Donald Sandhurst has become one with the Amon, and in the aftermath of his defection and Ramirez’s assault on Europa, Operation Vanguard threatens to unravel. New leadership arrives in the Delta Quadrant with the goal of shaking up the status quo as waves of refugees threaten to overwhelm the task force’s meager resources. Can Pava Lar’ragos, wounded body and soul, rally Europa’s crew to continue the mission in the captain’s absence?

Spock and Kirk struggle to survive the fallout from being in the wrong place at the wrong time during a diplomatic mission. A post-STID adventure during the five year mission.

It’s been two years since the end of the Dominion War. The Alpha Quadrant is still reeling in the aftermath of the most destructive interstellar war in over two millennia. The Romulan Star Empire teeters on the brink of economic and social collapse as the Klingons struggle to come to grips with a failing warrior ethos that has left their society riddled with nepotism and corruption. What remains of the Cardassian Union is in shambles with a road to recovery that will be measured in decades.

As the great powers of the quadrant lick their wounds, the second-tier governments vie for position and spark a firestorm of ‘minor’ conflicts that further sap the strength of the beleaguered Federation. The Alshain/Son’a War, the Talarian Incursion, the Benzar Plebiscite Crisis, the Velk Incident, a resurgent Maquis movement and religious terrorism on Bajor… the crises mount as an overwhelmed Starfleet struggles to cope.

Amidst this turmoil, a new shadow takes shape, a potential catastrophe the likes of which has never been seen in the Federation’s history. Keeping the truth of the impending danger from their wartime allies, Starfleet engages in a desperate plan that just might give the UFP the time it needs to meet the rising threat head on, and more importantly, on the Federation’s terms.