I know this doesnt't really help story-wise, but it should help as to why there are barely any answers and loads of questions:
As we know, Kino Der Toten was meant to be released on WaW, but was delayed to Black Ops. Its pretty fair to say (because of the huge difference between KDT and Ascension) that Ascension was meant to be the first zombie map for Black Ops.
Why is that relevant? Think of it this way. BO is the sequel to WaW, therefore Ascension is the start of the sequel (sorta) to the zombie mode. In films, although still closely related to the original, sequels take on a brand new story of their own. Makes sense?
So basically, our questions from WaW should be answered, but now a new chapter of zombies has begun - so the main focus in Ascension is on this new section of story.