Chaos Tactics (The Reckless Chronicles Book 1)

by Trent Falls

  Hedges thrusted the gun out toward Elizabeth, took aim, and fired at Elizabeth. The shot spun her shoulder back, sparking in a bright shower of sparks. Her attention immediately turned back towards Hedges. She appeared no worse for wear as she raised her staff at Agrev’s bodyguard. A white light shot out from the green gemstone atop the staff into Hedges’ body.

  Hedges entire form turned grey for a split second, like ash, then disintegrated to a heap of sand.

  The Norn were immediately angered. All took an offensive posture.

  Guns were drawn. Shin aimed his pistol at Taos before his staff could be brought to bear on him. Shin pulled the trigger, rapid fire, shooting Taos four times in center mass. The Norn leader reeled backwards from being hit, collapsing onto his back.

  Noah Bradley turned to aim his staff at Shin. Argev, in a panic, jumped into the fray.

  “No! Don’t!” the Xen leader shouted out to Noah.

  Noah turned his staff towards Agrev. A white arc of light shot out from the staff and hit Agrev in the chest, disintegrating him.

  Noah turned back towards Shin just as Zao raised his firearm towards his head. Zao fired. A single shot went through Noah’s head, killing him instantly.

  Out of the corner of Zao’s eyes he noticed Elizabeth stirring on the ground. She had her staff aimed at him. Zao flung his upper body away at the last moment as an energy bolt flashed past him from the staff.

  “Shit!” John jumped in the one second’s time that elapsed towards Julie. He grabbed her by her right upper arm, hauling her away from danger before she could think.

  Shin walked up towards Taos, who was lying on his back on the ground. Taos crawled on his back trying to slide away from Captain Shin. Shin, looked down on Taos and took aim.

  “See! You bleed like the rest of us.” Shin observed, aiming down at Taos’ head.

  Taos, his eyes turned up towards Shin, seemed genuinely frightened.

  Alex appeared from Shin’s right before he could fire. His hands flew up towards Shin, hurling him back with a powerful invisible force. Shin’s body slammed hard against the granite wall at the back.

  The gun fell from his hand.

  Zao was about to finish off Taos when Alex jumped in the way. Zao fired twice, sending Alex spinning away from being struck in the shoulder.

  Shin picked himself up off the ground, shaking his head.

  His gun was gone.

  “GRENADE!” someone yelled. It was Zao that had yelled.

  A concussion grenade appeared on the ground in the maddening exchange. The pin had been pulled. Zao had dropped it and was rushing away backwards, firing several rounds back at Elizabeth.

  John caught sight of the grenade. Julie, still firmly in his death grip, yelped as John jerked her away from behind. He practically threw her into the back wall then jumped on her back to shield her from the blast.

  The grenade exploded in a deafening blast. The world went white.

  John thought he was dead.

  Bodies flew everywhere.

  By the time John realized he was still alive his ears were ringing badly. He saw Julie beneath him. He panicked.

  For a few seconds the world seemed to move too slow.

  “Are you okay?!?” John shouted, barely hearing his own words echoing in his skull.

  Julie stirred. She had a bad scrape on the side of her face. She raised her head up, looking around for a moment in a daze.

  John looked up. He could see Shin grappling with Alex, hauling his dark skinned friend towards the exit. Alex appeared hurt. Shin had a gun to his head and was leading Alex towards the exit.

  Scott Euler followed, his own sidearm also drawn. Scott looked back at John while running away. John tried to get up to chase Scott and Shin but fell within a step of getting up back to the ground. He was still dazed by the blast. John was imprisoned by both the disorientation and the mad ringing in his ears from the explosion.

  There were the sounds of three more pistol shots.

  Lieutenant Zao ran past John, aiming his weapon at some unseen point behind him. In his left hand was a Norn staff.

  In seconds Shin and Zao had vanished back into the exit tunnel – with Alex as their prisoner.

  John returned his attention back to Julie. He was able to get to his feet but the ringing in his ears persisted.

  “You okay?” he asked her loudly again.

  “Huh?” she was confused for a moment. “Yeah. Yeah I’m fine!”

  “The humans! They took Taos’ staff!” Elizabeth’s voice shouted.

  She hurried over towards Taos, who was laboring to stand up.

  “Noah?!” Taos shouted the question as he stood.

  There was clearly red blood on his white robes. It was his own blood.

  “Dead!” Lyle’ Ramirez’s voice called back.

  John helped Julie up. He turned his head to see Lyle Ramirez kneeling over Noah Bradley’s body.

  Taos turned to look at Elizabeth. “The Gorath?” Taos asked.

  “They’ve already been released on the humans.”

  “I want them all dead!” Taos shouted angrily.

  “Yes sir.” Elizabeth replied. She depressed one of the crystals strapped to the bracelet on her right arm.

  Elisabeth, carrying her staff, took a few steps while vanishing into caloric waves.

  “How could I have been so stupid?!?” Taos cursed himself.

  John forced himself to stare at Taos. He had seen him get shot four times by Shin; hit four times by his Xen pistol. There was blood from the gunshot wounds where he had been hit. They should have been mortal wounds yet Taos was up and walking about as though nothing had happened.

  “They have our technology and Alex.” Lyle observed, walking over to stand near Taos. “They can’t be allowed to escape.”

  “They won’t.” Taos said with certainty. He depressed a clear crystal fixed to the silver band on his right wrist.

  The world behind Taos flashed over. At first John thought it was a nuclear weapon detonating. The blinding white light suddenly flew up into the sky and out of sight.

  “What in the hell was that?!?” Julie yelled aloud in fright.

  “I don’t know.” John exhaled.

  Automatic gunfire chattered loudly throughout the jungle. The weapons fire grew angrier and louder with proximity. There was a scream of terror. Someone was clearly fighting for their life. There was a whoosh sound, followed by an earth shaking explosion. Leaves were scattered from trees. A fireball rolled up from the jungle canopy top.

  Three of the Xen special forces were dead already. The remaining ten or so men ran quickly through the jungle in terror. Many ignored even their most basic combat training and failed to rotate back around to cover the escape of their teammates. They fled in pure terror. A straggler scurried over loose footing, finally booking out through a section of tall grass.

  A massive eight foot tall monster made of dark volcanic rock ran out behind the soldier, swatting at him with a jagged right hand. The soldier was lucky to escape the first blow. A second swing struck him in his right side, sending the special forces soldier flying several feet away through the air. The force of impact very likely broke several bones. It was a mortal blow.

  Two of the spec ops soldiers, getting about fifteen yards ahead of the two charging rock creatures, turned to fight. Laser designators beamed out from their automatic rifles. A micro-missile launch tube fixed beneath each rifle flared in succession. Small missiles shrieked from each weapon, striking the rock monsters with incredible force. One rock creature, a gorath, was struck in the center of its chest, detonating into so much lifeless rubble. The second had only its left arm destroyed in the blast.

  “One granite hostile down!” the spec ops sergeant yelled into his helmet com. His rifle snapped up to his sights. Several rounds fired from his weapon, ricocheting uselessly off one of the charging rock creatures. “Say again! We need close air support! Where the fuck are you guys?!?”

  “En route, Argus
Two.”

  The sergeant, Argus Two, broke into another sprint as the rock creature neared. More of the beasts were emerging from the tree line. A fifth hauled itself up out of the ground not too far from the fleeing sergeant. Another of his men was killed as one of the granite monsters backhanded him into a tree.

  Gunfire blazed everywhere frantically.

  “Targets locked. Firing.” A calm Xen voice came back over the headset coms.

  High above the Xen gunship that had brought the group down wheeled in a long bank across the sky. A bright red beam of light fired down from the gunship, cutting down a thousand feet from the sky across three acres of jungle. One of the rock creatures was cut in half by the laser beam. Another granite monster was hit directly by a beam and exploded into dust. A third was cut down from the sky, then a fourth.

  “Fuck yeah! We got these fuckers!” the sergeant yelled jubilantly.

  The sergeant had barely spun around when another granite monster appeared from the jungle behind him. It was massive. Its dark grey rock shoulders blocked out the sun. The sergeant had but a moment of terror before the right hand of the beast swung down at his upper body, crushing him into the ground.

  A red laser dot appeared on the beast’s chest. It was tagged by another spec op soldier’s laser designator. In another second a beam of light cut down from the heavens, slicing the rock creature in two – avenging the sergeant.

  The Xen soldier that targeted the beast turned and continued running. He had to get off that island; to get off that planet! He had seen a massive flash of light just before the rock beasts attacked. His eyes glanced upward to see a massive white hot orb of light, like a giant sun, flying up into the sky. The glowing orb raced up into the blue sky. Though it was pure energy it seemed to bend in flight on a parabolic path towards space.

  “Order battle stations!” Captain Shin yelled into his wrist com. “I need immediate dust off at the extraction coordinates. Do you comply?!?”

  Shin still had Alex ahead of his gun, pushing his prisoner along with one arm. Zao was behind, aiming the Norn staff at anything that seemed to move.

  “Copy that sir! An evac shuttle is on station at the coordinates.” An obedient officer’s voice replied back to the captain over the com.

  “You don’t know what you’re doing.” Alex warned Shin. “Stop this immediately!”

  “Your species would exterminate ours over a mistake.” Shin spat defiantly. “Fuck that! I’m taking you with me and negotiating from a position of strength.”

  “You’re delusional!” Alex spat back. “The Norn won’t negotiate.”

  There was a rumble amongst the trees. The canopy top shook violently ahead of their path. Massive palm trees snapped with a terrifying volume. One of the granite creatures ran out from the jungle to trudge menacingly towards Shin, Zao, and Alex.

  Zao spun around with the Norn staff and depressed its firing trigger. A beam of white light shot out from the staff to strike the rock giant. The faceless creature crumbled into dust within a few steps.

  “Perhaps this trip wasn’t wasted after all.” Shin observed, marveling at the staff’s power.

  “You don’t know what you’re dealing with, Captain.” Alex warned them gravely. “You don’t know what this power will bring upon you.”

  “I think I have a good idea, Alex.” Shin bit back as they continued running. “And I’m certain you’re going to help us learn more.”

  The bright glowing orb was several kilometers in diameter. It flew up from the atmosphere of the uncharted water planet, through the clouds and blue sky out into space. The glowing ball was like a small star, pulsating with energy. As it escaped the planet to fly into space it changed direction, turning in flight towards a large Xen vessel in orbit of the planet. The glowing white orb raced towards the Ao Shun.

  The orb took only a few moments to hurtle through space and strike the back of the carrier. The force and brilliance of the blast was like a supernova. The massive Xen carrier exploded from its rear engines forward. A white hot burning blast ripped forward through the carrier, tearing it apart in a flurry of hellish explosions.

  In a few seconds the Ao Shun was little more than scattered metal debris and burning trace gasses.

  The ship was lost with all 5,000 plus hands on board.

  “Sir, we just lost all feeds from topside!” a spec ops soldier said aloud to Captain Shin.

  “It’s probably your equipment, son.” Shin replied, shoving Alex forward.

  Alex clutched at the bleeding wound from his arm. Reluctantly he continued walking forward quickly through the jungle.

  “No.” Zao added in a chilled tone.

  Shin looked at Zao to see his face was ashen with fear.

  “I’m not reading anything on the coms at all.” Zao added.

  “Say again, Gambler Two.” A voice started calling out over the com.

  “No telemetry at all! What the fuck, sir?!?” another voice chimed in.

  “Massive energy spike, then nothing.”

  “It’s gone, man! The whole fucking ship is gone!”

  “It can’t be”

  “Look up! Jesus!”

  “Didn’t you see it?!?”

  “See what?!?”

  Shin was terrified to look to the sky as his earpiece began chattering wildly with panicked open channel exchanges from his surviving crew. He was on the ground. He wasn’t aboard his ship. He feared the worst.

  Shin and Zao both looked towards the sky to see a cloud shaped like a sea anemone outlined in white through the blue atmosphere. Shin’s heart sank upon seeing the cloud. He had observed enough cloud patterns like that during the war. It was the outline of a destroyed ship; his ship! He knew, based on the size of the debris cloud and its shape that it was his vessel. He knew then the Ao Shun was completely destroyed.

  “Their ship is destroyed.” Lyle Ramirez observed.

  John shook his head. The ringing in his ears from the concussion grenade had finally subsided.

  “You destroyed their vessel?” John asked Taos in awe.

  “Yes.” Taos replied plainly.

  “An entire Xen Dragon-Class Carrier??” John pressed in sheer disbelief.

  “Our main weapon is reenergizing.” Lyle explained to John. “When it does we’ll destroy their smaller warship. There will be no escape.”

  “They will all be destroyed.” Taos noted aloud with certainty.

  “Wait.” Lyle paused. His glowing eyes fluttered for a moment. “Their starfighters are en route to the watchtower.”

  “Activate the Ona.” Taos ordered. “We’ll bring the full brunt of our defenses to bear on these mongrels if we must.”

  “The Ona may not arrive in time. Their gunships are already in position.”

  “All of the Xen must be eliminated.” Taos growled. “Our technology must not fall into their hands.”

  John took a step towards Taos. “What about Alex?”

  “We will do what we can but we cannot allow him to leave this planet in their custody.” Taos replied back to John indirectly.

  “Jesus! You sound like you’re ready to kill him too.” John countered sharply.

  “Alex is a friend but he too is our technology.” Taos argued. “We would regret his loss but he too knows the implications of what might happen if humans get…”

  “No! You’d kill your own? You’d kill Alex?!? To keep your secrets safe?!?” John was stunned into becoming confrontational.

  “We will do what is required, yes!” Taos glared back at John.

  “For a group of aliens with an evolved sensibility you sure don’t seem to have any reservations about ending life.” John observed aloud. “Hell, you just killed over five thousand people in a few seconds.”

  “We maintain an orderly and equitable society, John Carn.” Taos argued back sternly. “While it has been several hundred years since we’ve needed to resort to violence our technology allows us to end any threat decisively and as quickly as possible.” />
  John stared at Taos for a moment. He knew then and there the type of person Taos was. There would be no convincing him to stop.

  “This is bullshit!” John muttered, hurrying towards Julie. “Listen.” John spoke to his niece directly. “I want you to stay here. I don’t think they’ll hurt you. Lyle is still one of us. I have to go out there.”

  “No.” Julie protested, pulling him back.

  “Listen! I have to go! I have to try and save Alex!” John pushed her back. “I’ll be back. I promise!”

  “If you go out there we cannot guarantee your protection.” Taos said aloud, overhearing John’s conversation with Julie.

  “Damn it! You’d kill off one of your own to stay in hiding?” John marched swiftly towards Taos to face off with him. “We never leave people behind! We never cut off one of our own! What the hell kind of leader are you anyway?!?”

  Taos, only a few feet away from John, stared back at him with his glowing silver-white eyes. Taos seemed to be silently sizing John up or reading his thoughts.

  “The girl will remain safe here.” Taos assured him. “Go. I’m not sure if you’ll reach Alex before they take him off this planet anyway.”

  John needed little more. He turned around directly and raced for the exit of the chamber. John ran as quickly as he could down the spiraling ramp of the tower.

  Chapter 26

  The Xen GV-55 Specter starfighters banked out over the ocean on their fast approach. Their engines roared across the atmosphere of the alien sky. The Specter fighters, with their swept wings, extended across the sky in a battle formation. One portion of the squadron surged ahead while five others nosed up to shoot towards the sky, positioning themselves to fly high air cover.

  The squadron leader flew at the head of the group. In his black flight suit, he moved in a practiced manner inside his cramped high-tech cockpit. There was nothing ahead but endless ocean flying towards his field of vision.

  “Alright, form up.” the squad leader noted aloud into his radio. He flipped up a red switch shield and toggled the master arm switch. “Going weapons hot. Targeting is sketchy but it looks like there’s a massive energy signature ahead. Arm missiles and lock that position.”