Chapter Seven: Subduction
Shephard's heart was pumping as quickly and as powerfully as it could creating a deafening sound in his ears that made it hard to concentrate on detecting the footfalls of his pursuers. He struggled to hear them as the group of six split into two groups of three each taking a different route. One group began scaling a nearby building while the other continued barreling toward him down the street as he took them on a winding route throughout City 12 ducking between buildings and into alleyways. Shephard threw everything he could at these tenacious Templars using every skill that Desmond and the other assassins had taught him to stay out of their reach.
The General wasn't out of shape but he wasn't getting any younger either and he'd already been running for more than ten minutes at full tilt. At last he could elude them no longer as he turned a corner to find a crowd of citizens blocking his route. Shephard didn't want them endangered and he didn't want anyone to see him running from anyone. The entire city was already abuzz with the idea that he was guilty of murdering Desmond and everyone knew that he was now a wanted fugitive. Fearing the crowd would turn on him and that he had better odds against the six Templars he dashed into the protective darkness of a nearby alley which he knew to be a dead end.
The first three Templars entered the narrow passage blocking out the light. Shephard caught site of the other three scurrying over the rooftops above him. Shephard wasn't defenseless although he had no desire to hurt the men he also had no moral objections to violent self-defense. The first three pulled out their guns, ordinary pistols. Shephard smiled an imperceptibly brief smile before pulling out his own weapon. The smooth white surface and strange appearance of the gun perplexed his opponents who immediately demanded that he come quietly and place the weapon on the ground. The wily General had other ideas. Before any of the aggressors could fire off a shot Shephard had fired off two. A blue beam streaked through the air followed swiftly by an orange beam. The sound of gunfire rang out and a bullet careened toward Shephard, or more accurately, where Shephard used to be.
Shephard slipped out of the orange portal and tackled the three men standing at the end of the alleyway. Before either could get their weapons aimed his way he'd fired another orange beam this one landing beneath them. All three tumbled through the opening and fell out of the blue portal which sat against the wall where Shephard had originally been standing. The General couldn't admire his handiwork however as gunfire from the three goons on the roof hastily followed the defeat of the first three. Shephard sprinted away this time using the portal gun to traverse his way across the cityscape.
Despite making a clean getaway Shephard was far from pleased. The Templars were becoming more desperate and had begun hiring non-Templar citizens and soldiers to bring him down. Shephard was having a hard time telling the difference between those hired and trained by the Templars and those random citizens merely attempting to collect a bounty on a wanted man. Furthermore he'd revealed his secret weapon in the last altercation. The Templars would now know that he possessed the portal gun.
He sat in an empty alleyway on the outskirts of town wondering how the world had gone so wrong so quickly. A few days earlier he'd been celebrating the good health of his best friend and had been planning to join the Assassin Order. Now his best friend was dead and the City had been turned against the Order. Even as he ran he knew the Templars were plotting to further their control beyond its already impressive reach. How long would it be before all of City 12 was under their power?
Shephard stood up and lifted his hood to conceal his face. Hassan had given him his current clothing, a simplified version of typical Assassin robes designed to mimic street clothes and an arsenal of weapons. Besides the portal gun he also had throwing knives, smoke-bombs and several silenced firearms.
Adrian Shephard blended out into the crowd. If he was going to clear his name he was going to need to find out more about the Templars. There was one man he wanted to see, one poisoned young man who was hailed as a champion of the common man but who Shephard knew was a wolf in sheep's clothing - Emil Nemico.
Allison felt a pressing weight in her head. It'd been aching all day and all night and now dawn was nearing them again. They'd been pressed without stopping trying to make it to City 12 as soon as they could. The pain wasn't unbearable and neither was the lack of sleep, what was unbearable was not knowing what was troubling Julian.
Their vehicles had run out of fuel some miles back forcing them to cover the last miles to the city on foot. The forest was truly a sight to behold as the last rays of the sun splintered through the canopy to brush objects below with a golden hue. Despite all the beauty around them Allison still felt lost and afraid.
She assumed that whatever Julian was going through it was no doubt related to the death of his Father. Allison remembered sharply the grief she felt when Michael, a man whom she considered a sort of surrogate Father figure, was killed by the Combine. Michael had been her savior and for the longest time she'd deemed him as all but immortal. After all the man had evaded the Combine while hiding right under their noses for some years. Allison felt a constant desire to say something, anything, to offer solace to Julian but each sermon she summoned in her mind only rang hollow.
Allison, instead, looked to Jara and Alyx for comfort. The two women were bringing up the rear of the group keeping a look out for the Combine although admittedly Combine patrols almost never traversed this closely to City 12. Allison slowed her strides and let Julian gain some distance as Jara and Alyx caught up to her.
"How you holding up Allison?" Jara asked noting the woman's miserable expression, "We'll be to City 12 soon and then we can sleep."
"It's not that," Allison admitted, "Julian's been acting strange. What is with the sudden haste?"
"The kid just lost his Father," Alyx said, "and my guess is he's only just now feeling the full brunt of it."
"There's more than that here," Jara said and Allison nodded her agreement as Jara continued, "It has something to do with that Combine group that attacked us last night."
"My guess is that those weren't ordinary Combine soldiers," Allison theorized, "I've never seen him like this. I went up to him earlier and I looked into his eyes... there was nothing there. He's like a robot."
"Sometimes you have to numb yourself from the pain," Alyx said coldly.
"I hope that's all it is," Allison said.
Julian stopped in his tracks and held out his hand gesturing for the entire group to come to a halt. The soldiers from Hunter's Falls froze in their tracks first followed by Jara, Allison and Alyx. All three women went into crouched positions and Alyx brought up her M40 sniper rifle, a gift that Theta had secretly stowed away aboard the convoy's supplies. She peered through the scope as the hand signals shuddered through the group confirming that Julian had seen something moving in the trees ahead. Alyx could see them now, moving in and out of the shadows. A shivered coursed through her as she hoped this wasn't another attack like the one the night before.
Shephard was his usual nervous self as he stood waiting for his rendezvous. He was normally a fairly anxious person, at least he had become such in recent times and now it was amplified as the price upon his head had grown. He paced to and fro in and out of the darkened room where the meeting was to take place. The building in question was a broken down house just within the city limits that barely still had a roof and which was missing one wall. It was through that missing wall that Shephard's contact arrived escorted by three tall thin and very fit women in garments similar to his own.
Shephard hardly recognized Hassan without his actual Assassin's robe. In fact Hassan was one of the only assassins that Shephard was acquainted with who wore his robes in situations other than fighting or on actual assassin business. The two men sat at the table and the three female assassins stood as sentries watching any who might wander near the dilapidated domicile during the meeting.
"We should not be seen together," Hassan remarked quietly.
"It's the middle of the night," Shephard protested, "This is important enough."
"You've cleared our names?" Hassan asked, even in the dark he could read Shephard and knew that his hopes were unfounded.
"But I do know that Emil Nemico plans to meet with Vera and several other Templar Knights before the first light of dawn," Shephard announced, "I'm going to be there."
"I wouldn't recommend it," Hassan remarked.
"What better way to test my assassin training than a little eavesdropping?" Adrian Shephard asked with a grin.
"Very well," Hassan responded, "I too bring news. I have sent scouts out into the area around City 12 in search of Julian's remains or of Julian."
"Damned Templars," Shephard spat, "I can't believe they killed the kid."
"I would not do any believing until the facts are in," Hassan advised slipping the man a piece of electronic gear, "Safety and peace my friend."
Shephard sat in the darkness long after Hassan and the other assassins had departed. He reflected upon the hasty announcement the Templars had made of Julian's death and the lack of a body. Desmond's body was hastily cremated by the Templars in a memorial service held that afternoon, a desperate attempt to destroy any lingering evidence that would have solidified his innocence. The General began to wonder if he wasn't pressing his luck in attending Nemico's meeting with Vera. Even if he overheard every word of what they had to say what difference would it make? Did he truly believe they would be dumb enough to incriminate themselves? Would the city even believe such evidence if he did catch in on tape or would they see it as a forgery conceived by a guilty conscience trying to clear itself? Shephard sat in the dark waiting for the first light of dawn.
Julian watched the figures up ahead. He wondered, for but a moment, if his tired stress infected mind might have conjured them. This waking dream turned more than real as an arrow whizzed past just narrowly missing Julian's neck. Had it hit him Julian was sure it would have been a kill but Julian was now sure it was a shot that was not meant to be lethal - a warning. He lifted his hands in surrender as the figures folded out of the shadows and approached them openly.
In the dimming light of dusk the young assassin could barely make out their faces although many of them seemed familiar it wasn't until they drew in close that he fully recognized them. Their silent footfalls brought the four of them right up to his face. Julian grabbed the first one in a great big hug that caused the others to relax noticeably.
"Sahib," Julian sighed with palpable relief, "Jesus Christ, I thought you were going to kill us."
"Julian," the assassin exclaimed, "Allah be praised, you are alive! When Emil told the City that you were dead we could not believe him!"
"Dead?" Julian asked, "Sahib what the hell are you talking about? Tex you mind telling me what he's on about?"
"When they announced that your Father died they tried to say that you had died as well," Tex answered, he was a tall man of nearly six and a half feet with a massive muscular build that made him look truly odd near most of the lean muscled and spry assassins, "They told us you'd been killed in a Combine raid."
"We thought you dead for sure," the third assassin, a young woman with skin as dark as the night, named Ashera, said, "Hassan sent us to find the body to see if the Templars were lying."
"They've got control of the City," the fourth assassin, one that Julian did not recognize, remarked, "We had an easy time getting out but my guess is it won't be as easy getting back in."
"Goddamn Templars," Julian growled punching his fist into a nearby tree and sending splinters of bark flying, "I should have known that they'd be planning a come back, a new rise to power. They were waiting like vultures for my Father to die but when he recovered their hopes were dashed... They had him killed."
The assassin felt as if his lungs might collapse. He collapsed to the ground with his chest heaving and eyes swelling with tears that he did everything in his power to fight back. It was no use. The blinding light of obvious truth was piercing into him now. He knew that the Templars had been behind the death of his Father. The entire world felt hostile and even the nighttime sounds of the tranquil forest seemed sinister to the young assassin. With tears in his eyes he looked up at his fellow assassins and saw beside them two beautiful blue eyes set in the face of Allison Rogue. Feeling a sudden surge of new energy the fatigued young man stood and brushed the leaves and dirt from his robes and began hiking toward City 12 once more.
"We won't be able to get in the front gate," Ashera attempted with her beautiful brown eyes and insistent tone punctuating the request, "They're looking for assassins, they've turned the guards against us! They won't let us in!"
"Let them try to stop me," Julian growled, "Let them try to stop a dead man."
Emil Nemico entered the dining hall and watched as the entire room of Templar Elders stood for him. He wore a demonically charming grin as he went to each of them and shook hands with the diseased bunch. He stopped as he came to Vera Novosa. He bowed before her kissing her hand and glaring up into her blazing green eyes. He noticed the fire that burned within them. This was a woman who was going places, a woman who could take whatever she wanted. Emil merely hoped that she could see that same quality within him. He was truly proud of how quickly he'd risen in the ranks of the Templar Order and that now he had men and women who had once been billionaires in the world of men eating out of his hand.
"Now that the man of the hour is here," Warren Vidic crowed, "Let the meal and the meeting begin. Our first order of business tonight is Julian Miles. Some of our men have made contact... it is as we feared, the young assassin is still alive. His skills are many."
"What would you recommend we do about this nuisance?" One Templar asked before taking a massive gulp from his beer.
"Julian Miles is far more than a nuisance," Vidic said narrowing his eyes at the man, "Julian Miles is a threat. I recommend we kill him but not in an outright attack. We will kill him as he did his Father."
"I say we let him live," Emil Nemico interjected suddenly, all eyes turned to him with incredulity and the din of dinner died out. Once sure that he had the attention of everyone in the room he continued, "We do not have to take this City by force or even by underhanded means, no offense, when we can take it by the will of the people. Most in this city already support me. Let Julian come."
"Do not underestimate the boy," Vera said although none knew whether she referred to Julian or Emil.
"I would not," Emil clarified, "but all indications are that he doesn't want the responsibility that his Father once had. Even if he did participate in an election he would lose."
"My guess is he would not lose if he had a knife to your throat!" a voice shouted and all eyes turned toward a cloaked figure at the end of the table.
"Julian!" Vidic exclaimed trying to peer beneath the cowl and discern the identity of the man.
"There will be no witnesses to your deaths Templar scum!"
The cloaked figure sprang into action slitting the throat of the nearest Templar before disappearing and appearing on the other side of the table. Chaos was erupting and many of the Templar leaders rushed from the room. The figure once again seemed to vanish from before their eyes only to reappear this time blocking the door. Suddenly the door burst open and in stormed the guards. The man disappeared into the floor once more remerging beneath the table. Bullets were flying now as the man crawled to the other side of the table and took Vidic as his prisoner. With a blade to the old man's throat the cloaked figure made his demands.
"You will clear the name of Adrian Shephard!"
"Are you really so stupid Shephard?" Vidic asked, "You think that my death with end the Templar Order or win you anything? This meeting was being recorded Shephard, it can easily be edited to remove any sign that we did anything wrong but you, the blood is on your hands! You've lost Shephard, even if you manage to escape."
"He won't," Emil Nemico said firing a tranquilizer dart toward Shephard. The first dart missed, the second glanced off Shephard's armor but the third hit home and in moments Shephard was slumped on the floor of the dining hall, "Take him to a cell to await his trial."
"You could have killed him," Vidic suggested as several guards dragged Shephard away.
"What good would it do?" Emil asked with a shrug, "I may be heartless but I'm not brainless, the man may be useful as a bargaining chip. Besides, we can't deny the public the trial of the century."
"Like I said," Vera remarked with a wicked and sexy smile, "Don't underestimate the boy."
Julian could see the walls of the city ahead of him. His mind was brewing the adrenaline that had been set boiling by the revelation that his Father had been murdered. The city had now turned against the assassins under the false pretense that the Assassin Order had helped assassinate its own leader. Baron Brown and the Templars had soldiers posted all around the city but the group had little trouble making the distance quietly without being detected. They'd sent the six soldiers who'd accompanied them out of Hunter's Fall back with word of everything that had happened to them hoping Theta Prime could use the information. The assassin wondered if the Templar Order's tendrils touched as far south as Hunters Fall.
Now the angry assassin strode proudly and openly toward one of the city's many gates. He saw the eyes of the watchmen upon him and watched as several of them stationed atop the city wall trained their weapons toward him as he approached. Julian offered the first guard at ground level an angry glare narrowing his eyes to cut the soldier's confidence as the second guard stepped out to block him. Julian shoved past them with ease and kept walking ignoring the angry protests of the soldiers.
Another three guards stepped out to block him. The sentinels held their rifles up. Julian wasn't quite sure if any of them were Templars or not but his patience was at its end as he attempted to walk right past them as well. This time they moved to grab him. The first soldier clenched the assassin's shoulder and soon learned how much of a mistake that was as Julian grabbed the man's wrist and twisted it forcing the guard into submission. The others moved now, one attempted to hit the assassin with the butt of his gun. Julian merely slid out of the way causing the blow to strike the first soldier in the skull. The assassin moved into position behind the two who were colliding and shunted them with his shoulder to push them into the third soldier. He then swept the feet out from under all three of them.
"We are authorized to shoot," one soldier shouted from atop the city wall. A sniper bullet landed just a few inches to his right.
"So are we!" Alyx shouted.
"Let us pass damn it!" Allison shouted, "We're citizens of City 12."
"This one here's an assassin," a soldier said pointing to Julian with his gun, "We're supposed to be stopping them."
"Than stop me," Julian said coldly, he extended the hidden gauntlet blade and slipped it dangerously close to the man's neck "I dare you."
"You're not allowed in," the soldier whispered, "I'm sorry but thems the rules."
"Ballsy," Julian said with a smile before kicking the man in the nuts and then kneeing him in the face, "Very ballsy," the assassin turned now to the other soldiers, "I'm going into City 12."
"No you aren't," another soldier shouted and this one began opening fire in Julian's direction.
The spry assassin stayed ahead of the bullets hearing them impact the soil behind him as he sprinted toward the gate. He reached it and leapt behind the guardhouse listening as bullets chewed into the wooden structure and splinters flew. He heard a resounding thud like thunder and looked up to see the soldier grasping his arm atop his perch. Whispering his thanks to Alyx under his breath the assassin hit the switch inside the guardhouse to open the gate. The metallic door cranked open with a horrible gradual screech. The assassin sprung out and was not surprised when bullets began flying. He was, after all, the only target now in sight. The others had retreated to a safe distance and Julian was left drawing the fire of the guards.
The assassin made a mad dash for the now open door but was blocked by the soldier's once more. He felt a powerful remorse overcome him as his hidden blades glinted in the moonlight and the two soldiers dropped their guns and grabbed their abdomens. He entered the city but quickly turned back around and dashed up the city wall. Although plated with steel originally by the Combine much the wall was now in disrepair leaving some steel plates missing. This created just enough space for the assassin's dexterous digits to grab. Up the assassin climbed until he was toe to toe with the soldiers who were stationed here. Again remorse coursed through him as he sliced the shin of the first soldier before knocking another off of the wall to land painfully on his rear some twenty feet below.
Several more sniper shots sounded. All of the soldiers were injured now each of them too hurt to do anything to stop the group who hastily sped into the city and closed the gate behind them.
"Not the warmest of welcomes," Jara remarked as they made their way into the city, "But I sure did miss this place."
"We need to get to the Assassin's Guild," Julian said with a robotic tone, "We're going to need help."
Allison was pained to hear him talk that way, so distant and cold in his tone. She knew that numbing the pain was a necessary thing if he hoped to function with any level of efficiency. Still she also knew there was a danger to not feeling the grief that he needed to feel. She stayed close to him as they traveled into the city. Smoke appeared on the horizon and Julian's feet sped up to the point where she could no longer follow.
Over the rooftops he ran leaping from street to street and scaling buildings with ease unmatched by his fellow assassins who did their best but still barely managed to keep the maniacal man in sight. When at last they reached him they found a look of horror stained his handsome face and that same expression was upon their faces when Allison and Alyx finally arrived as well.
The Assassin's Guild sat before them as a smoldering ruin. Some beams and stones still wore flame and a billow of black smoke shot into the air and stretched up into the inky black sky above them.
"I can't believe it," Julian said pulling the remains of a fallen assassin from the building, "I can't believe that the Templars would do this. This is all my fault... I offered them a Piece of Eden. Goddamn it! I could have given it to them! I could have prevented this if that damned man in the suit hadn't taken it! This can't be happening!"
"But it is," a voice said from the shadows, Julian turned to see Hassan Aldi emerging from a nearby alley.
"Hassan!" Julian cried but he was beat to the man by Jara Aldi who embraced her father warmly, "I thought for sure you were dead."
"Most of the assassins escaped the fire," Hassan remarked, "Only two or three died at most although if the city becomes any more hostile that number may increase."
"The citizens did this?" Allison replied with a shocked expression.
"I'm afraid the Templars have poisoned them," Hassan said, "In their anxiousness they turned to new voices and have rejected the voices they once trusted to guide them. I have just received word that Shephard has been captured."
"He's alive," Julian said, "That is what matters. We will need to gather every ally we have left within this city and without. Alyx."
"Yes Julian?" Alyx responded.
"I need you to find some weapons, I don't care how, but they don't know you're with us yet. They won't be as suspicious of you especially if they know who you are."
"What are you planning on doing?" Hassan asked.
"I'm gonna bust Shephard out," Julian said as if the answer was obvious.
"Don't we have greater concerns?" Hassan asked, "The Templars now hold a great deal of power here and if they somehow get rid of Baron Brown-"
"First we get Shephard," Julian disagreed, "You can do what you want of course my friend but Shephard is my priority."
Shephard sat with slumped shoulders in his cell and breathed a deep sigh. He'd already used up much of his energy pacing to and fro in his tiny eight by twelve space. Now he was too exhausted and fatigued to pace though his mind continued on incessantly. He felt so defeated. What was left for him now?
The one sliver of hope that remained was the knowledge that Julian was still alive out there. Even if Shephard spent the rest of his life rotting in a cell the Resistance still had its last best hope in the form of Julian Miles. Shephard smiled briefly but the expression soon faded as an eerie light seemed to fill the room. A door seemed to appear in the darkness with a white light wreathing its edges. A familiar figure stepped through the door and Adrian Shephard saw his entire life flash before his eyes as he looked at the man in the blue suit.
"What's the matter General Shephard?" the man hissed, "Cat got your, tongue?"
"I thought I'd seen the last of you," Shephard sighed, "You told me that after you released me from stasis I'd be free to go. You told me I'd never see you again."
"There have been some unforeseen circumstances Shephard," the G-man replied, "My, employers have informed me that they would like to offer you a second chance. A man of your... background... is ideal and as Mister Miles has declined the offer-"
"No," Shephard shouted at the phantom, "NO! Go away! I told you already I won't be a pawn to you or your 'employers'! I will not be used no matter what you offer!"
"Than you shall die along with the rest of your species," the G-man hissed, "We offer nothing less than immortality Shephard, for those willing to be of assistance. You are far too stubborn but then, you're kind always were, especially those of your particular... background... Good evening Mister Shephard and enjoy the extinction."