Ro Laren's career in the novels

[DGCatAniSiri]

The progression seems reasonable to me when you factor in the pardon the Maquis got - after rejoining Starfleet in the merger of the militia, she now had several of Starfleet's most decorated figures, at the least Picard, Kira, and Vaughn, in her corner and saying that they trust her with great responsibilities. Given DS9's strategic importance over the years, Starfleet is probably also more prone to promoting within the ranks of the station's crew to keep the well-oiled machine functioning, rather than sending in a new CO who has little familiarity with the day to day workings of the station.

 

[nx1701g]

Well, Destiny happened in between that. Starfleet took quite a hit.

Sure did. So many battles, so many people lost (including Captain Vaughn).

Although, Ro was already CO of DS9 when that happened. Vaughn transferred to the Kirk prior to the events of Destiny and Ro had been his XO.

Ah, you're right - by 2381 (Destiny year) she'd already been Captain. My mistake!

It's ok. I had forgot too. The only reason I remembered was I pulled up the page on Memory Beta to see the photoshopped Captain Ro.

 

[DS9forever]

Ro was actually a Commander at the time of Destiny; she was promoted to Captain before Zero Sum Game (2382)