Legends of Amacia The Caverias Rebellion
Chapter 21: Entering the Torture Floors

Nemesis led Hanna and her team through the Black Fortress’ maze of corridors following Josephine’s directions. They stopped at a five-way junction. “Which way do we go?” Enoch asked nervously, his sword held at ready. The sound of war came from several of the corridors, including the one they’d just came out.

“Josephine,” Nemesis called out. “Which way do we go?”

“You’re close. Take the far left corridor,” Josephine’s voice instructed from the Nemesis’ communication link to her. “And hurry. There are two squads of soldiers converging on your position. I’ll try to slow them down.”

“Right,” Nemesis replied. “Do what you can.”

“Get moving!” Josephine barked. “I can’t protect you for long. The soldier’s attacks on my appendages are becoming more effective in disabling them.”

“Josephine, don’t worry too much about us,” Hanna ordered while hefting the Caverias sword in a defensive fashion. “We can take care of ourselves. Just protect yourself. You’re more important to us than destroying guards loyal to the Emperor.”

“Yes, Hanna,” Josephine replied. “Now please go. Take the far left passage. It’s only 1500 cubits to the entrance to the sex floor. Go.”

“You heard the lady,” Nemesis growled, “Let’s go.” The team rushed down the far left passage. The sounds of war became more distant as they moved through the corridor.

Hanna paid close attention to the sounds echoing through the corridor. Only the sounds of mortal combat echoed in the distance behind them. No sound whatsoever came from ahead of them. “Josephine,” she called out while pausing at a turn in the corridor. Nemesis peeked around the turn to make sure it was safe. Once satisfied it was clear, he waved everyone forward.

“Yes, Hanna,” Josephine replied from Nemesis’ communicator while the team followed Nemesis around the corridor’s turn.

“Why is there no noise coming from the sex floor?” Hanna asked. “As close as we are to it, surely we should be able to hear the screams of those being tortured there.”

“You don’t hear anything because I have suspended the torture of those poor girls,” Josephine replied. “I’m presently treating them, but many are so weak they can’t function on their own. Furthermore, I’m taxing my system by attacking the guards while trying to treat the girls. It’s draining my power levels significantly.”

“Then stop attacking the guards in an offensive manner,” Hanna ordered. “Only defend yourself. Our brothers and sisters on the torture floors should be your primary concern.”

“Yes, Hanna,” Josephine stated as Hanna’s team led by Nemesis approached a large metal door covered with blood. “You have arrived at the outer doors. I’ll open them for you.” The door banged loudly and slid open in seconds. “Hurry,” Josephine urged. “The girls need you.”

“Right,” Hanna replied, waving everyone forward. “How far is it now?”

“You’re five hundred cubits from the floor itself,” Josephine reported. “I’ll open the inner door when I see you approach. Keep a wary eye on your six, my friends. I’m now monitoring five squads at the junction with two of them coming up behind you.”

“Thanks for the heads-up,” Nemesis growled, darting through the open door. “You may want to close this door after we’re through it to slow them down, Josephine.”

“I will,” Josephine answered, closing the door after the last member of Hanna’s team passed through the entry. “Hurry, my friends...hurry.”

Nemesis and Hanna rushed through the corridor followed by their teammates. Everyone noticed blood splatters and chunks of flesh scattered everywhere in the corridor. The smell of blood, feces, urine, and rotting flesh mixed with the aroma of burning human flesh started to become very apparent the farther they traveled. “What is that disgusting smell?” Andrew asked, his senses on high alert.

“That is the smell of the sex floor,” Hanna growled with great disgust. “I know that smell intimately from my time there. Prepare yourselves, my friends. You are about to see the vilest, most heinous heart of the Emperor’s domain. It is not for the world of the living or dead for that matter.” They heard a bang ahead of them, seeing a large door open one hundred cubits away. The nauseating, putrid smell of the sex floor flooded the corridor; making most of the team temporarily gag on the reek.

“Ugh...that’s the vilest stench I’ve ever smelled,” Enoch reported.

“You haven’t seen anything yet,” Hanna warned, breaking into a run past Nemesis.

“Hold on, Hanna,” Nemesis called out, sprinting to catch up to her. He reached her as she stepped onto the sex floor. Nemesis skidded to a halt beside Hanna as she scanned the floor with a burning rage in her eye. Looking around at the vile scene before him, Nemesis immediately understood Hanna’s rage because it rose in him as well. His mouth fell open and he uttered a curse in his native tongue so heinous it didn’t bear repeating. Seconds later, the rest of the team entered the torture area and gawked in horror. Two dozen women lay dead, still strapped into the torture devices that continued ravishing them in death. Dozens more remained alive. These women had been removed from their torture devices, and laid on the floor. They wore practically nothing at all. The android drones of the torture floor treated their wounds with medicines. Because of the androids rendering medical aid to the prisoners, no one attacked them. The monstrous Cyclops eye of Josephine remained hidden, as did her tentacles.

“By the Elder Gods,” Enoch breathed in utter horror. “This is...insane! I can’t believe what I’m seeing here. These poor girls have been literally ravaged to death! And you survived this, Hanna?”

Hanna turned to Enoch with tears in her eyes and the berserker rage boiling in her heart. “Yes,” she sputtered, choking on her emotions. “I did, but in a female clone avatar before the Emperor actually mutated me. Now you know what I endured.” She dropped to her knees and wailed like a banshee. “I waited too long!” she cried bitterly. “They perished before I could get them out! I’ve failed them!”

“No, you haven’t,” Josephine’s voice rumbled throughout the torture floor as the door slid shut, sealing them in. The team instantly became fearful as Xavier futilely tried to open the door.

“It’s a trap!” Xavier cried in fearful anger, pulling on the door with several of his Cimmerians.

“No, Xavier...chief of the Cimmerian Clans, it is not a trap. I closed the door to protect you and you friends from the Emperor’s loyal troops,” Josephine answered as her six-foot wide mechanized Cyclops eye and tentacles appeared out of the ceiling. The eye lowered down in front of Hanna and Nemesis. Its tentacles writhed around it as it hovered in front of them. The rest of the team drew their weapons, deathly afraid of the mechanized monster form of Josephine. Nemesis immediately scanned the machine, seeing Josephine in complete control of it.

“Stay your weapons,” Nemesis ordered. “This is Josephine’s interface for this location. She will not hurt us.”

“That’s true. I control this machine and this place,” Josephine answered from her eye as it focused on Hanna sobbing on her knees. A small, mechanized tentacle reached out and touched Hanna on the shoulder, getting her attention. Hanna looked up through her tears, seeing the giant eye staring her in the face once again. Everyone gathered around the giant eye with the tentacles as it spoke again, keeping a close eye on it. “Hanna,” Josephine said softly. “I know it’s hard for you to be here again.”

“What happened to my sisters?” Hanna whimpered. “I promised to get them out of here. Now they’re dead. What happened?”

Josephine’s tentacle gently wiped Hanna’s tears away. “They succumbed to their tortures shortly after you escaped,” Josephine replied. “I couldn’t save them and at the time, I had to pretend to be under the Emperor’s control. He ordered they be left on their devices where they perished.”

“The bastard!” Andrew hissed venomously. “He’s going to pay for that.”

“And he will,” Enoch insisted. “No one deserves this kind of treatment. After what I’m seeing here, the Ancient of Days will not let this atrocity stand.”

“That He will,” Hanna growled with an explosion in her berserker rage. “I’m going to make him pay for this. These were my friends, my sisters.” She rose from her knees with fiery determination in her eye.

“Hanna,” Josephine intruded. “These precious girls who perished from their tortures heard your promise and believed right up unto the end. When they died, I did my best to make it as painless for them as possible. It was the least I could do. But the fact still remains that there are almost sixty girls who survived the tortures, including those on the trophy wall. As I speak, I have my drones treating them, but they need to be gotten out of here. Now is the time for you to act, Hanna, and fulfill your promise to your sisters.”

Hanna’s emotions calmed with Josephine’s words, though her berserker rage remained in the extremely dangerous range. The mention of the trophy wall caused Hanna to scan the torture floor for it. Upon seeing its location vacant, her heart fell. “Where are they? Where are the trophy girls?” she pleaded.

“I removed them from their mounts,” Josephine replied. “Two died shortly after you escaped. The other three are still alive, barely.”

“What about the one I was hung next to?” Hanna asked insistently. “She didn’t die, did she?”

“No,” Josephine stated. “Althea has an incredibly strong will to survive, almost as strong as your will.”

“Where is she?” Hanna asked. “Please...if she’s still alive, let me see her.”

“As you wish,” Josephine stated. “It will be a moment. I’ll have the drone bring her to you.”

A few moments later, one of the faceless androids carried a nude woman with no arms or legs to the Hanna. Stopping in front of Hanna, the android remained motionless, awaiting an order. Hanna felt a violent chill race down her spine when she saw the woman had signs of intense physical and sexual abuse. Tears rose in her eyes again. Wanting to hold the girl in her arms, Hanna ordered the android, “Give her to me.” The android handed her to Hanna, who cradled the unconscious girl in her arms. “Her name is Althea?” she asked Josephine.

“Yes,” Josephine answered. “Unfortunately, she’s been recently ravished by the Emperor and is in a coma. I don’t know if she’ll ever come out of it.”

The rest of the team surrounded Hanna, looking at Althea with great sympathy and disgust for the Emperor. Enoch saw the stumps of her limbs, along with the bruises and signs of horrendous abuse. His anger rose dramatically. “You said the Emperor had this done to you?” he asked.

Hanna nodded, gently rocking the comatose Althea. In a cracked, strained tone, Hanna croaked, “Yes. When the Emperor makes dolls of girls like this, he amputates all four limbs at once with red-hot blades while you’re awake. The pain it creates is incomprehensible. I cringe every time I think about it. Then he mounts you to a table and hangs you up as a living trophy that can’t escape. Oh, Althea, my poor sister in pain; how I know your agony.” Hanna wept openly, not caring who saw.

Amelia, who was part of Xavier’s group in Hanna’s team, walked up, putting an arm around Hanna. “It’s okay. Let it out,” she cooed. “Your pain is their pain. Your demon is their demon. Let’s slay those demons together.”

Enoch put his huge hand on Hanna’s shoulder in emotional support. “Amelia is right,” he agreed. “It’s time to slay these demons. You have returned as you promised. Now to slay the demon of this place, we need to get these poor souls out of here alive.”

Hanna’s tears dripped on Althea’s face. “Oh, my sweet sister, if you could only know I’ve come back for you,” Hanna wept.

A deep sigh came from Althea as her body twitched. Hanna’s heart hesitated when she noticed the movement. Hope exploded in her. Shaking Althea gently, Hanna called to her. “Althea...wake up, Althea. It’s me, Hannibal.”

A moan rose from Althea as everyone gathered closer to see. Her eyelids twitched as Hanna continued to call to her. Moments later, Althea’s eyes opened, looking up into the ghoulish visage of Hanna. Summoning what little strength she had left, Althea whispered, “Who are you? You look familiar.”

Hanna choked for a moment on her emotion. When she found the words, she sobbed, “I’m Hannibal, who hung next to you on the trophy wall. I’ve come back to set you free, my precious sister.”

“I’m not on the wall?” Althea murmured.

“No, little one,” Josephine replied, her Cyclops eye hovering above the group looking down. “I have removed you and your sisters from your torments, thanks to Miss Hanna.”

Looking up into Hanna’s eyes, a weary smile crept across Althea’s lips. “I knew you’d come for us,” she whispered. “Don’t let us die here, please.”

“No one else is going to die here,” Hanna said resolutely. “Not you or any of your sisters. Your freedom is near. Just hold on until we can get you out of here.”

“I’ll try,” Althea whispered before passing out again.

Nemesis scanned her with his cyborg eye. “She needs immediate medical attention,” he reported. “She’s bleeding internally from a particularly nasty physical and sexual assault. The only chance she has is to get her to the Red Tower’s healing chamber.”

“Then that’s where she will go,” Hanna replied bluntly. “All of them need to get out of here.”

“Which brings us to the fundamental question: how do we get these girls out of here in one piece,” Enoch intruded. “The whole fortress is in an uproar with more troops coming in every minute. How are we going to get these poor souls out of here without moving the portal?”

“I have a thought on that,” Hanna answered, gently placing Althea back into the arms of the waiting android. It cradled Althea as if she were a child in a mother’s arms. “I remember Josephine moving me from one place to another with her tentacles while I was here,” Hanna stated. “Is there any way you could move these girls to the lower dungeons, Josephine?”

“Yes,” Josephine stated. “I don’t know why I didn’t think of that. Where do you want to take them?”

“Do you know of the large chamber in the lowest level, well away from the main dungeon?” Nemesis asked.

“I certainly do,” Josephine replied. “There is no corner of the dungeon where I cannot access it physically. Why do you ask about it?”

“It’s where we came in,” Hanna stated. “Use your scanners and check out the chamber. You will see several of my people there guarding a portal gateway. We came here via the Red Tower’s portal generator.”

Josephine remained quiet for a few moments. A gasp escaped the mechanized eye. “You have surprised me, Hanna,” Josephine stated. “I never thought you’d have access to a portal generator built in the 1st Age.”

“Well, I do,” Hanna declared. “Can you do it?”

“Of course,” Josephine stated. “And I don’t have to use my appendages to do it, either. I have the ability to teleport anyone or anything anywhere in my domain with a matter/energy teleportation device.”

“Excellent,” Hanna crowed. “I didn’t know you had that capability.”

“My capabilities are extensive,” Josephine admitted, “but are limited to my exclusive sphere of influence. I suggest that one of your team teleport to the chamber so your people won’t be caught off guard.”

“Excellent idea,” Nemesis agreed. “Now who’s it going to be?”

“I’ll go,” Enoch stated. “But first, I need to see this kitchen for myself.”

“You don’t want to do that, Enoch,” Hanna warned. “What you see here pales in comparison to that pit.”

“I must see it,” Enoch insisted. “I must know the full depth of the Emperor’s darkness.”

“Very well,” Hanna growled with a sigh. “Andrew, stay with Althea and these precious sisters while we go into hell itself. If there’s anyone here that doesn’t want to see the ultimate desecration of human life, stay here. What you’re about to see will haunt you for the rest of your days.”

Amelia, who was part of Xavier’s team, called out, “I’ve seen enough. I’m going to stay with Andrew and my sisters. They need me.”

“Very well,” Hanna said with a sigh. “Let’s go. Josephine, how do we access Hell’s Kitchen?”

“Follow me,” Josephine’s Cyclops eye replied, starting to move towards the far side of the sex floor. Everyone except Andrew, Amelia, and a handful of guards, Cimmerians, and hybrids followed.

Josephine’s Cyclops eye seemed to float across the sex floor with her tentacles. While transiting the chamber, everyone saw the torture tools up close, some with dead women still firmly tied to the diabolical machines. The level of degradation they saw incensed everyone, especially Enoch, Xavier, and Nemesis. They moved by the crucifixion area and saw several corpses crucified with the diabolical rubber pistons still raping them in death.

“This is the vilest place I’ve ever seen,” Enoch growled in intense disgust. “No one should ever be treated like this. The Emperor is going to pay for this insanity.”

“How long did the Emperor torture these women like this?” Xavier hissed with intense hatred.

“Sometimes, days at a time,” Josephine replied grimly. “These girls you see dead on these crosses hung there for a week before dying. I’m so sorry I couldn’t save them despite my feeding them. They just couldn’t take the torture.”

“I know you tried,” Nemesis stated stoically. “There just wasn’t anything you could do for them.”

When they reached the dollification area of the sex floor, Hanna paused at one of the tables and paled. “What’s the matter, Hanna?” Enoch asked, seeing the blood-covered table with bladed stocks and straps to immobilize the victim.

“This is where it happened,” Hanna whispered. “This is where the Emperor had Josephine turn me into the doll after he mercilessly raped the clone girl he forced my mind into. I’ve yet to fully recover from that brutality.” Tears flowed as sobs bubbled up from Hanna’s soul. “When he did that to me, I’ve never felt so helpless, alone, and isolated in my entire life. He ravaged my very soul with that act,” she cried.

Enoch pulled Hanna into a caring embrace, allowing her to vent. “It’s all right,” he said. “Let it out. This poison has festered in you ever since I met you. It’s time to release it. Release the pain, hate, and despair the Emperor inflicted upon you. Release it.”

Nemesis touched Hanna on the shoulder with his enormous organic hand. “Enoch is right,” he agreed. “You need to release the darkness the Emperor inflicted upon you in this place. Rise up and take your vengeance on it. Slay the demon that haunts you even now.”

“Your friends speak true,” Josephine stated in a caring tone. “I know the horror inflicted upon you here because I was forced to do it because of my programming. Can you ever forgive me?”

Hanna turned from Enoch to Josephine’s Cyclops eye, touching it. After composing herself, Hanna whimpered, “Of course I forgive you. I don’t hold you responsible. The Emperor is the source of the darkness and demons of this place.” Hanna’s countenance hardened in a flash as her berserker rage exploded violently. In an instant, Hanna went from sobbing in pain and horror to violent wrath. Her face turned red as she stepped towards the nearest table. “It’s the Emperor that’s done this to me,” she hissed. “No one deserves to be treated like that. If it’s the last thing I ever do, the Emperor will never do that to another living soul!” Without warning, a white aura swirled around Hanna as her eyes glowed brilliant white. “Never again!” she roared and every dollification table in the area crumbled to dust. Once the tables disintegrated, the white aura vanished and Hanna dropped to her knees panting.

“Fate be merciful,” Xavier breathed; stunned by Hanna’s explosion of elemental power.

Enoch quickly knelt beside Hanna and steadied her. “Are you okay?” he asked with great concern.

Hanna gazed into Enoch’s face with a troubled look. “I don’t know,” she admitted. “It happened again. I destroyed those infernal machines with my mind like I did when I was a wizard. My rage went nuclear and I saw those tables disintegrating in my mind. Then they did for real. Enoch...what’s happening to me? I don’t understand any of this.”

“Calm down,” Enoch cooed. “You’ll soon understand the power the Ancient of Days has laid at your fingertips. You shouldn’t fear it. It’s a tool to be used for the good of all. Do you know what I saw?”

“What?” Hanna asked as her strength returned.

“I saw your rage rise up and destroy the demon that haunts you in this place,” Enoch declared. “These devices here were what hurt you the most and you destroyed them in your righteous indignation. The demon haunting you has been vanquished by your destroying these infernal machines.”

“I must agree with Enoch,” Nemesis intruded. “This place has been your demon since you escaped. Now, you’ve exacted your revenge on it, sending the demon back into the darkness. Tell me, little sister, how do you feel now?”

Hanna canted her head slightly while looking up at Nemesis. At first, a puzzled expression filled her face. Then her countenance opened as she realized what occurred. A smile crept across her lips. “Oh, my god,” she cried in epiphany. “You’re both right. The pain, horror, despair, and helplessness I’ve felt ever since that terrible day has lifted. I no longer fear what happened to me here. I’m free of the demon of this place! It crumbled with the tables there. Thank you for showing me what was right under my nose. I’m forever grateful.”

“I’m glad,” Enoch chimed. “And it was my pleasure. I didn’t think you’d ever slay that demon, especially after seeing what this place is really like.” He helped Hanna to her feet.

“Oh, you haven’t seen the real darkness of this place until you’ve seen and heard the cries and wails of the tormented here as I have,” Hanna declared. “I’m so happy that you didn’t have to endure that. Though seeing the torture devices with my precious sisters dead on them does give you a good idea.”

“Indeed it does,” Enoch replied soberly. “Now that you’ve slain your demon here, let’s kill that demon haunting you in the kitchen.”

“By all means,” Hanna blurted out. “Let’s do it. Josephine, how much farther is it?”

“It’s just over here,” Josephine stated, moving towards a large door in the side of the chamber some one hundred feet away. Everyone fell in behind her.

“Were you able to shut down the kitchen, Josephine?” Hanna asked.

“No,” Josephine replied bluntly. “The Kitchen now has an autonomous AI running it that I’m not connected to. All I’m allowed to do is bring in victims and remove the prepared remains to be dispersed to the various parts of the fortress.”

“But I thought you had complete control of the Kitchen?” Hanna asked in horror.

“I wish that were the case,” Josephine answered grimly. “If I had control of that infernal apparatus, I would have shut it down when I ceased the tortures here. Unfortunately, I haven’t had control of the kitchen itself since Zaros took over from his father.”

“What happened?” Enoch asked.

“The Cadre developed an autonomous AI that was pure machine with no human components,” Josephine stated. “They’d just finished developing it when Zaros took over. So, as a test, they implanted the AI into the Kitchen’s control system while locking me out of its operation. All I’m supposed to do now is bring victims to the slave cages for the kitchen and feed their prepared remains to those in the dungeons. Most of what they get is the protein mix after the bodies are processed. The Zarukar and Xenian troops also get to feed on the victims of the kitchen. Zaros, the upper ranks of the Cadre including Ahriaman, and the nobles get the choicest picks from what come out of the kitchen before anyone else gets access.”

What Josephine said sickened everyone present. “You mean the Emperor actually consumes human flesh and blood?” Enoch asked in horror.

“Yes,” Josephine stated grimly. “He does, and on a regular basis. He even occasionally eats them raw, particularly the girls he ravishes to death. He claims to be able to taste their fear in their flesh.” A sigh escaped Josephine’s Cyclops eye. “I’ve seen it happen for eons. In a way, I was glad when he stopped me from controlling the kitchen. You have no idea what it’s like to process those poor doomed souls into food for those beasts. You just can’t comprehend that depth of darkness. It’s eaten away at my soul for eons. I can still hear their death cries echoing in my mind.” Her mechanized tone dripped with sorrow, pain, and regret.

Hanna touched Josephine’s Cyclops eye as they stopped at the giant door. “I can,” Hanna whispered. “Believe me; I know your pain, though I can’t fathom how you didn’t succumb to the darkness through all that.”

“I don’t know how myself,” Josephine admitted. “But I knew the prophecies, including the ones concerning you. Everything the prophets said about you has happened to the letter. Maybe it was faith in your inevitable return that kept me going. I just don’t know.”

“You have incredible faith and strength, Josephine,” Hanna declared. “It seems to have sustained you through a darkness even I can’t totally comprehend. It means the Ancient of Days still has a purpose for you to fulfill. It gives me hope to see such faith. Is this the door?”

“Yes,” Josephine replied in grim finality. “Beyond this portal lies an evil so horrendous it doesn’t belong in this multiverse. Prepare yourselves to experience the ultimate desecration of intelligent life and what the Emperor ultimately has planned for humanity.”

“You mean...,” Hanna trailed off, unsure if she wanted to admit to what she thought.

“Yes, Hanna,” Josephine said bluntly. “Your nightmares of the Emperor spell out what you already know. The Emperor means to use humanity as fodder and food for his infernal hordes, including the cursed Old Ones and their Etherian masters. You are no more than food byproducts for them and the kitchen reflects it.”

Hanna put her ear to the door and heard the same primal death screams echoing faintly in the distance. Her face reddened with fury as her berserker rage instantly pegged off the scale. She backed away from the door in wrath. “Then we put an end to it now!” she snarled. “Josephine, open the door and help us destroy the Kitchen. Unleash your wrath upon that AI that controls that infernal place! Do it now!”

“My pleasure,” Josephine hissed with relish. Her mechanized Cyclops eye retracted to the ceiling with her tentacles as the door banged, slowly opening. The muffled sounds Hanna heard behind the door became clear when the door split in the middle, opening to the right and left. At the same time, the sounds of metallic destruction rose over the din. In seconds, thirty of the faceless androids massed with Hanna’s team as they waited for the doors to open. A horrid stench wafted through the opening door, making everyone cough on the fetid reek. The moment the door opened enough for the team to proceed, Josephine spoke through one of her android drones. “Let the drones go first,” she ordered, sending the drones in first.

“Come on. We have to save our brothers and sisters from those hellish machines,” Hanna ordered, following the drones. “But be warned, Josephine wasn’t lying about what you’re about to see.” She rushed in with the Caverias sword ready. Nemesis and Enoch followed right behind with the rest of the team on their heels ready for war.

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