| abstract | - The Wanderer gathers many of the Shedai to a newly-formed planet in order to arouse them to make war on the quadrant. The Maker, the oldest of their kind, is not in attendance as she is still lost in the depths of space. Duras meets with a Romulan agent named Valina, who is posing as a prostitute in a brothel. Duras trades Klingon intelligence on the Shedai for information on how to make Romulan cloaking technology compatible with Klingon ships, before the two experience coitus. Duras’ link to the Romulans is later revealed by Councillor Gorkon, through Lugok, through Jetanien, and also through Pennington. Carol Marcus is growing tired of working under Starfleet direction and censorship. Ming Xiong and she find themselves increasingly at odds about the secrecy surrounding Project Vanguard. Marcus mentions that they accidentally destroyed the planet Ceti Alpha VI through dabbling with Shedai technology. As part of the greater coverup, Starfleet secretly changes its star charts to indicate that Ceti Alpha V is supposedly Ceti Alpha VI. With all his friends gone, Doctor Fisher decides to retire and leave to live near his daughter. He books passage in the VIP quarters aboard a freighter bound for Mars leaving in a few weeks. The Endeavour detects a build-up of Tholian warships along their border and becomes worried they are about to move into the Taurus Reach, while the Sagittarius tracks down the location of the Tkon crystals to a satellite holding station above the Eremar pulsar. The Tholians send a fleet to destroy Tkon technology in the Eremar system based on data given to them by the Omari Ekon, which was destroyed in mysterious circumstances. The Endeavour confronts the Tholians to protect the Sagittarius as it escapes with several Tkon crystals. Afterward, the Tholians pursue the Starfleet vessels as they flee to Vanguard, but are scared off when the Enterprise arrives. Marcus and Xiong try to recreate the Tkon array with the crystals obtained by the Sagittarius but they don’t know how to make it work. T’Prynn mind-melds with Quinn to see the machine and equations shown to him by the Apostate just before its death. Quinn is overcome with grief as he has to relive Bridy Mac’s final moments. T’Prynn allows Quinn to experience her final moments with Sandesjo and then shows him how to deal with his loss and emotional pain. When Starfleet Intelligence discovers Quinn was able to recall the information in detail, they order T’Prynn to kill Quinn. As the Vault personnel work to assemble the Tkon array, Marcus is bothered by constructing a massive weapon that runs off imprisoned sentient beings. Nogura respects her position and agrees with her sentiments but refuses to halt construction. When Marcus takes her complaints to the Federation Security Council, she and other civilian scientists are removed from Vanguard and taken to the Regula I station to continue their research. Xiong manages to lock onto every Shedai entity within the Taurus Reach and pull them into the array’s crystals. The Tholians feel the imprisonment occur and wait to see what Starfleet does with the Shedai. Xiong and Nogura wish to study the Shedai, but Starfleet Command orders them to experiment with weaponizing the array. All Tholians are filled with pain when the array is activated and used to destroy a lifeless planet. The Tholians are angered that the Federation does not destroy the Shedai, and fear they may be in league with them, so they send the fleet they've been building along the border to destroy Starbase 47. The only ships available to defend Vanguard before the Tholian armada arrives are the Endeavor, the Sagittarius, the Miranda-class Buenos Aires, and the Panama, a Starfleet cargo ship with a single phaser bank. Just before the Tholians attack, a call goes out for anyone with medical experience to assist on the station. Doctor Fisher abandons his transport to work in the station’s sickbay. During the attack, main engineering aboard the Endeavour is subjected to a lethal dose of radiation. Mog and crew work to keep the ship running until they die at their jobs. The Panama and Buenos Aires are destroyed. The Sagittarius suffers casualties, loses shields, and is ordered to retreat by Captain Khatami; Captain Terrell is badly injured and is carried to sickbay. Xiong uses the Tkon array to destroy all the Shedai conduits in existence. The Enterprise arrives to protect the Endeavour as it beams out survivors aboard the station. Aboard Vanguard, first officer Cooper is killed when ops is struck. Doctor Fisher is sucked into space and killed while rescuing injured crewmen. T’Prynn and Nogura are beamed aboard the Endeavor. After the Enterprise and Endeavour escape, Xiong, who is still locked in the Vault with the now released Shedai, activates the self destruct, destroying himself, the station, and all the Shedai. April 2270 Pennington tells Reyes that the diplomatic fallout of the Battle of Vanguard was the Tholians accusing the Federation of crimes in the Taurus Reach and the Federation Council calling the attack a benevolent Tholian intervention to help Starfleet contain the Shedai after an accident. The Endeavour and Sagittarius were sent back to the Taurus reach to explore. Reyes rows Pennington back to shore from his private island. When they arrive, Rana Desai is waiting for them. Reyes and Desai embrace and return to Reyes’ island. Pennington is left thinking of the love he lost on the Bombay and vows never to forget the events of Operation Vanguard.
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