Chapter 379 - Far Future Ch. 89 – Tongue in Cheek (1/2)

The brothel was taken down quietly, and in literally seconds.

It was a Midspire location, discrete and out of the way, not flashing its location at all. Behind its doors, however, was a posh and luxurious establishment willing to cater to all the normal sex fantasies... and if you had connections, were bored, and arrogant, some extremely unhealthy ones, too.

The service staff was attractive, motivated, resilient, and of course very well-trained, willing and able to handle their patrons. There were no cases of complaints of abuse, workers trying to leave, or anything similar from the location, and health investigators considered it a model of the trade.

Most of those health investigators were compromised, too.

The trick and key behind Madame Shauna's was naturally Madame Shauna, who was an enthusiastic and gifted Amourae Cultist, and a Warp Mutant with a particularly insidious gift.

She had an extendable tongue, able to reach up to six feet long, and when infused with psionic energy, it was as sharp as a razor, and strong enough to punch right through a man's head. The saliva it exuded was an aphrodisiac of horribly addictive quality, capable of re-writing the pleasure centers of the brain... one kiss from Madame Shauna, and you were hers.

Oh, it wasn't immediately at the soul-sucking need level, but if you went to her place once, you would be back... and each time you went, your sex drive would be stronger, and assuaging it even more pleasurable. You'd feel active, more energetic, more driven... and you'd be going back again, and again, and again.

Past a certain threshold, your mind was attuned to the Warp, and you were ripe for Possession, Warp-channeling, and Amourean influence.

Naturally all her workers were addicted to her kiss. If they left, they'd die within a week from the cravings consuming them, body and soul, and be utterly berserk killers doing anything and everything to try and satiate the need, from raping everything that moved, to eating them, to trying every combination of drug under the sun... none of which would work, and only compel them to keep trying more.

Just like Amourae loved.

Philius came in on this one, as we couldn't trust any of the local Juris, a significant number of whom were probably compromised. They had an isolated local server network, and a network of Warp Sorcery Wards so subtle that unless you were specifically looking for them, there was no way you were going to see them.

Unfortunately for them, they were in a Spire, and that meant that all the walls, doors, and ceilings actually bordered on other places. If said places were bought out and empty to provide more security, that just worked out better for us.

Me and my kids cut our way through walls, floors, and ceilings, Nulls and Sources not tripping the Wards waiting to flare with some truly unholy powers if they sensed intruders, and then start a cascading Event that would have been the talk of the whole town before it resolved. I secured the primary server and database with the names and addresses of the clientele before it could be wiped, neutralized all the traps on it, and got to work on decoding it even while all the rooms and floors around me turned into bloodbaths.

Everyone was terminated, without question. Madame Shauna turned out to be a Warp Sorceress of terrific power, and obliterated a good chunk of the brothel when she let go... and then the Interdiction stopped the demons coming in she tried to Summon. Her magic was shut down like a mountain had fallen on her when she found herself inside my Null.

She did try to use her tongue on me. I grabbed it and pulled it out of her throat in a nice spray of blood, and that kind of did it for her. Her bodyguard, also a Warp mutant, with a spine like a slinky and a nasty pair of long daggers, ran into my Tails in midair, got wrapped up, and then my main Tail branded her little addicted skull and rendered her unable to do anything.

Given their nature, if I'd opened my shirt, they'd've been unable to make a move against me with Nereid Aura active. I didn't bother to try... the two of them went politely missing, which supplied me with the passwords for all her files rather quickly.

Everybody died, there was no attempt to save anyone. The combined effect of her venom and the psychological changes meant even if we could burn away the addiction, the people were going to go looking for something to satisfy the mental need, even if the physical one was dealt with. Amourae had Her hooks in them, and the very best choice was to kill them now and deny their souls to the Warp.

Once the database was fully disseminated, then things got really exciting, as that was one very, very big client list, and it went into a lot of areas. Furthermore, I supplied them with dozens more names that were personal clients of Madame Shauna and not on the list... which were even more sensitive. While she hadn't made it into the very top tier of society, she had penetrated into the levels below it... and the fallout was murderous, to say the least.

---

Two hundred and fourteen brothels were hit in almost simultaneous raids by Juris squads under the cold instruction of Umbran Agents across nineteen mega-cities and a dozen more kiloplexes. Some went off cleanly, most of them ended up in bloodbaths, as frenzied sex workers became fanatical killers, and their clients went right along with them. Warp Events exploded, and Mentats and Coronal Squires ready in support were called into action repeatedly.

Sometimes, they couldn't reach elements of the Planetary Guard who were compromised, and shooting battles started as Amoureans seemed to come out of the woodwork before files could be analyzed and everyone identified. Other times, it was corporate slime with private security, or nobles taking control of the family guards to wreak as much havoc as possible in their desperation. At least four freighters ended up being blown out of the sky as people tried to flee on them, which put a crimp into contractual production.

While not as broad of scope as the Wendlerton Academy infiltration, which spanned multiple worlds in the sector, the immediate numbers of this layer of corruption were actually much higher, and naturally more concentrated. There were over a hundred Warp incursions, across multiple cities, and my people in the Warp Zone reported an overwhelming shift to Amourean-themed enemies as the incursions were taking place.

Many elements of the Janus Prime Guard were called into service by multiple cities, and distinguished themselves with their brutal suppression of Warp Incursions. That said elements had been active in the unknown and deadly Warpzone soon became a matter of knowledge at the highest levels of city governments, and a few of the more astute City Lords inquired if they might be able to send some of their own regiments over for such training.

This was approved on the basis of them being raw recruits and filtered by the trainers, which they found amenable enough.