The mysterious Soviet super genius known as Rasputin had perfected a machine that could re-animate the dead. The recently deceased Nikolai Ivanovic Lebonchenski, a brilliant general, was chosen as the first subject. the experiment was a success, but the scientists believed that a fit, able body would be better suited. For reasons unclear as of this writing, Captain Metropolis was chosen, and he was assassinated by KGB agents in the summer of 1965 in what appeared to be a car crash. After transplanting the brain into the new body, Commissar Moscow was placed in the October Guard as its leader. However, the transplant was unstable, and eventually Gardner's corpse broke apart, taking Lebonchenski with it. After his death, leadership of the October Guard was returned to Rasputin.