NationStates Jolt Archive

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OOC: First off, I don't have a map, if anyone has one, any random city, feel free to post it.

IC: "Boss, One of the enforcers was saying, we just got our first buissness extorted, no rackets I'm afraid". I looked at him thinkin, then said "Anyone get hurt? Might be bad fer buissness, ya know"? "Nah, it was just a small printin shop, he gave after I asked 'em if he needed his printer, if you get the picture". "Good, you are dissmissed, go rob a bank or somtin".

OOC: Each mob gets to start with a small extorted biussness, nothin big like a night club or somthiing. No rackets either.

(Youve been playin some godfather for PS2 eh?)

The Scarcetti Crime Family had fallen from it's once glorious pedastle after a series of mob wars, which had left the organization leaderless and poverty striken. That was all coming to an end. Victor Scarcetti, the son of the infamous Santino Scarcetti had taken the reins. He walked into the Scarcetti Gentlemens club, his pin stripped suite covered in blood. His men stood fear striken. "Hehe... extorted the butcher."

As the people from plane arriving from Bogta began to pass by the security checkpoint, the crowed waiting area bristled with attention for family and loved ones. Two men enguaged a long embrace

The tall, well sculpted man with a long scar down the left of his neck.
"Alex! It's been too long. What has it been three, four years?"

The opposite man smiled back with a smirk, his slightly crooked teeth showing between his wide smirk. He was short, about 5'5" but chisled like ar rock. Even at his size, he looked like he could crush a man's skull with his hands.
"To true Jimmy boy, it has been too long. Man flying all the way from Sicily to here was exhausting. Esepecially I went all the way Palermo to Bogata before coming up here."

As the pair began to walk toward the loading area, a police dag perked his ears. His long snout catching some fiant sent he began to pull along the now interested officer toward the pair of men, now about to leave the airport. Catching a glance as the interest of the dog the men rushed out the door and jumped into the waiting sports coupe.

Tires squeeling and rubber burning the car raced away from the terminal curb and onto the main road. Taking some careful side roads and covering thier tracks, they waited. As night fell, and no one had yet to show any interest in the viechle over the police band, they felt confiedent that the pig never go a good luck at them. They slowly mand their way to a dingy part of the south side of the bustling metroplis. As they pulled up to a run-down garage the short-well chiseled man removed his two large suitcases and his hicking pack he had on and laid out the contents. As Alex finished unlosding the duct-taped parcels he breathed "Twenty kilos of Columbia's finest." Though Jimmy has seen little amount of the stuff before, he had never seen so much in on place.

The trio stood in awed scilence for well over a minute before Alex spoke, "Boys, say hello to our future"...

"Look, this deal is very simple. You give us fifteen points on your profit, give my boys employment, and I guarantee you they won't strike, and you let us use your warehouses."

The paper thin walls of the office perched high above the foundry did little to muffel the sounds of the blast furnance and sandblasters. The squat little man sweat uncomfortably and loosened his tie. "What do I get out of this?"

"Well, nothing happens to your foundry, ever, you get five points on whatever we shift through here, and as an added bonus, I don't shoot you in the head and take over your business. Fair enough?" McFladden was not a subtle man. "Fine. Whatever you want. Please just get out of my office." Eoin McFladden was tall and lanky, with reddish brown hair and a likewise colored beard. His hands were deep in the pocket of his Army surplus jacket. "Eoin! We good?" 'He caved to my surperior reasoning capacities." The other redheaded man tossed him a bottle of Guiness Stout. "Great!" The foundry wasn't the first choice for protection, but the nightclub owner laughed them out of his office.

McFladden got into his sedan, and his bodyguard took his place in the driver seat. McFladden rolled down the window. "Hey, I 'eard that some construction joint is building some big skyscraper downtown and has bought a lot of copper piping. Go check that out, see if y'can't nick it."

"And what're you gonna be doin'?"

"A most secret and dangerous task."

He comically looked around and mock whispered, "Seein' where we can find a decent drink in this town." His face became serious again. "You should be able to handle it. Keep in touch. Let me know if something comes up."

The sedan drove away and McFladden rolled up the window.

Tiberius Griffincrest cruised through the city in his white chrysler limo. Legitimatly, he was the son of the CEO of Griffincrest Oil Inc, a multi-billion dollar corporation. The limo pulled into an abandoned warehouse on the waterfront. 5 men, carrying AR-550's, were standing around, watching things. Dozens of crates, carrying everything from cell phones to cocaine to AK-47's. In the center of the warehouse was a Folland Gnat fighter plane. Griffincrest Inc didn't make all of its money through oil.

"You called boss"? "Yeh, go, to the Stracci's, I wanna make a deal, yah know"? "Right boss". "Oh, and theres a nice Night club, said to have a nice racket, great for parties, yah know"? "Point is, I want it". "I'll get some boys on it right away". "Oh, and if the Straccis refuse to trade, use this". 'Passes a concealable hand gun' "Got it boss"

(Youve been playin some godfather for PS2 eh?
(PC, gotta love that game) :p

Here's a useable map.

Here (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=l&hl=en&sll=41.07521,-71.674805&sspn=2.157367,4.202271&q=manhattan+ny&near=&t=h&om=1&ll=45.537377,-122.671108&spn=0.062645,0.131321)

Just a side note. The down town is around the label of "Portland". The airport is to the north. The post areas are to the east in the hills. The nightclubs are to the west side of the river. The main docks and industrial parks are to the north along both sides of the river.

Bumpapapa.






BUMP!

Connor and Ian McManus walked through the downtown. Connor's phone rang. "Hello?" he listened briefly. "The parking garage? yes. Got it." He turned to Ian. "Follow me." They walked into the parking garage nearby and got into the white sedan on the second level. Inside was a note, which both read and then Ian crumpled it and lit it with his lighter and tossed it out the window.

"Here it is." They pulled up in front of the nightclub. "The boss says this is the nightclub that won't pay for our insurance. You in or sittin'?"

"You can sit this time Ian." Connor pulled a satchel out from underneath the backseat. He pulled out a beretta and tossed it into Ian's lap. "In case things get messy."

"You got a piece?"

"I brought Silver with me." He referred lovingly to the heavily customized AMT Hardballer that he'd had for five years now. "Keep the engine running. Won't be a minute." He pulled out a paper bag from the satchel and put in his trench coat.

Connor walked into the club. The bartender yelled, "Hey! Your that mick that tried to hose us! Get outta here before I call the cops."

Connor smiled. "Relax. I come in peace." He tossed a wad of bills onto the bar. "Drinks for everyone. On me. No hard feelings." The bartender was suspicious, but the patrons were so happy for the free drinks that Connor didn't worry. His hand swept in a wide gesture as he told a joke to an already drunk patron, sending a glass off the counter. "Let me get that." he bent over and quickly removed the paper bag. Inside was a small bundle of dynamite with an egg timer taped to it. He stuck the end of the bundle that had double sided adhesive tape to the bottom of the counter and twisted the clock. The jolly patrons' revelry drowned out the ticking. "I need to take a leak." He went towards the restrooms, but made his way to the back door. He broke into a sprint and quickly came to the streets, where he jumped into the waiting car. Ian slammed on the gas, and glanced nervously back at the club. "Whats up?" Connor asked.

"I just saw a shifty-lookin' wop walk in."

"you think he was a wise guy?"

"I dunno."

There was a deafening blast as windows and doors of the club blew out. Glass and debris covered the sidewalk while smoke slowly rose from the club. Sirens could be heard in the distance. "Let's try not to think about it." said Connor.

Tiberius was a respected man, both in the corporate world and the crime world. He was able to get almost anything he wanted. Right now, he wanted a city. He had armed a small army of thugs in the city with Leafanistani AR-550 conscript rifles. His first order to his new gang was to find information on the other gangs assets. Soon, black BMW's were parked outside most of the known safehouses of other gangs.

Ian and Connor ditched the white sedan and walked towards the safe flat. Ian's phone rang. "Yes. Yes. You say its been sitting there all day Mr. McFladden? Taken care of."
Ian looked at the black BMW that was sitting in front of the building. He spoke to Connor in gaelic. The two of them kept walking, leaving no sign that the flat was their destination. They continued walking to the nearby hardware store. Several minutes later, the two returned, Ian with a 2x4 plywood board and Connor with a lead pipe. They split up and cut though the alleys, and then came at the BMW from behind, smashing off the side mirrors and bashing in the windows. "Asshats can't park here!" Connor shouted as he and Ian drew their hanguns.

The BMW sped away. As it left, the passenger side window rolled down, and a hail of bullets flew from an AR-550 towards the two men.

Connor jumped to the street and emptied his clip in the vicinity of the escaping car. Ian managed to fire a few rounds before, but caught a bullet in the shoulder. "Ian!"
"I'm fine. I'm fuckin' fine." He swore in english and gaelic. "We need to get to the hospital."

"Its fine. I can patch it up. Besides, cops'll be looking for us after the nightclub." Connor lifted him up to his feet and the two men entered the building. "What about the cops? Won't they come after us here?"

"This is an Irish neighborhood. Most of these people came over here with us. They won't rat on us."

Inside the flat, Eoin McFladden helped treat Ian's wound. "This is an insult." He swore. "If any of you ever see another one of those beemers with the spying pricks in it, kill 'em. Kill 'em, and make sure people know what happens to those who stick their nose into our interests."

The broken up BMW pulled into the warehouse. "What the hell happened to you? Tiberius asked in Latin. "Some of those Irish guys tried to jump us. I think Julius hit one of them though." one of the men in the car said. The car was a mess, riddled with bullets, and windows all smashed. "Interesting. Very territorial folk they are eh? Well lets test their business ethic here. Get 12 people on the street selling cell phones, and cocaine. Make sure they go in groups of three, and they are all armed give two of them bats, one an Uzi, just in case, lets see wat they do.

In an hour, 4 street corners in the Irish district had 3 Latin speaking men on them, selling their wares.

They were at the nightclub, they had just gotten in. Leahra walked in, he was the boss's right hand man. "Hey you, ya need a little securiaty"? He asked the owner. "Fuck you, why should the Rementas get a fuckin dime"? Leahra pulled out a pistol, "Because this ain't good fer fuckin biusness bitch". He then shot the nearby singer in the head. "Fine god damn't, fine". "Heres the key to the back door". "See how easy it gets"? They walked upstairs, the mistress looked around. "You boys want a girl"? "Sort of, don't yah think your girls could use some protection"? "Yah, good point". "Okay, we'll need a little money ta show the boss". "Here".

Later Leahra walked into Zoul's quarters. "Ya wanted me"? "Yah, get word ta Mcfladden, we might want a truce". "Will do boss".

Several hours later, Leahra showed up in Mcfladdens quarters, he tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey, I got a message for ya".

A black BMW followed Leahra the hole time. They called back to Tiberius and told him of the night club. "Looks like we have to drive them out of business. Hold on, I'll have some boys down there" he said. The BMW followed Leahra to McFladdens, but the two men got out, and walked across the street acting unsuspiciously.

Meanwhile, 4 Escalades rolled up in front of the night club. 6 men were in each. The 24 men walked to the club. They then proceedeed to trash the place, kill the bouncers, and light the VIP room on fire. In 15 minutes, the club was a mess, and the men were gone. Noone would be able to trace the vehicles either, as the plates were covered by a bag.

"Whats going on here?" Eoin sat in the flat with Ian and Connor. "Mrs. McNulty just called and told me she saw some fancy looking guys just show up on the street."

"What is it boss?"

"Some pushers showed up just across the street from her."

"Let me handle this."

Connor slid another clip into his hardballer and put it in the holster under his trenchcoat. He walked several blocks and saw a group of men, two with bats, standing on the corner. Connor walked up to them, keeping his hands visible. "Would you boys happen to have seen a black, beaten up beemer come tearin' ass through this part of town recently?"

Alex walked through the darkened streets downtown. Though the time was currently just before 1 am, the streets around were quiet and reletively safe. As he approched a side street just off the town square, he met a darkend figure. After a hurried converstaion with the man they exchanged a packeges. A distince small plume erupted from Alex's satchel as he handed it over to the other man.
"2 percent like usual?"
the darked cloaked man responded
"Ya good doing business with ya"

Moving twenty kilos, esepecially in a city like portland is not a difficult task. Finding ways hide the money was hard. Alex understood the value of diversifing and his method of choice was shipping. With the stuff he moved he was able to bring in almost 700k. He spent nearly half on aquiring businesses around his garage and around the docks. This has started bringing a little through these fronts. He used the remainder to aquire a small fishing fleet off the coast to the west. During each outing each vessel would take in a small supply of stuff (about 10-15 kilos), and hiding it in the center of a shipement, would be delivered to the "processing plants" around his garrage to be removed.

Smiling as his good fortune, he had already managed to build a fairly diverse network of movers, dealers and pimps wo were willing who move the suff. With time, withing six months he estimated, he could effectivly take over this town. He was acruing funds extremely quickly and with luck would be soon to take over this town.

Zoul had just gotten the news of the night club. "What the fuck"! He yelled at the man giving him the news. "Who the fuck did this, what about the fuckin bouncers"? "Dead boss, somehow the bastards must've taken em by suprise". Thats fuckin it"! someone wants taken out, I want you to find the fuckin pricks"! "Ya fuckin got that"! "Ya boss". "Nextime put more men on the job".

The 3 men looked at Connor. The one without the bat spoke "A beemer, nope, i saw a few cars go by, but no beemer. What do ya think of this phone? Brand new, 125$ Great price, 250 in stores"

McFladden looked up at the brazen man who had just walked into his apartment. "Who d'hell you think you are, just come walkin' into my flat like y'own th world." Ian kept his beretta trained on the intruder. "I never talk business at home. Lets go for a walk to the pub for a drink. We'll talk there. Its just a few blocks away." He spoke to Ian in gaelic. Ian nodded and picked up the phone as McFladden led Leahra down to the street. Ian picked up the phone and made several calls, each in gealic, then one to the bar, speaking in English. "Mr. McFladden is having a meeting. Be ready." He then pulled a heavily modified winchester hunting rifle out of the closet. He took it to the roof of the complex, where he was met by the waves of several other men on top of the roofs of their apartments, store or warehouses. Each took to the edge of their building and watched McFladden walk with the Italian messenger through the scope of their rifles, carefully watchig for anybody tailig them.

At Murphy's tavern, Murphy and the other men there prepared their weapons, and a private meeting room was prepared.

Meanwhile, Connor asked the men, "I don't like phones. My friends havin' his birthday party at a warehouse by the docks. You got anything I can dance with?"

"Dance wit? I guess I got some CD's, and this here iPod, if thats what you are lookin fer" the man said. One of the men with a bat lit a cigarette.

The 2 men outside McFladden's went back to their car, with newsabout the pub meeting.

"Okay, Mr. Mcfladden, my boss would like to make a deal, we don't want any trouble".

OOC: How did the men outside McFladden's place know about the meeting location?

"I'll tell you what I want. My men all have jobs in the heavy industry and freight. We would like to keep these. We are going to absorb the shipping and unloading unions. We are also going to keep this Burough, and we are going to start a hijackin' racket. If your boss keeps his hands out of our interests, we can be friends. If he tells me when his trucks are comin' and goin', we won' touch them." McFladden was not in the mood for negotiating.

***

Connor smiled to himself. "I heard a rumor that you boys had a magic white powder. I pay cash for it."

OOC: wasn't he on the phone outside with the pub guy speaking in English? If that was supposed to be still inside then we can say the guys just left.

"O, so thats what yer lookin for eh? Well, I only gots dimes right now, i can sell ya this bag here fer 10 bucks"

"Hmmmm, sounds good". Lahra's phone rang. He talked awhile. "Hey, my boss wants somtin in return, he says he wants to know if you got any men to spare, we've been havin some trouble lately, some bitch has been torchin the night clubs".

OOC: wasn't he on the phone outside with the pub guy speaking in English? If that was supposed to be still inside then we can say the guys just left.


OOC: He was speaking english inside. Sorry if that wasn't clear.

IC

"Normally I could, but we have some trouble in the Burough. Some pricks are trying to encroach, and we need to clean it up before they make any serious inroads."


Connor pulled out a folded over ten. "I'll take a dime."

OOC: alright, the guys just left then

"Ok, here ya go, ten bucks buddy" the man said.

Back at the warehouse, the BMW pulled in. An Italian looking man had been seen at the Irish gangs flat. Tiberius was unpleased. He did not wamt a truce, but he really did not no enough about the gangs businesses to drive them apart. Hopefully, one of the other cars would report back with news of a truck leaving one of there warehouses, that way he could frame someone.

Connor gave them the money and took the bag and walked away. He walked until he was out of sight of the groups. "Mrs. McNulty, you were right. These are pushers." He spoke gaelic into his phone. "Call you boys over. We'll take care of them." He then called McFladden. "Those guys I was checking out are pushers. Standard procedure? Good."

***
McFladden put down his phone. "I'm sorry. Just a bit of housekeeping. Once this is over, I'll be able to help you. Let me warn you, leery-eyed pricks have been snoopin' on us, so keep a sharp eye out."

***
Connor spoke to the men in the parking garage of the apartment in Gaelic. They cheered and pulled baclavas over their faces. They each got into seperate vans and drove off.

Connor's crew drove towards the corner where he bought the drugs. "That's them." He pointed. Everyone in the neighborhood had been told to stay clear of those corners. For good reason too. The van approached the men, and slowed down, as the side door swung open. One of the masked men sat in the open doorway with a steyr TMP, which he fired into the group of men. Connor and three other men got out of the back and fired their handguns into the pushers. They quickly collected the bodies, the bullet casings from their guns, and loaded them into the van. In the same amount of time they were gone.

The four vans pulled behind the foundry. Some of them had a few bullet holes, and one had a spot of blood on the outside. The men got out and carried the bodies with them. "Well done boys! We took them out!" The men cheered and carried dropped the bodies in a dumpster. "Hey! We got a live one, like y'asked for." Two men came around, holding one by the arms. Connor looked at him. "Good. I'd like to have a little word with you." Behind him the men dumped several cans of gasoline into the dumpster and then lit it up.

Later...

Downtown, one of the vans drove off the main drag and the back doors opened. Several of the masked men opened the back door and kicked out the man they captured earler. Black cardboard covered the license plates on the van as it drove off. The man was naked, pale from blood loss, covered in deep lacerations, cigarrette burns, and had both kneecaps shot out from behind. On his back the words "NO DRUGS IN OUR HOMES" were branded in his back.

Tibrius recieved news of the dealers who were captured. "So that is there ethic eh? Shoot first ask questions later. Not bad. I want you to take that there armored Hummer, and drive it through there territory shooting anythig in the way., Drive their customers away via intimidation"

Minutes later, a bulletproof Hummer went flying down the street. In the Irish neighborhood, the windows rolled down, and a man stood up through the sun roof. AR-550 fire erupteed through the streets. Random citizens were being cut down as the vehicle drove through the city.

OOC: wow subtle, this wont attract the attention of police, no.

IC: Hearing the reports of all the recent gang related shooting to the east and north, Alex quietly smiled and confered with Jimmy

The more the rivals duke it out, the less they will be able to focus on us once we are ready to make a decissive move

Random citizens were being cut down as the vehicle drove through the city.

OOC: Always a great idea...
I don't know how to make it known ICly, but the only reason your men were killed was because of the drugs. The Irish have nothing against cheap electronics.

IC

Connor and the McNulty Boys were just returning from dumping the pusher when they saw the Hummer. "What the fucking hell?" He saw the man in the sun roof randomly cutting down civilians. "Turn around and take the back roads. Get in front of him!" The van drove on the roads parallel to the main drag as fast as it could, but it was unable to overtake the Hummer. The van pulled behind the Hummer and Connor leaned out the window, Hardballer at the ready. Just as the gunner on the hummer turned to face their pursuers Connor fired at him. The other men in the van fired at the hummer, but watched as their bullets bounced off. "Bullet-proof eh? Lets see how bullet proof the tires are!" They began firing their weapons again at the tires on the vehicle.

OOC: haha lol, i figured that

The man in the sunroof collapsed. The hummer screeched along on it hubcaps. "Fuck, grab your guns" shouted the driver. The driver smashed the brakes, and the vehicle made a complete 180, facing the pursuers."Good thing Tiberius has the cops on his payroll, or this would be a hell of alot worse" said one of the men. The 5 surviving men opened the doors to the hummer, and pointed their guns out the opened windows. They took aim, and started firing into the van.

"Go!" Connor screamed. The side doors flew open, and the surviving men jumped and rolled out. Connor took his handgun and fired into the unused gas cans in back as he stepped on the gas and rolled out the door. The interior off the van would soon be filled with gas fumes, and the tank had just been filled up. Connor looked up, and saw twisted metal and flames. He didn't see if the van collided with the hummer, but he and the men that jumped out of the truck would be spending time in the hospital. Or at least the ones that lived would.

Across town, Ian sat on the floral print couch, lazily watching TV. His left arm was still in a sling, but his left arm gripped a beretta tightly. In the chair, sat a middle age woman, tear stains down her face, visibly terrified. She was trying not to acknowledge Ian, and focused on her daughter who was transfixed by the TV. The smoke curled from Ian's cigarrette, as he showed little care in the world, but the woman was quite terrified. After about ten minutes of edgy silence, the phone rang and the woman answered. She responded, half-sobbing. "Its the union. O'Reilly won." She covered her eyes, crying. "Thank you for your cooperation. I told you this would be painless."

"Just go." She sobbed.

"Don't worry. You'll never see me again." He put the gun in his holster and walked out the door.

OOC: did i miss something with Ian?

The flaming van smashed into the Hummer and exploded. Three of the 5 men died in the blast. The other two dove into an alley. One leaned out and fired at the surviving Irishmen with a quick burst from his assault rifle. The other leaned against a wall, nursing his leg, which was bleeding badly from a gunshot wound he suffered evading the van. The man who fired ran to the end of the alley, and grabbed a large dumpster, which he used to seal them off. He would make this little alley his last stand fort.

OOC: No. Since I haven't mentioned him in a while, I figured I'd have him expanding the Irish power. Somehow I get the feeling we may be the only ones keeping this thread alive.

IC:

Connor lay facing the flames on the pavement. He wanted to get up and fight, but he was exhausted and missing a few pints. Three of the four McNulty brothers were dead and Sean would need a miracle. A passing driver helped Connor onto his feet and volunteered to drive him and Sean to the hospital. Connor was enraged that he had to let the gunners get away.

Eoin was walking with Ian across town. Ian still had his arm in a sling, but it was healing nicely. "Boss, the teamster's union is in our pocket." "Good!" Eoin replied. "I'll drink to that." They ducked into a nearby pub. "And sir, well, uh, there's a man in the union whose really good with rumors. I mean really good. A sneaky little tosser, but he told me that there's a real big-time pusher named Alex who just came into town. (OOC: Hyst, apologies if this is a god-mode) Anyway, he's planning on moving in and flooding the streets with his stuff."

"You think its him whose causing all this shit for us?"

"I am almost completely sure its not him. From the rumors I've heard, he could be a powerful ally."

"What? I won't work with a pusher!"

"Boss, look at it this way. We control the teamsters. We now move shit all across the city. If we offer to ship his stuff, not only can we get a nice percentage out of it, but we can also use our union's political standing to keep it safe. Plus, if we move it, we can see that none of it ends up in the Borough."

"Good. I'll send someone immediately."

"Already taken care of boss. I sent Duffy."

"What? You went over my head? Who d'you thin you are?"

"I'm sorry sir. It won't happen again."

"Damn well better not. Its a good business venture, and thats the only reason I haven't broken your other arm. Lets wait t'hear what this Alex fellow has to say."

OOC: me too

Tiberius watched on the TV the story about the Hummer and smiled. The police had reported everyone in the Hummer was dead. They lied. The two survivors hijacked a car and made it back to the warehouse. The wounded guy died when he got back, but the other gunman made it.

"So what now boss" a thug asked. "Now, we wait. We got them riled up a bit. Lets see what happens" Tiberius responded.

Compared to what had been going on on the east side the south seemed tranquil. His profits were high, his influence on the surrounding neighborhood had become assured and steadly expanded every day. With his investement in the surrounding area, this once dingy area of south downtown has begining to become revitalized. He had rebuilt the garrage and was making a tidy profit on performing custom jobs on bike and hotrods.

"Soon" thought Alex. He could start taking over downtown, mabye buy the local sports team, heard some shmuck Paul something had run them into the ground and was looking to sell.

Calling over Jimmy, who was working retuning an engine mainfold on a new chevy. He spoke susinctly "You heard all that violence going on over on the east side, I agree with you that it's time to expand our markets. See what you can dig up on them, mabye set up a meeting.

St. Patrick's Cathedral

The crowd gathered in the mass was dressed almost completely in black. Sobs could be heard amidst the crowd. The Earth would be receiving many wooden boxes that day. Father Thomas McFladden presided over the mass. His vestments were a deep violet hue, reserved for times of mourning. He stood in the pulpit, accesible only by a steep staircase, and gazed down on the parishoners. He was normally a peaceful, gentle man, but today his eyes shone with fiery rage and his face barely concealed his contempt. "We all know about last night's tragedy." He began. "We all know what this means." He drew in breath. "These violent murderers entered into our neighborhood, and lay down their hatred upon us. For what purpose?" A tear formed on his right eye. "For what purpose were all these lives taken from this Earth? These were men and women, some even children, who, as their confessor I assure you, led lives in accordance with the will of the Lord. These were people who were true upstanding citizens! They had done nothing to aggravate the wrath of these criminals!" His face was becoming slightly red. He drew in breath, and exhaled, slowly, and returned to his slow, fair manner of speech. "I hope you noticed that no police came to our aid last night. No paramedics came either. Mr. Burke had to leave his children at home so he could take the wounded to the hospital. All of Mrs. McNulty's children perished to protect you from the criminals, including young Michael, whose brain stopped functioning as of quarter after five this morning. These are true christian heroes. They have lain down their lives so that others could live. The city apparently does not care for us, though. Those charged with protecting us have abandoned us. All we have is each other. And let me remind you that you all are your brothers' keeper. From this day forward, we are at war! Murder is a great evil, but complacency and neglect are just as great! We must all be vigilant, from this day forward we must keep one eye open as we sleep, we must be constantly aware today, so that our children may be able to enjoy tomorrow."

Father Thomas wiped his brow and stepped down to prepare communion. the Deacon stepped forward, "The collection today will go towards the needs of those affected by last night's massacre."


Outside Eoin's flat

Ian McManus, Eoin McFladden, Duffy Burke, and three of the Carson brothers walked out of the apartment building, conversing in gaelic. "The Carson brothers are all registered as private detectives. They are licensed to carry sidearms. They should be good enough to protect Connor down at the ICU. Duffy, you know what to do."

"Yeah. Is your guy coming here?"

"Yes."

Ian opened the sedan parked nearby. "Good. Keep in touch and good luck."

"You know what to say, Duffy?" Eoin looked sternly at him.

"Yes, boss."

"Good." Eoin's car pulled up, and he got in. Ian and the Carsons got into the sedan and drove off. After getting in, Eoin rolled down the window. "I'm going to get in touch with an old business partner who owes me a favor. See if we can't find out whose behind these attacks." He held up an AR-550 Rifle recovered from the massacre. "This should be helpful."

As the ratty coupe pulled up, Duffy went over his instructions inside his head. Heavy industry, shipping, hijacking and construction would be the Irish domain. Alex and his crew could have drugs and whatever else he wanted in the city. If it was in Irish turf, he was to ask Eoin first. The teamsters would move Alex's product around the city for 10%. No drugs would go into Irish territory, and if Alex agreed, he could have the Ajax Collection Firm, which began to turn a profit under Eoin's management.

The door opened. "H-h-h-hey, your Duffy, right? I-I heard that Alex would also like to set up a meeting with you guys also. I'm workin' on setting up a meeting and everything should turn out nicely..." The last car drove off.

Tiberius Griffincrest was walking around, proudly displaying his brand new, gold plated AK-101. "Ya know what we need to do? Fuck with the Irish some more. Get some more crack dealers out there. But make sure they're all packin some heat" he said, puffing on a cigar as he strudded around the warehouse. Soon, more groups of dealers hit the streets, all armed, two with Kraven .50 cal handguns, and one with an Uzi.