Rizwan "Riz" Sabir is an agent with KTS.
That acronym stands for "Kinetic Training Solutions" which pretty much does what is supposed to in the naming business; it tells the reader something without telling anything of any use. One thing it definitely does not tell anyone is that it is used for an agency which is a "semi-private wing of the Ministry of Defence knows". "It lay in the shadowy area between Intelligence, Special Forces, and 'solutions providing'".
I could be wrong on this next part but it certainly seems as if the operatives working for KTS were for the most part former felons or would-be felons if they had been tried for many of their crimes. Certainly Sabir fits the former group having languished for more than a few months in the custody of Her Majesty's government. He knows how the bar on a cell wall look from spending a decent amount of time on both sides.
He was born in 1983, the only child of a Pakistani couple who ran a small shop. He had a normal upbringing and showed no particular aptitude or interest in anything outside girls when he entered teenage, except for a knack at stealing cars. "There wasn't a car me or my gang couldn't break into and deliver to a moody garage or a middleman." During that time Wahaabism was gaining a foothold in the Muslin communities and Sabir started paying a bit of attention, at least as far as feeling his "crimewave" as a act of rebellion. The revolt ended about a year later when he was nabbed and remanded to Juvenile prison.
There he fell under the influence of the Brothers of al-Muhajiroun. Over the next three years of incarceration, he became a convert and a jihadist and a would-be terrorist. When he got out, his path was laid out for him as a new member of a terrorist cell with a plan for major mayhem and destruction and killing. Luckily for Sabir, his teammates were not as skilled as he was in anything and the would-be attack fizzled and they were all caught and sent up again.
This time, he was an adult and went to an adult prison and luckily met a different sort of imam who preached a whole different style of Islam and Sabir came to see that his previous beliefs were all bunk. He was done with that for good.
And around then the leader of KTS came for a visit with a piece of paper saying that, if he signed, he would be given a pardon and a new job, working for the KTS. He signed.
Any introduction to Riz Sabir and his adventures would not be complete without an introduction to Holly Kirpachi. She is his cousin, although how far removed is hard to tell. Sabir was first told of her as a young boy and more or less informed she would be his bride. A look at a picture of her did not thrill him and the idea of marrying someone he had never met was a no-sale. That and it all took place when the idea of marriage to anyone was a no-sale.
But as he was going through his major changes in life, in and out of remand, she was also changing quite a bit. For one thing she got to be quite pretty. And quite smart, able to do all sorts of dangerous and largely illegal things on the computer and the Internet. And she joined a hard-fighting, hard-living girl gang. And she moved up the ranks to be in charge of it. And she got the nickname of 'Bang-Bang' and that name had nothing to do with hairstyles or sex.
When Sabir was an established member of KTS, the need for someone of her qualifications presented itself. She was approached. She agreed.
Sabir by himself was a very qualified operative. Bang-Bang by herself was a very qualified operative. Together, they are impressive.