Editing LotS/The Story/Aphrodisian Anabasis/Anguish

'''Anguish'''
----
'''Intro'''
<br><br>
Tall spires loom on the horizon, phallic edifices with spikes set into them -- like the thorns of a rose.
<br><br>
"Anguish is one of the most popular districts on Cythera," Claudia says. "It's a place for people who enjoy suffering -- from one side or the other."
<br><br>
"We have a kid with us," Talia says. "Knock off the tour guide stuff."
<br><br>
"My apologies. I'm not used to having children around. People don't usually bring them to vice-worlds."
<br><br>
Talia opens her mouth for a response, but lapses into frustrated silence instead. Quietness descends on you all. Not for the first time, you wonder what King Salastro would think about the places you've taken his son, and the situations you've put him in.
<br><br>
"How did you become a slave-girl?" Ragnar asks, either unconscious of the awkwardness or attempting to break it.
<br><br>
"It's not a vocation I applied for. My father sold me into slavery on Drekchester, to pay for his chemical addiction. Well, technically indentured servitude. Some factions like to use that term. Caligula preferred to call us slaves. Servi and ancillae."
<br><br>
"What're you going to do when we fly off this rock?"
<br><br>
"Maybe she could get a job teaching Latin," Talia suggests.
<br><br>
After that, you walk on in silence once more.
<br><br>
----
'''Nasty, Brutish, and Short'''
<br><br>
A series of black monoliths rise up against the starry sky like severed fingers, their tips visible over the crest of the knoll that stretches across the grassy expanse. Red barbs are set into their sides, vicious protrusions that make them into miniature versions of the buildings beyond.
<br><br>As you approach them, you hear moaning, cackling, grunting, and the lashing of whips. You mount the knoll, and that brings the whole bizarre tableau in sight.
<br><br>Men and women clad only in their undergarments are tied to the monoliths. Diminutive figures stand near them, dressed in black, and at first you take them for children. But a second glance shows them to be midgets.
<br><br>The little people are laughing, taunting, and shouting as they ply the whips in their hands. A woman shrieks as one cracks on her abdomen, raising a red wound from which blood begins to trickle.
<br><br>Before you can stop her, the Princess strides towards them, her pistol in her hand. You dash after her.
<br><br>"I don't think-" you begin.
<br><br>"Stop that!" she says.
<br><br>The midgets look round.
<br><br>"Let these people go!"
<br><br>"Who the hell are you?" one of them asks.
<br><br>"I'm Princess Illaria of the Sian Empire, and I demand that you release them at once!"
<br><br>"Piss off!" yells one of the bound men.
<br><br>"Yeah!" shouts another. "If you want to play princess, go to Little Sian."
<br><br>The Princess turns to you.
<br><br>"There's a Little Sian here?"
<br><br>"I thought it best not to mention it."
<br><br>One of the midgets cracks his whip on the ground.
<br><br>"You heard them. Get lost!"
<br><br>"We don't want any trouble," Claudia says. "We're just taking a shortcut to Thalatta."
<br><br>The midget's eyes narrow.
<br><br>"A 'short' cut? Is that supposed to be funny?"
<br><br>"What? No! It's just a little misunderstanding..."
<br><br>The midget scurries towards her, and raises his arm.
<br><br>Ragnar steps in front of Claudia, and the whip lashes against his hardened body -- not drawing the slightest mark. Then he grunts, takes another step, draws his leg back, and kicks.
<br><br>The midget cries out as hurtles upwards in an impressive arc, spinning through the air like a thugby ball heading towards the goalposts. He cries even louder when he hits the ground, before scrambling to his feet and running off -- soon vanishing in the darkness.
<br><br>"Stop him!" Claudia yells. "Don't let him raise the alarm!"
<br><br>"I'm on it, captain!" says Talia.
<br><br>She sprints off into the night, sidestepping a midget who tries to block her path.
<br><br>"Get 'em!" shouts another of the little people.
<br><br>As one, the diminutive sadists press something on the handles of their whips. There's an electric crackle as blue energy flashes around the weapons.
----
'''Red Barrels'''
<br><br>"We need to get after Talia," you say, ignoring her.
<br><br>"We paid for pain!" a man says, in a nasal whine. "I demand-"
<br><br>You lash out with your fist as you pass the whining man, and run in the direction Talia and the midget went. You hear the others following behind you. Then there's a whoosh of thruster jets, and Telemachus' mech rushes past -- hurtling off at a speed you have no hope of matching.
<br><br>The sound of weapons fire guides you towards one of Anguish's streets, and you round the corner of a building to see Talia and Telemachus. They're standing near a downed midget, alongside the sprawling forms of several regular sized men and women in clothing that seems to consist largely of leather and studs.
<br><br>Ragnar, Lu Bu, and the Princess join you a few moments later. The Niflung has Claudia over his shoulder, and she staggers when he sets her down -- as though dazed.
<br><br>"Afraid we've woken up the hornets' nest," Talia says.
<br><br>More of the absurdly attired denizens of Anguish are massing at the other end of the street, weapons in their hands. And there's something else there as well.
<br><br>"You see what I see?" you ask.
<br><br>"Sure do," Talia replies.
<br><br>"Heh." Ragnar hefts his machinegun, a big grin on his face.
<br><br>"What are you talking about?" the Princess asks.
<br><br>"Red barrels," the three of you chorus.
<br><br>"What's so special about red barrels?"
<br><br>"You'll see," you reply.
<br><br>You take aim.

----
'''...Always Explode'''
<br><br>
"Never fails," you say.
<br><br>Leather clad bodies are scattered in the street. Smoke billows from the flaming ruins of the barrels, drifting away into the star-studded heavens.
<br><br>"That's insane!" the Princess says. "Who leaves dangerous explosives just lying around in the street like that?"
<br><br>"Don't look a gift horse in the mouth," Talia replies.
<br><br>She's quite right.
<br><br>Some of the enemies are struggling back to their feet, and more are approaching from further down the street. The latter are wearing masks, which you realize a moment later are gas masks. That can't be good...
<br><br>You have to make the best of your advantage while you have it.
----
'''Wireframe Warfare'''
<br><br>
Laser fire and bullets sweep the dazed men and women, mowing them down like sheaves of corn before a harvester's spinning blades. But your other adversaries are within range now.
<br><br>Some of the newcomers are opening up with their own pistols and rifles, their fire zapping towards you. Others are hurling spherical objects, which become wreathed in whiteness the moment they leave their hands.
<br><br>"Smoke grenades!" the Princess shouts.
<br><br>She backs away as the white cloud billows towards her, urged on by the insistent wind. Talia pulls back as well, dragging Claudia away from the smoke.
<br><br>Your enemies advance into the pandemonium they created, secure behind their masks -- which must contain visual filers enabling them to see through it.
<br><br>Ragnar stays where he is, his machinegun blazing. Lu Bu stands alongside him, his robotic systems able to penetrate the smoke. And Telemachus is secure in his mech, able to target using its computer...
<br><br>"Tel!" you shout. "The goggles! Give them to me!"
<br><br>You move over to him as his cockpit opens, and the goggles drop into your waiting hand. His cockpit snaps shut once more, as you work the strap with rapid hands -- extending it to fit round your head.
<br><br>The moment the goggles are over your eyes, the smoke is gone -- rendered invisible by your new wireframe vision. And you see your enemies as they advance, picked out in a convenient shade of red...
----
'''Agony and Ecstasy'''
<br><br>
"Thanks," you say, as you hold the goggles up to the mech's cockpit.
<br><br>Telemachus sighs, but the canopy pops open. He takes them from you, fiddles with their strap, and puts them back on.
<br><br>The smoke has cleared, revealing a veritable Armageddon. Torn bodies and severed body parts carpet the street, like the confetti thrown during the galaxy's most macabre parade. Claudia retches behind you, and you hear the unpleasant and unmistakable sounds of a person's stomach being emptied. A faint smile crosses your lips. Her mind must be filled with horror at the sight, yet the first thing which occurred to you upon gazing at it was that you've seen better.
<br><br>Still, the battle isn't over yet...
<br><br>Once again the far end of the street has produced more adversaries -- like a malevolent cornucopia spewing them forth into a meat grinder.
<br><br>These ones look better armed than the last lot. And two figures in their midst, a man and a woman, catch your attention. At first glance they appear little different from the others -- most of their clothing consisting of a handkerchief's worth of leather, artfully strung around their bodies. But something about the calculated, predatory way they move makes you focus on them.
<br><br>The man brandishes a laser pistol in one hand, a bearded axe in the other. Orange energy glows and crackles along its blade. The woman has a matching pistol, and a whip that seems to writhe in the air of its own accord -- slithering and darting like a snake in search of its prey.
<br><br>"That's Agony and Ecstasy," Claudia says.
<br><br>She wipes traces of vomit from her mouth with one hand, and uses the other to point at each of them in turn. Her face is pale and haggard -- making her seem much older.
<br><br>"They run Anguish."
<br><br>You fire a shot at Agony, more to gauge his reaction than anything else. You've already learned not to underestimate the denizens of Hedon because of their indecent costumes and lascivious profession.
<br><br>His axe sweeps across his face, and the orange along its edge flashes as it absorbs your blast. His face opens in a wide, crocodilian smile, and he spits his tongue out -- lapping at the air.
<br><br>He's quick, like the red woman was. Probably cybernetic or chemical enhancement. And his instincts, the deftness with which he intercepted the shot, speak of hard training or lots of combat experience.
<br><br>Perhaps eager not to be outdone, Ecstasy skips forward and twirls her whip in the air -- its metal coils spinning in ever widening circles above her head, like a tornado twisting from her hand. She flicks her wrist. The whip breaks free from the cyclone, and darts towards the ground. Its point lashes at one of the gruesome corpses, a victim of the barrels' explosion, as though it were a carrion bird in search of a morsel.
<br><br>Ecstasy's hand twitches, and the end of the whip flies up like a fisherman's line. And sure enough, she's caught something. A long, slender piece of flesh -- perhaps a finger -- spins through the air in an arc. It drops straight into the woman's upturned mouth.
<br><br>She swallows the body part with a gulp, and lowers her head -- gazing straight into your eyes as she licks her lips with a slow, sensuous caress of her tongue. Her mouth slips into a cold smile, one born of mirth and malice in equal measure.
<br><br>Only on Cythera...
***
<br>"That the best you can do?" Ecstasy asks.
<br><br>She laughs, a harsh but musical bark that sends a fresh torrent of blood from her mouth and the ruins of her nose. The crimson waterfall drowns her lips and cascades down her chin, turning her into a beautiful ghoul. It splashes between her breasts, and continues to flow down the pale flesh of her abdomen -- making it seem as if she's been split open down the middle, and is about to fall in two halves.
<br><br>"My daddy used to hit me harder than that!"
<br><br>Your rear hand smashes against her jaw, your entire bodyweight thrown behind the blow. There's a crack, and red teeth shower the street like bloody pearls.
<br><br>And still she stands, moaning and laughing like a demented demon. It occurs to you that some of her augmentations must be designed to keep her conscious, forcing or permitting her body to experience levels of pain that would make others pass out.
<br><br>"Let me try."
<br><br>Ragnar grunts, and shoulders past you. He grabs Ecstasy by her shoulders, and lifts her into the air as though she were a child. Then he slams his head forward, pulling her towards him at the same moment.
<br><br>There's a thud, and a crunch. The laughter stops.
<br><br>The Niflung tosses her aside with a carless sweep of his arm. Whether by accident or by design, she lands on top of Agony -- and their motionless forms sprawl together in a battered and bloody embrace.