Project Shiva was a Romulan Star Empire weapon experiment designed to create more powerful weaponry that was capable of destroying a ship in a single strike. A prototype version of the Project's research was present on the starship IRW Melak which was assigned to destroy a test object within the Romulan Neutral Zone. Something that both the Federation and Klingon Empire protested; both of whom sent starships to intercept the test ship. The USS Explorer was on its way but was beaten to the Melek by a Klingon D-7 Battle Cruiser which demanded the experiment to end. The Romulan crew ignored the Klingon protests and fired the weapon which created a powerful shockwave that send the Klingon ship spinning of course. The Melek itself struggled to maintain its shields as the explosion ripped a hole