Monster Hunter Vendetta by Larry Correia

big across as ten aircraft carriers parked in a line.
    "Check the date." Franks spoke for the first time.
    Julie leaned in to see. "That was printed two days before Lord Machado tried to use the artifact in Childersburg, one day before we got killed in Natchy Bottom...So, they knew beforehand?"
    "Yes, and once the whole world got to travel through time for five minutes, it really helped the Condition's recruiting," Myers said. I was still really glad that the government didn't know that was my fault. "They're growing, and the word is out that their leader, this guy"—Myers tapped the artist's rendition of the shadow man—"is building an army to help prepare the Earth for the Old Ones' return. Monster Control Bureau agents were sent to investigate, but we've had almost no luck and I've lost some good men. The Condition is brutal, devious, and their magic actually works, so our intel is extremely limited."
    "Who are they?" Julie asked.
    Myers picked out another sheet. "These are some of the members we know about, but they're just useful idiots, celebrities and suckers they're scamming money off of to fund their operations. We've investigated them thoroughly. As usual, they don't have a clue what they're into. Publically, the Condition is just another oddball religion. They preach about ending the greedy tyranny of man and building a perfect utopia on Earth, under the wise leadership of the benevolent Old Ones, of course."
    My side of the table gave a collective snort. We'd all dealt with those things before.
    "I take it you can understand why my superiors are so concerned. This church has been recruiting monsters, various types of undead, and they even found a shoggoth somewhere."
    Earl picked up the picture of the Englishman. "So I take it you can't find this asshole?"
    "They call him their Shadow Lord. He's an enigma. All of their leadership is cloaked in secrecy. Finding him is where Pitt comes in. They'll be forced to send some of their operatives to get him, and when they do, we'll take them. My orders are to shut this church down, no matter what. I just need an in."
    "What? Worshipping giant space mollusks that want to enslave humanity isn't cool? What's next, you guys going to pick on the Scientologists?" I asked sarcastically.
    "I'm sensing some serious First Amendment issues on this one," Julie offered.
    "ACLU's gonna be pissed," Harbinger responded.
    I laughed. Franks leaned forward, flipped through the stack, and pulled out a glossy crime-scene photo. He shoved it at me. It was, or had been, a woman. She had been brutally torn to bits. The laughter died off.
    "Oh...That's terrible," Julie said.
    "That was our last undercover agent to infiltrate the inner circle of the Condition, Special Agent Ashley Patterson. They left her on the front steps of her kids' day care like that," Myers said. "She was still living at the time this picture was taken. They used necromancy so she could suffer longer than was humanly possible."
    Ouch. I had seen a lot of terrible things in the last year, but that made even my stomach lurch. That was a whole new level of cruel.
    "Friend of mine..." Franks stated.
    It was a somber moment, but that idea just struck me as odd. "You have friends?" I blurted.
    Franks scowled at me but Myers continued. "Agent Patterson did find this." The next picture appeared to be of a large piece of pink skin that had been engraved with a knife or something to leave very crude writing. "Apparently you can't just send a message from the other side. They had to slice the note onto one of their living minions and then launch it through a portal. It can be very messy."
    "Gross." Julie adjusted her glasses and tried to make out the words carved on the piece of meat. "To all minions of...I can't make out the next word...Overlord? Find and utterly destroy the human Hunter known as...Owen Zastava Pitt..."
    "What!" I exclaimed. "Let me see that..." Sure enough, there was my name, etched onto some sacrifice. This was too