Saving the Romanov family #1

[Note: this is just a work of fiction. There's a lockdown as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic and I'm bored. Besides, if others can write fictional stories like Anastasia's survival and Rasputin selling his soul, I don't see why I can't either.]

Ekaterinburg, 15 July 1918

The Professor asked me to keep a journal to record my adventure. I was curious, why rescue the Romanov family? Why not prevent the Titanic sinking instead? Or save as many people as possible in Pompeii before the volcanic eruption? The Romanov family is the Professor's favourite part of history. He could never get over the fact that they were brutally murdered. And at least there were lessons learned from the Titanic disaster, not so much a murder. Besides, he did me a favour once, now I owe him.

The plan is simple. Free the Romanov family from Bolshevik captivity and get them out of Russia. We'll hunker down in Ekaterinburg until the Czechoslovak Legion takes the city, after which we'll leave. Where the Romanovs wish to go to will be up to them. They just cannot stay in Russia. We're not going back to 1918 to stop the Bolsheviks from winning the civil war. We're a rescue team, not assassins. The Soviet Union will still exist but they won't get their bloody hands on the Romanov family. Much as the Professor hates the communists for what they did, he wants me to try and avoid bloodshed whenever possible.

Once our mission is complete, he'll send me back to the future. I don't have to stay with the Romanov family. They'll be on their own from there. And if any of the Romanovs are killed during our escape from Russia, even if it's accidental, it'll be irreversible. This will be my only chance to save them. But even if anyone is killed, the Professor still wants me to get the bodies out of Russia and give them a proper burial somewhere safe and beyond reach of the Soviets. That should be enough to prevent persistent rumours of survival, imposters and never-ending DNA tests by the Russian Orthodox Church. If protecting all seven Romanovs proves too difficult, then the Professor wants me to focus on saving the children: Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia and Alexei.

I will have three companions for the journey: Geralt, Aragorn and Master Chief. Not their real names, just aliases. Master Chief is a cybernetic organism, living tissue under metal endoskeleton. We gave him a name anyway as it's better than calling him by his serial number. We could've armed ourselves with modern equipment like battle rifles and combat fatigues but that would've been conspicuous. So we took Mosin-Nagant rifles and Bolshevik uniforms that are accurate for the period. There are exceptions though: masks, Aragorn's compound bow, cyberware implants, earpiece translators to bypass the language barrier, modern first aid kit, and my tomahawk to name a few.

The Professor could've sent us back to 1914 to warn the tsar against mobilizing the Imperial Russian Army, an action that provoked the Germans into declaring war against Russia. But that would've been complicated. Much as the Professor would've liked to prevent World War I from happening, saving millions of lives in the process including that of the Romanovs, that's just too much meddling with history. A rescue operation is much simpler. Plus it's better to rescue the imperial family when their need is dire, not when they still feel safe in their bubble.

Prior to our departure, I spent a few days studying about the Romanov family. Reading about the murders made my blood curdle. The Bolsheviks lured the Romanovs and their loyal servants into a basement where they were shot and stabbed to death. The children were not even spared, the youngest of whom was only 13. The bodies were stripped, looted and mutilated before being disposed of in a forest. The perpetrators were never brought to justice and the Soviet Union covered up the murders. I can see why the Professor has so much sympathy for the Romanov family.

The time machine took us to the outskirts of Ekaterinburg, about 24 hours before the Romanovs were to be murdered. The world hasn't changed at all. War never changes. We used the spare time to explore the city and observe the Ipatiev House from afar, gathering intel on guard positions and movements. Soon we'll decide how best to rescue the Romanov family on 16 July, their last day alive. We either storm the house using lethal force or masquerade as communist revolutionaries. I pray we will be successful.