Chapter 8– "The Revolution's American Front, Part 1: The English Templar Raised by an Assassin"

Katja Winter/ Haytham Kenway

Katja was on the private plane with Lucas, eating some lobster, steamed vegetables, and more pasta while watching the news.

Lucas came to sit by her.

"What are they talking about?" said Lucas.

"Don't you own World News Media?" said Katja.

"Just because I do doesn't mean I know every story they deliver individually by heart."

Katja sighed. "It's about the Engineers, the Selection, and the war between Israel and several Middle Eastern nations rallying to support Palestine. They're saying the Selection is the Engineers' doing."

"Technically it is," said Lucas as he shrugged his shoulders, "given they're the ones carrying it out."

"The first phase of the Selection… the bomb in Kyrat… is going to go off in less than 72 hours from now."

"That's correct," said Lucas.

"Why are you planning to blanket Asia in irradiated snow, Lucas?" said Katja. "That sounds less like it will prevent Ragnarok and more like it'll start it!"

"Doing so will drastically reduce the population of Asia, Katja," said Lucas. "Russia and China have been trying to break from Abstergo's new world order for a long time now… along with America due to President Caldwell's regime. Bombing Kyrat will cut the human population's numbers roughly in half and help urge the world to act on stopping climate change from starting Ragnarok. It will also help me get Russia and China under control, along with India and Pakistan… the two nations which were likely to start a nuclear autumn anyway."

Katja looked at Lucas as he said, "Then Washington, Moscow, and Beijing's destruction will help further cement my control over the world… by giving the world a common enemy to go after."

"The Engineers," said Katja. "Sadiq… Loki."

"That's correct," said Lucas.

"You mentioned there being a fifth bomb in Peru…" said Katja.

"It's going to cause a similar process in South America as the bomb in Kyrat is to Asia," said Lucas. "I originally was hoping to use Sam Fisher's daughter, Sarah, as leverage over him… and have the bomb be strapped to her person. But as it turned out… she's almost as tough as her father, and duped me into believing she was a civilian until Masyaf."

"Where's the bomb going to be taken to?" said Katja.

Lucas grinned. "I'd tell you, Katja… if I wasn't worried you'd leak the location to your Assassin friends."

Katja sighed. "I still don't understand how all of this will prevent Ragnarok, Lucas…"

"Part of it is admittedly due to the need to control humanity, Katja," said Lucas. "The human animal is stubborn, and hard to control, especially in the Information Age. The world is starting to wake up… realize it's been enslaved by unseen forces for beyond the entirety of documented human history.

"You're sounding like an Isu again," said Katja. "Humans aren't animals to be controlled."

"Ah, but without order, they'd kill each other off until there's no one left, Katja," said Lucas. "Not even any flora or fauna."

"So we'd be better off killing them and the flora and fauna ourselves."

"Only most of them."

"Can't you see how sick that is, Lucas?" said Katja. "I don't care anymore if you raised me, gave me a good life… I don't want to live in a world where my comfortable life is a result of everyone else's lives being sacrificed!"

"But don't you get it?" said Lucas. "Your comfortable life always was a result of that. This was always going to be the end result of capitalism, Katja… The rise of fascism… or more specifically, Isu supremacy."

Katja frowned.

As Lucas looked out the window, he said, "Looks like we're entering British airspace. In a few hours we'll head to the London Royal Opera House. When we get there… you're going to kill Otso Berg for me."

Sighing, Katja said, "All right."

"He's in a weakened state due to what Serpent did to him in battle," said Lucas. "He'll be easy prey for you. Not to mention that killing him should be a mercy at this point."

Katja nodded and looked out the window as well as Lucas while they descended toward London.

Lucas sighed, and said, "Your real parents were abusive, Katja. Your father died in a house fire, and your mother's corpse was found in the wilderness. She was eaten alive by wolves… I assume you were there when it all went down."

Katja looked down at the London skyline as they neared the airport, her gaze distant. She said, "Yes… I know."

"You do?"

"Back in Cyprus, when Basim was torturing me… I remembered everything." Katja decided not to tell Lucas the bit about her being a Ljosalfar.

"The torture must've been extremely traumatic to you," said Lucas. "I'm sorry I didn't get there in time."

Katja said, "Lucas… I have a question."

"Shoot."

"Back in Nazareth… I had a dream. One where you were the one who kidnapped me and sold me into slavery, killed my parents… At first I suspected it was the Assassins who tried to brainwash me so I'd turn on you… but now I'm not so sure."

Lucas frowned.

"Well I wouldn't put it past them."

"Elijah seemed to think that my memories merged with his memories of his mother being killed by Juno's Instruments when he was a child. How is that possible?"

Lucas put his hand to his chin.

"You said it happened in Nazareth?"

"Yes."

"And this was after you had sex with Elijah?"

"Yes… That was in Venice after we infiltrated your party in Tuscany. Why?"

Lucas said, "This is a shot in the dark… but perhaps this 'merged' memory wasn't yours so much as it was your unborn child's… After all, you are a human Animus. So it would make some sense that you'd pass on your memories to your child… Only since the child is both yours and Elijah's, the memory wasn't entirely yours."

Katja said, "That makes sense… Enough sense, at least."

"You are an incredible human being, Katja… and so much more," said Lucas as he smiled. "I promise I will do everything I can to protect you and your unborn child. If your mission to Otso Berg goes south…"

"You have people on site who will help me."

Lucas smiled.

As the plane was about to land, despite that she was starting to feel relieved again, Katja started to become lightheaded.

As the plane touched the ground, she dissociated.

Katja woke from her slumber and found herself in the London Royal Opera House.

Lucas was sitting in the seat to her left.

Her next alter, the British Templar, Haytham Kenway, was sitting in the seat to her right.

"I vaguely recall being here once with Reginald Birch…" said Haytham, "...along with my father another time as a child. That recollection is even more vague."

Looking around, Haytham said, "They've done a proper job renovating the place."

Lucas said to Katja, "Your Haytham alter is manifesting right now, isn't he?"

Katja nodded.

"Good," said Lucas. "It's about time an alter on our side of this centuries-long war manifested in you."

Lucas said to Katja, "Some excellent composers are playing at the symphony tonight. Do you recognize their works?"

Katja listened to the music.

"This work is Jesper Kyd's."

"Next up is Lorne Balfe, and Brian Tyler after."

"Lorne Balfe?" said Katja. "His scores are beautiful."

She sighed. "It's a shame I'm not here to listen to them."

"I know," said Lucas. Looking around, he said to her, "Do you see him?"

Katja used her Eagle Vision and scanned the various rows and aisles of seats and balconies.

She then spotted him on one of the upper balconies.

Otso Berg, his body highlighted in gold.

"I see him," said Katja.

Lucas smiled. "I have undercover agents surrounding the opera house. Keep in touch with via your necklace and earring communicators. If something goes wrong, use the passphrase 'I'm going to leave early.' Once you kill him, use the passphrase 'the show's over.'"

Katja nodded.

"And remember Katja… take his pendant," said Lucas. "It's the key to accessing the Eye within the Grand Temple."

Shivering as Katja knew what Lucas was going to access the Grand Temple for, she reluctantly got out of her seat, and headed to the stairway leading to the upper balconies.

Haytham followed her.

As Katja made her way up toward the balcony, she heard a familiar voice say to her, "Would you like some liquid comfort to help you get through the show, Miss Winter?"

Katja turned around in shock.

"Monique?"

Katja's old friend and fellow trafficking victim, was wearing a revealing outfit while holding a selection of alcoholic beverages.

"What type of wine would you prefer?"

"Monique, why are you here? Are you still being trafficked?"

"You don't want any wine?" said Monique.

Looking around, Katja said to Monique, "It's my father, isn't it. You're being watched."

Monique trembled. Katja's hunch was right.

Thinking, Katja said, "I'm pregnant. I can't have alcohol. Is there a chance I can go with you to get a soda?"

Monique nodded, and they went to a nearby kitchen area for serving meals in the opera house where there was low surveillance.

"What's going on, Monique?" said Katja as Monique started to break down in tears.

"You have to get me out of here, Katja…" cried Monique. "Remember Craig Lynch?"

Katja shivered. Craig Lynch was a close associate of Jeffrey Epstein and was the liaison between his pedophile ring and the Templars. He also happened to be one of her most sadistic tormentors when she was younger before Lucas saved her.

"What about that piece of shit?" said Katja. "Is he here?"

"Of course he is!" said Monique. "He's working with your adoptive father! Lucas wanted me to help you assassinate Otso Berg, so he had me prepare some sort of drink for you that would allegedly help revive you if you died… or something. He's out of his damned mind if you ask me, Katja."

Katja's blood started to boil.

Katja said, "I'm going to get you out of here Monique."

"Really?" said Monique. "How?"

"You said the drink would help revive me if I die?"

"...no, that's what he said! You can't trust him, Katja!"

Katja called Lucas with the communicator in her gold cross necklace. "Lucas?"

"Yes, Katja?"

"What's this about a drink that's supposed to help revive me from the dead?"

"It's meant for your friend Monique, Katja. It's a temporary poison that helps one fake their own death, only to wake up several hours later. Craig planned to have her killed, but I told him I had one last use for her. The drink will help her slip out unnoticed after she's left for dead here."

"Craig is planning to kill my friend? Here, of all places?" said Katja.

"Yes," said Lucas. "I felt bad after what happened with her at the party in Tuscany, so I plan to give her back to you. I figured you could use a friend."

Katja said to Lucas, "You're planning something. What is really going on at this opera house, Lucas?"

"You'll find out after you kill Otso," said Lucas.

"All right," Katja sighed. "Last question. Why are you working with Craig Lynch?"

"Because I have to… at least for now. He's a Templar that's still loyal to me, but he's also a loose end. I plan to have you kill him as well… just not yet."

"Good, because I am going to kill him, no matter what," said Katja before turning off her communicator.

Katja said, "Lucas was right. The poison allows one to fake their death."

Monique said, "How is that supposed to help you?"

"It's not. It's to help you escape Craig. By the time you wake up, he'll be gone. Then you can sneak out of here."

Monique's face went white.

"No it isn't."

"You're going to have to trust me if you want to make it out of here, Monique–"

"I don't trust you though, Katja!"

"What? You don't?" said Katja with wide eyes. "Why?"

"Because you've changed!" she yelled. "You're one of them now! This drink is going to poison me, but it won't wake me up, Katja. It's going to kill me for real and I refuse to drink it! Now take it and get away from me! If there is anything resembling an afterlife, I hope I never have to see you there once I'm dead!"

Those words left Katja with wide eyes.

Katja said, "All right. Give me the wine bottle. Then go hide somewhere where Craig won't find you."

Monique handed her the bottle, and Katja said, "Goodbye, Monique."

Katja walked away, trying not to cry.

As she walked toward the entrance door that led to where the private booths of the opera house were, she made sure no one was looking first before pulling out her hairpin and picking the lock to the door.

Maybe Monique's right, thought Katja. Maybe my association with Lucas makes me guilty of being a villain as well.

Haytham said to Katja, "Your father is quite the Templar, Katja."

Katja said nothing to Haytham as she picked the lock.

"Would you indulge me while I reminisce out loud about my own upbringing for a moment?" said Haytham. "Reginald Birch, the man I mentioned earlier, was the Grand Master of the British Rite of the Templar Order. He was the one who mentored me to become a Templar myself. He was a successful businessman in addition to one of the most powerful Templars back in the late 18th century."

"What does he have to do with your upbringing?" said Katja. "Did you see him as a father too?"

"Perhaps for a time. I wasn't exactly on the best of terms with my real father, Edward. Nor was my half-sister, Jennifer Scott. But it turned out he killed my real father, and kidnapped my half-sister. Tried to sell her into slavery. Once I found her and she told me the truth, we hunted him down to his home in France and killed him."

"Sad story," said Katja. "If that's the case, why did you remain a Templar? Wasn't your father, Edward, an Assassin?"

"Simple," said Haytham. "Despite what the Templars did to me and my family, I believed in the Templars and their ideology."

"Well I don't," said Katja as she finished picking open the lock.

"Well I suspect you'll have to fake your belief in the Templars," said Haytham. "Rather soon, actually."

"What do you mean?" said Katja as she walked up the stairs toward Otso Berg's private booth.

"This business with the human trafficking ring… I suspect your father and your former tormentors aren't the only Templars here."

Katja looked back down at her Haytham alter as he followed behind her.

"Did this whole opera not seem rather peculiar to you from the start, Katja?" said Haytham. "Lucas might be a terrible father figure, but at the very least you have to give him credit… He's a brilliant tactician."

"You're not making any sense," said Katja as she picked open the door to Otso's booth.

But as she opened the door to Otso's booth, things started to become clearer.

Otso was downing a bottle of whiskey as he said, "Lorne Balfe's beautiful compositions seem like a fitting song for my demise. Care to listen with me for a moment, Katja?"

Katja said, "You know I'm here to kill you."

"Obviously," said Otso. "Lucas hijacked the very Templar meeting I was heading to. I wanted to warn what little members of the Templar Order left that were loyal to the original Templar cause about the threat that Lucas presented to us and the world. Little did I know I was walking into a trap."

"Then this opera house… ?" said Katja.

"Is the meeting, yes," said Otso. "It's been rented out by the Templars."

Looking over at Katja, Otso said, "Did you seriously not figure that out yet?"

Katja frowned.

"Want some liquid comfort before you plunge your blade through my neck?"

"No. I'm pregnant."

"I see," said Otso. "Family… What a complicated thing. You have to love another to pass on the bloodline, not sure whether your love will be reciprocated or not. My wife Helmi divorced me after I became a mercenary, even though it was just to pay for my daughter Elina's treatments for her cystic fibrosis. It wasn't long after that when I joined Abstergo."

"Elina wouldn't be alive if it weren't for me. I don't care if she sees me as a monster, though… She was my main reason to keep fighting. The Templar cause was merely a secondary reason. I just hope she makes it out of this ungodly mess Lucas is about to make of the world."

"You can still be with your daughter, Otso… Still promote the Templar cause. On one condition though."

Otso looked at Katja. "You're not going to kill me?"

"Get my friend, Monique, out of here. The fake death concoction in this wine bottle will help you evade Lucas's prying eyes."

"Your motivations turned out to be petty in the end…" laughed Berg. "I take it you're not exactly happy with Lucas right now."

Looking at Katja with a smirk, Berg said, "You're going to have to make me look bloody for this to work, you know."

"And I plan to," said Katja as she readied her hidden blade and made a partial slit through Berg's throat.

Berg screamed as Katja grabbed him and ripped the pendant key to the Grand Temple from his neck. As she lowered him to the ground with her arms while he bled out somewhat, she whispered, "I missed your jugular. You'll need to make it to the hospital before you lose too much blood. Hopefully the concoction doesn't last long."

"Either way, I'll see you in hell, Katja…" grunted Otso. "That pendant you're giving Lucas… it's going to help him do something worse than nuking half of the world…"

"I know," said Katja. "I'll find a way to stop him."

"Petty to the end…" laughed Otso before Katja forced the drink down his throat, and wiped a handkerchief over his bloody neck to confirm the kill.

She then stood over Otso in the booth and looked out at the crowd beneath her and the orchestra performing after stashing the handkerchief and the Grand Temple key in her purse.

Haytham said to her, "The exit's too crowded."

"It is?" said Katja.

"Let's go around."

"But there's no other way–"

"Yes there is," said Haytham as he jumped out of the booth and climbed across the scaffolding.

"What are you– HAYTHAM!" said Katja.

Before she knew it, she found herself climbing across the scaffolding on the sides of the opera house walls as well.

"Haytham, stop!" said Katja as she followed him across some catwalks containing some leftover props above the stage.

Wait a minute… said Katja as she stopped. Is that giant cardboard prop what I think it is?

"Katja?" said Lucas to her via her communicator earrings.

"Yes, Lucas?"

"Did you kill Otso?"

"Yes," she lied. "The show's over."

"And the key?"

"It's with me," she said, looking at the key in her hand.

"Where are you now?"

"In one of the central catwalks above the stage… there's a leftover prop from what looks like an earlier play of some kind."

"That's not a prop from an earlier play," said Lucas as the catwalk Katja was on suddenly lowered, and she was shocked to find the audience staring at her and the prop that covered the catwalk… a Templar cross.

"It's the centerpiece for the current show… and you're the lead actress," said Lucas over comms. "Play along with me for a moment, and step down from the catwalk, my dear Katja."

Katja looked out at the audience and at the lead composer, Lorne Balfe, as he smiled at her while the orchestra continued, albeit now they were playing a quieter, albeit more ominous piece.

Strange… she thought, his gaze seems somewhat… robotic.

"My fellow Templar brothers and sisters," Lucas said into a microphone as he now approached the stage. "My daughter, Katja just managed to do something no other Templar could do… she's managed to help me gain the key to accessing the entirety of the Isu power grid… The Grey is ours now!"

The whole audience began to clap in applause.

"While the Selection's first phase will involve the Red Mercury nuclear bombs, the Engineers, and the depopulation of half of the human race… this is the key to the second phase of my plans for humanity," said Lucas.

The audience clapped more.

"I'm glad you all were able to join me," said Lucas, "as our plans to usurp the Templar Order and Abstergo are all but complete."

"Whether they want to believe it or not, Abstergo, the Knights Templar… they are all but descendants of a much greater power. The Knights Templar were formed by King Alfred as a secret organization to help enforce peace, bring the world closer to God… what he believed was the true 'Father of Understanding.' He believed that the Isu were just a bunch of pagan idols."

"This is anything but the truth. The Order of the Ancients were the original Templars," said Lucas. "Founded by Egyptian Pharaoh Smenkhkare in 1334 BCE, the Order of the Ancients believed in the real truth… that humanity was created as a slave race in the image of the Isu. That humans cannot be governed by other humans… they have to be used as tools by the Isu. And when said tools stop performing the function they were assigned…" said Lucas. "They need to be sent a message to keep them in line. They need to be culled."

Katja looked on in horror as Lucas's followers around her clapped again.

As Lucas walked onto the stage to meet Katja, Lucas continued speaking into his microphone. "Should I, Lucas Richards, the reincarnation of Odin, the All-Father– fail in my efforts, and be killed by our enemies, I trust my daughter, Katja Winter, the reincarnation of Baldr, to lead Abstergo into the new age. She shall inherit the position as ruler of the Earth!"

Lucas said to Katja, "I believe it's time we welcomed Katja into our fold. She has proven herself to be a loyal daughter, a force to be reckoned with, and a future member of our cause with unlimited potential. She should be allowed to share in our secret knowledge of the universe, and reap all the benefits that such a gift implies. If any are opposed to this, speak now or forever hold your peace."

The crowd fell silent as Lucas approached her along with Monique who was holding a ceremonial chalice containing wine on a tray with some small pieces of bread with cross shapes on them.

"This was all an initiation ceremony?" Katja said to Lucas.

"It was," said Lucas.

"And you invited Jesper Kyd, Lorne Balfe, and Brian Tyler and their symphony to it?"

"They're androids… Cyborgs mimicking the real thing. Part of a project developed by ObtainR, a subsidiary of Abstergo that's helping me actualize the second phase of my Selection."

"Androids?" Katja looked at the crowd, and at Monique. "Right… I see."

"Very well. Katja, come. Stand beside me."

Katja stood next to Lucas, and looked at him.

"Do you swear to uphold the principles of our order and all that for which we stand?"

"I do," said Katja.

"And never to share our secrets nor divulge the true nature of our work?"

"I do."

"And to do so from now until death- whatever the cost?"

"I do."

"Then we welcome you into our fold, Katja. Together, we will usher in the dawn of a new world order. One defined by purpose, order, subservience to, and worship of the Isu."

"Wine, Katja?" Monique looked at Katja as she looked at her with contempt.

Katja ate one of the bread pieces, and drank down the wine from the chalice.

As Monique walked away from Katja for the last time, Lucas said, "Give me your hand, Katja."

Katja held out her hand to Lucas as he slid on a Templar ring.

"You are a Templar."

The crowd clapped and cheered.

"You are an Isu supremacist," said Lucas with a smile before he turned to the crowd. "May the All-Father guide us!"

"May the All-Father guide us!" Katja and her Haytham alter chanted in synchronization with the crowd as the cyborg orchestra's trumpets, drums, and violins pounded in synchronization with her rapid heartbeat.

… … … … …

Katja had images flashing through her head of Haytham talking to Reginald Birch and the rest of the British Rite at a meeting in their 18th century headquarters.

"Fascinating…" said Reginald as he held up the Grand Temple's key to his eye to examine it. "Gentlemen. I hold in my hand a key. And if this book is to be believed, it will open the doors of a storehouse built by Those Who Came Before."

"Ah yes," said Haytham, "those who ruled, reigned, and then vanished from the world. Do we know what it is that would be held within?"

"It could contain certain knowledge. Perhaps a weapon. Or something as yet unknown, unfathomable in its construction and purpose. It could be any of these things. Or none of them. They are still an enigma, these precursors. But of one thing I am certain- whatever waits behind those doors should prove a great boon to us all," said Reginald.

"Or our enemies. Should they find it first," said Haytham.

"They won't. You've seen to that."

"I assume you know where this storehouse is?"

Reginald turned to another man. "Ah, Mr. Harrison," he said.

"Gentlemen," said the man.

"How fare your calculations?"

"I believe the site lies somewhere within this region," said Mr. Harrison as he pointed to the general location of the Grand Temple of Turin on an old map of the colonies.

"That's a lot of ground to cover," said Haytham as he looked at the map.

"My apologies… Were that I could be more accurate…"

"That's all right," said Reginald. "It suffices for a start."

Turning to Haytham, he said, "And that is why we've called you here, Master Kenway. We'd like for you to travel to America, locate the storehouse, and take possession of its contents."

"I am yours to command," said Haytham. "Although a job of this magnitude will require more than just myself."

"Of course," said Reginald as he handed Haytham a document which read five names: Charles Lee, William Johnsom, Thomas Hickey, Benjamin Church, and Jonathan Pitcairn.

"Upon this piece of paper are the names of five men sympathetic to our cause. Each is also uniquely suited to aid you in your endeavor. With them at your side, you will want for nothing."

"Well, then I'd best be on my way," said Haytham.

"I knew our faith in you was not misplaced. We've booked you passage to Boston. Your ship leaves at dawn. Go forth Haytham, and bring honor to us all."

As Haytham left the room, Katja woke up.

Katja found herself on Lucas's private yacht, wearing a bikini and covered in suntan lotion. They were moving full-speed ahead across the North Atlantic.

Katja went to find Lucas.

He was lying near the pool built into the yacht along with several attractive women.

His intimidatingly muscular build along with several tattoos of his made her certain that anyone who challenged him to a one-on-one fight would die at his hands.

"Lucas?" said Katja as he ate some fruit. "I thought we needed to go to America?"

"We are going there," said Lucas.

"But wouldn't a plane be faster?"

"To be honest, it was a somewhat impulsive decision. I missed the smell of the sea."

"Right, of course… You're Odin."

Lucas smiled slightly before he saw a storm on the horizon. "It's about to rain. You should head inside to your quarters, Katja."

"All right," she said.

Katja was in her room, reading a book about the Isu when Haytham appeared. He was frowning.

"This whole bit about Lucas depopulating the world doesn't sit right with me," said Haytham. "What's worse is that his ideology doesn't seem that far off from that of the Templars."

"You just figured that out now?" said Katja.

Haytham said to her, "Do you plan on helping him break into the Grand Temple?"

"I don't have a choice," said Katja.

"There's always a choice," said Haytham. "I hate to admit this… but perhaps you should find a way back to your Assassin friends."

Katja sighed when she heard the boat start to shake.

"Was that the storm?" said Katja.

"That's no storm," said Haytham.

Worried, Katja went to go find Lucas at the bow of the yacht.

Lucas was conversing with the people in charge of piloting the ship.

"Who are those ships coming after us?"

"It's hard to tell due to the storm, sir!" said one of them.

Katja looked through the storm with her Eagle Vision.

"It's the Assassins!" said Katja.

"How'd they find us?" said Lucas. Looking at Katja, he said, "Is there something you're not telling me, Katja?"

"No!" said Katja. "Last I saw them was in Istanbul… I know that they were trying to come after me in Cyprus, but I haven't heard from them since!"

Lucas said, "All right… I trust you. My best guess is that Otso Berg tipped them off. It's not the first time that he worked with them."

To Katja's shock, one of the Assassins' ships fired some sort of missile at the yacht. The explosion emitted several electric bolts of some kind, and the yacht stalled to a halt.

"Damn it, they're going to sink us!" shouted Lucas.

"No they're not," said Haytham.

Lucas turned to Katja.

"Shit… Haytham's right… that explosion was EMP," said Katja. "They don't just want to kill you, Lucas… they must want me!"

Lucas frowned.

"I suppose now it's time I admit what I did, Katja," said Haytham to Katja. "I sent out a distress signal using that necklace of yours so the Assassins could track us here."

"You what?" shouted Lucas. "Wait a minute… You're speaking with an English accent… It was Haytham, wasn't it?"

As Haytham disappeared, Katja said, "I'm sorry, Lucas… I didn't know!"

"It's all right, Katja… I believe you," said Lucas.

"Let me make it up to you," said Katja. "Perhaps I can find a way to restore the ship's power."

"And how do you plan to do that?" said the pilot. "You're no mechanic!"

"I'll find a way!" shouted Katja as she headed out to the exterior of the ship.

Her Ljosalfar alter started to talk to her, and her skin began to glow with bright white Isu lines running across it.

"Katja…" said the Ljosalfar, "You can restore the ship's power by going to its antenna."

"Right," said Katja. "How do I do that, though?"

"I will lend you my power to do so," said the Ljosalfar. "A bit of energy from your body will do the trick."

Gulping, Katja said, "I guess I'm going to have to climb up the antenna… In the middle of a lightning storm."

The Ljosalfar said to her, "You have to be brave, Katja… In the meantime, Haytham will help you. He's been through a similar situation before."

Katja nodded, and quickly climbed up the slippery rain-covered ladder to the antenna as the thunderstorm worsened.

The Ljosalfar said to her, "Just a little further, Katja…"

Katja then climbed up to the antenna's power box, only to lose her balance and slip. She nearly plummeted to her death, only for her to grab a railing at the last minute.

"KATJA!" yelled Haytham. "Grab my hand!"

Katja quickly grabbed Haytham's hand, and he hoisted her back onto the platform where the antenna's power box was.

Katja quickly climbed up to the top of the antenna as best as she could, nearly losing her grip at times.

"All right, Ljosalfar!" shouted Katja. "What do I do now?"

"Allow me to activate your power, Katja," said the Ljosalfar.

"Will it kill me?"

"It might knock you unconscious," said the Ljosalfar, "or at the very least, cause you to dissociate."

"Fine," said Katja as she shut her eyes for a moment. "Just do it!"

The Ljosalfar nodded, and a bright, intense pulse of energy was emitted from Katja's body.

Temporarily becoming too weak to keep climbing, Katja screamed as she lost her grip and fell back down to the platform beneath her, and blacked out for a moment from the pain of the impact.

Looking around her, she could see that power had been restored to the ship.

I did it, thought Katja.

"We did it," said Haytham as he offered Katja her hand.

Katja nodded, and grabbed Haytham's hand.

He pulled her to her feet, and they descended from the antenna tower.

She fell to her hands and knees due to being too weak to stand for a moment.

Lucas arrived, and said to her, "KATJA!"

Holding her in his arms, he said, "Whatever you did, Katja… it worked."

Smiling at her, he said, "You're brilliant."

Katja said to Lucas, "Did we lose the Assassins?"

"Yes," said Lucas. "Looks like the lightning got them. Nature is on our side."

Katja looked at the dark gray skies above them as the rain and thunder started to subside.

A couple hours later, Katja was resting in her quarters to regain her strength.

"I could use some air," she said.

"I could also," said Haytham.

They walked out to the front of the ship.

"We're here, Katja," said Lucas.

"Here?" said Katja.

Looking forward, she could see a city whose colorful night skyline was lit up by the signs, windows, and streetlights. Skyscrapers towered above them as they neared the city's harbor.

"New York," said Lucas.

"This is America," said Katja as her eyes filled with wonder.

"You make it sound like it's your first time here," said Lucas. "I've taken you here plenty of times."

"If you did," said Katja, "I don't remember."

… … … … …

Unfortunately, Katja didn't have much time to sightsee.

She was dropped off at a tower that was under heavy construction across from the clinic that housed the last power source for the Grand Temple.

Lucas already had the other two… along with the key.

"Well that's ironic," said her Desmond alter. "I parachuted off of a tower similar to this one in order to find one of the power sources a while back."

"You did?" said Katja.

"Yeah…" said Desmond. "Also I think this clinic is where Elijah's mother, Tori Chastain, took him to due to his condition as a Sage of Aita."

"This is one of Abstergo's clinics?" said Katja.

She contacted Lucas via her necklace communicator.

"Lucas, why do we need to break into one of Abstergo's clinics?" said Katja. "Can't you just ask them for the power source?"

"It's not that simple, Katja," said Lucas. "Despite that I mostly control Abstergo by now, the secret megacorporation is still undergoing a schism between the Templars and the Instruments of the First Will. The clinic is still under the control of the former faction. It's up to you to steal the power source."

"All right," said Katja as she looked down at the streets below.

"Lucas, what's happening down there? It looks similar to what was happening in Istanbul."

"Riots," said Lucas. "Americans are getting frustrated by the wealth gap, among other issues affecting them. The world is beginning to become aware of us, Katja… All the more reason for us to begin the Selection."

Katja frowned at this, saying nothing in response as she began to walk across the horizontal pillars of the skyscraper's construction site. Her experience she gained from her alters, along with her rapidly improving physical condition, helped her keep her balance.

As she jumped from pillar to pillar and swung from some other pillars above her, Haytham said to her as he followed suit, "Katja, as much as I have always wondered what was inside that Grand Temple… I don't think Lucas should be given access to it."

"I know," said Katja. "I'm trying to think of a plan right now."

"Well I recommend that you think faster."

Katja frowned as she ran up a wall, and grabbed a handhold at the top of it, then shimmied across said handhold until she was able to swing around the corner of the building.

Don't look down, she thought as she slowly climbed to the top of the tower.

"All right, Lucas," said Katja. "I'm at the top of the tower."

"Good," said Lucas. "Time to parachute to the clinic's roof."

Nodding, Katja readied her parachute as she looked at the construction crane in front of her.

"Time for a leap of faith," she said as she ran across the top of the construction crane, and jumped off the edge of it.

She managed to parachute across the Manhattan skyline, and managed to land on a balcony of the Abstergo clinic.

Unstrapping the parachute from her back, Katja then walked up to the door to the inside of the clinic and hacked into the lock with a flash drive hidden inside her cross necklace.

Entering the empty clinic, she navigated through the offices, avoiding the security cameras along the way.

"Any chance you can trigger a blackout or something for me, Lucas?" said Katja.

"Unfortunately that would arouse suspicion," said Lucas. "Use your talents to make it through, Katja."

Grunting, Katja continued through the hallways.

Several elite Templar agents were blocking the door to the security center.

Katja looked at Haytham, and he nodded.

They crept behind the Templars while they were looking the other way, and then Katja and Haytham stabbed several of them through their necks with their hidden blades.

"What the fuck–" yelled one of the guards.

Katja and Haytham then stabbed their way through the guards with her hidden blades and Haytham's sword, respectively.

Katja then used her Eagle Vision to figure out the code to the door's lock by looking at the fingerprints on the door lock's keys.

The door opened, and plugged her flash drive into the security hub computer.

"Do you see where they're keeping the power source, Katja?" said Lucas.

"Yes," said Katja. "It's inside an office area."

"You'll want to take the stairs, and not the elevator," said Lucas.

"Obviously," said Katja. "I'm on my way."

She made her way out of the security center by using her grappling line to climb up into a ventilation shaft.

Making her way through the air vents of the building, she eventually made it to the stairway.

Several Abstergo guards were making their way down.

Katja and Haytham quickly shot at them with their weapons. Haytham with his dual flintlock pistols, and Katja with her suppressed Abstergo assault rifle.

The guards' bodies fell down the stairs; a couple of them fell over the railings and plummeted to their deaths.

One of them survived, and tried to run away.

"Damn snitches," said Haytham.

"He's going for an alarm panel," said Katja. "We have to catch him!"

Katja used her grappling line to quickly ascend the stairway.

While hanging from the grappling line, she shot the remaining guard through his helmet with her suppressed sidearm.

"Your aim is impeccable, Katja," said Haytham.

Katja nodded at Haytham as she headed up the stairs further until they reached the office floor they were looking for.

Katja crouched behind a set of cubicles as several dozen guards were patrolling the office areas.

"We'll have to sneak past them," said Haytham.

Katja anticipated their patrol paths, and quickly made her way through the cubicles, hiding within them when necessary.

"Damn it," said Katja, "there's too many of them guarding the office we want to get into!"

"There has to be another way," said Haytham.

Katja then looked around for an opportunity.

She saw a printer nearby.

That could work, she thought.

She quickly hacked into a nearby computer with her flash drive, and printed out a set of documents to distract the guards.

"What the hell?" said a guard.

"Who's working at this hour?" said another.

"Not to mention the city's under curfew because of the riots," said one more.

"You three, check it out," said the leader.

Katja then crept away from the printer, darting in and out of the cubicles in the office and into the hallway.

"Ready?" she said to Haytham.

"Ready," said Haytham.

They quickly mowed down the remaining guards in front of the door with suppressed assault rifle fire before they could react.

Katja then shot the nearby security cameras before they could see the guards' bodies.

She then held the leader's eyes up to the retinal scanner lock to the door, and they entered.

Inside the office, Katja quickly broke the glass case housing the power source with her fist, and grabbed the power source.

Unfortunately, this caused an alarm to sound.

"Damn it!" she said.

"Looks like we're in for a fight after all," said Haytham.

Looking around for a way out, Katja looked at the windows to the office.

"Time for Plan B," said Katja as she shot through the windows with her Abstergo brand assault rifle.

As they shattered, she quickly jumped out of the windows, and climbed out onto the ledge outside the office before the remaining guards were able to find and catch her.

She then climbed and grappled her way up to the rooftops.

Lucas contacted Katja as she used her grappling line to zipline to an adjacent skyscraper.

"Katja, what's happening?" said Lucas. "I'm hearing a ton of traffic on Abstergo's comms… They're coming after you!"

"I know!" said Katja. "Long story, but I've got the third power source!"

"Good enough," said Lucas. "I'm sending an extraction helicopter your way. Make your way to the LZ. I'm marking its location on your phone's GPS."

"I'm on my way," Katja said.

"Be careful, Katja," said Lucas. "In addition to the riots, the Templars are coming after you now!"

"I know," said Katja as she hung up.

"If that isn't bloody ironic," said Haytham. "A Templar being chased by Templars."

Katja ziplined, climbed, and ran her way across the rooftops with several of Abstergo's elite guards chasing after her and shooting at her.

Along the way, she experienced a memory of Haytham's where a man named Charles Lee was giving him a tour of Boston.

To Katja's shock, Charles Lee looked eerily similar to her former tormentor, Craig Lynch, down to the beard and the bright, piercing eyes.

She also was remembering Haytham's memories of recruiting the other four members of his inner circle, helping recover Benjamin Franklin's almanac pages, and hunting down Edward Braddock, the "Bulldog."

Haytham said to Katja, "You seem distressed upon seeing the face of my friend and fellow Templar, Charles Lee."

"That's because he reminds me of a man who ruined my life."

"I see," said Haytham. "I assume you're going to try and kill him?"

"That's right," said Katja with a frown, "once I get the chance to."

"Good," said Haytham. "They're two different people."

Katja looked ahead as several Abstergo snipers tried to fire at her from nearby.

Katja frowned as she used her enhanced senses to fire at them from a distance with her assault rifle.

She managed to pick them off one by one while hiding behind some scaffolding on the rooftop she was currently on when needing to reload.

Seeing more Abstergo members closing in on her, she continued to run across the rooftops.

She was about to move through a parking lot ahead of her when an Abstergo helicopter flew and hovered above her.

"Is that the helicopter Lucas sent?" Katja said.

The helicopter then fired machine guns and rockets at her.

"I don't think so!" yelled Haytham as he and Katja ducked behind a set of chimneys.

"Damn it!" yelled Katja as she fired her grenade launcher at the helicopter.

As it fell out of the sky and crashed into a parking lot building across from them, Haytham said, "We're attracting too much attention up here. We need to get down to the streets and blend in with the riots."

"As much as I hate to admit it… you're right," said Katja.

She quickly attached her grappling line to a nearby pillar, and then she and Haytham descended to the streets.

The streets were utter chaos.

Police were forming blockades, launching tear gas canisters and firing rubber bullets at several protesters. The protesters were throwing rocks and Molotovs at the policemen.

Katja tried to hide within the swarm of protesters, covering her mouth with her handkerchief to avoid breathing in the tear gas.

She could see several Abstergo agents approaching her with the help of her Eagle Vision. They had infiltrated both the police forces and the protesting civilians.

Katja quickly hid inside the wreckage of a nearby bar whose windows had been destroyed due to the riots.

Katja looked around, and found that several policemen were hanging out, keeping watch over several handcuffed civilians. Most of them were African-American.

One of the policemen spotted her.

"Hey!" yelled the policeman. "Where are you going, girl?"

Katja looked at the policeman nervously.

This is bad, she thought.

Haytham looked at the policemen as well, and said, "Me?"

"No… The other you," said the policeman.

"Well, I uh… I was leaving…" said Haytham.

Haytham, no! Thought Katja.

"Oh? And now?" said the policeman.

"Well now… Now I'm going to feed you your teeth," said Haytham.

"Hilarious, girl," said the policeman. "Put your hands in the air."

Katja took out her rifle and shot several of the policemen dead.

"What the hell!" yelled one of them as they readied their own guns.

The bar quickly turned into a massive shooting ground as Katja ran to and ducked behind the bar area, and blind-fired at the policemen.

One pulled her out from the bar, and tried to knock her out, only for Haytham to slam into him and throw him into a nearby table, smashing it.

"What the fuck!" yelled the policeman. "Are you human?"

Katja and Haytham then engaged in a brutal fistfight with the policemen as they readied their batons and tried to swing them at Katja.

Eventually, Katja managed to beat them all unconscious, even killing a few of them with her Hidden Blades.

Catching her breath, Katja looked around at the bodies of the policemen she massacred.

She then looked at the handcuffed civilians.

"Um… you didn't see anything…" said Katja.

"Goddamn girl, that was badass!" said one of them.

"You're like a one woman army! Fucking ACAB, Black Lives Matter, and Antifa on fucking steroids!"

"What… ?" said Katja in confusion.

"Can you untie us?" said one of them.

Katja looked at Haytham.

"I don't see why not," he said.

Untying the protesters, one of them said, "Thanks, babe. If you're ever in town, hit us up."

"Um… all right…" said Katja.

Seeing a set of Abstergo guards coming to investigate outside, Katja said, "Actually, I'd like to ask a favor of you all."

"Shoot," said one of them.

"Distract the police outside for me. I need to get somewhere," she said.

"You scratch our back, we scratch yours," said the civilians as they went to distract the guards.

Smiling slightly, Katja managed to make her way out of the bar, hiding in plain sight within the chaos around her.

Eventually they managed to make it through town to the LZ as Abstergo's hunt for Katja died down.

Lucas was waiting for Katja onboard the chopper.

"You made it," said Lucas. "Thank God."

Looking at Katja, he said, "You're covered in some blood."

"I got into a bar fight on the way here," said Katja.

Lucas laughed, and said, "Hand me the power source."

Reluctantly, Katja gave the glowing blue cube to him.

"Perfect," said Lucas. "It's time we headed to the Grand Temple."

As the helicopter arrived at Turin, Katja looked at the greenery of the forest surrounding them, and it briefly turned to a snowy white as she was enveloped by one of Haytham's memories.

He managed to free several Native American slaves.

Haytham looked at one of them, his gaze distant.

"Kaniehtí:io…" said Haytham.

"What?" said Katja.

"My lover," said Haytham, "and Connor's mother."

Katja said nothing in response to this.

As the memory disappeared and white turned to green, her Haytham alter flickered in front of her.

She briefly saw the image of a Native American man whose features somewhat resembled that of Haytham's.

As the helicopter touched down in a clearing in the forest, Lucas said to Katja, "We're here."

Katja, Lucas, and several Abstergo agents loyal to Lucas and the Instruments got off of the chopper, and headed into the Grand Temple.

Katja's hands were trembling as they entered.

As she looked around at the futuristic walls, ceilings, and floors of the Grand Temple, as well as the bright blue forcefield guarding the Eye, Haytham said to her, "You're going to need to find a way to stop Lucas, Katja… and fast."

"I know…" said Katja.

"Do you have a plan?"

"Not really…"

"Well come up with one!"

"I'm working on it!"

As Lucas's Abstergo bodyguards plugged the three power sources into their nodes, Katja looked on in shock as the forcefield moved further backwards until the walkway toward the Eye appeared.

"All right, Katja," said Lucas as they walked to the forcefield. "I believe you deserve the honors."

Lucas handed Katja the key to opening the Grand Temple's vault where the Eye was.

Katja nodded, and took the key.

She opened the vault's lock, and the forcefield disintegrated.

They approached the Eye.

Desmond said to Katja, "Shit… this is where I died… and where Juno was released. I saved the world from a Second Catastrophe here."

"And I believe it's up to Katja now to prevent a Third one," said Haytham.

Katja's hands trembled.

"It's okay, Katja," said Lucas. "The Eye won't kill you. Its energy was released when Desmond used it… It should be harmless now."

"Should be?" said Katja.

"You have Desmond's alter within you," said Lucas. "Use him to survive it."

Katja gulped.

She saw her Ljosalfar alter appear before her.

"It's all right, Katja," she said. "I will keep you safe."

Katja looked at the Eye, then took a deep breath, and put her hand on it.

She screamed as her hand burned and the Eye started to glow and emit strange images all around her.

The bright Isu lines appeared on her skin again.

"Katja?" said Lucas. "KATJA!"

She was about to dissociate when the Eye stopped glowing, and her hand became unstuck from it.

Lucas looked at Katja in horror as she fell to the ground.

"Katja? Are you all right?"

As Katja's Isu lines disappeared from her skin, Lucas helped her to her feet.

"I'm sorry, Katja…" said Lucas. "I underestimated the effects… I thought you'd be all right."

Lucas's Abstergo agents used some devices built into their suits to harvest the energy from the Eye.

"Damn it!" said Haytham. "What have you done, Katja!"

Katja frowned, and said to Lucas, "I have a question for you, Lucas."

"Ask anything you want, Katja," said Lucas.

"Who do you really love?"

"What?" said Lucas. "What do you mean?"

"Do you love me?" she said. "Or Baldr?"

Lucas looked at Katja in confusion.

He opened his mouth as if he was about to answer when they heard something from the entrance of the Temple.

"Lucas!" shouted a wounded Abstergo agent. "The Assassins are here!"

"Damn it," said Lucas. "Perfect fucking timing. Give me the Eye's energy!"

An Abstergo agent complied, and uploaded the Eye's energy to Lucas's wrist-mounted computer-esque device.

Katja looked around as Elijah and several other Assassins entered the Temple.

"Katja!" shouted Elijah.

As Galina threw several smoke bombs at Lucas's guards, a bloodbath ensued.

The other Assassins engaged in a brutal shootout with the Abstergo agents.

Amidst the carnage, Lucas managed to escape as the smoke began to clear.

"No!" shouted Katja.

Elijah walked to Katja as Galina, Kiyoshi, and the other Assassins managed to finish off the remaining Abstergo soldiers.

"Where'd Lucas go?" said an Assassin Katja didn't recognize.

"He's gone…" said Katja. "The Eye… he managed to access it!"

"Damn it!" said the new Assassin.

"By the way… who is that?" she said.

"Gavin Banks," said Elijah. "He's my grandfather's replacement."

"Then… William's–"

"I don't know," said Elijah, looking away. "We're still looking for him."

Gulping, Katja said, "Lucas said he had him, that he was going to torture him to death."

"That piece of shit…" said Callum Lynch.

Frowning, Kiyoshi said to Katja, "You helped him access the Eye, didn't you?"

Katja said nothing.

"Your eyes say it all," said Rebecca.

"We should've let William bloody kill you back in Istanbul!" cursed Shaun. "Now Lucas has exactly what he needs to complete his second conspiracy, and we haven't even stopped the first one!"

"I'm sorry…" said Katja as her eyes started to fill with tears. "I didn't know what to do…"

Elijah said to Katja, "It's all right."

"No it bloody isn't, Elijah!" shouted Shaun.

Elijah looked at Shaun, and said, "She can make it up to us then." Turning to Katja, he said to her, "Now that you're back with us, Katja, you're going to have to do everything you can to help us stop Lucas's conspiracy."

"All right," said Katja. "I promise I'll help."

"I'm against it, Boss's Grandson," said Galina.

"I don't care, Galina," said Elijah. "Now if you don't mind, I need to talk to Katja about an important matter."

"I assume you're talking about your unborn child," said Kiyoshi.

"Damn straight," said Elijah. "Katja, let's go."

Katja nodded, and followed Elijah out of the Grand Temple.

Along the way through the wilderness, Katja saw a memory of Haytham and Kaniehtí:io kissing, and eventually sleeping with each other underneath the stars.

Snapping out of it, she looked Elijah.

"Elijah," said Katja, "I'm sorry… for everything–"

Elijah then grabbed Katja by the shoulders and pressed his mouth to hers.

"Goddamn it, Katja," said Elijah, "I was so worried about you! I thought Basim and Sadiq-"

"They tortured me," she said. "I thought Basim was an Assassin."

"He isn't anymore," said Elijah. "We've cut ties with him after finding out he was playing both sides. And word is Lucas had him killed anyway."

Katja said nothing in response to this.

"Are you going to be okay?"

Katja smiled. "I think so. It's good to see you again, Elijah."

Elijah smiled back. "Good to see you too."

That night, they slept together in a tent in the wilderness.

Katja lay naked next to Elijah, as he was sound asleep.

Then someone entered the tent.

Katja saw a brief glimpse of a memory.

A Native American settlement, set ablaze.

"Who are you?" said Katja.

"I am Ratonhnhaké:ton," said the Native American man. "They also call me Connor Kenway."

Katja said, "You're Haytham's son."

Haytham looked at Connor. "Well then… It's been several centuries, hasn't it? This is quite the family reunion."

Connor looked at Haytham, and frowned.

Looking at Katja, Connor said, "Come, Katja… We have much training to do."

"Training?" said Katja.

"If we want to stop the Templars out here…" said Connor, "...you need to learn how to fight like me."

Katja nodded, and said to Connor, "When do we begin?"

"Right now."