Sweet Bee Productions Presents
Not All Heroes Require Exercise
A Wild Assault Prologue Novel
By David J. Blood
Wild Assault is a registered trademark of Combat Cat Studio and is now available for PC on Steam! Play as one of ten superior* bestial soldiers as they beat the ever-loving snot out of each other, and anyone in their way, in 20 Vs. 20 Raid, and Conquest. Unlock new weapons and attachments by giving your enemy a hug** with fabulous weapons like the Home Defender shotgun; guaranteed to not protect your home or your money back, and the SMG5.
1* Soldiers may not be superior. All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.
2* Hugs may involve lethal amounts of shrapnel; hugger discretion is advised.
It was the year Anno Domini 1991, the Year of Our Lord, tensions have been rising between the Eurasian Federation, Canadian Empire, and the South-East Asian Republic for decades over key, unincorporated territories. Talks of roving mercenaries, only answerable to money, prowling throughout Africa and South America have reached the poignant ears of many regular citizens. It seemed that war was coming; war was inevitable, and that none could stop the machinations from those wishing to turn the hands of the future.
At least, until Operation Desert Storm turned the tide.
Prologue
Mainland China
Shenzhen
July 6th, 12:00
It was quite a glorious day, or so the panda thought, as the sea breeze blew past his ears. Unfortunately, that was not the only thing crossing his ear canals.
``There you are, Zhenshan! I cannot believe you would just dip out on your job like that!''
``I am watching for pirates; that is my job,''
``Pirates, this close to the dock? Come on, Zhenshan, we both know nobody will buy that. You were hired as a port bodyguard; you are supposed to be watching the merchandise as it gets loaded and unloaded.''
``Ah, but Lian Yu, it is such a wonderful day, especially this far off the pier.'' Zhenshan crooked his head, turning towards the female sun bear; the Port Master, to be precise, a beaming smile upon his face.
``Indeed, it is, but you know what is also nice?'' She gently puts a hard on the panda's shoulder. ``Doing your job.'' With a none too crooked smile on her face.
``Ah, Lian Yu, your smiles are like summer blooms, and your grip as tempting as an ox: it would be hard to say no.'' Dishearten, Zhenshan rose to his stubby feet, and, together with Lian Yu, returned to the ship currently unloading fragile cargo. A sudden, muffled, explosion rocked the ground, however; as if a small earthquake has occurred underground, waves lapping dangerously at the pier.
``What was that?!''
Unfortunately, due to the heat, Zhenshan had worn light; leaving most of his gadgets in storage and had little in the realm of computational power. Thankfully, he had at least one thing: a monocle-esque viewport descended from his head, and data began streaming data into view.
``Can you pull up anything on the port records? I am reading very high levels of heat coming from below the port; such that the port may catch fire soon enough.''
``Oh, goody, just what we need; a modern Vesuvius off China's coastline.'' Lian Yu sighed, as she furiously dug through the port records on her tablet. ``The previous shipment was somewhat suspicious; it was under the auspices of the UN, and we could not scan it for irregularities, not to mention the entire unloaded cargo was over five hundred pounds.''
``Warehouse E?''
``Yes, but how did you...''
``The heat is building up underneath that point, specifically; start calling for emergency services, fire especially, and have them ready nearby.''
``Aren't I supposed to be the one in charge here?'' Lian Yu mumbled to herself, as she started dialing the requisite numbers asked of her; the two of them swiftly making their way to Warehouse E.
``Alright, hazmat team, get that door open!'' Zhenshan yelled, as the fire and hazard teams were both standing ready nearby; engines ready to pump gallons of water, and extinguishers for all sorts of situations. On his command, however, the hazard team moved in and began prying the almost molten door open; a wave of volcanic air blowing straight through the first opening, as if Hell itself was waiting for them. ``This is not good...'' But before Zhenshan could issue the command for extinguishers, a strange shadow flew out the door, and straight past him; like a bat out of Hell, in that split second, all he waw was a streak of white, a burlap hood concealing their face and body.
But Zhenshan did not have the luxury of time, to bother with such trivialities, he reverted his gaze back to his current task, and started instructing the teams, everyone moving with the utmost care. It did not take long for them to find out that what was causing the anomaly was not something in any of the boxes themselves, but behind the stacked crates, tucked securely away in such a manner that nobody of Zhenshan's size, which was most of the dockworkers, could possibly reach it.
It would seem that this was a set-up, and that whatever was stored here was being used as a catalyst, after the main ignition.
But Zhenshan did not have time to wonder about such trivialities; the current reality is this whole palace was going up in flames if they did not do something! As his mind was racing a white blur flew past him, and leaped well over the massive shipping crates, descending into the tiny opening above, and...
``Well, I'll be damned...'' Zhenshan was left speechless, as the thermal readings began to dissipate, slowly but surely. Whatever had jumped in there had certainly saved his hide.
``A... A little help here?''
A demure voice whispered out from between the containers, causing Zhenshan to peak in between once more; only to be greeted by the most albino of rabbits and the reddest of eyes. To think something like that could even perform such feats in the face of such danger was rather surprising. Of course, Zhenshan found it more endearing than anything else, and, with some help from his co-workers, fished the rabbit out of her self-imprisonment.
``What a day....'' Yian Lu sighed, as she and Zhenshan sat outside the warehouse, the sun bear trying desperately to file a report.
``You did good out there, little rabbit.'' The rabbit blushed, as the bull put a hand on her shoulder from behind; her eyes watching the two bears intently. ``I knew you could do it.''
``Wait a gosh darn minute. ``Lian Yu finally notices the two interlopers, and starts to get up, before the bull walks over and fishes something from his front pocket. ``Just who the h...''
``Interpol.'' Having pulled a digital badge out of his pocket, the bull began to speak. ``We have been chasing the main suspect in the recent gas attacks happening all over the world, and that search as led us here; to Shenzhen, which we believe to be a port of origin.''
``Like hell this port is being used to ship out anything so illegal.''
``Lian Yu...'' Zhenshan was already behind her, his paws on her shoulders, massaging gently, the sun bear almost melting in place at the attention. ``Calm down and let us begin to figure out what just happened.''
``Nnngg...'' She huffed and began parsing through her tablet. ``Why don't the three of you go look at that device we recovered that began this whole ordeal; save me the effort.'' While waving them away with her other hand.
``Well, that was interesting.'' Ryan piped up, as Zhenshan merely proffered a shrug. ``You certainly have some interesting things in this country.''
``Just be happy that I was able to quell her anger just a little. More importantly, follow me to the warehouse.''
He beckoned the bull, and the rabbit, to follow me; both doing so promptly, as he was the only other person with the authorization needed, currently, to open the doors.
``So, what do you make of it?''
``Hell, if I know.'' Ryan scratched his head, as he looked it over. ``Without some form of deep scanner, I doubt any of us will ever know.''
``Smells burned.''
The rabbit wrinkled her overly sensitive nose, surprising both onlookers.
``What else do you smell?''
The rabbit nearly jumped, unused to two men talking simultaneously.
``N-Not much else, I-I think it is burned beyond meaningful recovery.''
``Well, regardless, we may as well send it back to Interpol headquarters back in France; see if the tech boys can glean anything at all as to if it was made by any of the known shadow organizations.'' The bull nodded to the rabbit. ``Bag it, Hong Ying.''
``Hey now, wait just a minute, China is exempt from...''
Zhenshan began to move, to intervene, but the bull spryly stepped in between him and Hong Ying.
``Unfortunately, as this is Class A evidence in regard to the ongoing gas attacks, I am afraid that Interpol must requisition this object; the Bureau will handle any diplomatic issues resulting from this seizure.''
The panda was at a loss for words and had little desire to test his luck against a hardened police officer. But as his mind wandered in thought, he remembered what he saw previously, and wondered what he should do about it. On one hand, he could keep it to himself, as it was not likely to be relevant; the impoverished were known to sneak abord ship cargo all the time to bypass local authorities. On the other hand, he felt the way they darted straight out of the warehouse to be rather ominous, as if they did not want to be caught at all, even during an emergency situation; not to mention they were clearly trying to hide their face.
``When you two are done here, come to the Dockmaster; she will have something you might be interested in.''
With those cryptic words, Zhenshan left the building; Hong Ying was working furiously to safely bag the burnt-up device, before the bull took it and walked out, the rabbit not far behind.
``I was right, the cameras did catch something.'' Zhenshan muttered, as he watched the replay on Lian Yu's tablet, with her permission, the two police officers well within hearing distance. ``But where were they trying to go...''
``Are there any boats, or other craft, one could steal at this port?''
The bull motioned, as he tried to look over Zhenshan's shoulder.
``No, the only seaworthy craft currently at dock are cargo ships, all of which were locked down due to the recent emergency. Even if, theoretically, someone could board one, they would not be able to start it.'' Lian Yu interjected for Zhenshan. ``So, based on that fact, and despite their random movement between cameras, their only option would be to head into Shenzhen City.''
The bull just uttered a very disgruntled noise.
``Searching a city could take hours, if not be complete folly.''
``This is true, but with poverty being non-existent in Shenzhen their outfit will stand out all the more. Besides, we have four people looking simultaneously.''
``Three, I have work to finish up here; god knows nobody else is going to write the report.''
Lian Yu bemoaned, clearly having the least interesting task of all, as she began to ficus more on her tablet.
``Alright, stay safe, Lian Yu.'' Zhenshan embraced the sun bear, gently, her coloration only minorly hiding her blush. ``If anything new should happen, you know my number.'' Before turning around to the others. ``Let us make haste.''
The two police officers nodded, and the three of them left the port. Unbeknownst to the panda, however, was that he would come to regret leaving his gear behind.
To be continued in...
Not All Villains Smell Toxic
