Gersch is the Russian scientist that was the leader of the projects at the Ascension base. He oversaw Project Thunder, and worked jointly with Yuri Kravcheski on Project Mercury until he transferred Yuri to rocket research. During Yuri's mental breakdown, Gersch noted Yuri's increased aggression to the other scientists, as well as the fact he was muttering to himself. He then confronted Yuri working on the Gersch Device, and threatened to have him permanently removed. Yuri tricked Gersch into activating the device, which sucked him into the black hole, while releasing the Zombies onto the Cosmodrome. You can hear Gersch at the start of the game. After completing all the nodes and freeing him, you can hear Edward Richtofen say, "Goodbye Gersch! It would have been nice to meet you!"