Essen, Germany – 7 October 1942
Jan knocked on the open door to Lutz's study. He was alone inside and standing above his desk looking at a map of Europe with only the flame of the fireplace as his light. At Jan's knock, he looked up and smiled.
"Come in," he said.
Jan, Elisabeth, and Kevin entered the study and fanned out in front of the desk. With his attention still on the map, Lutz began speaking.
"The Nazi onslaught seems to have no end. There seems to be no obstacle to their advance. The battle of Stalingrad continues in its brutality. The British have been bombing German cities. This farce of a war created by the Templars seems to have no end in sight."
Lutz took one last look before his eyes went to the three Assassins that were now standing before him.
"So, what brings you here? Is Neuner cooperating?"
"Yes," Elisabeth said. "More than cooperating, he's giving it his all."
"I'm glad he understands the situation."
"But he says he's hit a wall."
"Oh?"
"He says he needs his documents in his office in Berlin," Jan continued. "Otherwise, he can't continue."
"I see…"
Lutz stepped out from behind the desk with his hand rubbing his chin, pondering their words. Stopping in front of the desk, he half-sat on it and looked up to them.
"Then you best go."
"What about Neuner?" Jan asked.
"I'll have someone else look after him. Not that he can go anywhere. Get those documents in Berlin and come back immediately."
The three Assassins nodded.
"You can go now."
Silently, they went out of the room and began their preparations for the long drive to Berlin. When that was done, they gathered and made their way out of the base and back to the streets of Essen. It was late at night, and few people were on the street to see them get into the green car that was once Neuner's car. They had had it repainted and the license plate changed so that it could be put to good use with the Assassins. Once again, Kevin took the driver's seat. But this time, Jan sat in the front while Elisabeth took the back seat.
After a long night of driving, they arrived in Berlin on the morning of the 8th of October, the next day. They immediately made their way to the Reich Ministry of Science, Education and Culture which they had raided before. They parked the car a distance away from the ministry in an alley off the main road. Then, checking that nobody was watching, they climbed up the stairs of the building on the alley all the way up to the roofs, where they had a good view of the ministry building.
"Looks like they increased security since the last time we came here," Elisabeth observed.
There were two soldiers posted at each door. Groups of three soldiers constantly patrolled the area, making sure that there were at least two groups of soldiers always patrolling one side of the building. A truck to carry soldiers was parked on the side of the road, guarded by another group of three soldiers.
"Getting in won't be easy."
Kevin tapped Jan's shoulder and pointed at the roof. Three soldiers just came out of a door and were now patrolling the roofs. Elisabeth, Jan, and Kevin slid back and hid behind the low wall of the roof of the building they were on.
"I guess they learnt their lesson from last time," Jan said. "The only way I see us getting in is with disguises again."
"But how are we going to get disguises?"
Jan thought for a while.
"Then our option really is only the roof, huh?" Jan concluded.
"But they're guarding it."
"Which is why we need to move quick and silent. Here's what we're going to do…"
A few moments later they were back on street-level and were walking from the alley. Exiting it, they turned right heading towards the ministry building. They crossed the road and arrived in front of it. They passed the patrolling soldiers, the guards at the door, and the truck stationed in front of the building. Then, a few buildings after the ministry they went into an alleyway on the left and started climbing up the side of the wall. They reached the roof and hid behind a chimney.
"Alright, remember: no guns," Jan cautioned them. "Blades only."
There were a few buildings between them and the ministry. Jan leaned out and saw that one of the guards was looking in their direction. Jan quickly pulled back, and when he leaned out again the guard had turned around and was walking towards the opposite side.
"Now!"
Quickly and silently, all three Assassins ran and jumped across the roofs until they reached the ministry building's rooftop. They hid themselves behind the small building that housed the stairs leading inside. Jan leaned out again.
"I see one on the northwest corner, looking out onto the street."
Elisabeth leaned out the other side.
"One on the southwest corner, also looking to the street."
"Where's the other one…?"
"Can't see him."
"Hmm… I'm guessing he's leaning against this small building."
"How can you know?"
Jan looked at her in the eyes and smiled mischievously.
"Just a feeling."
"I can't believe we're leaving all this to a feeling you have."
"Alright. I'll take the guard that's maybe leaning against the building. Elisabeth, southwest. Kevin, northeast."
They nodded.
"On my count. 1, 2, 3… Go."
Like clockwork, the Assassins came out from behind the building and emerged onto the rooftop. Jan hugged the wall and once he reached the corner, he engaged his hidden blade and came out. Just like he predicted, a guard was leaning against the wall smoking. He saw Jan, but Jan quickly dug his blade deep into his throat. He bit the cigarette he was smoking in two and soon he went limp. Jan looked up and saw Elisabeth had taken out her mark as well. She had snapped his neck and was pulling him away from the sides. Kevin was still on his way, and soon he reached the guard and snapped his neck the same way Elisabeth had done. Afterwards, they all gathered near the door. Jan was stripping the dead soldier of his clothes.
"Alright, I'll go in alone," declared Jan.
"You are not going in alone," said Elisabeth.
"There're only male uniforms here, and you don't exactly look like one of the secretaries that work here with that getup. And Kevin won't be able to answer if anyone asks him anything, and you know how the Nazis treat people with disabilities."
Jan turned his head to Kevin and nodded his head. "No offence."
Kevin waved it off.
"This is the only way. I put on his uniform and get in, get the documents, get out."
"Alright, then what should we do?"
"Keep your eyes peeled up here. Hopefully, things don't turn out the way it usually does with us being chased by soldiers. But if it does, I'll need your help."
Elisabeth reluctantly nodded. Jan started taking off his clothes.
"Uh, do you mind?"
Elisabeth quickly turned around. Jan put on the soldier's clothes and picked up his weapon, carrying it behind him.
"Alright. I'll be back here."
Jan opened the door and went straight down the stairs. At the bottom, there was another door which he went through that led to the hallways. There were many bureaucrats, clerks, and secretaries moving about the hallway. Jan came out at the corner and now there lay before him a path forward and a path to the right. Neuner had given them a clear idea of the layout of the building, but Jan needed to get his bearings somehow. He just started walking to the right.
I'm on the top floor, which is the fourth floor. Neuner's office is on the third floor.
He walked through the floor like he owned the place, confidently turning left and right until he found stairs at the centre of the building. He went down and reached the third floor. Starting from the stairs, he followed Neuner's instructions.
Turn left. Turn right. Keep going. Turn left at the intersection. Second office on the right.
But when he turned left at the intersection, there was no need to count. Two guards were standing right in front of the door. Jan stepped back from the intersection and leaned against the wall. This hallway wasn't as full as before, but there were still a lot of people. Normally, he'd take both out and quickly pull their corpses into the room. But there might be someone in the room…
Jan went out of hiding and walked towards them. When he was in front of them, he did the Nazi salute and raised his hand. They raised their hands back. Jan got a quick look of the inside from the window of the door, and it seemed empty. He kept walking past them and at the corner turned left. He circled around and reached the intersection again. He stood there for a while, pretending to be on guard as he waited for the hallway to become empty, but after waiting for quite some time he realised that that wasn't going to work. An idea popped into his head. He got out of cover and went straight to the guards. He stopped in front of them.
"Heil Hitler!" he shouted in greeting.
The two guards seemed surprised but returned his greeting.
"I'm here to take your place."
"What do you mean?"
"I just arrived. My commander told me that I'm to take your place to guard this office."
"What? We never heard of any such orders."
"I don't know. I'm just following them, that's all."
"Well, you can go back and tell your commander that we never received such orders and until we receive such an order we're not moving."
"Sorry, I received my orders, and they were to come here to guard this office."
The guard on the right seemed annoyed at Jan's words. He sighed.
"I'll find the sergeant and ask him what this is all about."
"Sure."
The guard on the right left, leaving Jan with the other guard. Jan promptly took his place.
"What are we guarding anyway?"
"That doesn't matter."
"Aren't you a little bit curious?"
"No and shut up."
"I'm really curious though…"
With that, Jan swiftly turned around and opened the door.
"What are you doing?!" shouted the guard.
Jan "fell" into the room by accident.
"Sorry, I can't get up."
The guard sighed.
"I don't get paid enough for this."
When the guard went half into the room and bent down to help him, Jan moved quickly and stabbed him in the neck. His eyes went wide, and he gurgled, struggling to get a sound out but failing to. Jan pulled him in and kicked the door to close it. As the life went out of him, Jan took out his blade and wiped it on the soldier's clothes. He can't turn on the light for fear of the guard coming back and thinking somebody had gone into the office, so Jan had to do this in the dark.
It was a regular office with a desk and chair in the middle. Behind it were several wooden cabinets of drawers. Neuner had told them exactly which cabinet and which drawer they had to look into. Cabinet on the right, second drawer from the top, third from the right. Jan immediately went to it and opened the drawer. There were several folders, each with papers in them. Jan took them all and quickly went out of the office. Just as he closed the door, he heard someone shout.
"Hey, you! What do you think you're doing!"
"Shit," Jan cursed as he ran the other way.
"Stop!" the soldier shouted as a shot rang in the air.
It missed Jan and hit the window of a room at the end of the hallway. At the corner, Jan ran left and kept running. The soldier followed behind him, shouting for help. More soldiers appeared, but none in his way. Jan ran up the stairs and back to the stairs to the roof. When he got to the roof, he didn't stop running. Elisabeth and Kevin looked at him in surprise.
"Soldiers coming!"
They immediately jumped across to the building next to them, back the way they came. They heard the door open, and several soldiers shouting behind them. And then the shots came.
"Take cover!" Jan shouted.
They hid behind a chimney and opened fire with their handguns back at the soldiers. For a few moments, they exchanged fire on the rooftops of Berlin.
"We can't keep doing this," Elisabeth said. "We need to disappear."
Jan handed the documents to Elisabeth, who put them in her bag.
"I'll draw their fire, so you two go down. On my mark. 3… 2… 1…"
Jan leaned out and started shooting wildly, vaguely in the direction of the soldiers. They took cover behind the low walls of the roof of the building they were on, while Elisabeth and Kevin ran for the edge and started climbing down. When Jan's magazine went empty, he quickly turned around and ran for the edge as well, following Elisabeth and Kevin as shots rang out around him. They reached street level and made a run for the street.
"There they are!" they heard a soldier shout out from the right.
Elisabeth and Kevin opened fire as the Assassins began running in the opposite direction. The soldiers seemed reluctant to shoot back as civilians were all over the pavement. In front, Jan saw a man opening his door to get into a car. He went straight to the drivers' seat and shoved him aside.
"Sorry," he apologised as he went in.
"Get in!" he shouted at Elisabeth and Kevin.
They quickly got in, and it was at that point that the soldiers began to shoot. Elisabeth and Kevin ducked as bullets whizzed through, breaking the glass. Jan stepped on the gas and the car started moving. Elisabeth leaned out of the window of the passenger seat and shot back. Soon, the shots stopped coming.
"Did we lose them?" Jan asked.
"You jinxed it! Cars incoming!" Elisabeth shouted back.
Jan looked in the rear-view mirror and saw two cars chasing them. From the passenger side windows, soldiers leaned out and started shooting their handguns towards them.
"Shoot back!"
"We're trying!"
Both Elisabeth and Kevin shot back. The streets of Berlin were now a battlefield as three speeding cars shot at each other under the noon sky. They reached a T-intersection, and Jan just barely managed to drift their way to the right, almost hitting pedestrians on the pavement. The enemy cars followed with no problem. Elisabeth and Kevin kept shooting back.
"Running low on ammo!"
It was then that one shot hit a soldier leaning out the window right in his temple. Dead, he went limp and fell out of the car.
"Nice shot, Kevin!" shouted Elisabeth.
But it was premature. The other car shot at them, and then Jan lost control of the car. They got the wheel was all he could think before the car started spinning and crashed into a building. Jan blacked out.
When he came to, Jan was lying inside the overturned car, and he could feel sharp pain all over his body. He looked around. Elisabeth was crawling out through the left side, while Kevin was nowhere to be seen. On the right, three soldiers were coming towards them with their rifles trained on the car.
"Step out of the car and put your hands in the air!" shouted one of the soldiers. "Now!"
With no other option, Jan started crawling out of the car. But then a gunshot rang out and one of the soldiers fell, blood flowing out of the side of his head. Kevin jumped into the scene, killing another soldier with his blade. The last soldier fought back using his rifle. Elisabeth came to Jan's help and helped him get up. By this point, Kevin had taken out the last soldier.
"Let's go, we need to disappear," said Elisabeth as she helped Jan walk towards the pavement.
But then they heard the sound of more than a dozen footsteps running towards them, along with shouts of orders. They turned around and saw that a truck had stopped some distance away from them and had unloaded a squad of soldiers. The soldiers were headed straight for them, brandishing rifles ready to shoot at them at a moment's notice. And then they started. Kevin shot back, and so did Elisabeth.
"Kevin! We need to get out here!" shouted Elisabeth.
Kevin walked backwards as he shot back at the soldiers, moving as best he could from cover to cover. Elisabeth provided cover from behind a car, while Jan tried to make himself useful and took out his own gun, but the pain coursing throughout his entire body meant he couldn't do much else. Jan could only lean out a bit to see what was going on.
But it was at that moment that he saw Kevin fall to the ground.
"Kevin!" he shouted wildly.
Kevin pushed himself up. There was blood pooling at the bottom of his leg. He half-dragged his shot leg as he kept moving while sending shots back at the soldiers who were now covering the street in a hail of bullets.
"We have to help him!" shouted Jan to Elisabeth.
"I'm trying! There's too many of them!"
And then Jan heard a shout. Jan leaned out again and saw Kevin on the ground. He had fallen again, this time with his back on the road. He was holding himself up with one elbow and shooting with the other. But another shot rang out, and blood spurted out of his shoulder as a bullet pierced it.
"Kevin!" the both of them shouted at the top of their lungs.
He looked at them, and with a nod of his head they understood what he was saying. Go.
"No, no, no!" shouted Jan as he tried to shoot at the incoming soldiers, but all his shots went wild.
"I'm sorry, Kevin," Elisabeth said through tears. "We have to go, Jan."
"No, no, no, we can't leave him behind!"
"I'm almost out of bullets, and you can't shoot! There's something bigger than all of us here and we need to get it back to the Brotherhood. Come on!"
Elisabeth dragged Jan down the road. Jan kept his head turned towards Kevin. He was lying on the ground, and still shooting. But his arm was weak, even Jan could see. Until finally, he dropped the gun. The soldiers came to him and surrounded him. They aimed their guns at him. He closed his eyes. If they captured him, he could be saved, Jan thought.
But they shot him. Right in the head.
Elisabeth and Jan disappeared into the town.
Jan sat in the passenger seat in the car they had stolen. Elisabeth drove through the night towards Essen, the documents Neuner asked for sitting in the bag in the back seat. They said no words. They hadn't since they entered the car. Jan kept his eyes glued to the passing scenery, watching, his mind and heart empty.
Father. Brother. Kevin.
Elisabeth sobbed quietly as she drove.
"Kevin, I'm sorry…"
And they kept driving.