It was dark over France, the only sound being the whirr of the plane's quad engines, and the only light being from the moon, their target drop was fast approaching below them, and Marie was getting herself psyched up, a cigarette in her mouth. She hated jumps with a passion, something about wildly flinging herself out of a plane thousand of meters above the ground with a rucksack full of silk didn't exactly inspire confidence in her.

The cabin was freezing cold; even if she had needed to use the chemical 'toilet,' exposing herself would have been torture, although luckily she didn't. No, she just needed a Cuban Cigar. Yeah, that's what she'd do if she got back in one piece. See if she couldn't pick up a Churchill and give it a good few puffs. 

As she mused, she heard the thump of feet. One of the copilots came through and nodded to the group, looking around at them. "ETA to drop zone is now ladies and gents, so let's get going." He clapped his hands together and opened the jump doors, causing a whirling vortex of noise and wind to open up in the cabin. "Ma'am? You going first?"

The Italian sighed and nodded, flicking the cig out ahead if her into the darkness. Due to the blackout enforced, the city was almost invisible, but if you squinted you could make out the features of what they would be plummeting towards shortly.

Or right now, she thought, stepping out of the plane.