User blog comment:JAlbor/Wikia at E3 2012/@comment-83.41.119.113-20120531164534/@comment-4013467-20120607015630

Connor does have backup assassins. whether they are his apprentices or just a loan from the guild I don't know. They weird thing is how they behave. He used 4 of them dressed as british soldiers to sneak past a check point. When he was discovered they began to protect him with fists unarmed and once Connor began fighting they ran away. So the assassin guild is usable but in a different way.

read: http://assassinscreed.wikia.com/wiki/User_blog:Master_Sima_Yi/Assassinews_06/04_-_E3_hub