Svetlana Hotel, Yekaterinburg

"Gentlemen, it is time for Operation Yekaterina to proceed. The first stage will be to contact the local garrison. After that stage, we will wait until five o'clock in the evening. During that time, we will ensure that all nearby roads beside the building are on lockdown. That will ensure that any resistance will lack any outside support once we raid the building. Finally, we will surround the Ipatiev House and make demands for the surrender of Mikhail Vaganov," Agent Sasha spoke, looking at each of the ten agents in front of him.

"For our Empress!" one agent said.

"Yes, long live her Imperial Majesty. We shall bring justice to the murderers of our late Tsar and Tsarina," Sasha spoke.

Immediately, the agents began to put on their civilian disguises. After doing so, they opened their suitcases to take their Colt and Mauser pistols, glinting a dark luster in the sunlight. The black-painted paint on the C96 Mauser pistols fit well as the color of death. For two lives, another would be taken. Vengeance, not only justice, was at hand. Ever since seeing the four Grand Duchesses mourn the loss of their loving parents, Agent Sasha vowed to avenge the deaths of Nicholas and Alexandra. He had also lost a cousin in a bombing done by anarchist revolutionaries, so he understood the pain that OTMA felt.

A few minutes passed while the agents prepared to leave the hotel. The agents each concealed their firearms into the deep pockets of their pants. Each of them gave a serious look at Agent Sasha. The gravity of the situation was apparent to them. The fate of the Russian Empire hung in the balance. If successful, all of the agents would be promoted, the Romanovs would be safe, and the Bolsheviks would be crippled without their leader on Russian soil. If they failed, they would be killed by the Bolsheviks and endanger the Romanov dynasty. The dynasty could not afford another failure in its security. The Livadia Raid was proof of that.

The eleven agents exited the room, dressed in their civilian disguises. After reaching the waiting room, Agent Sasha and the ten other suited men took their seats on the couches. They would wait for the taxis to arrive. With a sigh, Agent Sasha looked through the window, seeing the passerby. The romantic music from the gramophone across the room did not help his mood. Of all things he expected to experience during the mission, he never expected to have feelings for a mere taxi driver. Despite his fondness for that woman, he could not allow her to distract him. What if she were an undercover revolutionary?

Nevertheless, the recorded voice of a female singer continued to sing. "Shine, shine my star... Hello star of love! You are my one cherished..."

"Nice tune, right Mister Sasha?" a dark-haired agent beside him spoke.

"Da, it makes me think of many things."

"I enjoy this song, it makes me think of my woman back in Moscow. I promised her that I would return during this winter."

"I hope that you will, Andrei," Sasha said.

About half an hour passed, and the agents heard the honking of car horns outside. Sasha motioned for his fellow agents to follow him, and they all get up from their seats to follow him. Sasha stepped onto the stone sidewalk, and he smiled. There, under the early Siberian sun, was taxi-fifty-three. It was not the new paint job on the smooth and shiny exterior of the automobile, but the driver in it. She was the taxi driver that had sent Sasha to his hotel during the previous day.

"Good morning, Mister Sasha. It is good to be of assistance to you and your peers again," Tasha said, smiling.

"And a good morning to you, Miss Tasha. To the local garrison, please," Sasha said, holding up his Okhrana identification badge.

"You are Okhrana? Yekaterinburg taxi service offers a discount for all officials and agents. That will be one ruble instead of five per passenger."

"That is good to know."

Sasha looked at some of his fellow agents. "Get in, we have business to do."

All of the agents sat in the automobiles, paying the taxi drivers with generous tips again. Despite the discount, the agents knew that taxi drivers were not paid as much as most middle-class workers. Tasha and her fellow drivers began to drive their vehicles to the local garrison. Time could not be wasted.

The taxi passed a small clearing in the middle of the city. A short distance from the road, the waters of the Iset River glinted under the morning sun, flowing with a gentle current. The three taxis passed by the Ipatiev House. From the outside, its white-painted exterior showed no signs of inhabitants. Sasha squinted at the house, and he glimpsed a face behind the window. The man behind the window closed the curtains soon after being spotted.

The three taxis slowed, and they came to a halt in front of the local garrison. To the relief of the agents, there were very few pedestrians in sight. Tasha, looking into the eyes of the elite agent, gave a smile.

"Perhaps this is a goodbye for now. I will pray for you."

"Spasibo, Miss Tasha."

"Whatever mission you are leading, I hope that it will succeed, Mister Sasha," Tasha said in a quiet tone.

"Your support for us is greatly appreciated," Sasha said, placing on his hat and taking his briefcase.

Tasha reached into her pocket and pulled out a small wooden cross before placing it in the hands of the blonde man. Her pink, tender lips curled into a smile, and her hazel brown eyes shone in the sunlight. Sasha smiled back at his kind and humble taxi driver. He took the crucifix without a word.

"Dosvidaniya, Miss Tasha," Sasha said, and Tasha drove her taxi away.

Sasha watched the vehicle speed away, leaving puffs of dust behind. He glanced back at his agents, who gestured to the garrison building: a drab gray and brown building. Towering over three stories above him, the building had the appearance of a mammoth monolith, yet its Russian Revival architecture gave it a certain beauty. Ornate window-sills and columns decorated the facade. Andrei and Sasha led the rest of the agents closer to the entrance, where a guard stood at attention.

"Halt! No civilians allowed-"

"We are with the Okhrana, sir," Sasha said, taking out his Okhrana identification.

The guard squinted at the card, and he grunted in response. He turned backwards and knocked on the door. The door opened. Another guard stepped out with a tall, fit man dressed in a gray suit. Upon his attire, a brass badge gleamed in the sunlight.

The man stared down at Agent Sasha with his gray eyes. "I am Nolan Lensky, commander of the Yekaterinburg Garrison. We have received a telegram from St. Petersburg telling us to expect a visit by Okhrana agents. I presume that all eleven of you are the visitors?"

"Correct, Mister Lensky. I am Sasha Krenin, Director of the Petersburg Okhrana Division."

"Ah, so you are the infamous Agent Sasha within the Okhrana, the formidable right hand man of our Empress."

"Yes. Now, we have a request, but we must go inside first."

"Acknowledged."


The Okhrana agents talked with the staff of the Yekaterinburg Garrison, sharing their reports with Lensky. The meeting went without any difficulties. As part of the agreement, Lensky would send fifty soldiers to surround the Ipatiev House while the Okhrana agents raided the house. If the agents perished, the soldiers would storm the building. Even the town roads would be closed with soldier groups starting an hour before the raid. Satisfied with the plan, Lensky approved it.

"Excellent. We will dine earlier at five before leaving ten minutes before six past noon," Lensky said, making a weak smile at the numerous garrison staff and agents sitting before him.

"I believe that we will finally be able to capture Red Bear, otherwise known as Mikhail Vaganov. There is virtually no chance for his escape."

"What of his son? What if he escapes?"

"We do not know about his exact whereabouts, but we suspect that he is somewhere in Yekaterinburg. If he does attempt to escape, he will be caught by the guards. Our plan is foolproof."

All of the soldiers and agents nodded. Andrei, who felt relaxed, sipped from his cup of warm tea. He wondered if the mission would completely succeed in disrupting the Bolshevik movement. There were many factors to consider, but one of them was the son of Mikhail Vaganov. Although Gleb Vaganov lacked any criminal record, he remained a potential threat to the monarchy. There was little doubt that his father had raised him in revolutionary teachings. The thought of Gleb surviving disturbed the agent. However, he knew better than to doubt his superiors. He would do his duty for the Russian Empire and his Empress without fail.

As evening approached, the agents and a hundred soldiers left the garrison. The first fifty would block the roads around the Ipatiev House. The other fifty would surround the Ipatiev House. All the pieces were coming into place.

"I am eager to see Red Bear writhing in agony," one soldier remarked.

"Yes, the little coward, hiding in a dirty little house!" another soldier said in a mocking tone.

Andrei laughed along with the soldiers. Even the well-trained and disciplined agent could not wait much longer until the mission truly began. He did not wait long, as the automobiles reached the Ipatiev House within minutes. At once, Andrei and his fellow agents stepped out of their automobiles, taking out their pistols. The soldiers also exited their vehicles, holding their rifles. A truck arrived not long afterward, and three soldiers stepped out of it before unloading a Maxim machine gun. Andrei quickly hid behind the husk of the vehicle, gripping his pistol tight in his hands. The soldiers took their positions around the building. The agents all stood at ready behind their parked vehicles. Only Agent Sasha stepped in front of the line of soldiers and vehicles.

"Mikhail Vaganov, you are surrounded! There is no use in escaping! Come out without resistance, and we may spare your accomplices... you have three minutes," Sasha yelled.

Instead of hering a reply, Sasha heard nothing. He cautiously stepped back towards the vehicles, and he took cover behind one of them. The sound of footsteps could be heard from within the Ipatiev House. The front windows suddenly opened to reveal men and women with rifles. Within a split second, multiple loud bangs could be heard. A barrage of bullets rained onto the soldiers. Some of them slumped to the ground, dead.

"Take cover!" Lensky said, running to a safe area behind an automobile.

Andrei ran to a spot beside Sasha. A bullet whizzed only centimeters above his head, slamming into the ground with a puff of dust. More guns could be heard firing. The presence of resistance within the Ipatiev House was no surprise, but the amount of volunteer defenders was greater than expected. Mikhail was not a fool. He was the cunning mastermind behind the Livadia Raid and numerous attacks on garrisons around Russia. He was the Red Bear, the co-leader of the underground Bolshevik movement.

Sasha looked at the Maxim machine gun, where the three soldiers lay dead. The resistance had enough sense to take them out, as the machine gun would overpower their paltry rifles and pistols.

"Are you planning to use that?" Andrei asked Sasha while the soldiers around them shot at the windows of the Ipatiev House.

"Of course! Tell some soldiers to join us."

Andrei approached the two soldiers that he had laughed with earlier. They both had the same eye and hair coloring: brown. Perhaps they were twin brothers. The agent asked them to follow him.

"Why?" one of them said.

"Because we must use the Maxim machine gun! We must overpower the resistance!" Andrei said.

"Agreed, we will cover you," the other twin spoke, as another bullet whizzed over his head.

The soldiers ran alongside Andrei, taking cover behind the now damaged vehicles. Bullets missed them by less than three centimeters, slamming into the parked cars. Another few soldiers fell. Glancing around at the bodies of soldiers, Andrei guessed that ten had died. They would soon have to retreat within a few minutes at that rate of casualty. Sasha reached the gun first, and he gripped the handles. He took aim at a window while the two soldiers fired back at two defenders within the windows. Their two well-placed shots ensured that both defenders would never fire back again.

"Dosvidanya, you filthy bastards!" Sasha said, pulling the trigger.

A deadly stream of bullets sped out of the muzzle, peppering the Ipatiev House with numerous bullet holes as Sasha swung the Maxim in an arc. The defenders attempted to fire back, but they were cut down by the sheer firepower of the Maxim machine gun. Blood splattered on the windowsills, and bodies collapsed behind the windows. Sasha continued to fire the weapon until the enemy fire ceased. The soldiers and agents cheered.

"Forward, men! Bring down the door!" Lensky said, pointing at the building.

One soldier threw a grenade towards the door. In three seconds, the door was reduced to splinters by an loud explosion. The soldiers readied their bayonets and rifles and rushed into the Ipatiev House. After some time, the soldiers emerged with a tall dark-haired man and a few other plainly dressed men in restraints. The threw his bruised body onto the ground, and the man coughed.

"Ah, we meet for the first time, and perhaps the last," Sasha said.

"You may have captured me and my accomplices, but the Bolshevik movement will continue," Mikhail grunted.

"Where is your son?"

"Far away from this house, Mister Sasha. You will not find him anywhere in this city."

"Then we will have to resort to a trial," Andrei growled.

"Take him away. Our mission is done for now," Sasha ordered the soldiers, who continued to lead Mikhail toward the cars. He would be imprisoned for three weeks and in trial for another before his execution.


July 23, 1912

Olga watched from the balcony of the Winter Palace as eight men were marched to the center of the Alexander Square. A massive crowd, blocked by royal guards and soldiers, watched the scene unfold. The few thousand loyal citizens within St. Petersburg had gathered in the square in anticipation for this moment. Some of the citizens chanted the anthem, and some kept silent. The shouts and the singing only grew louder as the eight men were led to the Alexander I monument. Where a triumph had been commemorated long ago, another victory would occur. Justice would finally come for four orphaned young women, a grieving Dowager Empress, and the millions of loyal monarchists in Russia.

"Death to the traitors!"

"Long live Imperial Russia!"

The Empress lowered her arms, and the crowd went silent after a few moments. She pointed her arm at the eight men far below her. The eight soldiers standing in front of the Red Bear and his accomplices lifted their pistols and took aim. Behind them, Lensky shouted the orders.

"Fire!"

All of the soldiers fired their pistols, firing shots that would change Russia forever. Mikhail collapsed onto the ground, oozing blood from his mutilated chest. He laughed a gurgled laugh, coughing blood from his mouth. He did not laugh for long, as another round of gunfire silenced him and his men. As soon as Mikhail hit the ground, the crowd screamed with joy.

Not far from the scene, a photographer took a picture with a Kodak Brownie camera. In a flash, the moment was forever immortalized in shades of black and white. A teenage Empress had accomplished what her father had failed to do: capture and eliminate the hated Red Bear. The world would be stunned by the execution for over a week afterwards.