What is with the epic hatred the Iconians have for the Romulans? They've set off a supernova, and constantly abduct Romulans then even hit their new homeworld in a brutal attempt to conquer the planet.
It's like... 'Okay, the Romulans are down, let's not pay much mind to the trillions of Federation citizen elsewhere... oh and send a token ground force to keep the Klingons busy while we beat the TRIBBLE out of the Rommies."
Honestly... the Federation has the largest numbers and short of the Dominion, can yield a large number of troops. They have 150 member worlds (not counting colonies), so they have easily over a trillion citizens, meaning they can field an armed force well in the low 100 billions... yet they keep hitting the Romulans, who aren't doing too well.
Mainly because Romulans occupy Iconian's old space. Since they want their old homes back. Guess who is the first to get punished. The Romulans, so they have to go.
USS Casinghead NCC 92047 launched 2350
Fleet Admiral Stowe - Dominion War Vet.
Guessing the supernova part was because they wanted to knock out an Alpha/Beta quadrant power and only the Tal Shiar were dumb enough to fall for an alliance with them, or rather getting tricked into supporting them.
They essentially manipulated the game so that the Romulans killed themselves off, brilliant strategy really.
As for attacking New Romulus, well it was an Iconian world at one point. They fled there after Iconia got nuked from orbit and lived there for some time. Hence why the wildlife has 6 eyes etc.
I'm guessing they just want it back for their nefarious plans!
What is with the epic hatred the Iconians have for the Romulans?
Haven't you ever been around a Romulan? They smell like fish and when they walk, they are constantly letting out little farts. In there defense. The female romulans poot. Oh and there cooking and eating habits are horid. I seen 1 Romulan frying up some Bologna, he reaches under his arm. Scoops out some Romulan lard sweet and slings it in his skillet to fry the bologna. In his defense also I must say. He didn't eat it. He fed it to his wife and children. Sick, I know. I would almost join the iconians in eraseing the romulan scum from the galaxy. If it wasn't for that thing the iconians have against destroying all life and ruleing the galaxy unchallenged sort of thing. Oh well I guess we all desever to die. Except for me of course, I'm a good little reman.
Mainly because Romulans occupy Iconian's old space. Since they want their old homes back. Guess who is the first to get punished. The Romulans, so they have to go.
that could be a reason to annihilate the Romulans but to ignore the potential billions of troops nearby?
Well...you conquer New Romulas and you start taking near by systems...eventually you may be able to shut off their access to the gate in Romulan space...with access to the gate shut off you can work on taking over the Dyson Spheres without having to worry about them getting reinforcements.
Can't have a honest conversation because of a white knight with power
I'll second that motion, Mr. Speaker. It is obvious the Iconians view the OP Space Elves as the most significant threat of the Alpha Quadrant (Or is it Beta Quadrant now?) powers. Even in their currently highly fractured and badly diminished state(no pun intended).
Whydya think we've been catching and tagging and experimenting on all those Epohhs? Practice, of course.
A six year old boy and his starship. Living the dream.
You know that's true...In the missions with Worf the Iconians seem to be watching everyone but the Borg,...why is that?
Not all races where displayed I guess. I mean, a dominion world with zero population or strategic value (since the gate got nuked) but no real centre of power.
And I fathom the borg transwarphubs make to much interference to make a 100% stealth epsionage attempt. And thats where the party is.
what Is With The Epic Hatred The Iconians Have For The Romulans? They've Set Off A Supernova, And Constantly Abduct Romulans Then Even Hit Their New Homeworld In A Brutal Attempt To Conquer The Planet.
It's Like... 'okay, The Romulans Are Down,
... Yet They Keep Hitting The Romulans, Who Aren't Doing Too Well.
Because The Iconians Want To Kill Tovan Khev As Much As We Do!!!!! and since the devs stupidly wont let us remove tovan khev while there's a romulan faction, the iconians are trying to wipe us poor romulans out so they can kill off the thousands of tovan khev clones (which is the reason I want to rename mine)
Because The Iconians Want To Kill Tovan Khev As Much As We Do!!!!! and since the devs stupidly wont let us remove tovan khev while there's a romulan faction, the iconians are trying to wipe us poor romulans out so they can kill off the thousands of tovan khev clones (which is the reason I want to rename mine)
Because the Romulan Star Empire was the only true threat to the Iconians given their natural superiority over all other factions.
Manipulating Spock's Protege into turning the Romulan people into Federation Lite was not enough, they had to activately destroy Romulus and Remus in order to make sure the spirit of the Romulan people were broken -- the idea of the Romulan Star Empire destroying them was simply too much of a nightmare.
Thankfully, now that the Romulans have stood for Truth, Justice, and the Mol'Rihan Way... the threat of the RSE is effectively null.
This is what happens when you take the venom out of a snake... you get a belt.
Honestly... the Federation has the largest numbers and short of the Dominion, can yield a large number of troops. They have 150 member worlds (not counting colonies), so they have easily over a trillion citizens, meaning they can field an armed force well in the low 100 billions... yet they keep hitting the Romulans, who aren't doing too well.
Except Terrans, Vulcans and Andorians (and mb Xindi), all members of the Federation are not a big threat for the Iconians, so they started with Romulans. Now, their primary target is the Klingon Empire.
The Federation contains quantity, but not quality, only a few members are in Starfleet, especially "we are stronk" pakleds
Because the Romulan Star Empire was the only true threat to the Iconians given their natural superiority over all other factions.
Manipulating Spock's Protege into turning the Romulan people into Federation Lite was not enough, they had to activately destroy Romulus and Remus in order to make sure the spirit of the Romulan people were broken -- the idea of the Romulan Star Empire destroying them was simply too much of a nightmare.
Thankfully, now that the Romulans have stood for Truth, Justice, and the Mol'Rihan Way... the threat of the RSE is effectively null.
This is what happens when you take the venom out of a snake... you get a belt.
This might be valid if the RSE had not been powerful enough already before the rise of the Tal'Shiar-backed fascist police state. But they were, and they had a concept of Honor which the Tal'Shiar could not abide. The RSE of TNG was already on the wane. Totalitarian regimes do not last forever, especially with incompetent "leaders" who have little or no regard for their "subjects" (Sela, Taris, Tal'Aura, Shinzon, ...). The New Romulan Republic is going back to what Romulans were before the Tal'Shiar, which means (among other things) military strength instead of a handful of Machiavellian narcissists plotting against one another in an effort to gain some transitory "power" while exploiting the people who are pawns to them and persecuting the people who are not.
This might be valid if the RSE had not been powerful enough already before the rise of the Tal'Shiar-backed fascist police state. But they were, and they had a concept of Honor which the Tal'Shiar could not abide. The RSE of TNG was already on the wane. Totalitarian regimes do not last forever, especially with incompetent "leaders" who have little or no regard for their "subjects" (Sela, Taris, Tal'Aura, Shinzon, ...). The New Romulan Republic is going back to what Romulans were before the Tal'Shiar, which means (among other things) military strength instead of a handful of Machiavellian narcissists plotting against one another in an effort to gain some transitory "power" while exploiting the people who are pawns to them and persecuting the people who are not.
When you have machiavellian narcissists plotting against one another, you are able to ensure the strongest leaders survive. The wonderful thing about the RSE is that there was incentive to doing your job correctly, because there were three or four people ready to replace you, and they were usually holding knives.
Unfortunately, the Romulan Republic has played into the Iconians' hands of having the most incompetent leadership they can get. Instead of having cold and calculating military leaders, the D'Tanists have encouraged more friendly and less hostile romulans in order to nurture the idea that being a good lapdog for the Federation and KDF is the key to victory.
When you have Admiral Kererek giving un-vetted Romulans promotions to the Admiralty in the span of 18 months, while giving "inspiring" speeches about how they probably won't be able to win against the Iconians, you really have to admire the Iconians for being able to not only break the Romulan people, but to watch them turn septic as they try to heal from their wounds.
The RSE may have been a fascist police state, but they were able to get results -- because they despised weakness within the ranks.
The Romulan Republic embraces weakness as part of their culture, because they figure the Federation and KDF will fight the majority of their battles for them.
This might be valid if the RSE had not been powerful enough already before the rise of the Tal'Shiar-backed fascist police state. But they were, and they had a concept of Honor which the Tal'Shiar could not abide. The RSE of TNG was already on the wane. Totalitarian regimes do not last forever, especially with incompetent "leaders" who have little or no regard for their "subjects" (Sela, Taris, Tal'Aura, Shinzon, ...). The New Romulan Republic is going back to what Romulans were before the Tal'Shiar, which means (among other things) military strength instead of a handful of Machiavellian narcissists plotting against one another in an effort to gain some transitory "power" while exploiting the people who are pawns to them and persecuting the people who are not.
Plus its not like then Romulans were ever that uber to begin with.
I mean they lost a war to Earth before there was a federation aka before humans were part of a super power, there big advantages after that were a cloaking device and a plasma weapon to takes too much energy to fire regularly and even those couldn't save the ship sent to test federation defenses after the feds found the flaws in both, they had to make nice with the Klingons to get ships larger than a frigate. Then all that TNG era stuff happens to them.
What is with the epic hatred the Iconians have for the Romulans? They've set off a supernova, and constantly abduct Romulans then even hit their new homeworld in a brutal attempt to conquer the planet.
a few romulans backed the iconians and they asked for some things in return the problem with the rse is that each officer will betray another officer when the chance presents itself, hakeev did it to taris and in the end romulus was destroyed but hakeev didnt care as long as his new masters were served and he was noticed by them and taris realized she backed the wrong horse far too late.
during the time when the rr came to power the iconians wanted subjects to test on at nopada and the elachi wanted food and new soldiers to their force, the shattered broken romulan population was a perfect target and its more than likely hakeev ordered it with the approval of sela. but she saw the writing on the wall eaxctly as it came to its end with hakeev, she stabbed him in the back and left him to rot on brea, literally.
T6 Miranda Hero Ship FTW. Been around since Dec 2010 on STO and bought LTS in Apr 2013 for STO.
The Iconians will targeting the Romulans and the Klingons first because they are more warlike than the Federation. Klingons would stab you face to face and a Romulan would wait until your back is turned. The federation will talk and try to make peace.
Super Borg that have assimilated Iconian technology.
And/or maybe the Krenim that start off helping everyone out by messing with the Iconian, but go one step further and TRIBBLE with everyone else.
That wouldn't work. A 200000 years old iconian computer virus can disable a current tech starship, and can drive mad its crew.
That's why I don't like Cryptic's depiction of Iconians. They were so absolutely above all known species in the TV series, it's not even funny. I think they weren't demons, just misunderstood.
Totalitarian regimes do not last forever, especially with incompetent "leaders" who have little or no regard for their "subjects" (Sela, Taris, Tal'Aura, Shinzon, ...).
And this is basically where the whole Iconian problem comes from, in a sense. A bunch of 'leaders' who are only out for personal gain. Then we end up with a couple of powerful people doing something dangerous, which the other powerful people are somewhat in the dark on. This power struggle basically brought the Iconians to the Beta/Alpha Quadrants, because a handful of idiotic Romulan leaders decided the potential power-grab was too much to give up.
When you have machiavellian narcissists plotting against one another, you are able to ensure the strongest leaders survive. The wonderful thing about the RSE is that there was incentive to doing your job correctly, because there were three or four people ready to replace you, and they were usually holding knives.
The threat of murder shouldn't be a "wonderful thing." I see what you mean in the economics sense of competition-breeds-excellence, but... there's some implementation problems here :P
Unfortunately, the Romulan Republic has played into the Iconians' hands of having the most incompetent leadership they can get. Instead of having cold and calculating military leaders, the D'Tanists have encouraged more friendly and less hostile romulans in order to nurture the idea that being a good lapdog for the Federation and KDF is the key to victory.
I agree with the incompetent leadership thing, but not in relation to D'Tan. It was the RSE's leaders that destroyed the Romulan state and opened the door for the Iconians.
But if D'Tan's Republic hadn't settled down the Beta/Alpha Quadrants, the Iconians would've walked all over us by now. Against an external threat, we're much better off united.
When you have Admiral Kererek giving un-vetted Romulans promotions to the Admiralty in the span of 18 months, while giving "inspiring" speeches about how they probably won't be able to win against the Iconians, you really have to admire the Iconians for being able to not only break the Romulan people, but to watch them turn septic as they try to heal from their wounds.
The 18 month thing applies to the Feds, too - fresh cadet to admiral in the same time period.
Only the KDF story has at least a fragment of sense in it promotion-wise. You're at least 3rd-in-command of your BoP when you start off.
The Romulan Republic embraces weakness as part of their culture, because they figure the Federation and KDF will fight the majority of their battles for them.
Right... because Jarok staking a claim to the Solanae Sphere for the Republic didn't happen. Nor did we stand alone against the Tal'Shiar for the longest time. Nor did the Feds or Klingons rely on our intelligence agencies to lead the Delta Expedition. Nor did we effectively save the two quadrants' collective fleets by helping end the silly Fed-Klingon War.
We clearly just sit back and watch things happen in our lawn chairs... on a planet we had to fight to claim
a few romulans backed the iconians and they asked for some things in return the problem with the rse is that each officer will betray another officer when the chance presents itself, hakeev did it to taris and in the end romulus was destroyed but hakeev didnt care as long as his new masters were served and he was noticed by them and taris realized she backed the wrong horse far too late.
Yep. The RSE / Tal'Shiar as it was, was the biggest problem. They played right into the Iconians' hands.
The Iconians will targeting the Romulans and the Klingons first because they are more warlike than the Federation. Klingons would stab you face to face and a Romulan would wait until your back is turned. The federation will talk and try to make peace.
For sure. The Feds, had there not been a strong Beta/Alpha Quadrant alliance in place, would've been the most likely to scramble for peace while the Romulans and Klingons played defence. The Romulans and Klingons were the major threat as far as Iconian expansion is concerned.
The threat of murder shouldn't be a "wonderful thing." I see what you mean in the economics sense of competition-breeds-excellence, but... there's some implementation problems here :P
Speak for yourself! The threat of murder is a great way to get results. Attrition breeds efficiency!
I agree with the incompetent leadership thing, but not in relation to D'Tan. It was the RSE's leaders that destroyed the Romulan state and opened the door for the Iconians.
A few undesirables did, but sure... blame the whole...
But if D'Tan's Republic hadn't settled down the Beta/Alpha Quadrants, the Iconians would've walked all over us by now. Against an external threat, we're much better off united.
The inverse could be true. If the Republic joined forces with the Tal'Shiar, there'd be a lot less dead civilians and if all Romulans properly obeyed the orders of Empress Sela, then perhaps we'd have had a military so powerful that we would rightly be feared by the Iconians instead of regarded as a nuisance.
Personally, I'd rather follow Sela who knows how to get things done instead of Admiral Kererek who doesn't even think we can win.
The 18 month thing applies to the Feds, too - fresh cadet to admiral in the same time period.
This really just supports my point that the Romulan Republic are just Federation Lite. I'm not talking about the Federation, I'm talking about the Republic. Just because the Federation does something stupid doesn't mean it gives Romulans the excuse to do the stupid thing too. Quite the opposite, we should be trying to be everything the Federation is not.
Right... because Jarok staking a claim to the Solanae Sphere for the Republic didn't happen. Nor did we stand alone against the Tal'Shiar for the longest time. Nor did the Feds or Klingons rely on our intelligence agencies to lead the Delta Expedition. Nor did we effectively save the two quadrants' collective fleets by helping end the silly Fed-Klingon War.
Tiaru Jarok is really just one of many poster children for the Republic Lapdogs. She wasn't going to take and hold the Solanae sphere. She was just going to be a good little dog and fetch her master's ball and bring it back to them.
Only the ball is the size of a Dyson Sphere. :P
Everything you describe is the Republic being submissive pets to the Federation and Empire instead of doing things their own way and telling the other two factions to get over it.
We clearly just sit back and watch things happen in our lawn chairs... on a planet we had to fight to claim
The dog might think they're manipulating their master into giving them food and shelter, but to the master -- they're still just a pet.
Yep. The RSE / Tal'Shiar as it was, was the biggest problem. They played right into the Iconians' hands.
Sela had her stuff together. Even Jarok acknowledged that. And now Sela is gone -- she's a classic example of what a Romulan should be. Manipulate your lessers and get out alive. Only Jarok was getting played by her -- just lke everyone else.
Instead of following Sela's lead, the Republic thought they'd remain safe and cozy in the comfort under Admiral Quinn and Chancellor J'mpok's feet.
This is what separates dogs from wolves. The Republic are dogs. The RSE are wolves.
The Republic had their chance to be wolves, but they like being dogs.
Comments
USS Casinghead NCC 92047 launched 2350
Fleet Admiral Stowe - Dominion War Vet.
They essentially manipulated the game so that the Romulans killed themselves off, brilliant strategy really.
As for attacking New Romulus, well it was an Iconian world at one point. They fled there after Iconia got nuked from orbit and lived there for some time. Hence why the wildlife has 6 eyes etc.
I'm guessing they just want it back for their nefarious plans!
that could be a reason to annihilate the Romulans but to ignore the potential billions of troops nearby?
not sound reasoning
QFT
/10char
or something.
Whydya think we've been catching and tagging and experimenting on all those Epohhs? Practice, of course.
Super Borg that have assimilated Iconian technology.
And/or maybe the Krenim that start off helping everyone out by messing with the Iconian, but go one step further and TRIBBLE with everyone else.
You know that's true...In the missions with Worf the Iconians seem to be watching everyone but the Borg,...why is that?
Not all races where displayed I guess. I mean, a dominion world with zero population or strategic value (since the gate got nuked) but no real centre of power.
And I fathom the borg transwarphubs make to much interference to make a 100% stealth epsionage attempt. And thats where the party is.
Iconians took that thing from the other Borg Cube.... That + Iconian Vista = Iconoan controlled Borg ?
the room was vast, they were probably in the area of high value.
Because The Iconians Want To Kill Tovan Khev As Much As We Do!!!!! and since the devs stupidly wont let us remove tovan khev while there's a romulan faction, the iconians are trying to wipe us poor romulans out so they can kill off the thousands of tovan khev clones (which is the reason I want to rename mine)
this could be a pretty valid reason
Manipulating Spock's Protege into turning the Romulan people into Federation Lite was not enough, they had to activately destroy Romulus and Remus in order to make sure the spirit of the Romulan people were broken -- the idea of the Romulan Star Empire destroying them was simply too much of a nightmare.
Thankfully, now that the Romulans have stood for Truth, Justice, and the Mol'Rihan Way... the threat of the RSE is effectively null.
This is what happens when you take the venom out of a snake... you get a belt.
Except Terrans, Vulcans and Andorians (and mb Xindi), all members of the Federation are not a big threat for the Iconians, so they started with Romulans. Now, their primary target is the Klingon Empire.
The Federation contains quantity, but not quality, only a few members are in Starfleet, especially "we are stronk" pakleds
This might be valid if the RSE had not been powerful enough already before the rise of the Tal'Shiar-backed fascist police state. But they were, and they had a concept of Honor which the Tal'Shiar could not abide. The RSE of TNG was already on the wane. Totalitarian regimes do not last forever, especially with incompetent "leaders" who have little or no regard for their "subjects" (Sela, Taris, Tal'Aura, Shinzon, ...). The New Romulan Republic is going back to what Romulans were before the Tal'Shiar, which means (among other things) military strength instead of a handful of Machiavellian narcissists plotting against one another in an effort to gain some transitory "power" while exploiting the people who are pawns to them and persecuting the people who are not.
When you have machiavellian narcissists plotting against one another, you are able to ensure the strongest leaders survive. The wonderful thing about the RSE is that there was incentive to doing your job correctly, because there were three or four people ready to replace you, and they were usually holding knives.
Unfortunately, the Romulan Republic has played into the Iconians' hands of having the most incompetent leadership they can get. Instead of having cold and calculating military leaders, the D'Tanists have encouraged more friendly and less hostile romulans in order to nurture the idea that being a good lapdog for the Federation and KDF is the key to victory.
When you have Admiral Kererek giving un-vetted Romulans promotions to the Admiralty in the span of 18 months, while giving "inspiring" speeches about how they probably won't be able to win against the Iconians, you really have to admire the Iconians for being able to not only break the Romulan people, but to watch them turn septic as they try to heal from their wounds.
The RSE may have been a fascist police state, but they were able to get results -- because they despised weakness within the ranks.
The Romulan Republic embraces weakness as part of their culture, because they figure the Federation and KDF will fight the majority of their battles for them.
Plus its not like then Romulans were ever that uber to begin with.
I mean they lost a war to Earth before there was a federation aka before humans were part of a super power, there big advantages after that were a cloaking device and a plasma weapon to takes too much energy to fire regularly and even those couldn't save the ship sent to test federation defenses after the feds found the flaws in both, they had to make nice with the Klingons to get ships larger than a frigate. Then all that TNG era stuff happens to them.
a few romulans backed the iconians and they asked for some things in return the problem with the rse is that each officer will betray another officer when the chance presents itself, hakeev did it to taris and in the end romulus was destroyed but hakeev didnt care as long as his new masters were served and he was noticed by them and taris realized she backed the wrong horse far too late.
during the time when the rr came to power the iconians wanted subjects to test on at nopada and the elachi wanted food and new soldiers to their force, the shattered broken romulan population was a perfect target and its more than likely hakeev ordered it with the approval of sela. but she saw the writing on the wall eaxctly as it came to its end with hakeev, she stabbed him in the back and left him to rot on brea, literally.
Been around since Dec 2010 on STO and bought LTS in Apr 2013 for STO.
That wouldn't work. A 200000 years old iconian computer virus can disable a current tech starship, and can drive mad its crew.
That's why I don't like Cryptic's depiction of Iconians. They were so absolutely above all known species in the TV series, it's not even funny. I think they weren't demons, just misunderstood.
And this is basically where the whole Iconian problem comes from, in a sense. A bunch of 'leaders' who are only out for personal gain. Then we end up with a couple of powerful people doing something dangerous, which the other powerful people are somewhat in the dark on. This power struggle basically brought the Iconians to the Beta/Alpha Quadrants, because a handful of idiotic Romulan leaders decided the potential power-grab was too much to give up.
The threat of murder shouldn't be a "wonderful thing." I see what you mean in the economics sense of competition-breeds-excellence, but... there's some implementation problems here :P
I agree with the incompetent leadership thing, but not in relation to D'Tan. It was the RSE's leaders that destroyed the Romulan state and opened the door for the Iconians.
But if D'Tan's Republic hadn't settled down the Beta/Alpha Quadrants, the Iconians would've walked all over us by now. Against an external threat, we're much better off united.
The 18 month thing applies to the Feds, too - fresh cadet to admiral in the same time period.
Only the KDF story has at least a fragment of sense in it promotion-wise. You're at least 3rd-in-command of your BoP when you start off.
Right... because Jarok staking a claim to the Solanae Sphere for the Republic didn't happen. Nor did we stand alone against the Tal'Shiar for the longest time. Nor did the Feds or Klingons rely on our intelligence agencies to lead the Delta Expedition. Nor did we effectively save the two quadrants' collective fleets by helping end the silly Fed-Klingon War.
We clearly just sit back and watch things happen in our lawn chairs... on a planet we had to fight to claim
Yep. The RSE / Tal'Shiar as it was, was the biggest problem. They played right into the Iconians' hands.
For sure. The Feds, had there not been a strong Beta/Alpha Quadrant alliance in place, would've been the most likely to scramble for peace while the Romulans and Klingons played defence. The Romulans and Klingons were the major threat as far as Iconian expansion is concerned.
1) they want to remove all the SROs
2) Since the devs hate everyone but Feds, the Iconians are destroying the other faction-and-a-half so that everyone is forced to be a feddiebear.
Speak for yourself! The threat of murder is a great way to get results. Attrition breeds efficiency!
A few undesirables did, but sure... blame the whole...
The inverse could be true. If the Republic joined forces with the Tal'Shiar, there'd be a lot less dead civilians and if all Romulans properly obeyed the orders of Empress Sela, then perhaps we'd have had a military so powerful that we would rightly be feared by the Iconians instead of regarded as a nuisance.
Personally, I'd rather follow Sela who knows how to get things done instead of Admiral Kererek who doesn't even think we can win.
This really just supports my point that the Romulan Republic are just Federation Lite. I'm not talking about the Federation, I'm talking about the Republic. Just because the Federation does something stupid doesn't mean it gives Romulans the excuse to do the stupid thing too. Quite the opposite, we should be trying to be everything the Federation is not.
Tiaru Jarok is really just one of many poster children for the Republic Lapdogs. She wasn't going to take and hold the Solanae sphere. She was just going to be a good little dog and fetch her master's ball and bring it back to them.
Only the ball is the size of a Dyson Sphere. :P
Everything you describe is the Republic being submissive pets to the Federation and Empire instead of doing things their own way and telling the other two factions to get over it.
The dog might think they're manipulating their master into giving them food and shelter, but to the master -- they're still just a pet.
Sela had her stuff together. Even Jarok acknowledged that. And now Sela is gone -- she's a classic example of what a Romulan should be. Manipulate your lessers and get out alive. Only Jarok was getting played by her -- just lke everyone else.
Instead of following Sela's lead, the Republic thought they'd remain safe and cozy in the comfort under Admiral Quinn and Chancellor J'mpok's feet.
This is what separates dogs from wolves. The Republic are dogs. The RSE are wolves.
The Republic had their chance to be wolves, but they like being dogs.