100859.7 Federation News Service
ALTH’NDOR VOTES FOR RETURN TO RSE, OTHERS REMAIN UNDECIDED
In the four months since the end of the most recent conflict between the Romulan Star Empire and the Romulan Republic, the inhabitants of the four occupied star systems have lived in uncertainty. The Treaty of Tri’Vokil laid out a pathway for the populations of the Alth’ndor, Cero, Gasko, and Sarita Star Systems to choose their respective interstellar affiliations. Earlier this week Alth’ndor became the first to complete its referendum, shocking the galaxy with the result: Alth’ndor will rejoin the Romulan Star Empire.
The referendum was administered by the Alth’ndor Provincial Council, and overseen by a tripartisan commission with participation from the Romulan Star Empire, the Romulan Republic, and the United Federation of Planets. The commission’s final report certified the result as legitimate and reported no significant discrepancies or issues. According to the report, turnout was 86.51% of eligible voters.
| Ballot Option | Result |
| Return to the Romulan Star Empire | 57.9% |
| Become part of the Romulan Republic | 19.7% |
| Establish an independent government | 22.4% |
In the weeks leading up to the vote, most analysts and media outlets across the Federation and Republic (including FNS) were confident that Alth’ndor would not return to the Empire.
Early polling indicated a much closer race than reality, suggesting the more relevant question would be whether the populace would choose to join the Republic or remain independent.
Public commentary from community leaders on Alth’ndor in the wake of the vote has been mixed. Quaestor S’Tcaevra of the Northwestern Province declared, “We are looking forward to reconnecting with our colleagues in the Senate and working together to restore Alth’ndor to its rightful place as a vital part of the Empire.” The messaging from pro-Republic and pro-independence activists has taken a far more desperate tone, however. “They’re going to kill us,” said a local Promagistrate speaking on condition of anonymity, “Our friends and neighbors just voted to put our very lives in the hands of an Empire that doesn’t value them. We’re terrified – every last one of us that spoke out, we’re scared for our lives.”
As Alth’ndor prepares for the transition back to Imperial rule, the wider focus is shifting to the remaining three undecided systems. The unexpected Imperial victory has led to decreased confidence in the projected outcomes in these systems as well and it is likely that the Republic will step up its lobbying efforts in the coming weeks.
While Cero and Gasko are not expected to meet infrastructure requirements for at least another month, Sarita’s referendum has been delayed only by a series of administrative delays and may proceed in a matter of weeks.
BREAKING NEWS:
ALTH’NDOR REJOINS ROMULAN STAR EMPIRE
Major blow for the Republic and allies, stirring uncertainty about future for remaining former-RSE occupied systems.
Months after the Tri’Vokil Treaty formally concluded hostilities between the Romulan Star Empire and the Romulan Republic, the first of the liberated colonies has opted to rejoin the Empire. With over half of the population electing to realign, a picture of reluctant acquiescence emerges among these Romulans—many of whom felt an undeniable pull toward tradition and familiarity, even under the Empire’s authoritarian grip.
The process, designed to be a free expression of self-determination, has instead laid bare a collective resignation. Although the Romulan Republic is offering these worlds the promise of reform, critics suggest that, for many, the Empire’s strength and stability—despite its known iron fist—is proving persuasive. Analyst Kolith, from the Center for Political Research, notes, “A history of loyalty, no matter how fraught, can carry weight that new freedoms struggle to match.”
For Republic advocates, the turn of events is painful, with Republic Senator Hiran Janek lamenting the loss as “a tragic step backward.” Many locals, however, cited practical security concerns and doubts about the Republic’s viability in a galaxy still marked by shifting alliances and lingering imperial sentiment.
Looking ahead, tensions may rise again as Republic leaders contemplate responses to this shift, while the Empire touts the results as proof of its enduring authority and legacy. Future referenda are expected on the remaining colonies over the coming months, but observers now suggest a clear momentum toward the Empire that the Republic may struggle to counter.
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CITIZENS FEARFUL AS ALTH'NDOR RETURNS TO RSE,
RRF: "IT'S DISGRACEFUL"
Four months ago, Starfleet and the RRF fought a defensive war against the Romulan Star Empire - by the end of the conflict, four star systems were liberated from the tyrannical regime and placed on a path towards self-determination. In what has been called “a tragic step backward,” one of those systems voted this week to return to the Empire.
Alth’ndor is a mid-size agricultural colony in the Iconia Sector which rose to some prominence for its role in supporting the post-Hobus Romulan civilization. Prior to its liberation, Alth’ndor had been a strategically important, well-defended, member of Sela’s Empire. This week’s referendum was touted as the first real opportunity for the colony’s population to decide its own fate, without the oppressive influence of the Tal Shiar.
In the past few months, strong and vocal reform movements have formed throughout the colony, with many supporting either full independence or Republic membership. Despite this, the majority of the population chose a return to the Star Empire, prompting serious concern for the safety of the minority. For local officials representing activists and others with anti-Imperial sentiments, the message goes beyond disappointment: “They’re going to kill us,” one official said in an FNS interview. The official, who remained anonymous for his own safety, went on to place the blame squarely on the pro-Empire voters responsible for supporting the authoritarianism of the “ancient regime”.
“We fought for them,” one RRF Subcommander told FNN correspondents, “to defend ourselves, and to free them from the Ancient Regime. And now they’re going back? It’s disgraceful. Why would anyone choose that?” Republic leadership has been assuring the population that they have “concepts of a plan” for a safe and smooth transfer of power, but tension remains heavy in the air as critical questions remain unanswered.
While echoing the Republic’s assurances, neither Starfleet Command nor the Federation Council has offered anything resembling a plan for protecting the vulnerable populations of Alth’ndor from RSE retaliation or backlash.
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BREAKING NEWS: Alth’ndor Rejects Republic. Hirogen Migrants Eating Sehlats While Starfleet Delays Vote.
The Treaty of Tri’Vokil, a spectacular display of interstellar overreach in which the Okeg administration once again inserted itself into another civilization’s affairs, set out the procedure for each of the militarily occupied RSE worlds to hold a vote on whether to return to the Empire or be annexed by the Republic. The Federation-sponsored news media and their so-called political experts all predicted that these worlds would welcome the Republic with open arms.
Oh how wrong they were. The first of these worlds to hold its referendum, Alth’ndor, has now officially voted to return to the RSE, eschewing the Republic’s liberal agenda and recommitting to traditional Romulan values. This decision is likely to restore a measure of stability to the war-torn region, and may even inspire citizens of the other three contested systems to follow suit.
Speaking of those other systems, two of them - Cero and Sarita - are currently still occupied not by the Republic, but by Starfleet. Despite a general consensus that the Federation shouldn’t have gotten involved at all in administrating these planets, the fact is that Starfleet has been responsible for their reconstruction for the past several months - and they have utterly failed to fulfil that responsibility. In that amount of time, these planets should have been fully rebuilt and ready to rejoin the galactic community.
Instead, it has been one disaster after another. Amidst ongoing delays and resource shortages, Starfleet has refused to turn away refugees from other areas, despite the objections of the planetary governments. Remans and even Hirogen are arriving in droves from underdeveloped Republic-controlled space nearby, looking for Federation handouts. On Sarita, they’re eating the sehlats. They’re eating the sehlats and the epohhs of the people that live there, and Starfleet is letting it happen.
Why? Because the Tri’Vokil Treaty requires a certain level of reconstruction before the referendum can be held. The longer Starfleet keeps Cero and Sarita in shambles, the longer it retains control.
The Official Public Broadcast Outlet of the New Romulan Republic
Alth’ndor Rejects Independence, Chooses Oppression
Alth’ndor was liberated by the 5th Flotilla earlier this year during Operation Unbroken, the Republic’s counteroffensive to the Star Empire’s war of aggression. In the peace treaty that followed the Empire’s surrender, Alth’ndor and the other liberated colonies were guaranteed the right to determine their own future.
In an astonishing act of self-immolation, and despite decades of oppression at the hands of the Tal Shiar, the majority of citizens on Alth’ndor have voted to rejoin the Star Empire.
“This is a tragic step backward,” Senator Hiran said after yesterday’s committee meeting, “The ancient regime is insidious. They tell lies until the truth has no meaning. They spin tales of a return to Old Romulus: that if you are loyal enough and Romulan enough, the Empire’s problems will evaporate. It’s easy to believe until the atrocities are happening to you.”
Similar condemnations of Alth’ndor’s decision are widespread, and sources within the RRF report that the military is expecting harsh backlash from the Star Empire against the segments of the colony’s population that supported change. Some voices within the RRF are pushing for stronger safeguards in defiance of the treaty. “We bought this colony’s freedom with our lives,” said Commander Ehhelih of the 5th Flotilla, “We should not be giving it back without a fight. If we allow even a single Romulan to be returned to Imperial rule who doesn’t wish it, then we’ve failed as a nation.”
For now, at least, Proconsul D’Tan seems to have quashed any notion of unilateral action. “We must safeguard the right of our brothers and sisters on Alth’ndor to make their own choices – even when those choices are against their best interests,” he said in response to a question about setting aside the referendum results, “To do otherwise would be to become that which we aspired to escape.”
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Alth’ndor Affirms Imperial Authority
A referendum held this week by long-time Imperial Colony Alth’ndor has reaffirmed an overwhelming majority of the population as loyal citizens of the Romulan Star Empire. In the face of such staggering popular support, the Federation’s Puppet Republic had no choice but to end its cruel occupation of the planet.
While a great many of our people have succumbed to D’Tan’s radical agenda, this diplomatic victory is a welcome reminder that no separation can tarnish the strength and loyalty of the Romulan spirit. Alth’ndor’s return to the fold is further proof of the Empire’s enduring determination and ability to overcome any hardship.
Liberated Romulan Colony Votes To Rejoin Empire
Grand Nagus Rom: "Sometimes the only thing more dangerous than a question is an answer."
After being liberated during the recent civil war, the Romulan agricultural colony of Alth’ndor was given a choice: return to the Empire, join the Republic, or become an independent state. The colonists shocked the quadrant by choosing to return to the Empire.
While there are certainly sentient-rights concerns related to this decision, the economic impact to the galaxy is obviously greater. Predicted agricultural exports to the Republic from an aligned or independent Alth’ndor are now highly unlikely. Likewise, imports planned for the colony’s reconstruction and expansion have been placed on hold. In a somber statement outside the Tower of Commerce today, Grand Nagus Rom concluded, “Sometimes the only thing more dangerous than a question is an answer.”
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100859.7 Imperial News Service
ROMULAN COWARDS CHOOSE FAMILIAR OPPRESSORS
This day marks a mournful lesson for the Romulan Republic. The Star Empire was defeated in combat and dragged to the negotiating table, only to be granted yet another life by the terms of the Tri’Vokil Treaty.
Alth’ndor, a world conquered by our Republic allies, was given the option to choose freedom or oppression. The gutless inhabitants chose oppression. Faced with the options of strength through membership in the Republic, or courage through independence, the cowards instead were unable to overcome the draw of the familiar despot, choosing a return to the withering husk of the Star Empire.
Rather than embrace the people of Alth’ndor as allies, the Klingon Empire must once again count them among its enemies. When they inevitably lay broken on the field of battle, they will think of this decision and die with hearts full of regret.
The Republic, if it is to survive, must heed well this lesson. There is no honor in allowing one’s people to throw themselves into chains, no glory in battle if the cause is abandoned.
If the Romulan people are to live free from treachery, the Star Empire must die.
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