Once the four Assassins, Darko, George, Gautier and Johnny had returned to their current base of operations in Melilla, Dhamir Vaswani had news to share with them.
"I trust your mission has gone well. No matter, I'll hear about it in time to come anyway," Dhamir said. "Oh, yes. While you were gone I received word of Templar activity coming from the harbour town of Larache. The town is considered an important site to the Spanish, so having Templar activity there is completely understandable, but the amount of Templar activity there of late is unusual. Do go and investigate as soon as possible.
The next morning, Darko set off for Larache with George. George was not actually going to be in the town itself, only flying Darko to the destination. Darko would have brought the others along but he did not want to risk alerting the Templars in the town.
Just as the town of Alcazarquivir appeared in the horizon, George shouted over the aircraft noise, "Get ready. Make sure your parachute's working. It would be unfortunate if you didn't survive your first time using a parachute."
"I'm not that unlucky," Darko said as he checked his parachute. "Tell me when to jump."
Seconds later, George gave the go-ahead. Darko jumped off the Junker F.13, his parachute on his back.
Landing on the ground successfully, Darko disposed of the parachute and walked the short distance to Alcazarquivir, which was less than fifty kilometres from Larache, his destination.
The town was filled with soldiers and military policemen from the Civil Guard, or Guardia Civil in Spanish. Checkpoints had been established on all the roads into town, all of which were manned by law enforcement agents. Darko had no choice but to abandon the rented car and enter the town on foot off-road. Patrolmen were all over town, though Darko was pretty confident that they would not be able to identify him.
Wanting to know why there were so many soldiers in town, Darko went to investigate at the local Civil Guard police station. Being an important location to the Spaniards, the Civil Guard did not have a residential garrison there, like what most towns of Larache's size had. Instead, the Civil Guard had an entire police station in town, though it was not as decked out as the ones in larger towns or cities.
Scaling up the building from its back, Darko made his way into the police station through the roof access door, which was surprisingly unlocked. Almost immediately, Darko encountered a military policeman, identifiable by his signature tricorne, who quickly drew a baton.
Tackling the policeman to the floor, Darko snatched his baton and used it to knock him unconscious before he could alert his comrades. Stripping him of his uniform, Darko hid the unconscious person in a closet and donned it. From the rank insignia displayed on the arm area of the uniform, Darko learned that the policeman he had knocked unconscious held the rank of Cabo, or Corporal. At least now he was able to get around easier.
True enough, other military policemen did not even bat an eyelid as Darko passed by. Eventually, Darko entered the office of Subtiente Carlos Sagrado, the man in charge of the gendarmerie forces in town.
"May I help you, Cabo?" Carlos asked as Darko shut the door, locking it. "And why do you have to lock the door? Do unlock it, please."
Ignoring Carlos, Darko sat down and drew his pistol, aiming it at him. "It's nearing lunch, you must be hungry, Subtiente Sagrado. It would be disappointing if you died before having lunch. Let's have a chat, shall we?"
"What do you want?"
"It is simple. I want to know the reason why so many military personnel have appeared in Larache," Darko answered.
Carlos snickered upon hearing the question. "Why else do you think so? Because we were given orders by the higher-ups! What position do you think I am to ask questions?"
Darko shrugged and nodded, taking Carlos' point. "There must be someone higher in rank than you in this town. Who is he, and where is he?"
"What makes you think I'll tell you?" Carlos asked with a smug.
With expert aiming, Darko shot his Phantom Blade into the chair Carlos was sitting on, less than a centimetre away from flesh. "That's what makes me think so."
"Alright, alright," Carlos retrieved the Phantom Blade, his hands slightly shaking, wanting to return it to Darko. However, Darko saw an expression in his eyes which told him otherwise.
Swooping low, Darko barely dodged a vicious swipe from Carlos, who was using the former's Phantom Blade. With a strong push Darko tipped the desk over. Carlos swiftly moved backwards in order not to get hit by the falling desk, but was not fast enough. The desk fell on one of his legs, causing Carlos to let out a yelp.
Recovering his Phantom Blade, Darko seized Carlos by the hair and asked, "Who?"
"General Miguel Primo de Rivera, who remains on board the frigate Rodrigo Borja I," Carlos revealed.
Darko slammed his head once on the overturned desk, which was enough to knock Carlos out cold. He then left before anyone who might have heard them arrived.
Watching the harbour with a pair of binoculars, Darko took his time to scan the area, analysing the soldiers' patrol patterns and goings-on. About half an hour later, Darko saw a smaller boat that had left the Rodrigo Borja I just minutes earlier reach the harbour. Two soldiers dragged a female out of the boat, where four more soldiers followed along, acting as extra protection. The female had a sack over her head and was handcuffed.
Reading the soldiers' lips, Darko was able to make out a portion of their conversation.
"We found this lady snooping around on board the frigate," Soldier One said. "She had a hood on and was using this strange blade weapon."
Soldier Two added, "I overheard General de Rivera calling her assassin. Don't know how or why he thought she was out to kill."
That was enough for Darko. Placing his binoculars on the roof so he could retrieve it later, Darko climbed off the building to rescue the captured female.
The soldiers were so deep in conversation that they did not notice the hooded man charging towards them from the side. Darko pounced on the closest soldier, who was knocked out the moment his head hit the ground.
Using the first soldier's rifle, Darko thrust it into the second soldier, who fell into the ocean. Ramming it sideways, Darko hit the third in the chest with the rifle butt.
At the same time the fourth and fifth soldiers raised their rifle, preparing to shoot Darko. However, Darko shot them first, though ensuring that the bullets would not be fatal to the soldiers. The sixth and last soldier turned to run, trying to call for help. Forced to stop the soldier before he succeeded, Darko shot a Phantom Blade into his leg.
Once the Phantom Blade had been reclaimed, Darko went back to the female prisoner, who had managed to free herself in the meantime.
"What's the phrase your people always use?" Darko paused for a short moment, before continuing, "Oh yeah, bloody hell. Never thought I would see you here and in such a state, Miss Frye."
Lydia nodded with a polite smile. "We can talk later. Right now we should get away from here. God knows how many soldiers are in this harbour."