George called Angela and I to the Assassin's Bureau in Melbourne a few weekends later. We took the Metro for the sake of getting into the city, and disembarked at Flinder's Street Station. We took a bridge across the Yarra river and walked along the south bank of the river, observing the changes since we'd first visited the city.
What stood out in my mind the most was the Eureka Tower, the tallest building in the city. Construction began in 2002 and finished in 2006, making it the second tallest building in Australia. What set it apart from the other skyscrapers of the city was the gold-tinted glass box jutting out of each side of the diamond-shaped tower. Not far from it was þe Crown Casino complex, which had been opened two years prior to us relocating. Australian flags hung from several skyscraper tops next to white flags bearing the Assassin insignia. In recent years, we had seen plenty of anti-Templar ads, and it had caused trouble. Aside from the occasional Abstergo attacks, major cities around the world had suffered from rioting and civil unrest. Australia had it very bad; police were running short, forcing the government to pull it's armed forces back from Europe where Abstergo allegedly operated in order to defend the major cities in Australia. After Troy's antics in Canberra, the Parliament House had been rebuilt with heavy security, as had other Parliament buildings across the country.
The entrance to the Australian Assassin HQ was located across the street from a side entrance to the casino. It looked like any office building, because it was. We both flashed Assassin ID's George had given us at the security guard, who nodded and took us around to the back entrance to a basement. It was a simple square structure with two windows at either end and a staircase leading a basement below; a square room about as big as four elevators. A single door with an Assassin insignia marked on it was locked, with a keypad and card slot mounted on the wall next to it.
"Swipe your ID's then go right in," the guard said before leaving us alone. We both swiped our cards and the door slid open for us.
We were greeted by an elevator with wooden rails. We stepped in, and the doors shut behind us. We went down for a full minute before being greeted by the main lobby.
It was about as large as the entrance to Parliament House, but lacking the marble columns and staircase. Instead, ahead of us was a security checkpoint where guards wearing the green and white Assassin guard uniform examined our ID's. One of them spoke into an earpiece and said, "VIP's" before ushuring us into a narrow hallway with metal walls, floor and ceiling. At the end was a second checkpoint where we were x-rayed for weapons before beng granted access.
The Assassin Bureau here was similar to that of the main base of New York. The main hallway had bulletproof glass doors and windows on it's right side overlooking the main control and operations center; an enormous chamber with pale green and white tiled floors and dozens of workstations with computers and dual monitors. People came and went about their business, some wearing expensive suits, some in casual clothes, but they all bore a red armband displaying a blue Assassin insignia on top of a white square. Across from our end of the chamber was a world map, with a number of colored dots marking locations or objects.
"Ryan!" someone called. I þrned, and saw, of all people, Keith and Julia approaching.
"Keith, Julia... what are you guys doing here?" I asked.
"George and William called us in," Keith explained, "Miles said that we were needed for this kind of operation."
"How are things with you two?" Julia asked me. They were both older, and a bit more hardened from years of service, but not too different from the siblings I remembered.
"Fairly well," I replied, "The kids are doing well in school, we're secured in terms of money and we've been able to settle down pretty easily."
"Have you guys heard þe news yet?" asked Angela.
"About the invasion?" Keith replied, frowning, "Yeah, we heard. The government and the Assassins have tried to sort it all out, and the U.S is sending a small fleet over to protect the borders."
"The meeting's starting soon, we should hurry," Julia advised, and led us through the network of hallways. On three or four occasions and I saw the red and dark blue of the Australian flag hanging from the walls, but with a minor change; the southern cross was contained within the Assassin insignia. The walls were metal with wood panelling from the bottom to halfway up, and the metal was painted red.
At last we came to a set of double doors. Keith knocked three times and the doors opened.
"After you," he said simply. We found ourselves in a square room containing a rectangular table and seats and a projector mounted to the roof at the far end of the screen. Already seated at the table were George, William, Charlie and a man with dirty blonde hair, blue eyes and a large scar on his face.
"Phillip!"
"Good to see you to, Williamson," Phillip replied, standing up and shaking hands with Angela and I before sitting down next to his brother Daniel, who greeted us in a slightly less cheerful manner.
"Sit down," he said, stone faced. We sat down and face William, who turned the lights off, locked the doors, and began speaking in front of the projector.
"You all know why you're here," he said, "About two weeks ago our spies in France received an Abstergo transmission broadcast from somewhere in Italy. The twenty minute broadcast details a factory in the Pacific Ocean in between Australia and New Zealand. The factory has not shown up on our satellite images of it's supposed location, which mean they may be using a Piece of Eden in order to remain undetected.
"The purpose of this facility, as mentioned in the transmission, is to construct massive battleships, aircraft and weapons in order to invade this nation."
Nobody spoke, but all breathing seemed to stop.
"If this invasion were to succeed, the Australian government would be overthrown, law enforcement would crumble and the country's cities would be left in complete disrepair. Fortunately, the US and Russian governments have agreed to supply a fleet of ships and aircraft in order to assist our own naval fleet in preventing Abstergo from reaching the land. However, victory at sea is not guaranteed. If our defense were to be broken, nothing would stop the invaders from seizing control of the land. Then, it would be up to us to repel the offensive. Today, Phillip Thompson, the leader of the Australian Assassins and I, ask for your help in defending our cause, and these people who have done no wrong. You're some of the best we've ever had, and I ask that you come forward and defend us. I cannot force you, as it would go against what we stand for, so the decision is up to you all."
"I'm with you guys," Charlie said at once.
"As am I," Julia added.
"Count mec in!" Keith said without a second thought. All eyes were now on us.
"It's your choice, guys," Charlie told us.
"We all understand if you say know," George said, "We can't judge you for putting your kids first, and if you want, we can get them out of here to the U.S."
"Ensure that they make it out alive," I told William, "Malory and her family as well."
I turned to Angela.
"It would be better fro them to have at least one parent with them," I told her.
"I'd rather stay here and make sure they don't have to leave home forever rather than make them leave," she decided, "I'm staying, and Nathan and too, if they want to."
"But Ang-" I began to protest.
"But nothing. They're mature enough to make their own choice and I won't deprive them of the option to not abandon their home," Angela replied stubbornly.
"Fine then," I sighed, "We're in, too."
"We appreciate it," Daniel told me, "Total truth."
"I'll get in touch with the Prime Minister," Phillip told the group.
"I I'll do the same with the President," George added, "The rest of you, sit tight and wait for an update."
"Absolutely not," Nathan said when we told him, "No bloody way."
"Nathan," I said, "Give it some thought. You've never been trained in combat before, and you could be going up against people worse than terrorists."
"I think I've made my stance fairly clear, so I'll let you guys sort it out," Jessica said, leaving the living room. She had thought for a moment, but decided that she was staying.
"Then train me," Nathan suggested, "You both were Assassins once, and if you two, my aunt and uncle and my grandfather could do it, so can I."
"Neither of us could even hope to go up against a heavily armoured Abstergo agent, Nathan. We're lucky we even survived at all," I argued, "And secondly, we had months to get it done, and the most advanced technology of the time."
"You said it would take him months to learn archery," Angela argued, "And with Keith's help, he mastered it in a week and a half."
"That doesn't mean he'll master fighting with a blade in that time," I replied.
"True, but it'll be weeks before the Templars can come at us. He's chosen to stay, so we may as well give him enough experience as possible," Angela shot back.
"Alright, I give up then," I said, seeing that there was no winning this one, "Nathan, I'll take you and Jessica to the training complex in Melbourne tomorrow. I'l train you both there."
"Just one more thing," Nathan said, "If Malory stays, then she gets training too."
I'll have to talk to her parents. Don't get your hopes up, Nathan. I can't see her parents going for it," Angela told him, "Ryan, you handle the kids, and I'll talk to Malory's parents tomorrow."
"It's settled then?" I asked. They both nodded.
Fucking great, I thought to myself. Why did I ever miss this shit?