[Closed] Operation 1: The First Shot

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

December 3rd, 1941

Corporal Hanks frowned at the documents in front of him. Things just weren’t adding up. He rose from his typewriter and grabbed the documents in question then walked cautiously to his CO’s office, all the while studying both papers just to make sure he had his information straight. Once he was sure, he knocked quickly on the door.

“Come in” came the gruff voice on the other side of the glass.

Hanks walked in and quickly saluted the Captain behind the desk.

“Sir. I have some contradictory personnel transfer requests. It seems that we are being asked to process a Sergeant Niccolo Inverni from George Company, 101st Airborne, to... George Company, 101st Airborne….I requested verification by phone from the Company Sir and they said that it was correct.”

Captain James Wright glanced up from his desk and smirked, shaking his head slightly. “Guess he’s finished with his parachute training…” the Captain muttered under his breath.

“Sir?” Hanks said with no small hint of confusion.

The Captain waved his hand dismissively. “Process the request Corporal. You have my go-ahead.”

“But Captain, this is highly irregular. There are not two George Companies in any Battalion in the Army Sir. For the sake of keeping our documentation straight - ”

“- For the sake of keeping our documentation straight I suggest you follow the directions you have been given Corporal Hanks. I’ve told you what you need to know and quite frankly, anything more than what I’ve told you is well above your pay grade. You will process this request as stated and any further requests that mimic the nature of this instance, you will bring directly to me. Am I making myself understood?”

Corporal Hanks snapped a crisp salute. “Yes Sir!”

“Then you are dismissed. Get out.”

Hanks spun on his heel and beat a hasty retreat from his Commanders office and back to his desk where he promptly began to transfer information.

Captain Wright looked over the request and shook his head again. He had gotten four such requests in the last couple of months. But his own junior NCO had been promoted from the processing clerk’s position, and had been replaced by the inquisitive Corporal Hanks.

Wright couldn’t tell young Hanks that he had been correct. In practice, there were no two identical “George” companies in the Army. All letters in the phonetic alphabet were only ever used once in any Battalion. But Wright had been sworn to secrecy long ago. He couldn’t tell Hanks that this Sergeant Inverni was actually getting a transfer from George company, to Ghost Company. He couldn’t tell Hanks that Ghost was an entire division of the Army that was for most purposes, off the books. But the Assassins needed to be able to track their Assets. The personnel transfer requests was the only real feasible way to do it.

Captain Wright knew that he only played a minor role in the war, making sure that the chess pieces got moved around properly. But he also knew that the war that America was about to be sucked into, had far less to do with Nazi Germany, and everything to do with the Templar Order making a grab for power.

He wasn’t an Assassin himself, But he would support their cause in any way he could…

...Even if it meant pushing papers.





Fort Campbell, Kentucky
December 8th, 1941
0945 Hours
Sergeant Niccolo Inverni

“Soldiers! Commence Fire!”

The pops of a dozen M1 Garand rifles lit up the firing range. Though the Private in lane five seemed to be struggling to hit his target. But every so often one of his rounds would poke a hole out of the target silhouette’s face, in almost a random fashion.

Five hundred yards away on a raised hill covered in brush, an Army Officer was walking up behind a man laying prone, all but hidden in the bushes.  

“Sergeant, have you lost your mind?”

The man on the ground didn’t even turn around to see who was talking to him. He just held up a finger, indicating that the man should wait a minute. Then he returned the same finger to the trigger of his Enfield and squeezed off one final round before yanking on the bolt and ejecting one last spent shell.

“Annnnnnd Perfect.” Sergeant Inverni said, grunting in satisfaction and pushing himself to his feet, finally turning to to see who was behind him. “Oh hey Bob.”

The Officer sighed audibly and pinched the bridge of his nose. “It’s Lieutenant, Nico. Lieutenant, Robert, Walburn. Can you at least act like you belong here? And what is perfect? What are you doing back here?”

Nico rolled his eyes and slapped a lazy salute before offering his emptied rifle to the LT. “Helping that Private with his marksmanship. Poor guy couldn’t hit the broadside of a barn with a grenade by the looks of things. I felt the sudden urge for divine intervention. Have a look.”

Robert scowled, and took the rifle in hand. He lifted it to his shoulder and gazed down the scope.

Down on the lanes, the Drill Sergeant was berating lane five’s soldier. Robert wasn’t much of a lip reader, but he could very clearly make out the words - “Do you think this is a game?”. When he tilted the rifle up just slightly, he noticed that the target silhouette had two eyes and three holes punched out for a smiley face.

The Drill Sergeant must have noticed the glint of the scope in the sun because he suddenly looked up directly at Robert off in the distance.

The Lieutenant frowned and took the scope away from his eye, turning to berate the Sergeant, who was now about fifteen feet away, as he walked down the hill, leaving Lieutenant Robert Walburn by himself as the guilty party with rifle in hand....

“Goddamnit Nico!” He yelled.

Robert turned to and gave an apologetic wave to the Drill Sergeant down on the field and walked down the hill after the amused Sergeant.

“You’re a soldier Inverni! Stop acting like you are here for your own amusement. You were given a set of skills for a reason, not to have fun with!”

He forcefully tossed the rifle straight at Niccolo’s chest who caught in both hands as if he were handling a box of eggs.

“Hey! Easy! This is my baby. And lighten up. I’m an Assassin, not a soldier, this is all just a game, and I’m getting bored. You guys promised this big secret conflict against evil forces and I’ve been doing nothing but jumping out of fuckin airplanes, which was actually pretty fun by the way, but I haven’t seen these big bad Templars you keep talking about! They are kicking the piss outa Britain right now and the best we have done was send them a few goddamn pilots. When are we getting into this fight Lieutenant?! I didn’t sign up to sit on the bench while everyone else gets to take these bastards out.”

Robert sobered up immediately. “Right now Sergeant. We have been running a few shadow ops in North Africa and France for a while now. But as of this morning, we are going fully active.”

Nico noticed the change and frowned. “Why? Why now?”

The Lieutenant put a bracing hand on Nico’s shoulder and brushed past as he said the words. “...Because the Japs bombed Pearl Harbor yesterday. Catastrophic casualties. Most of the fleet was destroyed. The Arizona is on the bottom of the harbor. America just declared war, and the Assassins have been all but formally recognized by the government.”

Nico felt the breath rush from him. Pearl Harbor was the center of the United States combined naval power. The Arizona had been one of the largest Battleships in the entire Pacific fleet.

His eyes narrowed in anger, he was very serious as he turned and jogged to catch up to the senior Assassin. “Where am I being sent?” he asked.

“Don’t know yet kid. You will be briefed at HQ. We are formally mobilizing strike cells.”

“Strike cells? The hell are they?”

“The Brotherhood has been active in this conflict since the first shot Nico. But it was always just single Assets being sent to disrupt the Templar operations, we didn’t have the resources to breach into Germany and start picking off Templar Officers pushing conflict down the throats of the masses.

Now we have been given the greenlight to send specialists into the field to make sure more of our own operations turn out successful. You will be paired with another asset to ensure mission success.”

The Sergeant scowled. “I have to babysit someone?”

Robert turned back to him. “They have to babysit you, actually. You’re a sword, Nico. Not the arm that swings it. You were trained to be a pitbull for the Brotherhood. But we also have much smarter breeds at our disposal as well. You will ensure mission success by protecting these people with your skills, and they will in turn protect you by making sure you don’t do something exceedingly stupid like what you seem to be prone to.”

“Did you just call me a dog, Bob?”

“Shut up and listen Nico.” Robert said as if he were speaking to a child. “Get over to HQ so you can get your assignment and meet your new partner. Hopefully he can handle you better than I can.”

Nico nodded and peeled off from his former handler. “And Sergeant?” Walburn called. Nico turned to face the man.

Robert Walburn had a smirk on his lips. “Nice shooting. Godspeed Kid.”

Sergeant Niccolo straightened up and snapped a firm salute to the man that had brought him into the Brotherhood. Then did an about face and marched on to blend in with a crowd of passing soldiers.

Interstate 24, Kentucky - Enroute to Fort Campbell
December 8th, 1941
0930 Hours
Sergeant Arthur [CENSORED]

Arthur looked out the dirtied window at the passing trees at the side of the Interstate 24, the blur of greenery as a backdrop against the dusty glass. He was seated in the front passenger side of a military jeep, bumping along the road at about 80 kilometres per hour. Arthur let out a yawn and allowed himself to slump back in his seat a little. He’d gotten up before dawn that morning to be ready for his flight down to Nashville. The flight hadn’t been too bad, about three hours, and despite the lack of comfort Arthur had been able to get a bit of shuteye as well.

“I would have thought you’d be used to being up at dawn, Art, don’t tell me we need to promote you and stick you behind another desk already.”

The man driving the vehicle made the comment with a smirk on his face, briefly taking his eyes off the road to give Arthur the best shit-eating grin he could muster. Lieutenant Edward “Ed" Jacobs was an officer in the United States army and Arthur’s primary contact when corresponding with the Americans regarding military intelligence. Before a couple hours ago the two had only communicated by telegram, relaying information back and forth over the past year or so. Arthur liked him though, Ed greeted him like an old pal he had known for years and the two had gotten along splendidly. Arthur wasn’t exactly a joker himself, but the two complimented each other well it seemed.

“Very funny, wise-guy. Say, do you happen to know which of the Assassins at Campbell I’m being assigned with?”

“Can’t say I do. A bunch have been paired together already for the trip over and there’s only a handful left. Let’s see, there’s Miles, Winters, Inverni, and a couple others. Couldn’t say which you’d be paired with though…”

Arthur nodded, making a half-impressed grunt. He cycled the names through his mind, analyzing them as best he could. The first two names sounded fairly English to him, he couldn’t make much judgment on that. The third name he could tell was Italian though, the man who the name belonged to was probably American of Italian descent. The names repeated in his head, again and again, but he could gleam nothing else as the lone jeep traveled along the barren highway.

Fifteen minutes later Arthur found himself seated in an office in the headquarters for Fort Campbell. When he and Sergeant Jacobs had pulled up they had been promptly greeted and escorted to the room they both occupied now. Along the way Ed had been handed a folder, mostly likely a dossier on who he was to be paired with, but Arthur was only greeted with knowing smirks and deflective comments when he asked about it. The room itself was typical of a military office with the desk, chairs, few bookshelves lined with texts about military history and guidelines, and was devoid of any personal touches. They had been waiting in the room, Arthur seated quietly and Ed reading through the file, when his back straightened at the sound of the door opening.

Fort Campbell, Kentucky
December 8th, 1941
0900 Hours
Corporal Violet Robertson

Hot and dusty. That's all it has been since she'd gotten to this place. But Violet didn't complain, it could've been worse. At least it wasn't the factory, where it's hot, dusty, and closed off with fifty or so other women. At least here she could use her skills.

Violet stood at attention with the other transfers while the Captain paced and read over the files in his hand. "Corporal Robertson?" he called, not really questioning. His eyes never left the papers in his hands.

"Sir," Violet answered. Her expression was soft, yet demanding as she looked straight ahead, head tilted slightly upwards. She knew what was going to happen next. The Captain's eyes would widen at the sound of her shrill voice, then he would stride over to her and begin to comment on her skills.

Indeed, the Captain did as she predicted. It happens every time she is placed. Nobody expects a woman in the army to have any skills other than a nurse, yet here she was.

"I half expected you-"

"To be a man?" Her eyes snapped to the Captain as she smirked. "I get that a lot."

The Captain, unamused, looked back to her file. "Says here you have seven languages under your belt."

"Nine, if you count wit and ig-pay atin-lay." The other transfers stifled laughter, which quickly stopped with a stern look from the Captain. Her face went back to the expression from before. The Captain turned his back and gestured for her to follow. Slightly thrown off, she looked at the other transfers, also confused, and carefully walked ahead.

When they had gotten out of earshot, the Captain suddenly stopped and stood with his hands behind his back. Violet had began calculating the possibilities, but didn't think she was in any danger with a line of unarmed transfers at her back. She mimicked his stance. "Sir?"

"That attitude, I'm assuming you're here for Ghost Company."

"Company? I'm assuming I won't be working alone, then."

"Unfortunately not. This is a big mission, Corporal. A young lady, such as yourself, can't be expected to complete it alone. Especially one handed a title and thrown onto the battlefield." Violet pursed her lips, making her mouth a thin red line, but she held her tongue. "Besides, someone has to babysit them."

He instructed her to stay where she was as he made is way back to the transfers. She watched them all snap to attention as he yelled, "alright, boys!" Violet could barely make out what he was saying, but by the looks of it, he sent them to the mess hall. They were confused, but followed orders as they were trained. She, on the other hand, remained standing proudly. She tugged at the bottom of her skirt, an ugly shade of Kelly green which matched her jacket and hat, pulling the slight wrinkles out of it. The Captain turned to her again and nodded, walking past her to lead her to the headquarters.

A short walk later, they were inside a less hot building, the Captain removing his hat as they stepped inside. A secretary was prepared with a file, handing it to Violet, though she didn't care for what was in it. She absentmindedly flipped through the pages out of habit, only catching glimpses of names and places. "Are these the men I'll be working with?"

The Captain only nodded, leading her down a hallway before stopping at a door. "Now, just be sure you don't distract them," he half whispered, looking her up and down.

"D-ditsract them?" She chuckled, "but sir, it's not them I'm here for." The Captain smiled warmly and opened the door for her. Inside were two men, one holding a file similar to her own, the other looking up at the door. She quickly glanced around the room, taking in what little scenery there was, and stepped inside with a smile. The Captain closed the door behind her as she made her way to an empty chair. Taking a seat, she crossed her legs and asked, "Sergeants Arthur and Niccolo, I presume?"

Fort Campbell, Kentucky
December 8th, 1941
1010 Hours
Lieutenant Edward Jacobs

The door opened and Ed looked up briefly, but quickly returned his eyes to the dossier as he saw who it was. Exactly as the file had said, there was a new female Corporal assigned to Ghost. Not exactly a new Assassin as far as they went, but new to the unit. There were a lot of new faces piling up recently. It was reassuring to see the Brotherhood pulling their consolidated power and bringing in all of their specialists as America geared up for war.

As Corporal Robertson got comfortable, he flicked a cautious glance over at Art. He knew the man was married. But would he be tempted by such a looker?

He hid his smile behind his folder, which was effectively covering the rank on his collar as well.

When Robertson asked if they were Arthur and Niccolo, he lowered his file and shook his head to the negative.

“Half right Corporal. I'm Lieutenant Edward Jacobs, and this here is Sergeant Arthur Sanders, yes. Sergeant Inverni hasn't yet ar-”

He trailed off as a ruckus was heard out in the hallway. A knowing look came to his eyes and a smirk creased his lips.

Outside the door, a few men were arguing rather animatedly.

“Why... there is Sergeant Inverni now....” Ed said and returned to the dossier with a chuckle and a shake of his head.

Spoiler:

Fort Campbell, Kentucky
December 8th, 1941
1012 Hours
Sergeant Niccolo Inverni


“Sergeant! You can't come in here like that! This is your last warning!”

Nico grabbed the Private responsible for the comment and pushed him into the wall bodily. He didn't have much respect for clerks...

His thick Brooklyn accent coming through in all it's glory. “Listen Mack.... you've got a long career ahead of you. If you wanna cut that short? You try and take my weapon from me again. I dare you – I double dare you in fact. Try that one more fuckin time and I swear to Christ I'll knock your grease-ball ass into next week. By the time you wake up in the hospital, the war will be over and I'll be getting a goddamn medal. Try me.”

A Specialist stepped forward and held out calming hands. “Sergeant, there are no weapons allowed in Headquarters. It's policy. He didn't mean anything by it. Just doing his job. But he's right, you need to check your rifle at the door, otherwise we will need to call the MP's.”

Nico turned to him, raising an eyebrow in warning.

“Did you just threaten me Son?”

The older Specialist sighed and shook his head. “With all due respect Sergeant... I'm older than you are. And no that was not a threat. We are doing our jobs here. No weapons are allowed in Headquarters in case someone loses their marbles on post and decides to turn the building into a shooting gallery. We have a lot of brass walking around this building.”

Nico turned angrily back to the Private in hand. “Is that right?!?” The Private nodded frantically.

“Y-yes Sergeant!”

There was a long uncomfortable silence and then Nico broke into an easy smile and chuckled. “Why didn't you say so you stupid mook! I was about to knock your block off, you coulda been hurt ya know?” He released the man's tie and rubbed his palm  ineffectively over the mans chest in an attempt to smooth the now bunched uniform back with one hand while he turned and handed his empty Enfield to the Specialist with the other.

Once the soldier took the weapon and made sure it was cleared, Nico stepped past and straightened his own field uniform.

“I'll let it go this time, I like you kids. But I'll inspect that when I leave here. If there is so much as a speck of dust on it, I'm coming back for you two...”

The Specialist rolled his eyes and turned back to his desk at the checkpoint in the hallway.

Nico pulled a pack of cigarettes out of his jacket pocket and popped one between his lips, lighting it quickly and moving down the hallway. When he found the right door, he palmed the knob and looked back down the hallway at the Private who was still straightening himself out. When the two met each others' gaze, Nico pointed two fingers at his own eyes, then flipped them around to the Private, giving the hand signal that he was watching.

Then he finally opened the door.

Inside he found a woman sitting closest to him, and two men already sitting, one of which he instantly recognized.

“Ed!” he said as he entered and shut the door behind him. He walked by and snagged the dossier idly from Violet's hand, as if it was some lowly soldier beneath him who was just waiting for him to come in and hand him the folder. “Thanks Corporal, you're dismissed. Edward, what are you boys teaching the kids these days? No respect for rank, I swear...”

Jacobs shook his head and closed his dossier. “Sergeant Inverni, your sterling reputation precedes you, as always. I swear, few men I've ever met have been able to compare to your level of hypocrisy.”

Nico chuckled to himself and opened the dossier in his hand, pinching the cigarette between the index and middle fingers of his right hand. "Yeah well, if you ever find any that threaten my crown, let me know..."

He flipped through, looking for details. there were three personnel records detailed in the file. One was his own, which had a list of his qualifications. Close quarters combat specialist, Expert marksmanship, Airborne qualified, demolitions qualified, special weapons qualified. He nodded in satisfaction at all of this, then immediately stopped and frowned as the list below his qualifications listed his psychological profile.

The second set of descriptions was roughly twice as long as the first.

He flipped on and noticed that the second profile was for the man he didn't know, sitting next to Jacobs.

The third....

He looked up and saw the face of the Corporal he'd snatched the dossier from. The cigarette dropped from his fingers and he stood up straighter. Immediately, his native tongue took over.

“Oh mio Dio... sguardo a voi, bella....” (oh my god... look at you, beautiful...) He almost whispered.

If he'd been a full blown Soldier in the Army instead of an Assassin, Niccolo Inverni would have likely been thrown out for several types of harassment.

…..all of which was in his profile....

Fort Campbell, Kentucky
December 8th, 1941
1010 Hours
Sergeant Arthur [CENSORED]

Arthur had gone to get up and greet whomever had been at the door but, just as he was about halfway standing up, a gorgeous young woman sat down in front of him, crossing her legs after she had done so. He was frozen, halfway out of his chair and halfway sitting, as he stared at her for just a moment with his mouth slightly ajar. Then, as quick as the moment had lasted, he was fully back in his seat and looking across the gap between the chairs at her.

“Sergeants Arthur and Niccolo, I presume?”

“Half right Corporal. I’m Lieutenant Edward Jacobs, and this here is Sergeant Arthur Sanders, yes. Sergeant Inverni hasn’t yet ar-“

The sound of raised voices out in the hallway drew everyone’s attention and all eyes were drawn to the closed door. There were a few different voices that could be heard but one muffled Brooklyn accent rose far above the rest. The trio listened silently as the exchange continued, trying to pick out whatever words they could. Arthur heard Ed chuckle to himself.

“Why… there is Sergeant Inverni now…”

Eventually the ruckus in the hall subsided and nothing could be heard from outside the office save for the distant sound of gunfire and Drill Sergeants shouting off orders. Arthur turned his gaze again to the woman seated across from him, whose name he still had not been informed of. Stretching out his hand to shake hers, he opened his mouth to introduce himself and -

“Ed!”

The voice was a lot clearer in here than it had been from outside in the hall and when he spoke again, grabbing the file from the woman’s hand and rudely dismissing her, the tone of cocky self-assurance was entirely evident. Arthur looked up at the new face as he traded remarks with Edward, then as something dawned on his face and as he looked to the woman with a look of realization on his face. He dropped the cigarette he was holding to the floor and muttered a phrase in a language Arthur couldn’t really decipher.

Arthur looked to Ed as got up, taking the files from Sergeant Inverni in turn to take a look at them himself. He took a pair of glasses out of his jacket to read the papers.

“So Ed, I take it he’s going to distract the whole German army while we sneak in?”

He quickly flipped through the files looking the details of Inverni, the woman, whose named turned out to be Violet Robertson, and himself.

The first file was Inverni’s and his overall attitude was reflected quite well in his skill set and psych eval. Guns, explosives, and a colourful personality to match. It also noted he could speak Italian fluently. Well at least that’s handy for covert operations…

Violet was next and, as Niccolo had mastered the art of “things that go boom,” she was just as mastered in completing objectives without making a sound. It was impressive enough she had trained from the Assassins for almost her entire life, but it was the fluency in eight different languages that made him raise his eyebrows.

Arthur only glanced at his own dossier, making note of the name. Huh, they went with the alias…

It had only taken him a few moments to flips through all three files and pick out the most important information as he did so. Flipping the folder closed, he looked up at the two people who it seemed he would have to learn to trust with his life. In that moment Arthur wasn’t sure whether that was a good or a bad thing.

Fort Campbell, Kentucky
December 8th, 1941
1010 Hours
Corporal Violet Robertson

This is what the Captain meant by babysitting. Surely Lt. Jacobs was mistaken, that couldn't be one of her partners starting a scuffle outside over...a weapon? Lt. Jacobs chuckled to himself, and Violet let out a slightly dejected sigh as she looked at the door as the noise stopped.

A young man holding a cigarette Sgt. Inverni, burst into the room, delightedly greeting the Lieutenant, and snatching the file from Violet's hands before dismissing her as he would any other army doll. She narrowed her eyes at him, nearly rising from her seat to snatch the file back ant put him in his place, but took a deep breath and instead balled her hands into fists on her lap.

She watched him read over the file, noting his subtle nods of approval, likely from his own list of specialties, and watched the grin fade into a stern expression. Then he flipped the page, read some more, and flipped again.

His eyes rose to her now smug face as he dropped his cigarette, straightened his posture, and muttered a compliment in Italian. She stood, making her way to the dumbfounded soldier. "Grazie." She pulled him close to her by his collar while Sgt. Sanders took the file, letting her eyes slowly rise to his with a seductive grin. "Io sono mortale pure. Non commettere errori di questo." (I'm deadly as well. Make no mistake of that.) She released his collar and turned, tossing her hair slightly, and made her way back to her seat, winking at Niccolo as she sat.

“So Ed, I take it he’s going to distract the whole German army while we sneak in?”

"I'm all for it," she chimed in, crossing her legs and hugging her raised knee to her chest. "Just point me to the target, and I can be in and out." She was ready for the action she was promised. God help her if she ended up playing bombshell for German troops. That's not what she signed up for. Violet wanted to do what she was trained to do.

She looked between the two men she would be working with, then Lt. Jacobs, expecting someone to say something pertaining to the mission since formal introductions were unneeded due to the file being passed around. Part of her couldn't believe this is who the Brotherhood sent to work with her. She couldn't believe they sent here here. Maybe they knew something she didn't, but she didn't want to chance it. Violet knew she had to establish dominance if this mission, whatever it was, was to be a success. But first, she had to get these boys to trust her. They were her Brothers, after all.

Fort Campbell, Kentucky
December 8th, 1941
Sergeant Niccolo Inverni

All sound was lost as Violet came close. As her eyes met his all he could think about was that she was stunningly gorgeous. She was so beautiful.... and she knew Italian.

Wait what?! She knows... oh shit...annnnnd I just said that out loud...."

For once, Nico was at a loss for words. He tried to smirk at her response of being deadly. But all he really managed outwardly was a squeamish nervous chuckle and an awkward, helpless expression on his face.

He mentally flicked back a few seconds over her file and noticed the numerous languages that she was fluent in.

Well, at least you know why she is here. What about the other one? But Nico was still staring at Violet. When she turned and tossed her hair, some of it flicked in his face. A few strands poked him right in the eyes and still, he couldn't blink. He got a whiff of the shampoo she had used and suddenly his guts got warm and gooey.

"Uh..." was all he managed to say. And it sounded strangled at that...

And then she winked at him. Oh... what a wink it was.

Move Nico..

Oh but he could just stare at her all day. He'd been so rude! Idiot!

...Move... Nico...

The door swung open and an Officer in a pressed uniform walked in. Edward immediately stood up straight and raised his voice. "Squad! Atennnnn-SHUN!"

Nico snapped out of it. He blinked rapidly and looked around. Coming to the position of attention rather out of habit than anything else.

Smooth one slick... very smooth...

"As you were soldiers" the new officer said. Nico sat down and glanced around, still somewhat in a daze. He found his forgotten cigarette on the floor and picked it up, brushed off the end and stuck it back in his mouth for a calming draw.

"My name is Major Kilian. I'll be in charge of your operations from here on out. Lieutenant Jacobs, you're dismissed. Make sure the room is secure. The soldiers in the hallway needn't overhear what we are about to discuss."

Jacobs responded immediately and moved to his task without a backward glance. As soon as the Major was certain that his subordinate had handled his task, he returned his attention to the three individuals before him.

"Let's be clear about one thing here. The Assassins don't have a traditional rank structure that adheres quite to what the Army has in place. Jacobs isn't an Assassin. Walburn... isn't an Assassin. hardly any of the men and women you will serve with, will be within the Brotherhood. But I am. You are all here because I said you need to be and unless I say otherwise, you are soldiers under my command. You will therefore act as such." He gave Nico a stare, who seemed intent on his smoking right at that moment.

"Now. If you all don't already know... The Empire of Japan destroyed roughly 90% of the Pacific Fleet yesterday at Pearl Harbor. It was an unprovoked attack on our forces and has will not go unanswered. America has officially declared war with Japan. By extension, with Japan being allied with the Germans, you can make your own assumptions as to where the battle is going to eventually be.

American forces are mobilizing as we speak to take the fight to the Japanese. You lot, however, will not be a part of them."

He held up a hand to forestall the protest that was imminent on Niccolo's lips.

"You have more important things to deal with currently. Japan's attack came on orders from Marshal Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto. But we know for a fact that one of his chief advisers is a Templar agent. You can be damn sure that this was a move for power. The Templars are trying to eliminate any threats to their puppet's goals. They already own France and Poland, and are making an aggressive push for further expansion. They are systematically wiping out our Order country by country.

Regardless of the forces we can muster on American soil, we are still grossly outnumbered and outgunned. We need people to fight back. We need safe houses for our own operatives and soldiers in the field. This is going to be your first assignment together.

I'm deploying Strike Cell Six to Paris. Your mandate is twofold. Find those that are sympathetic to our cause and put guns in their hands. Start a resistance so we have some friendly faces in the region. The second, is to find the Templar agents in the region, and grant them peace using whatever means you see fit.

Transportation will be provided to you when you decide on the best course of action. I will tell you this though. Civilian attire on this. If you show up in uniform you wont even make it over the border without getting shot by the Germans. Equipment will be selected and arranged to follow you within reason. We don't yet have the resources to airdrop a tank for you.... I'm working on that.

Seeing as none of the three of you hold a senior rank within the Brotherhood, you will decide among yourselves on who leads this mission, and the other two members of the cell will obey the orders of your squad leader.

Questions?"

Fort Campbell, Kentucky
December 8th, 1941
Sergeant Arthur [CENSORED]

At the sight of the officer, and Edward’s emphatic call,  Arthur stood to attention and crisply saluted the man of higher rank. The man’s uniform was neatly pressed without a single crease to be found and he was clean-shaven, the man clearly took care in his appearance and how he presented himself. When they were put at ease Arthur went to seat himself he found that Inverni now occupied the last chair besides the one behind the officer’s desk. Granted, the man still looked somewhat taken aback by Violet’s flirtations, so Arthur decided on leaning against a wall not taken up by a bookcase or filing cabinets instead and listened intently as the officer, Major Kilian, he now knew, continued on with his spiel.

Most of what the Major had to say, Arthur had been expecting. Despite his own interest in the attack on Pearl Harbor and the rumours that the American government would be making a declaration of war on the Empire of Japan that very day, he had been aware of his transfer to Ghost for some time and had guessed they would be operating in Europe despite the sudden show of force by Japan. In addition, he looked forward to the opportunity and what their assignment entailed. Espionage and covert operations were his forte and the sense of satisfaction he held in being able to apply the skills he had spent the last few years developing in a way that would make a difference trumped whatever hesitations he may have had at that particular moment.

When Major Kilian had finished his briefing, Arthur quickly opened his mouth and spoke first.

“I am aware of what our mandate is and that we’re to be forming and assisting resistance efforts in Paris… but our objectives and mission purpose still seem rather narrow. What I mean to say is that if we’re behind enemy lines we would effectively be on our own, seeing as how it would be quite difficult to get communications to any allies back home. Am I to understand that we would have discretion to continue with and decide further operational objectives based on our own findings in Europe… sir?"

Fort Campbell, Kentucky
December 8th, 1941
Sergeant Niccolo Inverni



Major Kilian shifted his powerful gaze over to Arthur as he spoke. After the man was finished, he didn't wait a moment before answering.

"That's correct Sergeant. We will be all but cut off from you for an extended period of time. But this isn't the Brotherhood of old. An unprecedented amount of trust is being placed in the organizational and tactical skills of our field agents. So yes, it will be at your discretion to decide when, and what to act on until we have effectively set up a base of operations in your area of operation. You will use your assets as best as you can. Gather intelligence and remove complications -"

The door opened and Edward poked his head back in, nodding an apology to the Major. "Sorry to interrupt Sir, new orders from Headquarters." He said as he handed Kilian a sheet of paper.

"Thank you Lieutenant, that will be all."

When he was finished reading, his eyes flicked up and zeroed in on Corporal Robertson. "Seems there is a problem with your drug test results Corporal. You're being scratched from the Op for the time being. Get this cleared up and we will get you back on track. For the time being however, Inverni and Sanders will deploy together and start the mission without you. You will be briefed at a later date Corporal. Dismissed."

Violet looked a bit frazzled as she got up and left the room. Whether that be from knowledge of what was wrong or confusion over it, remained to be seen.

As the door shut, Kilian looked back to the remaining two men in the room. "I am sorry to cut down  the amount of tools you will both have for this mission, but I can't send a compromised agent with you on this. It's too important."

Nico blew out a cloud of smoke and flicked his cigarette to clear some ashes. The air coming from his mouth almost seemed like relief. "Good. A skirt would have just gotten in the way anyway. This means I am in charge right?"

Kilian narrowed his eyes at Niccolo and shook his head. "In light of circumstance Inverni, and your lack of... mental capacity, I am firmly placing Sergeant Sanders in command of the mission. You will follow his lead.

Let me reiterate here gentlemen. You will be cut off from us for an extended period of time. The weapons you choose to bring with you will have only as much ammunition as you can bring with you. We will get a supply line set up as soon as possible but if you run dry on supplies, it will be on you to scavenge or swap out whatever necessary. And while you do have operational freedom to succeed as you see fit, I must make it known that we don't have unlimited resources. Weapons, munitions, rations, gear and even personnel are in extremely limited supply. So while you will stay out there until the mission is complete, keep in mind that the sooner it gets completed, the better off we will be so we can move you on to the next assignment. Make no mistake here boys. There will always be a next assignment until the very end of the war.

Now. If there are no more questions, I suggest you both get over to supply to choose your load out and make travel arrangements. We can't put you on a troop transport ship obviously so get clever on how you are going in. Good luck gentlemen. Dismissed."

Nico adopted a serious look on his face and slipped the cancer stick back between his lips as he stood and looked at Art.

"So. Let's get one thing straight Sanders, I'm in charge, m'kay?" His eyes narrowed on Arthur to watch his reaction as he took a long pull from his cigarette. Before Art could respond however, the Major spoke up, almost nonchalantly as he gathered a few papers from the front desk.

"Sanders is in charge Nico. If you fuck this up, you're out of the Brotherhood."

Nico's eyes never left Art's face. Without missing a beat or opening his eyes from his focused look, he blew out another cloud of smoke and said.

"... So when do we leave Sarge?"