Assassin in the Void
By psychored1911
Disclaimer: I do not own Assassin's Creed or Familiar of Zero
Chapter 8: revelation from both sides
Late that night
Saito picked up a nearby flower vase and threw it at Louise's head, knocking her unconscious.
*CRASH!*
Louise collapsed as Kirche and Tabitha ran back inside the room. Strangely enough, Guiche didn't rush back inside, presumably too preoccupied with his crush on Princess Henrietta.
Kirche and Tabitha looked at Saito, an expression that might as well have said "what the hell?" on their faces.
"… Okay, let's face it; she had that coming to her." Saito shrugged calmly.
Kirche shook her head; though the sight of an unconscious Louise was completely hilarious, it was still quite cruel of him "Really?"
Saito took out a pencil and a piece of paper "Well, here's how I see it; if Louise and Guiche came along with us, not only would they jeopardize the mission, they would probably ruin the trip for you guys. Do you really want them to come with you?"
Kirche and Tabitha paused, staring at each other. He did have a good point on the matter.
"I'll take your silence as "point taken"." Saito, in a rare act of common courtesy, jotted down a quick note explaining his actions "I'll meet you guys in the courtyard once you're done." With that, he walked over to the window and leapt out.
A couple minutes later, in the courtyard
Saito quietly read a map of Halkenginia to himself. He pointed at one of the port towns on the map; La Rochelle. "This port town seems like the closest to the academy; we should take this route." He looked up; Kirche and Tabitha walked over to him "You guys ready? We're heading towards La Rochelle. Hold on, I'll go get the horses."
"No need," Tabitha whistled, calling forth her familiar, Sylphid "We'll use this."
"She's right," Kirche added "A wind dragon is much faster than any horse could hope to achieve." She and Tabitha got on Sylphid's back.
Saito looked at Sylphid, then back at Kirche and Tabitha "If you guys say so…" he reluctantly got on Sylphid's back as they headed towards the port town of La Rochelle.
Hours later
Getting to La Rochelle from the academy, on average, would normally take 2-3 days at least, but with a wind dragon, the trip took only a fraction of the time, with them arriving at the town only minutes after sunrise.
"Guys, wake up." Saito woke up Kirche and Tabitha, who had fallen asleep on Sylphid's back "We're here." He got off Sylphid and looked around; the port town of La Rochelle looked more like a mountainous settlement rather than a coastal settlement. Yet, the town had an influx of people coming and going. How a place such as this was known as a port town was a mystery to him. He then looked up towards the north; a huge tree, about the size of one of Abstergo's skyscrapers stood in the distance. From what he could see, there were floating ships docked across its many branches, though from that distance he could barely distinguish them as fruit. 'Okay, now I have seen everything.' He motioned to Kirche and Tabitha "come on; we're heading to the harbor."
"What's the rush?" Kirche stretched her limbs, inadvertently showing off her figure to the staring passerby "Everyone knows that Albion is closest to the mainland when the two moons overlap; which is in three days."
Saito gave a confused look "You make it sound like Albion is in the sky rather than in the sea."
"It is; it's quite common knowledge that Albion is known as "The Floating Island"." Kirche said matter-of-factly.
Saito shook his head; this world was too confusing for him "Look, we can either go now and save ourselves the trouble, or we can wait for three days and have Louise and Guiche catch up to us and hear them whine and complain for the rest of the trip. It's your call."
Kirche and Tabitha looked at each other. Saito did have a point; hearing Louise and Guiche whine would probably spoil their entire experience. "Okay, we'll have it your way. Let's go."
A few hours later, at the harbor
Saito, Kirche and Tabitha approached the harbormaster. The harbormaster looked at the group "Ah, how could I help you, young travelers?"
"We want tickets to the next ship to Albion." Saito told him.
A humored look grew on the harbormaster's face "Ha! You must be in jest! Everyone knows that the White Country is closest to Tristain when the two moons overlap. No ship has been scheduled to go to Albion today. The earliest I could get your group to Albion is within three days."
"I don't have three days." Saito frowned.
The harbormaster sighed; noticing the frustrated tone in Saito's voice. "Look, you look like a nice…" he acknowledged the weapons on Saito's person "albeit dangerous young man. Now, I don't want to get on your bad side, but there are no ships that are going to take you to Albion. Unless you can find a wind mage who is at least of triangle class right now, no ships has enough power to get to Albion."
Tabitha stepped up "Allow me…"
"Of course, Tabitha is a triangle wind class mage!" Kirche exclaimed. "She can totally get us to Albion with her abilities."
Saito hid a smile under his hood "With that settled, we'll take three tickets to Albion, plus a cargo hold for the dragon." He pointed at Tabitha's familiar, which was quietly standing behind him.
"I will make sure that you and your familiar are to be accommodated for." The harbormaster tipped his hat "Give me a moment." He walked up the staircase spiraling up the "harbor". Within minutes, the harbormaster came back, holding three tickets and a cargo hold claim. "Here are your tickets and a claim to a space in the cargo hold. You are to board the Marie Galante within one hour. I bid you all a good trip." He gave the group a brief nod before going along with his business.
The three then walked up the stairs and approached the captain of the Marie Galante. "Ah, you must be the noble brats that got us to speed up our schedule to go to Albion." The captain said, clearly annoyed "Because of your bloody joyride, a shitload of my contracts just been terminated. You're all lucky that we were supposed to go there in the first place; otherwise, you'd be ruining even more of my contracts."
Saito rolled his eyes "well sorry about the inconvenience…"
"Well, at least one of you has the audacity to apologize." The captain spat "Come on, I'll show you to your rooms." He showed the group to their cabins, and then helped Tabitha bring Sylphid to the animal pen in storage.
As Tabitha brought Sylphid to the pen, Sylphid suddenly had recoiled from one of the crates stacked on the other side of the storage. "Whoa…" Tabitha calmed down her familiar as she led her into the pen.
Saito observed how Sylphid reacted "What's in that cargo?"
"There's only some sort of exotic flower that is only found in Tarbes." The captain told him "There shouldn't be anything that could offend a wind dragon like that."
Letting the idea go to rest, Saito, Kirche, and Tabitha went back to their cabin. Saito sat on the floor, spotting a chess set on the other side of the room "Well, seeing as though we're going to be here for a while… anyone know how to play chess?"
The next day
It had been a day since the Marie Galante had departed. Since then, Saito and Tabitha had been competing against each other in several games of chess, with Kirche acting as a spectator/referee. It had been tied between them 49-49. Kirche would have played, but after seeing the two of them go through 98 games within the period of a single day, she guessed she would be no match for either of them and instead decided to watch from the sidelines.
*BANG!*
Suddenly, cannon fire rung throughout the air. The voices of the crew had started to yell as the sounds of frantic footsteps rumbled the ship.
Saito stood up in alarm "what the hell's going on here?"
As he was distracted, Tabitha snuck in an extra turn and maneuvered her knight, placing it next to Saito's king "checkmate."
Saito's eyes darted back to the chessboard "What the-" he saw his king surrounded by Tabitha's knight and bishop "Oh son of a-" he shook his head "You know what, never mind." He ran out of the cabin and onto the deck. He found the captain "I want to know what the hell is going on around here!"
The captain gritted his teeth before pointing at a ship in the distance "Take a look for yourself!"
The ship in the distance was much larger than the Marie Galante. Cannons jutting out of the portside, painted black, and without any types of flag, Saito could tell that it was most likely a pirate ship.
*BANG!*
"Hit the deck!" Saito and the crew had ducked a second before a cannonball flew over their heads. Getting back up, the opposing ship had raised a four colored flag.
"Tch, they want us to surrender…" the captain grumbled as Saito disappeared below deck. Their ship was far from unarmed, but the opposing "Okay men, stop the ship."
Hours after that, aboard the Eagle
Almost effortlessly, the pirates have captured the Marie Galante. They took all of the cargo (and by extension, Sylphid) and captured Kirche and Tabitha, taking away their wands in the process. Other than that, they had left the Marie Galante alone. Saito hasn't been seen since the pirates have shown up.
Another day has passed since the pirates had captured the Marie Galante. All was quiet throughout the warship.
*rumble*
However, down below the cargo hold, one of the cargo crates started to rumble. One of the pirates, who were watching over the cargo, walked over to the rumbling crate. "What the hell?"
*rumble, rumble*
The crate started to rumble much more violently. Panicking, the pirate readied his boarding axe and slowly approached the crate, putting his hand on the lid.
As soon as he opened up the crate, Saito emerged from within, grabbed the pirate, and dragged him within.
*WHACK!*
Saito leapt out of the crate, dusting himself off "well that was particularly easy." He glanced at the cargo; "but still, what are these doing here?" he said as he picked up what looked like a beautiful, pink flower native to Japan. "If Halkenginia is based on Renaissance Europe, then Sakura (cherry blossoms) shouldn't even exist in this area." He took note of the crate's labels, it read:
ERUDITO SHIPPING & MANUFACTURING COMPANY
PRECIOUS CARGO
FRAGILE: handle with care
UNPACK CAREFULLY
CAUTION: do not use magic
SHIP FROM: Tarbes
SHIP TO: Newcastle
EXPRESS SHIPPING
Including that crate, there were seven crates that had this label. Whoever sent these flowers must have really wanted them to go to Newcastle, and fast. But the question is, why? As far as Saito knew, Sakura were nothing more than harmless flowers. For them to be labeled precious cargo means that these kinds of flowers are very rare and valuable in Halkenginia.
He then remembered something from earlier. Taking the flower, Saito walked over to the other end of the cargo hold and presented the flower to Sylphid, who was taken along with the rest of the cargo and placed in a special holding cell.
"Gao!" Sylphid sniffed the flower before gently biting it, slowly eating it out of Saito's hand.
"…Kimyōna (strange)…" Saito muttered after wiping his hand clean. He clearly remembered two days ago, Sylphid was definitely offended by something that was in one of those crates. If it wasn't the flowers, then what was it?
Saito shook his head; now was not the time to delve into another mystery at the moment. He needed to find his friends. He put the investigation on hold as he pulled out the unconscious pirate's body from the first crate and dragged him towards a dark corner of the room.
A couple minutes later
Saito, now disguised as a pirate, walked around the ship, looking for anything that could come in handy. Going down one floor of the ship, he found Kirche and Tabitha, locked up in one of the jail cells. He put his back to the cell and whispered quietly. "Psst… guys…"
Kirche looked up "Darling? Is that you?"
Saito ignored the question "How are things on your end?"
"Well, if you hadn't noticed, we're kind of locked up." Kirche said bluntly.
Saito got on one knee and checked the lock; not only did the locking mechanism for the cell look extremely complex, it was too small for him to pick at with his hidden blades. "Do you guys know where the key is?"
"I think I saw the captain holding the key." Kirche told him.
Saito stood up "Hold on, I'll be right back." Warily checking his surroundings, he slowly walked away.
That was easier said than done; the ship seemed much larger on the inside than on the outside, it was more of a maze rather than a ship. However, he also had observed that the ship was too neat and clean to be considered a pirate ship. He also has noticed whenever he passed by any other pirates, that they were also wearing crude disguises as well, likely hiding well preserved features. If he didn't know any better, he would have thought that this ship would still be part of a Royal Navy.
Eventually, after going up two floors, Saito found the captain's quarters at the rear end of the ship. Quietly opening it, he entered the room. Looking around for the key, he looked at the wall and stopped cold in his tracks.
"No fucking way…"
Decorating the wall as a coat of arms, hung an emblem of the Assassin Order.
"It… it can't be…"
Forgetting his earlier task at hand, he approached the emblem and took it off the wall "What the hell is this doing here?" he couldn't believe that the Assassin Order exists here. Since he has arrived at this world, he never realized the fact that the Assassin Order might have also existed here as well as the Templars. Sure, he had found evidence of them existing in this world, but they were only individuals who died probably only days after they had arrived. Could there have been a possibility that an Assassin individual would have survived, and possibly established the Order in Halkenginia?
As he contemplated the possibilities, he heard footsteps coming from the hallway.
"Repeat what you're saying trainee; what exactly happened again?" a female voice said.
"I found Corinth below the cargo deck, unconscious and his clothing missing." Another voice, this time the voice of a young man, told the young woman.
"That's certainly-" the young woman paused "Hold on, there's someone in your office." The sound of a pistol being drawn was heard.
*SLAM!*
The woman kicked the door open, shortly followed by a young man. The woman looked like he was in her mid to late 20's, had short, light brown hair, wore a rugged white, black and blue hooded uniform and brandished a Gallian coat pistol. Her companion, who looked only a couple years older than Saito, had blonde hair sticking out of a black wig, wore a rugged captain's uniform and brandished a wand. What surprised Saito was that both of them spoke in perfect English, but that was probably because Albion correlated with England, as Tristain did with Belgium. But, it surprised him more was that both of them wore the Emblem of the Assassin Brotherhood.
The woman pulled back the hammers of her pistol "Who are you? What are you doing here?"
The young man gently nudged his companion "Hey, that guy's wearing Corinth's clothes."
The woman glared at her companion "Wales, now is not the time." She then shifted her attention back to Saito "Now, remove that uniform and keep your hands where I can see them!"
Saito stared at them with his other eyes; both of them were highlighted bright blue. There truly were Assassins before him. He smiled gently, simply shrugging "All right." He set down the emblem before slowly removing the pirate uniform, revealing his modern-esque attire.
The woman's gaze slowly lowered to the insignias adorned on Saito's bracers "hold up." She made Saito stop "That insignia, why do you wear it?" she glared at the young assassin.
"Well, it only represents the beliefs that I was raised to live by ever since I was born." Saito declared without reserve.
The young man, who Saito immediately assumed was Wales, tapped his senior on the shoulder "I think that this guy may be one of us."
"I'll be the judge of that." The woman kept her pistol trained at Saito "If you really were raised around that symbol, then you were taught a simple creed. Recite that creed."
"Sounds fair enough," Saito pulled back his ring finger and took a deep breath "The Creed states that nothing is true, everything is permitted."
With those words chanted out of Saito's mouth, the woman slowly holstered her pistol "Stand down Wales, this kid is one of us." She offered her hand to Saito as Wales put away his wand "Sorry about that, I had to make sure you were amongst our ranks. I'm Master Assassin Freya Ellicott, and the recruit over there is Prince Wales Tudor of Albion."
"Wait a minute," Saito pointed at Wales "You're telling me that recruit over there is the crown prince of Albion?"
Wales shrugged "long story, and your name is?"
"Right, forgot to introduce myself," the Japanese assassin presented his hand "The name's Saito Hiraga. I'm from the Nihonjin (Japanese) branch of the Brotherhood."
Freya and Wales looked at each other before asking "Where is that?"
"Um, how do I explain this in a way that you two will understand?" he removed his hood and scratched his pitch black hair. After a deep breath, he explained to the two Assassins how he was from the original Assassin Order, how he had gotten to Halkenginia, and every event that had transpired ever since.
Wales was at a complete loss, but Freya nodded, sort of understanding him "So, you are saying that you are from the original Assassin Order, which was formed in a land beyond Halkenginia, and that you have been sent here due to unforeseen circumstances, correct?"
"That is correct, Master Assassin." Saito said respectfully.
"Funny story of yours, kid;" Freya snorted "Your story of coming from the original Brotherhood, and coming to Halkenginia due to fate's hand, it is the same exact story that our Mentor had when he established the Halkenginian Assassin Brotherhood."
"I take it you don't believe me?" Saito replied flatly.
"Well, you bear our emblem, know our creed, and know to show respect to a Master Assassin, so you give me no reason not to believe you." Freya slowly sat down on one of the chairs "It's just if I can trust you is the issue."
"Then, I wish to prove my loyalty to the Order to you in the near future." Saito's gaze wandered around for a bit. "Though I'm kind of curious why exactly this branch of the Order is based on a ship,"
Freya sat down on one of the chairs "Well, the Albionese Assassins were doing just fine until the Civil War started. Since the Royalists were known to protect the rights of its commoners, The Assassins backed them up. That's how we met Wales over here." She gestured to Wales, who waved in response "But, Reconquista nearly eradicated the Assassins' influence in Albion; destroying both our bases and our good name. Both the Albionese Assassins and the Royalists are on its last legs; with our last base hidden in Newcastle. It's like Reconquista has a faction that acts behind the scenes, like what the Order has been doing to the Royalists."
Saito thought about it for a moment "Somehow, I think I might know who's working behind the scenes with Reconquista, but I can't confirm it with all the facts I have right now."
*BANG!*
Another large explosion was heard above deck.
Saito jolted to his feet "What's going on now?"
Wales calmed him down "don't worry; that means we must be getting close to Newcastle by now."
"What does getting close to Newcastle have to do with explosions?" Saito yelled.
Wales sweatdropped "Well, I think it would be better if you saw for yourself." He walked over to the porthole and presented a telescope.
Saito took the telescope and looked out the porthole "I still don't see how- What the fuck is that?"
In the distance, a ship more than twice the size of the Eagle ascended through the sky, firing cannonballs onto a castle resting at the edge of Albion.
"That ship is called the Lexington," Wales explained half-heartedly "It was originally called the Royal Sovereign until Reconquista captured it. It's quite a shame; what used to be the pride of Albion's navy, now being used by those rebels to mock us in our helplessness."
As Wales explained this, Saito unconsciously slipped into his other eyes; multiple entities glowed throughout the Lexington, but a small, brilliantly gold sphere his main focus.
"I sense it; they have the piece of Eden hidden away there. Retrieve it my child."
Freya and Wales looked at Saito, who was now staring into blank space "Hey kid, are you okay?" Freya called out, jarring Saito back to reality.
"H-Huh?!" Saito flinched, his sight instantaneously reverting back to normal. "You guys say something?"
"You zoned out for a minute, are you okay?" Wales folded his arms, a worried expression on his face.
Saito shrugged "I guess I have been doing that recently." Another set of unrelated thoughts came back to his head "Oh right, I almost forgot," He faced Wales "First of all, I remember that I had a letter for you," he pulled out the letter from his pocket and handed it to Wales "Read that later by the way, and second; I need the keys for the jail cell; the nobles that you took for ransom are allies; I trust them."
Freya motioned to Wales, who nodded before tossing Saito the keys "If you need me, I will be on deck, telling the navigator to bring us under." He said as he headed for the deck.
Catching the keys, Saito gave a simple bow of respect to Freya before heading for the jail cells, knowing for sure that he is not the only one of his kind in this world anymore.
The following evening
After Saito had released Kirche and Tabitha and made proper introductions to Wales and Freya (sans their role in the Order), the Eagle had sailed underneath the island and had made it to a secret port that connected directly to the castle.
At the underground harbor, the group was greeted by a tall, aged old mage by the name of Paris Chamberlain "Ha, ha! Welcome back Your Highness, and to you too, Miss Ellicott. I infer that you had a wonderful victory?"
"Why yes," Wales motioned to the crew, who brought the cargo down to the harbor. "We got some precious cargo directly from Tarbes." He opened the crates, revealing the beautiful cherry blossom flowers.
"Ah, I remember seeing these beautiful flowers for the first time when I accompanied the old king to Tristain oh so many years ago. It's a shame that things aren't going to be the same anymore."
Saito was still perplexed "I really don't see what the big deal is." He dug his hand into the crate, trying to pick up one of the flowers "I mean, I will admit that they are beautiful, but unless they are rare in Halkenginia, I don't see how they have any solid monetary v- itai (ouch)!" he reflexively drew back his hand, blood dripping out of it. He placed his hand back in the crate before pulling out a Germanian Rondel dagger from its contents. "Wait a minute…" he brushed aside the flowers, revealing a small cache of bladed weapons "someone smuggled some supplies in these crates."
He and the others checked the other boxes: the one that Saito opened had a cache of swords and knives. The second one had a small supply of muzzle loading firearms and ammunition. The third held several brand new wands and staves. And the fourth, fifth and sixth crates held miscellaneous war supplies.
In the last crate, besides the flowers, all that was in there was a delicately wrapped package with a letter tied to it. The letter was addressed to Master Freya Ellicott.
"It's for you," he handed the letter over to Freya.
Freya took the letter and read it to herself. It read:
Master Ellicott,
Here is the shipment that you had ordered one month ago. Forgive us for not assisting earlier; communications with Albion have been poor as of recently since the dawn of the Civil War. We are unable to send any personnel at this time. However, sources have noted that a special individual is approaching Albion. According to the information from the Tristainian Assassin Order, the individual is also an Assassin, and an exceptionally skilled one at that, but he has not yet realized of the Order's presence in Halkenginia, and has been acting alone, yet still upholding the traditions of our Order. Your orders are to get this Assassin to acknowledge the Order's presence. If he truly is an Assassin, he should follow your orders without question. If that is the case, With his skill, he should turn the tide of the civil war. We trust for you to get this done.
Nothing is true, everything is permitted.
The board of the Erudito Shipping & Manufacturing Company
"Heh, I guess the Brotherhood still has faith in this branch." Freya tucked the letter into her pocket before picking up one of the sakura flowers. The sakura flowers, as the Mentor had called them, in their relatively brief history in Halkenginia, have been known as signs that history is going to change for the better. These changes, unknown to most, have always been linked to the Halkenginian Assassins.
"Wait a minute," Saito pulled Freya over to the side "How do they know of me?"
"The eyes of the Assassin Order are everywhere. That should be something you should already know."
"Alright then," Another question popped into Saito's head "So is this Erudito company a part of our… uh… faction?"
"Yes, the Company was created about five years after the Mentor established the Order in Halkenginia, which was 54 years ago. The company has been used as both a source of income and as a cover for the Halkenginian Assassins for as long as I could remember." Freya told him.
"Okay then," Saito glanced at the package in his hands "So what is in this package? Why did they send you this?"
Freya took the package from him "I'll issue it to you later, for now we should join the rest of the group." She said as the two walked back to the group.
A bit later, In Newcastle Manor
The group was welcomed into the Newcastle Manor with open arms. Kirche and Tabitha were treated as special guests within the Manor and were treated to a feast with the remaining Royalists.
Saito followed Freya and Wales to a small office next to the kitchen room "So, where are the rest of the Assassins?" he asked.
Freya gestured to both him and Wales "We're all that's left; the rest of Albion's Assassins have either been killed or captured and transferred to the Lexington."
Saito activated his hidden blades before retracting them "If that's the case, then send me on a rescue mission."
Freya's eyes widened "Excuse me?"
"Send me on a rescue mission. Let me rescue the Assassins imprisoned in the Lexington, It will be my first official mission from the Order in a long time." Saito eagerly smiled.
Wales looked at Freya, obviously concerned "He's not serious, is he?"
"You do realize sending a single person to a battleship filled with hostiles is a suicide mission, right?" Freya will admit the kid had guts, but that idea of his was insane. "If they find someone trying to free them, they will capture you and have all of them killed, assuming that they aren't already dead in the first place. As a Master Assassin, I cannot compromise the Brotherhood."
Saito sighed. He had to take a different approach to this matter. "Look, the Assassins exist to create peace in all things. Reconquista only wants power and will stop at nothing to get it. You have seen what they done to the royalists, to other Assassins, to our brothers. They take our brothers, and you choose to stand here and do nothing? Our brothers are dying while those who are guilty of these crimes are laughing at us. When faced with a challenge, we don't hide; we show them what it truly means to cross the Assassins!"
"…" Freya contemplated her choices for a moment "Alright, I'll authorize the mission. You are only permitted to go in, rescue as many Assassins as you can, then get out. You must do so while corresponding with our Creed. Do you accept this mission?"
Saito saluted his senior-in-arms "I accept."
Freya smiled; if this kid showed the spirit of the original Assassin Order, then the Halkenginian Assassin Order has some good roots to follow. "hold on," she took out the package and opened it, revealing a seal adorned with the Assassin Emblem. "Here, this is an Assassin Order seal, only given to the Assassins that have completed their training and became full-fledged Assassins. The Board's spies must have observed that you were highly qualified if they wanted me to give this to you." She placed the seal into Saito's hands "This seal not only identifies you as one of us, but it can create a shield around its wearer, protecting it from harm. However, its properties also make it occasionally disrupt magical patterns, but fortunately, it only does so on the will of its user, so if you don't want it to negate magic, then it won't, and vice versa."
Saito took the seal and observed it. Not only did this officially make him a Halkenginian Assassin, but it also selectively negated magic as well. He smiled; this was sure to come in handy in the future. He attached the pin to his right shoulder "I won't let you down, Master Assassin!"
Minutes later, directly outside the Lexington
Saito and Wales stood at the edge of Newcastle, with the Great Lexington before them. "Remind me how you are going to get me onto the ship."
"I am going to send you up there with a levitation spell, where you will enter the ship through one of the cannon ports." Wales said simply. "Hopefully, they don't fire their cannons when you start climbing."
Saito gave a quick nod "just making sure," he said as he leapt off the edge as Wales chanted a levitation spell, levitating the young Assassin gently towards the ship.
As soon as he entered arm's reach, Saito grabbed onto the edge of the cannon port as Wales stopped chanting. Climbing through the cannon port, Saito gave Wales a thumbs-up, signaling for him to retreat.
"Okay, now for the hard part," Saito ducked behind a powder keg and reached for his USP, "Dokkoi (hold on)," if he uses a firearm, even a suppressed one, in a place like this, he might cause something to explode with a stray bullet. Instead, he slowly reached for a nearby sleeping rat and tossed it into a chink in a nearby guard's armor.
*Squeak! Squeak!* the rat woke up, went through the chink and started crawling throughout the unfortunate guard's armor.
"What the- Ah! AHH!" the guard started to squirm in panic, desperately trying to get the rat out. This sudden outburst of his attracted the attention of the rest of the patrols, allowing Saito to sneak towards the staircase undetected.
'Well that was easy,' Saito thought to himself as he walked down the staircase, finding himself now in the cellar 'This must be where they are holding the prisoners,' Saito deduced. Ever so quietly he sneaked into the cellar. He took note that the prisoners were divided. On one side the prisoners were wearing damaged, hooded uniforms. These were the Assassins who were taken in for interrogation. On the other side, the prisoners wore tattered military uniforms. These were the Royalists who had refused to give in to Reconquista's demands.
He walked over to the cells, kneeling down "Brothers, Assassins, Royalists, lend me your ears." He said gently, getting the attention of all the prisoners.
"What the- who are you?" one of the Royalists asked.
One of the Assassins noticed the emblem on Saito's bracers "You're one of us?! Which branch are you from?"
"I am one of you; I will explain everything once I get you out of here." Saito got up and checked the lock; still too small and complex for his hidden blades "Do any of you know where the keys are?"
"The keys are supposed to be in the captain's room." One of the imprisoned Royalists told him "If you cut across the cargo bay, you can get there faster."
"My thanks," Saito thanked the Royalist before he headed for the door.
Before he left, one of the Assassins called out to him "Be wary, brother!" he warned "The crew of this accursed ship; they do not look like it now, but they were never one of them! They were once our brothers in arms, but some sort of unholy magic possessed them! They only threw us, the finest of our coalitions, in these cells just to make an example towards Reconquista's enemies; the rest were enslaved upon this ship. Be careful!"
Saito gave a quick nod, "I'll keep my guard up." And with that, he left the cell room.
Evading the guards, Saito slowly made his way towards the cargo bay. As soon as he got there, something in the corner of his eye made him stop in his tracks "wait a minute…" he turned to his right; at least twelve intermodal containers bearing the logo of Abstergo Industries were stacked orderly onto the right-hand corner. And, judging by the state the containers, they had been just moved here recently.
Walking over to the stack of containers, Saito picked up a clipboard that was carelessly left next to one of them. It read:
Echo Team,
The following serial numbers lists the equipment that Command has requested to be stored in the Battleship Lexington for the usage & distribution to all teams stationed in Albion should their supply reserves run low. The serial numbers in Bold represent very important equipment. Please note that although the equipment bestowed upon your team is only a small fraction of what Abstergo Industries can offer, we would like to remind you that in this world our resources are very limited, so we ask of you to handle our products with care and use consumables sparingly.
Note: supplies have been internally organized and segregated into crates within the containers. Please do not carelessly disorganize the equipment.
The equipment is as follows:
03-0310: Herne+ food supplements
03-0324: pharmaceutical chemicals/ingredients
03-0332: medical & first aid equipment
03-0358: hospital grade medicines
02-0212: armaments for Abstergo operatives
02-0246: munitions & firearm attachments
02-0279: riot armor, gas masks & less-lethal armaments
01-0101: solar energy generators
01-0125: observational equipment
01-0162: spare parts and repair tools
01-0179: Animus model 1.18
00-0001: equipment & armaments retrieved in Assassin Compounds
00-0072: P.O.E*
*asterisk notes extremely important article which must be kept under constant 24 hour supervision of the team leader only.
Further documentation and information has been issued to the team leader. Standby until further orders.
May the Father of Understanding guide you.
Operations, New World division of Abstergo Industries.
Saito set the clipboard back on the desk, hiding a shocked expression under his hood. It was true; the Templars' reach has even extended to Halkenginia. And that's not all, if all the equipment he saw before him is only a "small fraction" of what they truly have in Halkenginia, then even here they are a force to be reckoned with. What's more, this also confirmed his fears; the Apple of Eden has also been hidden here. At that moment, he realized that the cargo bay was completely void of other patrols. Grinning deviously, he nonchalantly swung open the crate labeled "02-0212".
His eyes widened; the container held multiple wooden crates all filled with assorted military-grade weapons. In one crate, he found a large shipment of Heckler and Koch Mark 23 handguns. In another, he found several Colt M4A1 assault rifles. There were plenty of other types of guns, but it would take him too much time to check them all.
"Man, they armed their operatives to the teeth." Saito thought as he picked up an M4A1 and an Mk.23 from within its contents. He then walked towards the container labeled "02-0246", swung it open, and swiped at least eight magazines for each gun and 2 boxes of ammunition for his other guns. After taking the extra ammo, Saito took a suppressor and laser aiming module for the MK.23 and a suppressor, forward handgrip, laser sight and ACOG sight for the M4A1.
"Alright, I guess that's enough looting for today," Saito said dejectedly as he applied the accessories to his new guns. As much as he wanted to so some more looting, he still had a job to do. That and it would be too heavy for him if he kept anything else. He closed the two crates before going on his way.
Later
After minutes of searching, Saito found the captain's room. He activated his hidden blades and prepared to breach the room.
*This is Command. Echo leader, status report; over.* a voice said through a radio.
Saito stopped himself from reaching the doorknob.
"This is Echo Leader, over." Another voice, presumably Echo leader, answered. "There is not much to report in, although somehow a rat had gotten into the armor of-"
"*I don't care about that. What is the status of our operatives?*
"You mean the rest of Echo team? Don't worry; they should be resting up quite nicely. There haven't been any casualties to report." Echo leader reported.
*And the P.O.E.?*
"It's in my hands as we speak." Echo leader observed the Apple of Eden in his hands "I don't know why you want me to hold onto it though,"
*You must be joking. If that power- hungry fool Cromwell knows what the P.O.E. can truly do, he will stop at nothing to get his hands on it. It's better to keep that pawn in the dark, with it out of his reach.*
"Alright, alright," Echo leader calmed down his superior "What do you want me to do?"
*Just continue converting these foolish Assassins and Royalists to our cause. I will come personally to retrieve it within 4 hours. May the Father of Understanding guide you.*
*click!*
*static…*
Echo leader put away his radio. "Well, I guess I should check on the other operatives." He set the Apple into a hidden compartment in the desk before heading for the door. As he went through the doorway, Saito caught the Templar by surprise and pounced.
*SHTLINK!*
Saito drove both hidden blades into the Templar's chest, and forcefully pushed him to the ground. Retracting them, he then drew both his Mk.23 and his USP, aiming both handguns at him "Tell me how you bastards got to this world!" Saito demanded.
Echo leader just stared at Saito in shock, coughing up some blood as he did "Whether it's here or on Earth, you Assassins always have to meddle in our plans, do you?"
"Tell me what I want to know!" Saito roared "Neither my faction nor yours should even exist here!"
The Templar laughed weakly before coughing up some more blood "H… have you ever noticed that at any given place or time, a person or object disappears off the face of the earth. Abstergo Industries' research division showed that this was no mere coincidence. Whenever this phenomenon occurs, a unique electromagnetic frequency appears in the very last seconds that these objects exist in our world. They had theorized that this frequency opened up a wormhole that briefly led to another universe; this universe in fact. This hypothesis was made even more prominent when a member of Upper Management, Master Sheffield, had vanished into thin air when this electromagnetic frequency appeared in the research facility in the year 2000."
"That doesn't tell me what you are doing here." Saito stomped on the dying Templar.
Echo leader cringed as he coughed up even more blood "O… our research has observed that this frequency's presence is at its greatest during an eclipse, at the eclipse of 2002 we had released a UAV into the air that day, and it had disappeared with the solar eclipse-"
"Get to the fucking point!" at this point, Saito fired a warning shot with his Mk.23, barely missing the Templar's head.
Echo leader, though dying at the scene, grew annoyed at the young Assassin's impatience "W… what I am trying to say is at the next eclipse, the UAV came back, bringing us pictures of this new frontier! Abstergo Industries has just discovered a whole new universe! In response, after four years of preparation, Upper Management arranged several planes full of cargo and personnel and ordered us to set up connections and trade between Abstergo and the New World. Think about it; untapped resources, unpolluted nature, unknown flora and fauna just waiting to be discovered! Do you know the possibilities a new world could for us! This new frontier could have been Abstergo Industries' gift to planet Earth!"
"And all it would have cost was the free will of the ones who were here before." Saito altercated.
"No… t… that wasn't our plan…" Echo leader coughed more blood than he already had "We wanted to make deals with the natives of this world, but they wouldn't listen to reason! When we had found Master Sheffield again, she told us that they wanted to destroy each other just for the sake of power. She wanted us to save them! And the only way for us to save them was for us to unite them! I… if we didn't unite them, they were going to lead themselves to destruction. Y… you Assassins believe that you are doing the right thing, thinking that we just want the power to ourselves… but all you have done is brought more c… chaos…."
Saito stared at the Templar's corpse, holstering his two handguns "The cause of peace is always noble, but your means of control will only lead to more suffering." He closed the Templar's eyes "Yasurakani nemure (rest in peace)." Saito searched the body, taking a radio, a machete, another Mk. 23, two more magazines and a classified file off the body before he picked it up and tossed it out the porthole. From prior knowledge, he knows that all Master Templars had a chip in them that allowed the Inner Sanctum to track their movements. Even with the lack of technology in this world, he couldn't take any chances.
Cleaning his hands, Saito checked the captain's desk, pulling out the Apple from a secret compartment.
The Apple of Eden, well, that was what the reports called it, was like the staff in the Academy vault; it emitted an eerie glow and looked metallic, but was warm and soft to the touch, like touching a living human's flesh. He held it in his left hand while reading the classified file in his right "The Apple of Eden has the power to control the minds of humans and conjure illusions. Those with a weak will who use it shall be driven to insanity." He read to himself. He casually tossed the file away. He had to be careful when using the Apple.
'They never were one of them!' the older Assassin's words echoed in Saito's mind as he raised the Apple skyward.
"I command you… all of you… BE FREE ONCE MORE!"
A wave of divine light pulsed from the Apple, enveloping the whole of the Lexington. Every crew member, all of whom were originally under the Apple's control, was finally released from its spell. They crumpled down to the ground, only to come back to their senses minutes later.
"What just happened?"
"What the fuck have I done?"
"I can't believe I done so many atrocities!"
"I have shamed my family with my actions!"
"My ancestors would roll in their graves if they saw how I acted!"
"We're finally free of that unholy magic!"
They ripped off the seals of Reconquista adorned on their uniforms, replacing them either with the seal of the Albion Royalists or the emblem of the Assassin Order. With their sense of duty returning to them, a handful of them freed the remaining Assassin and Royalist prisoners they had held on the Lexington, no, The Royal Sovereign, for so many moons. The rest, they had run off towards the ones who had imprisoned them in the great warship in the first place.
In one of the Cabin rooms
The Abstergo team assigned to the Lexington, Echo team, was relaxing in one of the cabin rooms.
One of the operatives noticed something was up "Is it me, or did the crew just get loud all of a sudden?"
"Yeah, I noticed it too," another operative mentioned.
"And shouldn't the commander be here by now? A third mentioned.
A fourth member stood up "Something's definitely wrong," he picked up an M4A1 and went over to the door.
*CRASH!*
An Assassin, followed by some Royalists and other Assassins, kicked down the wooden door, weapons drawn "Where do you think you're going?" They all grinned maliciously.
*SHTLINK!*
"Ow, Ow, Ow-"
*BANG!*
"Son of a-"
*SWISH-SWISH!*
"Not the face-"
*WHACK!*
"My leg-"
*SLAM!*
Back with Saito
Back in the Captain's quarters, deactivated the Apple "that should be it," he tucked the apple into one of his pockets.
As he did this, the old captain Bowood of The Royal Sovereign, entered the room. "I take it that you are the one who freed us all from that unholy spell?" the old captain gave Saito a look that a proud grandparent would give to his grandchildren.
Saito nodded "That's right sir,"
Captain Bowood smiled as he pulled out a document from his overcoat "Then, on behalf of the crew of the Royal Sovereign, I give you this as a token of our thanks, for freeing us from that unholy magic."
Saito took the document and read it to himself. His eyes widened "Wait a minute, this is the deed to this ship!" he exclaimed "What kind of gesture are you getting at?!"
"Keep the ship; I'm getting too old to commandeer a battleship, much less go on with this bloody war." Captain Bowood laughed lightly. "Hell, I was thinking of retiring anyway before the Civil war started anyway!"
"No offense, but I don't know the first thing about commandeering a warship!" Saito argued "Hell, I barely know what's keeping this thing in the sky!"
"Well then," Captain Bowood walked to the door, urging Saito to follow "There's a first time for everything." He walked out as Saito picked up the flag of the Royalists from the desk and followed suit.
Meanwhile, on the outskirts of Newcastle
Using a pair of binoculars, Commander Sheffield, The true leader of Reconquista and member of the Inner Sanctum of the Templar Order, watched in horror as the Lexington was enveloped in the P.O.E.'s light. "Damn it, they have the Apple," she cursed. She pulled out her radio "All Abstergo teams in Albion, report in."
*This is Foxtrot team, reporting in.*
*This is Golf team, reporting in.*
*This is Hotel team, reporting in.*
"The Assassins captured the Apple of Eden. Due to Echo team's unresponsiveness and the usage of the Piece of Eden, it is assumed that they have been eliminated." Sheffield reported "And if I know them correctly, they will use it to end this civil war in one fell swoop. All teams shall now abort from Albion. Retrieve as much equipment as you can and regroup with teams Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, and Delta in Gallia. Standby and await further orders from there."
*Yes ma'am!* all teams reported.
Sheffield put away her radio and glanced as the Lexington, grimacing as the flag of Reconquista was replaced with the flag of the Royalists. The Halkenginian Assassins were much more cunning that she had thought. Reconquista has greatly underestimated their capabilities. If the damned Assassins know of the Apple's nature, then they can use it to put Reconquista down permanently. She can't afford to lose more of her operatives to that stupid Creed. They had to pull out of Albion before they can find any other trace of them.
Retreat wasn't personally her style, but the Order of the Knights Templar had to live on. Recapturing the Apple was too risky of a move at the moment. Right now, she needed to take the ring of Andvari from Cromwell. It may have been obsolete compared to the Pieces of Eden, but it was better than nothing.
She took one last look at the Royal Sovereign "You Assassins may have won the battle, but the true war has only begun."
And with that, she disappeared with the wind.
Concurrently, back in Newcastle Manor
Wales read the letter that Saito had given him earlier, tears in his eyes "So, that's how it is, huh?" Henrietta, his beautiful cousin, was getting married to the Emperor of Germania, and to make sure it goes off without a hitch, he had to return the love letter she wrote to him all those years ago. The very thought of the woman he loved marrying someone who didn't love her back was killing him on the inside. If he could, he would leave his country right now and go to Henrietta's side, but alas, his duty to his country and to his new creed halted any action of doing so. The only thing he could do was to relinquish the letter, or destroy it. In a hidden compartment in his desk, he pulled out a box enclosed with a letter, obviously worn out from being opened over and over again. "I guess this is goodbye, my love…" if he truly loved Henrietta, he had to let go. His heart wrenched as he mentally prepared himself to rip the love letter.
*BOOOM!*
Wales paused "They must be firing at us again," he noted. Putting the letter away, he looked out the window; the Lexington had fired a volley of cannonballs, but for some reason, not at the Manor. Instead, the Lexington was firing into the barren mountains beyond Newcastle's borders. Not to mention that the ship's movements look absolutely shaky; as if they were training a new captain up there.
Wales strained his eyes "Wait a minute…" He pulled out his telescope and looked through it; they were taking down the three-colored flag of Reconquista, slowly replacing it with the seven-feathered flag of the Royalist faction.
"What in founder's name is going on over there?"
The Lexington went into half sail before turning around, flying towards the Manor. It sailed through the skies before it rolled up its sails, gently using the momentum to slowly approach the Manor, coming to a complete stop meters away from the window. The stunt that could've nearly destroyed both the ship and the Manor with one wrong move was surprising enough, but what surprised the Crown prince even more was that Saito, the young Assassin he had met barely a day ago, was assuming command, with Captain Bowood, who had supposedly sided with Reconquista, acting as a first mate.
Suddenly, Master Freya barged into Wales' room "What the hell is the Lexington doing here?"
"I don't know," Wales answered "but for some reason Saito is commanding the ship."
Freya walked over to the window, watching as Saito calmly wave at her "Oh, what the hell did that guy do?"
The Lexington released the gangplank, allowing the prince and the Master assassin to come aboard.
As they entered the ship, they were greeted by surprising sight; the Albionese Assassins and the Royalists, all organized in their respective factions, stood before them on the deck, bowing in respect. From what they can see, there were about 250 Assassins and 750 Royalists who had greeted them as they boarded. And this was only half of their numbers; the others were all busy tending to the ship. To be short, there were approximately 2,000 personnel on the ship, with 500 Assassins and 1,500 Royalists.
"There sure are a lot of Assassins in Albion," Wales commented.
Freya wasn't surprised, though slightly saddened "This is only a fraction of our numbers in Albion." She said, making Wales gasp in surprise "There were plenty throughout that wanted change and rallied to our Mentor's cause. There were about 2,000 Assassins that lived in Albion before the Civil War."
"… Well, I'm sorry about your- our loss…" Wales said sadly. He remembered that the Assassin Order was also his creed now. He still can't believe that this creed is doing so much for him, yet he knows so few of them, with only Saito and Master Freya who he knows by name. He's a new member of this Order, but he only knows so little of their own motives, or their own beliefs.
Freya patted the recruited Prince on the back "Don't dwell on the past, recruit. The Order will always survive, even if all the believers die following it. After the war, we'll focus on rebuilding the Albion branch of the Assassin Order, starting with you. But right now, we have the issue of the "Assassin from the Original brotherhood." " she motioned to Saito, who was manning the ship's wheel.
Saito allowed Captain Bowood to resume command as he walked over to the bewildered prince-turned-Assassin and Master Assassin "Hi there," he bowed in respect "now before you two get mad about me disobeying orders and whatnot, I brought back the crew members back to their respective factions. That and I also got the Royal Sovereign to serve our cause."
"…" Wales did not know what to say about this.
On the other hand, Freya knew what to say "Your job was to free the prisoners, and nothing else, and you do this…" she shook her head "Well, I must admit, you have went far beyond any possible expectations I could have had for you. Technically, not only have you freed the prisoners, you returned everyone to their respective causes and recaptured the Lexington." She sighed "You must have both drove your superiors crazy and made them proud."
"I get that a lot," Saito sweatdropped "Oh right; I need to talk to the two of you in private." Saito went down the gangplank and into Wales' office, shortly followed by Wales and Master Freya.
Saito closed the window and curtains, before turning to the two Assassins. "The Crew members; they were not acting because of their own accord, but because they were possessed," he pulled out the Apple "And they used this to do it."
Wales looked at the Apple "What in founder's name is that?"
"From what the reports say, it's an artifact that has the power of an ancient civilization. This one in particular has been the cause of multiple divine or supernatural incidents throughout the world."
"And how does it do that?" Freya asked.
"…I think it would be easier for me to show you." Saito said as he activated the Apple, allowing them to be enveloped in its light.
Almost immediately, the Apple started projecting all sorts of symbols and images into the air.
Saito deactivated the Apple "This artifact has the ability to control the minds of the weak willed. If your wills weren't as strong as they were, then it would've driven you insane.
"Then wouldn't it be safer if it was destroyed?" Wales asked.
Saito shook his head "Personally, I don't think that's a good idea." He smiled "Besides, I think I might know how to end this civil war once and for all." He whispered the plan into Master Freya's ear.
Freya's eyes widened "That plan sounds so crazy that it just might work."
"So you'll authorize it?"
"Only if you can guarantee your success,"
"Then we'll make you proud, Master Assassin!" Saito declared.
Wales blinked "We? What do you mean "we"?" he asked worriedly.
Saito smiled "Prepare for your first official mission for the Assassin Order, recruit."
Three days later, in Londinium
Cromwell smiled as he walked towards the white hall; the rebellion against the Royalists has been going more smoothly than he had ever hoped. With the Royalists at their last legs in Newcastle, Reconquista will conquer all of Albion within the week. With this in mind, Cromwell gathered the rest of his co-conspirators, the power-hungry generals and ministers that formed Reconquista, on their final assault on Newcastle.
However, there has been some strange occurrences as of recently. His secretary, Sheffield, has mysteriously vanished, and so has the ring of Andvari. Not only that, communications with the Lexington has suddenly ceased. Somehow, while he glanced at his co-conspirators, he looked at the throne where King James, Wales' father, had been sitting the night he was assassinated and felt an eerie sensation.
Suddenly, a messenger barged into the room, interrupting his train of thought "The captain of the Lexington has arrived, my lord. And he captured the prince!"
Almost immediately, Cromwell forgot all of his worries "Well, where are they? Bring before me the Prince and Captain Bowood!"
Meanwhile, in the waiting room
Saito, now dressed in formal naval attire (courtesy of Captain Bowood), adjusted a pair of shackles on Wales' arms "Ready for this, recruit?"
Wales, although shackled, smiled "I am ready for anything that my new Creed can throw at me. Even if things don't go as planned… well, I stopped fearing death a long time ago."
"You're an Assassin now: you do not fear death, you embrace it." Saito said solemnly as he finished adjusting Wales' shackles.
Captain Bowood, who was waiting patiently by the door, urged them to hurry it up "Hurry up, the messenger is arriving!"
The messenger entered the room the instant Saito got back to his feet "Lord Cromwell requests your presence." He led Captain Bowood, Saito, and the shackled Prince Wales into the conference room.
Entering the White Hall, Saito glanced at the treacherous nobles that made up Reconquista. They all were the very definition of the word "Corrupt". They had all the power and respect that they could have ever wanted before they rebelled, but no, they wanted more and more. They assassinated Wales' father, enslaved the populace with their rule, and left only remnants of the Royalists and Assassins alive, only to let them be enslaved or to live out the rest of their lives in imprisoned humiliation. Using his "other eyes", Saito saw all of them glow crimson red. They were never under any control; they had acted upon their own will. Saito could only hide a glare as he and his companions walked towards Cromwell.
Cromwell greeted the sight of Captain Bowood with open arms "Ah, captain, a fine job well done. I will personally see to it that you are promoted to Admiral of the Navy after this fine achievement you have done."
"I thank you for the gesture," Bowood said wearily "But I must decline. I was not the one who had captured the Prince; it was this young man," he motioned to Saito, who merely nodded in response.
"Well then, if that's the case, you are allowed to take your leave." Cromwell motioned for the old captain to leave as he focused on Saito "Tell me, young one, how did you manage to capture the prince?"
"Simple," Saito pulled out the Apple and raised it towards the sky "I used this." He smirked as he activated it.
Almost immediately, as the light that emitted from the Apple touched them, everyone in the room, save for Saito and his companions, stopped moving. Saito had manipulated their movements to barely a standstill. Apple in hand, Saito influenced one of the nearby guards to aim his musket at Cromwell.
"Kami wa anata no tamashī ni jihi o motte iru kamo shiremasen (May god have mercy on your soul)." Those were Saito's only words as he prompted the guard to fire, killing the deceitful leader of Reconquista once and for all.
*BANG!*
Cromwell's body slowly fell to the floor with a thud, dead. Saito then turned towards the immobile nobles that made up Reconquista. They had no regrets when they had killed Wales' father, imprisoned the Albionese Assassins, and took the power for themselves. What's more, they had done so of their own free will. Saito was going to enjoy putting them out of their misery. Making all of the nobles pull out their wands, he made his will become theirs.
"I command you… all of you… DIE!"
With that command, the nobles that made up Reconquista, released spells into the air, ending each and every single last one of their insidious lives. Any unfortunate guard that dared approach Saito also met their untimely death, forced to plunge their blades into their bodies.
Deactivating the apple, he quickly unshackled Wales "Now for the hard part,"
Wales stared at him as he got back to his feet "Wait a minute, going in nearly unarmed into enemy territory, and confronting the majority of people who have us at the top of their hit-list, that was the easy part?"
Saito shrugged "Oh, so you consider confronting an entire city easier than confronting a handful of corrupt old bats?" he said sarcastically.
Wales paused and thought about it for a moment "You have a good point there."
The two walked over to the balcony; directly outside, the citizens of Londinium and 90 percent of Reconquista's army and Navy were stationed within the Capital's borders. Wales and Saito looked at the city. "Well, it's about time you got started."
"I agree," Saito raised the Apple skyward "Time to bring this war into endgame," he said as activated the Apple, its eerie light slowly enveloping all of Londinium.
"ALL OF YOU RETURN TO YOUR SENSES! YOU SERVE RECONQUISTA NO MORE!"
One by one, the people in Londinium collapsed to the ground, only to come up again, their senses and free will returning to them once more. Within seconds, they discarded of any seal of Reconquista, and replacing it with the seal of the Royalists. Shouts of "We're free, we're finally free from Cromwell's unholy magic!" and "Long live Albion!" filled the air. They looked at the Capital's balcony, where Wales and Saito were staring back at them. At the sight of their rightful ruler, the people of Londinium rejoiced.
"It's Prince Wales!"
"He must have saved us from Cromwell's magic!"
"Long live Prince Wales!"
"Long live the Kingdom!"
"Long live Albion!"
As the people rejoiced at Prince Wales' return, Wales smiled back at them "Look at them, I've never seen my people so happy before- what are you doing?" Saito had walked back into the White Hall, closing the eyes of the fallen leaders of Reconquista, before subsequently taking any documents or wallets from their bodies.
"Kōhai (junior), here's lesson number one: the Assassins respect the dead, so unless circumstances prevent us from doing so, we give the deceased their last rites." He closed the eyes of another dead Reconquista leader "Yasurakani nemure (rest in peace). He then promptly took an old letter and a wallet from the body "Lesson number two: scavenge from the bodies. The target sometimes will have an article of information that might provide insight to our enemies' future plans. If not, the money found in their wallets can be helpful in the future. Lesson number three: The general populace isn't supposed to know us, anything about our ideals and such; you probably shouldn't know of us had this Civil war not happened. Any questions?"
Wales didn't know what to say "Umm… no?"
"Good, we'll start your training tomorrow." Saito passed on the final deceased member of Reconquista before getting up. Putting away the small bags of gold, he showed Wales a stack of documents "Remind me to deliver these to Master Freya; these should have important information about the remnants of Reconquista and their allies." He put the files away "That should be it. Let's go." And with that, Saito walked out of the White Hall, with Wales following shortly behind.
Weapons unlocked!
Heckler & Koch Mark 23: A heavy, German match grade semi-automatic pistol. Though originally developed for the Offensive Handgun Weapon System, this .45 ACP pistol has become the standard sidearm of Abstergo operatives. Saito owns two of this handgun, a regular one found on Abstergo's Echo leader and a heavily customized one with a suppressor and a laser sight. Each Mk.23 used by Abstergo operatives utilizes aftermarket 14 round magazines, so finding 9 magazines, including the one originally in Echo Leader's pistol; he has a total of 264 rounds remaining for this gun. Saito will, more often than not, use it as a backup due to its heavyweight.
Colt M4A1: An assault rifle used during many modern armed conflicts in the world today. This 5.56x45mm rifle is a popular carbine derivative of the M16 family. Saito heavily modified the one he found with a forward-grip, laser aiming module, suppressor, and ACOG sight. This rifle appears to be the primary firearm of most Abstergo operatives stationed in Halkenginia. He has 240 rounds remaining.
Machete: a multipurpose tool that is often used either to harvest grain, navigate forest undergrowth, or to slice the throat of that pirate that's been harassing you recently. Simple, versatile, and easy to acquire, it is commonly found in the hands of Assassins, Abstergo Operatives, brigands, or the average run-of-the-mill peasant. Saito uses a machine made one (utilized by most Abstergo field operatives) found on the body of Abstergo's Echo Leader. Saito's Gandalfr runes won't react to it due to its (technical) status as an improvised weapon.
Attack: *** (+2)
Speed: **** (-1)
Deflect: ** (-1)
9x19mm Parabellum ammo: +100.
current ammo stockpile: 273
7.62x51mm ammo: +100.
current ammo stockpile: 283
12 gauge ammo: +100.
current ammo stockpile: 162
Apple of Eden: an artifact created by the First Civilization to control the minds of humans. This Piece of Eden was used to control the minds of all humans who come in contact with its unholy light. Originally thought to have been destroyed in Denver International Airport Incident [check AC wiki for more info], it actually ended up in Halkenginia, first in the possession of the Water Spirit, then in the hands of the Templars, and now into Saito's hands.
Items obtained
Sakura flower: a beautiful, exotic flower from Japan. It should not even exist here, but apparently The Mentor brought seeds for this plant when he first entered Halkenginia. According to most Halkenginian horticulturalists, this flower's existence in Halkenginia is very brief, first appearing around 50 years ago. A crop of it is being grown, amongst other places, at a Tristainian commune known as Tarbes.
Halkenginian Assassin Order seal: A seal that proves that you are a full-fledged member of the Halkenginian Assassin Brotherhood. Saito obtained this from Master Assassin Freya Ellicott, who was ordered to give this to you due to your dutiful dedication and obligation to the Creed despite initial unawareness of the Order's presence in Halkenginia. This seal is made out of a rare material that can create a barrier around its wearer that will strangely disrupt magical patterns when used, including the Familiar's Contract. Despite its usefulness, many Assassins still wear armor due to the fact that the shield will eventually shatter upon prolonged abuse, but will recover if the user avoids getting hit.
Effect: [adds regenerating **** health/saves user from fatal hit][will always counter magic]
Cooldown time: ~60 seconds
Classified Abstergo documents: As the name suggests, these are classified documents that bear the logo of Abstergo Industries. All of these documents show proof that the Templars had knowledge of this world and has been operating in Halkenginia since the 2000s.
Deed to the Royal Sovereign: the deed to the Royal Sovereign Man o' War battleship. This ship was captured by Reconquista and used as a P.O.W. holding ship, where both Royalists and Assassins became the imprisoned captives and workers on this ship. After Saito single-handedly recaptured it, it was offered to him on behalf of its crew and workers. Congratulations, the King of the Skies is now yours to command.
Ship Class: (Legendary) Man o' War
Captain of the Royal Sovereign outfit: a blue formal captain's uniform. Not only does this outfit allow Saito assume the guise of a noble, but it also allow him to commandeer the Royal Sovereign with more confidence, thus increasing his morale. This outfit makes no change in armor rating.
Miscellaneous documents: a small stack of documents and letters found on the bodies of Reconquista's deceased leaders. These documents show many of Reconquista's plans, including their hideouts, sleeper agents and spies found in other countries. Saito has to issue these to Master Assassin Freya Ellicott later in the future.
A/N: People, in this fic, Halkenginia as you know it is now gone. Not even this frontier was free from the never-ending war between the Assassins and the Templars. And now by this point, I have completely baffled and confused many readers, so here's a little timeline to explain the events that happened before Saito's appearance.
Approx. 54 years ago (1958): The Mentor established the Halkenginian Assassin Order. He also introduced to the world Japan's Sakura flower.
Approx. 49 years ago (1963): The Mentor created the Erudito shipping and Manufacturing Company, and it has been used as a supplier and cover for the Assassins ever since.
Around 2000: Abstergo Industries discover some astrophysical anomaly that causes objects and people to disappear and reappear between Halkenginia and Earth.
Mid 2006: Abstergo Industries officially found Halkenginia, and has set up several command posts to spread the Templars' influence.
Late 2011: The Templars instigate the Albion Civil War, using Reconquista as their pawn. The Assassins recruit Prince Wales Tudor of Albion to their cause, aligning the Royalists to their side.
September 7, 2012: Saito appeared in Halkenginia, you guys know what happened next.
Okay, now that that's settled with, I now apologize for not updating in so long and thank my faithful fans for sticking with this fic. If you don't understand my explanation for The Templar's presence in Halkenginia, well suck it up. I worked really hard on that explanation, and part of it still doesn't make sense to me either, so just go with it. And also, I bet a whole lot of you didn't see that move coming, making the Assassins exist long before Saito even appeared in Halkenginia and preventing the war between Albion and Tristain from even happening. I probably filled your heads with ideas on who the Mentor was, considering you haven't figured out already. Don't worry; I'll be making sure to bring you guys surprise after surprise in future installments. So until then, please review!