Descent: Aries Wing

Bryan and Natalie had not spoken to each other in hours, nervous that they might miss something. They were in the remote star system of the red giant star TZ-39241, far away from most of civilization, in hopes of attracting the attention of either Admiral Gonzalez or Emperor T’baxla.

Bryan would occasionally send a signal by emanating power from their ship. At this point, Bryan was fully interfaced with the orb and had finally learned that he wasn’t using the orb to do things, but rather he was doing them himself, and the orb was merely providing the power to do so.

Finally, after several hours alone in space, Natalie pointed at the ship’s radar, and said simply, “There.”

Bryan looked at the radar, nodding in agreement. He turned the ship in the direction of the object that the radar had indicated. As if on cue, a large ship came into view, and it quickly became clear that it was indeed the S.S. Sirius.

“Weapons are locked on us,” said Bryan. “Predictable.”

Natalie nodded. “And an incoming transmission.”

Bryan flipped a switch. “This is Commander Bryan Chambers representing the CED Expediator. You and your crew are under arrest. Please stand down and…”

He was quickly interrupted. “Really, Bryan?” came Admiral Gonzalez’s sarcastic voice over the comm. “You and your little transport are going to take on a warship? Well, you must have something up your sleeve that I haven’t considered yet.”

“Spare me,” said Bryan dryly. “How about you just beam yourself over here and…”

“…and what, Bryan, throw myself to the wolves, when I can have so much more? Don’t you see, the orb has more power than you could ever grasp. Oh, I’m sure you’ve found out by now that what you hold is something special, but you have no idea what power it contains… power that wasn’t meant for you…”

As Admiral Gonzalez continued his monologue, Bryan reached out into the Sirius. Soon, he was able to see inside the ship as if he were walking around. He started at the bridge, but found it mysteriously empty. He checked other critical parts of the ship, but found that the ship was completely empty.

“…you see, everything that Emperor T’baxla and Paul Dravis have promised me has come to fruition. Here you are with the orb, delivered straight to me by the empty CED suits I once called my colleagues…”

Something wasn’t right. Bryan switched gears and reached out through the computer system, finding the system that received the signal. He then set out to find the source of the signal, following the signal through subspace, and around the red giant to the other side. What Bryan saw there was frightening… another D’mandrian vessel.

“…your foolishness is only outpaced by your luck, but your luck has run out now, Bryan. Drop your shields, so I can beam you aboard, and I assure you…”

Bryan finished his scan of the D’mandrian ship and found where exactly Gonzalez was relaying from. Then, he did something he wasn’t sure he could do.

Natalie was startled when Gonzalez appeared behind them, finishing his monologue, “…your death will… what the HELL?”

Bryan quickly stood up and with a quick right cross knocked the disgraced Admiral to the deck. “Welcome aboard,” said Bryan dryly, following up his punch with a quick kick to his stomach.

“This is impossible,” Gonzalez stated, heavily winded. “He said you’re not supposed to be fully interfaced yet.”

“Well guess what.” With that, Bryan picked up the Emperor – with help from the orb, of course – and threw him against the back wall. Natalie quickly pressed a few buttons on the console, and just like that Gonzalez was behind a force field, a prisoner of his two former officers.

The Admiral groaned as he struggled to get to his feet. “This isn’t over,” he warned. “T’baxla has you right where he wants you.” Bryan had heard enough, and shut the Admiral up by inducing him to sleep. Gonzalez fell hard to the deck again.

“Bryan, look!” Natalie exclaimed.

Bryan turned around just in time to see the D’mandrian vessel reveal itself. “Oh good, company.” Bryan turned towards Natalie. “Ram it.”

Natalie turned towards Bryan and exclaimed, “What?!”

“Don’t worry,” Bryan assured, “we’ll be fine. Rip that ship a new one.”

“I don’t think this is a good idea,” replied Natalie.

“You have a better one?” asked Bryan. “He gets close enough to this orb, he can do some serious damage. We have to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

Natalie closed her eyes and sighed. “Bryan, you’re crazy.” She then opened her eyes and entered the instructions into the ship’s computer. “But you’re crazy enough that this could work.”

What happened next was a blur to Natalie. The instructions she had entered had her bring the transport ship to faster than light travel, with the final destination being the center of the approaching D’mandrian ship. The ship quickly powered up and, at many dozens of times the speed of light, rammed the approaching D’mandrian ship.

The resulting explosion was spectacular. The D’mandrian ship’s hull was suddenly and unexpectedly propelled in various directions at superluminal velocities. Their transport was protected by Bryan’s will, drawing from the power of the orb, but the D’mandrian ship began to be ripped apart by the collision.

Bryan couldn’t help but dwell on Gonzalez’s words. “T’baxla has you right where he wants you,” he repeated to himself.

“What?” asked Natalie, unable to hear him completely amid all of the chaos surrounding their ship.

Bryan paused only slightly when he realized that the Admiral might have been right. “Get us out of here, now!” he yelled to Natalie. She frantically punched commands into the ship, but she only got part way before the unthinkable happened.

The light show in front of them was suddenly interrupted by the sight of a humanoid figure. He was floating amid the wreckage no more than a few feet ahead of their ship, a shimmering field of electricity surrounding him. That’s when the real chaos started.

Bryan felt it first. His control of the orb suddenly gave way. It almost felt like paralysis to him for a moment, as he was trying to command the orb to do something and it was unable to do so. That command was to maintain the shield surrounding the ship. Then it was to reapply the shield surrounding the ship, but by then it was too late.

The transport, carrying Bryan, Natalie, and Admiral Gonzalez, suddenly suffered the same fate the D’mandrian ship had suffered, being ripped apart by forces neither of them could understand. The only thing Bryan could do was think for the protection of him and Natalie, but the chaos tore at his mind. Every particle that threatened to destroy the last line of defense that was saving him and Natalie from certain death was repelled only with Bryan’s fragile thoughts.

Minutes passed before the brightness of the explosion was bearable. Bryan began to look around him, and as he was able to focus saw nothing but debris around him. The gravity provided by the transport long since gone, he was surprised to realize he was standing on a platform. He looked across the platform and realized that it was no more than a few yards long, and that off of the end of it was nothing but space. The transport had been completely destroyed, and the orb was simply floating in the middle of the remaining space.

“Bryan,” came Natalie’s weak voice next to him. He turned and saw her floating next to him, unable to join him. Only his interface with the orb kept her from floating away from the pocket of safety the orb had created to her death. She had a look of helplessness on her face, and he could only look on as her panicked breaths portrayed the terror that she was feeling.

“You,” came another voice, this time in the D’mandrian language. Bryan turned to look again at the other end of the platform to see another D’mandrian, the same one he had seen floating in front of them just moments earlier. “You must be the one known as ‘Bryan Chambers.’”

“Emperor T’baxla,” said Bryan understandingly. “It’s good that I get to finish you off in person.”

"Javier Gonzalez told me that you would not go quietly,” he said. “Unfortunately for you, it needn’t be quiet.”

“Spare me,” Bryan replied. He then reached out and attempted to take T’baxla’s life the easy way, by manipulating his cardiovascular system into shutting down his heart. However, he was met with resistance, and was unable to complete the task.

“Mmmmmm,” T’baxla said as he closed his eyes, savoring the moment. “It has been so long since I felt the power of the Orb of Infinity, yet it feels only like yesterday.” He then fixated on Bryan. “I’m ready for everything you have, human. But are you ready for me?”

Suddenly, T’baxla cast his right arm forward and a bright beam of pure white light travelled instantly from T’baxla’s fingers, striking Bryan in the chest. At first taken aback by the suddenness of the attack, Bryan withstood it, with help from the orb.

T’baxla then moved his second arm in parallel to the first, creating a second beam of light that also struck Bryan in the chest. Bryan increased the power needed to fight off the attack, but was successful. His ability to keep the interface with the orb was becoming difficult, however. No doubt T’baxla was manipulating the orb with his interface as well. Bryan countered this by trying to do the same to T’baxla’s interface.

“You cannot stop me!” yelled T’baxla as he upped the power of the beams shooting out of his hands.

“No,” countered Bryan as he met the increased attack with what felt like everything he had. “You must be stopped. The power of the orb wasn’t meant for people like you!”

“The power of the Orb of Infinity is nothing without a true owner!” screamed T’baxla. Just then, T’baxla reached out with the orb to interface Bryan’s thoughts. Bryan tried to repel the invasion, but with the amount of energy being thrown at him, he couldn’t stop him.

T’baxla began to laugh to himself before reiterating his point, “The orb is nothing without me…” Bryan had a sinking suspicion that something bad was about to happen, but had no idea what was to come next.

Finishing his sentence, T’baxla proclaimed, “…just like you are nothing… without her!” And at the exact same instant he began the word “her”, a small beam of light traveled from T’baxla’s left hand directly into the chest of Natalie.

“Natalie!” Bryan screamed, extending his protection to her out of desperation. However, it was too late. The energy had done its damage, ripping through her uniform and searing off enough of her flesh to expose her heart, still beating, but greatly damaged by the energy T’baxla had thrown at her. She fell to the platform in an awkward kneeling position, in a state of shock from what had just happened to her body. Bryan knew she wouldn’t have long to live if he didn’t do something. “You will pay for this, T’baxla!”

“No, human,” countered the corrupt Emperor, “you will pay for stealing from me what is rightfully mine!” And with that, T’baxla increased the power of the beam he was using to attack Bryan a hundredfold.

Bryan, renewed by his sense of urgency for Natalie, not only increased the power of the shield he was using to withstand the attack, he also managed to redirect some of the power back to T’baxla.

T’baxla, of course, was ready for Bryan to attack him and shrugged off the attack with little effort. He increased the power again. “Give up, human. It’s only a matter of time before you succumb to my power.”

“Never!” screamed Bryan. With a rage Bryan didn’t know he had in him, he redirected everything that T’baxla was sending at him right back to him. T’baxla simply added it to his own attack, leaving the halfway point between the two of them an unbelievably powerful and bright ball of energy.

The power that was being released at this point became so bright that the battle was no longer able to be fought visually. Bryan closed his eyes, concentrating on taking everything T’baxla was emitting and trying to use it against him. In turn, T’baxla summoned even more power, a million times his first attack against Bryan, in an effort to finally wrest control of the orb from him.

“I don’t care if it takes infinite power, I will destroy you, human!” yelled T’baxla, one last time.

“Then I will see to it you destroy yourself!” countered Bryan.

And so the stalemate continued. T’baxla increasing the amount of power in his beam, Bryan trying to redirect that beam back at T’baxla.

Through all this, Natalie was still alive, but barely. Somehow she knew that Bryan and T’baxla were still there, but she was fading fast. She figured she only had seconds to live, and resigned herself to her fate. It was then that she had an idea.

The orb struggled to keep up with the demand for power that the two men were requiring. The rift had swelled and threatened to burst the boundary of the orb, which would result in a catastrophic collapse that would destroy the entire universe. It longed to save itself, but the interfaces it dealt with presented it with a paradox it simply could not resolve.

That is, until one of the interfaces presented the orb with an option that would allow it to persevere forever.

When the beams of light stopped, Bryan almost lost his balance. He had not stopped trying to keep up the protective bubble the three of them were in, nor had he stopped trying to divert T’baxla’s attempts to destroy him. Yet, he felt his control was completely gone.

T’baxla, at the other end of the platform, was equally as startled. “What?” he demanded. “What is going on?”

Bryan looked around and saw that Natalie was now standing between him and T’baxla, her eyes closed and facing him, and her arms raised in the air at a slight angle. The front of her shirt had been torn to shreds, but unbelievably her chest now had the same perfect form he had remembered from the previous night despite T’baxla’s attack.

“Natalie?” he asked.

She opened her eyes.

He had seen this before. Glowing an unnatural azure hue, she looked at him. The orb had taken control of Natalie again, or so he thought. Natalie flashed him a smile. “I am the Orb of Infinity,” she proclaimed.

“Good,” Emperor T’baxla stated firmly. “Then destroy this heathen so that I may resume my rightful place as Emperor of the universe!”

Natalie turned to face him, putting her arms at her sides, giving him the coldest stare she could possible.

“I am also Natalie Jacobs.”

And with that, she struck her palm forward, using an unseen force to knock Emperor T’baxla from the platform and outside of the protective bubble that Natalie was now in control of. As soon as he was floating in the wreckage of his ship, she used her power to rip his body apart, killing him once and for all.

“Natalie!” yelled Bryan.

For a few long moments, Natalie remained in her last pose, her arm extended, palm out, her hair resting on her shoulders.

Bryan, unsure of what just happened, softly repeated, “Natalie.”

“Bryan,” came Natalie’s tear-filled voice as she finally rested her arm at her side. “I understand now.”

Bryan took a cautious step forward, but didn’t speak. The sight of Natalie with her back facing him, wreckage of the D’mandrian ship floating about her, against the backdrop of a red giant star and the field of stars behind it was as breathtaking as it was frightening. It was a moment he’d remember for a long time.

“T’baxla…” she began, still her back facing him. “That man was pure evil. The things he made me do weigh heavily on my conscious for the rest of my life.”

Bryan was confused. “Natalie, he didn’t make you do anything.” It was then Natalie turned to face him. She had been crying, but unlike when the orb had possessed her, it was clear that the crying was being done by the person speaking. Bryan still didn’t fully understand what was going on. “Natalie, let’s go home.”

“I can’t,” cried Natalie. “I can’t let what happened to those people happen to anyone else.”

“Natalie, it’s alright,” Bryan consoled, “he’s gone, it’s not going to happen again.”

“Bryan,” she pleaded in an almost demanding voice, still very emotional. “I can’t.”

Bryan stood there for a moment, wondering exactly what she meant by that. A few more moments passed, and Bryan suddenly came to the realization that she was standing where the orb had been. He looked around for the orb, but did not see it.

Natalie explained, “After T’baxla hit my body with the beam, I gave in. It was a desperate move, but I now see it was the right one.”

“The orb,” Bryan said, making the connection. “It’s… in you?”

Natalie nodded tearfully. “It is part of me now. I am the orb.”

“But…” Bryan’s voice trailed off. He didn’t know what that meant. “You’re okay, right? We can go home?”

Natalie shook her head. “When we joined together, we pooled our collective strengths together into one being. The orb’s infinite power now lies within me.”

Bryan blinked. He knew she was right, he saw her knock T’baxla off the platform and destroy him without a second thought.

“But now,” she continued, “Natalie’s thoughts, mind, and conscious also now lie within me as well.”

“You…” Bryan stuttered, unable to come up with the words, not knowing what to say to her.

“I am alive, yes. But I will not be a beacon of suffering. Not for you, not for anyone else.”

Bryan slowly began to understand what she meant. “Natalie, no. What are you going to do? You can’t destroy the orb.”

“I know this,” replied Natalie. “But I also can’t put you at risk. Understand that I am now a source of great power, a source wanted by more people than you or I realize.”

“No, Natalie,” Bryan said, now beginning to sob himself. “I don’t care how much of a risk you are. I love you and I don’t want to lose you.”

Natalie walked towards him, extending her hand to him. He reached out and held her hand with his. “There’s no other way, Bryan. I will not be used the same way I was before.”

Bryan then grabbed her by the shoulders in an attempt to talk some sense into her. “You are stronger than that, Natalie! You will not be used by anyone, you won’t let them!”

Natalie returned the gesture, and spoke more softly than before. “I am also the Orb of Infinity, Bryan. I know there are forces in this universe that can break my will in a matter of seconds, no matter how much power I use to stop them.”

“Natalie, think! You have infinite power. You can stop anyone!” Bryan pleaded.

“I can only stop what I know,” she said. “I must defend against what I do not know.” She paused for a long time, looking Bryan in the eyes, their pose turning slowly into an embrace. Tears began once again to well up in her glowing eyes. “And that is why I cannot go home.”

Bryan, now understanding what Natalie was thinking, also began crying as well. He was about to lose his one and only love, and there was nothing he could do about it.

“I will always love you, Bryan,” she said, smiling through her tears. “You have given Natalie the opportunity to experience what love is, and you have given the orb the chance to take control of its actions.”

Bryan laughed for a brief moment before saying, “No, Natalie, you did that. You gave me love I’ve never understood, and, well, you’re controlling the orb now, not me.”

Natalie laughed a bit as well before resting her head on his shoulder. She looked up, almost directly at the star above her. “I always wondered what it would be like to be among the stars. As a child, it was my dream.” She finally released Bryan from the embrace and backed away a few steps from him. “Now, it will be my home.”

“Please reconsider,” Bryan pleaded one last time. “Even if you don’t want to now, know I will always be here for you. As long as you are out there, I will always be ready for you to come home.”

Natalie nodded slowly and solemnly. “I will miss you, Bryan Chambers.” Natalie paused one last time before saying, “I love you, Bryan.”

Bryan looked into his lovers’ glowing eyes one last time. He paused as well, not wanting to lose this moment. He looked up at the star, wondering if he’d ever see her again. Then he looked back at her, resigned to the moment. “I love you, too, Natalie.”

Then Natalie closed her eyes…

Bryan almost stumbled again as his surroundings changed for the last time. It took him a moment to get his bearings, but quickly realized he was on the bridge of the abandoned SS Sirius.

He was alone.

Then he saw a sight that was equally as beautiful as it was frightening. The wreckage of the D’mandrian ship was visible upon the view screen. Soon, a streak of light extended from the wreckage, and within a few moments disappeared within the atmosphere of the star.

Natalie was home.