Deathstalker 07 - Deathstalker Return

publicly renounce their previous statements, before being executed for treason. Only one MP had the foresight to surround herself and her people with heavy duty esp-blockers. Meerah Puri of Malediction retreated to a secret bunker, along with a small army of friends and supporters, and set about constructing an underground resistance movement. But most of the people she'd thought she could count on were already dead or disappeared. Finn had planned his coup with great thoroughness.
    It didn't take Finn's people all that long to track down Meerah Puri. Just the presence of so many esp-blockers in one place was a giveaway. An army of security guards stormed the building, using shaped charges to blast their way past locked doors and barricades. Meerah's people yelled for her to get away, while they held back the guards. Her name could still be used as a rallying cry for the resistance. Meerah Puri was ready to go, but she made the mistake of looking back as the security guards swept in and opened fire. She saw her people mown down, and couldn't leave them. She drew her gun, and shot the guard leader in the head. And then she drew her sword and cut her way into the heart of those who'd come to tear her down. She killed four more guards, before a dozen swords slammed into her at once. Afterwards, they shot her repeatedly, just to make sure, and then the guards took turns kicking the dead body around like a rag doll.
    Finn's actions were presented as a crusade. Only the guilty had anything to fear, was the party line. And all across the Empire, most of the people were glad to see the enemies of Humanity dying. It made them feel better to know that the Empire was capable of striking back at something, even if it wasn't the Terror. When most of the killing was over, or at least slowing down, King Finn appeared on every channel to make a firm and soothing speech to the people. Be calm, he said. These painful necessary measures will soon pass, and we shall all be the stronger for them. Soon, he promised, soon we shall have all the secrets of the Madness Maze at our disposal, and then everyone will be able to pass through safely. Humanity will become superhuman, and working together, the armies of man will utterly destroy the Terror.
    It was all bullshit, of course, but it was what the people desperately wanted to hear.
    King Finn stamped out long-cherished freedoms, adding dozens of new laws designed for brutal social control, all in the name of the emergency. And the people were so scared of enemies within, and the coming Terror, that they loved Finn for it, and praised his boldness and strength as their great protector.
    He'd never been more popular, more beloved. Finn laughed until he hurt himself. If he'd known it would be this easy, he would have done it long ago.
    Only the ELFs remained untouched. Partly because Finn still needed their services, but mostly because he still had enough good sense to be extremely cautious where the uber-espers were concerned. The ELF rank and file watched Finn dispose of all his old allies, and muttered darkly among themselves. The uber-espers voiced their own concerns, but only with each other. Perhaps the time had come to break with Finn, and strike out on their own behalf. Take advantage of all the chaos and confusion… But secretly all the uber-espers hesitated to commit themselves, for fear one of the other uber-espers would seize the chance to stab them in the back.
    Instead, they encouraged the ELF rank and file to make the first move. They attempted to possess some of Finn's new high-ranking people, only to discover that they were all protected by esp-blockers. The ELFs retreated quickly, but even so many of them were hunted down and killed, for their presumption.
    The uber-espers observed from a distance, and grew restless. They had been unable to fight in the Great Rebellion against the Empress Lionstone, because they were forbidden by their creator, the Mater Mundi, and they were all helpless against her. She'd made them that way. But she was long gone now, and the oversoul had left Logres. For the first time, the uber-espers made slow, tentative moves towards a union of purpose. Because as much as they hated each other, they hated Finn Durandal more.
    Finn kept himself busy. He made a call to the Sangreal bar, on his private channel, using the Paragons'
    comm implants. His seventeen remaining possessed Paragons had been hiding out in the bar for some time now, and were