Prologue: Ancestor - Ryse of Kaon

My name is Calvin Praetorian, and I'm an unwilling soldier of war. A war I had never thought was real. The Templars, The Assassins? They're real, and they've made my life a living hell.

It all started when I explored the memories of Ezio Auditore da Firenze, and after that, I ended up joining the Assassins. Then I had to recruit my best friend, Joshua Landers, to the cause when I didn't want to… Though he handled the reveal pretty well. This isn't about him, though.

This is about me exploring another ancestor of mine, one who started his life as nothing, but rose up in a cascade of blood.


-American Brotherhood Sanctuary, Washington DC, Present Day-

Calvin watched as his best friend came out of the Animus from one of their first few sessions in the genetic memory repository.

"Alrighty, Josh, out of the animus. It's my turn." The bespectacled young man said to his comrade.

"Alright, alright. I'm getting out." The taller man said as he stood up and stretched a bit. "Wait, you're getting into the Animus? I thought you already went through the memories of one of your ancestors?" He questioned.

"I did, but I feel like there's more to my ancestry than just Ezio." Calvin replied with a shrug. "There's always more than there seems these days." He added as he sat down in the Animus.

"Well then, let me get into your position for a sec…" Joshua shrugged as they swapped places, Calvin crawling into the gaming chair styled Animus.

"Alright, let's get this over with…" He shrugged as the machine came to life and he was sent through the corridor.


Animus Active

User: Calvin Praetorian

Searching for DNA sequence match…

Match Found.

Synchronizing…


-Province of Britannia, Roman Empire, 34 AD-

In a slave market, slaves were lined up to be sold to others with higher standing in Roman society. Among them was a little boy no older than ten, but that wasn't what made him stand out.

What made him really stand out was that he was a rare instance of an albino human. His skin was void of pigmentation, leaving it white as a cloud, his hair a bright platinum blonde and his eyes were simply red. Not wine or blood red, simply red.

"What should we do with this one?" A legionary questioned the man heading the slave auction, holding the boy up by his wrist as the tyke struggled against him.

"Hm…" The man hummed as he examined the boy for a moment before giving him a look of disdain. "Discard him. An appearance like that makes him a poor product." He told the legionary.

The soldier nodded as he dragged the boy away, the child struggling against him the whole way.

"Let me go!" The boy yelled.

"Be quiet!" The soldier snapped, smacking him across the face. The unnamed boy growled angrily at him in response.

As he kept struggling against the man who was pulling him, the tiny albino noticed a dagger that was hanging from his waist, and reached for it–grabbing its handle.

Yanking it out of its sheath, the boy stabbed the soldier in the arm before he could react, causing him to scream and release the albino child. The soldier went for his sword, but the boy he was supposed to dispose of was on him before he could and stabbed him in the throat.

Blood splattered on the kids face and body as thunder and rain sounded and poured around him, the legionary clutching his neck as he bled out before he fell to the ground, dead.

"You have spirit, boy." A voice said behind him, causing the lad to spin around.

In front of the unnamed boy was a Roman senator, who was dressed in traditional senate robes. He had fair skin, gray hair and brown eyes. He looked to be in his sixties.

"Do not be afraid, I am Senator Gaius Mortes Gaulus." He told the boy as he reached into his robes and pulled out a loaf of wheat bread. "You must be hungry. Here, take this, impleat te [It should fill you]." He added.

Cautious, but not one to turn down free food, the albino child accepted the loaf and took a few hungry bites out of it before looking up at the senator.

"You said I have spirit. Everyone else has already discarded me. Why aren't you?" The boy wondered.

"Because I see a potential in you that others failed to see." Gaulus replied. "A potential I would sooner see fostered into something great rather than discarded." He added as he placed a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Come with me, and I will bring you to a place that will shape you into someone of great strength." He continued as he brought the boy out of the rain. "A place that will make you a champion, to change the world."

The boy nodded as he continued to gnaw on the crust of bread given to him as Gaius led him onto a ship that was not far from where they were, ushering him inside out of the cold and wet to dress himself in some dry and warm clothes.

"Will I be able to make those who wronged me pay?" The lad questioned as he sat on a chair that was across from the Senator, the quarters around them illuminated by candle.

"You are free to do whatever you wish, my apprentice." The man responded. "So long as you assist me in doing the same when the time is right." He continued, holding out his hand to the boy before him. "Should you accept, I shall adopt you as my own, and you will be as my son. And when you are ready, we will have both our revenge–together." He added.

The young albino seemed pensive at first, as it was clear that he'd never really trusted many at this point. But this man, this Senator, had helped him and showed him kindness when no one else did.

It was definitely good, and he had been given a bad hand for his whole life. His own mother didn't even give him a name and basically abandoned him, and now Roman society wanted to discard him.

The only way they would succeed in that endeavor was if they killed him.

"I accept." The boy nodded, shaking the hand of his new adopted father.

"Good, very good." Gaulus nodded. "Though I think it appropriate that I know the name of my son, so, what is your name my boy?" He inquired.

"I don't have one." The albino explained with a sigh.

"Then I shall give you one, befitting your lineage." The Senator told him before a moment of contemplation. "Alright. You will be known as Ryse Dominus Gaulus, the Ghost Legionnaire." He nodded.

"I like it." The now named Ryse nodded with a grin on his face.

He would carve his name into history itself, or die trying.


Memory: The Ghost Legionnaire synched

Searching for more relevant memory data…

None found

Ejecting user…


-Brotherhood Sanctuary, present day-

Calvin let out a groan as he came out of the Animus, where Sarah gave him some water.

"Thanks." He nodded as he drank some of the life-giving liquid.

"So you have an albino human in your family tree? That's actually pretty rare in itself." Joshua commented.

"I'll say." Sarah nodded in agreement.

"Why is it that this story setup reminds me of Ghaul from Destiny?" Ororo questioned.

"Didn't know you played video games." Mael noted as he continued rearranging his work station to accommodate their new avenue.

"I don't, Joshua does." The African woman replied, getting an indignant 'hey' from her lover.

"Well, if I'm looking at the timestamp right, this will take place a few decades after the founding of the Hidden Ones." The crew's historian noted.

"So we should expect Bayek and Aya to be mentioned in passing, assuming they're dead by this point. Got it." Calvin nodded.

"And that also means that we could expect to see what the Order of Ancients was like, before they became the Templars." Joshua nodded. "Though I'm surprised that no Roman sources even mention a "Ghost Legionnaire"."

"They probably struck the name to preserve the image of their own strength to suit their agendas." Mael said as he started tacking things onto his work board.

"Hmmm, Okay, I've managed to isolate any invasive memory corridors and adjusted the Animus back to your Profile." Sarah chimed in. "You should be able to dive back in when you're ready." She added.

"Thanks, sweetie." Calvin nodded. "I don't think I'll be going again right away, though." He decided.

"Alright then. What do you want to do then?" The platinum blonde bombshell questioned as she got out of her seat.

She was currently wearing a pair of jeans with a light blue spaghetti strapped shirt that had a neckline which showed the outline of her cleavage, and a pair of pump sandals that helped make her the same height as her boyfriend.

"Watch a movie. I feel like watching the new Puss in Boots movie." Calvin replied.

"Alright." Sarah nodded as they made their way out of the Sanctuary and to the young man's truck. "And after that?" She continued, her DD-cup rack bouncing with her every step as Calvin held his arm around her waist, his hand resting on her ass and giving her an affectionate squeeze.

"Let's just say it'll probably result in us doing some naked wrestling." Calvin chuckled in reply.

"Mmmm, I think I can get behind that." The blonde purred back as she kissed him with her ice blue painted lips, slipping her tongue into his mouth.


ThermalsniperN7: A story set in Rome. Honestly, this is something the franchise is missing.

Dragon Emperor0: They had something Roman adjacent with Cleopatra and Caesar's Ptolemaic Egypt. But I will say that I can't believe that we didn't get a story in Rome after Origins, instead getting Greece in Odyssey, but what can you do?

ThermalsniperN7: We say "Fuck it, we'll do it ourselves" and write a story on it like we are right now. Anyway, if you guys see parallels to Destiny, that's intentional. The same goes for any Megatron parallels that appear, too.

Dragon Emperor0: Yeah. In fact, for the final boss fight, you guys are in for a treat as I'm gonna take inspiration from the fight between the Megatron vs Insecticon fight in Transformers Prime, the fights described in the lore of Destiny 2 with Ghaul, and then the Brotherhood of the Wolf (Beast of Gevaudan) for Ryse vs Nero's War Beast.

ThermalsniperN7: Grab a seat in the colosseum, cuz this is gonna be entertaining. See you next time.