The last mission or say a word about poor Natalia

So the adventure of Natalia Volkonskaya, my adored Natasha, my beloved heroine, with whom I have lived six wonderful and fruitful years, has come to an end. She appeared as a minor character in one of my stories, but became the foundation of my universe. A paladin who always protects good and law. A woman with a big and kind heart. And simply, a beautiful young woman ... But now we are parting with her. How long? I do not know this...

But I know that not only the author fell in love with her. The attitude of the audience is best characterized by the words of one of my friends, Phantom, after Natalia returned from the world of the dead:

* ThePHantom52: I have to admit, I teared up when I saw this picture and read the accompanying text. I am old enough to be Natalia's father. I have seen people die in the real world, and lost family members and friends when I wasn't there to witness their passing. This moment has overwhelmed me with emotion, and I am not ashamed to say so. Live, Natalia! Live for those of us out here who are tired of the anger, tired of living in fear, tired of watching helplessly as the world falls apart. I see in you all that is good, all that is right, all the hope for a better, brighter future - not just in your beautiful, intelligent eyes, but in the creative minds of those who brought you to us. We gather here from all over the world to celebrate the possibility that people from all cultures can live together as one, and the possibility that one person can make a difference. So live for all of us. Please ... *

I must tell you that the graphic novel "Natalias Last Mission" was originally conceived as the finale of Natalia Volkonskaya's career. She was to become the Special Affairs Prosecutor, which is the highest achievement for such a young woman and her development as a hero of adventure novels would end. But as we thought about it, we came to the conclusion that we have something to tell about Natalia and her life. And then came the hardcore "Last Mission", which put a comma instead of a period.

No less merit in creating Natalia's character belongs to my friend and co-author Knasterbart77 and I give him the floor:

* Knasterbart77: When Dimir told me that he wanted to end Natalia's adventures, I was probably just as surprised as everyone else. So our task was to find an end for Natalia and this was not an easy task. Because she is the main character, the center, of Dimir's universe and her fate is linked to so many other characters. Therefore, the biggest challenge was to end as many storylines as possible in this final mission.

That's why Rin and Ulrike took revenge and defeated all Valkyries. After all, the two girls have been working in small stories towards this big goal in recent years.What makes me very happy is that Rin and Harley have become relatively popular during this time. And even the people who hate them show me that I've done everything right to create annoying bad guys. We finally find out who supports the two crazy girls and why. We also wanted to clarify Natalia's complicated love affair with the dodgy KGB agent Dimitry. The fate of all of her Valkyrie colleagues was of course connected to Natalia and now it looks like a bleak end for the whole S.I.B. unit and every single member. But who knows, maybe the end is the beginning of something new. Of course, we mustn't forget Junko's appearance. No other character has shaped Natalia's psyche so much and turned her world upside down like the Japanese yakuza lady. That's why not only does Natalia's career come to an end, but also Junko's passionate desire to finally own Natalia.

So it's an end that leaves a lot of room for interpretation because nobody knows exactly what will happen to Natalia in Japan. But I very much hope that your interest in Natalia is so great that one day we will see her again and then be able to tell this story.

In addition, it was important to me to create a story that is only slightly predictable and very exciting. No one should believe that no matter how big the danger, Natalia and her Valkyries will survive anyway. Because of this, there has been twists, treachery and a lot of violence in this story. To shock the readership, Natalia even died for a few minutes. I hope that nobody feels deceived in this regard. But your comments show that we have managed to create an atmosphere in which the readership considers it possible that the main character dies. Dimir allowed me a great deal of creativity, for which I sincerely thank him. It was the biggest project that Dimir and I created together. He created far more than 120 pictures and I wrote far more than 60 pages of picture descriptions and dialogues. Not to mention the time spent. Therefore we are happy and relieved that you hopefully enjoyed this story. But we are also exhausted because this story took a lot of time and energy. Thank you for reading! *

And I will add, we will be happy to answer your questions. Ask about everything that interests you, express your opinion about the story, ask any questions about the characters and we will try to explain everything that happened to Natalia, her girls and her enemies.

And I also want to quote an excerpt from a poem by the Russian poet Nikolai Nekrasov. These lines perfectly reflect the character and appearance of our Natalia.

Women come across in Russian villages

Having remarkable undisturbed faces,

Moving with a graceful power,

Having noble looks and imposing gaits...

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Even an equestrian wouldn't overtake her being romping,

She intrepidly would save you in trouble,

She would enter a hut engulfed in flame,

She would capture a runaway horse!