Ruslan Kusnetsov

Ruslan Kusnetsov was a Grand Admiral of the Galactic Empire. He was born on Mystic 5 in the Mystic star system on 15 July 3149. He graduated from the Imperial Military Academy of Mystic in 3169, and was given a position of second-in-command on an Imperial destroyer because of his tactical abilities. In 3171 he was promoted to captain of a destroyer squadron. In 3172 he was given command of a cruiser. In 3175 he was promoted to command of a battlecruiser and its escort forces. In 3180 he was promoted to the rank of Admiral, gaining command over a whole squadron of the Imperial 2nd Fleet. In 3186 he was promoted to the rank of Grand Admiral, gaining command over the entire Imperial 2nd Fleet. He retained this position until 3193, when he was promoted to Grand Admiral of the Imperial 1st Fleet, and served with distinction in the Perth War. In 3194, Kusnetsov married Maya Wong, an Imperial diplomat, who later became a prominent figure in the movement to attempt to solve the Perth War through a diplomatic solution. They had three children, Song, Ilya, and Jaina, born in 3195, 3197, and 3200. In 3207, when the Imperial Alliance was created, Kusnetsov met Sergei Komarov, then a captain in the Protectorate Navy. He recommended his promotion to Grand Admiral after his successful strategies in the battles of Caska and Kerdava, and worked with him to develop effective strategies to counter the Perth attacks. Their work resulted in the development of a unique weapon, the Roi Shershnei (swarm of hornets), a cluster missile launcher firing a swarm of 100 guided high-explosive missiles, which proved highly effective against the Perth's ships, especially their subcapital 'gunships', the Perth's version of fighters. Kusnetsov and Komarov also developed many strategies for countering the Perth fleets in their movements throughout human space, which proved devastating to the Perth and resulted in them being driven out of human space in 3214. The leaders in the Imperial Alliance ordered human fleets to pursue and destroy the Perth fleets. Kusnetsov, Komarov and his brothers, and many other prominent officials and military officers in the Alliance spoke out against this policy, requesting more attempts at a diplomatic solution, especially since they determined that the Perth posed a greatly reduced threat to humanity at this point. Despite their efforts, the UN and Asgardian leadership in the Alliance were adamant about this issue, and even ordered censorship of Kusnetsov's speeches about the lack of attempts at diplomacy, or even basic communication, with the Perth. After the death of Sergei Komarov, which was officially caused by a Perth agent placing an explosive device in his ship's warp core, Kusnetsov changed his stance on the issue, and ordered relentless attacks on the Perth in an attempt to force them to surrender quickly. In the invasion of Perth Tarana, Kusnetsov decided to go out in a small ship for an unknown reason; it was destroyed by a Union battlecruiser in an apparent friendly fire incident, as the gunners claimed to have mistaken it for a Perth gunship, and at the time the Perth regularly used their gunships (as well as their capital ships) in suicide ramming attacks. His death was determined on 3 December 3217, a day before the end of the war. He was awarded the title Hero of the Empire for his work in the war.