<P> The Romulans did not appear on screen in the Mirror Universe . The only canonical mention was in the 1995 Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Through the Looking Glass". Impersonating his Mirror Universe counterpart, Benjamin Sisko claims that he is going to negotiate with the Romulans to secure their aid for the Terran Rebellion, suggesting that the Romulans are a significant power . However, this is merely a cover - story to explain his departure from the mirror Deep Space Nine, after which he would return to his own universe . </P> <P> According to the 2009 Star Trek remake and the prequel comic series Star Trek: Countdown, Romulus is destroyed in 2387 by a star going supernova . Spock was dispatched to stop the supernova with a red matter device but arrived too late . However, the implosion of the supernova caused by the red matter opened a rift in space - time that sent Spock and the Romulan mining ship Narada, along with its captain, Nero, and its crew, to go back in time more than 100 years, creating an alternate timeline . Driven mad with grief, mostly because of the death of his pregnant wife, Nero and his men seek revenge against the Federation, whom they view as having caused the catastrophe indirectly, including the older version of Spock using the superior technology of their ship and equipment . Nero also destroys the Federation starship USS Kelvin, seven other Federation starships, as well as a fleet of Klingon ships, and the planet Vulcan in the film's timeline . The problems of the Hobus supernova being so devastating to other star systems is addressed in the computer game Star Trek Online, by declaring the blast to have "traveled through subspace". </P> <P> This information below originates from the board wargame Star Fleet Battles, as well as related game systems such as Prime Directive and Federation and Empire . </P> <P> Much as occurred in the original series, Romulans of the (non-canon) Star Fleet Universe descended from the Vulcans, having rejected the movement toward an unemotional, logic - based society, and settled in a distant star system . The modern era Romulans initially relied on an elderly fleet of warships converted to employ primitive non-tactical scale Warp drive, powered by fusion "impulse" drives . While the other races developed antimatter - based "tactical" Warp drive, which allowed them to fight at warp speed and increase weapons power, the Romulans fell behind . This was as much due to political infighting as to Gorn sabotage . (This is the SFU explanation for the' sublight' Romulan vessel seen in "Balance of Terror": in the SFU, sublight engines are a common term for Warp engines incapable of tactical combat maneuvering as they only allow a starship to fight at slower - than - light speeds .) </P>

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