The Meronia Cluster, long referred to as the breadbasket of the Archanis Sector due to an overabundance of fertile class M planets, has struggled ever since a fungal blight crippled its agricultural production in the late nineties. Although, with Starfleet’s assistance, the blight was defeated in 2399, the colonies of the cluster remain skeptical of the Federation, believing it ignored their cries for far too long and only responded when the Hunters of D’Ghor surfaced. Now, as part of Starfleet’s efforts to revitalize and rebuild the region, Ambassador Michael Drake, with the support of the USS Kennedy, begins a diplomatic circuit around the region, looking to strengthen ties with both the colonial governments and the local people that call the cluster home.

During a meet-and-greet on Verdantus IV, as Ambassador Drake and Captain Alleyne are enjoying pleasantries with the a farmers union, one of the farmers shares that they’re seeing something similar to the late nineties happening to their crops again. Captain Alleyne volunteers to check it out, and when she gets to his farm, she confirms exactly what he feared: the fungal blight has returned, and, to make matters worse, it’s evolving. She calls for assistance, and Captain Devreux, tending to the Advanced Science, Technology and Research Activity while Admiral Reyes is away, decides to bring the USS Polaris to investigate, fearful that, if they don’t move quickly, the blight could spread across the cluster just as it did the last time. As the ASTRA team sets out to understand what’s going on, they realize the evolution of the blight is not natural, and someone intended this to happen.