Session 1.10 Index Session 2.1
6/9/96:
The End of Part 1
September/October 1996:
Following the events surrounding the activation of the Moscow Sleeper, those of the Chechen/Afghan terrorist group who were captured are tried (Black Dog seems to vanish; Sirdar is dead). Cricket is found to be of very low intelligence during this. WarWolf is entirely unrepentant. Poison blames the Russians for her toxic condition, the death of her entire family, and her desire for revenge on Russia. They, and the captured non-superhuman terrorists, are all sentenced to death for their crimes.
There are riots and protests in Chechnya and Afghanistan against these sentences. The Taliban in particular promise revenge on the death of these patriots. Glasnost's peace mission in Chechnya falls apart almost immediately, and a proposed pull-out of Russian troops is postponed indefinitely.
Glasnost appeals the death sentences, both on moral grounds and claiming it may help bring about more permanent reconciliation between Russia, Chechnya and Afghanistan if they are not executed. Akula also appeals on purely moral grounds. These appeals are met with a dubious response, but the courts do reduce Cricket's sentence to life imprisonment due to her reduced intelligence.
WarWolf, Poison and the other terrorists are executed. The two superhumans die with curses on their lips.
There is a shake-up in the Russian security services in the wake of these events.
Violence in Chechnya continues to the present day.
Of the many mafioski captured during the same period, some are simply imprisoned. Others are sentenced to death, too.
7/9/96:
The Guardians in the USA are seen on TV praising the actions of the Moscow superheroes.
10/9/96:
A coup in Iraq overthrows the democratic government installed after the capture of Saddam Hussein at the end of the Gulf War. The coup is led by Uday Hussein, Saddam's eldest son, who quickly installs himself as dictator of the whole country. He quickly assures the world that his coming to power will not interrupt Iraqi oil exports.
As time passes it becomes clear that Uday Hussein is actually a far nastier piece of work than his father...
20/9/96:
The Moscow superheroes receive a note from the Guardians, care of Captain Ostranko. Inside is a congratulatory note from the Guardians, and a cheque for $5000, 'To help you continue your good work'. It is signed by Magus, the leader of the Guardians (NB: it is well known that the Guardians are immensely rich as a team, with assets in at least the millions of dollars).
The organised crime scene in and around Moscow goes very quiet, as recent events have gutted its power structures. Things have been quiet since, although a higher than usual rate of mafioski bodies being found here and there in the city indicate that something is probably going on.
Late September:
Someone begins killing criminals around Moscow. Whoever they are, they seem to do this with some kind of energy weapon or power. They become known as the Black Butterfly, from the calling cards they leave at the scene of their attacks.
20/9/96:
Orlenda Nikolaiovna Rostova (Molinya's civilian, policewoman, identity) is sued by Mikhail Gregoravich, the mafioski boss the third finger of both of whose hands she shot off during an interrogation. He wants one billion roubles (about twenty million pounds) in compensation.
24/9/96:
The beginning of construction of a tunnel under the Temple Mount in Jerusalem precipitates protests and the worst unrest and fighting in Israel in thirty years; more than 150 die over the next few days.
Shortly after the tunnel construction begins, the builders run into a very old Jewish tomb hidden in the rock. Archaeologists begin to examine it.
27/9/96:
Forces of the Taliban capture the Kabul, the Afghan capital; the former president of Afghanistan is executed by them.
28/9/96:
The archaeologists examining the tomb under the Temple Mount announce that it is from the time of King David, and that it has many warnings, in ancient Hebrew, about some 'menace' it contains. The archaeologists don't let these warnings stop them continuing their work.
1/10/96:
Israeli PM Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Arafat meet in Washington DC.
2/10/96:
Molinya is suspended from the police force pending the results of the litigation against her.
An American military base in an isolated part of Iowa is destroyed by ... something.
4/10/96:
All of Molinya's assets are frozen pending the results of the litigation against her. Gregoravich's private investigators begin to follow her about, which makes being a superhero rather hard.
8/10/96:
The archaeologists examining the tomb under the Temple Mount are all killed when something bursts from within it and flies off; blurred pictures recorded in a video camera show a humanoid figure with glowing blue-white wings and sword flying off...
12/10/96:
New Zealand elections.
15/10/96:
Molinya's case finally comes to court. Gregoravich has hired lots of expensive lawyers. Molinya's assets are frozen. Things do not go well. Especially as she actually did what she is accused of doing.
16/10/96:
The UK bans all but the smallest calibre pistols (following the Dunblaine massacre).
17/10/96:
President Yeltsin sacks General Lebed, the National Security Advisor.
18/10/96:
Molinya makes her apologies to the other Moscow Superheroes, and leaves Moscow for a while. She has lost the court case against her, but is entirely unable to pay the damages awarded, so her civilian identity is in deep, deep trouble. Orlenda Nikolaiovna Rostova drops out of sight, but Molinya re-appears in St Petersburg. The Police begin a (not very enthusiastic, given as she is one of their own) hunt for Orlenda.
Late October 1996:
A German-owned security firm, Wulf Security, begins recruiting veterans from the Afghanistan Veterans Foundation into their operations in Moscow. Veterans are interviewed by Mr Firaux and Mr Weiss. Napalm is interviewed but isn't offered a job because of her little drinking problem. However, she does keep an eye on Wulf Security from then on. They have a compound in a former mansion on Prospekt Andropova, which runs along the west side of the Kolomenskoe Estate in the south of Moscow, close to the Kashirskaya Metro station.
26/10/96:
Fighting engulfs eastern Zaire.
5/11/96:
President Clinton re-elected in the USA.
15/11/96:
Militias are expelled from Zairian refugee camps; 400000 refugees head back to Rwanda.
Mid-November:
The UN organises a peacekeeping force for Zaire, including several thousand British and America troops.
18/11/96:
A fire in the Channel Tunnel causes extensive damage.
24/11/96:
Satellite photographs seem to show the Annihilators organising massive war games in the south of the former Yugoslavia.
Late November:
A number of deaths occur in a Scottish E-coli outbreak.
1/12/96:
A volunteer psychologist, Dr. Viktor Xavierovitch Stregoi, begins to help out at the Afghanistan Veterans Foundation on a part-time basis, assisting Dr Cheslar Borodinsky, Napalm's counsellor. Some of his treatments are, apparently, new and innovative. Some volunteers who are in a particularly bad way, psychologically, go off to take part.
2/12/96:
A new crime-fighter, The Crimebuster, appears in Vladivostok. Whatever his other powers he seems to wear a lot of black, including a cloak, have glowing red eyes, and be able to breathe fire.
December 1996 Onwards:
A number of major research grants are given to universities across the former Soviet Union by western companies, funding both pure and applied research in most fields of science. This makes the impoverished Russian scientific community very happy. Akula's research reactor is a recipient of one of these grants.
17/12/96:
Tupac Amaru terrorists seize 430 hostages at the Japanese Embassy in Peru.
22/12/96:
Two hundred and twenty five of the Peruvian Japanese Embassy hostages are released.
1/1/97:
An Israeli soldier opens fire in a Hebron marketplace. Seven die and many more are injured.
5/1/97:
The war games in the former Yugoslavia intensify.
6/1/97-7/1/97:
The Russian Orthodox Christmas.
Early January 1997:
A cult calling itself 'The Church of the Firestorm' sets itself up in Moscow. They seem to worship fire, or some flaming superhuman (although this last is only speculation).
A new European philanthropic organisation, the All-Europe Radioactive Protection Organisation (AERPO), takes over maintenance and decommissioning of the many mothballed former Soviet nuclear submarines moored in Murmansk and other Russian ports, plus their associated nuclear waste.
15/1/97:
An Israeli pull-out from Hebron is agreed by Israeli PM Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Arafat.
Late January 1997:
Napalm begins having a lot of bad dreams, and not sleeping well (less well even than normal, that is).
20/1/97:
US President Clinton is inaugurated for his second term in office.
26/1/97:
Violent protests occur in Albania after a pyramid investment scheme, in which most of the populace have invested money, collapses, depriving millions of people of their savings. Banks and government offices are burned and officials killed.
30/1/97:
After the siege at the Japanese Embassy in Peru has continued for more than a month, the Japanese government persuade the Peruvian government to allow the Japanese superheroes Battletank and Rising Sun to operate in Peru. Attacking by surprise and assisted by Peruvian special forces the siege quickly ends with heavy casualties among the Tupac Amaru terrorists (and some among the hostages).
2/2/97:
A helicopter delivering supplies to an outlying oil pumping complex in Siberia reports what the pilot describes as an 'impossible forest' in the middle of the Siberian taiga before being suddenly cut off in mid-broadcast. Aircraft from a nearby military base are sent to investigate. They too vanish. The Russian air force bomb that area of the taiga into oblivion.
Since then the air force (acting along with other parts of the military) has bombed several other remote areas into oblivion, too. They haven't given out any reason for having done this.
3/2/97:
Pakistani general elections.
4/2/97:
Seventy-three Israeli soldiers die in a helicopter crash.
5/2/97:
In the USA, O. J. Simpson is found guilty of murder in a civil court case (after being found innocent in a criminal case earlier).
6/2/97:
The continuing protests and violence in Albania culminate in the burning of the Albania parliament and government buildings in Tirana. Most of the government are killed, and the rest flee, leaving the country in a state of anarchy.
Late that day, the Yugoslavian army, led by the Annihilators, crosses the border into Albania and begins to take control of the chaotic country.
10/2/97:
O. J. Simpson is ordered to pay more than $20 million in punitive damages.
Mid-February 1997:
Akula has noticed an increased military presence at the university, particularly in some of the physics and astronomy labs.
Mother Bear has felt several instances of discomfort which feel as if they are coming from far away to the north and east.
17/2/97 (Monday):
Now.