“I have to stay in the field... I’m sorry. This is the only way.” – Samantha Maxis

On July 15, the next chapter in the Dark Aether story will be told in Black Ops Cold War Zombies.

“Mauer der Toten” will see Requiem at its most desperate in the war to stop Omega Group, having been captured and tortured at the hands of its leader, Colonel Lev Kravchenko.

How did it all go so wrong? How did Omega get so far ahead in the Aetherium arms race? Let’s go back to the beginning, to the point just before our Requiem agents first touched boots on the ground, and revisit the full offering of Zombies experiences available right now.

This is Black Ops Cold War Zombies: the full story so far.

Die Maschine

Morasko, Poland

November 13, 1983

In the evening downpour in East Berlin, Agent Samantha Maxis calls the Situation Room direct to Officer Grigori Weaver, Field Ops Director for the CIA’s Requiem research group.

“Did you get the package?”

Weaver is indignant. “We've lost two teams since you went dark. Old war footage is the last thing on my mind right now.”

“Watch it,” Sam replies. “Watch the tape. Then tell me I'm wrong.”

The footage shows Soviet soldiers uncovering “Projekt Endstation,” an abandoned Nazi research facility in Morasko, Poland. Unaware of the dangers ahead, they enter the facility and fall to the ravenous undead within.

They tried to cover it up. It didn’t work.

Immediately after seeing this footage, Weaver sends his best Requiem agents to Projekt Endstation, and with the assistance of Requiem’s Doctor Grey, Doctor Strauss, and Major Carver, they discover the source of the undead invasion: a particle accelerator experiment gone horribly wrong, creating a dimensional rift to the Dark Aether.

Why was this rift important? Requiem’s rivals on the other side of the Cold War, the Omega Group, are using the Dark Aether to harvest an incredibly valuable resource: Aetherium. More powerful, yet unstable, than any other substance in this world, with catalyzing effects on plutonium and other nuclear elements, Aetherium is Omega’s key to helping their side win the Cold War before the civilian world has time to save themselves.

By entering the Dark Aether itself, Requiem’s agents find a way to close the rift while uncovering more of the facility’s past, including intel on the key players and motivations behind the original experiment. But in doing so, they trigger the self-destruction of the entire facility – a small price to pay, knowing that the horrors within the Dark Aether could no longer invade this dimension no further – at least, until Samantha Maxis sets out to meet a contact in Vietnam.

Unearth the full history behind Projekt Endstation — including its ultimate demise — by completing the Main Quest and collecting 100% of the Intel hidden within “Die Maschine,” available via public or private matches in Zombies.

Firebase Z

A Shau Valley, Vietnam

June 15, 1984

“Omega must be stopped… no matter the personal cost to people like you and I.” – Captain Sergei Ravenov

At the start of “Firebase Z,” the CIA Requiem strike team deploys to Outpost 25 in Vietnam, where they enlist the help of disaffected Omega Group affiliate Captain Ravenov. Their goal: Rescue Samantha Maxis from Omega’s clutches.

Prior to the agents’ arrival, Samantha attempted to infiltrate the Omega Group research facility Outpost 25 to meet Sergei Ravenov, an inside agent who knew of Omega’s plans. En route, she was discovered by Omega’s lead scientist, Dr. William Peck. After being interrogated and tortured, Maxis was thrown into the Dark Aether by Peck – disposed of so that he could continue his research on Dark Aether-based technologies and weaponry.

“You look ready,” Ravenov says to the team as they arrive. “Perhaps you will not die today.”

Upon arrival, Peck makes a deal with Requiem’s agents: restore power to the outpost, and he’ll set Maxis free. Of course, the crafty scientist knew what restoring the power would accomplish for Omega Group’s gains, but in the end, Requiem found a way to pull Maxis back from the Dark Aether just in time to fight their greatest threat yet.

Complete the “Firebase Z” Main Quest and collect its hidden troves of in-game Intel to learn more about Omega’s involvement with the outbreak in Vietnam, and to find out just how far the team was willing to go to save Sam from her Dark Aether prison.

Outbreak – Operation Threshold

Ural Mountains

June – November 1984

Bigger than any previous “DLC 2” offering in Call of Duty Zombies to date with six massive regions currently available, Outbreak delivers a brand-new, large-scale Zombies experience that can be explored with total freedom with up to four players. Loaded with new objectives, World Events, side quests, in-game Intel, and two full-blown Zombies Main Quests, Outbreak continues the Dark Aether story from the ending of “Firebase Z” to the narrative prologue of “Mauer der Toten.”

As Requiem continued to fall behind in the arms race against Omega Group following the events of “Firebase Z,” various regions in the Ural Mountains have erupted into the world’s largest Outbreak Zone. Before Requiem even discovered this breakthrough, Omega Group was on the scene already, harvesting Aetherium in extreme numbers and in its purest form.

Still, Requiem soldiered on to collect and investigate these new Aetherium Crystal forms, in addition to an abundance of Raw Aetherium Crystals to bolster their technology, imbuing their weapons, Perks, Ammo Mods, and Field Upgrades with this incredible resource.

This was all while their top agents fought scores of the undead and completed important research experiments in the field, hunting down incredibly dangerous high-value targets and helping to launch rockets and escort rovers into the Dark Aether for further testing.

Outbreak – Operatsiya Inversiya

Ural Mountains

November 16, 1984

Within Operation Threshold, the most elite Requiem agents discovered Omega Group’s plot known as “Operatisya Inversiya,” AKA “Operation Inversion.”

Dr. Peck was able to supercharge the power of Aetherium Crystals for Omega Group’s reality inversion warheads, making this astronomical leap in research and development with only one remaining eye (as the other was removed forcibly by Kravchenko at Outpost 25). Fortunately for Requiem, Ravenov was able to meet a squad of agents at the launch site deep below the forests of Ruka in a previously undiscovered missile silo to stop these warheads from creating additional Outbreak Zones.

To do this, Requiem was faced with fending off a terrifying new super-threat known as Legion. Those who want to take on this monstrosity for themselves should attempt to complete Outbreak’s first-ever Main Quest with the help of the Zombies community.

Outbreak – Operation Excision

Ural Mountains

December 14, 1984

Even after ending Operatsiya Inversiya with the help of Samantha Maxis – a changed person since her time spent in the Dark Aether – and Ravenov, who’s now back in the field, the war with Omega Group is still far from over.

Shortly after this successful mission, Requiem identifies eight scientists within Omega Group who are willing to defect for their safety, known as “The Omega Eight.” Requiem’s top team of agents arrives after multiple jumps with a special device to contact Ravenov for more intel.

But it’s not in the cards for the team to come home, and the secret war between Omega Group and Requiem is far from over. The mission known as “Operation Excision” comes to a head at the Sanatorium in the Ural Mountains, where the defecting scientists are supposedly waiting to be rescued.

On arrival, the squad’s objective drastically changes after finding the scientists’ corpses, and an immediate exfil is called for once the strike team realizes they’ve walked into an Omega trap. A massive firefight with an undead army ensues, including a towering Orda that emerges from the underground. As Raptor-1 picks up the strike team for evac, his helicopter is attacked and comes crashing down.

“Sadly, Weaver,” says a mocking voice talking into one of Requiem’s radios, “them coming home is not part of the plan.” Walking through the rubble, an old enemy appears: Lev Kravchenko, leader of the Omega Group.

What can Kravchenko possibly have planned for Requiem?

We’ll find out in “Mauer der Toten,” but for now, you can experience all of Outbreak right now in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Zombies via public or private matches, where you and up to three friends can explore and survive the zombie-infested Ural Mountains.

The Next Chapter…

Berlin, Germany

February 2, 1985

The events of “Die Maschine,” “Firebase Z,” and Outbreak have all led up to “Mauer der Toten,” Treyarch’s newest round-based Zombies map where captured Requiem agents will have to do Kravchenko’s bidding in exchange for their freedom... and their lives.

Will you be ready to do anything it takes to survive? Before “Mauer der Toten” launches on July 15, we recommend playing through all the Dark Aether Zombies experiences released so far – including Onslaught and its 40+ Intel drops, available now on PlayStation and coming to all platforms later this year – to fully prepare you for what is to come.

Execute the mission.

For more information on Call of Duty®: Black Ops Cold War, check out: www.callofduty.com, www.youtube.com/callofduty and follow @Treyarch, @RavenSoftware, and @CallofDuty on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. 

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