Patriot

Early Years
Patriot is the heroic name of John Thomas Jefferson. The character was created for the End of the World as We Know It campaign on Hero Central by Kraven Kor.

John Thomas Jefferson is the son of James Thomas Jefferson and Martha Jane Webb.

He was born July 4th, 1975. He was burn in Gulfport, Mississippi.

He was the only child of the pair. Though his mother miscarried twins two years after his birth.

His father was a wealthy shipper who specialized in International shipping running a business of several container ships and tankers, which he had inherited from his father William Thomas Jefferson Jr.. The company had been started by his grandfather after WWII. It managed to secure contracts to help carry supplies to rebuild Europe and Japan. Jefferson Enterprises has since grown into a megacorporation that has subsidiaries in just about every business imaginable.

His mother met his father when she was hired as his secretary, a romance ensued and they were married. She did without anything in her life, she passed away in a plane accident on August 7th, 1998.

Gifted with a keen intellect he graduated high school at the age of 14, and had his first masters by age 16.

He began teaching at Cornell University in the fall of 1995. It is while at Cornell he met his future wife. She was a student in one of his classes and when the two met sparks seemed to fly when they met in 1998. They would date for the next few years.

Sept. 11th, 2001 is the day that John lost his father. His father was one of the many victims of the attack on the WTC. This moment inspired John to resign his position at Cornell and to devote himself to creating the Patriot armor. It has been an obsession of his since his father's death.

Following the wake of the attacks John also realized that he needed to settle down and have a family. He asked his girlfriend of 3 years, Mary Anne Whitacker,  to marry him on Dec 24th, 2001. They were wed in Hawaii on the beach of Waikiki three months later. Their first son John Jr. was born March 18th, 2005. He was followed by his brother James Thomas on May 6th, 2008 and finally by Martha Jane on Apirl 10th, 2011.

August 29th, 2005 John was working in the lab when he saw the footage of Hurricane Katrina. He was moved to tears as he saw the devastation. He started a construction subsidiary the very next day to help in the rebuilding of the Gulf Coast. His crews were sent to his home state of Mississippi where they aided in beach clean up and replacing homes. Using the power of his shipping company's leverage he was able to get materials much cheaper than competitors and consequently was able to charge less to accelerate clean up and construction especially around Gulfport and Biloxi. In September he announced the Jefferson School Initiative to start charter schools in New Orleans especially but also in other gulf cities wherever he could to help the kids. He provided start up funds and then allowed the schools to run on local funds. He visits now and then but largely allows them to run themselves.

Trajedy struck the family when Mary suffered a jetski accident in the Virgin Islands on July 3rd, 2012. The accident left her with a brain injury and diminished capabilities. She had to relearn to walk and talk which she has done but at a much diminished capacity. John has ensured she has plenty of help providing maids, chef, nannies, nurses etc to help Mary with taking care of the household. After the injury they sold the vacation home in the Virgin Islands as well as a vacation home in Vail, Colorado. Her rehabilitation and John's need to be there delayed work on the Patriot Armor. Mary's accident also kept John from more effectively battling against Common Core, or he might could have stopped it before it really got started.

It was after the Boston Marathon attack of 2013 that John redidicated himself after a vacation to the Patriot armor and swearing it would be ready the next year.

Becoming Patriot
John T. Jefferson completed the prototype Patriot Mark I armor on  April 20th, 2014 just before midnight. He stood ready in case there was another bombing at the Boston Marathon this year, but no attack occurred and he returned home.

He continued to tinker with the prototype but was heavily desirious to take it onto a trial run. The opportunity to test the armor came on May, 14th, 2014. About mid morning he sat sipping his coffee and reading the paper when a news alert came over the radio in Herndon, Virginia. He was alerted that Frederick Douglas High School, outside of Baltimore was under siege by an unknown group. Police and SWAT were on site but there were far to many teenagers within the school to make an assault. They had attempted communications with those holding the school hostage but had not received any word.

He quickly suited up for the first time and made way for Baltimore. En route he noticed that in his enthusiasm that he had failed to include a radio inside his suit and made a mental note to include such that evening in the final build. He arrived to find the buildings surrounded by around fifty police and swat vehicles and of course the News Media hanging out.

Wishing to slip in and out unseen he found a maintenance access door that he entered through using the strenght of the suit to help him push it open. Here he engaged a number of terrorists. He at first thought they were Russian, but would later learn they were Ukrainians. Despite his best efforts the lack of a radio and the ability to coordinate with authorities allwoed the Punk Kid and one of his Ukrainian mercenaries to escape capture at the school. He did manage to capture four of the Ukrainians who were later remanded to the custody of the Department of Homeland Security.

After the Punk Kid escaped he looked for evidence and in the process noticed that there was crying coming from an old area. The school had a bomb shelter in it and the students and staff had been incarcerated in it being tied up with plastic ties. He easily used the suit's strength to break open the door and then released the victims, starting with the teachers.

He discovered an old laboratory, looking like something from the late 19th century or early 20th century underneath the floor. The Punk Kid and his associates had presumably blasted into it, for what purpose remains unknown at this time. Patriot would after this discovery lead the students and teachers out to the cheers of the crowds gathered.

While some celebrated the SWAT teams tried to take him. "STOP!  STOP RIGHT THERE!  DO NOT MOVE!" they called. He almost laughed beneath the suits mask. "Sorry citizen, there's more crime to be fought. More innocents to be saved. I'll be around if you need me, name's Patriot." Patriot replied as he activates his jet boots and flew away while the crowd watched.

Patriot would then return to his alter ego John T. Jefferson where he would return to the school a couple hours later. Here he would deliver a moving speech that would make the evening news and as well the Daily Show.

"My fellow Americas it is said that that which does not kill us makes us stronger. Those young people and those teachers who lived through the events today will be stronger, they will know a bit more about what they can do, and they will find the steel to be the leaders of tomorrow. Some of these young people who were here today, who went through this tramatic experience will grow from that experience they will become future Representatives, Senators and perhaps even President. Still there are some that will suffer, who will give into fear and doubt. We want to ensure that these children have help that they need. I hereby pledge that I will ensure that any student or teacher who were traumatized by the events today shall receive counseling free of charge. I will ensure the bill is paid. That is not enough though, today America lost a school, and that will need to be rebuilt. Not as she was, but greater than she was. She should be a shining beacon to any that would attack our nation that not only do we come back but we come back stronger. I will donate 20 million dollars towards the restoration and improvements of the schools. We will work out the details later. I would also on behalf of all those affected today, like to thank the mystery man calling himself Patriot who came to the rescue of the teachers and students and freed them. We owe him a debt of gratitude, we hope he will be an inspiration to other Americans that they too might rise to call of duty wherever they are needed. God bless you, and God bless the United States of America."

The Daily Show does a bit on the day's events...

Jon Stewart:  "So, did you see this?  A school was attacked today just outside of Baltimore - and this is crazy folks - by Ukrainian terrorists.  Nobody was injured despite the school being blown up, yes, blown up.  Of course, this has already sparked a lively debate on, I'm sorry, what's that?   Too soon?" Jon nods and mocks to the camera as though ashamed. "No, but really, it even get's crazier than that."

They play video of the students and teachers climbing up from the canal, then of The Patriot rocketing away.

"Did you see that?  An armored man apparently rescued the students and faculty, and flew away into the sky!  This is incredible!  We are assured that Robert Downy Junior was not in the area."

The crowd laughs.

"This is incredible, folks.  Of course, then billionaire philanthropist John Jefferson showed up and took the spotlight to give one of his usual speeches, kind of.  He did pledge to help rebuild the school, and I gotta say, spotlight or no, the man is decent human being.  And this brings us to our ongoing segment on..."

Patriot was a bit to caught up in what was going on to really celebrate, but he made a note to drop a line to the Daily Show in the future as John T. Jefferson to talk to Jon Stewart about his school initiative. He would track down leads on the Punk Kid for much of the next day while getting work crews and security details to Frederick Douglas High School.

At dinner that evening his wife Mary revealed that the police had called and needed a statement from him regarding the school where he had appeared. She also thanked him for being so kind to help the kids and teachers. John went and made the statement and found out that the Ukrainians had been reportedly hired by the Punk Kid.

Mark II Patriot Armor
The Patriot Mark II armor entered service a few days after the prototype. The Mark II armor was involved at a battle at a warehouse being used by Jefferson Enterprises for the restoration of Frederick Douglas High School. The battle resulted in one of Punk Kid's henchmen being captured but he escaped again this time with the aid of someone driving a sports car.

The next day John Jefferson took the vial that had been found in the old lab equipment of the schools to the police and turned it over. They were a bit cold to him due to his public statement the other day. On the way home they stopped to visit the temple, and he sent Bruno back with the. Changing to become Patriot he then noticed a car following Bruno. Someone was leaning out of the car with a large device which looked ready to attack Bruno. Patriot moved to try to grab the device but missed.

He was successful in diverting attention from Bruno. Engaging in a battle with a lady who seemed well armed, presumably the Mrs Karen Smith that had called just after the warehouse battle on his wife pretending to be an FBI agent. This individual used a rocket launcher and automatic pistols against him to not effect. He grabbed the car and threw it to the curb. Later he attempted to slam the car on her position but she dived out of the way. A passenger in the car was injured. Hearing the cries of pain Patriot backed off gave the lady a chance to surrender and that he'd summon emergency personel citing their need. She refused grabbing a grenade and threatening to throw it at the oncoming cars if he tried to attack her.

He alerted the police to her grenade threat, though he was dubious they would be anything more than a hindrance to his efforts as they had been thus far. Ms. Smith followed threw on her threat quickly throwing the grenade not at the cars on the highway but the one she had come in after the driver had fled. She then scaled the barricade and was headed out. Patriot attempted to flash her but despite blinding her she was able to continue (possibly other advanced senses???).

Patriot was about to pursue when he saw a figure emerge from the car wreck. A young man, possibly teenager composed of molten rock. The boy seemed confused about what was happening. Patriot decided to try to make contact with the kid, in an attempt to contain him or encourage him on the path of good. Along this time Patriot discovered a big blip on his radar that appeared out of nowwhere, it was the Silver Lady.

The Silver Lady warned them that the MIB was coming but it was too late, they arrived just after she did. Time seemed to slow, as though anyone normal was stopped in time. The Silver Lady called to Patriot to save the boy and get him out of the area. Reluctant to leave her behind but deciding to heed her warning he grabbed the motlen lad and headed out.

This same molten lad he'd later learn was Sebastion Einstein. He helped hide Sebastion at the warehouse they had battled at some days before. He took in Sebastion's side of the story and decided to help the young man best he could.

He would meet Eve at his office and they would talk about the need for a new PAC, and he'd later meet her at a gala function and talk more privately. Here they talked about superhumans, the MIB and the need for the Defenders Initiative. Eve invites him to her base in Boulder, Colorado. Between the office meeting and the gala event Patriot completed the Patriot Mark III armor. At the office he learned that the Silver Lady was actually called Trophy Girl.

Mark III Patriot Armor
The Mark III armor was designed out of desperation almost, a need to avoid the constant eye of the MIB so that he could more freely move about. It was a means of helping him get to trouble areas without the MIB interferring and as a means to protect his family more.

The first real test of the Mark III came when Patriot retrieved Sebastion from the warehouse and carried him north into Pennsylvania to rendevouz with the angel, Samael. Samael then carried Sebastion to Eve's hideout in Colorado where the boy could adjust to his powers in relative safety. The transfer went without incident and thus Patriot considers it a vast success.

Later that same week John T. Jefferson Sr would make a trip to Denver, Colorado in order to check on Jefferson Enterprise holdings there and to enable him to meet with Eve and discuss further their cooperation. He would visit her facilities as Patriot meeting with Miss Eve, Precision and Trophy Girl. He would then learn that the current MIB had its roots in the Roswell incident of 1947. They had originally been created as a good thing but had lost their way. He also learned that Eve is immortal.

He would learn that the Grays were vulnerable to acoustic attacks, and that much of the MIB technology had been stolen by MIB. He had hoped that the MIB technology might hold the same vulnerabilities, and though there seems to be some evidence of this it seems MIB solved the problem of it disrupting their time bubbles.

While in Colorado he noticed this cryptic message from his RSS feed: "Frederick Oliver seeks a Patriot back where we first became aware of the other. Like minds need to get together for Chess!"