They arrived exhausted, injured, but alive. They walked into the living room, and dropped their gear.
"Okay, well that's finally over," Andy sighed.
Sol dropped into a chair, undoing her sling. The pain in her wrist was excruciating. She grimaced, inspecting it once again.
"I really did a number on it," she sighed.
"You should have that checked," Nerida said gently.
"Yeah," she mumbled in return, but did not move from her chair.
"Yeah, Sol, you should get that checked out." Andy agreed.
"Right," she mumbled again. "I'll be back soon."
Sol got unsteadily to her feet and stumbled out of the room. As she left, Ann strolled in carrying a box of animal crackers. With her mouth full of tiny cracker tigers and elephants, she stopped and waved at them in greeting.
"Ann, what did you get from the Templar servers?" Andy asked her.
With her free hand, she fished in her pockets. Ann pulled out a small USB and tossed it to Andy. Then, she simply turned around and kept walking. Nerida sighed and followed her, grabbing a bottle from a nearby table. Andy knew how those two where after missions and was not too keen on following them. Instead he decided to check on Sol. She found her in the den's lab with Lightning. The second layer of the cast was already starting to set. He moved over to one of the tables and began cleaning his weapons.
"Feeling better, Sol?" He asked casually.
"Yeah," she replied, looking at the forming cast. "It's going to take a while to heal, but I can move my fingers, so at least I can use my hand."
"That's good," he nodded, wiping the blood from his blade. "So, what did you think of your first mission with us?"
"It was fun," she replied calmly. "And crazy."
"Yeah," he agreed as he began reloading his pistol. "That's assassin's life though. I still wonder how Sigma team found us."
"How did we get this information about this Walter guy anyway?" she asked.
"We've been tracking him for a while and found out he was going to be at a meeting in Havana. I guess they tracked our search."
"Probably."
"I guess we'll have to decode the data we got."
Andy put down his weapons and moved toward the computer. The screen flared to life as he started it up. At the same time a strange chair in the center of the room began to hum softly. Andy plugged in the flash drive, opening the only file it contained. The Abstergo logo flashed on the screen.
"Can we even trust the data?" Sol asked.
"Absolutely," he replied. "I never told anyone we were going to raid the servers. There's no way they could have known."
"I'm just worried they could be giving us false information to lead us into another trap," she muttered.
"Don't worry about it."
"We need to check the data for tracers." she insisted.
Andy finished scrolling through the data. There wasn't much there. What was there, was a set of strange symbols from an ancient language. He turned back to Sol.
"It doesn't seem like much, just a whole lot of ancient symbols," he explained. "I could use my Eagle Vision. Do you know what that is?"
"Fill me in."
"Okay, well it's kinda like a sixth sense. Some people have it, but it's rare, and most don't realize they have it till they try to use it. It's like using all your senses at once. It helps you see what normal people can't see with the naked eye."
"Nice."
Andy closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again, the world had become a thousand shades of dark blue. He watched as the glowing white letters on the screen began to change. He suddenly could read what was written.
"I see dates. January 23, 1811; something about Puerto Rico; December 21, 2012; and November 4, 2016." He said.
"What could that mean?" Sol questioned.
"I don't know. I only one I know is December 21st. That's the day when The Global Aurora Borealis happened."
"Right," Sol remembered. "And November 4th is coming up soon."
"So we need to prepare," Andy realized. "Who knows what the Templars are planning, we don't want another Great Purge."
"Yeah," she replied. "In the meantime, let's find out what happened on January 23, 1811, and what that Puerto Rico bit means."
"I didn't think Puerto Rico could be important. Nothing really happens there." Andy shrugged.
"Neither did I," Sol agreed. "My family has lived there for generations, and the only interesting thing I've heard about are pirates."
"Didn't the Golden Age of Piracy end just before 1811?" Andy smiled. "That settles it then, you're going into the Animus."
Andy walked over to the humming chair in the corner and swung one of its many computer monitors to face him. Sol followed slowly. The white and red chair, with its strange sensors on the head piece and its strange arm piece, made her nervous.
"What is that?" she asked, eyeing it wearily.
"This is an Animus. It's basically a machine that lets you relive the memories of your ancestors." He explained.
"How does it do that?"
"Simple, memories are all stored in our DNA and passed down through generations."
"Okay..."
"Hop in."
Sol sighed, steeled her nerves, and took off her jacket. She carefully sat down and placed her head into the helmet like headpiece. She put her right arm into its holder, the small glass screen over it light up. It began to display her personal data: her full name, the number of the memory, the date they wished to visit, and the ancestor and his location.
"Powering up," Andy informed her.
Her vision began to blur, the white ceiling suddenly became the crystal clear ocean, then it snapped back, but she could feel everything moving, and finally, the ocean view settled in around her. She could feel the gentle rocking of the small sloop she stood on and the salty sea breeze playing threw her jet black hair. Black hair...?
"Captain, there's a ship on the horizon."
She turned to the man who had spoken. He was dressed like a pirate and looked at her as if she had all the answers. Captain? She wondered. She barely knew what was happening, much less what to do. She could feel the panic beguiling to rise. Then a second thought entered her mind.
"Which flag does she sail?"
Sol panicked. Were where these words coming from? Why did she suddenly know exactly what to say? Why is my voice so deep?
"She flies the Spanish colors, captain."
A voice entered her mind, it was her own thoughts, yet she knew they were truly the thoughts of another. They informed her that the ship must be the one they were looking for. It was their mission, orders direct from The Mentors.
"Fly the Spanish colors and get close," Roberto hollered to his crew.
"Aye aye, Captain!" They hollered in response.
Roberts grabbed his spyglass and looked around. He scanned to waters for any other ships. There was another off to his left; it also flew the Spanish flag. He had to make a hard call.
"I see another ship," he informed his crew. "Ignore it and continue towards the first one."
Roberto watched the other ship, wondering if he was making the right decision. He knew there was no turning back now. His ship began to pull up next to the other.
"We're in position!"
"Cannons ready at your command, Sir."
He turned to face the enemy. That's when he noticed a great deal of scrambling happening on their deck. They know! He realized. He watched in horror as they loaded a cannon. So much for taking them by surprise...
"Duck!" He called.
"FIRE!" Came the call from the other ship.
The cannon ball hit the railing, leaving a good section of it in splinters. Roberto called out to his men and began his counter attack. Cannons roared and belched smoke as the ships exchanged fire. All the while, Roberto's ship, The Anne, continued to fly like the wind towards the enemy vessel. Finally, they got close enough to board it.
"Time to board the ship!" he called. "FORWARD MEN!"
Roberto ran to the edge of his ship, grabbed a rope, and threw himself over. He hit the deck, rolled, and came up swinging. He engaged the nearest opponent. He managed to spare a glance over his shoulder and saw his men following him onto the ship.
"COME ON, LADS! FOR THE BROTHERHOOD! CHARGE!"
"CHARGE!" Roberto shouted in response.
Roberto looked around for the captain of the other ship. He had ended many battles quickly this way. Then a hooded figure caught his attention. He made his way towards him as quickly as possible.
"You!" he pointed as he moved.
"Puto piratas! (Fucking pirates!)" The figure shouted as he turned to face Roberto.
The hooded figure ran forward, sword ready. Sol had just enough time for one thought before their swords met in battle. He kinda looks like Andy.
"There's nothing wrong with being a pirate," Roberto shouted as he blocked the man's attack.
He managed to push his enemy away. He swept his coat aside in a flashy show of arrogance. The man's eyes widened as he noticed the painted white Flintlock pistol he carried and the crossed out Templar cross it bared. He snarled at it.
"But there is something wrong with being a Templar!" the man shouted as he fired a shot at Roberto and missed.
"TEMPLAR!" he screamed in outrage. "I'VE NEVER BEEN MORE INSULTED IN MY LIFE!"
The figure swiped at him with his right leg, nearly kicking him in the face. He used the opening to try and cut the enemy with his sword, but the hooded man was ready for him. He blocked with his own sword. Their swords clashed and locked forcing them to struggle back and forth.
"THEN WHAT... ARE YOU!?"
"I'M WITH THE... ASSASSINS!"
"WAIT! ... WHAT!"
The figure shoved back hard, forcing Roberto to stumble and breaking their sword lock. He shoved back the hood of what Roberto now recognized as the assassin robes from their brothers in Spain. Then the figure turned to his men.
"STOP FIGHTING!" The figure called out. "THEY'RE ALLIES!"
"STOP FIGHTING!" Roberto repeated, realizing what the other was.
The two groups sprang away from each other, eyeing the men who had just been their enemies wearily. Then they looked to their captains in confusion. The both captains put away their swords, causing a wave of murmuring and weapon lowering to ripple through their men.
"Well, shit." The other man said.
"Who are you?" Roberto asked.
"Rodolfo Zelaya," he said, casually pulling out a necklace from inside his shirt with the assassin's symbol. "I'm an Assassin."
"I'm Roberto Cofresí," he replied, showing him the same symbol on his leather bracelet. "Assassin."
"Then why did you attack us?"
"Well at least no one died," Roberto shrugged. "And besides, you guys shot first."
"That's because we could tell you guys were going to attack us," he argued back. "And besides we're not really a Spanish ship. We're part of the rebellion in Central America. We're using the Spanish colors to hide from the armada."
"I attacked because I was sent to stop a Templar ship that was headed this way under the Spanish flag."
Something was prickling at the back of Sol and Roberto's shared minds. Then it hit them.
"That means..."
Both captains turned simultaneously and dashed to the railing. They could see the ship slowly getting away.
"Oh... fuck..." they both sighed.
"FEET TO QUARTERS! TO ARMS! TO ARMS!" Rodolfo hollered to his crew.
"MEN! BACK TO THE SHIP!" Roberto shouted.
He grabbed a nearby rope and swung back on to his ship. His crew quickly followed. The men on both ships began scrambling to their posts, fully aware of what was at stake.
"FULL SAIL!" Rodolfo called.
The ships broke apart. The wind was in their favor, and soon the ships where gliding through the water at breakneck speeds. They were soon on the enemy's tail. Rodolfo's ship, the larger of the two, had more fire power and soon had its four front cannons trained on the ship. They fired multiple times, putting multiple good sized holes in the ship's sails and destroying their rudder. The ship slowed to a crawl in the water.
"GET UP NEXT TO THEM!" Roberto hollered.
The ships glided towards the Templar ship. The men scrambled to get the cannons ready. The other ship's men followed suit, and soon both ships had every available gun pointed at the Templars. The Spanish flag on all three ships flapping violently in the wind.
"FIRE!" Roberto called out.
Both ships opened fire at once, showering the Templars with cannon balls. Wood splintered, men screamed, and cannons boomed. It was a massacre.
"Switch to chain shots! Take down her main mast!" Rodolfo shouted.
"Load the next round!" Roberto called.
Their crews scrambled to obey. Soon the enemy ship's mast lay in in crushing pile on the deck.
"WE NEED TO SURROUND AND SINK IT!" Roberto yelled to Rodolfo.
"UNDERSTOOD!" he hollered back.
The ships pulled up alongside the enemy's ship. Rodolfo opened fire first, exposing the ship's gun powder storage. One shot at that gunpowder and the whole ship would go up in flames, but his men were too busy reloading the cannons to take the shot.
"ROBERTO!" Rodolfo shouted. "SHOOT THE GUN POWDER!"
"ON IT!" he replied, noticing the hole in the ship.
Roberto quickly dashed to the nearest cannon. He loaded it himself and pointed it at the exposed gun powder. He lit the fuse. The cannon went off with a bang, but the sound was nothing compared to the roar of the fireball that consumed the other ship. In seconds the ship was in tatters. The crews of both ships began to celebrate as they watched the enemy's ship sink to its watery grave. Roberto stood at the railing, grinning at the wreckage as he scanned the waters for any survivors.
The sweetest sound suddenly filled the air. Like siren song, it penetrated deep into Sol's mind. Roberto's voice in the back of her mind said something about there being no survivors, but she was too enthralled by the music only she could hear. Rodolfo's voice suddenly pulled her out of her trance.
"You see anything?" he called from the railing of his ship.
"RODOLFO, WHAT'S THAT IN THE WATER!"
A metal ball aglow with golden light gently bobbed to the surface. As it did, the singing in Sol's mind got louder and more distinct. It sounded like a chorus of angles.
"No, it cannot be," Rodolfo muttered to himself, then called out. "It's a piece of Eden."
Roberto wasted no time. In a flash, he pulled off his heavy jacket and jumped overboard. He swam out to the object. As he grabbed it, the glow intensified.
"YEP!" he confirmed as he held the object aloft.
"No way! It's an Apple of Eden!" Rodolfo cheered. "Ha! Lucky Day!"
"HERE!"
Rodolfo grabbed the rope tossed to him from his ship. He climbed aboard and showed the apple to him. Rodolfo reached out to grab the Apple. Just as his hand was about to touch it, the Apple began to glow. A strange, woman like figure floated out of it. It's a hologram, Sol realized.
"What!?" The captains said in unison.
"I am Minerva," the woman announced. "I am here to transmit a message to both you and your descendants. Your enemies will reach the place known as the observatory; where they plan to finish 'The Change' they started on the fourth day of the eleventh month of the two thousandth and sixteenth year. Sol, you must help your assassin's find this place before the Templars do, otherwise they will unleash a reign of Terror unlike anything we have seen before."
With that the woman vanished. Then a beeping filled her ears and Sol's vision turned white once again. She could just barely hear Robert say something to Rodolfo about the apple, but what is was exactly she could not tell. Then a robotic voice replaced theirs. Animus error. Correct external. Then everything began to tremble around her; she could feel her whole body shaking.
"Hey! You up?" Andy's voice floated into her mind.
Sol's eyes flew open. She could feel Andy's hand on her shoulder, gently shaking her. Then the rest of her senses reawakened all at once. She bolted upright in the chair. She looked down at herself and saw she was indeed back in the present, but... my arm... where did these markings come from...? The mysterious lines just beneath her skin faded as she began to relax.
"Yeah. Yeah." She assured him as she tried to wrap her mind around what she had just seen.
"I was reading the Animus data," Andy chatted happily. "That was quite an adventure our ancestors had. I had to pull you out cause there was a weird spike in the data from the machine near the end. Do you know what might have caused it?"
"It... it was an Apple of Eden. Minerva... she..." Sol tried to explain.
"Wait... did you just say Minerva?" Andy asked, suddenly looking concerned.
"On November 4th, 2016, the Templars plan to go after the observatory. Minerva Says we have to stop them."
"The observatory! Shit!" Andy shook his head, and then looked back at Sol. "Do you know what it is?"
"I've heard my mom mention it, but the details are lost to me."
"It's a first civilization location that holds a device that, when you put a person's blood into it, allows you to see where they are and what they are doing."
"That sounds like a world of trouble," Sol sighed.
"No kidding," Andy agreed. "But the problem is we don't know where it is. When the last guy, Edward Kenway, found it, he destroyed any information about its location so no one could get to it."
Then that's goal number one: find the observatory." Sol shrugged, hopping off of the Animus.
"The only place where that info might be is in the Abstergo Headquarters," Andy shuddered violently.
"That sounds... dangerous."
"No assassin has ever lived through that building."
"Well, guess we'll have to be the first," Sol shrugged.
She left the distraught Andy in the lab and went into the kitchen to grab a drink. Andy followed behind her. He was slightly annoyed. Sol obviously wasn't taking this seriously.
"We're gonna need lots of people for this," Andy groaned. "This is not a simple two man operation. Plus, I need to get approval from HQ first."
"Got it," Sol dismissed him with a wave of the water bottle in her hand.
Andy sighed heavily. Sol turned to face him, looking sympathetic. Andy took advantage of her sudden willingness to listen. He pulled out his phone and showed her a picture of the building from afar. Sol's eyes grew wide.
"This is what the headquarters looks like, and it's in Montreal," Andy said.
"That even looks impossible," Sol replied, her voice losing its edge.
"Well there is a reason why no one has survived a visit," Andy sighed, looking at the picture sadly.
"Yeah," Sol agreed.
"We need to wait for now," Andy messed with his phone. "Until HQ responds and we build up our own Assassin force for this mission. But for now, all of us need to head to Montreal."
Andy hit the send button, warning HQ of their plans to attack the Abstergo Headquarters. Sol finished her water, and then went to warn the others. In five hours, the whole team was ready to go. They drove to the airport.