Rurik Stelarikov

Rurik Stelarikov, more often referred to by his callsign, RedStar, is a military tactician, communist hardliner, and the current leader of the Soviet Union. One of the most powerful people on the planet, his involvement in global affairs only tends to come into being during the most dire situations. A situation that must involve Rurik can often be seen as an omen that things are about to take a turn for the worst.

Story

Early Life

Not much is known about Rurik's early life, as it is muddied in legend, myth and rumour. It is speculated that he may be thousands of years old - and yet many insist this is not the case. Either way, his origins are very difficult to trace, if at all. Indeed, the only things known for certain about Stelarikov are his name and his dedication to protecting Earth 2.

All attempts to trace Rurik before October 2010 is an almost futile attempt. Even Rurik himself tends to keep the information to himself, but those who have been close to him allege that he has spoken of things he couldn't possibly know about. Historical events and how they went down perfectly, unrecorded words spoken by people long dead, even glimpses of the future. It is easy to debunk these claims as conspiracy theories that verge on insanity, but the world may never know for certain just how deep the rabbit hole of Rurik's early existence runs. What he knows, he isn't saying - but his power speaks for itself.

Revolutionary

The earliest reliable records of Rurik come about in October 2010, when he led a civil protest against the totalitarian United Speakonian Soviet Republic and its corrupted leaders. The nation that claimed to be a socialist utopia was, in fact, an almost feudal nation that gave the upper classes all they could want, and left all others miserable and starving. Alongside two close friends, Nikolai Paranavsky and Robert 'Bob' Salvatierra, and later the powerhouse of Dmitri Volishinov, Rurik's protest evolved into a full-scale civil war that consumed the nation. While initial resistance was strong, this quickly crumbled in the face of the Russian masses, oppressed and burnt out, who rallied themselves to overthrow the regime. In around two weeks, the United Speakonian Soviet Republic found itself reborn into a socialist nation - though it maintained the dictatorial fashion of the original regime, and placed a heavy focus on technology at the expense of several freedoms. The United Speakonian Soviet Republic was, in some way, more of a technocracy.

The Turbulent Years

Rurik's involvement in world affairs escalated from here. He assisted North My during the Civil War in My, assisting the communists, though he was ultimately betrayed after the Supreme AI, a malevolent entity from the stars, seized control of the small Asian nation, and promptly dumped a planets worth of aliens onto the USSR to crush its resistance. The nation was then hit by the Diarrhea Death Star with devastated the nation and killed thousands of people.

Despite this the USSR persevered, and went on to get involved in the War in the Rofl Island Chain about a year later. Rurik seized the Canadian city of Vancouver and established a military presence, and promptly had to deal with assaults on several radar stations in Russia. This was revealed to be the first attack from the Soviet Lulz Brigade, lead by Scottyvich Baloneykov, a rogue agent who had become angry at the USSR for allying to the USA. A false flag operation in Los Angeles pushed Rurik to the United Nations, where he had to prove that he hadn't ordered a deadly chemical attack that killed thousands in the Downtown Los Angeles area, as well as a mass shooting at an airport that claimed hundreds more. It was revealed that a great deal of the Soviet government, equally annoyed at the alliance, was working to destabilise his rule. While initial claims were that the party was purged in three days flat, the process took at least week of systematically hunting down traitors - and even still, several escaped.

This was followed immediately by the revival of the Supreme AI, who hacked into the Soviet Nuclear Weapons Network and launched a grand nuclear strike on all major capital cities in Eurasia, causing millions of deaths in the initial blasts, and far more from the electromagnetic pulse and the fallout afterwards. Rurik ordered the air force to assist American forces in the assault on the Rofl Island Chain - which was promptly followed by the Cleanser firing. The Russian Army was utterly devastated. While Rurik publicly stated that the Red Army had survived almost entirely intact, this was a falsehood - hundreds of millions were lost in the attack. The war finally ended, but in two months Rurik's world view had utterly flipped. From focusing inwards on his nation, he began to look out onto the world itself.

He immediately attempted to assassinate Thunderbirds101, President of the United States. This did not work, and the USA promptly became a fascist state. This was widely considered a big oopsie.

Rurik's thought process stated to him that the reason the last wars had been so destructive was a lack of global cooperation. To combat this, he formed the Global Defence Initiative, a global defensive pact that ensured if one member was attacked - whether by another nation or an extraterrestrial force - that all other nations within it would come to their aid by any means necessary. The result of this was Rurik at the forefront of most battles during the Psychic Dominator Disaster and the Tiberium Wars, with his biggest absence being the assault on Yuri's final stronghold, as he focused on combating the invading Scrin.

During the First Tiberium War, Rurik was met by an alleged genetic experiment - a Dark Elf known as Cassius. This quickly formed into a one-sided relationship on Cassius' side, though after a few weeks he began to grow on him. Soon enough it was confirmed that the two had formed a romantic bond.

Rurik, however, had a different goal in mind. A premonition had come to him, in fact. Alien invaders that came, were defeated, and then would later return. The recession of Tiberium, and access to higher powers. This all culminated in the Fourth Tiberium War - an elaborate plan between Kane, leader of the Brotherhood of Nod, and Rurik allowed them both to leave Earth 2 to a distant, offworld location. Here, Rurik spent the next three months honing his latent psionic abilities, and before long he had managed great feats with them. Before long, he returned to Earth 2, helped crush a civil war in Russia, and then promptly caused a global crisis between the USSR and Kanto before dissolving the whole nation. The USSR had, in his mind, served its purpose - Rurik saw himself as too great for the pitiful ramblings of the people of Earth 2 at this point.

The Return

Thankfully, this edgy little phase carried him away from society for a while. He remained in contact with Cassius during this nomadic phase, but it was never due to last forever. After finally getting over himself in 2019, Rurik realised his home country was calling for him. In his premonitions he could see it - millions starving and suffering, abandoned and oppressed. He couldn't let it stand. Once more, Rurik returned to Russia to bring back freedom - and this time, to do it properly.

A bloody civil war took place with Rurik at the helm and, after a week of fighting, he re-established free elections, and promptly ended up elected as Premier once more. This led to the immediate reformation of the Soviet Union. Rurik immediately embarked on a campaign of civil unrest in the surrounding nations, annexing the Soviet Union's former territories at its height during the Cold War - plus Mongolia, his first conquest. By this point, the Soviet Union was truly a free, communist utopia, with every need provided for and everyone giving to their ability.

About Rurik

Personality

Rurik is a fairly blunt individual. He is honest with his intentions and feelings, and does not mince his words. The harshness is often misinterpreted as cruelty, but it couldn't be further from the truth. He is intensely loyal to those who surround him as friends and loved ones, with Cassius as the most obvious example. He is moved immensely by the loss of people's freedoms - the Stalkers seen during the Skyfall incident almost moved him to tears.

Of course, this isn't to say Rurik cannot be ruthless. He has ruthlessly slaughtered many in the past and, though his morals have cleared up since then, he is still prone to killing people to solve problems. When angered or upset, he tends to go quiet as opposed to screaming in rage, and speaks methodically - though he has been known to lash out if prodded during this period.

Ultimately, Rurik is a cautious stranger, a loyal friend, and a fierce enemy.

Powers & Skills

There's no question about it - Rurik is a psionic. It isn't known clearly where these powers came from, as there are not many other cases of such a thing, if any at all, that have been proven.

Rurik is capable of telekinesis, capable of lifting objects up to five times his body weight before it causes a mental strain, and propelling them at forces strong enough to kill. He is also capable of telepathy to people within three hundred feet, though this requires a five-second period of connecting to the minds of those he intends to contact. Finally, he is capable of limited precognition, though this is not always flawless. Rurik can see the future - or rather, a glimpse of a potential future. This has worked for and against him in the past - it aided in his adventure to a new world with Kane, but also resulted in the Russian Federated States forming a dictatorship due to one vision showing a democratic utopia - the opposite of what happened. He can also channel his psionic powers to create physical, damaging balls of psionic energy, that can then be thrown to devastating effect.

Beyond this, there are several other curiosities with Rurik. While he is recorded as looking to be around 24 years old, he has appeared this way since reliable records first began - in 2010. While it could just be that he is exceptionally lucky genetically, some suggest this could be a slowed, if not halted aging process.

On the more conventional side of things, Rurik is a near-masterful combatant even without his psionic powers. He is proficient with shotguns and pistols, and well trained in melee combat. However he is not without weaknesses in this department - he often overestimates his own capabilities, which has gotten him overpowered and captured by enemy forces several times in the past. While he doesn't necessarily need these skills now, Rurik pursues them anyway - primarily because he just likes the feel of a weapon in his hand.

It was alleged that Rurik had access to shapeshifting capabilities, and there were many sightings through the Turbulent Years of him in some avian form. These have been widely dismissed as rumours and mass hallucinatory incidents.