31 August 1939 – Berlin, Nazi Germany
The car stopped on the pavement right outside their house. Jan went outside and got in the back. Uncle Rudolf was driving, and an Assassin named Yannik sat in the front.
"Onkel Rudolf," Jan said, waving his hand at him.
"Jan," he said, nodding.
"Guten Tag, Jan," Yannik said as he turned his head back to face him. Yannik smiled at him and Jan nodded.
He did not know Yannik that well, having only met him three times. Twice at their home when father had guests, and once at the funeral. He was a short but stout man with a round, clean-shaven face. His eyes were bright-blue and small, and his hair was brushed to one side but well-kempt. His smile was small, but whenever he smiled, his eyebrows would soften, and he was like a regular nice middle-aged man in Berlin. But what had really caught Jan's eyes was how high his forehead was. Since he combed his hair neatly to one side, no strands of hair fell onto his face and his forehead was fully exposed.
"How is your mother?" asked Yannik.
"She's doing fine. The bakery's doing well right now so she's busier though."
Ever since his father had died, his mother had had to work alone in the bakery to support them. Jan usually helped her bake the bread in the mornings, and sometimes he watched the bakery in the afternoon to serve any customers. Karl used to help too, but ever since he had been sent to Rome to help the Italian Brotherhood, it had just been the two of them. Jan was about to go to the bakery with his mother when the telephone rang, and Uncle Rudolf had told him to get ready to be picked up.
"What's happening, Onkel?"
"Heinrich is gathering everyone."
Heinrich Kogler was the head of the Assassin bureau in Berlin. Jan had only met him twice, once at home and once at the funeral. He had never spoken to him before.
"It's probably something big, something important," added Yannik. "We don't gather much these days."
They stopped in front of the café that served as the Assassins' hideout, the Café von Birken. It was early in the morning and there were few customers. A man in a clean, grey suit with a well-trimmed moustache and a receding hairline greeted them as they entered. He was Adrian von Birken, the proprietor of the café and ally to the Assassins, although he himself was not an Assassin. He bowed at them, his expression polite and subdued.
"Willkommen, Herr Weisberger," he said, greeting Uncle Rudolf using his last name.
"Herr von Birken," replied Uncle Rudolf.
"Can I get you anything? A cup of coffee or tea, perhaps?"
"No, thank you."
"As usual then?"
Uncle Rudolf nodded. Adrian nodded back and turned around, leading them through a door behind the counter and into the back. On both sides of the flower-patterned green wall were four identical wooden doors, two on each side. At the end of the hallway next to the window was a set of stairs going up and down. He led them down into the basement where they reached a storage room.
"I must get back to the front," he said as he turned around and went upstairs without a word.
Yannik walked towards the cabinet at the end of the room and pulled it out of the way, exposing the brick wall behind. Uncle Rudolf put his hands on the wall, moving across its surface as he tried to find the loose brick. After a few seconds, he pushed it and stepped back. Silently, the wall opened. Without a word, Uncle Rudolf grabbed one of the lanterns on the shelves in the room and went inside. Jan followed him, and Yannik came in last. As Uncle Rudolf lit the lantern, Yannik pulled the cabinet back into place and pressed a button on the side of the wall. As the wall slid back into place, the corridor grew darker and the only source of light was the lantern.
They went further inside until finally they went down a flight of stairs, turning right once, and came to a slightly rusted metal door. Uncle Rudolf knocked twice and then waited. Not long afterwards, there were footsteps approaching the door. They became louder and louder until there was the sound of locks being opened and a wooden bar being lifted, before finally the door opened and a man in a coat with its hood pulled up covering half of his face stood in the entryway.
Without a word, he gestured for us to follow him. There was a light coming from a door on the left of the corridor they had just entered. They walked a few steps before turning left and came into a modest-sized room with a dusty wooden table in the middle, with a single dim yellow lamp hanging above it. Inside stood five Assassins, with Heinrich Kogler standing at their head. Behind him hung a tattered yellow banner with the symbol of the Assassins in black. They were talking amongst themselves and when Jan and the others came, they turned their heads. Heinrich smiled.
"Willkommen, Rudolf, Yannik, Jan. Now that everyone is here, let us begin."
Despite being the leader of the Berlin Assassins, Heinrich was a relatively young man, younger than both Jan's father and Uncle Rudolf. Born out of wedlock to a prostitute with an unknown father, he grew up on the streets of Berlin where he survived by pickpocketing and stealing. Until one day, he was found by the Assassin Benedikt Kogler, who took him and became his mentor and introduced him to the Brotherhood. He was dedicated to the Creed and worked tirelessly in pursuit of its ideals. Rather than large, he was lean and stood tall and confident. Underneath his slightly ruffled short dark brown hair, his brown eyes shone with seriousness and intelligence.
Yannik approached the table and looked around, counting and recognising each of the Assassins in the room. He furrowed his eyebrows and turned to Heinrich.
"Where's Linus?"
Everyone turned their eyes to Heinrich, who stayed silent and stared at the map of Germany on the table. He closed his eyes and sighed.
"He's gone."
Everyone in the room fell silent as the shock came over them. Yannik gaped, Uncle Rudolf looked down and some others followed suit, while others still were confused. Jan himself did not know who Linus was, only knowing that there was an Assassin by that name. He had been at the funeral too.
"What happened?" asked Yannik.
"A few days ago, we received information from our contact in the army that Hitler's ordered the army to move to the Polish border. As you all know, Hitler has been demanding that Poland hand over Danzig to Germany. Two days ago, Hitler also demanded the restoration of the Polish Corridor. But we believed that this was all a farce, and that Hitler has been planning to invade Poland all along. I passed this to the Council in Essen, but they didn't do anything.
I sent Linus to dig around and find out more. He managed to break into the Schutzstaffel headquarters and came upon a set of top-secret documents containing information unknown to the Brotherhood. Unfortunately, he was discovered. The guards went after him, and he got shot. He managed to lose them and reach me here, along with the documents in hand."
Heinrich covered his eyes with his hand and held onto the table.
"I couldn't save him."
The atmosphere in the room became heavy. For a few minutes, no one spoke or made a sound. Until finally one of them named Angelina spoke.
"The bastards," she muttered under her breath. "The bastards. We lost Ernst last year, and now Linus. I swear I'll make those Templar, Nazi bastards pay even if I have to slit their throats one by one. I'll make them pay."
She punched the wall.
"Where is he now, Heinrich?" asked Yannik, his voice soft and sad.
"He is still on the bed in the next room."
"Then, excuse me for a while. I must pay my respects to him."
As he turned around to open the door, Heinrich called out after him.
"No, Yannik. We will pay our respects after this. Because we are running against the clock."
He turned around and picked up a brown, blank folder filled with sheaves of papers from the table underneath the banner and put it in the middle of the table. Everyone turned their eyes to it.
"Linus died for this information. But we now have information of events that are about to happen that will change the very fate of this world. We have no time to spare. We must act, or soon there will be nothing left of the world we know."
Heinrich swept the documents to one side and let the others see the map of Germany and Poland on the table.
"The Templars plan to start another world war. And from the ashes, they hope to establish a New World Order under their rule. And it begins here, in Poland. Hitler plans to invade Poland."
Heinrich paused and placed white chess pieces on the German provinces of East Prussia north of Poland, Silesia west of Poland, and on Slovakia south of Poland.
"The Wehrmacht plans to encircle Poland. They plan to attack from three directions and encircle Poland. North from East Prussia, west from Silesia, and south from Slovakia. All three armies would head towards the capital Warsaw, and they hope to destroy the Polish army west of the Vistula river.
Britain and France will declare war on Germany after Poland is invaded. And the Soviets have signed an agreement to share Poland with Germany, albeit secretly. The world will be dragged into another great war."
Heinrich straightened his back and took a breath. Jan and the others paid attention, but the shock and disbelief were clear on their faces. Yannik closed his mouth and muttered under his breath.
"Oh Gott. It's happening again."
"And that is not all. Among the documents Linus found are documents related to a top-secret project called Projekt Wodan."
"Projekt Wodan?" asked Angelina.
"Yes. We don't know what it is. The documents Linus discovered did not mention what Project Wodan is, only that some operations are to be carried out in Poland related to this project."
"Have you contacted the Polish Brotherhood, Heinrich?" asked Yannik. As in many other countries, there was an Assassin brotherhood in Poland.
"No, unfortunately. I have sent word to the Council in Essen, but I cannot contact our brothers and sisters in Poland. The Nazis have cut most communications to Poland. And no doubt, the Polish Brotherhood will be occupied with helping the Polish Army to try and repel the Wehrmacht."
"But that's unlikely to succeed, is it," quipped in Uncle Rudolf. Heinrich looked at Rudolf then back to everyone else.
"Yes. That is unlikely. The Polish Army is not fully mobilised yet, and they are outnumbered and outgunned. The best that the Brotherhood in Poland can do is to slow them down, perhaps get civilians to safety, and give enough time for the Polish government and armies to retreat. That is the best they can hope to do."
"So, what do we do then?"
"The Council has ordered us to send a team to Poland to contact the Polish Brotherhood and to find out more about their operations there. Brothers, sisters, we are at war."
Heinrich turned around and took a rolled map from the table under the banner. He unrolled it on the table, covering the map of Germany and Poland with a more detailed map of Poland, complete with the names of many small towns and villages. He scanned the map and pointed at a small point in the middle of Western Poland. Its name was written as Sczceciwek.
"Sczceciwek. This village was mentioned in the documents Linus recovered. The document contained a list of people to be executed there and the surrounding towns and villages – clergy, the educated, teachers, community leaders. They are sending Totenkopf – Death's Head – units to kill all Polish men, women, and children that they come across. These units will follow the invasion force.
However, a special battalion called the Hel Battalion is being specifically sent to Sczceciwek. The documents mention that they are tasked with the search and recovery of a certain artefact believed to be in the local church. This is our top priority. We must find out what they are looking for and retrieve it if possible."
"Alright, so who's going there?" asked Yannik, straightening out the map and studying it. Heinrich cleared his throat.
"I've selected a team. Angelina, you will lead the team."
"Understood," she said, nodding. "And my team?"
"Kevin," he said, looking at the Assassin who had led Jan and the others to the meeting room. And then he looked at Jan. "And Jan."
"What?" Uncle Rudolf asked, his voice filled with disbelief.
"Heinrich, he's just a boy," said Yannik.
"He is young, yes, but he is an Assassin. Just like his father, his brother, you, me, and all of us here. And we all have a part to play."
"Yes, but why must it be him?"
"Because he is one of the quickest among us and one of our best fighters."
"That may be true, but he's got no exp-"
"I'll do it," Jan said, speaking up. Everyone looked at him in surprise. "I'll go."
"Sehr gut. Angelina, Kevin, Jan, get ready. You leave as soon as possible."
"Alright," said Angelina. Kevin nodded.
"May I say goodbye to my mother first?" Jan asked, not wishing to suddenly disappear on his mother.
"Very well. But make it quick. We don't have much time. You three can leave. Everyone else, we have jobs to do in Berlin."
"Come on," Angelina gestured for Jan to follow.
Angelina opened the door and left. Kevin and Jan followed after her. Outside the door, she turned around to face them. Her face was hidden by the darkness of the corridor.
"I'm going to get ready. Kevin, you go with Jan to his home. Then we'll meet in that alley outside the safehouse on the road to Warsaw, outside Berlin."
Kevin and Jan nodded and watched her as she turned around and went out of the corridor door. Kevin turned around and looked at Jan, and Jan looked back at him. He nodded towards the door and started walking. Jan started to follow after him, but he stopped in his steps and tentatively turned his head around towards the door next to room where Linus was lying.
He walked towards the door and stood before it. He did not understand why he was going there, but he wanted to see Linus. He reached out for the doorknob, his hand shaking. The slightly rusted yellow doorknob was cold to the touch. He turned it and slowly opened the door inwards, the hinges creaking.
The room was lit by a single yellow lamp hanging from the centre of the ceiling. Under it was a bed and a table. On the table were an assortment of medical supplies – scissors, stitches, cotton, bottles of alcohol and other substances Jan knew nothing about. A lot of the cottons were drenched dark red on one side, the same colour as the bedsheet under the body on the bed and the clothes Linus was wearing. The room was still and the only sound there was came from the meeting room next to it.
Jan walked silently towards Linus. His feet were trembling, but he kept moving forward. Linus was still in his Assassin robes. His hands were crossed on top of his chest, clearly showing the bloodied Assassin ring on his right hand. Even though they didn't cut off their fingers or burn the ring into the skin anymore, the German Assassins still wore rings like so many generations of Assassins did before them. There were scratches and dried patches of blood all over his hands. His eyes were closed, and he was resting in peace. If not for the blood or his ragged appearance, Jan could've thought that he was sleeping. The skin of his stubbly face was pale and looked cold.
Suddenly the door creaked, and Jan's heart stopped. He turned around and Kevin was standing in the doorway. Kevin did not say anything, and for a few seconds they just stared at each other. Then wordlessly, Kevin nodded towards the corridor door and Jan nodded back. Jan followed Kevin and moved to close the door. But before he did, he took one last look at Linus, resting peacefully on the bed. And then he closed the door.
The smell of freshly baked bread wafted through the air as Jan opened the door to the bakery. Kevin was waiting outside the bakery, so there was no one inside except for Jan. Behind the glass panes of the counter were lines of an assortment of bread, cakes, pastries, cookies, and pies. Some spots were empty, the bread having been sold to people going to work in the morning rush hour. On the wall behind the counter, the owners' family name was written in large, white, capital letters: KLINGER. Jan was suddenly hungry. He had only eaten one bread roll in the morning.
"Willkommen!" shouted his mother from the kitchen in the back where they baked the bread. "Wait just a minute please."
His mother came out of the kitchen, wiping her flour-covered hands with a plain grey cloth. She had her shoulder-length, wavy, dark brown hair in a hair net, exposing her reddened cheeks that stood out on her smooth, white skin. Underneath her red and white plaid apron, she wore a simple, plain lime green dress. She looked every bit the part of baker, a job she had been forced to find after his father had died, and one that Mr. Klinger was kind enough to give. Her dark brown eyes widened when she saw that it was Jan.
"Jan! Sweetie, what are you doing here? I thought you went with Onkel Rudolf." She finished wiping her hands and smiled at him, leaning slightly above the counter. "Did you come to help me in the kitchen?"
"No, Mama." He smiled, still not sure how he was going to tell his mother that he had to go, to Poland too. When Karl left, it had been hard on her. She did not show him, but he knew she cried every night the first few days, missing him and sick with worry. Jan did not want to do that to her. "I just came by to see you."
"Do you have to go back again?"
"Yeah."
"How sweet of you, but I have to go back to work, okay?" She crouched and took a paper bag out of the counter. "You didn't have much to eat this morning, did you? Here, I'll give you some bread," she said, as she took two bread rolls and put it in the paper bag. She stood up and handed it to him.
"Is this okay? What would Mr. Klinger say?" He opened the paper bag. The sweet smell of the bread made him even hungrier.
"It's fine. He said I could take two or three pieces of bread to take home anyway." She smiled at him. "Now go, go. They're waiting for you, aren't they? I'm going back to work, okay." She stared at him, waiting for him to leave.
Jan stood in front of his mother holding the paper bag in his hand. He did not move and kept his eyes on the two bread rolls in the bag. He looked up and beheld his mother's aging but beautiful face. Wrinkles had started to line her face, but Jan still felt warm and safe every time he saw her. He used to have to raise his head to look up at her, but now it was reversed. She had to look up at him. Both her sons had grown up tall, a good one head above her. He had to say it, he knew that.
"Mama."
"Yes?"
"I have to go."
"Yes, I know. Be careful on your way, okay?"
"No, that's what I mean. I mean, yes, that's what I mean." He sighed and cast his eyes downwards. "I have to go. To Poland."
Her smile disappeared, and her eyes widened at the mention of Poland. She knew what was going on. People were talking about it, saying that there was probably going to be some conflict between Germany and Poland. She had been afraid of this ever since then, afraid that there was going to be a war and that their lives would get harder. But more than that, she was afraid that Jan was going to be a part of it. She gulped.
"A-ach so." Her heart was beating loudly in her chest, and her mind was foggy. She struggled to find the words to say. "W-w-when are you coming back?"
"I don't know." Jan's heart dropped at the sight of his mother's anxiety. He did not want to do this, but he had to tell her. He couldn't lie to her. "Don't worry, Mama. I'm going to be fine. I'll be back home faster than you think. I promise you that." Her hand was on the counter. He stepped forward and held it. It was trembling. "I promise, Mama."
"Y-you have to leave now?"
"Yes, Mama. As soon as possible." Water came to her eyes, and she started to sniffle. Jan brought his arms around her and hugged her. "I'm going to be fine, Mama. I'm going to be careful. I promise. I promise." She was sniffling, but she didn't cry. She was trembling in his arms.
Jan came out of the store, and Kevin was still waiting with his back against the storefront. He had had his eyes focused on the street, watching the people go by. Noticing Jan, he looked at him. Jan nodded, and he nodded back. With that, Kevin turned around to go, and Jan started to follow after him. Jan stopped in his steps and turned to see the inside of the bakery one more time. His mother was in the kitchen, only her back visible to him. She hunched over and crouched, her head on her knees. Jan felt like his heart was being crushed, but there was no other choice. He was an Assassin, like his father, brother, and ancestors before him. He had a duty to do, even if it caused his mother grief. He turned away and caught up to Kevin. She continued to cry.
As the sun began to set in the west, Kevin drove them further away from it. They were on an eastbound road headed towards Poland. They were still in Berlin, but the further they went the less buildings there was on either side and the less people and cars there were on the streets. Instead, they were replaced by more and more shrubbery and trees. Angelina sat in the front seat, talking to Kevin about how long she thought the trip was going to be.
"We're probably going to have to abandon the car when we get near to the front," she said, as she inserted a magazine into her Luger pistol. She turned around towards Jan. "Here." She offered him a Luger pistol, handle first. "You're going to need it."
Jan said thanks and nodded. He knew how to use pistols; his father had taught him how to shoot accurately. But it had always been at a shooting range, and never against a moving, living target. The worn-out brown handle felt familiar but cold and heavy in his hands. Was he going to use it? That's a stupid question, he thought to himself. It was a given that he'd use it.
On the other side of the backseat were three old Gewehr 98 rifles, the main rifle of the German Army in the Great War. When they had come to pick her up, Angelina was carrying the bag that now lay on the foot of the seat behind Angelina's. She had gone back into the alley she was standing in front of, beckoning Kevin to drive in. There, she opened the back door and threw in the three rifles. They were old and worn out, but Angelina assured him that they could still kill a man. The bag was full of ammunition.
The buildings had disappeared and had been replaced by a variety of bushes, trees, shrubs, and the wide stretches of farmland. There were no cars in front or behind them, and very few people passed them by on the road. As Kevin increased their speed, Jan turned around and looked through the rear window. The last rays of sunlight were covering the city in a blanket of bright orange. With each passing second, the city grew smaller and more distant. A heavy feeling set upon Jan's heart as the city slowly disappeared behind him, the city where he had grown up and where his mother still was, alone. He wondered to himself,
When will I see it again?
Notes
Onkel – uncle
Guten Tag – hello, good afternoon, literally "good day"
Willkommen – welcome
Herr – sir, mister
Schutzstaffel (abbr. SS) – literally "Protection Squadron", they were a major paramilitary wing of the Nazi Party and later became their primary one
Projekt – project
Wehrmacht – literally "defence force", they were the armed forces of Nazi Germany
Totenkopf – literally "Death's Head", refers to the SS-Totenkopfverbände ("Death's Head Units"), units of the SS who joined the Invasion of Poland to terrorise the Polish people and murdering Poland's political leaders, aristocrats, businessmen, clergy, intellectuals, Jews. They later became the unit responsible for guarding and running concentration and extermination camps
Sehr gut – "very good"
Mama – mommy
Danzig – the German name for Gdańsk, a city in Poland in a disputed region at the time known as the Polish Corridor (see Polish Corridor). It has a complicated political history, having been part of Poland and Germany as well as being independent throughout its history. It was part of Poland before World War II and was one of the demands of Nazi Germany before the war. wiki/Gda
Polish Corridor – a region of territory which before World War II was held by Poland and separated Germany from the province of East Prussia. It also became one of the demands of Nazi Germany before the war. wiki/Polish_Corridor
East Prussia – province of Nazi Germany, north of what was then Polish territory, separated from the rest of Germany by the Polish Corridor. It is now part of Poland, Lithuania, and Russia.
Silesia – a historical region in Central Europe, now mostly part of Poland, with some parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Parts of it were part of Nazi Germany before World War II.
Slovakia – during the period right before World War II, Slovakia was forced by Nazi Germany to become an "ally". It was previously part of the pre-World War II country of Czechoslovakia.
Vistula – the longest and largest river in Poland