Alexei Chernenko

Six unnamed brothers and one sister (deceased)

62nd Red Army (1938 - 1945)

8th Guards Combined Arms Army (1943-1945)

*"But fixing... history is a duty we now have. I'd never leave my comrades, then and now. Nothing has changed, except for... the time."*

Alexei Olegovich Chernenko is one of the resurrected individuals that comprise the current crew of the timeship Icarus. Formerly a tanker of the Red Army during the Great Patriotic War between the Soviet Union and the Third Reich, he was executed by the NKVD for voicing his disapproval of Stalin's cruelty to his own people.

As of current, Alexei assists the rest of the Icarus crew in fixing the timeline.

## **Strengths and Weaknesses**

### **Skills**

**Firearms Training**: As a (former) soldier of the Red Army, Alexei has been professionally trained in the firearms department. He can use rifles, machine guns, and pistols with more or less equal skill.
**Tank Driving**: Alexei was the driver of a T-34 tank during the Second World War. His tank was not just any run of the mill one either, as he and his crewmates were amongst the elites of the Red Guards.
**Close Quarters Combat**: Part of basic training. He could wield a knife with rather unnerving skill, though he clearly doesn't really like it. He prefers either shooting things or running them over.
**Musician**: Before the war began, Alexei was a skilled pianist, as well as a tenor nearly befitting of the Moscow Opera.

### **Weaknesses**

**Honesty**: One might say that honesty is the best policy, but sometimes, it isn't. Alexei is a little too open of a book, and could potentially end up leaking secrets on accident. May cause major scandals and embarrassment.

## **Background**

Alexei was born in Karkov, Ukraine, during the 31st of October, 1916. His parents were Oleg and Anya; simple folk that came from the countryside to the south to find work in the city. They had since become rather well off, and they watched along with the rest of the nation as the First World War and the October Revolution turned the Empire into a Union.
Truly, there is not much to be said about Alexei's early life. He had five siblings, three brothers and two sisters, though poor Zhenya and Katya died in childhood. Alexei really liked to drive uncle Pyotr's tractor around, though. Driving big and unwieldy vehicles around seemed to be one passion of his, so when he joined the Red Army, it would be in the tank corps. Alexei would be known there to be one of the more skillful operators, and was well liked by his peers on the training grounds.

During the onset of the Second World War, he would be amongst those units that participated in the invasion of Poland. Not much happened after that… until the Third Reich launched Operation Barbarossa. He and his comrades were deployed to defend the motherland against the encroaching German forces as the crew of an utterly disgraceful T-35 tank with five turrets. Their tank didn't see any meaningful action against the Germans; instead, it broke down while driving towards a village that was under attack. With no spare parts to fix it, it was simply destroyed before it could be captured, though Alexei remarked at that moment that the Germans would not want to take such a useless pile of junk.

Still, they pressed on, proceeding towards the town to reinforce the defenders already present. However, it was already lost, and the order to retreat was given. He would be able to fight on several small skirmishes, yes, but again and again, they had to retreat as one by one, all of his comrades fell in battle until he alone remained of his old crew. Alexei himself was injured with a bullet narrowly missing his heart and another lodging in his leg. He had to undergo an excruciating surgery where the damn pieces of lead were removed. He lived, though, and was transferred to a military hospital in for about a year, where he recovered.

It was in 1943 when he was finally deemed ready to return to the frontline. He was assigned to a new crew, and a new tank. He would fight in Kursk's grand tank battle, and as the war went on, Alexei and his comrades would eventually roll up into the gates of Berlin itself. It would be here that he witnessed the end of the conflict and the final victory of the Soviet Union.

He would return home, but there wasn't any home left. His parents had become collateral damage in the war, and his brothers were all dead as they too fought in battle. His one remaining sister, who was a sniper at the Battle of Stalingrad, had been captured and killed by the Wehrmacht in that same battle. He had musical talent, though, so Alexei went and played for the radio station in Karkov. That would be what he did for the rest of his life, if he hadn't told one of his old crewmates while under alcoholic influence that he thought Comrade Stalin was, quote, "a cruel fool that used his people as puppets". Hours later, the NKVD crashed into his home and brought him to an open field, where they shot the tired veteran in the head.