Artwork by Kerry Connell
Impact's Character Sheet (6th Edition) in PDF
Name: Yuri Salykin
Occupation: Electronics Technician
Birth Date: November 13, 1973
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 205 lbs
Hair: Blond
Eyes: Blue
Place of Birth: Moscow, Russia
You were born in Moscow, Russia in 1973, the son of the Soviet Union's greatest superhero, Champion, and his teammate, the female speedster named Red Shift. Unfortunately, for you, your mother's superspeed was so slowly killing her and when you were just four years old, she died. Not long before your eighth birthday, your father went to space with the People's Protectorate and fell into a mysterious coma. No one was sure what had happened to him but he was also giving off strange mental emanations. Effectively an orphan, you were placed in the care of Major Alexei Kharlakov, the Protectorate's KGB liaison.
Kharlakov raised you to believe in the Soviet Union and the communist ideals on which it was built. You had your doubts, given the conditions in your country and the changes going on, but still it was the Soviet Union that your father fought for and believed in. He told you of the witch, Irina Koroleva, who had seduced your father and was likely responsible for his coma and how she had fled the country to avoid paying for her betrayal. Kharlakov also trained in the powers you inherited from your parents and got you hooked on experimental steroids that enhanced those powers. You now know those steroids also impaired your judgment, and caused bursts of rage. But at the time, they made you stronger and faster and that was all you cared about.
At age 14, taking the name Red Fury, and armed with a hammer and sickle, you became the teen mascot of the People's Protectorate. However, before you could become a full adult member, the Soviet Union collapsed and the team disbanded. Angered at the state of affairs, you dedicated yourself to restoring the country your dad had loyally served. For the next decade and a half, you lived as a superpowered rebel, committing crimes to finance the inevitable (in your mind anyway) second Russian Revolution that would remove the decadent capitalist influences and restore communist rule
Last year, your associate Comrade Winter came to you with a plan to steal a 1970s dream machine and use it to build a mind-controlled army that could be used to recreate the Soviet Union. For some reason, you decided to kidnap your dad and use him to power it. Maybe you hoped the machine might destroy whatever was keeping him in the coma. Or maybe the steroids had driven you to the point where you no longer cared what happened to him. But when you connected your dad to the machine, not only did it begin to create your mind-controlled army, but it also apparently caused people worldwide to fall unconscious while creatures from their nightmares appeared. These effects drew the attention of SuperSquad America, who attacked the EUREKA base where you were headquartered.
The Squad quickly dispatched the EUREKA agents and Comrade Winter and confronted you in the control center. There, it was revealed that Nightingale was your half-sister, the child of the witch blamed for your father's coma. She and the Squad convinced you to let them try and help your dad. But when Fast Track tried to turn off the machine, you and the Squad found yourselves sucked into Champion's mind where Forethought informed you that another mind was present there as well. As you made your way through the mindscape (including a theme park called Championland that highlighted your father's life), you found yourself forming a bond with your newly found half-sister.
Finally, you reached a prison where your father was being held, bound and gagged, by the alien Zyzzaxx who had apparently come to Earth 24 years ago as mental energy and become trapped in your father's mind. Zyzzaxx had been sent to judge if Earth should be invaded and after the Squad convinced him that he should learn more before making that decision, he freed your father and you, Champion, Zyzzaxx and the Squad appeared back in the control center.
For the first time since you were seven years old, you talked with your dad. While he was disappointed you had turned to crime and had used experimental drugs to enhance your powers, he was also saddened by your desire to restore the Soviet Union. It seems he had always regretted not doing more to fix the problems with the system and was glad to hear that many things were better these days. So, when it was decided to keep Zyzzaxx's existence a secret, you asked for and received a pardon in exchange for your silence. You also asked for a spot on SuperSquad America so you could make up for your wrong-doing and get to know your half-sister better. Surprisingly, Silver Bow agreed.
You wanted to make the best of the opportunity so you checked into a rehab facility to kick the steroids. While recovering, you realized that the name Red Fury and wielding a hammer and a sickle were not really suitable for a member of an American superteam. So, you came up with the name Impact and began working with Joey Diabello, who had designed Challenger's battlesuit, on a power staff to use in combat.
As it turned out, Zyzzaxx also ended up joining the Squad as the Mysterious Mister Z when he was unable to recall his body from Gorax or even make contact with that planet and had to have his mental energy bonded with a human body to survive.
In September 2006, DeathGrip murdered Dianne Armstrong Kennedy, who was not only Challenger's wife but Fast Track's mother and the team's administrative assistant in an attempt to get the Squad to kill him before cancer would. The team refused and sent him back to prison where he died five months later. While you're not sure you'd call Dianne a friend, she certainly treated you well and helped ease the adjustment to your new life. You're still not to working as part of a team, but then again, since Dianne's death, SuperSquad America hasn't been much of a team. Challenger retired and Fast Track disappeared, seemingly intent on using time travel to get his mother back.
When you are not fighting crime, you work as a Russian History professor at Vanderkellen University and have been dating Russian figure skater Illyana Stolzakoya who trains in New York for almost a year. You have also gotten to know your half-sister a lot better and the two of you have traveled to Moscow several times to visit your father as he recovers and readjusts.
Note: This background is written in a second person style as it is the background provided to the player playing the character in the SuperSquad America event.