Nikto wasn't an animal person. He didn't like cats and he didn't like dogs. That was, until a mission in an African grassland and Nikto met Sputnik.

The small nearly hairless hyena could barely stand up on its own, tiny beady eyes staring back at him. Probably abandoned by its mother. Poor thing.

Maybe it was the way the pup cried out and barked, but Nikto's normally cold heart melted. Which is how Nikto found himself at their temporary camp, hand feeding a hyena pup.