Assassin's Creed: Dreams of Mastery
By One-Winged Angel 666
Chapter 1
Note: Told through Ulric Cutters's perspective
It was 1867, two years after Abraham Lincoln freed the African-American slaves with his Gettysburg Address. Our guild's long-time arch-enemies, the Knights Templar, didn't get the message whatsoever, explaining why they were plotting on using the Apple of Eden they collected recently to enslave every African-American, tricking them into becoming Templars to exact revenge on their former slave-owners. Our early ancestors and professional Assassins, including William Sharp, Ronald Boulderton, and Katherine Foldstein, were dispatched to eliminate one of the Templar leaders, Colonel Smith Darksun, before he uses the Apple of Eden to order the former slaves to kill every last one of their former owners.
As the three of us sat in our Animi, we saw the whole thing through our ancestors' point-of-view. They were hiding outside an abandoned building, viewing from the windows Colonel Darksun making a dramatic speech to his mind-controlled African-American slaves via the Apple of Eden. "Former slaves," said Colonel Darksun, unaware of our ancestors' presence, "for too long you and your ancestors have been tortured and enslaved by the white Americans! They took your ancestors from their original homes, slaughtered their loved-ones, and forced them to perform labors without any food, money, clothes, or medicine in exchange! Now is the time to strike and exact your revenge on those that oppressed you for too long!"
William then faced his comrades, Ronald and Katherine, as he whispered, "You know what to do."
"Right," replied Ronald and Katherine. Like Abigail years later, Katherine was an expert at not only medicine, but also explosive devices, which explained why she was able to build a smoke-bomb. With the said smoke-bomb, Katherine tossed it through the window and inside the building, where smoke crawled out of the small bomb and covered the entire interior of the building, blinding everyone within it in the process.
"What the Hell is going on," asked Colonel Darksun. "Why is there smoke inside the building?"
William, Ronald, and Katherine then slowly and quietly walked into the building while the smoke was still blocking the other people's sight, coming toward Colonel Darksun. The smoke blinded the three Assassins as well, but they knew where they were going anyway, because they could hear Colonel Darksun's loud coughing. As they arrived to where Colonel Darksun was, they took out their hidden blades from underneath their wrists, and stabbed Colonel Darksun to death.
The smoke cleared, and as the slaves' sight returned to normal, they were all shocked to see their master's corpse lying on a pool of red blood. William then took the Apple of Eden out of the dead Colonel Darksun's hand, and with it, disabled the mind-control effects on the slaves, freeing them in the process.
"People," William said to the former-slaves, "no longer will you be used as disposable tools built to kill innocent people!"
"You have the power to decide for yourselves now," said Katherine, "and you decided for yourselves to create peace with your former masters."
"So," said Robert, "we suggest that you leave this place and return to your homes where you belong!"
Listening to the three Assassins, the former-slaves left the building, with their free-wills returned to normal.
As for us, we'd then lose synch with our ancestral-memories and return to the laboratory, sitting on the Animi, in the year 2012. We'd then face the scientists using the computer to control the Animi, with the head-scientist, Dr. Kelly Tremors, watching over them. "The mission was a success," said one of the scientists to Dr. Tremors, "the bleeding-effect managed to further increase the apprentices' strengths and skills."
"As expected," replied Dr. Tremors. She'd then walk to the three of us and said, "So, how are you feeling after the bleeding-effect?"
"It hurt our heads," I said, "but it's just a migraine that will go away."
"Good," said Dr. Tremors. "We wouldn't want you to overwhelm yourselves during your training to become Assassins."
"Right," Ren, Abigail, and I replied.
"Now," said Dr. Tremors, "go to your quarters and get some rest. You deserve it after a long day of training."
"Yes, ma'am," we said in unison.
The three of us got off our Animi seats and walked down the hallway, to our quarters.
My friends and I were all apprentices of a secret organization known as the Assassins, and each of us had something to contribute to the organization. I was an expert at stealth and evasion, while Ren Sandstone was a combat-specialist, and Abigail Wrapper was the intelligent-type, skilled with inventing just about almost anything, such as ordnance, machines, and medicine. Even though we were just apprentices who have been training for the past six months, each of our three ancestors were a Hell of team. Each of their strengths complimented the other two's weaknesses, and through training with the Animi, I gained William's stealth-specialty, while Ren received Robert's combat-skills, and Abigail received Katherine's inventing-skills. As for us, we joined the Assassins because our parents, originally Assassins themselves like William, Robert, and Katherine before they and us, were once Assassins themselves, and had us join the Assassins to gain a stronger education beyond the classroom as well as to pass the torch on to us.
We sat in our quarters, resting from our training mission, socializing as usual. "Man," I said, "even though all those training missions we'd receive are exciting and all, because we get to see through our ancestors' eyes, all of sudden it's getting old! I can't wait to get our first real mission, instead of the training missions that involve the Animi!"
"So what," Ren asked me. "Even with our skills, we still need some patience before we can get our first mission."
"Ren's right," Abigail said to me. "We're just apprentices, and even though we gained potential from the Animi's bleeding-effect, we still need to unlock more of it."
"I know that," I said to my friends, "you don't have to tell me! I understand the risks. I fail, I either die, or worse, get expelled from the Order of Assassins for incompetence."
"I suggest you don't say such things either," Abigail said to me.
"Abby's right," Ren said. "It's not good to be overconfident, but it's not good to dwell on the consequences either. You have to balance your confidence levels in order to think clearly and fulfill each mission as efficiently as possible."
"Look who's talking," I said. "You're an apprentice, like Abby and me, and like me, you also have dreams of becoming Assassins like our parents and ancestors. I may be an arrogant, impatient child, but I have just as much confidence in you becoming Assassins as I do myself, because I'm part of a team, not some arrogant soloist whose goals conflict with yours."
"I'm glad you noticed," replied Abigail. "Which is ironic, because both your's and Ren's personalities are polar opposites of your own skills. You rely on stealth and subterfuge, which requires a lot of patience, and yet you're impatient yourself. Meanwhile, Ren relies on brute-strength and full-on assault-tactics, which only a mindless, angry idiot would use, and yet Ren's calm and collected."
"Then what makes you," Ren asked.
"I'm mostly the pacifist that doesn't want to fight yet has to," replied Abigail. "I don't like the idea of killing a few people just to save countless more, as I know that there's some good in even the most evil of people. But, I don't have a choice, because my parents and the rest of our secret organization expects me to."
"You shouldn't let your feelings of other people get in the way of the mission, you know," Ren said to Abigail. "Sometimes, the task comes first, then other people."
"Which is strange," I said to Ren, "because what she does is mostly a support role, whereas I'm stealthy and you're combative. And when you have a support role, you put people first, then the task."
"That's okay," said Abigail. "I don't like it, but thanks to the bleeding-effect from the Animus 2.0, I'm as hardened as I am skilled, causing me to see the world in black-and-white rather than all shades of gray like I used to before I joined the Assassins. I promise you, I won't let my feelings get in the way of our never-ending battle against the Templars, because the Animus's bleeding-effect built me that way."
"That's good to hear," replied Ren.
"Thank you," replied Abigail.
A week would pass since our training session in the Animi, as we were called to the conference room, where we awaited one of our commanding-officers of Assassins, Master Rotselski. We were dressed in our Assassin robes, the trademark uniform worn by Assassins, which allows the wearer to blend-in with his environment like a ninja.
"I wonder what Master Rotselski has in-store for us," I said. "It's probably our first mission!"
"Don't deliver your confidence levels too high," Ren said to me. "Usually, the first mission doesn't involve killing someone until much later in an Assassin's career."
"Good," said Abigail. "I've had enough of seeing my ancestor, Katherine, kill Templars while the Animus pumps her skills into my head."
"I'm glad you arrived," said a familiar voice. We then turned around to face Master Rotselski, a man in his sixties, as he walked to the opposite side of the table we were sitting in.
"So," I said, "what's the mission."
"As you're all aware," said Master Rotselski, "even though the three of you gathered plenty of combat skills through the Animi's bleeding-effect, you're still inexperienced in the art of the Assassin. This is why we're giving you as safe and beginner-friendly a mission as possible."
"What is the mission," asked Ren.
"You are to gather information on a well-known weapons-merchant," continued Master Rotselski, "by the name of Erain Winster. He is the CEO of an influential weapon-developing company by the name of the Winster Corp., which secretly build weapons for the Templars. Since you won't have any weapons on you, you're only to gather information on him and deliver it to any one of our top Assassins, so that they can finish the job. Don't do anything heroic, because you could die if you do so."
"Yes, sir," the three of us said in unison.
"Then," said Master Rotselski, "do you have any questions before you can go?"
"No, sir," we said in unison.
"Then I suggest you head to your given assignments," replied Master Rotselski. "Dismissed."
We then walked out of the conference room, as I said, "Well this sucks. An info-gathering mission, where instead of assassinating someone, we have others do the work meant for us."
"You haven't listened to the Master," Ren said to me, "haven't you? He's giving us this assignment because we're still apprentices."
"He's right, you know," continued Abigail. "He's doing this to protect us until we're more experienced in combat and assassinations."
"Right," I replied.
As we went outside the hidden base, the three of us would climb-up the building in-front of us, heading to the top, as our first real assignment began.