The Pegasus-class skyhook streaked across the heavens, releasing a departing shuttle into space while its opposite claw latched onto what appeared to be a cargo ship bound for Ares.

The Pegasus was the newest of the twelve skyhooks operating above Pavor. For reasons I couldn’t quite explain, I could always recognize it. Although it seemed impossible, whenever the skyhook flew overhead along its fixed orbit, I felt as though I could hear its resonant hum and sense a faint... yearning.

Whenever I tried to share my observations with others, they dismissed it as an overactive imagination, so I gradually stopped mentioning it—except to Ali, who believed me. Lowering my head, I glanced at my brother, seated beside me.

“No one remembers how things came to be this way,” Ali said softly. The composite fibers in the fire crackled and popped, sending up a few sparks.

“There are only faint whispers in the shadows, murmuring that ‘things weren’t always like this,’ but no one can say for sure what things used to be like.” The flickering firelight made his green eyes seem to glow red.

“So the story I’m about to tell is the version passed down by our ancestors, from generation to generation.” Ali always retold this story whenever someone new joined our small group. He had taken on this responsibility last year.

“I can’t vouch for its accuracy, but this is what I know.” Ali cleared his throat and began the tale of our people—the tale of the ancient promise.



“After the Dragon and the herbivores decided to leave Gaia, the canines took control of the world, establishing an empire centered around purebred dogs.

Other carnivores, barely having escaped the oppression of the herbivores, found themselves under the heel of a new oppressor. Before anyone realized it, a new hierarchy had formed. This time, dogs were at the top, and the other carnivores were pushed to even lower ranks—at least before, there were no serfs.

In search of a new home, fleeing from the Canine Empire’s enslavement, the cheetah Shaka gathered all the big cats on Gaia willing to follow him, including his half-brother, Dingane. They left everything they knew behind, boarding a massive starship bound for the unknown reaches of space.

They first stopped on Lunar for supplies, but fearing heightened tensions with the empire, the authorities—priding themselves on being a beacon of freedom and diversity—invoked a principle of neutrality to refuse shelter to Shaka’s people.

Disheartened, the big cats eventually reached the Ares Federation, ruled by herbivores, who were willing to help—but with a condition: every big cat wishing to set foot on the red planet or its moons had to wear an electric collar. ‘For the sake of social stability,’ the herbivores claimed, insisting it was their consistent policy for all carnivores, with no discrimination against the big cats.

As fellow refugees displaced by the canines, the big cats initially thought the herbivores would understand them. However, during negotiations, Shaka learned the herbivores’ stance was unyielding.

Some big cats accepted the terms, donned the collars, and settled in the Ares Federation. But Shaka and most of his followers couldn’t bear the humiliation and chose instead to take their chances in the vastness of space.

‘There must be a place in this boundless universe that will welcome us,’ Shaka said to Dingane.

Continuing their journey towards the sol’s edge, Shaka’s group encountered the Dragon in the asteroid belt. As one of the first species to leave Gaia and explore space, the Dragon offered all the help they could. However, both sides knew that the harsh environment of the asteroids was survivable only by the robust and adaptable Dragon; for the big cats, survival was nearly impossible.

The Dragon were planning a colony on the gas giants, but that was a century away at least, and even then, the big cats might not survive such an environment.

‘The odds of survival in the asteroid belt are almost infinite compared to the near-total hopelessness out here,’ Dingane urged, echoing the thoughts of some of the big cats.

But Shaka didn’t want his people to slowly wither away in such a harsh environment; he still believed in the promise of the unknown.

The wise Dragon admired his courage, and they shared with Shaka a piece of knowledge—a secret about the outer edge of the sol, guarded by incomprehensible, mysterious beings known as the Phantom. These powerful entities, who refused all communication, would destroy any life attempting to leave the solar system. Thus, Shaka’s search for a new home had to end there.

The Dragon, knowing the truth was too harsh to bear, offered an ancient poem as an apology—a secret about the first beings to set foot on Lunar and establish a base there.

The Dragon’ song was too profound for Shaka to fully comprehend, but he understood the most important fact in the story: just one phrase, reciting that ancient, forgotten verse, would compel the authorities to offer them unconditional refuge. It was the foundation upon which the Lunar government was built—the ancient covenant.

Not all the big cats believed the story, nor did they have much faith in those hypocrites. But who could blame them, having just been rejected by those they thought would help them? In the end, only about half of the big cats who left Gaia set their course back to Lunar.

‘I know it will work,’ Dingane encouraged Shaka as he looked at his remaining followers. His brother’s smile made Shaka feel the hope again.

But before they reached Lunar, the Canine Empire’s fleet—previously uninterested in their activities—appeared before them, blocking their path. The fleet delivered an ultimatum: return to Gaia and resume their near-slave existence, or become drifting wreckage in space.

There was nothing to consider, and the Canine Empire’s forces, eager for them to refuse, wasted no time attacking.

It was a massacre. Shaka’s starship was not a fully functional colony vessel, but a hastily assembled refugee ship barely capable of carrying passengers. But it wouldn’t have mattered; against the empire’s most powerful flagship, The Empire’s Claw, Shaka’s group had no choice but to flee. Their only hope was to reach Lunar jurisdiction.

Almost miraculously, the starship held together, and Shaka’s group managed to slip into Lunar territory. The Canine Empire’s fleet remained at a distance, not pursuing further.

The surviving big cats aboard the ship cheered and embraced each other, celebrating their survival.

Despite the chaos on the bridge, the still-burning fires, the injured lying on the floor groaning, and the ship nearly breaking apart, Shaka laughed out loud at this insignificant victory.

He opened communications, requesting to speak with Lunar leaders and to invoke the ancient covenant. From their astonished reaction, Shaka understood the secret the Dragon had shared was true.

Unexpectedly, the response was swift—a plasma torpedo that destroyed the ship’s communications system. And more, many more, torpedoes were heading their way—blue globes rising from the barren Lunar surface, trailing sparkling light, their beautiful arcs like shooting stars. Surreal, the image that would soon destroy everything, devouring all until only the void remained—was beautiful.

Now Shaka understood why the Canine Empire’s fleet had stopped: they were watching.

‘Why?’ Shaka pounded his fists against the now-useless console, shouting as pain shot through his broken ribs. ‘I just wanted to find a place for us.’ His words had barely left his mouth when another explosion rocked the ship, throwing Shaka to the ground.

‘It’s okay.’ In the haze of his injured mind, Shaka recognized Dingane’s voice, felt the warmth of his brother’s embrace as he held him close. ‘Wherever you are, that’s our home. So,’ in the endless cold of space, that warmth was undeniable, ‘welcome home, Shaka.’

In his final moments, Shaka felt a strange, out-of-body sensation—something warm sliding down his cheek. It might have been a tear, or blood, or both. But the one thing he knew for sure was that he had finally found his true home.”