Template:StoryArc Ubelmann the Unknown
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Ubelmann the Unknown
Souvenir
Letter from Requiem
To the one this world calls 'hero' :
It was fortune alone that began this, a twist of fate that allowed you to be the one to intervene. But that is the nature of fortune, to test those who would be greater than those around them. When you disrupted the strike against the document warehouse, I thought perhaps that fortune was coming into alignment. I did not yet take steps to force fortune's hand, however.
Your further tenacity was overwhelming to me, as you rescued all of the kidnapped historians. It is also, I would guess, at this point that you first head the name of Wolfgang Ubelmann from the men you rescued.
Now having seen a measure of your quality I decided it would be time to employ your ability. A tip was sent to you anonymously on my order, and enabled you to prevent the theft of more documents to be used in Ubelmann's plans.
You needed no help from me to learn of the kidnap of James Bartlett, known to you no doubt by the more colorful name 'Thunderhead.' However, I sent aid to you in the form of his location. From him too, you no doubt heard the name Wolfgang Ubelmann.
Once again, I gave you aid to stop Ubelmann from securing the devices and data he sought. You performed admirably, a true credit to your kind.
Time was growing short, and fortune turned against both of us in ways you did not know. It was a sacrifice, but I revealed Ubelmann's location to you at great cost. Fate is often cruel, however, and Ubelmann escaped. But the clues I left for you were enough to reveal his true nature.
Now that you understood Ubelmann's true point of origin, I am sure his motives were clear to you. A time traveler, he sought to glean knowledge and technology from our present to return to the past and change his future. Using my information, you were able to disrupt his plans by capturing the equipment he depended on.
And so the final stage was set. Upon it you played your part, capturing Ubelmann and ending his threat.
But you may wonder what were my reasons for betraying a man I knew so long ago, for helping you to stop a victory by the Axis powers whom I once served. It is no great surprise. Take but a moment and consider the course of history from my point of view. If the Axis had won, if their rule had extended across the Earth in a thousand year Reich, then consider what place I would have held within it. Perhaps a mere princeling of some minor state, perhaps forced to the periphery by those with more voice in the halls of influence. My 5th Column, my power, would never have existed. Ubelmann's presence was good for morale, but his victory would have destroyed us, destroyed all of us utterly.
I cannot say that you have gained my respect, but I will acknowledge that you fought well. Drink deeply of your success. Bask in the adulation of your peers. Savor this victory. Know that you have saved your world and this moment from the shadow of history. But you have only saved it for now. Do not think that you have saved this world for your future. Know that you have saved this world for my coming Dominion.
- Requiem
Stop the 5th Column raid
Briefing
I got a tip this morning about a 5th Column raid on a government office. I haven't been able to find out any details, even the function of this particular office. I have the feeling something big is going down. I need you to stop that 5th Column raid.
Mission Acceptance
Try to find out what the 5th Column's after, won't you?
Unnecessary Solicitation
I want to know what's behind that 5th Column raid, Character.
Mission Objective(s)
There is no directory in this lobby, no license, no photographs. No detail reveals anything about the business done here.
- Defeat all soldiers in office
- 4 archivists to save, Investigate raid
You have defeated the 5th Column.
Enemies
Notable NPCs
- 4 Archivists (Non-Escort Hostages)
The 5th Column were examining these files when you interrupted their raid. The yellowed pages appear to describe an alternate plan for the invasion of Europe during World War II.
One of the archivists you rescued told you:
'I have no idea why the 5th Column would have attacked us. All we do is store old secret documents! Mostly we just sit on piles of moldering paper and occasionally send a document to someone on a Freedom of Information request. Most of the files we have here date back to World War II. What would anyone want with that old stuff?'
Debriefing
That's odd. I know the 5th Column has old roots, but what possible use could World War II documents be to them today? Mission:Ubelmann the Unknown - Rescue the historians from the Council Mission:Ubelmann the Unknown - Stop the Council from getting the files Mission:Ubelmann the Unknown - Rescue Jim 'Thunderhead' Bartlett from the Council Mission:Ubelmann the Unknown - Stop the Council raid 2
Investigate the base
Briefing
Those signed orders you found on the 5th Column place this Lt. Ubelmann at one of their underground bases. The place will be well defended, but you may be able to find some answers there, if you can fight your way through to them. Will you investigate the base?
Mission Acceptance
Make no mistake, this is going to be dangerous.
Unnecessary Solicitation
I have the feeling we're close. We just need to know more about this Ubelmann!
Mission Objective(s)
You're a lot more interested in Ubelmann than his underlings, but you know you'll have to fight through them to get to him.
- Investigate 5th Column base
- Locate Ubelmann, Learn about Ubelmann
You discovered Ubelmann's location and found a clue to his real origins.
This book, written in German in the last days of World War II, appears to be about early time travel experiments. One section has been highlighted heavily, and notes are scribbled along the margin in English. The notes are about the abysmal failure rates of the program, and about the test subjects used in the experiments. The identity of the last test subject jumps off the page at you: an intelligence officer named Wolfgang Ubelmann.
You found the following message on a computer in a 5th Column base:
Character:
It is good that you found the orders I had planted. I have been pleased with your ability to follow the anonymous tips I've left for you so far. Unfortunately, Lt. Wolfgang Ubelmann left this base shortly before you arrived. While I am sorry to see so many of my comrades captured, it was a risk worth taking.
Lt. Wolfgang Ubelmann must be stopped. Now that he has gathered much of the information he sought, he will soon attempt to complete the purpose he was sent here for. Even now his is likely attempting to jury rig a device to return him to his original point of origin. This cannot be allowed.
I have provided you with coordinates for your next target. Stop Ubelmann.
Enemies
Debriefing
All the interest in the Second World War, the way he acted like he knew 'Thunderhead' Bartlett, the tech thefts, and the mention of his name in that book. I hate to think it, I hate to say it, but it would explain so much. Wolfgang Ubelmann may be a time traveler from the 1940's. A man from the past sent to observe the future. With the information he now has, he could change his future, our present. It would explain everything. Everything, that is, except why that 5th Column informant is trying help us stop him.
Stop the construction of the device
Briefing
Whoever Ubelmann is or whenever he's from, our inside informant has given us a good shot at catching him. Apparently the 5th Column has been stockpiling parts for a time machine to send Ubelmann back to the past. I still don't know if I believe that Wolfgang Ubelmann is a time traveler from the Second World War, but we should stop the construction of that device. We can't take the chance that it might work.
Mission Acceptance
Of course, if Ubelmann really is trying to go back and change history, then stopping him could save generations. Which is a lot to think about.
Unnecessary Solicitation
If you can get your hands on those parts, the 5th Column won't be able to complete their time machine.
Mission Objective(s)
The idea of changing the past is one that has long tempted the world's greatest temporal physicists. Most of the sane ones have learned to let it go.
- Stop building of time machine
- 5 parts to secure
You prevented the 5th Column from building a time machine and found a clue to Ubelmann's location.
These orders direct the 5th Column soldiers to take the parts they've collected to a Portal Corporation lab. From the looks of things, Ubelmann is almost ready to attempt his trip back in time.
Enemies
Debriefing
You prevented the 5th Column from constructing that crazy time machine, but there's one last thing to do. You've got to capture Ubelmann and put an end to this. If he does have a way back to the 1940s with enough information to change history, then he has to be stopped.
Stop Wolfgang Ubelmann
Briefing
The orders you found in that 5th Column base told us exactly where to find Wolfgang Ubelmann. Now you just have to catch him. According to those orders, the Column plans to modify the machinery in a Portal Corporation lab to make a one-way time gate and return Ubelmann to the past. We can't let that happen. This is the last chance we have to end this. If you can stop Wolfgang Ubelmann, then this is over.
Mission Acceptance
Take out Ubelmann, and we're home free.
Unnecessary Solicitation
You've got to stop Wolfgang Ubelmann before he can escape back to wherever or whenever he came from.
Mission Objective(s)
As far as you're concerned, neither past nor present is safe as long as Ubelmann remains free.
- Defeat Ubelmann and his guards
You have defeated Wolfgang Ubelmann, the man from the past.
Enemies
Notable NPCs
- Portal Corp Researcher x4 (Non-Escort Hostage)
- Lt. Wolfgang Ubelmann (5th Column Elite Boss)
Debriefing
Ubelmann is recuperating from the battle, but the prison doctors say his recovery will be short lived at best. It seems that he'd already suffered a massive radiation overdose during his trip through time. The doctors give him a year at the outside, and that's only because of the Ubermenschen enhancements the 5th Column gave him.
It's ironic. Even if Ubelmann had made it back to the past, he never would have lived to see the future.
This letter came. I haven't opened it, but it's addressed to you from Requiem. The Requiem. The villain from the 40's, the one who led the original 5th Column. I don't know if it's real. I really hope that it's not. But old evils like him seldom just disappear.
You did well, Character. Generations yet to come owe you their thanks.