POTENTIAL SPOILERS BELOW:
I'm actually alt-tabbed while I write this, my cruiser safely floating above the Hobus II planet remains. One thing struck me as odd in this mission:
It could be longer.
This may apply to some of the other missions sprinkled throughout Star Trek, but this one could stand to use some embellishing. The death of the Hobus Star and its destructive impact on the Romulan Empire could stand to use some expansion. Furthermore, expanding on the mission will fill in content gaps and make the revelations much more natural.
I'm going to go ahead and take an opportunity to "dream" a little bit, and add some (with current implementation) unlikely solutions. This is meant to be part fun, and part "shoot for this, Cryptic". This is only for the first part of the mission. I'll leave you guys to think up (or dream up) possibilities for the other Hobus planets.
Mission: Part 1
Hobus III
This should have begun with a visit with a Romulan delegate on Starbase I. The first part of the mission would be to persuade the delegate that it would be a good idea to investigate the Hobus System. A diplomatic mini-game would ensue, with the player ultimately getting permission to do a BRIEF survey.
The player would travel to Hobus I and encounter the Sithesh. Another diplomatic mini-game would ensue, with the player demanding the ability to allow your ship to enter. Ultimately the Reman would be forced, as you gained permission previously.
The player would approach Hobus III with sensors picking up strange energy signatures. What would be neat here (and it may need to be instanced), is if you had to fly into the massive, gouged planetoid. The player would fly through massive "canyons" and huge "caverns" formed by crust separation. Scans of the area between the crust and mantle (3 scans, each with variable difficulty minigames) would pick up signs of protomatter. Flying out of the planet and into space, the player would then "board" one of the large, silvery flakes in, what would be a scenic, spacewalk collecting data. From here you can see your ship above you, a short distance away... looming in its grandeur.
Upon finishing your scans (with a broad-frequency mini-game! Whatever that is

) you see the Sithesh decloak right next to your ship.
You hail the Reman captain, though he refuses to respond. A transporter inhibitor is engaged, and your officers notify you they're sending a shuttle. A shuttle comes down and you reappear in it shortly thereafter. The Reman captain opens fire on your shuttle. It's a short distance, but you need to survive in the little shuttle long enough to dock with your ship (which can be handled with a simple F command when close enough).
You then take command of your ship, which is already firing back. You ultimately chase off the Sithesh and quickly go to warp.
Hailing Starfleet outside the Hobus system, you tell them what occurred. They state that the Romulan delegate is missing, and that you have their permission to delve deeper into the system. Your next target is Hobus II.
You've given a reward to help you in your endeavor.
Mission ends.
Comments
The content would be designed to work with any current or planned faction. They'd have to travel home to wherever their return destination is.
The great part is that it would provide content for every faction, at every level - like a whole new game.
I'm not really speaking about an expansion in that term.
I'm talking about filling out the current content. One thing that upset me about this mission was that, upon scanning all the planets, your science officer says "If you put all three things together you get a super-duper nova if you put it in a bomb and fire it into the sun!"
It's like... this is what the Hobus mystery was? Solved in mere seconds? My idea was to make the process at least seem more involved. Hence, my idea of expansion of current content.