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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Teflon Billy" data-source="post: 573803" data-attributes="member: 264">Lonely Planet: Cascade city... First Church of the CosmonautSETTING RELATED, NON PLOT ENTRY When Soviet Cosmonaut Vladislav Rubachenko was ordered to pilot the experimental reationless space vehicle The Soldarity of the Working Class on a 6 month mission out past the moon (a mission of the utmost secrecy) it was assumed by all in the politburo that he was not coming back. But something happened to Colonel Rubachenko while he was out there. When the Solidarity came limping back to the Zvezdny Gorodok ("Star City") space facility Rubachenko had been...changed.Though he physically looked much the same as when he left, he was imbued with powers beyond those of normal men. First manifesting as powerful telekinetic abilites, Rubachenko was attached to the Soviet National Super Team (an arm of the Red Army) and renamed Kosmonaut.But this was not an ordinary metahuman. Seemingly with every passing day, Kosmonaut's powers increased, or manifested entirely new aspects (inside of a year of his being attached to the Red Army, he could effect nearly every metahuman power that had ever been observed), and for awhile, the Supreme Soviet was incredibly happy with their Kosmonaut.But with his seemingly ever-increasing levels of power came mental changes that were making it harder and harder for the Russians to "aim" their weapon. The immense levels of telepathy and enhanced senses he was devloping made it next to impossible for The Kosmonaut to concentrate on communication with one person, he was developing a truly "global" view of things. The Soviet push into Afghanistan, originally so successful with The Kosmonaut in the Vanguard (disintegrating entrie cities with but a gesture, striding across battlefields like a titan), simply stalled out (eventually being repulsed by fanatical Mujahedeen guerillas led by the fabled Lion of Islam) when he, to all apparent purposes, simply decided to no longer fight.The Kosmonaut attempted briefly to work with elements of The Honor Guard, hoping that he might have a place amongst Earth's most powerful heroes, but in very short order, his power growth left even a group this powerful in his wake. It was being speculated by the world media that there was virtually nothing that The Kosmonaut couldn't do, and there was little reason to question this position.Amongst the list of acts attributed to The Kosmonaut<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Removal of Cancer from every sufferer on Earth (new cancer has appeared since this mass healing)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The conversion of Greenland to arable land (and a subsequent change back to Tundra whe it became clear that the Russians and Americans were going to go to war over it)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The elimination of the moon-sized comet DaSilva-McIntyre as it was about to collide with the Earth.</li> </ul>Without their "Pet God" (as he was known to the Western press), the Soviets were incapable of maintaining the level of control over their territories as they had in the past, and President Mikhail Gorbachev began instituting a program of Glasnost ("Openness"), heralding the fall of the Soviet Union.The world feared the worst when Malcolm Factor, the centenarian criminal mastermind, laid a trap for The Kosmonaut in the New Mexico desert. Factor (correctly) assumed that a Nuclear detonation would draw the attention of Earth's mightiest creature, and (incorrectly) assumed that subsequent detonations would destroy him.That they weaponry did nothing to him was a surprise to all involved.It was seemingly without anger that the Kosmonaut collected all of the musroom cloud fallout back toward himself as well as somehow (it was, and is, beyond the ken of current science) pulling all of the residual radiation into a 1km square area and containing it therein.He summoned Factor to him (that is to say; materialized him) and in front of the gathered press, made Factor immortal(forever frozen at age 104), and incapable of suriviving outside of a high radiation environment.He then tossed Factor, through the air into what the press has, in recent years, come to refer to asl the "Factor Zone"....the 1km square area of nuclear fallout and blast debris. Malcolm Factor resides there to this day; mad from boredom and loneliness, incapable of leaving due to the excruciating pain involved.In recent years, The Kosmonaut has withdrawn almost entirely from earthly concerns, residing in high orbit in a crystal space station of his own creation (approx. 10km across). Attempts to contact him go unnoticed, attempts to approach The Cosmopolis are gently rebuffed.In this same time frame, there have been several instances of individuals "praying" to The Kosmonaut for aid....and recieving it in some way (though never with a direct intervention).Across the world, small chapters of the U.S. based First Church of the Cosmonaut, have sprung up and are growing in popularity.It would seem that people have a much easier time with a religion that requires no faith at all; simply belief that there is a higher power for good. Many see the Cosmonaut as that higher power.The Vatican has yet to issue a statement on the existence of The Cosmonaut, except to say that "everything is part of God's plan"The Chosen, the leaders of New Zion have not been so diplomatic, going so far as to speculate that The Cosmonaut may be the AntiChrist mentioned in the book of revelation, and that they intend to keep an eye out for any attempts to unite the world under his rule (though The Armored Saint, in one of his more candid moments, admitted he hd no idea what they could hope to do should tis come to pass).It was largely the intervention of The Cosmonaut that allowed Earth's heroes to mobilize against the Hoon, holding as he did some 2000 of the Hoon's Capital Ships immobile in the oort belt,  and alerting (by taking control of every piece of technology on Eath capable of transmitting a voice; Televisions, Radios, hearing aids...) humanity to it's threat at virtually the same moment the Justice Hurricane unmasked the Hoon Infiltrators on live TV.The Hoon were reduced to using Troop Transport Saucers without the planned pre-invasion bombardment.Why The Cosmonaut allowed the Troop Ships through reamins a mystery to this day. Speculation ranges from "there is a limit to his power", to "The Cosmonaut works in mysterious ways".</blockquote>

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