A group of Star Trek fans is trying to boldly go where no fan has gone before by making a movie featuring an iconic TOS character. That character? I give you Capt. Christopher Pike, who was the captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise before James T. Kirk got to sit in the captain’s chair.

Christopher Pike (Jeffrey Hunter) was featured in the original pilot episode of Star Trek: The Original Series (set in 2254), "The Cage." In it, we learned that Pike led a landing party on Rigel VII, where the away team was attacked by Kalar warriors. Three crewmen (probably all redshirts) were killed, while seven were injured, including Spock (Leonard Nimoy).

This particular event weighed heavily on Pike’s mind, and he thought about resigning as captain of the Enterprise. It was while they were en route to a hospital in the Vega colony that they intercepted an old-style radio-interference distress call carrying the call letters of the SS Columbia — a survey expedition from the American Continent Institute lost in the Talos star group nearly two decades before.

The fan group that wants to undertake Pike’s untold story calls itself Rigel 7 Productions, and they’ve created a Kickstarter page that aims to make a 45-minute feature called Star Trek: Captain Pike, followed by the 90-minute movie Star Trek: Encounter at Rigel. So far, they’ve raised almost $26,000 of their $112,000 goal, and the campaign will close on June 3. The funds will go toward building sets, filming, actors and makeup, with a small portion of the money going to charity. The site says about the events that took place before "The Cage" that:

"The incident filled Pike with so much guilt that he is considering resigning his commission. But that's all we know about Captain Pike, and we want to know so much more. Don't you? This is the story of Captain Pike when he first takes command of the Enterprise and his first mission aboard her, and with your help, it will lead into a 90-minute Captain Pike film or Web Series."

Rigel 7 Productions also claim they will answer three big questions: 1) What happened on Pike’s first mission with his female first officer and his science officer, Mr. Spock? 2) Did Pike ever go into battle? 3) What is the alien race he encountered before any other Starfleet captain, and what about his dad, Adm. Josh Pike? Okay, that last part was really two questions in one, but they're all very interesting questions.

Christopher Pike will be played by Todd Shawn Tei, who is also the producer of the show. The geektastic cast also includes a veritable who’s who of Star Trek actors, including TOS' Walter Koenig, who will co-write the series, Robert Picardo (Star Trek: Voyager), Bruce Davison (Star Trek: Voyager and Enterprise), Dwight Schultz (Star Trek: TNG), Linda Park (Star Trek: Enterprise) and Chase Masterson (Star Trek: Deep Space 9). Ray Wise will play Adm. Josh Pike, of the U.S.S. Constitution.

Head on over to Kickstarter to help with the project! Are you interested in having Capt. Christopher Pike’s story being finally told by fans, for fans?

(via Space)