Dark Aether

The Dark Aether (alternatively spelled Dark Æther), also known as The Place Below Creation, Hell, the Dimension of Death or after the collapse of the Multiverse simply the Aether is a dimension that exists in parallel to that of humanity's. Having existed since the beginning of time, as with its opposite, its influence has repeatedly been felt - once such example being the corruption of a sect of Keepers, leading to the War of Agartha and, eventually, The Great War. Once separate from the Multiverse, the entirety of creation has been plunged into the Dark Aether as of Tag der Toten, save for one new, uncorrupted universe. It was first mentioned in Call of Duty: Black Ops III Zombies in a Gorod Krovi cipher, while further being hinted at in Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 Zombies in Tag Der Toten.
The Dark Aether is the central force within Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Zombies, Call of Duty: Vanguard Zombies and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III Zombies, where it seeps into the new universe created at the end of Tag der Toten in the eponymous Dark Aether Saga. It can be entered in the map Die Maschine, as well as Outbreak during the Holdout section, where it appears as a dark mirror of the map. It can also be entered in Terra Maledicta and The Archon through the Corrupted Lands. It can also be entered in Operation Deadbolt through the use of Dark Aether Rifts.
==Overview==
The Dark Aether has, according to its inhabitants, existed "since the beginning of time", and the various factions within have been at perpetual war for that duration. In scope, it is an entire universe, remarkably similar to that of our own, though with various geographical differences. Life exists throughout the realm, not only limited to earth - Kortifex the Deathless, for example, was born on a world other than earth, and Zykov the Forsaken mentions having subjugated other worlds in his conquest.
===Aether Story===
====Agartha Split in Two====
At the beginning of time within the Aether, a Keeper known as the First One used the Summoning Key in Agartha to seed the dimensions with life. However, a group of Keepers, which included one who would later be known as the Shadowman, began experimenting with the Dark Aether. As this group began to become corrupted by the realm, the being who would be known as Doctor Monty attempted to save his friend, but was corrupted himself in the process. During this time, the corrupted Keepers created a device known as the Aether Pyramid, that used the Dark Aether to give its user power over the Aether - that is to say reality - itselfTag Der Toten Wall Chalk. Due to this threat, a Civil War broke out between the corrupted and non-corrupted Keepers. The non-corrupted Keepers won the war, banishing the corrupted Keepers to the Dark Aether. During their banishment, the corrupted Keepers would mutate into beings known as the Apothicons.
====The Great War====
Noting the existence of humanity, the Apothicons sent Element 115 meteorites to Earth, hoping that they would use it to fight each other. Their plans came to fruition in 1292, where humanity's use of the element opened a portal from the Dark Aether, allowing the Apothicons to invade. This would eventually spur into The Great War, where humanity assisted by a group of four mysterious robed warriors (known collectively as Primis) wielding Elemental Staffs. The war would end in 1299, with the Apothicons being once again banished to the Dark Aether.
====A Doctor's Corruption====
Sometime later, a German scientist known as Edward Richtofen made contact with the Aether Pyramid, and began to hear the voices of the Apothicons (who were still within the Dark Aether) in his head, who encouraged him to enter the pyramid. 
====Further Corruption====
In another dimension known as Dimension 63, the Shadowman manipulated a reporter into retrieving the Summoning Key before the reporter was killed by an alternate version of Richtofen. In the same dimension, Apothicons manipulated 4 individuals within Morg City, Nero Blackstone, Jack Vincent, Jessica Rose, and Floyd Campbell into using the Summoning Key to open a portal from the Dark Aether into Dimension 63. The scheme succeeds, and the Apothicons invade the dimension, however, the Shadowman is trapped within the Summoning Key by the 4 individuals after the initial invasion. The Apothicons eventually consume and destroy the Dimension entirely. 
====The Cycle Continues====
When Primis arrived in Agartha, the Shadowman tricked Ludvig Maxis, who inhabited Agartha at the time into granting him a vessel. After being freed from the Key, the Shadowman opened a portal from the Dark Aether into Agartha and beginning a Second War of Agartha. Unfortunately for the Apothicons, Monty uses Primis to defeat the Shadowman, who, along with Maxis and S.O.P.H.I.A, subsequently use the Summoning Key to plunge the Apothicons back into the Dark Aether and to close Agartha off from the rest of the multiverse. Monty then sends Primis to the Great War, completing the Cycle.
====The Cycle Broken====
In an altered version of the Cycle, the Warden of Alcatraz is manipulated by the Shadowman from the Dark Aether into using Alcatraz as a trap to use Primis Richtofen's blood to open a portal to Agartha. The scheme fails thanks to a version of Richtofen who had experienced the Great War, and the Warden is killed, and the Cycle is broken. 
====Agarthan Omnicide====
After being given leadership of the crew by post-Great War Richtofen, Nikolai Belinski, aided by Ultimis, Primis and Samantha Maxis gather the Elemental Shard, and use a group of civilians known as Victis to gather the Agarthan Device from a base in Siberia, where they are assisted by a Hermit. They then use both the Device and the Shard to destroy the Summoning Key, plunging the multiverse (including Monty, Agartha, and Victis) into the Dark Aether, solving the Paradox of the Multiverse.
Almost immediately after, the universe Primis and Ultimis were in is plunged in to the Dark Aether. Still alive, Samantha and a child version of Richtofen known as Eddie hold hands and walk out of the Dark Aether into a new universe.
===Dark Aether Saga===
====A Silent Monolith====
As the Cycle perpetuated in the Dark Aether's opposite, the entities within the Dark Aether were unaware of any worlds other than their own, being too preoccupied with constant conflict between their numerous factions as well as worship of the ancient Construct. Seldom did it interfere in the lives of the Dark Aether's denizens, but the few times it did were when it would appoint an Archon - a being able to wield the Construct's grand power. The first of these Archons utilized its power to defend the realm from a race of invasive parasites, while the fourth of the Archons would fragment a moon.
====The Royal Bloodline====
Chief among the many tribes and clans of the Dark Aether was one that considered itself "royalty". One such member of the bloodline, Kortifex the Deathless murdered his parents and seized power. Kortifex himself was married to another member of his royal clan, an entity known as Saraxis. While he seemingly cared for her at first,"You were part of his clan - a member of the royal bloodline. You were his bride, Saraxis. His consort. No one mattered more to him. - Echo of Saraxis, Shi No Numa, "Head's Up" Quest this would soon change after she bore him a child against his will. Fearing the child would one day murder him as he did his parents, Kortifex subjected it to an unknown fate while he forced his bride to bear the mask of the Sisters of Agony - wiping away any memory of her royal heritage, leaving her a shadow of her former self. Thus would she be known as Saraxis, the Shadow. 
=====Discovery of Mankind=====
After the Multiverse was banished into the Dark Aether, many of the entities within began to take note of the strange items within, namely a bizarre magical box, and an object similar to Magical Crucibles that were already known in the Dark Aether to fortify one's weapon. This event allowed those within the Dark Aether to realize they were not alone - however after attempting to find the civilization who were advanced enough to have produced such technology, they found humans who were little more than cavemen. 
=====Demonic Influence=====
Some entities began to take a passing interest in the fledgeling mankind - Saraxis claiming that at this point in time, they would appear through fire, or crystal balls, but that was the limit of their capability to interact. Eventually, however, her and Bellekar the Warlock would divise a way to enter this other reality physically - at least in a sense: Artifacts. The two discovered that an object could be crafted that they could bind themselves to, with the object then being cast through the veil between dimensions. When picked up by an unexpecting human, they would suddenly be bonded - allowing the Dark Aether Entity to experience the world physically, and the human to harness a portion of their new partner's incredible power. 
Forging these artifacts with an attempt to appeal to the culture they had been most observant of, none of the entities would get them quite right. Whilst Saraxis' Dragon ended up on a swampy Okinawan island that led to her becoming worshiped by the locals, and Bellekar's Mask found its way to the Maya who she attempted to teach rune magic, three others would create their own artifacts. Legendary soldier Inviktor the Destroyer would create a sword, sending it to Mycenaean Greece, where among others, the similarly legendary soldier Achilles would harness its power, believing it to be a gift from , the god of war. Supreme Commander of the Night Legions, Norticus the Conqueror, would send his horn to the Norsemen, who would see him as the primordial , father of the frost giants. Finally, Lord of the Dark Aether, Kortifex the Deathless, would send his sceptre to Egypt, where it would be used by an infamously cruel Pharaoh. Inviktor would later comment that Kortifex's attempt at an artifact was by far the laziest, simply putting "two pyramids on a stick". 
Saraxis would enjoy the company of her "playthings" in feudal Japan, however she would soon become an annoyance to her former husband. It was then that Kortifex contacted the local priests on the Okinawan island where Saraxis was worshiped. At the time, Saraxis' host was the Island's feudal lord. Kortifex told the priests that their master was possessed by a demon, but using a Mirror that he gifted to them, they could free him. The priests would use the Mirror on their lord, "exorcising" Saraxis from her host and forcing her back into her Dragon.
=====Kortifex's Conquest=====
At some point, on the orders of his Lord, Kortifex, General Norticus and his Night Legions began to wage the Netherwars in a bid to dominate the Dark Aether and crush his rivals. During this bloody campaign, Kortifex would also deploy his personal assassins - the Sisters of Agony - of which Saraxis the Shadow and Zaballa the Deciever were members. At some point after Saraxis had fled from her servitude in the Sisters, they were dispatched by Kortifex to hunt down the clan of nomads who called the Dark Aether's wilds their home, as they had told Kortifex to respect their lands. After burning down the vast forests, the Sisters saw to it that every member of the clan was killed. The nomads, however, had an ace up their sleeve. Their race posessed the unique ability to transfer lifeforce from one to another, via the so-called "web of life". As a result, Vercanna, now known as The Last, inherited the power of her entire people, with Kortifex even suspecting this blunder made her immortal. 
This marks somewhat of a turning point in the Netherwars - as some time after this, Bellekar met with Vercanna in the ashy remains of her homeland and formulated the plan to stop Kortifex. Inviktor would eventually flee the Battle of Obsidian Ridge for unknown reasons, later joining the resistance. As a keen strategist, when Norticus saw the waxing power of the opposition, even he defected. Finally, at the zenith of their strength, the plan was enacted to banish Kortifex into the realm of mortals, with the hope of him being forced back into his artifact forever - however for unknown reasons, this also resulted in Bellekar, Inviktor, Norticus, and Saraxis also becoming trapped on Earth within their artifacts. 
====Tome of Rituals====
Despite this, however, their influence would still be felt upon mankind. Since the medieval period, high ranking members of the Western World had banded together, in secret, and formed Société Occulte, communing with the Dark Aether and cataloguing knowledge of it in their Tome of Rituals, and the powerful rune magic native to the realm. Through this, they were able to effectively become the puppetmasters of modern society. Once the Dark Aether entities became trapped in their artifacts (which were hidden in remote parts of the world), the powerful magic of Le Société was able to make temporary communication with them possible, in seances held at the Hotel Royal, their headquarters. These brief sessions would serve as the entity's only view of the world. 
At some point, the connection between the mortal realm and the Dark Aether was completely severed, and following this, a tragedy in Le Société Occulte made their leaders deem it necessary to split the Tome and hide its pages.
====Projekt Endstation====
For a time, the connection would remain severed, until a Nazi research base known as Projekt Endstation began operation. Intended to be a site to develop the Reich's nuclear program, the facility's particle collider accidentally tore open a gateway to the Dark Aether on March 7th, 1944; the radiation from the realm causing the men around the Cyclotron to become instantly necrotized. After informing Berlin of this development, and that the initial experiments yielded evidence of time passing at a different rate in the Dark Aether, Project Director Dr. Ulrich Vogel was given immediate permission to begin experimenting with the strange realm and the element that lay within. 
=====Deal with the Devil=====
Due to this breaching of the Dimensional Membrane, the artifacts, now having been located and plundered by SS-Oberführer Wolfram Von List's Die Wahrheit division, reactivatehttps://www.callofduty.com/blog/2021/10/call-of-duty-vanguard-zombies-interview-treyarch-craig-houston. Von List enters into a symbiotic relationship with Kortifex, now stripped of his rank as a Lord of the Dark Aether, and gains his ability to raise the dead. Von List uses this to raise an army of zombies in service to the Third Reich. Kortifex immediately instructs Von List to destroy the other artifacts, however he does not listen, believing he may be able to harness those too in the future. As a result, Gabriel Krafft, a demonologist blackmailed into working for Von List, briefly communes with Bellekar via her mask, and begin making a plan to stop Von List and Kortifex, however he allows her to retreat back into her artifact after realising he is not strong enough to be a suitable host. In order to ensure his safety, he uses a page from the Tome of Rituals to seal himself in his office and radio the Allies for help. Allied operatives would soon arrive, but would become trapped in a containment spell by Kortifex and forced to fight Von List's horrifying army of revenants. The other four artifacts, the Horn of Norticus, the Dragon of Saraxis, the Mask of Bellekar and the Sword of Inviktor would become bonded to these operatives, granting them a taste of their unholy power and tasking them with dangerous missions to weaken Kortifex' power. 
=====An Ally From Beyond=====
Bellekar has the allied operatives send messanger orbs into the Dark Aether in order to try and rally allies in the Dark Aether, and eventually one reaches Vercanna. At this, Vercanna finalizes her own artifact - the Wand of the Wilds - and with the first new artifact in centuries, the Special Forces are now able to commune with her too. Vercanna opens a portal for them, allowing them to leave Stalingrad and reach Die Wahrheit's base of operations in the Egyptian Desert, surrounding an ancient Temple of Kortifex, where all Die Wahrheit personnel went missing under mysterious circumstances prior to the Allies' arrival. From here, they are able to enter Vercanna's former homeland in the Dark Aether, serving as a "beachhead" to penetrate deeper into the realm, all the while an ominous monolith known only as "The Construct" looms overhead, which Vercanna points out is "another thing entirely" when compared to other such monoliths. It was there and back in the Eastern Desert that they would free a lost Page of the Tome of Rituals, with the help of the recently freed Decimator who was trapped within his shield. 
=====Lost Memories=====
After decoding the contents of the lost Page, Krafft and Bellekar learned that it detailed instructions on how to separate an entity from its human host - information they intended to use against Von List and Kortifex. This led them to return to Shi No Numa, where Die Wahrheit troops had recently fled due to reallocating all of their forces back to the Eastern Desert. But, more importantly, Shi No Numa was at the site where Saraxis was once separated from her human host, long ago in feudal Japan. The Special Forces would be tasked with restoring Saraxis' memories of the Mirror, as they would be key to restoring it and using it against Kortifex. They would do this by making contact with an "Echo" of Saraxis' memories, as well as utilizing the blood of Revenants to see between the Dark Aether and their realm as to collect the two pieces of the Mirror. After the Mirror was re-assembled, the Echo returned, only to become aggressive and do battle against Special Forces. The Echo would be defeated, resulting in Saraxis' memories of her traumatic past being restored. It was also then she remembered her former husband's obsession with The Construct - warning that if he and Von List were to seize control of it, everything would become their "playthings". As Special Forces collected the restored Mirror, Krafft told them it would soon be time to return to the Eastern Desert and use the Mirror in their final battle against Kortifex.
====Death Comes For The Deathless====
As Die Wahrheit consolidated the rest of their forces back to Egypt, Kortifex unleashed a spell to separate the Pack-a-Punch Machine in the hopes of hindering the Allies' progress. But, in doing so, he killed what little remained of Die Wahrheit, save for Von List. As the Special Forces arrived, they used the Relic Mirror to separate Kortifex from his Artifact, and thus from Von List. However, the Allies had played right into Kortifex's hands. Now free from his Artifact, the Lord of the Dark Aether was free to travel back home and petition the Construct. Despite this, the Construct demanded that Kortifex play by its rules, allowing the Special Forces to complete its trials of Sacrifice, Mindfulness, Resilience. The Special Forces succeeded, but not before the Construct ultimately made up its mind and chose Kortifex to be its next Archon. 
Empowered with the Construct's power, Kortifex vowed to destroy the world that had kept him imprisoned for so long. He and the Special Forces engaged in battle, with the mere mortals succeeding. The so-called "Deathless" had finally tasted death, with his corpse falling into the deepest depths of the Dark Aether.
=====Task Force Baldr & the Forsaken=====
As the Soviet Advance continues, Berlin commences Operation Baldr in conjunction with Endstation, with the idea of housing a Nazi Army in the dimension and having them emerge at Endstation's Berlin Facility a point in the future to reclaim the city and restart the Reich. Despite many scientists fleeing, Vogel stayed behind to monitor the Cyclotron and take essential readings - presumably dying sometime after."So I plotted my return. Valentina was first. So willing was she to believe the masquerade, to hold out hope that her father still lived." - The Forsaken, Forsaken radios. One week after, the Russian 8th Guards Army arrive at the site, but find it crawling with undead. Soon after that, on the orders of NKVD Colonel Pavel Lazarev, the 3rd Guards Tank Army arrive, with mechanic Kazimir Zykov being sealed into the facility with the aim of disabling the machine, and being told that his sacrifice would be in order to make the world a better place.
Being forced to enter the anomaly to shut the portal from the inside, Zykov found himself in the Dark Aether. After initial feelings of despair and rage subsided, he resolved to survive at all costs. He would slowly begin to ascend the hierarchy of the Dark Aether, killing and consuming gradually more powerful creatures, and enforcing order on the warring Elder Gods of the realm, including the Old Ones. Being able to get the occasional glimpse of his home dimension, however, he became disgusted with the petty squabbling of the world leaders, invalidating his sacrifice and the sacrifice of all those like him, and resolved to return. From this point, he was known as the "Forsaken". During his brutal conquest of the Dark Aether, he enslaved the Disciples of the Zealot Sparagmos who was aligned with the Old Ones. Seeking revenge, Sparagmos crafted the Chrysalax with the sole purpose of killing the Forsaken.
====The Cold War====
The Forsaken, under the guise of Ulrich Vogel, began to manipulate Angelika Vogel from childhood, eventually leading to her infiltrating Omega Group. Believing she was the key to concluding Operation Baldr, she devised Operation Undertaker and restarted the Cyclotron, instantly causing small-scale outbreaks across the globe. Within the coming days, the Deputy Director of the Department of Science and Technology of the CIA would get approval from President Reagan's cabinet for a new covert sub-office of the Department, the Office of Requiem, with them arriving at Endstation just days after. There would also be several unfortunate souls that would accidentally wind up within the Dark Aether, where they would encounter the various creatures that inhabit it including Zombies, Plaguehounds, ethereal jellyfish-like creatures and giant beasts roaming in the fog. The rift at Morasko would be closed by Requiem under the direction of Special Officer Grigori Weaver through the destruction of the Morasko facility thanks to the help and sacrifice of Orlov - a necrotized Omega Group member who helped re-activate the Cyclotron. During this, the Forsaken contacted Requiem under his old identity of Zykov, as well as starting to assist them (as a form of amusement) by giving them Perks, a machine to upgrade their weapons, power-ups, among other things, in an attempt to gain their trust.
====Weaponization of the Aether & a Little Lost Girl====
After the destruction of the Morasko facility, Omega Group began work on "Operatsiya Inversiya" (Operation Inversion) with the goal of weaponizing the Dark Aether to win the Cold War and defeat the West. They started at a Vietnamese facility known as Outpost 25, chosen for its fertility as a dimensional breach. There, Omega Group began to experiment with Aetherium and create new technologies. "Aethernauts" would be employed by Omega to venture into the Dark Aether and gather more Aetherium. More test sites would be established throughout the Soviet Union, with four of them successfully creating dimensional breaches. BND spy Samantha Maxis (who had survived the banishing of the Multiverse) began contacting an Omega-double agent named Sergei Ravenov, who informed her of Omega's plans. She then infiltrated Outpost 25 with the intent of meeting Ravenov and gathering intel to give to Requiem. However, Omega Group became aware of her plan, allowing her to be captured by Dr. William Peck who failed to interrogate her, and under the secret orders of Requiem's Director, throw Maxis into the Dark Aether. Ravenov, after realizing what happened, contacted Weaver, who soon began preparations of Operation Lost Property to rescue Maxis. As time flows differently in the Dark Aether, Samantha spent a considerable amount of time in the realm. In her struggle to survive, Samantha's memories and identity began to blur - with her unknowingly killing trapped Omega soldiers at one point. She would also meet Pyotr, a Russian trapped in the Dark Aether, and comfort him by telling him despite his appearance, he was not useless. 
On June 15th, 1984, the dimensional breach at Outpost 25 released a massive burst of Aetherium creating a lethal phasic barrier around the facility and turning everyone into zombies and other creatures. Peck managed to hide in a safe room and contacted Omega Group HQ for rescue as he believed he was the sole survivor, not aware that Ravenov also survived in a nearby village. With the help of Ravenov, the Requiem Strike Team managed to enter the facility using one of the teleporters. The team reluctantly helped Peck restoring the facility power in exchange for Maxis, but unbeknown to them, they helped him send all the research back to Omega. After using the truth serum on him, Peck revealed that Maxis was lost in the Dark Aether. The serum soon wore off and Peck tricked the team into disrupting the dimensional rift destroying all electronics and intel stored in the facility. The team, however, used Requiem's Dimensional Disruptor satellite to open a new breach allowing Maxis to escape. They soon battled an Elder God known as an Orda, before Requiem and Maxis escaped with Raptor One - with Ravenov heading to the Ural Mountains, where a massive Dark Aether Outbreak had occurred. Maxis' time in the Dark Aether had unintentionally given her new powers, peaking the curiosity of Requiem's Senior Staff. Elizabeth Grey (with whom Maxis would form a special relationship), Mackenzie Carver, and Oskar Strauss would all interview her hoping to learn more of her powers. 
=====Ural Incursion & Hidden Agendas=====
Peck would then be sent to Ruka, where he would begin work on the "Reality Inversion Warheads" (as well as being contacted by the Forsaken as Zykov) with the intent of unleashing them against the West. Kravchenko would also learn of the existence of the Forsaken from, unknowingly, the Director of Requiem, who was at this point playing both sides. Valentina would also receive another vision of "her father". Requiem would soon began Operation Threshold in the Ural Mountains to combat the Dark Aether infestation in the area, being contacted again by Zykov who "revealed" himself to Requiem and informed them more of the Dark Aether. Maxis, Ravenov, and the Requiem Strike Team would infiltrate the Ruka missile silo where the Inversion Warheads were being held and fire them into the Pacific Ocean. They would also battle a massive Tempest known as Legion, and exfiltrate with Raptor One. One month after, Requiem would return to the Ural Mountains under the direction of Weaver and Ravenov to rescue Omega Group defectors, including one Hugo Jager, but were instead (along with Raptor One) captured by Omega Group after battling another Orda.
While the Requiem Strike Team was held by Omega, they soon discovered the truth behind Valentina's motives and her identity as Ulrich Vogel's daughter. Valentina then left Omega, fleeing to Berlin where she found the Endstation lab and began work on opening a portal to the Dark Aether. Requiem's Director, however, knew Valentina's plan and secretly sent an experimental robot, called Klaus, as well as a nuclear device to a CIA safehouse hidden beneath the Wall in order to stop her. Valentina would open the portal to the Dark Aether in 1985, unleashing the undead Task Force: Baldr onto a checkpoint in East Berlin. She would then travel to the Dark Aether and submit herself to the Forsaken, who granted her a new scarlet, crystallized form. The same day as Valentina's "ascension", Kravchenko would deploy the Requiem Strike Team to Berlin, ordering them to defeat Valentina and stop the Forsaken from entering their world. With the assistance of Klaus, Jager, Gorev, and Peck, Requiem crafted an Inversion Warhead to detonate in the Dark Aether portal to close it. They would soon battle Valentina, killing her to power up the warhead. Klaus would then take the warhead and personally detonate it in the Dark Aether himself as the Forsaken taunted that his arrival could not be stopped. Afterwards, the Strike Team and Raptor One would be rescued by Maxis (who was being held by the Director of Requiem at Block 8 for her actions at Ruka) using her Dark Aether powers.
=====We Shall Have Conquered Death=====
After the incursion in Berlin, Zykov suggested to Peck that if he were to bring him into their world, he could help them defeat the Forsaken. Peck then came up with the idea of weaponizing the Forsaken against the West. Convincing Kravchenko, Omega would divert all of their resources towards "Operatsiya Izbavitel" to rescue Zykov and weaponize the Forsaken. This would occur at Test Site Anna, in the Ukrainian SSR. It was also around this time that new Outbreak zones in the North Atlantic Ocean and Algeria appeared, as well as the Ural Mountains Outbreak Zone collapsing entirely to the Dark Aether - becoming uninhabitable for human life. Smaller Outbreaks also occurred in Teufelsberg and Nebraska, where other people began hearing the Forsaken in the guise of their deceased relatives. The Forsaken had begun his retaliation for his defeat in Berlin.
On June 4th, 1985, Operation First Domino began as the Requiem strike-team was deployed to Test Site Anna in the Zakarpatska Oblast. Guided by Weaver and Ravenov, the strike-team infiltrated the facility to confront Kravchenko and Peck to stop them from weaponizing the Forsaken. After defeating an Abomination, the strike-team went to the Observation Tower, but they were too late. Peck and Kravchenko were already in the process of bringing Zykov into their world. Kravchenko, Peck, and the strike-team witnessed Zykov return from the Dark Aether. It was then that Zykov revealed the horrible truth - that Zykov was long gone, and only the Forsaken remained. After forty years (four centuries in the Dark Aether) of abandonment, he had survived by evolving into the Forsaken and consuming those more powerful than him. He then flaunted to Peck how he had tricked him into releasing him from the Dark Aether, and that he would now consume their realm. When it seemed that all was lost, however, Samantha Maxis manifested at Test Site Anna with her powers and attacked the Forsaken, holding him off. The strike-team would then build a make-shift Aetherium Neutralizer (assisted by Peck) to head to Main Street, where the Forsaken had made his dwelling. As the Aetherium Neutralizer was put together, Peck accidentally shot a gas-line in the Observation Tower, blowing it up, seemingly killing Kravchenko. The fate of the Earth was in Requiem's hands as the strike team and Samantha battled the Stealer of Souls. As Dark Aether outbreaks appeared rapidly across the globe, Samantha made the decision to sacrifice herself for the greater good. She flew into the Forsaken, locking herself in the Dark Aether. The Forsaken would then be captured by Peck's machine, severing the Dark Aether rifts to the world. Requiem had, at long last, contained the Dark Aether. Raptor One arrived at Test Site Anna and flew back to the United States, with Ravenov staying behind.
With the Forsaken secured, the outbreak zones collapsing, and Maxis locked in the Dark Aether, the Director made his move to begin Project Janus. He then gave the orders for his agents to arrest the Requiem Senior Staff (including Grey, Carver, Strauss, and Weaver), as well as Raptor One, with the Strike Team being placed in "indefinite containment" at a location known only as "BLACKSITE-13". After witnessing the events unfold at his office, Director Edward Richtofen grabbed a briefcase from his desk and left. Peck would survive, and five years later, rent a boat in Japan to head to the Pacific Ocean where the Inversion Warheads lay.
=====Nothing Gets In, Nothing Gets Out=====
At an unknown point, Weaver escaped hs confinement and fled to Zaravan, Urzikstan, where he and three other people died near a device filled with vials of gaseous Aetherium. Their corpses would be sealed away in a cache.
Decades later, in 2021, Russian Ultranationalist Victor Zakhaev would learn of the Omega-Requiem Conflict during the Cold War, as well as the location of Weaver's corpse and the Aetherium vials present. Intending to continue his father's legacy and weaponize the Aetherium against the West, he hired PMC group Terminus Outcomes to assist in raiding Urzikstan and breaking into the cache. They succeed, but not before engaging in a firefight with local police. Running out of options, Zakhaev threw one of the vials and ran into a car with Jack Fletcher, causing Aetherium to spill out across the area and infect those outside. 
Later, in the midst of the Urzikstan conflict, a mysterious portal is found on a small island near Old Town. Ravenov orders Deadbolt to investigate the rift, and as the Strike Team enters the portal, a mysterious entity guides them to cleanse four obelisks. Deadbolt do so, and as they go to leave, they encounter an Aether Worm named "Gorm'gant". The Strike Team defeat it, claim the rewards, and leave the Dark Aether. 
The scene cuts to Dr. Ava Jansen, but then an alarm goes off. Ava grabs a nearby pistol and walks outside. She reaches the intersection in the hallway, then a horde of zombies appear around her. The four zombies infront of the hordes appear to resemble Weaver, Strauss, Grey and Carver. Ava manages to fight them off, until she is approached by Ravenov. Ava accidentally slices his throat, then is supposedly taken to prison. The entity talks though Ava, saying "We will never be alone again. We. Will. Be. One." She is called on communications by Ravenov, who is telling Ava that Deadbolt encountered an entity, and that Ava is to report to Ops. Ava walks out of the room, then the camera pans to a laptop screen, showing the cast of Cold War, along with their statuses. They go as follows: Weaver, DECEASED. Grey, DECEASED. Carver, DECEASED. Ravenov, ACTIVE. The only classified one seems to be Maxis, who is shown as Janus. 
==Gallery ==
===Call of Duty: Black Ops 4===
ABetterTomorrow TagDerToten Bo4.png|Eddie and Samantha Maxis exiting the Dark Aether into the new universe.
AsAboveSoBelow BO4.png|A chalk drawing in Tag der Toten detailing the Dark Aether as the "Place Below Creation".
Alcatraz TagDerToten BO4.png|The Alcatraz Pocket Dimension being banished to the Dark Aether.
CampEdward TagDerToten BO4.png|Camp Edward being banished to the Dark Aether.
Pentagon TagDerToten BO4.png|The Pentagon being banished to the Dark Aether.
===Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War===
DarkAether Orb BOCW.png|A "Dark Aether Orb" from the Zombies Onslaught mode in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War.
DarkAether Spewing DieMaschine BOCW.png|The Dark Aether spewing out into the universe in Die Maschine.
Zombies Promo1 BOCW.jpg|The Dark Aether under The Forsaken's control.
Samantha escaping the Dark Aether..jpg|Samantha escapes from the Dark Aether a second time.
Dark Aether Photos Intel BOCW.png|Photos of within the Dark Aether.
===Call of Duty: Vanguard===
TerraMaledicta Promo1 Zombies CODV.jpg|The Corrupted Lands, the former, now destroyed homeland of Vercanna
TerraMaledicta Promo4 Zombies CODV.jpg|Zaballa, a Sturmkrieger and Zombies in the Dark Aether.
===Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III===
Zombies Season One Promo MWIII.jpg|Gorm'gant in the Dark Aether, circa 2021.
Zombies Season One Promo2 MWIII.jpg|A rift to the Dark Aether present in Urzikstan.
Zombies Season Three Promo3 MWIII.jpg
Zombies Season Five Promo MWIII.jpg
===Call of Duty: Black Ops 6===
PhoneIntel Image3 Number3 BO6.png|The Church in Liberty Falls within the Dark Aether.
==Trivia==
*In Black Ops Cold War Zombies, the final mastery camo is called "Dark Aether", and is based off of the color schemes of the Dark Aether. It has a similar appearance to the Black Ops III & Black Ops 4 mastery camo, similarly named "Dark Matter".
*The nature of the Dark Aether is portrayed very differently in Vanguard than it is in other entries. Since the Dark Aether's first mention in Black Ops III, it has been described and portrayed as a place of pure evil, corruption, and darkness. However, Vanguard's portrayal of the realm is far more morally complex, with some entities like Bellekar and Vercanna being outright benevolent towards humanity. 
==References==
Category:Locations
Category:Call of Duty: Black Ops III Locations
Category:Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 Locations
Category:Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Locations
Category:Call of Duty: Vanguard Locations
Category:Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III Locations
Category:Call of Duty: Black Ops 64 Locations