General de Rivera was thoroughly annoyed when he received word of the deaths of two more Templars. Losing the first Templar, a teahouse owner in Casablanca named Shi Long, was not that much of a big deal but losing Colonel Sebastiano di Medici was.
He was rapidly losing influence in the Spanish Army as well as the Spanish Legion, though he still had the backing of King Alfonso XIII. General de Rivera did not like the way things were going.
If it persisted his plans of becoming ruler of Spain would be squashed by those Assassins, especially the Serbian Master Assassin, Darko Kerzhakov. He had to admit, Darko was a worthy adversary, having foiled many assassination attempts on him and taking down many Templars.
General de Rivera decided that he would have to act quickly and complete his plan before the Assassins foiled it.
Unfortunately for General de Rivera, his plans had come to light and Assassins everywhere were rushing to Spain to answer the call for help. They gathered in the Spanish Assassin headquarters in Andorra la Vella.
"Aleksandar?" Darko was surprised to see him. "Aleksandar Mikovic, is that you?"
He had not seen Aleksandar for nearly a decade since Aleksandar had settled down in Moscow to aid the Russian Assassins. "Master Assassin Darko Kerzhakov in the flesh, it has been a long time. You've come a long way, rascal."
"Same to you, Master Assassin Mikovic," Darko said. "But now is not the time for us to catch up."
Many Assassins had showed up at the Assassin base. It was now early September of 1923, and the Spain was in a state of chaos. Rumours were everywhere that the Spanish Army was ludicrously corrupt, and the parliamentary government was attacking both General Miguel Primo de Rivera and King Alfonso XIII.
Lydia Frye said, "I have sent several of my Assassins into Spain, particularly Madrid and Barcelona, led by Francis Guercino aka Frank Gatti, to make sense of what is going on inside the country. It makes sense to understand the goings-on there before charging headfirst into it."
"Well said, Miss Frye," Antonio Rovera agreed. "But there is not much time left, I predict, before General de Rivera stages his coup."
Aleksandar suggested, "A ruler cannot rule if there's no people to rule over. If we turn the people of Spain against General de Rivera and his allies, his plan will be affected."
"That is a decent idea. Well then, Aleksandar, take the Russian Assassins under your charge and head to the port city of Seville. Make the people of Seville oppose General de Rivera using any method you favour, but ensure that you do not break the tenets of the Creed."
"Lydia, head to Barcelona to aid your Assassins there. Direct them to do the same," Antonio instructed. "The rest of us, we're heading to Madrid."
Days passed and it was now September 12th, 1923. The Assassins at Barcelona and Seville had some luck turning the civilians against General de Rivera and his allies, but those in Madrid had absolutely no success.
Darko was exhausted both mentally and physically. Over the past few days he had done many other things other than trying to turn the people against their rulers, including rescuing an Assassin who had landed himself in jail, killing Templars and sabotaging Templar establishments. However, the Templars in Madrid were like a hydra ; cut off one head but only to be replaced by two more.
"How's it going in the other cities?" Gautier asked.
Antonio sighed and shook his head. "They had some luck, but not enough to make a significant impact. After all, with so much things going on right now in the country, it hardly means anything."
"This battle is being lost," Johnny said. "There's no more hope in this damned place. Let's just get out of here before shit hits the fan."
"Do not lose hope!" Antonio said optimistically. "We will be able to stop General de Rivera! The Assassins will triumph."
George sighed, agreeing with what Johnny had said. "All we can do now is hope."
The next day, Madrid was woken up to a large amount of Spanish soldiers, numbering in the thousands, marching for the Palacio del Senado in the city. This was it, General de Rivera's coup had begun.
Antonio, Darko, Gautier, Johnny and George were but five men in the humongous crowd of civilians that had gathered. A good portion of the civilians were following the soldiers on the pavement, curious to see where they were heading for. The five Assassins were a part of the 'good portion of civilians'.
The soldiers eventually ended up in front of the Palacio del Senado, where General de Rivera addressed the crowd of civilians and soldiers.
"The aim of this coup, our aim at that, is to open a brief parenthesis in the constitutional life of Spain and re-establish it as soon as the country offers us men uncontaminated with the vices of political organisation," General de Rivera announced. "Hence, I hereby dissolve the parliament and constitution of Spain and declare myself Prime Minister of Spain! Under my rule I will eliminate corruption that has ravaged the Spanish Army and regenerate Spain to its true glory."
"Ninety days, ninety days is all I will rule for. Prepare, citizens of Spain, for the destiny of Spain is about to change for the better!"
While the soldiers cheered, the civilians were unsure of how to react. In the midst of all the hoo-ha, the five Assassins slipped away.
Word spread fast to the Assassins in the other cities, and soon they met up back at the Assassin headquarters in Andorra la Vella.
"General de Rivera has won the fight," Antonio said with a sigh. "He has declared himself Prime Minister of Spain and has established a military dictatorship. The Templars have regained control of Spain, and all has come to naught."
"But how many Templars have been slain in the fight?" Lydia asked rhetorically. "It has not come to naught, Mentor Rovera. A Templar killed is five Assassins saved, remember that."