Editing Star Trek Generations (section)

==Plot==
In 2293, retired [[Starfleet]] officers [[James T. Kirk]], [[Scotty (Star Trek)|Montgomery Scott]], and [[Pavel Chekov]] attend the maiden voyage of the [[USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-B)|USS ''Enterprise''-B]]. During the [[shakedown cruise]], the starship is pressed into a rescue mission to save two [[El-Aurian]] refugee ships that a massive energy ribbon has snared. ''Enterprise'' saves some of the refugees before their ships are destroyed, but becomes trapped by the ribbon, and Kirk goes to a control room to help the ship escape. While ''Enterprise'' is freed, Kirk is presumed lost in space and dead after the trailing end of the ribbon tears open the ship's hull.

In 2371, the crew of the [[USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D)|USS ''Enterprise''-D]] is in a [[holodeck]] computer simulation, celebrating the promotion of shipmate [[Worf]] to lieutenant commander. Captain [[Jean-Luc Picard]] learns his brother and nephew have been killed in a fire, and is distraught that the Picard family line will end with him. ''Enterprise'' receives a distress call from a stellar observatory, where an El-Aurian, Dr. Tolian Soran, launches a probe at the nearby star. The probe causes the star to implode, creating a shockwave that destroys its planetary system. Soran kidnaps ''Enterprise'' engineer [[Geordi La Forge]] and is transported off the station by a [[Klingon starships#Bird-of-Prey classes|Klingon Bird of Prey]] belonging to the [[Duras sisters]].

''Enterprise'' crewmember [[Guinan (Star Trek)|Guinan]] tells Picard that she and Soran were among the El-Aurians rescued in 2293. Soran—who lost his family when their homeworld was destroyed—is obsessed with returning to the energy ribbon to reach the "Nexus", an extra-dimensional realm of wish fulfillment outside normal space-time. Picard and [[Data (Star Trek)|Data]] determine that Soran, unable to safely fly a ship directly into the ribbon, is altering its path by removing the gravitational effects of nearby stars. Soran plans to destroy another star to bring the ribbon to the planet Veridian III, consequently killing millions on a nearby inhabited planet.

Upon entering the Veridian system, Picard offers himself to the Duras sisters in exchange for La Forge but insists on being transported to Soran directly. La Forge is returned to ''Enterprise'', but unwittingly exposes the ship's defense details through the transmitter installed in his [[VISOR]] device. The Duras sisters attack, and ''Enterprise'' sustains critical damage before destroying the Bird of Prey by triggering its cloaking device, and firing photon torpedoes when its shields drop. When La Forge reports that the starship is about to suffer a warp-core breach as a result of the attack, Commander [[William Riker]] evacuates everyone to the forward saucer section of the starship, which separates from the engineering section just before the breach occurs. The resulting shockwave sends the saucer-section crashing onto the surface of Veridian III.

Picard fails to stop Soran from launching another probe. The Veridian star's resulting destruction alters the ribbon's course, and Picard and Soran enter the Nexus before the shockwave destroys Veridian III. Picard is surrounded by an idealized family, but realizes it is an illusion. He is confronted by an "echo" of Guinan left behind in the Nexus. Guinan sends him to meet James T. Kirk, who is safe in the Nexus. Though Kirk is initially entranced by the opportunity the Nexus offers to atone for past regrets, he realizes it lacks danger and excitement. Having learned that they can travel whenever and wherever desired through the Nexus, Picard convinces Kirk to return with him to Veridian III, shortly before Soran launches the probe.

Working together, Kirk and Picard distract Soran long enough for Picard to lock the probe in place; it explodes on the launchpad and kills Soran. Kirk is fatally injured in the effort, and Picard buries him at the site. Three [[United Federation of Planets|Federation]] starships arrive to retrieve the ''Enterprise'' survivors from Veridian III. Picard muses that, given the ship's legacy, the ''Enterprise''-D will not be the last vessel to carry the name.