Assassin's Creed: Winter's Falling

Chapter 27

Andy had gone over the mission details with them. They were being asked to take down a cult called the Instruments of The First Will. According to Andy, they were the second largest threat to the Assassins. They worked secretly inside both the Assassins and the Templars, but had a completely different agenda. They wanted to revive Juno, a cruel and mischievous Precursor who wanted to take over the world. Apparently, they were also stationed in London, the home of all Templar activity. How the Mentors could send a team of teenagers to the most dangerous city in the world, Sol couldn't understand. She certainly did understand why Jack and Joy stayed behind though. Knowing what she knew, she wouldn't have gone either, but this was her team, and for them she would do anything.

She sat with Lazerus on the plane, contemplation their chances of survival. Sol knew they could make it. She had to be optimistic. She had nothing left but hope for survival and faith in her team. Still, she was nervous. Sol's legs where shaking violently. Lazerus placed a hand on her knee to calm her. It didn't work. Nerida sat in the row behind them. As she watched London come into view, she was startled by a surprising feeling in her chest. She was almost completely sure she had never been to London before, but for some reason, London felt familiar. It was like an old lullaby she could just barely remember form her childhood.

The plane arrived around noon. They had figured the Templars would probably refrain from attacking them in broad daylight, and thus they had the best chance of reaching the den intact if they acted like regular tourists and came earlier in the day. So far, they had been right. They made it out of the airport and to the subway in one piece. It was too dangerous for the London Assassins to leave their den to come get them, so they would have to take public transportation. Sol had only ever been on the subway before. She had always figured there were too many dark places for villains to hide in down here.

As they climbed aboard on of the subway train cars, they noticed something odd. The second they entered, all the normally dressed passengers quickly got to their feet and left. The car was now empty except for a large group of people all dressed in the same crisp, black suits. More people dressed like that entered after them, blocking the door. One of the men in suits stood up and took a step forward. He had a symbol embroidered on his lapel. They all had the symbol. The symbol of the cult. Andy turned pale as he beheld the upside down cross topped with a bunch of lines spanning in all directions.

The man raised a Taser gun and fired in at Nerida. The charge almost singed her hair as Nerida ducked. Everyone sprung into action. It was quickly evident that the tasers where meant solely for Nerida. All the men who had them refused to use them on any of the other members of the team. Instead, they pulled knives to fight them. Andy unleashed his hidden blades, trying his best to fight three of them at once. Due to the confined space, anyone using a larger weapon was rendered useless. Without her swords, Sol was having a little bit of trouble. She had gotten too used to just poisoning her enemy. There was no room to use her throwing knives. Lazerus came to her rescue. He used the brass knuckles he had kept hidden to knock out a man who was getting a little too close to her. He slipped into the space next to her and protected her back. They were quickly outnumbered 4 to 1. Ann had pulled out the largest of her pens and was doing her best to stab as any of the enemy in the neck with it. Some of her enemies fell to well-placed punctures, the others to the pen's poison. Lightning and Nerida helped each other dodge and attack as the waves of tasers seemed endless.

The team sustained a couple nasty cuts and bruises, but nothing too bad. As they approached the next station, they evaluated the carnage. There was blood on the walls, bodies all over the floor and seats, and scorch marks from failed taser shots all over.