Main/Shared Plots

The Plovian Invasion/Mobius
The Host's first brush with the oncoming Plovian horde was an encounter with the Variant mercenary Bladethirst, working unknowingly for Plovian agents. Under their orders he attacked an engineering company in Los Angeles, stealing some papers. A mishap led to police involvement, which then led to the first public appearance of the Host. Bladethirst is eventually captured and handed over to the authorities, and the Host starts investigating this strange attack. It seems among the papers were blueprints from a variety of buildings, including a SETI facility in southern California and construction at Fort Wayne, Utah.
    Investigations reveal the existence at Fort Wayne of several prototype suits of variant technology armor that Francis Bouie and New Horizons had designed for the army. Michaels convinces Bouie to close down the weapons program, and sends the Archangels to confiscate or destroy the armor to prevent any further army experimentation or proliferation. This turns into a chaotic battle as the fort is also under investigation from CHIMERA agent Charles Semron and from an agent of the Plovian race.
    Out of this muddle the Host comes closest to claiming victory: they prevent the saboteur from destroying the base, destroy the suits, claim the plans, and evade Semron. The saboteur escapes by a strange matter transmission teleportation (which ENOCH records, along with a recording of his other actions). When analyzed, these reveal that he is using a form of energy matter conversion and storage technology and a non-decaying personal trans-mat beam, both of which are believed impossible. Also, while he appear human, the saboteur was at least a variant, and his language did not originate on Earth. From this, they make the tentative conclusion that he was an alien. ENOCH throws himself into the study of this technology, and the Host begins to warn people through their hidden connections—both meet with limited success
    Shortly after this encounter, the chrononaut Mobius appeared inside Host HQ. The time traveler was raiding the Hosts copious technological supplies, holding off several Archangels until he vanished with copies of both ECOCH's main body and Uriel's armor. (It seems likely that he uses these to construct the robot he used against the Great Hunt in the 50's). Investigating the pieces of Mobius' armor removed in the battle, Michaels comes to three conclusions: 1) the armor's technology is extraterrestrial in nature; 2) the atomic decay of the equipment's power source indicates it is less than a decade old; 3) Mobius himself is likely to have originated within the last 8 years, given his well-documented reverse-temporality and displayed power curve. This leads him to believe that earth will have extraterrestrial contact—probably violent—within the next 5 years. It has already happened.
    While the Host is acts to warn the world without compromising their security, the Plovians act as well. They are shown off screen sabotaging the SETI sites to prevent their detection but will remain unnoticed by the watchers. They also contact the still unsuspecting Bladethirst and arrange his breakout. The Host is on the scene almost immediately, engaging the alien saboteur who is apparently the same one they fought at Fort Wayne. The Alien dies when his compromised teleportation solidifies him inside an object. Bladethirst escapes in the melee.
    Shortly after those events Mobius appears over the city, having brought an opponent—an alien attack creature of impossible strength and vitality—back in time away from the larger fight as to deal with it more effectively. He is surprised with the Host joins him, and lets slip the time he just came from: October 1983. He vanishes back into the future after the Host defeats the thing, which spontaneously combusts upon its death. The cell samples indicate that it was a mutated extraterrestrial of the same origin as the dead saboteur.
    The invasion is coming.

The Mayan Twilight Continent
Centuries ago, when the world's magical power began to ebb, the Mayan empire's greatest magicians and priests created a shadow-world in the Twilight, a place in which their magic would still flourish. They migrated there with many of their followers, leaving the rest to a world where Magic was doomed... or so they thought. Now, centuries later, the magic holding their world together faces corruption by events in the 'real' world. They seek to tether their continent to a point in the real world, supplanting that place with their own reality. Their leader, a Mage who has bound himself to the body of a Lung (an extra-dimensional dragon), is the forerunner of this plan, and he has found Los Angeles to be perfect for his needs.
    Unfortunately, he finished his reconnaissance before the appearance of the Host, and was thus unprepared for their resistance. The Host was warned by Murdoch, and the disturbance activated the Twilight sensitivity of Jill Morris and Harry Griswold (who was far more disturbed and now constantly sees the Twilight). They fight off the anchor formation and go into the Twilight with the help of Yasmina Rajid to prevent any further tethers from forming. The host was enhanced by the their Iconic forms, and Uriel was able to confront and defeat the wounded leader, ripping the his heart out—it is now a hunk of obsidian in the Grill, watched over by Rashamon.
    Despite the failure of the ceremony, the Mayan twilight continent remains halfway between Earth and the Twilight, exerting influence over Los Angeles. The Lung leader, whose human name is Rodirigo Quetzo, or Señor Q, was diminished in political power after the failure, and an individual known as the Frog Prince and his cult of worshipers wrested partial control of the assembly of Mayan society. Both factions begin working against each other and against LA, knowing that the one who succeeds will gain control of the Mayan government.
    Still on the lookout for corrupting influence, Alexis Rashamon and Lazarus Murdoch discover several Mayan Frog-Warriors still loose in the city, and evidence linking them to the growing movement of Mayan culture amongst the city's Latino population. The Host attends a cultural concert led by the Frog Prince in the barrio, interrupting a ritual that would have increased the Prince's control over that area by forcing it perpetually into the Twilight concurrent with the Mayan continent. The ritual temporarily alters technological laws in the area, making the Host armor useless, but the Host still succeeds. The Frog Prince's assistants are killed, but the Prince himself escapes by changing himself into a plague of frogs.
    Shortly thereafter, Jerry Green encounters Señor Q on the golf course (where Jerry seems to do most of his work) and his instincts tell him to keep close watch on this strange but powerful individual who plays a mean game of golf. Quetzo is discovered to be a land broker with criminal connection in South and Central America, who appeared out of nowhere years ago and started his fortune with an undisclosed supply of gold. He owns a lot of land around LA, and ins heavily invested into property here. Like everyone else in LA, he also has connections in the movie business. Part of this Movie Business is being the executive producer and backer on a movie about Mayan culture an history. Employed for this film is Jill Morris, who is also keeping watch on things for the Host.
    Quetzo's plan includes using the growth of the Mayan subculture to enhance the continent's stability, while he uses spiritual power to construct a new lay line from the continent to LA to a site of ancient Mayan power, in Costa Diablo. In these plans he was being harried by the Frog Prince. Even after several warnings the Prince persists, sending an assassin to kill Quetzo, but the assassin is by stopped Morris, who had slid into the Twilight unexpectedly. When Quetzo moved to strike back, the Prince was gone.
    Quetzo then continued with his plans, only to discover that the Prince was now controlled by Kensington, who is corrupting Quetzo's his spell to summon a new Daemonic body. Before he could stop this he was engaged again by Uriel—he would have defeated her, save that Zachriel and Apollyon then broke the new ley line in Costa Diablo. The magical backlash forced him to flee.
    Quetzo's current whereabouts are unknown, but it is unlikely that he will change his long term plans, especially now that the Frog Prince is no longer an irritant. He is likely to continue trying to increase the Mayan culture to keep his homeland safe until he can anchor it to Los Angeles.

The Brazilian Liberation Front
The BLF launches a raid using the Four Angels (a quartet of Nazi Übermensch descendents) on American soil—specifically Broker River, AZ. Broken River is a town of over two hundred. The attack leaves all dead except for one young man, Tim Bogucki, who had shown evidence of potent telekinetic ability. While agents in the US government black-out up the event, reports of it, including a crude tape, fall into the hands of the Host.
    Putting their intelligence forces into high gear, the Host finds evidence of more than two dozen kidnappings and disappearances across the United States that could be linked to BLF plots to recruit potential variants. They also locate a BLF base in the US, in a small town in Nevada. A raid is put together immediately in hopes of rescuing Bogucki and stopping any further BLF activity in the States. In the raid they encounter a few dozen BLF operatives, the Angel of the West Wind and the Spirit of the Cat, who is leaving on another mission.
    Apollyon is able to stop Spirit of the Cat from completing her kidnapping of another young potential variant in a Chicago suburb, but can't capture her (the boy has a Cherub agent set to watch over him after these events). At the base Uriel, Rashiel and ENOCH engage the enemy and defeat them, though the Angel of the North Wind opts to swallow a suicide pill over being captured. ENOCH manages to interrupt a transmission from the leader of the BLF and the two trade threats while ENOCH tries to trace the signal, but to no avail. The leader, called Father, swears vengeance on the Host for their interference in his affairs.
    Shortly thereafter, an FBI forensic pathologist is killed in a very X-Files moment as the Angel of the North Wind awakens form his drug-induced near-death state. The Host steps into high gear as far as the BLF is concerned, with cherubs gathering information and passing it on to the authorities, hindering and blocking BLF activity. The Archangels engage in several damaging raids against BLF bases in South America.
    In retaliation the Father, the apparent head of the BLF, gives orders for destruction of Los Angles. This attack would have been successful but for January Rain's (see Flight of 1000 Cranes, below) precognitive warning. The Host calls in the assistance of both MEDUSA and the WCL. They, combined with January Rain & Captain Awesome, help the Host keep the submarine launched missiles from hitting the City. Apollyon disables the engines of one; ENOCH uses Remora drones to override their guidance systems; Uriel grabs one and forces it out of Earth's atmosphere, where it explodes harmlessly; Zachriel disarms the ones in the ocean before they can detonate. Rashiel, January Rain and Captain Awesome round up the BLF agents on the navy base. Several BLF agents are taken into MEDUSA custody after these events. Suspicions of BLF involvement are cast on Wyld, a MEDUSA agent and variant teleporter. The Host recovers samples of synthetic memory chemicals used by the BLF. The WCL manages to capture Mirage, a young member of the BLF with low-end reality manipulation powers.
    Since the BLF have shown themselves to be a top priority threat, Zachriel takes the lead in intensive investigations of their background and funding. After several weeks of effort he is gratified by the appearance of an assassination team that he easily dispatches and uses to further track the terrorist group. Eventually he learns that they may have connections with the cult group the Church of Divine Harmony (which Levinson has just tied to the production of the synthetic memory drug). His investigations there are curtailed by discovering the theft of synthetic memory technology by the vampire chief of intelligence from Trans Bialka. Jerry currently theorizes from his studies that the Church is tied to the BLF, and further, the church leader has a form of variant charisma.
    Jerry still has no direct evidence linking the church to the BLF, but he intends to keep investigating, perhaps to the point of having he or Jill infiltrate the organization. What action the BLF will take next is not known.

The World Crime League
WCL starts the process of re-solidifying their control of the West Coast. To this end they create an enforcer capable of keeping the locals in line. This process is shown in asides, starting with the cloning of an embryo and the description of the project by the Scientist to a trio of WCL Middle-Management. The Scientist eventually reveals the clone, a Delta Level variant code named Spider, with enhanced strength, speed, reflexes, senses and the life experience of a Navy SEAL with a decade of field experience. The Middle-Management begin using Spider for his intended purpose.
    Further asides and Host research reveal Spider being used for his intended purposes—intimidating or eliminating the various members of California's criminal establishment. This serves to bring those organizations back into the WCL fold, though some obviously intend to resist this reunification. Another side reveals that Spider strong personal will is blunted by pain-generating cybernetic implants.
    After a while The WCL decides to expand Spider's activities, using him as part of a complicated plot to discredit the Japanese Ambassador to the US and have him replaced with one more amenable to the WCL's interests. There seems to be a growing conflict between the WCL and the Japanese Yakuza organization called the Crystal Dragons, as both of them are trying to expand into the other's territory. The plan involved making a non-viable clone of the ambassador, then killing that clone before a credible witness, who is chased until he goes to the authorities. But the Ambassador is still alive and fine, so the story is seen as a hoax until Spider shows up at the FBI offices to kill the witness and destroy the records. This lends credence to the story, putting a cloud of suspicion over the ambassador.
    Things didn't go as planned, mostly because Spider ended up cutting a deal with the witness, who happened, beyond all coincidence, to be Jill Morris' ex-husband Jake. Jake does what he's supposed to, but Spider doesn't kill him in the raid on the FBI office, instead rigging an explosive charge in the FBI car that Jake is expecting and can escape from while Spider leaves an extra body. The Host figures out the WCL's plan and Jerry feeds the information to the US government to stymie the plot. Spider throws his fight with the Host and escapes, going to meet his WCL contact at a pre-arranged locale. There the contact is shot from behind by Jake, who also destroys Spider's control unit. The pair exit in the WCL chopper to parts unknown.
    Obviously, the WCL is less than pleased. Their next set of agents, multiple clones of the martial artist Carrie Kopek (an adversary of Jill's who was captured in an aside), have their higher personalities erased, hampering their field effectiveness but ensuring their loyalty. Each of the five clones have the same enhanced endurance and combat skills, but different powers. When complete, they are sent to replace Spider as The Sisterhood..
    This is when Anthony Taurus deduces Gabriel's involvement with the Host, and the resumption of their private war. He takes more direct control of the actions of the WCL in LA. This includes ordering the Sisterhood to aid the Host in tracking down members of the BLF intent on destroying the city. During this action the Sisterhood captures Mirage, a young BLF variant with low level reality manipulation powers.
    Jill, who is already aware of Kopek's disappearance, has a run in with a follower of the WUMAL, one Warren Samuel. Warren claims to have seen Kopek just recently, but didn't get a response to his greeting. Jill decides to look into this just as we see Warren being assaulted by the Sisterhood and having part of his memory erased. Jill's next interview leads to blank stares from Warren, then the Sisterhood makes a similar assault on Jill ­ but not before she voiced her suspicions to Lazarus. When Jill doesn't remember that conversation, Lazarus uses ritual magic to restore parts of her memory. The pair being a search for the missing Kopek, and stumble unarmored into a Sisterhood hit on an LA gang leader. Jill is able to identify all of them as Kopek from their fighting style, and the pair are able to escape without jeopardizing their identities or their health. They have not had any further chance to investigate this issue.
    In an unconnected WCL plot, the SSM approaches Jerry (believed to be a freelance mercenary by the espionage world) to aid them in a raid on Costa Diablo. Jerry had run a MEDUSA operation there years before, and the SSM believe that the Human Advancement League is using stolen Soviet Rainfall Project technology down there to make variant soldiers. Since the League is assumed to be a WCL front, Jerry goes along with Apollyon as backup. The pair destroy the League/WCL base and prevent the SSM from getting WCL technology and the WCL from using Soviet technology. (They also break the Mayan ley Line, but that's another story.)

Flight of 1000 Cranes
In the depths of China we watch the American costumed adventurer Captain Awesome rescue/kidnap the young Variant January Rain from a Flight of 1000 Cranes training camp. This leads to a pitched race across China to an airfield, and from there to Hawaii, and from there to LA. Along the way they are dogged at every step by members of the Flight, who have a vast array of powers and a loyalty to the PRC. When the pair arrive in Los Angeles, they are finally drawn into a direct conflict, which attracts the Hosts attention. The Host is able to hold off the Flight from Rain until she is able to officially request asylum in the United States. Denied any legitimate political response, the Flight leaves, promising to bring political pressure to bear to rescue their kidnapped and brainwashed comrade in arms.
    Why all of the fuss over this girl in particular? Captain Awesome rescued the girl because she told him to do so, over 25 years ago. January Rain is a time traveler with other chronal manipulation powers, and she was instrumental in saving Awesome in the final battle between the Great Hunt and the Coven in 1954. This future Rain explained to Awesome that he had/will rescue her from the Flight camp in the future, and thus he prepared to do so for some time.
    There also exists the chance that Rain was the midwife who oversaw Lazarus Murdoch's birth, and the one who arranged his transport from the scene of the Coven battle that killed his wife to the Himalayas, where he began his mystical experiences.
    Capt. Awesome and January Rain are near constant companions, preparing for something else that may be coming in the future. They aided in the "48 hours till doomsday affair," in which the destruction of LA was averted only through Rain's uncontrolled powers revealing the events to her, giving the Host time to react. When and how they'll appear again is unknown.

   

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