Cassandra Sanchez

"You're swimming in the deep end...and there are goddamn sharks circling and circling around you"

- Cassandra's threat to her ex-partner Cassandra Sanchez is an ex-Sigma Force and Special Ops soldier and the main antagonist of James Rollins's Sandstorm. She is a member of the shadowy Guild organization who was implanted in DARPA's Sigma Force squad to sell secrets and compromise the group. After being exposed, she and the Guild plot to take down Sigma and locate a hidden source of antimatter being sought by multiple groups.

Early Life:
As a teen Cassandra was abused by her drug addict father. She retreated to the world of books and learned from a science book about poisions. She injected her father with a poison that killed him, and the wound looked just like his heroin injections (although her mother suspected and feared her).

Cassandra then joined the Army and became a successful Special Forces marksman. However, while at a special training program, an enlisted man tried to rape her; she broke his legs and genitalia. She was allowed to quietly leave the forces afterwards.

Exposed by Sigma:
She later became a member of DARPA's covert Sigma Force. At some point the Guild, led by the shadowy "Minister," convinced her to work for them as a mole. In reality, the "Minister" was DARPA Director Vice Admiral Tony Rector, and he paired Cassandra with rising operative Painter Crowe in a mission to intercept a Chinese military hacker. Cassandra's real mission was to sell secrets to the hacker and discredit Sigma Force, allowing the Guild to implement its own leadership in the group. Painter discovers his partner's treachery and confronts Cassandra, who has shot the hacker to cover her tracks under the guise of a kidnapping. She is arrested and transported to a government prison, and is replaced by Coral Novak as Painter's partner.

Pursuing Crowe's team:
The Guild sends a squad to intercept her transport and frees her. After learning that Sigma is in London investigating an antimatter explosion connected to the lost city of Ubar in Oman, she and her men travel to the London Museum. Painter and Novak get into a gunfight while examining an Ubar artifact. Cassandra pursues Ubar specialist Safia al-Maaz onto the rooftops and almost kills her but is driven away by Painter, who recognizes her.

More TBA

Physical Description
Cassandra is a physically fit Hispanic female soldier. She is described as being extremely beautiful by her ex-painter Painter and is an example of femme fatale. Michelle Rodriguez is an example of an actress who fits her description.

Her weapon of choice is a 45 Sig Saur. However, she also loves C4.

Personality
Cassandra developed a tough and spiky personality from the abuse she endured as a child. She enjoyed pushing herself to the limit and wasn't afraid to use violence if necessary to achieve her goals. While working with the Guild, she showed a disregard for life and was willing to sacrifice countless henchmen to get to Ubar before Painter. Whever a mission failed, she was quick to blame her underlings and cover her tracks, as to look favorable to the "Minister." She prides herself on being one step ahead of her enemies and is cocky at times.

Despite being thoroughly evil. her one weakness is Painter, who she both hates and misses. They had an intimate relationship at one point. As she dies she expresses her regreat at leaving Painter.