Orb

TheBajoranOrbs, known to Bajorans as theTears of the Prophets and as theOrbs of the Prophets, were mysterious artifacts which originated from theProphets. The Bajorans stored them in arks which contained their energies, as they induced unusual effects on those exposed to them.

History and specifics[]

They were noted for their hourglass shape and had a vibrant green colored form which glowed from within and had been known to defy gravity. Scientific analysis revealed that the Orbs were apparently in some form of energy vortex which drew in spatial, temporal and even mental forces. (DS9novel:The 34th Rule)

It was known that the Orbs seemingly defied any attempt at completely analyzing them. They were characterized by self-sustaining Leyton sequence confinement fields that only partially exist in normal space with an estimated amount of 5%. The remaining 95% may remain embedded within theverteron membrane. (DS9reference:Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Technical Manual)

However, the true nature of these artifacts unknowable and this enigmatic nature meant that they were a vivid symbol of the religious beliefs of the Bajoran race. These strange objects were accepted as manifestations of the Prophets which were sent to teach and guide the Bajorans in their lives. It was believed that they came from the Celestial Temple and their existence simply strengthened the belief the Bajorans had in the Prophets. The Tears of the Prophets as they were also known was an appellation that was derived from the belief that the Orbs were constituent parts which were small but significant aspect of the Prophets. It was further believed that they had fallen from the Prophets to the people when direct contact between the two had somehow been lost. Thus, it was held, that the Tears were the last physical link that connected Bajor to the Celestial Temple. (DS9novel:The 34th Rule)

When exposed to the orbs, many individuals haveexperiences ranging from intense thoughts to fully developed realities, though the Orbs have demonstrated the capability to be selective to whom they will reveal themselves. These effects are not restricted by species: Humans have had orb experiences, as haveFerengi and at least twoCardassians,Hadlo andAstraea, had religious experiences directly tied totheir people's faith--theOralian Way. One orb can even be said to be directly responsible for the revival of the Oralian Way through Astraea. The reason for the orbs' species-specific effects upon receptive Cardassians was unknown. (DS9novel:Dawn of the Eagles) It was believed that if the Orbs retained an energetic link with the wormhole then the energy pulses that it generated that caused visions inhumanoids could possibly be from the Prophets themselves. (DS9reference:Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Technical Manual)

They were known to have been public objects of worship and spiritual contemplation which led to them being enshrined in ornately jeweled cases which were cared for by Bajoran monks. (DS9novel:The 34th Rule)

History[]

At some unknown point in the past, the Prophets sent out numerous Orbs from the wormhole with at least one such Tear entering into theGamma Quadrant to the planetAres where the nativeAresians began to worship the Prophets as the Wargods. (DS9 -The Secret of the Lost Orbcomic: "The Search") There were known to have been only nine Orbs of the Prophets, which were discovered in or about the Bajoran star system during the past hundred centuries and were at one time all kept on the planetBajor. At some point, the Third Orb of the Prophets was lost to the Bajoran people for nearly a century and it was believed that the loss of a Tear would have led to the world falling into pieces with the peoples faith vanishing though this was later proven wrong as the Bajorans persevered in that time. Hundreds of years before 2376, the religious textWhen the Prophets Cried wrote of the discovery of the seven Orbs then known. (DS9novels:The 34th Rule,Twilight) Bajoran beliefs also centered around the constellation called theFive Brothers with one of them calledB'ath b'Etel making the greatest of crimes which was keeping a Tear of the Prophets to himself until it was returned to the Celestial Temple by the five brother calledB'ath h'Ram. (TOSnovel:Captain's Peril)

During the decades long CardassianOccupation of Bajor, all but one of the nine orbs were taken by theCardassians for study. (DS9novel:The 34th Rule) A female Cardassian scientist in theMinistry of Science was studying a captured Orb and faced an orb experience. This made her highly religious as she adopted the name Astraea and became theGuide for the Oralian Way. (TLE -Terok Nornovels:Night of the Wolves,Dawn of the Eagles)

TheObsidian Order were aware of the existence of the Orbs and sought to attain their immeasurable power. In the twenty first year of theYears of Deliverance, they became aware of the existence of a new Orb in the ancient city ofBar'trila. However, before they could take it, theBajoran Resistance struck the location. Rather then allow the Orb to fall into the hands of the Bajorans, the Obsidian Order sent fighters to target a nearby dam and sank the city leaving the city to be lost by everyone. (TOSnovel:Captain's Peril) After leaving the Bajor system, the Cardassians attempted to use theRedemptionists movement to help them capture the last Orb in Bajoran space but were stopped by theStarfleet crew of Deep Space 9. (DS9video game:Crossroads of Time)

In2371, thealien race in charge of theHive sought to absorb Bajor in order to replenish their ships resources. During the crisis, theEmissary of the Prophets called for one of the Bajoran Orbs which was opened to the Hive member calledTork. Through it, he learnt that his species sacred writings had been distorted by its rulers which led to him rebelling against theHivemasters which saved the Bajoran homeworld from destruction thus fulfilling theThird Prophecy of Andaki. (DS9novel:Objective: Bajor) In the same year,Grand NagusZek of theFerengi Alliance was sold theNinth Orb through a black market contact he had onCardassia III. Whilst the Bajoran government were in negotiations with theDetapa Council for the return of the Orbs, the Ninth Orb had managed to slip away during the unrest in the Cardassian Union. He attempted to use the Orb to contact the Prophets but his mind was altered by the inhabitants of the wormhole making him a charitable being. It was only the intervention ofQuark who managed to plead with the Prophets that led to the Grand Nagus being returned to normal where thought about selling the Orb back to Bajor. (DS9episode: "Prophet Motive") Ayear later, he remained in possession of the Ninth Orb and attempted to sell it on the open market to various factions. This led to tense relations between theRepublic of Bajor and theFerengi Alliance along with conflict emerging between the two until the Orb was finally returned to the Bajoran people. (DS9novel:The 34th Rule)

At an unknown point, a militant religious order on Bajor was guarding theLost Orb that was within their care. AHuman,Lane Crockett, was hired byKaiWinn Adami to locate it but after acquiring it, he fled into the Gamma Quadrant with the intention of selling it back to the Bajorans. This lost Orb came into the possession of the Aresians who saw the Orb in a different manner as they were a civilization that worshiped war and sought to attain all of the Orbs on Bajor. When the Aresians sent a battle fleet to theAlpha Quadrant,MajorKira Nerys managed to negotiate a truce by offering them a gift of the Orb. (DS9 -The Secret of the Lost Orbcomics: "The Search", "Gods of War")

In2374,GulSkrain Dukat was possessed by aPah-wraith who used his body as a host in order to reach theOrb of Contemplation on Deep Space 9. Once there, it left his body and infested the Orb allowing the Pah-wraith's to enter the wormhole and battle the Prophets. This led to all the Orbs going dark and the wormhole inactive whilst the battle was fought. This ended three months later whenCaptainBenjamin Sisko discovered a tenth Orb called theOrb of the Emissary which ended the Pah-wraith battle and restored the Orbs to their former state. (DS9episodes: "Tears of the Prophets", "Image in the Sand", "Shadows and Symbols") By September of2376, all nine orbs had been returned to Bajor.

By2376, the Orbs ofSouls,Destiny,Truth andUnity were returned to the Bajoran government leading to all nine Tears of the Prophets being returned to Bajor. (DS9novel:Cathedral) In the same year, a secret meeting was formed by numerous Bajoran Vedeks who considered using the Orb of Wisdom in order to know what to do about theOhalu Prophecies. (DS9novel:Avatar, Book One) By September of that year, all the Orbs were stored in the Bajoran capital ofAshalla. (DS9novel:Unity) The BajoranVedekYorka believed a portableGenesis Device to have been the"Orb of Life" in2377. (TNGnovel:The Genesis Wave, Book 3)A year later, whenJames Tiberius Kirk andStarfleet CaptainJean-Luc Picard traveled to Bajor, they were involved in an investigation of a murder at the Bar'trila and during the course of events, Kirk discovered the lost in the ancient caverns beneath the submerged city. But instead of uncovering this new Orb, he gave it toB'ath b'etalrayl fish who hid it beneath the waters in order to allow the Bajorans to find it on their own. (TOSnovel:Captain's Peril)

By2377, Starfleet had assignedLieutenant junior gradeShaxs Drazon to locate all of the Orbs. By2378, Shaxs had confirmed the existence of ten Orbs, though the location and nature of three of them remained a mystery. (ST -The Red Pathcomic: "Part 1")

Later that year, theUSSTheseus confirmed the existence of theOrb of Destruction, held byEmperorKahless. (ST -Godshockcomics: "Part 4", "Part 5")

Following Shaxs joining the crew of theTheseus, the crew liberated theOrb of Creation from aNor-classspace station in theTong Beak Nebula. (ST -The Red Pathcomics: "Part 2", "Part 3", "Part 4")

When Sisko and Worf confronted Kahless, he attempted to unleash the Orb of Destruction on Sisko only for theTheseus to fire the Orb of Creation at the planet, the two energies cancelling each other out and ending Kahless' threat. The Orb of Creation's energies terraformed of hectare ofQo'noS' land into greenery, promptingMontgomery Scott to requestStarfleet Command to leave the Orb in the possession of theTheseus crew so they could study its powers.EnsignT'Lir subsequently requested thatStarfleet Science monitor thegalactic barrier to see if the Orbs' energy had effected it. While theTheseus was allowed to retain the Orb of Creation,Lore managed to escape with the Orb of Destruction. (ST -Day of Bloodcomic: "Part 5")

Finding classified records ofControl's plan in2257, Lore took inspiration from the plan and manipulatedLily Sato to allow him to lock onto the signal of the Orb of Creation and break into thePleroma whereupon he unleashed the energies Orb of Destruction, unleashing a wave of destruction across themultiverse. (ST -Pleromacomics: "Part 4", "Part 5")

Alternate realities[]

In the alternate future caused by thered wormhole and theWar of the Prophets, theBajoran Ascendancy became aware of a Starfleet plot to go back in time and detonate deep time charges on Bajor thus removing the threat posed by KaiWeyoun. However, theVorta was aware of this plan and had used theOrb of Time to send a team of Ascendancy warriors into the past in order to remove the threat posed by the temporal warheads. (DS9novel:The War of the Prophets)

In theMirror Universe,Kai Dava Nikende foresaw the destruction of the Nine Orbs. He then desecrated each Orb and created shards (also known as (Orb Fragments). These shards, with the exception of the Shard of Souls, were hidden with in the enclave later operated by Opaka Sulan. The Shard of Souls was somehow given toDava Nikende. The destruction of the Orbs was carried out by theTerran Empire during their (failed) attempt to wipe out the Bajoran Religion. (DS9novel:The Soul Key)

It is possible that Dava Nikenda gave the shard to his primary counterpart during his Orb experience.

List of Orbs[]

• Orb of Contemplation^[1][2]
• Orb of Creation^[3]
• Orb of Destiny^[1]
• Orb of Destruction^[4]
• Orb of the Emissary^[1][2]
• Orb of Memory^[1]
• Orb of Prophecy and Change^[1][2]
• Orb of Souls^[1]
• Orb of Time^[1][2]
• Orb of Truth^[1]
• Orb of Unity^[1]
• Orb of Wisdom^[1][2]
• Orb of Possibilities^[5]
• Orb of Peace^[1][2][5]
• Orb of Realms^[2]
• Orb of Restitution^[6]
• Orb of Thought^[2]
• Orb of Mystery^[2]

Bajoran orbs[]

See also[]

• Red Orbs of Jalbador

Appendices[]

References[]

• STreference:Star Trek Chronology, 1996 edition, page 232

External link[]

• Orb article atMemory Alpha, the wiki for canonStar Trek.