A Cardinal Mistake

Mission Brief:

 * Briefing with Director Pearce
 * He showed us a picture of Cardinal Odilo Pedro Scherer. Archbishop of Sao Paolo. The cardinal was aboard a yacht l Accordo I with a retinue of two cooks, one housekeeper, one butler and 10 members of military with sailing capabilities. Sailing from the port of Civita Veccia in Italy to Porto de Santo in Sao Paolo. US Coast Guard found the yach sailing Amok 520km southeast of Florida. They alerted the secretary of homeland security which will issue a statement. Due to the resources being depleted because of a mass shooting in Las Vegas homeland Security  ontacted FBI due to the nature of the find (UOP - Unexplained Occult Phenomena). So we were tagged. We have six hours to find an answer for Elaine Duke the acting secretary of homeland security. Including travel time. Brief me via satellite phone.
 * Photos:
 * 2 USCG Boats next to I Accordo I.
 * Massacre. Sprawled bodies of the military personnel. Blood everywhere.
 * There’s some strange liquid coming from the ship.

Objectives

 * 1) Find out what happened aboard the yacht
 * 2) Find out why the event was classified as UOP and investigate the phenomenon

Operative After-Action Reports

 * Patrick
 * Aboard the yacht
 * 4 bodies on the bough, 3 on the aft
 * Same signs of carnage inside. More bodies full of holes
 * Smell of sulphur.
 * Kitchen area: Both cooks have been hacked to pieces with blades.
 * The housekeeper’s body was on a chair, strangled with prayer beads
 * Main bedroom: Cardinal in his bed, naked apart from a bedsheet covering his genitalia. No signs of physical abuse but his lips are whitish color and complexion is pale. Eyes are wide open and mouth is in a screaming pose. Right hand is clutching his throat and the other is holding his heart. Also in the bedroom are the remaining guards all shot to bits. The only other odd feature in the room is a set of footprints which appear out of nowhere and seems like someone has walked barefoot dripping in oily tar. The steps vanish just like they appeared.
 * There’s been an explosion in the engine room.
 * Jason found an MP5 stuck on the anchor beneath the ship.
 * Three of the guards had Glock 42’s (new models)
 * Found the surveillance room
 * Video shows a shudder on all three feeds. An explosion. People running around getting their weapons yelling in Italian. After about 5 minutes the sounds of gunfire. Four people climbing aboard the yacht from the front wearing black tactical gear. Five more from the aft. Even more from the sides. Guards asking "where did they come from? Is there a boat?”
 * Kitchen: Four guys walk into the kitchen and kill the cooks with cleavers etc.
 * The faces on the attackers are all deformed. Something wrong with them.
 * In the bedroom: Cardinal is cowering on the side of the bed naked. The guards inside had their glocks drawn pointing at the door. The door opens with an explosion momentarily interrupting the camera feed due to light and sound. Some gunfire is heard. The guards have been shot. Two of the attackers lift the cardinal on the bed. One of them says in Italian "Cover yourself". The cardinal is pleading for his life. Then an odd ripping sound comes from outside the camera’s view. The cardinal gasps in horror, not finding words to express his fear. The audio picks up speech: “Tsk tsk Odilo Pedro Scherer. Do not look so horrified. I am sure you are all aware of my impending return. Surely you have told the entire world haven’t you. -mock surprise- what? No? Cat got your tongue. But you do tell the press aboput the pedos among you. I guess that’s just good PR. Admitting your weaknesses and faults.“ The figure walks into the view, back into the camera. Wearing a black pinstripe suite. Black hair. “However I do understand it someway. Not the public humiliation and absolution the part of getting your cock sucked. No marriage, no mistresses. Lonely horny life you all lead. If not women, why not have an altar boy do it. “ The figure continues walking to the side of the bed. The picture is a bit fuzzy where he stands. For some reason the figure is blurry on the feed. He motions to someone who walks to the other side of the bed. The man’s face is also disfigured. He holds a mirror to the cardinal so he can see himself. Figure: “Alas Pedro, I bet you were thinking I would spare your life. I know that is what you were thinking. And you were thinking of Vitttoria your housemaid who strokes your cock when you’re bathing. Well she’s dead now.” Cardinal starts to cry. Figure slaps him: “shut up, crying is pointless now, she’s dead as you will be in a moment. “ Cardinal looks at the figure. “But why kill me? I have done nothing to you. Let me live”. Figure: “You’re not gonna tell anyone now either. This entire meeting was arranged for yours friends in Vatican and for our three voyeurs” The figure points his thumb back at the camera, at us.“ Figure chants something gutturally to the man holding the mirror. There's a sound like a rock or wood breaking. The breath visibly leaves the cardinal’s body like a vapor into the mirror. The cardinal is gasping like drowning, then pisses himself. The figure seems satisfied and vanishes in a puff of smoke. The last sound heard is motorboats approaching and someone calling for a "Baldo" saying he should come if he wants to go back.
 * Baldo Carmentori. up to 1996 was a member of the Diavoli Bianchi. White devils. Italian special ops. Specializing in amphibious environments. His area of expertise was sabotage and demolitions. He quit in 1999 saying that he wants to lead a more peaceful life. He had enough of killing and war. He became a highly respected butler.
 * We had a discussion about the creature we saw. Why he needed the explosion and the military personnel. Why couldn’t it just appear and kill the cardinal. Doug had the idea that it needs help from people. Maybe it can’t touch anyone, maybe it’s not corporeal. Maybe it can be hurt?
 * Turns out we all heard a different accent from the figure. Pearce said it was a Canadian accent, I heard british, Jason heard a New York accent.
 * HQ
 * The substance is an oily tar with sulphur. The blood from the attackers was from a human.
 * Back to researching
 * Roger de Lauria’s ship’s mission details: 1304, secret mission from Pope Benedict XI. The name of the ship: L'Aragonese. It was not part of the normal fleet. The details were supposed to be taken to the Vatican archive but they were waylaid and stolen from the caravan transporting them. They came to be in the possession of a freemason named Sir George Adelhide in 1324. The documents were in the possession of his family all the way up until they were believed lost as the family mansion was destroyed in the great fire of london 1666. They did however show up (or a copy) in america. where Albert Mackey was useing them to collaborate his own “a lexicon of the freemasons” which was published in 1844. There is no mention of the exploits of Roger of Lauria in the lexicon but there is other infomation that ties the exact stolen notes to the ones Mackey used. Thus confirming that he had the entired sheaf of papers in his possession at some point. It is known that Albert Mackey was a good friend of William Huntington Russell, the founder of the yale secret society skull and bones. Mister Russell got the idea of the society from a german man he met whom belong to some bavarian secret society.
 * L’Aragonese is in a museum in Italy.
 * Genevieve Rothschild told us that her family has connections to the Skull and Bones society in Yale. Turns out she has a membership even though it is men only. She will arrange a meeting for us.