Ausmerzer

> Frau Engel commands it now... using it to hunt terrorists, but in the way back... the Ausmerzer would roam from city to city. Crushing any resistance.
>
> Horton Boone on the Ausmerzer., Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus

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The **Ausmerzer** (German for 'eradicator') is a large fortified airborne platform used by the Nazis, which plays a significant role in the plot of *Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus*.

## History

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The Ausmerzer was built and put into service around 1951, as a guardian of the new American order similar to the London Monitor in Britain. In the years that followed, under the initial command of Gernot Herrmann the Ausmerzer would crush large-scale resistance to Nazi dominion across the United States during the so-called Liberation War, but smaller cells including a far-left faction in New Orleans and the remnants of the Black Revolutionary Front in Manhattan were able to escape its attention.

Sometime in late 1960-early 1961 command of the Ausmerzer was transferred to Irene Engel, who was promoted to general during her tenure in this position, and Oberleutnant Anselm Decker. By this time the Ausmerzer's primary target switched from uprisings to terrorist cells, though a map in the ODIN control center labelled "Flugrouten Des Ausmerzer" ("flight routes of the eradicator") indicates that it was still performing at least some fixed patrols in August 1961. Engel used the craft to track down the resistance-controlled *Eva's Hammer* in the northern Atlantic ocean, following signals transmitted by Nazis hidden inside Section F of the U-Boat; an assault upon the *Hammer* by the Ausmerzer's complement of troops was attempted on June 25 but was repelled, though it succeeded in killing several Kreisau Circle members including Caroline Becker.

On the evening of July 4, 1961, the Ausmerzer descended upon the former Blazkowicz residence in Mesquite, using its claws to lift the farmhouse from the ground, and uprooted the house with its mechanical claws in order to apprehend William J. Blazkowicz who was inside the house at the time. Although Blazkowicz was able to disable the claws, this merely resulted in him being knocked out after falling a great distance along with the disintegrating house; a squad from the Ausmerzer's complement of soldiers was then able to remove his armor and take him into custody.

On 12 August 1961 the Ausmerzer was wrested from Nazi control in a joint operation by the Kreisau Circle, the Black Revolutionary Front led by Grace Walker and Horton Boone's left-wing resistance group, to prevent it from resuming its former role during their planned uprising. Sigrun Engel provided them with the password to override the airship's automated defence systems and William J. Blazkowicz and Anya Oliwa slaughtered the troops on board; in resistance hands it was presumably turned against its former masters during the Second American Revolution.

The Ausmerzer is the only aircraft of its type, and such craft have not replaced more traditional Zeppelins, as several Zeppelins are seen above Paris in 1980, almost two decades after the Ausmerzer's appearance.

## Capabilities

Befitting its role as a counter-insurgency platform, a role requiring quick and precise strategic movement, the Ausmerzer's anti-gravity engine allows it to move rapidly across the vast breadth of the continental United States. It transports a large complement of mobile forces including infantry, Supersoldaten, ÜberSoldaten , at least one Panzerhund, a Zitadelle unit, two Zerstörers and smaller vehicles, including a complement of Silverfish submersibles which are escape vehicles.

In addition to its garrison the Ausmerzer itself is heavily armed - observed weapons include Lasergewehren on pintle mounts throughout interior and exterior areas, deck-mounted flak and artillery cannons, depth charges for attacking submerged targets, ventral launchers loaded with guided air-to-air missiles and rocket-propelled transport pods used to rapidly deploy Super Soldiers into battle, even onto its own outside decks in flight. It's hardened against electromagnetic pulses, as demonstrated when it remains operational in close proximity to a nuclear explosion in New Orleans, and it can deploy extendable cables fitted with claws or large magnets to grab objects below it; its engine power is such that in addition to lifting its own mass it can uproot an entire house from the ground or forcibly surface submerged U-boats when the cables are deployed. It is also known to be equipped with radar. According to a maintenance report, if the anti-gravity field engine is over-exerted it could detonate with force comparable to a nuclear explosion.

Operation of the Ausmerzer is heavily automated by way of the ODIN computer system. The interface for this system is divided into a main control center and the subsidiary HUGIN and MUNIN control centers which control the port and starboard side defenses respectively. While Oberleutnant Decker believed that ODIN was the most sophisticated system of its kind in the world, at least one technician who worked on board suggested that it was actually quite outdated and in need of modernization; this was never actually done as it was decided that the airship would be too vulnerable without its automated defenses during a refit. Despite the Ausmerzer's high strategic value the computer security for ODIN is less than stellar: all three control centers have the same password, namely the word "Valhalla", which when entered allows complete control over all systems slaved to that computer.

## In the Freedom Chronicles

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In Curtis Everton's graphic novels The Diaries of Agent Silent Death and The Amazing Deeds of Captain Wilkins the Ausmerzer is depicted in the background of some panels, but it appears only briefly in single panels and plays no role in the actual plot of either story.

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## Trivia

* A commander in charge of maintenance among the Ausmerzer's crew was quite strict: he threatened to throw anyone who violated control protocol into the ocean.
* The fire hatchets in the Ausmerzer are often misplaced by careless soldiers.
* The names assigned to the automated defence system reflect the Nazis' frequent appropriation of names and imagery from Norse and Teutonic myths:
	+ ODIN is of course named for Odin the All-Father, the ruler of the Norse gods.
	+ HUGIN and MUNIN take their names from Odin's two ravens, which fly around the world bringing information to him - reflecting how the Ausmerzer flies around America seeking out rebels and terrorists who threaten the Nazi regime.
	+ The password "Valhalla" references the mythological realm believed by the Vikings to be inhabited by warriors who die in battle.
* The concept of the Ausmerzer is likely inspired by Marvel Comics' Helicarriers but its appearance draws more influence from the the HK Aerial from the Terminator franchise.
* The name is derived from the German verb "ausmerzen" which means "to weed out" or "to eradicate", which aligns with its mission to eliminate any sign of resistance to the Nazi regime in the United States.
* The length of the Ausmerzer, 1,488 m, is a reference to symbolism used by real-life neo-Nazis: 14 referring to the white supremacist slogan known as the "Fourteen Words," and 88 referring to the 8th letter of the alphabet (H), thus meaning HH or "Heil Hitler."

## Specifications

* Dimensions (length, width, height): 4,885 ft (1,488 m); 676 ft (206 m); 425 ft (129 m)
* Maximum Speed (cruise, combat): 75 mph (120 kph); 120 mph (193 kph).
* Maximum Range (combat, nonstop): 5,120 mi (8,239 km); 12,450 m i (20,036 km)
* Weight (empty, loaded): 5,766,890 lbs (2,615,817 kg); 9,034,280 lbs (4,097,880 kg)
* Service Ceiling: 12,500 ft (3,810 m)
* Powerplant: 3 x Daimler-Benz DS-2180 Großluftschiff - Antigravitationsfeldantrieb
* Complement: 1,200 crew (980 enlisted, 220 officers), 750 Wehrmacht soldiers or 650,000 tons of cargo, 28 x Gotha jet fighters, 14 x attack helicopters, several robots (Laserhunde, Panzerhunde, Supersoldaten, Übersoldaten, at least 2 x Zerstörer and 1x Zitadelle, Kampfhunde), several Silberfisch escape pods, several Supply Zeppelins and Schmetterling APCs
* Armament:
	+ 1 x 800mm main cannon (flak/assault)
	+ 4 x Super Soldat-Kapselwerfer (pod launcher)
	+ 8 x Luftabwehrrakete launchers
	+ 22 x 88mm flak cannons
	+ 20 x 25mm quad-barrel flak turrets (Flakvierling)
	+ 360 x 12.7mm dual-mount machine guns,
	+ 3 x 120mm flak cannons
	+ Depth charges
	+ 5 x 40mm flak/assault autocannons