This chapter begins with three Olympic-class medical frigates attempting to rescue Romulan survivors. This type of Federation starship debuted in the alternate-timeline "future" of TNG's "All Good Things …" as the U.S.S. Pasteur, commanded by Captain Beverly Picard. The design is based on a Matt Jefferies concept for the original U.S.S. Enterprise in TOS.
After the destruction of Romulus, the Narada rescues the "Ruling Council," which includes the praetor and at least four senators. Picard later refers to them as the "Romulan High Council" when they're found dead in space. Regardless, both names are invalid. Such a small group could only be the Continuing Committee, which was introduced in DS9's "Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges." It had nine members then, but in this chapter, only five of them escaped Romulus.
The praetor has saved the Debrune Teral'n, an ancient bladed staff weapon that he calls "the greatest symbol of the Empire." The Debrune, as revealed in TNG's "Gambit, Part I," were an ancient offshoot of the Romulans, and they had an outpost on Barradas III.
Nero snatches the Teral'n and kills the praetor, then spaces the rest of the "Ruling Council." For the rest of STC and throughout the Star Trek movie, Nero wields the Teral'n himself, and uses it again in the 23rd century to kill Starfleet Captain Robau of the U.S.S. Kelvin.
The one thing that's "nice" about the Debrune Teral'n is how it pays tribute to a bit of noncanon Star Trek. In Diane Duane and Peter Morwood's novel, The Romulan Way, S'task, the leader of the Vulcan Sundered, is given three priceless S'harien swords by his rival and former mentor, Surak. The Sundered treasured them as symbols of "the ancient glory they were leaving behind." However, during the Flight from Vulcan, word reached them that Surak had been murdered. S'task went into a period of deep mourning and was not seen for a month. During that time, one of the S'hariens was lain across S'task's empty council chair. Later, when the Sundered settled ch'Rihan (Romulus), the Sword and the Empty Chair were relocated to the government chambers in a place of honor, as a reminder of what had caused the Sundering. Touching the Sword meant death, and oaths sworn upon it were always honored to the letter.
How would Diane Duane reconcile the existence of the Debrune in her version of Romulan history and in Star Trek canon? Well, the Sundered left Vulcan in protest of Surak's teachings and settled on the Two Worlds, ch'Rihan and ch'Havran (Remus), to live as they pleased. Perhaps some of the Sundered weren't pleased, however, and took off to settle someplace else, like Barradas III.
After the destruction of Romulus, Nero and his crew shave their heads and partake in a heretofore unknown Romulan tradition of "painting" their grief on their skin using "ancient symbols of love and loss." Normally, the paint would fade over time and the grief would pass. Nero and crew, however, burn these symbols into their skin permanently because Romulus has died, and all they have left is revenge. (Nero and the other Romulans are tattooed in the Star Trek movie, and now we know why.)
The chapter then cuts to the "Vulcan High Council," another previously unknown branch of government that's probably akin to the Romulans' Continuing Committee or "Ruling Council." Spock now tells the High Council that the Hobus supernova is a threat to the "galaxy," not the "universe" as he said in STC #2.
The Jellyfish, which was conceived by our old TNG friend Geordi La Forge, is a prototype starship that's "designed to withstand atmospheres that would tear most ships apart." Ambassador Spock uses it to deliver "red matter" into the center of the Hobus supernova, thereby creating an artificial singularity to "gobble up" the galactic threat. (Young Spock uses the Jellyfish again in the Star Trek movie to create another artificial singularity and "gobble up" the Narada.)
Nero, using the executive codes he "coaxed" from the "Ruling Council" before spacing them, takes the Narada to "The Vault," a top-secret advanced military facility that has successfully "retrofitted Borg technology and applied it to Romulan designs." The Narada is to be the prototype. Once refitted, it will have superior warp drive, cloaking shields and sensor capabilities. It will also feature adaptive technology that uses nanites to fix any problem and to anticipate potential threats, then to modify systems accordingly and literally "grow" the ship to adapt. (Thus, the huge, scary, pointy Narada we see in the Star Trek movie.)
Nero's ultimate target is Vulcan, but along the way, he destroys Federation, Cardassian and Klingon ships that are close to Romulan space. The chapter ends with another old friend's appearance: General Worf, now of the Klingon Defense Force (KDF), arrives with an armada of Birds of Prey to stop the Narada.
What's interesting about Worf is how his affiliations have shifted between the Klingon Empire and the Federation over the years. He grew up on Khitomer until he was orphaned and then adopted by human parents. He joined Starfleet until the Klingon Civil War broke out, at which time he resigned his commission to join his brother Kurn in the KDF. When that ended, he returned to Starfleet. Much later, after the Dominion War, he left Starfleet again to become the Federation Ambassador to Qo'noS, but when that didn't work out, he returned to Starfleet duty aboard the Starship Enterprise-E. Finally, now, he's back in the KDF as a general in command of a fleet. (Someone must have told him, "The KDF is gonna rock you!")
After the destruction of Romulus, the Narada rescues the "Ruling Council," which includes the praetor and at least four senators. Picard later refers to them as the "Romulan High Council" when they're found dead in space. Regardless, both names are invalid. Such a small group could only be the Continuing Committee, which was introduced in DS9's "Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges." It had nine members then, but in this chapter, only five of them escaped Romulus.
The praetor has saved the Debrune Teral'n, an ancient bladed staff weapon that he calls "the greatest symbol of the Empire." The Debrune, as revealed in TNG's "Gambit, Part I," were an ancient offshoot of the Romulans, and they had an outpost on Barradas III.
Nero snatches the Teral'n and kills the praetor, then spaces the rest of the "Ruling Council." For the rest of STC and throughout the Star Trek movie, Nero wields the Teral'n himself, and uses it again in the 23rd century to kill Starfleet Captain Robau of the U.S.S. Kelvin.
The one thing that's "nice" about the Debrune Teral'n is how it pays tribute to a bit of noncanon Star Trek. In Diane Duane and Peter Morwood's novel, The Romulan Way, S'task, the leader of the Vulcan Sundered, is given three priceless S'harien swords by his rival and former mentor, Surak. The Sundered treasured them as symbols of "the ancient glory they were leaving behind." However, during the Flight from Vulcan, word reached them that Surak had been murdered. S'task went into a period of deep mourning and was not seen for a month. During that time, one of the S'hariens was lain across S'task's empty council chair. Later, when the Sundered settled ch'Rihan (Romulus), the Sword and the Empty Chair were relocated to the government chambers in a place of honor, as a reminder of what had caused the Sundering. Touching the Sword meant death, and oaths sworn upon it were always honored to the letter.
How would Diane Duane reconcile the existence of the Debrune in her version of Romulan history and in Star Trek canon? Well, the Sundered left Vulcan in protest of Surak's teachings and settled on the Two Worlds, ch'Rihan and ch'Havran (Remus), to live as they pleased. Perhaps some of the Sundered weren't pleased, however, and took off to settle someplace else, like Barradas III.
After the destruction of Romulus, Nero and his crew shave their heads and partake in a heretofore unknown Romulan tradition of "painting" their grief on their skin using "ancient symbols of love and loss." Normally, the paint would fade over time and the grief would pass. Nero and crew, however, burn these symbols into their skin permanently because Romulus has died, and all they have left is revenge. (Nero and the other Romulans are tattooed in the Star Trek movie, and now we know why.)
The chapter then cuts to the "Vulcan High Council," another previously unknown branch of government that's probably akin to the Romulans' Continuing Committee or "Ruling Council." Spock now tells the High Council that the Hobus supernova is a threat to the "galaxy," not the "universe" as he said in STC #2.
The Jellyfish, which was conceived by our old TNG friend Geordi La Forge, is a prototype starship that's "designed to withstand atmospheres that would tear most ships apart." Ambassador Spock uses it to deliver "red matter" into the center of the Hobus supernova, thereby creating an artificial singularity to "gobble up" the galactic threat. (Young Spock uses the Jellyfish again in the Star Trek movie to create another artificial singularity and "gobble up" the Narada.)
Nero, using the executive codes he "coaxed" from the "Ruling Council" before spacing them, takes the Narada to "The Vault," a top-secret advanced military facility that has successfully "retrofitted Borg technology and applied it to Romulan designs." The Narada is to be the prototype. Once refitted, it will have superior warp drive, cloaking shields and sensor capabilities. It will also feature adaptive technology that uses nanites to fix any problem and to anticipate potential threats, then to modify systems accordingly and literally "grow" the ship to adapt. (Thus, the huge, scary, pointy Narada we see in the Star Trek movie.)
Nero's ultimate target is Vulcan, but along the way, he destroys Federation, Cardassian and Klingon ships that are close to Romulan space. The chapter ends with another old friend's appearance: General Worf, now of the Klingon Defense Force (KDF), arrives with an armada of Birds of Prey to stop the Narada.
What's interesting about Worf is how his affiliations have shifted between the Klingon Empire and the Federation over the years. He grew up on Khitomer until he was orphaned and then adopted by human parents. He joined Starfleet until the Klingon Civil War broke out, at which time he resigned his commission to join his brother Kurn in the KDF. When that ended, he returned to Starfleet. Much later, after the Dominion War, he left Starfleet again to become the Federation Ambassador to Qo'noS, but when that didn't work out, he returned to Starfleet duty aboard the Starship Enterprise-E. Finally, now, he's back in the KDF as a general in command of a fleet. (Someone must have told him, "The KDF is gonna rock you!")
Worf's final switchback isn't surprising, given that Captain Benjamin Sisko all but denied him the possibility of his own starship captaincy in DS9's "Change of Heart," when Worf chose to save his wife, Jadzia Dax, rather than complete a vital intelligence mission during the Dominion War.
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