1.14 Endgame Part 4

After leaving Freya with Narszara, I bring Aunt Mary to my lab for a private chat.

“So about bringing Freya here,” I say as the door closes behind us, “What do you think the government will do about it? Don’t get me wrong, I firmly believe that you haven’t done anything wrong, but I do want to be prepared for whatever is coming our way.”

“They’ll probably try and discipline me,” says Mary, “Reduced pay and bad assignments. They might even try and take Freya away from me so I don’t pull more stunts like this. They’ll find I’m a lot tougher than they expect. With the exception of Gregory, I’m the longest operating superhero that’s still active and they will not take my daughter away from me without a fight.”

“Aye,” I agree, “They’ll find the League of Heroes a bit more than they handle if it comes to that, but I feel that things won’t come that far. Especially once they realise how unrelenting we will be on this matter.”

“Too true,” says Mary, “But that’s just a worst case scenario. I’m certain they’ll just try and do that stuff and back down when I don’t. But enough about that, there is another reason I wanted to come here. I would like to take you up on your offer of assistance in upgrading the Warden armour.”

“In what way?” I inquire.

“We both know that you and Dad are both better inventors than me so no beating around that bush,” replies Mary, “I was hoping you could share your latest upgrades to the Sentinel armour with me, so I could add them to the Warden armour.”

“Sure,” I reply with no need to even think about.

Aunt Mary is family and is without a doubt completely trustworthy. No argument there and Granddad did always share his own inventions with her and I have absolutely no reason to not do the same.

“It’s nice to have some of the family back in the game,” says Mary suddenly, “Ever since your mum decided she didn’t want to get involved in the family business, I also thought it fall to me to continue the League of Heroes. It’s strange you know. When we were kids, I always assumed that if one of us was going to become a superhero, it would be Linda. Of the two of us, she was the one that inherited Mum’s powers.”

“Wait what?” I say, confused, “My mum has superpowers?”

“Like same as Helen and Mum, your grandma,” says Mary, “I wouldn’t be surprised if Lily develops powers at some point in her teens.”

“I’ll keep that information in mind,” I reply with frown.

Mum has portal powers? She has never shown any sign of the having them, but I guess she wouldn’t need to. Keeping the possibility that Lily might get the same powers in mind is important, especially as she wasn’t raised like the rest of us Leaguer descendents.

In fact, my little sis doesn’t even know about her connection to the League of Heroes.

But that is all in the future and whether or not Lily develops powers, there is nothing I can do about it.

Other than putting her through the Awakener that is.

As I begin to show the Sentinel armour Mk VIII off to Mary, Janelle interrupts us.

“Sorry to interrupt,” says Janelle apologetically.

“No need to worry,” replies Mary, “What we’re doing can wait and I’m sure what you got to say is important.”

“That it is,” says Janelle, “I have found the location of the Machine’s creator.

“Where?” I demand quickly.

“An old sunken Sektain warship that the original Lantern took down in the Invasion,” says Janelle, “About twenty one miles southeast of the Isle of Wight. Given the length of time, I personally believe that our foe is someone who has taken over the vessel as their base rather than a member of the original crew.”

“Hmm,” I mutter, “I’ll call the entire League together for this one. Given how dangerous, the Machine’s creator has proven, I think we should also call in some back-up.”

“I’ll call in the Albion Defenders for this,” says Mary.

“And I’ll call in Darrac,” says Janelle, “He is still planetside and his expertise should prove useful.”

“Darrac is one of the supersoldiers created by the Sektain right?” inquires Mary.

“That is correct,” I reply, “He has also helped me out against the Machine a couple of months or so ago. Plus he was the one who provided us with the equipment to locate the Machine’s creator in the first place.”

“I’ll be off to call my team then,” says Mary, “You call the League. I’ll be leaving Freya here by the way.  I am not sending her back after we just got here and I am most certainly not taking her with us.”

“I understand,” I reply as Mary leaves the lab.

I might as well get armoured up while I’m in here, I decide as I walk up to the latest version of the Sentinel armour.

“Hey Janelle,” I say as a thought enters my mind, “Are you sure this isn’t another trap?”

“Yes,” replies the AI, “For once, we have the upper hand and the element of surprise.”

“Good.”

1.14 Endgame Part 3

“Almost done,” I tell Charlie as we work on the last of Sektain sensor beacons.

We got all three of the three metre tall towers, made entirely from the greenish-purplish grey alloy that the Sektain use, set up in a spare room down in the base. The beacons are quite unusual by Earth standards, but feel quite normal for Sektain stuff. They have a wide and low tripod base with a generator that shoots a small beam of yellow energy into the air that only reaches the top of the beacon. Several metal rings surround the energy beam while three curved pillars protect its sides.

“Good because as fun as it is to mess around with alien tech, it feels weird,” replies Charlie.

“Really?” I say, “I enjoy it. Nice to work such advanced stuff.”

“Eh,” mutters Charlie with a shrug, “You’re the genius here.”

“You’re smarter than you give yourself credit for,” I tell him.

“Seriously Daniel,” insists Charlie, “You are a genius. Why do think you’re the Sentinel? Your grandfather picked you over both of his daughters, your sister and your cousin.”

“Yeah, well, he picked because-” I start to reply, but become flustered as I realise my argument is these cases is that Granddad picked me because I was the smartest.

“See!” says Charlie, “Of us New Leaguers, you’re the only one that could do your grandfather’s job.”

“I still don’t see how that- got it!” I exclaim as I get the last sensor beacon working, “Hey Janelle, can you start scanning for the Machine’s creator?”

“Already on it,” replies Janelle, “You also have your aunt on her way here.  She’s bringing Freya along with her.”

“Who is Freya?” asks Charlie.

“A Class 5, one of the only three in the country,” I tell him, “Her powers manifested when she was four and the government has kept her hidden since then, roughly a decade ago if memory serves. To stop her from accidentally hurting others and to stop people trying to use her for their own gain. My Aunt Mary has been looking after her since then, pretty much adopting her as a second daughter. So now Freya Griffin is family, at least to those that know about her.”

“So what is she to you?” inquires Charlie.

“The younger cousin I never get to meet in person,” I reply, “I’m surprised she got permission from the government to bring her here. Let’s go and meet her.”

“Nah,” says Charlie, “I got to get back home. I’m already pushing how long I can stay here.”

“Okay, see you around then,” I reply, “I’m going to get back to work one of my new major projects.”

“What is that?” asks Charlie as he heads for the doorway.

“Another AI to help us out like Janelle does,” I tell him and Charlie freezes in a doorway.

“An AI?” repeats Charlie, “You sure that’s a good idea? Haven’t you seen how that goes in the movies?”

“Those are not true,” I reply, “I would much rather based my judgements about AI going by the real life ones rather than the fictional ones.”

“Eh,” says Charlie as he leaves the room, “I’ll trust you to get things right.”

***

I wait at the exit for Aunt Mary and Freya to arrive in civvies. It’s just family so no need to wear the Sentinel armour.

Honestly, I’m feeling quite nervous. Freya may be family, but I never actually met her before and have no idea what she is like or what she thinks of me. And that’s not even taking into account that fact she has Class 5 powers.

“Hello Daniel,” says Mary as she lands, wearing the Warden armour, “Were you waiting for us?”

“Pretty much,” I reply as a girl climbs off Mary’s back, “I’m looking forward to meeting Freya. We haven’t exactly had the opportunity to do so before.”

“MI9 does like to keep a close eye on her,” Mary agrees as I take a look at Freya.

The girl is surprising tall for her age to the point I feel confident in saying that Freya will be one of those supers that end up over two metres tall when they’re finished growing. Her hair is in a long pony tail with an odd colour, a strange mixture of blonde and red, both colours being intertwined with each other.

Her eyes are a deep blue and Freya has pretty face. Not to mention a good figure like Narszara. And her clothes are pretty plain, simply black trousers and a brown t-shirt.

“Hi Daniel!” says Freya, “It’s great to finally meet you and to get out of a government building for once.”

“I’m glad to meet you too,” I tell her before turning my attention back to Mary, “How did you get permission to take Freya here?”

“I didn’t,” replies Mary bluntly, “I told them I was taking her to visit the League of Heroes base as we were leaving. Now let’s get inside the base before anybody stumbles across us.”

And that explains a lot, I think as we enter the base.

“Say Daniel,” says Freya, “Would it be possible to meet Narszara? Because I really want to.”

2008 - Mary

Mary Griffin sighs as she finishes the last of her paperwork. She never had to do this level of paper back when she was in the League with all the old guys. Back then Dad just did all the work.

She misses those days, back when she became her Dad’s sidekick when she was sixteen. The joy she experienced when she got her own copy of the latest Sentinel armour at the time on her sixteenth birthday.

Best day of her life and possible the one that defined her for the rest of life. The other possible day that defined her life would have been when she became a superhero when none of the other Leaguer kids did. Or perhaps that day was the one when she help found the Albion Protectors.

Mary can’t help, but wonder how things had turned out if it had been her generation that formed the new League of Heroes rather than that of her daughter and nephew.

She was the only one that battled crime alongside League Heroes while the others did other things with their lives.

But plenty of them joined the Albion Protectors in later years, she thinks bitterly, Davin, Henry and Anne were happy to join the Protectors a decade after their formation.

And she didn’t even get any official authority when she joined the Albion Protectors. Britannia, a completely inexperienced, underage teenager, was made team leader.

As good a leader as Britannia has become over two decades, back then, little Liz didn’t have any idea of how to lead a team, skating by on her powers when it came to proper action. It was Mary that became de-facto leader back then with her six years of experience and later became the de-facto second-in-command once Britannia was able to stand on her own feet as leader.

Looking back on it, they probably just wanted to mould the inexperienced Britannia to be their loyal, obedient servant to do things as they wanted them to be done. Too bad for them that Mary was the one that Britannia went to for help.

At least the League of Heroes has always been there for her with the old Leaguers advising her as she struggled to keep the newly formed Albion Protectors afloat to the new Leaguers supporting her as folks try to weaken her position within the Albion Defenders.

Is some official respect and authority over things too much to ask for? Because Mary has never gotten any. Oh she has tons and tons of unofficial respects, authority and responsibility, but the government has never really trusted her.

Mary is certain it is because they don’t feel she is entirely trustworthy. Which, to be fair, they do have a point. Given the choice between the government and the League of Heroes, Mary will go for the later in pretty much every conceivable scenario she can think of.

At least if it gets too much she can always just leave the Defenders and go back to the League. She has always been half-Leaguer and half-Defender, one of her biggest assets and troubles.

"Hey Mary,” says a voice from the doorway, “Ready to go yet?”

“Sure thing Freya,” replies Mary as she looks at the girl in the doorway.

Freya Griffin is special, one of the country’s three Class 5 superhumans. As of such, she is kept secret and hidden from the rest of the world. For both her own safety and that of others.

Since her mother died in childbirth, the government has been responsible and specifically MI9 ever since her powers came to light.

That was a decade ago, when Freya was four and Mary has been the one primarily responsible for looking after the girl. Mary considers Freya her daughter while Helen considers Freya her little sister.

But Freya doesn’t consider herself part of the Griffin family. Even though she has taken on the family name as her own.

Due to Freya’s existence being a high level secret, they can’t exactly just go out somewhere for some mother-daughter time, but they can hang out together in the tower. Play games or perhaps watch a movie.

“You know Freya,” says Mary as she walks to girl, “I could always take you to the base if you wanted me to. It would be good for you to meet new people. Plus the place is much cooler than here.”

“Won’t we get in trouble?” inquires Freya, “I’m not supposed to leave the building without permission.”

“You’ll have my permission,” Mary tells her, “And honestly, I can’t think of any good reason not to.”

“I would like to,” says Freya as they head down the corridor, “I do keep hearing about that place from pretty much everybody. And I would really like to meet the Sentinel. And Narszara. She seems so cool. I mean, she can turn into a dragon. It isn’t that awesome!”

“I guess it is,” replies Mary with a smile, “Any idea on what you want to do tonight?”

“I want to watch The New Patriots III: Revenge of the Consortium movie,” answers Freya, “Rose and Linda got it for me.”

“Did they now,” says Mary, “I’ll remember to thank them for that.”

The fourteen year old grins up at her and Mary grins back down at her adopted daughter.

Sure Mary might not get any official rewards for her actions, but she was never in the business for that. Between doing good, her family and support of the League of Heroes give her, life is good for Mary Angeline Griffin aka the Warden.

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.”

1.12 The Machine 3.0 Part 5

The dragon is about fourteen to sixteen feet long and three metres high. Its scales are the same green as Narszara’s sword and cover creature’s entire body. Its wings are massive and leathery like a bat.

The dragon drops the beast and rips its other arm off with its claws before pinning it to the ground.

Sensing defeat its defeat, either the Machine or whoever is controlling it activate its self-destruct. The Machine’s internal circuitry explodes and pops until only the outer casing remains.

I was hoping for something useful from its wreckage, but I can still study the armour the Machine uses and look for weak points in its design.

But first, I have to deal with the dragon.

As I walk towards the beast, it swiftly shapeshifts into Narszara. The Norgardian is wearing her new armour, the first time she has worn it in the field.

I can’t say I’m surprised as Narszara has a dragon motif to her and given her level of power, the idea of her being able to turn into a dragon isn’t that farfetched.

Most of those watching us however seemed to be deeply impressed by the mysterious Narszara. While Narszara is a known member of the League and has been seen in public, she’s not an active crimefighter like the rest of us. The primary time she has been out of base is when Narszara is escorting the Rileys when they go out in public.

Her power level and set aren’t known to the public so there has been lots of speculating about what Narszara can do, especially since she took out Vengeance.

I bet now people are going to believe she’s a powerful shapeshifter.

Now what to do with the remains of the Machine? My first thought is to take them back to base to study them in the lab, but safety always comes first.

While I may want to study, I am not about to bring the enemy in the heart of my base of operations, even if it is ‘dead’. Especially when who knows what could be inside? The Machine could easily be a Trojan Horse and I wouldn’t know until it was already inside the base.

So taking back to the lab isn’t an option, but I still want to study the Machine and I need somewhere with the equipment to do which I don’t need to worry about compromising security.

The perfect solution hits me in a moment of Eureka and I call my Aunt Mary’s Warden phone number, using my own Sentinel number.

“Hello Sentinel,” answers Aunt Mary, “I’m assuming this to do with news at the moment.”

“If you’re referring to Machine, then yes,” I reply, “I would like to study the Machine, but taking it to the base is not an option.”

“Agreed,” agrees Aunt Mary, “I’m going to assume you want to use my lab in Defender Tower.”

“Yup,” I reply, “If you don’t mind that is.”

“I don’t,” says Aunt Mary, “When can I expect you to arrive?”

“I’ll grab one of the arm and Narszara will carry the rest,” I reply, “While I can make the journey in about fifty minutes, Narszara is slower than me so it’ll take about twenty to half an hour longer. And we’ll need to make police reports first. We’ll already got a bunch of officers on the ground.”

“Understood,” says Aunt Mary, “I’ll be waiting and inform the folks here that you’re coming.”

And with that, Aunt Mary hangs up.

“Narszara?” I say as I approach her.

She is standing by the Machine’s wreckage where no one has dared approach her yet.

“Yes milord,” replies Narszara.

“We got to make police reports than we’re taking the wreckage to Defender Tower in London,” I tell her.

“Aye,” is Narszara’s reply.

I turn to face some of the police officers as they tried to form a barrier around the wreckage of the Machine. A pair of reporters, including the one I saw earlier, are trying to get through.

I sigh internally. I hate dealing the media. They always try to twist your words and the situation to make things more interesting for their viewers. And if you complain to them about that, they do their best to portray you in a bad light.

The last thing I want to do after a hard fight like that is have to explain what happened to the press. Especially since they’ll want to know more able Narszara.

My spirits pick up as I spot Inspector Oakley exit a newly arrived police car. As the guy in charge of crimes relating to powered or gifted people and the liaison to the League of Heroes, we see a lot of each other and get on well.

It doesn’t hurt that he knows my secret identity and has kept it secret. I also believe that he has been able to piece together some of the others’ secret identities, but if he has, Oakley hasn’t given me or anyone else any hint of it.

“Hello Inspector,” I say as walk towards him, Narszara following me in tow.

1.10 Ancient Warriors Part 8

Just like Adalbern, Sir Gawain of Camelot is an impressive sight. Unlike the German President in his suit, he looks like what one would expect of him, a knight in shining armour.

He is almost as tall as Adalbern, an impressive feat considering that Adalbern is over eight feet tall, and is encased in a suit of magitek power armour. It is sleek and smooth and looks like a set of plate armour as it doesn’t need mechanisms that are required by power armour.

Normally I would compare suits of armour to my own, but I can’t help, but notice the similarities of Camelot armour compared to the armour used en masse by the Knights Hospitaller.

The Knight Hospitaller use powered armour that has a closer resemblance to modern ballistic armour while the armour used by the Camelotians is magically enchanted plate armour. The Hospitaller helmets are similar to great helms and the Knights have their order’s symbol on their chests, the Knights of Camelot have Barbute helmets and have personalised crests.

The Knights of the Round Table have also come armed. A broadsword is sheathed at Gawain’s side and a large heater shield, made of a strong, lightweight and magical alloy, is on his back. I’m barely able to glimpse Sir Gawain’s coat of arms on the shield.

I have no doubt that both have been magically enchanted just like Sir Gawain’s armour nor that Sir Gawain could wield that blade with ease with only one hand. He does have superstrength after all.

While his power set is very similar to Adalbern’s, Sir Gawain just doesn’t quite reach the same level of power. Unlike his German counterpart, the Knight can’t walk off a bomb despite his nigh-invulnerability. Neither is he as strong and his senses aren’t quite as developed. And unlike Adalbern, Sir Gawain appears to be slowly aging over time, if only by a couple of months each century.  

His entourage is following him whilst Narszara is in her old armour, chatting to Sir Gawain.

I can easily spot the wizard Narszara mentioned. He is wearing purple robes over more simple clothes and his hood conceals his facial features from sight, but I can make out some short black hair and possibly brown eyes.

The wizard is talking to mildly beefy male Knight, who has a simple sword at his waist and a round shield strapped to his back. Through his helmet, I can see a smiling and happy face.

Just off to their side is another Knight of the Round Table, an amazonian woman. She must be the one Narszara mentioned to have the ability to shapeshift into a werewolf.

At a glance, she is the most unusual. Her arms are bare of armour and a giant greatsword is resting against her back. No way would it fit at her side. Her eyes are yellow like a wolf’s and her hair goes down past her shoulders in a silver mane of tangled hair.

At the sight of Adalbern, a feral smirk appears on her face.

“Adalbern, ye beast,” laughs Sir Gawain, “A pleasure to see you again.”

I can see that Sir Gawain is still speaking in Old English as always. Of course that is what he grew up speaking so complaining he speaks like that would like complaining if an American speaks with an American accent or Australian spoke with an Australian accent.

“I see you brought a retinue with you as usual,” notes Adalbern, “And this must be the Narszara who Sentinel has been telling me so much about. We must cross blades someday shieldmaiden.”

“It would be a pleasure Eldar-Thariloth Adalbern,” answers Narszara and she bows before the immortal president.

“So will we be needed?” asks Sam, “Or can we go? I would much rather avoid politics if nothing interesting is going to happen.”

“And by nothing interesting, Lantern means everyone getting along and talking out any differences in a peaceful and reasonable manner,” says James, “He’d be all for staying if there was going to be shouting, conflict and hostility.”

“That’s the only side of politics that interests me,” Sam agrees with a grin and Britannia sighs.

“You could escort Sir Gawain’s retinue about London?” offers Adalbern, “I doubt they wished to be involved with politics as much as the rest of you. Britannia, Warden, my guards and whoever your Prime Minister brings should be enough protection and it would be better if the Camelotians have guides to help them avoid getting into any trouble.”

“Wilt thy proposal be acceptable?” asks Sir Gawain, “I mainly brought mine retinue out of tradition. It would be of the best if they were able to explore this city with ye as escorts.”

“Eh,” shrugs Sam, “Why not? It sounds like fun.”

“Sure,” says Skyler, “I never enjoyed politics.”

“I would much rather hang around,” admits James, “I quite enjoy the intrigue of politics.”

“I’ll go with them,” I say, “With Lantern and Commando, they’ll need a sane head to keep them away from any trouble.”

“If it please you milord, I would rather stay with this group,” asks Narszara, “I would like to speak with both Gawain and Adalbern.”

“Sure,” I tell her with a wave of my hand, “Don’t start any fights.”

“Just be back before the day is over,” says Britannia, “The Prime Minister and the other government officials will wish to speak with you. Make your acquaintance and all.”

1.10 Ancient Warriors Part 7

“That’s cynical,” I reply, “I’m sure that some people who are behind it for that reason, but the vast majority are genuinely good people who want to make the world a better place.”

“That may be true, but the people running the show won’t be like that,” says Adalbern.

“You would be surprised,” I say back, “A lot of those behind the initiative have intentions to avoid that sort of thing. After all, Sentinel Technologies is a major funder of the Defender Initiative and provides them with a lot of their equipment. Other funders, such as the William Enterprise and King Incorporated, are making sure that the initiative won’t go rogue either. If anyone tries to use the Defender Initiative for nefarious purposes, they’ll find me standing against them in more than one way. And that’s not including all the other heroes you would help. But that is unlikely and the Initiative does a lot of good.”

“So why haven’t we joint it then?” asks Sky.

“Given the League’s organisation and connections, there’s too little gain for the restrictions we would receive,” I answer her, “Better to be an important backer than an important member.”

“Wait a moment,” says Sam suddenly, “You been testing Narszara’s limits right?”

“Yeah,” I reply, confused.

“So you weren’t kidding about firing a nuke at her face then,” continues Sam.

“Of course I wasn’t,” I reply.

Adalbern bursts out into laugh while Aunt Mary shakes her head. One of Adalbern’s bodyguards rests their head in their hands.

“Where have you been detonating nuclear weapons Sentinel?” demands Britannia, a dangerous look in her eyes.

“Deep below the base,” I tell her, “Nothing to worry about. Not only is it deep, but it is shielded against radiation. None gets in or out.”

“You better hope so,” grumbles Britannia.

“If it makes you feel better, I’ll check the radiation levels of the base when I get back,” I say before turning back to Adalbern, “Anything we should know about? Any supervillains showing up for vengeance? Any heroes wanting to stop you for your past crimes? Assassins trying to kill you over politics? Any bounty hunters after the price on your head?”

“None of those that I know of,” answers Adalbern, but he glances at the leader of his bodyguards, who shakes his head.

That is good news. Now just the powerful warriors of immense power and outdated versions of law and justice to worry about. All three of them.

Adalbern has mellowed out over the last few decades, I think, while Narszara will do pretty much whatever I say so I don’t really have to worry about them. That leaves just Sir Gawain. Hopefully he has gotten over his homicidal tendencies by now. He has always had a lot of those. 

So not much to worry about as long as everybody keeps in line.

“So how is your current Prime Minster?” inquires Adalbern.

For some reason the other Leaguers look to me. I personally put it down to being the most well informed and organised of us. Especially when it comes to politics.

After all, superheroes have to keep track of what way politics are going.

But our current Prime Minster, Allan Morse, is very reasonable when it comes to supers, effectively giving MI9 orders to handle things autonomously and has no problem with the privately owned League of Heroes as long as we don’t cause any trouble and don’t overstep our authority.

“He doesn’t really get involved in the affairs of the country’s superheroes so I have no idea of what he is like,” I answer, “We generally leave each other alone as long as neither of us cause any problems. Any I’m not really affected by the rest of his politics as I’m still just a kid.”

“He probably won’t talk about anything interesting then,” mutters Adalbern with a sigh.

I feel a presence on the edge of my mind, a grand and alien force probing against my mental defences.

Narszara? I inquire.

Aye Thariloth-Verigar, answers the presence.

Narszara voice rumbles throughout my mind as I lower my mental shield to let her in. Her presence engulfs me. It consist sheer power and not-quite-human feel is rather overwhelming, but I’m getting used to it.

I put the alien, but not inhuman feel to her down to her people’s confusing class of humans and her different context way of thinking to a normal human from modern Earth.

Narszara rolls back a bit as she feels my sense of being overwhelmed, but stays within my mind.

I send a mental probe to her and she starts speaking.

I am with Camelot-Regent-Camelot-Knight-Eldar-Gawain. He has brought three of Camelot-Court with him, Camelot-Court-Wizard-Evan-Gruffydd, Camelot-Knight-Brock-Mervyn and Camelot-Knight-Wolf-Etheldreda.

Narszara has a particular way of expressing things during mental contract. I can feel her mild amusement at that my thought.

Which of them have powers?

Camelot-Court-Wizard is strong-spell-caster as per his duties. Camelot-Knight-Wolf-Etheldreda has the same set-of-powers as friend-teammate-Night-Beast, but she is clearly wolf.

Good to know. How are you getting on?

Camelot-Regent-Camelot-Knight-Eldar-Gawain is a noble-and-honourable-man. With your permission, I will accept his offer to visit Camelot someday.

It strikes me that Camelot might be the only place on Earth that Narszara would fit in with the locals. Curiosity and a sense of appeasement emanates from her.

Where are you?

While I have asked Narszara the question, it is President Adalbern that answers my question.

“Gawain old friend!” exclaims Adalbern as a group of figures come into view as we exit the airport.