I usually don't and won't update this often, but, on a cross country road trip, I don't have much else to do. Also, on the lengths of chapters, depending upon what happens, it's likely their length will be wildly varied, though I will attempt to make them in chronological order. Thanks for reading and, again, any and all criticism accepted.

Above Hel, Poland, 0600, September 4, 1939

Obergefreiter Leif Magnuson, Luftwaffe

The defenders of this city just wouldn't give up. The Ju 87 Stukas of Germany's Luftwaffe had started their air assault on the Polish city of Hel three days ago, on September first.

Their AA fire was deadly accurate. Too accurate. Probably attributable to the fact that they had Zeus on their side.

It was a funny thing, these days. It was one of those rare times that monsters stayed in their holes. Also that most, if not all mortals, such as Obergefreiter Leif Magnuson, knew about them. The demigods, deities, and so on, that is.

Leif, a gunner on one of the Stukas, was put there because of two reasons. The first was that he was a foreigner, Swedish by nationality, attempted to join the German Armored Corps, because everyone knew that the Soviets would attack Finland, and Sweden would be next.

The second reason was even more offensive. Leif, of 20 years, wasn't a small guy, at 1.9 metres, and a muscular build. He had short blonde hair, and cobalt blue eyes, so he fit right in there, too. However, since he was a mortal, with no powers other than determination, they had decided that he needed the worst posting they could possibly give him.

"Look on the bright side," the pilot had said, "at least you don't have to dodge AA."

He watched as the AA guns below lit up, blowing three of the nine Stukas out of the sky as they commenced their bombing run. Most who were shot down were able to bail out before hitting the dirt, though some didn't make it. The bombs always hit the city, but the Poles were unwavering.

Leif remembered when he got to Germany. He met another foreigner at the recruiting office, an Irish sharpshooter. Of course, they had given that guy the posting he wanted because he was a demigod.

"It's suicide! They have Zeus on their side," Leif had shouted at the posting officer, "no air raid will ever work! I might as well go back to Sweden and wait for the Soviets to come!"

The Irishman had tried to make him feel a little bit better, "better story, saying you were trying to beat the odds in the air, rather than blown out of a Panzer. You got a girl waiting for you back home? Probably not. I'll give you some advice, doing something suicidal like this: chicks dig scars and glory lasts forever."

"Wow, thanks," Leif responded, annoyed already with the man.

Now, they were returning to the Luftwaffe base for rearming and refueling before they would go on another run. Yesterday, France and the UK declared war on Germany, so everyone was a little on edge, watch for fighters to come back up the Poles.

As the men took to the mess hall while their bombers were being resupplied, an officer came striding up to Leif. "Upon further review of your posting request, the command has decided to transfer you gunner in the 4th Panzer Division, effective immediately."

This is a change, something big must be coming up, Leif thought, or someone must have died.