The coming Storm.
Era: After the Dominion War
A federation Ship is sent in to help the government negotiate peace between its factions. The factions are stopping the flow of Dilithium into the Federation. In the course of the negotiations, one side fires on the negotiators. Killing one. The Pc's are a part of the ship's crew or bridge crew, trying to pick up the pieces.
Add:
In the midst of the fighting, a small scout type ship is spotted on sensors, it comes in system and mines an asteroid and leaves. THe federation ship sees the little ship come and go before they can get a lock on it. in the midst of the confusion made by the killing of the Ambassador, the little ship strays too close to one of the planets defense satelites, and is severly damaged. The pilot is taken by on of the factions and tortured before the federation can get to it. The pilot dies from the interogation and the federation now has another problem, their first contact with the race that the pilot was has been marred by the torture and death of the pilot.
May your worlds be at peace. Never assume, that the pointy eared first officer is Vulcan.