"I will love the light for it shows me the way, yet I will endure the darkness because it shows me the stars."
Og Mandino
Space Panda
II
Rise of the Hunters
Prolog
Ling Tou. The scientists call it a planet. Not a Garden world, but a world with a colder climate. Still warm enough to live on it.
I call it a garbage dump. When the Zhu Empire conquered this planet two centuries ago, it was still that how this planet is called by the scientists today. But rapid industrialization and several economic crises led that the only purpose of this planet became to be a garbage dump. Around two-thirds of the planet is used for this. Even the oceans are full of it. If this planet had flora or natives at some time, that it is extinguished for good for a long time already.
The remaining thirds of the planet is a garbage dump for the living people. All the scum of the galaxy hides here. Some of them were born here even and no one of them looks very healthy.
For example this boar there sitting at the table. It has no fur, but there for many and big lumps on its body, which look like it would kill him any second. But he lives here his whole life and these lumps are nothing new for him.
Or the giraffe there. Its neck is curved in more than one grotesque way.
Or this Mountain Lion here. One of his arms is bandaged. Renewed the third time in a month, because some new bone has broken. And the guys here have told me, that they have not seen him without this bandage for the whole time they know him. And for some of them this means years.
I shake my head. I am much too long here. Why on Heaven's sake I would know all these stories already otherwise. Since this damn panda had destroyed the Jade Orb and in this way my weapon, I have lost everything. The Zhu Empire knows that I am still living now and they sent their hunters. In this way I could hide only there, where they would not assume me: In the Imperial Territory between scum.
I sigh.
"You sigh pretty often, Peacock." a voice in front of me says. I look up and see the bull host of this tavern, where I am sitting right now. He has an ill green skin, his horns have lumps and one of his eyes looks like it has regressed to a puny white eye. He is not a native of this planet, but lives here – like he said – his whole life already.
"I have many reasons to do so.", I reply, when a thought hits me. Will I regress in this way as well, when I stay here longer? Oh God! I need to leave this planet as fast as I can. If I would have still a ship!
I leave my stool and a pain shots through my body. I look down along my dirty white dress, which looks like it was black almost, to my feet. Since this damn panda had used his…whatever it was…on me, my feet are hurting me. I can't walk properly without strong pain. Another thing I want to repay this panda!
I throw some of these coins as a payment on the bar, while turning around to leave this tavern. Right after a bigger crocodile enters the tavern, Laoban rushes inside.
"Master!" he yells and runs to me.
"I said, you shouldn't call me in this way as long as we are here." I whisper to him, after he has reached me, "What is it?"
"A disaster, Master! Colonel Yu is here and is searching for you."
"What?! How?!"
"I don't know! I…!" I interrupt him, "Never mind! We need to leave this place, before he finds me!"
"Oh he has found you already, Brother." a voice from the entrance says. I look there and see like a blue-green peacock in an Imperial Army Armor – it is grey and protects the whole body except the head – enters the tavern, followed by imperial soldiers wearing helmets. They surround us in matter of seconds.
I stare at the blue peacock, who steps closer to me. His armor is free at the arms and I can see these parts of his dark blue dress, which is similar to mine. Of one of these sleeves he takes out an apple. Red and Fresh. Such food I had not for months already, because this planet lives through garbage food as well. He bites into it and let's time pass by chewing it in front of me. This jerk!
"Your instincts seem to have rusted, brother." he begins while taking another bite before he chews it, "Hiding yourself on the garbage dump of the Empire was clever, but you stayed much too long. You should have known, that there would be people, who recognize you or have you not thought about this?"
He chews further with a gleeful grin. "My resources are….limited." I reply and add, "Little Brother."
"Little Brother, eh?" he says amused, "It is been a while since I was called so, Brother. Since your betrayal on the Emperor."
"Wrong. Since you have betrayed me.", I correct him without hiding my anger, "Your betrayal led ultimately to my failure and not mine betrayal, Little Brother."
He glares at me. "You should have known that I would not betray my Liege. I am a loyal man."
"You are a coward! That was the reason, why you went to Tai Lung instead of the Emperor himself. And you are still one."
His glare intensifies, but then his face changes to a gleeful one. "For my mistakes I was punished already, Brother, you not."
"Punished? You? Don't make me laugh! You were degraded to a Colonel and nothing more. What I am living through right now is real punishment."
During my talk he began to look around. He nods. "You are right. This life is a real punishment." he grins evilly, "But still nothing against what the Emperor has in mind for you."
I let out steam out of nose. "So he wants me alive?"
"Yeah, you are a lucky one….or by proper thought about this, not lucky…the Emperor has declared that he wants to punish you with his own hands. And he said that you will not like it at all."
"With his own hands? Would have never thought that he is still able to lift even one of them. I seem to have overestimated his craving for food."
He grins evilly once again. "You know, that I need to inform the Emperor of every insult you make?"
I spit out. "Don't care. If there would be a chance of worsening this matter….", then the penny drops, "There is a chance to improve my survival rate, isn't there?"
His face proves it: he is not amused anymore. I am right.
"Yes…there is a thing, which the Emperor has mentioned." he breathes in and out once, "He is ready to change the punishment to only exile, if…if you would…."
"…create another weapon like the one, which has destroyed Jade Station almost." I end the sentence and begin to grin gleefully, "An interesting offer, but is this all? Only punishment change to exile?"
He glares at me. "You should be lucky, Shen, and not greedy. Other criminals in your position have not even got such an offer. You should accept it."
"Only because no other one like me was ever in a position like me. With this you can't convince me, Little Brother."
He looks obviously angry now. I bet that the Emperor has not made such an offer at all. He knows probably from my weapon, – who would not know after what happened a year ago on Jade Station? – but that's it. He is not clever or merciful enough to make such an offer. I bet that he has offered only something like fewer punishments, but that's it. That means the offer came from Yu himself. And with him I can negotiate.
"At least, your brain works still, Shen." he says still obviously angry, but then he grins gleefully, "But what you not know is that the Emperor has offered a present for the person, who brings you to him. Any present. And when I can't get your weapon, then I get the present instead."
Damn! The Imperial Soldiers draw their weapons, while Laoban forces me behind himself. He has drawn his normal Blaster as well.
"Master I will protect you." he says to me. Idiot. You are nothing worth for them. It is a pity: You were my most loyal subject. I wait for the moment, where they gun you down.
CRACK!
A loud noise is heard, which resembles the noise of breaking metal. Every one of us looks to the direction where this noise has come from and we see like the biggest crocodile I have ever seen has a part of the steel tables in his hand. He has ripped it off of his table.
When I look closer at him, I notice odd differences to a crocodile: His arms have tubes attached to it, his legs as well, his torso has a steel plate riveted to his belly and his lower jaw was made from metal completely. He wears only black short pants and two Blasters at his belt as well like an old, brown and stinky hat, which is known from Cowboys. His eyes are ice blue and only staring at them lets me shiver.
"It seems you want to force him to go with you, Blue Peacock.", he says and he has an odd accent cause of the metal jaw. He stands up and is even taller than I thought initially. And I realize something: It is the guy, who has stepped into the tavern right in front of Laoban.
"Yeah, this is the plan, Metal Croc.", Yu replies and I can hear the obvious fear in his voice, "Have you something against it?"
The closest soldiers turn around to the Croc and point their weapons at him. I sense movement from the other side: The Mountain Lion has stood up and begins to undress his bandage.
The Metal Croc grins evilly and that looks real evil cause of his metal jaw. "I have something against it, you are right. The White Peacock stays here."
Yu tries to act calm. "You are making the Empire to your enemy, Metal Croc. When I would be you, I would leave now peacefully. Or else…"
"You die." the Metal Croc finishes the sentence. At this moment a shot is heard from behind and a soldier dies immediately. I spin around and see that the Mountain Lion has a big gun there, where his arm should be. And he has not stopped firing.
From the other side the volume of noise increases as well, when the Metal Croc has grabbed the two closets Soldiers at their necks like they would weigh nothing. He breaks their necks with a movement of his fingers.
A yell comes next from the bar. The bull host charges the bar, breaks it apart – it is out of metal as well – and takes further soldiers on his horns. Then the lion with the gun shoots again, before the Metal Croc kills further soldiers.
At the end all the soldiers are dead and the three animals are standing there not even panting. When the host turns around to me once again, I realize that in his eye is a technological improvement now, which looks like a red eye glass. The host ignores me and goes inside the kitchen, which is found behind the bar. The Mountain Lion sits down as well and continues to drink his drink.
Not only am I, Laoban and Yu shocked by what happened right now, but also the other customers in the tavern. They look like paralyzed. The Metal Croc goes to Yu, who seems to tremble. He draws his Blaster and points it at the Metal Croc.
"Try it, Blue Peacock and you die like your men." the Croc threatens him. Yu drops his weapon immediately. A coward stays a coward.
"Texa, have an eye on him." the Metal Croc says to the returned host. He has a machine gun in his hands now and nods only.
The Metal Croc goes to me and every of his movements are heard pretty well on the steel ground.
"You are Shen, is this right?" he asks me with a threatening sound.
I gulp. What choices have I left? "I am. And you are?" I reply and try to not show my fear to him. I think I achieved this.
He looks amused. "They call me Majin, because I am their leader."
"They?"
"We were called the Hunters by the ones we hunted, although we have different names as well. But this one fits the most."
I don't understand this at all, but still one question remains to be asked: "What do you want from me?"
He grins evilly and lowers his head so he can look into my eyes directly.
"We want your skills to destroy stations."
Welcome back to the Sequel of Space Panda. :) This is only the Prolog of the story and you can read it right after the new year has started. I hope you will like the story I have planned for you and when you do, please review it. :)
And a little comment: When you have thought that Shen was defeated last time...then you couldn't be more wrong. ]:-D
Kung Fu Panda and its Characters belong to DreamWorks.
This World and Idea is mine.