Book excerpt: Master Templar Juhani Otso Berg faces a dilemma… Loyal to the Order, but sensing growing dissent from within, the former special-ops technician has recently adopted the mantle of The Black Cross in order to effectively root out treachery from the shadows. Utilizing Abstergo’s immense resources (and a certain genetic profile), Berg has begun to search the past exploits of the Assassin Brotherhood for alternative methods of implementing the Templar doctrine. Beginning with the legendary Assassin Ezio Auditore da Firenze, whose adventures revealed much of the Brotherhood’s stance on loyalty, Berg now sets his eye on the Ibn-La’Ahad dynasty, his search leading him to the dusty plains of Western China and the rise of the Mongol Empire.