Great Catastrophe

"The earth shook for days, the fires burned for weeks, and when the ash had settled, less than ten thousand of your kind still lived, and far fewer of ours. But we carried on, together..."

- Jupiter to Desmond Miles.

The Toba catastrophe, sometimes also known as the First Disaster, was a cataclysmic event during human prehistory, dated to 75000 BCE, which saw the near total extinction of both humanity and the First Civilization, who were involved in a military conflict at the time.

In modern times, the disaster was often misconceived to have been the eruption of a super-volcano, but was in actuality caused by a.

A second, equally powerful, but ultimately less destructive coronal mass ejection took place in the year 2012.

Pre-catastrophe
Embroiled in their war with humanity, the First Civilization did not foresee the coming apocalypse until it was too late. Despite this, certain members of the First Civilization worked to find a means of suppressing it – or at least protect future generations from the predicted repeat – by researching ways of preventing the cataclysm within underground Vaults.

As stated by Jupiter, the First Civilization tried six different methods that showed the most potential, but none of them worked. When Desmond Miles and the other modern-day Assassins entered the Grand Temple, Juno appeared to tell Desmond of the six trials they took to prevent the disaster.

The first solution was to build four towers to collect the solar flare that would strike the planet and virtually dispel it. While they had the means and resources, the time taken would have been too long. The first tower was never completed and the research went on. However Juno stated that even after when the project was abandoned, the process that involved building the towers became automated and a few continued to build the first tower before the solar flares hit the Earth.

The second solution was to enhance metallic rings known as Shards of Eden that emitted a forcefield around them which repelled metal such as bullets. The concept was to use the principle behind the technology to create a magnetic forcefield around the Earth, but the project proved too large to build and would be impossible. Still determined, the First Civilization tried saving portions by doing so on a reduced capacity – they hoped to save half, a sixth, an eighth, or even a tenth of the world, but even building the Shard for one city would be too costly, and so the solution was abandoned.

The third solution was discovered by using the Apple of Eden on humans. If enough humans were told to believe in one idea, it would take form in reality. As such, the third solution was to launch an Apple of Eden into orbit, aim it towards the planet, and command all humans to one thought, "Make us safe." This thought alone would theoretically take form and protect the Earth – the issue however was trying to aim the Apple in the right direction and convey the message that the First Civilization wanted. After sending a dozen of Apples into orbit, the result was still the same and the solution was abandoned.

The fourth and further solutions focused on matters of the body; in this vein, the fourth solution was to enhance the bodies of the First Civilization externally. The idea behind it would compose of transforming their bodies internally into steel that was able to withstand a hostile environment. Aita, Juno's husband, volunteered to test the method. Within an instant, his mind degenerated and he became increasingly catatonic. With enough will, Aita wished for Juno to euthanize him, and she fulfilled it. The solution was abandoned and the researchers continued on similar matters.

The fifth solution was to create entirely new vessels that could safely transfer the consciousness that the former solution failed to do. The new vessels would be able to withstand the new environment, and they could house the transferred consciousness, but the ability to actually transfer it was impossible, so this solution was abandoned.

In time, Minerva discovered through divinations that there was a pattern of numbers and equations to existence, and that if one could comprehend them, they would tame time itself. The sixth solution was to attempt traveling back in time and trying to prevent the disaster beforehand, but the means to do so was too dangerous and it was abandoned.

Subsequently, Minerva founded one more solution, but it was never tested. She created a pedestal, the Eye, that would allow one who had the genetic material to manipulate the numbers of existence and protect the Earth by doing so. However, before Minerva could test it, she discovered that Juno had tampered with the Eye. While the patterns to save the world were still there, they would also allow Juno to have total control and power. Minerva forced the solution to be abandoned.

Before the world ended, Minerva looked forward in time using the numbers. She, Juno, and Jupiter used them to speak to Desmond Miles and his ancestors so that he may comprehend the situation, seek the Grand Temple, and prevent the disaster again that would occur in 2012.

Disaster and aftermath
The coronal mass ejection hit the Earth just as predicted, flipping the polarity of the Earth's magnetic field and exposing the planet to the Sun's deadly radiation. The entire planet burned for weeks afterward, and earthquakes and catastrophic blazes ravaged what remained of Earth.

The surface of the earth was rendered barren, and less than ten thousand humans and "far fewer" members of the First Civilization survived the catastrophe. In order to recover from the event, the remaining members of the First Civilization and their human creations brought their war to an end and began to work together to restore life to the planet.

Because their numbers were too few, the First Civilization failed to survive long as an independent species. Humans on the other hand, who had been built by the First Civilization "to survive", successfully managed to reconstruct their society and flourished. Over time, the reshaping of the Earth's landscape and geography would eliminate nearly all physical evidence of the First Civilization.