It was another typically late night in the Warehouse. Production had been put on hold and that never pleased Barry, although tonight he had required the services of all of New York's button men so it was unavoidable that business would take a hit. The family soldiers and enforcers had joined their friends from Philly and had been kicking in doors all over the country searching for several key players within the Detroit and Chicago setups. As Curtis nodded when Chris Vaughan whispered in his ear, Barry knew that their bloody night's work was complete; Bunk Moreland, Katniss, Space-Pole, Transporter and WhereTheRedFernGrows wouldn't be heard from again. 

From the summit that had been held in Tetley's compound, Barry knew it was his duty to put the word out to the other families about what had happened this night. "No time like the present" he mused to himself as he discarded the remainder of his drink and made his way outside. As he walked he was thinking about what dickish name he could give the evening's events when describing them to the other Dons. The trend appeared to be some not-so-subtle wordplay spoken with a shit-eating grin plastered to one's face. Barry frowned and decided instead to keep it simple, like Batiatus.

In our business peace is something of a Sisyphean labour. We spend many months forging connections, establishing networks and developing friendships, but no matter what we do, eventually that boulder will come crashing back down the hill forcing us to start all over again. This is the inevitable nature of MafiaReturns and these past few days and weeks have been no different.

Fortunately, in the aftermath of the removal of the previous preeminent families, the majority of the country has recently enjoyed a prolonged period of prosperity. Our regimes have grown strong, our cities have thrived and we have grown rich as a result. Unfortunately, this can never last and like our pal Sisyphus, seemingly near the pinnacle of it's evolution, Chicago imploded and many respectable men and women were put into the ground. Bastard, boulder.

The fallout from this implosion however was not contained solely to Chicago. Instead, it had ramifications for every city in America as the loss of senior figures like Ajani, Spunky, Kelly_Kapowski and Maria severed some very important links with the rest of the country which couldn't be, or haven't been, replicated by those still standing in their wake. You see, whilst a district is headed by a strong Godfather, the families operating beneath them or authorised by them are viewed in an entirely different light than when that Godfather is no longer there. 

Without Spunky, questions were raised about Transporter and Thirteen over in Black Bottom. The Godfathers of New York and Philadelphia have had no dealings with this outfit and decided that such a valuable piece of real estate would be better run by someone known to them.

Without Kelly_Kapowski, questions were raised about Bunk Moreland and his Major Crime Unit out of Corktown. The Godfathers of New York and Philadelphia weren't confident in Bunk's judgement and knew of the muscle his family possessed and decided it was safer to neutralise it before it became a threat.

And finally, without the guidance and support of the former Chicago Godfathers, questions were raised about Katniss and The Hanging Tree organisation in North Side. The Godfathers of New York and Philadelphia questioned the strength of the relationship between themselves and North Side and felt leaving this regime intact provided no benefit.

These decisions weren't reached quickly or easily and yet despite this I have little doubt that the rumour mill will begin to churn in earnest about who is next on our hitlist. Although this is beyond our control, I feel we have an established track record of acting only when the situation merits it and always with the security of our families at the forefront of our thinking when doing so.

I have no regrets over any of the hits carried out today and I have no intention to speak ill of the dead, nor mock them in any way. Our decisions were commercial ones, taken with what believe the best interests of our families to be. It is with this overriding thinking in mind that we have left as many organisations in operation across the country as possible. The Loop will still be the territory of NealCaffrey and his White Collar Crime Unit, South Side remains in the capable of hands of Lexie Grey and Ted, whilst Cloud and Louis-Manciagli shall continue to control Downtown. We expect these districts to thrive.

Announcements will follow about plans for the now unoccupied districts and cities in the near future as we are keen to tap into other profitable ventures as soon as it is viable for us to do so.

Ok, all I heard was that the GFs in charge are dead. They were the ones who authed the CLs here. Because the GFs who trusted the auths are now dead you can't be sure of the relations between cities and districts, so, through distrust and paranoia, you removed them. Did you attempt to extend a line of communication to build a relationship with any of these crews? I'm sorry but I see this as a very poor reason to remove families. But then again, I'm only an Earner. My word is meaningless.

I'm sorry, you must know something that I was not informed of. How would Katniss have brought the whole of Chicago down the drain and tarnish Ajani's image? From what I saw, she was well organized and kept her members in check, she was active and spoke with us often. What would she have done to hurt Chicago?

Ah @trans, it was New York who killed Ajani, that is what the rubes you speak with are telling you? I thought it was Don Aliens? Or was it Kelly_Kapowski? Actually it was neither of them as it was clearly Maria... perhaps Cloud though if not Maria. No wait, it was a one in a hundred chance shot by Whor-able, no? Well Jupiter's cock then, we'll go with New York, until somebody else pisses on you or does something you disagree with so the blame can be shifted to them. I lack the patience to make heads or tails of the rest of your remarks as they are absent sense, but enjoy your retirement nonetheless.

And Maeve, I am uncertain why you felt it was incumbent upon tonight's aggressors to play welcome wagon to the likes of which New York and Philadelphia lacked confidence in to begin with. Had the deceased leaders attempted to open a line of communication with the aggressors? Perhaps some did, I know for a fact others did not. But even if tonight's fallen leaders had come to us in attempt to forge a relationship, the outcome could have very well been the same. And while "paranoia" is a the go-to whine from the masses whenever an organization is removed, I don't see why our distrust of the leaders who were slain this eve would be a negative trait on our end.

There is a unpalatable truth here, Maeve and it is illustrated rather brutally in the obituaries. Perhaps it's a bitter pill to swallow for the offspring of the deceased, but the fact is that neither New York nor Philadelphia needed to extend a line of communication, or to build a relationship. No, the benefactors of these families and districts were laid low in a bloody civil war and these people should've realised that they could no longer rely on old relationships and it was time to forge new ones. They did not do so, we live in an unforgiving world and this constitutes a failure on their part.

Five leaders have died tonight but I think it's equally important to note that five leaders did not. Lexie_Grey, Ted, NealCaffrey, Cloud and Louis-Manciagli were all in comparable positions to the deceased following the Chicago war; they had all lost their Godfathers and/or those who authed them. Why did they not share the same fate? They did what the deceased were unwilling or unable to; they forged new relationships. They saw that questions may be asked of them and they strived to assuage any and all fears.

The Northside, Corktown and Black Bottom did not do this. New York and Philadelphia pulled the trigger. Now, it may be unfair to suggest that the deceased provided the ammunition for their own deaths but what I will say is that a box of bullets sat between the east coast and the midwest for a full week and the deceased made absolutely no effort to take it off the table.

Could New York and Philly have 'reached out'? Of course, but why should we? We weren't the ones in a precarious situation and if Northside, Corktown and Black Bottom were unaware that they were in a precarious situation then this is not the most positive appraisal of their leadership ability. I reiterate my previous statement; their lack of action was a mistake, and we operate in a harsh and unforgiving environment.

In a semi related sense, I must turn to tran's posts; although he's passed on to the other side I don't doubt his son will read my words. I am not normally one to gloat or to bash the dead but in light of his thoroughly idiotic (and frankly laughable) accusations that New York were behind the death of Ajani I think I must point something out.

Over his lifetime, Transporter was seen in public about once every ten days. In hindsight, it was clear that the foremost factor in his survival was the ever present shadow of his greatest benefactor, Spunky. Despite the importance Spunky had in Transporter's ascendance, Transporter chose not to back his former district in the civil conflict in Chicago. Once Spunky had died, Transporter did not even last a week in a world where he had only his own wits, ability and connections to rely on. He affect on our business was precisely zero; I challenge anyone to show me the ways in which this world would be different had Black Bottom remained entirely empty for these past few months.

Perhaps we have different notions of what we expect from our senior figures here in New York, but that does not constitute a good run. Not even fucking close.

I'm sorry if I seem like I am whining, sir. I am not. I just don't agree with the reasons. Apparently you trusted the previous GFs, yet their decisions in auths were not good enough for you. And I know that Katniss did reach out to form a line of communication. But you are right. I know it would have ended the same and I know that my whining and complaining will fall on deaf ears and make no difference. I am not in a position to know the truth. What is done is done, regardless of the reasons which you make public and the ones you keep hidden. I hope you enjoy your power now that you have stripped others of theirs, lack of confidence or otherwise.

With a slight bow of her head, Maeve turns around and takes her leave.

First off, thanks for the very kind words Bearderus. It is greatly appreciated and I sincerely hope that I can help bring Chicago to its former glory alongside Lexie_Grey and the others who work with us. The death of Godfather Ajani was devastating, but I think now we must move on and begin the rebuilding phase in his honour.

Moving on. I can see why the removal of Katniss was done. She did know know of the remaining Godfathers in power. Since my time here in Chicago I have tried my best to get to know a few of our friends from other cities and build friendships, however young they may be, I hope that they know I support the decisions they make. Another thing that irked at me about Katniss was the fact that when all hell broke loose in Chicago, Katniss was the one who requested a cease fire. At this time it was up to Tish whether Chicago would follow this and she chose to give Katniss the chance to live to which Katniss said she would step down if everyone lived. Things happened within the next day or two and Tish died. Katniss never stepped down and never mentioned it again to myself or Lexie, maybe hoping we had forgotten.

As for Detroit, I never knew many of them on a personal level, but without Spunky and Kelly_Kapowski around there lifeline was gone. Simple enough. New York did not know them well enough to allow them to have a city, so fair play. If they had reason to believe that Bunk-Morelands' family had become a future threat then they had the right to kill it off before it became something major. They done what they felt was necessary as I am sure most people in there position would have. The actions today were done for simple reasons; What is best for everyone at this moment. It is sad to see so many bodies laid to waste but that is the life we live.

Rest in peace to all who have fallen.

Maeve, I was not referring to you specifically, and nobody is insisting you agree with the reasons given, Earner rank or otherwise. As for Katniss, the last and only communication that I personally saw from her was during a very unnecessary meeting she called for in an exclusive Crewleader coffeeshop during the Chicago implosion where she announced she was stepping down. She did no such thing, nor did I really believe she would anyhow.  But that is beside the point. Perhaps she did reach out to others, but apparently not in any constructive or beneficial way that garnered her any more confidence in her capabilities than anyone had to begin with.  I for one had no desire to do business with her going forward, and if left solely to me I would have had her head faster than one could say "HandsomeRob is not a rogue."

Good Guevara summed up the reasons quite eloquently in his response, probably far better than me.  They are straightfoward and to the point.  They are there and available for you or the masses to agree with or disagree with.  Either way Maeve, I wish you well in your future endeavors.

That being said, may the slain find peace in the afterlife and their kin met with good fortune upon their arrival.  To new beginnings...

Simply put, there's no reasoning that will ever be good enough for the descendants of people who die in a war, or for their friends. 

War often boils down to "We could, so we did." and that's a hard pill for people to swallow. New York and Philly didn't need to reach out to the leaders that were left after the civil war, it was on them to realize that they no longer had a position of strength and reach out to New York and Philly.

They didn't. They're dead now. To the people that lost friends and family in this takedown... I'd offer my sympathies, but they wouldn't be sincere and you all know they wouldn't be sincere. Take this as an opportunity to build a new life and move on. 

That would be me 

I really wasn't going to indulge in any "after-war" speeches, its not something I practice, however I feel compelled to have a say. While I can appreciate the ethos, kinda', this wasn't done out of necessity, that's the hardest thing to swallow here. (For North side at least) Yes all vested ties between the fallen and the victors had since decayed because of the deaths of Chicago's current inhabitants and yes, there was probably questions that needed to be asked of North Side and how its regime would carry on. These Questions were never sought after, they were never asked and relationships were never bonded, but that comes down to both sides, not just North Side reaching out and on the contrary, I did reach out to the two GF's left standing, only one ever replied to me, the other left in his mail box for his dog to chew and piss on.

Could I have done more, yes of course I could, does this work both ways, hell yeah it does, did that happen, no It didn't.  Its a shame really, North Side didn't have the fire power to even trouble anyone, in all truth we had one gun that could get through an obscene amount of body guards, other than that, they would have been considered small guns given the assassins we currently have out there. So, like I said, this wasn't done out of a necessity (for North side) Rather an exercise in; "because we wanted to" and listen don't get me wrong that's absolutely fine. After all, its the nature of the beast, im long enough in the tooth to understand and accept that ideology. It would have been nice to allow North Side to grow, god knows there has been enough bloodshed of late.

Would we have been a force in the future, yes, of course we would have. My fathers family was stacked with known hitters. Does this mean we wanted to take over the world, no it doesn't but in the future north side would have been a force.

What I will take from this though is, that the reasons listed here were reasons that we could not really have any barring on. Its not as if we had numerous rogues or had stealthy snipers shooting body guards or had any general trouble makers, this was not a take down because of slipping standards. That is something that im pleased with and am thankful that the speech relays that, so thank you. 

NealCaffrey, You disappoint me, im all for self preservation, given the continued take downs as late but you know the work I put into the city as a whole, so for you to come and  justify it is pretty low. I Kept up a good relationship with you guys and it was me that did all running, so its a shame that you have tarred me and what relationship we may have had.

Northside, was a great place and in a strange way, im happy we died through no fault of our own, it showed the class and discipline that we had. RIP, friends.

You can call me a war-monger, but I prefer things this way. When Chicago fell, opportunities arose everywhere. The crews that remained were filling up, auths were being made, and everything looked like it was headed up. The most important opportunities, however, were the forgings of new alliances and partnerships around the nation in the power vacuum of Chicago's deceased Godfathers. Those who died today, clearly either didn't pursue those opportunities or were snubbed in their pursuit. I wasn't a part of those discussions, so I can't really say what happened. But I like that it had to happen.

south-paw, you have presented an admirable attitude to this situation. My solitary concern in your contribution is the contention that North Side "died through no fault of [their] own." I think this is incorrect, and I'm quite happy that it is. I hated- hated the wars that were spawned out of mistakes. My bloodline has had the opportunities of auth twice; once ended with a fatal gun malfunction and the other because a punk Wise Guy kept taking pot shots at a Godfather's BGs. There is no worse feeling then attending the funeral of your father because of something entire outside of his control. It's infuriating.

But that's not what this was. This was something entirely within their control. This was a mistake that the leaders of these districts made. There weren't rogues, there weren't BG shooters, not even an asshole mugging someone and walking away with a wad of cash. Nothing spurred this conflict apart from leaders who were simply too passive in their expectations of other cities, districts, and crews. I prefer conflicts founded on poor leadership strategy than conflicts founded on some Wise Guy twat who fucks over his whole crew because he has a two-year-old vendetta with the biggest gun around.

There is a strategy to Our Thing that I feared had been totally lost. The ability to interact with people, form alliances, and tell when they're being or need to be manipulated. Because we had so totally given ourselves over to complacent expectations for other cities, we abandoned that strategy. I hope this marks a return to authing people who can participate in that strategy; rather than just anyone who can train a gun or show up in the Streets. Because henceforth, you have to do a lot more than just not fuck up.

I think this set of takedowns has raised the bar for leadership more than any GFC ruling ever could. And for that, I applaud.

Im not interested in turning this into a debate that makes me like im overly upset Denam, while im frustrated I don't hold no ill will towards ny/ph. Like you have stated you have no claim to know what went on, or didn't go on for that matter. You have absolutely no idea of the inner workings of how I held my district.

Even from the original speech its apparent that in general we didn't push ourselves to destruction with continued poor form, or a slip in standards (this was my original point) You're wrong though, There was nothing that we did wrong in the short time I was set up, the issue here is this, we should have died when the rest of NS did. I agree that we should have, and if im honest im now relieved of that guilt.

Also like I said, I had constant contact with one GF, the other just completely ignored me, so what am I to do? Again, ill repeat you have absolutely no stake to claim that we brought it on ourselves because you have no clue how we worked. Its clear that this was cleaning house and getting rid of ties that ny/ph where not bonded with anymore, which is great, its a move I agree with and its the  correct one, I have applauded them in private.

Why did they not share the same fate? They did what the deceased were unwilling or unable to; they forged new relationships. They saw that questions may be asked of them and they strived to assuage any and all fears. The Northside, Corktown and Black Bottom did not do this.

That would be piss poor reasoning, if that's why Corktown was taken out, no offense. My father knew the late Don Bunk quite well, and had access to his mails. So I could attest that Bunk indeed tried to connect with important men from various cities, trying to forge those relationships you speak of. Also, trying to get all of Detroit to work together was one of the things Bunk worked hard to achieve, and I highly doubt that if Corktown had not pushed for a city meeting (with the help of Godfather Transporter, ofcourse), the whole of Detroit would have even so much as given a fuck about the welfare of the city as a whole.

Anyways, that was my only concern and now that it's addressed, I can go back to the only life I know of, this thing of ours. I would like to express my condolences to the kin of every fallen soul, may they all rest in peace.

There are a few things that people are not realizing in this conversation. 

After the fall of the Chicago leaders, relationships were gone. Like the many people before me have already said. But people are not realizing that and trying to proclaim that relationships are a two way street. Relationships are a two way street if you're referring to your spouse or significant other. This isn't either. We are living in this "thing of ours" and if the little guy doesn't or cannot ensure his own survival by making new friends, that is on them. 

I enjoyed my own relationships with the few in Detroit and I'll do nothing but praise their time here on this earth. To those like Daemon, and a few others I enjoyed our times even if it was on the coffee shops. 

Rest in peace to the fallen.

Remember, your words are all we have to judge you by, so make them count!