Vlad The Mad's Backstory

'Vlad the Mad' was born as Dimitri Burkov on the 23rd of January, 2053 in a remote Russian village. He was an only child to Sascha and Nicholas Burkov and spent the early years of his life learning from them. His father was a promising young human soldier in the Red Army who taught his son the value of honourable combat, even if your life was on the line, for "Every man deserves to have a chance, however small it may be, to be victorious in the face of Death." Unfortunately for Vlad, his father was often away on a mission fighting for his country and grew up with his Ork mother. He loved both of his parents, not understanding that orks would not live as long as a human would.

The lifespan debate came up time and time again as Vlad was nearing the age of 6. His father was on temporary leave and his mother would often argue that he was squandering the short time they had together, for at the time Sascha was 30. Vlad could not go to sleep that night, they fought and fought for hours keeping him awake. It was then he realised that he could never be like Nicholas, a man he had idolised so strongly after. This was the onset of his self hatred, as Vlad began to believe he could never be the son papa wanted, one to inherit his legacy.

Nicholas left that night. Vlad did not see him again for the better part of a year. When his father eventually returned, he was different. There was something off about him. When Vlad went to hug him, he was almost crushed by his father's arms. 'When did he get so strong?', he had wondered. The truth was that Nicholas has lost both his arms and eyes after attempting to save a comrade- "Papa had to jump on a very loud rock. Somebody had thrown it near Uncle Boris and it almost hit his head. I had to jump on top of it to protect him. That is how I got these new arms Vlad, my service to our country was rewarded."

His family life was quiet for the most part, until Comrade Alexi showed up. Alexi was an elf and military officer who had an ambitious streak a mile long and wanted to get to the top badly, no matter who got hurt. As it happened, Nicholas and Alexi were both up for the same promotion. After he decided it was better to have no competition at all, Alexi decided to act fast. Vlad was outside chopping firewood and day dreaming about joining the Red Army like his father had, maybe then he'd be able to make him proud. It was then he heard the distinct gunshots echo from within the house.

Vlad rushed to the door as quickly as he could, just like his father had told him to. He slammed down the front door, unaware of his own strength to see his father bleeding on the floor and his mother with a rifle round through her skull. Alexi's ear's shone in the pale light as he prepared double tap Nicholas. His father's dying words were- "Dimitri.... Remember... Honour before All." Alexi turned to finish of the runt, but Vlad was too quick for him. He had already fled to safety of the nearby forest where he promptly broke down crying, his tears freezing as they ran down his chin.

From that day, Vlad was alone in the world. The only people he had ever managed to love lay dead for a reason he could not comprehend. As the sadness passed, he soon found himself full of irrepressible anger. The rage overtook him and he trained in the woods for many a night with his fathers AK-97. He taught himself how to shoot, wanting to go to the nearest recruiting station and join the Red Army, however he was declined as his SIN was pronounced deceased.

Vlad's options were now very limited. He tried to apply for jobs but no one would take a SINless runt in. He saw the Vory and briefly thought of joining them before seeing how ruthless and horrible they were. That was when he met Yuri. The adept had seen some promise in the kid and took him in to their running team. It was Yuri who gave him the nickname "Vlad the Mad", though that was just between them. To the rest of the team, he was the Red Winter- a painfully cheesy name that Vlad cringes remembering. His first few years in the shadows were painful ones as he learned through trial, error and his crew's guiding hand. The shadows taught him how to control his anger and channel it into his work, he became a man on a mission to be faster, stronger and carry on his father's legacy.

On his 16th birthday, he met Svetlana. She was one of the most beautiful orks in Moscow and the two fell in love almost instantly. They were young and carefree, except one thing stopped them from being together- she was a normal girl. She worked for MCT and was a happy little wageslave whereas Vlad was a cold hardened criminal. His team warned him about getting to attached to a SINner, but he foolishly paid them no heed, for it was love they both felt for one another and for once in his life, he didn't feel angry.

That ended all too soon.

The crew had been infiltrating an MCT HQ to extract a new drone prototype for Mr. Johnson. They managed to infiltrate the building, disguised as night electricians and assured the place would be empty. That was not the case. A few vigilant little worker bees remained at their stations trying to get the prototype ready for tomorrow mornings deadline. There stood Svetlana, the girl of Vlad's dreams, busily tinkering away with the target. To say she was surprised to see them is an understatement. An argument between the two love birds ensued as Vlad tried to get her to part with what he had come for, yet she would not relinquish it; "I have spent 5 years of my life trying to make this, I'd rather die!"

The argument got heated. Dangerous questions were asked. Svetlana uncovered the truth and was met with a crossroads- Betray Corp or Companion. She chose the latter and moved to hit an alarm, Vlad had to act fast! He took aim and fired, hoping the stick and shock round would stop her, not realising he was loaded up with APDS. The round tore through her heart and Svetlana collapsed in a bloody heap. The run was fragged and the crew had to bug out

Vlad can still see her face at night, the look of shock mixed with a sense of betrayal then a sneer of contempt. Those cold dead eyes judging him, as the killer he was. The drinking helps ease the pain and forget, but not for long. Never for long.

Yuri decided to split up after that debacle and leave to Seattle. The crew went continued running and needed a new face. That is where Anastasia came in. She may not have had the looks of Vlad's former partner, however the two clicked almost immediately. She laughed at all of Vlad's corny jokes and he couldn't help but smile when she drank him under the table. Alongside their human mage, elf decker and dwarf rigger, the crew managed to rise higher and higher in the food chain of Moscow's underbelly.

The crew went on a myriad of runs together, some highlights include infiltrating a Vampire BDSM club, Killing a Horse "shapeshifter" who lacked the ability to shapeshift, getting dodgy deltaware from an EVO Johnson, accidentally starting the Orxploitation genre of music, destroying a new brand of experimental kamikaze, having a shootout with real guns at a 'Cowboy Themed Amusement Park', and selling used cyberware from ghouls to a gang named "The Harvesters".

Over this time, Vlad and Anastasia became an item. They had both lost people in their youth and were slow to accept one another but soon became more than just fast friends. They were the butt of many jokes between the crew, yet everyone remained professional on and often off the job.

Vlad's last run in his own country was against Alexi. The bastard had managed to become general over the years and hadn't changed a single bit. The job was simple, get the decker to find evidence of Alexi's ruthless backstabbing, reveal it and humiliate him. It was all going well until the decker got ICed while in the middle of hostile territory. Within minutes, the entire garrison was alive and they were surrounded by 100s of soldiers. Alexi, the smug bastard decided to rub it in their faces by personally welcoming them to his home. He did not remember Vlad, though Vlad remembered him. He felt a fire burn within him and he launched forward to attack before falling flat on his face as electricity coursed through him. The damned decker had betrayed them and was working with the bastard the whole time.

Anastasia hit the dirt hard after being knocked out cold by gel rounds. The rest of the team was either killed or surrendered. As the soldiers came to put him in chains, Vlad drew from a well he never knew he had and managed to stand up. The first thing he did was to ventilate the decker's skull along with that drekstain Alexi, who had left the room moments beforehand.

The soldiers opened fire and filled Vlad with lead. He knew he could not outfight them and so turned to flee with his tail between his legs. He was not sure how he survived that night, and neither were the soldiers who just kept shooting the poor ork as he made his escape. His surprising endurance is attributed to his genetics, one of his ancestors was a bastard child of Grigori Rasputin himself.

Vlad needed to lay low. Very low. He fled from his homeland and into Siberia were he spent a year scraping by with the bare essentials. They were dark times for our russian friend and his thoughts wandered in dark places. He did not know the fate of Anastasia and presumed her dead, at least he had until he heard a rumour of a rumour. Apparently, someone who fit the description was seen in Vladivostok, and so began his arduous journey.

When he arrived, he began to track her down. Apparently she had been given over to the Vory as a peace offering. "That was good", Vlad thought. At least she was alive and had a steady source of income. "She was probably an enforcer or hired muscle." These dreams shattered when he finally tracked her down. Someone had given him the address of a Bunraku Parlour. Vlad's denial blocked him from seeing the obvious. "She's probably a guard, or makes sure the clients don't hurt the dolls!"

As he walked in to the sea of depravity and filth, he came face to face with his former lover, a personafix of some sim-celeb in control. She would not respond to her name, only to "Mitzy". Vlad looked her in the eye and pleaded for her to tell him his name. She replied, "Well, I don't know but you sure are a cutie!"

A tear ran down Vlads cheek as he put a bullet inside her brain. She was not the woman he had fallen for, she was some sex doll to please other men, forced into this slavery by the keeblers. He killed every single person in that establishment and razed it to the ground. As he walked away from he flames, he made contact with Yuri via a commcode given to him to use only in the most dire of situations. 3 months later, Vlad arrived in Seattle, ready to start a fresh life away from the pain of his homeland. He drowns his sorrows in alcohol whenever he can just to feel normal again and to forget the things he has had to do. He now goes by the nickname Yuri gave him all those years ago, unsure of what it means now- is he mad? Or is he mad?

Note (I'd like a GM approval for this): When assenssing Vlad, the mage will be overcome with dark emotions and despair, yet will most prominently see an anger the dwells deep within the shell of what used to be a soul. It seeps out and is almost infectious, creating a nauseating sensation. Vlad has learned to tame his outward emotions and "overacts" to compensate for the nothingness or the anger he feels.