Characters
Name: Vinnie McKluskey Ethnicity: White
Accent: Thick Glaswegian
Externally: Gruff, steely & not to be messed with.
Internally: Utterly broken psychologically. Tortured by his past.
Vinnie is a veteran of every major conflict
from the mid-70s to mid-90s. Starting his
career in the army, he quickly became a
royal marine, then a paratrooper and finally
passed selection for the SAS before exclusively
doing private contract work. An intense childhood
filled with abuse combined with a proclivity for extreme
violence resulted in him becoming a ferociously aggressive
character – the perfect disposition for starting a forces career.
Having been a civilian for the last 20 years, Vinnie misses
being an operator and this is evidenced by his lifestyle.
Thorough planning, sharp thinking/deductions and
general meticulousness are dominating facets
remaining from his days as an exceptional
soldier. His whole life has been that of
agony, pugnaciousness and now major
regret – every step he takes reminds him
of his past and he just isn’t equipped to deal
with the cognitive turmoil that CPTSD provides.
That is until he inadvertently invites James round for tea…
Name: James Gardener Ethnicity: White
Accent: English (Non-Specific)
Externally: Naïve, convicted, moral and soft.
Internally: Brave, perceptive, self-assured and pious.
James is a good man from a somewhat tumultuous
background. When he was just a boy, his
Auntie kidnapped him with her fiancée
and tried to start a new life in France.
They were quickly tracked by Interpol
and James was returned to his family. His
mother over-coddled him as a result of this which
spurred his father’s especially cruel abuse; thinking his
son was growing up without a shred of masculinity.
He even went so far as to routinely lock him in the
airing cupboard at random intervals, causing
James to develop a complex case
of claustrophobia.
When his mother died, he found
comfort and acceptance in Christ and quickly
became an active preacher – aiming to save those like
his former self, unable to find the light in a dark situation.
That is until he knocks on Vinnie’s door…
VINNIE
JAMES
LOUISA
Name: Andreea Kalnina (LOUISA) Ethnicity: White
Accent: Bulgarian/Broken English/English
Externally: Vulnerable, innocent yet fierce.
Internally: Alone, confused, precocious and filled with rage.
We’re introduced to Louisa when she’s in her mid-thirties
and still struggling to adapt to life on civvy street. From
singlehandedly clearing terrorist cells in Lashkargah
to teaching nine-year-olds about adjectives, the
juxtaposition between the two sides of
her life are stark to say the least.
From age three onwards, Louisa spent
her entire childhood in Bulgaria being reared
as a bare-knuckle prize fighter by her father; conditioned
daily in the family craft to be able to take on
herculean blokes and win.
It’s only when she’s kidnapped
just before her eleventh birthday though,
and sold into a Russian sex trafficking ring, that
her metal is truly recognised by retired SAS operator
Vinnie; tasked with the search & rescue of another
girl trapped in the same organisation.
Vinnie is so impressed by Louisa’s internal fire and
unparalleled ability for extreme violence that he takes her
home with him and trains her over the course of seven years
to be an elite mercenary with his ex wife, Kat.
KAT
Name: Kat McKluskey Ethnicity: White
Accent: Eastern European (non-specific region)
Externally: Warm, embracing, astute, tenacious and strong.
Internally: Fierce but broken and thus swayable. Full of love
and determination.
At thirteen, Kat’s father was killed in a pub brawl and her
mother subsequently committed suicide via hanging; found
by Kat after an especially gruelling day at school. As if this
weren’t enough devastation for one short life, upon being
admitted into care, one of the social workers routinely
sexually assaulted her for years – that is until she met
Vinnie on a night out. He castrated her rapist
and ultimately earned his place in
Kat’s heart as her protector.
The two were quickly wed
and had a child, Meg, together.
It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows
though, as Vinnie was especially distant,
preferring to be on operation than ‘playing
families’. Even when Meg was dying of
Leukaemia, Vinnie never once
visited in the hospital. After
Meg’s death, Kat divorced Vinnie,
vowing to never speak to him again.
This didn’t last though, as Vinnie two years
later as a private military contractor liberated
an eleven-year-old Bulgarian girl from a Russian
sex trafficking ring...