The USS Cardinal arrives deep into the Shackleton expanse weeks behind the main task force. The Nebula-class starship was delayed by two factors. The ship traversed a vast distance from its last patrol far along the Breen border. Personnel also spent much of the last two months recovering from the debilitating effects that the Jovian Mind Flu had on nearly the entire crew. With symptoms finally fading and the haze lifting from their minds, Captain Raku and his recovering officers are thrown directly into a territorial crisis in the uncharted Theta-Khamor system.

A Romulan Free State frontier group has quietly built a settlement on Khamor III. They intended to harvest resources within this system to support a new life for the nomadic voyagers. An opportunistic Klingon House loyal to Chancellor Toral has arrived to seize the mineral-rich, barely habitable world of Khamor IV. Free State representatives protested, claiming their group had intended to utilize Khamor IV as well. Both parties quickly accelerated mining operations along a treacherous asteroid belt on the edge of the system known as the Khamorian Shards. Two Romulan Warbirds now stand against a pair of Vor’cha cruisers and a Birds-of-Prey trio. Additional reinforcements from both sides are on the way.

A concerned Starfleet flag officer contacted both parties to remind them that the current Shackleton operation was to remain non-militant. The Romulans state their force is simply for frontier development and security. The Klingons state their ships are involved in scouting and need these resources to sustain their operations within The Expanse.

The Cardinal is ordered to assess the legitimacy of the competing claims and to prevent any outbreak of hostilities. Captain Raku and his officers have been working with the Akaru civilization to chart subspace eddies and other navigational hazards within nearby sectors. Akaru scientists warn of ancient dangers deep beneath the surface of Khamor IV. They believe relics tied to a pre-Shroud civilization may be disturbed by resource gathering operations. Long range scans from the Cardinal’s sensor pod reveal the presence of these subspace disturbances appears to be increasing.

The Akaru’s exotic cartographic methods, harmonic analysis, and gravitational-resonance mapping prove unexpectedly vital.

Cardinal crewmembers must use science, diplomacy, and her crew’s strengths to hold back a star system ready to combust.