Deathstalker 03 - Deathstalker War

this. Investigators weren't supposed to have feelings.
    "You have instructions for me?" said Razor quietly.
    "Yes," said Ffolkes, looking around the Investigator's bare, spartan quarters so he wouldn't have to meet the man's cold, inflexible stare. "I will be your contact with Clan Chojiro. I'm related through marriage. I'm to tell you that you have not been forgotten, and that the Family will reward you handsomely for your work here on its behalf. I'm here to brief you on Captain Bartok's intentions, once Legion has taken care of the esper shield.
    "We could just scorch the planet from orbit, but Her Imperial Majesty has decided she wants Mistworld taken, not destroyed. Partly because she still sees espers as potential weapons in the coming war against the aliens, and partly to prove no one can defy her and get away with it. She wants the rebel leaders brought before her in chains, so everyone can see them broken and defeated.
    "So, Bartok's orders are for systematic but not total destruction of Mistport. Up to 50 percent civilian casualties are acceptable. The city is to be taken street by street, by hand-to-hand fighting if necessary. All of which means that the city will be plunged into total chaos and confusion, which we can then take advantage of. Once you've dealt with Investigator Topaz and Typhoid Mary, you will be free to make contact with certain influential people, whose names and addresses I have here on this list. Memorize them, then destroy the list. These people were once part of an old spy network in the city, trading in information for the previous Lord Deathstalker. Since his death, a number of
    them turned to Clan Chojiro for protection and financial support. With the Family's support after the invasion, these people will become the city's new ruling Council. Your job is to keep them alive until the invasion is over."
    Razor nodded calmly. "Seems straightforward enough. Any idea why Chojiro wants control of this misbegotten world?"
    "I don't ask questions," said Ffolkes. "I find you live longer that way. But if I were to hazard a guess, I'd say that the surviving espers could make a very useful cash crop, as well as a private resource. Clan Chojiro takes the long view. Good-bye, Investigator. I do hope we won't have to meet again."
    "You're afraid," said Razor. "I can smell it on you. What are you so afraid of, Lieutenant?"
    "I don't know what you mean," said Ffolkes. "I really must be going. People will miss me."
    And then he was flung back against the bulkhead, Razor's sword at his throat.
    Ffolkes gasped for air, sweat trickling down his face. He'd never seen anyone move so fast. Razor brought his face close to Ffolkes's, and he didn't dare look away.
    "Are you afraid of me, Lieutenant? That's good. You should be. If you breathe a word of my continuing connection to Clan Chojiro to anyone at all, I'll kill you. Do you believe me, Lieutenant?"
    The edge of Razor's blade bit delicately into Ffolkes's neck, and a single drop of blood slid slowly down his throat. He didn't dare nod, but he managed a trembling answer in the affirmative. Razor smiled, took his sword away from Ffolkes's neck, and stepped back a pace.
    "Just so we understand each other. Now get out of here, turncoat. If I have to
    talk to you again, I'll find you. And if you make me come looking for you, I'll be the last thing you'll ever see."
    He opened the door and Ffolkes bolted past him, out into the corridor, running at full tilt and to hell with whether anyone was watching. No amount of payment was worth this. Nothing was.
    The Defiant's pinnaces fell out of the early evening like silver birds of prey against a bloodred sky, carrying the Empire's warriors down to the surface of the rebel planet.
    Mistport's espers saw nothing, heard nothing, never knew they were there. Legion was testing and expanding its abilities. Theoretically it had been certain it could shield the pinnaces even from a distance, but as with so many of Legion's powers, it learned by doing. Hundreds of silver ships landed one after another on a wide plain of snow and ice on the outskirts of the Deathshead Mountains; some distance away from Mistport but quite close to a small outlying settlement called Hardcastle's Rock. Apart from a few scattered farmsteads, it was the only other heavily populated area of Mistworld. A small town of no real importance, population 2031, according to the Empire's information. No real defenses, very little tech. A good testing