What if it was his idea to work with Spock to use Red Matter to try to save Romulus. Of course, the plan failed, Spock “died”, Romulus got destroyed. Oh, as for his historic armada? Half of it got destroyed by the massive shockwave, including ships carrying/commanded by our TNG cast, Riker, Geordi, Crusher, Troi, Worf, B-4, all gone...How’s that for a reason for him to leave Starfleet and space?
If all the projections said the red matter would save Romulus, maybe they thought a rescue armada wouldn't even be necessary on a mass scale. Then when things didn't go according to plan, the risks involved high costs to Picard as he led a last-minute armada in the final days before the nova. The way it's depicted it in ST '09, it didn't seem like the Romulans were stressing about it very much, and seemed to expect the red matter method to do the trick.
I'm thinking he was part of an armada trying to evacuate the planet before the star went supernova, but he was too late and may blame himself for what happened. I'm also wondering if he had something to do with Spock trying to make an attempt to save the planet, which, from at least Picard's POV, resulted in his loss, too. That's a potentially huge weight on one's shoulders.
I hope they show a flashback to 2387 with the destruction of Romulus, and how it effected Picard. Just to show the full ramifications of what happened. It would start the series off with a bang. Literally.
I'm on board for that if only because it should give us at least one glimpse of the ENT-E which, I fear, the rest of the series is going to ditch.
No way he would obey that order Spock's exact words in ST09 where "the unthinkable happened - the supernova destroyed Romulus", so "unimaginable" fits
Maybe a couple of Ferengi pirates hijacked it from under Picard's nose, but this time with no kids to help they kept it, and that event caused the supernova.
Many have claimed that Picard would be deeply impacted by the destruction of Romulas. But why? Planets almost routinely get destroyed in the Trek-verse. Why would Romulas' particular destruction effect (affect?) Picard so profoundly?
1. He quit because the Federation decided that humans should be paid electronic currency for their hard work, Picard objected to this so left the service since he did not need nasty money to better himself. 2. He quit because Starfleet decided to stop pussy footing around and called themselves the Starfleet Militia service. He objected to being a professional sailor/soldier and left to explore on his own. 3. He quit to marry the Borg Queen after using the virus that made Hugh an individual on the Borg. He is now campaigning for Federation membership for the collective. 4. He quit because the public found out he forced a democratically elected Federation President out of office... oops wrong genre... 5. He quit because Section 32 found compromising holo pics of him with the leaders of the Orion syndicate and they were not dancing!
Maybe since Nemesis, he'd become a strong proponent of Romulan and Vulcan reunification, with the help of Spock. As a sign of good faith, he moved to Romulus and brought his family. He went out for space groceries when the unthinkable happened...
In my scenario, most of the armada did and those few ships that still followed Picard were nowhere near enough to do the job. Like everyone else, I'm curious to find the real reason though...
Of course. But in this context, it doesnt fit dramatically. There has to be more to it than just Romulus was destroyed in terms of Picards role and why he leaves Starfleet.