If/When Picard retires, who should be the next captain?

[acappellasaurus]

I just can't see Riker coming back, after seeing how much a part of Titan he's become.

Also, not sure how I feel about Data being shoehorned back in - although, is there some plan to do this, ever? What with what we saw in the prequel comic?

I could handle Sisko...he's got the chops, he's got the presence, and might bring the TNG to DS9 Emmisary torch passing back around full circle.

Chakotay, maybe, but he's such a part of that whole Delta Quad/VOY thing, it would feel a little strange.

I like LaForge in the Captain's chair in IFM, but it really worked well based on that ship, so I dunno.

Bring Wes Crusher back in, somehow? Not sure if I want to see him with the full Traveller power set, but he might be a good possibility. Mirroring the Wheaton of real life scenario, nerdy kid makes good as power geek kinda thing?

Or yeah, someone new. That too. Model after someone who might even be cast as the actor, to give us a good frame of reference to wrap the dialogue around.

 

[Yevetha]

Data would be just fine.

 

[MatthiasRussell]

I like the idea of Saavik. Aside from the Vulcan's Soul trilogy, we haven't heard a lot of what she's up to these days, and it would be interesting to see her get her shot at the center chair of the Enterprise at last.

Last I heard of her was delivering Tuvok to Romulus in Titan 1; she sent greetings to her husband through Tuvok.

But I don't want to see someone transferred from wherever to become the new Captain. If they already have a ship, I say that they keep it. I'd be game to see an entirely new Captain.

No other command is going to have the prestige of the flagship and the mystique of being an Enterprise captain. I imagine it would be a coveted position. Of course for those who particularly love their ships and crew like Riker and Chakotay, I don't see them neccesarilly wanting to leave. And then Dax has a more modern ship and may prefer it that way.

And I definitely do NOT want to see Data become Captain. Let him stay dead. The way it happened, I have severe issues with, but he still died, and bringing characters back from the dead cheapens the effect of deaths in the first place. And the way that Countdown presented how he came back seemed to be at odds with Data's personality - he would want B4 to grow and attempt to become his own being, not overwrite his brother's mind, limited that it may be.

Read the STO book "Needs of the Many" where Data is resurrected. I know it is a different timeline but MM told a good tale of Data's resurrection, the B4 neural net only being able to run 1 consciousness, and B4 making a sacrifice for his brother. It was very moving and well done. It may change your mind. Also, of all the characters to die, Data's return would be the most realistic.

Though I must say, while I can see a stationary life suiting Picard the family man, I have a hard time seeing him being satisfied with such a life over a long period of time, so I can't really picture him retiring or not continuing to follow Kirk's advice of 'don't let them do anything that takes you off the bridge of that ship.'

Remember, Picard loves commanding a starship but he also loves archeology and diplomacy. I don't see him taking a desk job or pruning grape vines but I do see him studying and shaping history.

 

[CaptainDonovin]

Maybe an Andorian?

Seriously though I can't see Riker leaving Titan for any reason other than the ship is damaged beyond repair. Same with Calhoun. I would love to see Sisko on the E-E, seeing as he wasn't a big fan of Picard after Wolf 359. I would guess however it will either be Worf (unless he leaves Starfleet) or Data 2.0.

 

[Ronald Held]

Ala STO, integrate Data's memories into B-4 and return Data to active service as the Captain of the E-E?

 

[DGCatAniSiri]

And I definitely do NOT want to see Data become Captain. Let him stay dead. The way it happened, I have severe issues with, but he still died, and bringing characters back from the dead cheapens the effect of deaths in the first place. And the way that Countdown presented how he came back seemed to be at odds with Data's personality - he would want B4 to grow and attempt to become his own being, not overwrite his brother's mind, limited that it may be.

Read the STO book "Needs of the Many" where Data is resurrected. I know it is a different timeline but MM told a good tale of Data's resurrection, the B4 neural net only being able to run 1 consciousness, and B4 making a sacrifice for his brother. It was very moving and well done. It may change your mind. Also, of all the characters to die, Data's return would be the most realistic.

I did read it and yes, I thought it was very well done. But that doesn't mean that I want to see it happen in the (for lack of a better term) Prime timeline. B4 made his sacrifice because Data was needed for the crisis that the events of STO are referring to, which were done primarily so that the game could include 8472 as antagonists in it. At least based on what we know at the moment, no similar crisis is on the horizon in the Prime-line.

I'm also not arguing the 'realism' of a resurrection, I'm just saying that death should be a note of finality. Bringing a character back just to have them back, to me, makes death cheap. Bringing characters back from the dead lessens the impact of any further deaths - 'Oh, sure, he's dead, but they'll bring him back eventually.' That's why I DON'T want Data to be brought back, even through exploiting that little loophole left behind.

 

[Mage]

And I definitely do NOT want to see Data become Captain. Let him stay dead. The way it happened, I have severe issues with, but he still died, and bringing characters back from the dead cheapens the effect of deaths in the first place. And the way that Countdown presented how he came back seemed to be at odds with Data's personality - he would want B4 to grow and attempt to become his own being, not overwrite his brother's mind, limited that it may be.

Read the STO book "Needs of the Many" where Data is resurrected. I know it is a different timeline but MM told a good tale of Data's resurrection, the B4 neural net only being able to run 1 consciousness, and B4 making a sacrifice for his brother. It was very moving and well done. It may change your mind. Also, of all the characters to die, Data's return would be the most realistic.

I did read it and yes, I thought it was very well done. But that doesn't mean that I want to see it happen in the (for lack of a better term) Prime timeline. B4 made his sacrifice because Data was needed for the crisis that the events of STO are referring to, which were done primarily so that the game could include 8472 as antagonists in it. At least based on what we know at the moment, no similar crisis is on the horizon in the Prime-line.

I'm also not arguing the 'realism' of a resurrection, I'm just saying that death should be a note of finality. Bringing a character back just to have them back, to me, makes death cheap. Bringing characters back from the dead lessens the impact of any further deaths - 'Oh, sure, he's dead, but they'll bring him back eventually.' That's why I DON'T want Data to be brought back, even through exploiting that little loophole left behind.

Personally, I find the whole idea of bringing Data back from the dead repulsive and would make 'it' a travesty of the original Data.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Worf.

 

[zarkon]

I'm also not arguing the 'realism' of a resurrection, I'm just saying that death should be a note of finality. Bringing a character back just to have them back, to me, makes death cheap. Bringing characters back from the dead lessens the impact of any further deaths - 'Oh, sure, he's dead, but they'll bring him back eventually.' That's why I DON'T want Data to be brought back, even through exploiting that little loophole left behind.

There's no note of finality on data's death purely because Nemesis left that gaping out.

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

Spock came back. And lived to meet Picard. And ended up in the Abramsverse. Data appears to have similarly backed up his katra.

Of course, in the Abramsverse, if it's allowed to stand, Picard, assuming he's born at all in that universe, might not even become a starship captain. Assuming the Federation lasts that long in the Abramsverse.

 

[timothy]

how long would it take data's "personality program" to over take b4? and, how long would it take for "data/b4" to convince starfleet and the federation that he is "data"?

I still say worf and the new data as first officer.


all so data is in charge of the enterprise in imzadi part one I think he's a commador at the time.

 

[Mage]

I'm also not arguing the 'realism' of a resurrection, I'm just saying that death should be a note of finality. Bringing a character back just to have them back, to me, makes death cheap. Bringing characters back from the dead lessens the impact of any further deaths - 'Oh, sure, he's dead, but they'll bring him back eventually.' That's why I DON'T want Data to be brought back, even through exploiting that little loophole left behind.

There's no note of finality on data's death purely because Nemesis left that gaping out.

I'd like to point out that the quote above is not by me. I happened to quote that text, but it's not from a post by me.

 

[Wally]

Sisko.

It's the flagship, so it should be an experienced captain. Sisko already commands a Galaxy-class, so it's just the next step. Furthermore, from the series captains, he's the only one (still alive) who really isn't part of series anymore. He's just by himself at the moment.

 

[elaithin]

Sisko is a choice I'd be very very cool with. I would also accept Saavik or even Ro - the last would be really interesting, I think, as well as keeping it in the TNG 'family'. And if stories set on the station itself are done, let's bring Julian in as CMO.

For the rest of the crew, I'd also like to see Data return via B-4, but to take back his old job at Ops.

And it's completely pie-in-the-sky, but I always wanted to see Annika Hanson accept a commission and become the Enterprise's science officer. Not sure why.

So that would be -

Captain Sisko, Saavik or Ro
Commander Worf
Commander Data
Captain LaForge
Dr. Bashir
Lieutenant Choudhury
Lieutenant Hansen
Counselor Hegol
Lieutenant Chen

I think it could work.

 

[BennettStar]

Obviously, Data.

Nemesis never happened.

 

[zarkon]

I'd like to point out that the quote above is not by me. I happened to quote that text, but it's not from a post by me.

Whoops. Deleted the wrong quote boxes.

Apologies.

 

[DarKush]

To me Worf is the most logical choice. He's already first officer, and plus he's a character popular enough to keep readers interested in the continuing TNG adventures. As much as I like Picard, I do think its time to move him on to an ambassador's post, the academy, or into archaeology, at least within the next several years.

Other candidates:

Riker (but that might screw up the Titan series)
Data (if they change the resurrection story; as another poster pointed out, the Countdown story just felt wrong to me that Data would override B-4's personality, in effect killing B-4)
Sisko (but not sure how that would work, I'm curious how he would gel with the other TNG characters but I'm sure the writers could make it work)
Calhoun (that would be totally crazy but interesting)
Vale (could be a good way to graduate the character from Titan but then you would have to explain why Worf didn't get the nod)
LaForge (really liked his turn in VOY's Timeless, but similar to Vale they would have to explain what happened to Worf)

 

[Admiral_Young]

If Pocket Books have no plans to resurrect Data as seems to be the case since they're ignoring Star Trek Online, I would go with Worf. I know he has the reprimand in his file for the incident regarding Jadiza but I would expect that Jean-Luc would go to bat for him and argue his case. If anything to continue to preserve continuity on board the ship and make for a smooth transition. It would be interesting story telling wise I think too. The first Klingon Captain in Starfleet would be a historical thing in-universe. It would also be interesting to see who Worf would appoint as his first officer.

 

[DarKush]

^
I think that reprimand keeping him from the captain's chair is such b.s. How many times has Worf helped save Federation lives before and since that incident? It seems pretty petty that it would keep Worf from the captain's chair. A lot of Trek characters have done stuff comparable or worse IMO, even while in the captain's chair and they weren't stripped of command. I really think Worf is the best choice for it. Plus it would be interesting to see him in command, his command style would definitely be different than Picard's and it would be refreshing.

If they promoted Worf. I wouldn't mind them promoting Geordi to first officer (haven't read IFM yet so I don't know his rank status; only going off the half-read Paths of Disharmony).

 

[MatthiasRussell]

So if you think Worf could/should be captain . . .
1) Prove he has the diplomacy credentials and abilities for the post; not to mention the ability to keep a cool head. He killed the former Klingon Chancellor! (while in starfleet uniform, I think)
2) How can being in the house of the Klingon chancellor NOT be a liability when you foresee issues where starfleet and the Klingons will be at odds.

These are my 2 big issues with Worf that would prevent my accepting him as CO.


As for Data/B4, Nemesis itself set up for his return, far more so than TWOK did for Spock. I left that movie expecting a future return of him.