Chapter 11: The Alpha Projects

Wednesday 10th July Age 798

Alpha Industries Complex – East City

Teki was sitting behind the desk in his office, a hand over his mouth as he leaned forward in his seat, staring at something on the screen. The light glimmering off his glasses, his eyes narrowed and focussed.

The phone on his table started to ring, breaking his focus, dragging him back to reality. He quickly, instinctively, reached for the phone to answer the call, aware that whenever it called it was likely something important that only he should hear. If it was Alpha business related, then someone would normally speak to him through the intercom to let him know that a call was coming through. If Mr. Oliver wanted to get in touch with him, he would use the intercom too.

But if it was something else entirely…

Teki answered the phone and brought it to his ear, but he said nothing.

"Two birds," a voice said from the other side.

Teki scoffed.

"One stone," he replied. He started to smirk and sat back in his chair. "Are they in position?" he asked.

"From what I can tell, they've set up shop at the location you provided, awaiting further instructions. Should I relay to them what you need?" the person asked.

"No. No, leave that to me," Teki replied. "I just need them ready and waiting. I'll give them the go ahead when they need it," Teki added. "Besides, I still need to shop a couple of extra supplies."

As he said the last part Teki looked to a metal briefcase that was sitting at the edge of his desk.

"Please, just confirm when they receive the package, and then tell them to be ready on standby," Teki finished.

"Yes, sir," the voice replied.

Teki put the phone down and stood up, walking around to the side of his desk. He turned the briefcase around, so the opening was facing him, and he flipped up the clips that kept it shut. He proceeded to open the briefcase but was startled by a voice.

"Mr. Kusanagi," a woman's voice called through his intercom.

Teki dropped the lid shut on the briefcase and quickly moved back to his seat, dropping down and reaching forward to press the button on the phone.

"Yes, what is it?" he asked, trying his best to sound like he hadn't just been caught by surprise.

"Sir, I have a call waiting for you, it's related to the project with the King's Secret Service," the woman clarified.

Teki's brow furrowed, but he started to make assumptions about what it could be.

"Ah, of course, yes, put them through to my line but let them know I'll be with them in just a second," Teki said, and ended that call.

He waited a few seconds and then noticed that the light on the phone started flashing, indicating that someone was waiting for him to pick it up. Teki scoffed, but his expression remained neutral. He reached forward, swiftly took the phone, and leaned back in his chair, with the phone against his ear.

"Is this who I think it is?" Teki asked.

There was a reply on the other end, and Teki scoffed again when he heard their voice. A crooked smiled crossed his face at the same time.

"Of course, just who I was hoping to hear from. What can I help you with today?" Teki asked, as he swivelled around in his chair, so that he was facing the window.

There was another reply on the other end, but it seemed short and straight to the point. There were no niceties coming from the other side, strictly business, it seemed.

"If that's how you feel then I can certainly set-up a meeting. Is next Tuesday good for you?" Teki questioned.

The reply was swift, annoyed even.

"Ok, ok. I understand," Teki said, sitting forward. "I could probably push you in tomorrow, say… midday?"

The next reply was calm.

"Good, I'm glad," Teki replied, swivelling in his chair again, facing the desk. "I suppose I'll see you tomorrow then. Would you need an escort, or will you make the journey yourself?"

Another quick reply, and then the line went dead. Teki pulled the phone away from his ear, looked at it, scoffed, and set it back in the dock. His expression dropped to a neutral one, almost instantaneously. He took in a deep breath and released it in a sigh.

He took another moment to compose himself and leaned forward again, pressing the button on his intercom.

"Omega, I must speak with you."

Thursday 13th July Age 798

Mr. Oliver Montgomery Garfield stood at his window, looking out towards the horizon, with his hands behind his back. Teki stepped up near him.

"They have arrived, sir," Teki said, pocketing his phone.

Oliver nodded, a sly smile on his face, a satisfied expression. He turned to look over his left shoulder, spotting Teki in his periphery.

"It's a good day, Teki," the older man said, letting out a short, satisfied sigh as he turned away from the window and approached the seat behind his desk. "It's the start of something amazing."

"Is it enough though?" Teki questioned.

Oliver's brow furrowed, yet his smirk remained. He turned and met Teki's eyes.

"I'm doing everything I can for this world," he clarified for his underling.

"Forgive me, sir," Teki said, bowing his head. "I only meant that there are ways for us to do more."

"Of course, but that's where we must be patient, and wait for our moment," Oliver replied.

Teki nodded and backed away, walking over to the opposite side of the room, left from Oliver's perspective when seated behind his desk. Teki stood by the drink's cabinet and little bar, which was beside the secret elevator.

Oliver stared ahead at the elevator, waiting for it to reach his level.

Teki stood and kept his eyes on Oliver, watching as his boss sat patiently, with a satisfied expression on his face. He admired Oliver, but he was starting to feel like maybe his boss wasn't doing things the best way, the way he would do things. He had to shake those thoughts out of his head, especially as the elevator dinged.

The doors opened and out stepped a man who had spent quite a bit of time in this office. The grey-haired, moustache and pin-stripe suit wearing Commander of the King's Secret Service walked out. Zuger Kirsch, along with his right-hand man Jack Colby.

"I hear you have some positive news for me," Kirsch stated as he comfortably crossed the room and took a seat opposite Oliver, without saying anything further.

"Yes, and probably a little later than we all would have hoped," Oliver replied.

Kirsch cocked his head to the side. Colby looked over towards Teki, who simply offered a casual nod.

"So," Kirsch said, sitting back in his chair and holding his hands out, offering the chance for Oliver to continue.

"Teki, could you tell our guest to join us when he's ready," Oliver said, leaning back in his own chair, maintaining eye-contact with Kirsch. And he still wore a smile.

"Certainly," Teki said, taking his phone out of his pocket as he turned and entered the hidden elevator to his side.

"All this secrecy, are you trying to build tension?" Kirsch asked, sounding amused.

Oliver chuckled.

"Oh, believe me, while you may already suspect what is happening here, you will still be pleasantly surprised," Oliver said.

Within moments, the hidden elevator opened again. Colby turned immediately, as if ready to deal with any surprises or threats. Kirsch slowly stood up, eager to see what was on the other side.

Teki stepped out of the hidden elevator and moved to the side, and behind him, the special guest revealed themselves. Walking awkwardly into the room, yet with a strong sense of purpose, was Uub.

"Mr. Uub," Kirsch said, turning to face Oliver before looking back to the martial artist. "Mr. Oliver was very coy on who we were to expect."

"Well, it's me," Uub said, his brow furrowed.

Kirsch looked to Oliver again.

"This is a big win," Kirsch said.

"Yet it's only just the beginning," Oliver added, with a wider smile.

"I assume this means you've made a decision that we can all be happy with?" Kirsch questioned, as he started to walk towards Uub.

"I arrived at the decision my way, but yes, I would like to work with you two," Uub said, but his eyes seemed to move, and he stared into the middle distance for a moment. "We need to make sure that this planet is protected by its own people."

"Fabulous," Kirsch muttered, and he too started to smirk. He approached Uub and held his hand out. "Welcome to the team."

Uub took Kirsch's hand and nodded.

"Now," Oliver said, as he stood up and clapped his hands together, drawing the attention back to himself. "Kirsch and his team will continue to operate as they normally do, serving the King and whatnot, while we," Oliver continued, motioning between himself, Uub, and Teki, "work on building our own team, a proper team, one that works together, here."

"He's right," Kirsch said, looking back to Uub. "We don't expect to go public for some time, we hope to build a team with the right chemistry, the right personality, before you go out there and make a name for yourselves."

"However," Oliver interjected, "should a threat come along that we need to deal with urgently, we will work in cooperation to deal with it, in that very specific scenario."

"The threats must be on a global scale if we're to pull you in," Kirsch continued. "Small scale crimes, acts of terrorism, my team are more than capable of dealing with," Kirsch explained, "but if we see another alien threat come for our home, you will lead the charge."

Uub nodded.

"It may even help if you move yourself to East City. We understand that you have family on Jabayt Island, but if this thing is to work smoothly and effectively, we must ask that you relocate."

Uub nodded again, but he was clearly taking on-board too much information.

"Yes, of course," Uub said.

"For now, we no longer have anything to speak about today," Oliver added, "but we would like to return tomorrow, so that you can meet some of your team and become acquainted with your new family."

"So, why don't you take the time to head out into the city, familiarise yourself," Oliver continued, "we also know how quickly you can get around, so if you want to go back to your family, or if you have any other matters to attend to, you can do that."

"Ok, thanks," Uub said, finding it a little strange how controlling their language could be. "But I would like to clarify, if I choose to remain with my family, or if I decide to take time to train elsewhere, to visit any of my former martial arts masters, I won't wait for permission."

Oliver chuckled.

"He's going to be a fine leader," Kirsch said, nodding to the Alpha boss.

"Teki, please see out our brand-new ally," Oliver said, motioning towards the elevator to the side.

"Certainly," Teki said, nodding his head as he called for the elevator and stepped inside with Uub, leaving the two older men, and Jack Colby behind to continue their conversations.

There was an awkward silence as the elevator descended. Uub stood with his hands clasped together in front of him, calmly. Teki was leaning back against the rail, with his eyes on Uub.

"I should tell you," Teki spoke up.

Uub moved his head, to show he was listening, but he didn't look at Teki.

"I'm not completely on-board with the idea to bring you in. I don't know if I see it as entirely beneficial to what we're planning to accomplish here," Teki continued.

"And why's that?" Uub asked.

"Because we already have much at our disposal, a lot of plans, a lot of possibilities," Teki explained, "as far as I'm concerned, you're temporary.

Uub looked ahead again, refusing to engage in whatever game Teki was playing.

"Mr. Oliver will see," Teki added, "when I bring him what he truly wants."

"Good luck to you," Uub said, at the exact moment that the elevator opened. He stepped forward but looked back to Teki, meeting his eyes. "Unlike you, I'm not in this for me."

Uub turned away and started walking towards the exit of the hangar bay. Teki watched him, his eyes narrowed, as the elevator doors slowly shut again.

Somewhere in East City

After stepping out of the Alpha HQ, Uub found himself wandering aimlessly out through the gates of the complex. There was still that itch of doubt in the back of his mind, and he couldn't be entirely sure if he had made the right decision, but he also knew that he needed to take a step to do something. He couldn't sit back and let the same thing persist for even longer.

As Uub continued to walk into the city he didn't know where he was going, but he was needed in the city the following day so it felt wrong to go back home, even though he could travel quickly. Perhaps Oliver had been right. Maybe Uub should take the time to familiarise himself with the city some more.

He did know some stuff about East City, not enough to be immediately comfortable in the city, but he had some points of interest, and maybe he should visit one of those places. He was already walking in a direction that he knew, to a place he was mildly familiar with.

After walking along for around about thirty minutes, and he was ambling along at a reasonably slow pace, Uub stopped outside of a building that he had stood outside before. Although the last time he had been there he wasn't alone.

Uub stepped up to the front door of an apartment building. There was an intercom on the wall beside the front double doors, and Uub glanced across it until he spotted the name he was familiar with. He pressed the button and there was a buzzing sound. About ten seconds after Uub let his finger off the button a woman's voice sounded through the speaker.

"Hello?" the voice greeted, with a questioning tone.

Uub was pleased to hear the familiar voice of Zohra.

"Hello, Zohra. It's Uub," the young man said, politely.

"Oh, Uub," Zohra sounded surprised and happy at the same time. "Hold on, I'll buzz you in."

The intercom shut off and there was another buzzing sound, followed by a click from the front doors. Uub took the door handle and pulled, and the door opened. He quickly glanced back at the intercom, to make sure he knew exactly what apartment he was going to before entering and shutting the door behind him.

There was an elevator towards the back of the foyer, but Zohra was up on the second floor, so it would only be two flights of stairs, he didn't think it was worth taking the elevator.

When he reached the second floor he moved through the hall slowly, almost nervously, looking at the door numbers as he moved along, but as he approached apartment 212, he heard a click of a door opening, and then saw Zohra poke her head out from one of the apartments.

"Hey," she said, smiling, but still sounding surprised. "What brings you here?"

Zohra leaned against her doorframe, waiting for Uub to reach her.

"I was just wandering through, and I remembered where you lived, I thought I should come by," Uub explained.

"Why would you be wandering around in East City?" Zohra asked, chuckling.

Uub stopped a few feet away from Zohra's door. He saw her smile and could tell she was happy to see him, now he could only wonder how she would respond to what he had to tell her.

"I suppose I wanted to come and see you," Uub said, placing his hands on his hips and looking down at the ground.

Zohra smirked and chuckled softly, looking to the ground as well. Uub looked up again, seeing that Zohra had looked down and he took that as his moment.

"I wanted to tell you that I have decided to join Alpha," Uub revealed.

Zohra looked up immediately, meeting Uub's eyes. Her smiled disappeared, but it was still surprise that remained on her face.

"In fact, I'm coming here straight from Alpha, straight from a meeting," Uub continued. "I suppose there are no official documents or anything right now, but… I have agreed to join."

"That's… uh…" Zohra wasn't sure what to say. "I don't think I expected you to make that decision."

"But you hoped I would?" Uub questioned.

"Yeah, I guess I did," Zohra replied, a small smile appearing again.

"Do you think I made the right decision?" Uub asked.

Zohra's smile disappeared again, and there was a little concern on her face.

"I hope so," Zohra replied, "if anything at least we'll get to work together."

Zohra smiled again and then moved away from her doorframe and backed into her apartment.

"Come in," she said, turning around and entering.

Uub looked up and down the hall before deciding to follow the woman into her home, knowing that he couldn't just leave after showing up and telling her that one thing. It wouldn't be very polite of him.

The young man glanced around the apartment as he walked through. It was nothing spectacular, but it was enough. As soon as he entered the apartment, he was in a sort of living space, with a couch, a coffee table, and a TV on a unit. To the right was the kitchen, which didn't appear to be very large, and there was a small hall that presumably led to the bedroom.

Even if it wasn't spectacular in size, it certainly looked lived in and very personal, which differed in comparison to the shiny and clean Alpha Industries. Uub may not know loads about Zohra, but he certainly felt her touch all over the apartment.

"It's a nice place," Uub said, standing in the middle of the room awkwardly while Zohra was in the kitchen.

"It's alright, there's not much, but I've done what I can to make it my own," Zohra called back from the kitchen. "Take a seat on the couch, oh, and did you want something to drink?"

"Water would be fine, thank you," Uub said as he awkwardly moved towards the couch and slowly sat down.

Zohra emerged from the kitchen, holding two drinks. Some sort of juice in one glass and the clear water in the other. She handed the glass to Uub and took a seat beside him.

"Thank you," Uub said, and he took a sip, then set the glass down on the table. "What did you mean that we'll get to work together? I was told I would have a team?"

"I guess they weren't going to tell you until you got to meet the rest, but I'm a part of the team you'll be leading," Zohra replied.

"That's good then, at least there will be someone that I already know," Uub said, with a little scoff. "Do you know who else is in this team?"

"No, not right now," she said, "but then again, it has been quite secretive."

Uub made a noise to show that he understood, but he clearly seemed contemplative, perhaps overthinking his decision, which was maybe why he really decided to drop by and see Zohra.

She watched him as he reached forward to grab his glass from the table and took another sip of his water. There was something on his face that told her there was still so much uncertainty there, and if she couldn't read it from his expression, she could definitely read it from what he had said so far. He was still asking if it was the right decision.

"What helped you make the final decision?" she asked.

Uub set the drink down again and scoffed quietly.

"A couple of days ago Noca and the Saiyan Vegeta were fighting," Uub started, turning to look at Zohra as he spoke. "Although, it wasn't like their normal training sessions. I don't know why they were fighting on the islands… but I couldn't just let them carry on the way they were…" Uub continued, "not when it was affecting people on my island."

"How so? Were they close? Did they cause any damage to your home?" Zohra asked.

"Fortunately not, but… there was an explosion from something that sent a tremor through the whole island, like an Earthquake, and that's when I knew it was getting too close for comfort," Uub explained further.

"What did you do?" Zohra asked.

"I just stopped it. I showed up and separated them, and I knew that had I not done that one simple thing, they wouldn't have stopped until one of them was down…" Uub pondered on what kind of damage would have been left in their wake had it gone on longer.

He cursed quietly to himself and stood up. Thinking back on it was clearly playing on his mind too much and affecting his judgement, or maybe he was just seeing clearly.

"None of the others were stepping in," Uub said, "I couldn't sense Gohan or Goten getting ready for a fight…" Uub wasn't specifically talking to Zohra, more talking out loud. "Even Piccolo was nearby…"

"Hey, look, it was stopped, and you did the right thing," Zohra said, standing up and walking over to Uub.

She turned him around gently and looked into his eyes.

"Whether or not you made the right decision in joining us at Alpha will become clear, I'm sure, but from what you've said here it sounds like you're right to believe they need to be controlled in some way," Zohra explained, doing her best to help Uub feel at ease about his decisions.

"I don't want to see any harm brought to them," Uub said.

"Of course," Zohra replied.

"I just want to ensure that we can protect the planet ourselves, without having to worry about the destruction left behind," Uub continued.

"And that's what we all want at Alpha," Zohra said. "I don't know them like you do, but you clearly don't see them as threats, and that's what we need in our team."

Uub nodded. He sighed softly.

"I should go," he said, "I have to figure out where I'm staying tonight."

"Haven't they offered you a place at HQ?" Zohra asked.

"I don't feel comfortable staying around there at the moment," Uub replied.

"Then you're welcome to stay here for now," Zohra suggested, almost blurting it out, not expecting herself to offer her own home to Uub.

"I appreciate that, but I couldn't intrude," Uub replied, politely.

He moved back to the table and finished off the glass of water and took the glass out to the kitchen. When he re-emerged, he stayed in the middle of the room for a moment.

"I may know of a dojo in the city that will let me stay with them, so I'll head there," Uub said, and he respectfully bowed his head. "Thank you for the water, and for hearing me out. I'm sorry, I just feel like I needed to speak my thoughts aloud to someone close to the situation, and you're the only person I know with Alpha."

"Well… I'm glad I could help," Zohra said, staying still on the other side of the room, and watching Uub.

He nodded again and turned towards the door. A concerned expression remained on her face, but she shook it off and quickly crossed the room.

"Uub, wait," she said.

He stopped and turned around as she reached him and very quickly, and to Uub's complete surprise, planted a kiss on his lips, and lingered for a moment. She broke the kiss and stepped back, bashfully. Uub was surprised and gently cleared his throat.

"I… um…" Uub stuttered, unsure of what he should say.

"Sorry, was that weird?" Zohra asked, "I get it, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have."

"No, it's just… I wasn't expecting it," Uub replied.

"I'll see you at HQ tomorrow," Zohra said, shaking her head as she slowly closed the door.

Uub didn't know what to do or say, but as the door was within inches of closing, he had one last thing to say.

"Would you like to have dinner with me?" he blurted out.

The door stopped moving, and slowly reopened. Zohra stood there, eyes widened, but she still looked uncomfortable, and felt awkward.

"Really?" Zohra questioned.

"Yeah, I'm not that familiar with the city, after all," Uub said, trying to make it seem like he was keeping things strictly professional, which he was honestly trying to do, but he wasn't opposed to the idea of building a friendship with Zohra beyond their association with Alpha.

"I mean, yeah, I'm happy to show you around town," Zohra said, and then she seemed to do a little bit of thinking while standing in the doorway, leaving an awkward silence, but then she shook her head back to reality. "Let me just freshen up and I'll meet you downstairs, ok?"

"Sure," Uub nodded.

"Ok, won't be long," Zohra said, and she closed the door and turned around, leaning back against it, and letting all the awkwardness rush over her.

It had been a while since she had been on a date with someone, and while she didn't know Uub that well, she couldn't deny having been attracted to him from the moment she first met him, she just never thought of it being anything other than a professional endeavour. At least, that was the way she felt before meeting up with him before his first meeting with Alpha, when she got the chance to meet some of his family.

On the other side of the door, Uub turned away and walked towards the stairs again. A blank expression on his face, but his brow furrowed as he thought about what he was doing. He never thought about anyone from an attraction point of view, but it wasn't like he had written off personal relationships, even if it was just a friendship. Aside from his family, Uub had become quite an isolated individual after Goku moved on. He didn't have many friends, just the acquaintances and family friends back home.

Uub was already entering entirely new territory with his association with Alpha, so why not step further out of the comfort zone and into the realm of the unknown. He had tackled so much in his life so far, and he was only just approaching mid-20s. He was allowed to experience more than just fighting.

It was a brand-new start.

Friday 14th July Age 798

Alpha Industries Complex – East City

On his two previous visits to the Alpha complex Uub had entered through the side entrance, used specifically for their personnel, their guards, employees, and Mr. Oliver himself. He had gone from that hangar bay, up Mr. Oliver's personal elevator straight to his office, and then back again. That was the full extent of what he had seen at the Alpha complex.

This time, even though Uub entered through that same entrance, he was instead directed towards a different door. There, he saw that both Zohra and Teki were already waiting for his arrival. Teki, with his arms behind his back, smiled and nodded to greet Uub, then swivelled on his feet.

"Follow me," he said, then proceeded to walk on up that hallway.

Zohra smiled to Uub and waited for him to catch up to her before following Teki down the hall together. They walked along in silence, with Uub finally seeing something different from the elevator, or Mr. Oliver's office. Unlike those two things, the hallways seemed very well lit, and sleek, modern, it was a rather large juxtaposition to what he had experienced on previous visits.

A pair of doors slid open as Teki approached them, and they found themselves in yet another hallway, only this one was different. Instead of it being plain, white, and silver… it was still those things, except there were windows on both sides of the hall. Through the windows on Uub's right side he could see labs where people were working at large tables, at various workstations, and on the left side there were, what looked like, offices, with people on computers.

Uub had almost forgotten people actually worked there, he had never seen it before, so he never really thought about it. Either way, none of that was of particular interest to him, but it was nice to know that the company was more than what he had met with them about. Sure, there were Alpha appliances in his own home, but he had never been as tech savvy as some of the others in his family, he was always focused on martial arts.

And right now, Uub's focus was on getting to know the people he would be working closely with, not the people working in the building.

The trio rounded a corner, turning off to the right, and they continued along another hallway. Uub took note of some of the signs as he walked past. There were numerous labs, handling many different things, there were offices, restrooms, recreation spaces, food courts, conference rooms, and even living quarters. Uub was aware of the residential buildings on-site in the complex, but now he knew there were even living areas in the main building itself.

There were even signs for an armoury, for a gun range, weapons testing, and training rooms. This is what Uub was seeing more of as they continued along their journey. He hadn't thought about it, but it would make sense that those are the kinds of things Uub would see as he got closer to where he would meet his team.

It was at this point, that the trio were approaching a large set of double doors, with a sign to the side that read 'Mess Hall 8.' Teki brought out a card and touched it to pad on the other side of the door, it made a beep sound and the doors clicked. Teki pushed both doors open and stepped to the side for Uub and Zohra to go through first.

Uub looked around, taking in the kinds of people that were sitting around. Men and women of all ages and sizes, although they were mostly very fit, and reasonably young. Uub couldn't spot a person he would say was older than mid-40s. But, from the looks on their faces, from their cliques, the way they interacted with one another, Uub could tell there were soldiers in the room. It was a vastly different environment from the kind that Uub was familiar with, as a martial artist.

Off to the side, Uub spotted two men standing together. They were both rather tall and very bulky, tough looking, and they were both familiar to Uub. One of them he knew he recognised from the last tournament. He had dark, neatly styled hair, and he immediately looked in the direction of Uub and the other two, a surprised expression on his face.

It took him a second, but Uub remembered that the man's name was Joji. He had proven himself to be a tough competitor at the tournament, and that told Uub there were more than just soldiers in the room. However, the person standing beside Joji caught Uub's attention. About the same height as Joji, if not taller, with short blond hair and a beard. The beard threw Uub off initially, but upon closer inspection Uub knew he was looking at a former opponent. Shai.

Questions were rolling around Uub's head, but he couldn't dwell on them. Teki turned and started to address Uub, drawing his attention back.

"Uub, I'd like you to meet Amanda Carter," Teki said, motioning towards a light-skinned blonde woman.

"A pleasure to meet you, Uub," Amanda Carter greeted, holding her hand out.

Uub lifted his hand and grabbed hers, both shook firmly. She seemed formal, with her hair tied back in a ponytail, and she was wearing a pale blue blouse with navy blue suit trousers, and smart looking shoes that were clearly made for athletic wear too. Uub also made sure to take note of her hip-holster with a gun.

"Nice to meet you too," Uub said politely, bowing his head slightly and smiling.

"Ms Carter joins us after a lengthy career as a field agent for the King's Secret Service," Teki explained, "although she had been working with some of the team already and will be your second-in-command."

"I look forward to working with you," Carter added.

As Uub was being introduce to Carter, someone else on the other side of the room had spotted what was going on. The person, a black man with dreadlocks styled off to the side, with a fade, wearing a plain black t-shirt, with dark combat trousers and brown boots, had been laying down on a bench talking to another young man when he noticed Teki approaching Carter. He sat up and slapped the leg of the young man he was speaking to.

"Let's go see what that's all about," the man said, jumping up and walking towards the group, followed by his young friend. "Hey, Ortiz," the man called out to another person, sitting at another table.

The other person, an olive-skinned woman with messy tied back black hair looked up and at the man, and followed where he was pointing. She stood up and started to walk over too. She too was wearing dark combat trousers and boots, but with a white tank-top, and she had a jacket tied around her waist.

The three people approaching weren't noticed by Teki, Uub, or Zohra, who had their backs to them, but Carter noticed.

"Here are the team now," Carter said, motioning towards the trio that were approaching.

"Hey, girl, what's good?" the man said to Zohra as he passed her.

Zohra just smiled, but it was a weak, false smile.

"Who's the new blood?" the man said, looking Uub up and down.

"Uub, this is Erik Wilson," Carter said, motioning towards the man as he continued to size up Uub. "He's a former marine for the King's Marine Corps. Wilson, this is Uub."

"He's to be your team leader," Teki added.

"What? This guy? You gotta be kidding?" Wilson questioned, laughing. "This kid is younger than all of us," he added, pointing at Uub and looking over his shoulder at the others.

"Why don't you all get acquainted, I have to go talk to some others quickly," Teki said, as he turned off and approached Shai and Joji. Uub didn't get a chance to see what was going on as he was drawn back to the team.

"Ignore him," the other woman, Ortiz, said, brushing Wilson to the side. "I'm Elena Ortiz. I have minor combat experience, but I'm a damn good pilot, and I can handle myself in a fight."

"She can, I've seen her file," Carter added, smiling at Ortiz.

"It's nice to meet you," Uub said, nodding to Ortiz.

Uub couldn't shake off the fact that Wilson was continuing to eye him up, as if threatened by him, at least that's how it felt with the way Wilson was trying to make himself seem bigger than Uub.

"Why would you be fit to lead us? What kinda experience you got?" Wilson asked, even though he clearly had something against Uub his tone was genuine, like he really wanted to know what Uub had been through.

Uub wasn't about to dump his whole life story on the stranger, not yet anyway.

"Tell me about yourself first," Uub said, politely.

Wilson smirked, as if he was waiting for the chance to show off.

"I was a professional boxer in my late teens, early twenties, and I was good," Wilson explained, "but then I wanted something else, signed up, was a marine for ten years, fighting against terrorist groups in the northern territories," he continued, "I can fight, and I can handle a weapon."

Uub nodded.

"You know your stuff," Uub stated.

Wilson scoffed, with a smirk, and nodded, but continued to stare right at Uub.

"Damn right," he said, "now, why should I take orders from you?"

"Easy, Wilson," Carter said, trying to keep the soldier calm.

"He's a martial artist," the young man standing behind Wilson finally spoke up.

They all turned to look at the young man, clearly a few years younger than Uub. Probably not much older than eighteen, this young man was average in height, but he certainly appeared physically fit. He had a buzz cut and seemed to be wearing similar clothes to Wilson. Uub recognised this young man too.

"He's probably one of the best fighters in the whole world," the young man added.

"What's your name?" Uub asked, looking at the young man with narrowed eyes as he tried to place where he knew him from.

"William Bryce, but my friends call me Billy," the young man confirmed.

"You fought in the tournament too?" Uub questioned, but there wasn't time for a reply as Wilson stepped up again.

"I'm gonna need proof," he said, amused.

Wilson was chuckling as he stepped in front of Uub again, but he suddenly dropped that demeanour and jabbed a punch towards Uub's face. Being a competent and extraordinary martial artist, Uub easily dodged under Wilson's outstretched arm and moved towards the soldier, thrusting his hand out, palm forward, into Wilson's chest, and he pushed the soldier back, knocking him to the ground.

It had happened so quickly that no one had really been able to see what Uub did. All they saw was Wilson throwing a punch and then suddenly falling to the ground. He scrambled back to his feet as Uub returned to his upright position, standing casually.

"Woah!" Teki called out, as he walked over again, flanked by Joji and Shai. "Let's stop the fighting, shall we?"

Wilson was staring at Uub, wide-eyed, as if ready to go in for another round, but he had to calm himself down after being shown up like that. He glanced around the room as people went about their business. Ortiz struggled to stifle a chuckle, as did Zohra.

Uub had already moved on to other things, as he turned to look up at Shai.

"I am aware of the fact that you two are already familiar with one another," Teki said, looking between Uub and Shai.

"Yeah, we know each other," Uub said, keeping a wary eye on Shai.

The other members of the team seemed a little put-off by the presence of Shai and Joji, it was clear that everyone knew what they were capable of, but then they all started to figure out just why Uub was going to be the one to lead them.

"Shai here is reformed, I can assure you of that," Teki said. "We know of the circumstance in which you two first came to blows, but Shai was under the influence of a very negative and powerful force at that time."

"I know," Uub said, "I know of the wizard and the machine."

Shai nodded.

"That's right," Shai said.

"It was a tough fight way back then, so I know you're capable of holding your own, but I'm a lot stronger now," Uub explained.

"I'm sure of it, I saw your performance in the tournament," Shai added.

"You fought each other?" Wilson asked, stepping up beside Uub.

"We did, a few years ago now, and I basically lost that fight," Uub explained, "but I won't lose again."

Shai smirked and nodded, but it was because he agreed with Uub.

"You mentioned a tournament?" Wilson questioned.

"Really?" Ortiz questioned, "you've really gotta learn to pay attention, Wilson."

"What?" Wilson said, turning to Ortiz.

"Uub was a finalist at the last World Martial Arts Tournament," Billy said, "and in my opinion he was robbed and should have won the whole thing."

Uub glanced at Billy, sensing some sort of animosity in the way he spoke, but towards something, or someone else.

"I didn't realise," Wilson said, turning to Uub. "I don't really follow martial arts."

"He's also had a big part to play in saving our world a couple of times," Teki added.

All of them looked towards Teki as he said that, except for Shai and Joji. Then they all looked back to Uub as the humble man stood with his arms by his side. Uub didn't like having that kind of attention on him. Yes, if he was going to be leading those people, he wanted them to respect him, but he also wanted to be seen as their equal, and not like he should be up on some form of pedestal.

"I don't see myself as a leader. I want this to be collaborative," Uub explained. "Yes, I am very powerful, I've fought many battles, but I always have room to learn and grow, and I know there are things that all of you know that I do not," Uub continued, "so I don't expect to have your respect or friendship right away, but I hope to earn that as we work together."

"Well, I suppose I should let the team get to know each other better," Teki said, and he started to turn away, but stopped and looked back. "Oh, and Shai and Joji will be a part of the team as well. Good luck."

And with that, Teki left the mess hall.

Uub looked over the people that would be a part of this team. The nerves crept in as he realised that it was real, he would have to lead these people, get to know these people, and eventually team up with them to deal with threats around the world. It felt strange, he knew that for the most part they were just regular people that had excelled in specific fields, but he wasn't sure if they could ever be on a similar level to him and the other fighters he had been allied with in his time.

Either way, Uub looked forward to the challenge.

Teki finally returned to his office and shut the door behind him. He stood for a second and took a deep breath, releasing it in a long sigh. He walked over to the drinks cabinet and pulled out a glass bottle of whiskey. He poured himself a glass, placing a single cube of ice into the glass and he approached his desk, sitting down in his chair and turning to look out of the window.

As he slowly sipped at the drink Teki thought about what was going on at Alpha, he thought about what Omega had wanted, about what he was working on, about the new plans, and about the plans Teki himself had been working on.

Teki turned in his chair again, set the drink down and leaned towards his phone, typing in a three-digit code, and pressing the intercom button.

"Yes, sir," a male voice said upon answering.

"Zen, I need you to prepare a package with six vials," Teki requested, "and have it sent to the crew, along with some weapons."

"Of course, sir. Shall I get my team ready?" Zen asked.

"Yes, I want you guys in position in case things take a turn, but don't act until I give the order," Teki replied.

"Yes, sir. Right away," Zen replied, and then the phone clicked as he hung up the call.

Teki sat in the same position, looking at his phone, and then leaned forward again, typing in another, longer number, although he picked up the phone and brought it to his ear that time.

"Hi, yes, it's me," Teki said in response to the person on the phone. "I have something coming your way, once it arrives you are to begin. It might be a couple of days, but as soon as it arrives you get started. Don't fail me."

And then Teki slammed the phone down and sat back in his chair again. He inhaled and released the breath through his mouth, then continued sipping at his whiskey.

Sorry about the delay to this chapter, but I didn't get much time to work on fanfic stuff over the holidays, and then since new year I've been swamped with work, but don't worry. Releases will also be returning to Tuesdays next week. Thanks for understanding, and I hope you're enjoying the story.