Deathstalker 03 - Deathstalker War

the underground. Giles approved of that. And deep down, where he rarely went, Giles couldn't help but wonder if he was still the man he remembered being. He'd been in stasis for a long time, and the universe had moved on without him. And he didn't trust the changes the Maze had made in him. He didn't know their extent, or even if he could depend on them. This mission would give him valuable opportunities to test his skills and his strength before the real fighting of the rebellion began. He had no doubts about his courage or determination. He was, after all, a Deathstalker. But it would be good to confirm this in the heat of rage and battle.
    Giles had always felt most at home on the battlefield, where ambiguous questions of politics and loyalties resolved themselves in the clear-cut choice of life and death. Causes might change, ideals might rust, people might betray you, and love and faith and friendship might let you down, but in battle there was only a victor and a loser, and that was the way Giles liked it.
    Toby fidgeted uncomfortably in his seat. He wouldn't be happy till he was safely down on solid ground again. Everyone knew this was the most dangerous and uncertain part of the mission. Theoretically, the Hadenman cloaking device should conceal them from Haceldama's orbiting satellites, but if it failed, even for a moment, the planet's defenses would open up, and they were all dead meat.

    Theoretically? Toby had said when this was explained to him. What do you mean, theoretically? Hasn't it been tested? The man briefing them had smiled and said You're testing it. Toby's reply had been considered unhelpful.
    And if that wasn't problem enough, since Shannon's World was officially Quarantined, it was under constant guard by an orbiting Imperial starcruiser, with orders to open fire on anyone or anything unauthorized. Hopefully, the rebels had a way around that.
    "Hold on to your seats, everyone," said Finlay. "If everyone else is on schedule, things should start getting interesting right about now."
    They all strapped themselves into their safety webbing and watched the viewscreen intently. For a moment that seemed to stretch forever, nothing happened. The Imperial starcruiser hung in orbit, not all that far away, blind to the rebels' presence, huge and intimidating and bristling with gun turrets.
    And then a great golden Hadenman ship dropped out of hyperspace right on top of it. Vast and magnificent, it dwarfed the starcruiser like a killer whale next to a minnow. It opened fire with all its guns, and the Imperial craft's force shields flared and spit, on the brink of overloading. The Hadenman ship then turned and moved gracefully away, and the starcruiser set off after it, grimly determined to deny Shannon's World to the old Enemies of Humanity. And as the Empire ship began its wild-goose chase, the converted cargo ship dropped silently out of orbit and headed down toward Haceldama, the Field of Blood, and the horrors that awaited them there.
    For long moments everything was still and quiet, and the rebels began to relax.
    But then they plunged into the atmosphere, and the ground-based defenses opened up on them, hammering at the small craft's shields. The massed disrupter cannon maintained a steady barrage, shaking the small ship like a dog shakes a rat.

    Finlay ranted and swore, stabbing at the sensor panels trying to boost the cloaking systems as best he could while his webbing swung back and forth. But something down below had seen through the Hadenman technology, even though that was supposed to be impossible. The cargo ship rocked violently as deadly energies streamed around its shields, probing for weak spots. The rebels clung to their crash webbing as Finlay wedged himself against the control panels and fought to guide their descent. The lights snapped off for a moment, replaced by the sullen red glow of emergency lighting.
    "What the hell happened to the cloaking device?" shouted Toby.
    "According to the systems, it's still working," said Finlay. "But it didn't exactly come with a guarantee, you know."
    "Now he tells us," said Flynn.
    The ship lurched to one side. The emergency lights flickered.
    "Outer shields just went down," Finlay said calmly. "Systems now running at 70
    percent efficiency. Anyone know any good prayers?"
    "Can't we shoot back at them?" said Toby.
    "We don't have any guns," said Evangeline. "There wasn't any room, with all the extra Hadenman systems. Didn't you listen when they