1.13 Breakout Part 2

“So how does this work again?” asks Judy as she stands in the training room.

I have to admit, Judy looks quite fetching in purple, form fitting cos-mat suit that she is wearing as we test her powers.

“You try using your powers,” I explain from the control room, “And then I use some of the fancier equipment down here to record it. We’ll then use the data I get to figure out your powers.”

“Okay,” says Judy, “Umm, how many times have you done this before?”

“A few times so don’t worry,” I reassure her.

“And the fact I’m affecting time won’t mess anything up will it?” inquires Judy.

“We might have to slow down or speed up the footage to view it, but I’ll record everything,” I say, “Let’s start with the basics. I’ll toss out a couple of targets. Try and slow them down.”

I press a button and two ceramic discs are fired into the room, flying across the room at a low speed. Judy raises an arm at them and they slow down to the point they’re barely moving.

“That worked well,” I say, “I’ll launch another pair and try and speed them up this time.”

Another couple of discs are fired at a low speed before zooming across the room as Judy uses her power on them. They slam in the wall on the far side of the training room, but don’t break as clatter to the ground. Granddad made them out of a material that is almost as strong as the ceramic the Sentinel armour uses, but cheaper and easier to mass produce.

I test other applications of Judy’s power using more of the training discs. It turns out that she can slow down, speed up, reverse or freeze time using her power. She can also apply it to herself which allowed her make herself much faster by speeding herself up.

I also figure that she can potentially use her power to help heal herself if she gets hurt, but for reasons that should be obvious, I refused to test that.

Another thing we figured out was that while Judy can use her powers without gestures, she has to concentrate when she does that except for when she’s using on herself. All in all, it’s easier for Judy to just use her hands to direct where she’s using powers.

Hopefully that is something that can be worked on with time. Both James and Sam had to use their hands to direct their telekinesis at first, but now can use it with a mere thought. James doesn’t even have to locate what he is moving anymore.

“Do you want to take a break?” I ask Judy, “Or do you want to move onto the next phrase of the testing?”

“What’s the next phrase?” Judy asks back.

“I’m going to send a training drone to fight you,” I tell her, “It won’t hope you, but you’ll still have to fend it off and subdue it.”

Judy thinks for a moment before reply.

“I’m ready,” answers Judy, “Bring it on.”

“Okay,” I say, “I’ll try to make things gentle.”

“Don’t go soft on me just because I’m your girlfriend,” protests Judy with a of bit indignation in her voice, “I’m more than capable of holding my own!”

“I’m not holding back anything,” I insist as I drop a humanoid training drone into the training room.

“Whoa,” says Judy as she adopts a Judo stance.

The drone swings at her, but Judy blocks by slowing its arm down with her power. She attempts to get the drone in a lock, but fails as her power fails without her directing it or concentrating on it.

The drone quickly reacts to Judy and catches her off guard as it hits her in the stomach. She huffs and is knocked to the ground.

I hesitate between lessening the drone’s assault on Judy as she is my girlfriend or letting it be as she requested. The decision ends up being out of my hands as the fight continues and renders my choice moot.

Judy rolls out of the way as the drone tries to strike her again. Not striking her too hard of course. I made sure of that before the fight began.

My girlfriend scrambles away from her attacker and attempts to get to her feet as it continues to come after her. It occurs to me that the League’s combat training drones would be pretty tough opponents for an inexperienced fighter, regardless of their past training or if the drone has been set to easy.

“Want me to turn down the difficulty?” I ask Judy as she finally mentions to get back on her feet as she uses her power to speed herself up.

“No!” she yells back, “I’m doing fine thank you very much!”

I shake my head as Judy yelps and dodges out of the way as the drone lunges at her. If Judy had to face more than one drone, she would so meteorically dead right now.

I have to admit, I’m actually quite tempted to go down and help her. Janelle could take over the controls and I wouldn’t even need the Sentinel armour or even a cos-mat suit to do well.

Judy is tripped up by the drone and falls flat on her bottom. The drone swings a fist at her and Judy raises her arms in a meaningless attempt to protect herself.

I jump out of seat as the blow connects.

1.13 Breakout Part 1

“Wow!” exclaims Judy as we enter the base together.

I smile. It is her first time down here after all. I guess it would seem impressive to someone who hasn’t seen it before. I never really had that feeling myself, but then I’ve been using the base for as long as I can remember. I grew up with it as part of my life.

“I suppose it is pretty impressive,” I say to her, “This is where I spend most my time hanging out.”

“It isn’t a bad place to hang out in,” says Judy as she looks around, “So who else is here?”

“Narszara and Rileys be here,” I tell her, “The Rileys are Britannia’s sister and her family by the way. There is also Alex, you might have met her before. Oh and Janelle is about as well. She’s the AI of the League’s starship. You have properly met any of them yet mind you.”

“You have a spaceship!?” says Judy as she stares at me.

“Starship,” I correct, “And technically it belongs to the League, but on the paperwork it belongs to the Sentinel. Here comes Narszara by the way.”

I spot the Norgardian coming towards us. She is wearing a green cos-mat suit that, I have to admit, shows off her generous curves. I’m glad Judy isn’t the jealous time as I’m going to have a hard enough time trying to explain the relationship between Narszara and I.

I’m not actually sure what to define that relationship as. It doesn’t feel like an employer-employee one and I have too much authority over Narszara for it to be a mere friendship or partnership. It is as sure as heck not a slave-master relationship and a lord-servant relationship just makes me feel uneasy.

“Hello milord,” says Narszara, using her usual greeting for me.

I flinch internally at it and Judy gives me an odd look as she hears it.

“Hey Narszara,” I return the greeting before introducing Judy, “This is my girlfriend Judy. She is Eternal’s sister and has recently gotten the same power set. I’m helping her get set up as a superhero. Please explain the relationship between you and I to her.”

I decided that the best way to explain the relationship to let Narszara to it as she’s the one who started it and only one who actually knows what it is.

“Ah, yes,” says Narszara as she walks Judy, “I have sworn loyalty to your suitor as his servant. It is a custom of my people that your own do not seem to understand. In practice, I serve him as a loyal follower and do as he asks as long as I do not have ethical issues with what he asks, which so far, I have not. It is a pleasure to meet you Judy and I hope your path goes well.”

And with that, Narszara embraces Judy in a hug. Judy makes a small noise as Narszara squeezes her. I resist the urge to laugh as Narszara releases her and walks off.

Judy waits until Narszara is out of sight. She seems a bit bemused by the turn of events. Even her hair looks a little ruffled by the hug.

“That was odd,” says Judy to me, “I admit was a bit jealous by how you describe Narszara to me, but having met her in person...”

Judy trails off and I understand how she is feeling and laugh.

“Narszara is a one of a kind,” I agree, “In this dimension at least. She is actually quite representative of her people.”

“I can see what you meant when you said she was the hottest girl I knew,” says Judy, “Does she usually hug people like that?”

“Not that I know of,” I admit, “Maybe it’s got something to do with your relationship with me that affects how she treats you due to her relationship with me. She did call me your suitor after all.”

“What about the others here?” asks Judy.

“The Rileys are mainly here for the protection after Britannia’s outing and the fact Nightblade went after them,” I reply, “They’re nice folk, but I doubt you’ll interact with them much. Then there’s Alex. Her full name is Alexandra Aquiline. I hope that answers most of your questions about her. She is living here due to not wanting to continue the family business. You’ll be seeing a lot each other as she’ll be giving you training. And finally there’s Janelle. As I mentioned, she is a starship’s AI. The ship itself is called the Star Guardian by the way. She’s a nice person and is linked up with the base’s systems. Recently Janelle has been helping me with operations and other stuff. You have no idea how usefully it is to have an AI helping with computer stuff. So much quicker and more efficient.”

“Can I meet them?” asks Judy, “Alex and Janelle that is?”

“Sure,” Janelle chips in, “Hi, I’m Janelle.”

“Umm,” says Judy, unsure of how to respond.

“Janelle, this is Judy,” I say as I decided to step in, “Judy, you’re currently hearing Janelle. I can take you down to the Star Guardian later if you want.”

“That sounds cool,” says Judy, “So what are going to do now?”

“Well, first I want to figure out the extent of your powers,” I tell her, “It’s always useful to know your limits. After that, we’ll come up with a codename and costume for you.”

2008 - Liberty

“After him!” yells Liberty as she leaps across the rooftops in pursuit of her foe.

The young superheroine and her two teammates are chasing the veteran supervillain Void Knight. One of her teammates, the Iron Protector, flies over Liberty’s head in his set of dull grey power armour.

“I’m going as fast as I can,” retorts Liberty’s other teammate, Noble.

Liberty understands Noble’s feelings on matters like this. Unlike Iron Protector, who has his suit of power armour, and herself, who has her body enhanced to the natural human limit in a state known as Peak Human, Noble lacks any powers as he relies on his own fitness, skills and gadgets.

Void Knight is slowly getting away as only Iron Protector stands a chance of catching the supervillain.

You would think someone clad in a midnight black set of plate armour wouldn’t be so fast, Liberty thinks as she jumps across another rooftop.

She puts it down to his powers as Void Knight has a versatile power set of low level superhuman reflexes, senses, strength, toughness and stamina. Not only does he have all that, but Void Knight also has the ability to drain light and sound around him.Which renders Iron Protector’s main attacks, wrist mounted lasers and sonic projectors, useless against the supervillain.

That means our best chance of stopping Void Knight is with good old fisticuffs, thinks Liberty, which still puts us at the disadvantage. Darn it!

Liberty’s costume is a variant of her grandfather’s, the WWII superhero the Paragon. It consists of a bright blue full body costume with red and white stripes down the sides. On her face is token blue domino mask with a white outline as Liberty not only inherited her grandfather’s powers, but also his publicly known identity. Covering her hands and feet, Liberty has red gloves and boots.

Noble’s costume is also a blue full body costume, but where Liberty’s is a bright blue, Noble’s a dark navy blue. The only part of his body that is showing is the lower part of his face. Even his eyes are covered by eye pieces.

His utility belt around his waist contains his assortments of gadgets while his hands and feet are also covered by gloves and boots, in his case, they are brown rather than red.

Both of their costumes are made of highly versatile material known simply as costume material or cos-mat for short, an invention of the British superhero Sentinel.

“Hurry up Libby,” yells Noble from behind her, using the nickname he insists on giving her.

“I’m also going as fast as I can,” Liberty yells back as her blonde hair flows in the wind.

She could have had it cut short as the most pragmatic choice, but instead Liberty decided to keep her hair at a nice shoulder length. At least she didn’t have her hair long.

Just ahead of her, Liberty spots Iron Protector slam into Void Knight as the villain is leaping to another rooftop. Both of them going crashing into alley below.

“Down here!” Liberty tells Noble as she jumps down into the alley.

This going to be a tough fight, thinks Liberty, Not only does Void Knight have all his powers, he also has that protective set of armour.

Iron Protector and Void Knight are already engaged with the supervillain having the upper hand.

Without a moment of hesitation, Liberty joins the fray. She kicks Void Knight in the knee to little effect. Between his armour and powers, the villain is pretty much unaffected by Liberty’s attack, but he is distracted.

As Void Knight turns his head to face Liberty, Iron Protector swings a fist into Void Knight’s face. With one of the world’s most advanced sets of power armour behind the attack, Void Knight is sent flying into the wall.

Fortunately the wall doesn’t break to Liberty’s relief. They have enough bad press as it is without extra collateral damage mixed in.

Void Knight quickly gets to his feet, but Noble has also joined the fray now. He tosses a pair of explosive spheres at Void Knight. While the explosions do little harm to Void Knight, they do stun him.

Iron Protector swiftly uses the opportunity to engage Void Knight again. As he battle Void Knight again, Liberty takes the chance to grab the armoured jewellery box that Void Knight stole from the armoured truck. She as backs away from it, Noble moves in to assist their teammate.

Within moments, Void Knight has disentangled himself from Iron Protector and Noble and is fleeing into the night.

“Let him go,” says Liberty, “We got what we came for.”

***

After returning the box to police at the crime scene and beating a hasty retreat, the trio return to their current hideout in this city.

“Any idea what Void Knight was after Libby?” Thomas Anderson aka Noble asks Julie Smith aka Liberty as Brian Morrison aka Iron Protector worked away on his laptop.

“No Tom,” answers Julie as she prepares to change into civvies, “I know as much as you do. That Warden gave us a tip off that Void Knight was going to be there.”

“Speaking of Warden,” Brian cuts in, “I have just been speaking to her about tonight.”

“Got anything new Brain?” inquires Tom, using his nickname for their quite intelligent friend.

“Warden made some inquiries and asked around a bit while we were busy,” says Brian, “That box contained several rare gems by the way, valuable for either selling or using in devices. Which brings us onto whom Void Knight was working for. Turns out tonight he was a mercenary and not for the Consortium as usual.”

“Then who was it?” asks Julie as she puts a jumper on her over costume.

She’s hoping to unwind by spending her night in town. Despite the late hour, the teenager doesn’t have to worry about many bad things happening to her with her powers.

“A mad scientist and self-proclaimed Doctor Sadler,” says Brian, “A few open arrest warrants out for him, but nothing serious. The worst he’s hurt someone is a broken arm. He’s in town awaiting Void Knight’s arrival. Warden recommends we go after him now and I agree with her. If he hasn’t heard about Void Knight’s failure, we can get the drop on him.”

“Great,” says Julie with a sigh.

“Was that sarcasm Libby?” asks Tom, “I honestly couldn’t tell.”

“Yes and no,” replies Julie, “I’m glad for the opportunity to catch another bad guy, but I was also hoping to have the rest of the night to relax.”

“I know how you feel Julie,” says Brian, “But you’ll other times to relax, but we won’t get many chances like this.”

“I know, I know,” mutters Julie with another sigh as she takes her jump off.

Julie reaches over for her mask.

“Let’s go,” says Liberty as she puts her mask on.

***

“Doctor Sadler converted that abandoned warehouse over there into his current hideout,” says Iron Protector, “It’s also where Warden said he was going to meet Void Knight.”

“An abandoned warehouse as his secret lair?” sniggers Noble, “Isn’t that a bit cliché?”

“It’s a good choice,” counters Iron Protector, “An abandon warehouse isn’t being used by anyone else anymore and are generally areas that aren’t really used anymore. Not to mention all the room you have available in one. But yes, it is a rather cliché.”

“Cut the chatter boys,” says Liberty, “We’re going in.”

As the one with the blueprints, Iron Defender leads the way. Which, in the end, mainly involves crashing in through the skylights in the roof.

Both Liberty and Noble land on the ground while Iron Protector lands in the air. Luckily for them, they were able to catch Doctor Sadler by surprise.

“What the?” exclaims the stunned man.

Doctor Sadler isn’t an impressive sight. With no powers to speak of other than his above average intelligence, the self-proclaimed doctor is a thin and fragile man. As befitting his reputation as a mad scientist, Doctor Sadler is wearing a lab coat and some oversized goggles.

Despite having several warrants out for his arrest and being able to hire Void Knight as mercenary, Liberty can’t really take him seriously with his appearance.

“Liberty and the Patriots!” exclaims Doctor Sadler as he recognises them.

Liberty internally winces. This is one of the main sources of their group’s troubles. Their grandparents were part of a group known as the Patriots that worked for the US government and was led by her grandfather, the Paragon. These days, most of their siblings and cousins work for the government and Liberty’s own twin brother, also called the Paragon, leads the current Patriots.

But Liberty, the other potential heir to the mantle of the Paragon, leads her own group of Patriot heirs and they are much closer to the ideals of the original Patriots. As a result, to the eyes of the press and public, there are two groups of Patriots in the world. Liberty’s Patriots and the ‘official’ Patriots lead by the new Paragon.

Some people claim that Liberty’s Patriots are the true Patriots while the official team is just a bunch of government lapdogs. Others say that the official Patriots are doing as they are supposed by serving their country like the original Paragon and Patriots while Liberty’s Patriots are just some kids who don’t want to do as they’re told and think they’re big names like their grandparents.

Despite none of them ever claiming to be the Patriots, the government still comes after them for undermining their authority. This particularly irks Liberty as she’s being punished for something she’s actively trying to prevent. It doesn’t help that the only legal reason they got for going after her is because they added a clause to the law making it illegal for descendants of the original Patriots to commit vigilantism.

The Liberty Clause is what they call it, Liberty grumbles in her head, Totally unfair and completely outrageously.

“We are not the Patriots,” Iron Protector retorts at Doctor Sadler.

“Whatever,” sneers the doctor, “Leave or face my wrath! I have meeting with someone tonight and you don’t want to get in the way!”

“We already stopped Void Knight and returned the gems!” Liberty counters, “Give up now and we won’t have to hurt you. The police are already on their way.”

Doctor Sadler halts at this turn of events before cursing under his breath.

“Damn you Liberty!” screams Doctor Sadler, “You won’t take me in!”

And with that several of the crates around them burst open as several robot come charging out.

Liberty jumps over one as it rushes her. To her, they look like big metal gorillas with armour plating and glowing red eyes.

A laser beam cuts through the robot below her and it collapses in two. Unlike Void Knight, these machines have no immunity to Iron Protector’s lasers.

Noble is also doing well as he rolls out of the way and tosses some of his explosive spheres at the robots.

“I’m going after the doctor!” Liberty tells her teammates as she spots Doctor Sadler running towards one of the side exits.

She chases after him, dodging a swipe from robot and sliding under another as it tries to grab her. By that point, Liberty is clear of the robots as Doctor Sadler struggles with the door.

He manages it to get open and scrambles out of the warehouse. Liberty pursues him, kicking open the door before it slams shut on her.

Liberty tackles the self-proclaimed doctor. With his fragility and Liberty’s enhanced body, she quickly subdues him.

She hauls him against the wall before tying his hands behind his back with a pair of handcuffs.

“Curse you Liberty and your meddling ways!” screeches Doctor Sadler as he slumps against the wall.

“That is so cliché,” replies Liberty as she leans against the wall next to him, “Even for you.”

Doctor Sadler is silent, knowing defeat. As they hear police sirens, Noble and Iron Protector exit the warehouse and approach Liberty and Doctor Sadler.

“Didn’t you think to come back in and help with the robots?” Noble jibs Liberty.

“Somebody need to watch the good doctor,” counters Liberty, “Don’t want him leaving before our friends in blue show up. Besides, it’s not like you need the help.”

“True, true,” says Noble with a smile as a pair of police officers show up.

“Freeze!” yells one of the cops as they aim their guns at the group, “None of you move!”

Liberty smiles as Noble grapples onto the roof and she grabs a hold of Iron Protector’s leg as he flies away.

1.12 The Machine 3.0 Part 8

We spent a few hours working on the Machine’s remains. At that point it was starting to get late so Aunt Mary called my parents to say I was with her to keep them from worrying and me out of more trouble.

In the end, efforts proved to be useless as all of the insides were utterly destroyed. The only piece of new information we got was the locations of its new weaponry, something I could have gotten by reviewing the footage of the fight. Just like how I found out the old locations by watching replays of my fights with the Machine.

“Thanks for the help,” I tell my aunt as I exit her lab, “Even if we didn’t get much out of it.”

“I was a pleasure,” replies Aunt Mary, “I’m going to start here for a bit and get some paperwork done.”

“Okay,” I say before remembering something, “If you head over to the base at some point, I can show you the upgrades for the Sentinel that I’ve come up with.”

“Thanks, that would be great,” says Aunt Mary as I close the door.

I stroll down the corridor as I head for the lift. Narszara left about an hour ago after a long meeting with Director Dean, Britannia and a few other people in suits. I hope it didn’t go too poorly.

Eternal is waiting for me at the lift.

“Can I speak with you?” asks my girlfriend’s brother.

“Sure,” I reply.

“It’s about my sister,” says Eternal as the lift opens up.

He stops talking as he checks to see if it is empty. It is and we both step in.

“Top or bottom?” I inquire.

“Bottom,” answers Eternal, “Why would I go to the top?”

“Some of us can fly,” I reply as I press the bottom for the ground level.

“True,” agrees Eternal, “But most can’t.”

I shrug. He does have a point.

“So want to talk about my girlfriend?” I inquire.

“Yeah,” says Eternal, “You know about the fact she has powers too now.”

“Found out just over a week ago,” I confirmed, “The same time I revealed I was the Sentinel to her. Any reason you didn’t tell her that?”

“I thought it would best if she heard it from you first,” answers Eternal, “From what she’s told me, you’re helping her start up her superhero career.”

“That would be correct,” I reply, “I think she would find it better starting off with associating with the League than joining the Defenders. No offense of course.”

“None taken,” says Eternal as the lift doors open and we enter the entrance hall to Defender Tower, “I agree actually. But what about equipment and training?”

“I’m going to provide her with those,” I tell him, “Alex has agreed to give her some training and I’m sure some of the others will help out a bit. As for equipment, I’ll take her down to the base some point later this week. I checked with the rest of the League, they won’t mind if I show her the base.”

“That’s good,” says Eternal, “But what about actually going out in the field? We both know how dangerous it can get.”

“I know,” I agree, “That’s why I’m going to make sure she gets a good amount of training done before I let her go out in costume.”

“That is a relief,” replies Eternal, “It was also one of our parents’ main concerns even if they never exactly brought it up with us.”

At this point we’re just exited the building and it’s time for me to go home. I bid Eternal farewell before activating my rocket pack and beginning the long trip home.

Darrac can wait until tomorrow.

***

It was Tuesday after school when I began building the Sentinel Mk VIII armour from the almost finished spare set I been working on. It took me until Friday evening for me to finish it.

But I am finally done. The magnetic gauntlets and boots were added and only a bit of extra bulk was gained around those areas. I doubt anyone who doesn’t know the armour as well as I do would even notice the difference.

Another upgrade from the Mk VIII is the addition of wrist mounted grappling hooks, the same ones from the Lightweight armour. Not the exact same ones of course, just the same design altered to work with the main Sentinel armour.

Like with the new boots and gauntlets, they also added some more mass to the wrists of the armour.

Just as I put the new armour away in the lab, I receive a call from Aunt Mary over my League communicator.

“A favour please,” says Aunt Mary after we exchange greetings, “I got some information about a villain job going down in America and I’m hoping you can find some more information about it.”

“Sure,” I reply, a bit surprised at the requested, “Any particular reason?”

“Just for Liberty and her team,” answers Aunt Mary, “They’re currently intercepting the job now and I would like some more information for them when they call back.”

“Send me what you got and I’ll see what else I can find out,” I say.

Aunt Mary hangs up and I quickly receive the files that she sends me.

I get onto the main computer and start looking through the information. It’s about a member of the Consortium, Void Knight, and a robbery of an armoured truck carrying several precious gems.

I start to look for more data, but it’s late and I’m tired after working on the new set of Sentinel armour.

“Janelle,” I say as I get up from my seat, “Can you get more information and send it to my aunt please. I’m too tired to do it myself.”

“Of course,” answers the AI.

I yawn as I grab my school bag, sling it over my shoulder and walk towards the exit.

1.12 The Machine 3.0 Part 7

There are several people waiting on the helipad on top of Defender Tower when we arrive. Amongst them is my aunt, Britannia and Green Knight, but also several other government employees who lack powers.

As I land, I recognise one of them as Director Breanne Dean, the person officially in charge of the Albion Defenders after a recent promotion from liaison.

I can’t help, but notice the Albion Defenders have been going through lots of changes after being the Albion Protectors for last two decades with no major changes for several years.

I start to wonder about what could be going on before stopping myself from following that line of thought. There is being properly prepared for the unexpected and then there’s just plain, old paranoia.

Even if there was a nefarious purpose behind all these changes, I know the people who make up the Albion Defenders. They’re heroes and a good amount of them are descended from League members. If someone tried to order them to do something morally questionable, I can only think of a single Defender who might go along with it.

“Hello,” I say as I land, “I wasn’t expecting such a warm welcome.”

“It isn’t often we get a big name show up,” replies Director Dean with a smile.

It takes me a moment to process that. Me. A big name.

I do have to admit she has a point that while I personally might not be considered a big name, the Sentinel persona is, regardless of who is currently holding it. Still, the majority of it comes from my grandfather’s actions and the most that I done is simply uphold what he was already doing.

I shrug in response.

“I’m just here to use Warden’s lab to study the Machine,” I say in what I hope is a casual tone.

“Any particular reason you chosen to do it here instead of your own base?” demands another employee, an self-important looking man in a suit.

“Ever heard of the Trojan Horse?” I inquire polite.

I notice a few back straightening and the atmosphere getting tense. It seems some of the people out here have heard of it and know what I mean.

The man in the suit frowns, but before he can open his mouth again, Aunt Mary starts speaking.

“What the Sentinel is saying Mr Boyce,” says Aunt Mary, her armour’s voice changer making her sound much more impressive than without it, “Is that if the Machine turned out to be secretly still active and got loose in the League of Heroes headquarters, it would be a disaster. There are a lot of important devices and sensitive data down there.”

“Warden is correct,” Britannia agrees, backing up her teammate, “While it would be bad to have it get loose here, it would be much, much worse if that happened in the League’s base.”

“Then why are such things kept down there-,” starts the man, Mr Boyce, but Aunt Mary cuts him off again.

“Because the League is independent of our government and works with it, not for it,” says Aunt Mary, “And besides, the base is one of the most secure and safest places on the planet. I doubt even the Barbarian or the Cape could break into the base. Not even Black Storm was able to breach. In fact, only twice has the League of Heroes base been breached, once during the Sektain Invasion and the other time by the Transcendency.”

Mr Boyce attempts to speak again, but once more is stopped by someone else.

“That is beside the point and irrelevant Mr Boyce and if you wish further discussion on the matter, I will be happy to oblige you later,” says Director Dean, “But we need to focus on the matters at hand. I assume that you and Warden will be going down to her lab with the Machine’s remains Sentinel?”

“That would be correct,” I answer.

“Then I would like to request a meeting with Narszara,” continues Director Dean, “Especially considering recent and public events.”

I glance over my shoulder at Narszara and she nods.

“Sure,” I say, “I’m going the lab now.”

I pass the arms to Aunt Mary before accepting the main body of the Machine from Narszara and hefting it over my shoulders.

The people on the helipad make way for the two of us as we head for the lift. We’re the only two in it as Aunt Mary presses the button.

“You know,” I say conversationally, “We never really get to work together while in costume Aunt-,”

“You shouldn’t finish that sentence,” interrupts Aunt Mary, “We’re...not as secure about secret identities here. With so many people around, it would only take one to reveal our secret identities. I never take my armour off here. In fact, a lot of the employees have mental blocks to stop them from either remembering our secret identities or from revealing them.”

“Seriously?” I say and get a solemn nod in reply, “What about the Great Lion?”

“It’s been enchanted to stop people from remembering the identities of the people in there,” answers Aunt Mary, “You or the others never notice because we’re immune to it. Our training and mental defences protect us from the effects of it.”

We’re silent for a moment before Aunt Mary speaks again.

“It’s one of the things I missed from the days as Leaguer,” says Aunt Mary.

“You were part of the League of Heroes?” I say, surprised, “I thought you were a founding member of the Albion Defenders.”

“The Albion Protectors,” corrects Aunt Mary, “And yeah, I was a founder. But I was part of the League of Heroes during its twilight years. I was about your age when dad gave me my armour and I became his protégée. I had over six years of in the field experience when the Protectors were formed and was the oldest of the founders. Never really fit it because of that. I was always the older, experienced member of another team. That didn’t lessen with time as I kept strong ties with the League. I supposed I’ve been half-Protector and half-Leaguer. It’s been becoming more apparent since we became the Defenders and things have been changing. Come to think of it, I don’t think I was ever taken off the League’s roster. Ah, this is our floor.”