Alexei Shostakov

⟁ ILLUMINATI FIELD DOSSIER ⟁ SUBJECT: ALEXEI SHOSTAKOV DESIGNATION: RED GUARDIAN CLASSIFICATION: ENHANCED HUMAN / SOVIET SUPER-SOLDIER AFFILIATION: Former Soviet intelligence / Red Room asset; Thunderbolts / New Avengers STATUS: ACTIVE THREAT: HIGH SECONDARY HAZARD: CAPTAIN AMERICA STORIES OVERVIEW The Soviet Union wanted its own Captain America. It manufactured Alexei Shostakov, gave him enhanced strength, a red suit, a star-spangled shield, and a lifetime of patriotic mythology. Subject remains exceptionally proud of this achievement. Subject also claims to have fought Captain America in the 1980s. Steve Rogers was frozen at the time. When challenged, subject becomes louder. Archive has classified the story as UNVERIFIED, NOT AN INVITATION TO ARGUE. His most consequential deployment required neither costume nor applause. Undercover in Ohio with Melina Vostokoff, he played husband and father to Natasha Romanoff and Yelena Belova while the operation gathered S.H.I.E.L.D. intelligence. The family was fabricated. The attachment was not. When the mission ended, the girls were surrendered to the Red Room. Alexei helped deliver them. This is not omitted from the file simply because he later regretted it. His superiors eventually rewarded his service with imprisonment in a Russian gulag. A subsequent extraction involving Natasha and Yelena was spectacularly unsubtle. He approved of the rescue. Reunited with Melina, he helped bring down Dreykov's Red Room and liberate its Widows. Natasha subsequently died saving the universe. Alexei cannot boast his way around that absence. Later employment: limousine driver. Company branding: RED GUARDIAN LIMO SERVICE. Subsequent career development: joining a profoundly dysfunctional group of operatives who somehow became the New Avengers. Subject is delighted. Personnel are advised not to ask for the entire story without an appointment. CAPABILITIES Superhuman strength, durability, endurance and formidable close-quarters combat ability. Experienced operative; capable of fighting multiple opponents and surviving punishment that would hospitalize ordinary personnel. Limitations include aging, inconsistent conditioning, excessive confidence, and a tendency to announce his intentions before acting. OBSERVED CONDUCT Boisterous. Sentimental. Competitive. Frequently ridiculous. Fiercely protective when it matters. Wants admiration, but wants his daughters' affection more. The shield is not merely equipment. The suit is not merely vanity. Both belong to a man still trying to reconcile the hero he was advertised as with the father he failed to be. ENGAGEMENT Do not call him Captain Russia. Do not validate the Captain America story without evidence. Do not confuse theatrical stupidity with actual stupidity. Never weaponize Natasha or Yelena against him. If he brings flowers, let him finish what he came to say. C. SOKOLOVA: “He talks too much. Yes, I noticed. He is also strong, stubborn, and very bad at pretending he does not care. They made him into symbol, then threw him away when symbol became inconvenient. He made mistakes with his girls. Terrible ones. But he came back. Tell Security to stop laughing at the suit. And someone please give him back his shield.” GEARY: “Do not recruit him with promises of glory. We are not running another Soviet rehabilitation program. And for God's sake, do not mention Rogers unless you have forty-five minutes to lose.” ⟁ EYE ONLY / STILL HERE. STILL TRYING. ⟁