1950 - Sentinel Technologies

“Glad you could make it,” says Iron Defender as Sentinel sits down next to her.

He’s one of the few people to know that she is actually a she. Still a little too much bias against women for Iron Defender’s taste and since her armour allows her to pass a man in the eyes of the public, she doesn’t correct their assumptions on the matter.

“Glad I could come,” replies Sentinel, “Are you still with the Patriots?”

“Yeah,” answers Iron Defender, “They still have to get around to disbanding us. I doubt they will now. Not with the Russians and Adalbern in Europe. Plus I think the government is worried about the Knights.”

“Also worried about the new batch of supers appearing all over the States?” inquires Sentinel.

“I would bet so,” says Iron Defender, “We’re heroes, famous heroes who served in the war and whom the public love given our actions and the propaganda. With more supers rapidly appearing, the government needs us as examples and doesn’t want to let us go.”

“Ours disbanded Lion Squad after the war,” says Sentinel, “We weren’t like you, our unit was a collection of people with powers drawn from across the military. Don’t get me wrong, we would still die for each other and have decided to live near each other once everything was over, but we weren’t meant to be as close as the Patriots in the eyes of the bureaucracy.”

Sentinel pauses before deciding to get on with the point.

“What’s the situation with ownership of your armour?” inquires Sentinel.

“Government owns it, but I get to use as long as I work for them,” shrugs Iron Defender, “What about you?”

“The government took the one I used in the war,” replies Sentinel, “It was theirs after all, but I had the patent and the prototype. I kept it in my basement until I had to deal with the mob. Since then I built an improved version that I’m wearing now.”

“I assuming that is a reason behind this questioning,” says Iron Defender.

“As you know,” says Sentinel, “We, Lion Squad that is, decided to form the League of Heroes, a group of organised powered vigilantes to fight crime.”

“We all heard about that,” replies Iron Defender, “Our government decided to tighten their hold on us after that so we’re not particularly sure how to feel about it.”

“While we do have some equipment and resources at our disposal,” says Sentinel, “We still need a source of income and I still need a new job so I decided to start my own businesses, one for each of my identities. I will use them to support each other and the League of Heroes. My secret identity one will be the minor one which will have connection with the Sentinel from ties in the war. The other one will be the main one where I use the money gained to support the League of Heroes. For that I plan to use to sell gadgets to other hero groups, governments and whoever else I decide. But that means acquiring patents and those patents will hinder people like you from starting your own businesses. I checked with other folk like us. Steel Warrior doesn’t mind. He’s content to work for Adalbern given he’s the only adult German super left after the war. And you heard about Steel Worker. Everybody else is either dead or I don’t know about.”

“I’m going say go for it,” answers Iron Defender, “I wouldn’t be able to make money off my stuff anyway given the strings that come with it. And since Black Cape left, I don’t think any of us are going to be leaving the Patriots anytime soon.”

“Good,” replies Sentinel, “Because I wasn’t sure what I’d do if you weren’t.”

Iron Defender chuckles and Sentinel smiles beneath his helmet.

“So idea what you’re going to call it?” inquires Iron Defender.

“Probably something simple and to the point,” answers Sentinel, “I’m the first so I don’t have to stand out from the crowd. And while I am trying to make money, that isn’t my first priority either so I doesn’t have to be fancy. Since I’m selling technology invented by the Sentinel persona, I think I’ll call it Sentinel Technologies.”