Murgatroyd was founded in 1891 by the legendary businessman and engineer Jack Murgatroyd. The company initially manufactured electrical equipment.
Jack was a colourful figure, whose interests ranged from aviation to the occult. He was accused of seeking advice from mediums and astrologers. If he did, their guidance did not seem to do his company any harm.
Some say old Jack sold his soul. He’d never have done that. He would’ve issued shares in it!
Throughout the twentieth century the company he had founded expanded, moving into new types of businesses. It did well during both world wars, picking up profitable contracts from the US government.
Today Murgatroyd is a massive international corporation. It makes aircraft engines, power generation systems, weapons, and computers. It also provides healthcare services and has a number of hospitals and clinics in the United States and other countries.
Murgatroyd has established itself in Britain and is doing work for the UK government. The corporation has worked hard at cultivating contacts in the major political parties around the world. Its ruthless and influential Chief Executive Officer Garth Bellamy is known to his enemies (and some of his own staff) as ‘Darth’.
“I know they call me Darth. I don’t care. They should be thankful I’m not their father“
About ten years ago, Murgatroyd announced its Enhanced Humanity Programme. It boldly claimed that superheroes could be produced not only by birth or accident, but also by science. Selected batches of people would be given superpowers and trained to uphold justice and defend democracy.
Little information about the programme was released, leading some media commentators to speculate that it had been quietly abandoned. To their surprise, Murgatroyd has recently revealed that its first Enhanced Defence Team (EDT) of superheroes is nearly ready to go into action.
The real identities of the individual team members have not been made public. They are known only by their superhero names:
Citadel, male, born in Australia.
Stronger and more athletic / agile than an Olympic-level athlete.
Sanctuary, female, American.
Can fly.
Stronghold, male, African-American.
Immensely strong 12-foot tall giant.
All good, solid US citizens. Even Citadel, we persuaded him to renounce his Australian citizenship. You know the government and security services don’t trust folks with dual nationalities. They don’t really trust us Americans either, but we’re all they’ve got.
The team’s services will be offered to the US government and its foreign allies for purposes such as resisting supervillains, counter-terrorism, and support for disaster relief efforts. They will first be deployed to the United Kingdom, apparently because of controversy over the activities of superheroes in the USA.
The EDT heroes are all Murgatroyd employees and the processes by which they were given superpowers are known only to the corporation.
Superhero Adventures, UK Style 