Raids on the Aerie
|
I wanted to ask you something. Which is... what's your name? This article title is conjecture. Although the article subject is canon, no official name for it has been given. |
In 2016, the Assassins conducted a number of raids on the Aerie at its main facility and its field site in order to recover the pieces of the Trident of Eden.
Background[edit | edit source]
While working for Abstergo Industries, the Templar researcher Sebastian Monroe discovered a sub-code hidden within the human genome dubbed the "collective unconscious" and learned about Ascendance Events, in which certain bloodlines converged at important moments in history where parts of the Trident of Eden were active. Monroe became obsessed with these and eventually told his superior Isaiah, who likewise became fixated.[2] After being forbidden to use an Animus on himself, Monroe stole one and fled Abstergo.[3]
Once Monroe tracked down a convergence of bloodlines related to an Ascendance Event, he obtained a job as an IT technician at a local high school and offered the use of his stolen Animus to several students, but primarily focused on Grace and David Collins, Sean Molloy, Natalya Aliyev, Javier Mondragón, and Owen Meyers.[4] However, he was still being tracked by his former employers, who sent a strike team to raid his warehouse, capture him and the teenagers, and bring them to the Aerie to forcibly keep searching for the Trident on the Templars' behalf.[5][6] While Grace, David, Sean, and Natalya were captured by Abstergo agents, the Assassin Griffin rescued Javier and Owen amidst the confusion, with Monroe slipping away on his own.[6][3]
First raid[edit | edit source]
Although the Assassins were able to track down the first prong of the Trident, the artifact was already gone by the time Griffin, Owen, and Javier reached its location.[7] The Assassins subsequently had Owen relive the memories of his ancestor Zhang Zhi during the Mongol conquest of China to locate the second prong,[8] but when Zhi's memories proved to be a dead end, Griffin decided to rescue the remaining teenagers from the Aerie.[9] Owen and Javier convinced the Assassin to let them come along, arguing that the teenagers would not trust Griffin and might be more cooperative if they saw friendly faces.[10]
By chance, the trio's raid coincided with Monroe's own infiltration of the facility. He had already reached the teenagers and convinced David and Natalya to leave with him,[11] but was interrupted and pinned down in a garage by Owen and Javier, while Griffin had split off from the pair to divert Abstergo's forces. Owen and Monroe stayed behind to provide covering fire, and Javier left the garage with David and Natalya in one of the high-tech vehicles kept within.[12] Once the teenagers met up with Griffin, they escaped the facility and subsequent pursuit using the car's stealth capabilities.[13]
Raid in Mongolia[edit | edit source]
Shortly after, Rothenburg, an Assassin mole within Abstergo, informed Griffin of Isaiah's imminent expedition to Mongolia to recover the second Trident prong.[13] After conferring with Gavin Banks regarding what to do with the teenagers, they all flew to China and rendezvoused with the Chinese Assassin Yanmei, then flew to Mongolia. Although their plane was shot down by the Templars,[14] the group survived and made the rest of their journey on foot.[15]
At the same time, Monroe, Grace, and Owen smuggled themselves into Mongolia with the help of Cole, a Templar field agent who owed Monroe a favor.[2] On the way to Möngke Khan's tomb, David, thinking he was receiving a signal from his sister, fell into a trap and was captured by the Templars.[15] Monroe, Grace, and Owen were also captured after arriving at the Abstergo camp, and Isaiah interrogated them for the tomb's location, to which David proceeded to give him a false lead.[16]
After Isaiah's departure, Monroe, Grace, Owen, and David escaped the Abstergo camp and made their way to the tomb, where they were reunited with Javier and Natalya. The group proceeded to excavate the tomb together, only for Isaiah and his guards to appear, having followed them.[17] As the Templars were attacked by Griffin and Yanmei, Isaiah took advantage of the commotion to enter the tomb and retrieve the prong, using its powers to incapacitate everyone. When Yanmei tried to attack him, Isaiah killed her with the prong and announced his defection from the Templar Order before leaving.[18]
Shortly after, Victoria Bibeau, a Templar psychiatrist working at the Aerie, arrived and met with the teenagers and Monroe, having learned of Isaiah's defection. Upon hearing that the Assassins were present, Victoria's guards raised their weapons, but the teenagers reasoned that Isaiah was the bigger threat. Thus, Victoria and Griffin agreed to a temporary truce until they stopped Isaiah and found the final prong.[18]
Second raid[edit | edit source]
Using the Assassins' and Templars' combined resources, the group was able to locate the final prong in Sweden,[19] but their attempt to recover it was unsuccessful, with Griffin being killed and the prong seized by Isaiah's men.[20] After learning that the teenagers had accessed the Ascendance Event, which granted them a "shield" against the powers of the Trident,[21] Isaiah deemed them a threat to his plans and ordered Cole and his other brainwashed agents to execute Owen, Natalya, and Grace, who had been captured while accompanying Griffin.[22] Fortunately, the trio were saved by Sean using a high-tech Abstergo vehicle stolen from Isaiah's camp,[23] and the teenagers escaped with their lives.[22]
Back at the Aerie, the teens, alongside Victoria and Monroe, prepared to make their final stand against Isaiah, laying traps that made the ground unsuitable for helicopter landings. Isaiah, now wielding the complete Trident of Eden, staged a frontal assault, during which his forces activated the traps, suffering heavy casualties. In an improvised plan, Owen and Javier raced to the Aerie's rooftop and shot down an attacking helicopter with an EMP grenade. However, this worked in Isaiah's favor, as the helicopter crashed into the Aerie, destroying part of the facility and forcing the teenagers into the garage.[24]
When Isaiah revealed himself, Sean challenged him to a duel, which the rogue Templar accepted, ordering his men to stand down and attacking the teenagers with the Trident. The teens almost succumbed to the Piece of Eden's powers until Owen reminded them of the Ascendance Event and the "shield", which was nothing more than the lessons they had learned and challenges they had overcome during their journey. With this revelation, the Trident's power gradually diminished, frightening Isaiah and making him more reckless with his attacks. This allowed the teenagers to break his guard, leaving Isaiah open to an attack from Javier, who stabbed him with Griffin's Hidden Blade.[24]
Aftermath[edit | edit source]
Following Isaiah's death, Cole and all the Abstergo agents brainwashed by the Trident were freed from his control while the teenagers picked up the artifact together, depowering it.[24] The Trident was subsequently taken by Monroe, who intended to study it, while Victoria kept her promise to allow the teenagers to resume their old lives and arranged for them to be returned home to their families. Their experiences together left a lasting impact on all of them, changing their worldview and opening their eyes to new paths, such as Javier considering the possibility of joining the Assassins.[25]
Appearances[edit | edit source]
- Assassin's Creed: Last Descendants (first appearance)
- Assassin's Creed: Last Descendants – Tomb of the Khan
- Assassin's Creed: Last Descendants – Fate of the Gods
References[edit | edit source]
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||