Hiking, we were always hiking these days ever since dad died and left us in charge of the family business and estate. Kane, Janet, Valerie, and I were the four children of Victor Gannif the creator of Gannif Enterprises one of the leading businesses in the greater European area. Janet and I were twins as well as the oldest, next came Valerie and then Kane. I had been working in Western Canada before I heard of my father's illness, Janet had been in Africa performing tests with our chemical warfare projects as well as our automated mining systems, Valerie had been working with the Chinese to perfect their hydro power mills along their south-east coast, and Kane had been at home (as always) working on the financial side of Gannif Enterprises. I suppose you must be wondering what I was doing out in Canada of all places, well as opposed to my siblings who were all very academically minded I preferred the militant side of G.E. My job was to test our weaponry as well as train black op soldiers in any country that purchased our gear. I had been out in the Rockies with a squad of 50 men and women when I had received the call. I left immediately, family first and all that.
A month after returning home I stood beside my father's grave, it was a simple grave as he had never flaunted his wealth and he truly knew how to respect the little things even in death. The afternoon after the ceremony us four decided that we should put on street clothes and go for a hike like we used to as kids back in the day. So here we are now hiking up the same old mountain so that we can go to the same old lookout as we do every weekend. Last weekend there had been a meteor shower and a few fragments had been found in a couple surrounding towns away from our mansion which lay some ways away from London. I sighed a long suffering sigh as I walked behind my pretty faced brother Kane my heavy leather combat boots crushing gravel and branch alike as I prayed silently for a bear attack. Unlike the rest of my siblings I carried a hatchet on my back as well as a pistol on my hip, the rest of them were not concerned about being attacked, comes with the work I suppose.
I was still thinking about how I would decapitate the furry mammal if it were to attack when I noticed that we had stopped walking, my eyes shot up and instantly I saw why. There on the path sat a large hulking boulder that was most assuredly out of place on the wooded mountain path. Janet looked back from the front of the group with a bewildered grin as if to say "How did this get up here?" I shrugged in response before squeezing past Kane and Valerie so I could approach the tall black stone obstruction.
Tendrils of steam rose up from the base of the stone, a black explosive ring surrounded the anomaly. Drawing my pistol with the ease of a dozen years practice I moved to the front of the group and quickly made my way towards the rock which I could now identify as one of the meteorite fragments that had come down the previous week. The surface of the meteorite was dotted in craters and holes creating shadowy pits upon its shiny black exterior. As I came within 5 feet of the rock a hissing sound broke the silence, my gun was trained on one of the craters before the 2 second hiss had ended. One of the holes, which was larger than the rest, began to glow with a red and blue light. Janet was quick to run up behind me and grab my hatchet off my back whereas Valerie and Kane were happy to stay back and observe.
I looked back at them once to make sure that they stayed back before I stepped up to the glowing hole, as I peered over the edge I felt Janet scoot up beside me. Our twin blue eyed gaze saw something that we would never forget, four flashlight sized silver cylinders and two softball sized pyramids. One pyramid was a dark blue and it's glow seemed to ebb and flow like the ocean's tide. The other crackled crimson like a red hot coal straight out of the fire. One pair of silver cylinders lay on a folded sheet of blue silk, the other pair lay on an equally sized pile of red satin. I withdrew my weapon slowly as I felt a tug at my soul to grab one of the cylinders on the red cloth before Janet did. I have always been one to follow my instincts, this proved most fortunate as I slide my hand into the opening and felt the cold steel against the palm of my worn hand. Valerie and Kane raced up to see what was happening, the sound of their shoes on gravel was barely audible to me with all the blood that pounded in my ears.
Unable to remove my eyes from the cylinder and it's compatriot next to it I took a leap of Faith and snatched up the cylinder quickly forgetting all of my safety training. In a flash I both heard and felt 3 dozen prongs eject into my hand, my blood began to boil starting at my hand and racing up my arm to my heart where it spread out to the rest of my torso and then head. I shouted out in agony and excitement as I felt like a hundred floodlights had been injected into my brain showing me all of the things that I had been missing until now. The prongs returned to the cylinder and I slowly regained maneuverability of my limbs, the first thing I did was to look over at Janet and give a loud shout. I could see inside her mind, I knew what she was thinking and I knew that I could change what she was thinking if I so wished. Everything was awash with colours, the reds and browns were much brighter where in contrast the greens and blues were more faded. I closed my eyes for a second and realized that I could see everything with my mind, where the rocks and trees stood, the patterns of the birds above, and the thoughts of my own twin sister. "Janet, take the cylinder." I said in my deep voice which now sounded immensely more imposing than it did before I had taken the cylinder. I watched as she tentatively reached out and took the rod of steel in her hand gently, holding it in her palm for a second before gripping it tightly in her lightly tanned hand. I heard her grunt of pain and surprise and watched as she fell to her jean covered knees on the forest path. Valerie gasped and ran forward a few steps but was stopped by Janet's empty hand, she spoke swiftly to our sister before opening her eyes and meeting my gaze. I took a half step backwards, not out of fear but of astonishment, as I saw that my sister's once baby blue eyes had gained a golden ring around the pupil. She wore a similar expression to me and I assumed that my eyes had changed as well. I could now feel her mind stretching out and searching the world around her much like mine had, I resisted the urge to smile outright and instead merely gave a small grin.
Kane and Valerie stared at us for a moment before the question was asked, "What happened?" Valerie questioned as they walked closer to the crater and the mysterious objects inside. "Just take a cylinder." I said as my eyes flashed with excitement despite my straight face. "I don't know..." Valerie responded as she looked at the steel cylinder with unease. "Come on, just pick it up and you'll understand." I said once again, this time with a genuine smile. Valerie glanced at Kane, who shrugged, before reaching her hand into the crater and towards the steel device. Her petite white hand seemed even smaller than usual against the dull brushed grey of the cylinder and as she lifted it to eye level she let out a small gasp. "It's amazing!" She breathed nearly silently. Kane took one look at her euphoria before he grabbed the last rod, like his sister before him he stood before us with his mouth open drinking in his newfound power.
I glanced away from my siblings still breathing in the effects of my newly formed sense. My eyes drifted over the crimson pyramid and a stirring began in my heart, it worked it's way from the core of my being to the very edge of it and without thinking I took the pyramid in my hand. Janet must have had the same feeling as me as I noticed that her hands were also on the mysterious crimson object. I looked at her for a moment before returning my gaze to the crackling pyramid. From that glance I could tell that Janet was thoroughly intrigued by this artifact that we had found and that she, like me, felt that there was something hidden inside that would explain what the cylinders were. I reached out again with my mind and was startled to find that the pyramid had life in it, or more like it was the life that I felt.
Janet suddenly let out a yelp and I was quick to follow with a shout of my own, the pyramid had suddenly become very hot like the burner on a stove, we dropped it to the dusty path immediately and as it clattered against the pebbles and grass a small projection of a robed man appeared above the pyramid. The robed man stood at just over six foot four inches, two inches more than myself, he seemed to be human in every aspect except for his face; The robed man's face seemed to have short maybe three or four inch long tentacles protruding from his chin as well as the fact that his eyes were completely black. I couldn't tear my eyes away from the projection of the man which flickered in its red wavering light as the man stood waiting for us to say something. "Hello?" I said as I stayed out of attack range. The man sighed before looking at me and Janet with contempt, "You have been chosen by the force to create the strongest colony of Sith and all you can say is 'Hello'? Pitiful." Janet swung her axe at the hologram and goggled as it went right through the man in front of us. The man tsk'ed at her before shaking his head almost sadly, "There is so much I must teach you, and so little time before your mind is corrupted by the Jedi." He grumbled to no one in particular as he stroked his beard of tentacles. I glanced over at Valerie and Kane and was surprised to find that they were talking to a humanoid woman who had a pair of tentacles protruding from the back of her skull, they lay almost elegantly across her chest as she spoke calmly to my two siblings. Our hologram on the other hand was very visibly annoyed by us, somehow I think I could understand his plight. We knew nothing of our powers and he was supposed to teach us how to create a colony of Sith, whatever those are. "Pick up the holocron and move me away from that 'Jedi'." Our hologram said with a sneer as he saw me glance in her direction. Janet looked at me with a shrug and we quickly moved the crimson holocron farther down the path and into a patch of shade. "Better..." He mused, "Now, what do you know of a lightsaber?" Our mentor asked as he gestured to the cylinders that we still held. "We don't know anything about these cylinders except that they unlock our power to see the world differently." I answered quickly, my pistol lay in it's holster as well as my hatchet on my back. The hooded figure grinned as he pulled back his hood revealing a strange set of tattoos upon his head, his voice got quieter and we leaned in to hear him better. "Oh they do more than unlock your power, they are a device through which your innate powers will be conducted. Through that weapon in your hand you can and will conquer your planet and populate it with many of our kind. That is your destinies Janet and Varien Gannif!"