RISE OF THE ALPHA FLIGHT
Team Appearances: Captain Marvel (9th series) #1-5, Spider-Woman (6th series) #2-5, Avengers (6th series) #0, A-Force (2nd series) #1-4, Ultimates (2nd series) #3, 6-7, Captain Marvel (9th series) #6-7, Ms. Marvel (4th series) #8-9, Spider-Woman (6th series) #11, Civil War II: Choosing Sides #5-6, Captain Marvel (9th series) #8, Guardians of the Galaxy (4th series) #11, Rocket Raccoon and Groot #8-9, Civil War II #4, Guardians of the Galaxy (4th series) #12, Civil War II #5-6, Captain Marvel (9th series) #9-10, Civil War II #8
Before:
- Alpha Flight were Canada's premiere super heroes, serving their nation and protecting both it and the world for many years. When they were last seen, the roster consisted of Guardian, Snowbird, Aurora, Puck, Marrina and Talisman. [Fantastic Four (1st series) #643]
- Captain Marvel has served as an Avenger for many years and spent several stints based in space.
- SWORD was apparently shut down following the “Secret Wars” event.
Chronology:
The Alpha Flight Space Station (or AFSS for short) was established in low-orbit around Earth as the Earth's new intergalactic diplomatic, defense and alert station, replacing SWORD. Captain Marvel accepted the position of Commander of the new AFSS and was supported by three long-serving members of the Canadian-based Alpha Flight – Aurora, Sasquatch and Puck, all of whom adapted quickly to the technology available to them aboard the AFSS and to working in space itself. Additionally, Carol had oversight of a vast alien crew, including her associate Wendy Kawasaki, who served as a science officer, and former director of SWORD, Abigail Brand, who reluctantly operated as Carol's second-in-command. Before Carol could get settled aboard her new home, she and her team dealt with an invasion by the aliens known as the Satori and internal espionage by another alien race, the Eridani. During these tense crises, Carol and Brand often found themselves disagreeing, but eventually developed a mutual respect for each other. [Captain Marvel (9th series) #1-5]
Alpha Flight were tending to a strange space ship containing unusual aliens when Carol received a transmission from her best friend, Jessica Drew, who had checked herself in to an intergalactic maternity ward sponsored by the AFSS, warning Carol of a Skrull infiltration on Earth. Carol and the rest of Alpha Flight cut short their mission and returned to Earth, joining Jessica at the medical facility. Fortunately, Jessica not only dealt with the Skrull infiltration, but gave birth to her child at the same time. [Spider-Woman (6th series) #2-4]
Carol was investigating a malevolent life form that appeared near the Alpha Flight Space Station when Dr. Tempest Bell arrived aboard AFSS to serve as the crew's astrobiologist. Despite her reluctance, Tempest assisted Carol with the alien life form, eventually dispersing it. However, they remained unaware that another life form from Doom's Battleworld, known as Singularity, had somehow traversed to this reality. [Avengers (6th series) #0]
When they eventually became aware of this entity, which took a humanoid, female shape, Captain Marvel and Dr. Bell attempted to study her. However, Singularity had her own intentions, which consisted of assembling this universe’s counterparts of group of women known on Battleworld as A-Force. While Dr. Bell ran tests on Singularity, Carol’s focus lay on the return of the strange energy that she had fought earlier – a form of antimatter. While Carol confronted that energy, Singularity fled from Dr. Bell towards Earth in an attempt to gather the rest of A-Force. That other form of energy, which Carol began to call Antimatter, pursued Singularity to the planet. Fortunately, Singularity's succeeded in assembling (or re-assembling) A-Force, who helped her fight back. As Singularity’s new allies fought against Antimatter, Carol and Dr. Bell kept watch on the situation from the AFSS, devising a plan to contain the creature. Dr. Bell and Wendy Kawasaki eventually came up with a plan but feared that, in destroying the Antimatter creature, the same course of action would destroy Singularity as well. Taking the chance, A-Force carried out Dr. Bell and Wendy's plan and succeeded in destroying Antimatter and saving Singularity in the process, although Antimatter was later revealed to have merely dispersed its energy matter into other hosts. [A-Force (2nd series) #1-4]
A short time later, the cosmic science team known as the Ultimates began to operate out of the Alpha Flight Space Station. On occasion, Carol and her crew would assist them on their wondrous cosmic adventures. [Ultimates (2nd series) #6-7]
When a new Inhuman called Ulysses gained the ability of precognition, Carol wanted to recruit him into her Ultimates program, believing that she could stay ahead of threats before they happened. Unfortunately, other heroes disagreed with the idea of punishment before a crime was committed – a disagreement which led to another rift in the superhuman community.
Captain Marvel had other problems to deal with too, including the Alpha Flight Space Station's Board of Governors, representatives of various countries supporting the AFSS. Among the board was the Black Panther, Henry Gyrich and Philippe Beaulieu, who represented Wakada, the United States and Canada respectively. When she was grilled over her actions during the Satori invasion, Captain Marvel let slip information she had regarding the Inhuman Ulysses. The Board of Governors encouraged Captain Marvel to pursue plans with Ulysses and honing his abilities.
The AFSS crew soon learned that the Kree scientist Dr. Minerva had been conducting experiments with biological weapons on Earth. Captain Marvel, Sasquatch, Aurora and Puck tracked Minerva down but did so too late. Minerva unleashed her weapon that merged human and Kree genes, mutating dozens of civilians before she escaped the AFSS crew. Faced with such a tragedy, Carol believed more than ever that she needed the help of Ulysses' powers. Carol met with Ulysses, seeking his help on Minerva's whereabouts. Ulysses was eager to help and, thanks to his predictions, Captain Marvel, Sasquatch, Aurora, Puck and the Ultimates were able to capture Minerva and put an end to her plans. The success met with the approval of the Board of Governors, who gave Carol authority to assemble whatever peacekeeping force she needed to work with Ulysses to make the world a safer place. [Captain Marvel (9th series) #6-7]
One of Carol’s plans was to assemble a team of volunteers specifically charged to put Ulysses' unique knowledge to good use. For supervision of this group, Captain Marvel invited Kamala Khan, the young Ms. Marvel, to the AFSS and offered her the position. An excited Kamala accepted Carol's offer but quickly had second thoughts when one of the first targets that Ulysses identified, a student who was going to bomb his own school, turned out to be turned out to be a friend of hers. Realizing that they were going to punish someone for a dangerous act they had not yet committed, a confused Kamala returned to the AFSS. Sure where Kamala was not, Carol tried to reassure Kamala that she was doing the right thing and asked Kamala to see this assignment through. [Ms. Marvel (4th series) #8-9]
The AFSS also received another visitor close to Carol during these tense times, though under less friendly circumstances. Unhappy with what her best friend was undertaking with using Ulysses' precognitive abilities, Jessica Drew snuck aboard the AFSS to rectify the situation. Members of the AFSS crew watched in shock as the two formerly best friends fought each other. Jessica eventually left the space station, but ending her friendship with Carol in the process. [Spider-Woman (6th series) #11]
When Ulysses predicted that Excavator, son to Piledriver of the Wrecking Crew, would succeed in stealing his father’s power but would be unable to harness it, resulting in several deaths, Aurora, Sasquatch and Puck were sent to Michigan to apprehend the youth. Although they succeeded, the battle had been caught on video and the three were afterward summoned to meeting with the Canadian Prime Minister, who was not happy that his nation's super heroes were seen on television beating up a teenager. Nevertheless, the heroes expressed their loyalty to Captain Marvel and the Alpha Flight Space Station. When Aurora appeared somewhat uneasy, the prime minister suggested to her that she reflected on the freedom of choice. [Civil War II: Choosing Sides #5] While the classic Alphans were dealing with their own issues, Captain Marvel and Abigail Brand ventured to South Korea to try to recruit the White Fox into joining the Ulysses Initiative. White Fox, however, declined their offer, deciding that Koreans had a long history with oppression and would decide for themselves how their future would unfold. [Civil War II: Choosing Sides #6]
Despite these setbacks, when she next met with them, the AFSS board expressed how pleased they were with the work that Captain Marvel’s predictive justice unit was doing. Her next mission, however, left Carol unsure herself. When the unit was made aware of an impending threat by Stewart Cadwall, a man who was once transformed into Thundersword by the power of Beyonder, Carol and a SWAT unit burst into his home to arrest him. However, Cadwall had never actually used the power source, which he kept in his garage. Nevertheless, Cadwall was arrested and his family suddenly found that they could no longer support themselves. Although Gyrich was pleased with her continued good work, Carol confided in the Black Panther that she felt that an external energy source had activated Cadwall's power source. After seeing what has happened to Cadwall and his family, she had begun to have second thoughts about the predictive justice unit. [Captain Marvel (9th series) #8]
When the Guardians of the Galaxy returned from deep space, they arrived first at the AFSS, where Captain Marvel, Sasquatch, Aurora, Puck and Brand were on hand to greet them. [Guardians of the Galaxy (4th series) #11] After being informed about the issues currently dividing the superhuman community, the Guardians aligned themselves with Captain Marvel and her predictive justice program. Soon after, Carol held a meeting attended by Puck, Sasquatch and other senior members of the superhero community to discuss assignments. Rocket and Groot were also present and accepted one such mission. Carol kept a curious watch over the two while she, Puck and Sasquatch battled aliens. [Rocket Raccoon and Groot #8-10]
As the rift between superheroes worsened over the issue of Ulysses’ powers, so too did Carol’s relationship with Tony Stark, who was most vocal among the anti-Ulysses faction. When his dissent soon turned to outright obstruction, Captain Marvel called for his arrest, resulting in the first outright conflict between the two opposing sides. Aurora, Sasquatch and Puck fought with Captain Marvel and pro-Ulysses heroes during the battle that followed. During the fight, the spaceship belonging to the Guardians of the Galaxy was destroyed, effectively grounding them on Earth. The only thing that stopped the conflagration was another vision by Ulysses, who had recently gained the ability for others to share in what he saw. That vision showed a future in which Miles Morales, the new Spider-Man, would kill Captain America. [Civil War II #4-6, Guardians of the Galaxy (4th series) #12]
Soon thereafter, Captain Marvel, Aurora, Puck and Sasquatch were called to Ontario when the Great Beast Kolomaq returned, attempting to create a new ice age. Fortunately, they were able to defeat Kolomaq by removing the mask from its human host, an unstable man named Owen LeClerc, who had become possessed by the Great Beast. After he was taken into custody, Aurora expressed concern as to what would happen to LeClerc. However, when the team returned to the Triskelion's predictive justice unit, they were met by board members Gyrich and Beaulieu, who were concerned that LeClerc had not been taken into custody days before. Aurora admitted to requesting that the team not to arrest LeClerc before he became Kolomaq due to his struggle with Dissociative Identity Disorder, something with which Aurora herself had struggled all her life. She had been concerned that arresting him might have led to the very crisis that Ulysses identified.
Captain Marvel backed Aurora up, telling the Board that there was no evidence for them to arrest LeClerc. However, Gyrich and Beaulieu soon spoke with Captain Marvel privately, informing her that, while they knew she suffered had some setbacks with the predictive justice unit and within the superhuman community, they didn't want her to give up on the work she has been doing. Carol asserted that she did know what she was doing and could justify her actions because of the people she was saving. She then noted that, as soon as she was asked to do something with which she couldn't live, she would abandon this mission.
A few days later, shortly after arresting the criminals known as Mutant Force, Alpha Flight was paid a visit by Magneto, who was frustrated with the drones that Carol had sent to spy on him. He also told Aurora how disappointed he was in her that she, a mutant, would side with this predictive justice program. Aurora reminded Magneto that other mutants stood with the unit, differentiating between mutant rights and the work of the unit.
Shortly after learning from the Cat Doctor that there might be someone aboard the AFSS leaking predictive justice insights, Carol was visited by Ulysses, who wished to report his recent vision in which Captain Marvel and Aurora had been fighting. Carol quickly confronted Aurora, suspecting her of the theorized leaks and questioning her loyalty to the program. Aurora was insulted at Carol’s accusations and assured her that she understood that the benefits of the predictive justice system outweighed the drawbacks, even if mutants and the mentally ill were targeted. When Carol then reminded Aurora that she had another personality and suggested that it might have been this personality leaking the information, Aurora promptly quit, followed by harsher words and finally the very fight Ulysses had predicted. Worse, Captain Marvel found herself also fighting Sasquatch and Puck, who took the side of their longtime friend and Alphan.
Although outmatched, the fight turned in Captain Marvel’s favor with the arrival of the AFSS crew and their weapons. After their arrest, the three Alphans demanded to speak with Beaulieu, who represented Canada on the Board of Governors. Once alone, however, Beaulieu revealed himself to be the Master of the World, the longtime enemy of Alpha Flight. Reveling in his apparent victory, Beaulieu breached the station’s hull, intending for the vacuum of space to kill the Alphans. Fortunately, they were immediately rescued by Captain Marvel, who had suspected that Beaulieu had not been who he claimed and had orchestrated the hostility with her teammates to draw him out. The Master, however, fought back with the Thundersword power source the AFSS had obtained from Stewart Cadwall. However, quick thinking Captain Marvel brought the fight back to Mr. Cadwall, who reclaimed the Thundersword power from the Master and then returned it to Carol.
Following the arrest of the Master, Alpha Flight’s Board of Governors was utterly discredited and its charter revoked. All authority was returned to Captain Marvel, who was the only one to emerge from crisis with her reputation intact. Wishing to keep her team intact, Carol knew that she had some work to do with her Alpha Flight teammates. Although Puck understood why Carol had kept secrets from them, Sasquatch and particularly Aurora were not that forgiving. This enabled Captain Marvel and Puck to bond further, strengthening their friendship, even as Carol dealt with a surge in popularity from the citizens of the world. [Captain Marvel (9th series) #9-10]
Despite their concerns, Aurora and Sasquatch joined with Puck and the Ultimates aboard a SHIELD Helicarrier when this second Civil War between the superheroes came to a culmination. As Captain Marvel battle Iron Man fought ferociously, the three Alphans could only watch as they were prohibited from intervening under orders of Maria Hill. Ultimately, the entire argument became moot when Ulysses’ continuously mutating Inhuman powers elevated him to cosmic status and he departed the Earth with Eternity. [Civil War II #8]
Afterwards:
- Aurora was transferred to NASA soon after the end of the second Civil War. Although the reason was never made clear, presumably it had something to do with not being able to trust Captain Marvel following recent events. However, Aurora would occasionally continue to assist the Alpha Flight Space Program.