Maira Kanhai

Maira Kanhai is the protagonist of the Operation Crossroads trilogy. She is a former U.S. Navy cybersecurity specialist who attempted to re-enlist after the Green Poison devastated America, only to end up recruited by the Division. She is unique in that she was recruited after the crisis with the Green Poison and thus has very little of the training the first two waves experienced. 
== Events prior to the Operation Crossroads novels ==
Maira grew up with five brothers alongside her mother and father. When the Green Poison hit, she and her younger brother, Kazi, were the only survivors, forcing them to travel and find safe haven. At one point, she tried to find a viable recruiting station to re-enlist in the U.S. Navy, though it wouldn't work out. Eventually, they settled in the community settlement, Athena, which is situated in a luxury apartment complex. Due to her prior military experience, Maira was selected as head of security. In an effort to secure Maryland, she sent a dozen of Athena's people to an armory to scavenge for armaments and supplies. Her brother was also part of that group, and despite her protests, she let him join with them.
However, they were ambushed and killed by True Sons while on their way out. Since then, Maira suffered survivor's guilt over losing so many people, including Kazi. After this, many of the Athena residents started to resent her over that incident.
== Tom Clancy's The Division: Recruited ==
Maira wakes up from a nightmare, focusing her day ahead in securing the Athena settlement. During a discussion with other leaders, she discussed expanding scavenging operations to Washington, D.C. Despite some protests from some residents like Kelly due to what happened last time, the community agreed to Maira's decision.
One day, the Athena settlement is attacked by a company of Outcasts. Despite using improvised IEDs to slow them, they were quickly overwhelming the place. Thankfully, a timely intervention from a cell of Division agents stopped the Outcasts from completely destroying Athena, though they'd lose one member, Eric, in the process.
While recuperating, Maira discusses with the Division agents who rescued Athena. Agent Brenda Wells, the leader of the cell, arranges Joint Task Force support for the settlement, and explains her cell's mission: To assess the state of supply lines in the American Midwest and arrange food shipments to the East Coast to prevent mass starvation. Feeling that she doesn't belong in Athena anymore and wanting to do her part in keeping the community safe, Maira decides to join up with the agents on their mission. Despite objections from agent Leo Fourte, Brenda allowed Maira to join up with them, considering it a probationary test.
On the way to a Division supply depot, ⁣the cell was attacked by mortars filled with chlorine gas. Due to lacking a mask, Maira nearly died. Brenda and Leo speculate about the identity of the attackers while debating whether to send Maira back to Athena. They enter the depot, only to find it nearly emptied and the username --"ROSHEA" -- on the terminal, which unsettles Brenda, making Maira speculate whether there's personal history.
The cell would find a National Guard checkpoint, which directs them to the Cumberland Gap, an operational supply route controlled by the Roamers, a group of extortionist truckers and smugglers. However, while on West Virginia, Leo fell ill and is unable to continue. Maira searches for help, only to get lost and later rescued by Johnny, a survivalist living in the mountains with his wife, Andrea. The couple shelter the agents and nurse Leo back to health, though their momentary respite is cut short when a convoy of Outcasts followed them. The agents make their stand and successfully repelled the Outcasts, though John and Andrea are killed.
Maira is struck with guilt, feeling responsible over the couple's death. Brenda reassures her that it's not her fault and encourages her to keep on going. Resolved, she continues on the mission, making their way to Cumberland Gap.
At Cumberland Gap, Maira and her cell witness a vehicular battle between the Roamers and the Freighties, another faction of truckers. After the Freighties retreat, they take advantage of the situation by eliminating Roamers standing in their way and rescuing Dixie Dog, a member of the Freighties, who secures them a ride to the faction's base. At the base, the cell would have a tense exchange with Miguel, the Freighties' leader. Though, Brenda manages to make an alliance with the faction: The cell would help secure Cumberland Gap. In exchange, the Freighties would send food shipments northeast.
Three days later, the Freighties mount their assault on the Roamers while the Division agents ambush them using Turrets and Sticky Bombs. The victory is short-lived as the SHD Turrets are remotely hacked, forcing agents to destroy them. They're also attacked by a Drone which broadcasts a video call from Rowan O'Shea, a rogue agent working with the Outcasts and the Roamers, and a former member of Brenda's cell.
From there, Maira would learn about Rowan's betrayal from Brenda. Rowan's family was accidentally killed by Division agents during their assault on Roosevelt Island, although Brenda lied to her that it was the True Sons who killed them. Thus, Rowan exacted vengeance on the True Sons by poisoning their water supply with Green Poison, causing massive civilian casualties which attracted the attention of the Outcasts and Aaron Keener's Rogues, who told her the real truth.
Although Kanhai was not pleased about the lie, she understands the danger that Rowan represents and that she needed to be stopped. Maira and her cell needed to get to Kansas to stop Rowan from sabotaging the Kansas core, causing a regional blackout for the Division. Dixie Dog volunteers for the mission, using a captured Roamer truck as disguise.
While driving through St. Louis, their truck gets attacked by the Outcasts and they use dirty bombs, blanketing the whole area in radioactive dust. Although panicked and shaken during the ordeal, Maira and her group were unharmed. After escaping St. Louis, the group use their disguise to procure more fuel from a Roamer depot.
Eventually, the agents arrive to the Kansas Core, and find it overrun by the Roamers and the Outcasts as well as the automated defenses disabled by Rowan. Maira used her cybersecurity knowledge to get the defenses back online, giving the agents an advantage. It's still a fierce battle, especially as Maira suffered some burn damage. Afterwards, Maira hacks into the door's security to proceed inside with Brenda, while Leo stays behind to ensure no hostiles come through. When Maira and Brenda reach the heart of the facility, Rowan cripples Brenda with a shotgun and holds Maira at gunpoint, forcing her to disable the facility's EMP safeguards. Maira tries to dissuade Rowan, though the latter isn't convinced, believing her plans would force the Division to understand and warn Maira about greater threats on the horizon.
At Rowan's moment of victory, Maira shoots her dead, stopping her plans and ensuring the facility was secure. Afterwards, Brenda takes Rowan's watch, resets it to recognize its new owner -- Maira Kanhai --, and officially welcoming her to the Division.
== Tom Clancy's The Division: Compromised ==
Several weeks later, Maira recovered from her injuries after Rowan O'Shea was dealt with. She and Leo Fourte are joined with two new Division agents -- Cha Yeong-Ja and Colin Harrison -- after Brenda Wells issues a call for reinforcements. They get briefed for their new mission where they must investigate attacks Freighty convoys in the Texas Gulf Coast by the Reborn, a faction of extremist environmentalists targeting fossil fuel. Due to Brenda's crippled leg, the leadership of the cell is left to Maira. Though reluctant at first, she accepted the call. And to keep their SHD Tech operational, Brenda provided them with a Mobile SHD Server.
Dixie Dog drives Maira and her team south, though they fend off a hostile Roamer convoy on their way. Arriving at Houston, they find that the local refineries are under protection by the Molossi, a mechanized paramilitary outfit led by Colonel Marcus Georgio, from an eco-terrorist group called the Reborn. While meeting with a refinery manager, Douglas Ryckhart, Georgio expresses his distrust towards the Division, holding them responsible for the death of his son, David, who was a first wave agent and a member of Colin's former cell.
Overnight, the cell receive a broadcast from the Reborn's leader, Cassandra Raines, announcing a forthcoming assault towards the town of Groves. Colonel Georgio offers to defend the town on the condition that Ryckhart expel the Division agents. However, Maira insists on giving her cell a chance to defend the town. Despite some reservations from teammates, Ryckhart agrees.
Maira and her team set up a perimeter at Groves to intercept. However, things get complicated when it turns out the Reborn's second-in-command, the Hand, is Leo's younger brother, Raffiel. As fighting breaks out, the agents are quickly overwhelmed by the Reborn's numbers and forced to retreat to a fanboat, while Leo was left behind and captured in the chaos of the retreat. Returning to Houston, they find that the Molossi have fended off another Reborn assault and have declared martial law. Colonel Gerogio makes it clear that he intends to counter-attack and conquer further territory, and demands the agents leave Texas. Maira, Yeong-Ja, and Colin refuse, so the Molossi imprisons them.
Maira and her teammates are freed from their imprisonment by Dixie Dog, and take a fanboat to escape Houston. Infiltrating a Reborn camp, they learn that Raffiel was demoted for suggesting a truce with Ryckhart and the refinery workers, and is en-route to a prison camp for re-education. They ambush a prison carriage outside Lafayette, rescuing both Leo and Raffiel, with the latter revealing the Reborn were receiving weapon shipments from Division agents at Marsh Island.
They arrive at the island, where they witness a meeting between Raines and several Division agents, whom they betray and kill her. Yeong-Ja shoots one of them, which ISAC identifies as a member of Aaron Keener's rogues. Examining the gear, they discover that their tech is linked to a different network, ANNA. And much to their shock, they discover through an ECHO playback that David Georgio is alive and is part of Keener's Rogues.
From there, Maira would learn that Keener's rogues blackmailed Marcus Georgio with his son's life, ordering the Molossi to take control of the refineries and using the Reborn as a leverage to force the locals to accept his protection. She tracks the rogues' signal to a retired battleship, the USS Texas, in Galveston. However, without supplies or backup, they have no means to stop the rogues. Luckily for them, a Drone sent by Brenda arrives with coordinates to a Division supply cache. 
Maira and her teammates arrive at the supply cache, obtaining fresh weapons and SHD Tech. In the hopes of securing aid from the Molossi, Colin calls Georgio and informs that David is in league with the rogues. However, the colonel is well aware, and continues to serve the rogues as a twisted way of atonement for abandoning his son during his youth. He promptly shuts down the agents' mobile SHD server, disabling their new equipment. In a desperate attempt, Maira modifies their gear to connect to the ANNA network.
Arriving at the Texas, Maira discovers canisters of Eclipse Virus inside the ship, realizing that the rogues plan to use the Freighties trade network to ship the virus across the country. However, she and her fellow agents are attacked by the rogues. While Colin manages to sedate David, Maira suffered a mortal wound while below decks. She ruptures the ship's hull, sinking it alongside its cargo of Eclipse. To the sorrow of her teammates, ISAC declared her deceased.
Her cell managed to accomplish their mission, handing David over to Colonel Georgio as a peace offering, and the latter reveals that the Molossi are negotiating a ceasefire with Raffiel (who's the new leader of the Reborn), allowing themselves departure. Though they still lament over their loss of Maira, they steeled themselves to continue working for a better future.
Unknown to her teammates, however, Maira did survive, though suffered heavy wounds and is held in a New Mexico hospital, run by the Department of Homeland Security. The staff tell her she's the only survivor of her cell, and that she has important work that needs to be done.
== Tom Clancy's The Division: Hunted ==
While in Black Tusk's custody, Maira was treated well for a time and was tasked by Natalya Sokolova to help improve on a cybersecurity program. Maira helped in improving the program by creating her own code, though she'd start feeling unwell and unable to continue the work. She covertly copied medical reports and learned that Black Tusk is holding her prisoner and are using drug cocktails and gaslighting to keep her compliant and that the program she was working on would cripple the Division.
On the eve of Black Tusk's attack on the Texas Core, when Maira used the countermeasure on the Core's defenses, she also used it to disrupt Black Tusk as well. Hijacking a plane, she made an escape, though the plane crashed afterwards. After being recovered by two Division agents, Maira watched as a Hunter sadistically kills the two, so she used a flashbang and took one of his trophy smart watches to escape. In an attempt to find shelter, Maira found a Division safe house. But to her despair and sorrow, she learns that she's been marked rogue. Since then, Maira has been trying to escape the Hunter's trail.
Two weeks later, Maira's cell (Brenda Wells, Leo Fourte, Cha-Yeong Ja, and Colin Harrison) went to Houston to find her when they learned of her survival. Eventually, Maira was found by her teammates at a roadside shopping center. However, things went south when the cell accidentally set off traps meant for the Hunter. The fighting was overwhelming, so Maira used an incediary drone to demolish the building and trap the Hunter inside.
In a hideout, Maira has an emotional reunion with her cell, giving what she went through. At first, they discuss about the Hunters, though the topic changes to what Maira shared during her imprisonment. Determined to delete her code and prevent more devastating attacks on the Division, Maira set out to the Black Tusk's stronghold in New Mexico.
At Alburquerque, Maira and her cell assault the stronghold with the assistance of the Freighties, the Reborn, and the Molossi. They were also assisted by a Rogue cell led by Gold who hoped to take a shot against Natalya Sokolova. While their allies kept the Black Tusk troops busy, Maira made her way to the interior, finding her code. She deletes it, finding herself relieved.
Maira and her cell alongside Gold's cell make their way to the tower's penthouse in hopes to find and eliminate Natalya. But they get attacked by the Hunter, where he killed Gold and his cell. Meanwhile, Maira and her cell were facing a challenge against him. When the Hunter attempted to attack Maira with his axe, Brenda shielded her, though she'd suffer a fatal wound. With Leo and Colin's assistance, Maira finally eliminate the Hunter and put him down.
Maira tried to heal Brenda to no avail. In her dying breath, Brenda tells her to do good as a leader and to her cell and not make the same mistakes. Maira unmasks the dead Hunter, and ISAC identifies him as Thaddeus Greene. This shocked Maira and her comrades as Greene was a senior Division agent. Additionally they realize that many Division agents could be secretely Hunters embedded in the organization, forcing them to only trust themselves and keep this a secret. Maira proclaimed that whatever the future will bring to her and her cell, they'll be ready.
Unbenknownest to Maira and her cell, Natalya kept her research alive in a mobile SHD server, albeit in a much cruder form. Allowing Black Tusk to continue working on their countermeasure.
== Personality ==
Maira is dedicated to put the needs of her community and the mission above herself. On one hand, it is an asset. On the other hand, it can be a hindrance as she tends to put the burden of solving any problem on herself only, believing that only she can fix them. Her time as a new recruit in the Division gave her wider perspective of what's going on and what's at stake, while also building up camaraderie and trust with her fellow agents.
Due to her background in cybersecurity, it didn't take long to work her way through with SHD Tech, including disabling the defenses that were hacked by Rowan O'Shea during the events of Recruited. Additionally, during the events of Compromised, she managed to make use of ANNA when the SHD Tech she and her cell have gone offline when their mobile server got disabled. 
She also carries a heavy sense of guilt and trauma within her. Losing her family and her brother Kazi, the loss of dozens of people from the Athena settlement due to her decisions, and being used by the Black Tusk for their schemes puts a heavy weight on her.
Due to her unique nature of her recruitment into the Division, Maira found herself in an uneasy relationship with Leo Fourte, though both would grow a tight friendship over time. And in spite of those circumstances, she has shown herself time and time again to have the resourcefulness and adaptability needed for a Division agent.
==Trivia==
* Maira is the first LGBT Division protagonist, revealing an attraction to Natalya Sokolova in Hunted.
* Given her surname, Maira is of Indian heritage.
* Maira is mentioned in-game a few times through a couple of Eva Garcia's comms from Y5S1: Broken Wings and one of Birdie's comms from Y5S2: Puppeteers
* Ironically, despite Maira joining up with the Division initially to help keep Athena safe long-term, the surviving residents decided to cut their losses and moved to the Castle Settlement.
==Appearances==
*Tom Clancy’s The Division: Recruited
*Tom Clancy’s The Division: Compromised
*Tom Clancy’s The Division: Hunted
Category:People
Category:Division Agents