Subsequently, all Assassins except for Siegfried were captured and thrown into prison. Darko and Johnny, both of whom were considered as high-value prisoners, were sent to a secret prison in the Swiss Alps, near the Matterhorn, owned by Italy, which was also now bustling with Templars.
The temperature in and around the prison was cold all year around, though luckily the prison had heating. Darko and Johnny's cells were decently furnished, though the floor was bare and cold. The entire secret prison was heavily-guarded, making escape near-impossible.
For months Darko and Johnny were in the prison without any contact with the outside world. Then, in early August of 1924, something happened.
Pietro Badoglio of Italy, a man in his fifties, visited the secret prison. He had just been promoted to Chief of Staff, and was one of the most powerful men in Fascist Italy. To prevent prisoners from escaping and compromising Pietro's security, more guards were brought into the prison.
Darko and Johnny saw as Pietro passed by, flanked by four Italian soldiers. He stopped outside Darko's cell, looking at him.
"This man catches my attention. Why is he here?" Pietro asked.
A prison warden, who was walking beside Pietro, replied, "Terrible crimes, signor Badoglio. This man threatened the fragile peace here in Europe. Thus he and a comrade of his were thrown into prison."
"Yes, yes. I remember hearing of that. His comrade would be Johnny Guvera, a Spaniard, no?"
"Indeed, signor Badoglio. His name is Johnny Guvera. Allow us to continue the tour, signor," the warden said.
Once the group had left, Darko thought about what had happened. While they were talking, Darko had noticed that Pietro had been tapping casually on the cell bars, though it was far from casual tapping. In truth, Pietro was tapping in Morse code.
"Friend of the Assassins," Darko finally decoded the message after several seconds.
A few nights later, Pietro Badoglio was long gone, and Darko was sleeping in his cell. Being a light sleeper, Darko was awoken by sounds coming from his cell door.
Just as he gained focus, the cell door swung open and two Assassins entered the room. English Assassins, to be precise.
"Mister Kerzhakov, you're safe now," an Assassin assured him. "Do you have any weapon on you?"
Darko shook his head. The second Assassin then took out a Hidden Blade and gave it to him. "It's yours, sir. We retrieved it from the armoury."
Leaving the cell, Darko saw that two more Assassins were leading Johnny, whose cell was adjacent to his, out. Darko recognised one of them as Nikolai Kerzhakov.
"Brother, what are you doing here?"
"I'll explain everything once we get out of here," Nikolai said. "Come, we must find the others."
Soon the alarm went off, though it was already too late. The Assassins had rendezvoused in the prison's garage and were leaving through several prison vehicles.
"Let me guess, Pietro Badoglio," Darko said as he fired a pistol backwards, in the direction of their pursuers.
Nikolai turned the steering wheel rapidly, just in time to escape from driving off a cliff. "Yeah, an Assassin ally! Apparently he and Frank go way back, all the way to the colonial wars in Libya!"
Eventually, the Assassins drove into an airfield with a few airplanes on standby. Abandoning the cars, they got into the airplane.
"George, what the hell?" Darko and Johnny were equally surprised.
"Get ready for departure," George said. "It's going to be a bumpy flight, so strap yourselves in."
Landing in Switzerland, the large group of Assassins gathered in Darko's house in Bern, which had surprisingly remained unconquered by the Templars.
"Pietro sent word to essentially every Assassin in Europe that you and Johnny were imprisoned there after his visit," Nikolai revealed. "We had nearly an entire platoon of Assassins involved in this operation. You didn't see it, but there were some more Assassins on standby, ready to reinforce if needed."
"The Great War revived," Johnny joked. "But why are you here, Nikolai? Why were you chosen by the English Assassins?"
"Frank Gatti's down with cancer, he doesn't have much longer to live," Nikolai sighed. "His dying wish is to see me back in Italy, helming the Italian Assassins. Frank also thinks that you are one of the few that can help with that, hence he pushed for me being part of the operation."
"After some investigation, Pietro concludes that Sardinia is the safest place for the Italian Assassins to be located at," Nikolai informed. "We're thinking of Cagliari, capital of Sardinia."
Apparently, Johnny had been to Cagliari before. "Make it an Assassin resort, for Assassins all over the world to go and relax. Facing the Poetto, enjoying the sea breeze, sipping a glass of cocktail."
"Tempting, Johnny," Nikolai smiled. "There are quite a number of resorts and hotels in Cagliari. If we established one the Templars wouldn't even bat an eyelid."
"Reserve a room for me," Johnny said.
George helped them to get back on-topic. "The Swiss Assassins have been weakened for months, since your capture. Templar influence is slowly but surely regaining in the country. As the leader of the Swiss Assassins, you must put a stop to it."
"And get revenge on that bastard," Johnny snarled. "What was his real name? Siegfried Viret, that's a name I'll keep with me for the rest of my life."
Darko told Nikolai and George, "When you return to your respective countries, send word to find the whereabouts of Siegfried Viret, aka Paul Celtis."
"I don't get it, what do you mean? Wasn't Paul captured with the rest of you?" George was puzzled.
Johnny explained, "Paul Celtis, real name Sigfried Viret, has been secretly working for the Templars all this while. He betrayed us in a standoff at La Troyes Café and shot Darko here in the stomach."
"That bullet left a scar here," Darko lifted his shirt, revealing a stomach scar. "He will pay for betraying the Assassins."