Hilt of Barbarossa

"Believed to be the hilt of a sword belonging to Frederick I, the infamous German Duke who rose to become King and then Holy Roman Emperor in only a few short years. The hilt appears to have been immovable for more than 700 years - suspended in a field that has defied all modern attempts of manipulation."

- Notebook Information

The Hilt of Barbarossa is one of the three pieces of the Sword of Barbarossa. Hidden away underneath the town of Mittelburg, it would suspended in the air by an unknown force before the seal was broken by the MFAA, who sought to collect the hilt.

Origins
At some point in history, the sword was forged in Thule, imbued with a strange energy which would later be named Geistkraft. Sometime around the Second Crusade, the sword would be claimed by Frederick Barbarossa from Deception Island in Antarctica after his disastrous attempt to presumably combat the Turks, who would use the sword to rise through the ranks of the Holy Roman Empire hierarchy.

Following Barbarossa's unexpected demise at the Saleph River in Cilician Armenia, the sword was dissasembled, and each of the pieces would be scattered across Germany.

Discovery of the Hilt
During World War II, the hilt of the sword was discovered in a chamber within the salt mines of the sleepy mining town of Mittelburg. Klaus Fischer, a worker at the mines, was convinced that he could present the hilt to Hitler to prove his worth. After using his connections to contact the Nazis, the Ahnenerbe eventually arrived in the village, and Klaus was introduced to Doctor Peter Straub, whom he then took to the mines to present the hilt. Straub then put Mittelburg on lockdown, and prevented all residents from leaving.

While trying to remove the hilt, the Nazis discover that the hilt is protected by a strange magnetic force. Despite this however, the Nazis were able to find a way to siphon energy from the hilt, dubbing said energy "Geistkraft". During an early experiment to draw power from the hilt, a cable overheated and snapped, striking two guards and instantly killing them. However, they soon began to violently twitch and reanimate before getting up and walking towards a surprised Straub with the intention of killing him. However, more guards arrived and put the two down. With this incident, Straub soon discovered the key to completing his task of creating an army for Hitler, as well as a vision of the latter's future. Utilizing the geistkraft energy from the hilt, Straub was able to create a vast army of the undead, while one of his associates Heinz Richter was able to create various weaponry with the energy, such as the Tesla Gun and its variants with the use of special Überschanlle batteries.

However, tensions rose between Straub and Richter when the latter sought to use more geistkraft energy for more weapons. While this happened, Klaus, who became aware of Straub's true intentions with the power of the geistkraft energy from the hilt, decided to begin to sabotage Straub's work. While he did this, he discovered that the art within the chamber told a story, one that told the true reason why the sword was seperated, as well as a secret organization that was dedicated to keep the history and powers of the sword hidden and out of the hands of anyone else.

Recovery of the Hilt
Sometime later, Klaus finally released the undead onto the town to put an end to Straub's evil. Before he could release Straub's most powerful zombie, the Panzermörder, Straub caught him. As punishment, he fused Klaus with the beast before going into hiding while Richter manned a zeppelin in the skies above the city to get away from the developing situation. Soon later, an MFAA team consisting of Klaus' sister Marie, as well as Drostan Hynd, Olivia Durant and Jefferson Potts arrives at the city thanks to intel given to them by Klaus. They manage to search through the town, discovering the research bunker and the hilt of the sword still in its chamber. After a series of trials, the group manages to break the magnetic force around the hilt with the use of the Tesla Gun, as well as the Rabenherz, a mysterious crystal that is part of the sword's hilt. Upon attaching the two pieces together and regrouping on the surface level, they find Klaus fused to the Panzermörder. After a long battle, the group is able to defeat the Panzermörder by placing three charged Überschanlle batteries on it, causing it to be pulled to Richter's zeppelin via a magnet. In a desperate attempt to escape, the Panzermörder accidentally zipped a hole in the zeppelin, causing it to explode, killing the beast, Richter and Klaus in the process, with Klaus' body landing in front of the group at the Riverside. However, the group accidentally discovers the special power that the complete hilt holds; the power of resurrection. They proceed to accidentally partially-resurrect Klaus, who realizes what Marie has done and lashes out at her and the others for their actions before straggling into the village, constantly rambling about voices and darker forces before reaching the well trap. Klaus then warns the group to continue fighting, and that the Emperor must not return, before activating the trap, engulfing himself in flames.

The Reforge
With all three pieces of Barbarossa's sword following the missions in Heligoland and Berlin, the Bureau of Archaic Technologies attempted to reforge the sword pieces themselves, but to no avail. However, upon discovering increased Nazi activity at Deception Island in New Swabia thanks to Operation Highjump, the Bureau realized that the island was in reality Thule, the only place where the sword could be reforged. The Bureau soon embarked on a long journey across the world, eventually reaching Thule.

After restarting the forge, the four MFAA agents were able to forge the sword pieces together, ultimately restoring the Sword of Barbarossa.