After months in drydock following the losses and structural damage sustained during Operation: Iron Veil, the USS Cyclone finalizes preparations to return to operational status at Avalon Fleet Yards. With Task Force 86 redirecting its strategic priorities toward the deteriorating security landscape inside the Triangle, Fleet Captain James C. MacLeod formally transfers operational command of his squadron to Cyclone.

Under Captain Roy W. Hardin, Cyclone’s first task is straightforward and uncompromising: re-enter the border theater, stabilize a region overrun by pirate escalation, and reassert Starfleet presence where it has been thin, reactive, and overextended since Iron Veil.