Slavic Huter [OC PJO Crossover]

CHAPTER 12 - If you're going to San Francisco...

17th – 19th December, 2007, 37.781050 N, -122.311685 W

     After six and a half hours of flight, the C-130 landed on the tarmac of Travis Air Force Base near Sacramento. In Washington, it was just after 15:00, here it was just noon (time zones are sometimes one big nightmare). It took another 2 hours before we found the transport and arrived at the San Francisco Bay, so finally at 14:00 we stood at the entrance gate to the Alameda base. A quick history lesson: the Alameda base belonged to the USAAF during WW2, officially decommissioned for several years. Officially. Unofficially, it has been the base and home of the 501st Regiment since its closure. You may ask, "Then why did you mention Parris Island to the Huntresses?" The answer is simple: we have used the South Carolina's base from time to time, especially when our assignments forced us to operate on the shores of the North Atlantic, while Alameda was our mother base.

     After checking our IDs at the turnstiles, we went to the administration building: I got the papers, and Green One had to fill out the documents and get a place in the barracks. After that, we headed to the cafeteria for lunch.
But wait a minute – since when do privates and officers eat together in one place? Well, welcome to 501st – here we do things our way, and the reason is simple: when you have to deal with every possible mythology on 8 continents, who is the least of the problems with whom.
Besides, there was one more reason: it was necessary to introduce a private in the 101 of our regiment, because there had been no opportunity before – if not taxi drivers, then soldiers on the plane.
- Listen up, Nowakowski. I'll give you a quick introduction, then you can ask questions. But the most important thing I forgot to mention in Washington: although the 501. Regiment is not subject to the same rigor as in the USMC or other armies of the world, some things are required – such as the basics of talking to superiors or senior ranks. Understood?
- Yes, sir!
- You don't have to shout, this is not a base's main square. - I added with a smile.
- Yes sir. - He replied, also with a slight smile.

     - So, first things first: as our planet is long and wide, many cultures have established their own lands, countries, and some even empires. Each of them had their own pantheon or system of belief: some only needed one god, others needed more of them for everything from thunderstorms to any small bullshit; Others decided to limit themselves to sprites and demons. This has been the case for a long time. Most of humanity will tell you that this is a fabrication, superstition, or a search for the true God through their own beliefs... And of the three things I have mentioned, only the last has any basis for being true.
- The facts, however, are more complicated than you might think: all these beliefs, pantheons of deities, sprites and demons... They do exist in the physical world. And if only they existed in their home region, there probably wouldn't be any problems, but unfortunately – if they did, we wouldn't be talking to each other in this place right now. One of the downsides of globalization is that these cultures have begun to interpenetrate, meet, interact with each other; The pantheons were no exception, which caused conflicts over time.
- Crusades? – asked Nowakowski.
- No, they were primarily motivated by money, and God was given for banners as an excuse. No, I'm talking about actual conflicts caused by the difference in the faith of the neighbour: starting with the civil wars in Switzerland, where in the last war of this type "only" more than 130 people were killed, and ending with the "baptization" of the Baltic tribes by the Holy Roman Empire and the Teutonic Order. In short, one big brothel.

     I took a big sip of the tea on the table in front of me.
- And that's where the 501st Regiment comes in. We are officially subordinate to the UN Secretary of Peacekeeping Operations. However, it is a cover that allows us to operate almost all over the globe. We act as a kind of MP – Mythological Police; We make sure that if there is a demon, an evil spirit, or a deity who wants to end the world as we know it and transform it on their own whim, we try to knock such ideas out of our heads quickly. Questions?
- Even few, sir.
- That's good, at least I know you've been listening. I laughed. - Shoot.
- First question: are all mythologies true? All the stories, all the myths... They aren't fiction?
- Yes. In most cases... around 80%. You know, some people believe in Cthulu, some believe in reptilians and the Flat Earth. And then there are the sects of religion that see differently than the main canon from which they have separated. And then there are the pantheons that have died out or become extinct because there was no one left to believe in them.
- Are there many of them?
- Not much. And most of them disappeared even before the Giza pyramids were built.