The Aerie
The Aerie was an Abstergo Industries complex in North America which housed the company's Lineage Discovery and Acquisition Division. The facility was composed of five buildings linked to each other and surrounded by a large park. In 2016, the Templars captured a group of teenagers using a stolen Animus to find the Trident of Eden and brought them to the Aerie. There, the facility's director Isaiah and Dr. Victoria Bibeau tried to learn more about the group's discoveries in order to aid their own search for the Trident.
History[edit | edit source]
Early history[edit | edit source]
In February 2014, Templar scientist Sofia Rikkin and Abstergo employee Layla Hassan exchanged emails regarding a "robotic arm" Animus prototype for the Aerie, designed to offer users greater freedom of movement. Layla reviewed the Animus designs and suggested improvements, stating that Sofia was "looking at it the wrong way."[1]
Sofia was initially uncertain about the idea of suspending the subject in midair, but she forwarded the concept to Gabriel King, the chief engineer at the Abstergo facility in Madrid, Spain. Gabriel, who was initially puzzled, showed a change in his expression, indicating that he saw the potential of the idea. After some time without updates, Layla inquired on 2 January 2015 about the progress of the project, but received no response.[1]
By August 2016, with Sofia's help, the Aerie housed a portable version of the Animus. However, Layla was both angered and confused, demanding an explanation from Sofia, as she had not only been left uncredited but also felt used. Later that month, Sofia ended all communication with Layla and gently asked her to not contact her again until she had proven herself more trustworthy by the company's standards.[1]
Search for the Precursor manuscript[edit | edit source]
In late 2016, a Templar strike team captured Sean Molloy, Natalya Aliyev, and the siblings Grace and David Collins and brought them over the Aerie. There, Isaiah and Dr. Victoria Bibeau persuaded the teenagers to help them find the lost Trident of Eden and help them understand their mysterious connection to the Ascendance Event, which was of great interest to the Templars.[2]
Isaiah was keen on exploring the memories of Sean's ancestor, Tommy Greyling, believing they held the answer to better understanding the Trident. Inside the Animus, they discovered that Ulysses S. Grant had been in possession of a Precursor box which he used to decipher pages of the Voynich manuscript, learning how to use his Prong of Eden more efficiently to win the Presidential election.[3]
During a short break in-between Animus sessions, Isaiah contacted Victoria on videocall, as the latter had left for London to aid Simon Hathaway with his research. While discussing the importance of finding the manuscript, Victoria urged Isaiah not to take drastic measures as Sean was still recovering from his traumas, and using the Animus could prevent Sean from accepting his body's new limitations.[3]
However, Isaiah decided to still push boundaries. As a result, Sean's prolonged exposure to the Animus and Tommy's encounter with a Templar agent named Alice turned deadly, and the teen experienced a violent desynchronization and needed to be brought to the Aerie's medical wing.[4] Natalya, angered by Isaiah's lack of care for Sean's well-being, confronted him, but stormed out of the room when Sean decided he would go back inside the Animus, much to Isaiah's delight.[5]
In the gardens of the Aerie, Natalya was comforted by David and Grace, as they, just like her, believed that Isaiah was using Sean and would "drop him like a fly" as soon as he was finished with him. However, they did not want to say anything for the time being, as they feared the Templars might keep a closer eye on them if they spoke up.[5]
After resuming his Animus sessions, Sean experienced Tommy's failure to capture Alice and the manuscript pages, leading Isaiah to conclude that the pages were presumably in Templar hands by now. He thus decided to abandon the search, much to Sean's disappointment. The teen subsequently went to speak with his friends, and Natalya, David, and Grace all revealed that he was being used by the Templars. After Sean described Alice's escape with the manuscript pages, the teenagers felt that something did not line up and spoke to Isaiah about their theory.[6]
They deduced that Alice was smart and took the first steamboat back to America under a pseudonym, and that Tommy was most likely on the ship as well. Intrigued by their hypothesis, Isaiah allowed Sean to jump back into the Animus. Tommy's memories confirmed the teenagers' theory, revealing that after being confronted by Tommy on the ship, Alice had jumped into the ocean to avoid capture, killing herself and destroying the manuscript. Isaiah subsequently thanked Sean for his intuition and gave the teens some time off to enjoy themselves, but in private declared that the hunt had only just begun.[6]
Search for the Fear prong[edit | edit source]
Over the next few weeks, the Templars sought to find the Trident of Eden's Fear prong, having the teenagers explore the memories of various ancestors to narrow down the possible location. While Sean relived the memories of the English landlord Brandon Bolster,[7] Grace explored those of Masireh, a gold trader from Timbuktu, and David experienced the life of his Tuskegee airman ancestor.[8] However, only Natalya's Mongolian ancestor Bayan provided the Templars with any leads, revealing that the Fear prong had last been seen in Song dynasty China.[9]
One night, David decided to sneak out of his room and explore the restricted areas of the Aerie, overhearing Isaiah placing a kill order on Owen Meyers and Javier Mondragón.[10] His incursion was discovered the following day by Isaiah and Victoria by watching the security footage, and they subsequently summoned the teenagers to warn them against going behind their backs again and to inform them that they would be watched much more closely from now on. David was subsequently scolded by Grace and Sean for getting them into trouble.[11]
That night, Owen, Javier, and their Assassin ally Griffin staged an attack on the Aerie to save their friends.[12] Coincidentally, Sebastian Monroe mounted his own rescue mission at the same time, infiltrating the Aerie in disguise with the help of Cole, Isaiah's head of security and a Templar who owed him a favor. After causing a blackout, Monroe found the teenagers and convinced David and Natalya to escape with him, but Sean refused to leave his room while Grace was uncertain about her choice. Ultimately, she decided to stay as well after David assured her he would be fine.[13]
Elsewhere, Owen, Javier, and Griffin's mission had gone awry, and the two boys were separated from the Assassin after the latter went to distract the bulk of the Aerie's security and allow them to reach their friends. Owen and Javier fought their way through the remaining guards and saw that David and Natalya had been cornered inside the garage. Owen then went to provide cover fire and allow his friends to escape in Isaiah's car. While Javier drove David and Natalya away from the Aerie, picking up Girffin on the road, Owen and Monroe were captured by the Templars.[14]
Monroe was subsequently imprisoned while Isaiah tried to turn Owen to his cause, showing him a simulation of his father's failed bank robbery, which indicated that he had been framed by the Assassins.[15] Later, after determining the Fear prong's location in Mongolia, Isaiah departed the Aerie alongside most of his personnel in order to retrieve the artifact. The teenagers were left at the Aerie with Victoria and some of the staff,[16] though Owen, Grace, and Monroe soon managed to escape by hiding in a crate being shipped to Mongolia with the help of Cole.[17]
Sean was thus left alone at the Aerie, where he explored the memories of his Viking ancestor Styrbjörn the Strong, who had come into contact with the Trident's Devotion prong. However, while in the Animus, he was suddenly pulled out by Isaiah, who returned from Mongolia and claimed they had to relocate.[18]
Search for the Devotion prong[edit | edit source]
Following the events that transpired in Mongolia, the Assassins and Templars formed a truce to stop Isaiah, who had seized the Trident's Faith and Fear prongs, intending to use them to conquer the world. Griffin and Victoria used the now-abandoned Aerie as their base of operations, where they had Javier and David relive the memories of their ancestors Thorvald Hjaltason and Östen Jorundsson to find the Devotion prong before Isaiah.[19][20]
Meanwhile, Monroe had Owen and Natalya use the Animus to explore a shared memory in their "collective unconscious" and access the Ascendance Event.[21] They were soon joined by Grace, who had explored Isaiah's old office and found a note revealing his former affiliation with the Instruments of the First Will.[22] Ultimately, Owen, Natalya, and Grace were able to pass all the trials presented by the memory and met a projection of the Isu Minerva, who told them about the Trident's history and bestowed upon them a "shield" to protect them from its powers.[23]
After Javier and David's genetic memories revealed the Devotion's prong location in Sweden, Griffin, Owen, Natalya, and Grace left to retrieve it while Javier and David stayed at the Aerie with Monro to access the Ascendance Event.[24] However, during their mission, Griffin was killed by Isaiah's forces,[25] and Owen, Natalya, and Grace lost the prong to Isaiah before being saved by Sean. After regrouping back at the Aerie, they informed the others of the events that had transpired, and Owen gave Griffin's Hidden Blade to Javier, per the Assassin's final wish.[26]
Isaiah's defeat[edit | edit source]
Since Isaiah knew about the teenagers accessing the Ascendance Event, he deemed them too much of a threat to his "new world" and thus decided to attack the Aerie to kill them. However, the teens, Monroe, and Victoria had laid traps around the facility in anticipation of his arrival, preventing his men from landing their helicopters and forcing them to stage a frontal assault instead.[27]
In the resulting battle, many of Isaiah's brainwashed troops fell to the teenagers' traps, and the Aerie was partially destroyed when a helicopter crashed into it after being shot down by Owen and Javier. Inside the facility's garage, Isaiah arrived to confront the teens, who overcame the Trident's powers and defeated him, allowing Javier to strike the killing blow using Griffin's Hidden Blade. The group then picked up the Trident together and used their DNA to depower it for good.[27]
Employees[edit | edit source]
Former employees[edit | edit source]
- Isaiah † – Director[28][30]
- Victoria Bibeau † – Psychiatrist and researcher[28][30]
- Sebastian Monroe[30]
Known guests[edit | edit source]
This is a list of all the known people who have stayed as "guests" at the Aerie:
- Owen Meyers[29][30]
- Grace Collins[28][29][30]
- David Collins[28][29][30]
- Javier Mondragón[30]
- Natalya Aliyev[28][29][30]
- Sean Molloy[28][29][30]
- Sebastian Monroe[30]
- Griffin[30]
Appearances[edit | edit source]
- Assassin's Creed: Last Descendants (first appearance)
- Assassin's Creed: Last Descendants – Locus
- Assassin's Creed: Last Descendants – Tomb of the Khan
- Assassin's Creed: Last Descendants – Fate of the Gods
- Assassin's Creed: Heresy (mentioned only)
- Assassin's Creed: Origins (mentioned in emails only)
References[edit | edit source]