Christopher Pike's History
Christopher "Chris" Pike was a 23rd century male Human Federation Starfleet officer who was perhaps best known for serving as the commander of the USS Enterprise. During his service, Pike was considered to be one of the most highly decorated starship captains in Starfleet history.
Sometime before 2224, Pike attended Starfleet Academy, where he received top marks in all his classes with the exception of an "F" in Astrophysics. He was part of the graduating class of 3201.14. He also met Philippa Georgiou, who during their time at the Academy was able to drink Pike and their fellow cadets under the table.
Upon graduating from Starfleet Academy, Pike was commissioned as an officer in Starfleet, with his first assignment being as a test pilot. As an ensign, Pike served as a security officer. During an encounter with a Nausicaan, Pike drew his phaser and ran after the pants-less Nausicaan. After tripping during the pursuit, he discovered that he had been entangled in the Nausicaan's pants. Following the encounter, Pike's lieutenant pulled him aside and told Pike that maybe a career path in security wasn't for him. Pike served on three Federation starships, the USS Antares, the USS Chatelet, and the USS Aryabhatta.
During the 2240s, he was assigned to the USS Enterprise as Captain Robert April's first officer. In 2249, Lieutenant Pike participated in a rescue mission in the Majalan system of the Majalan Alora from a damaged shuttle. Pike was nearly killed by a pulsar during the mission.
In 2250, Pike was given command of the Enterprise. He chose Una Chin-Riley as his first officer. She spent a week shadowing Pike for seven days before she took her commission. By 2253, Una said that Pike was "the most heavily decorated fighting captain in Starfleet". In 2259, he was regarded by Vice Admiral Pasalk as "one of Starfleet's most decorated officers."
Sometime during his tenure as captain of the Enterprise, Pike oversaw the transfer of Lynne Lucero from the Enterprise to the USS Cabot, as Lucero was taking command of the Cabot. He noted in his captain's log that the Cabot was lucky to have her.
Pike also participated in a simulation, designed by Chin-Riley, to test Cadet Thira Sidhu's suitability to serve on the Enterprise during her evaluation; he was brought handcuffed and masked to Inventory Two on Starbase 28 as a mutineer. Pike told her that the station was under attack by Tholians and ordered her to release him; Cadet Sidhu stood her ground, going so far as to threaten to shoot the captain. This prompted Pike to reveal that the situation had been simulated to test her resolve in a difficult situation. Pike then escorted Sidhu aboard the Enterprise and revealed her new assignment:Enterprise's engineering department.
Pike also participated in a simulation, designed by Chin-Riley, to test Cadet Thira Sidhu's suitability to serve on the Enterprise during her evaluation; he was brought handcuffed and masked to Inventory Two on Starbase 28 as a mutineer. Pike told her that the station was under attack by Tholians and ordered her to release him; Cadet Sidhu stood her ground, going so far as to threaten to shoot the captain. This prompted Pike to reveal that the situation had been simulated to test her resolve in a difficult situation. Pike then escorted Sidhu aboard the Enterprise and revealed her new assignment: Enterprise's engineering department.
En route to the Vega colony, the Enterprise intercepted an old-style radio-interference distress call carrying the call letters of the SS Columbia, a survey expedition from the American Continent Institute which had been lost in the Talos star group in 2236. At Pike's reluctant command, the Enterprise diverted and traced the signal to a crash site on Talos IV. After an initial encounter with supposed survivors, including an out-of-place young beauty named Vina, it was revealed that the native Talosians had used telepathy to create the illusion of an encampment; all the survivors except Vina were dead.
En route to the Vega colony, the Enterprise intercepted an old-style radio-interference distress call carrying the call letters of the SS Columbia, a survey expedition from the American Continent Institute which had been lost in the Talos star group in 2236. At Pike's reluctant command, the Enterprise diverted and traced the signal to a crash site on Talos IV. After an initial encounter with supposed survivors, including an out-of-place young beauty named Vina, it was revealed that the native Talosians had used telepathy to create the illusion of an encampment; all the survivors except Vina were dead.
Inside his cell, Pike managed to capture The Keeper. Pike then threatened to break the Talosian's neck if he resisted, and all the illusions ceased from that point forward. Escaping with the others to the outside of the Talosian complex, Pike had Chin-Riley set a laser to overload, in an effort to make a statement to the Talosians about holding Humans captive. Indeed, the Talosians believed this violent reaction made Humans unsuitable for breeding. Vina's true appearance was then revealed, and Pike convinced the Talosians to restore her illusion of health and beauty while letting him and his crew members go free. Although the experience with the illusory worlds restored Pike's confidence in his command, it was recommended that all contact with the Talosians be restricted. General Order 7 was enacted, threatening the death penalty should anyone travel there, for fear of the Federation falling under illusory indulgence.
At the outbreak of the Federation-Klingon War in 2256, the Enterprise was engaged in a five-year mission and was ordered to remain on mission by Starfleet, held out of combat in reserve as a last resort. Missing the war took a toll on Pike and the rest of his crew.
As the war wound down in 2257, Spock took an unspecified leave of absence from Starfleet and voluntarily admitted himself to receive psychiatric care aboard Starbase 5, a fact that Spock requested Pike to keep from his father, Sarek, and his foster sister, Michael Burnham.
Following the end of the Klingon War in 2257 and the detection of seven red bursts across the galaxy, Starfleet ordered Pike to investigate the location of the only burst which could be traced. When the Enterprise suffered a catastrophic systems failure en route, Pike issued a priority one distress call that was picked up by the USS Discovery.
As the war wound down in 2257, Spock took an unspecified leave of absence from Starfleet and voluntarily admitted himself to receive psychiatric care aboard Starbase 5, a fact that Spock requested Pike to keep from his father, Sarek, and his foster sister, Michael Burnham.
Following the end of the Klingon War in 2257 and the detection of seven red bursts across the galaxy, Starfleet ordered Pike to investigate the location of the only burst which could be traced. When the Enterprise suffered a catastrophic systems failure en route, Pike issued a priority one distress call that was picked up by the USS Discovery.
Shortly thereafter, Starfleet temporarily assigned Pike as captain of Discovery due to the Enterprise being damaged far worse than originally thought and tasked the vessel with determining the source of the signals and their intent. A millenium later, while being questioned by Starfleet in 3189, Jett Reno made reference to Pike's rescue of her from the Hiawatha.
A short time later, another burst led Pike and the Discovery to an inhabited planet deep in the Beta Quadrant. A distress call and subsequent scans of the planet revealed it was inhabited by Humans. Not wanting to violate General Order 1, Pike led an away team with Burnham and Lieutenant junior grade Owosekun to the surface to investigate. On the surface, they discovered a unique syncretic blend of many Earth religions. While investigating, they were confronted by a local named Jacob, prompting Pike to claim that they were visitors from the Northern Territory. While attending a local religious ceremony that night, they discovered the planet was populated by people saved from World War III nuclear exchange by an "angel".
While doing further investigations on the surface, the away team was incapacitated by Jacob, who accurately believed them to be people from the "old Earth". They were able to escape and returned to the Discovery. Pike returned to the surface, however, where he revealed the truth to Jacob, but told him he could not interfere in their society. As the two parted ways, Jacob gave him a World War III camera helmet in exchange for a power cell. In the camera footage, Pike spotted an angel-like figure, which Burnham admitted she had seen earlier.
During the same mission, a young girl named Rose discovered one of the landing parties' phaser and accidentially caused it to discharge. Pike pushed her out of the way, causing him to suffer from the phaser blast instead. Pike would eventually recover.
A short time later, another burst led Pike and the Discovery to an inhabited planet deep in the Beta Quadrant. A distress call and subsequent scans of the planet revealed it was inhabited by Humans. Not wanting to violate General Order 1, Pike led an away team with Burnham and Lieutenant junior grade Owosekun to the surface to investigate. On the surface, they discovered a unique syncretic blend of many Earth religions. While investigating, they were confronted by a local named Jacob, prompting Pike to claim that they were visitors from the Northern Territory. While attending a local religious ceremony that night, they discovered the planet was populated by people saved from World War III nuclear exchange by an "angel".
While doing further investigations on the surface, the away team was incapacitated by Jacob, who accurately believed them to be people from the "old Earth". They were able to escape and returned to the Discovery. Pike returned to the surface, however, where he revealed the truth to Jacob, but told him he could not interfere in their society. As the two parted ways, Jacob gave him a World War III camera helmet in exchange for a power cell. In the camera footage, Pike spotted an angel-like figure, which Burnham admitted she had seen earlier.
During the same mission, a young girl named Rose discovered one of the landing parties' phaser and accidentally caused it to discharge. Pike pushed her out of the way, causing him to suffer from the phaser blast instead. Pike would eventually recover.
As part of his continuing investigation into the allegations against Spock, Pike met with Chin-Riley aboard the Discovery, discussing the repairs to the Enterprise. During this conversation, Chin-Riley revealed that Starfleet Command had placed a Level One classification on Spock's case, a very unusual decision to make regarding a line officer. They both agreed that the facts didn't add up before they parted ways.
Shortly after he began his search for Spock, Pike came into contact with Leland and Section 31. Leland made his presence known while assisting Discovery in its mission to rescue Ensign Tilly from the mycelial plane.
After Michael Burnham and Spock escaped with assistance from Philippa Georgiou, Pike came into conflict with Section 31 while heading towards Talos IV to rendezvous with Burnham, who had discovered Spock. He learned of this fact when a projection of Vina once more appeared and revealed the location of the two to him. When Pike and Section 31 operatives attempted to retrieve the two from the surface with a transporter, Vina appeared to Pike one final time and convinced him to break off the attempt, which was a ruse to trick Section 31 into thinking they had captured Spock and Burnham. Reuniting with Spock and Burnham, he ignored Leland's request for him to report for disciplinary action.
The situation came to a head when Pike and Discovery, now wanted for treason by Starfleet, arrived at Section 31 Headquarters. While attempting to reset Control, Discovery was attacked by the station's defenses in an attack that was ostensibly ordered by Starfleet. Upon beaming over to the station, the landing party discovered that Admiral Patar and all the personnel aboard the station had been killed two weeks prior when Control went rogue.
During a mission to the Klingon monastery world of Boreth to recover a time crystal, Pike experienced a vision of an unavoidable future if he continued with his quest. His vision showed him aboard a Class J starship on a training cruise when a baffle plate ruptured, leaking delta radiation into engineering, causing severe burns and damage to his body. The vision then transported him to an empty corridor where he came face-to-face with himself in the life-support chair he would inhabit following the accident.
Following this vision, he recoiled screaming in terror, and was given the option to give up and leave empty-handed, but carried on and retrieved the crystal.
After the mission to Boreth, he returned to the Discovery, only to detect thirty Control-commandeered Section 31 vessels on an intercept course. He ordered a distress call sent to the Enterprise and to prepare to destroy the Discovery to prevent Control from taking possession of the time crystal.
In 2258, after a few months of serving as captain of the Discovery, Pike returned to his position as captain of the Enterprise to face a Control-possessed Leland and his Section 31 fleet. After Burnham and the Discovery traveled through the wormhole to the 32nd century, in order to preserve the truth and ensure the sacrifices had not been made for nothing, Pike and his senior staff reported to Starfleet Command that the Discovery was lost with all hands.
A hundred and twenty-seven days after the battle, the Enterprise departed to investigate a new moon in orbit of Edrin II.
Following the mission to Edrin II, Pike and the Enterprise returned to Earth for downtime in 2259. Pike spent his time in Bear Creek, Montana, where he pursued a relationship with Captain Marie Batel. Affected by his vision of the future, Pike ignored several attempts at contact from Robert April, now an Admiral. April eventually visited Pike at Bear Creek, where he informed him that Una had been taken captive during a first contact mission to Kiley 279.
Pike agreed to reassume command of the Enterprise to rescue Una. Following the mission to Kiley and Una's rescue, Pike agreed to keep the captain's chair, leading the Enterprise on new missions of exploration. Although he resumed his duties, Pike remained haunted by visions of his eventual fate shown as to him by the Boreth time crystal.
When an alien consciousness from the Jonisian Nebula brought the fairy tale The Kingdom of Elysian to life on the Enterprise, Pike was used for the character of Sir Amand Rauth. Pike didn't remember the events after the ship was returned to normal.
During a mission to Outpost 4 along the Romulan Neutral Zone, Pike met Maat Al-Salah, whom he recognized as one of the cadets who would die during the training accident that would ultimately cripple Pike. Pike considered writing a letter to Maat convincing him not to join Starfleet in order to avoid his own fate, but he was visited by a version of himself from the future who was now a rear admiral. The future Pike warned his 2259 counterpart that changing the future would have dire consequences for the galaxy and used a time crystal to send Pike to 2266 where he commanded the Enterprise during the Neutral Zone Incursion. Pike's involvement in this alternate timeline led to endless war with the Romulans. Returning to his own time, Pike deleted the letter and accepted his fate. He also took an interest in James T. Kirk, who was the captain of the USS Farragut in the alternate timeline and who Pike sensed was meant to be captain of the Enterprise during the incursion in the correct timeline.
Shortly after Pike's return, Una was arrested for lying about being an Illyrian, something that Pike was aware of and didn't officially report. Pike vowed to try to save Una from her fate of being imprisoned for hiding the truth about being from a genetically augmented species when joining Starfleet. Shortly thereafter, Pike and the Enterprise returned to Starbase 1 for inspection and shore leave. Pike left Spock in charge while he went on a mission to find a lawyer to defend Chin-Riley during her court-martial.
Around stardate 2394.8, Pike was temporarily promoted to fleet captain and was given temporary command of the operation conducted in Bannon's Nebula, which included command of Bavali Station, the USS Farragut, and several other support craft. During this mission, the recently promoted James T. Kirk, first officer of the Farragut, aided Pike and his crew greatly and met for the first time many of his future shipmates.
Pike commanded the Enterprise for several more years before command of the Enterprise was passed to James T. Kirk. Prior to joining Kirk on the Enterprise, Pike's former science officer, Spock, had served with Pike for a total of eleven years, four months, and five days.
In 2266, Pike was on an inspection tour of a cadet vessel, an old class J starship, when one of the baffle plates ruptured, causing a radiation leak, just as he had seen in the time crystal vision on Boreth nine years earlier. Pike went in and managed to bring out all the cadets who were still alive, but found himself caught in the automatic lockdown as delta radiation reached critical levels.
Prior to his injury, he was described by Jose I. Mendez as being "big, handsome man, vital, active." Afterwards, the disfigured Pike was put on a form of advanced life support which sustained his withered body and life functions, as he was too weak and incapacitated to move or respond to physical stimuli. His wheelchair was tuned to his brain and could use blinking light signals to respond to simple queries in the affirmative (one flash) or negative (two flashes), but that was the extent to which he could communicate.
In 2267, after being contacted by the Talosians, Commander Spock devised a plan to use a fake message in an attempt to divert the Enterprise (of which he was now first officer under Captain Kirk) to Starbase 11, where Pike was hospitalized. Spock's intention, risking execution if caught, was to deliver Pike to Talos IV, where the Talosians could tap Pike's mind with telepathy and illusions, providing a hospice of sorts in sparing him from dying helplessly in his lifeless body.
Pike, also contacted beforehand by the Talosians, at first refused Spock's plot to spirit him away to Talos IV. However, on the journey to the forbidden planet, images of Pike's earlier experience on Talos IV – presented during Spock's on-board court martial (a court martial later revealed to have been concocted by the Talosians) – convinced Pike to accept the Talosians' offer.
In 2267, after being contacted by the Talosians, Commander Spock devised a plan to use a fake message in an attempt to divert the Enterprise (of which he was now first officer under Captain Kirk) to Starbase 11, where Pike was hospitalized. Spock's intention, risking execution if caught, was to deliver Pike to Talos IV, where the Talosians could tap Pike's mind with telepathy and illusions, providing a hospice of sorts in sparing him from dying helplessly in his lifeless body.
Pike, also contacted beforehand by the Talosians, at first refused Spock's plot to spirit him away to Talos IV. However, on the journey to the forbidden planet, images of Pike's earlier experience on Talos IV – presented during Spock's on-board court martial (a court martial later revealed to have been concocted by the Talosians) – convinced Pike to accept the Talosians' offer.
