Remake of Mishya's orginal reference picture, having been in love with the pose for as long as I could remember.

This version will be different, to serve as a brief summary of Bleeding Crimson and Scarlet and give a little more insight to the life he lived.

Name: Mishkaryova Torchinovitch "Mishya Kaz" Krasnodon
Age: Ageless, but appears to be in his 40s
Gender: Male
Height: 1.9 metres in metric, 6'3" in U.S. customary
Weight: 94.1 kg metric, 207 lbs U.S. customary
Species: Dog (Labrador)

"Do you believe in God? And that he's always there for you when you need him? What if I told you he's closer than you think?"

Mishkaryova Torchinovich Krasnodon, better known as Mishya Kaz is the physical reincarnate of God who walked amongst the living. At one time he was situated upon the Earth as a human being, having lived through all of recorded history, up until the mid-21st century. Mankind had betrayed his trust in using the nuclear weapons acquired from the Cold War to bring armageddon in the present. He was the last man surviving on Earth, as he could not save everyone in time and didn't have the power to stop it. The only miracle he was able to create was to restore the Earth to its former glory, taking billions of years in the afterlife. Everyone who ever lived on Earth had their energy and matter spread across the universe, as it could not be destroyed. From that, he recreated the former Earth in his newest image.

Humanity would be replaced with the anthro race, carrying human intelligence and the appearance of animals, seeing as he viewed animals as being more pure than humans ever were. And the animals that once lived on Earth would be brought to the afterlife to live with the anthro race to live in the wild. This "new Earth" would be named Gaia by the people who lived on it, and the rest of the planets took the name of Greek gods believed in the ancient world. History begins anew on this planet, bearing resemblance to the history on Earth but with different results. Nations retained their original names. And Mishya soon walked the Earth again, this time as an anthro dog to witness the fruits of his creation, ever since prehistory.

He stems his origins to the Caucasus Mountains in Eurasia, exploring the fields, forests, and streams of the land that would later become Russia. There, he lived amongst the many nomadic societies and warrior tribes. For centuries, he traveled the highlands to practice a whole new culture, hunt for food, and engage in battles with enemies. He was there to witness evolution of the language, culture, and society, paying contributions to it the best he could. And he was especially fascinated with the local folk religions, observing the rituals in giving thanks to a higher power accredited to him. The big secret of him being a God would be kept under lock and key for millennia at a time, for the mortal man may never truly understand the limits of his power, in asking him to perform miracles.

In the High Middle Ages, the nation of Russia would be formed out of the old Slavic kingdoms and Nordic influence. Christianity was introduced in 988 CE from the old Byzantine Empire, becoming the official religion of the kingdom. The Cyrillic script was adopted from Eastern Orthodox monks in the Balkans, evolving into the [modern] Russian language system. Russia was one of the most prosperous kingdoms in the 10th and 11th centuries, in the midst of Western Europe experiencing the Dark Ages. Knowledge from past civilizations were preserved, the first legal code was written, and the kingdom saw many victories in battle against invaders. Mishya adopted Christianity with his countrymen and took a great interest in it, ever so curious of man's interpretation of an almighty God. And he took the good word of the Bible seriously, reciting the message of peace through charity and faith and to have respect your enemies. It was something he never took for granted, as he knew mankind was in this together. Aside from faith, he fought alongside the earliest Russian armies to defend the homeland, seeing many victories and conquering foreign lands for his kingdom. Here begins his legacy of being the greatest soldier who ever lived.

After the Middle Ages end, the advent of technological advancement begins shortly after during the Reformation period. Mishya found himself traveling to exotic lands for centuries at a time, both near and far, in exploring what the world had to offer. And much to his content, he discovered that all cultures hold sacred their religion, holding the universal idea of peace and charity ordained by a higher power. He admired the cultures of the world and took with him the knowledge he acquired from such places. This knowledge became the basis for his studies, which he used to teach it back home in the universities. Soon, he became a diplomat for Russia, receiving praise from his government and the students alike. Alongside his diplomatic career, he was enlisted as a soldier, ready to fight when peace wasn't an option. From the Crimean War to the sale of Alaska to the United States, these were some of the diplomatic causes he took part of.

Fast-forwarding the timeline to 1895, Mishya began his life anew in the age of modern history. He was reborn to a noble family (attributed to his bloodline) in the vast countryside just north of the Volga River. He had three siblings; Larissa, Valentina, and Gregory, who were born in that same decade. The children spent their childhood working in the fields to prepare food, traveling to the city to help their parents at the restaurant, and getting an education at the best schools. Mishya and his siblings learned adult responsibility at a young age, giving them a good start in life. Out of all the siblings, Mishya had the most active social life, befriending nobility and royalty alike.

In 1914, the Great War hits across Europe by the time the siblings are of adolescent age. Russia entered the war in solidarity with Serbia, a close ally, after the Austro-Hungarian Empire annexed the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and planned an invasion of the Balkans. Mishya was the oldest of the siblings and was drafted into war, without having the chance to graduate school first. In 1915, he would be sent off to training to fight the very first modern war in history. The rest of the family was horrified hearing the news, but there was nothing they could do but wish him luck so he can return home safely. He gave his family a hug and kiss goodbye at the train station, while the rest of the soldiers boarded the train to Moscow. On the train, he took a seat by the window and waved goodbye to his family before leaving the station. And since his arrival in Moscow, he vigorously trained for months at a time before heading out onto the battlefield.

Fresh troops from all the major cities were pouring out of Russia, fresh from training and ready to aid the Allied campaign on the Eastern Front. He followed his troop to the Kingdom of Galicia, in southeastern Europe just before the Balkans. After the long train ride to the middle of the Galician countryside, the soldiers set up base camp where operations were held. In the daytime, they marched long distances before finally meeting the enemy face-to-face. The young soldiers were be greeted by a storm of enemy fire just over the hills, in which they returned fire upon their positions. Both sides charged at each other and lead the attack, where many lives were lost in that day alone. Mishya fought back with everything he had at his disposal, miraculously surviving the onslaught. He suffered a couple of injuries but overall, he was fine. And the fighting would continue for days, where Mishya followed his troops over the fields and forests of this strange land for days at a time and break enemy defenses. This was Mishya's first look at the horrors of modern warfare, returning home a legendary hero.

Russia continued fighting the war until November of 1917, where a massive revolution took place in the streets of St. Petersburg. Mishya's family stayed in the city a year earlier to give him a warm welcome back home and as to soon welcome his brother Gregory back home from college. The happiness was short-lived, once the Communists took power and declared war on the old Tsarist regime. Speeches from Vladimir Lenin inspired the people to rise up against the repressive monarchy and hand the power over to the people in order to create a worker's paradise. Demonstrators lined the streets armed with guns, leading the attack upon the Tsar's personal armies who patrolled the city. The Communists seized weapons from the Tsar's army and built up it's own arsenal. Gunfire and screaming could be heard all day and night. Mishya's family took shelter in the hotel amidst the fighting, remaining safe for a few days before leaving the city. Larissa and Valentina eventually joined their brother Mishya, in the fight to support the Communist cause. Gregory was home for a couple of weeks now and never participated in the fighting. He instead helped get his parents to safety and settled in the nearby town of Pushkin. Dad was shot in the streets and Mom died of a stroke in the safehouse Gregory found. At the end of the year, Russia became a republic and the world's first Communist country.

His siblings reunited in 1923, on a train headed for Moscow. They were happy to see each other again and were thankful to be alive. Mishya, Larissa, and Valentina were recruited by the early Red Army and came to the city for work and training. Gregory attended medical school in the nearby town of Dubna to earn his state-sponsored medical degree, aspiring to become a field surgeon. Work was plentiful in the big city of Moscow, as new jobs were created under the directorate of Stalin's Five Year Plan to industrialize the early Soviet Union.

The Second World War broke out over Western Europe, as the Nazi Party in Germany began seizing the lands of its neighbors. Soviet Russia was not safe, facing an invasion by the Nazis in the summer of 1941. Mishya and Larissa ended up fighting this war together, along the same front as their mission was the same: defeat the Nazi stronghold in Berlin. She had been a pilot for the Soviet Air Force, where she was an expert at her craft and fought back tremendously. Mishya was an infantryman, roaming the vast landscape of Eastern Europe to fight against the Nazi hordes. It reminded him of the First World War, where he would be fighting in the same territory, except with more progress. Him and his comrades traveled into Nazi-occupied territory and engaged in heated battles. More land was being covered this time, where troops would be guided by the parades of T-34 tanks and Ilyushin Il-2 fighters over the horizon. The fighting was nonstop, proving to be a miracle for the Soviet Union to be conquering Europe's most formidable army at the time. Mishya was a killing machine, having led the attacks against Nazi armies through the dead of winter and the heat of summer. He could not be stopped, and when in Berlin, the red flag was planted over the Reichstag as an eternal symbol of Soviet power.

Mishya and Larissa returned to Moscow, awarded as heroes. Fireworks blasted over Red Square, the crowd cheered the soldiers parading through the streets, and the sound of the band was heard playing patriotic music. This became an official state holiday beginning on May 9th, 1945, better known as Victory Day. Following the surrender of Nazi Germany to the Allies, the three Allied leaders met in Yalta, Crimea to discuss the partition of Germany and the restoration of post-war Europe. Nazi war criminals would be brought to justice and be sent to do forced labor in the GULAGs all over Soviet Russia. Valentina was in the NKVD at the time (in the city of Susuman, Magadan Oblast), and her duty was to punish anyone who does not follow the rules of the camp. The world entered a new era, the Cold War, where the Soviet Union and United States entered a dangerous ideological battle that spread across the globe. Germany was divided into four parts: a French Zone in the south, American zone in the middle, British zone in the north, and Soviet zone covering the entire east. Berlin would be divided the same way, the de facto capital of early East Germany. David Victoria, a friend of Mishya's was saved by the Soviets and given access to work in the city and enlist in the NVA (Nationale Volksarmee). He would prove useful to Mishya, as they fought side-by-side during the entire Cold War era.

By 1950, the first battle of the Cold War took place in the small nation of Korea. Soviet and American troops returned to their bases in Korea, after their combined efforts to defeat the Japanese Empire. The Korean people often times adopted the customs and ideas from the soldiers who were stationed there. Southern Koreans were pro-American and the Northern Koreans were pro-Soviet. New politics were being formed in those regions, condemning the ideology of the other state. At first, the Soviets did not want a war with the United States. A Communist victory in the Chinese Civil War made an invasion of the South possible. In 1950, the North invades the South with the help of the Chinese and deliver a devastating hit to the nation's territory. As the Soviets became more involved in Korea, Mishya and Larissa were drafted into service to aid the Communist cause in Asia. Recently recruited as commanders after the Second World War, the two found themselves leading entire factions into battle. They planned to do what they did in WWII except with an enemy they never expected to have. Mishya's battalion was composed up of Soviet, Chinese, and North Korean soldiers. For days at a time, they marched through the chilling mountain ranges of Korea in the dead of winter. Soldiers from both sides died from the frost alone. And in battle, it was commonplace for weapons to jam and freeze up, rendering them useless. In the springtime, the fights resumed, with Mishya's battalion growing stronger as they crossed into South Korea. Both forces pushed each other further north or south for months at a time, and there appeared to be no stopping either side. Larissa flew the skies over the Yalu River in the brand new MiG-15 fighter. She successfully shot down many enemy jets over the northern tip of Korea, hence giving the region it's nickname, "MiG Alley." It was said that Mishya would fly MiGs into battle when his army failed to do their task.

The Korean War ends in a stalemate, and the early United Nations Security Council launches a resolution stating that Korea be divided upon the 38th parallel. Neither side was allowed to invade the other, but keep their separate ideologies. Mishya and Larissa returned to Moscow to be awarded for their service. During peacetime, the siblings returned to their lives as usual, not having to fight a war for close to 12 years. In 1957, Soviet Ministry of Defense granted permission for Mishya to travel to East Germany and train with their armed forces. Larissa was certified for training air force cadets at the base in Smolensk, having been a long-time veteran and skilled pilot. The Soviet Union was growing ever more suspicious of the West by the end of the decade, being why they asked Mishya to travel to East Germany. Accepting the offer, he enlists with the air force and sharpens his flight skills with bombers and cargo planes. He is to serve as an auxiliary, in the event of an attack in the Eastern Bloc. By 1958, the Soviet branch of the United Nations accepts him into the council and he is operating as a peacekeeper. The KGB recommends him to go along with this offer.

He traveled to Geneva, Switzerland to sit on a council composed up of Soviet representatives to debate with other nations of the world. Topics discussed included decolonization, rights of the third world, and armament of allied nations. Africa became a hotspot in debates, following centuries of European rule spanning the continent. The Soviets supported the revolution to drive the Imperialists back to their homelands. In response, the European nations that held colonies in those countries responded violently and agreed to go to war with the Soviets over this. The atmosphere was tense, sparking up debates to otherwise solve the power vacuum after the colonies ceased to exist. It turned into a dangerous game to form alliances with nations beckoning their support. Mishya fought a war of a different kind in Geneva, one with words, and it continued up until the 1960s.

As expected, the European nations voted to viciously defend their colonies in Africa with threat of war. The Soviets used an underhanded tactic disguised as purely humanitarian aid, to assist in the fighting against the Imperialist armies. For the first couple of months in 1960, Mishya would be seated on the UN council to negotiate peace, and when peace didn't work, he volunteered to fight along with the Soviet "humanitarian" forces. With his experience as an East German pilot, he returned to Berlin to follow the game plan. An Antonov An-24 cargo plane was waiting for him at Johannisthal Air Field, where it made its journey across the Mediterranean into Africa. The flight lasted seven hours before finally landing in Leopoldstad, Republic of the Congo where the troops regrouped and divided into factions to venture into the jungle. Mishya stayed at the airfield with his own faction, as to defend the airbase and offer a safe space for Congolese MiGs to land safely. Belgian troops were situated few and far between, and it took days at a time before the factions reported encounters with them in the jungles or in the city. Mishya would travel into the jungle and assist in the fighting himself, upon seeing very little result. Gregory hadn't been in the UN, but he fought in neighboring Angola against the Portuguese, and encountered his brother a few times.

The next hot topic on the UN General Assembly's mind would be Vietnam, another Asian country that was suffering the same problems as Korea. Both the Soviets and Americans were greatly involved in the region. The US call to action in Vietnam began as early as 1955, shortly after the Korean War ended, in facing against a homegrown Communist party in Vietnam. By 1963, the current year, the Americans escalated the war under President Johnson (after the death of Kennedy) to bring in more than 10,000 troops a year. Policy failures in America and the UN Security Council led to this final decision to escalate the war. The Soviets deployed only 500 troops a year to aid the North Vietnamese Army (NVA). Within the same year, the Soviet directorate sent Mishya over to Vietnam to assist in the ongoing battle, as the rest of the council tries to force the US retract its military from the region. He was escorted by the Soviets in UN aircraft, with a faction of other soldiers on their way to Hanoi, North Vietnam. The Soviet soldiers met up with North Vietnamese and soldiers from other Communist nations to review the attack strategy at base camp. Everyone would receive a pocket radio to keep in touch with General Staff (North Vietnamese intelligence) amidst the fighting. Once the meeting was over, the troops headed into the jungle to attack enemy positions.

Gregory came to Vietnam shortly after, as a military intelligence spy working close-quarters with General Staff and the Central Office for South Vietnam (COSVN). He went into the jungle only to find his brother a few months later. The two promised to meet up with each other and exchange information if they find anything suspicious. And they separated, continuing their missions as planned. Mishya traveled south and kept track of the US and South Vietnamese bases situated in the region. And he often times reported this back to Gregory, who in return gave him information of enemy strength and active armaments. The two came up with a plan to disguise themselves to sneak into the bases, learn about the enemy, and steal their intelligence. In the jungle, the two killed enemy soldiers and fitted themselves with their uniforms. Mishya would pretend to be an American [immigrant] soldier and Gregory, an Australian soldier. And they split up, gathering intelligence whilst in the bases. Both Gregory and Mishya, at some point, encounter Andrew Kelly Higgins, an American soldier who became their friend. He didn't know they were spies, and loved their personalities, as the two began to learn about him and the [American] plan for attack. But in a few months, Andrew becomes more suspicious as North Vietnamese attacks were more frequent when they were around. He heads for the jungle, abandoning a base under heavy fire. Whilst in the jungle, he encounters enemy troops situated on the hillside. He takes out his M21 sniper rifle and enters a heated sniper battle. Taking shots as quickly as possible, he manages to take out all the snipers on the hill. The sound of breaking glass could be heard and then silence as the last sniper was supposedly killed. Into the year 1965, he encounters a familiar face in the burning jungle, wearing a different uniform and a bleeding eye socket. This was Mishya, angered and ready to fight Andrew to the death. Feeling betrayed, Andrew begins the fistfight against Mishya, delivering strong hits to him. Mishya returns the favor and beats Andrew to the floor. The jungle around them is encircled in a vicious flame, symbolizing the animosity between the two. Taking his final punches to Andrew, Mishya has weakened him enough to the point where he could finally kill him. And he does this as violently as possible, completing the job by nailing his body to a cross and letting it burn in the intense heat of the napalm flame.

His final mission with the United Nations would take place in 1967 in the disputed lands of Palestine. The land called Israel had been created after the Second World War, as a safe haven to the Jews who were displaced in Europe. It was a unanimous decision by the UN Security Council to go ahead with the plan. But they did not take into consideration the Arab sentiment against the Jews who settled in there. Often times they would go to war over the territory, and it remained disputed and divided for years at a time. Israel made itself known to the world in being a small nation able to defeat entire Arab armies since 1949. Come 1967, rising sentiments against the Jewish nation in Jordan, Egypt, and Syria, planning to launch a full-scale invasion. The Cold War would continue in the Middle East, where the Americans fully backed the Israeli government to defend against invading armies.

Mishya had been sent back and forth to Cairo, Egypt and Jerusalem, Israel in early 1967 as a peace envoy representing the USSR. His help was needed to employ peace between the Arab nations and Israel, following the results of the First Arab War. The Arab nations placed strict embargoes on Israel and it did the same to them after the UN referendum calling to demilitarize the Sinai Peninsula and the pre-1967 borders of Israel. And Israel called to have its borders restored along the Green Line, where their capital, Jerusalem, was divided in half. The Arab nations responded by reminding them that the disputed territory belonged to the nation of Palestine. American and Soviet representatives would be called to the meeting to discuss these matters more thoroughly. Resolutions were passed, but broken by either side, fearing an attack from the other. Many of the troops were Arab armies situated on the border of Israel, as the UN failed to see the imposing threat on the horizon. This begins the Six Day War in June of 1967.

Only a couple days into the war, Mishya would be called to fight in solidarity of the Egyptians, under the belief that Israel broke the treaty. Egyptian troops carried Soviet arms and stormed across the Sinai Peninsula into Israel. Mishya armed himself with a confiscated M134a minigun and led the offensive. The fighting was intense, as the Egyptian plan to cross the Sinai had been working for the first couple of days. More UN peacekeepers were called into action, forming a blockade against Israeli forces crossing the southern border. Israeli forces broke the defensive line and made their way across the Sinai, killing hundreds of Egyptian troops in their midst. Mishya called for a retreat, fearing for his life and the possible outbreak of nuclear war in the region. In the final days of the war, the Soviets came back to the negotiation table angered by the results of the war and condemned Israel for their actions. Mishya was convinced by his superiors that Israel was a threat to world peace.

Later in the year 1967, the UN called for another resolution to weaken Israel's army and redraw the borders with Egypt and Palestine. Border crossings were installed in both Israel and Palestine, which acted as demilitarized zones. Troops from either side were forbidden to cross the DMZ lines, yet troops are equally responsible for defending their own borders. Mishya was among the many UN peacekeepers situated at the border between Israel and Egypt, situated on the Gaza Strip. Small confrontations took place across the ceasefire line, with Egyptian and Israeli soldiers occasionally firing on each other. The War of Attrition began in July of the same year, where Egyptian forces stormed the Sinai Peninsula, in the hopes of getting it back from the Israelis. A vicious battle at land, sea, and air took place on and around the Sinai, where Mishya came to the aid of Soviet and Egyptian soldiers headed to the front. The Arab forces were overwhelming, conquering vast territory in the Sinai within the first couple months. In response to a failed naval campaign, the Egyptian Navy launches an attack on the INS Eilat, killing its entire crew. An onslaught of Israeli forces retaliated against the Egyptian army, as Mishya stood behind enemy lines to break the defense. Days upon weeks later, Mishya would be tired from all this fighting in the harsh desert landscape. It took a toll on his emotions, as he was running low on spirit and his efforts proved to be ineffective in repelling the Israeli forces. On October 17, 1969, America and the Soviet Union were called back to the negotiation table to call for an agreement to end the war, suffering heavy losses on both sides. The Egyptians would relieve many of their Soviet allies for peace, and called for them to be sent home safely. He would be escorted to Atarot Airport in East Jerusalem, Palestine where a Mi-8 helicopter was waiting to take him home. Mishya was crying tears of blood on the long flight back, having suffered losses in a deep spiritual battle.

The helicopter could only travel so far before stopping to refuel. He lands in Stavropol Airport in the south of Russia, where he would meet a flight headed back to Moscow. At Stavropol, he met Yekatrina Samira Dresvanyin, (later known as Karen Blackstone) a friendly local who soon became his girlfriend. She was looking for a flight up north to find work, and Mishya was headed to Moscow. And she canceled her previous flight to head to Moscow with him, after sharing an interesting conversation with each other. Miss Dresvanyin would ask him about the eyepatch he wore, and he began to tell his war stories up until his [current] mission in Jerusalem. She was horrified and excited at the same time, in making her cry upon hearing his tales of unmatched bravery. Aeroflot Flight 203 to Moscow landed on the runway, and the two were ready to board the terminal. They kissed before heading out, by the massive window letting in light from the setting sun just over the Caucasus Mountains.

Later that night, they arrived at Sheremetyevo Airport in Moscow. Miss Dresvanyin cuddled up with Mishya, having fell asleep by the time they got there. He wakes her up from her sleep to walk through the airport and call a cab back to his place. It was a long drive from the airport to his apartment in Izmaylovo District, in the central-eastern part of the city. There, he gave her a place to sleep, food to eat, and someone to love. In the morning, they would explore the city of Moscow together, and he was eager to introduce her to his family.

She would eventually meet Gregory and Valentina, who were the first to refer to her as "Karen Blackstone" in English, as Mishya adopted this from them.

Moscow became a cultural hotspot for the Eastern Bloc, and the rest of the world. It became known to the world for advancements in the arts, sciences, culture, and an ever-growing nightlife scene. The city would often times be compared to New York for its grandeur and class. One of Karen's first memories of Moscow would be visiting the 6th Annual Moscow International Film Festival at the Rossiya Theater in the summer of 1969. She never had the opportunity to see films in her life, so the grandeur of the theater, roar of the crowd, and artsiness of the films gave her a newfound love for cinema. Lavish banquets were held at the theater, as attendees could enjoy a three-course dinner and a movie. The family would attend the theater for all 15 nights of film and stay until the awards ceremony come the final night. The family referred to the 1970s as "Счастливое время," or "Happy Time."
(quoted from Karen's backstory)

Around this time, Mishya attended conferences at the Kremlin to discuss political matters. This is where he was granted official KGB status for his outstanding service in the Soviet Armed Forces and was ready to become a spy. He trained with them in Moscow and was given a formal scholarship to N. G. Kuznetsov Naval Academy in Leningrad. He saw it as a chance to finish college like he hadn't done in the past. In Leningrad, he learns computer science and navigation technology, working with the best systems the Soviet Union had to offer. With his prior experience in using military technology, he had the privledge of graduating early, as he did in 1973. At the ceremony, he was greeted by his family who wished him luck in the Navy. The KGB shipped him off to Novosibirsk, Krasnodar Krai in the south of Russia to unveil it's newest fleet of submarines, the Victor class. It had been known as Проект 671 (Project 671) and remained one of the Soviet Union's biggest secrets.

Aboard the vessel, Victor II, the KGB would present Mishya and his crew the task of circumnavigating Europe to scout for enemy positions. The sub was early in its development, it was the answer to the Soviet Union's lack of a powerful submarine fleet, predicted to be the fastest of its kind to be armed with ICBMs. Mishya was put in charge of reporting the crew's findings and any problems with the sub back to the KGB. The Victor II sailed more than 200,000 kilometers from the Black Sea to the North Sea, rounding the coast of Scandinavia in the Arctic Circle. Sonar systems were flawed, failing to detect incoming vessels. And its loud motor gave away its position in the open seas, where enemy vessels could detect it from miles away. The Victor II found itself repeatedly attacked by submarines, not far from the coast of Northern Europe. Miraculously, it survived the attacks in using its heavy armaments and speed as an advantage. In the Arctic Circle, the Norwegian Navy spotted the Victor II and fired upon the vessel, exploiting its damages. Mishya sent out an SOS to the KGB and Soviet Navy stationed in nearby Murmansk. Time was running out as the vessel was losing oxygen and filling up with water. Soviet Navy ships locked on to their position and instructed the sub to use its remaining power to rise closer to the surface. One of the ships fired a torpedo upon a Norwegian sub, destroying it as retalliation for attacking the embattled Victor II. The sub was destroyed in trying to return upward toward the surface, as the crew nearly drowned in the cold Arctic waters. Divers were sent out from the ships to search for the sailors, carrying them to safety. And they were given medical care on board the hospital ship as they returned to Murmansk.

Mishya returned to the Soviet Union, in the northern port city of Murmansk. The remains of the Victor II were brought back and disposed of; no more subs of that type were ever produced. He reported back to the KGB that he was still alive and called for plans to have a new submarine built to replace this one. The year was late 1976 and he finished the decade enlisted as a KGB border guard. Aboard a Krivak[i]-class frigate in the Arctic Circle, he search the seas high and low, clearing it of of enemies both foreign and domestic. Defectors were a common sight in the Soviet Union, going to desperate lengths to escape the country. They were even crazy enough to traverse the chilling waters of the Barents Sea. Armed with a Korobov TKB-0146 rifle, he was instructed to open fire on boats carrying defectors who failed to comply with their orders to come ashore.

Returning to Moscow in the autumn of 1980, the KGB promoted Mishya to an agent and given the iconic blue uniform. His brother Gregory had been appointed as an agent a few years earlier, and brought it up when Mishya gave the good news to his family. The brothers worked out of the Kremlin to inspect official state documents and stamp them with the seal of approval; everything from Aeroflot flight schedules to blueprints for new weapons systems. Plans for a new [i]Victor-class submarine went through the KGB and served as the topic for many discussions. A strategic submarine force was needed in the event of delivering warheads to the United States, fearing an imminent strike on the homeland. The Soviets were so desperate for new technology, that it deployed spies overseas to either buy or steal submarine parts in an effort to reverse-engineer them, as to develop their own variant. In 1981, the KGB launched Operation RYaN to gather intelligence of American nuclear armament [supposedly] pointed at the Soviet Union. Mishya and Gregory became spies, after receiving their passports to America, working together to collect information on the imposing threat.

The brothers landed in New York and were given fake identities by the KGB. Spying in America would prove to be a difficult task, not knowing where to start. Exploring the "urban jungle," the brothers set out on their own to meet key people who will in turn, lead them to the evidence they need. Often times they would leave the city, as they were not limited to the confines of it, searching far and wide across the Northeast to find a good lead. Big defense companies such as Raytheon, McConnell Douglas, Northrop Grumman, and Lockheed Martin were of high interest to Mishya and Gregory, sometimes posing as staff to gain access to the premises. They were able to trace American aerospace technology back to these companies, collecting important data to be sent back to the KGB in Moscow. Operations continued in an apartment in Manhattan, overlooking Central Park. There, the brothers reunited to combine their data for further analysis. Mishya discovered a new technology at Lockheed known as radar-absorbent material, (RAM) rendering any jets coated in it to go undetected by radar. He posed as a corporate office employee, on the phone with companies such as General Dynamics, to gather the parts necessary to begin Project 971, the Akula-class submarine family.

But their work hadn't gone undetected for long. The government put them on a watch list for "suspicious activity" and sent agents to their apartment. It forced the brothers to hide all the evidence, lie to save their asses, and rapidly change their strategy . Of course they expected this would happen, as the brothers knew to always stay one step ahead, as they done so in the past. Mishya traveled to Virginia to meet up with General Dynamics executives and Gregory to stay in New York. On his way, he met CIA operative Maggie Kelly Higgins who was already hot on his trail. She was suspiciously polite to him in an effort to get Mishya to tell the truth about himself. Already he was getting a bad vibe from her, as he tried the best he could to counter her lies. In trying everything from gift giving, expensive dinners, and even attempting to get in his pants, were some of the strategies Maggie used against Mishya. He played along with her and was backed into a corner, telling little bits of truth. After proclaiming he was married, in feeling violated by Maggie's presence, ironically he started to almost love her.

She promised him sex and loving affection, inviting him into her home in Arlington, Virginia. And she was able to convince him that she was affiliated with the Communist Party of America with plans to defect to the Soviet Union. They played a dangerous game in trading off intelligence to each other, hiding confidential data safe against the prying eyes of their governments. Mishya felt uneasy participating in this trade, letting his feelings get the better of him. Because he knew she had access to government archives, taking the guesswork out of obtaining it himself. One such project that interested him was the top-secret superweapon codenamed "Star Wars." A detailed diagram showed the inner workings of this futuristic weapon and he was so impressed, that needed to have it. She would give it to him under one condition: he must agree that "this meeting never happened," giving him the opportunity to deliver it to the Kremlin without anyone knowing but them. She lets him continue with his business as usual, hoping he will come back to see her again. From that point on, everything went smoothly for Mishya as he attended the conference at General Dynamics, where he learned the secret to American sub technology. He returns to New York, handing the information to his brother and composing an archive.

The year is 1985. Larissa was a KGB agent at the time, having landed in Washington DC to attend her first meeting at the Soviet Embassy. She stayed at an apartment just downtown, reviewing the notes she took during the meeting and discussed them over the phone back to Moscow. Mishya traveled to Washington DC to talk with the staff of General Dynamics again and later meet with Maggie Kelly once more, who would hand him the final pieces he needed to complete the puzzle. After returning from the company, he reunites with his sister, and she takes him back to the apartment to exchange important information. Mishya informed his sister about their ongoing efforts to dismantle the American war machine, requiring her assistance to finish the job. He stays in Washington DC with her for the rest of the decade.

Back in New York, Gregory mailed the recent blueprints back to the Soviet Union, where engineers would begin construction on the Star Wars project. He cleared his archive after learning more than enough about the objects he helped collect, sending audio/video tapes, material samples, and other company documents to Moscow. There was little for him to do at this point and he continued to live a normal life at this point. On the news, he heard of the alleged "Star Wars" plan to be a hoax, and it was too late now to alert Mishya or the KGB. Later that year, Soviet submarine K-278 sinks in the Norwegian Sea from an engine fire, killing off the entire crew, leaking Plutonium into the ocean. He saw all of his hard work crash and burn right in front of him, giving up the operation completely. In the spring of 1985, he cuts all ties to the KGB and defects to the United States. Eventually, he moved out of the apartment to lose his trail and begin life anew.

Larissa invited Mishya to attend more conferences at the Soviet consulate in Washington DC. The CIA piece together a puzzle of their own, hiding in a tunnel just under the building, recording information. Maggie Kelly is there, and reveals herself to the KGB to expose them for their alleged plots of espionage. She seizes the KGB's official documents to hand over to the Pentagon; Mishya confronts her viciously about it, hoping it doesn't escalate into violence. Federal agents are alerted, sheer numbers of them waiting just outside the embassy. Failing to comply with their orders, the FBI is called in to storm the embassy and arrest members of the KGB. Maggie kidnaps Mishya and takes him upstairs of the building, where she threatens to kill him. The entire building explodes in violence, and its up to Larissa to save him. She rampages through the armies of federal agents, using her pure strength and training as an advantage. Often times she took weapons from the FBI to use against them. Running upstairs to the top floor of the embassy, she encounters more FBI agents guarding the vicinity where Mishya is held; she battles with them violently until the last man is standing. Breaking open the locked door at the end of the hall, she encounters Maggie holding a gun to Mishya's head, tied to a chair. In that same room, they negotiate and each passing second turns more heated, erupting into an intense battle. Mishya watched in horror of the nasty battle that took place between the spies, as the sound of crunching bones filled the room. It was evident that Larissa defeats Maggie, pinning her down to the floor and resisting the urge to kill her. Under the conditions that Mishya was to be released and federal agents were not to be called, Maggie was spared her life.

The summer of 1991 began a new era of change. Beginning on August 19th, the fifteen republics of the Soviet Union gained their independence one by one. Warsaw Pact nations successfully protest and overthrow their governments, establishing a democratic system. Germany reunifies under a single democratically-elected government, and the Berlin Wall is dismantled. Communism is no more, but its legacy lives on, where the entire world came to brink with nuclear disaster. In that same year, Maggie Kelly died a mysterious death; autopsy reports claim it was suicide. Her body was found in the streets suffering a fatal number of broken bones and internal bleeding. Neither Mishya nor Larissa were found guilty of committing this crime, when put on trial.

Larissa was banned from entering the United States, on the charge of killing federal agents, and was deported later that year. Mishya was allowed to stay in Washington DC, which he did for the remainder of the year, even going as far to attend Maggie's funeral. He suffered another emotional crisis, far worse than the one he experienced in 1967. And he returned to New York only to find his brother was not in the apartment he lived in earlier in the decade. In the same day, Mishya was trapped in a thunderstorm and toured the city a final time before realizing he wanted to go home. He took shelter at a Manhattan bus stop and waited for a ride to take him to the airport. On the long bus ride, he looked out the window in agony and began to cry to himself.

His bus arrives at John F. Kennedy International Airport in the middle of the night. The airport was pretty busy that day, waiting hours at a time before he could catch a flight back home. Without the comfort of his brother and sister, he remained traumatized from the whole affair. There, he eats dinner at a restaurant within the airport, treating himself to an expensive meal and dessert. And he visits a gift shop to buy souvenirs for himself and Karen. Delta Flight 973 to Moscow arrives at the terminal just a few hours later, and he gets back in line to board the flight. It was a full house, filling every seat on the plane, and Mishya was fortunate to have reserved his seat. On the long flight home, he took a nap to clear his mind.

It was early morning on the other side of the world, and his flight lands at Berlin Tegel Airport. He checked the schedule only to realize that his next flight had been cancelled and rescheduled, so the airport provided him accommodations to stay at a hotel in the city. Later that morning, a limousine escorted him to Mercure Airport Hotel for him to check in at. The rest of the day would be devoted to exploring the city in an attempt to make him happy again. He visited popular tourist attractions and went shopping the entire day. Upon reaching Alexanderplatz, overlooking the Brandenburg Gate, he remembered this is where the Berlin Wall once stood. And his thoughts turned to Regina, his old friend who he knew lived in the city. Remembering her old address, he paid her a visit that afternoon, only to be surprised that she still lived there. The two shared a friendly conversation with each other, having not seen each other in years. She offered to cook him dinner and eat with him. Mishya asked her how David was doing; in her response she tells him they broke up over a tense argument. He felt lots of empathy for her, suffering from emotional problems of his own kind. Then he asked her if she wanted to come to Moscow with him, to visit her friend Karen and clear her mind of her problems. She happily agreed, spending the rest of the afternoon packing her bags, reminding her the flight leaves at 9:00 tonight. Before heading to the airport, Mishya grabs his bags and checks out of the hotel.

At Tegel Airport, Air Berlin Flight 635 lands at the terminal. It was a long flight to Moscow, lasting until the midnight hour. Mishya is surprised to have met Karen at the airport, hugging the both of them as they arrived at the terminal. She was delighted to see them and was interested to know what they were up to. The conversation continues on the cab ride home, to the old home where the family lived in during the Soviet era. Larissa was home, greeting Regina politely as she entered the door. And Mishya was surprised at the renovations done to the apartment room, where Karen spent some of her personal funds to make it look more presentable for her husband when he got back. Regina stayed with them for half the year in 1992, sharing memories in Moscow with Mishya and his family. She was welcome to come back any time she wanted, being a close family friend. By the middle of the year, Regina left for home and they offered to take her to the airport.

In 1995, Mishya receives a letter in the mail; a formal invitation by the Aeroflot company to attend flight school as an airline pilot. Larissa helped him get that job, and he was thankful of her support. He needed something to take his mind off of the Cold War, and retired from military service all together. Through the remainder of the '90s, he perfected his flight skills with commercial aircraft, looking back upon his training in the East German Air Force long ago. Within a couple of years, he would be trusted to fly local passenger flights across Russia, graduating to international and overseas flights. Larissa resumed her Aeroflot career, like it had been in the 1970s, as a flight attendant aboard Mishya's plane. And their career would continue into the 2000s, traveling to exotic locations across the globe each day. Mishya held the world in his hands now and never took it for granted. Peace was achieved at last.

Mishya Kaz © SpetsnazKaz