Nacht der Untoten was part of Projeckt Riese; Die Maschine is the new universe's Die Glocke

[clueless]

Ok so first off, an introduction to Projeckt Riese. Between 1943 and 1945, Nazi Germany spent countless resources not excluding their own prisoners (many if not most lost their lives in the process) to create seven underground structures within Germany-occupied Poland, as well as correlating air raid structures aboveground that would lead into these underground structures and labyrinths. None of these seven projects were ever completed; only crumbling remains of hardly-reinforced tunnel systems remain today of the underground systems, however this is irrelevant in this scenario because we are going to a world where that's not the case.

 

Nacht der Untoten, the map itself takes place on June 4, 1945 in German-Occupied Europe. The air raid bunker(!!!) within the airfield was already abandoned beforehand, therefore it was also constructed beforehand. That brings my (and your) eyes to Głuszyca, the central town connecting many of the projects of Riese as well as most of the labor camps that would eventually suffer an outbreak of typhus. Not only does this scenario make the location an ideal breeding ground for large-scale hordes of undead if a certain situation were to arise, but the location also has an airfield and an air raid bunker while sitting in German-Occupied Europe and had various shipments of equipment and manufacturing plants relocated between October 1943 to March 1945 (funny how that's right before June 4 of the same year). 

 

(The purported design of the air raid bunker is different from Nacht, but we can turn a blind eye to that for creative overrule.) 

 

So what does this have to do with Die Maschine or Die Glocke? Well, let's look into what's purported of Die Glocke - the Nazi Bell was a glowing, rotating contraption that has had MANY numerous "functions" spouted by different sources, among them antigravity, teleportation, time travel, and side effects of crystallizing flesh tissue, gelling and separating blood, and decomposition of plant matter into a 'greasy substance', within a range of 490 - 660 ft. The device itself is powered by a purported fuel called Serum/Xerum-525 (also called Red Mercury), a liquid with a varying shade of red and a viscous, dense and gooey texture. Die Glocke was said to be constructed at the secret Der Riese facility, used by injecting the Xerum-525 into large highly charged electrostatic tubes before other mechanisms would spin the injected tubes at high speeds to create the varying effects claimed. Obviously within the Aether story this device serves other purposes; the various Wunderwaffe DG programs as well as the literal Die Glocke in Der Riese, which seems to be inactive until shot and creates an antigravity effect on miscellaneous objects that are then thrown throughout the map.

 

Die Maschine looks suspiciously familiar to the mechanical aspects I've pointed out. We have a de-energized machine with glowing red liquid inside of circular containers, that once powered begins to spin a small "bell" underneath that begins to spin the red liquid inside the tubes until it becomes unstable plasma that begins to change the world around it.

("The Spinning Bell" that is currently implied to the be central generator that powers the mechanical components of Die Maschine. The red light here implies an offline status, not related to my argument of Xerum-525.)

(THIS is my argument of purported Xerum-525, our new "115" if not somehow related or connected.)

(After being powered and spinning fast enough, the Xerum-525 begins to change to a bluish-purple coloration and begins to turn unstable if not already in its base red form.)

(A better look at sped up Xerum-525 as well as it escaping through the topside, but still retaining a circular rotation.)

 

Lastly, If you were aware of a Project Riese and a secret project called Der Riese as well, wouldn't you suspect some experimental projects of similar designs happening beneath the surface of these bunkers? The last shipments of supplies came to the supposed Nacht site mere months before the events of Nacht were set in motion in the Aether storyline. Assuming that the site was abandoned, maybe we had an outbreak that was rumored by radio signals after the initial activation of Die Maschine under the bunker, leading to its deactivation (whether intentional or by collateral) and subsequent abandonment, assuming anyone was left alive by the end to abandon it. As for how this connects to the new Dark Aether story, well, the Die Glocke prototypes may still sleep dormant under these bunkers even after the purge of 115 from the multiverse because Xerum-525 may not have ever been 115 at all or the Nazis found another way to create Xerum-525 without the use of the now missing element. 

[anonymous]

This is a great analysis! Looking at those colours and the shape of the device, yes, I think you convinced me that this is indeed Die Glocke. What other device would be deemed so important to name a whole map after ('Die Maschine', the Machine). There is one problem, though, as 'Die Maschine's location is Morasko, a village laying in a village a little more north-west of the Projekt Riese area. I think I might have found a solution for this...

 

First of all, it appears there is a close cooperation, but a difference between Group 935 and the German Wünderwaffe program. Proof for this is the analysis of the Ascension Group in a Black Ops intelligence message:

Quote

The Ascension Group is a coalition of former scientists from the German Wunderwaffe program and Group 935.

So keep in mind Group 935 was an international science organization being funded by the Nazi Party, but the German Wünderwaffe program stood directly under the Nazi-German government. Next to this, we have this intel:

Quote

FROM: Ryan Jackson, Jnr. Analyst (OSA/DI)

SUBJECT: Initial Overview of German "Wunderwaffe" Program and associated Analytical Recommendations.

Dear Sir,

 

Per your request, please find enclosed the analysis team's initial overview of German "Wunderwaffe" Program and team recommendations based on said coverage. Enclosed in this packet, please find the following items:

(HIGH PRIORITY) Analysis of the "Uranium Club", a German nuclear energy project whose purpose was to weaponize nuclear fission technology (this project was disbanded in 1942 as a means of diverting more funds to the German war effort).

 

- Analysis of the Aggregate Rocket series, with particular emphasis on the A9-A12 models, all of which were designed for the purpose of transporting heavy loads (i.e., satellites) into low Earth orbit. Of particular note is the A-4 (later reclassified as the V-2 rocket), the most successful of the Aggregate series and the first projectile to reach space.

- Analysis of rocket-propelled aircraft with the focus on the DFS 228 and 346, proposed rocket-powered aircraft that would culminate in the development of a supersonic reconnaissance planes.

- Analysis of the Rocket U-Boat, a submarine designed to carry and fire ballistic missiles.

- (LOW PRIORITY) Analysis of Extreme Tank design with a focus on the pre-prototype super-heavy Landkreuzer P1500 Monster, a 1,000-ton tank that would act as a transport for the 800mm Schwerer Gustav artillery gun (the largest ever fired).

- (LOW PRIORITY) Analysis of the rumored Die Glocke device (heretofore known as "The Bell") purported to be anything from an anti-gravity propulsion system to a time machine. Nothing yet can be confirmed; however a statement from Agency case office Chase Rettland details his interrogation of a low-level research assistant who claims he saw a "mirror device that allowed the viewing of images from the past". The subject of the interrogation died of unknown causes shortly after providing his statement.

 

RECOMMENDATION: Move all recovered Wunderwaffe assets (both material and human) to U.S-controlled facilities for the purpose of research & developement ASAP.

So the Bell is also part of the Wünderwaffe program? I think it was a joint Group 935-Wünderwaffe Program project indeed taking place at Projekt Riese. Now in the map Der Riese, one can read on a board "Die Glocke is jetzt mobil" and "folgen Sie dem Gesamtplan". Translated to English this means "the Bell is now mobile" and "follow the entire plan". Can this hint to the mobilisation of the/a Die Glocke to a new, safe station as the end of the war was near?

 

We may not forget that we see Steiner, head of Projekt Giftiger Storm (Nova gas), in the teaser of 'Die Maschine'. Does this hint he has a role in the backstory of this map as well? Well Projekt Giftiger Storm was part of the Wünderwaffe Program as well. We know he fled to Siberia via the German river the Elbe. This means that this Wünderwaffe Program station was somewhere near this river.

The Elbe is a river in eastern Germany hasving many side rivers going into Poland and Czechia. The red dot is where Projekt Riese is, and the yellow dot is where Morasko is. As you can see, it both is in a sidebranch of the Elbe. This means that Steiner's facility he fled from could very well be Morasko (hence why we see him in the teaser). Not only that, it is proven that at the end of the war, Die Glocke was transported elsewhere. Could this be the other Wünderwaffe Program facility, the one at Morasko? Components of the device were transported from Der Riese to Morasko, either via boat or via trucks.

 

We do not know if Group 935 existed in this universe: 115 is believed to be erased but yet we see a Monkey Bomb and Juggernog machine. My idea would work in a reality where Group 935 had existed, but also in one where they wouldn't exist. After all, Projekt Riese and Die Glocke are real-life conspiracies, project performed by the Wünderwaffe Program for a large degree. It doesn't matter if there was Group 935 in it's development or not: It was there anyway. Only time will tell whether this 'Die Glocke' is a joint-Group 935 / Wünderwaffe Program project, or if it is solely Wünderwaffe in this universe..

[clueless]

3 hours ago, anonymous said:

This is a great analysis! Looking at those colours and the shape of the device, yes, I think you convinced me that this is indeed Die Glocke. What other device would be deemed so important to name a whole map after ('Die Maschine', the Machine). There is one problem, though, as 'Die Maschine's location is Morasko, a village laying in a village a little more north-west of the Projekt Riese area. I think I might have found a solution for this...

Huh, I actually wasn't aware we already had a given location for the map Die Maschine, that's cool. I like how you still managed to make it work, and another possibility was Nacht was an unrecorded or undiscovered extension of the Project Riese....

3 hours ago, anonymous said:

Now in the map Der Riese, one can read on a board "Die Glocke is jetzt mobil" and "folgen Sie dem Gesamtplan". Translated to English this means "the Bell is now mobile" and "follow the entire plan". Can this hint to the mobilisation of the/a Die Glocke to a new, safe station as the end of the war was near?

Oooh, I remember that message but do we have a confirmation on when that actually started? With Der Riese taking place in October 1945, perhaps the only part left of the Die Glocke there by the time Ultimis arrives there in-game is the switch we shoot and the supporting pillars, the rest migrated to the underside of Nacht. Either that, or more likely the message just refers to the portable DG prototypes, specifically the DG-2.

Quote

RECOMMENDATION: Move all recovered Wunderwaffe assets (both material and human) to U.S-controlled facilities for the purpose of research & developement ASAP.

WAIT A SECOND, THIS EXPLAINS TRANZIT'S NACHT! Broken Arrow would eventually get this intel from the merger in '63, and even beforehand there were already US government officials doing off-the-books projects involving the Wunderwaffe projects. Data on Wunderwaffe projects would go to Broken Arrow after the merger, scientists in Hanford probably got their hands on more of the technical sides of everything while Pernell was mainly focused on the Elemental Shard and the APD, and began construction of their own Prototype in the desolate cornfield where it would be difficult to find and far away from all living things to avoid collateral (490-660ft range, remember). Obviously the project never got far, or maybe it got too far as well. We have unused assets all hidden in the far corners of the maps as you've pointed out in a thorough Tranzit discussion, maybe that's related to the Prototype hidden under this crumbling bunker.

[anonymous]

2 hours ago, clueless said:

Oooh, I remember that message but do we have a confirmation on when that actually started? With Der Riese taking place in October 1945, perhaps the only part left of the Die Glocke there by the time Ultimis arrives there in-game is the switch we shoot and the supporting pillars, the rest migrated to the underside of Nacht. Either that, or more likely the message just refers to the portable DG prototypes, specifically the DG-2.

There is no confirmation, but my guess is that is has something to do with "the Shield". There is a radio in Der Riese that has an intercom announcing that the Shield is now active, and subsequently you hear the howling of the undead and Porter kills himself. This happens on October the 14th, on the day Richtofen awakens his testsubjects. Logically, this 'Shield' can be some kind of defense mechanism against the zombie outbreak, but I believe there are also whispers in Shi No Numa saying "So close to the Shield", giving it more importance. Perhaps the activation of the Shield led to the zombies outbreak, similar to what Die Glocke seems to do in 'Die Maschine'? Could the device move between facilities, perhaps?

 

Also, keep in mind that the Henge we see in Der Riese was believed to merely contain Die Glocke, and not be Die Glocke itself. So perhaps, before the events of Der Riese, the device was within this concrete Henge?

2 hours ago, clueless said:

WAIT A SECOND, THIS EXPLAINS TRANZIT'S NACHT! Broken Arrow would eventually get this intel from the merger in '63, and even beforehand there were already US government officials doing off-the-books projects involving the Wunderwaffe projects. Data on Wunderwaffe projects would go to Broken Arrow after the merger, scientists in Hanford probably got their hands on more of the technical sides of everything while Pernell was mainly focused on the Elemental Shard and the APD, and began construction of their own Prototype in the desolate cornfield where it would be difficult to find and far away from all living things to avoid collateral (490-660ft range, remember). Obviously the project never got far, or maybe it got too far as well. We have unused assets all hidden in the far corners of the maps as you've pointed out in a thorough Tranzit discussion, maybe that's related to the Prototype hidden under this crumbling bunker.

Ooh I like! Yes, there appears to be a large tunnel network subterrean in Tranzit, potentially connecting with something that lays beneath the Nacht-like bunker. What I wonder, tho, is why this exact shape of bunker is necassery for Die Glocke projects? Is Die Glocke the reason why the Avogadro could be trapped there, powering something beneath?

[clueless]

It's possible they took no risks (well, for construction anyways...) in recreating the bunker so that there would be less outliers to identify in the case of something going wrong. Using Avogadro's essence as an alternative power source for a secret Die Glocke project makes sense with why Russman and Barkley need to specifically siphon more essence every once in a while. since they were unaware of the Elemental Shard / couldn't access the Shard directly due to Avogadro's imprisonment with it. I assume they tried making a second one with enough essence, albeit without the intelligence or link to the Aether so that it would be easier to control and contain while having the infinite power source the Elemental Shard would have been to them if they didn't have to deal with the actual Avogadro to re-obtain it.