If you could be a captain in any era, which would it be?

Bryan Moore · Post by **Bryan Moore** » Thu Oct 18, 2007 12:57 pm

The background: While driving into work this morning (Heavy fog and crappy traffic so my 40 minute commute turned into an hour) I was thinking about the scene in Star Trek VI where the Ensign played by Christian Slater wakes Sulu to ask where the Enterprise is and Sulu lies and responds he doesn't know.

I really couldn't help think how wonderful that was and how completely in character it was with the whole era: Captains blatantly bend the prime directive and the rules for the good of their crews, the galaxy, or the furthering of plots. Moreover, their liability was quite limited. And really, that was only going to happen in this particular era.
It must have been the galactic equivalent of the late 1800's: We had explored a good chunk of the area around us, but had yet tamed it. The communication lines were not so tight that bureaucracy had completely taken over and military officers were not in constant communication with Washington/Starfleet. We knew who our enemies were (Indians/Klingons) and knew how to use a little ingenuity to get things done.
Moreover, men like Kirk were revered by their friends and enemies alike. Klingons didn't mess with them, women loved them, their crews admired them and would follow them to the death.
Sure, technologically, Picard was better off, but to be in Kirk's era, you really had a lot of freedom and range to explore, fight, and do what you wanted, while still being in relative comfort.

The question: If you could be a Captain in any era of Trek, which would it be and why?

Post by **Captain Seafort** » Thu Oct 18, 2007 2:01 pm

Movie-era.

Best ship of the lot (the Connie), best uniform of the lot, weapons that don't look like TV remotes, military ships that don't look like five-star hotels, warp cores that don't explode when you sneeze on them, Starfleet not micro-managing everything, a PD that aims to prevent damage but allows saving lives, the list goes on and on.

Post by **Teaos** » Thu Oct 18, 2007 2:24 pm

DS9 era

You always get away with shit during war time. Plus it would be interesting.

Post by **Mikey** » Thu Oct 18, 2007 2:26 pm

I'd have to go with Movie-era. Technological upgrades from TOS, but a captain still seems to have a little leeway to excercise his own prerogative.

Granitehewer · Post by **Granitehewer** » Thu Oct 18, 2007 2:29 pm

Ditto plus i like the blue chairs from Sulus' Excelsior

Post by **Teaos** » Thu Oct 18, 2007 2:31 pm

Granite chooses his ship due to the chair color... Bryan get over here and kick his ass for us

Granitehewer · Post by **Granitehewer** » Thu Oct 18, 2007 2:32 pm

Yeah kick my ass, but i have blue chairs, and that awesome coffee cup, or at least i'd better have................they'll be some sh*t hitting the fan, if not!

Post by **Mikey** » Thu Oct 18, 2007 2:51 pm

Hey - with some of the "thoughtfulness" that Starfleet uses to design its ships, maybe chair color was a primary concern in engineering...

Sionnach Glic · Post by **Sionnach Glic** » Thu Oct 18, 2007 4:45 pm

I'd pick the later end of the TOS movie era. Loads of freedom. Cool looking ships. And you don't run as much risk of getting killed by your computer.

Bryan Moore · Post by **Bryan Moore** » Thu Oct 18, 2007 5:05 pm

Did the captains get to choose their own chair color? I liked the blue Excelsior set quite a bit.

Oh, and if I had a second choice: Enterprise-E, post Dominion War.

Granitehewer · Post by **Granitehewer** » Thu Oct 18, 2007 5:11 pm

Ent E post dominion war, you're a man who likes his charcoals and greys, there's no reason, a starship bridge can't be chic and not a horrendous fashion faux pas, we can all sit on bean bags!

Post by **Mikey** » Thu Oct 18, 2007 7:59 pm

Instead of flat-panel consoles, we could have LCARS displays on lava lamps!

Azrael · Post by **Azrael** » Thu Oct 18, 2007 8:51 pm

Firstcontact, blacks and greys baby. and the chance to captain a Sovereign hell yeah!

RK_Striker_JK_5 · Post by **RK_Striker_JK_5** » Thu Oct 18, 2007 8:51 pm

Movie-era or post DS9 for me. Both were eras of transition, there.

Post by **Graham Kennedy** » Thu Oct 18, 2007 10:40 pm

Pre Kirk... Pike's era. At that point the "time barrier" had just been broken... I don't know what the hell that is meant to mean, but it sounds exciting. Some big leap in speed happened by the sound of it, so a lot of new territory must have been just opening up. And whatever you say about Kirk's "less restrained" days, probably applied even more so in Pike's time since it was a decade or so earlier.