come true. So, faced with the loss of their wealth and position, they'll finally have to commit their troops to defending the Empress, on the grounds that the crazy devil you know is still preferable to the devil with blood in his eyes and centuries of grudges to catch up on. At this stage, their troops might just be enough to turn things in the Empress's favor. It's therefore vital we keep them pinned down in their Towers, well away from the main action. We want them preoccupied with their own survival, rather than the Empress's.
'Random, we've been through the logistics of this with the underground. You know what to do. A flotilla of gravity sleds is waiting just outside the Parade of the Endless for you to lead them in. Apparently competition to man the sleds, and follow you into almost certain death for the majority, was very hard-fought. It would seem there are still a great many people who still believe in the professional rebel. But Random, while you're out there enjoying yourself raining death and destruction down on the heads of the Lords, remember we still need some of them left alive afterward to oversee the economy once the rebellion is over.'
'I'll see what I can do,' said Random calmly. 'No promises.'
Giles sighed, and shook his head. 'Ruby Journey will, of course, accompany you. If only because no one else feels safe around her.'
'You say the nicest things,' said Ruby.
'If they're going, I'm going, too,' said Alexander Storm firmly. 'I haven't waited this long to miss out on the downfall of the Families. I've worked and fought all my life to see them go down in flames, and I'm damned if I'm being left behind. I might not be as young as some people, but I can still carry my weight.'
'Oh, let him come,' said Ruby. 'He'll only sulk otherwise.'
'Of course you're coming with us, Alex,' Random said reassuringly. 'I wouldn't dream of doing this without my old comrade at my side.'
'You're using that word
'All right, how about ancient?' said Ruby.
'Ruby…' said Random.
She sniffed, and went back to manicuring her nails with her dagger. She'd come to accept that Random had a blind spot where Storm was concerned. He still thought of his old friend as he used to be, when Storm was young and swift and daring and hell on wheels with a sword in his hand. He couldn't seem to accept that while he was young and strong again, Storm wasn't. Ruby decided to keep a watchful eye on Storm. She didn't care tuppence if he got himself killed, but she was damned if she'd let him drag Random down with them. In fact, it might be better all around if a stray bullet took Storm out right at the beginning. No one would notice where one stray shot came from, once the fighting started. Of course, she'd have to be careful. If Random ever found out… Ruby Journey frowned, thinking hard.
'Now that that's decided,' said Giles loudly, bringing all eyes back to him, 'we come to Young Jack Random. You will make your own landing dirtside, and team up with Finlay Campbell and Julian Skye. Your reputation will help to inspire their people, and throw a fright into the defending troops. Your mission is to take out and occupy the Security troops' main command center in the Parade of the Endless. They've still got comm channels open, so they're practically running the city's defenses single-handed. Once they're out of the loop, the Security forces will fall apart, and the Parade of the Endless will be ours for the taking. And once the city is ours, only the Empress herself stands between us and control of Golgotha. And from Golgotha, we will form the new Empire that rises from the ashes of the old.'
'Rah rah rah,' said Hazel. 'Go, team, go. Save the inspirational pep talks, Giles. We all know why we're here. And can I just remind you that the rebellion is far from over. Right now, we're nothing more than a handful of terrorists with prices on our heads.'
'Your point being?' Giles said icily.
'That we take things one step at a time. We can dream about the future once we've taken control of the present. I don't want any of us getting shot in the back because we were too busy dreaming of running the Empire instead of paying proper attention to what's going on around us.'
'Don't worry, Hazel,' said Young Jack calmly. 'We will prevail. We are heroes. It is our destiny.'
'And somebody shut him up before I puke,' said Hazel. 'I am not a hero, and never have been. Heroes tend to come to glorious, painful, and rather sudden ends, and have statues put up to them by the survivors. Personally, I would much rather be a survivor than a statue.'
'Right,' said Ruby. 'We haven't talked about the loot yet, either. Can we talk about the loot?'
'Somebody sit on her,' said Giles. 'I'm getting a headache. And finally…'
'About time you got around to me,' said Jenny Psycho, scowling fiercely. 'I was beginning to think you'd forgotten all about me.'
'If only that was possible,' said Giles. 'You will orchestrate the use of espers on the planet's surface, and liaise among the various rebel factions. Like the two Randoms, the espers should follow you unquestioningly, just because of who you are. Try and keep your people under control. Espers can do a lot of damage when they're all pointed in the same direction, but the last thing we need are esper loose cannon going off all over the place.'
'You presume too much,' said Jenny Psycho. 'You're not in charge here. In the end, the underground will win this war, and the underground will decide what replaces Lionstone's Empire. We've been preparing for this day for centuries. Espers, clones, the committed, and the faithful. We won't be brushed aside in the moment of our triumph by a bunch of newcomers, even if they are heroes and legends.'
'We can argue about who gets the credit later,' said Random, cutting in firmly on what threatened to be a long tirade. 'First, we have to win this war. Let's make a move, people. It's time to go to work.'
'Right,' said Hazel.
Owen grinned about him. 'See you all in Hell.'
In the huge Court of the Imperial Palace, the Hell that Lionstone had made was growing worse. The surroundings continued to change from moment to moment, reflecting the Empress's darkening mood, and the underworld grew steadily more disturbing. The light was more scarlet than crimson now, absorbing all other colors, and the stench of sulfur was almost overpowering. There were other smells, too: piss and shit and blood, the smells of fear. Batwinged shapes floated lazily overhead, dark shadows too high up to be seen clearly, like cinders coughed up from the depths of the Pit. The maids-in-waiting clustered at the foot of the Iron Throne looked more like demons than ever. And the open Court itself was studded with row upon row of men and women impaled on stakes. There were so many of them Dram assumed they had to be holograms, but he didn't ask. He didn't want to know. Their screams had sounded real enough. He stood where he'd been told to stand, beside the Iron Throne, and did his best not to draw attention to himself.
Lionstone had grown too restless to stay sitting on the Throne, and now paced back and forth before it, shouting orders at people on the floating viewscreens. She was still in control of herself, but her rage grew with every reported rebel victory or Imperial setback. Lionstone had stopped seeing it as a political struggle for control of the Empire, and was now taking it as a series of personal attacks. Everyone was out to get her. No one could be trusted. Every Imperial failure was a betrayal of her. She gave orders in endless streams, sometimes contradicting herself. Dram didn't point this out to her. Lionstone's legendary self-control was finally fragmenting in the face of so many attacks on so many fronts.
Valentine Wolfe had been summoned to Court, and stood patiently before the Throne, poisoning the air just by being there and looking pleased as Punch about it. His long black curls had been freshly oiled, falling to his shoulders in artful disarray. His mascaraed eyes gleamed with fever-bright intensity from his bone-pale face, and his scarlet smile seemed wider than ever. He was calmly pulling the legs from some squealing black thing in his hands. Dram hoped it was an insect. Valentine Wolfe had come to Hell, and looked perfectly at home there.
Dram stood facing him, not because he chose to, but because Lionstone hadn't given him permission to move. He was still officially in charge of the Imperial Fleet, when Lionstone allowed him to be. He'd been doing his best, but his lack of real experience limited his insights and his options. Mostly, things were moving too fast for him to keep up. The Fleet was scattered all across the Empire, and the increasingly isolated ships were too busy fighting off Hadenmen and rebel mutineers to pay him much attention. Even if he'd had anything worthwhile to offer. Lionstone suddenly stopped her pacing and whirled on the two men.
'You! I should have you both executed! This is all your fault! I had things under control until you went mad on Virimonde! All you had to do was pacify one insignificant backwater planet, and you couldn't even do that for me. No, you were too busy running wild and killing anything that moved. Fools! Even a mechanized planet will need some people to work it! What use is there in being an Empress if you don't have peasants to rule?'
