From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe

You can tell where they've been, love, because it's on fire.

- Pete Wisdom to Kitty Pride, Excalibur, Warren Ellis

Contents 1 Charter 2 Membership background 3 Supergroup Origin 4 Common Tactics 4.1 Chicago Style 4.2 Oh No, You Won't Either 4.3 Alley-Oop 4.4 Ballroom Blitz 4.4.1 Bucky's Dance 4.5 Rope-a-Dope 4.6 The Shock Combo 5 Contact Info 6 Footnotes 7 Roster and Addenda

Charter

Wyldfire is a privately-owned superhero team sponsored by (and answering to) Dr. Jean-Claude Gironde^[1]. Their primary focus is anti-terrorist activity, at least officially, but their association with the Gironde family's industrial holdings has led to a lot of corporate conflict against other organizations like Crey Industries and Infinity Incorporated. Dr. Gironde also takes personal offense to Dr. Vahzilok's work, and will occasionally send Wyldfire out the door with orders to "get those things away from my customer base".

Membership background

Most of Wyldfire's members came to the team after some kind of interaction with Dr. Gironde or his companies. Phoenix Tech designs and markets mostly space industry innovations, though they occasionally break into other fields if they're really sure the competition will be caught flatfooted. Phoenix Labs, headed by Dr. Tafey Ann Sinjin, is an up-and-coming pharmaceutical research firm trying to capitalize on the heroic market. Sunset LLC is a conglomeration of smaller businesses, mostly in the fashion industry, created as offshoots of the other divisions or bought out as promising investments; they're trying to break out of their current second-tier industry ranking by mixing heroic costume conventions with general everyday wear, resulting in such odd clothing items as sectional clothing that's easier to fit around nonstandard body shapes (such as spines or a tail). Doctor Gironde also had a private practice as a psychiatrist for a few years, but except for occasional patients or clinics that catch his fancy, he's semi-retired. He still volunteers as a psych test administrator when such is requested for hero licensing, only because he thinks it's a rather silly political requirement by the mayor's office.

What is less known about the many divisions of Phoenix Industries is that most of Gironde's division heads and key personnel are either themselves metas, or close family of metas. Dr. Sinjin of Phoenix Labs, for example, has a teenage daughter with grey fur and cat-like ears -- not a heroine, but certainly considered unusual since birth. Phoenix Tech CFO Bernie Sigursen, once a patient of Gironde's to treat his self-confidence issues, is actually a very minor magus from his great-grandmother's Jewish tradition. As it happens, the past few generations of the Gironde family have also inherited psychic mutations, though they're at some pains to keep this information under tight wraps. Jean-Claude is moderately telepathic^[2], which proved useful during his military career but is more hindrance than help in his psychiatric practice and in the corporate office.

Supergroup Origin

About twelve years ago, Gironde had a vehement argument with a colleague about the historic Might for Right Act. Still indignant, he set out a plan that very evening to charter and fund a private superhero team, whose primary concern would remain the defense of all citizenry but would also serve as a security and investigative agency for his corporate interests. He wanted to prove that such a team would be cost-effective in the long term, but only if the group were free of any special interest override. He felt that both the Hero Corps and the Crey Industries models were inherently flawed, but that government command of a supergroup was not a healthy solution in most cases either. Within five years, he had the necessary elements in place, and began carefully recruiting agents.

Wyldfire is organized much like a data brokerage's main office. Most of its day-to-day work consists of computer research, news archiving, and assorted paperwork. A bit more emphasis is given to the collection and cataloguing of rumors from informants, street investigations, Wall Street gossip, and letters to the editor of the Paragon Times. Most agents of the SuperGroup consider this tedious work, making it a frequent "punishment detail" for minor rule infractions, but everyone takes a turn at this chore at least one week each month. Other assignments, of course, are what one would expect in any SuperGroup: the heroes talk to various contacts around their licensed area, checking up on allegations of criminal activity and helping to decrease the influence of various supervillainous groups. Occasionally Dr. Gironde specifies work that he needs done, whether that be recovery of stolen property or investigations of potential fraud or area sweeps to remove a particularly distressing foe (such as the Vahzilok). Wyldfire is also sometimes "loaned out" to government officials.

Wyldfire completely missed the first Rikti Invasion: the entire team went on a covert mission in the Northern Ice Fields of southern Chile, fighting an attempted takeover of Antartica by Hector Kalon of KalonTech. Wyldfire succeeded, but in the process took a few casualties and lost most of their transportation and communication equipment. By the time the team finally managed to reach Coyhaique^[3], the war was already well under way, with all of the flight space restrictions strictly enforced. Since they finally made it back, they've been rebuilding lost equipment and facilities^[4], and the roster has undergone a drastic change -- most of the veterans have retired or transferred to other businesses under the Phoenix Industries umbrella.

Common Tactics

While every lineup has its significant variations, the following combat tactics have been witnessed often enough (or been memorable enough) to rate mention amongst the Gossip Gerties of the corporate villainy set.

Chicago Style

One agent stealthfully approaches a single foe, or a very small group of foes, within hearing range of a larger group of opponents in a large space. The agent does something just interesting or annoying enough that the solitary foe/very small group will confidently chase her back the way she came, without actually raising an alert. Agent runs around at least one corner and past an ambush in a narrow corridor set up by other agents. Tactic usually used in a narrow alley or inside a building, though it can be adapted to other outdoor urban settings or a very twisty tunnel system. Works best with: any agent with some skill at avoiding unnecessary attention for the "bait", and at least two more agents lying in wait

A fan of many Jackie Chan films, original Wyldfire Field Leader Southmoor insisted that any group of combatants who held the advantage of "choosing the environment" would generally win. Whenever the team's advance scout reported a wide-open, or multi-level, area populated by villainous minions, Southmoor would arrange for the team's heaviest hitters to conceal themselves just past a narrow doorway or under a ramp -- anywhere they could create an artificial bottleneck -- and then send the current "most irritating" Wyldfire Agent to tempt a few of the minions into chasing the Agent all the way back through the ambush. Since the rest of the original team weren't such film afficionados, and Southmoor's accent became much more noticeable when trying to bark orders at a whisper, the rest of Wyldfire adopted the shorthand term "Chicago Style" as a reference to this tactic. Any claim of having adopted it from The Untouchables was purely meant to yank Southmoor's chain. Since those heroes have long since retired, and their notes archived, the current explanation for the term is essentially "We lure the targets back into a dark alley, or the nearest equivalent, and then we thug the targets into unconsciousness like it's the gangster wars in Chicago of the Prohibition Era. There's nothing 'fair' about this tactic; we're here to get the job done, which includes maximum loss on their side and minimum injury on our own part."

Oh No, You Won't Either

This is our all-purpose "we hate this villain's power" strategy; handy for taking down enemy healers or teleporters, less effective on bosses, thanks to their tendency to shrug off any and all secondary effects.

Whenever a foe is stunned, on the ground (or getting up), stuck laying someplace awkward after being knocked off their feet, held, or asleep, they are unable to concentrate enough to use their own powers. Unlike heroes with mental discipline and willpower reinforcement, they have to wait until the interfering power, stunning effect, or gas wears off, or they manage to figure out how to get up.

Here's a list of powers that Wyldfire members have that prevent any activity from our enemies:

• Skyburner's Tesla Cage is A Number One Tops In Our Book; it not only holds the enemy for much longer than most of our other options, it allows us to still beat the snot out of the bad guy!
• Silver Valor's Detention Field is almost as useful as Skyburner's Tesla Cage; it holds the villain for a minute or so, and even works regularly on better-trained minions. Sadly, we cannot do anything more to subdue the individual inside the bubble until it pops, but sometimes we really need that extra breathing space.
• Iradium's Cosmic Burst Kicks Ass does, as advertised, kick ass; it deals heavy damage AND stuns the opponent for ~20 seconds. They don't stand still, but they wander around like they just woke up from a dirt nap, and are wide open to additional punishment.
• Also, any powers that cause knockback or knockdown (ie, Silver Valor's Repulsion Field) will prevent the enemy from doing anything other than getting up for at least a second or two. Silver's gotten pretty impressive at knocking Freakshow onto breakroom television brackets, or sticking a Razorvine to the wall at high velocity by the thorns on its head, or cramming a Malta Sapper half-under a desk.

Alley-Oop

This requires a teleporter with "teleport foe" skills. The teleporter simply uses their power to bring one enemy to the group at a time. Most effectively used to weaken a large mob of creatures / enemies without causing an ambush / stampede. Note: the power can fail so groups should be prepared for the worst.

Ballroom Blitz

Oh, yeah, it was like lightning,

everybody was frightening

And the music was soothing,

and they all started grooving

Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah

And the man at the back said

Everyone attack

and it turned into a ballroom blitz

And the girl in the corner said

Boy, I wanna warn ya,

it'll turn into a ballroom blitz

"Ballroom Blitz" by The Sweet, Strung Up (Nov 1975)

Agents stealthfully work their way into positions so that, as close as possible, they surround a group of villains. On cue, everyone attacks simultaneously, working their way toward the middle, then turns with their backs to fellow Agents and complete mop-up of whatever's left ... if anything is, in fact, left. Works fantastically when the team is Defender-heavy.

Bucky's Dance

Variant of Ballroom Blitz where Wyldfire Agent Stark Buck jumps into the general middle of a very large group of arrest candidates, and the rest of the team fights frantically to get to him before he's buried under too many irate minion bodies. Often this tactic starts with the phrase "Has anybody seen Bucky recently?" and involves no other forewarning whatsoever.

Rope-a-Dope

We send in a tanker or scrapper to take a couple good swings at our targets; with about 15-20 seconds of lead time, Iradium will start a teleport. The end result is a free shot at the bad guys and then a few extra seconds to prepare a tactic as they come chase down our bait. Rissa doesn't much like it, but she'll heal eventually.

The Shock Combo

In Unreal Tournament there are many awesome weapons. One is the Shock Rifle, which has two modes of fire. Combined, they create a "devastating shockwave" that "neutralizes opponents."

Along the same lines, combining an EM Pulse and a Short Circuit leave everybody but the most experienced villains utterly exhausted. Plus, it hurts robots and cyborgs! (So make sure any on our team are safely out of range, before setting off this pair of attacks.)

Contact Info

Mail can be sent to Wyldfire online via their homepage^[5], or via Paragon City's postal service at:

 SG Wyldfire 
 1309 Liberty Quay Blvd 
 Paragon City, RI 02903[6]

Footnotes

1. ↑ No, he is not a vampire. His great-grandfather, who made the initial family fortune, was a French immigrant, and the naming convention stuck.
2. ↑ No, he is not a paraplegic. Nor is he bald. He's a natural redhead just starting to prematurely grey, a fact he disguises by keeping his hair closely shaved in an overgrown buzzcut. He used to shave it all off, but he's no longer teaching a hormonal firestarter with no self-control: she went to work for the Park Service in the Sonoma desert.
3. ↑ At the time, the nearest population center big enough to handle Wyldfire's injuries and offer some chance of repairing damaged equipment. Without local authorities being firmly in Kalon's pocket, that is, since he'd built a village with airfield and hospital close by as cover....
4. ↑ No, the house where Wyldfire is headquartered did not get destroyed. Gironde's home is outside Paragon City. The SuperGroup headquarters is a company-owned converted factory -- a former book publishing site, as it happens, that went out of business in the mid-nineties. It's located in Independence Port.
5. ↑ Come for the info, stay for the Random Quote Display in the top right-hand quadrant of the front page! Two hundred thirty-eight distinctive entries as of Saturday the 23rd of February, 2008, and likely to increase in the very near future.
6. ↑ (( OOC: While this is an actual Providence, RI zip code, and as close as I can get comparing the fictional cityscape to the real map, I'd not particularly recommend trying to send real-world mail there. Wastes your stamp, and annoys the pig.))

Roster and Addenda