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 There is nothing worse for a soldier than to lose their mind, commander 
(Anya to Natasha Zurkelov)

Arctic Falcon was the codename of a Russian female commando named Anya Kovaleva who operated during the last Slavic Wars. Her skills rivaled, if not, better than those of the famed US Navy SEALs, and was equipped with dual pistols and C4. In addition, she was also trained to swim long distances allowing her to plant the explosives on hulls of enemy ships. Furthermore, she could self-heal at a slow rate due to improved provisions.

After the soviet forces were defeated, she was trained to resist mind control in case they had to combat it again. She also was trained using her C4 charges on enemy ground vehicles.

Background[]

Anya was born in Stalingrad, in the former Soviet Union, the daughter of Karin, a payroll accountant, and Andrew Kovaleva, a police officer and car salesman. She had three sisters. As a teenager, she fought in nightclubs, sneaking out of the family home. She studied military-style activities from the age of 13 at the Kids Army Bootcamp, then studied private security companies, global governance, military studies, security studies and IR at Moscow Handbook of Private Security Studies, Volgograd Community College, Kiev Contemporary Security, and the Teaching Institute of the Red Army.

Kovaleva worked either for or with the union cause as a civilian "volunteer" (i.e. mercenary), not formally enlisted in the forces. The commando enjoyed the patronage of General Sergei Surovikin who regarded her as a valuable field agent. General Vladimir Korolyov was initially uncomfortable with her civilian status, but accepted her eventually.

Personality[]

Anya was highly disrespectful of military authority; when General Vladimir Korolyov expressed concern over her civilian status, she cut him off with the comment "Thats why I don't get killed". The only reason why she didn't get kicked out of the military was because she possessed skill which matched her defiant personality. Initially, Anya had little faith in Natasha that she was assigned to and even lightly mocked him. However, after the first few missions under his command, she began to appreciate the commander to the point that she refused to work under any other commander during Operation Dark Night. After the mission was completed, General Oleg Salyukov commented that he had never seen Anya stick her neck out for anyone. When she was sent on another mission, she told the general to convey to the commander her regards. Later, during Operation Free Gateway, she expressed her concern over the effects the psychic beacon would have on her and her squad, but assured Natasha that she trusted his command.

Biography[]

First Slavic War[]

Anya Kovaleva was a major notable figure during the course of the union campaign. Under the direction of Commander Natasha Zurkelov, Kovaleva rescued Dr. Steinschneider from a soviet research facility and subsequently demolished key bridges to impede the enemy advance in Eastern Russia.

However, while gathering intelligence in enemy territory, Kovaleva was captured and Surovikin ordered an immediate retrieval operation, led by Natasha. A spy infiltrated the prison and managed to halt the commandos imminent execution. Kovaleva proceeded to interrogate them, and mortally wounded the spy in the process, but the diversion was enough for the commando to use the pistol thrown to her by the spy to free themselves. After knocking out the six SAM sites guarding the prison she was evacuated by a Mil Mi-26. Kovaleva's intelligence alerted the union to the soviet Iron Curtain project.

After Natashas men infiltrated a Soviet ballistic missile control complex following the launch of four nuclear missiles, Kovaleva joined the field commander's forces and helped deactivate the four nuclear missiles already in flight. She then spearheaded the final push on Pripyat by helping clear the way for Russian thieves to steal funds at a nearby Soviet outpost to allow Natasha to build a base and enough firepower to defeat the last of the Soviet forces in the town.

Second Slavic War[]

The Soviets performed a surprise invasion of the Russian Federation, leading to them overrunning Russian positions across the eastern side. In this time of emergency, President Vladimir Putin instituted the Lazarus Protocol and General Oleg Salyukov quickly worked to defend against the enemy forces. Special Agent Anya, now a commando of the Union Army, was assigned to work with one of the few Union Commanders who were still in service. At the time, the Soviets had made an invasion of Rostov Oblast and made a move for Southern Federal District, where Anya entered the field to clear the area and re-establish communications with the Rostov-on-Don base.

Shortly thereafter, Anya was relocated to Moscow, reporting to General Salyukov that General Viktor Muzhenkohad taken the Gagarin Air Force Academy there. Displeased with the pace at which she reported, Salyukov ordered the Commander Natasha Zurkelov to "dig Anya out of the hole she dug for herself" and make her useful - much to Anyas annoyance and before she could respond, the General cut the line. The Academy and its belonging base were reclaimed and Ukrainians were driven out.

Once these victories were achieved, Anya was called in during a video conference between President Putin and the Slavic Council about the possibility of an aid package for the Russian Federation, in the form of supplies and soldiers, following Muzhenkos nuclear strike on Omsk Oblast. Before this could be arranged, the Slavic Council requested that Anya destroys two nuclear missile silos on the Ukranian-Polish border. Romanian general Alexandru Averescu was prepared to take command, but Anya refused to follow orders from anyone other than Natasha, under the excuse that there was "no time to train, Averescu". President Putin reluctantly agreed, and Anya succeeded in the mission.

Anya was later sent on an secret mission by the time the Kremlin was retaken. After this was done, she was dispatched to the occupied Voronezh to destroy a psychic beacon that had enslaved the local population and reclaim the area from the soviets.

During the battle for Kiev, Anya personally infiltrated the Mariyinsky Palace along with a team of soldiers in order to capture Oleksandr Turchynov. After breaking through into his office, she discovered that his aides had attempted to dress up one of his underlings as the President in a weak attempt at evading capture. Anya knocked out the imposter and discovered Turchynov hiding under his desk in his underwear and vest. With his capture, Anya posed long with her fellow soldiers for a picture taken by the CNN Journal, Times magazine, New York Times newspaper and The media of Russia magazine which published articles about the end of the Second Slavic War, ridiculing Turchynov.

With the end of the conflict, Anya met Natasha at an airbase where she informed him of the victory gala at the Kremlin, to which they were both invited.

Psychic Dominator Disaster[]

After the right hand of Turchynov, Yerik, revealed himself right before his attempt at conquering the world with his network of psychic dominators, Anya was among the few who were unaffected by the initial shockwave, as the San Francisco area was supposed to be controlled by a dominator that was rendered powerless after its reactor was damaged in a Russian air raid. She joined Natasha and Steinschneider in the time machine. After going back in time, she swam to Alcatraz to destroy the dominator while it was still under construction. Later during the conflict, she assisted Natasha in rescuing Steinschneider in Egypt.

After Yerik's defeat, Anya once again invited Natasha to the victory gala at the Kremlin, but was interrupted by some woman who did the same, after which she complained to Steinschneider that the timeline was not set straight.

Aftermath[]

"Huh, something is different."[]

After defeating Yerik and having hints that many things were different, Anya discovered that the time machine changed more than it seems, after asking Steinschneider about what happened, he replied: "Break the sound barrier and there's a sonic boom. We broke the time barrier Anya, time boom. Ripples of distortion radiated out through that point of impact, shifting everything just a tiny bit, but enough. Enough for events to happen slightly different... in a supreme act of altruism shattered history like a rank amateur, turned the world into a different thing, moments away from chaos". Anya assumed that all her experiences and victories no longer existed: Slavic Wars never happened, the CSS and the SU doesnt exist, Ukraine is less than a threat to her homeland, no ones remembers Anya or Natasha and the heroine of the moment is another person, not her, a blonde FSB agent with codename "Archangel". Anya decided to take an "early retirement" to observe the new heroine, and verify that she has what it takes to save the country in case of crisis. Feat after feat Anya came to the conclusion that Archangel was a good soldier.


Joining the Blue Berets[]

During the Gorky Park events, the world of Anya collapsed, Archangels squadron was annihilated in a bombing and she could only wonder why that happened; in the old days, their comrades would never have allowed a lunatic to hide in the main city of Russia under their noses, or let them plant a bomb in the important square. 

After a long covert investigation and with the help of Natasha, Anya discovered that the Russian government was covering and protecting Yuri, and they never tried to trap him or help Archangel because he was their biggest arms supplier. At that moment, she remembered Steinschneiders words: "we turned the world into a different thing". Furious, she convinced Natasha that this is not the country for which they fought in the past, and that it is only a shadow of what it really was. Together, they looked for Archangel, after locating her in a tavern abandoned by the hand of God, they told him why that happened, marking a before and after in the life of Archangel, who decided to plan a large-scale revenge against their supposed allies. She convinced Anya and Natasha to join their cause, together they prepared the mission known as Operation Liberty. During the preparations, Archangel proposed to create an elite division called Blue Berets, an armed group full of the most experienced and loyal soldiers to their cause, proposing to Anya to be the commander-in-chief of these forces, with total freedom of action. She proudly accepted the charge.

Disappearance and Death[]

Anya Kovaleva disappeared along with Zenya Kurtarov, the nation-state of the Armed Republic of Dvinmiste Capia, and the rest of her Blue Berets. She is presumed deceased.

See also[]