Dante Project

The European Union's combined Dungeon project. Though Looking Glass and the Dante Project share data from their respective programs and happily come to each others aid, much like the EU itself the UK does not participate in its activities or oversight.

Personnel
...
 * Deputy Director of Operations: Colonel Heloise Lombard

History
European powers first established man-made contact with the Dungeon as a result of Nazi atomic research, an endeavour that was lost amidst the destruction of Berlin and the Odessa evacuations. It would be some 2 decades before Dante's immediate organisational predecessor arose in the form of the French-only Dédale Project.

The Dédale Project

 * ''See also: Orcus

Although France relentlessly claims it did not gain access to the Dungeon until Labyringth's creation in 1985, it is widely accepted that an accidental breach was made during what became known as the Beryl disaster at In Ekker, Algeria, in May 1962. Dubbed Orphée by its originators, recon missions were carried out through the breach in the immediate wake of the detonation until Algeria's independence on July the 3rd that same year; the soldiers stated as suffering from radiation exposure were instead victims of hybridization. The French sealed Orphée before leaving Algeria, so that Dédale mainly functioned as an "observe & contain" operation until the creation of Labyrinth and monitoring of the former test facility was abandoned.

Descent into the Underworld
In all likelihood, Labyrinth would have remained private were it not for the rediscovery of the Tannhäuser gate. Made aware of the discovery via Intelligence assets and keen to avoid both the possibility of the Americans becoming involved through NATO and Germany operating independently in the Dungeon, François Mitterrand organized and held a secret summit of the leaders of the member nations of the EU the following day. There he revealed to the existence of the French gate before proposing the creation of the Dante Project, agreeing to completely incorporate Dédale into it. Although the UK was present at the meeting and reciprocated by admitting the existence of Looking Glass to the assembled leaders, they adopted their usual stance towards Europe and declined to participate directly in the project but offered operational assistance should it be required. The Dante Project was signed into existence alongside the Maastrict Treaty.

Incursion & Rout by Xenohostiles
Following the discovery of a small city-class outpost, largely abandoned but still home to a small population of brain flensers, a base on 2nd Landing was attacked by a small unit of brain flensers using teleportation and shape-shifting xenomethodologies. The incursion resulted in the complete loss of all personnel -- an entire batallion -- stationed at the base and the capture of the base itself with all of the materiel and intelligence it contained intact. Surveilance footage transmitted during the next two days before the systems was compromised showed those who didn't die during the attack to be subject to forced telepathic interrogation before being killed and their brains consumed. The scale and implications of the disaster resulted in the French government declining to participate in any mission beyond the 1st Landing.

Labyrinth
Officially created via underground test in 1985, allegedly located beneath the Moruroa Atoll in the South Pacific. However there is intelligence to suggest it was opened as early as 1966 in the vicinity of Riley's Island (also in French Polynesia), a place no longer located on any modern map. It is widely believed a miscalculation of the yield of their Gate Popper blew the top off the island, and the subsequent conventional nuclear attempts to seal it have resulted in the current 200 KM exclusion zone around Labyrinth's poported location of the island that is patrolled by an elite unit of the French Navy.

Pitfall

 * The imprecise nature of this breach and the lack of exacting control over it has led to Labyrinth being unofficially classified as a Pitfall-class breach by every other legitimate power involved in the Dungeon, a fact the French take great umbridge over if it is ever brought up in their presence (as they, naturally, insist that Labyrinth is a Gate).

Tannhäuser
Located beneath the Thuringian Forest in the Freistaat Thüringen of Germany. It is named after the legendary knight reputed to have discovered the secret underworld lair of the goddess Venus. For reasons no one can understand, the French refer to it as Laurin.

It was discovered by members of the German Army who were conducting training exercises in 1991 shortly after the country's reunification. It is widely believed that the Breach was created during research into a "dirty bomb" by Nazi Germany in late 1944.