerable power since the destruction of the original Senate, and some insiders believe that the new Senate on Rator III owes much of its success to the support of one of the organizations—or both. Others suggest the possibility that the new Senate is nothing more than a figurehead legislative body.
Regardless, the Imperial Senate on Rator has become more emboldened in its actions and rhetoric, most notably after a string of military victories last year against Rator III’s most prominent challengers that culminated in the surrender and execution of two other self-proclaimed Praetors of the Empire and the lifelong imprisonment of the members of Achernar Prime’s legislative body who had earlier disputed Rator’s claims and declared themselves as the true successors to the original Senate. Construction on Rator III of a new imperial capital city, to be known as Rihan, has since begun this year.
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