Pyr Landis
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
| |
| Pyr Landis at a Vanguard Outpost | |
| Pyr Landis | |
| Player: @Pyr9 | |
| Origin: | Technology |
|---|---|
| Archetype: | Corruptor |
| Threat Level: | 50 |
| Personal Data | |
| Real Name: | Classified |
| Known Aliases: | Pyr, Landis the Enforcer |
| Species: | Human |
| Age: | Looks older than he is due to radiation poisoning |
| Height: | 5'10" |
| Weight: | 150 |
| Eye Color: | Grey (were brown) |
| Hair Color: | White (was brown) |
| Biographical Data | |
| Nationality: | American |
| Occupation: | Soldier |
| Place of Birth: | classified |
| Base of Operations: | classified |
| Marital Status: | Unknown |
| Known Relatives: | classified |
| Known Powers | |
| Minor negative energy control; bestowed upon him by 'Ghost Widow' | |
| Known Abilities | |
| Military Special Operations Training | |
| Equipment | |
| Prototype Assault Rifle and a belt-centralized Radiation Emitter | |
| Radiation does terrible things to the human body. It may be able to temporarily heal, but will cause long-term disabilities. Negative energy now keeps Pyr Landis' systems functioning. | |
Former Mercenary and Bounty Hunter who operates from the Rogue Isles. As an Officer of the criminal organization, The X-Patriots, his time is currently spent divided between overseeing operations, business dealings, and conducting field operations.
Contents |
History
Details of his military training is not something that Pyr Landis easily divulges, but it is something that is eluded to, as well as, is obvious in his mannerisms and actions. It is believed he was a member of the US Army Special Forces prior to becoming a bounty hunter, and operated in the Balkans before arriving in Paragon City.
He initially showed up on Freedom Corps. and Arachnos intelligence documentation registered in Atlas Park under the name of 'Landis the Enforcer'. After completing several contracts on Hellions and Trolls, he assassinated a Longbow Officer. He was caught and for his actions, sent to the Zigursky Prison in Brickstown. During a Prison Break by Arachnos, he was released, and began operations in the Rogue Isles as a Mercenary.
Pyr Landis was another one of Lord Recluse's Destined Ones, killing throughout the Isles, then eventually joined with one of the premier criminal organizations, The X-Patriots. While serving with the X-Patriots, he climbed his way through the muck of Grandville doing jobs for Arachnos, while still pulling off Mercenary operations and serving the criminal underworld. By the time Longbow listed Pyr Landis as reaching maximum threat level, the radiation he uses was eating away at his body. Eventually succumbing to disease, Landis retired with radiation poisoning.
On the verge of death, he returned to his Patron Mistress, Ghost Widow, pledging continued allegiance for his continued life. Negative energy now courses through his body, keeping his organs functioning, but disease has left it's mark on him. The black beret that always sets upon his head is now contrasted by pale, veiny skin and white hair. Pyr Landis' hands were beyond restoring, and had to be replaced by cybernetic units. Coming out of retirement, he slowly returned to the streets of Mercy Island, and trained regularly to get used to his new metallic hands, until he considered himself fully ready for combat.
The X-Patriots
Considered by many as one of the leading criminal organizations in the Rogue Isles, The X-Patriots operate extensively throughout the Isles and Paragon City. The personnel of this group is varied, but all are dedicated warriors, many with a personal drive of fighting against the Freedom Phalanx and/or the troops of Longbow. With a belief that corruption permeates Paragon City, starting as high as the hero, Statesman, The X-Patriots use everything from brutish, military assaults to political pressure to attack their foe.
Working his way up the Chain of Command from Soldier, through Captain, to General, Pyr Landis proudly serves this organization. As rank has increased, Landis has become more and more aware of how deep the strings of The X-Patriots run through the Isles.
((The X-Patriots are always looking for active, strong recruits; are you willing to serve Virtue's #1 ranked villain group?
http://xpatriots.forumer.com
In-game contact: @Pyr9 ))
Visions of Xtasy
Located in the northeast quadrant of St. Martial, is a medium-class strip club, called Visions of Xtasy. Pyr Landis helped fund part of the venture through his old friend Wayne, who controls the bar operations of the club, leading to a small percentage of total revenues being siphoned out the back door and ending up in the account of the X-Patriots Operations. Therefore, under the ruse of a business partner, Landis comes in semi-regularly and checks on the operations of the place, looks over the finances to make sure the books are not being cheated, and keeps an eye on the security crew. The Family keeps trying to get their hands in the ‘Xtasy’, in more ways than one, but they have not figured out that there is an X-Patriot overseeing this business venture.
A nearly perfect place for an old grunt like Pyr Landis to relax; where he can get in free, have free beer, and see several young, attractive females. This location also frequently functions as a meeting place for many of Landis' dealings; whether recieving money for contracts, gathering intelligence, or meeting new underworld connections.
Pyr's Hand
Accompanying Pyr Landis on many business dealing is a man that few know much about. Going by the name of Lamech, this personal assistant seems to be more of a personal assassin. Some believe that this being may be the great-great-great grandson of Caine. With the abilities to bend light, and travel through time and space, Lamech strikes quickly and hits most opponents before they are aware of his presence.
Officially, Lamech holds no rank within The X-Patriots organization, but he conducts business with the authority of Pyr Landis. How the arrangement between Pyr Landis and Lamech came to be is unknown, but he was not seen until after Landis was promoted and Lamech was first seen accompany him at the Visions of Xtasy, in which he referred to Lamech as his 'right-hand man'. Both men also have a strong connection to dark energy, with rumors that Lamech is also connected to Ghost Widow, but those rumors are unsubstantiated. A lot of speculation revolves around Lamech, with many reports simply calling him Pyr's Hand.
It's A War Out There
(RP story)
JULY 24, 2007
LOWER LEVEL OF THE X-PATRIOTS BARRACKS
Wheezing and coughing is heard in the hallway outside the exercise room. Stepping out of the room, causing the commotion, is a decrepit-looking man. With a bottle of water in one metallic-skeletal hand, his other hand planted on the wall to keep himself upright. The last hour he has done nothing but jog on the treadmill, leaving him gasping for breath.
Slowly he makes his way down the basement hallway, his destination, a small barracks room in a far corner. Few people are commonly in these halls, just those that have a small personal space that are going to the common rooms. Those that have seen this secluded decaying man in the past, often wonder what he is doing living in the barracks of one of the top organizations running operations in the Rogue Isles. The gray hair and his pale skin, that shows many ruptured veins, do not present the air of a notable warrior. The former mercenary turned X-Patriot operative, suffered from radiation poisoning and had retired, until it got to where it nearly killed him. Verging on death only a few months back, he had re-visited his beautiful patron, Ghost Widow, whose dark cloud now helps keep his organs functioning.
Pyr Landis came out of retirement, and even though he has the appearance of a decrepit old man, he occasionally visits the Rogue Isles for small jobs, and trains daily. Due to his deterioration, his hands were replaced with robotics, so he has had to adjust and train with different weapons to become a soldier again, as well as rebuild his strength and stamina after fighting off death from inside.
As Landis enters his barracks space, he notices he has received an electronic message. [Odd, don’t get many of those.] The message is encrypted, with a sender name of Gilrain. [Who the heck is Gilrain?]
Before opening the message, Landis runs a thorough computer scan and came to find that the message was sent through several systems and Gilrain is non-existent. However, it does say the destination it routed from was in Paragon City. With a combination of concern and curiosity, he opens the text message.
-Hey Landis, it’s Silver Dagger. Last time I saw you was in Steel Canyon almost two years ago. Don’t have time for stories now, we’ll catch up later; but I’ve heard some stories about you and I’ll just say, “I told you so”, that bounty hunting would get you in trouble and you should have stuck with government work like I told you. You familiar with the crash site, where the Rikti mothership is? Well it is a war zone now, the Rikti are back for their ship. Call it a favor if you want, but I know what kind of operator you are, and we need quality fighters on the ground here. Check in with the nearest Vanguard Depot and they will get you over here. Do not worry about the whole Longbow and Zig thing, this is bigger than that. Grab your boots and gun, it is time to rock n’ roll ole buddy. Once the storm calms, come find me. I’m a Vanguard Captain working under Serpent, you will meet him, and he’ll point you in my direction. SD-
-- ONE WEEK LATER
FOB, THE THIN RED LINE, RWZ
“It’s a war out there, troop, and it is good. The Rikti aren’t giving up easily either. Just keep your weapon clean, drink plenty of water, and shoot every alien that gets in your line of sight.” Sitting on a stack of MRE boxes, Pyr Landis speaks to a young Vanguard soldier, while using a bore brush to clean the dried mud from the joints of his metallic fingers. Considering himself a temporary Vanguard Operative, Landis has spent quite a bit of time in the Rikti War Zone, even adding his extra firepower alongside the regular Vanguard troops fighting from the multiple Forward Operating Bases throughout the area. “You’ll definitely meet some unique people while working for Vanguard. I find it interesting to see everyone working together against this common enemy. The advanced technology users and the genetically super-powered, the criminals, the villains, the do-gooders, and even those who operate just outside the law, all fighting together and blasting these ...”
Without warning, the turret behind Landis opens fire with a loud jolting crack.
Landis is immediately to his feet with his prototype assault rifle in hand, “On your feet troops and to the wall. Keep them suppressed and let the turrets finish them off.”
Leaping from the top of the dark red defensive wall, Landis lands on the dirt and rubble below, positioning himself between the wall and the Rikti assault team.
“Mesmerist in my sights!” Targeting the chief Rikti in red as the center of his field of fire, he squeezes the assault rifle’s trigger expending his first magazine in one long burst and wounding most of the attackers before him. Following that up with a grenade launched in the middle of the group to knock the aliens off their feet, Landis quickly reloads his weapon and continues engaging the enemy. Above and behind, the Vanguard soldiers and turrets fire upon their attackers as bullets and missiles rain down. Landis fires more bursts at the Chief Mesmerist but by the time he drops, two Rikti have closed in on him. Drawing upon the powers Ghost Widow has bestowed upon him, his dark cloud billows out around him then quickly draws back in, weakening the Rikti around him while adding to his own focus. Firing bullets at point blank range at the head of one of the aliens drops that one quickly, but the other makes a large swipe with its monstrous bladed weapon. Landis takes only a minor laceration as the blade cuts into the right sleeve of his black-camo fatigues, then strikes his armored shoulder plate. Unfazed, he jumps backwards while firing another grenade at the feet of his aggressor, killing one more invader. The defenses hold strong and eliminate another Rikti team that was trying to move closer to the main Vanguard base.
While returning to his position atop the wall of the Thin Red Line, Pyr Landis receives an X-Patriot transmission. -Rikti invasion forces are continuing to bombard and assault all the city zones in an attempt to gain another foothold. An X-Patriot QRF is forming to combat the alien invaders. Any available personnel should meet at the X-Pat base.-
Business and War
(RP story)
SEPTEMBER 2007
THE X-PATRIOTS BASE
Metallic fingers clicking on a keyboard echo off the brick walls in this secluded part of the base. Pyr Landis sits at his ornate wood computer desk, checking troop rosters, and comparing it to income generated over the last couple of weeks by the operations of the X-Patriot’s soldiers. Not a fun task, but he keeps a large, brand-new, LCD monitor over to the side picking up all the latest News feeds, so he can track any exciting events as they happen. It’s relaxing in the knowledge that later on he’ll be wearing his suit, while in his new office space he enjoys wearing old worn out camo fatigues pants and a t-shirt.
After the new base finished with construction, and Pyr Landis’ recent promotion to General, he sat up a small operations office in the corner of the generator room, on a raised platform. This particular location serves two additional purposes, Landis can oversee the security of the main power source, and the negative energy coming off the unit makes him feel makes him feel invigorated.
Standing up from the desk, Landis turns around and leans against the wooden banister behind the desk, and looks out over the generator as it spins. Lost in his own thoughts, he reflects on the tumultuous last couple of months. After coming out of retirement, then joining the campaign against the Rikti invaders, he graciously accepted a couple of promotions among the X-Patriots. Then what started as just a financial benefactor to the ‘Visions of Xtasy’ club has slowly transitioned to a regular business front for Landis to conduct dealings; slightly ahead of the planned timeline. He tries to still runs operations regularly, and as he thinks of victories from the RWZ Campaign, he smiles at the two trophy cases in the corner of room that contain weapons salvaged from Officers of the Rikti and the Nemesis.
“Ah, back to work.” He speaks to himself and sits back down at the desk. "Better get everything caught up before my meeting tonight at the club."
-- -- -- THAT NIGHT
Dancy pop music, moving lights, and many dim lit corners makes this club seem just like any other, but this is Pyr Landis’ favorite place to meet people these days. Dressed in his regular business attire of, black suit, black safari hat, and a red tie, Landis stands next to a round table in the corner of the ‘Visions of Xtasy’ club. He doesn’t have to wait long, his former combat buddy turned Vanguard Captain, Silver Dagger, arrives exactly on the scheduled time, and as to be expected has two Vanguard soldiers dressed in plain black fatigues following him.
“Please sit, gentlemen,” Landis takes a seat first and the other three follow suit. His cybernetic hands come to rest on the cheap metal table top with a clack that draws the eyes of the two soldiers. Dressed in a grey combat outfit, Lamech approaches from across the room, and comes to a position standing behind Pyr Landis, arms crossed, eyeing the Vanguard troops. “Silver, I don’t think you’ve met my new assistant, this is Lamech. He’s my right-hand man.”
After everybody eyeing everybody else for 30 seconds, Landis speaks up first. “I know you boys are in desparate need of some R’n’R from the War Zone, but there’s no way we can get together with out talking business.”
“Well Pyr, I’m not much on asking for help, but, you got yourself into a position to keep providing a bit of support that we need to keep operations up.” Silver Dagger leans over the table, speaking directly to Landis, ignoring the entertainment going on around the rest of the room. “The Rikti are slowing down, but we have to keep up the pressure in the War Zone. Hitting the Mothership every chance we get is the best approach. If the Mothership gets repaired like they are trying to do, we are all done for. I’m not just talking Vanguard and the X-Patriots, I’m talking the whole planet.”
Landis nods and speaks solemnly, “I’ll pull a team together to fight these invaders every chance I get.”
“My troops on the front line are not as battle-hardened as I would like,” Silver continues, “and are only holding the ground. Vanguard alone is not able to push the assault.”
A commotion in the middle of the room gets everybodies attention. Taking a table in the center near the stage, is a loud group of ruffians with a big, bulldog of a brute in the middle and six yapping little street punks in tank tops running around him vying for his attention. After they get seated and the noise settles down, Silver Dagger continues discussing current affairs in the Rikti War Zone.
Five minutes later, a bouncer in a black t-shirt stretched over his muscles walks up, “Excuse me, boss. I thought you should know, the two in black trenchcoats tried to come in with Uzis. They clean now.” The two take a table by themselves behind the last group of hooligans that sat down, and appear to be associated with them.
As Landis is watching, one of the street punks stands up, grabs one of the club girls by the hips and pulls her to him. The girl pushes him away, but the little punk slaps her on the rear. Landis signals over his shoulder. Light wraps around Lamech for a second and he disappears, then instantly reappears next to the street punk. He swipes quickly one time with his claws, just enough to snag the gold chain swinging from the kids neck and slices the chain apart. The whole group becomes instantly quiet as the gold chain slides from the wide-eyed kids neck. Lamech points to the chair with the tips of his claws, and the kid slowly sits back down and faces the table.
Silver Dagger laughes at the scene, “Pyr, that’s quite the Hand you got there. I take it he’s more than just a personal assistant for office matters.”
“I guess I would have to go along with that kind of assessment. You’ll probably be seeing him in the War Zone soon enough.” Landis tosses a roll of one dollar bills to one of the Vanguard troops, “Here, go enjoy yourselves while Silver and I catch up some more. And if the bartender looks at you funny, don’t worry about it, he’s an ex-Ranger so I’m sure he’ll still take care of you guys.”
After the two have gotten out of hearing range Landis continues the conversation. “So, after seeing the action, what do you think of Longbow, and of Stateman’s Hero groups?”
“I can’t make a statement about that.”
“They slap a label on us as villains, and call us names such as vicious and ruthless, but those Heroes use the same tactics as we do. They’ve been told before not to pass judgement on others so quickly. Then there’s Ms. Liberty running around like she’s above the law.”
Silver Dagger cuts him off and smiles. “Dude, I know you got a beef with Longbow after they arrested you for killing one of their own.”
“No, that was just business. It was a contract; I screwed up and was caught. My prototype weaponry didn’t come cheap you know."
"I’m speaking of how the public wrongfully complains that the Army and Marines mistreat Third World people, while Longbow agents run around all self-righteous, not caring about basic rights of human beings. We’ve operated together and had our buddies killed fighting for other people’s freedom. You’ve seen government operations done many different ways, and you know what is right. Silver, all I’m looking for is information and names. Help us fight the corruption before Statesman and Ms. Liberty get out of control.”
Silver Dagger looks Pyr Landis in the eyes and shakes his cybernetic hand. “Now let’s have a beer, and let me enjoy your little club.”
Fun Facts
}The character of Pyr Landis originated in the mid-1990s as a Bounty Hunter character in a Star Wars (D6) RPG. He was the funniest character I ever played of any RPG.
}The first MMO I played was 'Star Wars Galaxies', and Pyr Landis resurfaced there as my primary character. Prior to a game-changing update, Pyr Landis was a Master Carabinier and about one-weeks worth of grinding actual bounty hunt missions away from making Master Bounty Hunter title.
}After leaving SWG, a friend gave me a two week trial of COH, and the character I started with was 'Landis the Enforcer', an AR/En Blaster, but was only played during the trial. Eventually recreating Pyr Landis as an AR/Rad Corruptor, he next become my first level 50 character in 'The City'.
