The Reclaimed

For Nathan, before there was the Pack, there was another pack - his fellow Mistra operatives. Some of his old friends died on Youra, while others went on to join up with his second pack and later, Elpis, where they have finally found a way to live productive, happy lives.

Timothy Morgan (deceased) was a first-generation operative and Nathan's successor as field leader at Mistra. A telekinetic (but not a telepath) whose powers manifested in the form of a giant telekinetic exoskeleton, he was a gruff, irritable man with an enormous sense of loyalty to his fellow operatives. He was a leader in Nathan's mold, although he resented the older man bitterly for leaving them. His conditioning was broken by the Trojan Horse in combat with Nathan while the X-Men were trying to retrieve MacInnis, his team, and a helicopter full of rescued children. Taken back to the mansion, he quickly departed to join MacInnis in Galicia, reasoning that his second-generation operatives needed a leader to be an effective team. He was killed on Youra in the training barracks.

Mick Foley (deceased) was a first-generation operative and the second to be freed from Mistra (after Anika). Morgan's lieutenant, his sonic mutation was highly versatile; he could project ultrasonics, as well as focused sonic blasts. His conditioning broke while witnessing the work at a conditioning center raided by the X-Men, and he fled, pursued by Mistra, to Belgium. There, Nathan and Alison Blaire found him, using the carnage at another conditioning center to finish the job of freeing his mind. He was taken back to the mansion, where, after a time and a reunion with Anika, the two of them left to join the Pack. He later died on Youra in the training barracks.

Anika Bender, another first-generation operative, was the first to be freed from Mistra by Nathan. When her lover died in an operation gone bad, her conditioning cracked and she managed to get a message to Nathan, asking for his help. Along with Bridge and Domino, he staged her death. She spent a few years studying art in Paris, but when Nathan called to tell her about Foley's retrieval, she came to the mansion to support him and later went with him to join the Pack. The two of them developed a relationship. She was very nearly killed on Youra, saved only by her healing factor. A feral of a very unusual type, she gets almost an empathic reading from scents. Conversation with her can be very unusual. She returned to the Pack after her recovery, working with them in Africa and later joining Elpis. Currently she is involved with Ian Piers.

Ian Piers, another first-generation operative and feral, was on Morgan's team in Canada, where his conditioning was also cracked by the Trojan Horse. He assisted the X-Men on Youra, and was critically injured, saved only by his healing factor. He is currently involved with Anika and working for Elpis. Along the way, he established a lingering friendship with Lorna Dane, whom he fought beside on Youra.

Gavin Nash is another first-generation operative and member of Morgan's Canada team. Eight feet tall or thereabouts, he has enhanced strength and is able to increase the density of his skin. He was also injured on Youra, and his ability has been somewhat hampered by scarring since. He was perhaps the most enthusiastic of all the former Mistra operatives about the opportunity with Elpis, as Gavin had long wanted to work with children. He is currently involved with Isabel Matsuda.

Isabel Matsuda, another first-generation operative, has enhanced speed and the ability to blend in with her surroundings. She was also on Morgan's Canada team, and assisted the X-Men on Youra. For a time, she worked with the Mistra taskforce, helping settle survivors, but departed with the others to join the Pack in Africa.

Chris Cole, another first-generation operative and member of Morgan's Canada team, has a touch-based ability to scramble a person's nervous system. He was involved with another Mistra operative, Jackie Valeri, who died on Youra, where he himself was seriously injured.

Jason Elliot, a telepath and second-generation operative, worked with Colin MacInnis on the Trojan Horse. He was one of the few members of his team to survive Youra.

Richard Malcolm and Laura Carey, second-generation operatives also freed by MacInnis, were both seriously injured in Canada and thus missed the Youra operation. They recovered and joined the Pack in Africa. Malcolm controls wind, while Carey is another speedster.

Details

In the years prior to coming to the mansion, Nathan fought off more than one retrieval team sent by Mistra to bring him back so that he could be reconditioned. On one occasion, he fought Morgan one-on-one, incapacitating him but refusing to kill him because of their past relationship.

The events at Columbia University brought to light some troubling trends in the nature of Mistra's operatives. Instead of the highly stable and disciplined first-generation operatives, the Spartans, Mistra was now putting former criminals and mental patients into the field with second-generation conditioning. When he was recaptured by Mistra and reconditioned, Nathan discovered that his former friends and even some of the more stable operatives who hadn't known him were desperate to have him back. Nathan's guilt over having left them grew after he was saved by the X-Men, and even rescuing Mick Foley and shutting down two conditioning centers didn't help matters.

The events in Canada and the retrieval of Morgan were a more significant victory. The Mistra operatives were now leaderless and Mistra itself was crippled. Unbeknownst to the X-Men, the other members of Morgan's team from Canada had also been affected by the Trojan Horse. When the X-Men and the US government raided Youra, Morgan's team helped them. Though a number of them were killed or critically injured, their assistance was critical to the success of the operation.

The survivors were given counseling by the government, but several of them soon decided that average lives in the US were not for them and left to join the Pack in Africa, assisting in shutting down training camps where young mutants were being shaped for lives much like what they themselves had so recently escaped. After Bridge's death and the fall of the house of Morrow, they all took up Nathan's job offer and joined Elpis, working out of the Tel Aviv office.