MAJOR DEEJ UNIVERSE

The “Gold Shield” was the a title and prestige bestowed upon several post-World War I NYPD heroes who earned a special accolade for heroic services, but never given posthumously. These heroes were active NYPD beat cops, detectives and investigators that did their services between 1940 and 1988.  In 1988, the Gold Shield was officially ‘retired’ by the NYPD Police Commissioner as a symbol of a bygone era. The shield was retired with its last bearer, Police Chief Aaron Mayfield in 1988.

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In 2010, retired Chief Mayfield, attended as the guest of honor at a policeman’s banquet and award ceremony at One Police Plaza in New York City.  Mayfield was asked to bring his old shield with him to show it off for a photo op. There, at the banquet, just as Mayfield was presented a lifetime achievement award, the attending police officers were attacked by the members of the Gold Syndicate, a powerful consortium of gold thieves.  In minutes, dozens of officers were gunned down, including the NYPD current Police Commissioner and retired Chief Mayfield.  The Gold Syndicate went around and took the ‘gold watches’ from the policeman who had them, as well as any other gold they could find – including Mayfield’s “Gold Shield”.  The Gold Syndicate made a clean getaway.  Mayfield’s granddaughter, Sergeant Cheryl Linder, a young NYPD policewoman who was also attending the banquet, chased after the crooks.

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The chase scene with the Gold Syndicate thieves was one that might have been scripted in a Hollywood film.  Cheryl followed them in a cop car, a cop motorcycle, helicopter and even off the back of a flying superhero.  Throughout the chase, the Gold Syndicate thieves were doing everything they could to evade Cheryl, even so much as damaging a highway overpass, endangering dozens of motorists.  The superhero she grabbed a ride with, Captain Lithuania, went to help the people on the damaged highway while Cheryl instead commandeered a civilian-styled Humvee H2 from a Wall Street mogul.

 

As the Gold Syndicate thieves darted into the Lincoln Tunnel, Cheryl rammed the thieves into a divider instead, knocking down a few road signs along the way.  The thieves’ vehicles trashed, they attempted to run down the tunnel, all the while Cheryl pursued them, grabbing up a yellow road sign as a shield to deflect their energy weapon shots they were firing at her.  While going through the tunnel, she took out each thief one at a time, not killing them.  By the end of the Lincoln Tunnel, she’d taken out each of the 10 thieves, rounded them up and turned them in after reading them their rights.  She was an overnight hero to NYC and the NYPD.

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After a couple weeks in and out of the hospital, Cheryl was told she was not allowed to rejoin the police force.  During her medical screening, it was found that she had a mutagenic gene in her system; a gene that if active, might engender some poor level power, such as maybe enhance vision or hearing, but not to any degree as to give her a super-power.  Nonetheless, due the World Super-Power Registration Act (WSRA), she was not allowed to work in a federal or state job with 'other' normal humans, since her 'power'/'mutation' would supposedly set her apart and above her peers.

 

The day Cheryl was awarded her 'golden' retirement plan in lieu of her continued service, the stolen gold items were allowed to be released back to their owners, including the "Gold Shield" her grandfather earned. Since Cheryl's grandfather died and Cheryl DID stop the ones that killed him and many other NYPD officers that day, the Mayor and Police Commissioner quietly gave Cheryl her grandfather’s famous Gold Shield, since there were no more family alive to give it to.  She accepted it, but said the price was 'too heavy' for her to bear.

 

Days later, Captain Lithuania, stopped by Cheryl's home and gave her a special gift, crafted by a certain “Allied Fighters” leader; it was a gold-colored energy shield that she could wear on her wrist.  Even though she was no longer employed by the NYPD, he'd asked her if she might be willing to join his Allied Fighters instead.  She cherished the thought, but said she needed a few days to decide what to do first.

 

A day later, a man going by the code-name "Major Order" arrived at the funeral for Cheryl's grandfather. Major Order sat and had coffee with Cheryl and talked about what she intended to do now, to which Cheryl mentioned the offer she'd been given with the Allied Fighters.  Major Order stopped, took his glasses off and looked into Cheryl's eyes and asked her, 'who would you trust working with more, fellow law enforcement officers or a band of superheroes?'  Cheryl thought about it and said, the truthful answer was with her fellow police officers.  At this point Major Order invited her to join him to meet 'his' group of law enforcement officers in South Dakota.  Being in New York City, Cheryl mentioned she didn't have the funds or time to travel there. A portal them opened up next to them at the funeral home, where a man later identified as Travelmaster, ushered them both through.

 

Once through the portal, Cheryl met with the first new members that were about to become the founders of the new national meta-human law enforcement group known as the "Peacekeepers".  There, surrounded by nearly a dozen fellow law officers from all branches and organizations, she agree to join the Peacekeepers instead. With that, she was inducted into the group and dubbed with the new yet appropriate code-name, “Gold Shield”. 

 

Today, Gold Shield continues to work with the Peacekeepers.  She is considered to be one of the group's finest assets, proving her worth again and again. If ever there was a heart to a group, she is the one.

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