Set in the 28th century, much of the quadrant is slowly descending into chaos.

Though still on friendly terms politically, the Klingons, now believing their alliance with the Federation liability, have severed their ties completely in favor of entering a new partnership with the Cardassians to fortify their territory against potential threats. The Romulans, left in a state of turmoil following the destruction of their homeworld a few centuries prior, are embroiled in civil war as two of their colonies secede from the empire to seek Federation membership. The Federation, meanwhile, has expanded out to encompass more of the galaxy than the Borg and Dominion at their height combined. But the growth was too much, too quickly.

Member planets and colonies on the fringes of the Federation are under constant attack by raiders. Technological and scientific progression have practically ground to a halt, causing the Federation to lag behind the competition for the first time in its history. The Federation Council is slowly turning corrupt. Relations between worlds heats up as historical enemies are forced to collaborate.

Fearing that collapse may be on the horizon, entire planets - even a handful of founding members - attempt to leave the Federation, threatening the stability and influence that they've had for centuries. With an anti-Federation movement spreading like wildfire, there has never been a more dangerous and uncertain time.

The show would follow one of the fleet's lower-profile ships, led by an inexperienced captain (the result of a battlefield promotion), given command only because there were no other qualified candidates available. The crew would be a blend of fresh academy graduates, recent recruits, and unwilling draftees. Whereas previous shows had primarily human (or at least, human-looking) crews, this one would break with tradition and feature a trill captain and a cardassian first officer, however, most of the crew would be a more or less even mix of humans, vulcans, trill, and bajorans, with a handful of klingons, denobulans, holograms, various new gamma-quadrant species, and even a lone Romulan. This crew would, by extension, see a lot of friction between members that must be overcome in order to keep the Federation together, as well as just to stay alive.