Alpha Squads

Issue #2 – Starting Over – Part Two

Department H – Slightly before 8 a.m. - In the meeting room

She was the first to arrive. Heather looked in the mirror on the far wall while she waited for the others to show up. She wasn't sure if she liked the new costume. When she had arrived they had given her a new power suite. It looked just like her old Vindicator costume but had been given enhancements and had a white leaf with a red "V" in the middle of it upon the chest of a totally red costume minus the boots and gloves and facemask being white. They told her that they wanted a special look for the new team.

"You look great," said a voice from behind her.

Through the mirror she could see a man in the Guardian power suit. Like hers, she imagined it had been given enhancements and the pattern had changed. It was just like hers but inverted. The leaf, boots, headpiece and gloves were red against a white costume with a "G" in the middle of the leaf. She had to admit she was a little sad that the man behind the mask was a clone that looked just like her ex-husband James McDonald the original Guardian. She still couldn't get over James' refusal to join the team and had been willing to turn over his suit to the Department. Still, it didn't matter and even though he was no real James, the clone would still be a great teammate and she knew she was doing the right thing.

"Thanks, you don't look too bad yourself. Not sure if I am digging the whole inverted twin look though," Heather said with a smile.

"You'll get used to it. They want us to look unified as leaders of Alpha Flight," Clone James said.

"Unified or not, I don't like it," Puck said as he entered the room wearing a suite with the same color patterns as Guardian except his leaf bore a "P" in the middle of it.

"Oh Eugene, you look adorable," Heather laughed hugging him. She was glad he had decided to join.

"You better stop or I just might change my mind." Eugene knew he was suppose to be Mac's eyes and ears but the only evil he had found was the costume designs.

Before they could speak any further, Diamond Lil, Major Maple Leaf, Aurora and Northstar entered the room. Their costumes bore the same patterns, the girls all looked like Vindicator and the guys all looked like Guardian's. Each of them also bore the first letter of their codename in the middle of their chest. Whether they all liked the costumes or not, the team was here and assembled.

"Even though I was hoping for more, you seven are the lucky new members of Alpha Flight," Director X said as he and Madam Q entered the room and they all took their seats around the table.

"As we have told you, we have restructured Department H and turned it into something good," Madam Q started. "Our goals are to have Department H serve as a unified source for protecting Canada and as a school to recruit and train young kids and adults alike to control and use their powers for the greater good."

"How do you plan to do that and how do we all fit in," Heather asked.

"You seven will be known as the new Alpha Flight. You will be the elite and first line of defense for protecting and serving Canada. You will be sent out into the field when needed but you will also be teachers," Director X said.

"Teachers?" Lillian, the woman known as Diamond Lil asked in surprise.

"Yes, teachers. Each of you will be leading other divisions of Department H. In time, we would like to see you all shy away from super heroes and act more as teachers and trainers," Madam Q continued.

"Yes, soon you will train others who will one day be promoted to the rank of Alpha Flight. Others will be in the public eye as the premier group known as Alpha Flight while you all work more behind the scene," Director X finished.

"So what are these other divisions?" Puck asked with suspicion.

"You know Alpha Flight, which you, Heather will be leader of with Guardian as co-leader. Your role will be more of a liaison between Department H and the division. You will over see all and report directly to me and Madam Q. which means, if Alpha Flight is required to go out in action, unless necessary, you will not go into the field," Director X started his report.

"As you have meet the other day, we have hired Mr. Louis, Feedback, as leader of Epsilon Flight. They mainly consist of normals or weak powered beings whom act as security for and within Department H. Even though they fall below Alpha Flight and you Heather, Albert and his men will report directly to me," Director X said as Feedback came into the room.

"Next is Gamma Flight. This division consists of under aged children who have not yet developed their powers or are way to young to start training. They will be lead by Mistress B," Madam Q said as a young beautiful blond haired woman entered the room and smiled at all of them. "She will take care of their studies and curriculum. Mr. Sadler, you will be assisting Mistress B in supervising and guiding these young minds."

"That would be an honor," Major Mapleleaf saluted. He liked the idea of guiding young children, as well as working with such a beautiful woman.

"Next is Beta Flight. This division consists of older students and people who are ready to train to use their powers. They will be the next generation of super heroes of Canada. They are the ones working to make the cut to Alpha Flight or end up in the lower ranks of Epsilon or staying in Beta or moving to one of the other elite divisions. I have faith in both Aurora and Diamond Lil in training the next generation," the Director said.

"What are the other divisions?" Heather asked.

"That would be Z Flight and Omega Flight," Director X answered.

"Omega Flight? I thought they had been put away along with the Master. I knew something was not right here," Puck began to shout.

"Now calm down, Mr. Judd. This isn't what you think," Director X began. "Omega Flight was stopped but we have reorganized that into a great division here. We have taken some of Omega Flight along with a few others and made Omega Flight a more covert strike team."

"A secret strike team? I'm not buying this," Puck grumbled.

"As much as we need Alpha Flight, we also need a team that stays out of the public eye and handle situations that need specific attention. To show there are no hidden agendas, Puck you will be leading this team along side me," Madam Q informed the small man.

"See, Eugene, there is nothing to worry about," Heather said touching his shoulder.

"We'll see. So what is this Z Fight?" Puck asked, calming down just a little.

"They will be an experimental group. Apart from Alpha and Omega, this group will handle specialized missions. It is still in the works, for we only have a few members right now. Two of which you know, Marina and Wild Child have asked to be apart of this team. Northstar and Guardian will be in charge of training and developing this team," Director X answered.

After a few more questions were shouted out Director X and Madam Q began to go over more details and expectations of what their role as Alpha Flight and teachers of Department H would entail.

The home of James Macdonald Hudson – early afternoon

It had only been a few days but Mac was still swore from the beating he had taken. Normally he would have retaliated but he didn't want to put heather at risk. Without proof of Department H being evil or if the clone was acting on his own vendetta he had to bide his time. What he needed to do now was to find away to protect Canada from evil and Department H and their squad while also trying to uncover the secrets that he knew Department H and Director X held. The only way to do that was to form his own team.

"Are you sure you're doing this for the right reasons or as a way to get heather back?" said a large orange haired beast.

Mac looked over to see his longtime friend and teammate Walter Langkowski, otherwise known as Sasquatch, putting the last of his furniture in place and then shifting back to human form. After the clone had attacked him and had his house ransacked and his power suite stolen, he had called his friend Walter. They had spent the whole weekend patching him up, putting the house back in order and coming up with a game plan.

"I am serious Walter, something is not right with Department H and I fear for all of their lives," Mac said as he got up and looked out the window.

"I know that is why I and the others have agreed to join and help you," Walter said.

"I can't believe how hard it was to find people to join us. Either they are with Department H, no where to be found or flat out refused to get involved," Mac said.

Snowbird and Earthmover, as favors to Mac and Walter agreed to join them team. Zuzha Yu, out of spite for Mapleleaf breaking up with her and joining Department H without her had agreed to join the opposition. Also, as a favor to her dad Puck, but she would never admit to that. With the thought of those three they had come into the room where Mac and Walter sat.

"It's good to have a Puck on the team again," Mac smiled at Zuzha.

"Whatever, dude. By the way, I have decided to let Eugene have his name back and took one for my own. You can call me Rebound," Pucks daughter told them.

"Rebound it is," Mac smiled.

"So who else did you get to join us?" Chuck Moss, the hero known as Earthmover asked.

"There are eight of us total, and I believe here are two others now," Mac said as the front door opened and in walked a young girl with short dark hair.

"Lilli, I am so glad to see you again," Mac smiled.

"Lilli? I have read the files, you are known as Ghost Girl," Earthmover commented.

"Yes, and I am so happy to actually be a part of a real team," Lilli said.

"I see you were able to find who we sent you after," Walter smiled as a second person walked through the door.

In came a strange figure. This person wore an all silver body armor that covered everything but the face. As they stared they could not make out the gender, for the person face was at a constant blur. One moment it appeared to be female the next male. When the person said hi, the voice sounded as if three people were talking at once in unison.

"Who is this?" Rebound nudged Earthmover.

"I don't know, but I thought I heard that these two that arrived were former members of Gamma Flight," Chuck responded.

"Hi everyone, we are Silver-Auric," the person said to them.

Walter quickly explained to everyone that Auric, Zhao Tang and his sister Silver, Jimon Kwan were old members and do to a freak event they had been fused with a man name Hedison. Now all three of them shared the same body. Last anyone knew they had disappeared off into space.

"Yes, but we had returned recently and was then contacted by Walter and Lilli. We have accepted our fate for now and wish to help," Silver-Auric said.

"It's great to have you back on the team," Mac said to them. "We'll also do what we can to help your situation."

"You said there were eight of us, who else are you bringing back to the fold?" Walter asked since Mac had not revealed their eighth member or could even think who was left to recruit.

"She should be here soon. Her father and me go way back, and as a favor he has convinced his daughter to join us. I think someone with her talents and abilities will be a great addition as well as a member that Department H or anyone has never heard of. She will give us an edge we need," Mac said.

"I am already here," they all jumped and turned to see that their eighth member was leaning against the wall behind her.

"Switch, I didn't see you come in," Mac said in surprise.

"Of course you didn't," the woman called Switch remarked without emotion.

Everyone looked the woman over up and down. She appeared to be in her twenties, very pretty and her body was firm and toned. She wore an all blue leather suit. Only her face as not covered by this tight fitting blue leather. Even her gloves and healed boots were made of blue leather. While her eyes were also a deep blue, her skin was dark as night. She did not wear makeup and her hair was buzz cut and dyed blue. They also noticed she wore two swords crossed on her back and a pouch on each hip, also all blue. She looked stunning yet dangerous.

"You go by anything other than Switch?" Zuzha asked feeling a bit of jealously coming on.

"Switch will do just fine," the woman said as she turned to Mac. "Here you go, special delivery just for you from my father."

"Thanks," Mac said catching the bag Switch had just thrown at him.

"What's in the bag, Mac?" Walter asked.

"My new suit," Mac said as he pulled out something red and slipped into his bedroom.

After a few minutes Mac came back out wearing an all read spandex shirt and pants, exposing his bare feet, hands and head. On his chest was the Canadian flag. As everyone began to chuckle, Mac slipped on a red ring and pressed it. Suddenly the outfit shifted and he was soon covered, head to toe in complete body armor, still all red with the Canadian flag on the chest. Even though it was body forming, you could tell it was armor.

"Very nice," they all said at Mac's new duds.

"Yes, I would like you to meet the new and improved James Hudson, now known as Protector," Mac said posing proudly.

"And what do you call us?" Walter asked.

"We are Canada's premiere defenders. We are Team Alpha!" Protector shouted.

"Great, so what do we do next?" Rebound laughed.

"May I suggest finding a new headquarters?" Snowbird finally spoke as they all looked around at Mac's somewhat destroyed house.

Mac just laughed, and soon the others joined in, except for Switch who just leaned against the wall watching everyone.

Payphone in a dark remote area – late evening

"Hello?" asked a figure picking up the receiver as the payphone had finally rang.

"Are you alone?" asked the voice from the other end.

"Yes, no one suspects I'm here."

"Good, things have been set in place here and my master is very pleased with what has been accomplished. I assured him that nothing would get in the way of his plans. That all agendas are in synch and not conflicting," the voice form the other end replied.

"That is great. I still don't know if what I'm doing is the right thing," the person on the payphone whispered.

"Yes you are. You will be greatly rewarded. What ever you do, do not get caught or betray us, otherwise bad tings would happen if you made my master angry," the voice on the other end threatened.

"I won't, my loyalty has always been to you," the person on the payphone confirmed.

"Now, what have you learned? Tell me everything," the voice asked with great joy.

"Well, they are officially a team calling themselves Team Alpha. James is calling himself Protector and has a new suit. I don't' know much about the other team members but here is what I know," the person on the payphone said as she started to give off names and information.

Next: Issue #3 – The Swarm