Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag: Retribution
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Edward immediately jumped out of the hay bale, hoping he'd taught Will enough for him to be safe. With a quick head count he saw that, defending the south side, 6 Assassins and 15 mercenaries were locked in fierce hand to hand combat – their line beginning to waver against the continental columns of about 35 guards. However, the narrowness of the street was countering the advantage in numbers, and the closeness of combat did not allow for skilful wielding of weaponry – so casualties were few.
Edward fired a pistol shot into the air – "Assassins! On me!"
The Assassins kept weapon racks on each side of the Bureau – swords and pistols had been taken but the rifles were left – no-one anticipated distant combat.
Immediately, the six Assassins fell back from the battle at the sound of their Mentor's voice.
"Onto the roofs!" he yelled, and in seconds the Assassins were on the roofs of the civilian houses on the left side of the battle – their windows slammed shut, their inhabitants in safe rooms.
The Brotherhood had installed simple lifts throughout the city, using a platform, rope, and a counterweight, for the rooftops were essential to their trade. One of these lifts was close by. Edward dragged the rack onto the lift, cut the rope, and the counterweight dropped, shooting the platform up. He stepped off onto the roof.
"Grab a gun, and move alongside the column." he ordered, and the well trained fighters stealthily moved along the roof until they were in a line alongside the part of the column not fighting on the front line.
"Okay lads," he said, "You know what to do. Cartridges out! Bite! Pour! Spit! Pour! Tap! Ram! Cock! Aim… FIRE!"
This whole loading process took about twenty seconds, and six shots rained down on the column, and four guards fell. The deafening noise did more damage, as the Templars had not expected guns, and the smoke obscured how many there were.
The Assassins didn't stop.
Relentlessly, Edward kept up the call, making sure the riflemen kept in time. The very back of the column fumbled for muskets, and the mercenary allies were reinvigorated by the covering fire. After three more volleys the column was in disarray, and Edward made the call.
"CHARGE!"
He and the Assassins jumped down into the fray and the 14 remaining mercenaries, (2 dead, 4 injured) sprinted forwards as a unit, and in seconds the guards were routed. The defenders cheered, but Edward quickly got them organised. There was still an attack.
He may have led the defenders to victory – but had Will done the same?
Will slowly climbed out of his hay bale. This street was far wider, so at opposite ends disorganised troops took cover behind crates and walls, firing shots in their own time trying to get the upper hand. There were no mercenaries on this side of the Bureau, so 12 Assassins fought ten guards.
The guards were beginning to waver.
Then disaster struck.
Reinforcements came, doubling the Templar firepower. Will realised that there was no way to win this battle conventionally, so he yelled at the Assassins to hold firm, before also taking to the rooftops. One sentry saw him sprinting across the tiles and trained his rifle, but from fifty yards Will picked him off with one of his new pistols.
"Impressive." He said to himself.
He continued sprinting until he was way behind enemy lines. Suddenly, he crouched down as he saw two soldiers guarding a fat, bald man – in military uniform – who was sitting in a chair in a small gazebo, drinking red wine from a large glass. Will recognised him as one of Thierry du Calors' right hand men – Sir David Valencio.
A Templar lieutenant with a Spanish accent walked into the shelter.
"The battle goes well on the north side, Sir Valencio."
Will grimaced, wishing Edward luck in his head.
Valencio laughed callously, taking a big gulp of wine, "Mucho bien! We'll crush these Assassin fools!"
The lieutenant saluted, and marched away from the gazebo, to re-join the battle - leaving the Templar leader a sitting duck.
Donning his green-trimmed hood, Will jumped down from the low rooftop onto the dusty cobbles below, crouching and rolling as he did so. The guards scrambled to reach their guns but Will was too fast. He drew his pistols and with one shot from each, took down them both.
Valencio smiled, clapping slowly. "William Thatcher, is it not? Oh, you do look so much like your father."
"Shut up." Will growled.
"How is your father doing these days? Not too good I suppose." Valencio sneered.
"Shut. Up." The Englishman repeated, with some more force.
"And of course, your brother, is he too spending all day cutting sugar like the perro Ingles he is?"
"I said SHUT UP!" Will shouted, and he pounced, activating his wristblade as he flew, taking down the older man. All of his rage at this man playing a part in his home being made into a slave plantation, his mother and sister forced to go into hiding, his father and brother becoming slaves, and he stabbed, once, twice, three times –
"Will!" The Welsh voice rang out. Will felt himself being wrenched from his target, and span around to face his Mentor.
Edward looked a mixture of sad and angry. "Listen here Will. At the very heart of the Assassin's Creed is belief in humanity. Belief that you are better than this."
"He would've hung me on the nearest tree and thrown me into a river had he had the chance!"
"But you are not him, lad. The Assassins show honour, courage, and mercy. Killing another man is a horrible thing, but at times it must be done. And when it does, you must do it in the most dignified way possible, no matter what your foe would've done to you."
Will nodded soberly, the horror of what he had did settling in. In that brief moment he had become as bad as the Templars.
He turned to see Valencio shaking gently, covered in blood. Will walked over to him, and held his head in his hands.
"I'm sorry it had to come to this," he said, feeling truly sorry.
In reply, Valencio used his last energy to spit in Will's face and mumble: "Viva los Templars!" before lying still.
Will shook his head sadly; "Rest in peace." He stood up and walked away slowly to see Edward, who pulled him into a tight embrace, before pulling away to grab his shoulders.
"The battle is won lad. We arrived in time to counter the reinforcements. And this is a high ranking Templar you've just taken out. Well done, lad. Better a lesson learned than not."
Will nodded, but still realised how much killing another man had taken out of him.
"I don't think I'll ever get used to this."
Edward smiled wisely. "None of us will, lad. And that compassion – that's what separates an Assassin, from a Templar. Nothing is true, everything is permitted."