NationStates Jolt Archive

ooc: this is open, read the post, choose any part in the ensuing story that you would like and have fun

Ernesto Amontillado was a mere shadow of what he once was. Born to a family of nobles, one of the greatest families ever to inhabit Largent. Their estates stretched for miles and their wealth was greater than that of a god. A mansion on Pluto was nothing without one on Mars. Their power only grew with time until the Emperor became angered.

Emperor Johnston, the single most powerful man in Largentian history was not one to be toyed with. As the Amontillados grew in power their daring seemed to grow even faster. They began buying out cities, corrupting governments, and stepping on the Emperor’s toes. He had had enough. A massive underground campaign against the family began. Special Forces took out the leaders and began demolishing their business, opium dealing. Certainly not of the families more publicly acknowledged aspects.

It lasted only two years and soon the Emperor believed the entire family to be dead or fleeing to another country. However, one man remained. His name was Ernesto Amontillado. He had managed to retain some meager amount of money and scratch out a living right under the Emperor’s nose. He assumed that things would continue this way until one day everything changed. The Emperor died and his wife became the Empress. He decided it was time to act.

Winchia, Largent

Mr. Luchresi sat in a Piazza at a café. It was around noon and his company was late. Ernesto Amontillado had scheduled a meeting. He apparently had something very important to say. Mr. Luchresi was the last living ally to the Amontillado family and was always happy to meet with a member but he would not wait around for the man. Just as his patience was running thin Ernesto emerged from the crowd and sat opposite him.

“Don’t speak, just listen,” he paused, “Ten thousand injuries of the Emperor I had borne as best I could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge. The man is now dead and our nation is in a transitional phase. At length I shall be avenged; this is a point definitely settled and now is my time to strike. My family still has connections running deeper into Largent’s organized crime than you could possible hope to imagine. It will be an easy task to get many powerful families to aid me in my vengeance but I personally want to ask for your aid because your help would mean more to me than you could possible know.”

Luchresi eyed him with an arched brow and pondered the proposition for a moment. “Well, my business had a dynamic relationship with your families, it is nearly in shambles, but, winning back the anarchism this fine city once possessed would be nice.” He paused for a moment reminiscing about the good times he had experienced not long ago. Finally he gave his answer, “You have my support.”

“Excellent.”

Lawrence Aurelius Estate
Lawrence Aurelius was the only major organized crime figure left from before the Emperor’s campaign and upon hearing Ernesto Amontillado’s plan he eagerly added his support. Lawrence Aurelius was a brutal man by nature; this was possibly what saved him and his business. This brutality had carried on to this very day as he stood over the Whinchian Police Chief with a wry smile on his face. They were far below ground in the Aurelius catacombs. These chambers had a dark history few were aware of, in fact, only a select few people knew of their existence.

The two men were in the room farthest back as the Police Chief was chained to a wall surrounded by bones and other human remains. Lawrence’s face suddenly went stern and he spoke for the first time in nearly twenty minutes. “You know, it is quite an honor for you to be here,” he began, “You are in my families oldest known death chamber. For half of a century no mortal has disturb those you see around you. As you may imagine you are here for a reason. You are being presented with a choice, answer to me or die. I want an answer now.”

The Chief stared at the man with a fiery glare. “Death.”

“Very well,” the man turned and left the man in the cell. As he closed the massive door he muttered his final words to the chief, “In pace requiescat.” Upon pace to rest. Still encased in his tomb, the Chief’s wounds from the torture dripped slowly until the world finally went black as death gripped him.

Winchia, Largent

Ernesto Amontillado awoke the next morning and was greeted with a shining sun and an all around beautiful day. He was slow getting out of his bed in his fourth floor apartment, one part of his life he wouldn’t miss once he reclaimed power. He meandered into his kitchen and picked up the paper. His jaw dropped.

Police Chief Missing For 24 Hours

Amontillado stared, blank-faced, wondering what the hell Lawrence Aurelius had gotten them into. He was soon over-come with rage and he got dressed and stormed out of his apartment towards the Aurelius estate.

All the way across town the massive estate was situated upon a hull full of lush and beautiful vegetation. Although Ernesto did not notice any of this as the marched towards the door having been given access at the gate. The rapped on the door and a short butler with a handlebar mustache answered and showed him into the sitting room where, much to his dislike, he waited for Aurelius to see him.

About a half an hour later the man walked down a grand staircase, hands clasped behind his back in a fine Armani suite. A man of style and class no doubt. Ernesto wasted no time before barraging him with a string of curses and insults, “You fucking idiot, what did you get us into. Where did you put the goddamn police chief?”

All the time Lawrence remained clam and answered, “He is resting far below in the catacombs.”

“He’s what! You killed him! You are the biggest idiot I’ve ever met. I’m gonna’ kill you!”

“Relax, you asked me to take care of the cops.”

“I asked you to corrupt them not kill any of them.”

“He wouldn’t comply.”

“All I’m gonna’ say is that you better fix this.” With that he stormed out leaving the still expressionless Lawrence Aurelius standing in the sitting room. Soon the man turned and went to distribute orders out to ‘mend’ what he had done.

Across the city Captain Stewart sat in his office looking at the unusual case file before him. It was the case file of the former Police Chief. That is assuming he wouldn’t be recovered alive. As he sat there a massive investigation was being launched all across the city to try and figure out what the hell happened. So far all leads had turned up nothing and it seemed obvious to Stewart that some form of organized crime was involved and he was making a point of looking into it personally.

In another part of the building a new Chief was being instated. All realistic hope of finding the previous one, let alone alive, had all but vanished. The new Chief was to be Steve Armstrong, a decorated officer and a public favorite. He was a tall, bulky man with neatly combed black hair and sharp facial features. He was intimidating to say the very least. After his inauguration he set off immediately to get back to work. His work however did not rest with any police business. He had an appointment with a more... private client.

Ernesto Amontillado walked briskly down side streets. His day had been stressful but he only had a single job left. Other than the Aurelius family only a single formidable force remained, the Montresor family, the largest wine entrepreneurs the city had ever seen, yet their only power was not in business and they would be a powerful ally.

Ernesto soon found the building he was looking for. It was about seven stories and had an old feel to it, although one of the richest men in the city owned it. He opened the door and gave the guards his name that waved him on without further question. He ascended several flights of stairs before entering Alonzo Montresor’s office. It was clean, beautiful, every seat was leather and every tabletop or counter consisted of Marble laced with gold, as did the floor. Amontillado smiled, “Alonzo, nice to see you again.”

Montresor did not return the smile but merely stared at him. “I wish I could say the same.”

“My dear friend, surely you don’t mean –“

“I most certainly do,” he said cutting Amontillado off. “No petty compliments and friendly gestures can reverse a blood feud. Our families may never coexist. I know what you came to me for and I assure you I have no interest, the city has treated me fine and I have no reason to change it.”

“Well yo—“

“However…” he cut him off again, “I do respect the Aurelius family and will lend them some aid but you…no. That is all you will get from me, be gone.” The man gestured towards the door rather aggressively and Amontillado decided it best to leave. As he left the building he was furious, Montresor would pay for such an insult. However, he had more important things to attend to at the moment, it was time to get business up and running again.

Chief Armstrong walked in a circle around the palazzo making sure no one was following him. Once satisfied he walked towards the café where he was meeting his client. The man was an Italian in his fifties. He wore a Gucci suite, gator boots, and a pair of aviator sunglasses with his hair slicked back. He stood out to say the least with made Armstrong quite upset. He sat opposite him, “you look ridiculous.”

“Mr. Chief, it doesn’t matter how I look, everyone knows me,” he gestured towards pedestrians in an overly friendly way to mock the chief. “In reality, no one is paying us any attention.”

“Very well. Shall we get down to business?”

“Ah, one cannot do business on an empty stomach. What are you thinking my good man? May I suggest the gelato? It is exquisite.”

“I would rather not waste time here. Just give me the demands.”

“’Haste makes waste’”, the man said shaking a finger at him, “but if you insist, I demand that all my operations, and those of my associates be ignored and left alone entirely.”

“Are you mad? I can’t do that, someone is sure to notice!”

“Would you prefer to end up like your predecessor? Tortured and left for death.”

Armstrong stared at him for several long moments before saying, “For now you operations are safe, but anything goes out of the city limits and I’ll destroy it.” He got up abruptly and spilt a glass that the man watched fall emotionlessly. The man was Mr. Aurelius and the police corruption was complete. Every peace to his complicated little puzzle had fit perfectly despite what that idiot Amontillado thought.

Aurelius got up several moments later and went to inform Amontillado and Luchresi to begin placing orders on opium shipments. Business would be as usual again.

Upon hearing the news Amontillado reached an old family contact. Aurelius watched as he carried out a brief conversation in Italian. When he was done talking he turned to Aurelius, “the shipment will be here tomorrow. Can you convince Montresor to lend us some men to help secure it? Its fairly large.”

“How large?”

“Hundred kilos.”

Aurelius looked dumbstruck. We don’t even have a market yet. Do you know what that will cost us?”

“Actually, several old regular customers have been reached and seem interested. I’ll explain it to you over dinner.” The two left the house and headed for a restaurant.

One Week Later

After Aurelius’ sweet talking he had obtained ten armed men to wait at one of Winchia’s piers as the small cruising vessel drifted in. As it docked a Cuban man stepped off and went up to Amontillado. He looked at him for a moment before apparently deciding it was him, after which he greeted him warmly. Amontillado had equal enthusiasm.

The Cuban waved Amontillado and Aurelius onto the vessel to show them the shipment. It was in twenty, five-kilo bags. It took two men to carry each bag but they soon loaded them onto the truck and pulled out of the dock area.

During the drive Aurelius asked Amontillado a question. “What role will Luchresi be playing in our little monopoly?”

Amontillado looked surprised, “you apparently don’t know much about the man’s business.”

“No.”

“Well, where to begin…Do you remember the thefts of arms and their use in attacks and gang wars throughout the city. Well, Luchresi was the mastermind behind all major arms dealings in Whichia. I suppose not to many people know that though. He managed to escape even a trace of suspicion throughout the entirety of the golden years. The man is a genius and one we are lucky to have working with us.”

“Interesting…now, lets get this load delivered. I still can’t believe you got the Montresor family to buy this.”

“And that’s not all they’ll be getting,” he said gesturing to the armed men, “They’ve already agreed to work for me.”

Aurelius gave him an uncertain look but made no further objection.

OOC: anyone interested?

The truck pulled up to the Montresor building. The armed men pulled masks over their faces and loaded their rifles. Amontillado and Aurelius carried handguns but didn't bother covering their faces. A little publicity never hurt after all. The doors flung open and the man ran through the door as the current security guards simply waved them through.

The two uncovered men lead the group as they climbed the stairs up to the Montresor penthouse. Once they reached the top Amontillado gave the signal for the men to remain quiet until theyu got the signal. The men then hid as Amontillado knocked on the door.

"Who is it?"

"The supplier." The door soon open and Montresor wave Amontillado in with an unsurprising look of contempt on his face. Looking around outside momnetarily he closed the door behind him. Amontillado followed Montresor into his home office, which was totally unescissary since his work office was a mere floor below the house. It was merely justification for what Amontillado was about to do.

"Well, where is my shipment. I've only bought from your family out of pity for your less than adiquate economical situation."

Amontillado remained clam despite his anger. "Your men are carrying it up as we speak. Has the money been wired to the specified account?"

"Of course."

"I'm not sure I can trust you."

"I'm a man of my word, despite who I'm doing business with." he smirked.

"Very well then. I think I hear your men coming now." He turned and walked out the door as the armed men stormed in filling the wine connisseur with bullets. Amontillado smiled as blood stained the white upholstery and grey matter spilt onto the rug. "Good work men, you shall be rewarded." He then turned to Aurelius, "As for us, we are now in control of a all wine selling in the city."

"How does that work?"

"The men will be back tonight, we'll be moving his stock into your catacombs and his suppliers will informed to ship to a new location. And I assume the police will stay out of the this."

"Of course, I take pride in my work and I do it well."

"Very good, if you will excuse me I have a previous engagement with Mr. Luchresi." The two men shook hands and parted ways.

Luchresi Estate

"I'm very pleased to hear it went so smoothly." Luchresi said upon hearing the news of the shooting. "It is equally nice to hear we still have the opium. I'm sure I can find us a buyer shortly." He turned and poored a glass of wine for himself and his companion.

"Excellent. How is your own business coming along?"

"Quite well, it seems that many gangs are looking to get in on this...revolution I suppose you could call it."

"Well, they may die, but as long as it means business."

"Cheers to that my good friend." clink.

Montresor Penthouse

Armstrong stood on the roof of the building rubbing his temples and wondering what he had gotten himself into by agreeing to help Aurelius. It was a grousome scene to say the least as the looked down at the body on the floor, eyes staring blankly into space. It angered him to know there was nothing he could do about it. He had backed himself into a corner. He would just have to play dumb.

"Cheif?"

"Yes."

"Nothings been stolen. Whoever did this was well armed and had something against this guy." the officer looked and the remains of the man's skull. "Something serious against this guy."

"Indeed, look into his past. Tell me if anything turns up, no one else." The officer eyed his suspiciously but said nothing.

"Yessir."

Armstrong took one final look at the body, shook his head then he turned and left.

It had been many months since the downfall of the Luchresi family took place as Amontillado took a seat of power over the Largentian mob. Until this point nothing had gone wrong as the police were under their complete control. Drugs were being imported, transported, and sold with no troubles at all. However, Amontillado was faced with a troubling decisions. It was customary that the mob was headed by a family, Amontillado's family had been killed off long ago. So, he would be forced to use Luchresi as a sort of crutch that he would have to rule through until the more tradional families could be taken care of. These families would not be hard to single out. They'd been quite vocal in recent months but that would be end soon.

As Amontillado sat in his home office his phone rang and he picked it up. He hear Luchresi's voice on the other end of the line. He informed him that the three requested targets had been eliminated. Amontillado knew it was time to take the position of power over the mafia. He gave Luchresi one last target and for a moment the man paused but then confirmed the order and hung up the phone.

The next morning Amontillado received confirmation of the final target's death. Prince Menelaus, one of only two heirs to the Empress. He had been shot and killed late last night and with the police cheif working for the mob there would be no further discussion of the matter. However, many were unhappy about this killing, it would certianly attract unwanted attention and it was more out of vengence that out of business. The Imperial family had killed most of the Amontillado family and now Ernesto was out with a vengence.

Perosonal vendettas are not usually a good trait for a boss but few, if any, were willing to stand up to Ernesto at this point and that is exactly how he wanted it to be.

==============================================

The Empress had not left her chambers all day. The death of her son had been a decisive blow to her pshyce and thus, her other son, Prince Nestor, was assuming her duties for the day. His first order of business was to find whoever it was that killed his brother.

The Imperial Secret Police had been investigating it all day and could find no leads but had found that the Police had not been investigating to the proper extent, so after questioning and even a small amount of torture they had found that he was being threatened by the mafia and reported it to the Prince. He immediately ordered all suspected families monitored and questioned until they found the man responsible. Unfourtunately, he had no idea just what he was up against.