Megiddo Chapter 15: Nature's Reckoning Part II: Triple-Helix, a Splinter Cell + Assassin's Creed Crossover fanfic

… … … … …

When Sam blacked out, he remembered something he told Sarah before the mission began.

"I may not make it back from this mission, Sarah…"

"Well if you die, then we all do," said Sarah. "You're the one going after the broadcast center, right?"

"That's not what I mean…" said Sam. "I've realized I can't do this alone. I'm going to need help from the Assassins who're backing me up… as well as from Yahweh."

Sarah said, "You think he's going to erase your consciousness completely?"

"I can feel him taking over… I'm losing the will to keep fighting…" said Sam. "And once I lose it completely, I… You should know by now that every mission you go on, you may not come back from. There's going to be moments where you have to fight even when you know the chance of you making it out alive are slim to none… Those are the moments that'll put you above the rest. This is going to be the mission of our lives."

"So, we might as well make these last few moments together count," said Sarah.

"Yeah," said Sam. "Do you ever regret some of the things you've done over the course of your time in the field?"

"Plenty," said Sarah. "Why?"

"That's normal," said Sam, looking away for a moment, and rubbing his eyes.

"Hang in there, Dad," said Sarah. "The world is counting on you. I'm counting on you."

"I know, sweetheart," said Sam, "I know."

Sarah hugged him for a moment, and when they stopped hugging, Sam woke to see the corpse of the android that had mimicked her on the burning floor as he was on his hands and knees, coughing up blood.

The White House, Washington, DC, USA

"There's going to be moments where you have to fight even when you know the chance of you making it out alive are slim to none… Those are the moments that'll put you above the rest. This is going to be the mission of our lives."

Grim was about to fire her crossbow at her head when she heard Sadiq's orders over their comms.

"How does Sadiq have access to our comms… ?" said Grim.

Then when she heard what she was saying, she looked up.

"Why aren't you firing, Freyja?" said Dr. Ingraham angrily.

She looked at the other Engineers, who were looking around at each other.

Some of them eyed Grim back.

Grim nodded to them slightly while the crossbow's barrel was in her mouth.

Several Engineers then fired at Dr. Ingraham, and one of them cut President Caldwell free of her bonds.

Marcus, Wrench, and Sitara started freeing some of the other hostages as well.

"POTUS is secure… shit, I've always wanted to say that…" said Marcus.

Grim took the crossbow out of her mouth, and aimed it at a wounded Dr. Ingraham.

"FIRE!" screamed Dr. Ingraham.

"I would," said Grim, "but I'd rather beat you to death with my own two hands."

She dropped the crossbow and charged at Dr. Ingraham.

The Kremlin, Moscow, Russia

Briggs was about to surrender when the Engineers started firing at Hisham and each other.

"What the fuck is going on down there? Why are you shooting at me?" yelled Hisham.

Yeah, what is going on… said Briggs. Confused, he risked turning on his comms to get context.

To his surprise, he heard Sadiq giving orders over comms for the Engineers to sabotage Lucas's operation.

"Looks like Loki isn't out of tricks after all…" said Briggs as he pulled out some EMP grenades, and chucked them at the rocket launcher turrets, which disabled them.

Briggs ran to cover amidst the chaos.

"Where are you, Briggs!" screamed Hisham.

"Right behind you," said Briggs as he pulled out his sniper rifle and aimed at Hisham.

The Great Hall of the People, Beijing, China

A crack was heard.

Charlie screamed, and pulled his head up, smashing it into Sadiq's chin.

Sadiq got up and released Charlie's arm as he grabbed his bleeding jaw.

Charlie got up as well, his right arm hanging limp.

Damn it, said Charlie, I think it's dislocated!

Sadiq said to Charlie, "You did not think that move through… You could barely fight me with two arms, how can you fight me with one?"

Charlie then pulled out the crossbow he managed to grab from behind his back with his good arm.

Sadiq looked at Charlie in surprise.

"You won't shoot me," said Sadiq.

Charlie's left arm was trembling.

"All right Charlie," said Sadiq as he held up his arm, "Listen, let's talk this out like adults."

"Like adults who can fight?" said Charlie as his finger curled around the gun.

One shot Charlie, he thought. Make it count.

"You got lucky," said Sadiq. "Congratulations."

As Charlie saw Sadiq backing towards where he had left his gun, he said, "Remember that thing you said about chess, specifically the part about kings, Sadiq?"

"What part?" said Sadiq.

Charlie then aimed his crossbow at Sadiq's head and fired.

Lucas's Private Island, Near Peru, The South Pacific

Sarah looked at her OPSAT in awe.

Charlie managed to beat Sadiq. Single-handedly.

Sarah couldn't help but grin.

But then her smile went away as he sank to his knees.

She yelled, "Charlie!"

Charlie crawled over to his OPSAT, and grabbed it with his good hand.

"Charlie, are you okay?" said Sarah.

"Yeah…" said Charlie. "I'm okay… It's good to hear your voice again."

"Good to hear yours too," said Sarah. "You look like shit."

"Really? Well you look like…" Charlie then looked at what Sarah was wearing, and his eyes went wider. Looking away, he said, "No comment."

Blushing, Sarah said, "Your arm looks like it's dislocated," as she changed back into her Splinter Cell uniform.

"Yeah," said Charlie. "I'd ask the Assassins for help, but I don't know where they are… Sadiq locked me in some sort of room with him."

"The Selection's timer is running dangerously low," said Sarah. "You're going to have to twist it back into place yourself."

"Fuck…" said Charlie. "You're right… We have less than 15 minutes before the bombs go off."

"You can do it, Charlie… If you can take down a damn Sage, you can heal your arm. I'll walk you through it."

"All right," said Charlie. "I assume I'm going to need to bite down on something because of the pain…"

Sarah nodded, and in the meantime, found a way out of the interrogation room Serpent had been keeping her in now that she had her gear back.

She exited the interrogation room only to see a guard twice her size investigating the noise she made fighting Serpent.

"Wait a minute… I recognize that logo on your back…" Sarah looked up at the guard. "C2… Impossible… I sabotaged it!"

She briefly thought of something her dad told her before the android grabbed her and she managed to use an EMP chaff round from her crossbow on it to break free.

Lucas's Detonation Broadcast Center, Tel Megiddo, Israel

Sam awoke on a cracked glass surface, looking at the burning pits of magma from the Earth's core below him.

He could see his reflection as he coughed up blood that dripped against the cracks.

And as he could hear faint screaming in the distance, he looked up and saw all the C2 androids that mimicked the people he cared about had short circuited and were burning and showering sparks.

Looking further up, he saw Lucas bending over, howling in pain as half of his face was burning from crashing into a shard of burning obsidian, part of which got lodged in his right eye.

Lucas screamed at the top of his lungs as he pulled the red-hot piece of obsidian out of his eye, and panted as he collapsed and fell to his knees.

He had ripped off his armor as it had caught on fire, and his undershirt and pants were covered in blood and ash and were partly burnt off, revealing Lucas's impressive muscular build underneath.

Lucas looked up in Fisher's direction, and stumbled back onto his feet.

"FIIIIISSSSHHHHEEEEEEEERRRRR!" screamed Lucas.

Fisher looked at Lucas, grimaced, and managed to find the strength to get up.

Fisher stared Lucas down as he said to him, "You can't beat me, Fisher… Abstergo… The Instruments of the First Will… Red Mercury… C2… I control them all! I am the superior being! I AM THE ALL-FATHER!"

"Maybe you are… After all, you're missing an eye now," Fisher joked.

Lucas said to Fisher, "A small sacrifice compared to what's to come for you and your kind!"

Fisher braced himself as he charged at Lucas and engaged him in combat without Yahweh's guidance.

Chapter 15— "Nature's Reckoning, Part II: The Double Helix, Augmented to Triple"

Lucas's Detonation Broadcast Center, Tel Megiddo, Israel

Sam attacked Lucas with a vicious punch to the face, only for Lucas to quickly shake off his wound after an initial recoil, and pummel Sam with a brutal punch to the chest and then the face, then using Sam's shock to throw him over his shoulder.

Sam managed to roll back onto his feet, avoiding the burning surfaces as he did this. He managed to block a jumping punch attack from Lucas, only for Lucas to overpower him as he turned his punch into an elbow attack after landing it, knocking him to the ground.

Despite that Lucas had lost an eye and his armor had burned off, he seemed mostly unharmed. Sam, however, was heavily wounded before their fight even began.

How do I beat him like this? Sam thought while getting up again. I'm used to fighting stronger enemies when they're unaware.

"I know what you're thinking, Fisher," said Lucas. "I may have only one eye, but even if you did have a place to run and hide from me, I'd find you! I can see in the darkness! I can see what other humans can't!"

Lucas is right, Sam thought. This place is too well-lit due to the fact that it's burning up from the explosion.

Lucas swung at Sam, and beat him back to the ground again, but then they both stumbled and were thrown around by the shaking of the ground.

"The clock is ticking, Sam!" Lucas taunted as he managed to find his balance and approach Sam as he was on the ground. "As of now, you have less than 15 minutes until the Selection is complete. I'll make sure to drag this fight on long enough so you can watch your loved ones die!"

As Lucas picked Sam up and put him in a chokehold, Sam looked up as he tried to fight against Lucas's grip at the screens showing eyes on Grim, Briggs, Charlie, Sarah, and Kobin.

As Sam was starting to black out, he noticed that Kobin, for some reason, was in the middle of another Isu temple with Shaun and Rebecca.

What is Kobin doing? Sam thought as he managed to hit Lucas in his other eye with the back of his fist, stomp on his foot, and throw him over his shoulder.

Lucas yelled as he slammed into the side of a railing on top of a partially destroyed catwalk overlooking a deep fall into lava.

As Sam tried to punch Lucas again, Lucas kicked him hard in the shin and then punched him in the solar plexus. He then grabbed Sam by the neck, only for Sam to gouge Lucas's other eye with his fingers.

"Total darkness now for you, Lucas," said Sam.

Lucas screamed, and let go of Sam for a moment.

Sam waited for Lucas to lash out blindly at Sam with a hook punch, then kicked Lucas into the railing again. He then tried to push Lucas over, only for Lucas to hit Sam with a lucky powerful strike to the throat, causing Sam to fall to his knees.

"I don't need eyes when I have five other senses," said Lucas furiously as he grabbed Sam by the throat, and picked him up and held him over the railing, sinking his knee into Sam's spine.

Sam howled.

My back!

Sam was lucky he managed to avoid being paralyzed, but he was about to be a lot less lucky as Lucas held Sam's body over his head with his arms.

Sam looked at the lava below.

"GOODBYE, FISHER!" screamed Lucas.

And then, to Sam's surprise, the actions of a man he had hated for so long would end up saving his life just when he and the entire world depended on it.

The White House, Washington, DC, USA

Grim bashed Dr. Ingraham's face in with her fists.

Screaming, Dr. Ingraham cried, "You're not the only one who's got Isu blood running through your veins!" as he slugged Grim in the stomach.

Grim kneed and kicked Dr. Ingraham in the groin and chin, respectively, sending him flying over to the Red Mercury bomb.

Coughing up blood, Dr. Ingraham crawled toward the Red Mercury bomb, only for Grim to grab him by the back of his head, and smash his face into the tile floor.

Spitting out blood, Dr. Ingraham cried, "Majid's Engineers turned on me it seems."

"Guess it's hard to gain leverage over the entire human race after all. The Isu failed to. Why would you think Abstergo was capable of doing the same?"

"We are capable of doing so," said Dr. Ingraham with a sneer. "The Knights Templar have done so for centuries! And before them, the Order of the Ancients… and before them, the Children of Cain!"

Grim was about to snap the man's neck when he said, "Humanity was meant to exist in chains… whether by the gods that created us in their image… or by the gods we create in our own image."

Grim looked around, and found that some of the Engineers fighting against each other were made of metal endoskeletons underneath their skin.

"They're… androids?" said Grim.

"Grim!" shouted Marcus. "Some of these Engineers are low-key turning into Terminators, dawg! What the hell's going on?"

"C2… Lucas brought it back!" shouted Grim.

Grim looked at the Red Mercury bomb's timer.

"Just over ten minutes left…"

"Tick, tock…" said Dr. Ingraham.

Looking back at Dr. Ingraham, Grim said, "I'm done worrying about myself and what you've done to me. Now, I have to fight back against the other monstrosities you and Lucas have created."

Grim snapped Dr. Ingraham's neck, and said to Marcus, Wrench, Sitara, and the other members of DedSec, the Assassins, the Golden Path, and Fourth Echelon over their global comms channel, "Attention everyone, the Engineers have been infiltrated by an iteration of C2 and its androids; they're likely being puppeteered by Lucas. Recommend that we form a temporary alliance with the remaining human Engineers, over."

"C2? The fully autonomous hivemind-run android mass production factory that Sarah stopped back when she took part in the Elite Squad Initiative as Trifocal?" said Briggs. "That's bad news… Lucas must've suspected that the Engineers would turn on him like this."

"Yeah," said Charlie. "I've regrouped with the Assassins now, and they mentioned fighting androids too… Sadiq tried to kill me… Was taking him out a good idea given what's happening between the Engineers and C2 androids, over?"

Grim's eyes went wide, along with Briggs over her OPSAT's teleconference screen.

Sarah just smiled.

"Jesus Christ, Charlie…" she said.

"You took out Sadiq?" said Briggs. "I'm impressed, Charlie."

"Right, I'll celebrate with you guys when there isn't a Red Mercury bomb in my AO with ten minutes left on its timer!" said Charlie.

"Oh, we are absolutely celebrating if we live through this," said Briggs. "Right Grim?"

"Um…" Grim paused for a second, then managed a slight smile. "Right."

Sarah said, "Ajay and the Golden Path said they located the Red Mercury device in Peru, but they're pinned down. I'll get back on comms when I'm near the device."

"All right," said Grim.

Grim then looked around her as she instructed Marcus, Wrench, and Sitara.

"Take some guns from fallen Engineers. Cover me from C2's androids while I start to defuse this thing!" shouted Grim.

"On it," said Wrench as he, Marcus and Sitara formed a defensive line around Grim along with some surviving human Engineers.

The Kremlin, Moscow, Russia

Briggs fired his sniper rifle from the shadows, wounding Hisham and freeing President Treskayev from being held at gunpoint.

As Briggs ran up to the command center that controlled the decommissioned missile silos in the bunker beneath the Kremlin, he saw that while the Engineers were now fighting with each other, one side of Engineers was now guarding the hostages while the other was fighting said Engineers.

The latter side, when shot, turned out to have metal endoskeletons underneath.

What the fuck? Said Briggs. Those Engineers… they aren't human!

Briggs breached the command center with a breaching charge, and shot the remaining Engineers in the room with shots from his pistol while taking care not to hit President Treskayev.

Looking at their metal endoskeletons, he then looked at Hisham, who was lying in a pool of blood where Briggs had shot him.

Hisham tried to reach for his gun he dropped, only for Briggs to step on his rifle and kick it aside.

"We used to work together, Briggs… We're CIA. We're brothers!"

Briggs said, "You're right. We used to work together. But you went a step too far. As for me… I'm the Replacement Guy."

"Replacement guy?" said Hisham.

"The next leader of Fourth Echelon," said Briggs as he shot Hisham in the head with his pistol.

As he untied President Treskayev, he said, "You're safe up here."

"What about the other hostages?"

"The uh… the Engineers are trying to keep them safe."

"But the Engineers are the ones who were keeping them hostage! Are you saying you're the only one who broke in here to rescue us?"

"Not quite…" said Briggs, looking away.

"Some leader you are," said Treskayev.

"To be fair, they're just in a temporary alliance with my unit," said Briggs. "Now if you don't mind, I need to get some perspective on this situation before I defuse this Red Mercury bomb, and fast; it's got 10 minutes left on the timer."

Briggs was sniping the Engineers with metal endoskeletons who were attacking the hostages and trying to reach the command center with his SC sniper rifle when he got a call from Grim.

"Attention everyone, the Engineers have been infiltrated by an iteration of C2 and its androids; they're likely being puppeteered by Lucas. Recommend that we form a temporary alliance with the remaining human Engineers, over."

Briggs's eyes went wide, along with Grim's over her OPSAT's teleconference screen, whereas Sarah just smiled.

"Jesus Christ, Charlie…" Grim said.

"You took out Sadiq?" Briggs said. "I'm impressed, Charlie."

"Right, I'll celebrate with you guys when there isn't a Red Mercury bomb in my AO with ten minutes left on its timer!" said Charlie.

"Oh, we are absolutely celebrating if we live through this," said Briggs as he chuckled. "Right Grim?"

"Um…" Grim paused for a second, then managed a slight smile. "Right."

Briggs nodded at Grim, confirming her as still part of the team.

Sarah said, "Ajay and the Golden Path said they located the Red Mercury device in Peru, but they're pinned down. I'll get back on comms when I'm near the device."

"All right," said Grim.

Briggs nodded, and said, we still have a shot at stopping this… It's all up to you now, Sam.

As he managed to thin the herd of C2 androids below him enough to help the human Engineers and Russian hostages out in the bunker, he turned to focus on the Red Mercury device.

"All right, I've defused a bomb or two before…" said Briggs as he breathed in and out to calm himself.

The Great Hall of the People, Beijing, China

Sarah wasn't responding to her comms.

"Sarah?" yelled Charlie. "Sarah!"

Upset, Charlie took a breath, put a Skippy's peanut butter cracker sandwich in his mouth, and managed to snap his arm back into place.

Charlie screamed as he heard the bones crunch along with the crackers, and his head jerked upwards.

"Charlie?" said Sarah as his OPSAT lit up with her face again. "Did you fix your arm yet? You have to snap it into place at the right angle, otherwise you'll have to do it again."

"I'm good! I think!" said Charlie while crying with peanut butter in his mouth, making it hard for him to talk.

"Charlie?" said Sarah. "Why do you have Skippy's on your face?"

"I needed a snack," he said while continuing to cry and chew on the cracker.

Sarah couldn't help but laugh.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing," she said while continuing to laugh, "I'm just relieved you're okay."

Charlie couldn't help but smile, but then his smile went away.

She's laughing a lot over nothing… and I didn't even make a joke… Does she actually like me back?

Shaking his head to snap out of it, Charlie said to Sarah, "I'll call you back when I'm at the Red Mercury."

"Copy that," said Sarah, looking down in a way that suggested she was disappointed.

Charlie got rid of Sadiq's barricades around the doors.

To his surprise, the Assassins were on the other side.

"Charlie!" yelled Elijah, who had blood on his face from fighting a lot of Engineers out in the adjacent hallway.

"Elijah's been trying to reach you for several minutes now," said Galina, adding a joking remark, "I'm worried about him because of that."

"We need your help finding the Red Mercury… and on top of that, we may need your technical expertise in figuring out how to disable the androids among the Engineers."

"Androids?" said Charlie.

Elijah stopped and looked at Charlie.

"What?"

"You look like shit. Who did that to you?"

Charlie said, "Sadiq."

Elijah chuckled. "Come on Charlie, be serious. Who'd you manage to best?"

Charlie looked inside the room. "…Sadiq. He's the one that kidnapped me… he took advantage of me falling behind the rest of you. He was so focused on toying with me because I'm not an experienced fighter that he underestimated me."

"Charlie, this isn't the time for jokes—"

Callum said with wide eyes, "Boss… the kid isn't lying… Sadiq's unconscious in the room Charlie escaped from. One of the sticky shockers is stuck to his forehead."

Looking at Sadiq as Callum tied him up, Elijah was still in disbelief, only now a profoundly different kind for a few seconds longer.

"You took down Sadiq? A Sage?"

"Yeah… I guess I did."

"I think Sadiq's not the only one who underestimated you," said Galina.

"Charlie…" said Elijah as he put his hands on his shoulders, "you may not exactly be one of us, but you have our respect now. With the right training you could be an Assassin."

"Or maybe a Splinter Cell…" said Charlie with a smile. "But now's not the time to think about that. Where's the Red Mercury?"

"Looks like Sadiq was guarding it," said Callum. "This is Premier Long Dan's office."

"The hostages are all secure outside, Elijah, including Premier Long Dan."

"For now," said Elijah. "The Engineers fighting each other gave us a temporary advantage, but those androids are tough. All right, Charlie. Get to work defusing that thing."

What androids… ? Thought Charlie as Callum pointed him to the Red Mercury, which was hidden behind Premier Long Dan's panic room.

Charlie started to hack open the panic room doors with his laptop when Grim called.

So that's what the Assassins were talking about, thought Charlie.

Briggs's eyes went wide, along with Grim's over her OPSAT's teleconference screen, whereas Sarah just smiled.

"Jesus Christ, Charlie…" Grim said.

"You took out Sadiq?" Briggs said. "I'm impressed, Charlie."

"Right, I'll celebrate with you guys when there isn't a Red Mercury bomb in my AO with ten minutes left on its timer!" said Charlie.

"Oh, we are absolutely celebrating if we live through this," said Briggs as he chuckled. "Right Grim?"

"Um…" Grim paused for a second, then managed a slight smile. "Right."

Briggs nodded at Grim.

Sarah said, "Ajay and the Golden Path said they located the Red Mercury device in Peru, but they're pinned down. I'll get back on comms when I'm near the device."

"All right," said Grim.

Charlie finished hacking open the doors to the panic room, and headed toward the Red Mercury bomb to defuse it.

"10 minutes left on the timer," said Callum. "Can you defuse that thing in time?"

"Don't worry about me. Now that I have two arms again, I'm good to go."

"Two arms again?" Callum and Elijah eyed each other.

"Oh yeah, about that… Sadiq dislocated my arm; I snapped it back in place though."

"You snapped your arm back into place?" said Callum.

Elijah's eyes were wide. He couldn't help but smile.

Galina snickered.

"What matters most now is that you guys stop any androids from getting near me… and that Sam shuts down the broadcast in time…" said Charlie.

The Assassins nodded, and assumed defensive positions in Premier Long Dan's office, while Elijah kept watch over Sadiq.

Lucas's Private Island, Near Peru, The South Pacific

Sarah managed to destroy the android guarding her room, and retreated to the darkness as more androids converged on her location.

"Charlie?" said Sarah via her OPSAT. "Did you fix your arm yet? You have to snap it into place at the right angle, otherwise you'll have to do it again."

"I'm good! I think!" said Charlie while crying with peanut butter on his face; he was clearly chewing on some crackers smothered with Skippy's.

"Charlie?" said Sarah. "Why do you have Skippy's on your face?"

"I needed a snack," he said while continuing to cry and chew on the cracker.

Sarah couldn't help but laugh.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing," she said while continuing to laugh, "I'm just relieved you're okay."

Charlie couldn't help but smile, but then his smile went away.

Was what Ajay said true? Sarah thought. Do you like me too, Charlie?

Shaking his head to snap out of it, Charlie said to Sarah, "I'll call you back when I'm at the Red Mercury."

"Copy that," said Sarah, looking down out of partial disappointment.

Sarah tried contacting Ajay.

"Ajay?" she said. "Ajay, do you copy?"

"I'm here," said Ajay.

"Here as in where, over?"

"The Red Mercury… You're not gonna like this."

"Let me guess… Androids are guarding it?"

"You sound like you encountered some of those creepy looking things yourself."

"Not the first time," said Sarah. "I managed to take out the woman who downed us. Tell me your position and I'll get there."

"We're in the Mess Hall," said Yogi over Ajay's comms.

"There's a ton of people being kept prisoner here… The Collective Force, whether they're human or androids are going from room to room and executing them," said Reggie.

"It's like something out of some of the worst horror flicks we watched together while we were both high on drugs!" said Yogi.

Sarah said, "I see lots of empty cells where I am."

"Follow them through the halls until you hear the screaming and shooting," said Ajay.

"On it," said Sarah as she ran down the halls, shooting incoming androids with her SC-3000 assault rifle.

Sarah was taking cover from the androids' line of fire in an empty cell when Ajay said over comms, "I'm losing men here Sarah, where are you?"

"On my way!" shouted Sarah as she threw an EMP grenade at the androids to stun them, then shot them dead with more assault rifle and underbarrel shotgun fire.

"Yogi, Reggie, do your best to evacuate the surviving prisoners!" Ajay said over comms.

"Speaking of which, boss…" Reggie said.

"We found Bhadra," said Yogi.

"Is she alive?" said Ajay.

"Yup… albeit a little shaken up," said Reggie.

"But she's in one piece," said Yogi.

"I'm heading to your position," said Ajay. "Men! Do whatever you can to hold the line against the Collective Force! Sarah is on her way to provide reinforcements!"

Sarah ran past the corpses of the C2 androids, and was starting to hear shooting and screaming from the cells in the halls she ran through in the distance when Grim called.

Briggs's eyes went wide, along with Grim's over her OPSAT's teleconference screen, whereas Sarah just smiled.

"Jesus Christ, Charlie…" Grim said.

"You took out Sadiq?" Briggs said. "I'm impressed, Charlie."

"Right, I'll celebrate with you guys when there isn't a Red Mercury bomb in my AO with ten minutes left on its timer!" said Charlie.

"Oh, we are absolutely celebrating if we live through this," said Briggs as he chuckled. "Right Grim?"

"Um…" Grim paused for a second, then managed a slight smile. "Right."

Briggs nodded at Grim.

Sarah said, "Ajay and the Golden Path said they located the Red Mercury device in Peru, but they're pinned down. I'll get back on comms when I'm near the device."

"All right," said Grim.

Sarah sighed, and thought, come on Dad, I need you to make it through one more mission for me. Just one more! As she blasted her way through another round of androids with a grenade from her underbarrel launcher combined with rapid assault rifle fire.

She managed to reach the mess hall, where the Golden Path, the Collective Force, and C2's androids were fighting, along with where the Red Mercury was and where several hostages had been rounded up to be imminently killed.

"Ajay! Golden Path! On me; press towards the Red Mercury!" shouted Sarah as she kicked over a table for cover and laid down suppressing fire.

"Fight my brothers and sisters!" yelled Longinus as the Golden Paths' soldiers fired while Yogi and Reggie secured the hostages.

While Ajay reunited with Bhadra, Sarah saw a hostage who was the father of a Swedish princess reunite with her… causing Sarah to think about her own father again for a moment.

Isu Power Grid Nexus Point, Sarawat, Saudi Arabia

It took some blasting with explosives to make it through the mining facility and reach the Isu site, along with some of Shaun and Rebecca's Assassin skills to defeat the guards along the way, but they eventually made it into the Isu power grid nexus.

"Damn… You were right, Kobin," Shaun said, wiping the blood off of his Hidden Blade.

"This is it," said Kobin. "This is where Michael died… The Isu that was Yahweh's closest disciple. He tried to make sure Yahweh's Prophecy would survive the Toba catastrophe… and he did so here."

"This is incredible!" said Rebecca. "The Isu's power grid's lines, they all run through here!"

"Imagine harvesting the very energy the Earth is made of to augment your own civilization…" said Shaun.

"Or destroy it. Like Lucas is trying to," said Kobin. "He's built a siphon here that's helping power his own grid. We have to access it, then we have to destroy it."

"I can hack this baby easy…" said Rebecca as she took her laptop out of her backpack.

"She's a charmer like that, Becs is," said Shaun.

"You two a couple or something?" said Kobin.

"Yeah," said Rebecca and Shaun in sync.

"Uh… right. Real cool," said Kobin. "We're going to have to shut off the power grid for a moment to reboot the grid so Lucas can't control it."

"Okay, on it," said Rebecca.

"Wait!" said Shaun. "What's this going to do?"

"It's going to essentially cause the power grid to turn off for a moment, and when it turns back on, the result is going to be… similar to what happened in 2012 when the Eye was activated."

"A global aurora borealis?" said Shaun.

"Yes," said Kobin, "but when it turns off, you're going to feel it," said Kobin. "But it's the only way to regain control of Eden!"

"All right… Here goes nothing," said Rebecca as she plugged her computer into Lucas's siphon and started to type.

"Come on Fisher…" said Kobin, "we still need you to beat Lucas!"

Lucas's Detonation Broadcast Center, Tel Megiddo, Israel

Sam howled as Lucas sunk his knee into Sam's spine.

My back!

Sam was lucky he managed to avoid being paralyzed, but he was about to be a lot less lucky as Lucas held Sam's body over his head with his arms.

Sam looked at the lava below.

"GOODBYE, FISHER!" screamed Lucas.

And then, to Sam's surprise, the actions of a man he had hated for so long would end up saving his life just when he and the entire world depended on it.

For a moment, the entirety of the broadcast center… no, the entirety of the Earth… went dark.

"What?" shouted Lucas. "The broadcast center… what happened to it?"

Lucas looked up at Sam, then nearly fumbled him due to the ground shaking beneath him.

Not questioning his window of opportunity, Sam managed to hit Lucas with his leg and then hook his leg around Lucas's head, pulling himself out of Lucas's grip by throwing Lucas over the catwalk, along with himself.

Sam managed to grab onto the catwalk at the last moment. Just as he managed to grab it with two hands, an explosion sent Sam falling, only for Sam to grab onto a set of wires hanging from the ceiling.

Lucas still had a hold of Sam's leg.

Sam managed to kick him with his other leg, forcing Lucas to lose grip of Sam and fall further down the wire.

Sam climbed up the wire and tried to swing back onto the catwalk, but at this point he realized it was a better idea to climb up to the pipe in the ceiling.

He used all his strength to bring his legs up, and seeing the burning shard that Lucas had pulled out of his eye and thrown to the edge of the platform above them, which had now cooled off somewhat, he formed a plan.

He embraced himself in the darkness one last time.

"WHERE ARE YOU, FISHER!" screamed Lucas as he climbed the rope, and started to feel the pipe above him with his hand as his sight also started to return in the eye that Sam had gouged.

"Lights out, Lucas," said Sam as he quickly hung upside down behind Lucas and pierced his throat with the shard, trying to dig in enough to break Lucas's neck… the ultimate inverted neck snap.

Lucas clutched his throat as it started to bleed out.

Looking at Sam, he furiously let go of his throat, and flailed around on the wire, swinging closer and closer to Sam, trying to grab him and pull him down into the lava with him with the last of his strength.

He just won't die! Thought Sam.

Sam looked up at where the wires attached to the ceiling somewhere diagonally above the pipe, and saw a supply of fuel barrels tethered right above Lucas.

Sam looked at them, then at Lucas as he swung toward Sam again, and grimaced.

Lucas swung toward Sam one last time, and Sam kicked Lucas out beneath the barrels and pierced one by throwing the shard at it all while hanging from the pipe.

The fuel leaked from the pipe and burned Lucas's face and body, and as he tried to scream, the fuel entered his mouth and went down his throat. He slowly started to stop swinging, and fell further down the wire he was holding onto.

Then the fuel caused the wire to snap, and Sam watched Lucas plummet into the lava as the barrels came down on top of him and exploded.

Sam looked away to shield his eyes.

Breathing heavily, Sam looked back below him at where Lucas had been and said, "Odin is no longer with us."

But it wasn't over.

The broadcast center came back online all of a sudden.

Sam had less than five minutes left before everyone he loved, including Sarah, burned in a nuclear hellfire.

Sam climbed the pipe back to the collapsed catwalk, then climbed up that, and ascended to where he had been before to try and find a way to stop the broadcast.

The White House, Washington, DC

Grim was trying to defuse the bomb while Marcus, Wrench, and Sitara were getting overwhelmed by increasingly deadly waves of C2 androids.

"Is… is that Anna Grimsdottir?" said one of the hostages.

"Depends. Who are you?" said Grim.

"I'm the Congressman in charge of leading President Caldwell's impeachment process."

"The impeachment process is over now," said Grim. "A terrorist attack happened and now Washington is going to go up in a mushroom cloud unless I defuse this thing!"

"President Caldwell, all this time Fourth Echelon was innocent?" said the Congressman as several of the hostages in the White House bunker looked at Grim and President Caldwell.

"Yes," said President Caldwell. "A member of Megiddo attempted to frame Fourth Echelon for the very plot that's happening now!"

"Megiddo?" said the Congressman. "You mean—"

"Yes, I mean the new CEO, Lucas Richards," said President Caldwell. "I tasked Fourth Echelon with stopping his plot even while they were being disavowed, demonized by the media, and used in a smear campaign against my administration!"

"Christ… I can barely believe it… but I guess I do believe it after all the horrible shit that's happened so far."

"But why isn't the entirety of Fourth Echelon defending Washington—"

"Will you can it?" said Grim. "I'm trying to focus on cutting these wires… There, I've only got one left…"

"Why aren't you cutting the last one? Won't we die if the bomb goes off?"

The other hostages looked at Grim with worried expressions.

Grim sighed, and looked away. "I need to know if Fourth Echelon's leader stopped the detonation broadcast center first… If he hasn't stopped the detonation broadcast and I cut the final wire, then the bomb will still go off anyway… along with the bombs in Moscow, Beijing, and the South Pacific."

"What?"

The hostages looked at and muttered things to each other; all of them were terrified.

Grim tried to contact Sam, to no avail.

"Sam, come in! Sam!"

"Grim, this is Briggs. What do we do about Sam, over?"

"If he doesn't respond in time, I plan to cut the final wire on one. We'll have to hope he stopped the broadcast."

"Wait, wait, wait!" said Charlie. "Then how do we know he's stopped it?"

"We don't," said Grim.

"Charlie, it's my dad," said Sarah. "He'll get it done."

Grim nodded at this.

Charlie said, "All right, we cut the final wire on one then, all in sync."

Grim sighed, and wiped the sweat and blood off of her forehead as she looked at the bomb and Marcus, Sitara, and Wrench managed to finally start to cull the herd of androids.

The Kremlin, Moscow, Russia

Briggs had managed to multitask on the bomb and sniping the remaining C2 androids to help defend the Engineers, the hostages, and his position. He was now down to the last wire.

President Treskayev said, "You are Fourth Echelon, are you not?"

"That depends, sir," said Briggs.

"Forget the secrecy," said Treskayev. "Hisham told me about you before he betrayed me. You're Isaac Briggs. One of Fourth Echelon's operatives."

"Shit…" said Briggs. "If Russia knows Fourth Echelon exists, then we'll have to shut down."

"You Americans have tricks up your sleeves," said Treskayev. "Before Fourth Echelon, there was a Third Echelon. Who's to say you won't start a 'Fifth Echelon' of sorts? Not that I'm planting ideas in head."

Briggs smirked at this.

"I should've known Hisham was crooked," said Treskayev. "After the leaks, my administration is planning to cut ties with Abstergo and the Collective Force."

"That's good, sir," said Briggs, when he realized out loud, "Does this mean…"

"I think it was time America and Russia restored their peaceful relations… without the need of an evil megacorporation as mediator. A peaceful new world order can exist as a democratic one. We just have to learn from our mistakes."

Briggs smiled, and said, "World War Three's averted then… provided I defuse this bomb."

"Speaking of which, why haven't you yet?"

Briggs's smile disappeared as he heard Grim trying to contact Sam over their comms.

"Sam, come in! Sam!"

"Grim, this is Briggs. What do we do about Sam, over?"

"If he doesn't respond in time, I plan to cut the final wire on one. We'll have to hope he stopped the broadcast."

Sounds logical enough, thought Briggs. All we can do is hope now anyway.

"Wait, wait, wait!" said Charlie. "Then how do we know he's stopped it?"

"We don't," said Grim.

"Charlie, it's my dad," said Sarah. "He'll get it done."

Grim nodded at this.

Charlie said, "All right, we cut the final wire on one then, all in sync."

Briggs said to President Treskayev, "We're not out of danger yet, President Treskayev… There's another aspect of the bomb you don't know about. A booby trap. The detonation is being broadcasted from Tel Megiddo. Fourth Echelon's current leader is going after it now."

"Megiddo… ?" said President Treskayev.

Briggs then looked at the last wire of the Red Mercury bomb, and breathed heavily as the few surviving Engineers began to finish off the rest of the androids.

The Great Hall of the People, Beijing, China

Charlie was working on defusing the Red Mercury bomb while the Assassins were digging in and engaging in combat with the last of C2's androids.

As Charlie cut the next set of wires, Elijah asked Charlie, "Are you all right? How's your arm?"

"I'm good," said Charlie. "I just need to keep focusing on defusing the bomb. I'll get some medical attention after the bomb's disarmed and we're exfiled from here."

"Spoken like a true Assassin… or spy," said Elijah.

Galina and Callum were fighting the rest of the androids and preventing them from breaking through to the hostages and Chinese Premier Long Dan.

Charlie looked at Elijah, then at the bomb, and wondered if he should confess his feelings to Sarah before it was too late.

"Down to the last wire," said Charlie. "It's all up to Sam now."

Speaking of which, Grim was trying to contact Sam.

"Sam, come in! Sam!"

"Grim, this is Briggs. What do we do about Sam, over?"

"If he doesn't respond in time, I plan to cut the final wire on one. We'll have to hope he stopped the broadcast."

"Wait, wait, wait!" said Charlie. "Then how do we know he's stopped it?"

"We don't," said Grim.

"Charlie, it's my dad," said Sarah. "He'll get it done."

Grim nodded at this over the OPSAT.

Charlie said, "All right, we cut the final wire on one then, all in sync."

Elijah said, "What's wrong, Charlie?"

"Sam's not responding…"

Elijah thought for a moment before he said, "He'll get it done. He has it in him."

"A little faith would do you some good, Charlie," said Galina.

"Okay," Charlie said, and breathed in and out heavily before looking back at the Red Mercury bomb as the Assassins managed to get the upper hand on the few remaining androids.

Lucas's Private Island, Near Peru, The South Pacific

After some intense fighting in the Mess Hall, Sarah managed to reach the bomb with the help of Ajay and the Golden Path, while they protected the hostages from the androids and the Collective Force's human guards.

"Shit… I'm running behind schedule…" said Sarah. "Less than 5 minutes on the bomb timer."

I may need to ask Charlie for help again over comms, said Sarah as she started to defuse the bomb.

Yogi to Sarah, "What's the status on the bomb?"

"Less than 5 minutes… I just started to defuse it."

"Is that enough time to defuse it?"

"Yes… I think so," said Sarah. "It's just going to be a little close."

Ajay showed up with Bhadra.

"Bhadra, are you okay?"

"I am now," Bhadra said as she hugged Ajay.

"I'll make sure no one ever takes you away again," Ajay explained.

"Is Kyrat safe?" Bhadra asked. "Someone said they were going to—"

"Kyrat's safe," said Ajay. "As for here… Sarah?"

"I'm working on the bomb as we speak!" said Sarah.

Sarah heard Grim on comms.

"Sam, come in! Sam!"

"Grim, this is Briggs. What do we do about Sam, over?"

"If he doesn't respond in time, I plan to cut the final wire on one. We'll have to hope he stopped the broadcast."

"Wait, wait, wait!" said Charlie. "Then how do we know he's stopped it?"

"We don't," said Grim.

"Charlie, it's my dad," said Sarah. "He'll get it done."

Grim nodded at this over the OPSAT.

Charlie said, "All right, we cut the final wire on one then, all in sync."

Sarah looked back briefly at Ajay and Bhadra as they hugged each other, preparing for the possible end.

Come on Dad, Sarah thought as she continued cutting wires on the bomb.

Isu Power Grid Nexus Point, Sarawat, Saudi Arabia

Kobin felt the world go dark for a moment.

"That felt… weird," said Shaun.

"Hack's complete," said Rebecca. "Whoa. Did you guys feel that?"

"We need to get back to Megiddo now, help extract Fisher," said Kobin.

"There's less than five minutes on the Selection timer," said Shaun. "By the time we get there…"

"Still, if he's alive and he stopped Lucas, we have to be there to get him out," said Kobin.

"Megiddo's crawling with Lucas's troops," said Shaun. "Besides… I thought you hated Sam."

"Not entirely," said Kobin. "And as for Yahweh…"

Shaun put a hand to his beard for a moment. "You mentioned an Isu's name before… Michael. One of Yahweh's closest advisors." Looking at Kobin, Shaun's eyes widened. "You're Michael's Sage."

"Took you a fucking while to put two and two together," said Kobin. "Come on, we have to get back to the chopper!"

"Uh… guys?" said Rebecca while looking at her laptop. "The news is reporting some sort of earthquake happening at Tel Megiddo… The footage is making it look as if another Red Mercury device went off there."

"Oh, no way are we going back now!" said Shaun.

"Yes fucking way! It's because of the Tree," said Kobin. "Sam must've triggered it to try and stop Lucas."

"Then that means…" said Shaun.

"Sam's still alive… We still have a chance at this," said Kobin.

"Let's go then!" said Rebecca.

Kobin and the two Assassins ran out of the underground Isu vault and boarded their chopper, then started their flight back to Megiddo.

Lucas's Detonation Broadcast Center, Tel Megiddo, Israel

As the broadcast center was exploding all around, and starting to crumble before his eyes, Sam climbed up back to where the orb on a pedestal was, along with the six screens showing the others.

Somehow, despite their problems they had run into earlier, Grim, Briggs, Charlie, and Sarah had successfully reached the bombs, defeated C2 and the Engineers, and saved the hostages. Everyone, save for Sarah, had just one wire left to cut. But Sam knew Sarah had it in her to finish cutting the rest.

What surprised Sam even more, though, was that Kobin was coming back for him.

It was all up to Sam now.

Knowing he had less than two minutes left before the bombs exploded, Sam pressed his hand against the orb.

Sam screamed. The orb burned his insides as it glowed. He tried to pull his hand off, but it was stuck to the orb.

Falling over from the pain, Sam blacked out for a few seconds.

Upon waking up, he saw that he had 90 seconds left on the Selection timer.

"Identity confirmed. Welcome home, Yahweh," said a hologram of an Isu being.

"The broadcast isn't done!" said Sam.

Trying to speak into the comms, Sam said, "Grim! Briggs! Charlie! Sarah! Kobin! I need help! Please!"

Sam then saw smoke coming from the microphone. Lucas's communication system had been cut.

"Shit…" Looking around, Sam shouted, "Yahweh?! What do I do?"

"Use the sixth," said Yahweh.

"I'm trying!" yelled Sam. "I'm used to using my goggles to see what I can't!"

"Have faith in yourself… and the rest of humanity, Sam," said Yahweh.

"Right. Faith," sighed Sam, as he breathed in and out.

To his surprise, he started to see golden lines along with several runes in Isu dialect lining the walls of the ancient Isu temple.

The Isu being's hologram said to Sam, "Yahweh created a construct of my likeness to guide you through the Eden Tree reactivation process, cipher."

"Will it help me stop the broadcast?" said Sam.

He had 60 seconds left before the world burned.

Looking around, Sam said, "All right. I guess I'll take a gamble."

"Carry the Salakar orb which possesses half of the eighth solution—a construct of human souls–to the Tree."

Hopefully it doesn't burn me this time, thought Sam.

He picked up the orb from the pedestal, and followed the lines, limping quickly until he found his way back through Eden toward the Tree.

The White House, Washington, DC/ The Kremlin, Moscow, Russia/ The Great Hall of the People, Beijing, China/ Lucas's Private Island, Near Peru, The South Pacific

"30 seconds left on the bombs' timers," said Grim as she looked at the hostages and DedSec members, who looked back at her nervously.

"We're out of time…" said Briggs as a heavily wounded Darcy and a few other surviving DedSec members showed up.

"You're still here," said Darcy. "Thank god. Did you do it?"

"Not yet," said Briggs as he wiped the sweat off his forehead. "Still waiting on Sam."

Charlie was waiting nervously as Sadiq woke up.

"You beat me in combat?" said Sadiq as he struggled against the ropes the Assassins tied him with. Grimacing, Sadiq said, "It doesn't matter. We're all going to die here anyway."

"Shut the fuck up, Sadiq," said Charlie with a frown as he contacted Sarah.

"Sarah? Have you defused the bomb yet?"

"Onto the last wire," said Sarah.

"Thank god," said Charlie.

"I learned how to defuse it from the best."

"The best?" Charlie couldn't help but smile. He looked at the Assassins, who were looking at the bomb's timer nervously, and his smile went away.

"20 seconds left on the timer," said Briggs.

"Still no response from Sam," said Grim.

"Then we're all cutting in sync at one second," said Sarah.

DedSec, the Assassins, the Golden Path, Fourth Echelon, and the rest of the world waited in terror as the timer ticked away.

"15 seconds left…" said Charlie. "Fucking hell! Sarah, listen to me."

"What now, Charlie?" she said. "We all are about to die—"

"I know, but this can't wait!" He said, "I love you."

Sarah looked at Charlie in awe.

Grim and Briggs looked at the two of them via their OPSATs for a second.

"I know," she said, and smiled. "I was waiting for you to say that."

"You love me too?"

"Yeah," she said.

Grim, Briggs, the Assassins, DedSec, and the Golden Path couldn't help but smile slightly at this.

"Let's live through this, then," said Charlie. "10 seconds left…"

Grim, Briggs, Charlie, and Sarah braced themselves, and prayed that Sam would pull through for them before the end.

The White House, Washington, DC/ The Kremlin, Moscow, Russia/ The Great Hall of the People, Beijing, China/ Lucas's Private Island, Near Peru, The South Pacific/ Lucas's Detonation Broadcast Center, Tel Megiddo, Israel

Sam had 30 seconds left.

"Place the orb on the Tree's pedestal to begin the implementation of the eighth solution," said the Isu being.

Sam saw the pedestal with his sixth sense. He placed the orb on the pedestal.

"Now place your hand on the orb to complete the implementation. Warning: the process is very painful, and will cripple or kill 99 percent of humans, so it is recommended that an Isu complete the process."

"Wait, what?" said Sam.

15 seconds left.

"All right, I didn't come all this way for nothing…" said Sam as he took a breath, and pressed his hand against the orb, and it started to burn through his hand and every nerve in his body.

Sam screamed in agony, and realized that he had to keep holding his hand against the orb himself.

He flew backwards and hit the floor, his body emitting steam.

"Warning: the process is incomplete. Only eighteen percent of Yahweh and Sam Fisher's souls have been uploaded to the Salakar."

"Eighteen percent?" cried Sam. "How bad does a hundred percent hurt?"

"Ten…" said Grim.

"Nine…" said Briggs.

"Eight…" said Charlie.

"Seven…" said Sarah.

"FUCK!" yelled Sam as he stumbled to his feet, ran back to the orb, and screamed at the top of his lungs as he pressed his hand back onto it.

"Six…" said Grim.

"Five…" said Briggs.

"Four… Three…" said Charlie.

"Upload seventy-two percent complete…"

"No…" Sam croaked as his body started to grow weak.

"Two… One, now!" yelled Sarah as they all cut the final wires to the Red Mercury bombs.

… … … … …

Sam found himself lying down in a white room.

"Sam?" said a voice.

It was Sarah. She was standing over him.

"Sarah?" said Sam.

"Our family hasn't exactly had it easy, has it?" said Sarah.

"I know," said Sam, "and I'm sorry."

"Don't be," said Sarah, as she smiled. "Overall, I've enjoyed it. And I enjoy what I do now. You may not want me to be a Splinter Cell…"

"No," said Sam. "I don't want you to be a monster like me."

"You're no monster," said Sarah. "You're my dad."

Sam sighed. "I wish I had spent more time with you."

"I'll always be with you, Sam," said Sarah. "Until the very end."

Sam looked at Regan as she stood next to Sarah, and smiled.

"Regan…" said Sam.

"What are you waiting for?" said Regan.

"Take my hand, Dad," said Sarah as she extended her hand to Sam.

Sam reached out weakly for Sarah's hand, and she pulled him up.

And as she did, the white room evaporated, and Sam screamed as his hand disconnected from the orb and he was thrown off of the pedestal and hit the floor, his body a bleeding mess that was emitting smoke.

… … … … …

Breathing faintly and heavily, Sam's ears were ringing.

Sam looked up at the exploding facility's ceiling.

I'm still here… thought Sam.

And the ringing in his ears cleared just in time for him to hear the Isu hologram say.

"Upload complete. Ninety percent of Sam Fisher and Yahweh's souls transferred to the Tree of Eden. Soul capacity sufficient. Odin's prophecy averted."

Odin's prophecy… Averted? Thought Sam. Looking back toward the screens where the communicator was, he thought, no, I need to see it for myself.

Sam used the last of his strength to force himself onto his feet, and he limped toward the screens to see if Sarah and the others were still alive.

Grim, Briggs, Charlie, and Sarah had shut their eyes out of fear of dying after they cut the wires. Then they heard the bombs shut off.

The four members of Fourth Echelon opened them.

The timers on the Red Mercury bombs had all stopped at less than half a second.

Breathing in and out, they looked around.

DedSec, the Assassins, and the Golden Path had shut their eyes too, along with the hostages.

Then they opened them.

Looking around, Wrench said, "We're still here."

"Grim and Fourth Echelon did it," said Sitara.

"Way to go, dawg!" said Marcus.

Grim couldn't help but smile as DedSec cheered and the hostages merely nodded in approval of her.

Grim looked briefly at President Caldwell.

"Welcome back to Fourth Echelon, Grim," said Caldwell. "Whether the others approve of it or not."

Grim acknowledged her with a nod.

Briggs looked at Darcy and DedSec.

"You did it," said Darcy with a smile.

"We did it," said Briggs. Looking away, Briggs said, "I'm sorry about—"

"A leader's job isn't always to keep his teammates alive," said Darcy. "It's to finish the mission."

Briggs smiled.

Charlie looked at the bomb, and wiped the sweat off his forehead. "I'm still alive," he said. "Then that means… Sarah?"

"I'm here," said Sarah over comms.

"Holy shit… We did it!" said Charlie.

"Charlie!" said Sarah with a grin. "I'm proud of you!"

Charlie grinned back, and looked at the Assassins for a second.

Elijah, Galina, and the other Assassins nodded and smiled at him in approval.

He looked at Sadiq.

"What happened?" said Sadiq. "Why didn't the bomb go off?"

"Checkmate, Sadiq," said Charlie. "You lost to a first timer… and I'm not afraid of you anymore."

As the Assassins took Sadiq out of the room, Sadiq couldn't help but smirk. "You are very tenacious… Charlie."

Sarah smiled, and looked at her OPSAT comms before looking back at the Golden Path.

"We're still alive!" shouted Reggie.

"Of course we are," said Yogi. "I knew Sarah would come through for us."

"As did I," said Longinus. "She is a warrior worthy of the Lord."

"Great job, Sarah," said Ajay as he looked at Bhadra. "You're welcome back to Kyrat any time."

Sarah then looked at Ajay and Bhadra together, then remembered.

"Grim," she said over comms, "Sam still hasn't responded back."

"Kobin's on his way to find him," said Grim.

Elijah said to Charlie, "Charlie, I just got word from Rebecca and Shaun. Megiddo's gone up in flames."

"What?" said Charlie.

"Then that means…" said Briggs.

"DAD!" cried Sarah. "Grim, tell Kobin to get to Tel Megiddo and fast!"

Lucas's Detonation Broadcast Center, Tel Megiddo, Israel

Sam looked at the six screens.

Grim, Briggs, Charlie… and Sarah… They were all okay.

He did it.

He had stopped Lucas's Selection.

Sam smiled as he looked as Grim, Briggs, Charlie, and Sarah were all smiling, indicating they were relieved to be alive and to have completed the mission.

But then as their smiles went away, and Sam read their lips, and he saw Sarah crying and covering her mouth, Sam's smile went away too.

He looked at his screen. His body was bloody and covered in burns.

Yahweh appeared.

"Sam…" said Yahweh. "Eden is about to go critical… The Tree… We don't have a lot of time left to complete the Prophecy."

"I thought I had already completed it," Sam said, his voice hoarse.

"Only ninety percent… You have to upload the other ten percent of our souls to the Tree… by entering its roots."

Sam said, "I can feel my body, my mind… They're both fading away… I just want to see Sarah again, one last time."

"You will… provided you activate the eighth solution."

"What do you mean?" said Sam.

"Three days…" said Yahweh. "There's no time to explain."

"I may have your soul inside me, but I also have mine," said Sam. "And my soul is telling me to get out of here before I die."

"Sam, listen!" said Yahweh. "This is bigger than you. You know that. Abstergo… C2… Lucas's other conspiracy, the one you saw glimpses of in Syria… You can't stop all of these threats yourself… The world deserves to know the truth. The eighth solution will show it to them… and to Sarah."

"Shit…" said Sam, looking at the screens again. "There has to be another way."

"There isn't," said Yahweh. "This is your burden to bear. The world has yet to be saved. I believed that humanity could save itself, but it's up to us to show them the truth."

Sam sighed. "All right. It's time to fulfill your Prophecy," said Sam.

He looked back at the screens, at Sarah, one last time.

He wrote something on the floor with his blood, and then went to the Tree of Eden.

As he felt the Tree's metal "roots" press into his neck, he grunted as they lifted up from the ground as his body entered a crucifix-like position, and his mind started to fade completely as it was uploaded into the Tree.