Konstantin Sovietyevich Andropov
From Acw
- Name: Konstantin Sovietyevich Andropov (formerly Konstantin Leonidyevich Andropov)
- DOB: 04/06/2330
- Place of Birth: P12 Sector(Heroes of the People's Fight for Prosperity Central Hospital), New Gorky, Extreme Northern Territories (The Black Pale), on New Ukraine
- Designation: Special Commissar (Sub-Director 4th Level Equivalence) - Commissariat of the Exterior
Contents |
Family
Konstantin was born the son of Leonid Andropov, a renowned diplomat, and prominent member of the People's Committee for Industrial Revolution, one of the pre-eminent economic policy-making instruments in the USSR. However, the market-based reforms that Leonid helped draft were considered anti-revolutionary in the wake of the Fort Brehznev fleet mutiny, and the Committee was purged. Leonid was lucky to avoid the KGB's re-education camps, instead being dispatched to administer the local diplomatic corps in the Black Pale - a volatile region of New Ukraine with extensive cultural links to the UISA-dominated Gettysburg, long considered a hardship post and bureaucratic dumping ground.
Early life
It was here that Konstantin was born, in the lap of luxury that even a black-balled high-level Party member could expect to enjoy.
The Andropov Affair
Defection
After 16 long years of exile, with the hard-line factions that had dispatched him in firmer control than ever, Leonid decided he could no longer remain in Soviet space, and publicly defected to the UISA. Konstantin, now 15, was devastated. He was stood down from his leadership position with his regional KIM branch, and imprisoned with his mother, pending their deportation to the UISA, as per the Molotov-Davis Diplomatic Rights, Privileges, and Immunities Treaty of 2130. Although diagnosed as depressed, and clearly still loyal to the USSR's noble ideals, Konstantin resigned himself to follow his father into treachery - but bravely determined that he would, at least, not give the Americans the public relations coup they clearly expected.
An Unwitting Tool
Unbeknownst to Konstantin, however, shadowy forces were at work. A classified group of terrorists within the GRU (since purged)were enraged at the government's principled compliance with the terms of the Molotov-Davis treaty. Determined to revenge themselves on the defector, they infected young Konstantin with a deadly retrovirus - dormant in his own saliva, but tailored to activate and produce a powerfully alkaline subtance upon infecting cells carrying his father's DNA.
Sadly, Konstantin's own patriotism provided the terrorists with a result beyond their wildest dreams. The Americans, true to impatient form, had set up their press conference mere metres from the shuttle that set down on the New Saratoga Spaceport. As he was escorted from the craft, Konstantin maintained a dignified silence. Upon reaching the sound stage, Leonid turned to greet him, and walked towards him with arms outstretched. Incensed that the man who had betrayed his country now wanted him to perform for the cameras, Konstantin spat in his father's face.
The ensuing horrific scene was broadcast live throughout the UISA - a public relations coup for the terrorists. Even better was Konstantin's own performance - clearly overcome with shock, Konstantin reacted by shouting defiance at the soliders beating and restraining him, and cursing his father's name with the Ameringlish phrases he had memorised so remarkably clearly.
Aftermath
The Soviet diplomatic mission claimed immunity for him as the child of a diplomat, and the UISA, unwilling to jeopardise its own diplomats' safety, and realising that the execution of this child would be simply be playing into the terrorist's hands, sent him home, where he was quietly recieved in his home city, New Gorky. There news of the atrocity had polarised public opinion to the point of danger. The government, by now aware of the circumstances surrounding the Andropov Affair, treated him with the care and dignity accorded to any high official's orphaned child, and moved him to the Martian capital, New Stalingrad - home of the earliest successful world-wide terraforming project - where he was prepared for his new life as a privileged ward of the state - since his mother had elected to remain in the UISA.
Adult Life
His hard study and work, culminating in a prized position in the Commissariat of the Exterior was the standard Soviet success story - an example of the clear advantages of undiluted meritocracy. It is in this agency that he has worked for nearly 20 years. Like his murdered father, he possesses a Doctorate in Socialist Economics, as well as a Masters degree in 20-22nd Century Geopolitics, and has driven himself upwards in the Commissariat primarily merit and a keen political sense - although it would be foolish to pretend that his tragic experience has not been a powerful spur. Recently, he was promoted to Special Commissar to deal with the developing Neuostland crisis, and given far-reaching emergency powers.
Neuostland Crisis Talks
Main article: Neuostland Crisis
WARNING: This section of the article is disputed.
As the senior Soviet diplomat at the conference, Andropov's performance is hotly debated by commentators.
Moderate stance
From the beginning of the conference, Andropov drew back from the anticipated Soviet demands for territorial annexation, instead advancing a softer, humanitarian line, demanding Neuostland's independence - clearly designed to appeal to the American and perhaps British mediators at the conference. Considering the original precipitous Russian military action that sparked the crisis, as well as Andropov's own suspected links with hardline factions within the Party, this strange turn of events has emerged as one of the most contentious topics of debate surrounding the Neuostland Crisis.
Theories include:
- A straightforward attempt to stall for time - fully addressing Tedesceau's claims rather than making a more simple claim to territorial annexation certainly did see the conference disrupted and bogged down in what some commentators have referred to as "manufactured conflict". The most usual reason advanced as to why the Soviets would want to stall revolves around rumoured movements of troops and ships in the Sol system - perhaps reinforcements to decisively resolve the conflict militarily. These plans were doubtlessly interrupted by the Arthurian incursion, explaining the speedy withdrawal of Soviet forces once they appeared.
- Genuine, straightforward humanitarian interest. This theory, matching up with the official line from Soviet sources, holds that once it became clear that the Germans were prepared to defend Neuostland more aggressively than expected, the Soviets realised that prolonging the conflict was more likely to cost Neuostlander's lives than improve them, and attempted to use their foothold as a negotiating position.
- The failure of the blitzkrieg assault on the planet had severely weakened the hardliner's hand against the conflict-averse moderates, and as a result, they had managed to force their own peace-plan through the Supreme Soviet before the conference, but after Andropov, the hardliner's representative, had already been deputed.
- Panic - The prevailing German interpretation holds that the conference was simply a last-ditch attempt to save the foolhardy General Roslov as well as Russia's military reputation, after it became clear that the German forces were likely to inflict a crushing defeat on Soviet forces. Andropov, though a hardliner, was humiliatingly sent to beg for his ally's life. This theory is undermined by the ease with which the Soviet forces evacuated after the Arthurian arrival.
Crisis Resolution
After the near-cataclysmic confrontation between Arminius and the Maxim Gorky, and the sudden withdrawal of Soviet forces, Andropov and the chief Reich diplomat, Gustav von Paulus, abandoned the conference, and apparently came to an agreement without the oversight of mediators. While America, France and the SBE have criticised the diplomatic slight of being sidelined, they have all cautiously welcomed the outcome of the agreement. The final, publicised agreement had two main clauses, both of which had been previously proposed and rejected by the Soviets:
- The withdrawal of all Soviet troops from Neuostland's surface, and all Soviet craft from its orbit, or the orbit of Arminius.
- The establishment of an observer force, consisting of American, SBE, and French troops, whose role was to observe and report on the physical safety and economic conditions of the people of Neuostland, in order that a determination might later be made on whether multi-lateral humanitarian intervention would prove necessary.
Motivations for Policy Reversal
As stated, this exact proposal had already been rejected, most vituperatively, by both Andropov, and Tedesceau, earlier in the conference. Multiple theories have been advanced in this regard as well:
- The withdrawal of troops severely damaged the Soviet bargaining position, and Andropov was forced to back down - but, for propaganda purposes, refused to do so under the media's eye in the conference chamber.
- Andropov's relutance to deal was a sop to the radical Tedesceau, since the appearance of disunity would have seriously weakened the Soviet position. Once Tedesceau was removed from the conference, he could perform the Supreme Soviet's bidding in earnest.
- Some form of secret clause was added to the treaty, free of international observation. More theories, from reasonable to bizarre, have been advanced regarding that clause than can be reasonably covered here.
Aftermath
After signing the treaty, Andropov has once again disappeared back into the bureaucratic maze of Soviet Mars. To date, though, there have been no reports of his demise, demotion, or any public repudiation of the treaty, so it must be assumed to have the backing of the Supreme Soviet, which has only fuelled the continuing debate.
