Which officer would have joined Section 31?

[empty]

without too much of a doubt, that is. Bashir was a very conscientous person and officer in many senses - as were all main characters in the series - but others in similar situations might have jumped at the opportunities, with the proper incentives. Like Kim, he seems like the kind of guy who would have at some point done anything to further a different potential career branch. Or perhaps even Riker, under the proper circumstances ...

 

[Ro_Laren]

Tom Paris maybe??

 

[Angel4576]

Under the proper circumstances, Riker is a no-brainer, given that Tom Riker signed up with them.

Other than that; Reed definitely.

 

[Angel4576]

Ro_Laren said:
Tom Paris maybe??

Actually, most of the Maquis crew members probably would.

 

[Frodo Lives]

Well we already know Reed was affiliated with them, so that doesn't really count, neither does Admiral Ross I'd say.

He's my favourite captain, and I love him to pieces, but it'd have to say Sisko.
The very episode after Section 31's introduction, he carries out a plan that is every inch their style. Hell, considering how low key most of their operations are I'd say the plan was far more brilliant than anything 31 could have come up with.

As for others, Riker's not the type, sure he's a Maverick but he has an incredible black and white sense of right and wrong, which he probably inherited from Picard, having served under him for so long. And as for Tom Riker, he didn't join Section 31, he joined the Maquis, a completely different organisation with a vastly different goal. And as the Defiant episode proved, he may have wanted to take up the terrorist's cause, but he did not have the stomach for their tactics or bending of morality. Both Rikers are very moral and righteous guys, no way would they join 31.

As for other picks, I'd say Janeway (she's just crazy enough), Eddington (pre-Maquis), T'Pol, and maybe, maybe, just if the situation was incredibly dire, Worf.

 

[Angel4576]

^^ Complete brain-drain tonight (this morning) I swear! I'd already caught myself about to say that Tom Paris had already joined them, but completely missed my Riker faux pas. I think it's time for bed for me!

It's a shame that Garak wasn't commissioned, he'd have been a cert!

 

[sbk1234]

Actually, I can see Kirk considering it. He has a strong passion for the Federation, and has his own sense of right and wrong. With his strong feelings against the Klingons, for instance, he might do it. He did, for instance, infiltrate Romulan space and steal the cloaking device.

 

[Lateralus]

O'Brien

 

[AdmiralGarak]

TOS: I can't really picture any of the regulars falling in with Sec.31. I think Kirk might be convinced to look the other way if he felt that they were the best bet for keeping the Klingons at bay. He would certainly be wary of them, though.

TNG: Nobody. They're way too moralistic and upstanding for a seedy organization like Sec.31 to win any of them. Like Sisko and Bashir, I think Picard and his crew would have worked to subvert them.

DS9: Eddington, perhaps. Maybe he would have joined Section 31 instead of the Maquis had the writers concoted it at the time of his defection. Sisko may well have cooperated them under the correct circumstances (ala working with Garak in ItPM) but he would never trust them. Nog was naive enough that he might have fallen in with them.

Voy: I think Torres would have joined had they offered to help the Maquis. Chuckles would have been level-headed enough to distrust them, however. Janeway would freely engage in Section 31-esque behavior, while vocally condemning them. Seven could easily have ended up working for them given her frequent disdain for Voyager's methodolgy.

Ent: Reed, obviously. I could see Archer and Trip being receptive to Section 31 had it approached them during the height of the Xindi crisis.

 

[Sci]

Angel4576 said:

Ro_Laren said:
Tom Paris maybe??

Actually, most of the Maquis crew members probably would.

I totally disagree. The Maquis were formed as a rejection of the Federation. Their cause is sovereignty for the non-Cardassian settlers in the DMZ and on the border worlds that the Federation traded to the Cardassian Union in 2369. They, in short, completely reject the Federation and view it as a corrupt state that betrayed them; to them, Section 31 would be another piece of evidence of how horrible and corrupt the Federation was.

 

[Angel4576]

Sci said:

Angel4576 said:

Ro_Laren said:
Tom Paris maybe??

Actually, most of the Maquis crew members probably would.

I totally disagree. The Maquis were formed as a rejection of the Federation. Their cause is sovereignty for the non-Cardassian settlers in the DMZ and on the border worlds that the Federation traded to the Cardassian Union in 2369. They, in short, completely reject the Federation and view it as a corrupt state that betrayed them; to them, Section 31 would be another piece of evidence of how horrible and corrupt the Federation was.

My take on the Maquis was pretty much "they would if they weren't in the Maquis" situation. Membership of the Maquis pretty much says that under the right circumstances they're not averse to a little subversion and subtefuge.

 

[DanTheGrey]

Honestly I think that a season 1-2 Bashir would have joined them. His time with Garak was what probably broke him of some of that chirppy adventure seeking.

From the original series I would possibly see Chekov as being the most likely to get caught up, but quit rather fast. From Voyager I can't think of anyone that would 'fall' for what they were doing, doublely so for TNG where you might have gotten a second stringer like Shelby. Finally from Enterprise, the obvious would be Reed.

 

[katie9918]

I don't think any of them would outright step up and actually join Section 31. But plenty of them would go along for a mission or two while telling themselves they'd never do it again. And some of them wouldn't.

TNG crew, with the exceptions of Ro, possibly Riker, and maybe even Guinan (who was the most pragmatic person on that damn ship), would never come down off their high horses long enough to get their hands dirty.

Most of Sisko's crew knew the score. A dog-eat-dog world, especially during the war, and they were smart enough to figure that sometimes you have to do the wrong thing for the greater good (i.e, Sisko in ITPM, Bashir keeping quiet about the Cretak framing, Worf killing Gowron, Kira sabotaging the station and forming a terrorist group while the station was in enemy hands, etc etc.) and were pragmatic enough to live with it.

Like someone else said, Janeway's not only insane, but her logic is inconsistent at best, so she'd be doing Section 31-like stuff without even being aware of the organization's existence.

 

[nx1701g]

sbk1234 said:
Actually, I can see Kirk considering it. He has a strong passion for the Federation, and has his own sense of right and wrong. With his strong feelings against the Klingons, for instance, he might do it. He did, for instance, infiltrate Romulan space and steal the cloaking device.

In the Section 31 novels he started a group of officers intent on destroying Section 31. It is still active in the current pocket line.

 

[JD]

^That's right! I forgot all about the Kirk Cabal.

 

[WillsBabe]

I can't see Riker joining Section 31. In the Pegasus, which showed the extent of the cover up of the incident, there didn't seem anything in him that was sympathetic to espionage and so forth. If anything I can see more evidence for Maquis sympathies in him. What's the episode that introduced the Maquis and the Bajorans? My foggy memory seems to recall there's a moment in that episode that shows Riker as having a flicker of sympathy towards the Maquis. And then of course, there's the whole Tom Riker thing. Sorry this isn't much of a convincing post - I'm up to my ears in cold meds.

 

[Angel4576]

I don't need too much convincing on the whole 'Riker sympathises with the Maquis' argument. I think ultimately, the episode Pre-emptive Strike intimates to me that Riker does have certain sympathy towards the Maquis' plight, but his sense of duty and loyalty to Picard prevents him from doing anything more than feeling sorry for their situation.

It's made perfectly clear that the Maquis situation caused a lot of soul-searching within Starfleet. We're told that numerous officers resigned their comissions to go off and join them. I'm glad that we got to see one of our characters go through that same moral dilemna, and the fact that it's Ro makes perfect sense for me, given that her Bajoran heritage pretty much skews her towards being more sympathetic towards the Maquis cause than anyone, something echoed later on in DS9 when Kira plays devil's advocate with Sisko.

It very rarely gets mentioned in any 'best of' polls but I have to admit, Pre-emptive Strike is amongst my personal favourites. Absolutely fantastic and I'm really pleased that they didn't go down the obvious route of Ro's duty/loyalty (contrasting Riker) winning out and she stuck to her moral guns.

 

[WillsBabe]

^ Pre-emptive Strike is a good episode, I agree. It's one of those episodes that does seem to get lost. I'm glad that Ro left to follow her heart. It would have been insteresting to see a meeting between Picard and Ro later on,after Ro's desertion, if TNG had still been airing.

 

[Kegek]

Pavel Chekov.

After all, Section 31 was a Wussian inwention.

I like "Premptive Strike", though wrapping up a secondary character (and setting her up for a role on Voyager which Forbes turned down and which became B'Elanna Torres) seems a thoroughly odd choice for a penultimate TNG episode. The best moment, for me, is the stony silence of Picard at the end: No words need to be said.

I don't think Riker would join. As WillsBabe said, the reasons are pretty much summed up in "The Pegasus", when he spurns the Section 31-like machinations of Admiral Pressman. He's the kind of guy who would disobey a direct order if it was the right thing to do.

O'Brien definately not either. He's got no patience for Cardassians, but he's a sensible, decent human being who took a very poor view of Sec31's 'destroy the Founders' plot.

 

[Angel4576]

Wouldn't surprise me if Pressman had certain links with Section31. Probably not a full blown member, but definitely a resource/asset that they'd exploit/call upon.

Seems like they were quite desperate to get Forbes back into Trek by all accounts. Wasn't the role of Kira also originally written as being Ro? A shame we never got to see Ro/Kira in an episode together, you can just imagine the sparks that would fly!

Love the final shot in Pre-emptive Strike. If looks could kill.....