Another series! This one is for  exatron, with his cheetah character on an epic sci-fi adventure to find a lost alien civilization that is in no way a feeble attempt of mine to call back to my last project!

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Dan Bergstrom ©  exatron
Story © c'est moi

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“Name?”

“Dan. Dan Bergstrom.”

“Alright, Mr. Bergstrom-”

“Doctor.”

The irascible bureaucrat typing in his ID card, a fat and tired looking bobcat looked up at the cheetah, narrowing his eyes. “I beg your pardon?”

The lean cheetah before him took off his spectacles, rubbing the small glasses clean with his shirt. “I said, Doctor. It’s Dr. Dan Bergstrom.”

“And just what are you a doctor of?” the bobcat snapped.

Dan bristled at that. “Xenoarchaeology. Naturally.”

The bobcat gave him a blank stare.

Dan rolled his eyes. “It’s the study of alien cultures. You know. Dead ones. Like the big thing the military dug out of the ground and called me in, specifically, to look at.”

“Fine, fine.” The bobcat printed out his ID, handing it over to Dan. “Show that at the checkpoints. You have Level 1 General Access. You’ll need to be under supervision when looking at the artifact.”

The cheetah took the ID, and scowled. It read “Dr. Dan Bergstrom- Xenophobic Specialist”

“Well, good to see my tax dollars pay for moon colonies, orbital mining probes, and for you to slander me,” he grumbled, stalking towards the first checkpoint. He passed from the public office of the military base into the restricted area, where tall, broad-shouldered tigers in uniform stood guard, laser rifles at the ready. The great Leonine Empire had a place for everyone, and everyone in their place. For big, musclebound tigers, that place was in the military. For lions, it was politics; for leopards and cheetahs like Dan, academia, and bobcats, apparently, were meant for bloated, inefficient bureaucracy.

As he passed by the guards, Dan had to admit he was a little envious of tigers. Perhaps it was the simplicity of being a soldier’s life; shoot the bad things until they stop moving, then get a medal. Perhaps he envied their benefits, because like all great rulers, Emperor Leontis XXI understood that most basic and essential rule of staying on the throne: keep the army happy. Or, perhaps, if Dan decided to actually be honest with himself, he envied their size and strength. Cheetahs were all practically clones of each other as it was, which was not at all helped when the Imperial Academies developed an actual cloning program. They all trended towards lean and wiry builds, that or rounded out into doughy obesity thanks to the severe lack of physical activity in an academic career. Dan just lacked the genetics to make himself stronger, and it had always been a sticking point for him.

Still, he tore his eyes away from a particularly beefy tiger who had arms like steel girders. He didn't have time to dwell on fantasy, as he was quickly being goaded down the hallway. Wordlessly, tigers led him to a sterilized room, quickly forcing gloves and a self-contained breathing apparatus on Dan, to ensure he wouldn’t bring in contaminants. The walls were covered in white canvas, and small probes hovered around a strange, jagged rock colored an opaque green, a bit like jade. It was unlike anything Dan had seen; it was an obelisk, carved with sharp, angular features, but the hieroglyphic script chiseled into the rock and painted gold was swirling and fanciful, written not from let to right or top to bottom, but in swirling circles. Dan narrowed his eyes, leaning closer to get a better view.

“Not too close, Dr. Bergstrom,” a voice muffled by the breathing apparatus snapped. Dan pulled back to face a lioness in a smart dress, her posture and demeanor immediately outing her as a wealthy elite. She had a tiger bodyguard looming over her. After an awkward moment, she glanced over to the tiger irritably, and prodded him with her elbow.

“Presenting High Kinlady Lenore, cousin to His Most Feline Imperial Majesty, Emperor Leontis XXI,” the bodyguard muttered mechanically. Lenore held out her hand, as if waiting for Dan to bow and kiss it.

Arching a brow, Dan took the Lady’s waiting hand and shook vigorously, as if they were old pals. Lenore’s eyes shot up with shock, but Dan hid a smile; lions were too easy sometimes.

“Yes, well.” Lenore cleared her throat. “We’ve called you in today, Doctor, because apparently you specialize in the strange and… for lack of a better word, alien.”

Dan crossed his arms, looking over the obelisk. “So, what do we know about it?”

“This base is maintained by my branch of the family. We were expanding it to house a research and development lab, and we struck this when we broke ground. The stone has been carbon-dated back ten millennia. We’ve scoured the Imperial Library, and we have no record of this script. So… we dug through the records, and we found you, Dr. Bergstrom, to untangle this ball of yarn,” Lenore explained.

Dan frowned, leaning in close and adjusting his glasses. As he looked over the strange script, he brushed back his brown hair. For some reason, it seemed familiar.

“Anything leap out at you?” A voice next to Dan asked.

The cheetah jumped back, startled. He looked over to a fox, dressed in a steel-grey military uniform. The fox offered a toothy grin.

“Ah, yes,” Lenore said, a note of disdain in his voice. “This is CaptainDevoss Vulpes, of National Intelligence to the Canidae Hierarchy.”

“Ah.” Dan pursed his lips. The Leonine Empire and the Canidae Hierarchy had never been the best of friends. At best, they were passive-aggressive neighbors constantly trying to one-up each other in the form of prestigious colonies and flashy weapons.

“My cousin the Emperor thought it best if we called in an array of expert opinions. We know how fast news travels to the Hierarchy,” Lenore said pointedly. It was the galactic community’s unspoken rule that whenever the Empire or the Hierarchy had something new and juicy, it suddenly became the other’s top priority to figure out what it was.

“You have experience in xenoarchaeology, then, Vulpes?” Dan asked.

Devoss wobbled his hand with aplomb. “I dabble. I did read your paper on the old Avian Hegemony… you seem to have forgotten their society was matriarchal, not patriarchal, given the importance and authority given to mothers.”

Dan gave a smile that never quite reached his eyes. “Well, if that’s the opinion of the Hierarchy, it’s no wonder the Empire’s been running circles around you in the Xenoarchaeological field.”

“Gentlemen, please,” Lenore sighed. “This is not the time or the place. Just tell me what this thing is, and I can pass on word to the Emperor and the Hierarchs.

Dan and Devoss eyed each other, but then turned back to the obelisk.

“The only civilizations that had a unique, flowing script were the old Brobdignian Dominion and the Novum Palaminium Republic… both died out thousands of years ago.”

“Of course, neither one had architecture like this. They both only just made it into the space age, but look at the strikes here along the side; this was handmade, with very, very old tools. Both the Brobdignians and the Novum Palaminiums claimed to have a common ancestor…”

“Oh, come on. Don’t tell me you believe in-”

“This is proof. This is a relic… from the Palamani Dominion.”

Lenore narrowed her eyes. “What, exactly, is the Palamani Dominion?”

Devoss scoffed. “Some meta-legend that only the most novice of scholars believe in, Kinlady.”

Dan glared at the fox over his spectacles. “The Palamani Dominion is one of the oldest known civilizations. Ten thousand years ago, on a planet believed to be the original homeworld of all anthro species, the Palamani Dominion was ruled by a legendary hierarchy of giants capable of tremendous strength, they ended racial division and set up a meritocratic system that lasted for half a millennia, uniting three continents.”

“How come there are no records of this original empire, then?” Lenore narrowed her eyes.

“Because the Palamani Dominion is the stuff of conspiracy theories and urban legends, Kinlady.” Devoss rolled his eyes.

“These stories are older than anything else on record; every system and nation has their own name for the Palamani. We here in the Leonine Empire call them the Golden Tigers, Giant-Kings of awe-inspiring strength. The Canidae Hierarchy tell stories about the Mountain Wolves, who are the exact same thing. All of these stories have the same plot; an empire ruled by giants and strongmen united a whole planet of different species, and worshipped a God of Strength. They were undone when they abandoned their hard work for gluttony and sloth, and eventually, their descendants mismanaged the planet to the point they had to flee. The Brobdignians and the Novum Palaminium were both obsessed with rebuilding the Dominion. Isn’t that proof enough?” Dan insisted. He strode over to the obelisk. “Look- I’ll bet you that this right here is an incantation invoking the original Palamani god.” He tapped his finger against a symbol, a hieroglyph that looked like some sort of horned horse. As he did however, the symbol gave way.

Dan furrowed his brow, and said nothing, scouring the obelisk for the same symbol.

“Dr. Bergstrom, what, exactly, are you doing?” Lenore asked.

“That obelisk is practically primordial, what are you doing getting your paws all over it?” Devoss demanded.

Dan didn’t turn around, his eyes fixed on the swirling script. “There’s indents- buttons. There’s a hollowed-out chamber in here.”

“What?” Devoss gasped, rushing over to push the cheetah. “I’m not going to let you damage this historical artifact, just because you want to believe in fairy tales!” There was a struggle, and the fox’s elbow brushed up against one of the horse-shaped hieroglyphs; the last needed, as it turned out. Both stopped as there was an audible click. With a painful sound of scraping, a false panel slipped down, revealing a hidden chamber.

Devoss stared, his mouth dropping. “Oh my God…” He reached into the chamber, and pulled out a small, gold tablet. He narrowed his eyes. “...I recognize this transcription.”

Dan arched his brow, quickly trading glances with a confused Lenore. “What does it say?”

“This isn’t the same as the script on the obelisk. It’s the basis of our common alphabet. This looks… eerily like Old Canidae,” Devoss muttered. He cleared his throat, and attempted a transliteration. “Semper viam redire… Semper tamen ad dominium.”

The cheetah frowned at the fox. “Any idea what that means?”

“It means… and this is a very rough translation, just a guess, but… there is always a way to return… what the…?” The fox looked down at the tablet. The transcription was glowing. “Gods above!” He shouted. The tablet glowed and hummed in his hand, and when he dropped it, smoke was coming off it. The tablet fell to the floor, shattering in half.

“Oh, nice!” Dan snapped. “Now who’s damaging historical artifacts?”

“It burned my hand!” Devoss shouted back, showing a red, burnt palm.

The argument was cut off, however, as from the shattered remains of the tablet, a tendril of light, like some sort of holographic plant. The hologram, if that’s what it was, spread up and out, soon forming images that were instantly recognizable to everyone in the room.

“It’s a map!”

Spread out before them was their arm of the galaxy, the sprawling Leonine Empire spread across fifty systems and the Canidae Hierarchy stretched across fifty-one; the fifty first was a very recent acquisition, only just slightly more recent than the Leonine Empire’s fiftieth.

The assembled watched as the map moved past the arm of their galaxy, and a number of planets were highlighted. Dan made note of them. “The moon of Velgar, Deletor, Hohenheim, Janarus, and…” he frowned, as the vision focused on a planet in an uncharted arm of the galaxy.

Devoss frowned. “I don’t recognize that planet…”

Dan gasped excitedly, grinning smugly at Devoss. “It’s the Palamani homeworld.”

Devoss scoffed. “You can’t be serious.” He turned to Lenore. “Kinlady, you can’t actually be entertaining this… ridiculous notion!”

Lenore tapped her hand against the obelisk, thinking. “This should be brought to the Emperor’s attention immediately.”

The fox stared at her after a moment. “...And the Hierarchs, Kinlady?”

“Oh!” Lenore waved it off. “Yes, yes, of course. We had a deal.”

“Of course.” Devoss pursed his lips, unconvinced. He slipped his arms behind his back, puffing up his chest. “Yes, well…”

Out of the corner of his eye, Dan spotted it. He breathed in sharply as Devoss pressed a button behind his back.

“I’ll just save you the trouble and tell the Hierarchs myself, shall I?”

In an instant, the whole room went dark, only the glowing light from the broken tablet illuminating the room. Even that disappeared, and Dan saw Devoss’ silhouette disappear as his arm scooped up the two halves of the tablet.

“He’s got a stealth suit!” Dan shouted.

“Seize him!” Lenore ordered to the soldiers around the room. “Seize him and beat him until he’s black and blue!” she demanded shrilly, clinging to her bodyguard.

Dan rolled his eyes as the tigers prowled around. They had great nocturnal vision, but how on earth did they expect to see someone invisible? His ears flicked when he heard the door scrape open. “He’s getting away!” the cheetah warned, and he was off like a shot. He had dreamed of finding the Palamani homeworld for years, and he wasn’t about to let a fox, of all things, ruin this shot for him. Every door that stood between Devoss and his escape, Dan watched. There was a delay, as he dodged soldiers stumbling around blindly, and then he rigged the door open. There would be a couple of seconds as he rushed through to the next door. At the last barrier before the public office, Dan relied on a cheetah’s natural speed and pounced as soon as the door opened. He missed Devoss by a hair’s width, but as he clawed down Devoss’ back, his stealth suit failed. The fox looked over his shoulder, glaring at the cheetah before he burst outside.

Dan and half a dozen soldiers raced outside, just in time to see Devoss leap into a waiting corvette, a sleek, handsome black starship stamped with the Canidae Hierarchy’s insignia. The cheetah shook his head in consternation, as Devoss looked down, leaving Dan with a smirk and a mocking salute.

In mere hours, Dan had been spirited away by Lenore’s people to the gleaming capital, Perafel. The cruiser he was carried in soared past gleaming, mile-high skyscrapers spreading out for miles upon miles, lounging in the sun along the coast. Passing by the city center, he was brought to the sprawling Imperial Palace, wrought in marble and glass. He was quickly and quietly ushered into the main building, past hulking tigers in parade uniforms and lion nobles, watching him pass by with suspicious glances.

Dan was unceremoniously shunted into a back room of the palace, where he was put across from a regal lion, with a full, rich scarlet mane and golden fur. He was dressed in a uniform littered with medals and adornments, and it took Dan longer than he wanted to admit to realize this was the same, pompous looking lion whose profile was stamped on his credit card.

“Oh, crap,” he muttered, and then bowed as best he could before Emperor Leontis XXI. “Your, uh, Majesty.”

The Emperor sighed, drumming his fingers against the table. “In the past two hours, I’ve had to reschedule three meetings with dignitaries from all over the galaxy and cancel a meeting with the Prime Minister. I’ve had ten frantic, hysterical reports from my cousin, the base commander, several officers, and a particularly irate bobcat.” His piercing golden eyes flicked up, locked on Dan. “What the Frell happened?”

The cheetah cleared his throat. He had to admit, being under Leontis’ gaze was close to making him squirm. “I was called in to the base to look over a relic your cousin dug up. I found an artifact, a golden tablet, that had some previously unknown alien tech. It showed us a map leading to what I believe is the Palamani homeworld.”

Leontis scoffed. “The Palamani? This whole brouhaha, over a mythical kingdom of giants?”

“With all due respect, Majesty,” a new voice growled. Dan nearly jumped as a massive figure stepped out of the shadows. “I’ve warned you that the Palamani are more than mere myth.”

The lion ruler sighed. “General Khalan.”

Khalan was easily one of the biggest people Dan had ever seen. He towered over his liege, a white tiger with a battle-scarred face, and a thick, brutal body roped with heavy muscle under a uniform drawn taut, his broad chest covered in medals and military honors. He glanced down at Dan, a jagged scar running down his left eye. “I’ve read the reports. Some heard you muttering something, Doctor.”

Dan slowly nodded, trying not to stare at the tiger. “Right… I, uh. I was memorizing the steps on the map. It went Velgar’s moon, Deletor, Hohenheim, then Janarus. From there, it points directly to what I believe to be the Palamani homeworld. I believe there may be similar relics on these worlds, signs pointing the way, which is why they were listed on the map.”

“You memorized the way, then?” Khalan asked, his voice betraying his interest.

“I’m still not convinced. My scientists studied that relic of yours, Doctor, before we called you in. It’s lousy with radiation. Not toxic, but some sort of… errant, erratic energy was pulsing up and down that thing. And I wouldn’t wonder if you’re covered in it,” the Emperor commented.

“All the more reason we should secure this map, Majesty,” Khalan urged. “The Canidae Hierarchy is going to do the same. They clearly know what it’s worth- are we going to let them use it against us? Give me the word, sire, and I shall launch our fleets to secure these worlds for the Empire!”

Leontis shook his head. “Velgar belongs to the Reptilis Union, and the rest are sovereign, independent worlds. We’d spark off a war with half a dozen nations getting to this fabled homeworld of yours.”

Khalan snarled, clearly agitated, but he had to curb his speech in front of the Emperor. “Sire,” he began, keeping his tone measured. “We know little of this situation. The Canidae Hierarchy knows more than we do. Is it not in the best interest of national security that we try to figure out what we’re up against? I recommend…” Khalan paused, thinking for a moment, then it came to him. “I recommend we send a lone agent. The Canidae dog still has to get back to the Hierarchy, report to his superiors, and sort things out for himself. If we move quickly enough, we could have a head start.”

Leontis drummed his fingers again, considering the proposal. “And just who would this lone agent be?”

Khalan grinned and nodded at Dan. “The good Doctor, here.”

“A cheetah?” Leontis said incredulously.

The general held up his hand. “As Your Majesty so wisely pointed out, sending in military personnel can threaten war with other nations. Dr. Bergstrom knows the way, he’s unassuming, and he’s an expert on alien cultures.”

“And should he encounter trouble?” the Emperor asked pointedly.

Khalan lumbered over to the cheetah, placing a thick hand on his shoulder. “Leave that to me, sire.”

Dan looked up to the general with an arched brow, then to the Emperor. Why wasn’t he feeling terribly comfortable with the general’s reassurance?

Leontis sighed. “Very well. Of course, this is predicated on if the good Doctor even wants to do this.”

“Yes!” Dan answered, a little too quickly. He took a breath, collecting himself. “Ah- yes, Your Majesty. I would be… honored to go on this mission.”

The Emperor drummed his fingers again, eyes darting from Dan to Khalan. He nodded. “You're General Khalan’s creature now, Dr. Bergstrom. I need to call the Hierarchs, so I, of course, know nothing about this.” He rose, and then paused, looked expectantly at Khalan and Dan.

Dan gasped, then bowed, along with Khalan. “Your Majesty.” Satisfied, the Emperor left.

Khalan’s prostrating smile disappeared as soon as Leontis left. “Lions. They can’t even leave the room without a good bout of brown-nosing,” he growled. He then glanced down at Dan. “That is, of course, strictly off the record.” He squeezed down on the cheetah’s shoulder for emphasis.

“Of course, General,” Dan muttered.

“Good.” He pulled back his hand and crossed his arms, looking even burlier. “So… you’re a believer in the Palamani, are you?”

“I am, sir. It’s been a fascination of mine for years.”

Khalan grinned and nodded, pleased with the answer. “Good, good. Think of it- the original Empire, breaching class and species divide- judging men and women by nothing else besides their sheer strength and willpower. Glorious.” The General sighed, lost for a moment in his fantasizing. He was snapped back to reality by Dan’s slightly concerned look. “We’re on the threshold of the discovery of the millenia, Doctor. You’ll be a hero if we pull this off. You shall be given ordinance, an expense account, and your own, military grade corvette, fastest I can find.”

The cheetah nodded. “Is anyone else going with me?”

“No. Not for the first leg of the journey. Perafel has eyes and ears everywhere, and the fewer people know about this before you start, the better. I’ll send word to our embassy on Velgar. There’s a military base there where you can call on back-up, if the worst comes,” Khalan explained. “I expect you to give me detailed reports. Palamani relics are rumored to be lousy with alien tech- magic, even. I don’t care what time it is, as soon as you find it, you call me. Is that understood, Doctor?”

The cheetah slowly nodded, keeping his tone neutral. “Of course, sir.”

“Good. Now… there’s one more thing we need to be concerned with. Your physique.” Khalan prodded Dan’s thin arm. “You’re fast, I will give you that. But you would be useless in hand to hand combat. You were trained, I assume, in your formative years?”

Dan nodded. Even though the military was almost exclusively the purview of tigers and jaguars, everyone volunteered for militia service, as a sign of patriotism. Self-defense training was ubiquitous.

Khalan chuckled. “I don’t mean to be insulting, Doctor. I’m a military man, therefore, I speak frankly. Come with me. We’ll sort this out.”

Dan hid his emotions, but he was starting to get tired of getting shunted from one government building to another. General Khalan led Dan through the corridors of the palace, and rushed him out on a military convoy to the Army’s Headquarters, a stout, fortified building with the red and gold Imperial Flag flying from every parapet on the outskirts of the city. It was surrounded by a massive airfield dotted with spaceships, with more hovering miles above it, the pride of the Empire’s space fleet, monumental dreadnoughts that threw the fort in a perpetual shadow.

Once again, Dan was under a hundred watchful, suspicious eyes that were subtly telling him he didn’t belong here, and all he could do was roll his eyes inwardly. These judgemental gazes, however, were thankfully cut short by Khalan barking orders, clearing the way as he pushed into the restricted parts of his Headquarters.

Dan was almost relieved to see a slew of cheetahs in labcoats, huddled in a white, sterilized room. They seemed to be preparing for some sort of medical procedure. The realization slowly dawned on him when Khalan gestured to an empty operating table.

“Uh… what the frak do you think you’re doing, General?” Dan demanded.

Khalan arched a brow. “Watch your tongue, Doctor. Tell me… how badly do you want to find the Palamani homeworld?”

“I mean- it’s been an ambition of mine, but I’m not willing to get lobotomized for it!”

Khalan grunted to the cheetahs behind him, who came forward with a long, painful looking syringe filled with blue liquid. “This is a serum, Doctor,” the lead scientist explained, a cheetah that looked eerily like Dan, minus his long brown hair. “In the last military engagement against the Black Meteors syndicate, we found that the enemy had been dabbling in supplements to increase strength and stamina. We’ve reverse-engineered their formula for two years, and distilled it. This should make you strong as a regular tiger commando. Just…”

Dan frowned. “Just what?”

“It’s never been tested on a cheetah. We’ve run simulations, but…” the scientist spread his hands, shrugging. “We’re relatively certain it won't kill you.”

“Oh, well, that’s great. You should sell those in pharmacies and make that your tag line. ‘Patented Military Supplement: We’re relatively certain it won’t kill you.’ They’ll be flying off the shelves,” Dan quipped acidly.

“Doctor.” Khalan rumbled, calling the cheetah’s attention back to the hulking tiger. “I’ve taken this supplement myself. The results…” he rolled back his sleeve, revealing a bulging arm and taut, round bicep ready to tear the cloth of his uniform. “...well, speaks for itself. If you want to beat the Canidae to Velgar, you need every advantage you can get. You’re going to have to take risks, just like any of us do on the line of duty for the Empire.”

Dan was tempted, watching the general’s rippling muscle. Finally, he nodded. “Alright. Stick me.”

The cheetah sighed, and laid down on the operating table. A cheetah assistant began tying him down with restraints.

“Is, uh…” Dan looked from the cheetahs to Khalan. “Is this completely necessary?”

General Khalan smiled bleakly. “You’ll see.”

The scientist cleaned the area, and then stabbed Dan in the arm. The bespectacled cheetah snarled. “Ow! Damn, you didn’t have to do it so hard.” He breathed heavily, watching the blue liquid flood into his system. Besides his arm going numb replaced with a dull pain, he didn’t feel anything. “Are you sure this- augh!”

Suddenly, he felt like he had been electrocuted. All up and down his body, jolts of energy shook through him, stinging him at every joint and nerve. He rocked his head back in forth, going into convulsions. There was a tight feeling in his stomach, and as his head jerked back and forth, his glasses slipped off, and would have cracked, if it had not been for Khalan’s quick hands. It felt like an eternity, but soon, the shocking feeling passed. Breathing deeply, Dan felt his head swimming. The General slipped his spectacles back on.

“How do you feel, Doctor?” Khalan asked.

Dan groaned. “Like you just shoved ten thousand volts up my…” his words trailed off as the restraints were loosened, and he looked down at his body.

He had always been skinny and lean. He had endeavored to keep fit, but he was never going to get much mass when tigers dominated the weights, protein powders, and supplements. In a matter of minutes, that had all changed. Meaty, pumped muscles pushed up against his sleek coat; arms bulked up with muscle thicker than any cheetah’s thigh, and his legs were now twice as wide, with concrete thighs pressing against one another, and defined calves running down his springy legs. His chest rose up and down, a pair of slabs that subtly swelled up with each breath, leading down to cut, trim abs. His feet were hanging off the ends of the bed; he had even grown taller. He was still dwarfed by Khalan… but that just meant Dan had a new goal.

Wordlessly he sat up, and flexed his arm, watching his bicep bounce and swell, then looked to his legs, mesmerized by his thighs rippling. “This… feels great.”

Khalan chuckled, patting Dan’s wider shoulder. “Service to the Empire has its benefits, Doctor. Now… are you ready to find the Palamani? Velgar’s waiting.”

Dan nodded slowly, still looking over his new body. “Well… I’ll see what I can find, yeah?”

Khalan wasted no time. Dan was outfitted in a black ops battle armor; form-fitting, breathable, but sturdy. It also complimented his new build. With a laser pistol holstered to his hip and a dagger hidden in his boot, the military deemed him ready. The General led him out to the airfield, to a powerful looking fighter ship. Painted red and carrying some serious looking guns, Dan was slowly growing more and more excited about heading out.

“Mane-class Fighters,” the tiger announced. “State of the art, some of the fastest fighters in the galaxy. You’ve got clearance to use warp speed, so getting to Velgar will be no issue.” The General nodded down to Dan, offering him one more comradely pat. “Do the Empire proud, Doctor. The Palamani await.”

“Thanks, General. Especially for the, uh, boost.” Dan offered the general a grin, and hopped into the cockpit. He wasn’t any star-ranked pilot, but he was confident he could get the fighter to Velgar in one piece. Bringing the craft online, when he took off, the fighter blasted out of the planet’s atmosphere with such force, the cheetah was plastered into his face, his grip only just strong enough to keep a hold of the controls. As he broke through the atmosphere, he hit for the warp drive, and roared in spite himself at the sheer rush, tens of thousands of lights rushing past him in long, seemingly endless streaks. Finally, Velgar, a nearly completely submerged swamp planet, came into view. And there, just to the left and shining like a ruby, was the planet’s moon.

“Doctor!” Khalan’s voice crackled over the comm. “Doctor, can you read me?”

“You’re coming in clear, General,” Dan replied.

“We’re in luck! One of our scouts, Lieutenant Jefe, has spotted your Canidae friend, Captain Devoss Vulpes. She’s been trailing him to the moon, where he’s doing something very interesting. Patching in her coordinates.”

Dan quickly read the coordinates and punched in the auto-pilot program, quickly securing his helmet to prepare for the surface of the moon.

The fighter landed smooth as silk; Dan was impressed, but he didn’t have time to admire military hardware. Grabbing his pistol, he opened the cockpit and leapt out of his fighter, landing lightly on the moon.

“Hold it right there!” A voice crackled through a space suit radio. Dan held up his hands out of habit, and faced a jaguar suited up in the same black ops armor as he was.

“Calm down! Lieutenant Jefe?” Dan offered his hand. “I’m Dan Bergstrom, Freelance agent for General Khalan. You saw a Canidae agent out here?”

Jefe cleared her helmet’s visor, revealing her ebony fur and piercing green eyes. “He’s just over the ridge here…” she frowned. “You look big for a cheetah.”

“I eat my greens,” Dan said brusquely. “What’s he doing?”

“From what I saw, he’s tampering with some strange structure. It’s made out of green stone, and covered in gold script that sort of swirls around and- wait!” Jefe shouted as Dan rushed passed her. Emboldened by the moon’s low gravity, three mighty leaps on his new, powerful legs carried Dan to the foot of a shrine. It was unmistakably the same make as the obelisk; the same pointed, jagged features, and the same script littered over the walls. He paused, pulling his pistol close, and listened; he could hear Devoss.

“Deo Rolani, deo fortitudo, ni em via! Deo Rolani, deo fortitudo, ni em via!” Devoss’ voice chanted. Had he snapped?

Dan shook his head, wrapping his finger around the trigger of his gun, and his eyes went wide. Devoss stood in the center of the altar, standing before a mosaic of a monstrously huge figure framed in gold. He had the two halves of the tablet in his hands, and wispy tendrils of light and color swirling around him. This was some very, very alien tech.

“Devoss! Put the tablet down!” Dan commanded. Devoss ignored him, trying to force the tablet halves together and still chanting.

“Devoss, stop right now, you thief!” the cheetah warned, aiming his pistol.

“You can’t stop me!” Devoss shouted back, chanting louder.

Dan growled. He now towered over the fox. Whatever he was doing, it stopped now. The cheetah tore into a charging run, his strong arms reaching for Devoss as he leapt into the air.

The fox turned around just in time to see Dan hurtling towards him. “Wait- wait, stop!”

Lieutenant Jefe was just outside the shrine, and was thrown back several feet by the intense force of an explosion that blew the strange shrine to pieces, and she didn’t see a glimpse of the Canidae agent or the strange, muscular cheetah before she was knocked unconscious.