1

The scraping and rattling of a distant snow plow echoed through the streets of Darmoth. It was a clear winter night, warmer then usual this time of year. Stars shimmered in the blue black sky, dancing amongst celestial clouds of cosmic dust.

Splashing through the melting slush, a girl out on her nightly run. The feline stood about five and a half feet tall, and appears as a cross between a lynx and jaguar of Earth. She, as all of her kind, stood upright and had near human anatomy. Athena was a marvelous example of this, being in excellent physical condition. The condensing vapors of her breath wrapped around her muzzle as she ran, as if to join with her flowing black hair. Brown fur, with black hollow rosettes, collected a fine amount of frost in the cool air.

She slowed to a walking pace, pulling a tube from behind her vest to take a drink from her hydration pack. As she traversed in the shadows of the tall buildings, something didn't feel right. Crunching snow behind her demanded her attention, her long lynx-like ears scanning for the source of the noise. Her hand instinctively went for the 9mm hand gun holstered behind the waist band of her cargo shorts, ready to draw it at a moments notice. She turned to see only a glimpse of a black tail disappearing in to an alley. Too high to be a normal person. Cautiously, she peeked around the corner. Standing there, a monstrous beast. The massive feline stood on all fours, at least six and a half feet from the ground to it's shoulder, and as long as a large SUV. It had jagged black markings coming off a thick dorsal stripe down it's back, and stared back at Athena with burning red eyes.

"Warcat," she whispered to herself. The warcat, a myth that goes back to ancient times, snarled and looked back down at the man that it had pinned and killed. Athena watched in terror as it sank it's saber teeth in to it's pray, picking it up like a rag doll. <be careful> echoed a soft voice. She looked around for the source of the voice, only to see the warcat looking at her, motioning toward the ground where a knife had been dropped. She glanced at it, and by the time she looked back, the warcat was out of sight.

With a shudder, Athena decided to cut her run short. After breaking in to a brisk jog, she crossed the street and ran up a seven foot wall in two steps, and popped over to the other side. After a rolling landing, she dashed across the park adjacent to her apartment building. A tic tac off the opposing wall and a vault over the fence and she was at the door.

As she approached the marble framed glass doors, she was intercepted by a security UAV. The 2 foot wide metallic saucer hovered by the door. "Attention. Please halt for identification" it announced in a generic voice and holographic text, "Athena T'garth. You have returned sooner then normal. Is something wrong?" "Just stories of my child hood coming back to haunt me," she murmured, entering the building.

Athena trusted security about as far as she could throw them. Over the last decade, the Cartasian guard has been on high alert, placing more and more security drones through out cities like Darmoth. The government has been quiet, stating an 'increase in civil violence' as the initial explanation. 18 years ago, when she was 12 years old, a gang killed her mother in the same ally where she was nearly attacked.

Athena walked across the dimly lit lobby floor. The pathway gave off a soft blue glow, emitted from the micro screens embedded in the tiles. T'garth tower was a staple of her family's legacy, handed down to her from her grandparents. Nearly 200 stories tall, it was home to nearly 4,000 tenants and housed the offices for the T'garth corporation. While she never intended to take on the family business, the idea of handing it over to just anyone was less then favorable.

She entered the awaiting elevator, where she was greeted by the building's central computer. "How was your run?" it inquired. "It was interesting, to say the least. Could you look some information on the topic warcat? And send it to my desktop." Athena said. "Searching now... an interesting subject." responded the computer, "Upload to your personal desktop complete. Why the sudden interest? Might there be relation to your early return tonight?" Pulling a small headset from her ear and attaching it to her ear she responded, "Yes."

As the elevator was hoisted briskly skyward, the eye peace attached to the headset displayed a transcribed voice message as the voice of an old family friend played, "Athena, it's Rick. Come on by the garage in the morning, I've got a surprise for you." As the elevator came to a stop at the 100th floor, the doors opened to a path that ran across a green park at the center of the sky scraper. It was three floors high and ran nearly the entire length of the building. It was closed off from the winter chill by massive transparent doors that were raised in good weather. As she stepped out on to the path, the dim lights lit up slowly when the pads of her feet made contact with the tiles, ten feet in ether direction. She turned right and walked down the path. A few residents occupied the benches which resided along the moon lit walkways, underneath the broad, swooping arch of the park roof. Above which, as well as underneath the park, a two story gap allowed the wind to pass through the building.

Standing on the balcony outside Athena's apartment overlooking the park stood a familiar individual wearing military issued camouflage pants and a black headband. He had short black hair, and course brown fur with three stripes running down his back to the tip of his long tail, surrounded with blotchy spots. As he turned, his black tear lines and brown eyes became visible. The second he saw Athena, a big smile came across his face. He leaped up over the rail, grabbing hold of it and turning himself 180° to hang from the other side before jumping down to roll out on the grass below. Athena exuberantly approached him and they wrapped their arms around each other. "Terry! I'm so glad your home! When did you get in?" she said. "Just landed this afternoon. I was going to wait to surprise you tomorrow, but I just couldn't wait." he replied.

She playfully grabbed at the white fur on his chest, "You weren't suppose to be back for another month, Lieutenant Kincher." He chuckled a bit, "The brass decided to bring our unit home early, I guess we were too good at our job." They preceded up the balcony stairs and entered her apartment. The living room was very spacious, with hardwood floors outlining a carpeted lounging aria. Opposite of the door, a large window overlooked the city and nearby river.

"Care for a drink?" asked Athena. "I'd love one," perked Kincher, taking a seat in the corner of a large black sectional sofa, while she walked around the bar to the kitchen. She returned with two brown bottles containing a locally brewed ale, and sat down beside him. "So," she said, handing him a bottle and popping the cap off of the other, "how are things with Jen?" He paused, then hung his head in silence. "Not good I take it... wanna talk about it?" she continued. Opening his beer, he looked up at Athena. "She's gone, left with out warning," he said calmly, taking a drink, "don't know where she went or if she's even still alive."

Athena put her arm around his shoulder, "I'm sorry to hear that, I wish there something I could do. I know how much you cared for each other," she said. As the night wore on, the bottles became empty as they spoke of the toll of war and love gone cold. The recalled happy moments in the past, where they grew up together. "I should go," said Terry, "I've got some unpacking to do... um... you want to grab lunch tomorrow?" "Sure," she replied.

And with a good night hug, he walked out the door. Athena sighed, taking the final swig of beer and returned the empty bottles to the kitchen. She then wondered in to the dining room, taking off her vest to expose the white fur running down her chest and stomach, with a gray v-shaped patch centered over her breasts. She looked out over the city of Darmoth. Twinkling lights of the city sparkled like diamonds, and danced off the river. As beautiful as the city was at night, there was always something unsettling lurking about the steel and photo voltaic glass that makes up it's urban forest.

2

Ten stories high, the maglev monorail trains rocketed across the sky on a ribbon concrete and iron, carrying passengers to and from the suburbs. Since cars and trucks aren't allowed in the crowded heart of the city without a permit or badge, the train was the main artery. The white Darmoth Metro Transport glided through the urban jungle, swiftly meandering around and through the buildings, over and under the sky walks. Two rows of three seats each lined a wide isle. People of all walks of life sparsely populated the morning train, mostly returning home from burning the midnight oil.

Athena stood in the isle loosely grasping the hand rail overhead when small ball of fluff zipped by her leg, spooking a few of the passengers, pursued by a young child yelling "Razzle! Get back here you rascal!" The small domestic cat would have none of it, as it climbed up the front wall of the car and hid in the overhead luggage rack, giving it's young owner a "fuck you" expression. Standing to one side of the isle, a tiger-like male in a blue cap, black t-shirt and blue jeans leaned what looked like a keyboard case against one of the seats, and joined the pursuit. He managed to wrangle disgruntled critter, which gave up upon it's capture. Kneeling down, he handed it to the white lynx-like boy.

Adjacent to a massive parking structure on the outskirts of the city stood one of the main hubs for the train system. Eight tracks converged in four floors of the building. The train pulled in to the station, giving off a quiet hum as it came to a stop. An automated voice on the train announced, "We have arrived at Calina North Station." as the doors opened. Athena stepped off the floating train and traversed the marble floor of the large, well lit lobby that was bustling with activity. Translucent panels hung from the rafters, displaying all the routes, train locations, and ETAs.

A large group had gathered around one of the larger monitors. Curious, Athena made her way through the crowd. A live shot was streaming from aboard a ship. The caption red "Research Ship New Hope Makes First Contact." Three views displayed the ship's crew, the reporter, and imagery of a blue and green planet. They were talking about how they had been in contact with the alien race, humans. "Yes, it is rather peculiar that they have a similar language as our own, the likeness of their culture is uncanny. Even much of the other life forms are similar, one might ask if it may be more then a coincidence," Explained the researcher, "They appear to have evolved from what we know as apes, where as our own kind evolved from what humans would refer to as big cats, which remarkably still exist on this planet." They went on about the climate, technology, history, and something called 'religion', but by then Athena had continued on her way to the sky walk.

All the buildings in the city were connected by a labyrinth of covered walkways, a network that stretches for ten miles in each direction, spanning from a central hub and ending more often then not at a parking garage. Cars were constantly flowing in and out of the structures. They drove through a gate, where they autonomously sorted themselves after passing though the gate, and flew up to the assigned level, entered the building, and parked, all by the computer. In the sky walk corridor that ran on the outside of the structure, Athena stood at a kiosk by the garage entrance. A small camera analyzed her face, and with in moments, a sleek black vehicle floated in to a space on the other side of the window. She stepped through the door and entered the left side the car. Sitting on it's landing skids, it stood about chest high, the door swung forward and up while the roof slid back A pair of bucket seats were upholstered in a biodegradable synthetic leather, and had a split back accommodated tail comfortably. The door was pulled shut and the roof closed as it began to lift off the ground, the skids retracted in to the body, and a steering yolk unfurled from the dash. The grips opened up to reveal a monitor as a heads up display was projected on the windshield.

Athena pulled the harness down and locked the belts in to their receivers as the exterior doors of the parking garage opened. Under auto pilot, it accelerated smoothly over the edge held aloft by it's geomagnetic levitation rails. Upon entering the stream of traffic 20 feet over the concrete highway, she turned off auto pilot and slammed the accelerator to the floor. The engine made a wine as it accelerated. Pulling back on the yolk slightly, it rose up and over the vehicles ahead like a rocket, leaving a trail of plasma from the main thrusters which hung in the air for a good 10 seconds before dissipating.

Meanwhile, in a service garage on the edge of Calina, a black panther-like mechanic tossed a cover over his latest newly completed project, the fabric forming to the shape of a pickup truck as it floated down. It sat upon a concrete floor under the bright fiber optic lighting that lined the underside of the metal rafters on ether side of an industrious hoist. Echoing though the cavernous building was the sound of guitars harmoniously unleashing an aerial assault backed by powerful, thundering drums, emitted from an old stereo system setting in the corner.

Rick backed away from the draped machine, pulling a small elongated device from the pocket of his overalls. Gripping the sides, he pulled the two halves apart, unraveling a pliable screen which became rigid and transparent when it powered up upon full extension. After tapping a few icons and browsing through the windows that came up, he collapsed it and returned it to his pocket from which it came. In this instance, the sound of skids touching down on concrete caught his attention.

He walked out the open overhead door to the metallic black sports car that had just arrived. "Athena," he said as the driver stepped out, "glad you could make it." They hugged briefly. "So, Colonel," Athena replied, "what's this surprise you've got?" "Oh, just a little something your father wanted you to have. It's in here under the tarp," he said, leading her in to the garage, "How was the traffic getting here?" "Not too bad," she stated, "Upper 85 was a little slow."

The Colonel pulled the tarp off of the surprise, revealing a black full sized pickup sitting on a set of four meaty tires. A pair of angled air intakes headed red rally stripes that ran the it's length and over the hard tonneu cover. The polished chrome grill was adorned with a mean looking flat black bull bar on which perched a pare of large rectangular fog lamps, while brush guards clad to the lights front and rear. Behind a four door cab rose a matching roll bar with four spot/flood lights atop. Across the tail gate in a tattered red font read "AVENGER".

All the vehicles these days were packed with computers and electronics. Manual input was limited by the flight control, and every inch is tracked. Get too close to another and it rips away control altogether, and if you're in the air and have a power failure... well that's the closest thing to a thrill ride you really get out of it. An old classic like this was a refreshing sight.

Athena stood in awe, speechless for a moment. "It's beautiful!," she exclaimed, "where did you find it?" The old man scratched the back of his head, "Spoils of war," he said, "One tour of duty, the faction we were fighting had a pare of wheelers hidden away in an old barn. Me and your old man found this one and we knew we couldn't leave it. We had the old beast shipped home and I've been fixing it up ever since. Just too bad he couldn't be here to see it... had some of your arms guys put a few party favors in to it, sort of an anniversary present for T'garth Corporation's 150th anniversary." Athena glomped the colonel and said "Thank you!" She opened the driver's side door to reveal leather seats, and a sleek dash packed with switches, dials, and gauges. She climbed in to the cab and hit the ignition button next to the steering column, and the monstrous V-8 diesel engine roared to life. The analog tach and speedo gave off a red glow as an ice blue HUD projected on to the windshield. Analog temp and pressure gauges also lit a deep blue on ether side of the gauge cluster. Wrapping her paws around the steering wheel, she gave it a little rev. The engine responded with the distinct wine of a potent turbo charger. "Go ahead and take it out. I'll take care of your car," he said as she shut the door.

Athena put the manual transmission in to gear and drove it out of the garage and turned with the aid of 4 wheel steering in to the empty street, all the traffic flowing freely 100 feet overhead. Jamming through the gears, the truck accelerated quickly to 60... 70... then 80mph where she let off the throttle and set the cruse. It was one of the last wheeled non-commercial vehicles in existence. The truck now driving itself, she took her hands off the wheel and began to explore the gadgetry that her staff had secretly put in to it. The aftermarket manual with her company's logo was stashed in the glove box, which she began to flip through. One page listed all the weapons and gadgetry hidden in the truck. Adaptive camouflage, electronic warfare, aerial proximity countermeasures, explosive road spikes, smoke grenades,twin .75 caliber rail guns, tactical pulse laser, nano armor, and redundant engine management.

After reading through the manual, she arrived at the entrance to the city. She pulled up to the gate, where scanners would identify her and bring up her permits. A permit to drive a vehicle larger then a bicycle in the inner city is typically next to impossible to acquire unless your company has a contract with the city. The T'garth Corporation has such a contract, providing officials with communication devices and service dirt cheap. While driving through the city, her phone rang. "Answer," she commanded, "Hi Eddy. Hows the Occult project going?" A voice came over the stereo system. "So far so good. Even better news coming from the Redeemer project," he replied, "the prototype engines were fired up this morning. The particle rate was tested at 20 lumins. The guns are scheduled to be tested tomorrow."

The old truck rumbled through the streets, which were only two lanes wide and dwarfed by the wide sidewalks, which bustled with pedestrian traffic of all walks stopping to gaze at the rare sight of a light wheeled vehicle rolling through downtown.

3

Terry stepped out of his apartment on the 90th floor of T'garth Tower, wearing a black trench coat. He walked down the hall with haste. No real destination, but a task to accomplish non the less. Echoing in his mind were the shadows of what hell took the life of his beloved. Deep regret haunted him, leaving a thirst for solitude. Yet despite it all, one secrete took principle to his depressed state. Not even Athena, his only friend in this world as far as he's concerned, knows the truth of this purpose or what really happened that one fateful night.

On the elevator ride to the ground level, he unfolded his flexible tablet screen and started looking through e-mails. One e-mail, from a military informant, let him to slap the tablet shut and nearly drop it. Returning the small device to it's pocket, he reached to his thigh under his trench coat and drew forth the weapon it concealed. He pulled back on the long slide, momentarily revealing a part of the six inch match barrel as he paused to inspect the chamber before releasing it, cambering a specially made .456 caliber magnum round. "Son of a bitch," he muttered as he holstered his T'garth Arms Longfang.

He stopped the elevator on the 10th floor, and charged in to the corridor. He marched past the cubicles all bustling with pencil pushers answering phones and monitoring networks, to a corner office. He barges through the door, "What the FUCK is going on?!" A lion looked up from his monitor, "oh, Kincher I was just about to call..." "Why is Athena on the list?" Kincher interrupted, slamming his hands on the desk, "Who made that order?" "It came from high command," the lion whispered, "...that's all I know. I can't get any answers. All I know is the Guard canceled all T'garth contracts, and there's a security detail coming for her arrest." Terry looked out the window, spotting Athena's truck approaching. He ran out of the office for the elevator, shoving anyone who got in his path out of the way.

The elevator dropped down to the sub-terrain parking garage, where Athena was waiting as the doors opened. Before she could say anything, Kincher put a hand on her shoulder and turned her around, "Let's do lunch... now," and began walking to the truck with Athena under his arm. "Whoa, Terry, what's going on?" she said with a grin. "I'll tell you on the way, just trust me... we need to get out of here," he replied. They walked briskly back to the truck. As Athena drove the truck up the ramp, Kincher rolled down his window, and placed a ready hand on his gun. A firm hold on the grip safety unlocks the holster, and a short pull would free the gun. "What are you doing?" Athena asked as a security drone approached from the intersection. Her phone started to ring, "Terry?" the phone continued to ring. The saucer like drone got closer, projecting a large holographic message in red letters reading "HAULT". In the blink of an eye, Kincher was leaning out the window with his Longfang drawn. The reticule of his holographic sight was centered on the drone. BANG BANG

The drone dropped like a rock, crashing next to the moving truck with the loud clang as smoke began to bellow from the bullet holes. "What the hell..." said Athena, ears folded down as she slammed on the brakes. The truck came to a screeching halt. Eddy's voice came over the stereo, "Athena where are you? We've got a problem up here! The Cartasian guard is looking for you." "They've gone rouge," Kincher interrupted, "...Watch your tail, we'll be in touch." He cut off the link. "What?" said Athena. "I just got word from my contacts, they're attempting to declare martial law. They're coming after you because you're a threat," said Kincher. After a moment of silence, a bright flash struck the hood sending sparks ricocheting off the windshield. When they regained their vision, the hood was left unscathed. "Shit..." The engine revved and Athena jammed the clutch, sending up a cloud of white smoke as the truck took off. Two drones preceded to give chase from above.

She threw the rig in to a power slide around the corner, the drones following in short order. The truck shuddered as a grapple latched on to the rear bumper. Having a traction advantage, the drone at the other end became a passenger. As the truck raced under a mono rail track, the drone slammed in to it helplessly, bursting in to flames as shrapnel flew in every direction. Pedestrians were screaming and hitting the deck. The second drone continued to fire it's plasma guns to no avail. After hitting a hidden button on the dash, the truck's exterior began to blend with the surrounding concrete until it was practically invisible to the untrained eye, the HUD on the windshield reading 'ACS Active'. The pursuing drone's shots began to miss until it finally pealed off.

"We've got to get to the colonel," said Athena, "then get the hell out of Darmoth. My company has a classified research facility in the mountains, we can hide out there for awhile... I had a feeling something was going bad." The truck smashed through the checkpoint gate and joined the geolev traffic on the main highway. She took a breath and sighed with relief as she turned off the ACS. Kincher pulled the active plugs from his ears and looked over at her. "Okay, I'm not on leave," he began to speak, "The BDA suspected something would go aery, so they sent operatives to protect their assets. Asset number one was T'garth Industries. No one suspected the guard going rogue, lucky they didn't take any chances with it."

"So I guess that makes you my body guard, huh?" Athena teased with a purr. Terry just grinned and looked back out the window. With in a few minutes, they had arrived at the garage. After parking along side her car, still where she left it, they went in to the main office. Light shining in through the large front windows illuminated the tile floor. The front desk was in its usual state of disarray, various parts adorned the walls. The two proceeded through a wooden door, which led in to a break room. Against one wall, a refrigerator and a couple vending machines. Opposite was a counter with a coffee pot steaming with a fresh brew next to a microwave. There in the middle, the old black jaguar sat at a table reading his tablet and smoking a freshly lit cigar. "Back so soon?" he quarried as he collapsed the tablet.

They sat around the small round table. The steam from their coffee cups rose upward with the smoke from the colonel's cigar. "Way back in ancient times," he said, "before our civilizations, there was an alien race known as the Ga'harin. Now these guys had a way of meddling with evolution. They genetically engineered, as certain legend states, an assortment of intelligent species. Some believe that our race was one of them."

"What does that have to do with the guard going rogue?" Kincher asked. "Well, that's where it gets interesting," Rick continued, "You know that planet that the New Hope is studying? Well the legend states that the raw DNA used in our creation was harvested from some of it's life forms. My guess is, that if the Ga'harin are still around, they're not too pleased with us finding out the truth. I figure they've gotten inside the ranks of the guard to initiate martial law and give them a free pass to set up camp. And this Warcat creature you saw? I did a little digging and it turns out that he was another of their genetic creations. Ancient scripture says they're guardians. What it was they were guarding is anyone's guess, but whatever it was, it wasn't on Bedronia. Some say they were meant to protect the Ga'harin while they were collecting specimens. They made the mistake of giving them high intelligence, there by giving them an understanding of right and wrong. After seeing the kind of torture they put their subjects through, they broke out. Supposedly they were all hunted down and killed off by their creators, but some probably escaped. The one you saw was one of later generation,still apparently carrying the guardian spirit of his ancestors."

The building shuddered as the sound of a heavy transport shuttle could be heard hovering outside. Kincher jumped to his feet and hovered a hand over his gun. The room went silent as they all watched through the window in the door as an APC flanked by a pair of smaller escort vehicles dropped in to view in front of the garage. The geolev APC unfolded it's six large wheels and landed, dropping it's rear ramp. A leopard wearing a black military uniform appeared from the shadows of it's interior. "That's... General Tomas of the BDA," said Kincher, relaxing slightly as the general stepped inside the lobby. He was flanked by two other solders. "Lieutenant Kincher, this is General Tomas. We need to move out now if we're to get to the safe house," he commanded. "Yes sir," Kincher replied, slipping through the door and saluting the CO, "I'm accompanied by two civilians, they have intelligence and resources which are of great value. I'd like to request an escort to a secondary safe house." "Granted," stated the general, "and due to present circumstances I'm promoting you to captain, and putting two stinger crews and an autonomous support vehicle in your command. The ASV has everything you need, including your LR448 and a thousand rounds of Phoenix ammunition. Go to the secondary safe location, set up a perimeter, then contact Command as soon as you and your team have made your assessment." "Yes sir, thank you sir." said Kincher.

The three walked outside. Solders lined the corners of the parking lot, using parked cars and walls of neighboring buildings as cover. Overhead loomed a hovering transport shuttle big enough to hold six large buses. The delta wings blended in to the elongated fuselage, and were arched up in their folded position. The belly shimmered with a mirage of the sky above it, and at the center a pare of doors were open wide as another vehicle dropped from within. This vehicle was about the size of the Avenger, and resembled a small APC. The geolev engine moaned as it slowed it's decent. It's four external wheels unfolded on articulating arms as it sat itself down next to the truck.

The ASV lowered itself to the ground as Kincher approached it. He pulled a handle on the side of the machine and opened up the large side door, which folded and articulated up near the vehicle's center and revealed the main compartment filled with weapon & ammo cases, assorted tools, spare parts, and a small box of MRE rations and water canines. Kincher reached for a long rifle case, picked it up and set it on top of the ASV, forward of the door. His tail twitched in anticipation as he undid the clasps and opened it up. The long bull pup rifle was dripping with a god-like aura that screamed 'fear me'. The huge compensator on it's muzzle hinted at the destructive power of the specially made .448 caliber smart ammo. A handle molded in to the hand guard supported an equally intimidating scope.

"Athena, Rick, grab an AR and a couple boxes of ammo and put them in the truck," ordered Kincher, closing the case, "the ASV will follow us. We worked the bugs out of the AI, so there shouldn't be any problems" He stripped of his trench coat and traded it for a tactical vest, already loaded with various devices and equipment. "I had a dog like that once," said the Colonel as he grabbed a case, "Followed me everywhere. Kept getting tripped over." 'Sword flight to viper, we've got you covered up here' the radio attached to Kincher's vest sounded off. He pulled the headset from it's Velcro compartment and placed it on his head, "Viper, we read you sword. Sending route data now." Athena and Rick both grabbed rifles and ammo boxes, and loaded them in to the back of the truck with the rail gun turret.

The shuttle roared off in to the sky and vanished as Athena, Terry, and the Colonel climbed in to the truck. 'Get out of there, Viper! I'm picking up some heat signatures immediately to your 5 o'clock!' Athena slammed the accelerator to the floor, driving over the curb to the road as explosions and gunfire erupt behind them.