Chapter One: In Which we Catch up on Recent Events
Sutori-Artifex here! So I decided to rewrite the first chapter of my story, Mass Effect: Creed, to describe what happened between the histories of Assassin's Creed and Mass Effect. Starting with the 2012 CME that Desmond stopped, I wrote an entire 170 years of history detailing world events and how the Assassins and Templars affected them.
WARNING: A lot of this is going to include a bit of an original story as mentally invented by me. Only thing keeping it from being on FictionPress instead of Fanfiction is the fact that it's all in a fictional timeline for Assassins Creed after ACIV: Black Flag. AT THE TIME OF WRITING, AC UNITY HAS YET TO BE RELEASED! I have no idea what Ubisoft had planned for the Present-Day storyline of that game. Sorry if it deviates. I might come back and run an edit if it doesn't conflict too much.
Multiple events on this intro are completely fictional and are not designed to offend anyone, such as the Third World War. Technically it's a Chekhov's Gun at the moment. It will have relevance later in the story, but given it's occurrence between 2012 and 2185 I wanted to include it. The Official Mass Effect Timeline leaves a considerable gap between 1921 and 2069 CE. I took my liberties to do whatever I wanted here.
Also: Because I can't find anything regarding the date (month-wise) in Mass Effect 2, the events of the ME2 Shepard story-arc begin on September 20th, 2185. Note that days and even weeks can go by between chapters.
[LOCATION REDACTED]: Earth, December 21st, 2012
"It's some sort of… global Aurora Borealis, never seen anything like this, before. Eyewitnesses describe electrical storms and erratic displays of unusual weather. Residents are being asked to remain inside and wait for…" said a crackling voice over a radio as it was cut off briefly.
"Geological surveys are now reporting seismic activity throughout the Ring of Fire… Northeastern Canada is said to be experiencing the largest on record… sateillites and transformers are failing as the flare increases in intensity. Worldwide reports of blackouts and…" the radio continued, being cut off once more in a little burst of static.
"Get those backup generators going, now!" said a man in a white business suit, throwing an arm in the air aimlessly in the dark as emergency lighting came on to guide his path to a blacked out monitor. "We can't afford to lose this equipment! Pray to whatever gods or God you believe in that they found a way to fix this!" he added, straightening his red silk tie.
After what felt like an hour of toil, which in reality should have been half that, the lights of the room flickered back on, much to everyone's relief. The radio's static started to fade, being replaced with further news broadcasting.
"…seems to be receding. Residual seismic and volcanic activity is being reported, but nothing approaching earlier levels. Obviously it will be a while before experts are able to assess the full extent of the damage caused by today's events. But it appears the worst… is behind us. We'll be sure to bring you more as this story develops."
Needless to say, the entire building erupted with cheers and cries of mixed joy, residual feelings of incredulity, and the accompanying relief.
The suited man smiled and turned. "You did a damn good job, Desmond. Damn good job," he murmured under his breath and he walked away from the monitor, which displayed news feed from multiple countries regarding the almost catastrophic events that had unfolded.
William Miles would definitely be contacted after the commotion died down. Everyone involved with Desmond's journey would be awarded for their efforts not only in combating the Order of the Knights Templar, but in saving civilization itself.
Little did they know just how much their hero had to sacrifice to give them all this second chance.
[LOCATION REDACTED], Earth, 2016
For two years the United States Government had been investigating Abstergo Industries. They had been picking at the shadow-corporation ever so slowly but surely, finding evidence against their cause every now and then and resurrecting interest in continuing the examination of the company whenever it started to fade. Abstergo was locked in a figurative game of Chess with the Assassins, who had miraculously been able to influence the election of President Jacob Hall via the "Outernet" created by the Initiates back in 2014. President Hall, made fully aware of the Assassins in 2015, agreed to continue pressing Abstergo for anything incriminating. The Brotherhood was about to call checkmate.
His job was simple enough. Four years ago he was the one overseeing Assassin operations in the recently repaired San Francisco den when the 2012 Coronal Mass Ejection occurred. Last month, he was appointed to be head of the ongoing investigation of Abstergo Industries by President Hall himself after having climbed the ranks of the Federal Bureau of Investigation over the years. Okay, maybe that part wasn't so simple. The risks of being exposed as an Assassin were pretty intense.
That was the past. Right now? His unofficial job was to pretty much wreck Abstergo.
"Hey, Franklin, I've got someone getting nervous," came a voice from behind the white-suited man.
This "Franklin" turned to see a fellow Assassin (recently having infiltrated the FBI) with his arms crossed as he stared down a man in a labcoat.
Franklin waved his hand dismissively, as if he was sweeping something on a high shelf away. "Tsk tsk, Rico, I got this one," he said as he approached. Rico nodded to him and backed away.
"What do you want, sir?" the Abstergo employee asked, back against the wall.
"My… partner, says that you're becoming a bit defensive about something. There seem to be an issue?" Franklin asked.
"N-n-no sir, nothing at all!" said the terrible liar.
Franklin smirked devilishly as he tried his Batman Gambit*; he knew this man to be both a coward and a Templar. He reached into his suit and pulled out the pendant that hung on his necklace. It was a silver Assassin Insignia colored red around the edges. He held it up for the Abstergo employee to get an eyeful of it. He watched as the employee started shaking, realizing he was dealing with Assassins, said to have been eradicated in a Great Purge. The frightening thing was that they kept trying even though they were outnumbered, outgunned, and lacked the propaganda to sway the masses, save for the Election of 2016.
Franklin chuckled as the employee ran off, shouting for a "Dr. White".
"Apprehend that man! He knows something!" Franklin ordered, quickly stuffing the pendant back out of vision. As agents lead by Rico ran past him, he started staring at the wall that the employee was so hellbent on pressing his back against. He started poking it in various places, getting a few odd looks from a few other people in the hallway. Eventually he found that one area of the wall was a bit… deeper, than the rest of the wall. He could feel edges making a nearly invisible square shape in the wall, just at elbow's height. He tapped the center of it a few times and managed to get a panel to slide into the wall, revealing a passcode pad and iris-recognition hardware.
At that moment, Franklin's agents returned with the employee, dragging him by his shoulders over to Franklin. The latter snickered as he heard the squeaking of the man's shoes on the ground as his heels slid across the floor. The agents held him at eye-level with Franklin, who spoke in a rather calm voice. "Well… it seems I found something in the wall, here… looks like it wants a password and somebody's eye. Care to provide the two for us?" he explained, turning to point at the newly revealed defenses.
"I'm not supposed to," the employee grunted.
"Well that's a shame. When you were running off you seemed to know who gave you those orders. A… Doctor White? Wouldn't want him knowing you got busted now would you? We'll let you go free if you provide what we want and we'll put the blame on ourselves for randomly cracking the code. As for iris-identification we'll lie and say we hacked it. Sound like a deal?" said Franklin, gesturing like a game-show host at the keypad. The employee rolled his eyes and held his hands up in surrender.
"I'm holding you to that promise," he said as the agents released him. He entered in the passcode: 843-83675277-273-4684624253 **, and lowered his face down for the iris-identification system to scan his eye.
To Franklin, and his agents' surprise, a door concealed in the wall slid open, revealing a downwards staircase to a second door, this time locked by conventional means. The employee burst into a frantic run, heading out of the hall to seek the exit of the facility. Franklin drew his pistol, expecting trouble, and kicked the door down, revealing a rather shocking sight for his agents unfamiliar with the Templars and Assassins. A massive room, with catwalks around the perimeter of the room and running in each direction, connecting all four sides at the upper level of the room. At the far end of the room, a lighting fixture in the shape of a giant white cross could be seen. The lower level was, by far, the most incriminating thing about this chamber. Rows upon rows of cubicles with glass walls and ceilings were lined up perfectly in a disturbingly uniform fashion. Inside each cubicle were machines and computers of the exact same design and position. Sometimes, they would have people strapped to them, wires attached to their heads.
Franklin knew right away what this all was, but the FBI agents behind him had slapped their hands to their foreheads in shock, taking it all in. After a brief moment they too drew their pistols and followed Franklin and Rico on the catwalk. Further adding to their already substantial awe, the former two leapt over the railing and scaled the wall down to the ground level.
They took out their badges and held them high. "FBI, everyone, hands in the air where I can see them!" Rico shouted, pistol in one hand, badge sky-high in the other. A few scientists drew their own weapons but were quickly shot down by the agents on the upper level. After that, everyone pretty much complied.
"Rico, search the place, dismantle these Animi but not before taking all the data you can!" Franklin ordered as the other agents joined them on the lower level, leaving one man to watch out from above.
The search went on for an hour as Rico broke into archives, sabotaged Animi, and helped the others interrogate Abstergo scientists. When they rendezvoused, they compiled all their evidence in digital folders on their smartphones. Franklin grinned victoriously and copied his folder, forwarding it to the San Francisco Assassins, also sending copies to William Miles, Rebecca Crane, and Sean Hastings.
"Now the question is: Keep this a secret or let the public know that Abstergo Industries has been screwing them over?" Franklin asked unassumingly as they left the building, knowing full-well that the Assassins were going to leak this data either way.
"Well I'm not the one in charge but I am definitely sure that Abstergo's being shut down after this data's evaluated. Might as well let the press know," one agent said.
Checkmate.
*Batman Gambit: Manipulating someone or something by provoking them to do EXACTLY what you KNOW they'll do that's in their nature. Basically, accomplishing something using another person because somebody was being theirself.
**Digit-to-Character (Number to Letter) Cipher: "The Templars are Invincible" it said.
Earth, 2017
The Brotherhood had begun to rebuild. Master Assassin Franklin Wood had played a part in shattering Abstergo Industries, practically decapitating the Templar Order. With their hands back in American politics, the Assassins ushered in a Golden Age for the once struggling nation.
However the ice was becoming thin in Europe and Asia. Small-time movements had begun, Ultranationalists, they called themselves, seeking bigger government in China, Southeast Asia, and Asian-Russia, which began to push its way to European-Russia. Currently they were not worth the attention of the Assassins as they focused on gathering their strength in America, aiming to influence Western Europe on their way to utilizing the modern technology and communication once used by the Templars to smash the Brotherhood.
And for a time they would succeed…
Earth, 2020-2025
President Jacob Hall had won a second term. Just in time for war to break out in Europe.
Those Ultranationalist movements in Russia were now being lead by Kazimir Vakhrushev a known Templar, and Russia had taken an increasingly autocratic path. While the government and the people fought back, they were eventually dominated by the not-so-fledgeling movement. Victories for the Ultranationalists were also taking place in China and Vietnam.
Russia, under Kazimir's regime, raised an army and invaded Finland and Estonia. The European Union condemned these actions, but ignored the incursions until Kazimir ordered attacks on Latvia, Lithuania, and Belarus. The Campaign in Finland then pushed into northeast Sweden. At this point, the EU agreed to go to war to defend the rest of Europe. Western European-Union forces showed up in Poland, Romania, and Ukraine to hold back Kazimir's infantry, as well as his "Havocs", a Black-Operations team lead by Piotyr Tokarev.
They were decimated. Poland became the stalemate grounds of the European campaign. Victories were had on both sides but none could secure control of Warsaw for long.
Earth, 2025-2032
The United States would become involved in the war when China began a joint-invasion of Taiwan and South Korea with Russia, Vietnam, and North Korea. Russia, as a nation swayed by Ultranationalists, reached out to China and provided them with Havoc training, which they passed to Vietnam and North Korea, assisting each other in attacking and controlling a colossal portion of the globe. By 2025, The "CURA", the Communist Union of Russia and Asia, as they came to be known, dominated the entirety of Asia, Asia Minor, and Eastern Europe. As CURA forces began to push into Egypt, the United States and Western Europe formed a coalition they dubbed the Alliance of Democratic States.
The war would rage for another seven years. During this time, CURA occupation of India and the Middle East would be shattered by a group of seven of the ADS's answer to the CURA "Havocs". Project CENTURY was rendered defunct by Piotyr Tokarev, whose Havocs intercepted an exchange between CENTURY's location and Washington, D.C. He proceeded to raze the facility. Seven "Centurions" escaped. Last mistake of that magnitude the CURA ever made.
Unbeknownst to the Centurions, the Assassins Brotherhood had been influencing their victories with the little things to turn the tables. It was discovered that the Ultranationalist movement that created the CURA was a Templar last-ditch-effort to usher in a New World Order. Near the end of the war, the Centurion unit was contacted directly and the Assassin-Templar war was explained to them. Accepting the offer of membership, "Alpha (Alternatively: 'Apex' by other soldiers) Seven" would continue to reclaim territory and fight the CURA where they lived.
The ADS would win the war on Christmas Morning, 2032. Alpha Seven lost one of their members, who valiantly sacrificed himself to save their leader, who would go on to avenge him and, quite literally, decapitate the Ultranationalist Russia's leading body… which was basically just Kazimir. The Templars had been devastated both physically and in terms of morale by the failure to win the war for the CURA. Their Pieces of Eden had been taken by Alpha Seven after their priorities shifted to preventing CURA forces from creating a psychological weapon out of them.
The death toll of the war would later be calculated. Predictably, the Third World War surpassed the Second World War in number of casualties.
70,291,500 to 75,834,550 people lost their lives in this war. Most of them innocent lives taken by the CURA's Ultranationalist regimes.
Humanity would never be the same. North Korea was defeated swiftly and the Peninsula reunited as a single nation, which for the remainder of the war, was protected by Japan and the United States, two member-nations of the ADS. Leaving them at this point meant sure domination by China.
All territory acquired by Vietnam was taken back ever so surely, and eventually Hanoi fell. The ADS reestablished political borders only after the war had ended. No countries were destroyed or created during this period of Reconstruction.
The People's Republic of China was the only CURA nation to directly surrender before the war's end and thus kept a majority of their original territory. Advocates jumped onto the treaty as an opportunity to push the nation to release Tibet. In exchange for a portion of Asian-Russia should the war end in ADS favor, China agreed to relinquish Tibet along with all other countries taken during their time in the war. The Indian Subcontinent was finally reunited as a single nation; India, Pakistan, Bengali, etc. learned over the course of the war to unite against a common enemy. They didn't need to waste human lives in times of hardship because of religious differences. Although there are still some disputes over the construction of mosques and Hindi temples in some cities, none have erupted into violence yet.
Russia was defeated last, and put up the greatest fight. All territory acquired in the war was relinquished to the ADS who reestablished political boundaries in the Middle East and Eastern Europe. As promised, a portion of eastern-most Russia was given to China.
As the entire world had come together to combat a common threat, the seeds of peace were sown amongst the nations of Earth. The Assassins, and Alpha Seven, finally had a chance to relax. No longer did they have to run, nor were they in any sort of danger. The ADS was dissolved in 2045 after Reconstruction of the world was completed. Although numerous member-nations would affectionately refer to their country and its allies as "Alliance of Democratic States", taking into consideration the bonds that their native nation formed with other ADS members.
Earth, 2075
As a result of the implants given to them during their time in Project CENTURY, the remaining members of Alpha Seven still lived at a relatively young biological age. Victor Manswell, one of the Brotherhood's "eccentric billionaire-types" put in a formal request for the six ex-Centurions to come aboard his ship for the mission to Alpha Centauri. They agreed so long as they got to bring their oddball AI and old armor with them. It was decided that once the ship landed, A-7 would be the primary police force for the colonists. A-7 was ordered to take with them the Pieces of Eden, all of which had fallen into Assassin hands. A last message was given to the Brotherhood via memory shard: "Look to the Stars, you'll find Mars. We were not alone."
The ship successfully launches.
Contact with the ship is soon lost.
Earth, 2096
The United States, Mexico, and Canda merge to become the United North American States, maintaining a large part of US American culture and historical focus, with influence from Canadian and Mexican culture and language.
A rogue faction attempts secession from the newly formed UNAS, sparking a second American Civil War in which Liberty Island in New York is attacked and bombarded in an act of Terrorism. The Statue of Liberty, hitherto a beloved and cherished symbol of America, is utterly destroyed. Its head remained mostly intact, but disappeared from the scene of the attack.
Assassins suspected Templar influence in the rebellion and initiated a series of covert operations to eliminate key individuals in direct opposition of the UNAS.
They succeed, and the UNAS achieves victory, securing its future as a single nation of North America.
Mars, 2103
The European Space Agency goes to the planet Mars and establishes a colony, Lowell City, in Eos Chasma. It would be the first permanent settlement on Mars.
Assassins arrive shortly thereafter. Having preserved a record of the final communique from First Civilization, they set to work deciphering the meaning of "we were not alone".
Saturn, 2137
Eidfell-Ashland Energy co. develops and demonstrates Helium-3 extraction technology on the atmosphere of Saturn, unlocking the potential of Helium-3 as a fuel source. Consider Humanity saved from the depleting resources of Earth.
The Templars, having been nearly defunct for almost a century, return from the depths of their Assassin-imposed damnation and seek to take control of Eidfell-Ashland to regain a foothold in human affairs.
Mars, 2147
Trace amounts of an unknown material are discovered by a group of Assassin scientists. Signatures indicate that it may be a completely new element.
The element is shown is have an atomic mass of nearly zero and thus is dubbed "Element Zero", or "Eezo" in layman's terminology.
Assassins move one step closer to uncovering the truth about the First-Civilization's neighborhood.
Mars, 2148
A data cache belonging to a race calling themselves the "Protheans" was discovered. Among the crew responsible for the discovery was an Assassin named Akiha Mitsurugi, who presented the findings to the Brotherhood, who deduced that First Civilization and Protheans were contemporaries. As the Protheans revealed that they were wiped out, they speculated on the cause. First Civilization very well could have had an interstellar community rivalling the Protheans. The investigation was filed under "long-term studies".
Humanity begins exploring the science of Mass Effect Fields, leading to the development of Faster-than-Light travel.
Pluto, 2149
Utilizing both Mass Effect physics and directions in the data cache, Humans arrive at Pluto where they discover that Charon is not a moon at all; it's a Mass Relay encased in ice. Jon Grissom becomes one of the first humans to leave the Sol system. He discovers the Mass Relay network across the entirety of the Milky Way Galaxy, setting the stage for the Advent of Humanity.
The Systems Alliance is formed from eighteen nations of Earth, with the UNAS being included. This Alliance becomes Humanity's military and exploratory spearhead.
Earth, 2151
A devastating accident in Singapore exposes hundreds of humans to dust-form eezo. Roughly 30% of all children born in Singapore after eezo exposure grow cancerous tumors later in life. The rest develop abilities that can only be described as telekinetic.
2152-2156
Humanity enters an age of expansion, reaching out and colonizing numerous worlds such as Demeter, Terra Nova, and Eden Prime. The Systems Alliance Navy is created and fleets are assembled to protect Humanity's expanding territory regardless of the fact that the "We Are Not Alone" has yet to be uttered.
Shanxi, 2157
She had to remain calm. It was all a misunderstanding, she was told, and that she was not to perpetuate violence with them. The Brotherhood would work to fix things with the "Turians".
Astrid Morin was an inhabitant of the planet Shanxi when the Turians besieged it. Under the command of General Williams, the Systems Alliance faltered and the Turians took the planet out from under them. Astrid considered arming herself to defend her colony when she saw the shuttles offload troops. She knew better than to risk her neighbors their lives, even though she had the training to take an entire squad unarmed. She sighed and returned to her couch, sitting down and waiting for what felt like half an hour. She looked over to her clock. It actually had been half an hour. She heard a fist pounding on her door, hard enough to make some of the wall decorations rattle in place.
She got up, equipped her Hidden Blade, and opened the door slowly, peering her head out. Two Turians armed with assault rifles were outside. They seemed "friendly", given that their rifles were pointed at the ground with the safety on.
One of them spoke in a strange tongue that Astrid noted was oddly Latin in… flavor? However you'd describe that, she thought to herself. She eyed the Turian standing in her doorway. He cleared his throat and looked inside her house in a casual manner.
"Forgive this idiot. He forgot that you don't know our language," said the Turian behind the one in the doorway as the former nudged the latter in the back with his elbow. The fact that he spoke English was pretty shocking to her.
She stared over the shoulder of the first Turian, at the one who nudged him. "You speak English?"
"No. Not a word of it," he replied, blinking.
What the hell, Astrid thought to herself. This entire exchange was absolutely baffling her. "I'm chalking it up to translator device or some sort of space-magic. Anyways, what did you want?" she inquired, opening her door entirely.
The Turian standing in her doorway shook his head, as if snapping himself out of a trance, and he stood at attention. "Miss, we're with the Hastatim. We've set up a safe-camp outside the colony for civilians. This is your one warning. If you refuse or resist, we are authorized to shoot you," he said, putting it bluntly.
Astrid blinked. Okay, that was new. She understood, however, and was willing to cooperate to avoid further bloodshed. Although, something caught her attention. "H-hold on, how am I to be sure that you're not going to gas me as soon as I arrive!?" she said.
This absolutely terrified the Turian, evident from his bulging eyes and loosened grip on his gun. "What?! What kind of sick bastard would offer refuge to innocent men, women, and children, and then kill them with GAS?!"
"Humanity has had a history of being unkind to itself throughout its history. I don't want to waste your time. Alright, you've convinced me. I'll go, but I want to go get a couple things just real quick, okay? Just some food, water, and some personal belongings should I not see home again. I'll be right out. Feel free to step inside, look around," replied Astrid, leaving the door open, but backing away to go prepare for camp-life.
The two Turians gave each other a quick glance before shrugging and stepping inside the house.
Astrid reminded herself: Food, Water, and Irreplaceables. After filling a small backpack with canned food, bottled water, her smartphone, and other irreplaceable objects of either sentimental or technological importance, she head back downstairs and held her hands up in surrender. "Ready," she said, heading towards the open door. As soon as she stepped out, she saw that she was hardly the first one to be evicted.
Across the street, she could see a body-bag out on the lawn of a house. They weren't kidding when they said they'd kill resistance. Closer inspection revealed who had occupied the house. Looks like the only one to resist the Hastatim was Zechariah Miller, just a borderline "sub-human", as Astrid put it, that nobody in the neighborhood actually liked; openly racist, homophobic, ridiculously conservative "Christian" of unspoken denomination that didn't like the idea of meeting E.T. let alone be evicted by one.
The majority of the block was Christian, of course, but nobody possessed the level of hatefulness that "Zed" had. Astrid blew a lock of brown hair out of her eyes and dropped any thoughts of fear that crossed her mind. So they only killed people who were asses. Nice touch.
Astrid and the other refuges found themselves herded… no, herded isn't the right word… escorted to a Safe-Camp just outside the town. As it turned out, there were already people here, wrapped in blankets, drinking water that they had brought. People who had surrendered, and left unharmed. These guys were pretty honorable fighters, Astrid gave them that.
Astrid settled in, claiming a little corner of the camp for herself as she sat down, Lotus-Position, and looked around, irises flashing a bright gold. Her seventh sense; the so-called "Eagle Vision" that some humans with First-Civ descent possessed. Everything seemed friendly in this camp. Nothing particularly worth her attention was going on. However, she noticed a figure approaching, and her eyes dimmed, going back to their usual green.
It was the same Turian from earlier, the one that had been standing in Astrid's doorway, peeking inside like a total goof. This time he was unarmed. He gestured to the ground besides Astrid, wanting to sit. She patted the dirt floor next to her and the Turian sat besides her.
"Hello," he said, looking around at the Safe-Camp.
She maintained her poker-face. "Anything you wanted? Do I need to be somewhere?"
The Turian shrugged. "Actually, we're done rounding civilians up and I've the rest of the day off. All I have to do is make sure nobody causes any trouble," he said, leaning forwards and placing his chin on his hands. "Besides that, I'm really just bored," he chuckled.
Astrid didn't really care to notice before, but she could hear the purring subharmonic that the Turian seemed to possess. It wasn't an unpleasant sound, honestly. She smiled and rolled her eyes. "And so you came to me," she replied in a somewhat sarcastic manner.
The Turian turned his head to face her, sitting up straight and offering his hand. Oh, so they shared a gesture or two, or he just picked it up. "The name is Aepheus Kadros" he said, mandibles moving in such a way that it imitated a human smile.
After a moment of hesitation, Astrid took his hand in hers and shook it firmly. "Astrid Morin," replied the Assassin as they released each other's hand. "So, why so friendly to a human?" she asked Aepheus.
Aepheus paused for a moment, reflecting upon the question. "Well, you're not trying to kill me, and I was there when the first shots were fired. They were from a Turian ship. You didn't know this, but it was illegal to activate dormant Mass Relays, which your people were attempting to do at the 317 Relay. Had the shots been from a Human ship I wouldn't be talking to you right now," he explained to the young human, and she nodded in understanding. "And don't think I didn't notice your… wrist weapon, there," he added, poking the back of Astrid's wrist. Sure enough, the thin, white-leather bracer was still attached to her bright white hoody.
Astrid mouthed an "oh shit" as she turned her arm over to stare at the concealed blade. Her eyes wandered over to Aepheus, widened from fear.
"Relax. I wanted to talk about it. It seemed like an interesting device. Who makes them? Think I can get one?" asked Aepheus, "Also don't be afraid to give me the long version. I have all day," he added.
Astrid decided to take a gamble, and she told him that he couldn't get one unless he either made it himself or was issued one by her Brotherhood. This caught Aepheus's attention. Upon being asked, Astrid cleared her throat and wondered where she should begin. She was a Master Assassin, and had cleared a test on Assassin-Templar history. She began with the Assassin's earliest days of known Human History. She told a tale of bravery, defiance, and cunning, reciting the Maxim and the Tenets of the Brotherhood which had history going back to before Sumeria. Before long, several other Humans and Turians had gathered around her as she recounted the history of the noble Assasssin Brotherhood. From Altair Ibn-La'Ahad's quest for redemption and self-discovery to Ezio Auditore's journey for revenge-turned-justice as he dethroned a corrupt family of nobles, ushering in a golden age not only for the Assassins but for all of Italy, to his pilgrimage to Masyaf and subsequent mission to free the Ottoman Empire from the oppression of the Byzantines.
She told the tragic tale of Connor Kenway, as he lost everything he held dear on his path to Freedom, how he never lost hope even through the greatest of tribulation. She was standing up, fully aware of her audience by the time she reached Desmond Miles. She spoke of how he initially ran from who he was, and of his capture by Abstergo, for which she digressed temporarily to speak of the Templars, how they sought to take away the freedom and willpower of others in the name of cheap order and the illusion of peace.
She returned to Desmonds tale, and revealed to her audience that he was the descendant of Altair, Ezio, and Connor, that he relived the experiences of all three through a machine engineered by Abstergo. He learned their skills as he lived their lives, and with his newfound abilities fought to save the entire planet of Earth when it needed help the most. She told the audience of the CME that threatened to destroy all civilization. Desmond Miles gave his life away to ensure that Humanity could have a second chance. Juno was later inadvertantly defeated by a Russian assassin when the former had invaded a makeshift Animus and possessed the assassin's mother while she was using it. Juno had escaped from her prison the moment Desmond made his sacrifice, but was "killed" when her host was killed and the Animus shut down and taken apart.
She went on to reveal the role that the Assassins had on Humanity up until this point, how they had done more good for it than the Templars ever did. She spoke of the World War the Templars sparked, and how it was ended by seven heroes later belonging to the Assassins.
Throughout her entire speech, her audience was moved by the legends of the past, both Human and Turian. When she had finally finished, it was dusk, and the Turians completed their occupation of Shanxi. Applause roared around her, mostly from the dramatic way she recited the legends that kept them interested throughout the whole event. She blushed and started breathing a little heavier out of surprise; she seriously spent that long breaking the third tenet and they were applauding her?!
Aepheus stood up and nudged her shoulder. "Quite the fascinating history your people have. And you say your Brotherhood is still functional?" he said, to which Astrid nodded.
"They're probably going to kill me for breaking the third tenet in such a spectacular way, though, unless you all join up or stay silent about it…" came the reply.
"That won't be a problem, miss. It's a cause worth joining. Once this damn conflict's over I don't see why I wouldn't find them and lend my gun in their honor," said a Turian in the audience, the same one who had accompanied Aepheus to Astrid's house earlier in the day. A few others nodded in approval, and a couple of humans found themselves agreeing with their current occupiers. That was a sight you'd never believe you'd see.
Astrid shrugged nervously, "I thank you all… first step is to either leave Shanxi or have Assassins come to us."
Aepheus put a hand to his chin, pondering a solution. Eventually he snapped his thumb and index finger, signalling that he came to a conclusion. "The Hierarchy is going to have my head for this, but I believe that we can make a 'prisoner exchange' work. We'll bring you to your Assassins, Turians get a few war prisoners back, we all work together to prevent all of… this, from turning into a full-blown war. Only one problem's in our way…"
"And that would be?" Astrid found herself asking in spite of herself (she had believed that Aepheus was going to continue and that she had interrupted him mid-thought).
"Hastatim Captain Jorum. Ruthless son of a varren. He's over in his little shack, probably reading something. Once he's given an assignment he carries it out like a drone. No questions asked, no order disobeyed. Good Turian, but he can be pretty cruel at times. He'll never authorize a transfer on a whim. You lot aren't even prisoners by a long-shot," he elucidated, pacing back and forth.
"I'd hate to get his blood on my hands, so old-school Assassin'ing is a no-go," Astrid muttered under her breath.
"As in all things I advise we exercise caution and patience," Aepheus's partner said, "Let's not do anything, and try to influence Jorum as the days go by. Besides, by then they'll probably lift us out of here and make the refugees actual prisoners. I'm sure we can work it out by then."
So the plan was to wait…
It was successful. After a week of subliminally persuading Captain Jorum, he requisitioned a spacelift for the Shanxi inhabitants, seeing as how the Turians had no use for them, and they weren't about to slaughter innocents of a newly discovered species. Aepheus and Astrid toiled to contact the Assassin Brotherhood, who were a bit shocked to see a Turian at first, but kept their cool long enough to extract Astrid, Aepheus, and their sympathizers from captivity in an operation dubbed "Task: ET Phone Home". Whoever came up with that Task Name obviously got picked on for a while once the task itself was completed.
Aepheus Kadros would be inducted as the Brotherhood's first Turian initiate, going down in history as such. He and allies made on Shanxi would covertly recruit other open-minded Turians to the cause, and when Shanxi was taken back by the Systems Alliance, the Brotherhood would prevent the escalation to total war by sending Aepheus and other initiates to bring reports to the Citadel Council about Humanity's military strength and how a total war between Humans and Turians would harm the galaxy as a whole. The Council intervened and ordered a cease-fire which progressed to "true" peace. The scars of the war wouldn't heal for decades, however, and both sides harbored bitter hatred for each other. Some even went so far as to commit acts of terrorism or more minor crimes to get back at each other.
The Templar Order would also leak its ideologies to the Turians. The promises of Order enticed the majority of the species, and they formed a separate clan of Templars, appointing their own saints from Turian history and mythology.
Jack Harper, a mercenary during the First Contact War/Relay 317 Incident, would publish an audio manifesto regarding Mankind's future. He formed the survivalist organization Cerberus and took on the mantle of "The Illusive Man". He would be contacted by the Knights Templar and offered their resources in exchange for a merger. He agreed, and joined Cerberus and the Templars together, becoming a Grand Master within a few short years and ushering in a rebirth of the Order. With Cerberus's first acts of terrorism, the Templars once again appeared on the Assassins' radar as a major threat. The War was back on.
The Brotherhood would spread its philosophy to the other races of the Galaxy, both Council and non-Council, such as the Krogans of Tuchanka and Quarians from the Migrant Fleet. A large "Bureau", named so in honor of the Jerusalem Bureau of Altair's era, was constructed on the outskirts of the Kithoi Ward, away from public curiosity, but close enough to influence the cultural buildings and plazas on the same ward. For decades it would serve as the Assassin Brotherhood's undisputed Headquarters, for it was right in the Galaxy's political, economic, and cultural hub, and people of all races congregated on the Citadel.
Aepheus Kadros would become Astrid Morin's apprentice, and over their months of training they developed a bond for each other that went beyond friendship. Had they become a public spectacle via media, they would have been viewed as the Galaxy's first Human-Turian couple. Not wanting to deal with press, or the possibility of being blown up by puritans, the Brotherhood made sure that all records that screamed "WE'RE DATING/MARRIED" were erased.
They continue to live to this day in the Citadel Assassin Bureau.
Citadel Assassin Bureau, 2185
A red-haired woman was seated at a desk in a small room, looking over her computer screen at the Assassin archives as she read about Assassin history as a Galactic force up until now. She was dressed in simple white robes quite similar in appearance to those worn by the Assassins of Masyaf. "Levantines" they were now called. They were the standard uniform attire for most Assassins in the Bureau when on duty in the building, but were comfortable enough to wear as casual gear. While they had their futuristic flair (being made of non-Earth fabrics, having racial designs on the sleeves or hoods, or occasionally being crafted in a deviating style such was the norm for Drell), the majority of them were modeled after old records and sketches of Assassins of the Levant.
Over her head, she heard the intercom call out. "Will Jane Shepard please report to conference room #7?" the voice asked. She closed her computer down and walked out of her room and down the hallway. After passing another door she was greeted by the, frankly pleasant, aroma of the Grand Hall. She took in the sights around her: In the center of the room was a circular reflecting pool with a manmade "island" in the center of that, covered in grass with a few rocks here and there. All around the reflecting pool was an indoor waterfall cascading along the edges of a circular groove in the ceiling down into the reflecting pool. This was where Assassins came if they wished to meditate. Normally, Asari, Drell, and Hanar occupied this little space, but the occasional Turian, Human, or Salarian wasn't an unusual sight.
To her left was the cafeteria. Those assigned to kitchen duty knew what they were doing obviously, though they hardly held a candle to professionally made recipes. Thankfully they could serve food of all chiralities. The room itself was decorated to remind one of a sort of… Turkish Den meets Asari cafeteria feel. You had the standard, long dining tables, but there were also plush cushions and rugs so one could eat on the floor if they so desired (which also added a Japanese element to it). Jane could swear that if they hooked up some Hooka pipes they could recreate the Constantinople dens of old.
To her right was the bar area. Say what you will, but yes, the bar was a necessity in the design. Unlike the cafeteria, this place actually served as a lounge area. Mahogany tables and cushioned chairs were scattered around the area on the sides of the bar. She could see a few of her fellow Assassins sitting at the bar counter, likely swapping stories of past triumphs.
She walked down the Grand Staircase, continuing down after she passed the foyer's floor and entered the lower level, where the conference and briefing rooms were located. She took a right and knocked on the door labeled with both the arabic numeral and asari numeral for "seven". The door was answered by a man in robes of a similar design as Jane's, only his hood was up, making him seem more intimidating than he probably was. Jane could still see his thin, black beard and if she looked closely enough, could see his icey blue eyes.
Those eyes that reminded her so fondly of her deceased, fraternal twin brother, John. About two years ago he was Commander of the SSV Normandy SR-1, that she in fact served on.
"Come inside. There's something we need to discuss. Master T'Lona received some reports that might interest you," the man said as Jane stepped into the conference room.
At the other end of the room, next to a holographic display of a "whiteboard" was a tall, purplish-skinned Asari with her hood down, revealing, in its entirety, her yellow facepaint in the shape of a crescent over her forehead and down her cheeks. Her father was likely a Turian from the look of the paint. Also she stood with this sort of militaristic bravado that could only really belong to the child of a Turian, so…
Jane took a seat at the end of the board, sitting up at attention as the man who opened the door took a seat besides a group of other assassins.
"So… I'm currently ranked at 'Disciple'. Why am I allowed in here again? I thought only officially ranked Assassins and Masters could enter conference rooms?" Jane inquired, lifting an eyebrow as her eyes scanned her colleagues.
Sometimes she questioned the sanity of this Order. To her right was a Krogan, sitting as politely as can be, dressed in white and red battle armor. Judging from his facial expression, not a single violent thought was crossing his mind. To make things freakier, right next to him was a Goddamn SALARIAN in a modified Levantine robe.
To her left was the man with the blue eyes. His name was Alexander Clarke, and he took his job very seriously. He had quite the service record and so was respected by a grand majority of the Assassins in Council territory. Completely true "rumors" spread among the novices held that he was the one who established a connection with ARIA T'LOAK and Omega's "services", bringing back the age-old tradition of Assassins providing to and acquiring assistance from Mercenary organizations, Thieves Guilds, and Courtesan/Courtier Brothels. Omega had all those resources, and this man was responsible for acquiring them in the name of the Assassins.
Sitting besides him was a Turian, a female Turian. Peculiarly, her face was bare of any markings. This meant that she either was a Palaven Pureblood who did not require colony markings, or she was one of the barefaced, not to be trusted folk. Likely the latter given her affiliation with a group of killers. Jane knew her as Kairee Antar, Alexander's best friend and long-time partner. She would accompany him on numerous life-or-death assignments and they'd always come out unscathed. A few gossips even claimed that the two loved each other. Like, love, love. Of course, only when they weren't in earshot of any of the higher-ups.
Master Ayana T'Lona continued to speak, "You're here because we picked up some tips from our moles in Cerberus," she said, moving a hand from behind her back to reveal that she was carrying a datapad. She laid it on the table and slid it down to Jane, who caught it and started studying its contents.
Alexander spoke next, "Your brother's alive, Jane. After having been dead for two years, Cerberus cracked the code. Took John, and kicked Death in the balls on the way out of the Afterlife."
The memories flooded back to her. 2183, a few weeks after the Battle of the Citadel. She was serving alongside her twin brother, John. They had been through hell and back together, and she even found love in Major Kaidan Alenko. She remembered quite fondly how they recruited Garrus Vakarian, Urdnot Wrex, Liara T'Soni, Ashley Williams, and Tali'Zorah. The highlight of their career was Virmire without a doubt. It took freak chance, the splitting up of the squad, and her and John's biotic capabilities as a Sentinel and Vanguard respectively, to beat the odds and carry out a high-risk mission without casualties, even when it seemed that a sacrifice was forced to be made. She, not so fondly, remembered that they had been looking for Geth in Terminus space when something attacked the Normandy and destroyed it. She had been chatting with Kaidan and Ashley in the Mess Hall when the alarms went off. With their help she ushered the ground squad and most of the vital crew onto the escape pods and blasted off. Tali and Wrex went to go find Shepard, who was busy sending out a distress beacon. When they told him that Joker refused to leave the bridge, John ordered them to head to escape pods, that he'd be along shortly with Joker.
Joker's pod left the Normandy... but John was nowhere to be found when an Alliance ship picked the escape pods up. She recalled how Alliance Command threw a fit and dismantled the crew. After John's funeral, they all went their separate ways. Kaidan became too absorbed with making amends with the Alliance for the loss of the Normandy that he spent little to no time with Jane, leading to a brief falling out.
That's when she met the Assassin Brotherhood. Kairee was the one to recruit her. The latter found the former at Apollo's Cafe one morning and brought up the proposition of joining the Brotherhood. Seeing as how their goals were noble enough, she quickly agreed to become a Novice. Within a year she had climbed her way to Disciple.
"This is… incredible," Jane murmured, swiping the screen to display more text, "it says that he's headed to Freedom's Progress on a Cerberus shuttle. Did he hijack it or is he working for Cerberus?"
"That's what we don't know. Our mole didn't see that. He just knew that Freedom's Progress was the destination. The fate of the Shuttle after it left is up to imagination," Master T'Lona replied, turning to face the databoard. She swiped the screen and pulled up an image of Freedom's Progress. "Human Colony, Assassin territory, evident from the name. Out in the Terminus Systems, not as distrusting as other Colonies say, Horizon. Still a liable target for Batarians, Templars… hell the two are synonymous these days… They're out there to investigate the disappearances of Colonies, clearly. Were it pirates, they would have shown signs of fighting, not to mention Aria would send us a message regarding the attacks. She has no intention of betraying our pact, so it's either outside her jurisdiction, damn rogues… or it's something else."
"Question, If this thing, or things, came in without warning, abducted or eradicated all sapient life on the colony, and there are zero signs of attack of any shape or form, how are we to be certain that they aren't still there?" said the Salarian to Jane's right. She had to agree. That was a really good point.
"Good question, Valok. We're not certain. Our mission is to get in, find out what's been abducting the Colonists, find out why John Shepard is there, and who he's travelling with. This is a scouting mission. Any kills made are unauthorized and you will be reprimanded if a kill is made. Seeing as how we're all Assassins with the exception of Jane here, being discovered should not be an issue," Master T'Lona said, "Have I made myself clear?"
In unison, all present stood straight, pushing their chairs back. They threw their fist over their chest in a Roman-esque salute. "Nothing is True, Everything is Permitted!" they shouted, as if they were all responding to a drill-sergeant.
"I want Jane to go on this one. No doubt she's going to want to see her twin again," Master T'Lona continued. "To minimize the risk of capture, Raik Skatok, Valok, I don't want you two on this assignment. Valok I'm calling you out because I know how you and Skatok can be sometimes," she said, and the two Assassins looked at their feet, downcast, "While your goofing off together may be acceptable on kills and fetch-quests, I wouldn't let you do it on an undertaking requiring silence and surveillance."
That was another thing. They never fought. In fact, they seemed like best friends from the way they acted around each other. They could always be seen around the bar. Occasionally Skatok would bartend in place of Thomas Quinn.
Bah, it was irrelevant, Jane thought. "I take it Alex and I are taking the disciple to Freedom's Progress?" Kairee asked. Master T'Lona only nodded.
She turned her attention back to Skatok and Valok. "You two will have another assignment. Dalemitrians, those crazy idiots… 'The Church of the Divine Plan' was under our radar until last week. Started drugging people at random in public places when nobody was looking. Find out what they want with them, or if it even is the Dalemitrians at fault," she ordered, and the Krogan and Salarian left the conference room. "Well? What is it you're waiting for?" she added when she turned her attention back to Alexander, Kairee, and Jane, "Go on!"
Sutori-Artifex here! FINALLY done with this rewrite! RAAAH. Now I have to do the second chapter to make it fit with the rewrite of this chapter.
Ffffffffuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu...