In case you haven’t been to Google lately, we’re currently celebrating the 46th anniversary of “Star Trek.”

Of course, providing the influence for one of the more entertaining and complete Google Doodles in some time is pretty far down on the lists of long term accomplishments for the classic series. Of those, one of the greatest has to be the cast of characters assembled on the show, which is such a motley combination of personalities that debates on favorites still, sadly, wage on with frightening ferocity to this day.

Of course many of those same fans have also wondered how they and their friends would fare as part of a space crew. The sad truth is, many of us would likely destroy the craft after getting hammered on that mysterious blue alcohol stuff and start randomly flipping switches while making the traditional sound effects.

The world of video games, however, is filled with capable crew members. In fact, I can think of a few that would I even trust enough to helm the U.S.S. Enterprise itself.

Captain: Nathan Drake

You could say that Nathan Drake’s lack of the “official” captain rank, as well as his inexperience with the finer points of space travel would make him a questionable candidate. However, as Captain Kirk himself taught us all, the real qualities of a captain lie in his fearless nature, magnetic personality, ability to seduce women of all varieties, and flawless fist fighting skills. Nathan Drake has all of this in spades, and no matter what the job (he was once the man who climbed a wrecked train in the snow with a bullet in him, remember) I have faith that he is the only character capable of leading such a crew.

Red Shirts: Lemmings

The red shirts of “Star Trek” got no love, but without their  countless sacrifices, our heroes of the U.S.S Enterprise would have fallen many times over. Much like those noble crimson clad heroes, lemmings are equipped for a variety of tasks, but their main job in life is dying over and over. The best part is they do it with glee, without a shred of discontent to be found amongst them. When I’m looking for a staff of generic, replaceable, overly loyal crew members to fill my ship with, it has to be the lemmings.

Doctor: Mordin Solus

Ok, so “Mass Effect” is basically the “Star Trek” game we never got, so this is kind of a cheat.  Oddly enough, however, the video game world is not flush with capable, traditional doctors. Mordin Solus can not only heal a broken limb, or cauterize a wound, but his interstellar work experience has given him invaluable experience into dealing with every type of galactic calamity that may arise for a variety of species, while retaining the ability to keep a calm mind not motivated by personal conflict, and instead focused on what is best for all. Combined with his ability to project fire and ice from his bare hands at will, Solus is the only sawbones I want on my video game away team.

Second in Command: Gordon Freeman

He and Solus would have both been great candidates for the number two position on the crew, but Freeman has long proved himself as not just a capable man of science (even though the one experiment we saw him in went horribly, horribly wrong), but a leader of men as well. For reasons never quite explained, Gordon Freeman is a multi-talented, never wavering killing machine that has the ability to quickly decipher a variety of on the fly brain teasing situations. Frankly, he gets it done like no other video game character. While he doesn’t have the personality to lead a crew, he’s a better second in command than anyone can hope for.

Engineer : Cid Pollendina

There’s been many variations of the Cid character, and while many of them were engineer types, and some people prefer the gruff Cid Highwind from “Final Fantasy VII,” to me the only engineer your team needs is “Final Fantasy IV’s” Cid Pellendina. He’s a little more fun loving than some of the other Cids, yet his work ethic is unwavering, and unlike Cid Highwind, you never have to worry about him falling into a bout of alcoholism, or for his nicotine withdrawals to interfere with his work. Also you can only really trust an engineer with a full beard.

Lieutenant: HK-47

There’s a school of thought that says that a good lieutenant is always learning, fiercely loyal, and ready to step up and take charge at a moments notice. HK-47 has many of those qualities, but only if the mission is killing meatbags. Otherwise this assassin droid has a slight attitude and tendency to question orders, which can tend to discourage all but the most sociopathic of crew morale. However, sometimes you want an officer who is going to question your decisions, yet ultimately follow your final orders with machine like efficiency. HK-47 is that officer.

Communications: Cortana

While lacking a physical form, though you wouldn’t believe it due to some creepy fan art out there, Cortana was made for communications duties. A constant source of information, whatever Cortana doesn’t know she can learn. Plus, much like the average smartphone, she can be taken anywhere and is ready to help whenever you need it. While she has lost her virtual mind in the past, making her something of a potential loose cannon, Cortana’s otherwise high level of artificial intelligence and intense loyalty make her the only real candidate for the job.

In any case, she’s much better choice than SHODAN.