05/07/2017 - An all-new story arc starts this issue! Giving fresh insights into characters from the vast Assassin’s Creed universe, including Juhani Otso Berg, Galina Voronina, Kiyoshi Takakura and Arend Schut. Writers Alex Paknadel (Arcadia, Doctor Who) and Dan Watters (Limbo, Dark Souls) return along with Assassin’s Creed storyboard artist José Holder!
2017: Assassin hideout, London. Charlotte confronts a bound Guernica, and offers to get him some water despite his attempt to kill her before. In the next room, Arend is on the phone to Abstergo tech support, trying to warn them very bluntly that they have a First Civilization entity amongst their systems. Unsurprisingly they hang up on him.
Whilst Kiyoshi and Charlotte berate Arend for his literal interpretation of warning the Templars, Galina returns to the hideout with supplies and clothes. Shortly after My'Shell stumbles through the door, carrying a wounded Otso Berg. Galina immediately springs her hidden blade and floors Berg with a flying kick to the face. After Galina is restrained by Charlotte, Berg offers a suggestion that they all get breakfast together.
After a lengthy discussion, he confesses that he came across the same financial movements between the Templars and Assassins, and that the mystery third faction really is playing them all for fools. With Abstergo compromised, he cannot even trust his own faction. Kiyoshi reveals that they believe Guernica to be a member of the faction, to which Berg responds that he knows Jasdip Dhami is another - and the face behind the high tech armor set. Galina states that Jasdip went dark after exploring for Gramatica in Australia, suggesting that may be where his secret lab is. Berg laughs the suggestion off as a nice try, and argues that whilst he cannot trust the Assassins - that is exactly the reason he needs their help. Charlotte interjects, and warns them all that Juno's plan for the Koh-i-noor is moving forwards and that they need to act together and fast. Old rivalries can wait. Berg realises that the Assassins know where the Koh-i-noor is.
They return to the hideout, and Charlotte straps herself into the Animus once more. She reveals to Berg that they believe the Piece of Eden is in Spain, within the 1930s Spanish Civil War. As she enters the simulation, My'Shell confronts Guernica. It is clear she never knew his true agenda, and was never a member of the secret faction to which he belongs. She leaves the room in disgust.
April 1937: Spain. Ignacio Cardona, an anarchist and follower of Buenaventura Durruti, he is also an Assassin and ancestor to Charlotte. He walks the countryside hills in heavy rain, heading towards Barcelona with fellow soldiers. They elect to set up camp as night falls, but are suddenly ambushed by gun fire. Ignacio runs out to meet the assailants only to find that they are Republicans too, and it was a simple case of mistaken identity by child soldiers.
2017: Berg laments that the Assassins are keeping him at arm's length whilst they scour their records for anything pertaining to 1930s Spain. He points out that the Templars have records for that period too, and after a brief philosophical discussion on the merits of the march of progress, they come across a photograph of Ignacio and his army unit. Standing next to him is a man that Berg recognises - Albert Bolden, the last Black Cross![4]
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02/08/2017 - Second installment of the brand-new story arc in the critically acclaimed Uprising series.
May 1937: Barcelona, Spain. The Assassins Ignacio Cardona and Glaucia Acosta hide out amongst the war ruined buildings. They share cigarettes whilst they discuss why Glaucia cannot sleep, as it turns out she is haunted by a recent bombing raid at the northern town of Guernica. They are interrupted by a noise, at which point Glaucia lets loose several throwing knives at an unknown man in a trenchcoat. Wounded, the man runs to the rooftops with Glaucia in pursuit. She eventually catches up with the two of them coming crashing down through a broken roof. He reveals himself to be Nobby Clarke, an Assassin sent to them from the London Brotherhood.
Safely returned to their hideout, the Spanish Assassins grill Nobby as to why he is the only backup that was sent considering how desperate they are for help. Nobby reveals that he infamously eliminated an entire Templar branch in Tallinn the previous year, which instantly wins him the approval of the Spaniards.
2017: Charlotte desyncs from the Animus, and is violently sick. She seeks an explanation, as Kiyoshi laments that she entered the Animus too soon after Juno's attack. Charlotte feels that something forced her out of the Animus, and states that having Otso Berg watching her was not helping - and in turns asks him to leave the room. Kiyoshi escorts him upstairs, only to find Galina in the next room brutally interrogating Guernica once more. Charlotte reenters the Animus.
May 1937: Ignacio requests that the team train with Nobby on the rooftop to see his skills first hand. In the mean time he ventures out to try and find new weaponry, as their current ones are in a bad state of repair. He meets Eric Blair, an englishman and member of Poum - a Spanish Marxist party. They discuss the way that the class system has reintegrated itself in the city, and how the only items for sale are non-weapons, despite the civil war still raging. Eric has some black market contacts though, and promises to introduce Ignacio to them. Shortly after entering a shop, gunshots ring out and Ignacio takes to the rooftops.
Meanwhile, Nobby and the Spanish Assassins continue to spar on the roof of their hideout, while discussing the split between the anarchists and communists within the community. At this point Ignacio runs past the group, insisting they all follow. They reach a fevered gun battle between anarchists and communists, with the team torn as to who to help with a mind to whom of the two would able to ultimately stop the fascists. Nobby offers an alternative, telling Ignacio that he can make everyone stop - and pulls the Koh-i-Noor out of his pocket. Ignacio states that he feels it calling to him and touches the diamond. Immediately his eyes glow with a blue energy, and serpent like creatures of energy emerge from the Koh-I-Noor, encircling and wrapping themselves around everyone. With blood pouring from his eyes and nose, he finds the strength to drop the diamond and passes out. From a nearby rooftop, the Black Cross observes everything that has transpired.
2017: Charlotte begans chewing and biting her own tongue, with blood spraying onto the Animus. Arend is unsure what to do whilst she remains within the simulation, but warns My'Shell to remain back. My'Shell counters by saying he should let her through or that Charlotte will surely die.[4]
06/09/2017 - Giving fans fresh insights into characters from the vast Assassin's Creed universe, including Juhani Otso Berg, Galina Voronina, Kiyoshi Takakura, and Arend Schut.
2017: Otso Berg and Guernica play Jenga in a room separate from the others. They discuss the state of the world, with Guernica eventually revealing the name of Juno. Otso leaves him to retrieve a package containing a DNA sample, mailed over by Andre.
Charlotte is laid out on a sofa, with various medical supplies around her. She had almost suffered a brain hemorrhage, before My'Shell managed to remove her from the Animus. Determined to get straight back in, she is stopped by Galina. Otso reveals that he has fitted Helix components to their Animus, which will now allow them to access genetic memories besides their own. The DNA sample he just received was that of Albert Bolden - the last known Black Cross. With Charlotte too weak to continue, Otso sits in the chair and enters the simulation.
1927: Shanghai. A shot Black Cross falls from a building, a crate breaking his fall. He lays wounded, but lives.
1937: Spain. In a hideout, Albert Bolden tends to his wounds with Ignacio sitting on a bed nearby. Ignacio appears to have amnesia, and has apparently been told of how the Black Cross survived three times now - each time ending with him attacking and failing to kill Albert. Albert reveals that he had been tracking Nobby Clarke for months, and ultimately rescued Ignacio from being made a conduit to the Koh-I-Noor, as he clearly has Precursor blood.
Albert reveals that Nobby is actually a Templar known as Rufus Grosvenor, whom had originally approached him about the diamond back in China. Fearing it was under threat, Albert hid the diamond in a safebox in a Swiss bank and went into hiding for nine years. He eventually returned home with the diamond to find his family murdered by Grosvenor, with Albert then being knocked out and the diamond stolen. Seeking revenge, Albert states that Grosvenor will have likely convinced the other Assassins against Ignacio, but that he had likely laid a trap for the two of them. Grosvenor needs Ignacio to conduit the diamond, and knowing that the Black Cross and Ignacio would come, lies in wait for their arrival with the Koh-I-Noor in hand.[4]
18/10/2017 - Final installment of this story arc in the critically-acclaimed uprising series!
Writers Alex Paknadel (Arcadia, Doctor Who) and Dan Watters (Limbo, Dark Souls) along with Assassin’s Creed storyboard artist Jose Holder!
1937: Albert and Ignacio approach Grosvenor's hideout, the latter signalling from a distance that he will only allow the two of them entry and not their company of followers. With little choice in the matter, the two get down from their horses and walk towards the building. They are immediately assailed by Ignacio's former teammates, whom are all now convinced that he has in fact been turned to the Templar cause by Albert. He desperately tries to convince them that 'Nobby' is in fact the one who is lying to them, but it falls on deaf ears. They are all convinced that the gem holds the power to saving the world, and that he needs to join with it. Ignacio argues that he feels the gem is not meant for him. Albert is forced to defend himself against the inevitable attacks, with Ignacio finding himself with a knife to his throat - that of Glaucia's. She speaks of how they were never supposed to know of the gods, but now they do she simply wants to serve them as an Instrument. Albert throws his Black Cross pin, striking Glaucia in the hand before she is knocked out by Ignacio's freed elbow. The two once more head towards the central building, a run down church.
Upon entering, Grosvenor begins speaking from the rafters. He cites that the world has turned to anarchy without the guidance of the gods, and stands over a pit of numerous dead bodies. The remaining former team members enter the church, leading Ignacio and Albert to have to surrender their guns. Grosvenor tells of how his master had followed Ignacio's bloodline, hoping for optimum conditions - but the fact that he was a male was a clear failing to controlling the gem. Nevertheless, he offers Ignacio the Koh-i-Noor in the hope that he may still try. Upon touching the gem, he summons creatures of energy once more - this time bulls - at which point they stampede into the walls of the church bringing it crashing down upon all of them.
After a time later, Albert digs through the rubble, and manages to extract Ignacio from the rubble. He reveals that he also saw Grosvenor and Glaucia escape, and suspects they fled to America. Albert assumed the Koh-i-Noor was destroyed, but Ignacio reveals that he created an illusion of its destruction - and that it yet remained, buried under all of the rubble. Swearing to remain its protector, Albert dedicates himself to watching over the site. But will first help Spain save their country. He also expresses concern about the situation over in Germany...
2017: Otso Berg emerges from the simulation. Stating that he knows where the gem is buried in Spain, he insists the Assassins get ready to travel. He mentions to look into Glaucia Acosta, as she likely went missing around the same time as the Swiss bank account was created in the 1930s. He calls Andre on his phone, as he is the only person he can trust with a secret location address that he will text him. He asks Andre to assemble a team and to watch over the site. Andre agrees to this, whilst Jasdip Dhami watches him from across the room.
Location: Redacted. Álvaro Gramática leans back in a chair, seemingly happy with the breakthroughs he is making with the Phoenix Project. He is disturbed by Violet Da Costa, whom he is surprised to see as no-one is supposed to know about the secret laboratory. She reveals that Otso was kind enough to text the address for them, and that they are there for Project Phoenix. Álvaro looks around to see the site is compromised by multiple Instruments, including Jasdip whom is clutching Andre, as well as a boy sage who happily waves to him with a smile.[4]
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