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Hello all, as promised here is part one of the next chapter. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. A big thanks to my Co-Author Dasher Cheetah, I really couldn't do this without him. Also, I'm giving you credit weather you like it or not Dasher *sticks tongue out playfully*. Things get interesting from here on out. There should be hot dragon sex in the next few chapters. I have an old promise to keep to a certain Cheetah. Please leave your thoughts and comments below. I've been away for a while but am trying to get back into this and get this story going again. Your thoughts are important because, to an extent, they shape this universe. Also, Beep, keep an eye out for your character. He will be coming soon!

Through the Horizon: Part 1--Secret Meetings and Private Revelations

Bane sat at his desk looking at the clock on the wall. It was almost dinner time and he was hungry. Knowing his mate Seamus would be eating late too, he decided to surprise his Foxie by joining him tonight. He stood up as the clock struck seven. It was seven at night, and the time was right to catch Seamus at the restaurant he preferred. He walked towards the food store; it was called _The Gatherer's Garden. _ It was a nice little place, one Bane visited frequently as he could squeeze into his schedule.

On this night it would become the theater for a performance of his lifetime. Telling his secretary Kyo, that he would be leaving for the evening, he stepped out into the city. He smiled as he walked down the streets. It had become a city of the Empire and no longer looked so much like a military base. Bane had decided that military operations and governmental operations needed to be separate. It was important for the empire to not be taken as a military ruled empire. The changes had done wonders for moral and the image of peace and power they had been cultivating.

Bane walked into the restaurant and immediately saw Dasher and Seamus were sitting at a back booth. That his mate was not alone as planned was irritating. The pair leaned a little too close to each other for Bane's comfort. Their heads were close as it was obvious that they were talking privately together. As Bane stepped nearer, Seamus gave a high laugh. It was the sort of laugh that Bane got from him when he was teasing his mate in a sexual way and Bane grew angry. He thought that it should be his place to make Seamus laugh like that. NOT Dasher's.

His eyes narrowed and his tail went still, raising to demonstrate his dominance to the pair as he stepped up to the table. Bane growled a bit too loud, "Dasher Cheetah, get your horny ass away from my fiance!" The cheetah looked up then stood as he said, "Excuse me? Would you like to repeat that Bane?" Bane stepped closer to Dasher, leaning quite closely into the Cheetah's face as he repeated, "I said get away from my fiance! I don't want to catch you alone with him again!" Dasher glanced around the busy restaurant and then at Seamus, who looked puzzled, surprised and a little frightened. This was completely unexpected, coming from Bane. Dasher was their best friend, besides Ron. They had been together often and never had Bane acted this way before.

Dasher held his hands up peacefully and said, "I don't know what is wrong Bane but we are having supper as I find out some things from Seamus about Empire busieness. Please join us." With this Bane pushed against Dasher's chest and the surprised Cheetah fell back into his chair. There was a hush as this was observed by the other patrons. Seamus gave a yip of shock and cried out, Bane! What are you doing? It is the truth! Dasher and I are working of business here." Bane turned and looked at Seamus with his ears down and said angrily," I know what I saw and heard. You don't laugh like that talking about business, unless it is funny business!" He looked to growing more angry but Seamus got up and went to Bane, taking his paw in his own and looking up big eyed as he told his mate,"Bane, please! Dasher told me a joke. One typical of him and it made me laugh but it was nothing like you are thinking." Dasher remained sitting but said,"You know I don't play with mated people that way, Bane. What is really the problem here?" Bane stared at Dasher and tho he saw a male willing to stand up for himself, there was no hint of threat in him. Neither was there from Seamus, only concern. Bane rubbed his eyes and sighed heavily. What had he been thinking? Seamus would not cheat on him. There was no way the Fox could hide it if he were. He was too open a book to read to hide it if anything were happening. Still, there was too much adrenaline running thru the Wolf for him to just let it go and relax.

It was at that moment that Seamus chose the wrong thing to do. He stood and rushed to Bane's side, wrapping his arms around his mate. Bane reacted without thinking and struck out, sending the slighter built Fox tumbling backwards to fall over the table with a cry of shock. Bane was as surprised as anyone that he had done that. He was now angry with himself on top of everything else and he roared his frustration to the room. No one wanted to get near their leader, when he was in such a state. They knew what he had done to the invading Wolf army. This was a thoroughly dangerous Wolf and all knew it. Dasher couldn't let it go on and knew that if security became involved, which was more likely with each passing minute, someone would get hurt or even killed. He had to stop this now! Dasher stood and stepped towards Bane as he calmly called,"Bane? This has to stop! Let's go to your room and talk about this there, in private?" Bane growled and flecks of spittle flew from his lips. The Cheetah was the cause of this! Bane swung with all his might and Dasher went into overdrive. He easily ducked under the swing and dodged to come up around behind Bane. Grabbing his arms, Dasher called upon his earring for strength and pulled Bane's arms down to his sides. He then wrapped his arms around the now enraged Wolf and hugged him tightly, pinning them down as he growled back,"Enough! Get a hold of yourself!" Bane growled and kicked back as his head jerked back and smashed into Dasher's nose. The cheetah saw stars and the pain was awful. His eyes watered with tears as he switched to breathing thru his mouth to keep from inhaling blood. One thing he could not do was let go of Bane. Temporarily blinded, he would be at the mercy of an out of control Wolf! He heard Seamus crying out for Bane to calm down but he had nothing to calm his mate with. All his medical gear was at his clinic!

Dasher had to subdue Bane but not hurt him. If he let go, they would fight and others might be hurt. Instead, Dasher used his strength in an applied way. He squeezed and cut off Bane's ability to draw in air. Bane struggled with increasing wildness until he blacked out and went limp. Dasher relaxed and let him down and he called out,"Seamus! Check his breathing while I try to see again!" He was handed a wad of cloth napkins by the fox, who knelt down and began attending to Bane. Wiping his eyes and blowing blood out of his nose, Dasher tried to clean up a little. He looked ghastly and he could hear the shouts from outside of people yelling about the fight. The tromp of boots heralded the arrival of security and they came in with rifles hot and ready. They first looked to see an unconscious Emperor on the floor, his mate and medical minister bent over him and a bloodied Dasher standing over both. Of course, they aimed their guns at Dasher and ordered him to step away from the Emperor, NOW! Dasher knew he could easily dodge the shots but in such a confined space, that would put innocent lives in danger. Besides, there was no reason to resist. He dropped the napkins and placed his paws on his head, then stepped carefully back and stood as he was swarmed by guards and handcuffed. From the floor, Seamus screamed out,"Let him go, you fools! He only defended himself and everyone here from danger. Now, get a ambulance here five minutes ago and escort us to the clinic!"

The room went quiet as everyone looked to the Fox. Such an outburst from him was totally unexpected! The head of security recognized his authority and began issuing orders as Seamus went back to attending to Bane. As soon as Dasher was released, he too went to Bane and knelt down. He asked how Bane was and Seamus curtly told him that he seemed alright but he wanted to scan Bane for broken ribs or other injuries and to take care of Dasher's nose, as soon as he could. Dasher smiled, then started laughing. He clasped Seamus shoulder and said,"I don't know where that came from but damn, Foxy! You really showed some command potential! I'm proud of you and I know Bane will be too. Let's get him taken care of." The crowds were held back as Bane was carried out and taken to the clinic. Already rumors of what had happened were flying. Not only among the crowd either! Calls were going out as some of them called news services to report that the Emperor had been in a fight and was injured. Within an hour, news would be spreading thru the Empire and beyond. Dasher knew he would have to do damage control but from inside the ambulance, he smiled. Their plan had come off perfectly.

When Bane opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was the roof of the medical bay on board one of the empires newest battle ships. The subtle thrum of warp drive could be felt and told him they were on the way. Bane gave a slow smile as he realized that part one of the plan had gone off. It would remain to be seen how well when he heard from Dasher. Speak of the Demon Cat and he shows up! Dasher's smiling face suddenly appeared above him, his nose wrapped in gauze and he said, "I think you hit me extra hard on purpose." Bane gasped, then groaned as he tried to sit up and asked, "Well that went well, is Seamus okay? And what damn truck tried to run me down?" Dasher laughed and answered, "Yeah, he's fine...after I had to threatened to tie him down and make him listen to me. Poor dear didn't know what our plan was. He couldn't, for his reaction to be realistic." Bane sat up and rubbed his sore ribs as he asked, "Did they have to tranq me? And who stomped on my ribs?" Dasher nodded as he said, "Yes, you got to hit me so Seamus got to knock you out . . . although I'm afraid the ribs was courtesy of me. I think you got a little too into the role and I didn't want to hit you, or trade punches . . . so I just squeezed until you passed out. It's a shame I didn't take the opportunity to knock you up but we were not alone more than three minutes since we were brought here." Bane chuckled and said, "Indeed." He got up and hugged Dasher, who then asked, "Now, would you mind telling me why we just made it look as if you went ballistic and are now on a vacation for 'nerves'?" Bane laughed and said casually, "Of course. Walk and talk my friend." The two walked through the hallways of the ship. They were aboard the Seamus Accendo. The first of many new ships the empire had commissioned to be constructed. This ship carried a zero point reactor. As such, it was rigged for silent running. Its warp trail was undetectable, it had holographic emitters along the hull so it could literally vanish if need be, and it had both multi-layer and multi-phasic shielding in case things got intense. Its weapons consisted of torpedoes and anti-matter cannons. The cannons were linked to the ships central core, so they could fire more intense bursts more frequently with much more power than any other ship. It was the flagship of the fleet, and the first to be finished.

Bane then wove the story about why they had staged the act the day before. He said, "Dasher, about a month ago I began talks with the Draconic Royal House. Thus far, they have stayed out of the major engagements of the civil war between the Empires. It wasn't necessary for them to get directly involved because of the nature of the war. None of the sides was targeting them and they had their own issues to deal with. However, it now has been agreed that they can no longer sit back and watch. This new threat is a danger to them as well as us. I've been in talks with them for an alliance between them and us. They have expert battle tactics, but not the technology to use them. They have been involved in a civil war of their own. Its passed now, but the damage it did weakened their hold on most of their empire. Many of their ships were destroyed in engagements between factions, but one clan managed to beat the rest." Dasher looked at the wolf and asked, "Who?" Bane laughed and said, "The Accendo clan of course." Dasher froze in mid step, stared at Bane and said, "Is there anybody your family hasn't fucked Bane?" Bane laughed heartily at that and said, "Apparently not, the family name is in every species and I can't explain why. But I've not questioned it." Dasher shrugged and they arrived at their destination. "They want to talk to us in person, but it had to be a secret meeting. They did not want to risk anybody finding out about the potential alliance until it was finalized. The emperor of the Draconic Empire is naturally hesitant to trust me." Bane paused a moment, "truthfully we do not really need the dragons to stand with us. At the end of the day we alone have the means to effectively combat the threat, however its not in our best interest to sit back and watch the rest of the sector be slaughtered." Dasher nodded and chuckled, "Well I have faith in your negotiation abilities." They opened the door of Seamus's room to find the fox curled up under his blanket on his bed. The two friends stepped into the room and sealed the door.

"Foxy baby,", said Bane as he sat beside him. He continued, "I'm sorry for what you saw yesterday...but we had to." Seamus rolled over and wrapped himself around Bane as he whimpered, "You scared me...I thought I had lost you. You know I would never cheat on you, never ever. But you were attacking Dasher, and...and I thought you thought . . ." At this point tears ran down the fox's face. Bane wrapped his arms around Foxy and held him, as Dasher sat on the other side and held the both of them. They slowly laid back in the bed and cuddled together until they drifted off to sleep. The three lay in bed together, a mass of tangled limbs, matter fur, and cemented bonds. Dasher was always more than a friend and would always be more, yet at the same time he was not a mate and never would be. He was a mysterious soul, who touched the lives of everybody he came into contact with. Bane arose hours later and walked into the bathroom. He showered, groomed himself, and then dressed in his uniform. He walked out of the room and headed for the bridge. His mate and friend were still asleep and cuddling. He had no concern and decided to leave them be. He admired the construction of this ship. It was built with both luxury and battle in mind. It held a thousand crew members, and fifteen hundred soldiers if needed. It was all due to the immense power the zero point reactor gave them.

He walked onto the bridge; the second in command turned and faced him, bowing his head in respect, then calling out loudly, "EMPEROR ON THE BRIDGE!" All officers stood at attention and faced Bane, then too bowed their heads. Bane tried to hide the amusement as well as a slight annoyance at being genuflected to everywhere he went. But it was a part of the role he had accepted, Emperor. Hiding a sigh, he said casually, "As you were gentleman." They returned to their duties and he walked up to the second in command, a young fox named Alexander. "So Alex, how are we today.", Bane asked. The Fox smiled and answered brightly, "The ship is running as smoothly as expected. We are now underway to the coordinates provided. We are running at maximum warp, although we can jump to hyperdrive if need be. All speeds through hyper are available upon command."

Bane nodded and chuckled as he tried to remember being so young himself. He supposed he had been but it seemed so very long ago now, though it had only been a couple of years since all this had begun. Bane said, "Thank you Alex." Bane sat in his command chair. "Sir you don't have to stay on the bridge. I can call you if you are needed.", Alex said. Bane nodded and told his number two, on board this ship, "I know, but to be honest I don't expect this to go as planned. Nothing ever does. I want all scans made for anything." Alex nodded, Bane had seen his fair share of battles and he was confident they would survive any trial. Bane and Alex had met in battle when the original base was overrun. Bane had specifically chosen Alex for this mission and to be second in command of the Empire's flagship. Alex smiled at Bane and asked, "May I ask what you are expecting?" Bane nodded and said, "I would be disappointed if you didn't. You see, this meeting is secret. So therefore, naturally everybody who shouldn't know about it will. The only thing that travels faster than the truth is a secret." Alex nodded and Bane continued, "I expect something to come up. That's why I took this ship. It's the most advanced we have and I couldn't justify bringing the entire fleet. Especially when I'm supposed to be locked away in the nuthouse. That would draw far too much attention." Alex nodded in agreement. He too expected trouble but for different reasons. The Dragon Empire had always had a reputation for being somewhat unstable. They were good people but by nature, they were jealous and power hungry. Each Empire that had been established had had to fight against other factions to maintain their power and position. Even if Bane was successful in getting them to commit resources to fighting the new enemy, he wasn't sure how long it would last. Bane sat back in his chair, his nerves were on edge and for good reason. Bane too expected trouble from the Dragons. He was very aware of their reputation. It was one reason he had never bothered to approach them before. However now things were different. He knew the Emperor would demand more than he was willing to settle for or give in return. It was a tactic of theirs. Demand more than they wanted, and when the negotiations were done they got exactly what they had set out for. He also knew any attempt to counter this would only result in them storming away from the table and pretending to be upset for a few days.

The trouble was Bane did not have a few days to give this meeting. He needed a deal, and needed one quickly. The Scavengers were on the move. Thus far they had stayed away from the empire and instead had engaged the Fox empire. The Fox were weak and had very little resources with which to fight the threat. Bane had considered offering aid but they had not requested it as of yet. The humans had requested aid, however Bane had as of yet to make a decision on them. The only two groups with which to fight them was the Empire and the Wolves. However, the wolf empire had grown increasingly unstable since the change of power. It was nothing to do with Blacks leadership, and more to do with the fact that the entire empire had established itself as a war machine. Now that the war had ended, and the threat had shifted, most of the empire had found itself without jobs. Black was doing the best he could to combat the issues facing his government, however he was a military commander, not a politician. Bane was very aware that the wolves were close to collapse, and talks had began with Black as to what to do if it came to that. Bane closed his eyes and considered. The universe was looking at him to lead both the offensive as well as the massive reorganization effort currently under way with the various governments. He was the only faction with the resources to build weapons effective against them, and in fact the only stable faction remaining. It was more pressure than the Wolf wanted or needed.

The trip itself did not take very long, the coordinates were far from the home world, but the ship was fast and strong. As they dropped from warp and entered the system, Dasher walked onto the bridge. The cheetah took a seat beside Bane. As they surveyed the surroundings, the communication officer spoke up. "Emperor we have a distress call from the dragon convoy!" Bane looked up and nodded as he said, "Patch it through. And now the fun begins." It was an automated distress call that read "Emperor Accendo! We are under attack from an unknown enemy! Please assist us with all speed!" Bane sighed, "set an intercept course at maximum speed. All decks prepare for battle." The ship suddenly sprang to life with activity. The stealth was dropped in favor of weapons and shields. The ship raced for the scene of the battle. As they entered viewing range, Bane was not at all surprised to see that it was indeed the Scavengers. The ship dropped out of warp and Bane gave the order to fire their main cannon. The ship was equipped with a primary cannon, capable of cutting any normal ship in half with one blast. As the computer locked onto the lead ship, the cannon discharged. The blast crushed the enemy's shields and with one shot nearly crippled their ship.

There were four ships in the convoy, with three being armored attack vessels. The largest ship was the royal vessel. Two of the defending ships had already fallen under the savage attack, the third was badly damaged, and the royal ship was in danger of losing shields and life support very soon. Bane smiled and told his crew, "Alright now that we've given them something else to shoot at. Lets see what this new ship can really do. Helm, keep us moving...don't give them time to get a secure lock. We have good shields but there is no need to be reckless about this. Transporter chief, contact the damaged ships and see if any of them need help in evacuating their ships. Dasher, go meet any survivors and see that their needs are taken care of, please?" Dasher nodded and sped away to his assigned task. Seamus raced to the medical labs on board the ship. He wanted to be prepared for any injured that were brought aboard and be able to offer aid to the remaining ships. There was little doubt that the battle would have casualties. Bane had the utmost faith in his mate and friend. With one damaged, there were yet still five enemy ships to worry about. They set an intercept course for the Accendo, having seen it's power and knowing it was the threat to be dealt with first. Two opened fire. One targeted the bridge, the other the primary reactor. The shields held, but minor surges raced through the ships power systems. The operations officer struggled to keep the surges out of the primary systems and all their systems up. The five ships took turns taking shots at the Accendo while the crippled ship began to beam soldiers onto the royal flagship. The transporter chief, at the request of the dragon emperor, had evacuated their ship. The Accendo shook violently as its shields were pushed to the limit by the powerful weapons of the enemy. No other ship had ever survived attack by one, let alone five scavenger ships. This ship was powerful, but it was outnumbered.

The tactical officer targeted the lead ship, and with another volley from the cannons disabled it as well. There was a flash of light as the remaining defending ship's reactor went critical. The shock wave from the blast impacted the hull of the royal ship causing its reactor to go critical as well. The combined shock waves washed over both the attacking ships as well as the Accendo. The two crippled Scavenger ships were destroyed by the shock wave. Bane held tightly to his chair as his ship was shaken violently. Sparks flew from several control panels as a number of the ship's systems were pushed past their operating parameters. "Helm get us out of here, maximum speed!", Bane screamed orders for his officers to leave the engagement.

As the wave moved on, all was silent for a moment. Bane looked around to see all those on the bridge were frozen. He turned to see Alex in mid step. The fox had gotten up to get a report from the engineering chief regarding the ships status. Bane stood up, his fur bristling to stand on end. Something was not right about this! This could not be happening and the Wolf began to wonder if he were dreaming when suddenly a voice made him jump. It was a voice he heard every day, yet it was somehow different.

"Hello Banehollow Accendo.", it said. Bane jumped then turned, the sight behind him made his throat grow tight. It was a cheetah, like Dasher but different. He smiled as Bane absorbed this information and his appearance. The cheetah was black with golden orange markings. His coloring was completely opposite of Dasher's! "Hello Emperor, my name is Sebastian," said the new cheetah as he approached Bane and took a seat in his vacant chair, "I assume my sight unnerves you?" Bane nodded speechless and the dark cheetah continued, "As it should. I see you can hold your own against my pets. I could destroy you, giving them the victory but then I would lose my favorite play toy." He grinned with an amused yet confident manner. Bane stood, completely confused. He had referred to the scavengers as his pets, but why?

The cheetah smiled and said, "I shall start at the beginning of the story. I tell you this because you have earned the right to know of me and what I am. Besides, nobody would believe you if you did tell them. You see, the Dasher you know is not the only Dasher that exists. There are many realities parallel to this one. Each similar but different in unique and key ways. For example, I am Dasher but then again I am not. I can use my magic, he cannot." Bane spoke up finally and stated, "You are evil, he is not." The cheetah laughed and said, "Your concepts of good and evil amuse me. You see, there are no such things. Those are arbitrary values placed on things by their observers. There are only those with power and those without it. I have the ability to do whatever I please. Reality itself is mine to shape as I see fit. Everything that has taken place has been for your benefit alone. You see, I am testing you Banehollow, to see if you have what it takes." A low growl escaped from Bane's throat and his fists clenched as he asked, "Testing me for what?" The cheetah laughed as if unconcerned and said, "That's not for you to know just yet. Life is a game my friend and you are my pawn." Bane shook his head and bared his teeth as he accused, "You have embroiled this entire universe into a war it should have never fought. Many have died and all so you can get your rocks off?" Bane more yelled this than said it but the cheetah smiled despite the intended insult. Sebastian said calmly, "I am as a god and you a simple mortal. I don't expect you to understand the bigger picture." The cheetah stood and faced the wolf, then said, "Bane, I offer you this. Do not judge my actions based on what you see and perceive. Do not think I do what I do lightly. Yes, you see me as evil. However what I fight is even more evil. One day you will understand, you will see as I do, and be faced with decisions I face. But not this day." Bane looked deeply into the Cheetah's eyes. He could almost see regret upon his face and it confused him. "I have attacked the Dragon's simply to have this conversation with you and I must admit, you are as dynamic a wolf as I expected. Perhaps even more so. In time you will be very useful." The cheetah paused before continuing, "Know this Banehollow. I do not do what I do merely at a whim. Sometimes there are forces at play bigger than one can understand. In time you will understand my burdens. Until then fight my minions, for in them lies your salvation." With that, the mysterious cheetah vanished. There was no distortion from teleporting, he just simple was not there any longer. With him went the attacking ships, to Bane's surprise.

Time returned to normal and all on the bridge simply stared at the view screen. To them the blast had destroyed all ships but Bane knew better. He turned to Alex and asked sharply, "Status report!" Alex looked at the display for the operations terminal, then turned and answered, "The ship is mostly in one piece. Many of the systems are offline, shields are almost gone, and half of engineering is inaccessible. If they hadn't been destroyed by the reactor explosions, we would have been in trouble. We had a power junction rupture in medical lab three. It is giving off an odd radiation but we have it contained. Overall, we got off much better than I had initially thought we would. Bane turned to see Seamus walk onto the bridge. The Fox looked dazed and Bane asked with concern,

"Seamus, are you alright?" Bane was concerned as the fox looked greatly confused and disturbed. He looked to the Wolf and asked with puzzlement,"B-bane, who's Seamus and where are we?" Bane looked at his foxy and began to move towards him as he said in a calming manner, "Hun, you're Seamus." The fox shook his head and stated, "I'm Scott, your fiance. What are you talking about Bane?"

Bane looked at the Fox with disbelief that he would say such a thing. Pain and a little fright went thru Bane as he absorbed this. Then a small voice appeared in the back of Bane's mind. An oddly resonant voice said, "A parting gift to you Banehollow, I give you your Scott back." Bane stood shaken and not believing what he was hearing, now from a second source.

Seamus lay in his bed, sedated by the acting chief medical officer. He had been questioned and the sedation had been necessary as he had gotten extremely upset at the new reality he found himself in. He had regained his memories of his new appearance and now realized what had happened. Some questioning brought out what the truth must be. When the main gun exploded, that day on the old Base. he had been teleported on board Blacks cloaked ship and taken away. The ship had been responsible for the Wolf agent who had sabotaged the gun and then fought with Scott. It was standing by and moved in as soon as the feedback of energy had begun building. It tried to pull its agent out in time but had focused on the only living thing there, Scott. The wolves took the surprised human captive and that was when hell had begun. Admiral Uhlra had tortured him expertly and he still had nightmares of that time. But what he had suffered under Black's orders, was worse. He was experimented upon, with the same chemicals that had caused Dasher to change to a feral wolf and forced to finish the process by a small faction within the wolf empire that had as of yet to surrender. Then, using time travel, he had been carried back and planted onto the ship he was found on for Bane to find. Unknown to them was that Sebastion had been behind it all and the dark Cheetah had been the means of the transfer thru time of the transformed Scott. The entire story was farfetched, but not unbelievable. He had already seen that the transformation process was indeed fully completed.

Unfortunately Scott could not provide information on who ran the operation, how they acquired time travel technology, or where they currently were. Furthermore, with this technology they could wage the war any time and anywhere. The question became, why did they not simply alter history and make their side the victors. Bane shook his head as he walked to his quarters on board the Accendo. There was still the matter of the negotiations to deal with, as well as repairs. The ship was badly damaged, but still strong enough that retreat was not called for.

Bane opened the door to his quarters and walked into them. He locked them behind him and sat at his desk. He looked at himself in the dressing mirror attached to the door of his closet. The wolf looked old, and felt it. He had more gray fur now than he had upon arriving. Stress had taken its tole, and aged him considerably. He studied the figure looking back at him. The fur around his muzzle was grayer than he remembered. His eyes looked tired, his face looked sunken a bit.

He sighed and leaned back in his chair. He went over his conversation with the cheetah in his mind. So many possibilities, he decided not to give it more thought. All that mattered now was moving forward with the known. The unknown would simply have to wait. Scott was returned, however nobody must know. It would be too complicated to explain, and would potentially force the hand of whatever force was behind it. At any rate, he would need his strength if he was to get through this trial. He had been relying on his friends to keep him going but the truth was, Bane was running on empty. He sighed and lay his head upon his desk. So much to do, so many looking to him, so much pressure. His decisions shaped entire worlds and the future of whole civilizations, yet he was expected to make them alone. Bane drifted off into an uneasy slumber, tomorrow would bring new challenges, but today would bring rest.