Claire listened as their handler spoke, her mind analysing the information as much as she could. This blackout was on a global scale, he confirmed – the very thought of the sheer scale of the event was almost enough to make her shudder. Without any power whatsoever things were chaos, and that was just where she was. Her thoughts turned to those who lived in major urban city centres, in buildings so tall and packed to the brim with occupants that only the advanced technology of today kept things barley habitable. Things would have quickly deteriorated into what she imagined would be practically literal hell on earth, running out of food, water and everything else – being attacked by your neighbours or whoever else that wanted what you have. In her mind she pictured the looming skyline and streets of the biggest cities - Beijing, Tokyo, London, Cairo, Buenos Aires and countless other places that would now more resemble the warzones that she was used to surviving in than the glistening paradises they were supposed to be. Pushing the thoughts from her mind she focused on the present, on what they had to do. Seemed a simple enough task to her, re-take a solar turbine from whatever occupants were refusing to budge so that it could be fixed and used to aid with re-establishing some of the critical infrastructure that had gone down. She wasn’t particularly worried about the task, seeing as whoever it was that had taken the turbine would likely be little more than a poorly organised group who hadn’t a clue what they were really doing. If they were anything more professional or organised then it would bode very badly, not only for the ease of the mission, but also in the bigger picture of what was really happening to the world. 

As they each introduced themselves and what they did Claire waited for her own turn, as she watched and listened she made sure to memorise what each of them said. ‘Red’, the first to introduce himself was heavy weapons and comms, plus he seemed useful enough having already begun trying to tap into the tower remotely. She grinned inwardly at his name and the blazing red goatee that adorned his face, coupled with his mostly red strawberry blonde hair she didn’t have to wonder how he got the name. His accent was definitely Irish, pleasing to the ears in her opinion – much more so than the thicker Irish accents she occasionally heard which could be quite hard to decipher. He seemed confident he could access the security systems to some degree, making her wonder what magic he’d be able to work with a local connection to the place. 

Next was a man who introduced himself as ‘Winterbourne’ or ‘Rook’ – demolitions and persuasion were his talents apparently. He kept it short and sweet, something which she was somewhat thankful for, eager as ever now to get things moving. She detected what she thought was a possible eastern European twinge to his accent, but it was still too early for her to tell accurately what exactly it was she was hearing. She couldn’t help but also make a mental note that he was physically what she considered quite attractive, and made a point to make sure she kept such thoughts away from her mind. She noticed him glance at the other woman in their group very briefly, a glance that the woman met with what could be considered as quite a glare. 

The first thing that stood out to Claire was obviously her clothing, being quite different from what the rest of the group were wearing. The apparel made her look quite young compared to most of the others, but she knew it may not be the case. Aside from that though she knew next to nothing about her, Claire had quickly learnt not to judge others based on how they looked or chose to appear, having worked with an immense number of people who on first glance she would have considered a poor choice for soldier. More than a few of them had turned out to be the best warriors she had fought alongside, on-top of that Claire knew that she herself didn’t exactly look the part of hardened veteran, especially since she had returned to the UK and re-embraced her more feminine side. 

The girl exhaled once before she steeped forwards slightly and began to introduce herself. Initially Claire was surprised when she began to sign, only as she hadn’t expected any of them to be mute, let alone this ‘fiery’ looking individual. Claire knew a small amount of sign, having spent more time than she would care to admit amongst those who through one way or another were left unable or unwilling to speak. She gathered that Anna was her name easily, and that she was their sniper and proficient in covert operations, but she wasn’t sure how much of the rest of the team understood, and if so how much they did and so Claire repeated what she had learnt, just so that the others could hear and to make sure she hadn’t misunderstood. 

Just at that moment shortly after the door into the church opened Anna signed to be excused and quickly moved over to the woman that had entered. Claire felt slightly guilty listening to what was said, but in the practically silent church it was difficult not to hear what was said, even when the girl switched to Russian. It became quickly apparent to Claire that this girl was, as she was, here because there was something being held over her head. She didn’t know what it was, but already it made her feel a little better knowing that she wasn’t the only one here not necessarily by choice. The girls kissed and the newcomer left with a quick apology to the team – leaving Anna with a brief smile on her face before she returned to the group, the smile now a scowl as she warned them that she wouldn’t be tolerating any homophobic behaviour from any of them. Claire grinned slightly, already liking Anna and her attitude towards the others. She’s learnt working in some of the less tolerant places in the world that a woman often needed to establish that she wasn’t to be messed with if she wanted to be taken seriously from the get-go. 

Next to introduce himself was a man called ‘Pathfinder’, survival and CQC. She quickly picked up that he was also Irish, though a considerable amount shorter than Red was (also than she was). He kept his hair in a ponytail and also had some facial fuzz in a ‘goatee’ type style complete with moustache and soul patch. He kept his introduction short and sweet, seeming to also notice the slight friction being generated between Rook and Anna, but kept his mouth shut rather than saying anything about it. 

Next to introduce themselves was the oldest looking of the group, McIntyre or ‘Old MacDonald’ as he was apparently called sometimes. He seemed friendly enough and started with a smile before he introduced himself, apparently his area being human intelligence, negotiation, information gathering and what they were now apparently calling hide and seek. He looked more like he may be ex-military than any of the others, having quite a solid and muscular build as well as the shorter hair generally associated with the military. He quickly summarised what she had been thinking about the mission, that they needed to do more surveillance to establish exactly what the best way to proceed here would be and from there work out what was next. 

Seeing as she was ‘next’ in the circle, she cleared her throat and removed her AR glasses before introducing herself. 

“Claire” she began “or Ashia if you were looking for a handle. I suppose you’d say I specialise in guerrilla warfare and my driving abilities.” Hesitating for a few moments, realising that she wouldn’t look like much of a soldier she added “I came back to the UK a few years ago from the far-side of the world. You name a war or revolt over the last few years then you can guarantee I either took part or have killed someone who did.” 

Satisfied that she had appropriately dismissed any preconceived notions about herself and kept it short and sweet, she smirked slightly as she moved backwards a little and attempted to look as innocent as possible after what she’d just said, her left hand idly twirling her red lengthy hair as she did so watching the others for their reactions.