of the several mutant operatives the government experimented on and exploited. Each member unknowingly received false memory implants, and North received a slight healing factor culled from Logan's DNA. North's immediate team consisted of three field agents: North, Logan (who later became Wolverine), and Victor Creed (who later became Sabretooth). The mutant teleporter John Wraith also referred to as Kestrel, served as the team's intelligence man and extractor. It was at this time that North began wearing his signature yellow and black faceplate. On a mission in East Germany, both Creed and Logan were badly injured. Rather than follow protocol and leave them, North dragged them to the extraction point. Cornered by Andreas Nord, now an assassin, North saved his teammates the only way he could; killing his only brother. Because of this incident, Logan holds North in very high regard. Another mission saw the three agents confront Omega Red in Berlin. They succeeded in stealing the carbonadium synthesizer, which was necessary for the Russian to control his death factor pheromone. Taking down the psychopathic Omega Red was not as easy. In the chaos, Creed panicked, killing Janice Hollenback, the CIA mole they were attempting to rescue. The team then escaped by jumping from a ten-story window. The synthesizer was thought lost, and a rift formed between Creed and Logan due to Creed's actions on the mission. Unbeknownst to the agency, Logan had recovered the synthesizer and hid it. North suspected as much at the time but did not know for sure. By the early 1970s, Team X was summarily disbanded. However, the team's agents were captured by Weapon X to be used as test subjects. When Logan underwent the adamantium bonding, he went on a murderous rampage, allowing North and the others to escape. Around this time, North inexplicably lost his powers. Undaunted, North continued to work in espionage as a mercenary using the trade name Maverick. The inspiration for the name had come from a conversation in which North boasted that he neither trusted nor needed anyone, to which Logan responded, "A regular maverick, eh?" Mercenary Time passed and Maverick developed a reputation as one of the best-hired guns available. Maverick compensated for his lack of powers with meticulous planning and a reliance on the latest technology. He worked for private parties and governmental agencies alike, taking several contracts from retired Major Arthur Barrington, the man who had