Götterdämmerung: An Out of The Box Industries Event series.
While taking place in the early 21st century, this event series will depend on an alternate history. One with a point of divergence in World War Two, specifically, The Battle of Dunkirk, and the Battle of Britain. This is not a new concept for Out of The Box Industries, but this series will take it to a new level. Each event will also have heavy science-fiction and mysticism elements. We're not only leaving the box, we're flipping it over and setting it on fire.
The backstory for this world starts with The Battle of Dunkirk, in May 1940, with 400,000 allied soldiers encircled by a 800,000 man German force. Generals von Rundstedt and von Kluge suggested the German forces Halt and prepare to contain an allied break-out. The request is denied, and the grip on dunkirk is tightened. German loses are heavy, but the assault results in the death of capture of 380,000 allied troops, and the utter annihilation of the Allied ground forces. July brought the Battle of Britain, an all out German air attack on the British isles. RAF Resistance was stiff, but the air battle ended when the destruction of the Chain Home Radar system opened the door for the RAF to be systematically taken apart. With air superiority over the channel won, the Royal navy was quickly pushed out of the area. Operation Sea Lion, the invasion of Britain itself, soon followed, along with Operation Green, the supporting operation to invade Ireland. Operation Green liberated northern Ireland, and now with support from the Republic of Ireland, and the IRA, German forces in Ireland attacked Britain from the north, while amphibious forces invades from the south and east. On February 3rd, 1941, Britain was declared conquered. The Legitimate British and French governments fled to Canada, and continued to operate in exile, as the empire began to unravel...
With The Allies effectively eliminated as a fighting force in europe a de facto "peace" was achieved. Next, the nations of the Baltic, Balkans, and Scandinavia fell victim to the unstoppable Axis forces. By the end of 1941 the term "Europe" became antiquated. There was only the Axis. Partisan activity remained a widespread problem, but Europe by and large was painted grey.
December 1941 brought the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The Unites States immediately declared war on the Empire of Japan, but Germany, prevented from forming an alliance with Japan by the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, left its ally out in the breeze. US forces in the pacific, caught by surprised, suffered a series of decisive loses, but put Japanese forces on the defensive at the Battle of Midway. While no state of war existed between Germany and the United States, the race for the Atomic Bomb quickly ramped up. The IJN ceased to exist as a fighting force in early 1944, and one by one the islands of the pacific fell under US control. By September only japan itself remained. With the US Atomic bomb still a year off, the decision was made to invade japan. American casualties were in the hundreds of thousands, while Japanese casualties rocketed into the millions. The war finally ended in early 1945, with Japan for all intents ans purposes destroyed as a nation. This left only 3 world powers on the stage: The Untied States, The Greater German Reich, and the Soviet Union. With the war ended the US Atomic Bomb program ground to stand still, with the massive costs no longer justifiable. The German program however, continued with grander plans in mind.
By 1946 The United States, very war weary as a result of the Pacific war, began to settle into the period of peace but still remained cautious when it came to The Greater German Reich and its Allies. Many wondered when the combined forces of Europe would come to seize the Americas. Canada, now the crown of what remained of the British Empire, worked to build a partnership with its neighbor to the south. Germany focused on solidifying its presence in occupied regions and worked feverishly to spread the Reich's identity to the conquered nations. Global expeditions were also sent out in increasing number, all with the strange objective of claiming artifacts of mystical nature for the Reich. Research, development, and production of new Technologies and Wonder Weapons were also Primary goals of the army of scientists and factory workers in Europe, with the goal of making sure Germany stays on top. In 1946, the First Atomic Weapon, The Hydrogen Bomb, was detonated by Germany above the Arctic Circle. This triggered furious debate within the United States to resume the Manhattan Project. The 2nd Test of a miniaturized fusion warhead, coupled with the first Intercontinental Ballistic Missile in 1947, put an end to that debate. The United States detonated its first nuclear weapon, an implosion type fission bomb, in New Mexico Later that year, ending Germany's Nuclear Monopoly.
There was a relative calm period from then on, until April of 1949, when The Axis powers Invades the Soviet Union, just a few months before the peace treaty expired in August. German forces raced across eastern Europe, smashing the Soviet forces with radically advanced Armor, Aircraft, Infantry weapons, and new technologies such as Night Vision, Precision Guided Air-to-Ground weapons, wire guided missiles, and jet aircraft. When Moscow was taken in October, Stalin capitulated. The resulting peace treaty split the Soviet Union in half, with the Communists controlling the east, and the newly created national socialist Russia controlling the west.
The 1950's came with increased tensions that resulted in the formation of a military alliance between The United States, Canada and the British Empire. After the defeat of the Soviet Union, The Fuhrer disappeared. The general consensus is that his health had failed him. Just before his disappearance Hermann Goering assumed the position of Chancellor. Goering Was replaced at the end of the decade by Heinrich Himmler. The Space "Race" kicked off mid century. For the United States it was mostly an attempt to try and close the missile gap. The area of bombers, however, was still controlled by the United States. The first American production Jet Fighter was also fielded in 1954, showing that the united States was beginning to catch up in terms of technology.
Things began to heat up in the 1960's as The United States found itself in a series of wars in South America with the goal of containing the spread of Fascism. Protests spread liek wildfire across the country, as public support for these wars dwindled. These bloody conflicts lasted until the mid 1970's, with mixed results. By the mid 1960s The Greater German Reich's goal of eliminating religion within its borders was for all intents and purposes complete. Germany was the religion of the German people. Himmler's reign also saw the Reich's interest in mysticism and the occult multiply tenfold, with more focus on controlling and harnessing the forces of the unknown. The Space race ended when Germany landed on the moon on October 21st, 1963. By then the United States was still attempting to get a man into space.
In the 1970's new steps were taken by the Axis to ensure that the tree of Communism remain well pruned. Also, a global energy crisis created by an alliance of middle eastern nations briefly had the world by the throat. This new world power saw fit to control the world by controlling the world's fuel: Petroleum. The crisis was swiftly put to an end when the Axis retaliated and sent Saudi Arabia back to the 11th century, taking the Saudi oil fields for themselves. The other oil producing nation of the middle east quickly fell in line. By the end of the decade The United States brought online its first operation ICBMs, though it still had a long way to go to close the gap. Tensions continued to escalate, as it seemed more and more likely like Germany would soon set its sights on the western hemisphere.
In march of 1983 that fear became a reality when a German backed coup overthrew the Mexican government. Within a week a full scale American invasion took place to make sure that fascism did not take hold in north America. The United States left Mexico in August of 1988, victorious after a long and bloody guerrilla war. The 80's also saw widespread revolt in the conquered territories of Germany. This ultimately led to a small degree of social reform in the Reich.
The 1990's saw a quick heat up, and then cool down as American and Canadian Missiles became just as big of a threat as German Missiles. A brief 3 week standoff over the placement of Allied missiles in Greenland brought the world closer than it had ever been to nuclear annihilation. The Policy of mutually Assured Destruction was growing more and more teeth. In response to this treaties were signed limiting the development of Anti-ballistic Missile Systems to prevent a runaway arms race. A separate treaty involving the prohibition of space based weapons fell through in 1996. In 1999, with the Allies realizing they were still over a decade behind in most technology fields, a special military group called Task Force Prometheus was created. Consisting of Special Operations personnel from the Allied countries this group's goal is to Investigate, steal, and sabotage Axis military technologies and assets, to try and level the playing field.
It is now the 21st century, a new era of uncertainty. Early intelligence reports of radically advanced Axis technologies and artifacts were just the tip of the iceberg. The spectre of mutual nuclear annihilation still remains, but now the fear of the nuclear deterrent becoming irrelevant is taking it's place. What secrets does The Greater German Reich hold within it laboratories, vaults, and test facilities? The men of Task Force Prometheus are about to find out.
Stay tuned for Faction Details, and specifics on the first event.