Disclaimer: I do not own Assassin's Creed in anyway, shape, or form.
There are many secrets that pollute the minds of men and women of the modern world. Secrets of dishonesty, greed, and deceit. But what we hold in our hearts and minds are the ways of discretion. We are a secret unto ourselves and we live in the unseen world.
The wise teachings of Nina's deceased mentor echoed through her mind as she watched the shadowed rooftop of Abstergo Industries from her perch on a nearby building. Never had a moment needed more discretion and reliance on her skill as an assassin than her current mission. Her orders were plain and simple: rescue a man named Desmond Miles from the clutches of Abstergo. Though it sounded simple, the actual rescue would provide quite a challenge. Nina had to vigorously studied her target for several days; finding the floor plan of the building, keeping a record of where and when each guard was to be posted, and planning an extraction and escape plan.
As she watched the guards pace back and forth, unaware of their impending doom that would soon fall upon them, the master assassin glanced at the anxious fledgling assassin beside her. Like her mentor before her, she was now responsible for the upbringing of an apprentice. The novice, Aiden, had just barely sprouted into manhood and had immense raw talent that needed to be harnessed. This would be his third mission as a newly accepted blade and it was unfortunate he did not have more experience under his belt. Nina had taken great care in equipping Aiden with as many tools and weapons to ensure that he had a chance of surviving. But her on the other hand had traveled light with only two silenced pistols, a long dagger on her back, several throwing daggers in her high boots, and her two prized hidden blades on each forearm. Her fighting style was more of an old, antique way of delivering death and did not require the many useless gadgets of today's world. But she could not take the chance with her newly trained apprentice and therefore she had to make sure he would not be the brainless idiot she knew he was very much capable of being. Nina would not have brought him at all but her leader of her village had commanded it. But then again she was never known to follow the little insignificant rules set upon her. Of course, she followed the three tenets of the Creed but that was about as far as her obedience could go. She did her missions as she pleased taking no care in however brutal or gruesome that may be and was often reprimanded. Plus, she never wore the attire of the Clan like Aiden (White apparel), and instead wore black clothing with a hooded coat. Her rebellious nature earned her the title "The Disobedient One" in her small community.
Suddenly, the lights that illuminated the rooftop the two assassins overlooked turned off, casting the two guards into utter darkness. Nina launched herself from her current position, withdrew a hidden blade and soundlessly lodged it into the throat of the nearest guard. A thud to her left reassured her that Aiden had also eliminated his prey. They crept quickly to the door leading to the inside but Nina stopped Aiden before they could continue.
"What?" he questioned, looking down at the gloved hand on his arm.
"I want you to recite the plan before we proceed," she stated.
"Why? We don't have the time to-"
"Aiden."
"Ok, fine! We're gonna go down these stairs till the 30th floor, where we're gonna split up and you go and get that guy..."
"Desmond."
"Desmond! While I set up the harnesses on the floor bellow for our escape," he finished, with a tone that consisted of boredom and spiked Nina's annoyance.
"Remember, if I am caught you must leave without me," she said, looking at him intensely if somehow by telepathy, he could understand the magnitude of the importance of this mission.
"Ya, ya," Aiden sighed, rolling his eyes, "Stop tryin' to be so noble."
"And kill anyone that gets in the way," she said in a cold voice. Aiden's body tensed as he slowly looked at his mentor. This had been a large issue in the past couple missions. Yes, he had taken the life's of guards and destined targets but he had a problem killing anyone that could have the possibility of being a potential threat or continuing the works of evil men in a chance that they may be of a good nature. "Now is the time for you to take another step in your tutelage," Nina whispered as she reached for the door, "Are you ready, Novice?"
Aiden's face quickly set into a scowl at the jest, making Nina smirk with a grim satisfaction. She needed him to be hard, calloused so as not to feel pity for anyone in the building. "Ya, I'm ready," he grunted.
"Good. I will not slow down for you," she said, earning her another glare.
Their footsteps remained unheard as the mentor and her apprentice descended to the 30th level of the building. "Be careful, Aiden," said Nina as he continued on and she passed through the door leading to the research facility. The floor, fortunately, seemed to be deserted. It was only the early hours of the morn and the assassin had not expected anyone to be here around this time. She made her way down the hall but stopped unexpectedly when a man in a white lab coat stepped out of a room further down.
"Hey, you! Have you any idea why the power has gone out in this building?" he said, gesturing towards her. Nina smirked and approach the man.
"Well, it seems that there are some things scientist do not know," she said tauntingly. The man's brow furrowed in confusion but was never able to voice his questions, seeing as a blade was plunged up through his jaw. Nina grabbed the man before he fell and deposited his body in the room he had recently occupied, closing the door.
She continued onward, and found a conference room void of people, save one. Nina entered the room and the woman already occupying it turned towards her.
"Nina," the researcher said bowing her head in a sign of respect, "It's a pleasure to be in your presence."
The assassin could not help but scoff at the complement, "I don't hear that often," she remarked.
"I'm just glad that we could have your expertise with us. It's not often that we ask for help from other Enclaves. But since our own forces failed today to rescue Desmond-"
"Let us continue," interrupted Nina, impatience setting in," We do not have time for chit chat. Where is this Mr. Miles?"
"He is through here," Lucy said, looking somewhat hurt by Nina's interruption as she swiped her ID card to open the sliding door to an adjacent room.
"Since you've shut down the power, shouldn't these doors be unable to function?" questioned Nina.
"They run on a separate power grid for occasions such as these," she replied, leading her into a vast room, filled with scientific equipment, along with one particular device: the Animus. The assassin stopped to inspect the hated machine, the latest project of these mad Templar scientists. Luckily for them, her orders where only to help the local assassins and rescue the experiment, not to destroy the method.
"I've heard the stories about you," Lucy said, coming along side Nina, " And I must ask, were you really taught the ways of the ancient assassin's? They say your mentor loved the older ways more than the newer."
In response, the master assassin raised her left hand. Lucy gasped slightly as she studied the stub of a once intact ring finger but quickly recovered herself.
"Desmond rests in here," said Lucy, motioning Nina to join her at another sliding door for which she punched in a security password.
"Is he aware of this rescue?" she asked, as the open door revealed a drooling man fast asleep in bed.
"Yes and no. He knows that we are trying to get him out of here but he thought that this afternoon was going to be our only attempt," the researcher stepped back," I must leave now. If they find me here with you it will blow my cover and we will lose everything."
Nina nodded and Lucy left as the assassin entered the room. Having no time or patience, she kicked the bed which rattled the frame and awoke the man.
He jerked into a sitting position and rubbed his eyes. "Whoa, Doc. Are we tryin' out new ways of getting me up?" he asked and opened his eyes. He was instantly confused when he saw Nina standing there instead of "Doc" but as he studied her more and his eyes fell upon the missing ring finger on her left hand, his face changed to shock.
"Your an assassin..." Desmond whispered, getting up from the bed, " Are you one of the assassins that tried to rescue me from earlier?"
"I am not."
"Then you must be here to kill me," he said, glancing at the door, probably planning to run. To this, Nina was slightly shocked that he had come to such a conclusion.
"Trust me....," she replied, " If I had come here to kill you, you would already be dead. I'm here to get you out of here. But we must get moving if we wish to escape unnoticed," she said as she walked out of the room followed closely by Desmond.
"How are we gettin' out of here?" he asked, following her into the conference room.
"You'll see."
As she approached the doors to the hall she stopped. Footsteps. The sound of a hammer being pulled back. Nina quickly switch to her Eagle Vision to find five glowing auras on the opposite side of the door.
"What is it?' Desmond asked. Nina put a finger to her lips. "Get away from the door," she whispered, pulling herself back out of her vision.
Once she was satisfied that Desmond was far enough away, she drew one of her pistols and ran towards the sliding doors, activating them.
The affect was immediate. The five soldiers that had stationed themselves in front of the door rained bullets once it opened but Nina was upon them before they could land a clear shot. Leaping into the air, she shot two men point blank. Landing behind another soldier, she forced her hidden blade into the man's back and severed the spinal cord. In dealing with the last two, she unsheathed her dagger from her back and with a few swift slices, they laid motionless on the floor.
"Come, Mr. Miles," she called as she sheathed her dagger and handed Desmond her pistol which he took with uncertain hands, "It's time to run."
They took off down the hall and descended the stairwell to the 29th floor. Nina slipped into her Eagle Vision once again and felt a small sense of dread set into the pit of her stomach. Numerous auras of red littered the room and among them one blue shine. Aiden.
The assassin silently cursed to herself, this mission was not going at all the way she had planned it.
"Desmond Miles, I'm afraid I have failed you," Nina whispered, disappointed in herself beyond comprehension.
"What do you mean?" he asked, fear mingling with sadness in his eyes.
"There are many soldiers up ahead and I do not think escape may be as less painful as I had imagined it," she turned to face him. Desmond sighed, and rubbed his face with his hand.
"Why is all this happening to me?!" he exclaimed, throwing his hands up in rage. Nina placed her four fingered hand on one of his tall shoulders making him look at her.
"Do not despair now. We still might have one way of getting out of this," she assured him, looking intently into his dark eyes.
"Really? And how is that?"
"Doing what we were born to do... Kill."
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