The wind, so cold, and the ground, so hard, Gaia hibernates, causing the greenest of life to cease life itself. The snow covered the pastures of the frontier, making traveling a seasonal hardship. This was the case for a small group of British soldiers traveling on an iced trail in the woods. They carry rifles and barrels of gunpowder for their camp in the woods. As they walk, they talk big about themselves, how they are going to take down many Yankees as well as many Indians on the frontier. However, as they were hyping themselves up, a predator stalks them from the frozen trees, waiting for the right time to cut their conversation.
"I bet I can take down 2 Yankees with one shot" A young and boastful British soldier, pointing his rifle left and right with confidence.
"Then you bet on an empty promise." A comrade laughs at his claim
"I don't know, he did take a couple of those Mohawk savages in the mountain once" another solider backing up his claim
"You talk too big for a Rookie" he points at the young soldier "and you're to credulous." he points the same finger at the other soldier
"Whatever you say, but just so you know, I'll be prepared for the next threat-" he points his gun in front of him.
Out of nowhere the predator jumps down in front of the young soldier, viciously pushes aside his rifle and stabs his between his eyes. The body of the young soldier drops on the ground in front of the rest of the group. The remaining soldiers charges against this unknown threat, but the predator counterattacks every attack, dodging every swing and swipe of the bayonettes, and responds with a swing of his ax and swipe of his blade. It was only a few seconds later that all the soldiers were struck down, dead, and the snow around them was drenched with their own blood. The predator searches the remains of the soldiers until he comes across an envelope, stained with blood, with a wax seal. He pockets the letter and makes his way out of the wooded area. A few hundred paces later, he reaches the streets of Boston. He makes his away around other British soldiers until he walks to a small building. He opens the door and sees his client and Benjamin Franklin.
"I have the letter." he pulls out his pocket as he walks toward the counter
"Very good Connor. May I?" the client asks, calling the man by his name.
The man known as Connor points the letter in front of him and the client takes it from his hand. Not too long he notices the seal on the letter.
"Look, Benjamin." he points out to Benjamin "It's the Seal of the Realm"
Benjamin takes a second look at the wax seal to confirm the assumption
"Interesting" he comments.
Connor has a look of confusion, wondering if the seal they talk about is of importance. "Is that a good thing?" he asks
"It means this letter came from the Royal Family. It's probably intended for a high ranking officer in the British Army" Benjamin elaborates
"This definitely not what I intended to get, but I have it now so..." The clients grabs a small knife and cuts an opening in the envelope. He pulls out the letter and unfolds it to read its contents:
Colonel Edward H. Becker,
The Royal Family has demanded an audience with you and the 4th Brigade Battalion of Boston, Mass. for a briefing about a very important mission. Earlier this year, the Royal Navy has made a astonishing discovery. New information concerning an ancient relic that has gained the Royal Family's attention for the past 3 months has surfaced. More information will be disclosed at a meeting set in the 1st of April, 1777 at the Bodleian Library at Oxford University. Please make a great effort in attending this briefing.
Allen Bathurst, 9th Earl Bathurst
"An ancient relic?" the client restates, scratching is head.
"I wonder if it means the Pieces of Eden" Benjamin comments.
Connor face lits up at his assumption, wondering at the possibility of this ancient relic the letter speaks of is truly the Pieces of Eden.
"The Pieces of Eden. When is the briefing again?" Connor asks
The client looks at him in disbelief, thinking he would go all the way to England for this relic "1st of April. Don't get your hopes up. It's probably not what your looking for."
"You're right, but there's always that chance it might be. And if it is, then it will fall right into the hands of the Templars."
"How are you going to get there then? The waters are iced over; your ship won't withstand sailing through the thick glaciers."
"I will find a way."
A loud sound from a ship blows not to far from the docks. Connor runs outside and sees that there's a merchant ship near the shore boarding goods. He sees a passing merchant carrying a barrel of gunpowder making his way to the ship.
"Wait." Connor stops the merchant.
"Yeah?" ask the merchant
"Where are you heading to?"
"The UK. We're trading with some Chinese Merchants in England"
Connor takes a second look at the barrel of gunpowder
"I guess you will be doing more than just trading as well."
"Yeah, there's a lot of pirate activity where we're heading. Just being prepared."
"Thanks for the information"
"No problem."
The merchant walks off and Connor returns back inside the store and walks over to the counter.
"I will be needing the letter." Connor says
The client gives him a sturdy look and hands over the letter. "Guess you find a way after all" he responds
Connor pockets the letter once more and makes his way back outside toward the ship.
"Wait" Benjamin stops Connor "Here's a change of clothes."
Connor takes the bag and looks at Benjamin in confusion "What for?"
"You'll see, my friend."
"Thank you, then"
Connor continues to the door and exits the shop. He draws near the ship and he notices a small sigh that says Non Merchants Prohibited. He looks around for a solution, and locates an opening in the bottom of the ship where they're loading the goods. He sneaks his way past other merchants and other British soldiers until he squeezes into the opening. The merchants load their last cart into the storage area and begins boarding the ship. Not to long, the ship leaves dock and set sails to their destination.
Meanwhile, a land far in distance, harbors many threats to the voyage of the merchants. A place where all the scoundrels of the sea and swashbucklers drink among themselves silly and share captivating and over hyped stories of their voyages on 7 seas until sunrise. Tortuga. The hornpipes plays loud and throughout the largest mead hall on the Haitian island. Gallons upon gallons of mead and rum is engulfed within the hours passing, the pirates become more under influence and the harlots run around the hall to keep any desperate sailor company. Laughter fills the halls and small scale fight begins to break out throughout the pub. It was a good night indeed. But far in the corners of the mead hall, sits down pirates taking amongst themselves. They seem a little bit different from the other pirates in the pub, but still a little wasted like the rest of them. In the group of pirates is their captain. The hair on his head and beard was wavy and dirty. His hat was as black as ebony and his face was uneven and course. Along him was his pet Spider Monkey, who's dressed up like he's one of the men. The captain laughs along with the group and drink merrily every chance he gets. A sudden crew member rushes up to the captain in hopes for his attention.
"Captain Barbossa" the sailor says, interrupting the captain's drinking
"Yes, yes, what is it?" Barbossa respond
"I've got news about a merchant ship that just sailed from the Mainland" he wags his fists in joy
"What's that got to do with me sailor?" Barbossa asks angrily
"Well, we are in need to resupply. And since we have no money left, we can use the "5 Finger Discount"" the sailor answers
Barbossa changes his demeanor and gives him a look of concur.
"Makes sense." The captain jumps up and calls the attention of all his crewmen "Attention ya land lovers! We got news of a merchant ship sailing on the Atlantic, and sense we are in dire need of supplies, let's pay them a visit."
The crew cheers from the news and clash their glass of rum. Barbossa finishes his lash jug of rum and slams it on the table .
"We sail!" Barbossa makes his way out of the mead hall, and all his crew men follow him out.
Concurrently, the merchant ship finally make their way out of icy waters and into the deep regions of the Atlantic. Nightfall begins to cover the waters and the crew members, begin to turn in for the night. Connor, still in the bottom of the ship, is waiting for the right time to surface on the deck. After a few minutes, all walking on the deck ceased and Connor makes his way onto the deck. Still a little cold, Connor clinches his arm and looks around to find the door to their cabins. When he spots an opening he relieve his breath and walks toward the doorway. He looks around and sneaks his way inside to a walkway separating each quarter. Connor looks around for a spare room to sleep in for the night. Suddenly, He comes across and open door, and in the open door is a small bed, window, and no occupant. He takes a final look around and enters in the room. He gently closes the door, and turns in for the night. After a few hours of slumber, Dawn has broken the sky and light shines through the small window Connor was staying in . The beams of light hits his face and he wakes up from his sleep. He stretches his limbs and body, and makes his way out of the bed. As soon as he stands up, something enormous strikes the ship violently, causing Connor to lose his balance. He hears murmurs from other rooms and footsteps on the deck
"We're being attacked!"
"Load up the cannons!"
"Grab all the ammo you can!"
Connor hears many others panicking sailors as they are preparing for a naval battle. Connor looks out the window to know what the threat was. He saw a large, Royal Navy ship, beat up and stripped of its colors. It looked old and worn out, like it has been in many previous battles. He sees the occupants of the ship and notice how raggedy and dirty they appeared. Connor gave a softly startled look at the ship and came to a very logical conclusion.
"Pirates."