The Chaos Sutra

by Gregg Vann

  He noted with some amusement that the minefield was just as obvious as the other Udek defenses, complete with appropriately menacing signs printed in both Udek script and Iriq symbols. And there were flashing red strobe lights mounted high up on poles, so they could be seen from a great distance. The soldiers stationed at the only entrance to the base were also meant as a deterrent. There were only two of them, but Tien knew there were plenty more Udek commandos inside.

  He glanced back at the small army of Iriq warriors hidden throughout the forest behind him, some blending in so perfectly with their surroundings that it was difficult to get an accurate count. Tien noted that many of the Iriq were holding two guns in each hand—a nice benefit to having supremely manipulative fingers. But they weren’t the only ones capable of brandishing multiple weapons; Maxal was standing just off to Tien’s side with his own mixed pair. The Blenej was cradling a large rifle in his upper arms, and wielded a heavy wood-and-metal club in his lower hand. Tien had suggested that another gun, or even a knife, would be far more useful in the battle ahead. But Maxal had just shrugged and assured him that the club was the most effective use of that hand.

  Unsurprisingly, Ayel had situated herself right next to Maxal; the two were practically inseparable. The Iriq’s face signaled her eagerness for action, and Tien saw a haunting thirst for revenge in Ayel’s eyes—for both the death of her sister, and the invasion of her homeland. Tien harbored no doubts whatsoever about her motivation or willingness to fight.

  Brother Ryll had remained behind at the rebel camp, and there was broad agreement that that was probably the best place for him.

  The soft rumbling sound building in the air over the last several minutes began to grow much louder. It was now impossible to ignore. Tien turned to see Kuv twisting his fingers through a blur of patterns, using a carefully coded sequence to issue orders to his distant soldiers. It was doubtful that the Udek sensors at the base could detect and decipher rebel communications, but the special, predetermined patterns they were using would guarantee it. This was no time for complacency. There was too much on the line.

  Watching Kuv send the commands brought Tien to a sudden realization. No matter what colorful adaptations the Iriq underwent during their formative years, they all shared one singular trait—without fail, or even the slightest variation. All of their fingers carried the exact same black and white patterns. Without that universal commonality, granted by nature, evolutionary necessity, or as some would no doubt claim, divine intervention, he wondered how else they might have developed language, or what unusual form it would have taken.

  Tien spotted familiar flashes of black and white as a trio of rebels acknowledged Kuv’s communication, and then they turned sharply, herding a group of nearly thirty Hont through the edge of the forest. The Iriq were on foot but they were fast, dodging adeptly between tree trunks and dense foliage alike as they blasted the ground around the Hont with their weapons—controlling the animals’ direction of travel through the thick undergrowth, and trying to manage the stampede. There was nothing so agile about the large beasts under their nominal control, however, as the Hont simply mowed down whatever was in their path, desperate to escape the ongoing harassment.

  The combined group of Iriq and Hont broke out into the clearing, leaving a twisted trail of broken trees and crushed earth behind them. The sound became deafening, and Tien saw the two Udek at the gate instantly take notice. How could they not? There were literal tons of gargantuan animals bearing down on them in a frenzied panic. Even from across the minefield Tien detected the surprise on the commandos’ faces, poorly hidden behind the military grade methane masks they used to ward off Polit’s toxic atmosphere. But their training held, and one of them sounded the alarm, slapping the wall panel behind him to trigger the ready-alert klaxon.

  The siren’s high-pitched wailing pierced the air, calling the Udek to action. But it wasn’t nearly loud enough to eclipse the sounds of the stampede. After a moment of confused hesitation, the soldiers in all three turrets began firing down at the Hont. But it was already too late. The herd of massive beasts entered the minefield, just as the Iriq who guided them to it returned to the safety of the tree line. The ground erupted as the mines sensed the intrusion, sending clouds of dirt into the air. The dusty haze was punctuated by flashes of metal and motion as the deadly machines emerged.

  And then the explosions began.

  Tien had expected a gory result from his unorthodox plan, but nothing prepared him for what he was witnessing. Most of the mines detonated as soon as they hit the surface, blowing the legs off the Hont and sending them toppling end over end into other mines. But a few of the devices scampered up the thick front legs of the beasts and detonated beneath their torsos, effectively quartering the animals, and sending bloody chunks of flesh—with sharp bony protrusions—sailing off in every direction. The constant explosions, combined with the plasma fire coming from the turrets, scattered the frightened Hont as they tried to flee the carnage. The animals’ erratic movements attracted every mine concealed beneath the surface, from around the entire circumference of the Udek base. And after two minutes that seemed like an eternity, only three of the Hont remained standing. The whole herd was now either dead or grievously wounded. One of the upright animals collapsed and lay moaning on the ground, while the other two dragged their broken bodies across the upturned earth, trying to make it back to the safety of the forest. Nothing reacted to their movements—even the turrets were silent—and Kuv realized that all the mines had been exhausted. He held a single hand high above his head and flashed a signal, and then shouted the command for the benefit of Maxal and Tien.

  “Now!”

  A blistering wave of firepower shot out from the tree line, simultaneously taking out the two guards stationed at the gate and those manning the turrets. One of the Iriq took it upon herself to target the surviving Hont, and she mercifully ended their suffering. The large group of rebels then dashed across the clearing as fast as they could, dodging various sized holes and massive piles of gore as they wound their way through the devastation left behind by the stampede. When they reached the base, they spread out along the defensive wall in a single-file line—with their backs pressed up against it to minimize their profile from above. They then worked their way around the barrier just as they’d planned, safely hidden from detection beneath the cameras and sensor pods. The Udek knew the rebels were there and that an attack was imminent, but without their surveillance apparatus they wouldn’t be able to anticipate what came next. At least, that was the hope. The rebels came to a stop when they reached the rear of the base, directly opposite the front gate.

  The Udek would be expecting them to blow open the main entryway, because breaching the doors would be much easier than trying to blast through the fortified walls. It only made sense. Which is why Tien had suggested doing something unexpected instead. So while the Udek were busy massing at the front of the base, waiting for the inevitable attack to begin, the rebels would come in through the back of the facility and establish a foothold, and then methodically work their way forward.

  Tien used a clenched fist to order the hundred or so Iriq in their complement to hold position, and every rebel and sympathizer Kuv had managed to collect overnight did exactly as directed. Kuv and another soldier moved forward several meters and placed an explosive charge on the wall, and then the pair dropped back to join the others when they were finished. The entire rebel force squatted down and braced themselves for the detonation.

  The explosion had to be extremely powerful—strong enough to blast through the wall in one try. If not, they risked tipping off the Udek to their plan, and giving them a chance to redeploy their forces. The rebels understood this, so when the detonation finally came, no one was surprised that the ground shook so hard they nearly fell over. Kuv immediately gave the signal to attack, and the Iriq rushed in through the thick cloud of dirt and smoke, carefully avoiding the flaming bits of superheated metal lying all over t
he ground.

  The first three rebels through the breach were instantly blown back out again—in pieces. It appeared a few Udek commandos were close by when the Iriq punched the hole through the wall. The rebels lobbed plasma grenades through the breach and ran in right after they detonated, expecting to face the worst. But they met no further resistance. Nothing remained of the Udek other than bloody scatterings of burnt flesh and clothing, spread out over the circular shadows of scorched ground where the grenades detonated. The destruction was so complete that it was impossible to say how many sets of remains there were.

  The rebels signaled to the troops waiting outside that it was clear, and it only took a little over a minute for the entire Iriq force to pour into the base. They found themselves standing on a narrow road, set between two nondescript, three-story buildings. The rebels saw a small landing pad up ahead of them—and beyond that, two other structures off in the distance. But there were no other Udek in sight.

  Not yet.

  Tien knew there would be no element of surprise to this attack, not once the Hont started exploding outside the base. The Udek might not understand exactly what was happening, but they weren’t fools; they would figure out the location of the intruders soon enough. And unfortunately for the Iriq, they were certain to respond with the typical effectiveness of the Udek military. Tien guessed there were fifty commandos stationed at the base in total, along with twenty-odd support personnel. The rebel force clearly had their enemy outnumbered, especially with the few casualties the Udek had already suffered in the attack. But numerical superiority meant nothing in this battle.

  Despite the Iriq’s fervor and dedication—their total commitment to removing the invaders from their planet—each Udek commando was easily worth two of the rebels. Tien’s built-in weapons package would help level the playing field somewhat, as would his ability to monitor Udek communications channels. The latter was confirmed when Tien picked up a transmission from the base commander, instructing all Udek forces to converge on the rebels’ location at the rear of the base. The Udek knew where they were now, and they were coming.

  Tien relayed the information to Kuv, who directed his forces to split up into three groups of equal number. One would hold position in the road behind cover, presenting a tempting target for the inbound commandos. The others would work their way behind each of the two buildings on the sides of the street, and then lie in wait as their enemy entered the area. Unlike the Udek secure channels, which Tien could easily hack into, Iriq hand signals were indecipherable to outsiders—especially the military symbols not included in any translation database. So even if the Udek had watched Kuv give instructions to his troops, they would still have no idea what was coming. It was one of the very few advantages the rebels had.

  The first unit of Udek arrived just as the rebels finished dispersing to their positions. They slid two large troop carriers to an abrupt stop—parking them sideways and front to back across the road, purposely blocking it off. Then they filed out and ducked behind the improvised barrier, raising their weapons as they prepared to fight. A few of the commandos retreated back toward the center of the base, choosing a meter-high blast wall set up around the landing pad to serve as their protection.

  “I’ll stay here and help keep them busy,” Tien said to Kuv. “We need to draw all of the Udek out before you join the battle. With luck, they’ll think we’re all concentrated in the street. If they try to flank us your forces will be exposed, and then you’ll have no choice but to engage. Otherwise, hold back until I give you the signal—until we’re absolutely sure that they are all in the fight. Then we can encircle them and squeeze.” The Iriq commander nodded agreement and jogged away, disappearing behind the building on the left side of the street. Maxal and Ayel went with him.

  The Iriq in Tien’s group concealed themselves behind several stacks of bulky transport pods, used to ferry materials to and from orbit on armored Udek shuttles. The composite crates were stacked up at the end of the road in uneven, spread-out rows, and Tien was confident the sturdily built containers would provide a healthy bulwark against most types of weapons.

  But not all.

  As they began trading fire with the Udek, Tien pulled up his tactical array and armed everything available. The two pods housing micro-missiles popped up on his forearms, and the small plasma cannons extended out from both sides of his head, rotating forward. Tien’s HUD switched to amber lighting as he sorted through all of his options, but before he could choose which weapons to deploy first, a blast from an Udek gun pierced a small void between two of the cargo crates and struck him in the head, knocking Tien backward. He quickly recovered and leaned out from behind the crates, thrusting both arms forward. Then Tien allowed the tactical system to auto-select targets and issued the attack command.

  The missiles reached out first, striking each of their intended targets—even those hidden behind cover. The pair of launch pods then rotated, bringing the missiles resting in the bottom portion of the cradles to bear. Tien’s plasma cannons activated next, pivoting back and forth between Udek trying to escape the missile barrage and heavy Iriq firepower. The iridescent beams melted through the commandos’ specialized combat armor like it wasn’t even there.

  Two plasma grenades dropped behind the cargo pods and Tien lunged after them. He was close enough to grab the first and threw it back toward the Udek, but the second one detonated before Tien could reach it. Liquid fire swept across his body but Tien was unaffected. Six of the rebels near him were not so lucky.

  Tien changed the setting on his weapons systems to fully autonomous, and then watched as they discharged everything he had at the enemy in a devastating and relentless fusillade. Another circlet of missiles rose up from the interior of his left arm, and then his right, as the launch cradles were resupplied from the destructive ordnance cached inside his body. Tien ducked back behind the crates to see how the remaining Iriq in his group were faring, and saw that three more of them had been cut down by Udek plasma fire—exposed when some form of heavy weaponry knocked away their cover. It seemed that some of the Udek equipped with projectile weapons had switched from bullets to explosive rounds. A development that was neither surprising nor unexpected. Tien stepped out from behind the crates again and directed his own weapons to respond to this latest threat, taking the closest Udek shooters down. While searching for new targets, he noticed some strange movement behind an Udek transport that had just arrived. The commandos were unloading something.

  Something big.

  Before he could get to cover, Tien was struck full-force in the chest with an anti-vehicle missile. The explosion was so powerful that it blasted him all the way back to the base’s defensive wall, where the violent impact left a life-sized imprint in the metal, right next to the breach. Tien slid down and hit the ground hard, and then everything went black as the android’s power failed.

  This is why Buddhist monks have no business designing weapons platforms, Tien thought to himself, working to shake off the effects of the attack. Where was the warning system? Or the anti-missile screen? In his considered opinion the android had some serious shortcomings, and now those defects might end up costing Tien his life.

  He remembered complaining to Brother Ryll about the body’s shiny metal finish, pointing out how it made the android an easy target to spot in any engagement. Ryll explained that the look was intentional, and meant to serve as a deterrent. The Bodhi wanted the android to appear so fearsome that, hopefully, it made the actual use of violence unnecessary.

  Monks.

  Tien’s systems began rebooting in fits and starts, struggling to bring everything back online. There were warning lights lit up all across the HUD, confirming his worst fears. Most of the ready-status lights on the weapons were flashing bright red, signaling that they were inoperable. But considering the hit he just took, Tien was grateful to still be in one piece. He pushed himself up from the ground to test his mobility, and to survey the ongoing battle.

&n
bsp; Tien’s visual and auditory sensors were functional—some of the few things that still worked—so he zoomed in on the Udek forces spread across the road. Using both optics and infrared he counted thirty of them remaining. Tien totaled that number with the decaying heat signatures of the dead, and he concluded that the majority of the Udek troops were now assembled and engaged in the fight—successfully lured to this location from around the base, just as they’d planned. He looked around for Kuv and found him standing at the corner of the building, ready to go. Tien signaled for him to start his attack.

  Iriq weapons immediately lashed out from hidden positions behind the two buildings, and the air became crowded with deadly projectiles and energy beams. At first, it looked like the Udek might go down quickly—with their forces taking heavy fire from three different locations. The new lateral barrages had rendered much of their cover useless, and many of the commandos were cut down as they tried to reach safer positions. But then suddenly, a small group of Udek ran out onto the rooftop of the building to Tien’s right, and they began hammering the Iriq from above with plasma grenades and a steady stream of weapons fire.

  The tide of battle had shifted again, and now the rebels were being mercilessly decimated as they scrambled to escape the assault from above. The Iriq had thought to station soldiers in the entryways to both buildings, just in case there were Udek inside who hoped to rush out and join the fray. But there hadn’t been enough time to search either of the structures, or to secure their roofs.

  Tien saw Kuv run out from the shadow of the building where he’d sheltered, trying to get a line of fire at the roof. But as soon as he was exposed, the rebel leader was struck in the shoulder and went down. An Udek soldier nearby tried to advance on Kuv’s position and finish the job, but Maxal appeared out of nowhere and smashed the commando with his club, sending the Udek straight to the pavement with a bloody, misshapen mass where his face used to be. Maxal dragged Kuv back up against the building and helped him stand, and then they both resumed firing at the Udek on the ground.