Aftershock

"Insurrection is the most sacred of the rights and the most indispensable of duties."

―Marquis de La Fayette

Earth during the Toba's aftershock.

Prologue - Truth of Lies

The year is 2015. Two years has passed since the world was lost in the storms of fire and the eye began to scrutinize Earth like a hawk. Although the worst of the Toba was prevented by the combined efforts of the few remaining Assassins and the knowledge left by the ancients, it was such a close call between the CME and the planet that the Earth still suffered ruptures from its tectonic plates and external flames from the flare. Many cities vanished within the blazing infernos or fell into the fissures of the fractured surface. And yet we, as humanity, pushed on in search of salvation. For us, it was the dawn of a new age. A rebirth. But we were not born into the seeds of peace and freedom amongst each other. We were born into Templar dominion.

I am an Assassin, it is my life, and like those before me, I safeguard humanity's right to freedom of choice. But who is behind the hood and robes of this Assassin? A simple man, like any other. My hair is pure black, only shaded with dark brown, hanging loosely to the back of my neck. My face contains a neatly trimmed beard that sits tightly on my weary yet hardy face. A distinctive scar rests on the left side of my face, and my eyes are wistful and strong-willed, shaded with pure azure. My figure is strong and agile, and I keep my appearance resilient. But beneath this rough exterior is a man who is struggling to find his place amongst this ironic war of contradiction between two philosophies that both strive for the same goal, the same end, the same ambiton.

My name is Aetos, and this is my story.

After the Great Purge in the year 2000, our Order was ravaged and pushed to the verge of extinction. Templar control increased over the world, with many high-ranking politicians serving their cause. Throughout the next twelve years, the Templars engineered many 'false-flag' attacks in order to scare the public into accepting their will, because of their belief that through manipulation and forced guidance humanity would be saved. They did not care for those who lost their lives in the cataclysms, they all believed it would be for the greater good. I'm sure you know of the amount of disasters there was in the first twelve years of the 21st century? But do you know who was really responsible?

When the New World Order began on December 21st 2012, change was evident. After the satellite launch of Eye-Abstergo, the Piece of Eden radiated its inevitable influence down over the Earth, and a long lost neurotransmitter was awoken within our minds. Obedience was immediately obtained. And then, to utilise the control they had gained, they 'united' us by giving us the Mark of the Beast. A small implantable microchip, about the size of a pin. It was used to track any human being anywhere on the planet, and was basically their ID card, as it contained their personal information. The most high ranking Templars also used this chip to ensure the trust of their recruits, and implanted them into their newest active Templars. By doing this, they could moniter the move of all their active agents anywhere in the world. Any human who tried to avoid this, would have their chip 'shut off' and that person would disappear of the face of the Earth. But what could we do? After all, our minds were not our own anymore.

The thing is, all of this was right under our noses, the entire time.

13:16-18

The microchip being inserted into the arm of a Templar agent.

Throughout 2013, humanity began to grow a seething hatred for the Templars, but could never speak their minds. We were stuck in a world where we could not DO anything. All our freedom was gone. You couldn't even sneeze without someone watching. No authority, nothing. So we just carried on, living forced lives, cursing them under our breath. It was only me and handful of others who still managed to walk the Earth, as free Assassins. We were able to avoid the Mark, and even the Piece of Eden's effect, at least to an extent, due to the small amount of First Civilization DNA in our genes. But we were hunted like animals, and our days were numbered. Most of the other Assassins were dead or MIA. All of our teams in other countries had gone dark, and hope became scarcer every day. And so we decided it was time give our Order a rebirth; a renewal. We searched for the legacy left behind by the ancients, and with it we gained a power unlike any other - the power the make a stand against Templar jurisdiction. A stand against the might of Templar rule. With the aid of these artifacts we began to preach the Assassin's Creed in secret to people, enlightening them, teaching them, inspiring courage within them. We gradually began to undermine the Templars, as many people joined the Brotherhood, eager for vengeance on those who had wrongfully denied them their freedom. Although their minds were not their own, they kept their alliance to our Creed a secret, and lived under the rule of the Templars as infiltraters. When the time was right, they would strike. Our Order was strong - it's philosphy reborn into the hearts of men and women everywhere.

"WARNING* <> *WARNING*

*Memory fracture, attempting to re-stabilize the memory*

Now, with the strength of humanity behind us, it is time to end this.

*WARNING* <> *WARNING*

*Memory fracture, rewinding memory sequence to improve synchronization*

Part 1 - Ancient Knowledge

Chapter 1 - Exile

<< Rewinding memory, to a more older one.

1:53 a.m. December 31st, 2012, England.

Helicopters rolled overhead, shaking the old stone brickwork. I lay, hidden in the darkness. Alitheia lay next to me. She was the only one who accompanied me in this esoteric quest for truth. She was roughly my age, slightly shorter than me but had a heart of pure spirit. She had medium length shadowy black hair, an athletic figure and strong legs. Her face was evenly balanced and her eyes were silky blue, and seemed to stare far away in the distance. She had always remained an enigma to me, but she always stuck by me and I cherished our relationship. I could not have done this without her.

Not a sound was heard as we lay in the shadows, except the panting of our breaths and the beats of our hearts.

And then the castle exploded.

I was showered in a barrage of crumbling bricks, but managed to scramble to my feet and leap into the air as the walls behind me blew outwards. As I landed, I scanned the collapsing building for my fellow Assassin. She was nowhere to be seen. More explosions, forcing me further out of the castle. I looked back and saw a white hood appear in the smoke and then it disappeared. Suddenly, I sensed something coming and glanced up into a falling stone that was plummeting towards me. I dove out the way as it smashed into the floor behind me, shattering into a thousand pieces. I stumbled to my feet, ears ringing, vision blurred. Engines, gunfire, explosions. Soon my eyesight took focus and my ears rendered sound once more, and I stared out into the onslaught that waited beyond the burning wreckage of the castle.

Templars.

I heard thumping in the distance, and looked up to see fast-approaching helicopters. They launched an array of blazing rockets at the already smouldering castle structure, and I sprinted forward and soared into the air as the rockets collided with the castle and the entire complex went up in a ball of fire.

There was only darkness below me and the only thing I could do was trust my instinct.

I speared into the black water below, grateful for the moat that lay beneath the castle walls. I felt a searing heat pass over the water's surface, and waited for the flames to dissipate. I surfaced and stared out into the Templars that were advancing along the grassy plains. Spotlights from torch-mounted rifles and helicopters eyed the flaming wreckage, examining every dark corner. I stayed in the shadows, moving silently. Suddenly a blinding white light appeared in front of me and fired multiple rounds towards me. I threw myself sidewards and narrowly avoided the barrage of bullets. I flung myself to the ground, crawling through patches of darkness, with giant spotlights tracking my every move. Bullets hammered into the bricks above my head, and the small platoon of Templar soldiers moved ever closer. A grenade landed near my feet, and without a second's hesitation I leapt out of the blast radius as the grenade exploded. I felt scorching heat flicker at the ends of my feet, and I landed on the wet grass below.

At that point, the Templar agents were upon me, and I flexed my wrist, deploying the Assassin's most loyal companion: the Hidden Blade. I felt within the blade the the small pressure plate depress as my wrist went down, and I heard the familiar 'snick' of the blade as it slided out.

I sprang forward, grabbing the rifle of the first agent and flipping myself over his back, pulling his gun from his grasp and throwing it into the face of an oncoming Templar. I slid below another agent, coming up behind him. He turned around into the glint of the blade and he was no more. Another agent fired a gun but I was no longer there, ducking under the swing of the first agent's gun, grabbing it by the muzzle, flipping it in the air and catching it as I kicked away an agent who came at me with his rifle poised. I bashed the first agent in the head with the gun, and shot him clean in the small of his back. The agent who I kicked came at me again, and I pushed his arm up, making him lose his grip on his pistol, and then I spun around, right arm striking the side of his face and then burying my blade into his neck.

And then a felt a harsh thump on the back of my head, and glanced up as the second Templar brought his gun down for another hit. I crashed into the ground, the world shaking around me and my vision hazy, my hood flying off my head. I managed to focus slightly, an saw the Templar's pistol aiming down at me. His finger coiled around the trigger, about to pull down when a blade appeared in his chest. He looked down at it, dumbstruck, and then collapsed.

Alitheia was standing behind him, reaching out her hand. I grabbed hold and she pulled me to my feet. My sight refocused and I saw her disappearing into the darkness. I raised my tattered hood to my head and followed suite, becoming one with the shadows.

Chapter 2 - Stones of Old

We travelled for days across the barren plains of England, never stopping, never faltering, yet always pursued by relentless Templars who would see to it that we were no more. They knew that with our eradication, so too would the glimmer of hope in the hearts of humanity be extinguished. While that was their motivation for destroying us, it was our motivation to continue on against all odds. As night fell of the 11th day afterour escape from the ruined castle complex, the Templars finally lost us. No more helicopters scanning the desolate countryside, no more silhouettes against the moonlight, and no more rumbling engines heard in the distance. We were at peace, at least for now. But we never let our guard down, not even for a second.

Stonehenge, England.

Quite soon we reached our vague destination, Salisbury Plain. One of the most vast and mystical places on Earth, it may well contain what we were looking for. We pushed on through Salisbury Plain, making our way ever closer to our goal. The land may have been flat, grassy, and typical, but it held within it many thousands of years of remarkable history, although few historians could ever answer the questions that Salisbury Plain's history had to offer. After a week of trekking through the grasslands of the plain, I saw upon the horizon, aligned directly with the sunrise, the world's most enigmatic stone circle: Stonehenge. As the retreat of light dimmed below the horizon, it immersed itself once more over the ancient stones of this phenomenal monument. Stonehenge was over 5000 years old, its giant stones still standing tall to this day. We paced on through Salisbury Plain with renewed vigour, eagerly awaiting what lay within the ancient stone structure.

As midnight approached, we reached the stone circle. It had been deemed off-limits to prevent vandalism or destruction, but that did not deter us. Stonehenge was desolate, with not a soul in sight. As I stepped foot inside the circle, light appeared. A glowing, white light coated in golden waves. The closer I went, the brighter the light. It seemed to be coming from the altar stone. I stepped up in front of the stone, the light pulsing rapidly from its centre. I reached out, and laid my hand upon the smooth, glowing stone. I felt a warmth radiate into my palm, and then, a hilt materialized into my hand. I felt my fingers close around it, securing it into my grasp. I yanked hard on the hilt, and with a crack of the altar stone the mighty Sword of Eden was pulled free. As I held up the shimmering Sword, the light emanating from it began to pulse faster and faster until it reached it climax, projecting cryptic images and videos into the air.

I saw hazy visions of half-built pyramids in sandy deserts, stones being hauled, god-like beings seen from above, calculations made seemingly by ones who could not make them.

These images swirled around each other, constantly merging together. And then, they stopped and held in the air for a second in a clear, coherent way before the light went out and the Sword darkened.

Alitheia stepped up next to me, panting. None of us could believe what we just witnessed.

"What the hell was that.....?" she breathed.

Chapter 3 - Khufu's Horizon

>> Fast forwarding memory, to a more recent one.

February 25th, 2014. Giza, Egypt.

The sun glared brightly over the heated desert as Alitheia and I traversed through the sandy dunes. After the brief revelations experienced at Stonehenge, we contacted headquarters, which had moved to London after it's abolition in Dubai from Templar platoons in late November 2012.

Giza, Egypt.

Our Mentor chose to relocate to London after it was targeted by the Templars, where they caused major uproar from destroying the Big Ben clock tower and attacking London's underground. They blamed it on a predetermined group which "scared" the public into their grasp. If only they knew what really happened....

The Mentor moved our base of operations into London to deal with the aftermath and aid in the victims of the Templar attack. We have worked since then, right under the Royals' noses.

Headquarters immediately began deciphering the cryptic vision we had perceived at the old British monument. Cryptographers soon uncovered the possibility that the vision was actually the Great Pyramid of Giza, one of seven wonders of the ancient world. That's where we went. Despite the troubles brought on by the Toba's flames, the Great Pyramid had actually survived the catastrophe and still stood tall and proud, without a single block of stone lost. I don't know why, but I had always thought its builders had been influenced by.....those people. The people who knew how to prevent the fires of the sun, and to protect the artifacts they left behind.

Soon the tip of the Great Pyramid appeared over the horizon, and with it we picked up the pace, despite the searing heat on our backs. A few hours later the sun set once again, and we came within a few metres of the base of the pyramid. Being the crown jewel of Egypt, the Great Pyramid was protected by high security and sealed off to the public. But upon arriving in Egypt, we made contact with the Assassins who had moved from our London base into Alexandria and they were able to pull some strings and grant us access. As Alitheia and I stepped up to the giant sealed door at the foot of the pyramid, I deployed my hidden blade and inserted it into a small Assassins crest located at the top of the door, and twisted left, then right and I heard a mechanism click behind the door which then slid aside. Alitheia beckoned her head to the interior of the pyramid and stepped inside, her robes disappearing into the shadows. I took once last look at the darkened desert, turned back and entered the ancient pyramid.

I flicked my wrist, and the vambrace on my wrist came alive and projected a flashlight beam into the dark hallways of the pyramid.

"Where do you think it is?" Alitheia whispered beside me.

"I don't know. Clay knew the Egyptians interacted with the Pieces, specifically the Staff. It gave rise to many Egypt's pharaohs," I responded.

"Khufu's tomb?" she asked.

"It's possible but, I don't think they would put the Staff where graverobbers could easily break in and acquire it. They'd conceal it away at the hardest place to reach." I replied.

Alitheia stared up at the ceiling, and then looked back at me."The top."

I nodded.

We crept silently like ghosts through the desolate pyramid, my hand steadying the torch beam. We passed slowly through the grand gallery and advanced through the pyramid complex towards the top. We reached the highest point possible, which was roughly about the middle area. The Egyptians designed the pyramid so that it would not be entirely hollow, so the entire structure wouldn't collapse under its own pressure. But I knew that they would place their most valuable artifact as high up as possible, and so as Alitheia and I crouched beneath the ceiling, I tapped slightly on the roof, and listened closely. A tiny faint yet audible echo was heard, thus proving my suspicions. I swept away the dust and grime from the ceiling and unearthed a small carving of strange symbolic text. But it wasn't hieroglyphics. This was First Civilization script.

The Egyptians had help. From Those Who Came Before.

I laid my hand on the script and it glowed softly, before sliding away to reveal a thin, vertical tunnel with small in-built steps. I entered the tunnel and begun ascending the steps, Alitheia right behind me. Once we reached the top, we arrived at a small chamber located at the very top of the pyramid. And there fitted into a pedistal was the Staff of Eden, an artifact thousands of years old, and the ancient key to advanced minds of the Egyptians. The Sword at my side glowed and began some sort of strange connection with Staff, which glowed in response. I stepped up to it and took hold of its handles, pulling it free from its pedestal. It pulsed rapidly with waves of light coming off in all directions. The force it exhibited was so powerful that the highest stone of pyramid fell inwards into the chamber, and cold, freezing wind rushed into the chamber. The chamber began to shake and so I gripped the Staff and climbed out onto the top of the pyramid, with Alitheia close behind. And then, just like the Sword, the Staff of Eden began to project cryptic visions into thin air, that swirled around together, merging every few seconds. But these visions were different. The depicted giant unknown beings and animals placed over a desert plain thousands of years ago. They held in the air for a clear, unblurred way before dissipating as the Staff and Sword dimmed and fell silent once more.

I could not make any sense of what I just saw, and neither could Alitheia.

We just stood on top of the pyramid in utter disbelief.

Chapter 4 - Geoglyphs

>> Fast-forwading memory, to a more recent one.

April 27th, 2014. Nazca, Peru.

{C Alitheia and I headed straight to Alexandria with the Staff and explained the enigmatic visions to the Assassins located there. They made contact once again with headquarters who took the projections into account, but this time they were wary. The Mentor said that there was something going on with the links between these Pieces, and were somehow "directing" us in a certain way. Nevetheless, we pursued this link and headed off to the place that the visions guided us to: the only place on Earth that contained a number of ancient drawings that appeared over a desert plain, the Nazca Lines in Peru. Again, this site was without a doubt created with the influence of Those Who Came Before.

We parachuted in by plane and landed inside the vicinity of the line drawings. This was going to be a short, sharp mission to recover the Piece of Eden and escape before our "visit" was tracked by Templars. Their presence in South America had increased in past months due to excavations in the Amazon. As Alitheia and I landed in the dark, silent plain I switched back on by wrist-mounted torch beam.

Alitheia whispered, "Which glyph would it be located on?"

"I don't know but, maybe one of the glyphs Clay scrawled at Abstergo? What was it? The hummingbird, the monkey and the spider?" I replied.

"Possibly, but I think he chose those as a means of saying the Piece is located at Nazca, due to the fact that those are the most well-known glyphs. It has to be more symbolic than that, like the natives placed the Piece somewhere in accordance to their "gods", she said.

I pulled a piece of paper from my pack and unfolded it, steadying the torchlight over the paper. This piece of paper listed all the drawings of the Nazca Lines, and I ran my eyes over it, looking for the glyph that matched the reference to the First Civilization. Towards the bottom of the page I locked onto one particular glyph, the astronaut. It depicted a tall figure with a strange "astronaut helmet" as their head, with their right hand held up high. It was drawn onto the side of a medium-sized rock monolith.

I nudged Alitheia and pointed to the glyph. "That's where we're headed."

She nodded.

The Astronaut glyph.

We traversed through the desert plain, along the pathways provided as not to disturb the drawings left by the ancient human civilizations all those years ago. Being a world heritage site, the Nazca Lines was a major tourist attraction and so it had been slightly modernized with information areas and man-made walkways. I soon came across an information area which pointed to the location of the astronaut glyph, which was located further up the track.

Upon reaching it, I pulled out climbing equipment and used it to scale the monolith, with Alitheia scaling the monolith over on the other side of astronaut glyph. We knew for one thing that the glyph had it's hand placed up high to exhibit the power of something, something that should be just what we were looking for.

I inched across the rock face, carefully avoiding the precise markings that made up the astronaut glyph. I dug my rope hook into the cliff just beside the figure's hand, and stabilized myself there. Then, with careful movements, I excavated the rocky surface away from the figure's hand, and as I did, a clear, crystal glow erupted. There, wedged in the cliff, was the Crystal Skull. The last one of its kind.

But then with a fast increase of pulsing light, it gave us the same thing as the other artifacts: a prophecy. Within it's crystal clear glow came one last vision. An indistinct perception of a huge rock monolith that stood lone on a barren, dry grassland. Then the perception zoomed out with increasing speed. It was so fast that we couldn't see what country or continent it came out from. As the vision refocused, it was hovering on the Southern Hemisphere. Then the skull dimmed, and it was gone.

I grasped the artifact in my hand and lowered myself down the rocky cliff. Alitheia was dug in a few metres below me and I gently passed her the skull. She took it with a strong grip and secured in her pack, before descending the cliff. She reached the ground and detached her climbing gear from the rocky hill as I dropped down to meet her.

Alitheia stared at me, blank. "This is the last artifact."

I shook my head. "According to the ancients, it isn't. The Templars missed one more."

She looked up at the starry night sky in utter bewilderment. "So where are we headed then?"

I glanced back at her evenly. "Where the ancients directed us - south."

Chapter 5 - Australis Monolithus

>> Fast forwarding memory, to a more recent one.

July 13th, 2014. Alice Springs, Australia.

The hot Australian sun beared down over our backs as we drove through the sandy desert towards our destination. After the Crystal Skull gave us a final direction, we confirmed it's visions to be the largest monolith that was located at in the Southern Hemisphere, and a verified location of a Piece of Eden indicated on the Codex map: Uluru.

I sat behind the wheel of our dusty jeep while Alitheia made contact with the Assassins based in Sydney. I could hear her speaking firmly with them and as she finally hung up the phone, I asked her what the problem was.

"They said the Templars are excavated the monolith as we speak. The Anangu were cast out just a few days ago and the entire park is closed off to the public."

"Fuck. I guess they hadn't missed it after all. What the hell are we going to do?"

Alitheia shook her head angrily and stared out into the barren, dry grasslands of the Australian desert. And then she turned back to me, her eyes full of thought.

"We can't sneak in, and we can't barge in either. But what if we were fight with the people instead of for them?"

I looked back at her. "What do you mean?"

She stared at me, with a thoughtful smile forming at her lips. "All the indigenous people who lived in the area around the monolith were sent away. They will be hungry for revenge. If we can fight with them, we can take back this land, and give it to it's rightful owners. They may not like us - we are not natives. But if we can help them, I'm sure they'll like us a hell of a lot more than the Templar bastards who exiled them from their homelands."

I stared back at Alitheia, and with a firm smile I nodded.

>> Fast forwarding memory, to a more recent one.

After a lengthy drive we soon arrived just outside Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, where the entire park had been sealed off and was heavily guarded by Templar patrols. However, the excavation had been partly disrupted due to protests by the indigenous people of the land. They were extremely angry, not only because they had been cast out of their homes but because the Templars were destroying the monolith - a sacred icon to the many generations that had inhabited this land. Thousands of years of spiritual connection just...gone.

Uluru, Australia.

The media was here too - questioning the government's involvement in Uluru, and asking what they were looking for. They were ignored, until the Aboriginals began assaulting the guards.

"No!" I yelled, as the Templar guards responded with ruthless force, and began to beat back the Aboriginals.

The indigenous people were thrown back but they kept on coming, until the Templars decided to take action. The leader of the excavation called upon someone back in the ATC in New South Wales, who responded by directing the Eye's beam down at central Australia. The Aboriginals crumbled to their knees, with their hands grasping their hands in anguish as they lost their temporary control over their minds. Then, the Eye relented and the Aboriginals slowly clambered to their feet and walked away, leaving the Templars alone.

I started forward, angrily shocked at the force exherted by the Templar satellite, slightly wincing as the Eye dug into human mind in search of the neuro-transmitter. I pushed on however, and the Eye found nothing to use as control over my mind. Alitheia and I slipped into the now silent crowd of press reporters, journalists and natives. Gradually the Eye's beam pulled back and the control forced upon the people dissolved slightly, but the Aboriginals didn't attack again - they knew what would happen if they did. But I knew they could do it - they just needed some "encouragement".

I turned back to Alitheia and motioned to her right vambrace. She nodded, and attatched onto her right vambrace a small deployable flare gun that could fire loudly into the air and cause a distraction that could mask our advancement. She took aim and shot the flare over the huge monolith, which exploded and showered the Templars in a cloud of thick smoke.

Upon seeing this sudden turn of events, the natives of Uluru charged defiantely into the smoke-covered park and smothered the Templar defense in a fiery hot siege of vengeance.

Alitheia and I joined the surge of natives and used our knowledge to see through the smoke, and began making our way through the battling forces in search of our final Piece of Eden.

The smoke clouded my vision and I was forced to exert my sixth as powerfully as I could to see where I was. I knew Alitheia was there and so we pushed on together, and worked our way of the smoke and began to advance upon the collosal monolith of Uluru.

"Behind you!" I yelled, sensing an enemy presence near Alitheia.

She spun and ducked at the same time, narrowly avoiding the swipe of a Templar guard. The guard stumbled forward and Alitheia slid underneath him, tripping him over as she slid. The guard fell to the ground and I pounced by driving my hidden blade into his neck, and muttered a silent prayer.

"We need to go, now! Those Aboriginals won't hold out long!" I shouted.

Alitheia nodded and advanced upon the excavation inside the monolith. I followed her and as I came towards the giant rock I felt a strange yet familiar connection. But this one was different. It seemed more spiritual, more powerful. Loud pulsing began to happen and through the grey smoke I saw flickers of golden light.

"It's here." Alitheia breathed.

I stepped into a large dug out area that appeared to be the place that the Templars had been excavating in. They had come across numerous cave art and ancient paintings likely to have been drawn by indigenous people to land. One particular drawing caught my eye. It depicted a group of ancient humans who were standing next taller, more advanced beings. They were both contending for a glowing object that was sketched into wall. The glowing waves it exhibited only went in one direction: down.

"Hand me some tools." I said.

Alitheia passed me a hammer and chisel from the excavation equipment and I set to work on the ground below the drawing.

"We got company!" Alitheia yelled, fending off a few security guards who had found our position.

"Can you hold them off?" I yelled back.

"Not for long. You need to hurry up!"

I dug into the ground harder and faster, and I noticed that the tough rock surface was becoming weaker and every strike of the hammer sounded off, like the ground was hollow.

I glanced up at Alitheia who had just assassinated two guards in rapid succession and was currently battling a third.

I cursed under my breath, and pushed on through the ground.

"Aetos! Any luck?!" She shouted over the sounds of gunfire that pounded the edge of the rock monolith.

I swung my hammer down for a final strike and the entire ground caved in, sending Alitheia and I flying downwards into some ancient underground chamber. As she fell, Alitheia managed to dive to the side and grab hold of the side of the hole that had just been formed, and hung on as Templars drove forward into the excavation site.

And then, I saw a small object roll into the area.

"Oh shit, grenade! Get back!" Alitheia yelled and let go of the side of the hole.

Explosions erupted and an entire barrage of rocks plummeted into the underground chamber, smothering us with utter force.

Everything went black.

I coughed and shook rocks off my battered body. As I struggled to my feet, I switched on my vambrace torch and scanned the wreckage for Alitheia.

"Alitheia? Where are you?" I asked, searching frantically.

I stumbled forward, traversing through the outcrop of broken and falling rocks. I soon found a glowing white and gold light emanating from the edge of the chamber.

"Alitheia?!"

"Aetos. Look at this," she replied, and I sighed with relief.

As I stepped forward next to her, I saw it.

Nestled in a small alcove at the edge of the chamber, was the final Apple of Eden.

I was speechless. The artifact sat, motionless. It just emitted a dim glow. And then, as I moved my hand over towards it, it's glow increased in speed and light, with faster pulses. They became faster and faster until the artifact did something I thought was impossible. It gave us another prophetic vision.

"No! It can't be! This was the last artifact! THERE AREN'T ANY MORE!" I shouted.

But as I looked on, I saw the Apple project into the dusty cave air a vison quite unlike any other. It showed a closed eye suspended in orbit around the Earth, moving in a precision arc. And then, a small, orb shaped artifact formed around the eye. It was another Apple. Finally, as the Apple took it's shape around the eye, it opened, and the force was directed down towards the planet.

Then the Apple dimmed and we were plunged into darkness.

"I....

The rocks that had covered our chamber blew outwards in an explosion of flames and smoke, and Templar guards charged into the cavern, guns blazing.

I spun backwards, grabbed the Apple and as the Templars surrounded me I activated it.

Every single Templar soldier froze, dropped their weapons and fell to the knees in anguish. They groaned in pure agony as the Apple took hold of neurotransmitter buried in their human brains, and begun to control their minds. The Templars grasped their heads in shock and pain as I held the artifact high in the air, it's ancient yet advanced power seeping down my arm. I relented and the power of the artifact pulled back, leaving the Templar soliders lying unconscious on the ground. I flinched in sharp pain as I lost my footing to the sheer forceful power exhibited by the Apple.

"We need to get out of here!" Alitheia yelled, grabbing my arm and pulling me to my feet.

She ran out of the monolith as more Templars pounded it with explosives. The rocky area shook with rubble and began to cave in. I was knocked sideways but held my footing and managed to leap into the air as the entire monolith came crashing down around us. I slammed into the ground, almost losing my grip on the Apple. I quickly sprung back to my feet, and entered the raging battle between the Templars and Aboriginals. Both sides however had seen the monolith cave in behind us and were momentarily distracted.

"GO!" I cried, motioning at the natives to pull back.

They didn't need to be told twice. As the Aboriginal people ran back to their homes, Alitheia and I leapt into the jeep and gunned the engine, sending us speeding forward away from the gigantic monolith of Uluru.

"What was that?" I breathed, totally lost for words.

Alitheia stared forward, shaking her head. "I don't know. I just don't know."

Part 2 - The Eye

Chapter 1 - Certitude

>> Fast forwarding memory, to a more recent one.

August 3rd, 2014. London, England.

Alitheia and I made our way through the busling streets of modern London in silence and discretion - Templars were everywhere. Normally they'd pinpoint us with cell surveillance instantly, but after everyone was chipped they don't bother much with that anymore because they already have everyone's information stored in their databases. Fortunately for us, we weren't chipped and this worked to our advantage. We soon entered the heart of the city and came across the remnants of the Big Ben, that had been worked on and cleared up over the past two years. People were especially saddened on this day because it was the two year anniversary since the attack.

August 3rd, 2012.

The day the public finally gave in to the manipulation of Abstergo and their Templars. I shook my head in sadness and moved on towards the Assassin headquarters that was located at a small underground complex near Westminster Abbey. Upon reaching it, I stepped up to the door that was cleverly concealed away with the mossy cobblestone of the surrounding area. The door was manufactured with technology harnessed from the Colloseum Vault in Rome, and so I spoke softly in Hex code to open the door.

"4e 6f 74 68 69 6e 67 20 69 73 20 74 72 75 65 2c 20 65 76 65 72 79 74 68 69 6e 67 20 69 73 20 70 65 72 6d 69 74 74 65 64 2e" I muttered, and the door slid open.

A young but strong-hearted Assassin named Arco came forward, astounded upon seeing me.

"Aetos, is that you?" he asked.

I nodded and stepped forward. "Where is the Mentor?"

"He's down the hall, to the left. In the conference room."

"Thank you. Safety and peace."

"Upon you as well, brother."

I beckoned to Alitheia and we advanced forward towards the conference room. As we reached it, I looked for the Mentor. He was standing to one side, in silence.

"Mentor." I said.

He looked over at me and breathed with relief. "Aetos, and Alitheia! You've returned. I trust your quest was a success?"

I moved forward and placed the Sword of Eden, the Staff of Eden and the Crystal Skull on the conference table. Then, I pulled out the Apple and laid it carefully in the middle of the three artifacts.

"What did the Apple do when you unearthed it?" The Mentor asked, watching the artifacts with awe.

"It gave us another vision. But it wasn't like the others. It depicted another Apple of Eden that was seemingly suspended in space around the Earth, with an eye in it's centre. I don't know what it means, exactly."

The Mentor's eyes widened with bewilderment, but he kept his composure. "They can't have possibly known about it."

I studies his face. "What do you mean?"

He looked back at me. "There isn't any more Apples hidden on Earth, the Templars have all the others. And which of their Apples is currently in space right now, controlling all of humanity's free will?"

I shook my head in disbelief. "You can't mean...."

The Mentor nodded. "I do."

I exhaled a deep breath and sat down.

"How are we going to take down the Templar's most powerful asset?" I said, looking up at the Mentor.

Alitheia glanced up from behind me. "I have an idea."

I turned back to her and arched my eyebrow.

"The problem isn't destroying the satellite, the problem is getting up into Earth's orbit whilst the entire upper atmosphere is guarded by the ASP, am I right?" she said.

I nodded. "Yes."

"Well, what if there was someway that the Templars controlling the ASP could somehow lower their guard enough for us to enter space and make our way towards the satellite. I'm thinking we give some power to the people.'"

"How exactly?" I asked.

"We could confuse and irritate the Templars by messing with their whole balance of power, say "unchip" all of humanity?"

"There's seven billion humans on the planet, Alitheia. It's not possible."

"Not everyone - but enough to stir up some of the Templars. Abstergo will be peskered with re-chipping people and they won't focus on their little satellite. And of course, if we can unchip one person, they'll unchip someone else."

I looked over at the Mentor. "Request permission to unchip the human race, Mentor."

He looked back at me with a stern yet hopeful expression. "Granted. Show them who we fight for, Assassin."

Chapter 2 - Emancipation

>> Fast forwarding memory, to a more recent one.

May 14st, 2015. Assassin Headquarters, London, England.

Alitheia and I had spent the last few months residing in the Assassin headquarters, where we operated in secret to unchip and temporarily free the the lives of the all the microchipped humans we came across. It was a difficult task but our message was spread throughout the public and gradually people were given a taste of freedom once more. The chips were still active however, and so we decided to reattach them to something else.

About a month after the de-chipping begun the government noticed a large number of people moving North during the change of seasons, and after investigation the Templars discovered roughly 250 microchips had been attached to a flock of birds that were migrating North.

People were questioned and and interrogated, but stayed true to our cause and calmly let themselves be re-chipped. We had, however, taught them to de-chip themselves and other people, although it was best for people with medical training to attend to a chip removal due to the fact that they were inserted under the skin. This had been spread worldwide and was even managed to be broadcast on Abstergo-owned media, and so Assassins in other countries began their liberation of their people.

The Templars threatened to "eliminate" anyone they found that had removed their chip, but there were too many people that had already done it. If they took out half of the world's populace,, the entire city would fall apart because of the lack of workers, tax payers and students. The Templars then resides to exhibit Eye-Abstergo's power to keep everyone in check so they could re-chip the population. This meant that they were distracted.

And so, we decided it was time to strike at the heart of the Templar dominion and eradicate the final pillar of Abstergo Industries and their New World Order.

It took a long time to plan Alitheia's and I's ascension into the Earth's orbital area to take out the satellite. We were low on any funds to create any solution to our problem of leaving the Earth's atmosphere. But I had an idea.

Humanity hated the satellite. I spent my days listening to people talk about the experiences, and I learnt that everyone lived with a worrying fear that they had to obey or the satellite would force it's power into the minds. I had asked them if they felt safe and secure within the New World Order, and they said they did because there wasn't anyone who could stir up trouble and create problems. But they also said that because of this, life was tasteless and every day was the same thing. I asked them what they thought of us destroying Eye-Abstergo and they all looked at me with an expression that seemed to say, you're crazy. But they said they would be behind us all the way, and gave us support and funding.

We called in the rest of the Assassins from across the globe and we all converged at headquarters to plan our final strike against the Templars. Our intelligence suggested that the Templars were planning on launching an obersvation satellite called "OH-1" that would join with the Satellite Plexus in two weeks time. It was being launched from an Abstergo facility north-west of New York City, as that was where the ASP was orbiting at the moment. We decided that this satellite was our key to taking out Eye-Abstergo. With the funding we had generated from the supportive public, we organised the equipment necessary.

Once everything was ready, I gathered the Pieces of Eden and headed to where the Mentor was residing.

"Mentor." I said, and held out the Pieces.

He looked up, and took the Pieces in his hands. "You're leaving."

I nodded.

He sighed. "I knew that one day all of this would finally reach an end. Stay strong, and whatever you do Aetos, remember for who we fight for. Remember our Creed. And remember who you are, and where you came from. Safety and Peace, brother. As long as this Order lives on, you and Alitheia will never be forgotten."

I nodded again, closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

Then, I raised my hood to my head for a final time and Alitheia and I left the Assassins to do the very thing that for millenia we had fought and died for: protecting, preserving, and upholding the freedom of humanity.

*WARNING*<>*WARNING*

*Memory fracture, fast forwarding memory to restabilize synchronization*

Now, with the strength of humanity behind us, it is time to end this.

*WARNING*<>*WARNING*

*Memory fracture still imminent, fast forwarding memory to restabilize synchronzation*

Chapter 3 - Intrusion

>> Fast forwarding memory, to a more recent one.

May 31st, 2015. Abstergo Industries Launch Facility, New York.

Alitheia and I crouched in the darkness, silently observing the Templar launch facility. It was bright and active, and I could see the satellite waiting in a launch pad near the centre of the complex.

"Let's move," I whispered to Alitheia and we began to advance upon the compound.

Our robes were coated in a shadowy black dye to disguise us in the night and so we moved with shadows to avoid detection and came to a stop within a few metres of the facility. I scanned the complex and locked onto our first target - the security office. This was where the entire compound was watched through numerous security cameras and was the key to infiltrating the launch site successfully. Alitheia and I scaled the exterior wall and landed softly on the grass below. The security office was roughly about one hundred metres to our right, and so, with the cover of darkness, we moved toward it.

Templar patrols constantly eyed the complex, and so we knew we didn't have long before they found us. As we came up to the security office, I slowly began to pick the lock to the iron clad door that sealed the office shut. I knew I couldn't pick a lock this tough, but my fiddling gave enough noise to momentarily attract the attention of the two guards inside. As they opened the door to see what the disturbance was, I grabbed one of them and pulled him to the ground, silently driving my blade into his neck as Alitheia did dispatched the other. We concealed the bodies away into the darkness, and entered the security office.

I sighed in frustration as I saw the amount of surveillance they had. "Look at all these cameras."

Alitheia walked over to the control panel and began tampering with the controls. Within a few minutes, the entire screen of cameras went black.

"There," she said. "Disabled."

I shook my head in disbelief and advanced on with her as we moved away from the security office. Our next stop the storage area - we needed astronaut suits.

I pointed to a small building about two hundred metres from our position. "There's the storage area. It's better if we crawl through the outside where there is darkness instead of making our way through the interior of the complex and risking being detected in the light by the guards inside."

The Abstergo Industries Launch Facility.

Alitheia nodded and we both began to crawl across the wet grass towards the storage area. Torchlights scanned the area every few minutes, but everytime they did we stopped and lay still, and the beams passed over us. Once we came within twenty metres of the storage room we were forced to stop our advance due to amount of light being cast over the area in front of us. We rolled silently to our feet and hid behind the wall of a nearby building and watched the area. There was no way forward, but the door to the storage room was on the other side of the building, and so we found an alternate route through the darkness behind the buildings.

I spotted a Templar guard come towards out location and take up sentry position just in front of us. I held up my hand and Alitheia paused behind me. I crept forward and with one swift movemet I swiped his legs away, and as he fell to his knees I clamped my gloved hand over his mouth and stuck my hidden blade into his neck, and as his life passed away I laid his body on the ground and muttered a final prayer for the fallen soul.

Alitheia and I pushed on towards the storage building and finally came up to the entry point. I tested the door handle and sighed with relief as it swung slowly open. The room was empty, and so I switched on my wrist-mounted flashlight which lit up the room instantly.

Astronaut suits were stored neatly on hangars and helmets were on hooks just above them.

I motioned to the suits. "Get kitted up. We're leaving this planet in less than two hours."

>> Fast forwarding memory, to a more recent one.

Alitheia and I spent about half an hour to get suited up and once we were fully clad in the astronaut suits, we attached the helmets to our backs and left the storage area to make our way to our final destination: the launch pad.

It wasn't far from the storage building - only about fifty metres. It was alive with activity and so we spent a good amount of time cautiously moving through the complex towards the satellite that was suspended in the hangar. It was accompanied by a small rocket mounted underneath to aid in the take-off and successfully launch it into space. From the there, the astronaut piloting it would connect it with the ASP and then descend back to Earth in a small pod. We managed to sneak under the rocket and came across a ladder located behind the satellite and we climbed the ladder and found ourselves right behind the satellite's small cockpit. As we search for a way in, a loud voice was heard over the intercom.

"All stationary units, advance to the OH-1 satellite for lift-off it ten minutes. Pilot, please report to the command deck for debriefing."

"Ten minutes," I whispered. "We need to get in."

Alitheia nodded and managed to open the door to the satellite's cockpit and climbed in, concealing herself in the back of the satellite near the storage hold. I climbed in after her and hid myself away underneath the astronaut's piloting seat, and waited for the moment to strike.

Chapter 4 - Ascension

July 1st, 2015. Abstergo Industries Launch Facility, New York, Earth.

I lay in the darkened cockpit listened to the soft breathing of Alitheia and I.

"Attention all units. Lift-off of OH-1 will commence in five minutes. Pilot, take command of the module," the intercom voice buzzed over the sound of machinery operating in the hangar.

I took a deep breath. "Here we go."

I braced myself as the astronaut walked towards the satellite and stepped calmly into the cockpit. I lay less than a metre from his position, holding my breath in silence. The pilot sat down at the controls and began to initiate launch sequence.

"Satellite primed and ready. Boosters look good, secured tightly to our launch rocket and controls are working well," he said.

"Alright. Commencing launch. Brace for lift-off," the intercom voice replied as the door to the cockpit sealed shut and the module began to hum loudly as the engines came to life.

"Ready," the astronaut said, and strapped himself into the seat behind him.

"Lift-off in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one," the intercom voice counted down.

The rocket's boosters exploded with flame and covered the launch pad in cloud of smoke as the satellite module began to rise. They pumped with fire as the rockets pushed the satellite further and further into the sky and the entire structure shook with unbelievable force.

"We have lift-off," the astronaut radioed down to the command office back at the Abstergo facility.

"Good job, people. Keep OH-1 on surveillance for now," the radio voice replied.

The module ascended further and further through the Earth's atmosphere, it's fuel slowly burning away as the rockets powered it up into space. After awhile it reached the edge of the planet's atmospheric layers.

"Command, we have reached the final stage of the exosphere. Request permission to take remote control of the module," the astronaut said, looking out of the small cockpit windows.

"Granted. You have the controls. Reply back when you have reached the Plexus," the radio voice responded.

"Roger that," the astronaut said, and took command of the satellite controls.

I turned back to Alitheia and she nodded in agreement. Now was the time to strike. I rose slowly to my feet and strapped on my hidden blade to my suit arm. In one, quick, sudden movement I drove my blade into the neck of the astronaut who went stiff and then fell limply to one side. I murmured a prayer for my victim, he was a servant of Abstergo but was never a killer.

I took over the satellite's controls and set it's path for the ASP, just as the rockets detatched themselves from the module and dropped back to Earth. It would be a few hours until we reached the ASP, however. As I climbed back out of the seat, I went further than I should of, and I realised that we had left the exosphere and were now, technically, in space.

As I floated through the satellite, I ran through the plan for ascending to the Plexus. The plan was simple enough - tilt the satellite a couple of degrees towards the ASP every few minutes, and the Earth's orbit will do the rest and guide us most of the way.

>> Fast forwarding memory, to a more recent one.

Alitheia and I saw the Akashic Satellite Plexus appearing out of the darkness of space and we set direct course for it. The ISS was there too, and a join operation was occuring between the two. Two to three Abstergo astronauts were operating the Plexus and connecting it with the ISS.

Within a few minutes we came towards the Plexus and the astronauts radioed us in.

"I see you OH-1. Your objective is to angle the module towards the docking bay near the Akashic Satellite Plexus Command Post. You will need to tilt the tip of the satellite to link with the docking bay. Good luck," they said, and directed us over.

I didn't reply, and neither did Alitheia. We calmly moved over to the docking bay and with careful precision I linked it.

The astronaut spoke to us again. "You there OH-1 Actual? Didn't get any response. You sure you're radio's working? If you can hear me please respond. We need to authorise your attachment to the docking bay."

We remained quiet. I placed my helmet over my head, and Alitheia did the same. Then I began to detach the pod from the side of the satellite and climbed in as it drifted away, and pulled in Alitheia with me.

The astronaut radioed us back in again, this time on our helmet radio. "I'm still getting nothing from you OH-1 Actual. Now using helmet radio since I noticed you detached from the satellite after docking. Is this channel clear?"

Still we kept our silence, and I carefully opened the door of the pod, but made sure it was facing away from the astronauts who were now looking at our direction with worried looks.

They spoke to us again. "Respond OH-1 Actual, or we will be forced to investigate."

I left the pod and began to drift across the ISS with Alitheia close behind me. We sneaked between the space station as the astronaut slowly began to detach themselves from their station and started to drift over to our pod. I glided through space station and grabbed hold of a barred area just near where the astronauts were, and as Alitheia came next to me, I turned, nodded and pointed to the first astronaut and mouthed the words he's yours.

She nodded and let go of the bars. I followed suite and we both floated away from the station towards the confused astronauts, our blades poised. Once I was within striking distance, I flung myself forward and crashed into the second astronaut as Alitheia knocked into the first. We both went flying into the space station and as he smacked backwards, and I raised my left arm and sent my blade straight through his helmet, smashing the glass and impaling itself in his neck. I looked up as Alitheia's victim went limp aswell and I bowed my head in a prayer for both astronauts. However, the third had been distracted by his investigations into our empty pod and had now turned and seen what had happened.

He spoke desperately into his radio as I threw myself in his direction. "Command! They're here!"

"Who's here?" Command replied, sounding anxious.

"Assa...." he tried to say but I reached him and drove my blade through his helmet and into his neck.

I kept on flying through space and so I directed myself towards the space station, grabbing hold of it with a hard grip as the radio came on. "Is anyone out there? OH-1 Actual, do you copy?!"

I gave them a response in a calm, clear voice, "The eye will be closed."

Then Alitheia came up behind me and I turned, pointed and nodded.

It was time to destroy Eye-Abstergo.

Chapter 5 - Freedom

July 1st, 2015. Akashic Satellite Plexus, Earth's Orbital Space.

Alitheia and I drifted through the desolate space as the huge swirling orb of white, brown, blue and green we call Earth hung in total starry darkness in utter awe. It took my breath away, and I knew it was a sight I would never forget.

Eye-Abstergo in orbit.

It wasn't long before made our way towards Eye-Abstergo - the glowing satellite was located near the centre of the Plexus. As we neared the satellite I directed myself towards the supporting structures nearby and grabbed hold of them to steady my drift. Alitheia came up behind me and we both advanced towards the satellite. We stopped and attached ourselves to it's outer module and planned our next move.

"How the hell are we going to destroy it?" Alitheia asked, watching the Piece of Eden exhibit unbelievable force down towards the planet.

"We can't just blow it up - explosives are messy and unreliable in no-gravity zones. And besides, the artifact is too strong for man-made explosives."

Alitheia nodded. "Can't we disable the Piece from the satellite's grasp?"

I shook my head. "The Templars put a lot of work into this. I don't know how they managed to fix it into position so strongly, but I can guarantee you there's no way we could remove it. When they sent it up, they knew that the satellite must stay there - or be destroyed. To destroy Eye-Abstergo, you must destroy its Piece of Eden."

"Then what are we going to do?" Alitheia asked, her expression a mix of worry and anticipation.

"There is only one way to take this thing down - once and for all," I said.

"How?"

"We will send it straight back to where it came from," I explained, and pointed down to Earth.

"It's in orbit, and you can't break a planet's orbit," Alitheia said, her eyes watching me with concern.

I said back to her in a calm, steady voice,"I'm going to direct it down."

She stared at me, her face expressionless. Then as I turned to the satellite she grabbed my shoulder.

"No! You can't do this!"

"I have to. I am an Assassin. It is my duty. Once I am gone, you will be the only hope left for our species. You know that. You know what you must do."

She looked at me, her face changing from sadness to acceptance, and then she nodded, understanding.

Alitheia detached herself from Eye-Abstergo and drifted back to the supportive dock and made herself ready to send the satellite out of the ASP, with me on it, to guide it down to the planet and destroy the Eye with only the universal force of gravitational pull can do.

"Safety and peace, Alitheia," I said, and raised my hand to the Assassin symbol on my robes, hidden under my astronaut suit.

"Safety and peace, Aetos," she replied, and did the same.

Then she kicked the satellite out of orbit and I plunged back down to Earth, gripping the Eye with my gloved hands and as I fell through the atmosphere, I closed my eyes and waited for death's embrace.

*WARNING*<>*WARNING*

*Major memory fracture, loss of synchronization. Transitional ancestor memory clash.*

*Desynchronized.*

*Now attempting to re-anchor the memory to more recent ancestor.*

*Memory synched.*

Alitheia watched Aetos fall, tears forming at her eyes. She stared for ages as the satellite with a hooded figure attached to it slowly became a dot in the clouds and mist that surrouded the Earth. Then, suddenly, the dot collided with the planet and a collosal array of unbelievable light and power erupted from the surface, sending the waves flowing across the sea and land, it's force reaching anything within it's immediate vicinity.

Then, just as suddenly as it had occurred, the explosion ceased and the aftershock began.

But Alitheia didn't see the aftershock, she had already turned away. She floated through the atmosphere to OH-1's descent pod and reached inside, grabbing hold of the four Pieces of Eden she and Aetos had found and carried them with her as she made her way to the ISS vault located at the centre of the structure. Once there, she forced open the sealed door and looked inside. All 45 Pieces of Eden were there, including the Shard of the Staff of Eden. They lay there, motionless, just throbbing slightly at her presence. She placed the final four artifacts inside, reached towards the back and took one of the artifacts.

Then she sealed shut the door, entered the pod and descended back to Earth, her heart and soul giving a final prayer for her fallen Assassin.

Part 3 - Rebirth

Chapter 1 - Awakening

>>Fast forwarding memory, to a more recent one.

January 1st, 2045. ISA, Black Hills, South Dakota, America.

My name is Avedeam.

For thirty years my life was kept secret, hidden away from the war that raged across the Earth. I was born here, in the Black Hills of South Dakota. My mother raised me alone, just the two of us in this small little compound. She seemed different from me, and I seemed different from her. I asked her where the others were. The other people who lived on this planet. She always told me that they were somewhere else. It was not until I was older than she began to tell me the truth. Who I was, who she was, who humanity were. She told me the history of the Templars and Assassins, and of the First Civilization. And in that moment I truly realized who I was, why I was different.

I was a member of the First Civilization. I was the mark of this long-lost species now reborn on Earth. I learnt my species' history, their creation of humanity, their mark on society, their artifacts, their legacy, their demise. My mother told me that our ancient society of Assassins fought against them in a war that occurred millenia ago. She explained to me that their view of control over her species denied humanity's right to freedom of choice. It was why the Assassins fought against them. She said to me that I could never rule humanity like they did, which was possible, given my characteristics. She told me that humanity should always have the ability to choose, to live with free will, to grow as individuals, no matter the risks involved. Without independance, life is meaningless. She also explained to me that the Templars took my ancestor's vision of order and control because they believed it paved the way for the betterment of humanity. She said they did this because they did not believe the risks of freedom should be allowed. All of this history was poured into my mind, and once my mother had told me all there was to know, she let me decide what I believed was true.

Out in the sunny fields of the Black Hills she took me. She laid down on the grass an Assassin symbol and a Templar cross. And then she stepped back and waited for my decision.

Through all of this, my knowledge let me see what really was the truth in our civilization. I stepped up and picked up both items. I held them out for her to see, the Templar cross underneath the Assassin symbol. I explained to my mother that the human race should always have the freedom they deserve. But because of how my species created them, that freedom always comes with dangerous risks and consequences, that cannot, like the Templars believed, be ignored. In truth, freedom and order and both necessary for the survival of humanity. But neither can both be instituted. However, there is a solution that my sixth presented to me. A solution that my race should of found when they had the chance all those years ago. But their yearning for a docile workforce clouded their judgement. Now, as I am the link between both species, I have that solution.

This solution can teach humanity to live freely but without risks. To live as we did, all those years ago. The First Civilization, I now realise, did not have the dangers and risks that made people like the Templars believe in preventing freedom. They lived independantly because their sixth sense let them. No wars, no conflicts, no hatred, no disagreements. It was a peaceful existence. But humans were created without that sense and so, throughout their history they never could achieve what my species could by themselves. They needed help, they needed guidance. Guidance by the ones who made them who they were.

This became my philosphy, my creed and my decision. I would fight with the Assassins, to defeat the last inch of control-hungry people. And if we were able to free this entire species, I would take it upon myself to teach and guide them in hopes of awakening their dormant sixth sense.

My mother stared at me long and hard after I had told her this. After a while she nodded and entered the complex, only to emerge again with the white and blue robes of an Assassin. I took it with a nod and dressed myself in the robes that defined me as the person I chose to be. As I raised my hood to be head, I turned and looked one last time at my mother, Alitheia, and then I left the Sanctum with the ambitions that would finally forge peace within the hearts and minds of humanity.

Chapter 2 - Resilience

>>Fast forwarding memory, to a more recent one.

January 10th, 2045. New Eden, capital of the Assassin Order, in front of Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, Africa.

I looked up at huge snow-capped mountain of Mount Kilimanjaro, standing vast and proud behind the Assassins' capital of New Eden. As I stepped towards the city walls I noticed the movement of sentrys who called out.

"Step back! This is...." one of them called out, but the other stopped him.

"Wait, wait. She wears the robes of the Assassins, and her hood is beaked."

Then he looked at me,"What are you doing here?"

I called out. "My name is Avedeam. I am the daughter of Aetos and Alitheia."

Upon hearing that, the sentry sighed in a mix of sadness and joy, and opened the gates. "Head on in. You'll want to go to the library near the centre of the city. It's where you'll find the leader of the African Assassins here. He'll tell you what to do."

I nodded and began to walk in as the sentry opened the city gates.

Inside, I looked around. The city wasn't very big, it was small and tight. New Eden was founded only about ten years ago, after the Assassins liberated most of Africa and drove the Templars out. They built their capital here, upon the remnants of the First Civilization city of Eden built thousands of years ago and destroyed by the first Toba catastrophe.

This was my first time coming into contact with humans, and their existence drew my interest. As I moved through them, knowing how they lived each moment, I realized they didn't know back. They tried to comprehend me, but couldn't. They were, however, a good-hearted people. I began to see that despite the difficulty humans had in understanding, they were a strong-minded and had a pure sense of truth and purpose. And so, as I stepped through them, I smiled. They were willing to know and learn. To take and develop guidance. They had the potential for a utopia. And that raised my spirits.

I reached the centre of the small city and stepped inside the library, staring in awe at it's vast collection of books and knowledge. Hooded people browsed the collosal shelves, learning, reading, teaching. Even in the midst of planetary war people still took the time out to find peaceful activities. I suppose it keeps sanity and calmness.

"May I help you?" the person at front asked.

"Hello, may I speak with the leader of the African Assassins?" I replied.

"Of course. One moment."

The person spoke into a intercom and soon enough, a slightly dark-skinned man came out into the library. He had a battle-weary face but peaceful eyes. He arched his eyebrow upon seeing me.

"You requested me?" he said, stepping forward.

I nodded. "My name is Avedeam. You may know why mother and father. They commandeered a satellite to take down Eye-Abstergo."

He exhaled deeply. "Ahhh, you are Aetos and Alitheia's child, no?"

I nodded again. "I am of First Civilization DNA."

He stared at me, astounded. "You can't be serious."

"I am. My parents were of hybrid origin."

"But surely your species' state of mind lives with you? They wanted order and control. They used our race as a workforce!"

"They were wrong to think that. I do believe that humanity deserves the right to freedom of choice. That is why I have chosen to fight on your side. But because my species created them like they did, there will always be risks involved with free will. Risks that cannot be ignored. The Templars, ruthless in the order as they may be, acknowledge this. Humanity cannot live alone with freedom. But they cannot live alone without it. They need what my race had that granted them the skills and abilities to live in a utopian society. That is why I am here. To free and to guide this species into peaceful freedom."

He stared at me, long and hard. "I see. You are brave to think as you. This war has gone on long enough - we've lost too much, our planet is wrecked almost beyond reconstruction and renewal. It was already in ruins from the Sun's flare. Any longer, and there will be no victor, because there will be no planet for the victor to rule over."

I looked back at him. "But you're not going to let the Templars take back control. And they won't let you liberate humankind."

"That's why we need to end this war, hard and fast. With you on our side, we might finally complete what our ancestors tried to do for millenia."

I nodded, began to respond and then stopped. "Templars."

He furrowed his brow. "What?"

"Templars are coming. Now!"

"How do you know this?!"

I held up six fingers and pointed to my head. Then I ran outside the gigantic library, and stared up into the sky as an array of Templar helicopters materialized into the air, flame erupted from mounted weaponry. Templar platoons came surging into the city, guns blazing and weapons flying.

I took a deep breath and powered up my hidden blades with flickers of blue electricity as a team of Templar soldiers came surging towards me, and into battle I went.

They fired multiple rounds at me but I had already moved away from their aim, spinning and ducking low as I moved towards the closest one. He pulled back just as I thrust myself upwards, driving the shock blade into his abdomen and sending him flailing into the air. He jolted with electricity as I slammed him back into the ground.

The second soldier swung his weapon at my head, but I jammed the blade against his weapon, grabbed hold and used it to fling him over my back and into the ground. He crashed down with a grunt and within an instant I buried my blade in his neck.

I quickly turned to the other Templars but some of the Assassins had already taken care of them. I nodded with thanks but suddenly a barrage of flame pounded their position and they were propelled sideways. I glanced up at the sky and saw a Templar helicopter reload its weapons and send another array of artillery down below.

The leader came running towards me. "You need to take out that helicopter!"

I nodded and pulled my modern, advanced bow from my back and loaded an arrow built with electricity. I took careful and let the arrow go, watching it soar through the air and imbed itself in the helicopter's blades, sending waves of sparks through the entire vehicle, crippling the engines and sending the helicopter flying into the ground. It exploded in a searing ball of flame as I ran forward and took out the next helicopter.

Once they were all down, I looked towards the battle being raged across the city floor. No-one was gaining ground, despite the Templars being slightly outnumbered. Then, I noticed a convoy of Templar armored vehicles come speeding down through the conflict and pushing back the Assassins.

I gritted my teeth and held my shock blade out as the first came charging towards me. I held my ground and just before it collided with me I dove to the side and slashed its tires with my electric blade. The vehicle spun out of control and smashed into the ground in an explosion of smoke and flame.

I only I had a split second before the next vehicle rammed into me and so as I came within a few metres of me I leapt into the air and took aim with my bow, sending a shock arrow down into the chest of the driver. The electricity spread throughout the vehicle, disabled the engines and flipped it onto its side.

As I landed, I sensed the third and final vehicle come within I inches and so I went prone, watching the vehicle pass right over me. Just as I left, I grabbed hold of the back and pulled myself up. I struck out with my hidden blade, stabbing the driver in the back and yanking him backwards. The vehicle lost control and slammed one of the city's buildings as I let go and fell back to the ground.

When I got up, my first instinct was to find the commander of the Templar attack. With precision sight I located him near the ruined city gates. He was situated in the centre of a heavily armored Templar vehicle giving orders. And so, off I went. Sprinting through the chaos erupting around me, bullets flying past and doing seemingly no damage whatsoever. Templar soldiers tried to stop me but I was too fast, dodging attacks and countering melees.

The last Templar in the path of the commander saw me coming and yelled out.

"She's going for the leader. Get back, get ba....."

He didn't finish his sentence because I had already reached him, stepping on his shoulders and leaping into the air towards the leader. He pulled out a sidearm and tried to fire but I knocked the weapon out of his hands and grabbed his neck, pulling him out of the vehicle and slamming him into the ground. I grabbed my bow back out and loaded another arrow. However, this arrow was harnessed with technology from my ancestors. I let it go, sending it straight into his chest.

The arrow imploded with extraordinary force and waves of golden light sweeped across the city, deactivating and destroyed all vehicles, ground or air, and forcing all the Templars and Assassins to their feet. Then, the light went out and both factions struggled to recover. However, the Assassins were less effected and took advantage of their stunned enemies, taking out multiple Templars at once and pushing them back out of the city.

I watched them stagger away, astounded at the force they witnessed and desperately tried to find its source. They found me, and I could see the confusion turn to understanding in their faces.

They knew who I was.

Chapter 3 - Consolidation

>>Fast forwarding memory, to a more recent one.

June 20th, 2045. Sanctuary of the Assassins (built upon the remants of the AHQ), North America.

I sat in quite contemplation in this beautiful complex, watching our Order push the Templars further and further back into their final strongholds. I sat back and went into retrospective, mentally reliving my experiences of the past few months. But as I began to think, I realized that despite humanity's ability to record genetic memory, descendants needed clarification. So I wrote. For days, I wrote my experiences of the last few months during this planetary scale conflict of humanity's greatest factions.

After our successful defence of New Eden in early January, I decided to locate the source of the Templar attack and traced them back to England, a strong front for their influence. The Royals, high ranking Templars as they are, still held much control over the United Kingdom. This granted them access to a lot of European countries and they kept Templars in the countries' ruling political parties.

In March, I was tasked with assassinating the "puppeteers" of the politicians serving the ideology of the Templars. Assassinating the politicians themselves wasn't particularly appealing task, so we decided to take out the Templars who were "pulling the strings" of the governments. Once they were gone, the politicians were without support and could not rule the country under perfect Templar influence, at least not until they more Templars were implanted in the government. This became the window of opportunity for us to drive out the remaining puppets and establish Assassin presence in the country.

In early March, I lay entrenched at the top of a building in Paris. The French puppet gave a speech concerning the state of the war, and as always, delivered propoganda slandering us. However, he wasn't my focus. On his right side was a serious looking man in a suit that scanned the crowd every few seconds.

The puppeteer.

I detached myself from my position atop the Paris building and gradually began to descend down the side of the building until I reached the ground. As the puppet's speech continued, I noticed that some of the people were disbelieving his words and increased security was brought to prevent rebellion. I moved slowly through the crowd, avoiding the narrowed eyes of the puppeteer and came up to the front row. I loaded a small arrow into my hidden blade vambrace and shot it into the foot of a Templar policeman pushing back the crowd. He turned, stunned, then was overwhelmed as group of people surged over the top of him and charged onto the stage.

The French puppet stepped backwards and the puppeteer pulled out a laser-sighted sidearm and aimed at anyone who came close. Before he could take a shot however, I sprinted forward and threw myself through the bustling crowd, smacked his pistol away and sent him crashing into the ground accompanied by my shock blade. The public drove the puppet out of the city, and so, in the coming weeks, this rebellion causes the goverment to fall apart and the Assassns established their influence. Before I left, however, I spent a week explaining and teaching this new government how to properly run their country and cater for its people. Through guiding these people into a peaceful freedom, my influence spread quickly and a newly developed sixth sense was unlocked inside humanity. Since then, France has prospered.

In mid-April, conflict was stirring in Germany and the Templars were holding out Assassins attacks in Berlin. We needed to break through and eradicate the government rule but their defence was too strong. The closest city that wasn't under Templar influence was Amsterdam nearby in the Netherlands, and that was our window of opportunity. Border control was secretly supervised by Assassins and they let us through without question. The Templars still trusted any communications from the city, since they believed there was Templars still operating in the city. Little did they know that a covert team of Assassins had infiltrated the city a few weeks ago and had taken control. But they still acted like the city was under Templar control and so this was our way of getting inside Berlin. My plan was to send a convoy of vehicles to Berlin carrying supplies and a message of the Assassins surrender and retreat out of Germany. However, all the convoy would have would be set explosives, a fake message and myself concealed away in the back of the last vehicle.

I stepped silently through the night and nodded with my beaked hood to the Assassins guarding the city gates. They opened them silently and I slipped in. Amsterdam glowed with golden light emanating from buildings and from its grand canals stretching throughout the city. According to the Assassin running the city at the moment, they had prepared a convoy that was leaving for Berlin at dawn. That was only about an hour away. I needed to get to the telecommuncations building and from there I could travel directly down one of the canals in a boat to reach the convoy. I walked alone through the darkness, orange light pulsing on my shoulders. It gave me time to think, and I began to process in my mind that my ancestor's creation had became an incredible species in all their accomplishments and all their fails, aswell. Amsterdam was just one of many extraordinary cities that gave testiment to this strong-willed civilization. As I made my way further through, I noticed that this first area had been newly rebuilt over the years, since the later areas of the city were still in ruins from the Toba. All the cities' canals, however, had been preserved and refilled as best they could.

Quite soon though I found my way to the telecommunications building and tapped softly on the door. A hooded figure opened immediately and let me through to the back where I boarded a boat lying in wait on the glowing water. As I set off down the moonlight canal, the figure held his hand to his Assassin crest and I did the same, sighing. The boat ride wasn't long, modern vehicles had still advanced during the war, as did much of science and technology. Most of it was during the years of the New World Order since the Templars had all the control and resources they could ever want. The convoy was sitting in the darkness just a few metres and I silently moved up to it and climbed into the back of the last vehicle in quiet anticipation as the sun began to rise over the horizon.

Not long afterwards "pretend" Templars stepped into the driver's seat of all three of the convoy's vehicles and we drove to Berlin. I bided my time and lay discreetly in the back next to concealed explosives. They were motion sensor activated and would go off once movement was detected in the immediate vicinity. They weren't primed and activated yet, that was part of my plan - to activate them before slipping away and taking up assassination position on a faraway building.

Soon we reached the great city of Berlin, and the Templars let us through in a secret entrance since the Assassins had been attacking the main gates. Once we were in, the Templars directed the convoy to the great Reichstag, a historic monument of the humans. We stopped just outside and inched my head out into the dimming sunlight. The Templars were dealing with the front driver and so I climbed out the back in a subtle manner and activated the explosives. Then I lost myself in the crowd of civilians and made my way to a distant building overseeing the Templars operating in the Reichstag.

I made my way up to the top of the building and lay down, watching the scene unfold before my eyes. The Templars asked for the message and supplies, and were directed to the back where I had been hiding. They opened the vehicle and were met with an unbelievable explosion of flames and smoke that blew apart the front of the building and caused the pillars to shake and crack. All the forces guarding the front of the city came running down the streets of Berlin to see what caused the disturbance and unwittingly allowed the great mass of Assassins to smash through the front gates and storm the city. The Templars began to fight back but to their utter shock the majority of Berlin's citizens refused to stop the Assassins and let them come.

I looked on, my bow firmly strapped to my body with a specialized arrow lying between the tight string. I stared into the balcony at the top of the building and saw the Templar puppeteer commanding Germany's political leaders.

One arrow, one death, one liberation of an entire country.

My arrow was forged from a chemical compound used in stun grenades that would not only eliminate an enemy but cause all the surrounding people to be temporarily stunned and also to create an "invisible" explosion that could throw them off their feet and clear out the area they occupied.

I pulled back the reinforced string of my bow and let the arrow fly, watching it spiral through the air and collide with the puppeteer, causing him to fly back into the wall and stun all the German politicians so much they flew backwards with huge force. The room was filled with white mist and smoke and prevented any Templars from making their way to the top. At this point however, the Assassins had broken through the Reichstag and drove the Templars out and into the streets where the civilians-turned Assassins pushed them further away.

I climbed slowly off the building as the Assassins finally scaled the Reichstag and sent the remaining Templars out of the city that was now under their influence and had become a place of freedom. But before I left the country, I gave these new leaders the knowledge they needed, just like I had done with France. Germany prospered in the coming weeks.

Europe was now liberated. France and Germany, along with the already liberated Italy and Greece, were all under Assassin influence, and the remaining countries were either neutral or under Assassin presence and satisfied with the non-Templar government there. England now lay in wait, the vast and historic country a major foothold in the Templar Order. But like all the countries we had fought in, the stronghold of any country's defence lay in its capital.

London was where we went.

It was late May, and I lay just outside the city as midnight passed by. Three other Assassins lay next to me, two men and a woman. All our firepower, all our fighter planes, helicopters, vehicles and human machinery was waiting for the call just nearby in an old castle destroyed by Templars at the end of 2012. As for our army, well, they were already inside the city, living normal lives as "civilians".

One of the male Assassins handed me something in the wet grass, I took it firmly and felt the soft fabric against my fingertips, and recognized the Assassin symbol engraved on the flag. I strapped the flag to my back and nodded to the male Assassin. Our goal was to make our way through the city during the conflict that was about to erupt, and plant the flag on the top of the Templar Royals' stronghold: Buckingham Palace. These three Assassins with me would lead the charge into the building itself, taking out the guards and exiling the Royals inside. I, on the other hand, would scale the building and wave the flag at the top of the building to symbolise our liberation and motivate the Assassins fighting below to drive the Templars out of the city. This will be our final act of freedom in the United Kingdom and Europe.

As dawn broke, I gave the nod to the Assassin commanding our "firepower". All the machinery and vehicles left the castle and made their way towards London, as the three Assassins and I scaled the outside walls and entered the slowly lighting city. Despite being on the crack of dawn in the morning, almost all of the city's citizens were awake and walking around the city, crowding the streets and confusing the city guards and police.

I stepped through the crowds of people, incognito along with the rest of my Assassins. And then, as we left the crowds, the police spotted us and called out.

"Hey! Stop! Don't move, or we will fire on you!"

I kept walking, and so did the Assassins. As the police sprinted towards us, guns raised, I held my hand up and closed my fist. In immediate response, thousands of people turned and attacked the police, taking them all by surprise. A few seconds later the skies lit up with an array of flaming missiles, explosions and gunfire as the Assassin artillery charged into the city. As the battle erupted, I began to run, my Assassins close behind.

"We need to move fast," I yelled over the roar of firepower. "It won't be long until the Templars realize the true extent of this attack."

They nodded and picked up the pace. We sprinted in and out of the conflict, helping where we could and providing support where necessary. Soon the Palace came within sight, and we pushed on eagerly.

"It's blocked! They're protecting the Palace!" The female Assassin said.

I looked on. "We going to have to go through Westminster Abbey - the Big Ben is being repaired, it will provide good scaffolding. Then we can navigate the river slightly and enter through a back street. The Palace won't be heavily guarded at the back!"

They nodded and we began to climb the huge Abbey, dodging gunfire and explosions erupting around us. I sprinted across the tiling with immense speed and reached the tall and half-reconstructed tower of the Big Ben. With huge effort, I leapt across from the roof of the Abbey and grabbed hold of a piece of wooden scaffolding and used it to haul myself up. The others landed just next to me and climbed up as I dashed forward and dove out of the tower, feeling the air flew past me as I plummeted down into the water below. I speared into the river and fought the raging current as I resurfaced, seeing the other Assassins dive off the tower and plunged into the water. As they surfaced I swam to the edge and pulled myself up. The Assassins joined me and we made our way through the back streets and managed to enter the Palace complex from the back, and we made short work of any guards that came our way.

"There's going to be many more guards at the front. You need to take them out but be careful. Once they're gone, let the public through the gate. We will storm this palace as one," I said, raising my hand to the Assassin crest on my dripping, battered but intact robes.

They nodded, did the same and ran off towards the Palace gardens and front area, deploying blades, guns and whatever equipment was needed. My focus, lay within the building itself. I wall-climbed the first part, and began to scale the side off the building via the window ledges. A Templar fighter jet came screaming across the skies and let fly with a barrage of rockets that pounded the back of the Palace, wrecking half the brickwork and almost causing me to lose my grip. But I held on, deflecting multiple rounds of gunfire as I progressed up the enormous Palace. The jet was joined by two heavily-armed helicopters that continued to hammer the building with firepower, but I resisted the majority of the damage, and kept going. But I couldn't last much longer, and decided to take out all three flying vehicles. I inched myself over to the left, and pulled my bow out with one hand and holding on with the over. Still holding on, I loaded an arrow similar to the one I used against the Templar leader in New Eden. Then I let go and pushed off the window ledge. As I flew through the air I took aim and let the arrow go, watching it twirl in an arc through the air and slam into the centre jet, instantly obliterating the aircraft and sending out a wave of powerful light, crippling the engines of the helicopters and sending them spinning out of control towards the Palace. I managed to grab hold a lower ledge as I fell, halting my descent. I gritted my teeth against the pain and continued on as the three vehicles collided with the Palace, exploding in a blaze of fire and smoke.

Not long after I reached the top. Bleeding, injured and exhausted, I made my way towards the edge of the building at the front. I stepped up and looked out, staring in awe at the huge war been raged across the streets of London.

Then I pulled the flag off my back, unfolded the fabric and planted firmly down on the top of Buckingham Palace the flag that depicted the Assassin symbol now waving strongly in the breeze. With that done, I looked over the edge of the building, noticed the selection of grass and bushes below, stepped back and sprinted forward, leaping off the edge of the Palace in a leap of pure faith.

Chapter 4 - Apogee

*Memory fracture. DNA sequence overlap. Unable to anchor the memory.*

>>*Attempting to fast-forward memory to improve synchronization.*

*Memory synched.*

June 28th, 2045. Washington D.C., America. Last line of defence of the Templar Order.

Explosions rippled across the burning skies of Washington D.C. as both of humanity's most powerful factions fought tooth and nail in war that seems to never end - one that has been waged for thousands of years. Maybe today will change that. Since the siege began over a week ago we've pushed further and further into the heart of the city, and into the final stronghold of the Templar Order. My aim in this was not to kill everyone, but to eliminate the most influential leaders of our enemies, to provide the rest of the Assassins with the aid they need to overcome the Templars and finally put an end to all this. Maybe then humanity can be freed of violence, war and conflict. Maybe then this species may know peace.

I held my ground and my head low as large and powerful "tanks" pounded our position with gunfire and explosive firepower. We couldn't move up and were pinned down by their fire, leaving us running out of options as the tanks inched closer. But a thought occurred to me and I yelled to the Assassins entrenched next to me.

"This is operated as machinery, right?"

They nodded, confused. "Yes, why?"

"Just watch."

I took out my reinforced bow and loaded a stun arrow, just like the one used in Berlin. However, this arrow had been upgraded since then and could now "disable" machinery. I hoped this could cripple the vehicle's engines. I took a deep breath and sprung out from cover as the tanks hammered my area with gunfire. I took many hits but shook them off and fired the arrow before hitting the ground and diving to the side, away from the line of fire. The arrow spiralled through the air and exploded mid-air, sending a wave of light smoke and a resonating sound that echoed across the battlefield as the tanks weapons ceased firing. I climbed out from cover and ran forward as Assassin aerial attack came swooping in and took out both of the crippled machinery. Our path was cleared and we advanced further into the city. And further towards my target, the White House.

We ran through the streets as fire and smoke continued to erupt around us, but we kept going. But soon I began know something. Something that was about to happen, and so, with pure instinct, I leapt to the side just as two heavily armoured Templar helicopters materialized into the air and fired an array of missiles at the Assassins. They had only just realized the danger that loomed ahead and so I shut my eyes against the searing heat as they were driven back with sheer force. But these flying vehicles wouldn't stay while I was here, and so I scaled the nearest building and made my towards a high tower just above the helicopters which had just descended slightly towards the streets. I climbed to tower with ease and maneuvered myself until I was just above the helicopters. Once there, I took a deep breath and jumped outwards, aiming for the front of the first helicopter. I landed with a thud and quickly flung myself into the cockpit with my hidden blade raised. I took out the pilot and swung myself back onto the top of the helicopter as control of the vehicle was lost and I veered to the side. I held on tightly and directed it towards the second helicopter. It collided with a huge explosion that engulfed both vehicles, but I was no longer there. I was descending fast through the air and landed on the cracked tarmac of the Washington streets as the two helicopters lit up the sky in a blazing firestorm. I regained my balance and looked up into the scene unfolding in front of me. This was the heart of the battle, being waged right before the foot of the White House. A massive line of Templar defence dominated the area, with fast and powerful gunfire erupting from multiple positions along the foot of the White House. The grass and gardens had been long since burnt up and been replaced with solid tarmac. This was where my Assassins and I took up position, behind whatever cover we could find.

"Avedeam!" one Assassin shouted to me. "We can't break through this - they are too powerful!"

"They? Or their weapons?" I replied.

He shook his head in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"They are only holding you back because of the weapons at their disposal. If those weapons were not there, you could take them on, couldn't you?"

He nodded.

"Then we will take away their weapons - all their firepower and all their resources," I said, loading another stun arrow into my bow.

His face passed from confusion into understanding, and he nodded again, bracing himself.

I breathed deeply, tightened the grip on my bow and sprinted out from cover into the raging waves of gunfire. Within an instant I had shot my arrow, which found its way through the line of fire and impaled itself in the centre of the conflict. The arrow exploded immediately and launched a wave of immersive white light and smoke that covered every inch of the battlefield. Every single gun that pumped out bullets across the war zone ceased fire and the entire area entered total silence. Within a second I was upon them, deploying weapons and moving with speed through the ranks of Templars.

I hit my first target with a leaping assassination that buried my blade in his neck. As I drove him into the ground the Templars began to realize the extent of my arrow and the damage it had caused, and so they began to fight back with close quarter combat. The Assassins massed behind me and joined the battle as I spun low under the swipe of a Templar soldier, coming up behind him in front of an oncoming soldier with his gun raised. I sidestepped and grabbed the weapon from his left, pulled it towards me and kicked him out from under it. I turned and smacked the gun into the face of another Templar, before spinning away to the side and pulling out a short sword from my side. This sword was forged from the same material as the Pieces of Eden were, and was given to me as a gift from the Assassins in America upon arriving here. I ducked again under the swipe of another gun and spun back to the owner of the weapon, implanting my short sword into his chest. The sword imploded and engulfed the nearby Templars in a wave of golden power, obliterating them instantly. I pulled the sword free, still intact and moved onwards. My focus was still in entering the White House and eliminating the Templar leaders stationed there.

I made my way up through the ranks of fighting soldiers and as I sensed the next target, I reered backwards and avoided the downwards swipe of another Templar. His momentum carried him forward and as he descended into the ground I quickly took him out with an arrow the the head. I sensed another attack and without hesitation I flipped myself backwards, right over the charge of a soldier. I landed behind him and grabbed his neck, pulling him backwards and stabbing him in the front. I ran forward as he fell the ground, and I surged straight into a line of oncoming Templars. One of them raised his weapon but I yanked it back down, rolled over his back and grabbed his neck, flinging him over my back as I descended back towarsd the ground, in a move the Assassins once referred to as a "hookblade and run". The Templar went flying into the ground and and lost control of his weapon. As I landed I sensed the charge of an oncoming soldier and so I pulled out my short sword again and rolled forward towards him, swiping with my blade. His legs were sweeped away by the force of my sword and he stumbled to the ground as I stood back up.

The battle had intensified greatly and I realized I needed to get to the Oval Office and to the Templar leaders while the soldiers were distracted. But as I raced through the bloody conflict the area was soon hammered with artillery from an unknown position. It targeted the Assassins and was taking them outh with ease. I scanned the red sky in search of the artillery source but couldn't find anything. All I could see what glimpses of firepower appear out the clouds.

An Assassin broke away from battle and ran towards me. "Where is that coming from? I thought the machinery had been disabled within this area!"

I shook my head. "This looks like a Templar gunship, and it seems to be just above the blast radius. Give me a moment."

"Hurry," he said, and turned back to his Templar foes.

I eyed the dimmed, crimson sky and found a break through the clouds. And there I saw it - up above in the sky was a smal dot that was firing artillery down towards our position. A gunship, one that was powerful even for this modern era. I quickly loaded another stun arrow into my bow and took a deep breath, aiming at dot in the sky. I pulled back as far as I could and let go, watching the arrow propel itself further and further into the sky as it neared the gunship. Then, the sky was immersed in an array of white light and the Templar plane fell straight out the sky, colliding mid-air with one of its artilley bombs and catching fire. I began to sprint forward as the gunship, now alight with fire, plummeted to the ground.

And then it hit.

The entire battlefield was engulfed in a burning inferno that flung me forward and into the ground as searing heat almost scorched my back. I turned towards the wreckage of the gunship, shielding my eyes from the force it exhibited. Soon the fire dimmed and the ruins of the vehicle became visible. I scanned the battlefield and saw the survivors climb to their feet and continue their war amidst the smoke, flames and chaos that had just erupted next to them.

I breathed steadily and made my inside the dark, empty White House. I was slightly surprised by how dormant it was, and realized this must have been the "secret" place that the Templars had been using to defend the city against our siege. It wasn't long before I found the Oval Office. It was quite a prominent room of the building. I heard the voices of the Templars inside and took up position next to the double doors. I couldn't charge in - they had firearms to defend themselves, and this was outside the blast radius of the stun arrow. But that didn't mean I could create another radius. The lighting of this building was connected in an expansive circuit and so I loaded a final stun arrow into my bow and shot the lights above, which instantly disabled every light in the building.

I heard curses from inside the Office as the Templars realized their electricity had been cut off. I decided to proceed in a way that marked the rebirth of my ancestor's civilization, a mark that showed the freedom and knowledge brought on by the Assassins. So I loaded into my bow another arrow that contained the technology of the First Civilization, strapped a throwing knife with the same technology and lastly, an upgraded blade with the same technology aswell that I strapped onto my wrist.

There were three Templars inside, which included the US President, the CEO of Abstergo Industries and the Grand Master of the Templar Order. Three leaders that were the only men capable of stopping our advance. Which meant I must stop them.

I pulled my hood firmly down over my head, kicked down the doors of the Oval Office and charged in.

The arrow of my bow was already flying through the darkness, glowing in golden light as it imbedded itself in the chest of the Templar President. The room lit up momentarily with golden light, and then plunged back into darkness as I flipped my bow over my back and grabbed and threw a golden knife from my shoulder that spiralled through the air and stuck into the chest of Abstergo's CEO. The room was immersed once again in golden light as the knife imploded with golden force. Through the flash of light I leapt forward, deploying my shimmering golden blade as the room fell into the dark once last time, the only light that was visual emanated from my hidden blade as I landed on the Templar Grand Master and drove my blade into his neck, finally ending the men who led the society that controlled our world.

I breathed deeply as the lights flickered back on, and the sounds of battle began to cease outside as the Assassins defeated their enemies. They soon entered the Oval Office and stared in awe at the scene before them. I turned and let my blade slide back into my vambrace.

They looked up at me, speechless, looking for guidance. And so I spoke to them.

"You are a strong people. Never forget that. You have done well, and you must lead and care for these people in a way that not only grants them freedom, but grants them the knowledge to be able to use that freedom wisely. It will ensure our planet's peace. But stay every vigilant. I fear this war is not yet over - and that Earth may have one last obstacle to overcome."

I raised my hand to the Assassin crest on my robes and disappeared from the building into the shadows of the night.

*Memory fracture, DNA sequence overlap. Unable to anchor the memory.*

>>*Attempting to fast forward memory to improve synchronization.*

*Memory synched.*

June 29th, 2045. ISA, Black Hills, South Dakota, America.

Alitheia watched me as I entered the Sanctum, her face a mixture of pride and sadness at the events of the war. Pride at what I had done for our Order, sadness at the amount of damage caused the war. I stepped inside the small complex and pulled off my hood, waiting as she walked towards me.

"You've done well, Avedeam. The countries of the world prosper because of knowledge, not just the freedom granted to them. The Templar Order is severaly damaged - this is something I thought would never happen. It was less than fifty years ago that we were on the other end. Where will go next?"

"I am not sure yet, but...." I replied, trailing off.

"But?" my mother said, studying my face.

I looked at me. "I am still at unease. Something tells me this isn't over yet."

"The Templars will always be here - their philosophy still stands, like our Creed would if we were in their position."

"I know but, there is something else."

Alitheia arched her eyebrow and began to speak, but was interrupted by a loud sound that erupted from the surrounding mountains. We both snapped up and scanned the skies, locking onto a small aircraft that was ascending into the air. Suddenly there was a noise from inside and we ran back into the Sanctum as we received a communication from the Assassin named Evamead. He was leading the people who were defending the ISS vault.

He spoke urgently. "Alitheia?! Do you copy?! We are under attack, the Templars came of nowhere. I sensed them coming but they only just arrived. We need assistance up here!"

Alitheia responded quickly. "What are they doing?!"

"They are going for the vault. I can hear them on their radio - they said they're launching a replacement satellite for Eye-Abstergo and they are trying to power it with artifacts from the vault. They are throwing every last force they have at us! We cannot survive without help!"

Alitheia turned to me. "You need to get up there. I hope you can hold out one last time."

I nodded and ran towards the back of the complex.

Alitheia stopped me. "Wait - you will be need this," she entered a small room and came back with a glowing white artifact shaped like an orb.

I took it with careful hands. "What is it?"

"The Templars took possession of many different Pieces of Eden - Swords, Staves, Apples, Crystal Skulls, an Anhk, and a Shroud. But there was one artifact they rarely mentioned, because it was likely that it was the most powerful one created by your civilization."

"What does it do?" I asked, in awe.

"It has to ability to manipulate time itself."

I exhaled deeply in disbelief, even for my characteristics.

"You must use it wisely, Avedeam. And only when it is absolutely necessary. Only when the fate of humanity and the Earth hangs in the balance. Now go forth, and remember what I have told you."

I closed my eyes and breathed deeply. Then I strapped the artifact away in my robes and raised my hood to my head. Alitheia and I exhanged one last gesture that involved the placement of our hands over the Assassin crest on our robes, and then, I left the Sanctum. Nearby, in a small complex next to the ISA was a launch module that could ascend into space and then descend back to Earth. I climbed aboard and launched off in a matter of minutes, quickly ascending through the sky and into space. As I climbed through the layers of the Earth's atmosphere I strapped myself into a space suit and equipped all my weapons and readied myself for the final battle that lay ahead.

*Major memory fracture, DNA sequence overlap. Unable to anchor the memory. Loss of synchronization.*

>>*Attempting to fast forward the memory to improve synchronization.*

*Unsuccessful. Memory fracture too deep.*

>>*Attempting to fast forward the memory further to improve synchronization.*

*Memory synched.*

I flung myself out of the launch module and glided swiftly through the air towards the Assassns and defending the orbiting ISS from Templar astronauts. Upon joining their ranks a tall, male Assassin named Evamead drifted quickly towards me. We locked eyes and knowledge passed between us. We both nodded at I made my way across the Akashic Satellite Plexus amidst the close quarter combat and medium range fire. There was no use fighting long distance firefights with projecticle weapons like guns since the lack of gravity carried the bullets astray. The only way to fight was to shoot from point blank range to prevent the bullet from spiralling off target. My aim, like in D.C., was not to throw myself into the heart of the battle and kill everyone, but to strike at the source of the Templars' power to aid the Assassins who were taking the battle head on.

Near the back of the ASP I noticed a number of Templar launch modules recently docked where more Templars where entering the battle. It seems they had agents we did not know about, secretly hidden away until the time was right. Just like me.

There were moving into place another telecommunications satellite, similar to Eye-Abstergo. I quickly drifted towards it and took out the first two astronauts with two quick arrows before engaging in close combat with the rest. I drifted fast towards the first agent, my hidden blade poised as I knocked into him and stabbed him cleanly in the neck. He crashed into the replacement satellite and I pushed myself away as another astronaut tried to fire his sidearm as he came within a few metres. I reached out and batted away his weapon before kicking him in the chest and sending him flying backwards. The final Templar astronaut came from behind, and I sensed him early, spinning away and shooting him in the back of the head with an arrow. I took a moment to scan the area and catch my breath. All the other Templars were currently fighting in the centre of the Plexus, and away from me. This was my opportunity to take out the satellite. As I set to work on disabling the controls of the module, I sensed more astronauts coming closer, along with yells of alarm.

I looked up as numerous Templars fired at me from medium range, forcing me to take cover. They inched closer as I quickly assessed the situation. No time to take them out individually, they needed to be defeated at once. I grabbed a hidden throwing knife, built with First Civilization technology, and flung it towards the advancing agents. It struck the middle astronaut in his padded chest and the knife exploded, engulfing the surrouding Templars in golden arrays of light. They went knocked backwards by the sheer force of the explosion, but were replaced by more Templar that come from behind me, near the launch modules. I readied myself as someone called out my name.

"Avedeam!"

It was Evamead.

"Catch!" he yelled, throwing me a pulsing object with jagged edges.

I caught the object and quickly examined it. It was the Shard, a salvageable piece of the destroyed Staff of Eden that was lost years ago in an huge explosion in the northern hemisphere. The Shard itself was still a powerful weapon, powerful enough, I now see, to take out the satellite. This was why Evamead had given it to me. As the Templars floated quickly towards me, I spun the Shard around to its sharpest edge and drove it firmly into the centre of satellite's controls. Then I threw myself backwards as the Shard imploded and the satellite was lost in the waves of golden and white light that swallowed the surrounding area, causing me to fly further backwards and throw the Templars away into the dark space. I shielded my eyes against the explosions as the satellite disappeared from sight. I looked around, in search of the module, and spotted it nearby. But it wasn't falling to the Earth in ruins, it was being commandeered by Templar astronauts. The broken satellite, now disabled by the explosion of the Shard, was beyond use. But the Templars had other ideas, and began to direct the satellite towards the main battle at the centre of the Plexus.

Suddenly, Evemead and the other Assassins shouted over the clash of weapons for my assistance. I climbed through the Plexus towards the position, seeing the ISS being pounded with Templar attacks and forcing the Assassins into submission. Evemead was leading the defence, and waved me over.

"Avedeam! They know the satellite is lost but they are planning something else!" he said.

I nodded, and advanced towards the satellite. I took out any Templars who came close with my hidden blade, but I could not get close enough to the satellite. And then, once they came within range, the Templars commanding the wrecked satellite detached themselves from its outer module and sent the satellite flying towards the ISS.

"No! They are going for the vault!" Evamead yelled as he pulled himself through the ranks of Templars and Assassins towards the sealed ISS vault.

I leapt towards the satellite aswell, trying to stop the satellite colliding with the vault. But neither of us could reach it in time, and so, amidst the battle being waged in the space surrounding Earth's orbital zone, the crippled satellite of the Templar Order slammed into the ISS vault with unbelievable force, overwhelming everything within its immediate vicinity in a raging firestorm.

As the satellite collided with the vault, Evamead threw himself towards me, and kicked me backwards into the launch pod I used to ascend into space. I flew backwards and landed with a thud inside the pod as it began to descend down towards the Earth. As I climbed to my feet I saw him shielded himself against the force of the collision. He tried to regain his balance against the power being dealt against him but he couldn't find his footing and spiralled away from my launch pod. I attempted to climb out of the pod and grab hold of him, but he pushed me back as he was thrown sideways. As I fell back into the pod, Evamead was immersed in an array of fire and pulsing white and golden light that covered every inch of the ASP. I knew he was gone as the door to the launch pod slammed shut and I dropped out space and plunged towards the Earth. As I fell through the atmosphere I looked up into to the pulsing lights that covered black sky of space and watched as the vault disintergrated in mid-air and all forty-seven Pieces of Eden were thrown into the atmosphere, each one glowing rapidly as it began to fall down to Earth.

And then my launch pod hit the ground and everything went dark.

Chapter 5 - Earth

July 1st, 2045. Sanctuary of the Assassins, built upon the remains of the AHQ, North America, directly below the orbiting Akashic Satellite Plexus.

My vision slowly began to return to me as my ears rang with the resonating sound of the collision. The heat of flaming wreckage of my descent pod seared at my back, and I climbed to my feet as smoke began to fill the pod. I felt around the interior of the pod, knew where the door was and kicked it open into the stormy sky that was raging above me. As I stepped out, I noticed it was no ordinary storm. Up high the upper Earth's atmosphere was the flaming ruins of the ISS and the replacement satellite, both now completely destroyed. But as I looked closer up into the sky, I noticed small orbs falling fast through the clouds.

And then it dawned on me.

The Pieces of Eden were plummeting to the Earth. All forty-seven of them. What will happen when they collide with the planet is beyond me, but I know that I cannot just let it happen. I looked around the area I was in, and saw the small Sanctuary of the Assassins nearby, a beautiful complex built upon the remnants of the AHQ, to mark the rebirth of the Assassin Order. I sprinted towards it, and ran into the doors as the Assassins inside looked up at me. I began to tell them of the danger that was imminent, but stopped short when I realized my mother, Alitheia, was there. She spoke to me silently outside the complex, and seemed incredibly calm despite the danger I was trying to warn her about.

Avedeam exiting the crashed descent pod.

"Avedeam," she said. "Listen. You must go. Nearby is a small cave set into a grassy hill. Underneath that cave is a small room that was built thousands of years ago by your species, to act as protection against the first catastrophe, but also as a source of knowledge that we have used to prevent the second catastrophe from doing as much damage as the first. Now, it is the only protection you will have from this threat."

I shook my head stubbornly. "No! I'm not giving up the lives of others for my own."

Alitheia gripped my hard. "I don't want to hear it. Your life is what matters now. Humanity needs you, because they cannot survive with their sixth if they do not know how and why they have it. You must keep that knowledge alive in them. I do not speak only for this generation, but for the future generations to come. Go, Avedeam. You must. For the sake of all humanity."

I nodded, holding back emotions that were new and unusual to me, feeling a tear form at my eyes. Then Alitheia and I embraced once more, and then I left the Sanctuary, running towards the cave as the Pieces of Eden inched closer and closer towards the surface of the Earth. Soon, I heard an immense explosion as the entire area around me was engulfed in a searing blue and white light that filled the entire atmosphere, knocking me to the ground and forcing me to shield my eyes against the explosion. Then it began to dissipate and I climbed back to my feet, desperately looking for the Sanctuary, but it was nowhere to be seen. Totally lost in the array of force exhibited by the explosion.

The first Piece of Eden had hit.

I turned away and kept going towards the cave, amidst the explosions that followed the first Piece of Eden. All around me there were artifacts falling through the clouds, glowing and pulsing rapidly before they collided with the Earth and lit up the air in a wave of unbelievable light. I was thrown from side to side against the might of the Pieces' explosions, knocked to the ground repeatedly but I continued on. I began to feel the ground underneath my feet open up as it was pounded over and over again by explosions, weathering away what would take millions of years in a matter of seconds. I did not know how many artifacts had hit the Earth, but as I looked up into the pulsing sky I saw a final handful of Pieces near the surface of the planet. And so I pushed on, faster and faster, each time I was hit doing damage to my body. I needed to get to that cave, becase I would not last much longer. I was bleeding heavily, losing the power of my senses. Ears were ringing, vision fading in and out, my arms and legs becoming number with every hit. Suddenly an artifact appeared in front of me for a split second before crashing into the ground and immersing me in a tornado of flowing blue and white light that threw me backwards as I tried to shield myself against its force. Then I ceased as I pulled myself once again to my feet and forced my legs onward towards the cave, taking damage from the explosions that continued to erupt all around me.

Soon, however, I saw the cave appear over the horizon. With this sight I picked up the pace, gritted my teeth against all the injuries I had sustained, fought against the explosions that overwhelmed the land as I sprinted towards the cave. It wasn't long before I reached the giant hill that housed the cave, but I stopped short as I realized something. Echoing in the distance was the forty-sixth Piece of Eden colliding with the Earth. I glanced up into the sky and saw the final Piece near the planet's surface, falling fast through the clouds. And then I knew what would happen when it hit.

The surface of the Earth had sustained a huge number of blows from the artifacts' collision, and as I looked around I saw the amount of damage that had been caused. The ground itself had opened up, with cracks and holes appearing all across the land. The Earth could not survive another hit, or else, the entire surface would collapse. My mind began to work into overdrive, desperately thinking of some way to stop the final artifact's collision. And then, as I searched memory, I remembered something. Something my mother had told me only a day or two ago.

"Only when the fate of humanity and the Earth hangs in the balance," her words echoed in my mind.

The artifact. The only one that was powerful enough to manipulate time. Maybe even give me enough time, or at least, slow time enough that I might be able to stop the final Piece of Eden from destroying the surface of the Earth. It was the only hope left. But I do not know whether my body can survive an impact this close, or whether I could even stop the artifact at all.

Nevertheless, I reached inside my tattered robes and pulled out a pulsing white artifact, still intact and glowing rapidly. I grasped it firmly in my hand, looked up into the sky as the final Piece of Eden neared the surface, sprinted forward and leapt into the air.

As I flew through the air, I put all my focus into the artifact in my hand as the artifact increased its pulsing until it was glowing so rapidly that I began to feel time itself slow down around me. My body moved slowly through the air and my head turned gradually upwards as I looked towards the final Piece of Eden, the artifact slowly plunging down through the clouds, allowing me to see it fall downards as I reached towads it. Ever so slowly, the artifact entered my hands and hit my chest with a thud as its force pushed my backwards. The artifact in my hand that was slowing time was flung to the side as the final Piece of Eden found its way into my grasp, causing time to snap back to normal and suddenly I found myself being slammed into the ground as the entire area was engulfed in a collosal explosion of unimaginable force that raged across the land, but the artifact itself, as I felt it dissolve within my hands, did not hit the Earth's surface and the ground beneath me held together.

And then, I closed my eyes as my body began to shut down, the force of the impact too much for it to handle.

Against all the pain that was being dealt to me, I forced my eyes to open, but saw nothing but the aftermath of the artifact's explosion, preventing me from making any sense of what was ahead. So I put all my focus into my mind and crawled forward, knowing where it was. I reached out, feeling against the burning ground for its touch. There, in my hands, I felt the pulsing white artifact, amazingly, still intact. With the artifact in my hands, I put all my focus into it, my mind, body and soul reaching its climax of power as I began to think.

*Major memory fracture. DNA sequence overlap. Unable to anchor the memory.*

>>*Attempting to fast-forward the memory to improve synchronization.*

*Unsuccessful. No future memories present. DNA sequence ended.*

*Desynchronized.*

Epilogue - Lies of Truth

July 1st, 2145, New Sanctuary of the Assassins, North America, Earth.

I gasped, breathing fast and heavily as I was suddenly pulled out of my subconscious mind into the world, struggling to regain my composure.

"Calm down, take a moment to catch your breath and regain consciousness. You were in there for a long time."

I took a deep breath and let my mind take hold of body again. My hands settled and my breathing slowed back to normal.

"What was that? And what happened?" I asked.

The person next to me smiled, a smile of sad joy. "When you first went in, you were reliving the memories of a human named Aetos, a man who was a member of an ancient brotherhood of warriors known as the Assassins. They fought an age-old conflict against the Templars, an order that has existed for as long as history itself, and constantly vied for the control and order that they believe would establish true peace. The Assassins however, believed in the preservation of humanity's freedom, as it would grant them the ability to learn the knowledge to create true peace. In the year 2012, the Templars finally achieved the goal of creating worldwide order through a device stationed up above the planet that could direct the effects of an ancient artifact that was created millenia ago by an advanced race of beings that were responsible for humanity's creation. That species is, or were, long gone, but their legacy survived, causing these artifacts to manufacture humanity's very religions and beliefs. But these artifacts could control the minds of humans and so, the Templars used one of them to control the world. That was why your ancestor and the other Assassin, Alitheia, took down that device - it destroyed the order and allowed freedom to be tasted across the globe. But at the cost of his own life.

Then, I moved your synchronization to a more recent ancestor: Aetos' very child, Avedeam. A woman who was born with the DNA and characteristics of that advanced, ancient species, marking their rebirth on Earth. Despite that species having controlled humans like the Templar strive to, Avedeam fought on the side of the Assassins, in the middle of a thirty year long war between both factions that was sparked by Aetos' destruction of the Templars' device, allowing for humans to rebel. But what Avedeam also knew was that freedom was dangerous - and the dangers could not be ignored. So she decided to teach humanity how to use freedom wisely and to give them the knowledge necessary to do so, so they could live like her species did so long ago. Having defeated the Templars, Avedeam and the Assassins took the role of Earth's government, until they realized the Templars where up in space, trying to restablish another device and acquire another artifact that was locked away in a vault in space. Avedeam fought them off with another Assassin named Evamead but, his life was taken as he sent Avedeam back to Earth, due to the Templars having destroyed the vault after their device was disabled by Avedeam herself.

What happened was that every artifact that was locked way in that vault - all forty six of them, was thrown into space, and then, with the force of gravity, they fell to the Earth. Avedeam made her way down and tried to warn the others of what was the come, but Alitheia, her mother, told her that her life was too important and that she must survive the imminent danger. Avedeam reluctantly accepted this and so she ventured to the only safe haven against the artifacts' descent: a temple. But not any temple, one that was built by her species. And it was the only thing capable of shielding the destruction of the artifacts, ultimately saving Avedeam.

But as she reached the temple, she realized that once the final artifact hit the Earth, the planet's surface would collapse and Earth would fall in under its own pressure. Avedeam was able to halt this very destruction due to the fact that she had with her an artifact capable of manipulating time itself and with it, she stopped the final artifact from destroying the surface of the planet. After that, I had to pull you out because there was a memory fracture too deep and no later memories to synch with."

I exhaled deeply, processing everything that I had just heard. "What are those memory fractures? What causes them?"

"Once an ancestor reproduces, their memories cannot be viewed. But modern Animus technology and research has allowed us to go past this and isolate the source, which is the DNA overlap of the ancestor's child. Once this is isolated, we can go back to the ancestor's memories. But only for a certain period of time until the DNA overlaps again and causes a memory fracture. Usually we fast forward the memory to isolate the DNA overlap and improve synchronization, but the further we go forward, the more severe the fractues are, eventually causing major memory fractures which often leads to no solution and the ancestor's memories cannot be viewed anymore."

"What did you mean by no later memories to synch with?" I asked.

"Avedeam's memories ended there. There were no more memories after that," he responded.

"But that cannot be possible if..."

"You're her descendant? Well you are of course. And did you not wonder why there were memory fractures?"

"She....."

"She did."

"How? Why?"

"Maybe the answers to those questions lie with Avedeam herself, or maybe with her legacy. I still do not know what she did with that artifact, but that temple is closer than you think," he said, pointing out the window into the grassy plains beyond.

And so, that is where I went. Venturing across the green hills and dark trees, feeling the warm sunlight glowing on my back. There, in a small hill, was a rocky outcrop set in the grassy slope. I stopped just in front of the entrance, taking a moment to take in the history of the area. I looked down at the now thriving green land that once experienced the several blows dealt by the plummet of the artifacts. And of course, Avedeam's leap of faith that prevented the very surface of the planet from collapsing. Then I took a deep breath and entered the temple.

It was dark and empty, except for a glowing white light. I moved towards it and laid my hand on top of the light. My fingers curled around the source of the light, a glowing white orb. It began to pulse, faster and faster, the light expanding across the temple, covering the walls, floor and ceiling as it began to project swirling symbols and images. It became too much and I raised my arm to my face, shielding myself against its incredible light. And then the light began to cease and I lowered my arm, finding myself in a strange place that seemed suspended by a room of white light.

And there, appearing in the middle of the room, was Avedeam. Her form was forged from the same white light of the room, seeming like a projection of her very mind. Then she spoke.

"I know you. You have come for clarification. To seek out the truth. And so, like all the knowledge of our world, everything will be revealed. Revelead when people are brave enough to search for it.

A hundred years has passed since I left your world, giving my body for the sake of the planet, for the sake of humanity. A strong-willed race they are, against all the difficulties of understanding. People say they are incompetent, not worthy of living as free beings. But that does not mean they are. We are what we choose to be, defined by our actions, not the words of other people. When people say things that they want you to believe is true, nothing is. When you do things depending not on the order of others but on the freedom that you are permitted, everything is.

Giving humanity a sense of knowledge in hopes they might create a peaceful utopia and to influence to help them comprehend why this was possible was one thing, but I could not do this forever. And they might one day lose this sense of knowledge. So I gave them the only thing I could: someone to guide them, pick them up when they fall down, teach them wrong from right and to stand by their side as long as they both live.

A child.

A child that contained within them the DNA of my species, the species that gave life to humanity all those years ago. But this species was now alive again not with the ambition to control humanity, but to help them create peace through freedom with the knowledge that allows them to.

Now go forth, with your mind open to the truth of your ancestors and your civilization. But should anything happen to you that causes you to lose your way, remember:

Born out of the aftershock of any situation is the knowledge of freedom and true peace."

I breathed steadily and calmly, my mind and body alive with knowledge, finally realizing, as I stepped out of the temple into the calm, clear day, that Avedeam had bestowed upon me the truth.

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Thank you all for reading, I thoroughly enjored writing Aftershock and look forward to writing again in the future. I greatly appreciate all the support down below and with the voting in the Featured Fanon, it meant a lot to me that people were actually interested in my story and they enjoyed it as much as I did writing it. I hope you all enjoyed it and I hope to see you again in future Fanons!

Safety and Peace,

Arcemz ^{Something on your mind?} 02:33, July 1, 2012 (UTC)

Notes

(Warning, these contain spoilers so read ahead at your own risk)

• I would like to point out that this is two years after the time that Assassin's Creed is set, and things are slightly different, to say the least. Since the Templars instituted a New World Order, it basically pushed the Assassins further and further to verge of extinction and thus they had no option but to isolate themselves from society and could not launch any attacks on the Templars. The Templars took note of this and so they focused solely on acquiring the remaining Pieces of Eden that weren't already in their possession. This including gaining the Ankh, the Shroud, most of the Crystal Skulls, most of the Apples, most of the Swords, and most of the Staves. The Assassin' goal was the gain the lost Pieces of Eden the Templars' never found, which is one of each kind (besides the individual Pieces, like the Shroud and Ankh), i.e. the final Sword, Staff and Apple. In this story there are eleven apples in total. This preventing the Templars from having absolute control over all the First Civilization power on Earth, and to grant them to force required to make a stand against Templar government.
• Most of the world's cities were destroyed in the fires exhibited from the solare flare, but the largest cities of the world were left salveagable, due to the fact that they were more expansive and it was harder for the flare to destroy all of the city's buildings, streets and houses. This allowed a considerable amount of the city to survive and so the remaining humans began to rebuilt the damaged civilization in these cities, and they were also were the Templars began to govern their New World Order. The cities that survived were:
  • Washington D.C., America.
  • New York, America.
  • Rome, Italy.
  • Paris, France.
  • Berlin, Germany.
  • Tokyo, Japan.
  • Beijing, China.
  • London, England.
  • Moscow, Russia.
  • Dublin, Ireland.
  • Sydney, Australia.
• The Abstergo Industries Launch Facility (called AHQ) where the OH-1 was launched was also the launch site of Eye-Abstergo and is the headquarters of Abstergo Industries and the Templar Order.
• The ISA (Inner Sanctum of the Assassins) is an Assassin complex, built upon the remnants of The Farm, although it is only inhabited by Alitheia and Avedeam.
• Avedeam is pronounced "Ay-va-deem", and she is female.
• Aetos and Eye-Abstergo crashed straight into the AHQ and obliterated the complex.
• After Aetos took out Eye-Abstergo in 2015, humanity was freed and they rebelled against the Templar government and up until now (2045) there has a been a long and tough war between humanity and the Templars. This is because during the years of the New World Order, the public gave their allegiance to the Assassins, but could not fight with them because of their restrictions. Now with the restrictions gone, they have joined forces with the Brotherhood. So now, what began as two small, secret society fighting a covert war has blown into a full-scale conflict between across the planet. Despite at least half of humanity pledging allegiance to the Assassins, and joining their endeavours to protect freedom, the other half went the way of the Templars and fought to restore the New World Order and it's dominion of control over the human race. This is why the war is so evenly matched and has lasted so long.
• The astronauts working on the ISS were transferring all the Pieces that the Templars had into the vault for safe-keeping and Alitheia chose to place those four Pieces in there with the rest, because it was better that they could not be on Earth and create divides between humanity. But she also knew that the Templars would use them, and so after the war broke out, she commanded a group of Assassins to protect the ISS and keep the Templars away from it.
• The Assassins' London Headquarters was taken out by Templar platoons after their cell surveillance picked up the energy emitted from the Pieces of Eden taken there by Aetos and Alitheia. All the Assassins there were killed, including the Mentor. Alitheia knew this would happen, and that is partly the reason she took the Pieces with her into space, as the Templars would've taken possession of them. Aetos didn't know she had taken the artifacts, however, because she never told him. She knew they both had to go up to the ASP, as Aetos would've stayed behind if he knew the Templars were going to attack. She did not know that Eye-Abstergo needed to be destroyed like it was, and that Aetos would give his life for its eradication. It became quite complicated between these two people, as there was so much at stake.
• This was also the closest the Assassins had come to extinction since all the Assassins at London were the final ones left on Earth, apart from Aetos and Alitheia. After the Assassins in London were killed, and Aetos was taken out, along with the satellite, Alitheia was the last active Assassin on Earth. So once the satellite was gone, the Brotherhood, strengthened by humanity, awoke and war erupted. But even after leadership of the Assassins were granted to Alitheia she refused to fight, because she knew she had a duty she must fulfill.
• Alitheia travelled to the Farm in South Dakota immediately after her descent pod landed on Earth. That was where Avedeam grew up, under the watchful eye of Alitheia. She was kept secret from the world for thirty years of her life.
• Avedeam's name is encoded with two words.
• Avedeam is Alitheia's and Aetos' child.