Yuriy Ilyushin

Senior lieutenant Yuriy Ilyushin (Юрий Илью́шин) is a former Soviet cosmonaut living in Huron's Redoubt as of 2102.
==Early life==
Prior to the Great War Yuriy Ilyushin was a veteran of Comcosmos, the Soviet space program. Born in a small village of the Irkutsk Oblast in 2051, the 2050s and 2060s were not a great time for the Soviet Union and the people who lived there. The socialist state experienced much decline during this time, from economic stagnation to growing Menshevik terrorist attacks. In these difficult times Yuriy found solace in books about the cosmos. Space fascinated the young boy for as long as he can remember, Yuriy grew up reading books about astrology and physics. His heroes were among the likes of Tereshkova and Gagarin, and following in their example he enlisted in the Soviet Air Forces. He eagerly worked his way up the air force until finally being accepted for cosmonaut training.
==Cosmonaut==
Yuriy's first assignment as a cosmonaut would be a solo manning of the Verona-3, a one-man Soviet reconnaissance space station. With the growing threat of nuclear war in 2077, Yuriy's final orders were to observe the known missile silos of the United States and China. This would give the Soviet Union an early warning of nuclear strike and allow for an advanced response to armageddon. On October 23, 2077, when nuclear weapons were unleashed across the globe, he transmit a warning back home and awaited further instructions. Days, weeks, then months passed without a word from Russia. With supplies running low and no one to replenish them, Yuriy finally made the decision to return home three months after the Great War. 
During his trip back home Yuriy was thrown drastically off-course. Instead of landing back home to Russia as intended, he landed in the western Georgian Bay of Ontario. Thousands of miles away from home and in a strange, unfamiliar land, Yuriy was surprised when he picked up a signal from a Canadian settlement. They had set up a transmitter with a repeating message: "Calling all survivors, life fights on in Huron's Redoubt. Those willing to work can find safety within our walls..." then giving their coordinates. Without many other options and equipped with his military training, survival kit, and TP-91 Cosmonaut pistol, Yuriy made the three day trek to one of the last bastions of civilization in Ontario. The guards of Huron's Redoubt were baffled when they encountered a man dressed in a worn spacesuit speaking in broken, Russian-accented English. When they realized this was not some kind of joke, the guards welcomed the tired cosmonaut into their settlement.
==Life in Huron's Redoubt==
While the residents of Huron's Redoubt were suspicious at first of the communist in their home, Yuriy's kind, helpful, and outgoing personality won most over in short time. As one resident worded it, "whether he's fixing a generator or taking a guard shift, I swear he always has a smile on his face and accepts work with glee". After 20 years of doing odd jobs, leading scavenging runs and serving in the H-NRT, Yuriy has become a highly respected resident of Huron's Redoubt. For the last five years he has held a seat on the settlement's governing body, the Atomic Workers Council. 
==Notes==
*Yuriy carries a pair of "golocassettes" (holocassettes) on him at all times. One was a gift from his father before Yuriy left for Verona-3, and contains a selection of music the two bonded over while the cosmonaut was growing up. The second is a Soviet government-issued cassette of patriotic music that Yuriy was given for his long stay on the space station.
*His spacesuit has been restored and is now on display in the Dalton Archives and Library of Huron's Redoubt.
Category:Characters
Category:Canada