Zombies (mode)/Story

There are three stories in Treyarch's Zombies mode. The **Aether Story** introduced and featured in *Call of Duty: World at War*, *Call of Duty: Black Ops*, *Call of Duty: Black Ops II*, *Call of Duty: Black Ops III* and *Call of Duty: Black Ops 4,* the **Chaos Story** featured in *Black Ops 4*, and the **Dark Aether Saga** introduced in *Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War* and *Call of Duty: Vanguard.* The Treyarch Zombies Timeline can be used to view exactly when the events of the Aether Story occurred. Please note that the story is ever-changing based on information introduced in each new map.

## Aether Story

In the beginning, there were only the Aether and Keepers. Among them were two beings who would later be known by many names. One would be known as Doctor Monty, the other being as the Shadowman. In time, the Keepers crafted the Summoning Key, a device that allows them to manipulate the Aether. Holding power over reality itself, they used it to create Agartha. The Keepers later mastered the ability to travel between dimensions.

At some point, several Keepers, among which the Shadowman, began experimenting with the Dark Aether, an energy beneath creation. The Dark Aether corrupted and corroded their souls, and the corrupted Keepers became known as the Apothicons.

The Apothicons created the Aether Pyramid, a device capable of absolute power. A schism formed between them and the Keepers untainted by the Dark Aether. Soon after, a war broke out between Apothicons and uncorrupted Keepers. Facing defeat, the Apothicons hid the Aether Pyramid on a moon within one of the newly discovered dimensions. After banishing the Apothicons to the Dark Aether, the remaining Keepers took on the mantle of Guardians. Trapped in the Dark Aether, the Apothicons evolved over eons into twisted creatures that now bear little resemblance to their Keeper brethren. They desired, above all else, to return to Agartha.

By September 5 CE, the Apothicons, knowing the Earth has a gateway to Agartha, sent meteors containing Element 115 to the planet in different dimensions across space and time. They believe humanity will one day use Element 115 to wage war among themselves, opening a rift that will allow the Apothicons to escape the Dark Aether.

### The Great War

On January 15th, 1292, the Great War between humanity (including the Wolf King) and the Apothicons began across dimensions. During the war, Sir Pablo Marinus was saved from the clutches of a Margwa by four heroes known as Primis. On December 31st, 1299, after more than seven years of war, Primis (with the Keepers and the rest of humanity) defeated the Apothicons, bringing the Great War to an end. Before they seemingly disappeared from history, Primis instructed the Wolf King to begin building his castle that would later be known as Der Eisendrache.

Several years later, honoring the Wolf King's dying request, his loyal servant Arthur scattered and buried his bones in the grounds of Der Eisendrache, accompanied by the King's Wolf. Arthur was then teleported by temporal rifts to Resolution 1295 in 2025 Angola.

### Ultimis Story

In 1885, a blacksmith named Jebediah Brown was living in a mining town called Purgatory Point in the Old West. The mine contained large amounts of Element 115 which started to affect people who went down there. One of the miners turned into a zombie and attacked Jebediah's mother, killing her. Wanting to find answers, Jebediah went down in the mine where he spent five days without realizing it. Later, on April 19th, Jebediah had a vision in his sleep. Two angels asked him to build a machine, a Pack-a-Punch Machine, which became a success in the town. On June 30th, Jebediah had another vision; the two angels asked him to create an Agarthan Device. The Agarthan Device had three components: the blood of an elder god found at the bottom of the ocean, an Elemental Shard created by forging four human souls to a rock of Element 115, and a metallic Vril vessel. Jeb managed to craft the vessel, but had no means of obtaining the blood or the souls.

After crafting the Vril Vessel, Jebediah upgraded it with the Pack-a-Punch. As a result of this, and the fracturing of the Earth after Ultimis helped Maxis launch rockets from the Moon in 2025, a temporal rift was created, transporting the entire town, including Jebediah, to an underground cavern in Angola. Afterwards, zombies began to overrun the now buried town, killing its inhabitants including Jebediah.

On June 30th, 1908, a meteor containing Element 115 crashed near the Stony Tunguska River in Siberia. Over the next decades, more deposits of Element 115 were discovered in Germany, Japan, the United States of America and on the Moon.

In 1931, after a large deposit of Element 115 was found in Breslau, Doctor Ludvig Maxis formed Group 935 as an international German-led research team, becoming its head scientist. The Der Riese facility was established at Breslau. Maxis sought to use the newly discovered element to improve the human condition by developing advanced technologies. He invited Doctor Edward Richtofen, who would later be known as Ultimis Richtofen, to join Group 935. Richtofen agreed, secretly acting on behalf of the Illuminati's interests.

By 1939, Maxis and Ultimis Richtofen started working on the first teleportation experiments with a Matter Transference Prototype. The experiments were unsuccessful. The subjects were teleported, but their chemical composition was altered, leaving them catatonic and changed. Ultimis Richtofen also began the development of the Wunderwaffe DG-2. In the same year, Maxis turned to the Reichstag and the Nazi Party for additional funding. They agreed to the request, expressing interest in Group 935’s weapons research, teleportation technology, and the reanimated undead subject to help the Axis win the war.

Ultimis Richtofen and Doctor Schuster continued working on teleportation and successfully teleported a walnut during Test Trial 151. The result, however, failed to impress Maxis who revealed to Ultimis Richtofen that Group 935 would be soon funded by Nazi Germany. Ultimis Richtofen worried this would lead to mass defections. He decided to continue the experiments with Schuster behind Maxis' back.

In early 1940, Ultimis Richtofen and Schuster conducted the first human teleportation test. Ultimis Richtofen was so confident in its success that he volunteered himself. He was teleported to the Moon where he encountered the Aether Pyramid, calling it MPD. While inspecting the device, Ultimis Richtofen was electrocuted and began hearing many voices of corruption, including the Shadowman's. He was then teleported to Shangri-La in the Himalayas where he was worshiped by the natives who built an altar in his name. Ultimis Richtofen also encountered the Focusing Stone for the first time. Corrupted by the Dark Aether, Ultimis Richtofen was gradually driven insane by an obsession to reach Agartha.

Ultimis Richtofen returned to Der Riese a few weeks later with a plan to build a station on the Moon, called Griffin Station. He also renounced his involvement with the Illuminati. Frustrated with Maxis' alignment with Germany, other disgruntled Group 935 scientists joined his cause.

Several months later, Maxis contacted the Reichstag High Command requesting additional funds stating that Der Riese lacked not only the funding, but a sufficient volume of Element 115 as well. In response to his request, Nazi Germany built two new facilities in Berlin for Group 935. They were known as the Kino Facility, a repurposed theater, and the Asylum Facility at the Wittenau Sanatorium. The Imperial Japanese Army handed over the Rising Sun Facility to Group 935 which collaborated with Division 9 at the facility site. Group 935 also established a facility in Siberia near the Tunguska River and a research facility at Der Eisendrache, called Eagle's Nest.

By 1942, Griffin Station was completed. Ultimis Richtofen appointed Doctor Groph as lead scientist and tasked him and Schuster to discover a way to power the MPD. While at the Rising Sun Facility, Maxis developed the Ray Gun Prototype while H. Porter worked on the 2nd Generation Model. In May 1942, after soldiers returned from Africa, Ultimis Richtofen reported that they found a number of artifacts from an American town. Among the artifacts and documents recovered, was pieces of the Pack-a-Punch machine from Jebediah Brown. Ultimis Richtofen gave the schematics to H. Porter to replicate Brown's work. Ultimis Richtofen also discovered plans for the Agarthan Device and the Vril Vessel, as well as the Vril Device.

On June 13th, 1942, as a result of temporal rifts caused by Ultimis traveling through time to reach the Kino Facility in 1963, Doctor Monty reached across time and space and offered little nudges. One nudge is helping Group 935 to develop Element 115 fused elixirs. They created four medicinal beverages known colloquially as Juggernog, Quick Revive, Speed Cola, and Double Tap.

At Griffin station, Groph and Schuster unwittingly discover how to charge the MPD when Schuster killed a rat near the device. Its death inexplicably began charging the device by filling its tank. They reported their findings to Ultimis Richtofen who began sending soldiers and scientists to be sacrificed to charge the MPD.

By the end of 1942, Maxis expressed concern over Element 115's impact on Ultimis Richtofen's behavior. Although no longer trusting him, he left his daughter Samantha in Ultimis Richtofen's care as Maxis himself was transferred to the Kino Facility with his assistant Sophia to focus on creating Germany's undead army.

In 1943, Nikolai Belinski, who would later be known as Ultimis Nikolai, was captured during the Battle of Stalingrad and became a test subject for Group 935. The same year, Takeo Masaki, who would later be known as Ultimis Takeo, was captured by Group 935 on the orders of the Emperor.

In 1944, Pablo Marinus, a Mexican spy, was captured by Group 935 at Der Eisendrache. In his cell, Pablo wrote of visions of a Great War. He described a "great battle against strange demon-like creatures who were trying to devour the Earth". In his visions, he saw four knights protected him from certain death. He made a note that the knights wore tunics similar to the statues in Der Eisendrache.

In 1945, OSS operative Peter McCain infiltrated Group 935. In July 1945, Richtofen traveled to the Siberian Facility to do further research on "live specimens". As her temporary guardian, he took Samantha with him. Ultimis Richtofen also brought the Vril Device with him. Several days after his arrival, a Reporter was arrested near the facility. When Ultimis Richtofen interrogated him, the reporter revealed he was working for Mr. Rapt who was looking for several artifacts, among them the Vril Vessel. After Ultimis Richtofen refused to give him the vessel, he ordered the guards to kill the reporter.

On August 1945, Group 935 began to transfer three test subjects for experimentation: Ultimis Nikolai, Pablo Marinus, and Ultimis Takeo. Ultimis Richtofen began experimenting on them few days after their arrival. Ultimis Richtofen also started looking at a way to create an Elemental Shard in order to build the Agarthan Device

Suspecting Group 935 would lose control of their experiments, Peter's handler, Cornelius Pernell, sent a Marine Recon Team lead by "Tank" Dempsey, who would later be known as Ultimis Dempsey, to extract McCain whose cover had been blown.

In September 1945, during an operation with Harvey Yena, another American spy, Ultimis Richtofen extracted Pablo Marinus' spleen. He noted that the barrier to unlock the human mind was not located in the spleen. Believing Marinus dead, they dumped him into the river. However, Pablo survived and would later awaken in a pocket dimension at the bottom of the river before swimming back to the Siberian facility where he would remain for the next 20 years.

Several days later, the Recon Team arrived at the Asylum Facility where an outbreak occurred. Ultimis Dempsey was captured and sent to Ultimis Richtofen in Siberia to replace Pablo Marinus. Ultimis Richtofen continued experimenting on Ultimis Dempsey, Nikolai and Takeo and documented the personality traits of his test subjects. Dempsey's "intellect seemed low, but his will was strong." Takeo was "still staring at the floor, muttering what sounds like some kind of proverb over and over again." Nikolai had "recently begun responding to stimuli, but only after injections of a new serum made primarily from vodka." Ultimis Richtofen noted that their minds had been almost entirely broken, with no memory remaining of who they once were. While at the Siberian Facility, Ultimis Richtofen also experimented on Samantha.

As he continued to find a way to build the Agarthan Device, Ultimis Richtofen managed to siphon a piece of the souls of his three test subjects into a processed rock of Element 115 using the Vril Vessel. He used his own for the fourth soul required. As the souls were injected to the rock, it transformed and created a shard of glass. Unbeknownst to Ultimis Richtofen, by forging their souls to the Element 115, he bound his soul and the ones from Nikolai Belinski, Takeo Masaki and "Tank" Dempsey to the Aether across all dimensions. All their different versions were now connected to the Aether through time and space.

After learning from Harvey Yena that Maxis didn't mass-produce the Wunderwaffe DG-2 as promised, Ultimis Richtofen started plotting to destroy Maxis and his daughter. He vowed that he would no longer continue to work on Maxis' undead army.

With the war over, Maxis returned to Der Riese in October 1945 and ordered Ultimis Richtofen to do likewise so they might continue their work on the Matter Transference Device. Several days later, Ultimis Richtofen arrived at Der Riese with his test subjects and Samantha. On October 12th, Groph contacted Ultimis Richtofen to inform him the MPD had been powered up and was awaiting the conduit.

On October 13th, 1945, during a series of teleportation test trials, Maxis used Samantha's dog Fluffy as test subject. Fluffy, now changed was teleported back into the chamber. When Samantha saw Fluffy, she ran inside the teleporter. Maxis chased after her and Ultimis Richtofen sealed them in the test chamber before teleporting them away.

While Maxis was teleported to the Crazy Place where he learned the power to merge with electricity, Samantha was teleported to Griffin Station. She ran inside the MPD where she became corrupted by the Dark Aether. When he learned about the incident, Ultimis Richtofen ordered Groph to teleport Maxis to the Moon to coax Samantha out of the device. Maxis approached the MPD and he persuaded her to come out. Once she did, Maxis gave her the instruction to "kill them... all" before killing himself and merging with the technology of Griffin Station. Samantha then entered the MPD and unleashed the undead upon the base killing anyone involved with the organization.

The next day, an outbreak occurred at the Der Riese Facility. H. Porter activated the alarm before killing himself. Ultimis Richtofen returned to the facility where he awoke Ultimis Dempsey, Takeo and Nikolai. With no recollection of who they were or who Richtofen was, they agreed to help him. The four would become known as Ultimis.

#### Richtofen's Grand Scheme

Several days later, Ultimis traveled to the Rising Sun facility where an outbreak occurred. In the facility, Ultimis discovered the corpse of Peter McCain who died during a parachute incident after being ordered by Cornelius Pernell to rendezvous at the facility. Ultimis Richtofen also recovered his diary, which contained his research notes concerning Element 115, and began to formulate a plan to defeat Samantha.

A week later, Ultimis returned to Der Riese where Ultimis Richtofen planned to use the teleporter to return to the Moon and confront Samantha. However, the Wunderwaffe DG-2 overloaded the teleporter and sent Ultimis to the Kino Facility in 1963 causing Ultimis Richtofen to drop his diary which was later recovered by the Soviet Union.

This marked the first time Ultimis traveled across space and time and resulted in temporal rifts occurring across dimensions. In light of these developments, Monty felt obligated to step in and began to make changes in the background across time. He helped Group 935 invent Perk Machines. He also added chalk drawings to the walls.

When Ultimis arrived at the Kino Facility on October 28th, 1963, they located a Lunar Lander and flew to the Ascension Facility.

In the weeks prior to Ultimis' arrival at the Ascension Facility, a Russian scientist from the Ascension Group named Yuri Zavoyski became corrupted by Samantha's voice after reading Ultimis Richtofen's diary. Yuri tricked his colleague, Doctor Anton Gersh, into activating a Gersh Device. The rift created allowed Samantha to travel through. It also absorbed Gersh, destroying his body and trapped him inside the Casimir Mechanism. Yuri was also absorbed and transported to the Pentagon.

When Ultimis arrived at the Ascension Facility on November 6th, 1963, they found the outbreak had occurred and Gersh begged them to free him from the Casimir Mechanism. At the same time, in the Pentagon, John F. Kennedy, Robert McNamara, Fidel Castro, and Richard Nixon were discussing a future alliance between the United States and Cuba to fight Samantha when an outbreak occurred inside the building. Yuri, who was responsible for a prior outbreak in the Pentagon, was sent by Samantha to thwart their survival. After Ultimis freed Gersh from the Casimir Mechanism, he sent them to their next destination before beginning his travels across space and time. With the departure of Ultimis from the cosmodrome, both outbreaks were contained, and Yuri was arrested.

Ultimis arrived in a locked room at the Siberian Facility on March 17th, 2011 where George A. Romero, who had stumbled upon Group 935's research, was making a movie with Sarah Michelle Gellar, Robert Englund, Danny Trejo, and Michael Rooker. An outbreak soon occurred, and George Romero was turned into a zombie. The actors recovered the Vril Device for Ultimis who were then teleported to their next destination. The fate of the cast and crew remained unknown but six weeks later, Romero's assistant, Sally, was teleported to Shangri-La and trapped inside a time loop while looking through Romero's research about Group 935.

As they continued their journey, Ultimis arrived at Shangri-La on April 25th, 1956. With the help of two explorers trapped inside the time loop, Brock and Gary, Ultimis acquired the Focusing Stone.

Now in possession of the Vril Device and the Focusing Stone, Ultimis Richtofen was ready to return to the Moon. Ultimis Dempsey, however, fired the 31-79 JGb215 while inside the teleporter. This caused Ultimis to travel to the Pentagon, before the November 6th outbreak had occurred. Meanwhile, Yuri was sent by Samantha to release the zombies kept in the Pentagon before being sent to November 6th. Once in the Pentagon, Ultimis traveled to Groom Lake, Nevada where they used the teleporter to reach the Moon.

Once inside Griffin Station, on October 13th, 2025, Ultimis reactivated the MPD which revealed Samantha as she was when she entered the device back in 1945. Ultimis Richtofen then used a terminal to power up the Vril Device and merged it with the Focusing Stone. However, he encountered Maxis inside the terminal, who tried to stop him. However, Ultimis Richtofen was able to complete his Grand Scheme and switched his soul with that of Samantha's, gaining full control of the Aether, while Samantha was trapped inside Richtofen's body.

Ultimis Dempsey, Nikolai, and Takeo then decided to help the disembodied AI Maxis stop Ultimis Richtofen. They launched three missiles at the Earth in order to sever the link between the Earth and the Aether. However, the calculations were made in haste, causing catastrophic destruction to the Earth.

Meanwhile, in 2035, Victis was able to activate all three polarization devices in Maxis' favor. Maxis, now corrupted by the Dark Aether, returned to the Moon in 2025 and plucked Samantha from Richtofen's body to join him in Agartha before destroying the Earth and all its inhabitants. As a last bit of revenge, Maxis trapped Ultimis Richtofen's soul in a zombie, creating Undead Richtofen, leaving his body in a catatonic state.

Ultimis Dempsey, Takeo, Nikolai, and Richtofen's catatonic body were then accidentally teleported back to Groom Lake on August 3rd, 1963 where they were captured by Pernell and kept in Hangar 4 to be experimented on. Several months later, on October 13th, Undead Richtofen stepped out of a portal from the Empty Earth and remerged his soul with Ultimis Richtofen's body, waking him from his coma. Some time later, Primis teleported inside Hangar 4 where they freed and met with their Ultimis selves. Nikolai, now assuming the role of leader of the group, revealed to Ultimis there will be a war to be fought, a great war, before teleporting away from the hangar.

### Victis Story

The missile launch by the Ultimis crew in 2025 left the Earth as a post-apocalyptic crumbling wasteland littered with undead hordes as civilization collapsed. As survivors began to band together to form small human communities and shelters to protect themselves from the now global undead threat, Maxis realized the failure of his original plans due to hasty calculations and began contacting survivors to help him with his "Plan B": activate global polarization devices and open a gateway to Agartha, where he would overpower Richtofen and use its energy to heal the Earth. Unbeknownst to his followers, Maxis secretly planned to commandeer the Aether's energy for his own use to open the gateway to Agartha and reunite with Samantha, which would ultimately destroy the Earth and its people.

Ultimis Richtofen, unsatisfied with his limited power over the undead, planned to activate these polarization devices as well, which would grant him further manipulation of both zombies and humans and mend "the Rift", a direct gateway to Agartha, which would eternally damn the soul of Samantha Maxis in the process. Limited to communication with only those capable of hearing the voices of the Aether, Ultimis Richtofen began his own quest for unlimited power.

Over the years, Maxis' followers started constructing the first polarization device near the Hanford Site in Green Run, Washington State. However, his followers began to doubt his goals and, believing him to be evil, proceeded to destroy the devices. Meanwhile, The Flesh, a society of survivors who ate the undead was formed. As its members ate the flesh of the undead, they began to hear Ultimis Richtofen who tried to persuade them to construct the polarization devices. Eventually a battle broke out between Maxis' followers and The Flesh, with only a few left to escape as an undead horde descended upon them.

Several years later, in 2035, Marlton Johnson, the sole survivor of the nuclear incident at Camp Edward and the missile strike, met with Abigail "Misty" Briarton in a diner near Green Run where they also encountered two more survivors, Russman, a former Broken Arrow operative, and Samuel J. Stuhlinger, one of the remaining members of The Flesh, who used a stolen bus for transport. The four would become known as Victis.

#### Activating the Polarization Devices

At the Hanford Site, Victis was contacted by Maxis, who revealed the town contains a polarization device required for his plans. At the same time, Ultimis Richtofen contacted Samuel instructing him to foil Maxis' plans by activating the tower in his favor, beginning a race for power between Maxis and Ultimis Richtofen. Victis ultimately activated the tower for Maxis, consuming the essence of the entity called Avogadro.

Victis was then teleported by Ultimis Richtofen to a skyscraper in the crumbled city of Shanghai, Province 22, China, in an attempt to gain control of the tower located there. Maxis also contacted Victis, hoping to convince them to give him control of the tower. Richtofen tried to blackmail Samuel into cooperating by threatening to reveal to his allies that he had consumed undead meat. Every time the group failed to carry out the objective and was killed by the zombie horde, Richtofen would use his power to bring them back, with no memories of their previous failures or deaths. Victis ultimately activated the second polarization device in Maxis' favor.

Victis managed to escape the building they were trapped in and started to wander the world to reach the Rift, hoping to find answers about the unseen forces commanding them. They traveled through the remains of Europe, crossed the Sahara Desert and by December 31st, 2035 found a Western town buried underground near the Rift in Southern Angola. The town was transported from the 1800s to underneath the mining facility by a temporal rift triggered by the fracturing of the Earth ten years earlier. In one of the cells, Victis found Arthur who had been transported to the town from 1318 by a previous temporal rift. Maxis once again contacted the survivors, imploring them to activate the last spire in his favor. Meanwhile, Samuel was tasked with the same objective by Ultimis Richtofen, as it was also the last tower he needed to mend the Rift and gain unlimited power.

* Canon Ending
* Alternate Ending

If the player decides to follow Maxis' Easter Eggs in all three maps and polarize the towers in his favor, Maxis will gain control of the Aether and open a gateway to Agartha. He removes Samantha's soul from Richtofen's body (back in 2025) and, as a last revenge against his former assistant, Maxis traps Ultimis Richtofen's soul inside a zombie whose eyes become blue, becoming Undead Richtofen. He then travels to the House and reunites with his daughter, Samantha. However, opening the portal to Agartha results in the destruction of the Earth and its inhabitants.

Samantha, after witnessing her father's corruption by the Dark Aether, reached out through a temporal rift to the Maxis of Dimension 63 for help.
If the player decides to follow Richtofen's Easter Eggs in all three maps and polarize the towers in his favor, the Rift will be mended, eternally damning Samantha to Agartha and allowing Richtofen to fully manipulate the Aether's energies. With the Earth as his personal playground and Maxis' existence erased, Richtofen is now able to leave the Aether at will and uses the body of Samuel Stuhlinger as his physical host.

#### Retrieving the Kronorium

Following Maxis' victory, the Victis crew was contacted by Primis Richtofen and offered an escape portal from the soon-to-be-destroyed Earth. Primis Richtofen had discovered his connection with Samuel Stuhlinger shortly after the events of Origins in Dimension 63 and had decided to use Victis to acquire the Kronorium, a book needed for his plan to find the Summoning Key. Primis Richtofen also instructed Undead Richtofen (Ultimis) to pursue Victis and recover their blood vials.

The escape portal led Victis to an abandoned Broken Arrow facility which Russman had previously worked at. There, they recovered a fragment of the Elemental Shard before providing blood samples which transported them to Empty Earth, still being chased by Undead Richtofen.

Escaping the zombie horde led by Undead Richtofen, they arrived at Zero Base; a facility created by some version of Maxis in the Empty Earth. While some of Victis felt that they were finally safe in Zero Base, Primis Richtofen informed Stuhlinger that the Empty Earth was a tangential world which would soon collapse due to their intrusion. Their only way out would be to recover the Kronorium stored within the base. After taking possession of the Kronorium, they departed through another rift while Undead Richtofen collected the blood samples they had left behind.

Victis arrived inside Richtofen's lab beneath Alcatraz in Dimension 63 where they met with Primis Richtofen. Upon reading the Kronorium, Primis Richtofen discovered numerous timelines documenting their fates and learned about the Blood Vials. He would later write on the page "I know now what I must do - E.R. 4/7/41". He then left his lab and collected Victis' blood samples from Undead Richtofen in the Empty Earth, retrieved the blood samples of Salvatore "Sal" DeLuca (386A) and Michael "Finn" O'Leary (481B) in 1934, then gave the prisoners' blood samples to his younger self in 1914. Primis Richtofen then returned to the lab. He then offered to put Victis "on ice" inside suspension devices where they would be kept safe until "the final world arrives" which Victis accepted. Shortly after being placed in stasis, the Primis crew from the future teleported to the lab and Primis Richtofen gave the later version of himself the Victis blood samples.

### Primis Story

In Dimension 63, in 1300, Sir Pablo Marinus (who had been transported back in time from the Pocket Dimension by Victis) began documenting the Great War, including everything he had learned about the Keepers, the Apothicons, and Element 115. Regarding Element 115's power, he noted that a site in northern France contained massive deposits of the element. In northern France, a tomb was constructed to honor the fallen soldiers of The Great War. Within it, statues of Primis were constructed to symbolize the hope that if one day a great evil falls upon mankind, they may return.

Several centuries later, Doctor Ludvig Maxis and Doctor Edward Richtofen, who would later be known as Primis Richtofen, joined Group 935. In 1914, Primis Richtofen was visited by an older version of himself who handed him two blood vials and explained that he would need this blood and, when the time came, they would protect him. The older version of Primis Richtofen then left through a rift.

In 1916, Group 935 discovered the journal of Sir Pablo Marinus. Using information gathered from the journal, Group 935 began work at a dig site in northern France, where they discovered a series of underground tombs. They struggled to gain access of the tomb's main chamber until the entrance unexpectedly opened when soldiers listened to a recording of "La Source Noire". The camp's exposure to Element 115 began soon after.

In 1917, Group 935 experimented with Element 115, dubbed Divinium by Maxis, and successfully created "localized energy fields which appeared to function as portals.". Maxis noted that objects could pass through them and speculated the rifts may have opened gateways across space and time. After witnessing the corruption of her father by the Dark Aether in the House, Samantha reached out to the Dimension 63 Maxis through the rifts Group 935 had opened. She begged for his help and revealed she was his daughter.

Group 935 continued experimenting with Element 115 and the rifts. One day an "ancient box" arrived through one of the portals. The box had the power to manifest weapons from different eras. Maxis feared Element 115 was disrupting the space-time continuum. Following the installation of Element 115 powered generators, reports surfaced of "ancient figures emerging" from the dig site corresponding with the mysterious deaths of several Group 935 soldiers. Using Element 115, Group 935 later constructed four Giant Robots including three named Freya, Odin and Thor. Primis Richtofen noted that despite Group 935's progress at the dig site, he was troubled by Maxis' growing obsession with Sir Pablo Marinus' diary.

Meanwhile, Primis "Tank" Dempsey, Nikolai Belinski, Takeo Masaki were dispatched by their respective governments to gather intel and investigate on Group 935's weapon technology and capabilities.

By 1918, Maxis had become obsessed with Samantha, who spoke to him constantly. He believed her to be the "key to everything" and eventually swore to no longer serve Group 935's mission.

On June 4th, 1918, Element 115 awakened the undead knights from The Great War who quickly consumed the camp. Maxis was rendered catatonic by the element but Primis Richtofen was able to remove his brain before he turned. Primis Dempsey, Nikolai, and Takeo united with Primis Richtofen on the battlefield, put Maxis' brain in a drone and helped free Samantha from her imprisonment in Agartha. Maxis' brain followed her to Agartha.

When Maxis' brain arrived in the House in Agartha, Doctor Monty decided to step in and, despite the absence of his soul, recreated a physical manifestation of Maxis' Dimension 63 form. Monty then erased the original timeline's Dark Aether corrupted Maxis from existence. After cleansing the remaining corruption from Samantha, Monty united her with the Dimension 63 incarnation of her father and Fluffy. At this point, Monty revealed to Maxis his plan: to resolve the paradox wrought by a multiverse and create a new reality - one free of the Apothicons. But it would only work if they enlisted the aid of souls who had lived through and survived the fracturing. Samantha sent Primis to the Ultimis dimension in 1943 where they formulated a plan to stop Ultimis Richtofen and prevent the events that were about to unfold.

#### Richtofen's Journey

Primis Richtofen alone was teleported to the House in Agartha and reunited with Maxis. Maxis explained to Primis Richtofen the plan to secure the Kronorium and locate the Summoning Key and warned him that the "test subjects must never be allowed to be awakened". While inside the House, Primis Richtofen discovered his connection with Samuel Stuhlinger and decided to use Victis to acquire the Kronorium.

Primis Richtofen traveled back to 1940 in Dimension 63 where he contacted members of the Illuminati and enlisted their help to build a laboratory facility beneath Alcatraz. Several days later, he met with Stanley Ferguson and convinced him to assist with the Illuminati’s construction of the Alcatraz laboratory. Having overseen the construction of a laboratory beneath Alcatraz, Richtofen returned to the House in Agartha where he began to communicate with Stuhlinger. Together, they persuaded Victis to travel to a variety of locations in order to recover the Kronorium.

When Primis Richtofen returned to the laboratory in 1941, he transported Victis to the lab to meet them. Upon reading the Kronorium, Primis Richtofen discovered numerous timelines documenting their fates and learned about the Blood Vials. He would later write on the page "I know now what I must do - E.R. 4/7/41". He then left his lab and collected Victis' blood samples from Undead Richtofen in the Empty Earth, retrieved the blood samples of Salvatore "Sal" DeLuca and Michael "Finn" O'Leary in 1934 and gave the latter two to his younger self in 1914. Primis Richtofen returned to the lab and offered to put Victis "on ice" inside suspension devices where they would be kept safe until "the final world arrives".

Shortly after putting Victis in stasis, the rest of the Primis team arrived in the lab from the Proditione Fracture and Primis Richtofen gave them Victis' blood samples. Following their departure, Primis Richtofen learned the location of the Summoning Key and traveled to Morg City. There, he learned that the Reporter had the Summoning Key and confronted him. The Reporter, who had been warned by Monty's letter not to give the Summoning Key to anyone, ordered Richtofen to stay away before attacking him. Primis Richtofen killed the Reporter in self-defense but was unable to retrieve the artifact as the crate containing the Summoning Key had been sealed with ancient magic.

In Morg City, four individuals with checkered pasts: Floyd Campbell, Jessica Rose, Nero Blackstone, and Jack Vincent were influenced by the Shadowman to kill someone they knew. They were then drugged and, upon waking, were manipulated into conducting a ritual, thinking it would absolve them of their sins. Instead, it allowed the Apothicons into Dimension 63. After realizing their mistake, the four worked with the Keepers to defeat the Shadowman and trapped him inside the Summoning Key. Primis Richtofen returned to Morg City and stole the Summoning Key (with the Shadowman trapped within it) from the four before leaving the dimension. Primis Richtofen then traveled to Dimension 2210 where he secured the soul of a young innocent. Returning to the House, Monty was able to give the innocent soul a physical form, named Eddie. He also took custody of the Summoning Key, though the Shadowman ominously promised "I'll be seeing you...", foreshadowing his planned escape. Primis Richtofen then returned to the Ultimis dimension where he stepped out of a teleporter moments after Ultimis Richtofen had teleported Maxis and Samantha away and killed his Ultimis self, triggering fractures across space and time.

#### Shadowman's Plan

The Shadowman was the only Apothicon to survive the banishment in the Dark Aether and traveled across the multiverse to find a way for the other Apothicons to reach Agartha.

Posing as Mr. Rapt, the Shadowman hired the same Reporter across different dimensions to retrieve the Summoning Key as well as components for the Agarthan Device.

After learning the fate of Salvatore "Sal" DeLuca, Billy Handsome, Albert "Weasel" Arlington and Michael "Finn" O'Leary in Dimension 63, the Shadowman contacted the Warden of Alcatraz during the 1930s and corrupted him.

In 1932, Salvatore DeLuca, Billy Handsome, Albert Arlington, and Michael O'Leary were convicted and sent to Alcatraz. The next year, on April 1st, 1933, Arlington convinced the other three that they could build a plane and escape the island. By the end of year, however, the others realized the plane would never be completed. Embittered, they plotted to get revenge on Arlington.

On December 31st, 1933, DeLuca, O'Leary, and Finn lured Arlington to the roof and killed him. The Shadowman revealed to the Warden that he would transform the island with the souls of the four mobsters and create a trap to ensnare Primis Richtofen inside a Pocket Dimension.

In January 1934, just a few days before they were executed, Primis Richtofen stepped through a portal and secured the blood samples of DeLuca and O'Leary. On January 19th, 1934, Salvatore DeLuca, Billy Handsome and Michael O'Leary were executed by electric chair for the murder of Arlington. After their execution, the Warden killed himself with the electric chair before disappearing from Dimension 63.

In late 1943, the Reporter recovered the Summoning Key in the South Pacific, the Seal of Duality, as well as a rock of Element 115 in Russia. He then interviewed Stanley Ferguson, a retired guard who worked at the Alcatraz prison between 1933 and 1941. Ferguson gave the reporter a detailed account of the death of four mobsters and their plan to escape the Rock. After learning their fate, the Shadowman went into the past and contacted the Warden of Alcatraz in the 1930s.

On December 31st, 1943, the Reporter arrived in Morg City, as requested by the Shadowman, to track down Floyd Campbell, Jessica Rose, Nero Blackstone and Jack Vincent. Over the next few months, the reporter gathered enough information and sent a telegram providing their details. The Shadowman then influenced Campbell, Rose, Blackstone, and Vincent to kill someone they knew.

Aware of the Shadowman's actions, Monty wrote to the Reporter, warning him to not give the Summoning Key to anyone.

On April 21st, 1944, Primis Richtofen arrived in Morg City. The next day, he learned that the Reporter had the Summoning Key and confronted him. The Reporter waved Monty's letter to Richtofen and ordered him to stay away before attacking him. Primis Richtofen killed the Reporter in self-defense but was unable to retrieve the artifact as the crate containing the Summoning Key had been sealed with ancient magic.

Several days later, Floyd Campbell, Jessica Rose, Nero Blackstone and Jack Vincent awakened in a twisted version of Morg City. The Shadowman tricked them into performing rituals which gave the Apothicons access to Dimension 63. After realizing their error, the four then worked with the Keepers to defeat the Shadowman and trapped him inside the Summoning Key. At this point, Primis Richtofen stepped through a portal, stole the Summoning Key and thanked the four for their efforts before leaving the dimension. The next day, the Apothicons consumed Dimension 63 and its inhabitants. Inside the Summoning Key, the Shadowman contacted the Warden of Alcatraz and revealed to him that he would transform Alcatraz with the souls of the four mobsters and create a trap to ensnare Primis Richtofen inside the Pocket Dimension, thus creating a cycle.

#### Quest for the Souls

In the Ultimis Dimension, Primis Dempsey, Takeo, and Nikolai were teleported in by Samantha and arrived at the Der Riese facility moments after Ultimis Richtofen teleported Maxis and Samantha away. They ordered Ultimis Richtofen to awaken the test subjects, Ultimis Dempsey, Nikolai, and Takeo, who had been kept in stasis prior to the outbreak at Der Riese in the original timeline. At this point, the teleporter activated and Primis Richtofen, now in possession of the Summoning Key, emerged and killed Ultimis Richtofen then collected his soul within the Summoning Key, triggering fractures across space and time.

Now inside the Deceptio Fracture, Primis lit up a beacon within the facility enabling Maxis to know where and when they were.

Using a Giant Robot at Der Riese, Primis pursued a Group 935 truck, carrying a cryostasis pod containing Ultimis Dempsey. The robot, however, was shot down by the soldiers, forcing Primis to continue on foot. They reached a gondola station, which took them up to Eagle's Nest. However, they were too late to stop Ultimis Dempsey from being launched on a rocket toward Griffin Station. As they carried on with their mission, Primis Richtofen posed as his Ultimis self to fool Doctor Groph, though the latter gradually became suspicious of Richtofen's abnormal behavior. Eventually, Primis redirected the rocket containing Ultimis Dempsey's pod to hit the castle courtyard. In retaliation, Groph activated a failsafe, preventing them from tampering with the pod. Primis used the Vril Device from the cryopod to conjure up the spirit of a Keeper. The Keeper then teleported the MPD from Griffin Station to the castle but became corrupted by the Dark Aether in the process, forcing Primis to defeat it. Primis then used the Summoning Key to activate the MPD and launched dozens of V2 rockets toward the Moon, destroying it along with all Group 935 members within Griffin Station. As they approached Ultimis Dempsey's pod, Richtofen revealed his plan to eliminate their Ultimis counterparts and preserve their souls inside the Summoning Key. Dempsey, though initially resentful of the idea, agreed to the plan, and took it upon himself to disable the pod's life support system, ending the life of Ultimis Dempsey. As he died, Primis Richtofen used the Summoning Key to capture and preserve his soul. With the death of Ultimis Dempsey, their goal at Griffin Castle was completed.

Primis then teleported to the Proditione Fracture, where they were taken hostage on board a Japanese ship in the Pacific Ocean. While a Japanese officer was interrogating them about the Summoning Key, a massive wave struck the ship sending everyone off their balance. A brief fight then ensued and the officer dropped the artifact. Primis then jumped overboard as the ship exploded and swam to a nearby island where they found a Division 9 facility. Primis discovered deep inside the facility a giant Thrasher, locked within a cell, which was revealed to be Ultimis Takeo who was being experimented on. Ultimis Takeo revealed to Primis Takeo that it was the Emperor himself who had ordered Division 9 to torture and experiment on him. Primis Takeo offered his Ultimis self a chance to right the wrongs of the universe, which he accepted. Ultimis Takeo committed seppuku, with Primis Takeo acting as his kaishakunin. With his death, Primis Richtofen was able to secure the soul of Ultimis Takeo inside the Summoning Key.

Primis then teleported to Primis Richtofen's laboratory beneath Alcatraz where they met with an earlier version of Primis Richtofen before he acquired the Summoning Key. The earlier Primis Richtofen gave them the blood samples of Victis and Primis stepped through a portal to their next destination.

Primis accidentally teleported over the city of Stalingrad in the Agonia Fracture. During the freefall, they grabbed onto the corpse of Peter McCain, who had gone through a portal, and activated his parachute to land safely. They discovered an ongoing battle between dragons and Russian Giant Robots with Ultimis Nikolai as the sole survivor fighting zombies inside a Manticore mech. Upon noticing Primis, Ultimis Nikolai attempted to kill them, but was thrown into a building by a dragon before he could succeed. He later questioned who they were and if they could help him. Eventually, Primis reached S.O.P.H.I.A., an A.I. made from the brain of Maxis' assistant Sophia who had been attacked by a zombie during their stay at the Kino Facility. She asked them to perform several tasks before a master password could be typed in, prompting Primis to complete the Ascension Protocol. As they continued to follow S.O.P.H.I.A.'s instructions, they found Gersh, who recognized them, yet knew they were not the same versions who freed him. Primis tricked Gersh into entering the systems of S.O.P.H.I.A. to extract information from him leading to his destruction. With the Ascension Protocol completed, S.O.P.H.I.A. flew away through space and time in hopes of finding Maxis. During their mission at Stalingrad, Monty contacted Primis stating he had "seen their misdeeds" and asked them to fix the universe as they were partially responsible for its fracture. Primis then reached Ultimis Nikolai who made a temporary truce with them to kill the dragon. However, upon the dragon's death, Primis asked Ultimis Nikolai to surrender. Ultimis Nikolai refused and a brief fight broke out between them. Ultimately, Primis defeated Ultimis Nikolai who was then approached by his Primis self. As he approached, Ultimis Nikolai asked if he would "kill him now". Primis Nikolai apologized stating he wished there was another way and remarked he was suffering the same pain. He explained that Ultimis Nikolai turned to alcohol to hide agonizing memories of his wife's death during an air raid. In a fit of rage, Ultimis Nikolai fired upon his Primis self. However, the shot hit Primis Nikolai on his armored plate, causing no damage. In retaliation, Primis Nikolai responded by killing his Ultimis self, allowing Richtofen to secure his soul.

With all the souls collected, Primis Richtofen sent them to the House in Agartha where Monty turned them into children. When the souls arrived in the House, Maxis told Samantha and Eddie to put their toys away before coming down to the basement.

#### Creating a Paradox

At some point, Maxis became overwhelmed by the voice of the Shadowman begging for his help from within the Summoning Key. When Maxis took the artifact, he released the Shadowman and became trapped inside the Summoning Key himself. Once outside the House, the Shadowman opened a gateway for the Apothicons, fracturing and corrupting Agartha and revealing the Apothicon sun. Primis fought the Apothicons and the Shadowman. During the battle, S.O.P.H.I.A. arrived in Agartha. Using the Summoning Key and the Kronorium, Primis defeated the Shadowman with the help of S.O.P.H.I.A. Maxis, still inside the Summoning Key, and S.O.P.H.I.A. then plunged inside the Apothicon sun destroying the Apothicons and purging Element 115 from the final universe.

After the battle, Monty realized Primis drank the blood from their blood vials, blood coming from realities already closed off. This prevented Primis from fading out of existence and resulted in a paradox. As Monty was looking for a way to get rid of Primis, Primis Richtofen suggested he send them somewhere none of their other selves had ever been to. As a result, Primis was sent back to 1294 where they saved Pablo Marinus during the Great War between humanity and the Apothicons, ultimately creating a loop in time.

### Breaking the Cycle

#### The Great War

When Pablo Marinus arrived in Northern France in 1294, having been transported from the pocket dimension in Siberia, he fought alongside the Wolf King. He was saved from a Margwa by Primis Richtofen, after the Primis crew had been sent to the Great War by Monty.

At this point, Primis Richtofen realized that Monty was lying about securing a better tomorrow. He realized that going to the Great War wouldn't break the cycle, as it was the end of their loop. Primis Richtofen finally understood that Monty wasn't inherently evil, he was trying to survive by saving the multiverse the only way he knew how. By fulfilling the prophecy of the cycle, Primis Richtofen and Doctor Monty had forged an endless loop.

With the help of Pablo Marinus, Primis Richtofen started a plan to break the cycle. As Pablo Marinus was defending him from the zombies, Primis Richtofen powered up a teleportation device to travel to the Alcatraz Pocket Dimension. Before he left, Pablo gave him the elemental gem from the Staff of Fire. Primis Richtofen would then be known as Post-Great War Richtofen.

#### Alcatraz Pocket Dimension

After their deaths, Salvatore "Sal" DeLuca, Billy Handsome, Albert "Weasel" Arlington and Michael "Finn" O'Leary were trapped inside a perpetual cycle in the Alcatraz Pocket Dimension created by the Warden for the Shadowman.

The four mobsters began their escape plan before realizing they weren’t in the prison. While fighting off the zombies and the Warden, they constructed a plane based on Arlington design before taking off and crashing against the Golden Gate Bridge.

* The Cycle Continues
* The Cycle is Broken

If Salvatore DeLuca, Billy Handsome and Michael O'Leary kill Albert Arlington on the Golden Gate, the "cycle continues", with the mobsters dying and returning to Alcatraz and only Arlington having any memory of what happened before.

If Arlington successfully kills Salvatore DeLuca, Billy Handsome and Michael O'Leary on the Golden Gate, the "cycle is broken". This allows the mobsters to escape their cycle and free their spirits from their bodies. With their cycle now broken, the four mobsters will help Primis escaping the Pocket Dimension.

Upon arriving from the Proditione Fracture, another iteration of Primis arrived in the Alcatraz Pocket Dimension, farther from their destination than they intended, and made their way to a laboratory on the west side of the island. In the laboratory, they found the earlier version of Primis Richtofen, before his journey to Morg City, reading the Kronorium as he waited for them to arrive.

The lone Richtofen stated they were late before giving them the blood vials. He then strongly advised Primis Richtofen read the Kronorium again before he left via his own portal. Upon reading it, Primis Richtofen realized the pages had changed.

Primis traveled through the cell blocks while fending off zombies to escape through another rift. However, this was prevented by the Warden who destroyed the rift before Primis could leave. Primis Richtofen then realized they were now trapped inside the Alcatraz Pocket Dimension as the Shadowman had intended.

While exploring Alcatraz, Primis Richtofen began hearing Samuel J. Stuhlinger inside his head and realized the lighthouse must have triggered a chain reaction in the Aether. Primis also discovered the Warden's inner sanctum where they found the Warden's body attached to an electric chair. As they were retrieving the Kronorium, Arlington, now in the form of a seagull, stole the book. After recovering it, Primis placed it on the Warden's body. Using the Kronorium, Primis helped several spirits trapped inside the dimension before placing the Summoning Key inside the Warden's body to be used as conduit to his soul. This resulted in the partial destruction of the lighthouse which fired a red beam of light towards the sky and prompted the Warden to attack Primis stating they now belonged to him before knocking them out and locking each of them in a cell.

The Warden explained to Primis that they would be trapped in the Pocket Dimension forever, suffering, with their blood extracted by his machine as it was the key to keep the gateway opened and also freed the Shadowman and the Apothicons.

However, after the Warden left, Arlington arrived and helped Primis escape their cells. As they ran back to the lab, they were stopped by the Warden who turned into a giant version of himself. He was, however, restrained by the spirits of Salvatore DeLuca, Billy Handsome and Finn O'Leary who launched him into the sky. Inside the lab, another cryopod was revealed and Primis started its thawing sequence. Primis then confronted the Warden in front of the Dark Mechanism next to the Model Industries to prevent him from acquiring the last piece of the Mechanism. During the fight, Primis Richtofen decided to step inside the Dark Mechanism and gave his blood. In the meantime, the cryopod opened revealing Post-Great War Richtofen wearing chainmail and holding the elemental gem. He joined the fight and used the gem to kill the Warden and the zombies, freeing their spirits from the pocket dimension.

Post-Great War Richtofen revealed to Primis Nikolai that the future had changed and handed him the Kronorium advising him to read it. He explained to Primis Nikolai that he must keep his soul in order to defeat Monty to which Primis Nikolai replied "Who??". Several portals appeared and Post-Great War Richtofen moved to the Dark Mechanism where he revealed to Primis Richtofen that the cycle was now broken and that their insurance policies - the blood vials - were no longer needed. He grabbed the Summoning Key and joined Primis, who had smashed their blood vials, before stepping through the portals leaving Primis Richtofen to die as the pocket dimension was collapsing.

### Nikolai's Grand Scheme

After leaving Alcatraz, Primis Nikolai, now assuming the role of leader, Dempsey, Takeo, and Post-Great War Richtofen teleported into Hangar 4 at Groom Lake in 1963 where they met and freed their captured Ultimis selves (including the post-merge of the catatonic and Undead Richtofen). Primis Nikolai revealed to them that there would be a war to be fought, the Great War, before teleporting away from the Hangar.

#### Acquiring the Elemental Shard

Primis and Ultimis then arrived at Camp Edward, Nevada on October 13th, 2025. They reactivated the facility and its A.I, Rushmore. The Elemental Shard to proceed was locked inside the American Pyramid Device and Rushmore tested them before granting them access to it. During their exploration, they found Peter McCain trapped inside an android.. With the help of Rushmore, who deemed Peter "someone very important to humanity's future", Primis and Ultimis transferred him to an Elemental Orb, which then flew away from Camp Edward. When they opened the Pyramid, they released Cornelius Pernell who had been transformed by the shard into the monstrous entity Avogadro. With the release of Avogadro, a nuke was detonated but was ineffective. They managed to contain Avogadro inside the APD long enough for Rushmore to transfer it to the Hanford Site. After they retrieved the shard, Maxis contacted them saying it was "too late". Maxis then teleported Samantha and Eddie away from the House before being devoured by Monty. When Samantha arrived at Camp Edward, she unleashed her fury causing tremendous damage to Camp Edward before stating to Eddie that they would fight the Great War, kill Monty and burn the House to the ground.

#### Resolving the Paradox

After their journey to Camp Edward, Primis and Ultimis, accompanied with Samantha and Eddie, settled down in a forest. They proceeded to celebrate their future victory around a campfire, drinking and eating. Primis Nikolai explained to them that the Great War, the Apothicons, the Keepers, the Dark Aether, the Shadowman and Monty are just legend and tales from the Kronorium. He revealed both the Shadowman and Monty became corrupted by the Dark Aether, one from his own ambition and the other trying desperately to save his friend. He revealed the greatest war was the war they were fighting against themselves. As they keep celebrating, Primis Nikolai told them to think about what they desired, where they would like to go. Unbeknownst to them, the members of Primis and Ultimis had their drinks poisoned by Primis Nikolai. All of them, save for Primis Nikolai, Ultimis Richtofen, Samantha, and Eddie die to help resolve the paradox. With Primis Richtofen's death, Ultimis Richtofen reverted to Undead Richtofen.

Undead Richtofen then contacted Victis who exited their cryogenic pods and stepped through a portal before the Alcatraz Pocket Dimension collapsed. Victis arrived in the abandoned Group 935's Siberian facility of a different pocket dimension and was instructed by Undead Richtofen to build an Agartha device. In the facility, they encountered Pablo Marinus who had survived the operation performed by Ultimis Richtofen in 1945 and had been living inside the facility as a hermit for 20 years.

Pablo Marinus told Victis he could build the Agarthan Device for them. Victis recovered the Vril Vessel inside the facility as well as the blood of an Apothicon inside the stranded Ascension Group ship. They also retrieved the Elemental Shard sent by Primis Nikolai and gave them to Pablo Marinus. When the Agarthan Device was completed, the presence of the Apothicon Blood caused the species of Apothicons and Keepers to reunite as one, resolving the duality that existed between the species. As Victis activated the Agarthan Device, it started to evolve, affecting all the Element 115 in the area. Primis Nikolai tasked Victis to stay close to the Device and to protect it until it reached its final state. Once charged, Victis returned the Agarthan Device to Pablo Marinus who used it to create a portal in order to go to The Great War and help Primis Richtofen in breaking the cycle. Victis then retrieved the device and sent it to Primis Nikolai.

Using the Agarthan Device, Primis Nikolai destroyed the Summoning Key to open The Way Through before killing Undead Richtofen. With the destruction of the Summoning Key, reality collapsed, and the entirety of creation started to fade away including Victis, the zombies, the Apothicons, Element 115 and Monty himself. Everything that spewed forth from the Aether was banished to where they belonged, the Dark Aether.

Primis Nikolai then asked Samantha to kill him. With the death of Primis and Ultimis, the paradox was resolved. As the multiverse faded away, Samantha and Eddie walked towards the light and into the new universe - and a better tomorrow.

## Dark Aether Saga

### Distant Past

#### Life in the Dark Aether

For eons, clans of powerful beings, known as Elder Gods or Old Ones, have been forging alliances and fighting battles with one another in a constant struggle for power in the Dark Aether. One of the most powerful of these beings was Kortifex the Deathless who, as a member of his clan's royal bloodline, murdered his parents to rule over his clan. Kortifex took Saraxis, another member of the royal bloodline, as his consort.

One day, Kortifex petitioned the Construct, a living monolith of immense power. No one in the Dark Aether knew where the Construct came from, but it was believed to be ancient, even by the standards of the Elder Gods, often being described as "old as time itself". Although the first denizens of the Dark Aether worshipped it, the Construct appeared to be indifferent to their lives and struggles. However, on a few occasions, the Construct would give a small fraction of its powers to an individual it deemed worthy to become its champion, an Archon.

Even though Kortifex completed the three trials that were set up for him: the Trial of Sacrifice, the Trial of Mindfulness, and the Trial of Resilience; the Construct rejected his petition. Enraged, Kortifex became obsessed with becoming the new Archon and prevented anyone from petitioning the Construct by sending the Sisters of Agony, his personal assassins, against any individual who would try.

For a time, Kortifex deeply cared about Saraxis; until she bore him an heir and tried to hide it. Worried that his child would one day turn against him like he did with his parents, Kortifex cruelly got rid of the child. As punishment, Kortifex maimed Saraxis burying her face beneath a mask and wiping out her memory. Now called "the Shadow", as she had become a shadow of her former self, Saraxis became one of the Sisters of Agony.

#### First contact with Humanity

Following the banishment of the Multiverse, some Elder Gods became aware of the existence of life outside of the Dark Aether with many items now appearing throughout the realms including a mysterious weapon box and a Pack-a-Punch device. Many of them began taking interest with Earth and its inhabitants, including Kortifex who ordered Norticus the Conqueror, the Supreme Commander of Kortifex's Night Legions, to study the planet for conquest. However, they could only see glimpses of the other side through the newly formed dimensional veil often appearing to humans in campfires, crystal balls, or pools of water.

The possibility to cross over became possible thanks to Saraxis who, having studied humanity since even before the rise of farming and trade, helped Bellekar the Warlock into creating an anchor that formed a transdimensional link between the two realities, allowing her to make a symbiotic bond with a human host. These anchors became known as Artifacts.

The other Elder Gods began creating artifacts of their own, each reflecting the culture they were the most familiar with. Kortifex often visited the Egyptians, who believed he was Osiris, and his artifact took the form of a stick with a pyramid on each end; Kortifex later bonded with a cruel pharaoh who saw himself as a god. Norticus was revered by the Norsemen as Ymir, the Father of the Frost Giants and his artifact took the form of a horn. Inviktor the Destroyer, a veteran soldier of the Night Legion, appreciated Greek warriors who believed he was the god of war Ares, and his artifact took the form of a sword. At some point, Inviktor bonded with a man named Achilles who accomplished many feats and became a legend leading Inviktor to also be erroneously remembered as Achilles. Bellekar was always fascinated and curious about humanity, especially the Mayans, and her artifact took the form of a mask. Saraxis, on the other hand, always saw humans as "playthings", bonding with anyone she could for centuries in Japan where she was believed to be a Kitsunetsuki. Her artifact took the form of a three-headed dragon.

#### The Netherwars

To increase his dominion as Lord of the Dark Aether, Kortifex and his Night Legions waged the Netherwars against rival clans. However, some in Kortifex's circle began working against him including Bellekar, who chronicled the campaigns of the Netherwars, and Saraxis who fled from the Sisters of Agony forcing Kortifex to replace her with Zaballa the Deceiver.

During one campaign, the Night Legions battled in the Wilds of the Dark Aether ravaging the land where a hermit clan dwelled. The clan had control over Life-Energy by communing with the Web of Life that spread throughout the Wilds connecting each member with one another. With their land turning into a wasteland, thus diminishing the Web of Life, the clan pleaded Kortifex to spare the Wilds. Aghast by the request, Kortifex burnt the clan's Sacred Forest and, unaware of the clan's power, launched his armies and the Sisters of Agony to hunt down every member of the clan. With each death, the hermit clan's energy and power were passed down to another until only one member remained, Vercanna the Last. With the accumulated power of her now extinct clan, Vercanna was said to have become invincible.

Not long after, as Kortifex continued to expand his territory, Bellekar met with Vercanna in front of Vercanna's birth stone, in what was now the Corrupted Lands of the Dark Aether, to form a plot against Kortifex.

The other clans began to organize and repel the Night Legions. It was the first defeat suffered by Kortifex's armies for as long as people remembered. Enraged, Kortifex singled out one of the commanders, known as the Decimator, merging him into his own shield for eternity before throwing it away in what remained of the Wilds to be forgotten.

However, the noose continued to tighten around Kortifex as his armies were suffering defeat after defeat. After the Battle of Obsidian Ridge, Inviktor defected to the Resistance. Realizing victory could not be achieved, as well as harboring feelings of guilt and remorse, Norticus also joined the rebellious clans and helped topple Kortifex's throne. As a punishment, Kortifex was physically trapped into his Scepter before being cast out on Earth. Kortifex swore vengeance on the treacherous Elder Gods.

#### Influence over Earth

Over time, Saraxis, Bellekar, Norticus, and Inviktor also became trapped in their own artifact-turned-prison, separated from the rest of the Dark Aether. This did not stop the Elder Gods from interacting or having influence over Earth.

Saraxis continued to visit Japan and bond with many people until she bonded with a feudal lord on the island of Okinawa during the 18th century. Unbeknownst to her, Kortifex secretly contacted the keepers of a small shrine dedicated to her and convinced them that she was a threat to their lord. He forged a Relic Mirror and taught them how to separate Saraxis from her host. When she returned to the shrine, Saraxis was ambushed by the priests who used the mirror to force her back into her artifact before it was discarded.

In Medieval Europe, the Société Occulte was formed by several individuals who often came in contact with the Elder Gods - including Kortifex and Norticus. Over centuries, this secret society wrote and compiled a spell book of Dark Aether rune magic they called the Tome of Rituals which could only be read by the society's inner circle. As time went by, the members of the Société Occulte became the wealthiest and most powerful people in Europe.

To maintain their secrecy, they never met at the same place until one day a senior member of the society, an architect and Freemason named Lucien Poiret, designed a mystic fortress for the society, Hotel Royal. The fortress was built on top of the Paris catacombs which were laid out in a Dark Aether rune magic pattern, creating a dimensional nexus. Within Hotel Royal, the Société performed seances and rituals using the Tome of Rituals, calling upon the various entities to help them increase their wealth and influence. However, a crisis occurred during the 1920s leading the Société to disappear and the Tome of Rituals to be torn apart with its pages hidden in sacred places around the world by entrusted members.

At some point, for unknown reasons, the connection between Earth and the Dark Aether was completely severed; turning the artifacts into inert relics forgotten by humanity.

### World War II

#### Uncovering the past

As the Nazis gained power in Germany, many of its members turned to mysticism and occultism like Heinrich Himmler and the Ahnenerbe. As the head of the Schutzstaffel, Himmler was particularly interested in proving the existence of the so-called "Aryan master-race", establishing Kampfgruppe Die Wahrheit ("The Truth"), a battalion led by SS-Oberführer Wolfram Von List, to raid and plunder antiquities around the world.

At the beginning of the war, in early September 1939, Wolfram Von List arrived at the office of Professor Gabriel Krafft, a demonologist at the University of Leipzig. Krafft was translating an ancient Sumerian scroll with the help of his assistant, Franz, when Von List ordered him to leave the university and join Die Wahrheit as an advisor. After Krafft refused, Von List killed Franz to make him cooperate.

Krafft was sent to a SS prison with other explorers, historians, and archaeologists. Von List soon ordered them to help Die Wahrheit find places and relics such as the Grail, Thor's hammer, Atlantis, and Shangri-La. While most obeyed, regardless of whether or not the places or relics really existed, Krafft defied Von List. Soon after, the SS broke into Krafft's home and arrested his spouse, Sasha. With no choice left, Krafft agreed to help Von List, who would give him letters from his spouse to keep him in line, but made a secret promise to himself to use any findings against the Nazis.

Krafft's first assignment was to decipher documents seized at Hotel Royal, the infamous fortress of the Société Occulte. He soon realized the documents were pages from the Tome of Rituals and was tasked to track down more pages. He recognized the handwriting of notes in the margins of some pages which belonged to one of the patrons of the University of Leipzig. Von List had the patron arrested and tortured, revealing he was a member of the Société entrusted with hiding the Tome pages and listing others who possessed some pages. As more pages were acquired, Krafft deduced the locations of the five artifacts that were mentioned in the Tome.

Over the years, several expeditions were launched around the globe to recover the artifacts, notably in Yucatán, the island of Okinawa in Japan, Iceland, Greece, and Egypt's Eastern Desert where a lost temple dedicated to Osiris was found. While the artifacts appeared alien and anachronistic, they had little to no use in advancing the Nazis racial agenda. Nonetheless, Von List kept them by his side.

#### Projekt Endstation

As the war drew to a close, the Nazis were desperate to win the war by any means, with several programs dedicated to ensuring a victory for the Reich. One such program was the Uranveiren, the Nazi program dedicated to atomic research and uranium enrichment. During summer 1943, Kurt Diebner, the head of Uranveiren approved Projekt Endstation ("Project Terminus") which proposed a massive particle accelerator and collider called "Cyclotron" designed by Doctors Ulrich Vogel and Lukas Kurtz and funded by the former. The site was located in Morasko, a wooded area in the Reich District of Danzig-West Prussia in Nazi-occupied Poland.

##### The Incident

On March 7th, 1944, at 10:03 pm, Vogel and Kurtz performed the twelfth test of the Cyclotron. During the process, the particle accelerator malfunctioned and opened a rift between their world and the Dark Aether, unknowingly breaching the Dimensional Membrane between the two realms - once again re-connecting them. Creatures started coming through the gateway and men close to the collider began to necrotize and turn into zombies. The small outbreak was contained but the Cyclotron was now operating on its own without an external source of power.

##### Exo-Element 1 Studies

Over the course of the next few days, Vogel studied the fallen soldiers to find a way to reverse their condition. The discovery and study of the rift was also seen with great interest by Adolf Hitler and the German High Command. On March 16th, they were able to isolate an exotic and unknown element they classified as "Exo-Element 1" which would later be dubbed Aetherium. Vogel started working on a decontamination chamber designed to reverse the condition of the fallen soldiers and restore their brain activity. He believed that if they could control the process of necrotization, they could weaponize it and create an army of undead soldiers to save the Reich.

On April 3rd, the decontamination chamber was complete and was nicknamed "Der Wechsler" by Kurtz. The chamber was able to remove the Exo-Element 1 from the brains of the undead soldiers, restoring some higher functions and reducing the violent outbursts but not enough to bring them back to a state before the contamination.

With the loss of Normandy, Hitler turned his attention once again to Endstation and, by August 1944, tasked Vogel to weaponize all their findings. Vogel continued to work on his idea of an army of soldiers who could rise up after being killed. A wonder weapon was also created from an Exo-Element 1 collector, the Decompressive Isotopic Estrangement Machine.

At some point in late 1944, a new Endstation facility was established beneath Berlin including a tunnel made to open and sustain a rift to the Dark Aether. On November 15th, Kurtz developed lures and an Exo-Element 1 harvester which could only collect essence from Tempests, crystalline humanoid capable of teleportation. The next day, Vogel developed a conversion machine using specimens rich in Exo-Element 1 which would allow them to open a portal to the Dark Aether.

#### Resistance against Die Wahrheit

##### Instrument of Revenge

The weakening of the Dimensional Membrane during the incident at Endstation not only opened a rift to the Dark Aether, but also awoke the artifacts uncovered by Die Wahrheit. The night of the incident, Von List was in his office in a mobile headquarter near Leningrad, as Die Wahrheit was supporting Army Group North. When he grabbed one of the artifacts, he bonded with Kortifex. The former Lord of the Dark Aether made a bargain with Von List, granting him the power to raise the dead and in return Von List would help Kortifex make his vengeful return to the Dark Aether.

Von List immediately notified Himmler about the situation, gathered all the pages of the Tome of Rituals regarding the Scepter of Kortifex and locked them away in his office. Kortifex ordered him to destroy the other artifacts, but Von List balked, thinking he could draw from their power too, and placed them in a locked trunk.

He subsequently mobilized Die Wahrheit and launched an unauthorized deployment to Stalingrad called Operation Revenant, taking Krafft with him. Von List was present during the Battle of Stalingrad, leading a SS rescue mission to try break the siege. When the 6th Army surrendered, Von List saw it as a humiliating defeat. Turning the city into the epicenter of his new operation was his ultimate revenge. Von List also launched several special operations, securing Hotel Royal in Paris in preparation of an invasion, occupying a farm in Normandy which became a weak spot in the dimensional veil after thousands of soldiers died during World War I, operating a dig site located in swamp known as "Shi No Numa" in Okinawa to learn more about the other Elder Gods, and also guarding the temple where the Scepter of Kortifex was found in Egypt's Eastern Desert.

When Die Wahrheit arrived in Stalingrad, taking the locals by surprise, the soldiers began securing the area and exhuming mass graves, both Germans and Soviets. Von List locked Krafft in a room with the remaining pages of the Tome of Rituals and the artifacts ordering him to find anything that could boost Kortifex's powers. He also handed him a blank notebook to record the events that were about to unfold. Having had enough of Von List's abuse, Krafft picked the lock of the trunk containing the artifacts and grabbed the Mask of Bellekar. The initial shock nearly killed Krafft, seizing up his heart and causing him to hit his head. When he awoke, he was no longer alone having bonded with Bellekar. The two discussed a plan to stop Von List and Kortifex before Krafft released Bellekar back into her artifact, realizing he was not an optimal host for her.

Von List began awakening the exhumed corpses, creating "revenants" for his army of the dead. Horrified, Krafft used a radio to contact the Allied Powers for help before sealing his room with a spell found in the Tome of Rituals, protecting himself from Von List and his revenants. However, he was unable to reverse the spell, becoming trapped in the room. Not long after, a team Special Forces operatives arrived in the city as Kortifex used a containment spell to cut off the area from the outside.

Krafft would lower the crate containing the remaining Artifacts down to Special Forces, allowing them to bond with the other Elder Gods, Bellekar, Norticus, Inviktor, and Saraxis. While the operatives couldn't escape the containment spell, the entities were able to send them for a brief amount of time to the other areas of operations led by Die Wahrheit, hindering the battalion capabilities. With the help of Krafft, Bellekar also developed a transmitter to send messages to the Dark Aether, hoping other beings will join the fight against the former Lord.

Although Kortifex promised Von List he could create an army of millions, the task was far more difficult that the Elder God had anticipated. To strength his power, Kortifex called upon Augmentor Worms from the Dark Aether, and used an ancient blood rite to create Syphoncores sacrificing some revenants to multiply them. He also summoned Zaballa, to support Von List and Die Wahrheit; although Zaballa couldn't cross over the dimensional veil, she could create copies of herself to appear on Earth.

The Special Forces also encountered a Void spell that led to the Dark Aether itself. Within the spell, they found a page of Tome of Rituals protected by four unbreakable anchors. Unable to reach the page, the operatives escaped the spell back to Stalingrad and the Elder Gods began elaborating a plan to get it.

##### Stealing the Tome page

Following an explosion at Die Wahrheit's outpost in the Egyptian desert, a portal appeared in Stalingrad allowing the Special Force operatives to escape the city and reach the outpost while Krafft was still trapped in his room. The portal was created by Vercanna who received one of Bellekar's messages and created an artifact of her own, the Wand of the Wilds. From the outpost, the Special Forces succeeded in creating a beachhead into the Dark Aether, located in the Corrupted Lands below the Construct floating up in the sky.

Vercanna also sent the Decimator Shield to the other side, where he became trapped within crystals that formed following the explosion. Vercanna found the shield dormant in the Wilds of the Dark Aether and, taking pity in the former Night Legions commander, believed that he could be helpful for Bellekar's plan. She didn't trust the humans at first, fearing the shield could fall into the wrong hands but realized they were valuable.

To free the shield from the crystals, Saraxis sent the operatives to their beachhead in the Dark Aether to purge Augmentor Worms. Kortifex was puzzled about their actions, but soon realized they were trying to awaken the Decimator Shield. The Special Forces successfully removed the worms from the beachhead, freeing the shield. However, he remained dormant leading Vercanna to step in and hijack several of Kortifex's Syphoncores in order to use the revenants' Life-Energy to restore the shield. Kortifex sent Zaballa to stop them, but the assassin was defeated.

Upon waking up, the Decimator pledged to fight against Kortifex. While the Elder Gods argued if they needed to return to Stalingrad, Vercanna opened a portal, at Saraxis' request, leading directly into the Void spell. The operatives entered the spell and used the shield to break the four anchors allowing them to retrieve the Tome page. After they returned, Krafft discovered that the page contained information on how to separate Kortifex from Von List, leading the group to wonder why neither Von List nor Kortifex used it against them. With the page in their possession, Vercanna fully pledged herself to the Allies' cause and their resistance, stating that she had found her "new clan".

##### Restoring the Relic

In the weeks that followed the loss of the Tome Page, Von List ordered all Die Wahrheit personnel around the world to regroup at the Eastern Desert outpost as operations were resumed. This included personnel at the Shi No Numa excavation site, who promptly left for Egypt upon Von List's orders, leaving behind radio equipment, traps including Electro-Shock Defenses and the Flogger, as well as the experimental Wunderwaffe DG-2 wonder weapon developed by Endstation's Ulrich Vogel, much to Von List's dismay.

The Special Forces arrived at the abandoned outpost to find the Relic Mirror mentioned in the Tome Page with the goal of separating Kortifex from Von List. Although they asked Saraxis about information regarding the relic, she couldn't remember anything as she had big gaps in her memory, including her youth in the Dark Aether. Vercanna pointed that the shrine located in the swamp could help Saraxis remember her past.

The operatives successfully reactivated the shrine which released an Echo of Saraxis's memories. When asked about the relic, the Echo replied that the relic, a bronze mirror, was split in half. When Saraxis attempted to pry further, the Echo reacted aggressively claiming that Saraxis had "abandoned her", and that she was now a mere shadow of who she once was, before vanishing. Vercanna informed the Special Forces that the two halves of the mirror laid between the mortal world and the Dark Aether. Using the Flogger, they collected and drank the blood of revenants, allowing them to see between the two realms. With this new sight, they found the two pieces of the relic and placed them on the altar at the Dig Site where the artifact of Saraxis was originally found.

The operatives managed to summon the Echo, who took the form of Saraxis. Saraxis once again demanded to know why Kortifex erased her memories, and why she seemed to matter to him. The Echo obliged and revealed that Saraxis was once Kortifex's consort. Shocked, Saraxis refused to accept the truth, which enraged the Echo who then attacked the operatives. The Special Forces eventually defeated the Echo who revealed more of Saraxis' past including her child and Kortifex's punishment. With the Echo gone, Saraxis' memories were restored including Kortifex's obsession with the Construct. She warned that if Von List and Kortifex were to gain control of the Construct's powers, "everything and everyone, living or dead, will end up as their playthings". With the Relic Mirror restored, the operatives prepared for their final battle against Kortifex in the Eastern Desert.

##### Downfall of the Archon

The original explosion at the Egyptian outpost was intended to create a bridge between Earth and the Dark Aether to strengthen Kortifex's powers and bring more of his allies. Although the crystal contamination was deemed to safe at first, conditions significantly deteriorated in the week after all Die Wahrheit personnel were recalled. In order to prevent the Allied Forces from interfering, Von List used Kortifex's powers to sabotage the Pack-a-Punch Machine found in the area. This however increased the contamination leading to the death of every Die Wahrheit soldier with the exception of Von List.

The Special Forces arrived in Egypt not long after and managed to repair the Pack-a-Punch machine. Using the Relic Mirror, they separated Kortifex from Von List sending him back into his artifact. However, Kortifex appeared in front of the operatives revealing that it was all part of his plan; he was now free to return into the Dark Aether to become the new Archon and wipe out Earth from existence. Kortifex then teleported a dumbfounded Von List into Krafft's room who held him at gunpoint.

The operatives reached the Dark Aether as Kortifex was petitioning the Construct. Although Kortifex sent his forces against the Special Forces, the Construct noticed them and prevented him from killing them. The Construct then sent the operatives back to Egypt and set up its trials to decide if they were worthy of challenging Kortifex.

With the help of Von List and also the Decimator, the Special Forces completed the three trials. Back in Stalingrad, Krafft repeatedly asked Von List about his spouse. Von List ultimately revealed that Sasha died many months before, and that he was the one writing the letters, which "sickened" him. In a flash of anger, Krafft shot Von List, killing him.

The Special Forces returned to the Dark Aether and discovered that Kortifex became the new Archon. A fight soon broke out as Kortifex transformed into a gigantic version of himself. As the Archon, Kortifex was able to use the powers of the other Elder Gods, including Vercanna's healing abilities. The Construct also protected Kortifex, creating an energy shield around him. Nonetheless, the operatives managed to defeat Kortifex, killing him by destroying his three eyes. As he died, Kortifex turned back into his normal size and his corpse fell into the depths of the Corrupted Lands of the Dark Aether while the Construct disappeared.

#### Operation Baldr

Having studied the relativistic effects of the Dark Aether since the incident at Endstation, Vogel proposed a plan to Uranveiren and the German High Command: sending an army into the Dark Aether which they could summon as a last resort to ensure the victory of the Third Reich. On December 14th, 1944, the plan was approved and named "Operation Baldr" after the Norse god who rose after death.

After a month of preparation, Task Force Baldr, under the command of Gruppenführer Müller, arrived at the Morasko facility.

Vogel sent instructions in Berlin on how to open the portal and on January 27th, he ordered all personnel to evacuate the Morasko facility. He also tasked Kurtz to take care of his young daughter, Angelika, as he stayed behind. Soon after, Task Force Baldr crossed the threshold to the Dark Aether. The crossing was too much for the cyclotron with several seals blowing in the process contaminating the facility with more Exo-Element 1. Vogel, however, stayed in the facility and continued to monitor the Task Force for the next two days to ensure they were in position, believing he secured the future of the Reich. Unbeknownst to Vogel, Task Force Baldr would become corrupted by the Dark Aether and turned into different creatures.

#### The Red Army at Endstation

On February 3rd, 1945, the 8th Guards Army of the Red Army arrived in Morasko and entered the facility. They recorded on film their progress, the rift created by the cyclotron and the zombies attack that followed. A week later, a cleaning crew led by NKVD Colonel Pavel Lazarev arrived at the facility. 14 soldiers were killed during the cleaning process. After the zombies were eliminated, Lazarev tasked Sergeant Kazimir Zykov of the 1st Guards Tank Army with shutting down the cyclotron. After being sealed inside the facility, Zykov successfully stopped the particle accelerator but, in the process, was stranded in the Dark Aether for years to come.

On February 21st, Kurtz and Angelika were captured by the Red Army. Kurtz was interrogated by Lazarev who accepted to spare Angelika's life if Kurtz gave the names and location of the Endstation scientists. Kurtz agreed and both were allowed to live in the Soviet Union under new names. Lukas Kurtz became Ivan Valentin while Angelika Vogel became Aleksandra Valentina.

The film reels about Projekt Endstation were sent to the Soviet archives and remained hidden for almost 40 years.

### Reactivation of the Cyclotron

In March 1983, following the announcement of the Strategic Defense Initiative by US President Ronald Reagan, KGB Chairman Viktor Chebrikov ordered the reactivation of Omega Group, a special Spetsnaz unit originally created to study Psychotronic phenomena. Colonel Lev Kravchenko was given command of the unit and was tasked to find a way to counter the SDI, as it was considered a serious threat against the Soviet Union. Kravchenko, however, believed he was made a scapegoat by Chebrikov, thinking Omega Group would be disbanded in a matter of months, if not weeks.

Omega Group was reorganized with Doctor Aleksandra Valentina in charge of their Psychotronics Research and Doctor William Peck, an American who defected to the Soviet Union, as their Exoscientific Phenomena Research Lead. Kravchenko then ordered them to scour the KGB archives for anything that would give them a strategic advantage over the United States and NATO.

Valentina saw this as an opportunity to start her plan. Throughout her childhood, she had been visited by the Forsaken, who claimed to be her "father". He guided her throughout her life, instructing her to complete Operation Baldr and open a portal to the Dark Aether. It also showed her where to find the Endstation film reels hidden within a NKVD intelligence vault when she first joined the KGB.

On July 15th, 1983, Valentina presented the reels to Kravchenko who immediately flagged them for review with Chebrikov and the Committee. After the reels were reviewed, Chebrikov authorized Omega Group to weaponize the findings of Projekt Endstation and harness the power of the Cyclotron and the Dark Aether. The new operation was dubbed Operatsiya Grobovshchik, or Operation Undertaker.

The Endstation facility in Morasko was secured by Omega Group in late August 1983 and, after two months of study, the Cyclotron and the other experimental devices were restored to operational condition by late October. The reactivation of the Cyclotron took place on November 1st, 1983 and was overseen by Valentina and Peck. Valentina tasked two men, officers Medvedev and Orlov to reactivate the collider. The men were successful, but Medvedev died and Orlov was turned into a Megaton in the process. With the reactivation of the Cyclotron, several gateways and dimensional breaches started to appear around the world including a massive super-breach in the Ural Mountains. As the facility became overrun, Omega Group left the area.

#### Formation of Requiem

On November 3rd, an emergency meeting took place regarding the Outbreak Zones. The meeting included the US Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger and the Director of the CIA William Casey who were tasked by Reagan to find a "proportional response" to the situation while also containing and suppressing the threat. Edward "Eddie" Richtofen, the Associate Deputy Director of the Directorate of Science & Technology, proposed to create a sub-group within the DS&T which would be staffed internationally but remain firmly under US and CIA control. Unbeknownst to anyone else, Richtofen had ulterior motives to creating Requiem. Ultimately answering to a mysterious "Board of Directors", he was above all else dedicated to the completion of Project Janus.

Two days later, on November 5th, the CIA "Office of Requiem" was created by Casey. Richtofen was named as the Director of Requiem, leading the group. Under his leadership, four departments were created: Field Operations led by Special Operations Officer Grigori Weaver, Containment and Security led by Major Mackenzie Carver, Unnatural Science led by Doctor Elizabeth Grey and Energy Research led by Doctor Oskar Strauss, a former member of Projekt Endstation, who joined the United States after the war.

In the following days, Tatyana, a contact of BND agent Samantha Maxis, told Maxis that the KGB uncovered something from their archives and a ground operation was happening in Poland. Tatyana managed to steal a copy of the Endstation film and sent it to Maxis. Believing that the BND was compromised by Omega Group, Samantha left the agency but asked Dieter, the only BND agent she still trusted, to send the Endstation tape to Requiem.

After the CIA received the tape, Samantha contacted Weaver to persuade him to look at the footage. When Weaver asked her to turn herself over to the CIA for protection, she refused and even fought off teams sent by Weaver to retrieve her. Maxis then left Germany and arrived in Romania to pursue a new contact within Omega Group, Captain Sergei Ravenov, whom she believed could be turned.

#### Operation Cerberus

With the intel provided by Maxis, Requiem authorized Operation Cerberus, a reconnaissance operation in Poland, on November 13, 1983. A Strike Team was dispatched to the Projekt Endstation facility where they discovered the Cyclotron and its gateway to the Dark Aether. During their exploration of the site, the Strike Team entered the other dimension and encountered Mayak, the Megaton Overlord. The Strike Team also found a modified computer where a stranger made contact with them and retold his journey in the Dark Aether and the dangers present in this dimension.

The Strike Team managed to partially resurrect Orlov using Der Wechsler, allowing him to assist them in shutting down the Cyclotron to close the rift opened at Morasko. Orlov warned the Strike Team that Omega Group had big plans and stayed behind to ensure the facility would be destroyed. Raptor One exfiltrated the team as a nuclear detonation occurred. Weaver congratulated the team personally but noted that their fight was far from over.

In the months following the destruction of Projekt Endstation, more rifts appeared around the world.

### A New Arms Race

Following the success of Operatsiya Grobovshchik, a new operation called Operatsiya Inversiya, or Operation Inversion, was approved by Omega Group on November 9 and would be led by Valentina. The goal of the operation was to weaponize Aetherium and anything they could find within the Dark Aether to win the Cold War. The construction of a facility in Vietnam, Outpost 25, began on November 11th. The location of the facility was chosen because of its dimensional fertility as a dimensional breach opened near the region. Outpost 25 would be overseen by Peck.

#### Aetherium Development

At Outpost 25, Peck designed a portal chamber on December 8th and a month later, on the night of January 8th, 1984, Peck and Doctor Dimitri Kuhlklay managed to create a stable rift to the Dark Aether. Teams of Omega soldiers were now sent daily to collect Aetherium crystals as well as biological, botanical, geological specimens, and liquid samples. Peck noted that Aetherium could yield massive amounts of energy and could be used as a sustainable power source leading him to design an Aetherium Reactor on February 10th. Outpost 25 was now entirely running on three reactors.

The excursions to the Dark Aether proved to be extremely dangerous inflicting heavy loss among Omega ranks. To address the problem, Kravchenko requested the conscription of Aetherium miners, dubbed "Aethernauts", which was approved on February 15th. Soon after, prisoners from work camps started to arrive at Outpost 25, comprised of common criminals, political dissidents, foreign prisoners, and intellectuals from both the Soviet Union and Vietnam. While the collection of Aetherium crystals rose to 237%, the excursions were still incredibly dangerous, with a quarter of Aethernauts sent to the Dark Aether never coming back. To provide protection to the mining teams, Kuhlklay designed the Red Soldier Mechanized Armor although Peck took credit for it. Some miners who came back exhibited mild radiation poisoning or returned fully necrotized; others suffered long-term memory loss. To circumvent this, Peck developed a memory transference machine, hoping it would restore the fractured minds of their conscripts. Peck also developed a truth serum to help recover memories.

On March 14th, five more test sites were opened throughout the Soviet Union with four of them successfully creating their own breaches. Omega Group were now able to control where and when a dimensional breach would occur with nearly 70% accuracy. On March 19, Peck designed the first teleportation prototype at Outpost 25. Work on weaponizing the process began early April and a missile battery in the Ural Mountains was identified as a candidate. On April 8th, Kuhlklay developed the RAI K-84, the first assault rifle powered with Aetherium but was scolded by Peck who deemed it a waste of time.

On May 11th, the canvassing for potential targets of Operatsiya Inversiya was completed by the KGB. While Valentina pushed hard to include Berlin in order to achieve her own plan, the Committee selected Washington, D.C. and Manhattan.

Requiem also developed new technologies using Aetherium samples retrieved from various Outbreak Zones they contained. Carver and his Containment and Security Division developed the Weaponized Aetherium Neutralizer Devices and equipped all their operators in the field with them. Requiem also planned to thoroughly study the Dark Aether from within Soviet territory in the Ural Mountains and designed several devices for the operation: a Specimen Analyzer station and a Recon Rover conceived by Grey and the Unnatural Science Division on March 13th and April 14th respectively, an Extraction Rocket and an Essence Conversion Module designed by Strauss and the Energy Research Division on April 17th and April 28th respectively as well as a Dimensional Disruptor satellite created by Carver and the Containment and Security Division on March 8th. Requiem also developed an Aetherium Explosive designed to destroy massive Aetherium crystals detected in the Ural Outbreak Zone.

#### Fall of Outpost 25

Following the destruction of Endstation, Samantha Maxis, now operating on her own, had regular contact with Ravenov who gave her documents and intel regarding the operations conducted by Omega Group. With the information provided by Ravenov, Maxis realized the full extent of Omega Group's plan. She decided to travel to Vietnam to meet with him and infiltrate Outpost 25 to expose Omega Group and deliver their research to Requiem. However, Omega Group intercepted some communications from Maxis and became aware of her plan. In early June 1984, Gorev, Kravchenko's right-hand man and Tactical Operations Lead, traveled to Outpost 25 and warned Peck about Maxis. He tasked Peck to capture and interrogate her to find who was the mole at the facility.

Peck managed to capture Maxis and started to interrogate and torture her with no result. When he realized what happened, Ravenov contacted Weaver to warn him about Maxis' situation. Weaver and the rest of Requiem senior staff discussed preparations for Operation Lost Property, a rescue mission to exfil Maxis and acquire any intel present in the facility. Under secret orders from the Director of Requiem himself, Peck sent Maxis to the Dark Aether telling her she was worthless and that nobody was coming for her. As time flowed differently in the Dark Aether, Maxis spent a considerable amount of time in the shadowy hellscape. As time went by, she reflected on herself and her past. Her memory, however, became blurred and it became difficult to remember who she was. At one point, she awoke with blood on her hands holding a knife in the middle of what seemed to be a frenzied attack against Omega soldiers. Her hatred towards Peck grew stronger each day. She would also encounter a lost Russian soldier in the Dark Aether named Pyotr, who she told not to lose faith and that despite how he looked, he was not worthless.

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, a Requiem Strike Team managed to enter the facility using one of the teleporters. The team reluctantly helped Peck restore the facility power in exchange for Maxis, but unbeknown to them, they helped him send all the research back to Omega. The team also found another modified computer and continued to communicate with the mysterious stranger. After using a 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. They, however, used Requiem's Dimensional Disruptor satellite to open a new breach allowing Maxis to escape. The team and Maxis managed to leave the facility and regrouped with Ravenov. Suddenly, a massive Orda appeared in the village but was neutralized by the team who fled the area. As Raptor One arrived, Ravenov informed Maxis that an operation was happening in the Ural Mountains, and he had to stay in the field like she once did.

Back at Outpost 25, a detachment of Omega soldiers led by Valentina arrived to meet with Peck. To his surprise, Kravchenko also traveled to Vietnam. After having expressed his dissatisfaction with Peck's actions, Kravchenko asked him to show a demonstration of his commitment to Omega. Kravchenko then pulled out a knife and cut out Peck's right eye.

#### Ural Outbreak Zone

Upon returning to Requiem HQ, Maxis was placed in quarantine to be tested. While Requiem estimated she only spent roughly 48 hours in the Dark Aether, physiological and metabolic data from the tests indicated she spent several months in the other dimension like she claimed. They also noted her eyes were now purple. Requiem kept her in isolation as they believed she was responsible for the outburst of Aetherium in Outpost 25. She was subsequently questioned by Carver, Strauss, and Grey who were interested with her experience in the Dark Aether. She was deemed unfit to return to the field and was kept inside Requiem HQ for several months, with the radio she had used to contact the Requiem strike teams confiscated. Weaver, who visited her often, decided to give her a female rottweiler to keep her company.

On June 20th, 1984, Requiem was authorized to launch Operation Threshold, a massive endeavor aimed to study the Ural Outbreak Zone and retrieved Aetherium samples using devices developed by Requiem departments in the previous months. The operation started to interfere with Omega's plan but both organizations tried to avoid direct interaction to prevent an escalation of the conflict.

Unable to use teleporters within the Ural Outbreak Zone, Omega started to install Boost Modules designed at Outpost 25 on June 21st. The landing pads, however, could not be retrieved forcing Omega's staff and soldiers to be fitted with parachutes. Omega survey teams noted that the Outbreak Zone was made of a massive phasic barrier separating small regions like islands in the ocean. They also noted that the barrier grew by 100 micrometers since it first appeared on November 1st, 1983. They believed the barrier was maintained by giant Aetherium crystals acting as terraforming nodes to match the properties of the Dark Aether.

On July 8th, Peck arrived at a missile silo in the Ural Outbreak Zone with the task of continuing work on Operatsiya Inversiya. Work on Reality Inversion warheads began immediately. Zykov began communicating with Peck from one of the modified computers Omega retrieved from the Outbreak Zone. Soon after, Peck assisted Omega soldiers in capturing four Tempests which were attracted to the Aetherium power nodes. Peck noticed the way they metabolized Aetherium and found a way to use them for the Reality Inversion warheads. By July 14th, the design of Reality Inversion warheads was finished; using the captured Tempests to metabolize Aetherium and increase the yield of the missiles, the warheads were able to create a dimensional breach as large as 500 meters on impact and, in turn, form an Outbreak Zone of over 800 kilometers. Moreover, the electromagnetic interference generated by the Tempests would prevent the West from detecting the warheads and firing back.

On July 22nd, Kravchenko took the leadership of Operatsiya Inversiya from Valentina. Much to Valentina's disappointment, Kravchenko learned that something was lurking in the Dark Aether and that while the West was still a threat, something far bigger loomed on the other side. This information was secretly given to Kravchenko by the Director of Requiem himself. The Reality Inversion warheads were now pointed against this new enemy. On August 16th, Valentina received the vision of her "father" reassuring her that not all was lost, and his plan was still on schedule with new instructions for her. Knowing that Ravenov was still alive, she purposefully and indirectly leaked intel and documents regarding Operatsiya Inversiya to him. At one point, Gorev noticed Peck's strange behavior talking with a modified computer and met with Valentina to discuss it. Fearing her plan might be discovered, she scolded Peck and questioned his loyalty to Omega as he explained he had learned about an army gathering in the Dark Aether and the "greatest evil the world had ever known". Valentina also prevented Gorev from warning Kravchenko about it, saying she would report it to him directly.

In early October 1984, Zykov revealed himself to the Requiem Strike Team in the Ural Mountains. Requiem soon realized that Zykov was behind the communications with the modified computers as well as the crafting stations, the Dark Aether crates, the beverages with physiologically altering effects, and the kiln fortifying weapons. Zykov warned Requiem that an army was mobilizing in the Dark Aether, and they needed to be ready. He also pleaded with them to help him escape and go home.

### Confrontations

#### Failure of Operatsiya Inversiya

On November 16th, with the help of Ravenov, who had acquired a listening device designed by Valentina based on the Beacon mechanism used by Requiem's team to navigate through the Ural Outbreak Zone, and the help of Grey and her comms protocols, Maxis established a covert and secure communication line with Requiem's Strike Team without Weaver's knowledge. She exhorted the Strike Team to meet with Ravenov in the Ruka's missile silo and help him thwart Operatsiya Inversiya. When a Strike Team arrived at the location, Ravenov managed to secure the control room of the silo. They discovered that the warheads were still pointed to the US East Coast. When Ravenov asked Maxis for a target, she stated that no one should have access to the warheads, and they should be dumped into the Pacific Ocean. To launch the missiles, Ravenov needed the help of the Strike Team to retrieve the warheads launch keys as he prepared them. After initiating the launch sequence however, they found out that massive Aetherium crystals were obstructing the warhead hatches and a giant Tempest called Legion guarded them. With only nine minutes before launch, the Strike Team successfully defeated Legion and destroyed the crystals allowing the hatches to open. As the warheads launched, Raptor One, who was sent by Maxis, arrived and the team left the area while Ravenov stayed in the Ural Mountains. In the weeks following the event at Ruka, the Strike Team was cleared to return to active duty after almost facing a court martial, only to be spared by the Director of Requiem.

Weaver, who was furious about what had happened, confronted Grey and warned her to never cross his path ever again. He also confronted Maxis and, after a heated exchange, confined her to her quarters again with no more walks around the facility with her dog. Weaver soon received new orders from the Director of Requiem and, on December 1st, had Maxis taken away for "additional testing" based on reports from Grey about the high levels of Aetherium contamination in her bloodstream and cellular changes. As she was taken away, Weaver promised to take care of her dog.

On December 3rd, after two days of travel, Maxis arrived at Block 8, a classified facility of the CIA built with an Aetherium-seal. She was maintained in isolation after she attempted to flee the facility upon arrival. Maxis was subjected to several interrogation sessions led by the Director of Requiem to assess her powers. During these sessions, he would ask her questions regarding her past that he himself already knew, such as her birthday and place of birth. After fifteen days, the Director managed to push her by stating that nobody at Requiem was caring for her and that she was just a "sad, little, lost girl". Filled with anger, Maxis used her telekinetic abilities to break the glass in her room. The Director continued to torture Maxis over the next two months. During one session, he threatened to have her dog shot if she didn't teleport her somewhere safe.

#### Capture of the Strike Team

At one point, Ravenov contacted Weaver, using Maxis' direct line, informing him that several Omega scientists, known as "The Omega Eight", were ready to defect to Requiem as dissent and division were spreading within Omega Group. Weaver was soon authorized to launch Operation Excision to retrieve the defectors.

On November 30th, Kravchenko reported that the missiles couldn't be recovered and would remain in the ocean. He soon decided to take direct actions against Requiem and tasked Doctor Hugo Jager, the Research Lead of Necro-Analytics at Omega, to infiltrate the defecting group of scientists. Jager's mission, code-named Operatsiya Issecheniye, was to eliminate the scientists and set up a trap for Requiem's elite Strike Team. Kravchenko also became suspicious of Valentina after learning from Gorev that Peck had been talking to Zykov via one of the modified computers and planned to speak with her directly.

On December 14th, Weaver contacted the Strike Team and informed them to meet with Ravenov and the Omega Eight near a sanatorium. Their helicopter, however, had crashed and they were now missing. After the Strike Team located the crash site, they recovered a message left by Jager indicating the scientists survived and were heading near the monument located on the lake next to the sanatorium. The Strike Team also learned about the Aetherium Neutralizer, a device developed by one of the defectors, Doctor Natalya Zarkova, to neutralize Aetherium particles allowing safe passage through the deadly phase. A modified Recon Rover was left behind by the scientists to be used by the Strike Team to reach them. When the Strike Team arrived at the Monument, they discovered the corpses of the scientists and a message from Jager taunting them and revealing his mission. Jager also indicated that the Aetherium Neutralizer was now in Omega's possession. As the monument was being overrun with an Orda appearing, Weaver ordered the team to leave the area. Raptor One arrived soon after to exfil the team, but they were shot down by Omega on their way out. Kravchenko arrived at the crash site and, as Omega soldiers dragged Raptor One from the helicopter, ordered the Strike Team to surrender. They were captured soon after.

### The Forsaken Threat

In the early weeks of January 1985, Omega Group realized the extent of Valentina's deception and learned about her true identity as Ulrich Vogel's daughter. After the Operatsiya Inversiya failure and the loss of the Reality Inversion warheads, Valentina left Omega Group and remained hidden in Berlin where she found the Endstation lab. She began her work to open a portal to the Dark Aether and complete Operation Baldr.

The Director of Requiem, however, knew about Valentina's plan and secretly sent an experimental robot, Klaus, designed by Grey, as well as a nuclear device to a CIA safehouse hidden beneath the Wall in order to stop her. However, the team intercepted a communique meant for the Director regarding Project Janus. To prevent any leak about the project, the Director activated Klaus to kill the operatives stationed at the safehouse.

#### Defeating Valentina

In late January 1985, Valentina opened a portal to the Dark Aether by following the instructions left by her father forty years before. An outbreak zone appeared around one of Berlin's checkpoints unleashing the undead Nazi soldiers that was once Task Force Baldr. Requiem managed to contain the situation and evacuate the inhabitants by using a cover story about a leak of nerve gas stockpile dating from the last war. The nuclear device, however, was lost when the outbreak happened.

On February 2nd, after being held prisoner in Potsdam for several weeks, the Strike Team was released by Kravchenko into the Berlin Outbreak Zone to stop Valentina and prevent the Dark Aether army from entering Earth, using Raptor One's life as leverage. The same day, Valentina crossed the threshold to the Dark Aether and met with her "father" who convinced her to ascend and lead their army. Leaving her mortal body, Valentina ascended into a scarlet and crystalized form. It was then that she submitted The Forsaken, the powerful entity which had disguised itself as her father. The Forsaken had gained dominion over the Dark Aether and its Elder Gods and had looked to devour the world since the day Omega Group had reopened the portal at the Endstation facility in Morasko.

The Strike Team reactivated Klaus and uncovered the Endstation lab. Under the command of Gorev, Jager, and Peck, the Strike Team began working on a new Reality Inversion warhead to close the portal. The team recovered the uranium stolen from the lost nuclear device by a Megaton and collected essence from Tempests using Endstation lures. As the team progressed, Valentina stepped out of the portal unleashing more zombies and Tormentors. She proclaimed that the dawn of a new Reich was upon them with her army on its way. Valentina and the Strike Team battled throughout the Outbreak Zone but, ultimately, the team managed to defeat Valentina. The team strapped her to the conversion machine built by her father and activated it, killing her. Her energy refined the essence, completing the Reality Inversion warhead. Klaus understood what its mission was and grabbed the warhead before stepping in the Dark Aether. The explosion closed the portal and stopped the outbreak.

Kravchenko contacted the Strike Team to inform them that Raptor One was waiting for them. The team arrived in the streets of East Berlin. As they untied Raptor One, Kravchenko arrived with his helicopter and attacked the Strike Team. At that moment, Maxis contacted the team and exhorted them to reach one of the building roofs. Maxis used her new powers to open a portal on the roof for the team to escape through. The team was teleported to a room at Block 8 where they met Weaver and Maxis who was accompanied by her dog, Notso. As the Director of Requiem reviewed the footage, he noted that Valentina was no longer a problem and Project Janus could proceed unimpeded. He, however, noted that Maxis was becoming a problem that needed to be dealt with. He continued to torture her via experiments, and by February 1985, forced her to kill a captured Omega operative by threatening to kill Grey. Maxis complied but was distressed by her actions. Over the next two months, the Director continued to assess Maxis' powers which included telepathy, telekinesis, teleportation of objects, and creation of two-way portals among several others. Over the course of this testing, he impressed upon her just how powerful she was.

Two days after the event of Berlin, Kravchenko wrote a report to Chebrikov. In order to save himself and prevent Omega Group from being disbanded, he concocted a story in which Requiem created an Aetherium-based narcotic compound capable of inducing aggressive paranoia and hallucinations which had been injected into Valentina by a Requiem strike team during a mission in the Ural Mountains. Kravchenko stated that the team was captured, interrogated, and later executed while he personally resolved the situation in Berlin.

#### Escalation

By March 1985, the situation in the Ural Outbreak Zone became critical with an increased Dark Aether activity and hostile encounters. Gorev reported to Kravchenko that Dark Aether Vortices started to appear every day accelerating the expansion of the phase and the terraforming of the region. Requiem also reported increased activities and expanded Operation Threshold to the Atlantic and Algeria where two massive outbreak zones had appeared. Several outbreaks also occurred in Germany and Nebraska where people claimed to have heard the voices of deceased relatives. Both organizations assumed this escalation by the Forsaken was in retaliation for the Berlin Incident.

On May 21st, several Outbreak Zones including the Ural Outbreak Zone collapsed entirely with their Phase expanding rapidly and Aetherium levels rising by 5000% in just a few minutes. Requiem reported that the areas were now uninhabitable for life as they knew it and several teams went missing. They believed the Dark Aether vortices heavily contributed to the acceleration of the terraforming process. By the end of the day, each Outbreak Zone continued to slowly grow by 0.25 inches. They concluded that severing their connection with the Dark Aether would be the only solution to reverse the terraforming.

#### Securing Zykov

Before Valentina's scheme, the KGB approved a new operation for Omega Group on January 11th, 1985, Operatsiya Izbavitel, or Operation Deliverer. The goals of the operation were to build a particle accelerator and dimensional amplifier to recover Kazimir Zykov, who would provide information on the Forsaken, and to construct a containment chamber to capture the Forsaken so it could be reprogrammed and use against the Western bloc. However, the approval of the operation was not unanimous, with members of the committee citing the cost of Omega's operation and its limited success. The committee was also concerned about investing in the Dark Aether as the risks outweighed the rewards. Chebrikov warned Kravchenko that the future of Omega Group was tied with the outcome of that new operation.

In the days following his report about the Berlin incident, Kravchenko met with Gorev, Jager and Peck. Kravchenko revealed Izbavitel to Gorev and Jager as well as his new plan with Peck, much to Gorev's dismay and confusion for having been kept in the dark. Zykov provided several schematics and parts to Peck in order to build a device to help him escape and a machine to kill the Forsaken. Unbeknownst to Zykov however, Omega planned to capture the Forsaken rather than kill it. On January 22nd, Peck finished designing the particle accelerator and dimensional amplifier with the particle accelerator matching the specification of the Endstation cyclotron. Peck also contacted the Director of Requiem informing him about the new operation.

On February 9th, Peck reported to Kravchenko that, after several weeks, he finally managed to triangulate the position of Zykov within the Dark Aether, but that it would require Omega to harness primordial Aether energy to extract him from the nightmarish dimension. Peck suggested that Test Site Anna, a facility located in Ukraine which was shuttered following an incident in 1981 and was originally used for Operatsiya Inversiya, would be the perfect facility to build the machines to free him because of its large power grid and equipment made to handle excess amounts of Aetherium.

On March 28th, Peck finalized the containment chamber design for the Forsaken, including a spherical device secretly using specifications from the Director of Requiem. That night, Gorev and Kravchenko discussed the potential targets for unleashing the Forsaken upon including Washington, D.C, New York City, London, Berlin, and Afghanistan. On April 18th, all the resources and personnel of each department at Omega were diverted in support of Operatsiya Izbavitel. With every other operation suspended, personnel were sent to Test Site Anna while skeleton crews remained at every outpost and facility. The reallocation of resources accelerated the timeline of the operation and Peck was confident that everything was going to be fully operational by July with an extraction scheduled for July 4th, 1985. However, Kravchenko revealed to Peck that the timeline had moved up by a month and he needed to be ready for June 4th. Peck contacted the Director of Requiem soon after to inform him about the change.

In early May, Ravenov, who was blacklisted by the CIA following Operation Excision, contacted Weaver and revealed that he had information regarding Operatsiya Izbavitel and its location in the Zakarpatska Oblast. He had sent a courier to a Requiem dead drop in Madrid with documents hoping that, with the Director knowing of the communication, Maxis would be released in exchange. Maxis was still at Block 8 following the Berlin Incident, but the Director allowed her to contact the different strike teams still in the field before the collapses, as well as sending letters to Weaver and Elizabeth Grey.

On May 12th, Requiem was authorized to proceed with Operation First Domino, a direct response to Omega's Operatsiya Izbavitel, with all the departments working together on this operation aimed at securing Zykov and taking him into custody before Omega could do so. On May 28th, the Director approved Maxis for the operation stating that she had learned a lot about her powers and how to control them. However, he prevented her from returning to the field and ordered her to remain at Block 8 during the operation where she would use her powers to open a portal for the Strike Team.

#### Last Stand and Aftermath

In the early hours of June 4th, 1985, Peck and Kravchenko ran several tests to open a dimensional gateway from the facility observation tower while Jager and Gorev waited in a nearby airfield ready to extract the Forsaken once it was sealed in the containment chamber and bring it to an Omega facility near Moscow. Both men, however, had doubts about the mission's chances of success.

At 9:32 AM, during test number 8, an uncontrolled dimensional breach occurred in the facility consuming all Omega personnel and soldiers apart from Peck and Kravchenko. Kravchenko prevented Peck from closing the gateway until they had Zykov. The Requiem Strike Team arrived outside the facility soon after via a portal created by Samantha. Supported by Ravenov, the team used an Omega teleporter to enter the facility and was greeted by Kravchenko who informed them they were too late. The team reached the observation tower watching over the town square replica where an active teleporter was located. Kravchenko, Peck, and the Strike Team witnessed the return of Zykov from the Dark Aether. The lost Russian thanked them before turning himself into the Forsaken. The entity revealed that while it had been forty years on Earth since Zykov closed the Endstation gateway, four centuries had passed in the Dark Aether during which Zykov had had to survive and evolve. As he consumed stronger beings than himself, Zykov ultimately was replaced by the Forsaken. The entity then taunted Peck, stating that he had tricked Peck into releasing him from the Dark Aether, and that their realm would now be consumed. Kravchenko lashed out at Peck as zombies swarmed the tower. At this moment, Samantha manifested herself in the facility and used her powers to temporarily hold the Forsaken off. Having heard an explosion, Gorev and Jager flew above the facility and discovered what was happening. The two men agreed to ignore Kravchenko's cries for help and reinforcement, leaving the failure of the operation on Kravchenko alone and left the area. Jager had a secret contact who could grant both men safe passage to the West.

The Strike Team learned that the Forsaken was now protected by a phasic barrier and that an Aetherium Neutralizer was required to reach the entity. With the assistance of Peck, the team built a make-shift device. They also received the help of an unlikely ally, Sparagmos; a Zealot of the Dark Aether seeking revenge on the Stealer of Souls for enslaving his Disciples. With his guidance, the team forged the Chrysalax.

As the team activated the device, an explosion occurred in the observation tower where Peck and Kravchenko were located after Peck mistakenly shot a gas pipe. The Strike Team then proceeded to the town square. With the help of Samantha, who used her powers to activate Aetherium Gun Turrets, the team managed to expose the Forsaken's core. As the Forsaken launched a massive counterattack, Samantha sacrificed herself and dived into its core, sealing herself in the Dark Aether. Weakened, the Forsaken was drawn into the spherical device in the containment chamber. With its capture, the Outbreak Zones around the world began to lessen and collapsed. Soon after, a helicopter arrived to transport the spherical device out of the Soviet Union. The Strike Team bid farewell to Ravenov before leaving with Raptor One.

At his deck, the Director of Requiem noted that with Maxis now locked in the Dark Aether, she was no longer a problem for Project Janus. He ordered the Strike Team be sent to Blacksite 13 for "indefinite containment" before shutting down Requiem. He then ordered his agents to move on Requiem's Senior Staff. Watching Grey, Carver, Strauss, Weaver, Raptor One, and the Strike Team being arrested from his monitors, Director Richtofen grabbed his briefcase from his desk and left his office.

### Five Years Later

Having survived the events at Test Site Anna, Peck traveled to a boat house in Japan in 1990. There, he would rent a boat from a local fisherman to travel to the Pacific Ocean, where the Operatsiya Inversiya warheads lay, to find "some old friends".

## References

Template:Reflist

1. ↑ Moon Radios and Audio Reels