From the field notes of Senior Special Agent Landsdell - Dec 22, 2007 - 2100hrs

You know I have just about had it with this country - sand, heat, flies and more gonzo weirdness than a night out in Las Vegas.  The day started normally enough - check Najir out says Anderson so we finally get down to doing some police work.  So who is this Najir guy?  He's a skell - a smuggler and an occult figure in the Egyptian underworld who might be able to fill us in on the whole Black Pharaoh cult.  We set up to watch his nice, plush air conditioned and eavesdrop proof offices from a not so nice, windy and baking hot car park across a 4 lane highway.  Chang's got his electronic mojo working even though he's sweating out the place - what is it with these guys? It's like they speak machine code...

Anyway, we work out Najir's got a small army and just when we're thinking he's gonna stay there all day and Navy puke's thinking through all the options, like he's goddamm Lawrence of Arabia, two things happen to mess up the day.  First a suspicious looking Merc does the slow drive by up where only cops, birds and bad guys hang out, then Najir throws us all for a loop by leaving the building.  So we're off to the races, leaving Merc men behind.  Najir heads for his favourite hookah bar for a pit stop and that's where Pierce and GI Joe decide to join him for lunch. 

Next thing we know, they're doing a deal and Najir's taking them to God knows where.  Chang and I are looking at each other and I'm having visions of Pierce's dumbass head falling off live on Al Jazeera.  I give Anderson the heads up and I ain't never seen the big man move so fast.  Then Sgt Rock is telling me he's all clean and green and we shouldn't worry.  Sure enough, Najir gets back to his offices while we peel back off to the car park OP and now Chang and I are wondering about that Merc again. 

Just as we park up, there's a boom.  You know, a Barrett .50 cal makes a distinctive sound and once you heard it, you don't forget it.  There's chatter on the coms and for a brief moment it's chaos central.  I think we need to get to the roof but my hand slips on the wheel and the next thing I know I am fighting a huge white airbag that's all over me like a slut at the prom.  Chang and I manage to get our crap together as we hear the Merc fishtailing around above us, trying to break the land speed record to get out of a car park and I am out, set with the MP-5, putting that bad boy to position 3 - full on rock and roll.  Chang gets the first shots off with his sidearm as the Merc slams down the ramp and then I let loose with Mister Five, emptying the clip but that SOB is like an armoured rhino, so he keeps on going.  We burn Nikes catching up for a second try and this time, bring him down. 

Then some weird shit that I am still trying to process, happens.  Let's just say our driver was mauled by an animal...well a bird...a gigantic genetic mutant wasp beast that just flew out of a nightmare.  It turned our driver into chopped salami and, so it turns out later, taught the guy with the rifle how to fly...at least for a few seconds.  Initial searches suggest these mopes are with this Galt guy.  We could only get ID on the shooter - another good ol' boy from RSA - Edgar Kreuger but I am guessing that's a cover.

Now the insecty-bird was  the pet of some Arabic guy with an East coast Ivy League twang who just waltzed out of nowhere - he gave Chang a card with the words ‘Club Apocalypse' on it - must be really hard up for guests if he's recruiting in car parks. 

Anyway, our nameless Nightclub owner is also good at picking bullets out of the air and slowing time, saving Najir's ass - payment on a pact that left Najir sweating bullets rather than having a coroner pick one out of his corpse. 

Najir is suddenly talkative after his near death experience at least about the Black Pharaoh Gang - well, confession is good for the soul right?  Now we know that Atwan's guess was on the money and that our Pharaoh Cult lives in a tenement block, right in the middle of the City of the Dead, in the basement of which is a tunnel that leads to the Temple.  Multiple tangos, all armed and insane and that's just what we face above ground. 

Looks like Christmas came early!