Assassin cell

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An Assassin cell is a unit of the modern organizational structure of the Assassin Brotherhood, in use since the 20th century. Composed of smaller groups of Assassins spread out across the globe, it is a successor to the former system of guilds devised by the Mentor Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad. In contrast to guilds, cells reflect a far more decentralized command structure, though like their antecedent, there was generally one per major city.

Organization[]

Cells effectively function as small, isolated teams of Assassins operating across the world.^[1] They can have as little as four members,^[2] essentially serving as a squad—as was the case with Desmond Miles' team^[3]^[4]—or be large enough to constitute a community.^[5]^[6] To maintain secrecy and security, many cells live off the grid, away from urban centers with stronger Templar presence,^[1]^[2] and this has especially been the case since the Great Purge of 2000.^[7]

Bases are generally isolated compounds in wilderness, such as the Farm located in the Black Hills of South Dakota.^[5]^[6] Despite this, the jurisdiction of each cell corresponds to cities. Virtually every major city—in addition to any deemed strategically significant—had a cell before the Great Purge.^[1]

While far more decentralized than that of the former system of Guilds, the title of Mentor under this new structure was reserved for only a single individual who had oversight for all cells on the planet whereas previously, each guild had its own Mentor. With the development of cells, the identity of the Mentor became a closely-guarded secret, unknown to even most Assassins.^[1] It became a far more prestigious position because the Mentor was expected to harbor the accumulated knowledge of all his predecessors, as well as coordinate the activities of every cell across the world.^[7]^[8] Since the assassination of the Mentor at the hands of sleeper agent Daniel Cross, the position has been vacant, with de facto leadership undertaken by William Miles and Gavin Banks.^[1]