Taking Inventory: The Ascension Group | Podcast Der Toten

[RadZakpak]

Come check out the latest Podcast Der Toten, the official CoDz podcast, featuring myself, @Mattzs, and @Tac. In this week's episode, we discuss the founding of the Ascension Group and their known operations.

Where else does the Ascension Group operate? Who started it? Does it live on past 1964? What is their true purpose? Post a comment below!

[anonymous]

I heard you guys talk about the etymology of Mercury in the name 'Project Mercury', and you talked about the role of the Roman god Mercury. I'd also like to notice there is a whole conspiracy around (Red) Mercury as well, said to be the main component of Die Glocke and nuclear weapons. The liquid light metal was supposedly taken and investigated by the Soviet Union, therefore calling it Red Mercury. Russian newspapers, on its turn, claimed that Western nations used Red Mercury to develop nuclear weapons. During the  days of Alpha Omega I also wrote a thread about it if you're interested.

 

Project Mercury refers to the Gersch Device, a weapon that works because of the Casimir Effect. The basic principle of the Casimir Effect is having a vacuum between two plates that in theory generates an infinite amount of energy. Richtofen also builds himself one during the Moon Easter Egg:

Anyways, I think this is why the Gersch device looks like a waffle maker: two plates with a small space between provides a enormous amount of vacuum and thereby energy. In Ascension, when you complete all the steps and see the Gersch as an ethereal orb on the ground next to the Casimir Mechanism, you can thow a Gersch Device on it, and you'll hear these quotes:

Quote

 

Gersch: "I can see the outline, but there isn't enough power!"

Richtofen: "There is so much power here already, and you need MORE?"

 

It's not until we throw a Gersch Device, and blast the device with 115-infused Wonder Weapons that the Casimir Effect is correctly occuring and the Gersch Device is amplified enough for a steady gateway to be created. The blast of 115 from the Wonder Weapons amplifies the Casimir Effect significantly, the power is transfered to the Casimir Mechanism, and the gateway is created. Now here's the interesting thing; I think 115 is Red Mercury. The fact both the Gersch Device (referred to as Project Mercury) and the wonderweapons that emit 115 are needed gives me the feeling the light metal they use is the same. Not to forget that this 'Red Mercury' was described for the first time by Nazi scientists, saying this leichtmetal (light metal) was put in canisters on top of Die Glocke, appearing purple in colour. Where else do we see this?

The DG-1 (Die Glocke-1)?

[RichKiller]

1 hour ago, anonymous said:

 

The DG-1 (Die Glocke-1)?

The design of the telaporters is clearly influnced by Die Glocke and we know it was one of themes of Der Riese, so it's a solid stance.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die_Glocke_(hoax)

 

However take in mind that in the story the DG series is a series of weapons.
One of the best leads of Die Glocke in the story comes from BO1 intel: 

Quote

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.

I think Die Glocke deserves its own post (even an episode in "The order of forgotten mysteries"), so I'll end with a quote of Richtofen: "Pictures Dempsey, Pictures!"

[anonymous]

11 minutes ago, RichKiller said:

However take in mind that in the story the DG series is a series of weapons.

Hey you say something there! The Ragnarok is called the DG-5, right? Combining that with the anti-gravity device Die Glocke was supposed to be, it's appearance makes sense as the Ragnarok seems to emit the same blue aura as all the weird floating blue items that form barriers in a variety of maps. Espessially in Der Eisendrache this is prominent. Are these antigravitational abilities due to Die Glocke or perhaps solely 115? Never thought about it that way.

[RadZakpak]

14 minutes ago, anonymous said:

Hey you say something there! The Ragnarok is called the DG-5, right? Combining that with the anti-gravity device Die Glocke was supposed to be, it's appearance makes sense as the Ragnarok seems to emit the same blue aura as all the weird floating blue items that form barriers in a variety of maps. Espessially in Der Eisendrache this is prominent. Are these antigravitational abilities due to Die Glocke or perhaps solely 115? Never thought about it that way.

Worth noting the DG-Scharfshutze seems to be the DG-01, or at least a variant of it with a scope. This is part of the texture on it:

 

 

That doesn't rule out the connection to the teleporters as the original Die Glocke though, as the 01 might just be to show it is a weapon based on the larger project.

[anonymous]

27 minutes ago, RadZakpak said:

Worth noting the DG-Scharfshutze seems to be the DG-01, or at least a variant of it with a scope. This is part of the texture on it:

 

 

That doesn't rule out the connection to the teleporters as the original Die Glocke though, as the 01 might just be to show it is a weapon based on the larger project.

Hmm, this is weird as one would assume the normal DG-2 was invented before this sharpshooter variant, the DG-01. I honestly dont know what to think of this

[RadZakpak]

25 minutes ago, anonymous said:

Hmm, this is weird as one would assume the normal DG-2 was invented before this sharpshooter variant, the DG-01. I honestly dont know what to think of this

Well there are blueprints for the Scharfshutze with a date in 1958, still attributing the creation of the Scharfshutze to Richtofen. Pablo also says that he stole it sometime while he was captured, and seemingly locked it up in a box. It could be that he made the scope modification in 1958 during his isolation. Also the Heat Pack has blueprints in 1959, which appears hand-made, not something made by the Ascension Group. Also consider that the Tundra Gun blueprints DO have the Ascension Group logo on them, so that leads me to believe the Scharfshutze and Heat Pack were drawn up and made by Pablo. He may have also made other modifications to it based on DG-2 designs.

[anonymous]

5 minutes ago, RadZakpak said:

Well there are blueprints for the Scharfshutze with a date in 1958, still attributing the creation of the Scharfshutze to Richtofen. Pablo also says that he stole it sometime while he was captured, and seemingly locked it up in a box. It could be that he made the scope modification in 1958 during his isolation. Also the Heat Pack has blueprints in 1959, which appears hand-made, not something made by the Ascension Group. Also consider that the Tundra Gun blueprints DO have the Ascension Group logo on them, so that leads me to believe the Scharfshutze and Heat Pack were drawn up and made by Pablo. He may have also made other modifications to it based on DG-2 designs.

This could be very possible, given the fact logically, the Mexican government didn't send a random spy to infiltrate Group 935. To do so, the spy had to have knowledge of some sciences as well. I never really realized this but it is very likely that Pablo is a scientist himself too, similar to how Yena infiltrated Group 935 and the Ascension Group

[anonymous]

Also, concerning the Ascension Group's connection with Steiner, could Steiner have been underway to the Siberian facility to search refuge when his ship stranded? After all, what was his plan? Where was he heading to?

[RichKiller]

15 hours ago, RadZakpak said:

Worth noting the DG-Scharfshutze seems to be the DG-01, or at least a variant of it with a scope.

This is because The Giant and the cycle were butchered lol. Finding this was also the moment I realized they really meant to end the Aether storyline.