(Events take place around the time of the Firestorm crisis of Tiberian Sun, simultaneously with the events of Syndicate in the Assassins Creed timeline.
WW2 Eva: Red Alert 2's Lt. Eva.
Cabal and Kane are currently interchangeable.
Desmond: Desmond Files (f-list))
Desmond stirred as Emir woke up and moved, ironically he has slept pretty well considering the circumstances. He rolled over and stretched himself out before getting up and tugging his shirt down since it was riding up. He sat in bed a moment and watched Emir as he looked out the window a bit. Internal alarm hadn't gone off and his plant alarm was also silent, it was still early. He turned the alarm off and got out of bed.
"Looks like you slept well, no bleeding nightmares from what I can tell. How do you feel?"
He grabbed his shoes and jacket off the ground. They'd need something to eat and the sooner they get out of the city the better.
Kane had finally released control of Emir's body, opting to rest and recuperate over everything that transpired, since his genesis in cyberspace, and the run-in with Abstergo.
"Alive," Emir answered with a smile, still staring through the window. The sun had majestically risen to start a new day for the two.
Emir chuckled for a second. He definitely noticed right before Desmond tugged his shirt.
"Shall we get going?"
Desmond, smiling at the other, was happy to see he was doing well. "Yea, lets go. We can grab some snacks on the way, the more distance we put between you and the blast site the better."
They checked out at the office and returned the key, making their way to grab some coffee and food at a gas station. Desmond was debating on stealing a car since he wasn't sure how far Emir could run in this state. Thankfully he didn't feel any eyes, nothing from satellite and cameras. They both kept their hoods up and blended with the crowd, if needed then he could cloak them again.
Kane had almost forgotten what had transpired before he bumped into Desmond again - he had informed Oxanna of his location and new appearance. Knowing her, the whole city would soon be on media lockdown hunting for him.
Should he inform them? It would invalidate his pledge to Yusef and Emir not to interfere for a while until he got his body back.
It wouldn't be long before she finds them. She was good like that - it's why Anton picked her as his second in command.
Desmond was starting to scope out a car to hijack when several advertisement displays suddenly went into static and the advert replaced by a red background with a triangular logo and a scorpion tail. The logo moved to the side and the safe of a women appeared, she was in some dark room with computer panels around her. Desmond's bad feeling was proven founded when Emir's face showed up in the corner, Now that Desmond's stomach had twisted itself painfully at that site he quickly grabbed Emir's hand and pulled the man to some cover as the woman started to talk.
Oxanna had gone all out with the burst transmission, holding nothing back on arrival. That was her style - pure, aggressive messaging that would win against the weak hearted among the masses. Using her crew's engineers, she was easily able to take over one of the nearby broadcast stations after disposing of all their security. She'd have to operate fast before the military and GDI arrived - this wasn't a GDI-infested city, it seemed.
"Good morning, citizens. The Brotherhood calls upon you to find this escaped fugitive, codenamed EMIR, seen here during a botched transmission with his band of cutthroat mercenaries. This man should be considered ARMED and DANGEROUS, and should you find him, contact us IMMEDIATELY using the information shown on the screen. I repeat, do NOT engage with this felon!"
The recording continued on every device in the city with a viewable monitor or screen. Oxanna wouldn't stop until...
"Perfect. Already we're getting results." She briefly wondered about how pitiful man could get, snitching on his fellow brothers. But the thought didn't matter, as this was all for Kane.
The Montauk surfaced and parked at a nearby elevation - hills were the perfect spot to scan entire regions for targets with her binoculars.
Desmond was not happy at all. Not only did this crazy lady just out Emir to the entire fucking city with his name, calling him a danger. Was the police? No way they could do something like this. But it also put a massive target on Emir because now the templars knew he was still in the city and could be caught again if not killed out right. He made sure both their hoods were up before quickly pulling the other away from the crowds, he could defiantly need to cloak them as soon as nobody was looking. "Come on! I can still get us out of here but we need to disappear first!"
Desmond blinked, wait he knew that logo. That was from NOD. He had seen that icon from what Rebecca showed him as well as his little adventure into the GDI systems. What did they want with Emir? Was Emir maybe a member from before he got taken by abstergo? It might explain a few weird things, like that incident hw seemed to mention EVA. If he was NOD then he would have known about her already.
Oxanna created an estimated location of the nearest likely hiding spots for this Emir person, using her digital binoculars. She had to do it manually, cross-referencing the data coming in from the citizens who saw the fugitive, including the motel owner that gave them their room. Oxanna knew they'd now be on the run, but there was nowhere to hide.
It would take a literal miracle to hide them now.
"Bingo," she whispered as she narrowed down her findings to a single street they may have still been on.
"Let's go, boys. Time to make our debut."
The Montauk crew boarded their tunneling vehicle, weapons at the ready, drilling underground and waiting for the chance to explode upwards into the city's infrastructure, so they can begin their "rescue" mission.
Desmond pulled Emir along, he needed to break line of sight so it didn't look weird when he made them disappear. There! It was a little alcove they could hide in. He pulled Emir in quickly and glanced out, before ducking in. "Ok, so now that everyone is after you. We need to hide, like really hide... oh man. ok. I'm gonna do something, whatever you do. Don't let go of my hand ok?"
With that his skin shined a tiny bit with gold lines, markings of the apple what acted as his core. Weaving the power around them and turning them invisible to anyone around them. "Remember don't let go, and try not to bump into anyone." He didn't want to use it, he didn't like using it. But often he needed it. He wasn't sure if Emir was Brotherhood or Nod or who knows anymore. He just hoped Emir wasn't paying attention or didn't know what he was seeing. Now that they were invisible, he directed them back into the crowd. People looking in the direction of their hiding spot but their eyes didn't follow them now as they wove their way through the crowd. Maybe they could grab a subway to get some distance?
Oxanna noticed the reports were conflicting, as there were gaps of empty spaces based on the triangulation of all the sightings - was there stealth technology involved?
Quickly switching to heat-seeking mode, Oxanna's binoculars picked up on a vague figure that had its hand dragged wherever it went - it was within the gap in the crowd that kept moving.
"Interesting..."
Wasting no time, the Montauk, with its massive drill CRASHED through one of the nearby buildings they were scanning the targeted area from, up close. It should've been enough to startle and shock any nearby civilians away from the target. The rear door swung down open, and out rode multiple NOD buggies and attack bikes, followed by a select few infantry squads that quickly began to surround the target.
"Surrender now. The area is surrounded. We know you're still there. There's nowhere to hide."
Slowly, the NOD infantry started tightening their circle, trying to approach their invisible targets, weapons still armed and ready. Outsiders would consider this madness, since no one was there in the middle at all. But Oxanna knew. She knew she's dealing with a higher calling... and that required more skepticism than to just give up and walk away.
Desmond swore as they were surrounded, somehow they were seen. He looked back at the startled Emir and yea, he didn't seem like he belonged to these guys.
"Stay here, I'm going to let go of your hand. I'll take care of these guys. When you see an opening run for it."
The guards were warily closing in on them, helmets up probably with heat sensors of some kind. Fantastic. He reformed his hidden blade and let go of Emir's hand, the other man appearing to their enemies while Desmond remained invisible. Quickly he rushed the guards and stabbed two of them in the neck with his hidden blade, the cloak now dropping as he flicked the blood away from the blades, retracting them and in a small flash of light a sword appearing at his side as he charged the rest and forced them to back away from the other man. He easily used the element of surprise to cut the men down, those on the buggies. He needed to get rid of the bigger artillery first, fighting the infantry wasn't hard. normal attacks didn't hurt him as much anymore and he was too fast for them to aim properly. He was cutting through them easily and when he had an open chance, he formed a smoke bomb in hand and smashed it into the ground. The infantry and bikes were now blinded and Desmond took advantage of that, knocking people off their bikes and forming Ezio's old bombs to throw into buggies.
Oxanna had barely dodged one of Desmond's wide swings, almost getting nicked in the face with his blade. She somersaulted back in a desperate attempt to escape the Assassin's mind-boggling speed. "Stealth AND velocity?" She was half-impressed, in addition to startled.
Noticing Desmond had let go of her target, she immediately turned to capture Emir. A few of her soldiers followed her while the others kept Desmond at bay (fruitlessly).
"Drop your blade!"
Emir found himself in a chokehold, Oxanna holding her gun to the side of his chin, standing behind him. She stared Desmond in the eye, waiting to see how he'd react.
Desmond dispatched another soldier and turned to the voice, freezing when he sees Emir being held hostage by a woman who had shown up on the screens earlier. A commander, Her file thankfully had a picture he had nicked from GDI. She was formidable and that was worrisome. He couldn't risk Emir and she seemed very intent on using the other in necessary. Unfortuanly his bombs had already gone off making everyone jump to the delayed reaction. IT gave him time to think. He could try a throwing knife but Oxanna was behind Emir and he didn't want to hurt the man. The other guards were now pointing their guns at him and he'd take some damage if he moved. What else, he didn't want to use the Apple despite it being an advantage here, his cover was blown and the last thing he wanted to do was reveal his hand in the open like this.
He growled at the women, "How do I know you won't shoot him regardless?"
Oxanna purred in Emir's ear, loud enough for Desmond to hear.
"Well, that's just a risk you're gonna have to take now, isn't it?"
She couldn't tell him about Kane. She couldn't reveal she wanted Emir alive, otherwise Desmond would call her bluff.
"You have no choice on the matter. Stand down."
Desmond frowned, before banishing the sword and hidden blades. Holding his hands up to show he wasn't armed at the moment. Glaring at the women was very uncomfortably close to the other subject.
"Gelip seni alacağım kardeşim, söz veriyorum." (I'll come and get you brother, I promise. )
Just because he was letting Oxanna take Emir did not mean that the soldiers would be safe from him. Soon as she moved him he was already starting to form bombs in any of the nearby vehicles that had escaped the first time. He'd detonate those once Emir and Oxanna were out of the way, unless the soldiers jumped him. Then he'd blow it up sooner, he glanced at the large vehicle they had come from. If he could get into the system maybe? Or blast the doors open? With what? a bomb? a cannon?
Oxanna used the confusion to take Emir alive, backing carefully towards the Montauk. Desmond had made it clear her plan worked to a certain extent - she wasn't going to ruin it by trying to retaliate. The fallen soldiers were nothing compared to the possibility that this man was actually her long lost leader.
"умный человек." (Smart man.)
Emir and Oxanna were well inside the Montauk. The remaining troops, too few to count, managed to hitch their way back in before Desmond had almost massacred the entire platoon.
He was formidable, and she thanked her luck she was able to survive that and fulfill her mission. Anton would be proud.
Oxanna wasn't sold on the idea that this man housed her leader in his mind, however. After settling down in the cockpit and ensuring Emir was restrained, she stared at him with a growl.
"Speak," she hissed.
Desmond detonated the remaining vehicles once Oxanna and Emir were in the larger one. The remaining guards were easily dispatched with rage and brutal efficiency. Ezio was helping and just as pissed off. Neither was going to let Emir go without a damn good fight. Desmond took a deep breath, they wanted Emir alive, that was good. IT meant they wouldn't try to hurt him now that they had him. But Desmond could no go a bit wild. Concentrating he focused all of his available data on forming a familiar cannon, one Ezio had used to defend his home once before against Cesare. The cannon appearing by his side, loaded and ready to go. The cannonball was a bit modified, a bomb additionally hidden within to give it some extra kick. He really needed to try for some modern artillery at some point. With no-one to stop him, he fired the cannon at the Montauk.
Oxanna, Emir and the rest of the crew were startled by the sudden eruption rocking the ship. Did someone misfire? Or was there a traitor?
Neither, Oxanna figured - it was definitely the enemy. Did GDI already arrive? She made sure she wasn't followed, so the only possibility would be...
"You again!" She choked. Oxanna was furious - how could one man pull that off without backup?
Oxanna yelled at the crew. "Activate the drill! We need to get out immediately before whatever that was gets us again!"
Desmond was pleased to see the whole machine rock from the blast, he reloaded the cannon and fired again. Thankfully his cannon didn't need a long reload time since it was nearly instantaneous. He hoped Oxanna was having a good time as he fired the second shot, the massive drill starting to move slowly as it was rocked again by the explosion. There would be hell to pay and Oxanna had just pissed off a very determined Assassin. When the drill was starting to move he dismissed the cannon, reabsorbing the data for later use and started to run towards the drill, vaulting over the buggies. He needed to either be on that drill or in it. He wasn't going to let them get away that easily. He needed a way in, sensors, doors, cameras anything.
Oxanna, in her rush to escape with her prize, failed to notice the intruder that managed to stealthily sneak into the Montauk. Cutting her damages short, she took what was left of her small army and drilled their way out of the city.
She found herself panting heavily. New concerns started to present themselves - there's no way their little skirmish didn't attract attention. GDI will definitely be on her tail now. That blasted satellite will surely be able to triangulate their last position. She had to quickly do what she came here for.
"Now... where were we?" She turned to look at the disgruntled and bruised Emir. This had better be worth it, she thought to herself.
Desmond could feel the Montauk moving around him once he was inside the system. It was advanced and very detailed in there, which made it easy to navigate. He started by mapping the system and looking for information, how many people were stationed there, the layout of the vessel, guard rotations and schedules, files and other information. If he wanted to get Emir out of here in one piece then he needed all the information he could get and maybe some extra for the assassins back home. The tech in this place was more advanced then he expected, not animus or ISU level but pretty damn advanced all the same. He started to copy files, schematics to weapons, plans for the future, manifestos. There was one file he found which made his stomach turn, a video recording of Emir contacting Oxanna for a pick up. It was weird, it defiantly looked like Emir but the body language was all off. Maybe a bleed? But no ancestor would know about these people much less be able to use the tech to contact them. It did remind him of when Emir mentioned the woman watching for them. Eva.
Maybe Emir worked for NOD? That didn't feel right either since the man was just as freaked out and worried as he was. It might explain why his colors were mixed up though... It was confusing but he couldn't ask Emir anything if the guy was dead or whatever NOD wanted with him. As he collected more data he started to make a plan. Fighting in close quarters was a bitch, even with hidden blades and he didn't feel like getting shot at... so... he was going to turn this place into a ghost town... or as much of one as needed.
Eva finished uploading everything she could find to the Philadelphia. Her current benefactor was busy in a private video conference with General Solomon.
"Welcome back, Commander Chandra." She greeted the current pilot of the Kodiak, now finished with his top-secret meeting, and began to catch the rest of the crew up to speed on the situation.
"Lay it on us, Eva. In full detail, tell us everything you found during the last 48 hours."
"Acknowledged. At 0800, we received a hijacked broadcast near Abstergo's recently destroyed facility. The broadcast was from NOD; specifically, one of the survivors of Marcion's coup against Kane's followers - Oxanna Kristos."
"Her. Dammit. Anton's co-pilot."
"Affirmative, Commander. Oxanna orchestrated a full media blackout in order to capture this man, known only by the name of Emir. I can confirm he's with the Brotherhood of Assassins, a party to the same conflict you requested an investigation on earlier."
"Why would she want this Emir guy? Does NOD employ assassins from this brotherhood?" Brink asked.
"Negative," Eva responded. "My NOD database does not contain entries for units of the brotherhood's skillset, although I predict that may about to change very shortly."
"What are you saying?" Chandra leaned forward in his seat. "Are they going to use Emir to train more assassins?"
"It is likely that Animus technology can be used to transfer skills and memories inadvertently with prolonged exposure, provided the subject has access to those memories."
"What do you mean, 'access'? Can't anybody gain access to those skills and memories?"
"Negative," Eva repeated. "The Animus we detected at the destroyed Abstergo facility invokes genetic memories inherent only to the subject's lineage. Newer technology will be needed to transfer that type of data to subjects outside said lineage."
"Knowing NOD," Chandra dreaded, "that's most likely what will happen. I'm willing to bet their science ministers have already begun work on this upgrade."
Commander Chandra sat back again and squeezed his forehead, deep in a headache. His chain of thought was interrupted when Eva continued.
"Commander, I also have an update on someone else of interest. I suspect they were using cloaking technology, but my scan of the area after the broadcast revealed a trace of their presence. I cannot confirm if they were taken by Oxanna."
"Who...?" Chandra and the crew stared at the screen.
"...It can't be!"
(Who did Chandra see? Find out in the next chapter!)