Chapter 5— "The Keeper's Legacy"

"The Den", Isle of Skye, Scotland, United Kingdom

Year 2034- Present Day

Elijah Miles- Age 29

Elijah flew the helicopter toward the Isle of Skye and ditched it in the ocean, then found a nearby boat that his allies left near a rendezvous point on the coast with the help of their network. That way it wouldn't get traced to their hideout.

Thanks to his rough childhood, Elijah knew that nothing in this world came for free.

Hence why he became a mercenary that worked for the Keeper's Legacy.

Their base was in an underground base near the childhood home of their secret leader, a woman named Marie Laurent. Despite her name, Marie had more Greek heritage than French.

Elijah reached the base's entrance, and stood in front of the camera guarding the door. He used his smartphone to access the doorbell.

"Password?" said a familiar British woman's voice over his smartphone.

"Up your ass," said Elijah with a smirk.

"Good enough, ya bloody Yank," said the woman as the door opened.

Elijah entered the KeepLeg hideout, known as "The Den", and gave the middle-aged British woman, Jacqueline, a hug.

"It's been a minute, Elijah," said Jacqueline.

"It has," said Elijah. "I've missed you. You and your shithead of a dad."

Jacqueline and Elijah laughed.

"Who are you callin' shithead… Chopped Steak?"

Elijah looked as a familiar large bald man with a scar running across his left eye.

"I wasn't calling you that, Bruce," Elijah said.

"Betta not be callin' the boss man that either, Chopped Steak!"

Elijah and Bruce frowned at each other as they stared each other in the eyes.

Bruce then made a large grin with hardly any teeth.

Elijah smiled back.

"It's Elijah Chopped Steak!" said Bruce as they gave each other a hug.

"And Bruce!" said Elijah. "Knowing you, I assume the fridge is full of all the fish the nearby bodies of water have to offer."

"Fat and juicy as they come," said Bruce with a grin. "Fish are friends and food. Just like Elijah."

Bruce had a weird habit of mistaking people's "sirloin names" for food, typically some form of meat. Elijah's "sirloin name" was Chopped Steak. He didn't complain though, partly since Bruce was a good friend and ally, and also partly since Bruce didn't use his father's surname.

"So given you both are here and not in London, I assume KeepLeg is collaborating with Umbra again?"

"Chopped Steak is on point," said Bruce with a nod. "Porker says this joint operation's important… big juicy bonuses for everyone if we pull it off. Porker says it's all hands on deck for this one."

Elijah followed Bruce into the common room, where several members of Umbra were on their laptops, or using the 3-D printers to print out their gear.

The two leaders of the respective factions were in the room, talking to each other, along with Eugene Martin, Marie's number two, and Darcy Clarkson as the four of them looked over a large touchscreen computer console shaped like a desk that was helping them map out their plans.

Darcy's here… ? Elijah thought. Then that means… Are they involved on this joint op as well?

"I'm telling you, Concord is planning something big," said Darcy. "We need to infiltrate their HQ in Berlin, hack into their servers for more intel."

"We've gone over the schematics countless times… Even with our tech, that fortress is impenetrable," said Eugene. "We'd be outmanned, outclassed, and outgunned. I'd rather not lose some of our best people doing so."

"Then what do you propose we do?" said the leader of Umbra, whose face was obscured from Elijah's point of view at the moment. "Got any ideas, Marie?"

Elijah eyed Marie as he could see her thinking through their options.

Marie had dark hair in a long braid, and fit, muscled arms covered in scars from battle as well as some tattoos. Elijah had never actually seen her fight, but he could tell she was an experienced fighter just from looking at her.

"What intel do we have, Darcy?" said Marie. "You two seem to be sure that Concord is up to no good, but my faction is out of the loop here."

"Porker!" yelled Bruce at the group.

The whole room, including the four leaders arguing in the middle, now stopped and looked over at Bruce and Elijah.

"Chopped Steak is here," said Bruce.

The leader of Umbra looked at Elijah, and smiled and nodded. He was an older man with graying hair and a five 'o clock shadow, but his age didn't slow him down in the slightest. Some referred to him as "J.B." due to his history as a spy for MI6.

"The prodigal son returns," he said. "It's good to see you again, Eli. Wish it were under better circumstances."

"Duty calls," said Elijah with a smile. "Good to see you too, Alfred. How's the plan going along?"

Darcy turned to Marie and said, "I didn't realize he'd been promoted, Marie."

"Peace, Darcy," said Alfred. "Elijah's on our side… The people we need to worry about are Concord and Abstergo."

"He's my contractor, Darcy," said Marie. "He does what I say, and I help him do so when I can."

Eyeing Darcy, Elijah said, "We may not need to infiltrate Concord's headquarters… We just need to get close to its CEO, Lucas Winter."

"He's not going to be easy to assassinate, Elijah… Not even close," said Darcy.

"I didn't say assassinate," said Elijah, "I said get close to… Perhaps someone within his circle can get us the intel we need."

Alfred raised his eyebrows.

"Got any suggestions on where to find said someone, Eli?" Alfred said.

"Isn't he throwing a party at his estate in Tuscany later this week?"

"I see…" said Alfred as he looked at the touchscreen computer console. "The prodigal son may be onto something… While it's unusual for Templars to meet in plain sight like that…"

"The party could still be a cover for a meeting," said Elijah. "I–"

Shit. Elijah paused. He didn't want to say what he was going to.

"Go on…" said Alfred.

"I, um…"

"I dislike it when people beat around the bush, Elijah. You know that."

"All right!" Elijah sighed. "I gained intel on my… last op… that Lucas Winter may be attempting a coup d'etat of Abstergo… so he can become its CEO as well."

"Is the intel reliable?"

"Maybe."

"What was the source?" said Darcy.

Elijah sighed. "Yggdrasil. In Hordaland."

In shock, the rest of the KeepLeg and Umbra members in the room whispered loudly to each other.

"Calculations, eh Eli?" laughed Alfred.

"I know it sounds ridiculous–"

"Calculations don't lie," said Alfred. "May I ask why you were trying to access Yggdrasil in the first place?"

"Later, Alfred," said Elijah, "in private."

"Right," said Darcy as she put a hand to her head, "you'd better be right about Lucas Winter, Elijah."

Marie said to Alfred, "Elijah used his resources gained through our contract work to head to Yggdrasil to carry out a personal mission."

"So this particular mission was less about Lucas and more about you then," said Alfred.

"As a mercenary, I do what I'm told as long as the pay is worth it," said Elijah. "As a person… I do what I want in my free time."

Darcy said, "I rest my case," looking at Alfred and Elijah as she left the room.

"No wonder Darcy dislikes you so much," said Alfred with a chuckle. Once he stopped chuckling, he yelled, "Everyone out except for Elijah and Marie!"

Everyone reluctantly left the room save for Marie.

On the way out, Eugene teased Elijah while nudging him. "Not Aita's best manipulation, Eli."

Elijah made a face at Eugene, and he returned the favor, before leaving the room.

"Me too, Dad?" said Jacqueline.

"I'll come eat supper with you after I'm done talkin' to 'im, Jack," said Alfred.

Looking at Elijah for a moment, Jacqueline nodded to Alfred and headed out with the rest.

"She's a bloody ripper, that daughter of mine," Alfred said proudly as Jacqueline left. "Ripped my damn heart outta my chest when she was born. Still does from time to time."

"'Jacqueline the Ripper'?" said Elijah with a smirk.

"Perfect name for her, innit?"

"Well she is pretty good at ripping through men's jugulars when she needs to…"

Getting back on subject, Alfred said to Elijah, "I have to admit, that last bit you said about you doing as you're told made me sad."

"Why?" said Elijah.

"Because there's more to life than following orders, Eli," said Alfred.

"You're not trying to recruit me to Umbra, are you?" said Elijah, looking at Marie.

"Not a chance. You wouldn't fit in with the likes of us," Alfred said, nudging Elijah playfully.

Elijah laughed.

"Still… you do understand there's more to Marie's cause than just completing contracts, right?"

"Of course," said Elijah as he looked back at Alfred. "Despite our need for funding, we only take contracts from bidders that aren't billionaires, Templars, or other types of fascists… we try to assist the working class with our guns and fists."

"For now," said Alfred, looking at Marie as well. "That's why our factions are allies, for now."

"What do you mean?"

"Umbra is a force of righteous chaos, Elijah. A small collective of hacktivists-turned global resistance movement against a corrupt status quo."

"Right… so you're an anarchist movement."

"Call it what you like. KeepLeg may seem like a paradox in that it's a private military company working against capitalist interests, but the reality is more… complicated than that."

"What do you mean?" said Elijah, looking back at Marie. "Are you saying Marie and KeepLeg are hypocrites? That they'll betray Umbra?"

"No and maybe, Elijah," said Marie. "For the most part, you've proven yourself worthy enough through action to know more about our collective and the nature of our mission."

"What's KeepLeg's mission then?"

"To keep the world from falling apart, just like the Keeper did."

"The Keeper?" said Elijah. "I thought the Keeper was you."

"No," said Marie, looking away with a glow in her eyes that Elijah suspected was sadness, "the real Keeper died over a decade ago."

"So… we ally ourselves with whatever collectives are necessary to keep the world from falling apart at the time."

"That's correct," said Marie. "Forces of order and chaos need to be kept in check… if one or the other grows too powerful, the world suffers. If one or the other disappears completely… the world dies."

"You're talking about Abstergo."

"And Concord," said Marie. "For now, we're obligated by our mission to work with Umbra and other factions that are opposing them. Whatever it takes to keep the world's forces in check."

"All right," said Elijah with a frown, "so if we need to revert to siding with the capitalists if the world is at risk of collapsing…"

"We'll do it," said Marie. "Are you still on board with our mission?"

"You heard me earlier," said Elijah. "I follow orders from you."

"From the looks of it, your mindset is concerning both of us, Eli," said Alfred.

"Why is it concerning?"

"What's your real creed, Eli?"

"If you knew, you'd disapprove."

Alfred said, "You're not still trying to revive your mother, are you?"

Elijah looked away bitterly.

Putting his hand on Elijah's shoulder, Alfred said to him, "Listen to me, Eli. She's dead. The dead don't suffer. So long as you don't move on, you will. Find something to live for other than her. Needless to say that family doesn't have to come from the same bloodline."

"No one's ever loved me. Not like she did," said Elijah. "She deserved to have a better life, and I'm going to give her one."

"It's your life," said Alfred, shrugging his shoulders. "We'll keep in touch about Tuscany."

Marie said to Elijah, "I assume you're still looking for the Ankh."

"My– Yggdrasil gave me intel that makes me suspect the Ankh is somewhere in Syria."

"Syria?" said Marie. "You mean…"

Elijah nodded. "Masyaf. Can you get me there?"

"Your resources are running low," said Marie.

"I'll have to give KeepLeg an I-owe-you then until I get close to Lucas in Tuscany."

"I don't normally accept them," said Marie as she rubbed her chin. Making her decision, she said, "Can you get in and out of Syria before the party happens at Lucas's estate?"

"No guarantees, but I think so."

Marie said, "All right, Elijah. Eugene will book you a disguise and fake identity, along with a plane ticket to Syria. I wish you good luck in your search."

Elijah nodded, and headed to where Eugene was.

Eugene was doing an arm-wrestling match with Bruce. When he saw Elijah, Bruce won the match.

"Damn it!" said Eugene. "We're doing a 2 out of 3, Bruce."

"Eugene is one sloppy joe at arm wrestling," said Bruce with a grin as he went to get some food from a nearby fridge.

Eugene said to Elijah as he pulled out his tablet, "Eli, you should know… Abstergo's searching for you."

"Yeah…" said Elijah, "I suspected as much after Hordaland. They likely saw me through their soldiers' body cams."

"You should hide your eyes," said Eugene. "Wear sunglasses."

"I assume they're one of your pairs?"

"They'll get you around," said Eugene with a smirk as he pulled a pair of sunglasses out of his pocket.

"Thanks," said Elijah.

"Also, despite that she can't stand you, Darcy gifted you a spare hoodie… along with one of these."

Elijah opened the case Eugene handed him.

"A Hidden Blade?"

"Darcy said it was from a high-ranking member of the Brotherhood."

"Tell her I don't need it."

"She said no take-backs."

Grunting, Elijah said, "Well at least I don't need to mutilate one of my fingers."

Eugene said, "Follow me. We'll dummy up your next identity."

"I hope it's more creative than the last one…" said Elijah as he and Eugene walked toward another room in the Den.

"At the very least, Bruce'll have a hard time coming up with a sirloin name for it…"

On the flight to Syria, Elijah's mind wandered as he looked out the window of the plane behind the filter of his new sunglasses.

Being lectured by Alfred and Marie reminded him of when he was in school…