Deathstalker 07 - Deathstalker Return

marvelous, with thrusting towers and brilliant lights, and complex structures of glass and porcelain. Once, it was Logres's most precious jewel, acclaimed and adored—from a safe distance. It was a lot bigger now than it used to be, more than ten miles wide and almost five miles high. It had to be such a size, to contain the millions of espers who had come toNew Hope from worlds all across the Empire becauseNew Hope was the only place they could feel safe anymore. And so the great floating city shone like a multicolored star, held up and held together by the massed minds of the oversoul. The espers were its power source and its weapons, its heart and its industry and its defenses.New Hope had a lot of defenses, because the espers still remembered what happened to the first city of that name, in the bad old days of Lionstone's reign.
    Finn could see it before him, hanging on the darkening evening sky like a fairy tale palace, all turrets and spires and delicate walk-ways. It looked utterly splendid and completely defenseless.New Hope had no energy weapons, no attack ships, and Finn had the biggest aerial attack force since that used by the old Widowmaker to destroy the originalNew Hope , more than two centuries ago. The first esper sanctuary had been blown apart and put to the torch, and all its inhabitants slaughtered, and Finn saw no reason why history shouldn't repeat itself here today. He wasn't expecting any real problems. He was using the same tactics of overwhelming force and firepower, and all his key personnel and ships were protected by esp-blockers. This wasn't going to be a battle, just an object lesson— of what happened to those who dared defy Finn Durandal.
    He went laughing into battle, but he really should have known better. It's hard to hide anything from thousands of telepaths and remote viewers working in unison. They knew about Finn's attack force the moment it began assembling, and they already had a response worked out. They'd been waiting for the Durandal to turn his attentions towards them. Every esper in the Empire now lived onNew Hope . All the others were dead, hunted down and killed by Pure Humanity mobs. So now all the espers that were came together and united in the oversoul, and it gathered itself for battle, to strike the first blow against an Empire that had turned bad and vicious, like a mad dog.
    Crow Jane—telepath, warrior, and devious thinker—strode back and forth across the landing pads at the edge of the floating city, broadcasting orders in all directions as she organized New Hope's defenses.
    Her mind was plugged in to the intricate lattice of thoughts that made up the oversoul's operations division, and decisions flashed back and forth in the mass consciousness, faster than lightning and more vivid, changing and adapting in an instant as conditions in and around the city changed. Crow Jane made up her mind, and immediately men and women rushed to new assignments, ready for the fight. Around
    her, she could sense pokers and pyros and precogs working calmly at their part of the plan, and she wouldn't let herself worry about them. Everyone knew what they were doing. There were no clashes or contradictions or misunderstandings in the oversoul, and no regrets, either. They would do what they had to.
    Every individual was the oversoul, in every way that mattered.
    Crow Jane was a tall, statuesque brunette wearing sweeping black silks under a battered leather jacket, and a bandolier of silver throwing stars. She wore a sword and a disrupter on her wide hips, and both weapons had seen a lot of use in their time. Crow Jane had a pale face, jet black lips, heavy eye makeup and a disturbing smile. She'd been trained as a battle esper on Madraguda, fighting against the Raw Shark terrorists during the Quantum Inferno affair, and the oversoul believed in making good use of every individual's talents. Crow Jane's main talent was for organizing mayhem.
    One hundred and twenty espers assembled silently and efficiently before her, weighed down with battle armor and guns and explosives, and she smiled upon them like some ancient and awful death goddess.
    "You all volunteered, and you all know the score. The Durandal and his bastard army of fanatics will be here soon, and you have to buy the oversoul time, to do what it must. So get out there, cause chaos, run rings around them, and kill as many as you can, but above all keep them occupied. They mustn't suspect what we have planned until