---THE TRUTH REVEALED---

OBELISKS OF FATE
PLANET XYBER XVII, MANOS SYSTEM
1702 HOURS, MAY 27, 2546 A.D.

It is time you finally knew about your true nature.

Richard of Earth, Jackson of Viking, Steven of Crockett, and Lesley of Deneb III, you must know by now who you are. As you just witnessed, Richard used telekinesis to pick up the shard of the medallion using only the power of his mind.

The four of you were born with the gift of psionic power. It is the same power that allows you to turn the mind into the ultimate fighting force. You were never able to use these abilities previously, simply because you never knew you had them. However, now you probably know how a few events in your life that you’ve never been able to explain happened. It is not a unique gift, however – as it stands, you would be hard-pressed to not find someone who could use psionics. Sadly, because they don’t realize they have the abilities, they don’t know that they even exist.

Psionic abilities are wielded by focusing your thoughts, turning them into energy that can be used to defeat threats to yourself. Depending on how you focus your energy, you may simply move an object via telekinesis; or, if you’re in a tight spot, your thoughts are projected as Psi-bolts, a powerful energy attack that deals even more damage than some types of grenades. Additionally, with enough training, you can utilize psionic energy to bend the elements to your will, as we Xybanians once did.

In truth, it was only by a sheer stroke of luck that all four of you were grouped together as crew members aboard your ship, and luckier still that you found your way to this place. It was here that we Xybanians hoped in the event that future psykers make their way to our homeworld, they could reveal to the rest of the Universe the senselessness of fighting. We realize that until God returns to the Mortal Plane, there will still be war…but we hoped that a new generation of psykers could at least help take a large step towards Universal peace.

You may remember your younger childhood days…all of you never quite fit in, yet you still made some good friends. No matter what came your way, though, you always kept a straight face and a positive attitude. More importantly, however, is that all four of you hoped to find someone exactly like you, with similar traits.

When the four of you met, you may recall that every one of you felt that these people would come to be some of your best friends; additionally, you felt there was something special about these dapper young men, and the statement couldn’t have been further from the truth. Regardless of whatever mess you found yourselves in, you always managed to find a way to pull yourselves through it.

And now, your true journey begins…the journey to show the rest of creation the wonders of your incredible abilities.

Now, young psykers, it is time you discovered the true extent of your powers!

Without hesitation, Richard stretched his arm out and focused his energy on a football-sized rock off to his right. It flew quickly to his hand, but just before meeting his palm, he suspended it, then flung it far into the distance.

Steven walked up to a rock that was as tall as he was, concentrated his energy into his hand, and lunged at the boulder with a mighty punch, shattering from the powerful attack and crumbling to dust.

Les flung his arms wide open, and attempted to condense the air around him. It eventually obliged, and he summoned a furious blizzard to rain foot-long spears of ice to fall on the plain in the distance.

Jackson quickly glanced at both hands, balled them into fists, and channeled his energy into them. He raised them above his head, and with a forceful shout, slammed the ground as hard as he could, causing the ground to tremble and fracture where he stood.

When they had finished, they turned to Aranoch. He had a warm smile on his face.

Congratulations, psykers. You have shown a mastery of psionics no one has seen for centuries. I can tell already that you will become powerful psi-warriors.

But now, you must hurry. You must bring the shard you have just obtained to the central obelisk and retrieve the remaining 23. The remaining shards will require you to use your newfound powers in order to acquire them. Good luck, and Godspeed!

They looked at each other, nodded, and raced back to the central obelisk. Aranoch dissipated into a cloud of bluish-white particles that flew up into the heavens.

The obelisk shards became harder and harder to find with each new chamber. With the return of each shard, another obelisk would light up. It was extremely tiresome, but after a little more than 6 hours, they had at last obtained all 24 shards. By then, the obelisks were shining so brightly, they could be seen from more than a quarter of a mile away, at the Mauritius crash site.

With the final shard in hand, they returned to the Central Obelisk…

“Aranoch! We’ve got the last one!” Richard shouted.

A brief moment of silence, and then, Aranoch materialized inside the chamber, along with three other Xybanian Ancients.

Greetings, psykers. I am thrilled that you managed to retrieve all the shards at last.

First though, I must explain myself. I am not only a psyker; when I was alive, I was the Elder Mage of the element of Light. Now, allow me to introduce the others…

This is my wife, Gertrude. She was the Elder Mage of Water.
She nodded silently, with a welcoming smile. Pleased to meet you, she said.
My second-in-command was Ericson, Elder Mage of Earth.
The man put his crossed arms at his sides. Glad to make your acquaintance, he stated.
Finally, this is Barius. He was the Elder Mage of Darkness.
The robed man threw off his hood. I am honored to know that a new generation of psykers has arrived, he said, solemnly.

You have all done wonderfully, Richard. Now, it is time to reveal our greatest secret to you.

As you know, Richard, each of you has specialized in a specific element. You, Richard, have mastery of the Wind; Jackson has unleashed the destructiveness of Fire; Steven has tamed the chaotic nature of Lightning; lastly, Lesley has been given dominion over Ice.

In order for us to open the massive door before us, the Gate of the All-Seeing Eye, we must stand on our respective medallion and join hands after the final medallion, the Medallion of Chaos, has been restored. Now, place the final shard!

Richard set the final shard into the now-completed medallion. All eight psykers stood on their respective medallions and joined hands. A few moments of silence, then Aranoch spoke…

SEAL OF CHAOS, BE OPENED!

A white ball of light hovered above the Medallion of Chaos. The 16 outermost obelisks focused their energies on the eight surrounding the central spire. The eight obelisks then focused their energy onto the small glowing sphere in the chamber. Eventually, eight differently colored beams, one for each element, were sending energy to the psychedelically-glowing sphere.

The sphere pulsed brightly, and then, a psychedelic beam of light shot at the All-Seeing Eye in the center of the massive gate. The doors hissed and clanked, slowly opening up to the powerful artifact Richard and his cohorts so anxiously had waited to obtain…

Behold, Richard, the greatest artifact of the Xybanian Mage Clan: the Staff of Chaos. Imbued with the power of the eight elements of the Universe, the wielder is given almost infinite power. I myself wielded the staff when I was leader of the Clan; before my death, however, I had it sealed behind the Gate of the All-Seeing Eye to prevent it from falling into the wrong hands, as I stated previously.

Richard could only gaze in awe at the seven-foot tall staff that stood before him. Eight spikes indicating the elements surrounded another All-Seeing Eye with white “shafts” radiating from its center. Aranoch walked up the steps and took the Staff from its resting place, and presented it to Richard.

I hereby name you the Commander of the Staff of Chaos, Richard. However, I do not give this honor lightly, as it is not to be used for achieving your own ends. With great power, as it is said, comes great responsibility – to this day, I alone was the only person capable of wielding its power, and even then, it was immensely difficult to control. So great is its power, it would spell doom for all Creation if the user has evil intentions in mind. You must not let it fall into the wrong hands!

With those words, the Xybanians vanished and Richard was left holding the staff.

“…Well, now that we’ve finished, we should probably finish our cargo run and collect our payment,” Richard said, nonchalantly.

Returning to the Mauritius crash site, the four desperately tried to free their half-buried ship. It was simply too heavy, however.

Richard,Aranoch scolded, why are you using your physical strength? You have psychic powers; use them!

Taking the hint, Richard and his crew stopped straining their muscles. Instead, they used telekinetic energy to raise the Mauritius out of the ground, and set her down on the plain. Once freed, the men set to work fixing up the craft for take-off. Richard made sure to grab the Staff of Chaos and take it with them. By daybreak at 7:00 AM, they were ready.

“Les, how’s everything looking?”
“All systems go, Richard. We’re clear for lift-off any time.”
“Very well, then. Let’s go!”

The Mauritius hovered, then shot off into the sky. While they were sad to leave behind the wondrous planet they had just landed on, they knew they would return someday...perhaps sooner than they may have thought.

The Universe has become a dark and dangerous place, gentlemen. Perhaps with your knowledge, you can help it work towards a brighter future…

The four men knew what they had to do: they would set out for the stars, and attempt to unite all races under one banner…the banner they would come to call the Commandarian Empire.

---END TRANSMISSION---

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Well, we're just about to the end of the "history" section - 2 more and then we'll get to the REAL story. :)

Characters ©  warlordmike Me