S’Vath

**S’Vath** (pronounced svæð) was born to poor farmers living on the coast of the Apnex Sea on Romulus. Farming and fishing filled his youth, but the death of his parents in his ninth year greatly changed S’Vath’s future. While transporting a shipment of grain, S’Vath’s parents were killed when the young son of the region’s administrator, Nniol Annhwi, accidentally collided his vehicle with their hauler. The youth was also killed in the accident and his father was deeply distraught. Nniol enslaved S’Vath and vowed to make him pay for the death of his son.

Thankfully, the administrator’s wife, Nalah, was much more forgiving. She defended S’Vath and over time convinced her husband to forgive him as well. By his late teens, S’Vath was treated more like a surrogate son. Although he never bonded with Nniol, S’Vath came to think of Nalah as his mother. He adored her and sought to emulate her. She was a proud Romulan, but Nalah was not vindictive or arrogant like so many of her station. These traits left a deep impression on S’Vath and he strove to adopt them in his treatment of others. With the sponsorship of his surrogate family S’Vath was able to enter the Imperial War College shortly after his twentieth birthday.

After graduation as an egineering officer, S’Vath was posted on one of the new *D’deridex*-class warbirds. Although a junior officer on the IRW *Haakona*, S’Vath gained the trust of his superior officers. He was known as genial and kind, traits not common in the Imperial Navy. Eventually, S’Vath rose to become the chief engineer of the *Haakona*. However, when a new commander, Taris, came aboard, she quickly came to dislike S’Vath. She felt he was too kind for an officer and had him transferred from the warbird at the end of 2364. Something she would regret when her ship was infected with an Iconian virus the next year.

Though Taris disliked S’Vath, his next commander became a close friend. The old chief engineer of the *Haakona* had been posted at the Imperial War College and became acquainted with Subadmiral T’maekh. By the time Taris dismissed S’Vath from her starship, T’maekh was in command of the IRW *Dividices* and in need of a chief engineer. S’Vath was recommended and the subadmiral quickly came to see how valuable his new officer was. T’maekh also found it refreshing to have an officer he could confide in and did not fear would betray him. The two became friends and served together through the Dominion War. At the end of the war, Subadmiral T’maekh retired and gave command of the *Dividices* to S’Vath.

Commander S’Vath would continue to serve in the Imperial Navy through the tumult brought about by Shinzon and eventually attained the rank of subadmiral. He retired three years before the Hobus supernova destroyed Romulus. During his service on the *Dividices*, S’Vath had fallen in love with the beautiful administrator of Unroth III, a Romulan colony world. Ariennye had led the colony through the Dominion War, but had lost her husband in the Battle of Chin’toka. She met S’Vath while the *Dividices* was dispatched to protect Unroth III from a Dominion attack. The two corresponded and S’Vath moved to Unroth III at his retirement. He married Ariennye a year later and they had a daughter, who was born just two months before the Hobus supernova.

With the destruction of Romulus and Remus, the Star Empire was thrown into chaos. Refugees streamed to Unroth III and other Romulan colonies. S’Vath did what he could to help Ariennye manage the influx of their destitute and distraught people. Those years left a deep impression on the couple’s daughter, Tel’ola.

When S’Vath began to learn of the looming threat of the Iconians, he knew that he could no longer sit idly by. His daughter had already joined the Romulan Republic Fleet, and the old Imperial officer knew that was where he needed to be as well. He contacted Tel’ola and left to visit her on Mol’Rihan, where he was introduced to Admiral Kererek. Having heard of S’Vath’s honorable service, Kererek gave the retired officer a commission as subadmiral and placed him in command of the RRW Intraktu, a retrofitted D’deridex warbird. S’Vath was then tasked with overseeing the defense of the Tau Dewa Sector. Due to the unique relationship of the Republic with the Federation and Klingon Empire at the time, he also became an exchange officer to Ktarn Fleet and its Task Force 202. And it was none too soon.

Four weeks later, the Iconian Heralds attacked Starbase 234. The *Intraktu* responded with the rest of Task Force 202 to defend the station. When it was realized that the station would fall, the *Intraktu* and the USS Gheryzan began evacuating as many stares personnel and civilians as possible. Sadly, they were unable to save all of the crew as the Herald forces overwhelmed the Alliance fleet and destroyed Starbase 234. Due to the vast number of civilians and wounded on board, the *Intraktu* was unable to respond to the call to defend Mol’Rihan. Instead, the warbird was ordered to nearby colonies to offload and defend against any Herald forces not in the Dewa System. This grieved S'Vath greatly, as he felt the fallout would be the same as with the destruction of Romulus. Thankfully, the Iconians departed without destroying New Romulus.

S'vatu would continue to serve in defense of the Tau Dewa Sector throughout the Iconian War. Since the Unroth III colony escaped the war unscathed, Ariennye moved to Mol'Rihan after the war and worked with S'Vath to help the Republic homeward rebuild.

## Service Record

* RRW *Intraktu*, *D’deridex*-class warbird battlecruiser retrofit
* IRW *Dividices*, – *D’deridex*-class warbird battlecruiser
* IRW *Haakona*, – *D’deridex*-class warbird battlecruiser