Deathstalker 03 - Deathstalker War

glowered down at Toby. "What are you doing here? You people are supposed to have cleared this area by now."
    "My cameraman's trapped here," said Toby, cautiously lowering his hands. "Help me dig him out, and we'll get the hell out of your way."
    "Anything to get you out of my hair. I don't know why the Empress wanted you
    here in the first place."
    The Sergeant gestured to the nearest marines, and half a dozen of them helped Toby pull away the rest of the bricks covering Flynn. And only then did Toby discover that either the force of the explosion or the sharp edges of the broken bricks had ripped Flynn's clothes apart, revealing for all to see the lacy black feminine underwear he wore beneath them. The stockings and garter belt were particularly fetching. The six marines backed away quickly, while their friends made lewd jokes and unsavory comments. Toby thought fast.
    "They're his good-luck charms! They belonged to a female colleague of his, who he was very close to, and since she died, he wears them to remind him of her, and bring him good luck. Really. Lots of cameramen do it. It's an old tradition among news crews."
    "Shut your face," said the Sergeant. "And that goes for you men, too. There's no way a freak like this could have qualified for the army news corp. Which means you two are here illegally. Probably rebels as well as degenerates."
    "Of course we're not rebels! Look, I'm Toby Shreck! You must have seen my work!"
    "I've seen it." The Sergeant looked at his men. "Shoot them both."
    Toby stood frozen in a moment that seemed to last forever. He had nothing to defend himself with, and there was nowhere to run. Even if he could bring himself to abandon Flynn. He watched helplessly as the marines turned their guns on him, and all he could think was that he hoped the camera was getting a good view of this. And then his jaw dropped as the Sergeant and all his marines simultaneously burst into flames. The marines dropped their weapons and staggered back and froth, beating at the flames with their bare hands and screaming shrilly as the fires rose up to consume them. One by one they fell to
    the ground as the flames stole the oxygen from their lungs, and they lay kicking and twitching as their flesh blackened and cooked, their hair burning with a bright blue flame. And then two women with the same face stepped out of the shadows, and Toby realized what had happened. The Stevie Blues had come to the rescue again.
    He grunted a quick thanks and bent over Flynn, who was dazedly trying to sit up.
    The Blues hauled him up onto his feet and hurried him down the street, with Toby sticking close behind them. Even in the chaos of a town on fire, people still had the sense to get out of the way of the Stevie Blues. They made good time, despite having to dodge roving companies of Imperial marines, hurrying down a series of narrow side streets that all looked the same to Toby, until finally they ended up before an anonymous door in a fairly untouched area. Stevie Three hammered on the door with her fist, and a sliding panel opened, revealing a pair of suspicious eyes. Stevie Three glared right back at them, and the panel slammed shut. There was the sound of locks turning and bolts being pulled back, and then the door opened, and the Stevies led Toby and Flynn inside. The door slammed shut behind them.
    It wasn't much more than a bolt-hole, really—a single wide room with boarded-up windows and only the one exit. Guns and rifles lay stacked along one wall, along with open cases of ammunition. A dozen heavily armed men and women were staring out through cracks in the boarded-up windows. They barely spared Toby and Flynn a glance. The air was thick and close, and smelled of sweat and tension. Stevie One had a muttered conversation with one of the rebels, while Stevie Three found a gun she liked and started loading it. Toby found a chair and helped Flynn onto it. The cameraman was looking better, but was increasingly distressed at the state of his clothes.

    "I mean, these were my best lacy set," he said bitterly. "I knew I shouldn't have risked wearing them down here."
    "Damn right," said Toby. "They very nearly got both of us killed."
    Flynn sniffed. "Marines have no fashion sense." The camera perched on his shoulder seemed to nod agreement.
    Toby turned to Stevie Three. "What is this place?"
    "What's left of a rebel cell, fairly low on the chain of command, which is probably why the troops haven't found it yet. We're using