(IC) It's been awhile and boy are we screwed

Nothing quite like blithely walking into a trap. Oddly enough, the trap wasn't for me. I've been continuing to work on my original mission as I keep getting sucked away to deal with the weird stuff. This Ixion guy and Mr. Sunshine are all tied up in the goings on in Tooele. After a more weirdness involving giant snakes and dwarves, we managed to lose Ratri in a fight with a giant of some kind. She made a bad tactical decision, but sure as hell went out with a bang.

Everyone was a bit shook up after watching a battle buddy explode into a hundred pieces. I think the cleanup was worse for some of them. When folks went to go talk to their crazy sky-parent, we all found ourselves in for a spin. Nobody got real contact, for the first time. The entire group received some gifts along with notice that dad/mom was gonna be busy for awhile.

We took Ratri home for a proper Hindu funeral. All in all it was a decent trip. I ran a quick job for side cash and we had a fun filled afternoon of Bollywood combat in the streets. Yes, there was singing.

After our adventures in Bollywoodland, we came back to Utah. Sophie got herself a warning letter from Rosie the Riveter telling her to stay out of Tooele. That was like raising a red flag to me. Johnny Reb kept going on about some traitor in their "family" and found a fascination with this Occupy crap going on. Camps of hippies all over America are getting financial windfalls while the world goes to hell in a hand-basket.

We decided to go ahead with the scout out of Tooele. It was surprisingly easy to get in. That should have been warning sign number one. The actual source of the oddness was easy to find. That should have been warning sign number two. Nope, we didn't collect our $200. We bypassed jail and went straight to hell. Really! American hell is apparently a giant nuclear wasteland. Our way out caved in behind us, trapping us in the caverns connecting some of the hells to each other.

Now; we've picked up a Greek, are traveling through Hindu hell, have really been gone for two weeks when it's felt like 4 days, Sophie's wanted for treason, her husband is hiding in a mine, I'm wanted for questioning, and Tooele is now a crater. Wonderful career I have...

(IC)Tehran, Cults, Fires, Not so Secret, and Ixion

I need to remember to write in this journal more often. All of the craziness that has been going on has made me forget my writing. The pure fact that I think about magic now in a concrete manner and have almost gotten used to the fact that monsters are real is a sign of the haze of war. When a soldier stops being horrified by the gore, he's ripe for mental issues after deployment. I need to find a shrink that won't put me away for what actually happens in my life.

Quick break down of the conclusion of the stolen materials incident. We figured out that it got on an Iranian sub and was headed into the Black Sea. I pulled some contacts and got a NATO pickup out of the Libyan war zone. We hooked up with some Turkish personnel, who ignored my nationality in the interest of their U.S. allies. After a really messed up, time dilated, monster combat we waded through a riot and managed to get a boat. Our little tourist boat got us to the Iranian fleet and we managed to get our objective and get out before we got caught. The Turks are pissed since we got it back home and they didn't get to join any clubs.

When my assignment to Utah first became known to my colleagues, the only things that came to mind were winter sports and the crazy religion based out of the area. The religion got more traction than the sports. The Mormons do not have a good reputation in Israel. They desecrate our dead with their rituals.

There really is a crazy cult operating out of Utah, and it isn't the Mormons. It seems that our sun based foe is trying to take over the Mormons, though. He has a pretty significant cult in Utah. After a less than pleasant encounter with one of them torturing the magic giant cat to death. (Turns out that it was a person with some minor magic powers and a few items. I don't see any of us getting naked to turn into a giant cat any time soon.) My companions and I broke into one of their safe houses. Apparently cults have the same shitty security as most religious sites. They won't be making me forget entire days anymore.

In addition to this cult, we've had a little fire giant problem. I think they're tied together, but haven't been able to prove it yet. This fire giant is somehow tied to these "tasks" that Sophie keeps getting assigned to her. He decided that her first week as a full fledged member of the FBI would be a great time to set most of Salt Lake City on fire. It came down to him holding Sophie's husband hostage and setting bombs to go off in the main fire station. I had my hands full getting fire trucks out of the building, so that they wouldn't explode and kill all of the rubber neckers. The others rescued the surviving firemen and doused the fire, while Sophie and the giant duked it out. She managed to pound him down. I got all of the trucks out except one. It exploded half way into the street, with me in it. To say that it stung would be an understatement.

Sophie got called in on the incident and ended up having a chat with her boss. This chat resulted in the entire group getting outed to her boss. I am now also assigned as a liaison to the U.S. government through Sophie. So, it looks like I'm staying here for awhile. As my work at the base winds down, I'm spending more time in Salt Lake City. I guess it's time to house hunt. A nice rental in the Chabad neighborhood will be great. My only other real option for a place of worship involves an odd mix of hippies and liberal doctors.

Now that things have slowed down a little, we decided to do some investigating. We took the tracker collar from one of the mutant creatures we killed and set a trap. We didn't manage to catch anyone important, but we did catch some information. Apparently modern day centaurs are motorcycles. After one heck of a fire fight, we got Ixion's name. I have the not so sneaking suspicion that he's based himself out of Tooele Army Depot and that he's working with mister sunshine. Weird stuff is going in there. It's where the materials used in Israel came from. The security there is unnaturally good. Too many coincidences makes for not really a coincidence.

Now, where is that shrink's number again..?

(IC)Rich people and bedouines oh my!

I met Tiernan's family. Unlike many wealthy families, they at least seem to have a real emotional connection for the kids. They're nice people, but they really don't live in reality. Their money shields them from the rough things of the world. They live in one of those multi-home compounds and ride around in limos. I honestly think that raising children in that environment is actually damaging to the children. I doubt very highly the kids ever had to do chores for money, or even clean their own rooms. Even the King of Thailand made his kids mow the lawn for their allowances and required them to get real jobs or at least spend a real job's worth of time doing volunteer work. Tiernan seems to have come out fairly well adjusted for someone from that environment. We just need to get him dirty more often and make him eat survival supplies.

Ratri's still a hippie. I don't care what she claims. When you study your own belly button lint, smell like nag champa and talk about personal spiritual harmony... you're a hippie. We finally got her a weapon with more punch than a purse gun. She keeps asking for combat and tactical training. I wonder what kind of demand there would be for pagan deity kids' boot camp? That sure would take one hell of a course.

The three of us went to Israel to get those forbidden books from my dad. We happened to save the lives of everyone on board our plane in the process. This did include Secretary Clinton. I'm really getting sick of this Fate crap. I have a cousin named Horace. Yeh, original, I know. He's an old style wild west sheriff type. I think he's gonna fit in with the "family" about as well as I do. We tracked him down and I got to chat with him. We also managed to pull a rabbit out of our hats and get a chat with our respective divine parents. Horus seems pretty down to earth. Amun's still kind of a douche, but less so when he isn't in a hurry. I'm still not gonna worship his ass. Only one G-d get's my worship.

We also discovered that Mr. Bad Touch can spy on you as long as sunbeams can get into where you are. The only way to stop this is to inscribe the symbol of a sun deity on the windows. Amaterasu's getting some love from the Israeli government right now. Her symbol's the least like to raise the eyebrows of the religious conservatives.

"The talk" was less painful than I thought it would be. Though, I think that had more to do with my dad being in shock than anything else. He got me the hook up on the books. Apparently they're a scroll and have magic wards that keep them from leaving their home, unless the right person takes them out. It seems I'm the right person.

Sophie and Shara figured out a cool teleport trick and came to Israel to join us. We had to track down some stuff that got stolen from Israel and headed off to Egypt, using this teleport thing. Once in Israel, we got a lead on the theft and a lead on Horace apparently having been busted at the Libyan border. We got us a desert truck and headed out. By the way, let's give Tiernan the Oscar for playing a mute retard.

Look sand, lots and lots of sand... oh, a military camp...

(IC)The Mick and the Dybbuk... Betrayal

Ghosts exist. What with everything else going on, I should not be surprised. Even more... Tiernan can talk to the things. He's apparently good at pissing them off too. Let's see, what weirdness have I encountered in person so far...

Pagan Deities - Imagine Kim-Jong Il in a golden skirt.
Children of Pagan Deities - Normal people with extraordinary abilities.
Native American Giant Troll - Tough and dangerous, also very literal.
Ornithes Areioi - Paper tigers. Disgusting, deadly, but go down fast.
Valkyrie Wolf - Tough and dangerous, also can fly.
Ghosts - They really do have tantrums and throw stuff.

As I've put in a previous entry, my government knows about me. So does the American one, now. We have a leak and it needs to be plugged. If needs be, I'll plug it myself. The FBI apparently has staff that knows about such as us and we are in contact with them. It seems they, like my people, have a hands off policy so long as we aren't knocking over buildings or robbing the national mint.

I also should spend some time privately learning my limits. When I fly and fail to realize that I am doing enough Gs to turn a normal person to soup, I give myself away. There is no excuse for being that sloppy. I need to find a place with the right kind of equipment where I can learn my limits and gauge them to normal limits, so that I can curb my abilities in public to the appropriate level.

(IC)Media, Governments and Conspiracy Theories

Well... nothing like going from being a complete unknown to being the talk of FOX News. The little incident down at the camp site became a political issue. It was no longer the local government trying to decide what to do with me. It was the American national government and mine negotiating what to do with me.

After a little prep with Tiernan, who is a law student, I was able to handle the inquiry. Under some real obscure state law, I am not only allowed to shoot people who are attacking other people, I am obligated to do so. It also helped that they were all illegal immigrants who were members of a known violent gang.

The fact that I am a foreign soldier, the body count and the immigration status of the dead has made me the talk of the pundit circuit and the American Congress. This "Tea" party group has made me a cause celeb while the bleeding hearts demonize me. Some guy name O'Reilly offered me a lot of zeros to talk to him. My... lawyer... politely declined. Zeros are nice, but the media is terrible. Can I please just go back to being an unknown?

It shouldn't surprise me, but my superiors know about people like me. What does surprise me is the fact that they are fine with it. Apparently the ones who aren't in active military service aren't considered military or civilians. My superiors are so fine with it that I've been asked to involve my new companions on the primary mission. They weren't even implying that I secretly use the group without it's knowledge. I am to openly approach and involve them.

I've already spoken to Tiernan and Ratri about it and they're interested...

(IC)Fate or Punishment

After the previous evening's excitement, we decided the day was best spent being tourists. The morning's paper had news of befouled waters and dead animals, but I largely ignored it as typical American corporate greed. I met up with Sophie and Tiernan to see the sites. I only wish I remembered doing so and seeing the sites. My phone is full of great pictures of the Mormon temple grounds, Capitol building, some place called suicide rock and Antelope Island. My memories end with reading the paper and walking to the base gates for pick up. They start up again in a bar with only one beer in front of me.

We all started tracking back through our phone records to determine the events of the day. Tiernan noticed that there was an unnatural bird in one of my pictures. According to what he knew of it; it should be extinct as Hercules was supposed to have wiped them out, they are unnaturally destructive and are probably the cause of the pollution and dead animals, and they will attack anyone or anything in their territories. Again, so much for a normal day. Anything capable of causing such a lapse in us and that is as destructive as the legends paint this thing needs to be destroyed. We resolved to track it down the next day.

We drove back out to Antelope Island and tracked for it. We had to resort to renting a boat, as it wasn't on the main island. Tiernan decided that we needed a much fancier boat than would be my choice. Sophie's talking dog, Izzy, helped us track to a nest with one egg. After waiting to see if it would return to it's nest with no results, we destroyed the egg and went in search of the creature itself.

Izzy managed to scent us to where I spotted not only one, but three of the things. Rather than rush up on them, I decided that firing from range would be the best option. All three of us got shots in and managed to kill one and incapacitate the others before they reached the boat. Sophie decapitated the two that weren't killed right off. Their smell was foul enough to make my stomach a little uneasy, but Tiernan doesn't appear to have too strong a stomach. He became ill and Sophie decided to start describing the smell of charred human flesh to him just to mock his lack of constitution. By either of our standard, the poor fellow is a greenhorn.

Interesting discoveries include the fact that all I have to do is think about what firearm I want and my weapon becomes it, I tried a non-firearm once and it didn't change at all. I also had a very unpleasant chat with Tiernan and Sophie. Apparently Tiernan has been doing a lot of research. It seems that there is this quality called Fate that surrounds those of us with our parentage. This Fate means that we really are magnates for the odd. If Sophie gets called to a fire, she will discover that a bored fire elemental set it. If I go on a mission against a typical terrorist foe, I will discover a Djinn. If there is going to be something extraordinarily odd, we are the types of people drawn to it or it is drawn to. This means that any normal people who are with us will be in more danger than if they weren't with us. The others have hero stories to follow. Apparently Ra's culture doesn't have heroes. It has their deities and prized intellectuals.

Oh Hashem... please guide me in how I am to approach my superiors with this? I shall endeavor to be as Job under this test.

(IC)The Godfather's Kidney

I'm on temporary suspension. The local, state level government is debating whether to push for action against me or not. It is no surprise that the leftist, pro-Palestinian factions within the local population are pushing the hardest against me. I did shoot and kill several civilians and seriously injure others. Whether they are involved in criminal activity or not, I am officially a member of a foreign military. To the American people this is tantamount to invasion. The only thing that has saved me from public lynching is the fact that my targets were illegal immigrant criminal gang members in the process of attacking an American citizen. Until this is resolved, my training as a pilot of the new F-35 is on hold.

My actual superiors are less than pleased, but understand why the action happened. They're running into more blocks than planned in Tooele and are debating the order for me to go in, rather than more low key operatives. If I get called in, things have really hit the fan. Until I get called to the military review board, I'm just to stay out of trouble.

I figured the best way to do this was to be a simple tourist and follow through with my plans to teach the civilians I found myself lumped in with how to fire their weapons. Safe, non-combat firing range time and touring the sites would keep me out of trouble. Did that ever fail.

It all started with finding out at the firing range. The police using the range around us were talking about the gang member I didn't kill. Apparently the guy woke up at the hospital and swore to "get the people who did this to him." Sophie, Tiernan and I decided to look into this, as it was us they would be targeting. We had no idea what Ratri was up to and Shar was in Chicago, at a medical conference.

A few hours later, we were a trio of "cholos" getting the word on the street. Turns out it wasn't us they were after. It was Shar's fiancee. They were still hot for his kidney. Sophie and Tiernan warned the fellow, while I staked him out at the hospital in the guise of a drunken Native American. I never want to drink that much free, bad coffee again. The other two went off in search of the computer records held by the now dead medical student that had been working for the gang.

The computer records trip paid off. Shar's fiancee was specifically targeted by a Mafia family out of Chicago. About the time I got the word of this, three stereotypes walked into the hospital. Apparently the Mafia really does look and act like they do in "The Godfather." They killed a receptionist and used the desk system to call Shar's fiancee down for an emergency. He had the awareness to bolt and lock doors behind himself as soon as he saw the Italian goons.

Since I had messaged the others as soon as I saw the goons, the three of us broke in on the goons from different directions. We managed to take them down and get out with the unconscious leader before the police showed up. There are a large number of older, unsecured cars in a hospital parking lot. Utah police will be looking for a drunk Native American with Ninja training, a blonde bimbo with a huge axe and a really cute frat boy.

The Mafia group leader talked. The judicial application of electrical stimulus does wonders. Apparently Shar's fiancee was a perfect donor match for a Mafia boss who was in hiding. The boss' family would not give up on saving their leader's life. I left him in a place for the police to find, as he still had the death of a receptionist to pay for. The car wasn't damaged in any way. So, as soon as the courts are done with it, the owner will get it back. With the news gathered, we got Shar's fiancee to leave town.

Interesting discoveries include that I can't get lost, I can jump yards instead of feet, and I feel compelled to act against disorder more now than ever. The rot of their infrastructure seems to upset me more about the Palestinians than it should. You would think that discovering that I am a thing out of legend would make me break from tradition, but it doesn't. It somehow seems more important to maintain the ancient traditions of my people.