Albert Bolden

2016-09-10T23:02:52Z

31.200.149.181:

{{Era|ACT|Templars}}
{{Quote|Family. Honor. These things are nothing next to the Templar Order. The one source of light in a midnight world.|The Black Cross to Darius Gift, 1927.|Assassin's Creed: Templars}}
{{Character Infobox
|name =
|image = AC Templars Black Cross Render.png
|hideb =
|birth = 1893 Baltimore, [[United States]]
|hided =
|death = March 1927 (aged 34) [[Shanghai]], {{Wiki|Concessions in China|International Settlement}}
|affiliates = [[Templars]] [[Black Crosses]] {{Wiki|United States Army}} {{Wiki|369th Infantry Regiment (United States)|Harlem Hellfighters}}
|appear = [[Assassin's Creed: Templars]]}}
'''Albert "Albie" Bolden''' (1893 – 1927), better known as the '''"Black Cross"''', was a [[Templars|Templar]] agent active during the early 20th century, who traveled around the world under the guise of the leading trumpeter in ''Albie Bolden and the Harlem Hotsteppers'',<ref name="FCBD">''[[Assassin's Creed FCBD 2016 Edition]] – Great Wall''</ref> a touring night club jazz band.

The Black Cross was not the first Templar to carry [[Black Crosses|the title]], which was bestowed upon the members of a branch within the Templar Order tasked with keeping the Grand Masters of the various Rites in line with the Templar Code and to eradicate any corruption of the Templar value. The agent was known for his signature weapon, which was a [[Templar pin|bladed pin]] shaped as a black Templar cross.

==Biography==
===Early life===
Before upholding the family tradition of the Boldens and becoming simply known as the Black Cross, Bolden was a soldier who fought in the trenches of [[World War I]] until he was injured by an explosion.<ref name="T3">''[[Assassin's Creed: Templars]]'' #3</ref> Before his departure for the front, Bolden sired a daughter with his wife.<ref name="T5">''[[Assassin's Creed: Templars]]'' #5</ref>

In February 1927, while in London, the Black Cross executed [[Grand Master]] [[Thaddeus Gift]] for stealing money from his fellow Templars and for using the good name of the Order to embezzle money. Tracking him across the streets of the city, the Black Cross eventually slit his throat and cut out his Templar ring finger.<ref name="T1">''[[Assassin's Creed: Templars]]'' #1</ref>

===Mission in China===
One month later, as [[China]] was marked by a growing conflict between the Chinese Communist Party and the government of the Nationalists, the Black Cross confronted and killed [[Yuri Dolinsky]] aboard the Templar-built train, the [[Great Wall]], as it traveled through [[Zhejiang|Chekiang]] province for using it to support the warlord [[Zhang Zongchang]] in opposition to the Order's interests.<ref name="FCBD" />

In April, the Black Cross was playing with his band in [[Shanghai]] when he witnessed the arrival of [[Darius Gift]] in the club where he was playing. He followed Gift outside when the package he was supposed to deliver to the Shanghai Rite was stolen by a prostitute named [[Roo]]. From a nearby roof, the Black Cross observed two Frenchmen approaching Gift, believing that the newly arrived young man was the Black Cross, before deciding to intervene.<ref name="T1" />

==Legacy==
In 2013, [[Juhani Otso Berg]] watched the memories of Darius Gift in order to learn more about his encounter with the Black Cross. Indeed after Berg's mission in India, the Templars discovered that Bolden was the last recorded individual in contact with the [[Koh-i-Noor]], a [[Piece of Eden]].

After witnessing Bolden fall from a temple roof, having been shot multiple times by Gift in 1927, Berg told [[Violet da Costa]] that despite the evidence, he wasn't sure that the Black Cross truly died that day. Bolden's family disappearing from the records after his departure for WWI, Berg put the search for the artifact in stand-by hoping that the Order would find one of Bolden's descendants to further explore the Black Cross' memories.

The Black Cross' last mission in Shanghai was later used as the template for one of [[Abstergo Entertainment]]'s games on the [[Helix]] platform, "Showdown in Shanghai".

== Equipment and skills ==
Black Cross was a capable freerunner and climber able to scale buildings in London and China. He was also a skilled tactician allowing Thaddeus Gift to get to a phone to reveal his collaborators, and accounted for Yuri Dolinsky's superior swordfighting skills by cutting the tracks of the train prior to their duel on board which caused Dolinsky to fall and lose his advantage. Black Cross was also highly skilled in unarmed combat besting many opponents in the crime syndicate the Green Gang such as the large Fiery Crow and holding his own against the skilled Flower Flag. He was also exceptionally skilled in stealth constantly sneaking up on those he had to interrogate. In terms of equipment Black Cross carried a bladed pin as his primary weapon, he had two poisons for it, one fast and another that took hours or so to set in. He also carried a sword on occasion and possessed what appeared to be a kind of chain dart, along with smoke bombs, grenades, a submachine gun and a [[Gas mask]].

==Gallery==
<gallery captionalign="center" position="center" spacing="small" widths="180">
ACTemp Black Cross civilian.jpg|The trumpeter
</gallery>

==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{ACTemplars}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bolden, Albert}}
[[Category:1893 births]]
[[Category:Individuals by occupation]]
[[Category:Artists]]
[[Category:Templars]]
[[Category:Black Crosses]]
[[Category:Individuals who held Pieces of Eden]]
[[Category:Bolden family]]

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Albert Bolden