"My family has worked towards peace and order since time immemorial. At first, we protected our own family members. Then our neighbors. Our villages, our cities, our nation. Now, I can proudly say that the Wardlord family directly or indirectly promotes harmony and lawfulness in almost every country on the globe. If you’re somewhere peaceful, chances are we help build that peace. And if you’re somewhere chaotic, chances are we are on our way to help you."
— Rebecca Wardlord, CEO.
Wardlord Defense Industries Soldier Training Camp - Art by Pavle Majstorovic
It’s widely believed that the Wardlord family has been turning a profit on war ever since the middle ages. Duncan Wardlord discovered very early that it was easier to accumulate power and wealth by selling weapons and armor, instead of doing the actual warring.
Most other noblemen thought him mad when he married his eldest daughter to the village’s blacksmith. History proved them wrong.
What started as a blacksmith in a castle making swords and shields for his father-in-law grew into a global behemoth of weapons manufacturing: Wardlord Defense Industries makes 65% of all weapons on the planet (85% if the illegal secondary market is taken into account) and holds defense contracts with almost every existing country.
WDI's Research and Development Department has a larger budget than most countries' GDPs and is responsible for some of the most significant technological breakthroughs: undetectable plastic single-bullet handguns; bullet-resistant flexible fabrics and bullet-proof vehicles; ground-to-ground missiles; and weaponized drones. WDI has also invested considerable resources into developing armor-piercing knives and blades.
Most other noblemen thought him mad when he married his eldest daughter to the village’s blacksmith. History proved them wrong.
What started as a blacksmith in a castle making swords and shields for his father-in-law grew into a global behemoth of weapons manufacturing: Wardlord Defense Industries makes 65% of all weapons on the planet (85% if the illegal secondary market is taken into account) and holds defense contracts with almost every existing country.
WDI's Research and Development Department has a larger budget than most countries' GDPs and is responsible for some of the most significant technological breakthroughs: undetectable plastic single-bullet handguns; bullet-resistant flexible fabrics and bullet-proof vehicles; ground-to-ground missiles; and weaponized drones. WDI has also invested considerable resources into developing armor-piercing knives and blades.
"Creation of the Supersoldier" - Art by Pavle Majstorovic
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While WDI has developed chemical and biological weapons in the past, recently, there have been hints of joint projects with a major medical corporation to work on more specific and deadly products, as well as cutting-edge combat implants.
WDI has also been linked to an African company specializing in producing robots and automatons, and it is thought they are working on several joint products. WDI also has quite an exclusive line of products related to EMP fields and weapons that disable electronic devices. WDI also provides what they call "defense solutions," which is a euphemism for mercenary services. If a government needs to suppress its citizens or wage war without openly sending its armies to fight, it can hire WDI's elite professional soldiers to do their dirty work for them. WDI caters to governments, dictators, drug lords, or simply ultrarich people who either need to attack others or are paranoid about being attacked themselves and are willing to pay large sums of money for protection. |
If it has kill potential or bullet-deflection capabilities, the odds are WDI has people working on it.
WDI Headquarters - Art by Branislav Bogdanović
Wardlord Defense Industries is a sober organization with a brutalist sense of aesthetics. Their main office, located in the Autonomous City of Greater London, is a fortress-like building made in concrete and steel. Above ground, the building houses the administrative headquarters and warehouses of the corporation in the upper levels. At the same time, the 100-meter-deep basement contains the less public aspects of the organization - its manufacturing and testing facilities.
These headquarters and their surrounding area are guarded by a complex system of defensive weaponry called Titan's Web. The full capabilities of this system are not publicly known, but aerial imagery suggests that WDI's main offices would be more than able to intercept and repel rockets and missiles, as well as resist a frontal assault. Given the company's reputation, some theorize that Titan's Web has functionalities that are not entirely within the scope of the law.
The courtyard's center is mainly occupied by what appears to resemble a massive chimney. When asked about the purpose of this structure, company spokespersons have explained that it is part of the ventilation system that cools the fusion reactor, which provides energy to the whole building. However, the hollow pillar appears to also serve as a communication tower, which fuels some of the more radical theories about the chimney and its relation to Titan's Web
These headquarters and their surrounding area are guarded by a complex system of defensive weaponry called Titan's Web. The full capabilities of this system are not publicly known, but aerial imagery suggests that WDI's main offices would be more than able to intercept and repel rockets and missiles, as well as resist a frontal assault. Given the company's reputation, some theorize that Titan's Web has functionalities that are not entirely within the scope of the law.
The courtyard's center is mainly occupied by what appears to resemble a massive chimney. When asked about the purpose of this structure, company spokespersons have explained that it is part of the ventilation system that cools the fusion reactor, which provides energy to the whole building. However, the hollow pillar appears to also serve as a communication tower, which fuels some of the more radical theories about the chimney and its relation to Titan's Web
ABOUT THE CEO
Rebecca Wardlord Full Body Concept by Joi Rudin
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Rebecca Wardlord is the great-granddaughter of Wayford Wardlord, founder of the company, and daughter of Richard Wardlord, the previous CEO. She is currently 43 years old and has served as CEO for the last 15 years since her father's health rendered him unable to fill the role.
Richard Warlord's wife bore him only one daughter and no sons before she passed away. The absence of a male heir made Richard pour all his expectations and frustrations into Rebecca. She was forced to live a strict, almost military childhood and become familiar with weapons and their use from a young age. This stringent upbringing eventually numbed her sense of empathy, which led many to believe she has some sort of personality disorder that affects her interpersonal skills and allows her to make cold-blooded business decisions without any consideration for the repercussions of her actions on other human beings. All documents regarding her mental health, including a professional diagnosis made by one preeminent expert on psychosis and sociopathy, have been lost, either by deleting the digital files or destroying their physical form. |
Rebecca appears to have only two primary drives: one to maintain and enhance her family's company status and the other to bring order into what she considers a disorderly world. She believes that WDI is the only entity in the world capable of enforcing the discipline and order needed for durable peace. The fact that she plans to achieve this through war and violence does not bother her in the slightest.
Rebecca has no known friends and no children of her own. However, she has considered having some, either via surrogate womb or some other technological means that do not require her physical participation, not because she wants them, but because she feels it would be an intelligent business decision to keep the company in the family.
She enjoys luxury and spares no expense for her pleasures. She likes wine made of organic grapes, which are nearly impossible to grow due to the globe's ecological condition and thus extremely expensive. She also smokes real tobacco and has been known to pay large sums of money for collector's items such as pre-Solar Wreckage cigars.
Rebecca also collects memorabilia related to her trade, like antique weapons. She even has an authentic Zekoyaiba (絶好刃 ぜっこうやいば) katana, which she exhibits in her 211th-floor penthouse. Rebecca is an accomplished sharpshooter with a natural talent for weapons. She is more than capable of handling pistols, rifles, explosives, and combat knives and even practices more extravagant skills, such as using her katana blade.
She also has a prosthetic right hand made of a non-commercial metal that has not been identified by the public, as it appears it is a prototype not available for mass production. Whether or not she lost her hand in an accident or decided to replace her healthy hand for no apparent reason is a mystery. Either way, it is known that the implant is not perfectly fused to her nervous system, as it shakes and hurts whenever she is not on special medication for it.
In recent years, she has been linked to several pro-cloning institutions and laboratories. She reportedly intends to bring back some extinct animals, such as purebred cats, dogs, and even more exotic species. To promote this initiative, she insists on having her pet cat, Ares, present in most photoshoots she participates in. Ares is a cloned Siamese cat and was a gift from an extremely wealthy and secret ally of Rebecca.
In the last couple of years, she was also highly vocal about the advantages of legalizing and advancing human cloning. Nonetheless, after sensitive images and documents regarding her cooperation with another female CEO on apparently illegal cloning activities surfaced, the UN issued an official ban on any and all research into human cloning for the foreseeable future.