Kharov

> "If we can somehow harness and revert the energy of these aztec structures, we may be able to protect our troops when they make the jump."
>
> —Kharov, Letter to Moscow

## Unit Information

### Role

Head Equipment Researcher

**Jozef Kharov** was a former Soviet scientist who worked in the secret Dark Sword Research Group (DSRG). His work involved the creation of a specialized suit to help protect Soviet troops who were using time warping technology against the adverse side effects of temporal paralysis, akin to the Space Time Continuum Task Force's Space Warp Suit.

## Background

### Early History

Jozef Mikhail Kharov was born in St. Petersburg, USSR on January 11th, 1927. His mother was of Polish descent and his father was of Russian descent, yet he retained his first name spelling from his mother's heritage. Kharov's father was a decorated member of the Soviet Guard, and as such was away for most of Kharov's teen years during the Second World War.

His father's commitment to the Red Army instilled a sense of nationalism which led Kharov to join the military as an engineer. Following World War 2, Kharov showed exceptional academic ability which was recognized by a senior scientist in the DSRG. Recognizing his talents, the senior member took Kharov under his wing as an analyst which is where he worked until officially being initiated into the group.

### Work in the DSRG

In the 1970s, the DSRG introduced a new program for research onto a new type of combat they coined Dimensional Warfare. This new concept was introduced by the idea of harnessing an unknown extremely rare and radioactive element for warping troops across the globe in the blink of an eye, or even throughout time. The technology was promising, but proved dangerous to test subjects who would often arrive at their destination brain-dead and mortally injured. Kharov's work involved leading a team of researchers to find a way to stop these effects and allow for safe travel through the rift.

Kharov's research underwent many failed attempts, none of which were able to effectively stop the effects of temporal paralysis. His work was scrutinized by other members of the DSRG who questioned his knowledge and experience. One of these opposing doctors was named Dr. Alexander Petrov who worked mainly with patient health after returning from the rift. Dr. Petrov proposed the idea of injecting a serum of some kind into the subjects before jumping through the rift to prevent complications rather than relying on expensive and difficult to maintain suits for each troop.

Discouraged by his colleagues, Kharov decided to leave the research facility in the north-east Soviet Union and take his team to a small island in the south pacific called Muri where ancient artifacts were reported that made people nearby them fall ill. The illnesses of the locals were highly similar to the effects of test subjects who warped through the rift, and so he decided to work on his research there.

### Death

On March 12, 1984 in an altered timeline for the Dominion of Muri, the Sub-Continuum Force extracted Kharov from his guarded home on the flooded island. The team needed his help to locate the missing Space Time Continuum Task Force operators who were lost in The Cogworks because he was the closest human to achieving interdimensional transport. The team warped him and three other members out before the island was destroyed by the failing timeline, and he was taken to The Orb's Space Time Continuum base of command called The Abbey.

While explaining his theories surrounding where the STCTF may have disappeared to in the multiverse, he collapsed and entered a state of comatose induced by being out of his own timeline without a Space Warp Suit. After two weeks of ICU presence and while wearing a poorly-fitted Space Warp Suit, Kharov succumbed to his injuries caused by Temporal Paralysis. He was 57 years old when he died.