Albert Bolden

"Family. Honor. These things are nothing next to the Templar Order. The one source of light in a midnight world."

―Albert Bolden to Darius Gift, 1927.

Albert "Albie" Bolden (born 1893), better known as the Black Cross, was a 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, a touring night club jazz band.

As the Black Cross, Bolden was tasked with keeping the Grand Masters of the various Rites in line with the Templar Code and to eradicate any corruption of the Templar values. He was also known for his signature weapon, which was a bladed pin shaped as a black Templar cross.

In 1927, one of Bolden's assignments took him to Shanghai, where he came into conflict with the local crime syndicates while attempting to recover a mysterious package that Darius Gift had been tasked to deliver to the local Rite. Upon learning that the Black Cross had killed his father Thaddeus Gift for betraying the Order, Darius took his revenge and shot Bolden, who fell to his apparent death.

In reality, Bolden survived his wounds and took advantage of his presumed death to leave the Templars. He became a guardian of the Koh-i-Noor, until the Piece of Eden was stolen by the rogue Templar and Instruments of the First Will member Rufus Grosvenor, who killed Bolden's family in the process. Seeking revenge, the former Black Cross tracked Grosvenor to Spain, where he joined forces with the Assassin Ignacio Cardona to recover the Koh-i-Noor.

Albert was the father of André Bolden, as well as the last known Black Cross until 2017, when Juhani Otso Berg took up the mantle.

Biography

Early life

Before upholding the family tradition of the Boldens and becoming simply known as the Black Cross, Albert was a soldier in the United States Armed Forces, part of the Harlem Hellfighters who fought in the trenches of World War I until he was injured by an explosion. Before his departure for the front, Bolden sired a daughter with his wife.

Role as the Black Cross

Mission in China

Bolden: "I will find the box before word gets back to them, and I will return it to you."

Darius: "Thank you-- thank you sir! I can never repay--"

Bolden: "I do this not for you, but for the Nine. They obviously wanted you to make this delivery to the General in person. Their orders flow from a higher understanding, and I have no authority to countermand them."

—Bolden offering to recover the stolen box for Darius Gift, 1927.

Bolden confronting Thaddeus Gift

In February 1927, Bolden was sent to eliminate the British Grand Master Thaddeus Gift for stealing money from his fellow Templars and for using the good name of the Order to embezzle money. Tracking Gift across the streets of London, Bolden eventually slit his throat and cut out his Templar ring finger.

One month later, Bolden was sent to China to eliminate Yuri Dolinsky, a Russian Templar who had abandoned the Order, blaming them for the death of his father at the hands of the Assassins. Dolinsky was aboard a Templar-built train, the Great Wall, travelling through Chekiang province to support the warlord Zhang Zongchang against Chiang Kai-shek, who was an ally of the Templars. Bolden confronted Dolinsky aboard the train and dueled him, ultimately succeeding in eliminating his target.

In April, Bolden was playing with his band in Shanghai when he witnessed the arrival of the Templar Darius Gift in the club where he was playing. He followed Darius outside when the package he was supposed to deliver to the Shanghai Rite was stolen by Ruan Lingyu. From a nearby roof, Bolden observed two Frenchmen approaching Gift, believing that the newly arrived young man was the Black Cross. He decided to intervene and killed one of the Frenchmen while the other fled, discovering the two to be French policemen. After exchanging pleasantries, Bolden promised to retrieve the stolen package for Darius and left.

Sometime later, Bolden eavesdropped on a meeting of the local Templar Rite that discussed the struggles of holding Shanghai amidst gangsters and warlords. Word had reached them of the Black Cross' arrival, and that they were instructed to assist him in any way they could. One Templar, Joffre, hailed a taxi upon leaving the meeting, only to be led to a quiet location where the "driver" revealed himself as the Black Cross. They discussed the Hop Wo Society, a name found on one of the French policemen. Joffre pointed out that they were communists and that the address was an amusement park. Bolden infiltrated the building where one remaining Frenchman was under duress, only to fall into an ambush.

"Death"

Darius: "Bastard! You killed my father!"

Bolden: "B-but I did it– f-for the Order..."

—Bolden to Darius, before being shot by him, 1927.

Bolden released smoke bombs and attempted to escape the amusement park, using environmental opportunities to take down his pursuers. However, he was soon confronted by the gang enforcer Fiery Crow and a brawl ensued, during which Bolden managed to stab his opponent with a Templar pin before being knocked unconscious. When he awoke, he found himself face-to-face with Du Yuesheng, leader of the Green Gang Triad.

Du mocked the activities of the Templar Order thus far in China, whilst Bolden attempted to discover the whereabouts of the box. When the conversation turned to the Templar pin, Fiery Crow keeled over and Bolden freed himself, having allowed himself to be captured to learn what Du really knew. He promptly grabbed his possessions and gunned his way out of the nearest window as he escaped.

Bolden later investigated Tsai, a servant of Soong Ching-ling, the wife of the late Grand Master of the Shangai Rite, Sun Yat-sen. After interrogating him, the Black Cross earned himself a meeting with Soong, where they discussed the events surrounding the box. Soong revealed that it was the machinations of Chiang Kai-shek, who had no intention of maintaing his alliance with the Templars, and Bolden promptly left to investigate a convoy sent by the general.

Interrogating the convoy's driver, the Black Cross learned that they had been ordered to kill an actress and a "British kid". Realizing the intended targets were Darius and Ruan, Bolden arrived in time to save them and fought their would-be assassin, Flowery Flag. During the brawl, Bolden was shot by Flowery Flag, who in turn was stabbed in the back by Ruan, though Bolden used the chance to hang Flowery Flag with a Templar Cross chain.

Bolden falling to his 'death'

Upon learning that Bolden had murdered his father Thaddeus, Darius grabbed Flowery Flag's gun and shot the Black Cross. Despite Bolden's protests that he had executed Thaddeus for the Order, Darius shot him four more times and the Black Cross stumbled back and fell off a ledge, an image of his wife and daughter coming to mind as he collapsed.

Safeguarding the Koh-i-Noor

"The Black Cross is the keeper of the Koh-i-Noor. You will not rob me of this final dignity."

―Bolden to Rufus Grosvenor, 1928.

Bolden survived his gunshot wounds and fall and was treated at a local hospital after the incident, though his failure to report to his superiors led the Order to send Rufus Grosvenor to find him. While at a Chinese opium den in 1928, Bolden was confronted by Grosvenor, who knew that the former was safeguarding the Koh-i-Noor like all Black Crosses before him.

Bolden encountering Grosvenor

Grosvenor, secretly an Instruments of the First Will member seeking the Koh-i-Noor for his own ends, tried to blackmail Bolden into surrendering the Piece of Eden, or else he would inform the Templars of his survival. However, the former Black Cross refused and escaped while Grosvenor had his back turned. Knowing that Grosvenor would track down the Koh-i-Noor eventually, Bolden travelled to Switzerland and retrieved it from the bank it was secreted in.

For the next nine years, Bolden lived on the run and avoided Grosvenor's agents, occasionally fighting them off when they managed to track him down. During this time, he kept a low profile and rarely visited his wife and daughter, to avoid turning them into targets.

Pursuing Grosvernor

"I'm a Black Cross. A station that carries its own duties, unrelated to our war... Or this one, for that matter."

―Bolden to Ignacio Cardona, 1937.

Sometime in 1937, Bolden returned home to find his family murdered. While mourning their loss, he was attacked from behind and knocked unconscious by Grosvenor, who stole the Koh-i-Noor and escaped. Vowing revenge, Bolden tracked the rogue Templar for the next few months, eventually arriving in Spain, where he found the hanged body of the British Assassin Norbert Clarke.

File:Norbert found dead by Bolden.JPG

Bolden finding Norbert Clarke's hanged body

Not long after, Bolden discovered that Grosvenor, posing as Clarke, had joined an Assassin cell, and deduced that the Templar was searching for an Assassin with a high enough concentration of Isu DNA to activate the Koh-i-Noor. While in Barcelona in May 1937, Bolden spied on Grosvenor and a group of Spanish Assassins, and witnessed Grosvenor give Ignacio Cardona the artifact in order to end a fight between Republicans and Nationalists.

When Cardona unleashed the Koh-i-Noor's powers, he quickly fell unconscious and Bolden decided to intervene. Unable to recover the artifact or eliminate Grosvenor, who was being protected by the Assassins, he grabbed the unconscous Cardona instead and escaped to an unknown location.

At the hideout, Cardona regained consciousness as Bolden was patching up his wounds. Upon noticing the Assassin had awoken, Bolden told him how he had tracked him, revealed that "Norbert Clarke" was Grosvenor, and explained his history with the latter. Cardona immediately tried to attack Bolden due to his Templar affiliations, but was easily subdued. The two then came to an agreement: Cardona would help Bolden recover the Koh-i-Noor from Grosvenor, and in the process they could warn Cardona's cell of Grosvenor's plans with the artifact.

Confronting the Instruments

Bolden: "Play your cards right and you might just keep that appointment with the undertaker you seem to so dearly crave!"

Cardona: "Are you mad?! It's an ambush, as you well know!"

Bolden: "I've already died once, Cardona! Twice would just be decadent, don't you think?"

—Bolden and Cardona, before confronting Grosvenor and the Assassins, 1937.

Bolden and Cardona riding together

While riding with a group of Spanish revolutionaries to meet Grosvenor, Bolden and Cardona were ambushed in a war-torn village by the latter's fellow Assassins, who had been turned to Grosvenor's cause. The Templar and Assassin easily defeated Miguel Carasso and Dwight Adams, who believed Cardona had been turned to the Templar cause by Bolden. Carasso then aimed a gun at Bolden, who was unmoved, before being stopped by Cardona, who insisted that this was not their way.

When Adams attempted to stab Bolden in the back, the Templar blocked his attack and a fight ensued between him and the two Assassins. Upon seeing that Cardona was being held at knifepoint by Glaucia Acosta, Bolden threw a Templar pin at the latter, but Cardona blocked it with his hand and freed himself. Meanwhile, Bolden managed to defeat his two opponents by tricking Carasso into stabbing Adams, causing the two Assassins to retreat. The Templar then handed Cardona a cloth so he could bandage his wound and told him that, if Acosta were to live, her sins would be on his hands.

Following this, Bolden and Cardona followed Carasso's tracks to the town church, where they were greeted by Grosvenor, standing over a pit of bodies and ranting about humanity needing the firm guiding hand of the gods. During his speech, Acosta and Carasso held Bolden and Cardona at gunpoint and demanded that they drop their weapons. Continuing his speech, Grosvenor told of the conditions expected by Cardona's bloodline, and its importance in using the Koh-i-Noor.

The artifact was then offered to Cardona, something Bolden opposed. However, Cardona used the Koh-i-Noor's powers to create an illusion of its own self-destruction, as well as creatures of energy who stampeded into the walls of the church, bringing it crashing down upon the group. This fooled both Grosvenor and Acosta, who managed to escape the collapse of the church.

Later life

Cardona: "You'd defect?"

Bolden: "Not to the Assassins; never to the Assassins. But if the Templars are making common cause with Hitler... Stalin... venal demagogues... I will not stand for it."

—Bolden reaffirming his allegiances, 1937.

Bolden and Cardona during the Spanish Civil War

In the aftermath, Bolden rescued Cardona from the church's rubble and they discussed plans for the protection of the Koh-i-Noor and the ongoing civil war. When Cardona asked if he had defected from the Templar Order, Bolden responded that he would never join the Assassins, but he would also not stand alongside the Templars if they were to make common cause with Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin.

Bolden and Cardona ultimately decided to leave the Koh-i-Noor in the ruins of the church, and trained several young locals as guardians of the artifact. They also went on to fight together in the civil war, on the side of the Republicans, before eventually going their separate ways.

After his involvement in the Spanish Civil War, Bolden got remarried and sired a son, André, in 1944, later dying under unknown circumstances at some point in the 20th century.

Legacy

"So I push past the resistance in André's blood. I crawl towards Albert, knowing there's so much more to his story than a grisly end on a Shanghai rooftop..."

―Juhani Otso Berg, on reliving Bolden's memories, 2017.

In November 2013, Albert Bolden's memories were explored by the Master Templar Juhani Otso Berg at Abstergo Montreal, in order to discover the fate of the box Darius Gift had been tasked to deliver to Shanghai. Abstergo hoped that the package's contents would turn out to be the Koh-i-Noor, since data recovered during Berg's recent mission to India indicated that the Black Cross was the last person to have been in possession of the artifact.

Bolden on the cover of the Showdown in Shanghai Helix mission

Although this trail ultimately proved to be a dead end, Berg was not convinced that Bolden had perished in Shanghai and decided to search for one of his living descendants in the hopes of continuing to explore his memories. Meanwhile, the footage gathered from the Black Cross' last mission in Shanghai was used as the template for one of Abstergo Entertainment's games on the Helix platform, titled Showdown in Shanghai.

In 2016, Abstergo learned about Bolden's son André and convinced him to attend therapy for his Vietnam War PTSD at their Philadelphia facility. However, rather than have André relive his father's memories, Abstergo used him to explore the memories of another one of his ancestors, Jan van der Graff.

In 2017, using a sample of André's blood, Otso Berg relived Bolden's memories during the Spanish Civil War in order to find the Koh-i-Noor before the Instruments of the First Will.

Skills and equipment

Albert Bolden was a capable freerunner and climber, able to scale buildings in London and Shanghai. He was also a skilled tactician, allowing Thaddeus Gift to get to a phone to reveal his collaborators, and accounting for Yuri Dolinsky's superior sword-fighting skills by cutting the tracks of the train prior to their duel on board, causing Dolinsky to fall and lose his advantage. Bolden was a trained soldier and was a skilled marksman knowledgeable with many firearms.

Bolden playing a trumpet while in his civilian guise

Albert was also highly skilled in unarmed combat, besting many opponents, such as the large Fiery Crow, and holding his own against the skilled Flowery Flag. Even while injured, he outmatched a rage-filled Ignacio Cardona four times. He could take down multiple opponents in close-quarters combat, such as when fighting multiple soldiers at once in the Great Wall or when he faced off against an entire Assassin cell, although he was forced to retreat. This was only of minor concern to him, however, as by his own admission he had eliminated entire cells single-handedly. He was also exceptionally skilled in stealth, constantly sneaking up on those he had to interrogate or execute.

Besides his native English, Bolden was fluent in Chinese, and presumably also had a grasp of other languages, including Spanish, due to his years spent travelling the world.

In terms of equipment, Albert carried a bladed Templar pin as his primary weapon; he had two poisons for it: a fast-acting one and another that took a few hours to set in. He also carried a sword on occasion and possessed what appeared to be a chain dart, along with smoke bombs, grenades, a sub-machine gun and a gas mask.

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed: Templars (first appearance)
• Assassin's Creed FCBD 2016 Edition
• Assassin's Creed: Uprising

References

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