Hello, internet! Welcome to my very first Assassin's Creed production, based upon one of my favorite games in the entire franchise! First things first, my sincerest apologies to all my loyal fans and followers for my rather lengthy absence but, as I was being harassed by a particularly hateful troll from one of my other fanfiction websites that I write on, I felt it best to lie low for awhile, and give away some of the projects that , due to their emormous popularity, I felt would be better off in other hands. But, enough about that, let's get this party started!
Chapter I: A Spanner In The Works
Brother George,
It is as I feared. London has fallen. Thrice I have written to you, thrice you have responded with silence. And yet, I write again, so desperate my need, so few my options. Rachel and I need you. London needs you. You would say that it is too great of a task, or that it is not yet time to strike. Patience, you would counsel. But, whilst you wait, the Templars consolidate their power, for they have chosen a Grand Master so ruthless, so through, one wouldn't be faulted for thinking that Reginald Birch himself had returned.
His name is Crawford Starrick, and he intends to rule the world. There is no aspect of society he does not control, no industry that escapes his grim touch. By day, it is corrupt merchants and venal politicians who hold court. Come night, a vicious street gang known as the Blighters strikes terror in the hearts of all. There is no business untainted by his poison, no person unexploited, be it by duplicity or force. Our enemy has designs on the highest office of them all.
So, whilst you look inward, and dare I say it, afraid, Starrick's gaze is fixed on the horizon, to kingdoms and continents as yet unconquered. But, not for long. For as I've told you, time and time again.
Whomsoever controls London... controls the world.
Ferris Ironworks-Croydon, England-1868
Two men, one younger with black hair, and one older with grey hair, were hiding behind a large stack of crates, observing the front entrance of Ferris Ironworks as workers and men they recognized as members of the Blighters milled about. Both men were similarly dressed in thick overcoats that concealed a variety of weapons ranging from throwing knives to smoke bombs, black pants, and leather dress shoes, although whereas the older man had a dirt brown hood over his head and wore a red shirt underneath his coat, the younger wore a black top hat with a red stripe near the brim, a green vest with a white shirt underneath his coat, had a fingerless glove on his right hand which carried an eagle-topped cane that had a sword concealed within it, while his left forearm and hand was encased in a thick leather gauntlet that housed a hidden blade.
"The iron ships from here," said the older man, named George Westhouse. "Our target is the owner of these ironworks, Rupert Ferris. Think you can handle it?"
"What a question."
George looked in the direction his younger comrade's voice had come from to find him standing atop the crates they had just been hiding behind, causing him to chuckle.
"Oh, I'm sorry. My mistake. Ladies and gentlemen, the unstoppable Jacob Frye! See him nightly at Covent Garden!" said George with a small smile.
"Relax, George. It's just a pompous windbag running a steel mill! A quick slash-and-dash operation. I've got all I need right here," said Jacob, extending his hidden blade.
Just then, the train behind him began to move. "Catch you later, George! I've got a train to catch!" said Jacob before jumping on top of the moving train. As the train continued moving forward, George climbed up on top of the crates.
"Jacob, you vagrant! May the Creed guide you!" he called after Jacob, who had a small smile on his face.
Poor man… he's more afraid than ever, thought Jacob as the train neared his infiltration point. But, that doesn't matter right now. Time to have some fun.
With that, Jacob leaped off the train, and climbed into the Ferris Ironworks factory through an open window and onto an overhead walkway, closing the window behind him.
Down on the factory below, a young boy no older than eight or perhaps nine was screaming bloody murder as he was trapped underneath a large piece of still-smoldering piece of machinery, which was searing his flesh as it was crushing his body.
Through the large green doors on the far end of the factory emerged a bulky man clad in a black pinstripe suit, black dress shoes, and a black bowler hat. It was Rupert Ferris, Jacob's target.
"How long does he intend to go on like this?! He's disrupting the other workers!" bellowed Ferris in both irritation and in order to be heard over the creaking, clanking, and pounding of the cogs, pistons, and other pieces of machinery on the factory floor. "Shut his trap and get the machine fixed! And someone send me some laudanum for my head!" stormed Ferris before he exited through the doors he'd emerged from.
Coming right up, thought Jacob as he made his way down from the walkway he was on and towards the doors he'd just witnessed Ferris exiting through, only to find that they were locked, and the workers seemed worried about it.
"What do you think you're doing?!" hissed one of the workers.
"Stop now! Before there's trouble!" hissed a second.
Abandoning his attempt to force the doors open, Jacob caught sight of another worker leaning up against the wall, who had a look that seemed to be a mixture of boredom and anxiety on his face. "No one goes in or out… 'less there's a problem," he told Jacob.
A smirk appeared on Jacob's face as an idea formed in his head. If I sabotage the machines, that door opens and I have my route to Ferris, thought Jacob as he caught sight of nearby pressure valve, and immediately made his way towards it. Upon reaching the valve, Jacob quickly turned it before anyone could catch sight of him.
The effect was instantaneous as mechanical problems caused steam to issue from the machine as it came to a screeching halt, causing Jacob to smirk.
Always work on the fly, he thought as he made his way towards a second valve and turned it before moving on to the third, even as the workers below were starting to become terrified of what Ferris would do to them when he caught wind of this.
Mere moments after Jacob had successfully sabotaged the third machine, the large doors opened and through them emerged a member of the Blighters, who didn't seem too terribly pleased with having to abandon whatever task he had been doing previously and started demanding answers and threatening to hang the workers from the factory chimneys.
Jacob wasted no time pouncing on the unsuspecting Blighter from his perch above, his hidden blade slicing his victim's Adam's Apple in two, causing a large amount of blood to pour both through the wound and out the Blighter's mouth. An act that was witnessed by another member of the Blighters on the other side of the door.
"Who're you?!" demanded the Blighter as Jacob smirked at him, approaching him with a bit of swag in his step.
"The sanitary inspector," replied Jacob smooth as anything, jerking his thumb at the corpse behind him. "That man is dead. I'm afraid I'll have to write up Ferris Ironworks for improper clean up after an accident."
"You're the dead man!" snarled the Blighter as he pulled out a knife and attempted to attack Jacob, only to be disarmed and disposed of with a few quick strikes of the Assassin's cane-sword.
"Dear, dear. Attacking the inspector, are we? This will not make my report look good for Ferris Ironworks, I'm afraid," said Jacob before another Blighter tried to slash at him with his knife. Acting instinctively, Jacob countered the attack. "Ah-ah! No touchbacks!" the Assassin quipped as he finished off his attacker with a strike that both slit the Blighter's throat and snapped his neck, leaving a rather large puddle of blood in front of the corpse, some of which got on one of the workers.
A third Blighter ran at Jacob and slashed at him, and landed a couple of strikes. Jacob swiftly broke through the thug's defense with a headbutt, which also dizzied the attacker enough for Jacob to beat and slash the hell out of him, leaving the thug dead on the ground, his blood flowing like the Thames River. The coast clear, Jacob pulled on the front of his coat and straightened his top hat.
"Right. As you were, gents, lads," Jacob said to the surrounding workers as he approached pai of large wooden gates and forced them open, even as the workers still cowered before him, begging him to spare their lives.
On the other side of the doors, Jacob caught sight of a man that seemed to be one of the ironworks' foramen, bellowing out to a large crowd of what the Assassin could only assume were new workers. "Mr. Ferris' office is there, and he will watch you like a preist, he will!" the foreman bellowed, pointing in the direction of Ferris' office, which was likely to be where Jacob would find his target
Ferris… I'm coming, thought Jacob as he pulled off his top hat, collapsed and stored the hat into his coat pocket, and pulled his hood over his head in what seemed to be a single, swift motion before making his way towards his target's office through the crowd of workers and urchins, silently assassinating any Blighter who'd caught sight of him before they had a chance to react or call out. Before long, Jacob had arrived at the large wooden gate that led to both the smelting chambers of the ironworks and Ferris' office.
Once the doors were open, Jacob immediately caught sight of several Blighters milling about the area. Taking cover behind a small stack of crates, Jacob let out a whistle, attracting the attention of one of the Blighters.
"I'll put an end to that noise," grumbled the Blighter as he approached Jacob's hiding place. Once the opportune moment arrived, Jacob emerged from his hiding spot and stabbed the Blighter in the throat, before promptly looting his victim's pockets, only to find that he'd only had a few pounds on him.
As Jacob made his way through the smelting chamber, he was lucky enough to get the drop on and his hidden blade in the throats and chest of a few of the Blighters patrolling the area. Unfortunately, as Jacob was looting the pockets of one of the Blighters he'd stealthily taken out, another one of the thugs had caught sight of him.
"You cheeky sod!" snarled the Blighter as he drew his knife and slashed at Jacob, only to miss, get knocked off balance, and then receive a concealed sword in the eye for his trouble, which came out of his skull along with a large crimson fountain when Jacob tried to pull his sword out.
"Ew… nasty," said Jacob as he looked at the eyeball. Spotting a nearby urchin holding a poker out in front of him like a sword, Jacob grabbed the poker and used it to scrape off the eye before putting his sword back in its cane and making his way out of the smelting chamber through a doorway on the upper level.
What Jacob saw on the other side of the doorway sent of surge of anger coursing through him. On the ground below him, a foreman was reading the names of children off a list, while several other foramen forcibly separated the children from their mothers and sisters. As he made his way to the ground floor and shot dirty looks at the foramen, who seemed to pay him no attention, Jacob admittedly found it very difficult to not introduce their bodies to the business end of his hidden blade or throw a knife into their throats, for the Assassin's Creed dicated that he stay his blade from the flesh of the innocent, and these men were, however loosely, innocent.
Once he'd made it through and arrived in another, larger smelting chamber, Jacob triggered the ability that only those in the Assassin Brotherhood could truly master to its full potential: Eagle Vision.
As Jacob scanned the smelting chamber and its surrounding areas, he caught sight of Ferris and one of his workers in the latter's office, and was able to read their lips as easily as though he were in the room with them.
"Mr. Ferris, sir?" said the worker nervously.
Ferris, who was reading what seemed to be a ledger with a magnifying glass, held up his finger for silence until he reached a good place to stop, before signaling the worker to continue speaking.
"The lad who was injured in the factory… he should be taken to be bandaged by the apothecary," said the worker, visibly sweating.
Ferris sighed before giving his answer.
"Fine. But dock his wages."
"Yes, sir," said the worker before he left the office as Jacob deactivated his Eagle Vision.
"Shall we arrive at a final price, Mr. Ferris?" Jacob grumbled under his breath as he made his way towards his target's office, sticking to the high ground in order to avoid attracting any attention from the Blighters on he ground below. As he left his current smelting chamber, Jacob assassinated a Blighter who had managed to catch sight of him, causing the urchins who witnessed the deed to start screaming and begging for their lives. Those who weren't started calling Jacob a thief as he rummaged through his victim's pockets. His victim looted, Jacob threw the corpse into a vat of molten steel, completely destroying it.
Making his way through the frightened and indignant children, Jacob arrived in yet another smelting chamber, on the far side of which was Ferris' office, which had three entry points that Jacob could use to creep in and kill his target.
Hmm… there's entrances on the left and right hand side that I could use to slit his throat from behind, and a hole just above the office that I could use to sneak in from above and pounce on him, thought Jacob as he carefully weighed his options for a few moments, before deciding to head into the office via the left hand side entrance. As Jacob creeped his way towards Ferris' office from his chosen entry point, the young Assassin could make out bits and piece of what sounded like a letter in the process of being written. But, Jacob couldn't care less about what was being said, as he was there only for one reason. A reason that quickly became obvious to Ferris as Jacob approached him, hidden blade extended and ready for the killing blow.
Hearing the footsteps approaching him, Ferris turned around to find Jacob walking towards him, sending a chill of terror running through him.
"What is this?! Hel-" Ferris tried to call out only to be silenced by both Jacob's hand over his mouth and the Assassin's hidden blade through his throat.
Jacob helped Ferris' body fall to the ground even as the slain industrialist's assistant ran out of the room, screaming bloody murder.
"It is done," Jacob said, his face contorted into an expression that seemed to suggest that Ferris was merely something unpleasant he found on his boot.
"Oh? And what did you accomplish, boy?" Ferris choked out even as his lungs began to fill up with his own blood. "A bolt loosened in Starrick's machine? A large bolt… but not enough."
"Your Grand Master will fall."
Ferris let out a gurgling laugh. "You Assassins can circle London until judgement day and the trumpets have sounded. The mechanism we have built hs been running strong for a hundred years, and will run a thousand more. It is the very city itself."
"We will take London from your hands."
"From Croydon? You lurk in the shadows like a coward. I doubt it…"
Ferris coughed up a large amount of blood before he gurgled his last breath and went still. Jacob closed his victim's eyes before pulling a piece of tissue paper from out of his coat pocket and wiped a smear of blood from Ferris' wound. As he put the tissue back into his pocket, Jacob began to hear the sound of voices shouting getting closer. Standing up, Jacob immediately left the office as quick as he could, searching for a way out.
Almost as if on cue, a train whistle sounded from nearby. Looking in the direction the train whistle came from, Jacob found an open door that led to the outside of the building. Seeing his opportunity, Jacob dashed through the open doorway and jumped onto the train as it began to pull away from the ironworks, followed swiftly by a small group of Blighters.
As two of the Blighters approached Jacob, armed with knives, the young Assassin pulled out his cane-sword once more.
"Tickets, please!" quipped Jacob as one of the Blighters came at him, swinging his knife, only to have his attack deflected, get beaten and slashed bloody by Jacob's cane-sword, and kicked off the top of the train. On this went for what seemed like several minutes until the remaining Blighters jumped into a cart being driven by another Blighter that was running alongside the train.
"Lost your bottle, boys?" Jacob called after the fleeing cart, unaware that the Blighters had just smacked a tracked switcher, causing the train to start heading towards an abrupt drop of the side of a cliff, despite the best attempts of the conductor to stop the train, which he promptly abandoned, alerting Jacob the threat.
Upon seeing the large and deadly fall ahead of him, Jacob's jaw dropped in alarm before he began trying to run against the train as it fell off the cliff, only to be left hanging onto the wooden boards of a rail car as it dangled off the edge of the cliff.
"Well… we seem to have made an unscheduled stop," quipped Jacob as he began climbing down the train and onto the safety of the ground below, despite a board snapping off when he tried to grab it.
As his feet touched solid earth, Jacob turned around to see the sheer carnage and destruction he had left behind him. "Maybe next time I'll walk…" said Jacob as he started to walk away, only to walk directly into George Westhouse, who was currently glaring daggers at Jacob, who could only think of one thing to say under the look his superior was giving him.
"Uh… I can explain."
Chapter One completed, memory synched. Damn, it is good to be back! I daresay that was a most fun start to this project. And yes, I can already hear you complaining about how this chapter is too much like the game, yada yada yada. But, trust me, Chapter II, which would've been Evie introductory chapter, is where the real fun will begin. Anyways, if you liked what you saw here, be sure to fav, follow, and review, and I'll see you guys next time.