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September 10, 1813; Off the coast of Put-in-Bay, Ohio

“This is idiotic…” Arnold complained to his friends.

“We have to do this,” Aveza said, focusing on keeping the Aquila’s wheel steady.

“That doesn’t change the fact that this is bloody idiotic, my dear.”

“Oh, always such a worry wart, aren’t you?” she joked, though deep down, she held the same concerns as him.

“As much as I share your concerns, Arnold,” Connor added, “I’m afraid Aveza is right. The Americans have had a hold on Lake Erie for too long. It’s interfering with the supply lines of both the British and Tecumseh’s men. And ever since they put Oliver Hazard Perry in charge of the lake’s naval vessels, the Templars have been in charge here as well. Our odds may be slim, but we have to at least try and reclaim the territory.”

“And kill Perry too,” Aveza added.

“That would certainly help.”

Arnold nodded, albeit reluctantly. Aveza kept the ship steady, lost in her own thoughts. They were about to enter enemy territory with almost all odds against them. The British forces were ill-prepared and only had six ships on the lake compared to the Americans’ nine. The Aquila made seven, but that still wasn’t enough to match up in numbers. Really, the only advantage they had now was that their side held the weather gauge, though unfortunately Aveza could sense the wind changing against them as well. But she knew, they all knew, that Lake Erie was of great strategic value in the war. Whoever controlled the lake gained the upper hand. And she would not allow the Templars to win one over on them again.

The Aquila creaked and moaned as it tore through the waves at full sail. The Assassins could already hear the muffled sounds of cannon fire in the distance, and it wasn’t long before the sounds were accompanied by the sight of rising smoke that turned morning into night. As the warring ships came into view through the smoke and over the horizon, Connor turned to address his allies.

“Remember,” he said to them, “Our main priority is taking back the lake. If you get a chance at Perry, take him out, but don’t go chasing him down.”

“Got it,” Aveza and Arnold agreed.

The ship tore through the waves, and it wasn’t long before the crew was unloading her cannons and taking aim at the Americans. It was only a matter of receiving the order from Aveza.

The Americans were surprised by the arrival of a new enemy vessel, but they were quick to reorganize and turn their cannons in the Assassins’ direction.

“Brace!” Aveza shouted to the crew as one of the enemy ships let their cannons roar. Everyone on the ship ducked for cover as the cannonballs shrieked above them and took chunks out of the Aquila’s hull. Once the attack was over and the Americans started reloading, Aveza gave the order to return fire. The Aquila’s broadsides roared as they unleashed hell upon their foes. It wasn't enough to bring them down, but it certainly did a fair amount of damage.

Aveza turned the wheel and started veering back towards her allies, who were happy for the assistance. She wanted to get a better view of what she was dealing with.

She pulled out her spyglass after handing Connor the wheel and scanned the enemy ships for Perry. Eventually, she found him captaining a brig called the Lawrence. She couldn't help but notice his battle flag waving high on the mast. A blue background embroidered with white letters spelling out “Don't give up the ship”.

Aveza would've smiled if she wasn't focused on the battle raging all around them. The words on the flag were some of the last spoken by the rotten Templar she'd killed back in June, James Lawrence. An old friend of Perry, if she remembered correctly. Perhaps she'd get the chance to reunite them. She put down her spyglass and reclaimed the wheel from her mentor.

“Over there,” she said, pointing at the Lawrence and maneuvering the Aquila towards it. “Perry's captaining that one.”

“Focus your fire there then,” said Connor. “If we take out their flagship, there's a chance they'll surrender.”

Aveza nodded and turned the ship towards the Lawrence. The crew had reloaded the cannons, and so they let out another round of ammunition towards the enemy. And thankfully, most of the cannonballs found their mark. They braced for a counterattack and fired back when the guns were reloaded once again. The other British ships seemed to catch onto their strategy, and focused the majority of their fire on the Lawrence as well.

“Fire!” Aveza shouted again, and with one final attack, the Lawrence became incapacitated. The crew of the Aquila cheered. The other American ships veered back a bit upon realizing their flagship was lost, but they kept fighting. Aveza found their stubbornness a tad obnoxious.

“Your orders, captain?” Arnold asked her.

Aveza pulled out her spyglass again and looked over the now-wrecked ship. A good chunk of the crew was dead or wounded, and the surviving few dozen were fiddling with every remaining cannon trying to find one that worked. When they found none, they held their hands up in surrender and waved a few white flags. Aveza smiled.

“They're giving up,” she said. “Bring her in close, men! Prepare to board!”

The crew gladly prepared to do so as Aveza maneuvered the Aquila towards the Lawrence, narrowly avoiding a few rounds of cannon fire from the remaining American ships.

The Aquila dropped anchor right next to the Lawrence, and the crew quickly got to work on securing the two with ropes and hooks. Aveza let go of the wheel and ran across the deck with Arnold and Connor at her side. The three Assassins leapt over to the other ship's deck, expecting to meet the survivors and deal with them appropriately.

But to their surprise, they didn't find anyone living aboard when they got there. The deck was just a landscape of broken and burnt wood, torn ropes and sails, and punctured corpses. There was no sign of Perry or his crewmen.

“Where the devil…?” Arnold said frantically.

Suddenly, there was a splash in the water nearby, barely detectable over the roar of cannons from the battle, but still distinct. The Assassins rushed to the edge of the ship to find the source. And sure enough, there was Perry holding his battle flag as his crewmen rowed a small boat through the chaos of the battle in the direction of another enemy vessel, the Niagara. Aveza cursed.

“Too late, Assassins!” Perry called to them with a smirk. “You'll not claim my life today!”

Aveza immediately looked around and then started running to the other side of the ship.

“What are you doing?” Connor called to her.

“You two get back to the Aquila!” she called back. “I can reach Perry!”

“Wait!” Arnold called, but she didn't listen. She was already on the stern of the ship. She hopped up onto the edge and grabbed a hanging rope. She used her hidden blade to slice it and then leapt forward. The rope thankfully held her weight and her momentum carried her across the raging water and she landed right onto Perry's rowboat, which dipped a little upon receiving the new weight. Perry immediately drew his sword. Aveza grabbed her tomahawk.

“Mr. Perry, I presume?” she said with as much sarcasm as she could muster in this situation. The waves were throwing them all around, and even worse, there were fiery cannonballs flying all around them from both sides of the battle. It would be a miracle if they didn't get hit in the crossfire.

“You!” Perry shouted. “You're the savage that killed James!”

“You ask me, he was the savage, you Templar dog!”

She swung her blade hard at him. He brought up his sword and countered the blow. Aveza ducked as he swung hard at her and missed. They exchanged blows over and over, each trying not to lose their balance on this tiny, unstable boat. The other crewmen seemed to want to help their captain, but Perry motioned for them to just keep rowing. Aveza swung at him again, but only managed to graze his cheek.

“Why do you keep resisting us?” Perry asked bitterly as they fought.

“Because you're all a bunch of arrogant tyrants,” Aveza responded, punctuating her answer with another swing.

“Tyrants? We can save these lands! And yours too if you'd all just lay down your arms!”

“And let you all take us over and rob us of our culture in place of your own arrogant ways? Never.”

“Under our rule, all will be orderly!”

“Orderly, but soulless! You'd rob us of our liberty simply because you believe yourselves better than everyone else!”

“We are better!”

“No you're not! No one is!”

They swung hard at each other again. Aveza took aim at his skull with a shout, but he brought his sword up and blocked the attack. Then, seeing an opportunity, he pushed hard against her and sent her stumbling backwards and falling into the sea.

She gasped for breath as she surfaced a moment later and looked all around. Perry's boat was already rowing out of her reach, and he mockingly laughed at her as he pulled away.

“Damn!” she swore to herself. She looked all around until she laid eyes on the Aquila, which she saw was coming towards her. She swam towards it as it sailed towards her.

The crew lowered a rope for her to climb onto, and they hoisted her up onto the deck. Connor and Arnold rushed up to her.

“Bastard threw me overboard,” she said as she got her bearings.

“Oh you mean you weren't just going for a lovely swim?” Arnold sarcastically said. She fixed him with a look.

Connor decided it was time for him to enter the conversation. “You shouldn't have gone after Perry like that. It was too risky.”

“I know… Sorry Mentor…”

“It's alright. At least you're safe. Come on, let's get back to the wheel. The British aren't faring well and it's only a matter of time before-”

But he was cut off by a new, booming sound that filled the atmosphere: the sound of mortar fire. The Assassins looked up, and their eyes widened when they saw dozens of flaming cannonballs raining down in their direction.

“Brace!” Connor called to the crew, and everyone on the ship ducked for cover.

When the sky stopped raining fire, Aveza ran over to the edge of the ship and pulled out her spyglass. As far as she knew, none of the Americans’ ships in this fleet had mortars that powerful. A new ship must've sailed onto Lake Erie. It wasn't long before she found it.

It was a sloop-of-war. A formidable vessel with blood-red sails embroidered with a Templar cross and wolf patterns to match its vicious-looking figurehead. It unleashed another round of mortar shots at the Aquila, and several of the cannonballs made their mark. The Assassins stumbled across the deck as the ship shook upon impact. Aveza swore and took another look through her spyglass. Specifically, she looked at the name of the newcomer. Her jaw dropped and her eyes widened.

“Oh my god…” she said. “It’s the Morrigan!”

“What?” said Connor in surprise.

“It’s the bloody Morrigan!”

“I thought the Assassins sunk her back in ‘68,” Arnold said, equally surprised.

“They rebuilt Fort Arsenal after the Great Fire. I don’t see why they wouldn’t have rebuilt their famed flagship as well.”

“Fair point…”

Aveza pocketed her spyglass and sprinted for the wheel, calling for full sails and maneuvering the Aquila out of mortar range.

As the Aquila turned, Aveza caught a glimpse of how badly her allies were faring. The two main vessels of the fleet, the Detroit and the Queen Charlotte, had lost control after the enemy had ripped apart their rigging, and the two collided. The broken ropes had tangled them together, and the crew was clearly struggling to fix it. The Morrigan saw her opportunity and her crew brought the ship around to blow holes into the sides of the ships. They didn’t sink them, but they definitely incapacitated them. Two British ships, the Chippeway and the Little Belt, tried to come in and help their allies, but the Templar flagship ripped them apart as well and the American forces were already moving in to capture them.

The last bit of hope of recapturing the lake now laid only on the Aquila, a brig called the Hunter, and a schooner called the Lady Prevost. The odds seemed impossible. The Americans still had their eight ships intact after losing the Lawrence. And now they were back to nine with the addition of the Morrigan. Aveza clenched her jaw in anger. They were destined to lose here, and she hated it. Tecumseh and their other allies up north were counting on them to clear this route and get the supply lines open again. But there was no way they could do it. It was simply impossible.

“What do we do, my dear?” Arnold asked.

She thought about it as she watched the enemy cannons move in their direction. “We fight,” she said, determined.

“Aveza…”

“I know we won't win this battle, Arnold. I know. But I want to come out of this knowing we sent at least one of those bastards to the seabed.”

Arnold opened his mouth to speak, then decided against it and stood by his friend's side as she gripped the wheel tight.

“Focus fire on the Morrigan!” she shouted to the crew. “If we sunk her once, we can do it again!”

The crew cheered her determination and readied the broadsides and swivels to fire at the enemy. Connor stepped forward and added his own bit of inspiration to the crew. “Take no quarter, men!” he shouted. “And give none neither!”

Aveza ordered an open fire at the Morrigan once the guns were aligned. The cannonballs hit their mark, but barely did anything due to the ship's heavy armor on its hull. The Templar flagship returned fire, and the Aquila shook as it was pelted. The crew braced just in time to avoid any serious damage from the grapeshot of a nearby schooner, and kept on unleashing hell upon their foes.

Suddenly though, the Lady Prevost and the Hunter stopped dead in the water as a round of chain shot tore down their masts. The Assassins looked over at the source, and their hearts sank. Yet another enemy ship had arrived onto the lake. The Niagara. Aveza pulled out her spyglass, and her heart sank further when she laid eyes on the captain: Oliver Hazard Perry. He looked ready to leap back into the fight and seemed determined to win.

She swore under her breath. She looked over at the Morrigan, then at the approaching Niagara, then again at the Morrigan. With a shout, she aggressively turned the wheel so that the sails filled with as much wind as possible. Connor and Arnold had to grip the rails to avoid falling over with the sharp turn. The Aquila lunged forward, and barreled directly towards the Morrigan.

“Are you mad?” Arnold cried. “You're not actually doing what I think you're doing, are you?”

“Are you thinking that I'm ramming the Morrigan and boarding her in hopes of sinking the bloody Templar dogs aboard?”

“I knew I should've stayed home today…”

Aveza smiled a bit at him before once again returning her attention to ramming the enemy. The winds thrusted the Aquila closer, and closer, until…

CRASH!

The crew stumbled as the two ships collided. Everyone quickly regained their balance though and they quickly scrambled to grab the boarding hooks and secure them to the Morrigan.

The three captaining Assassins grabbed their weapons and sprinted to the side of the ship. Aveza grabbed her tomahawk and leapt the gap between the decks of the ships. Arnold and Connor landed right beside them. The Templars were scrambling to grab weaponry and counter, but the Assassins managed to take out a few already.

Aveza hacked open a few sailors before drawing her pistols and blasting holes in a few more. She dropped her empty guns and drew her father's sword, using it to slice her way across the deck.

But as she danced across the battlefield, she was suddenly interrupted by a large object slamming into her face and sending her falling backwards. She looked up after shaking off the sudden dizziness and gasped as she saw a large man with an axe, an axe that he was about to swing down onto her head.

She thought fast. The ongoing chaos around her thankfully worked to her advantage, as a dead sailor dropped his loaded pistol when he fell. The gun landed right next to her. While her first instinct was to just shoot the man standing above her, something caught her eye that made her change her plan. A huge hole had been torn open in the floorboards nearby, revealing fresh powder kegs on the level below. Aveza smiled as she grabbed the flintlock at lightning speed and fired at the kegs behind her would-be executioner. The deck was suddenly ripped open by the explosion, and everyone, the Assassins, the Templars, all of them, we sent flying. Aveza quickly got up from the now-flaming deck and regained her bearings.

“Aveza!” she heard Connor call to her. She looked over and saw him and Arnold making their way back to the Aquila. “Come on!” he pleaded. “The flames are going to spread to the other powder kegs at this rate. This ship is going to explode! Hurry!”

Aveza didn't hesitate. She sprinted across the deck of the Morrigan, leaping over flames and dead bodies, avoiding the chunks of shrapnel that rained down from above.

She leapt over to the deck of the Aquila just as it was pulling away. The crew managed to get the ship clear just in time before the Morrigan’s remaining powder kegs were licked by flames and exploded with a roar. The Templar flagship was torn in two by the series of explosions, and it began to dip away into the lake water, never to be seen again.

The Assassins and their crew cheered.

“We pulled it off!” Arnold said, hugging Aveza as she laughed in victory. The three Assassins returned to the wheel.

“Perhaps now the Americans will begin to have second thoughts about the battle,” Connor said hopefully. Unfortunately, those hopes were dashed when a couple more rounds of broadside cannonballs roared in their direction.

“Or… perhaps not…” he said.

The American ships were barreling towards them, their crews readying their cannons. Aveza cursed under her breath. Three enemy ships fired another round at them, and the crew braced once again as the Aquila shook.

“I think it's high time we got out of here,” Arnold said. “We're outgunned and outnumbered.”

“But the lake!” Aveza protested. “We need to open up the British supply lines for Tecumseh!”

“I feel like Tecumseh would rather we preserve our lives than one of many supply routes,” Connor said.

“But…”

“No buts. We must leave now, Aveza!”

Aveza was hesitant, but after another enemy broadside, she knew they were right. There was no way they'd survive out here. As much as she hated to admit it, they needed to retreat and let the Americans keep Lake Erie.

“Damn…” Aveza said. She gripped the wheel and turned the ship so that the wind would fill the sails. The Aquila lunged forward and started leaving their enemies behind.

“What about Perry?” Aveza asked as she took a quick glance back at the Niagara.

“We'll get him eventually,” Connor promised. “He and his Templar friends will pay for their crimes, I promise. But not today.”

Aveza nodded sadly. She stayed silent for a while, focusing on getting the ship away from the chaos of battle. Soon enough, the Assassin flagship had exited Put-in-Bay, leaving the sounds of cannons behind for good. Once they were completely gone from the fight, they found a small fishing village to dock at. Aveza sat against the wheel, displeased with their loss. Connor put a hand on her shoulder.

“There was nothing we could've done,” he said comfortingly. “And besides, there are still many minor supply routes with which to deliver goods to Tecumseh and the British Army.”

“I know…” Aveza said. “But Connor, now that the Americans have confirmed that they control the lake for good, what's to stop them from sending a few ships up the Thames River? What's to stop them from sailing right up to where Tecumseh has his men stationed and blowing them apart?”

“I will keep in close contact with Tecumseh. If I get any sign from him that trouble is brewing, I promise I'll send you up there immediately to help.”

“And I'll be right at your side, my dear,” Arnold reassured with a smile.

“You promise?” she asked them.

“Promise,” they said.

Aveza nodded. She stood up from her spot and looked over at the village.

“I suppose we should get the Aquila repaired,” she said. “Come on, let's go find a harbormaster.”

Her friends nodded, and they followed her down the gangplank, leaving the ship behind and putting the memory of the loss of Lake Erie behind them as well.

Description
September 10, 1813; Off the coast of Put-in-Bay, Ohio

“This is idiotic…” Arnold complained to his friends.

“We have to do this,” Aveza said, focusing on keeping the Aquila’s wheel steady.

“That doesn’t change the fact that this is bloody idiotic, my dear.”

“Oh, always such a worry wart, aren’t you?” she joked, though deep down, she held the same concerns as him.

“As much as I share your concerns, Arnold,” Connor added, “I’m afraid Aveza is right. The Americans have had a hold on Lake Erie for too long. It’s interfering with the supply lines of both the British and Tecumseh’s men. And ever since they put Oliver Hazard Perry in charge of the lake’s naval vessels, the Templars have been in charge here as well. Our odds may be slim, but we have to at least try and reclaim the territory.”

“And kill Perry too,” Aveza added.

“That would certainly help.”

Arnold nodded, albeit reluctantly. Aveza kept the ship steady, lost in her own thoughts. They were about to enter enemy territory with almost all odds against them. The British forces were ill-prepared and only had six ships on the lake compared to the Americans’ nine. The Aquila made seven, but that still wasn’t enough to match up in numbers. Really, the only advantage they had now was that their side held the weather gauge, though unfortunately Aveza could sense the wind changing against them as well. But she knew, they all knew, that Lake Erie was of great strategic value in the war. Whoever controlled the lake gained the upper hand. And she would not allow the Templars to win one over on them again.

The Aquila creaked and moaned as it tore through the waves at full sail. The Assassins could already hear the muffled sounds of cannon fire in the distance, and it wasn’t long before the sounds were accompanied by the sight of rising smoke that turned morning into night. As the warring ships came into view through the smoke and over the horizon, Connor turned to address his allies.

“Remember,” he said to them, “Our main priority is taking back the lake. If you get a chance at Perry, take him out, but don’t go chasing him down.”

“Got it,” Aveza and Arnold agreed.

The ship tore through the waves, and it wasn’t long before the crew was unloading her cannons and taking aim at the Americans. It was only a matter of receiving the order from Aveza.

The Americans were surprised by the arrival of a new enemy vessel, but they were quick to reorganize and turn their cannons in the Assassins’ direction.

“Brace!” Aveza shouted to the crew as one of the enemy ships let their cannons roar. Everyone on the ship ducked for cover as the cannonballs shrieked above them and took chunks out of the Aquila’s hull. Once the attack was over and the Americans started reloading, Aveza gave the order to return fire. The Aquila’s broadsides roared as they unleashed hell upon their foes. It wasn't enough to bring them down, but it certainly did a fair amount of damage.

Aveza turned the wheel and started veering back towards her allies, who were happy for the assistance. She wanted to get a better view of what she was dealing with.

She pulled out her spyglass after handing Connor the wheel and scanned the enemy ships for Perry. Eventually, she found him captaining a brig called the Lawrence. She couldn't help but notice his battle flag waving high on the mast. A blue background embroidered with white letters spelling out “Don't give up the ship”.

Aveza would've smiled if she wasn't focused on the battle raging all around them. The words on the flag were some of the last spoken by the rotten Templar she'd killed back in June, James Lawrence. An old friend of Perry, if she remembered correctly. Perhaps she'd get the chance to reunite them. She put down her spyglass and reclaimed the wheel from her mentor.

“Over there,” she said, pointing at the Lawrence and maneuvering the Aquila towards it. “Perry's captaining that one.”

“Focus your fire there then,” said Connor. “If we take out their flagship, there's a chance they'll surrender.”

Aveza nodded and turned the ship towards the Lawrence. The crew had reloaded the cannons, and so they let out another round of ammunition towards the enemy. And thankfully, most of the cannonballs found their mark. They braced for a counterattack and fired back when the guns were reloaded once again. The other British ships seemed to catch onto their strategy, and focused the majority of their fire on the Lawrence as well.

“Fire!” Aveza shouted again, and with one final attack, the Lawrence became incapacitated. The crew of the Aquila cheered. The other American ships veered back a bit upon realizing their flagship was lost, but they kept fighting. Aveza found their stubbornness a tad obnoxious.

“Your orders, captain?” Arnold asked her.

Aveza pulled out her spyglass again and looked over the now-wrecked ship. A good chunk of the crew was dead or wounded, and the surviving few dozen were fiddling with every remaining cannon trying to find one that worked. When they found none, they held their hands up in surrender and waved a few white flags. Aveza smiled.

“They're giving up,” she said. “Bring her in close, men! Prepare to board!”

The crew gladly prepared to do so as Aveza maneuvered the Aquila towards the Lawrence, narrowly avoiding a few rounds of cannon fire from the remaining American ships.

The Aquila dropped anchor right next to the Lawrence, and the crew quickly got to work on securing the two with ropes and hooks. Aveza let go of the wheel and ran across the deck with Arnold and Connor at her side. The three Assassins leapt over to the other ship's deck, expecting to meet the survivors and deal with them appropriately.

But to their surprise, they didn't find anyone living aboard when they got there. The deck was just a landscape of broken and burnt wood, torn ropes and sails, and punctured corpses. There was no sign of Perry or his crewmen.

“Where the devil…?” Arnold said frantically.

Suddenly, there was a splash in the water nearby, barely detectable over the roar of cannons from the battle, but still distinct. The Assassins rushed to the edge of the ship to find the source. And sure enough, there was Perry holding his battle flag as his crewmen rowed a small boat through the chaos of the battle in the direction of another enemy vessel, the Niagara. Aveza cursed.

“Too late, Assassins!” Perry called to them with a smirk. “You'll not claim my life today!”

Aveza immediately looked around and then started running to the other side of the ship.

“What are you doing?” Connor called to her.

“You two get back to the Aquila!” she called back. “I can reach Perry!”

“Wait!” Arnold called, but she didn't listen. She was already on the stern of the ship. She hopped up onto the edge and grabbed a hanging rope. She used her hidden blade to slice it and then leapt forward. The rope thankfully held her weight and her momentum carried her across the raging water and she landed right onto Perry's rowboat, which dipped a little upon receiving the new weight. Perry immediately drew his sword. Aveza grabbed her tomahawk.

“Mr. Perry, I presume?” she said with as much sarcasm as she could muster in this situation. The waves were throwing them all around, and even worse, there were fiery cannonballs flying all around them from both sides of the battle. It would be a miracle if they didn't get hit in the crossfire.

“You!” Perry shouted. “You're the savage that killed James!”

“You ask me, he was the savage, you Templar dog!”

She swung her blade hard at him. He brought up his sword and countered the blow. Aveza ducked as he swung hard at her and missed. They exchanged blows over and over, each trying not to lose their balance on this tiny, unstable boat. The other crewmen seemed to want to help their captain, but Perry motioned for them to just keep rowing. Aveza swung at him again, but only managed to graze his cheek.

“Why do you keep resisting us?” Perry asked bitterly as they fought.

“Because you're all a bunch of arrogant tyrants,” Aveza responded, punctuating her answer with another swing.

“Tyrants? We can save these lands! And yours too if you'd all just lay down your arms!”

“And let you all take us over and rob us of our culture in place of your own arrogant ways? Never.”

“Under our rule, all will be orderly!”

“Orderly, but soulless! You'd rob us of our liberty simply because you believe yourselves better than everyone else!”

“We are better!”

“No you're not! No one is!”

They swung hard at each other again. Aveza took aim at his skull with a shout, but he brought his sword up and blocked the attack. Then, seeing an opportunity, he pushed hard against her and sent her stumbling backwards and falling into the sea.

She gasped for breath as she surfaced a moment later and looked all around. Perry's boat was already rowing out of her reach, and he mockingly laughed at her as he pulled away.

“Damn!” she swore to herself. She looked all around until she laid eyes on the Aquila, which she saw was coming towards her. She swam towards it as it sailed towards her.

The crew lowered a rope for her to climb onto, and they hoisted her up onto the deck. Connor and Arnold rushed up to her.

“Bastard threw me overboard,” she said as she got her bearings.

“Oh you mean you weren't just going for a lovely swim?” Arnold sarcastically said. She fixed him with a look.

Connor decided it was time for him to enter the conversation. “You shouldn't have gone after Perry like that. It was too risky.”

“I know… Sorry Mentor…”

“It's alright. At least you're safe. Come on, let's get back to the wheel. The British aren't faring well and it's only a matter of time before-”

But he was cut off by a new, booming sound that filled the atmosphere: the sound of mortar fire. The Assassins looked up, and their eyes widened when they saw dozens of flaming cannonballs raining down in their direction.

“Brace!” Connor called to the crew, and everyone on the ship ducked for cover.

When the sky stopped raining fire, Aveza ran over to the edge of the ship and pulled out her spyglass. As far as she knew, none of the Americans’ ships in this fleet had mortars that powerful. A new ship must've sailed onto Lake Erie. It wasn't long before she found it.

It was a sloop-of-war. A formidable vessel with blood-red sails embroidered with a Templar cross and wolf patterns to match its vicious-looking figurehead. It unleashed another round of mortar shots at the Aquila, and several of the cannonballs made their mark. The Assassins stumbled across the deck as the ship shook upon impact. Aveza swore and took another look through her spyglass. Specifically, she looked at the name of the newcomer. Her jaw dropped and her eyes widened.

“Oh my god…” she said. “It’s the Morrigan!”

“What?” said Connor in surprise.

“It’s the bloody Morrigan!”

“I thought the Assassins sunk her back in ‘68,” Arnold said, equally surprised.

“They rebuilt Fort Arsenal after the Great Fire. I don’t see why they wouldn’t have rebuilt their famed flagship as well.”

“Fair point…”

Aveza pocketed her spyglass and sprinted for the wheel, calling for full sails and maneuvering the Aquila out of mortar range.

As the Aquila turned, Aveza caught a glimpse of how badly her allies were faring. The two main vessels of the fleet, the Detroit and the Queen Charlotte, had lost control after the enemy had ripped apart their rigging, and the two collided. The broken ropes had tangled them together, and the crew was clearly struggling to fix it. The Morrigan saw her opportunity and her crew brought the ship around to blow holes into the sides of the ships. They didn’t sink them, but they definitely incapacitated them. Two British ships, the Chippeway and the Little Belt, tried to come in and help their allies, but the Templar flagship ripped them apart as well and the American forces were already moving in to capture them.

The last bit of hope of recapturing the lake now laid only on the Aquila, a brig called the Hunter, and a schooner called the Lady Prevost. The odds seemed impossible. The Americans still had their eight ships intact after losing the Lawrence. And now they were back to nine with the addition of the Morrigan. Aveza clenched her jaw in anger. They were destined to lose here, and she hated it. Tecumseh and their other allies up north were counting on them to clear this route and get the supply lines open again. But there was no way they could do it. It was simply impossible.

“What do we do, my dear?” Arnold asked.

She thought about it as she watched the enemy cannons move in their direction. “We fight,” she said, determined.

“Aveza…”

“I know we won't win this battle, Arnold. I know. But I want to come out of this knowing we sent at least one of those bastards to the seabed.”

Arnold opened his mouth to speak, then decided against it and stood by his friend's side as she gripped the wheel tight.

“Focus fire on the Morrigan!” she shouted to the crew. “If we sunk her once, we can do it again!”

The crew cheered her determination and readied the broadsides and swivels to fire at the enemy. Connor stepped forward and added his own bit of inspiration to the crew. “Take no quarter, men!” he shouted. “And give none neither!”

Aveza ordered an open fire at the Morrigan once the guns were aligned. The cannonballs hit their mark, but barely did anything due to the ship's heavy armor on its hull. The Templar flagship returned fire, and the Aquila shook as it was pelted. The crew braced just in time to avoid any serious damage from the grapeshot of a nearby schooner, and kept on unleashing hell upon their foes.

Suddenly though, the Lady Prevost and the Hunter stopped dead in the water as a round of chain shot tore down their masts. The Assassins looked over at the source, and their hearts sank. Yet another enemy ship had arrived onto the lake. The Niagara. Aveza pulled out her spyglass, and her heart sank further when she laid eyes on the captain: Oliver Hazard Perry. He looked ready to leap back into the fight and seemed determined to win.

She swore under her breath. She looked over at the Morrigan, then at the approaching Niagara, then again at the Morrigan. With a shout, she aggressively turned the wheel so that the sails filled with as much wind as possible. Connor and Arnold had to grip the rails to avoid falling over with the sharp turn. The Aquila lunged forward, and barreled directly towards the Morrigan.

“Are you mad?” Arnold cried. “You're not actually doing what I think you're doing, are you?”

“Are you thinking that I'm ramming the Morrigan and boarding her in hopes of sinking the bloody Templar dogs aboard?”

“I knew I should've stayed home today…”

Aveza smiled a bit at him before once again returning her attention to ramming the enemy. The winds thrusted the Aquila closer, and closer, until…

CRASH!

The crew stumbled as the two ships collided. Everyone quickly regained their balance though and they quickly scrambled to grab the boarding hooks and secure them to the Morrigan.

The three captaining Assassins grabbed their weapons and sprinted to the side of the ship. Aveza grabbed her tomahawk and leapt the gap between the decks of the ships. Arnold and Connor landed right beside them. The Templars were scrambling to grab weaponry and counter, but the Assassins managed to take out a few already.

Aveza hacked open a few sailors before drawing her pistols and blasting holes in a few more. She dropped her empty guns and drew her father's sword, using it to slice her way across the deck.

But as she danced across the battlefield, she was suddenly interrupted by a large object slamming into her face and sending her falling backwards. She looked up after shaking off the sudden dizziness and gasped as she saw a large man with an axe, an axe that he was about to swing down onto her head.

She thought fast. The ongoing chaos around her thankfully worked to her advantage, as a dead sailor dropped his loaded pistol when he fell. The gun landed right next to her. While her first instinct was to just shoot the man standing above her, something caught her eye that made her change her plan. A huge hole had been torn open in the floorboards nearby, revealing fresh powder kegs on the level below. Aveza smiled as she grabbed the flintlock at lightning speed and fired at the kegs behind her would-be executioner. The deck was suddenly ripped open by the explosion, and everyone, the Assassins, the Templars, all of them, we sent flying. Aveza quickly got up from the now-flaming deck and regained her bearings.

“Aveza!” she heard Connor call to her. She looked over and saw him and Arnold making their way back to the Aquila. “Come on!” he pleaded. “The flames are going to spread to the other powder kegs at this rate. This ship is going to explode! Hurry!”

Aveza didn't hesitate. She sprinted across the deck of the Morrigan, leaping over flames and dead bodies, avoiding the chunks of shrapnel that rained down from above.

She leapt over to the deck of the Aquila just as it was pulling away. The crew managed to get the ship clear just in time before the Morrigan’s remaining powder kegs were licked by flames and exploded with a roar. The Templar flagship was torn in two by the series of explosions, and it began to dip away into the lake water, never to be seen again.

The Assassins and their crew cheered.

“We pulled it off!” Arnold said, hugging Aveza as she laughed in victory. The three Assassins returned to the wheel.

“Perhaps now the Americans will begin to have second thoughts about the battle,” Connor said hopefully. Unfortunately, those hopes were dashed when a couple more rounds of broadside cannonballs roared in their direction.

“Or… perhaps not…” he said.

The American ships were barreling towards them, their crews readying their cannons. Aveza cursed under her breath. Three enemy ships fired another round at them, and the crew braced once again as the Aquila shook.

“I think it's high time we got out of here,” Arnold said. “We're outgunned and outnumbered.”

“But the lake!” Aveza protested. “We need to open up the British supply lines for Tecumseh!”

“I feel like Tecumseh would rather we preserve our lives than one of many supply routes,” Connor said.

“But…”

“No buts. We must leave now, Aveza!”

Aveza was hesitant, but after another enemy broadside, she knew they were right. There was no way they'd survive out here. As much as she hated to admit it, they needed to retreat and let the Americans keep Lake Erie.

“Damn…” Aveza said. She gripped the wheel and turned the ship so that the wind would fill the sails. The Aquila lunged forward and started leaving their enemies behind.

“What about Perry?” Aveza asked as she took a quick glance back at the Niagara.

“We'll get him eventually,” Connor promised. “He and his Templar friends will pay for their crimes, I promise. But not today.”

Aveza nodded sadly. She stayed silent for a while, focusing on getting the ship away from the chaos of battle. Soon enough, the Assassin flagship had exited Put-in-Bay, leaving the sounds of cannons behind for good. Once they were completely gone from the fight, they found a small fishing village to dock at. Aveza sat against the wheel, displeased with their loss. Connor put a hand on her shoulder.

“There was nothing we could've done,” he said comfortingly. “And besides, there are still many minor supply routes with which to deliver goods to Tecumseh and the British Army.”

“I know…” Aveza said. “But Connor, now that the Americans have confirmed that they control the lake for good, what's to stop them from sending a few ships up the Thames River? What's to stop them from sailing right up to where Tecumseh has his men stationed and blowing them apart?”

“I will keep in close contact with Tecumseh. If I get any sign from him that trouble is brewing, I promise I'll send you up there immediately to help.”

“And I'll be right at your side, my dear,” Arnold reassured with a smile.

“You promise?” she asked them.

“Promise,” they said.

Aveza nodded. She stood up from her spot and looked over at the village.

“I suppose we should get the Aquila repaired,” she said. “Come on, let's go find a harbormaster.”

Her friends nodded, and they followed her down the gangplank, leaving the ship behind and putting the memory of the loss of Lake Erie behind them as well.