Warpmass (Protector)

Freedom Corps' short-lived Warshade Project started and ended with one man. That man, Warren Finter, used to be a desk jockey in the Corps' Boston office, coordinating supply shipments between Paragon City and subsidiaries across New England. One day, he received a notice from the Paragon City HQ asking him to come down with the next shipment.

When he got there, he found one of the executive directors waiting for him. "Thank you for volunteering for our Warshade Project," he said.

"Huh?" Warren replied.

"Don't you remember? The Fourth of July mixer?"

"Uh ... Oh yeah."

"Come on, this is an exciting opportunity for you! Practically a promotion -- no, better than a promotion!"

"Y-yeah."

Fortunately, merging with a Kheldian was not some dramatic production; Warren thought it was an awful lot like having his wisdom teeth extracted, only that when he came out of the anesthesia, there was another consciousness next to his own. The Kheldian, calling itself Quincunx, felt quite comfortable in Warren's body and mind. In mere minutes, each shared in the other's history, and memories, and personality, and found they hit it off like a house on fire.

The next few days, while interesting, were terribly unproductive. Warren's replacement was doing a fine job back in Boston. The director deemed the Project a minor success, but since no more Kheldians came forward requesting a junction with Freedom Corps staff, the Project was dropped -- or at least suspended.

Warren, of course, declined to have his old position back and parted amicably from Freedom Corps, thence to begin a new adventure as one of the heroes Freedom Corps caters to.