[Majima Gakuen Kōkō]
[Kuoh, Chūbu Chihou]
[Nihon Hondo, Dai Nihon Teikoku]
[East Asia, Earth]
The rooftop of Majima Gakuen Kōkō glowed with the soft hues of the setting sun, a stark contrast to the chaos that had erupted below.
Hyōdō Issei leaned against the railing, his muscular chest rising and falling as he fought to steady his breath.
He fished for the small vial of pills he always kept hidden, a lifeline in moments like this.
The sun's warmth did little to ease the cold sweat trickling down his back.
His carefully constructed facade lay in ruins, shattered by Ukyō's sudden appearance, a flood of memories crashing over him like a tidal wave.
Today's chaos throbbed like a pulse in his temples, refusing to fade with the daylight.
And there she stood, Igawa Asagi—the legendary kunoichi who had even the Siberian OZNAZ shivering in its boots, although of course Issei didn't know that—disguised as a high school physical education teacher, her long purple hair swaying in the wind as she gazed down at him with amusement.
Her sharp teal eyes sparkled with amusement, a calmness about her that felt unnerving, especially when Ukyō threatened to turn the classroom into a battlefield earlier.
Arms crossed, Asagi regarded him with the predatory patience of a tiger sizing up its prey.
The weight of her scrutiny pressed down on him, her gaze piercing through his bravado.
"Well?" she said, her voice cool and steady, yet laced with an authority that demanded answers.
Issei sighed, rubbing his temples in frustration.
"I don't even know where to start," he groaned, hands on his hips.
"I didn't ask for any of this! The crazy okonomiyaki lady burst into class swinging a katana! What am I supposed to do? Let her carve me up like gourmet sashimi?"
Asagi's eyebrow arched slightly, a hint of amusement dancing in her eyes. "You knew her name."
"She said it herself!" Issei shot back, exasperation bubbling over. "Kuonji Ukyō this, Kuonji Ukyō that—how am I supposed to know where she came from?!"
"Hmm." Asagi's noncommittal hum sent a chill through the air.
He could feel her gaze, unwavering and sharp, cutting through his defenses.
She hadn't responded yet, but he could sense her suspicion hanging in the air like a storm cloud.
He needed a distraction, but Asagi's presence was a force of nature, compelling him to speak.
"Go on," she urged, her tone inviting yet firm.
Resigned, Issei leaned back against the railing, letting out a groan.
He hesitated, weighing his words carefully.
The urge to say nothing flickered in his mind, but the intensity of her gaze pushed him otherwise.
Asagi had the unshakeable air of someone who could see through lies, someone he didn't want to deceive.
She would likely interrogate him until sundown if he tried to evade her questions.
Besides, in his mind, Asagi was a undercover detective of Kuoh's branch of the Keisatsu-chō [1].
What harm could it do to complain?
"Fine," he relented, shooting her a weary look that betrayed his exhaustion.
"I'll tell you everything. Well, most of it."
"Alright, Hyōdō," Asagi replied, her voice cool and neutral, yet charged with unspoken authority.
"You're going to explain—today—what that was all about. Don't think I didn't notice. You moved like someone who's been training their whole life. Who are you?"
For a moment, Issei toyed with the idea of slipping back into his familiar routine of half-hearted denials, the safe cocoon of his "perverted fool" persona that had shielded him for years.
But Asagi's calculating gaze anchored him, her poised energy a quiet storm brewing just beneath the surface.
He felt instinctively that any attempt to deceive her would end poorly.
"Well, sensei…" He leaned further against the railing, scratching the back of his head as a nervous chuckle escaped him.
"You're probably going to think I'm crazy, but—uh—what if I told you my bio...sorry I meant my sperm donor... isn't exactly what you would call...a nice guy? Not at all?"
The words hung in the air, and he winced at how lame they sounded once vocalized.
Asagi's eyebrows arched slightly, a crack in her stoic demeanor that suggested genuine interest—maybe even amusement.
"Oh? That's it? Some daddy issues? I didn't peg you as the brooding type." Her teasing tone held an edge, daring him to delve deeper.
"No, no, no!" Issei shook his head vigorously, desperate to articulate the chaotic storm of his upbringing.
"Genma—my, uh, old man—he's not just bad news. He's the definition of absolute trouble. Picture a 'con artist martial arts hermit'—if the media even knew he existed. That's him. He swindles people, schemes, steals stuff—and was dragging me along for the ride for as long as I can remember. Before I escaped. That was like eleven, ten years ago."
"And you expect me to believe this?" Asagi tilted her head, skepticism wrapped around her words.
"Oh, trust me. I haven't even touched the ridiculous parts," Issei continued, the frustration pouring from him.
"Like how he managed to engage me to God-knows-how-many girls across Asia just so he could pilfer their families' stuff! Or how he—get this...—conned kung-fu Amazons in Qinghai out of their sacred scrolls just because he thought it'd be fun to test his luck! And because he was bored."
Asagi's expression didn't change, though her eye flickered almost imperceptibly at the mention of Qinghai and scrolls.
Still, she remained silent, allowing him to spill his story.
"It gets worse." Issei's words flowed more freely now, the memories of his fractured childhood spilling out.
"We spent years on the road—dodging angry fathers, brothers, tribes—you name it! And if that wasn't bad enough, the maniac dragged us to Zhòuquánxiāng [2] —you know the supposed "legendary" cursed springs in Qīnghǎi Shěng? Yeah, those. And I can tell you, they're very, very real. One wrong step, and you turn into gods-know-what whenever cold water shows up."
"Wait…" Asagi's tone shifted, a sharpness creeping into her voice. "You're saying you were in Zhòuquánxiāng? The Zhòuquánxiāng?"
"Yup. Barely escaped, alright? Bastard had every intention of training me until I dropped dead...or he could use me as a free meal ticket while he would just mooch off me. Practically tortured me. You wouldn't believe how many times I almost—Oh crap, I'm rambling…"
Issei froze, realizing he'd let too much slip.
Asagi's gaze sharpened, narrowing dangerously as she homed in like an interrogator closing in on a confession.
"And you're certain you escaped your father?" she pressed, her voice devoid of any jest.
"... I mean…" Issei rubbed the back of his neck, hunting for a response that wouldn't betray the tangled reality of his life.
"Define 'escaped.'"
"Hyōdō-kun. Did your father ever meet anyone from the Nǚjié cūn [3]?"
Asagi's question sliced through the air, her playful facade evaporating into something far more serious.
At the sound of the Nǚjié cūn, Issei felt a jolt in his heart.
The term was familiar enough to trigger alarm bells in his mind, but the way she pronounced it carried a weight that settled over the rooftop like a guillotine's blade, poised to drop.
"Uh…" He sighed, running a hand through his dark brown hair, realizing no clean escape existed.
"Yes. Kind of. Maybe. Definitely. Let's go with definitely here. Why?"
Asagi's silence hung dangerously, her sharp gaze dissecting him, connecting dots he couldn't even begin to fathom.
The atmosphere thickened, stretching into something suffocating until, finally, she softened her approach just enough to cloak the tension with a casual disinterest.
"Let's just say the long arm of certain overseas clans still reaches into Japan, and they don't exactly forgive theft lightly."
"That sounds ominous," Issei muttered, leaning further against the railing, the weight of her words settling heavily on his shoulders.
"Oh, you really have no idea," Asagi replied dryly, her mind already racing through a web of implications—the ancient Happōsai's reawakening and the subsequent resurgence of thefts attributed to him, Yūjirō's destructive rampage in the restored Rossiyskoye Tsarskoy Gosudarstvo [9] which had been ruling over European Russia ever since the fall of Stalin's puppet governments in the Middle East, North Korea and Asia respectively starting in the 1970s [4], the Nǚjié zú putting a kill order on both "Genma" and Genma's son, Ranma, who was currently thought either long dead or missing in the eyes of both the law and the world, but was in fact, in front of her at the moment, giving part of the testimony that would bring down his father.
All those threats brushing dangerously close to Kuoh's borders.
Asagi's eyes narrowed slightly, the shadows of the past reflecting in their depths as the sunset faded, leaving them surrounded by the encroaching night.
Meanwhile, half a world away...
[NSA Headquarters, Fort G. Meade]
[Maryland, United States of America]
[North America]
The dimly lit room buzzed with the quiet hum of computers and the soft clatter of keyboards. Monitors flickered with streams of data, each screen a window into a different corner of the world.
In the heart of this digital labyrinth sat the operatives of Third Echelon, the elite unit of the American NSA tasked with the most sensitive of missions by the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the White House.
"Target acquired," a voice announced, breaking the silence.
The operative, a seasoned veteran named Sam Fisher, leaned closer to his screen, his eyes narrowing as he focused on the live feed from Japan.
"Hyōdō Issei," he muttered, reading the dossier. "Second-year high school student, Kuoh City. Known for his rather...peculiar persona."
"Is this the kid whom the Company [5] thinks was running around Asia taking on both Green Berets and Spetnaz gone rouge as sparring practice, before he disappeared, somehow managing to avoid not only us, but the Russians as well, before reappearing in Japan alive and well...albiet under another name? Saotome Ranma, I think it was?" another operative chimed in, swiveling his chair to face Sam.
"The kid who...?"
"That's the one," Sam confirmed, his voice laced with intrigue.
"But there's more to him than meets the eye. Our intel suggests he's connected to some… unusual activities."
The room fell silent as the operatives absorbed the information.
On the screen, Issei stood on the rooftop of Majima Gakuen Kōkō, the wind tousling his hair as he conversed with a striking woman.
"Who's the woman?" a young analyst asked, adjusting his glasses as he zoomed in on the image.
"That's Igawa Asagi," Sam replied, his tone cautious.
"She's a Taimanin. [6] Officially, she's with the Japanese National Police Agency, but unofficially… she's part of a covert unit of what's now the JSDF's SFG, dealing with supernatural threats."
"Supernatural?" the analyst echoed, disbelief coloring his voice.
"You mean like ghosts and goblins?"
"More like monsters and demon lords," Sam corrected, his gaze never leaving the screen. "And it seems our boy Issei is right in the middle of it."
As the operatives watched, Asagi's expression shifted from stern professionalism to something softer, almost empathetic.
Her lips moved, forming words that the surveillance equipment struggled to capture.
"She's asking about his father," Sam noted, reading the transcription. "Saotome Genma, or as we know him… Hanma Yūjirō."
"Wait, the Hanma Yūjirō?" another operative interjected, his voice tinged with awe and more than a little bit of outright fear at the mention of the Orge's name.
"That Hanma Yūjirō? The one who fought both the USA and the CCCP to a standstill in Vietnam? The one who made governments across the world into his bitches and who supposedly took down Voronya Scala [7] in Russia recently? You mean that guy!?"
"The very same," Sam confirmed, his voice grim. "And it looks like the Nǚjié zú have put a kill order on both him and Issei."
The room buzzed with a mix of excitement and tension.
The operatives knew they were witnessing something extraordinary, a convergence of myth and reality that defied explanation.
"Should we deploy the Ghosts?" the young analyst suggested, his voice eager.
"This could be the perfect opportunity to gather intel on East Asia."
Sam considered the proposal, his sharp mind racing through the possibilities.
"Not yet," he decided, his voice firm.
"Let's see how this plays out. We need more information before we make a move."
As the operatives continued to monitor the feed, the conversation between Issei and Asagi took an unexpected turn.
The mention of the Nǚjié zú and their decades-long vendetta against Genma sent ripples of shock through the room.
"Greek Amazons in China?" the analyst whispered, his eyes wide with disbelief.
"And they're real?"
"Looks like it," Sam replied, his voice steady despite the revelation.
"And if the supernatural is real… we need to be ready for anything."
The room fell silent once more, the operatives lost in thought as they watched the drama unfold on the screen.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in Kuoh, back in Japan, Kiryū Aika sat at her desk in her room, idly spinning her pen before scribbling her thoughts into a pink faux-leather notebook marked significantly with gold-pressed letters that read "Secret Strategies."
"So… Hyōdō Issei, huh?" she murmured to herself, pushing her green-rimmed glasses higher up the bridge of her nose as her bright green eyes flashed with interest at what secrets her supposedly perverted idiot classmate was hiding behind that foolish grin of his.
"Guess it's time to dig up some dirt…"
Deep in her playful yet devious mind, the next stage of chaos set its roots.
In a dimly lit alley in the bad part of Kuoh, Yūjirō Hanma— back in Japan after humiliating the heirs of Trotsky and currently masked under his current identity of renowned sexual predator Kimura Masaya—prowled like a beast on the hunt.
His predatory eyes scanned the area, seeking out unsuspecting young girls and women to fulfill his nefarious desires.
The Hanma bloodline demanded strong heirs, and he was more than willing to provide, by any means necessary.
He sauntered down the streets, his menacing aura making even the bravest toughs shrink back.
Little did Yūjirō know that another predator stalked these same streets, a specter from a war long past.
Mack Bolan [8], the infamous Executioner, had eyes like steely blue daggers fixed on his prey as he wiped sweat from his face, brushing back his short black hair.
Lean and muscular, with the hardened demeanor of a warrior who had seen hell and lived to tell the tale, Bolan navigated the shadows effortlessly.
He'd tracked Yūjirō's movements for weeks with military precision, watching, waiting, planning.
As Yūjirō approached a secluded park where he'd noticed a group of schoolgirls giggling, Mack Bolan's gloved hand slowly pulled his custom Beretta automatic from its holster.
From his hidden vantage point, he saw the flash of disinterest and menace in Yūjirō's eyes.
Bolan's mind raced with the strategic calculations of a seasoned war veteran.
"This monster's doing more than just spreading his seed," Bolan muttered under his breath. "He's a plague."
Yūjirō, under his false guise, eyed a narrow alley, dark and isolated—a perfect hunting ground in his warped perspective.
He was unaware of the legend shadowing him.
Bolan's patience paid off.
Clad in a dark tactical suit, his camouflage veiled the warrior's presence, rendering him almost invisible in the subdued lighting of Kuoh's alleys.
"Big Thunder", his trusty customized Automag heavy pistol, rested reassuringly against his hip, and the solid weight of his knife provided a grim comfort.
Bolan had been observing Yūjirō long before the Orge had even arrived in Kuoh.
Months of careful, silent tracking had led him back to his current hideout of Japan, where he mixed business and his personal war.
Triad cells and the Korean Yakuza had felt the crippling bite of his vengeance, yet nothing would compare to the satisfaction he'd feel putting down this monster.
As Yūjirō disappeared into the alley, Bolan moved, blending seamlessly with the shadows.
He was a ghost and a reaper rolled into one.
The Hellbinder, poised to strike and banish another evil from this world, always one step ahead in his relentless pursuit of justice.
Yūjirō turned, sensing something, a vague prickling of his battle-honed instincts.
But the alley was empty, save for the echo of distant voices.
Unseen, unnoticed, Bolan pulled the trigger of Big Thunder, the silencer ensuring the end that approached was noiseless as the grave.
The round hit a brick near Yūjirō's head, not enough to harm but more than enough to taunt.
A dark grin crossed Bolan's face.
"Come and play, Ogre," he mouthed silently, melting back into the night to continue his ghostly pursuit.
Yūjirō's eyes narrowed, suspicion swirling. He didn't know who or what was coming for him.
But Mack Bolan, the Executioner, the Hellbinder, was a predator not easily thwarted.
Yūjirō would not have another peaceful moment until Bolan was done with him.
In the shadows of the Chrysanthemum Throne, a new chapter was beginning, one that would challenge everything they thought they knew about the world.
[1] Japan's National Police Agency
[2] The Legendary training ground of "cursed" springs, located near the Amazon Village
[3] The residence of the "Village of Women Heroes" or as the Viz English translation of Ranma 1/2 would call them "Chinese Amazons".
[4] In this alternate timeline, Leon Trotsky and Yuri Andropov die before fulfilling their respective political ambitions, leading the USSR to maintain Brezhnev's détente policies with the West and relinquishing unprofitable colonies like the so-called State of Israel in West Palestine and, the so-called "Democratic People's Republic of Korea" occupying North Korea that Stalin also created.
Korea reunites under a restored Korean People's Republic formed by the unification of the WPK-ruled DPRK in North Korea and the ROK in South Korea sometime in the early 1980s after the USSR and USA both pull out of Korea due to economic problems and unrest at home, with the unified Korea ultimately becoming a Japanese vassal state that Japan subsequently reannexes under some rather suspicious circumstances.
The Soviets and Americans don't contest Japan reannexing Korea because of their own economic and social problems at home, and also due to the fact that Japan's history is a little different than real life [to put it simply, the Tokugawa shogunate survived the Meiji Restoration and became the unofficial Japanese local government, with the Tokugawa clan being split into 5 Regent Houses and also several reforms of the feudal system, also this "imperial shogunate' system survives post-WW2, with Japan retreating into isolationism post-WW2 despite being used as a Far Eastern base by the USA and later Western Europe against the USSR, basically Japan here is to Western Europe what North Korea was to the USSR before 1991 and Russia now in real life, but actually has elements of democracy and liberalism and is just as advanced as real-life Japan], nobody really cares about what's going on in East Asia and the Americans and Russians are glad to wash their hands of Korea.
The Vietnam War is averted as Emperor Bảo Đại of Vietnam abdicates in favor of the more popular legitimist heir of the Nguyễn Phúc Gia Mieu [Imperial House of Nguyễn Phúc], Guy Georges Vĩnh San instead of Bảo Đại's Prime Minister, Ngô Đình Diệm deposing Bảo Đại and forming a Republic in South Vietnam like what happened in real life, leading to peaceful reintegration between North and South Vietnam under the rule of the Southern Monarchy.
Due to Vietnam being united under the rightful Emperor, there is no North Vietnam nor ruling Vietnamese Communist Party, but Ho Chi Minh transitions Vietnam into a democracy after the reunification of Vietnam under the South before his death, with Laos and Cambodia remaining satellites of Vietnam but avoiding the rise of communism in Laos and the Khmer Rouge atrocities in Cambodia.
Taiwan [which became independent from the KMT-ruled Nationalist China as a Republic in its own right, being the South Korean equivalent] reunifies with Japan under a "One Nation, Two Systems" approach similar to what the CCP-ruled PRC did with Hong Kong and Macau after 1998 in real life, which also involves the Soviets giving all of Sakhalin Island and the Kurils to the Japanese before Japan reannexes Korea, leading to the formation of a Dai Nihon Kokka [Greater Japanese State] encompassing the Japanese Home Islands, Taiwan and the Pengu Islands and Sakhalin Island and the Kurils, eventually including Korea after Japan reannexes Korea, while the PRC collapses post-Sino-Vietnamese War due to Ho Chi Minh, feeling disenchanted with the Soviets due to the Soviets refusing to recognize the united Vietnam at the UN, seeking help from the Japanese to help him establish and solidify democracy in Vietnam [and Laos and Cambodia by extension] and also to aid in the reunification of Vietnam economically, militarily and economically after the unification of Vietnam, which allows the Vietnamese to defeat the PRC and even seize Cantonia during the Sino-Vietnamese War.
During the fall of the PRC, the chaos unfolds as both the Soviets and the hesitant USA jointly support the KMT in repeating the "Northern Expedition."
The Soviets first re-establish the Shinjang Guruppisi [Xingjiang Clique] and then the Sherqiy Tyrkistan Jumhuriyiti [East Turkestan Republic] in East Turkestan, but Uyghur independence separatists eventually drive them out of East Turkestan.
Vietnam seizes the main Cantonese provinces of Guangdong and Guangxi from the CCP and later the KMT, while Yunnan gains independence under a restored, or rather reconstituted Yunnan Deihe [Yunnan Clique], transitioning to the Dablit Guaif (Dali Kingdom) ruled by the descendants of the Dablit Guaif's reigning imperial family, Duàn Zong [Imperial House of Duàn].
The Llama-ruled Bod Kyi Ngul Gyi Dzig [Kingdom of Tibet] in Tibet liberates itself from Chinese occupation and subsequently annexes Qinghai.
Inner Mongolia's Chahar and Suiyan provinces fall under the control of a restored Guómínjūn [National People's Army], which later becomes the local government of a restored Mongolyn Öörtöö Zasakh Kholboot Zasgiin Ordon [Mongolian Autonomous Federation] ruled by the Borzhigin Khant Ugsaa [Imperial House of Borjigin].
Manchuria remains a stronghold for the CCP and PRC, even capturing Outer Manchuria from the USSR before a monarchist coup reinstates the Daicing Manju Gurun [Empire of Great Manchuria] of course under the rule of the descendants of the Daiqing Gurun's [Great Qing Empire's] and the Daicing Manju Gurun's shared reigning imperial family, Aisin-Gioro-i-gisun [Imperial House of Aisin-Gioro] as the government of Greater Manchuria, under a restored Fèngxì Jūnfá [Fengtian Clique] ruled by none other than the descendants of the infamous Dàshuài [Old Marshal], Zhāng Zuòlín as the hereditary Mǎnzhōu Jūnzhèngfǔ Zǒngsīlìng [Generalissimo of the Military Government of Manchuria].
Han China eventually comes under a "restored" Běiyáng Zhèngfǔ[Beiyang Government], merging remnants of the CCP, PRC, KMT, and pro-democracy elements, first as a restored Zhōnghuá Mínguó [first Republic of China] and then as an restored Zhōnghuá Dìguó [Empire of China] ruled by the descendants of the Dà Míngguó's [the Great Ming State's/the Ming dynasty's] reigning imperial family, the Zhū Huángshì [Imperial House of Zhu] as its reigning imperial family with the descendants of the Dà Míngguó's most famous satellite kingdom and rump state's, the Dōng Níngguó's royal family that was also a side branch of the Japanese reigning imperial family, the Minamoto Ōke [Minamoto Dynasty], more famously known as the Daiwa Kōshitsu [Imperial House of Great Yamato], the Zhèng Wángcháo [Zheng Dynasty] or the Guóxìngyé Cháodài [Royal House of Koxinga] as YānPíng Wáng [Princes of Yanping] in a dual monarchy ruled by a reconstituted Wǎn Xì [Anhui Clique], albiet with free and fair democratic multi-party elections under secret ballot.
The northwestern provinces of Gansu and Ningxia in Han China and the provinces in the Zhongyuan region of China, along with Southwestern Han China's Sìchuān provinces that are dominated by the Hui reform into the Xibei San Ma ruled by the Ma family, before reforming once more into a semi autonomous region of the restored Ming.
Outer Mongolia experiences a revolution against the Soviet occupation, leading to the restoration of the Ikh Yuan Uls [Great Yuan State/"Yuan dynasty"] ruled by the descendants of the side branch of the Borzhigin Khant Ugsaa known as the Kublay Khan Ezent Gurnyi Ovog [Imperial Clan of Kublai] as its reigning imperial family with heavy influences from the short lived Mongol Uls [Great Mongolian State\Bogd Khanate of Mongolia], while Tuva also undergoes a revolution that sees the restoration of Tannu Uriankhai/Uryankhay Krai [the people living in the woods] as its government.
The restored Great Yuan State seizes parts of Russian-occupied Outer Mongolia and Chinese-occupied Inner Mongolia to form a Greater Mongolia while the Soviets are distracted fighting in China.
Japan, Greater Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, China, Manchuria, Yunnan, Tibet, and later the Hui-dominated parts of Central China form the economic and military alliance of the Dōngyà Gòngtóngtǐ [East Asian Community] in the 1980s after the fall of the PRC and the KMT to fulfill the mission of growing the strength of the East Asian and Central Asian regions through a united monetary policy and a central military command.
Before the chaos in China however, Indonesia's evolution from a struggling, corrupt and dictatoral republic to a stable, if authoritarian monarchy under the guidance of the Javan House of Hamengkubuwono marked a pivotal juncture, redefining the political landscape in favor of a Japanese-backed Islamic constitutional monarchy.
The putsch that facilitated this transition stemmed from discontent with the authoritarian rule of the previous regime, illustrating Japan's adept utilization of local sentiments to foster pro-Japanese governance structures.
The Philippines witnessed a similar recalibration.
The overthrow of the New Society Movement led by Ferdinand Marcos, facilitated by intricate political maneuvering from Japan, resulted in the establishment of a constitutional imperial monarchy under the Royal House of Kiram.
This regime not only echoed sentiments of national pride but also reinforced Japan's position as a benevolent overseer within the archipelago, devoting resources to development while cultivating ties with local nationalists and Islamists.
As the 20th century progressed, the emergence of organizations like the Phnom Penh Conference and collaborations among ASEAN states embodied the responses of local governments grappling with external influence.
These alliances fostered unity among Southeast Asian nations while navigating a path towards self-determination that would challenge Japanese authority, illustrating the complexity of loyalty and resistance that marked this era.
No Andropov becoming leader of the USSR to spread chaos, death and destruction globally in the name of endless worldwide communist revolution as per the creed of Trotsky means that the Iranian Revolution never happens and the Pahlavi dynasty and the Imperial State of Iran stay in power in Iran.
The Iraqi Republic under the rule of the Baathist Party headed by Saddam Hussein also remain stable and Iran and Iraq never come to blows due to there being no Mullahs in Iran.
Also Iraq never gets invaded by the Americans at all and remains stable, rich and prosperous.
Apart from Iran taking parts of the Caucuses and Central Asia from the Soviets along with Afghanistan in addition to Qatar, Jordan absorbing both Palestine and Isreal into itself and Saudi Arabia uniting the rest of the Arabian peninsula, the Middle East is mostly stable and peaceful.
I know that's a lot of exposition and also a lot to take in right now...but you'll see the reason for this backstory later on.
[5] What the American intelligence community calls the CIA
[6] Anti-Demon Ninja
[7] Raven's Rock. That's right. Ubisoft's equivalent of MW's Makarov's [Soviet] Ultranationalists for Ghost Recon. Here, it is the main backer behind Makarov and his cult who want to follow Trotsky.
[8] The one and only ex-Vietnam War Viet turned ruthless serial killer who uses his military training to hunt and kill communists, neo-Nazis, corrupt military generals and the KGB and Soviet soldiers, never innocents.
[9] Russian Imperial State.
After the fall of the Berlin Wall and the dissolution of the USSR in this timeline, the Russian Federation that replaced the RFSR as the government of Russia became a restored White Russia not just in name and government structure, but in spirit by restoring the Romanovs as the reigning imperial family of Russia due to a series of events involving the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Germany under the FRG after the fall of the Berlin Wall.
A certain idiotic ex-KGB agent from Georgia who worked with Polish intelligence to oppress German dissidents in the so-called DDR occupying East Germany before the fall of the Berlin Wall of course will never even enter post Soviet-Russian politics in this timeline, he will follow the Soviet government, army, intelligence services and loyalists to Siberia where the USSR, following the example of its puppets of the Chiang dynasty ruling over the KMT-ruled Nationalist China and the WPK-ruled DPRK in Korea, fled to after losing the Baltics, Eastern Europe, the Central Asian nations and the Caucasian nations held captive under its rule after the USSR's rule in this timeline, serving in a lowly government job in Siberia.
There will be no idiotic "special military operation" in Ukraine to restore Kievan Rus and fulfill Trotsky's delusional goal of a Eurasian Empire of the End spreading revolution and woe across the world disguised as a "de-Nazification" campaign lead by said wannabe Trotsky, because neither the Donbass region nor Crimea belong to either Ukraine or Russia in this timeline, and these regions, along with Ukraine have already been integrated in Europe along with European Russia.
The Donbass region is controlled by a union of the liberated Vsevelikoye Voysko Donskoye [Almighty Don Host] in Russia's Don region and the liberated Kubanskaya Narodnaya Respublika [Kuban People's Republic] in Russia's Kuban Oblast known as the Obiedinyonnaya Avtonomnaya Obiedineniya Kazakov [United Cossack Autonomous Federation], but simply called the Korolevstvo Kazakia [Kingdom of Cossakia], or simply Kazakia [Cossakia] which is a constitutional royal imperial monarchy governed by the descendants of Kievan Rus' reigning imperial family, the House of Rurikid.
The Ukrainska Derzhava [Ukrainian State] in Ukraine, minus Crimea and the Donbass ruled by the House of Skoropadsky was liberated from the Soviets just before the Soviet collapse after the fall of the Berlin Wall
The crimes of both the old Tsarist regime against the natives it held captive and the worse crimes done by the Soviets against said captive nations and other captive nations the Soviets had occupied after the rise of the USSR are made part of the education curriculum in all the captive nations liberated from the Soviet occupation after the fall of the USSR.
Basically think of European Russia under the restored Romanov-ruled White Russia as the Russian equivalent of Manchukuo, the Korolevstvo Kazakia ruling over the Don, Kuban and the Donbass as the PRC if it only ruled over Han China and Mao was the Chinese equivalent of Franco, with the PRC acting as a regency for the restoration of the Ming dynasty which was carried out after Mao's death, and the liberated Ukrainska Derzhava in Ukraine minus Crimea and the Donbass as the Eastern European equivalent of Mengjiang, and Soviet Siberia as the Soviet equivalent of the KMT-ruled Nationalist China.