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 did not trip the Wards waiting to flare with some truly unholy powers that if they sensed intruders, were ready to 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 Interdictions stopped the demons she was trying to Summon in from manifesting. 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.

Twelve million people died in total. Bloks burned in sacrificial towers; zones were razed, burned, gassed, irradiated, blown apart, and twisted into living nightmares. Rantha-tech working when facing full-on Warp degradation in combat conditions was on full display. Imperial Legionnaires were seen in combat for the first time ever in Janus Prime, wielding sapphire, silver, and golden Mindblades and Shields in combat, and handing out Sun Shots to depraved demonic invaders. Umbran kill-teams struck here, there, and everywhere; Coronals stood in the defense and the offense, particularly the new Coronal Guards, organizing and inspiring everyone. Juris hunted down the traitorous and the blasphemous everywhere, and PG units laid down their lives to slow the advance of the incursions as Mentats plied the Emperor’s Gift against the forces of the Warp and the Wilders and Warp Sorcerers who came leaping out of the shadows to finally ply their unholy gifts in the open.

All-in-all, it wasn’t much different from the killing that thousands of them had been doing for months. The Warped naturally didn’t find that very nice, but we didn’t ask their opinions.

======

Before the operation...

“You are all going to take a big, big step,” I told the Legionnaires, who were watching me very attentively.

I had given them their Marks personally, and it didn’t matter that they were two feet taller than I was. They stared at me in Markspace, and they wanted to be like me.

The fact I could throw all of them across the room in heavy armor was also a thing. Fuck that women can’t fight thing!

“When you chose to embrace the Emperor’s Gift, and not just the Emperor’s Blood, you took upon yourself the same responsibility of safeguarding souls, and directly opposing the influence of the Warp, that your Legion Ministers and the Coronal Knights espouse.

“Your souls shine sapphire. You are dutiful, obedient, disciplined, regimented, strong-willed. These are the qualities of great soldiers.

“To embrace the Gift means that you must be leaders, and you must be heroes. You must show people the way.

“Your ultimate foe is the Warp, a force of Chaos and Evil born from the sin of everything that lives. To properly oppose them, you must be that which they loathe, fear, and hate the most, which is to be not just of Law, but of Law and Good.

“Legionnaire doctrine tends to ignore the implications of the moral choices and beliefs of its soldiers, and leaves them for the test of time and the cultures from which they hail. It wants good soldiers, and if such men are benevolent guardians or heartless butchers, all that matters is that they obey and fight the enemies of Man.

“The Emperor’s Gift demands that you know and confront the strengths and weaknesses of your own minds. If you wish to properly oppose the Warp, then it is THOUGHT and deed that must do so, not just deed. You are engaged in not just a war of physical nature, but you have entered the metaphysical arena, where your job is to inspire, and lead all people to a better way.

“It is, ultimately, a thankless task. You can ask any Coronal Knight what it is like to be out there, a shining beacon of hope which men rally around when it is time to fight... and then so many falter, fail, and ignore when their lives are not on the line.

“And yet, they know that what they do is necessary, it is the true battle against the will and desires of the Warp. Every step towards the silver is a marathon away from the Warp, a climb of faith and belief, of trust and empathy, a defiance of all that the Warp believes in and acknowledges.

“You have stopped being good little sons of the Emperor, content to do what you are told. You have embraced His Gift, the power and heritage of all mankind, and now you know. You can see what could not be seen, feel what could not be felt. You hold the stakes in your hands, your heart, your soul.

“It is time for you to be more than just His Imperial Majesty’s Space Marines, soldiers of the Imperial Legions. You were Sons... and now you are grown, and you are truly walking in the Emperor’s footsteps.

“It is time for you to no longer be the best of soldiers. It is time for you to be the best of Men!

“Now go out there, and show them not how Legionnaires should fight, but how Legionnaires should lead the fight!”

===============

Present day...

Everything I could reap from the akashic records and imprinted memories of the Dancer indicated that we had dealt a mortal blow to Amourae’s current plans on Janus III. It would naturally not stop more schemes from being spun, and some cockroaches were hiding in corners, ready to breed again... but it was something.

Very soon, there would be Rantha Hags and Hagspawn in all the cities of Janus III, assisting the Orders, leading Planetary Guard companies or even battalions, and my Marks, and the ranks of the Green and Gold, were already starting to accumulate in some of those places. Rantha Corp jobs were highly sought after, and didn’t need to be centralized into an emotionless mass production facility. Where there were Good people, Rantha Tech could be made...