Colonel Volkov image - M.P

In December 2048, the ECA instilled a new kind of fear in many Russian soldiers with the first deployment of the Venom next generation special forces to Scandinavia. Unbeknownst to the Europeans however, General Aleksandr was unsurprised for he had been well informed on the development of European powered armour for years: A German engineer, who had been recruited as a sleeper agent by the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service way back in the 2030s, had since risen to a prominent position in the European defence industry with insight into the Venom project.

With the full details of the Venom at his finger tips by the autumn of 2048, Aleksandr tasked the head of his cybernetics research department, Colonel Matvei Grigorovich Volkov, with developing Russia's answer to the Venom. Volkov was a highly accomplished engineer and a ruthless, uncompromising officer much after Aleksandr's own heart, who took it upon himself to test the prototype in combat in early 2049.

Fully enclosed in advanced composite armour over a suit of synthetic muscles linked to a neural interface, Volkov is protected against small arms fire, incendiaries and CRBN hazards, albeit vulnerable to armour-piercing weaponry and high-yield EMP. His weapon is a prototype coil rifle that is deadly effective against single targets, including heavy tanks. Its destructive power can be further increased, at a reduced rate of fire, by redirecting more energy from the suit's experimental Tesla powerpack (which is still liable to release a dangerous wide area discharge upon catastrophic failure). Finally, the suit is also equipped with a laser designator to mark ground targets for tactical airstrikes.