Deathtrap Division: Virgil's "Superweapons"

by Senor Oblongo

The Moment of Truth

The five would not have to wait for long. It only took three days for the orders to come in, which triggered a second frenzied set of expansions to the factory. Several designs even had to be outsourced to other factories under Ms. Whitefeather’s control to meet the demand. Things continued at their usual breakneck pace through autumn and into the winter. With only a few weeks left before the new year's deadline, the last shipments to the army were fulfilled. They had done it, and could finally take some much needed rest. Or at least, so they thought. Soon after the blue moon festival, Bernard got a call from Ms. Whitefeather.

“Good morning Ms. Whitefeather, is everything in order?”

“It will be soon, Doctor.” Bernard grew cold as she spoke, “You are to report to Frosthill in one month for a final performance review. Bring your colleagues.”

Bernard was nearly speechless, all the fear he felt in their first meeting came rushing back suddenly. He managed to squeak out, “But, ma’am-”

“I do not have time for your questions or platitudes this time, Doctor. You will be there or there will be grave consequences, do you understand?”

Bernard lingered for a moment at the question, thinking whether he should lash out now or at his ‘review’. Deciding better of it, he replied dully, “Yes, Ms. Whitefeather.”

“Excellent. See you there.”

Bernard heard her hang up the phone, he heard the dial tone and its steady chime, but could not bring himself to move. What had he done wrong? What more could he have done? He numbly looked up at a hanging calendar on the wall near him. One month from that day was exactly a year from the first time he was brought into Ms. Whitefeather’s estate. He didn’t understand, and neither could the others when Bernard told them. They wanted to do something, make plans for how they could escape the country and disappear, but none of their plans would have worked. There was no other option but to go to the ‘review’ and face Ms. Whitefeather and whatever she had in store for them. By the day they were set to leave, the group had fully accepted the reality of the situation and told the factory goodbye for what they felt had to be the last time.

When they arrived in Frosthill, they were met by a dozen griffon knights. The leader of the small band approached them and gave a short nod, “Good morning, I am here to escort you to the Vot staging area just outside of town. We will be going by car. The convoy is just around the corner. Please follow me.”

Seeing no other options, they began walking with their huge escort, reaching the cars in short order. They weren’t the rugged military trucks that the group were used to working on, no, they were fancy cars, the sort that were not commonly seen in Frosthill. There was only space for three creatures in a car, so Bernard and Gordon sat in one while the others sat in another. When Gordon sat down he leaned over to Bernard and whispered in his ear.

“You know this doesn’t make sense. If they were gonna wack us, why would they put us in these cars with some decent enough guards? I was expecting drawn weapons and black hoods for our heads, not fancy cars and hospitality.”

Bernard was just as confused as Gordon, if not more confused. “It doesn’t make sense to me either. Maybe this is just some elaborate setup, maybe they’ll string us up in front of the whole army?”

“No, I don’t think they would do that. They’re cruel, but nobody’s that cruel,” Gordon pointed a finger in Bernard’s face, “If you got me all sad and ready to die for nothing, I'm gonna be pretty upset.”

Bernard pushed his friend away, “Tell you what, if we don’t die sometime in the next few hours, I’ll shave my head and eat the fur!”

Gordon sat back, nodding, but didn’t say anything else for the rest of the ride. The two reunited with the others when they reached their destination, which was a structure built into the side of a small mountain with a pair of large double doors. There were many griffons in the new, standardized Virgilian Army dress milling about. Steeling themselves, they followed their escorts into the building. The inside was a large, cavernous bunker that seemingly went all the way through the mountain. The far side of the hall was covered with a curtain. He didn’t have much time to take in much more before a regrettably familiar sight appeared before him. Ms. Whitefeather stood alone in the middle of the great hall, watching them all approach. The group was still a ways off before she held out a claw,

“Stop there, that's far enough.” She slowly walked over to the group, “Thank you for bringing to me, George. I hope they weren’t too much trouble. Dismissed.”

The griffon that answered their questions earlier gave a short salute, then quickly disappeared into the surrounding bustle along with the rest of their escort. Ms. Whitefeather pulled a clipboard from her purse along with a red pen.

“Lets begin, shall we? First I’d like to congratulate you on fulfilling all your orders on time. We were quite pleased with your results in that regard. We also noticed that your throughput of magical weapons was increased seven-fold during your tenure at Crevasse Hold, which is also something to be proud of. However, we must talk about the designs that you submitted in the first place.

Bernard was sweating through his coat at this point. This was it.

“I provided you with a very well developed plant, a surplus of crystals, some of the best talent we could find, and all of the funding you requested. In return, you developed a set of unreliable, structurally dubious, and extremely unorthodox designs that no other standing army on the planet would have accepted.”

At this point, Bernard had enough. He snapped back, “I think I understand ma’am. I don’t need any more taunting, just do whatever you’re gonna do to us already. Come on, tell us, what do you have in store? Humiliation? Banishment? Lifetime imprisonment? Worse? Let us have it, don’t make us wait any longer!”

Ms. Whitefeather was… surprised? “Oh, you thought I was going to-?”

Astonishment turned to mirth as she began to chuckle, then cackle. The entire group took a big step back from the grifoness, who was making a bit of a scene as she gave her best evil villain laugh. When she finished, she sighed,

“Oh my dear Doctor, did you really think I brought you all the way back out here to ‘liquidate’ you?”

The five of them replied in unison,

“Yes.”

“Well you shouldn’t be too surprised, Esther,” A voice behind the group remarked coolly, “It's a classic move, after all.”

The interruption prompted all of them to turn and look at the newcomer. The gray griffon sported a wide brimmed hat with goggles that shaded his striking yellow eyes. His yellow beak, cut and chipped in several places from some scrap long ago, displayed a charming smile. A red bandana could be seen on his neck beneath his half-zipped turtleneck jacket, accentuated with gold buttons. There was no doubt in anyone’s mind who this imposing griffon could be.

“Ah, Virgil,” Esther said, looking around the stupefied group before her, “Fashionably late as always.”

“Not too late to miss seeing you in action. Now what were you telling these fine colleagues of ours?”

“I was just about to tell them how good of a job they did, and congratulate them on exceeding expectations, when you interrupted me.”

“Right, right, so that means you just finished berating them for every small mistake?”

Esther gave a small smile and looked at Bernard, “Can you tell that we’ve been partners for a long time, Doctor?”

“Doctor, eh?” Virgil walked up to Bernard, “So you’re the miracle worker that came up with all my new favorite toys? Well it's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Bernard!”

Virgil grabs Bernard’s hand and shakes it vigorously as the nervous diamond dog tries to come up with a response.

“Y-yes Mr. Virgil but-”

“Oh, there's no need for all that, just Virgil’s fine!”

“Well, Virgil, sir, it wasn’t just me, it was a team effort that wouldn’t have been possible without the help of my friends and-”

“You and your friends, huh? Well why don't you point me to the one that came up with those planes you sent me?”

Gordon raised his claw, “That was me! Did you like it?”

“Like it?! Boy, when they demonstrated that thing to me at the airbase, I nearly shed a tear! It was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. I even ordered one special for me to use on the weekends!”

Gordon was completely starstruck, trying several times to express how happy he was, but failing to find the words every time. After a few false starts, Virgil stops him.

“Close your mouth, boy, you’ll catch parasprites. Anyways, I think it's time I gave you all your reward.”

Virgil snaps his talons and one of his bodyguards steps forward with four jingling burlap sacks. The silent figure hands them to Virgil.

“Now this is how we used to divvy up the loot from heists and raids before we ran these mountains,” Virgil explained, handing bags of loot to everyone except Bernard, “But now it's an honor that I give to only my most trusted employees, and more than that, it's my way of saying ‘Welcome to the Gang.’”

Bernard peeked at Gordon’s bag, to find that it was filled with tens of thousands of bits, more than he would have seen even after months at Talon. The poor griffon looked like he was near fainting. Virgil reached up and grasped Bernard’s shoulder.

“Hey, don't worry Doc, Esther will give you your reward soon enough, and I think you’ll find it more than generous. But first, I want to show you something.”

Virgil motioned for everyone to follow him as he walked towards the curtain at the back of the bunker. Passing through the curtain, the group found themselves on a stage set in the mountainside overlooking a military base. As they drew closer to the edge of the stage, Bernard could see thousands of soldiers looking up at them from a field below. What's more, all of them were wielding their magical rifles, or riding in or on vehicles where Bernard could spot the modifications they had made to them. He heard Misty gasp, and he almost gasped as well when he looked back and saw rows upon rows of planes behind the mass of soldiers, tanks, and trucks, some of them sporting the special markings that designated them as products of their factory. Bernard guessed that almost every product that had left their assembly lines in the past year was somewhere in the mass of military might before them. Virgil waved his hand to silence a sudden bout of cheering and chanting from the gathered crowd.

“My friends! My people! We will begin this rally soon, but first, I want to introduce you to Bernard, and his research colleagues from Crevasse Hold’s Deathtrap Division!”

The sound of the cheering rose to deafening levels, and Virgil let it stay that way for some time before he raised his voice again.

“So when you go out to fight the soldiers of those rotten men in Weter, and they swiftly fall from you in battle, you can thank these great creatures for making it possible!”

Another burst of cheers came from the crowd as Virgil stepped away from the balcony. The others followed as the crowd died back down. Ester turned to Virgil and asked, “The ‘Deathtrap Division’”?

Virgil smiled, “Well yeah, I asked you to assemble a special research division to come up with some kind of a secret weapon that could win us this war. Well, turns out all I need is a research division that pumps out deathtraps, so, Deathtrap Division! Came up with that one on the fly, I think it's pretty catchy, don't you think?”

He turns to the rest of the group, who nod in mostly false approval, trying not to upset the gang leader.

“I’ve got some other people I have to go check in with, but I’ll be in touch with you, Doc! I’ve got big plans for the future! Big plans.”

Virgil trails off as he walks away, disappearing behind the curtain. Esther walks next to Bernard and asks, “Could the rest of you also give us a moment? I have some personal business with the director.”

Gordon nudged Bernard as he walked away, “I’ll go find a nice electric razor for you.”

“Yeah if you’re as good at finding razors as you are at finding real alcohol, I dont think ive got anything to worry about.”

Gordon gave his friend the talon guns as he passed through the curtain. The others quickly filed off of the balcony soon after, leaving Esther and Bernard alone.

“Now, for your reward,” Esther pulled out three papers from her coat and handed them to Bernard, who looked at them quizzically as Esther explained, “These are the deeds to Crevasse Hold factory and two other arms plants.”

Bernard was stunned, “But why would you give me these? I thought we were even now?”

“Do you remember what I said last year when we first met? That you would help me build this nation into something more than a collection of thieves? Well the best way for you to do that is to have a bit of power of your own, and the quickest way to power is to own a third of our current industry, and more to follow once we sweep over the administration in Weter and partition their corporations. You’ve shown yourself more than capable of running a plant. Plus, I don't need the factories myself, I have the power to let these things go, as they say.”

“Well what do I do now?”

“You? Well I suppose you could do just about anything at this point, but if you’re asking me, you should just keep doing what you’re doing. Don't let your newfound power get to your head, I need you clear minded for the next step.”

“And what is that going to be?”

“That is for me to know and for you to find out when I am good and ready. Oh, and don’t forget-”

“Yeah, yeah, ‘you work for me now’”

Esther smiled a genuine smile and said “No, now you work with me. I’ll see you soon… Magnate.”

Bernard watched Esther as she walked away back into the mountain. He swore he understood her less now than he did when he first met her. At any rate, it was finally over, he had conquered every challenge laid before him and made some new friends in the process. He stepped closer to the balcony so he could see the entire encampment once again. Looking over all the soldiers and their equipment, he thought to himself: pretty good for an old dog.

Comments

[Eltirions]

Great fic. Looking forward to moar content from you.