Assassin’s Creed: Civil War

My idea for a Civil War Assassin’s Creed game.

Background

Sages are humans with copious amounts of First Civilization DNA in their cells and can communicate with the First Civilization members. The First Civilization was an advanced ancient species of humans, that largely went extinct after a solar flare wiped them out. They had created the humans to serve them. Abstergo Industries classified the people of the First Civilization as Homo sapiens divinitus. Abstergo Industries is the modern day incarnation of the Templar Order, the historic enemies of the Assassins.

The Assassins and Templars themselves are organizations that stretch far back in time to the birth of the Roman Republic. The Templars had the goal of controlling people, and the Assassins had the goal of peace. However, as time went on, the Assassins developed as a response to the Templar desires and became interested in a far more dangerous goal, according to the Templars: Freedom.

The Assassins and Templars are known historically from their involvement in the Crusades — the Hashashin from the Middle East and the Knights Templar from Europe did interact and fight with each other, as depicted in the first Assassin’s Creed game, but as the Crusades came to a close, the orders did not. They continued to exist throughout history, throughout the American Civil War, and into the modern day.

Locations

The major locations featured will be Washington, DC; Richmond, Virginia; the Union; and the Confederacy. Each of these locations features different open world activities that can be completed aside from the main story of the game. The side activities are designed keeping in mind that they should somehow be relevant to the main character’s goal of helping the Union win the Civil War.

Side missions by location (just a few of the main activities):

• Washington, DC: Intercept Templars attempting to kill Abraham Lincoln, the President of the Union, hunt down and kill Confederate spies
• Richmond Virginia: Assassinate (fictional) Templars with influence in the Confederacy, steal/intercept information that is useful for the Union, and spy on Confederate meetings and conversations to learn of different side quest battles that the player can get involved in the Union or Confederacy open worlds
• The Union, a massive open world featuring famous locations: Fight in historic battles that are uncovered from spy missions in Richmond to defend the Union, attack Confederate scout/supply parties and gain resources
• The Confederacy, a massive open world featuring famous locations: Fight in historic battles to attack the South (information for these battles comes from Ulysses S. Grant), conquer plantations to capture resources for the Union that the Union is lacking, interrupt and destroy Confederate supply lines

Story

The Modern Day

The Assassins in 2016 are looking for a Sage’s body in America. A Sage whose name they don’t know and whose location they don’t know. All they know is that the Sage was alive during the American Civil War and interacted with Samuel Cates, an Assassin that had a very important impact on the outcome of the American Civil War, but went largely unrecorded in known history, and was only known in Assassin history thanks to General Ulysses S. Grant. But they have now found a man who is a descendant of Samuel Cates and has inherited Samuel Cates’ DNA, which contains memories — genetic memories (fiction, of course). The Assassins recruit him and seat him in an Animus (a machine that can read genetic memories) to re-enact Samuel Cates’ life through a dynamic open world. However, the Animus must read memories only in sequence, at least from an early stage in the ancestor’s conscious life (latest at around 24), otherwise the DNA can become unstable and induce a coma, or even death, for the host of the memories. And so they access the man’s genetic memories to go back and witness Samuel Cates’ life and find the Sage’s body.

Fort Sumter

Samuel Cates (fictional character) is a 22-year-old Assassin under the command of Major Anderson, his Assassin master and leader of the Union soldiers at Fort Moultrie, Virginia. With the increasing threat from the newly seceded pro-slavery South, Major Anderson decides that it is best for his unit to move to Fort Sumter, which is much more defensible. Although incomplete, Fort Sumter is still a much better fort to defend against Confederate soldiers than Fort Moultrie, especially due to its strategic location in Charleston Harbor. He had planned to make the move in secret, but a spy gave out the information to the Confederacy. When the Confederate soldiers fired on Fort Sumter, Cates tracked down the spy within Fort Sumter and assassinated him.

After 2 days of surviving heavy fire from the Confederates (after which Fort Sumter had not taken too much damage), Major Anderson received orders to surrender to the Confederates, rather than eventually be killed. Major Anderson obeyed orders, but ordered Cates to infiltrate the Confederate camp and steal whatever information he can from the Confederate camp, and then flee to Washington, DC. Cates does, and without reading the information, as it would be against Anderson’s orders, flees to Washington, DC, to report to the Assassin Mentor of the United States: Ulysses S. Grant (not yet a General).

Cates hands the information over to Grant without reading it and waits for Grant to tell him what’s happening. Grant promptly informs Cates that the Templars are searching for a new Piece of Eden and a Sage — a recipe for disaster.

“The Templars are sending multiple parties out throughout the United States, searching for the Sage and his Piece of Eden…They know more than us, and now they’re using this war as cover for their search…We need to know what they know and find what they’re looking for before they do.” — Ulysses S. Grant upon reading the information

Grant briefs Cates on his new mission: to find the Robert S. Garnett mentioned in the text of the information that Cates uncovered and learn what he knows, and then end his life. Cates accepts the mission and heads to Richmond, Virginia, the capital of the Confederacy, to learn of Garnett’s location.

Killing Robert S. Garnett

Cates reaches Richmond first by railroad and then on horseback through the Union and Confederacy. Once in Richmond, he infiltrates the White House of the Confederacy and eavesdrops on Jefferson Davis’ conversation with Robert E. Lee about a battle with Union troops at Rich Mountain. Garnett’s name is mentioned several times, so Cates makes the correct assumption that Garnett will be at Rich Mountain and begins his journey there.

Upon arrival at Rich Mountain, Cates discovers that the battle has already ended and that Garnett has taken his troops through a long and circuitous route, crossing many streams. It had been two days already, so Cates races after the Union and Confederate armies to hunt down Garnett and kill him. Alone, he is able to move much faster than one would be able to move in a large group at the group’s pace, so he catches up with the armies quickly.

He then pursues the Confederates on foot and infiltrates their lines. He kills a Confederate soldier and takes his uniform, and then marches over to Garnett where he pulls out his revolver and fires several rounds into Garnett. As Garnett dies, his dying words (fictional) are addressed to Cates whom he assumes is a Confederate soldier because of his clothing.

“Killed by my own man…how life treats its people. I left the Union to serve my leaders, the righteous government. When Virginia joined the Confederacy, I stayed loyal to my people. And now, I lie on my deathbed, speaking to my killer.” — Robert S. Garnett

When asked about the location of the Piece of Eden, Garnett replies:

“So you’re an Assassin. I should’ve known they would come after me. Of course Davis would set it up that way. I’m not important to him. I’m disposable. His betrayal will not go unavenged: The Sage has the Piece of Eden. The Businessman might know where the Sage is.” — Robert S. Garnett on his deathbed

As Garnett breathes his last breath, Cates whispers to him, “May your death be quieter than your life.”

Finding the Businessman

Cates manages to kill several Confederate soldiers and survive the ensuing battle. He then heads back to Washington, DC to report to Grant. Grant reveals that he doesn’t know anyone known as the Businessman, but that there is one Colonel in the Union army from New York that had once set up a small business in Virginia. His name is Erastus B. Tyler, and he’s in western Virginia with the 7th Ohio Volunteer Infantry (7th OVI). Cates immediately heads back to Virginia to find the Businessman.

When passing through Nicholas County through Kessler’s Lanes on August 26, Cates is surrounded by Union soldiers. He immediately attempts to make peace, identifies himself as a Union soldier, and says he has a personal message for Colonel Tyler from General Grant. Colonel Tyler steps forward and dismisses his troops. Cates asks Tyler for the Sage, and Tyler responds:

“I don’t want anything more to do with you Assassins and Templars. Leave me out of your battles.” — Erastus B. Tyler, upon hearing of Cates’ quest

Cates continues to prod Tyler, to which Tyler finally responds the following:

“I left for Virginia to set up my business to get away from the Assassin Order. I joined the fight in order to protect my business from the Confederacy. And now I find that the Assassins are infiltrating my new life too. Fine, I will help you. But then I shall be finished with the likes of you.” — Erastus B. Tyler

Colonel Tyler informs Cates that the Sage is John Wilkes Booth. Tyler doesn’t know where Booth is at the moment, but informs him that Booth will be in Chicago in January of 1862. As he prepares to leave, Brigadier General John B. Floyd of the Confederacy launches an attack on the 7th OVI. Cates, along with a few other men, holds back the majority of Floyd’s forces while the 7th OVI retreats to Carnifex Ferry.

Fighting for Grant

After this, Cates heads back to Washington, DC, to report to Grant, and receives orders to head to Chicago in January of 1862 to find Booth and bring back the Piece of Eden. But first, Grant requests the aid of Cates in Cairo, Illinois, where he is being stationed in command. Cates, somewhat amused, questions Grant as to why he chose to command Union forces.

“I once owned a slave. Now, I have vowed to spend the rest of my life redeeming myself by fighting for the freedom of the Negro slaves. In order to make a greater difference, I must command the Union, not just the Assassins.” — Ulysses S. Grant

Cates affirms Grants request, as he has no other missions for several months, and joins him in Cairo, Illinois, as Grant prepares for his first attack against the Confederates. He receives information from his spies that a Templar by the name of John Mark (fictional character) is residing in Belmont, Missouri, under the command of the Confederate Brigadier General Gideon J. Pillow. Grant informs him that this Templar has his name on the same piece of paper that was taken off of a spy that attempted to kill Abraham Lincoln. Cates and Grant come to the conclusion that he needs to be assassinated.

While Grant launches an offensive against the camp, Cates uses the ensuing Battle of Belmont as cover to infiltrate the camp and assassinate John Mark. On his deathbed, John Mark says:

“I joined the Confederacy to protect my slaves. When your idiot President Lincoln was elected, he said he would free the slaves of the United States. I couldn’t stand for this. So I joined the Confederacy to kill Lincoln. The irony is, Lincoln has killed me.” — John Mark

Following the Battle of Belmont, Grant decides that it would be most appropriate to retreat from the battle since Pillow has been reinforced from Columbus. However, the mission bolsters the morale of Grant’s troops. At this point, Cates bids Grant farewell and heads to Chicago to scout out the city before John Wilkes Booth arrives.

Hunting the Sage

When John Wilkes Booth arrives in Chicago, Cates is already acquainted with the city. He waits until the last day of Booth’s performances in Chicago, and then makes his move.

After stalking Booth for many days, Cates finally tails him to a graveyard on his last day and attempts to assassinate him. However, Booth detects him and pulls out his Piece of Eden — revealed to be an Apple of Eden — and creates an illusion of a wall in front of Cates’ face. Booth then says:

“Leave me alone, boy. Fight for what you believe in, but leave me be…Do you want to know what I fight for? I fight for freedom. Freedom from this tyrannical government of ours. Freedom from the Templars, and freedom from the Assassins.” — John Wilkes Booth

John Wilkes Booth then uses the power of the Apple of Eden to knock out Cates. When Cates returns to consciousness, he curses and returns to Washington, DC, where he is informed that Grant is still in Virginia, preparing to march on Fort Henry. Cates heads to Virginia to report his mission results and assist Grant.

The Battle of Fort Henry

It is raining heavily when he arrives on the night of February 6. Grant greets him hastily, but has no time for his information at the moment because he is currently in the middle of organizing a major military operation. He quickly briefs Cates on the situation, saying that he has two forces landed and a navy all attacking the fort. Due to the rain, the landed forces cannot stage an attack on the fort, though, so the navy has to deal with it themselves. Grant allows Cates to rest through the night due to his exhaustion of travelling all day.

The next day, Grant wakes up Cates early in the morning to survey the battle. At around 12:30 PM, the navy begins a heavy bombardment in formation around Fort Henry. Soon, Grant receives word that the Brigadier General in the fort, Lloyd Tilghman, is refusing to surrender, so Cates decides to infiltrate the fort. At around 1:30 PM, he does so, and from cover, assaults Tilghman and threatens him with death if he doesn’t surrender. Tilghman obeys and 15 minutes later, Grant’s navy ships dock in the fort and Cates returns to Grant.

When he finally informs Grant of his mission, Grant, unfazed, provides information as to Booth’s location in January of 1863: Boston. He also provides information as to how to combat the Apple of Eden: stay strong in mind.

But first, Cates stays with Grant throughout the year, fighting battles with him and convincing him to stay in the army when he is temporarily relieved from command. Then, on October 25 of 1862, Grant assumes command of the District of Tennessee, and, once Lincoln releases his preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, Cates helps him incorporate former slaves into the Union army, almost turning around the entire war with the reinforcements that the Union army is now receiving.

Taking the Apple of Eden

In December of 1862, Cates heads to Boston, this time more prepared to face the Apple of Eden. When he arrives, he immediately scouts out the city and in January, when Booth arrives, immediately attacks him. When Booth attempts to use his Apple of Eden against Cates, Cates, using willpower alone, stays ahead of the illusions of Booth and manages to knock the Piece of Eden out of his hand. He leaves the Sage in Boston and recovers the Apple of Eden, but not before Booth has a chance to speak.

“John Floyd still has some Templar friends, you know. He’s going to kill your friend, ah…what was his name…oh yes, Tyler. He’s going to die. By the end of this year.” — John Wilkes Booth upon having the Apple of Eden taken away from him

Cates races to Washington, DC, where General Grant is at the moment. But Grant isn’t at the Bureau, as Cates thought he would be, but actually at the White House. As soon as he arrives to the Bureau, an Assassin communicates Grant’s summons to him and Cates heads to the White House, where he meets President Abraham Lincoln. Cates tentatively asks why Abraham Lincoln is still fighting, to which Lincoln replies:

“Freedom and control. We must free the slaves and control the South. And because I ran for President, it’s my duty to make sure this happens.” — President Abraham Lincoln

Afterwards, Cates reveals his acquirement of the Apple of Eden to Grant. Grant looks at it in admiration, but then reveals the need for Cates to keep it and head to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania to fight Robert E. Lee. When asked by Cates why Grant himself can’t go, Grant replies:

“I must stay to fight in the rest of the United States. But we cannot defeat Robert E. Lee without you.” — Ulysses S. Grant when asked why he wouldn’t fight Robert E. Lee in Gettysburg

The Battle of Gettysburg

Cates arrives late to the Battle of Gettysburg, on July 3 instead of July 1 or 2. He doesn’t even meet with the Generals before charging into battle. He heads straight towards the Union line on Cemetery Ridge, where over 12,000 Confederate infantry had the Union bogged down behind cover.

Cates then uses the Apple of Eden to force the Confederates to attack the Union. Terrified as over twelve thousand Confederates attack them, the Union soldiers fire their artillery and rifles at the enemy, taking numerous casualties. After this, as Robert E. Lee is regrouping, Cates infiltrates the Confederate camp and attempts to assassinate Lee, however, he is discovered and held at gunpoint, when Lee says the following:

“I never wanted to fight the Union. But I chose to defend Virginia, the rightful government, because it chose freedom. It chose freedom from tyranny. Freedom from Abraham Lincoln, the tyrant.” — Robert E. Lee

Cates then uses the Apple of Eden to temporarily confuse all the Confederates and make his escape from the Confederate camp. But the entire time, all he can wonder is if Lee is right. If Abraham Lincoln really is a tyrant, a power-hungry control freak.

The Death of John B. Floyd

He doesn’t have much time to think about it though, as he runs to Brigadier General Erastus B. Tyler to make sure that now-former-Brigadier General John B. Floyd hasn’t attacked yet. Cates quickly informs Tyler of the supposed threat on his life, and Tyler suggests that Cates poison Floyd just in case.

“Even if he doesn’t kill me, there will be room for my business to grow.” — Erastus B. Tyler

Although he is appalled, Cates does poison Floyd so as to not run the risk, and then returns to Washington, DC.

The Overland Campaign of 1864

Cates mostly assists with Grant’s overland campaign against Robert E. Lee throughout all of 1864, and is largely the reason that Lee finally surrenders. But throughout 1864, Cates increasingly questions Lincoln’s actions, to the point where he and Grant have open arguments about it in public.

The Attempted Assassination of Jefferson Davis

In February of 1865, Grant obtains a permit from Abraham Lincoln to assassinate Jefferson Davis, the leader of the Confederacy. Grant then orders Cates to go to Richmond, Virginia and kill Jefferson Davis.

Once in Richmond, Cates seeks out Jefferson Davis and waits for the perfect opportunity to strike Jefferson Davis down. He finds the opportunity at the beginning of March, when he is able to infiltrate the Confederate President’s bedroom. He attempted to stab Jefferson Davis in the neck with his hidden blade, but pulls back at the last second when Davis started talking.

“When I received the results of the election that voted me the President of the Confederate States of America, I had the decision of saying yes or no. I said yes, not because I wanted control or power, but because I wanted freedom. Freedom from the tyranny of the Union. Freedom from the tyranny of Abraham Lincoln. Kill me if you must, but then kill him too.” — Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy

Finding the Sage and the Assassination of Lincoln

Jefferson Davis manages to change Cates’ mind. He uses the Apple of Eden to seek out the Sage. He finds Booth in New York, and creates a temporary allegiance with him. On April 14, 1865, they infiltrate Ford’s Theater together. Cates and Booth both shoot Lincoln down and escape.

Cates and Booth together hide in Richard Garret’s farm in Virginia, until the authorities track them down. While in the barn, the soldiers set the barn on fire. Cates refuses to hand over the Apple of Eden, or even use it, when Booth asks for it, because it is far too powerful and Cates doesn’t want to misuse it. Booth says that he needs the Apple and raises his weapon to shoot Cates. The Apple is inside Cates’ bag on his back, though, so he can’t do anything about it.

Suddenly, a shot rings out and Booth falls to the ground, limp. Cates looks over and sees a crack in the wall from which the muzzle of a rifle is pointing towards him. He ducks as another shot whizzes towards him, and realizes that he needs the Apple. He pulls it out and uses it, then escapes from the barn past all the soldiers.

Hiding the Apple and Return to the Modern Day

Cates takes on a new identity and at the funeral of John Wilkes Booth, carefully slips a bag containing the Apple of Eden into the coffin of Booth. Though Booth has burned alive and his DNA can no longer be used by the Assassins in the modern day, the Apple can be found. They move to get the Apple and use it for their own purposes against the Templars.