Contract 2: The meeting

'Damn it...' Ayane thought to herself, 'of all the places it had to be a sewer' the smell was enough to knock her out and make her lose her lunch, which wasn't much, but she knew the dangers of meeting in the open. Here at least the most quietist sound would be heard if you listened hard enough while in the open Assassins and spies could easily listen into your conversation and you wouldn't know of it, also the dangers of getting killed was much higher in the open.

Ayane went to the predestined time of midnight in the sewer, she was meeting with two or three other Templars to discuss plans about what is going to happen in the future, she didn't know what the Italian branch had in mind but her mission from her clan was to aid said branch in whatever endeavour they request no matter how stupid or foolhardy it was...Ayane was spiteful of this but she listened to her clan's order with no questions asked.

Now she waited for the other three Templars to arrive and it better be soon or they'll find a dagger to their stomach if they are even so much as a minute late.

The Templars arrived with the utmost discreetion they could manage. They walked in a scattered pattern, trying to look as casual as possible in order to remove anyone from their tail.
"We are here." Spoke the one at the head of the group of three. He signalled to the others who finished examining a stack of nearby barrels for any eavesdroppers. "Do you have the other set of plans with you?" He asked, drawing an old and tattered manuscript from his robe.

Arata was hidden inside one of the sewage tunnels, a good few meters away, since it was dark, no one would see him through the shadows, he was backed up against the wall of the tunnel, he had been given this mission by a contact, for quite a lot of money, so it was only natural he'd accept, he listened carefully for any voices, also, the entrance to the tunnel was a bit thinner than the actual tunnel, which meant that Arata could bunch up in the corner and not be seen.

He kept his ears peeled for any sound, which would obviously be heard, as these tunnels echoed a lot, which meant he was in a good position for eavesdropping.

"Yes I do" Ayane said taking out a similar manuscript and holding it up, she had been given this before the meeting by her contact, he told her that it would be needed for the meeting. She didn't know what it contained and personally she couldn't give an arse what the plan was about as long as it helped the Templars in some way, she didn't mind getting her hands dirty, in fact she's always got her hands dirty since she was a child. Helping her father execute Assassins and spies, she enjoyed it and she would enjoy more of this deception and treachery that is Rome.

"Good. Then we will proceed to the meeting place." The Templar grinned, his beard tickling his chest as he looked down slightly. "Then we can discuss our plans for the Assassin Brotherhood!"
The dim light from the moon through a grille cast an eerie shadow on the Templar's face, making him seem like a devil in disguise.
He stepped forward, his footsteps splashing in the sewer water for every step he took. The meeting room was through a concealed but partially broken wooden door. In the meeting room were 8 chairs and one round, wooden table with four candles set in the centre of it. The other Templar Agents followed.

Arata listened sharply, he had heard that the Templars had something planned for the Assasin Brotherhood, this was bad, and at the same time interesting, he had to find out what else was going on, he waited for them to enter the room, and after the last one entered he would sneak around towards the door, using the shadows as cover to keep him concealed, which was why, at the moment he was dressed completely in black, he hid next to the door and tried to listen out for any lines on what could happen, he was going to mentally note everything they say, and that was of great importance, as he was going to be payed a lot for this mission.

Ayane followed the three Templars to the room making sure to look behind her at random intervals to see if anyone was following them, it would be bad to see if someone was following them and then to have them overheard the meeting was really bad. Before she closed the door she laid out a trap so that if someone was to come near the door then she would know since it was connected to her finger which would be tugged, after that she then sat down and asked, "So what do you have in mind?" she asked.

All four Templar Agents took a seat, the main one stroking his beard. Once he made sure the door was completely closed, he took out the sheet of plans from his ribe and placed it flat on the table. It was a map of Rome, with crosses drawn all over it.
"Bonfires of the Vanities..." He chuckled, his face glimmering in the flickering lights of the 4 candles. "We burn those who dare defy us at these select locations and then when Assassins come to rescue the victims, we can capture them as only one will be able to go to each oocation. You see, I have selected around 20 locations to burn people at the same time. If they don't manage to save the victim, they'll have to live with the guilt and this may at least weaken their brotherhood."
The other three Templars chuckled, rubbing their hands together.

Arata smirked, backing away from the door, almost to the other side of the sewer, he could hear just fine due to the echo, he was slightly shocked, so they planned on burning people and capturing the Assassins who came to save them, that was a rather sick move, and they all deserved to die in his opinion, he continued to listen out for any key points, if he could get quite a lot of information and leave, he could quickly divise a counterattack with his Assassin brothers.

"20 locations?" Ayane asked, "isn't that a lot?" true they would be able to disperse the Brotherhood this way by breaking them apart and they did have the manpower to effectively guard all 20 locations but...she had a feeling that something will go wrong here, something that will effect the Templars power...she didn't know what but she didn't like it and 20 locations seemed to be just a bit too much in her opinion. She knew of stories where villagers had been massacred to demoralise a city but she had also herad of stories where said massacres only further to strengthen the city.

She sat forward and said, "Are you sure this will work? Will the people not cry out against this injustice? The Brotherhood could use this event to further bolster their ranks and that would be bad for us."

"Then we can reduce it to 10 locations. What do you think is a reasonable number?" The Templar asked, stroking his beard before leaning back in his creaky chair and touching the tips of the fingers of each of his hands together ehile resting his elbows on the armrests of the chair. When he heard the question about a rebellion being possible, he lifted a finger to shake.

"No, because they will quickly realise if that they rebel, they too will be burnt. Anyone and everyone that does not follow the Order of the Templars will lose their lives. All of Rome will be forced to repent. Granted, it is a large city, but if we can take it, we effectively have the Pope under our thumb. Italy will be ours again."

Arata listened up, preparing to memorize the 10 locations if they were to speak of them, it seemed they lowered the number from 20 to 10, this should be interesting, it seems they are running the way of tyranny, and that, isn't honorable, Arata was certainly going to try and form a counterattack with his Assassin brethren against these fascists, it seems they are also trying to overthrow the ruler, this became a lot more interesting, it seemed that they also want to put Italy in their possession, this would not bode well with the Assassins.

He continued to listen out for more, all while keeping his cool and keeping quiet, learning the stealth skills his father taught him when learning Ninjitsu

Ayane nodded, "10 seems to be a reasonable number but we may need to be on our best vigilance, the Brotherhood is not to be trifled with...I have seen my share of samurais and damioys who have fallen prey to the Brotherhood's tactics, but is the Pope truly willing to work with us even if we have taken Rome under our grip? I do not doubt the influence the Italian branch has on the Pope but..." she spread her hand out, "men are fickle beings and sometimes even the best of plans fall apart...oh I might also suggest that we do not speak of the locations here, send us a letter or something...in case a rat may be nearby" she warned her comrades.

"Of course. But even if this fails, another plan shouldn't be too hard to think up." The Templar chucked, picking up the paper and turning it over. He took out a quill pen from his ribes and dipped the end in the flame of the candke for hakf a second before writing. This apwould allow the ink to flow freely across the paper.
A few locations written, he handed the paper, folded, to his contact.
"Those are my suggestions." He spoke before pushing his chair back to stand up. He clicked his fingers, signalling the other three Templars he came with here to stand up and they did so.
"We execute it next week, is that clear?"

Arata backed well away and went into the darkness of the sewage tunnel, hiding behind the entrance and bundled up in a corner out of sight, it was close to the exit of the meeting place, he noted that they must have given the note to someone, which meant that he would need to get it, if he wanted any chance of protecting those who lived in the villages, he waited for his moment to strike, when the contact passed, he had a plan on ambushing her and holding her hostage, if this failed, he'd have to tell his brethren to keep watch attentively on the villages and their people.

Ayane took the note and memorised it before burning the paper, "Understood...next week it is then but you might want to be careful especially as the day of execution comes...the Brotherhood may be protecting these people" she then got up and opened the door pleased that no one had tripped her alarm. She then went out and looked around before gesturing to the others to come, she still needed to be on high alert in case an Assassin was nearby.

"I'll come with you." The Templar smiled as he picked up the quill from the desk and stowed it in his robes. He then placed his hand on the hilt of a concealed blade. Left the room with the other Templar, asking his three "bodyguards" to follow in which they did so, swords visibke as they drew them from their sheaths.
The sewer was still dark and smelly, but one of the Templars picked up one of the candles from the table and followed with it - the other hand used to hold his weapon.

Arata hid in the corner of the tunnel entrance, waiting for the bearded templar to pass, since he is the one who thought of the plan and executed the orders, he must be of some form of importance to these fascists, he waited before he swiped him and placed his hand over his mouth, his hand with his concealed blade, if the man made any sudden movement, he wouldn't be afraid to slice his tongue up with the blade, even if the soldiers saw, they would be in a stalemate, as Arata now had a hostage, he brought his Katana to the bearded man's neck.

"Now, what you're going to do, is give me the papers to those locations, and your beardy fascist friend will still have his head, otherwise I'm sure you know what I'm going to do." he spoke in perfect Italian, his Japanese accent still present, signifying his origins, his smirking expression invisible through his black balaclava, a standard ninja clothing to conceal one's facial feutures, he was also wearing standard black ninja clothing, and since the tunnels were rather dark and he was hiding in the shadows the whole time, seeing him was near impossible.

Ayane was angry at herself that she allowed such an important person get captured, 'It seems I wasn't careful enough' she thought to herself but she noticed the Japanese accent and she laughed at it before saying in perfect Japanese, "you foolish shinobi...did you really think the death of one person will affect our Order? If so then it seems I was mistaken and the Assassins of Japan are more foolish than I thought...as to the papers, I already burned it as soon as I memorised it...now release the man and I might let you live...if not...then you know what will happen" she took a longsword from one the guards and twirled it around before placing the point on the ground which resounded with a 'clang.'

The two Templars and Assassin had probably not counted on one thing that the Templars had told his subordinates - if he was ever captured, he was to be attacked as well as the hostage if possible. After all, he had a trick up his sleeve to get him out of situations like this.
The templar carrying the flickering candle placed it on the sewer floor, away from any puddles of water. He then got into position, placing both hands on the sword he held. The other two also did the same, but lining up shoulder to shoulder with the candle-carrier.
They all leapt forward with a roar, blades swinging viciously at the captured Templar and the Assassin behind. The captured templar also took this opportunity to use his drawn sword, to swing it behind himself and hopefully cutting the Assassin in the process.

This was an almost perfect plan for the Templars, since if the Assassin tried to kill him, they would be able to kill the Assassin.

Arata smirked, "Aiho, then you will tell me." Arata smirked, suddenly they began to attack, Arata took the captured templar's arm before he could unsheath his sword and put him in an armbar, pushing his elbow which should splinter and break his arm, before he pushed the injured Templar forwards and backed off quickly, taking out the rusty knife and throwing it at one of the attacking templars, which they should perform traitory by killing their boss, since Akira had backed off out of reach of their swords, but not of their leader, "Jigoku de fashisuto sokonai shinu." He spoke with a smirk, if they had attacked their leader, it probably would have distracted them, so he quickly swung his rather long Katana through the air, which should behead the leader and those who just attacked him, if not they'd have their throat sliced, Akira had a plan now, since there wasn't any way of getting out of this, he turned and ran as fast as he could through the tunnel, looking for the ladder of which he got in.

Luckily the sword didn't hit the leader or the bodyguards but Ayane immediately pursued the Assassin, no doubt he would know about their plans now and she could not have that, 'I will ensure that you have a quick death shinobi...if only to make it easier' she thought to herself as she tried to catch up to Arata and prepared to fight him to the death though she wondered what a shinobi from Japan would be doing in Italy.

Arata jumped onto the ladder, quickly scaling it before pushing up on the manhole cover to open it, hoisting himself up quickly before kicking the grate shut behind him, fleeing in a different direction to try and elude his pursuers, he was not going to be captured by Templars, he wouldn't allow that.
Arata continued to run through the streets, going into the thin alleyways, taking numerous directions.

Ayane climbed up the the ladder but by the time that she had gotten up Arata had escaped, "Damn it" she exclaimed, now the Assassin knew of the plan but not of the location thankfully...she would have to deal with that on a later date but for now she would have to make sure that the Templars are okay.

MISSION COMPLETE