Fellow Traveler
It happened during a botched Allegiance op near Khandor. Nikto was operating alone, trailing a lead on a particularly dubious group of merchants the Syrkistani government had paid quietly to be eliminated. While he never did find their ring leader, he did find a transport crate previously belonging to the Africa Militia containing smuggled cargo meant for the black market.
Inside wasn't gold or intel, but a starving, scarred spotted hyena pup.
The cub didn't growl. It just stared with the same hollow, dissociative gaze Nikto saw in the mirror every morning. The militia guards had likely used the beast’s mother for "interrogations," leaving nothing behind, much like Zakhaev’s men had once used Nikto’s own body to glean information against his will. Just different methods…same erasure of autonomy. And now this scraggly little thing would suffer for it.
Instead of putting the animal down, Nikto killed the guards and threw their rations into the cage, leaving the door open. He didn't say a word. He didn't need to. In the world of "Nobodies," they were the same…discarded weapons left to rot.
If the pup decided to follow him on its too-large paws, he didn’t stop it.
Later he would name it Sputnik. Not after the satellite, but for the literal translation: "Fellow Traveler." Thats what he became. He learned from the only guide he knew. The only hand that hadn’t harmed. So as he grew, he grew willing to harm to protect that hand.
Now, when Nikto enters the field, he isn't alone. He brings the scavenger that learned to bite back. While other operators use trained K9s that follow whistles and commands, Sputnik only follows the scent of Nikto's targets, a silent partner in a world that forgot they both existed.
**Art from the extremely talented BettyBRenders (I actually found this on Pinterest but it wasn’t credited. Forewarning: NSFW artist, Twitter link.)
I saw in on YouTube that he also has a bat and a crow
I didn't play the game so can someone please confirm this it'll be so cool if he actually has all this 😆😆
