Assassin's Creed: Vengeance

Fog of War

June 1st, 1796

Berlin, Germany

Arno arrived in Berlin quite late in the day. Unlike Kehl, the city was bustling with activity, people moving about buying things from the street vendors. Unlike in Paris, Arno didn't see any signs that there was constant thievery or even a murder. It was like there wasn't a war brewing to the west. It was all very foreign to Arno, but he recognized that to them he was the foreigner.

And above all that, Arno knew he'd be almost completely alone in Berlin since the Germanic Brotherhood had been almost completely wiped out within it's walls. But he couldn't worry about that now.

His task was the gathering of information, not assassination. He'd have to abandon his robes for something less flashy and sadly, more Templar. First, he'd need an identity. Before he departed Kehl, August Steigen had informed him that an up and coming Templar agent from Sweden named Viktor Svensson had recently arrived in Berlin.

So, first task: Assassinate Vikor Svensson and take his place amongst the Templars operating in Berlin.

/

It took several hours of investigation but Arno managed to find where Svensson was staying. Apparently, Svensson was a penny pincher and was staying in a rather low end hotel. He didn't even have guards protecting him. Low level Templar agent, indeed.

Arno lept onto the roof of the hotel and made his way over to Svensson's room. Luckily, Svensson had left his window open. Something Templars usually know not to do in case of Assassins.

When Svensson wasn't looking, Arno soundlessly crept through the window and into the room. Svensson was busy adjusting a button on his dress shirt. Suddenly, Svensson turned around and saw the hooded figure standing in his room.

He sighed. "Well, I thought it was inevitable. New Templar in a new city. At least give me the benefit of the doubt, ya? Why does my death suit you?"

Arno held out his hands and smiled. "You're going tomorrow to meet with the Templars already operating in this city. I need in, you're new here, no one knows you. A perfect fit."

"Ah, I see." Svensson said. "Clever Assassin. Ta det över med då. (Get it over with, then.)

Arno approached the Templar cautiously. He took a few moments to verify that he wouldn't try and get the jump on him. When he was sure, Arno activated his hidden blade and stabbed him in the throat. Taking his Templar pendant and a change of his clothes just in case.

"Now," Arno said, changing into the Swede's clothes. "I'm a Templar."

/

Arno cautiously walked into the building that Svensson had been tasked with going the morning after. He was dressed in a coat and trousers he had stolen from the Templar's travel case. He definitely looked the part and had a pendant to prove it, thank God. He walked up to the door and knocked, it cracked open and he could see a pair of eyes peering back at him.

"Und du bist?" (And you are?) the doorman asked.

Arno flashed a smile and used what little German August had taught him. "Viktor Svensson hier, um den Iren zu treffen." (Viktor Svensson, here to meet the Irishman.)

In the note Arno had found in Svensson's personal effects, it mentioned that the Network was being controlled by a high ranking Templar nick-named "The Irishman." Arno had no idea why he'd earned that monicker because there had been no reports of an Irish Templar anywhere in Germany.

The doorman grunted and let him in. They walked down a long, narrow hallway. It was dark and gloomy and Arno became more and more suspicious the farther the doorman led him. He attempted lines he had rehearsed in German the day before.

"Was kannst du mir von den Iren erzählen?" (What can you tell me about the Irishman?)

The doorman replied in perfect German. "Ich weiß nicht, er ist vor einigen Tagen angekommen und wird uns nichts sagen."

Arno did not reply because he had no idea what the man said. They walked several more feet until the hallway opened up into a large room with several people standing around a well-lit table. Arno didn't recognize any of them and assumed these were the Templars who ran the network in Germany.

The Templar at the head of the table waved the doorman away. "Leave us." he said in a thick Irish accent.

The doorman turned and left, leaving Arno alone in a room full of ruthless Templars and nothing but a hidden blade for protection. The Irishman's face was illuminated by a single candle that rested on the table. He had graying black hair pulled into a tight ponytail and stark features that were well weathered and creased, he was in his mid-sixties at the least.

"You're the one they call Irishman?" Arno asked in a falsified Swedish accent.

"Aye." the Irishman said. "This is my son Iolar."

The Irishman pointed to one of the men. He was much much younger. Younger than Arno, not even twenty years old.

"And what is your name, sir?" asked Arno.

The Irishman sighed. "I'm not one to hand out names, but you're one of us, nonetheless. I am Shay Cormac."

/

October 27th, 2017

New York City, New York

Kristoff once again exited his Animus console and wrote down the new information that he had gathered from the memories. The disappearance of one Viktor Svensson in Berlin was solved as well as the ringleader of the Templar Network. He glanced around at his co-workers. They had their Animus glasses and headphones on. They wouldn't be able to hear what he said, or if he left.

He combed once again through the files for any mention of Shay Cormac. Within moments he found it. Propaganda mostly.

"Shay Patrick Cormac, born in 1731 in New York to two Irish immigrants. When Shay was 17 years old, he was indoctrinated by the insidious Assassin Brotherhood. After a disastrous earthquake in Lisbon in 1755 that was caused by the Assassins tampering with a Precursor Artifact, Shay left the wretched order and joined the Templars."

"Along with heroes such as Haytham Kenway and George Monro, Shay Cormac recovered several Precursor Artifacts in his lifetime. His most notable feat was the assassination of an Assassin leader in Versailles, France in 1776 named Charles Dorian."

Kristoff didn't need any more files to figure out who Charles Dorian was. The dates matched up perfectly. Arno was born in 1768 and Charles died eight years later. So in 1796, Arno was literally inches away from his father's killer and didn't even know it. He kept reading the file.

"The last recorded sighting of Shay Cormac was in 1779, when his son; Iolar, was born. There is no recorded date of this legendary Templar's death."

Kristoff leaned back in his chair and sighed. "This just gets worse and worse."

Suddenly, he heard the familiar sound of an Animus powering down. He turned and saw Edmund standing up from his desk in a daze.

"What's going on?" Kristoff asked.

"Dude, I just saw the weirdest thing. The guy I've been following, Haytham. He was introduced to some weird cult-like thing in 1744 called the Templars. They mention some deity called the Father of Understanding several times. Like, I think they worship him, whoever he is."

Kristoff feigned surprise. "That's… really weird."

"Yeah. Oh, and Ingrid told me about how Ragnar Lodbrok fought with a blade protruding from his wrist. It matches the description of several people Haytham fought over the years, including a native man in 1781."

"Hmm."

Edmund crossed his arms. "It makes me wonder. Why does Abstergo want us looking into people throughout history who match descriptions of each other. Like, my weird cultists and Ingrid's crazy Viking leader. Don't even get me started on the weird shit Oyovo has seen."

Edmund and Kristoff looked over at Oyovo and his Animus. Oyovo was hunched over, he almost looked unconscious.

"I don't know man, something really weird is going on here." Edmund said after a moment of quiet.

/

Dr. Salen watched Edmund and Kristoff converse from his office through the hidden security camera. He had audio and heard everything they were saying.

"I don't know man, something really weird is going on here." Mr. Sully said.

Dr. Salen's assistant, Moira came in and saw what he was looking at. "Brother's Project is on track?"

Dr. Salen grunted. "Some of them are getting too big for their boots. We can't risk Mr. Sully asking too many questions or worse, getting his hands on files he shouldn't see. The Board of Directors would be most displeased."

"What about the-?" asked Moira.

"The Bleeding Effect is taking hold, yes. The subliminal white-noise we're feeding through the headphones is working nicely. Mr. Chapunde there is the most affected so far. In a matter of days, he'll be a trained warrior just like Takkar." said Salen.

"Bjorgdenn and Schultz are following the memories of Assassins. They could become a risk if the Bleeding Effect takes them."

"No, we'll make sure that doesn't happen. Chalk it up to Assassin propaganda, Moira."

Moira smiled and nodded. "Yes, Dr. Salen." she turned and walked out of his office.

Dr. Salen returned to watching the monitor. Edmund Sully had left the studio and in the corner of the screen, he could see Kristoff looking at something on his computer. The glare of the camera made the screen completely white and impossible to see what he was looking at."

Dr. Salen turned on the intercom. "Hargrave?" he said into it.

A crackling voice answered from the intercom. "Yes, Dr. Salen?"

"Bring up the file history of Kristoff Schultz, please?" he said.

There was a brief pause, then Hargrave replied. "Nothing, sir. It was wiped as if he'd never been on the computer."

"Is that possible?"

"Shouldn't be."

Dr. Salen turned off the intercom and stared at Kristoff. What was that man looking at?