It really isn't easy for me to come out here and speak about what just happened.  There was nothing fun about what has happened.  It is only through sheer luck and determination that I am able to stand before you today and address you.  I considered SpikeS my best friend and closes ally.  If you had told me starting out that this is how things would end, I would have called you crazy.

There is one thing I want to make abundantly clear before I explain anything: That is that Lily, Miss_Niki, Frank_Gallagher, Cesare, and Kawir had no prior knowledge of the unfortunate events about to happen.  The bodies of the fallen should be rested squarely at my feet and mine alone.  

Now, there has been much speculation as to who, what, why, and how this all came to be.  It truly is a tale of unfortunate events.  Many people say I have betrayed every code and honor that this land has.  I disagree.  At the end of the day I had to make a choice between the man that gave me Chicago, and choosing those that had worked hard for me since my arriving here.  I chose the latter.  These are my reasons for launching an attack on the Godfather himself.

Many, many people already saw first hand the Godfather's policy of murdering all opposition to him, made up or not.  Typically the leaders he has asked to cull their herd did so without question or much resistance.  Either their members had not communicated well with the bosses upstairs or the member came from questionable blood lines.  These were people that their leaders chose not stick up for because they feared or respected the Godfather, maybe both.  I saw this trend extending into the city of Chicago when SpikeS started to question the character of a few members here.  SpikeS has a special way of making demands, I have learned.  He doesn't yell or hold pistols to heads.  He uses a mix of lawyer-speak and unrelenting pressure to convince you that he is right about a person, and that they should die.  Anyone who has been on the receiving end of this deluge will know it to be true.  Even before any proof could be found and brought forward in many cases a judgement had been rendered already.  This exact scenario was happening to myself and Maria about a number of your members here.  Many, many leaders before us had caved to the pressure, but we were determined to not kill innocent people within our organizations.  I can respect the Godfather's point of view.  He was trying to protect himself by preemptively knocking out threatening pawns.

Many time's the offers were attractive.  Keep the status quo going and extinguish the Godfather's paranoia.  Live an easy life and reap the benefits that SpikeS could offer. 

Some of us strive to be more than mere holding tanks for employees.  The Morningwood Elite, Mano di Morte, and The Fugitives, and every family within Chicago are not mere holding tanks.  I thought that SpikeS knew and understood that about our organizations seeing as he hailed from one of the families last generation.  He forgot that like my father before me, I fight fiercely for my people until they are deemed unworthy.  The people SpikeS was asking me to murder in cold blood had done nothing to offend him in this life.  They had not shown any sign of aggression towards anyone hailing from any city.  It was merely because they had performed well  and built themselves into titans among us that he was threatened by them. 

A number of days ago I was speaking with Godfather WigglesFanGirl and SpikeS over a few drinks.  The topic once again, for the thousandth time, came upon my people and when they could die.  I am going to be honest here.  It was not until SpikeS and WigglesFanGirl suggested the idea of killing off all of the North Side, Mano di Morte, that I began to formulate my plan.  I could not believe that SpikeS's paranoia about one particular person, and Maria's refusal to wack him, had come to the point where he was considering killing someone I know was one of his closest friends.  At that moment I knew that I was dispensable as well if I kept refusing the Godfather's demands.  At the end of the day he really didn't give me any choice at all.  Either murder innocent people who had worked hard for our families, or face the hammer ourselves.  From that point on I had to play every card very carefully.  Up until the suggested death of Maria I had been in a holding pattern in these negotiations.  I never thought the Godfather would consider killing one of us and that I could stall until it was proven that his paranoia was false.  That clearly wasn't the case.  I was wrong.

Like I said, the Godfather gave me very few choices here.  Either murder my people, or fight him honorably on the battlefield.  He chose to end his own time here.  I have no idea why he suddenly retired mid-fight.  I don't think anyone will ever get a straight answer out of his son either.  I have heard many different versions already.  I chose to fight for my people, the people that have chosen to fight for me.  SpikeS would have rather seen me disgrace the content of my character to satisfy his own ends.  Some people know how extremely close myself and the Godfather were.  I don't think friends should ever make each other disgrace themselves without any other alternative.

I am not happy about what has happened, but it had to be done.  If I had resisted the demands much longer I felt as if it would be myself and Chicago on the receiving end of SpikeS's gunman.  It was either try my luck on the battlefield against the fabled warrior that was SpikeS or sit and wait to die, because killing my people was never an option.  I, and all of Chicago, decided to at least go down swinging if we were going to die.  It just went way better than expected.  By sheer force of will, planning, and a couple lies and here we are.

Yes, the murders of Godfather WiggleFanGirl and Godmother Rayln were part of phase one in the plan to killing Godfather SpikeS.  Sure, the other speech I made about that war is packed full of truths as those things did indeed happen, but those weren't the most pressing reasons for their deaths.  I knew they would never stand by and let me attack SpikeS.  They would have run to his aid the moment it even looked like an attack was happening.  They were loyal to the SpikeS to a fault, and I can respect that.  That is why they had to be removed before anything was attempted on the Godfather himself.  The only reason it was successful is because SpikeS was already considering removing them himself.  We had spoken about it more than once.  It was a gamble I had to take to have any reasonable chance at success in our war.

If you fault me for being willing to take on the world to protect my people, you are not meant for this life.  You certainly are not meant to be a leader.  What loyalty should your people have to you if you are not willing to offer them protection? That is the entire reason people join families.  Especially if they are innocent and some invisible hand can pull a string from anywhere, and the die on command.  That is not how this is supposed to work.  If you are a leader, you die for your people if they are innocent.  You must be willing to put everything on the line to ensure their safety.  SpikeS forgot that, and abused the good nature of many to achieve his own goals.  I would rather die one thousand times before I let someone's hand reach in and have me do his bidding, and take the blame for killing innocent people.  

The last time I looked Spikes offed himself

Does not seem like this plan you had formed real took effect until Spikes removed himself from the picture.

Either way the outcome happened the way it happened and you came out on top.

As I have already stated I have no idea why SpikeS offed himself.  I can only speculate.  

I was however prepared to fight him to the bitter end.  The plan was always to have a proper battle with the former Godfather.  That was his choice entirely.

I think the bitter truth of this conflict was that the oft-protested "friendships" took a backseat to the loyalty that we pledge to our own people. And while a very large portion of our world paid a heavy price for that decision, it is at its core an honorable one. The interests of our crews and cities should be served over the interests of ancestral acquaintances.

Despite burying my father over this, this was one conflict that I think was tolerably justified. No bus crashes, no cholera (or was it fever?), and no puns, just what was best for Chicago. I hope future crew leaders and city heads learn from this: you can look out for your own people and still be successful.

while the whole speech was entertaining and well spoken,

I think a speech with the "I did it cause i wanted to do" would of been better.

and while you say that some had no prior knowledge, a telegraph has now come to light states otherwise.

Overall it was a good play and i cant fault you on that, You managed to do what others couldn't.

so congratulations Doctor Boom.

I have been very critical of your actions in the past, Mr Boom. That said, looking at the big picture, I think your actions were not as malicious and treacherous as some have made them out to be. There is an old cliche of ends and means and in this case it's a good question to ask. Depending on your ethical persuasions, Mr Boom's actions could be deemed unethical if you were to focus on a particular event or detail but I'm still yet to hear a coherent argument for why Chicago and DoctorBoom's actions were unjust, all factors considered.

A game of chess is not won by saving and protecting every single piece.

There is a simple reason why DoctorBoom did not come to these streets and say that, DiamonD. You are right of course. He could have done that if he so wished. The reason he did not is because that version of events is simply not true. The fact of the matter is that Chicago went into both elements of this conflict with a very very high chance indeed that it would not make it out the other side. This was not an act of tyranny on the part of Chicago, it was an act of self defence.

We here in Chicago are fiercely protective of each and every one of the individuals who have entrusted their lives to us, and depend on us to protect them. We do not take kindly to external threats or wishes to kill them for reasons not of their own making. We always have been and always will be prepared to defend our districts and our city.

It is a matter of great pride to me personally that I am able to serve under a man such as DoctorBoom, who not only talks the talk in this regard but will walk the walk in putting everything, and I mean everything, on the line for his city.

Mr Boom's actions could be deemed unethical if you were to focus on a particular event or detail but I'm still yet to hear a coherent argument for why Chicago and DoctorBoom's actions were unjust, all factors considered.

There is literally nothing unethical or unjust about anything DoctorBoom did. The only thing that makes me laugh is the fact its taken until now for him to realise he was expendable. He sat there with SpikeS and Wiggle many times before planning to kill off various districts of Philly and New York, all because of 1 person each time.

He even gave speeches lieing about reasons for these actions, just as he did recently to fool SpikeS about his true intentions.

 The fact remains he didn't care one bit about the killing off innocents when he was the one doing the killing, and to be honest, why should he? He has simply gone from strength to strength helping to removal all of the competition in the process whilst under the orders or someone else, then once finally he has reached the top he has chosen to severe the ties of the puppet master and become the king himself.

Nothing at all wrong with that in this life, in fact, if you weren't striving to do that then you're in the wrong line of work.

So whilst I disagree with many of the actions in the past and the lies given to why they happened; I can entirely agree with DoctorBoom stepping up to the plate and choosing to end his easy life of being spoon fed the chance to kill people and instead ending the life of those that he worked with to save his own city.

I expect now folks will look at DoctorBoom as the bad guy as this community always seems to have one. SpikeS actually got it very easy in the streets compared to most of the so called bad guys, but I think that was mostly down to the willingness of others like DoctorBoom, Wiggle and Rayln for taking the blame for his demands.

Guess we'll see now how the public treat the good Doctor.

This doesn't really seem to be that unfortunate to me; maintain the status quo or remove all your potential enemies and take the crown for yourself. Not a terrible situation to find yourself in, really.  

I have to agree with DiamondD - you say certain people weren't involved yet we already have clear evidence she was approached before her own godmother was taken out. Godfather Spike himself was confused when you sent out telegraphs saying Manhattan was safe because they were friends of the godfather - even though they weren't. I also notice my own CL is missing from your little protection list - is that to imply he knew what was going to happen to make him the next target? Or simply an oversight on your part?

Of course no one can fault you for the reasons you give. As long as, like Bret pointed out, you own up that you did the very same thing to many a district. You wiped out districts in NY and PH, some for reasons of a supposed threat and some simply because you were bored. Those are the ones where we got bus crashes and plagues for reasons. When the so called threats finally came from within your own city, that's when you decide enough is enough? 

If you want to see a truly selfless leader, look at the death of godmother Rayln, who turned herself over to you after you failed to kill her, to protect the rest of her city. Even when you failed to kill her a second time, she still choose to save her city rather than herself. Instead of asking her city to go to war and risk heavy losses on both sides, she sacrificed herself for their protection, little knowing a traitor was sitting in her midst.

Sometimes the death of one person - even if you feel the supposed threat they face isn't "legitimate" - is worth it to save the many. 

JamieOliver, the status quo could only be kept if we would dispose some of Chicago's members. Those people had done nothing in this life that warrants their death and thus we didn't want to remove them. This move was really to protect those who had given their efforts and loyalty to Chicago and our families.

There was no hunt for a crown. We simply chose to live by the traditional value that family and city come before alliances and friendships elsewhere in the country, even if it would have meant our demise. There was no sure win/win situation here and thus the whole thing was pretty unfortunate as surely people we cared about would die and relations with friends would break.

Stefania, sure, Chicago has been involved in numerous takedowns of partial cities or districts, but these things simply happen in the life we chose. You grow in reach, in influence whenever you get the chance. Sometimes to gain, sometimes to protect. That fact doesn't forbid us to defend ourselves if someone tries to improve their situation at out expense. Perhaps mathematically we could have lost less people if we decided to allow an outsider to order deaths of those loyal to us. That wouldn't do much good to the spirits of our remaining members though, if it showed their leaders wouldn't protect them at all costs while they worked their asses off for the city. People can feel at home in Chicago now, knowing they are a part of something and not just expandable pawns.

Loyalty is really a two-way street. If a leader does not protect his people, it's hard for the people to be loyal to their leader.

Was what Rayln did honourable? Perhaps, she saved people. She also removed all spirit and chances of fighting back as a family. For some people the chance to fight for your family, even against great odds is an honour people rather have than another day to breath while having to watch and standby as their family, their identity, gets killed. Chicago chose for the honour of protecting each other, of sticking together, whatever the cost.

Rayln's actions were her choice. Do I believe them to be honourable? Not in the least. I see them as Lazy. Much as with most of the actions she took whilst in that position. Rayln was a lovely person, but a very poor leader and even worse Godfather. She allowed the wolves into her city many many times to feast of the sheep that she had helped to herd there.

Just as Philly allowed the wolves from Chicago to come on into its city to feast on their people. They did this with the only district that stood up for its people, so it wasn't much of a shock really. You could look at that as truly being phase one of Chicago's plans, though I feel it wouldn't be admitted to.

That day saw Philly lose most of its strongest guns whilst its Godfather then wanted some quid pro qou with the loss of a Chicago district, only for him to shot in the face when that time came. Fair play to Chicago's leadership, I see nothing wrong with them choosing that course of action.

Remove enemies bit by bit and allow yourself more time before then striking down the rest whilst they are weakend. Almost a perfect ploy. Whether it was luck or good planning who knows. But the ball is firmly in Chicago's court now and I only hope we see some actual moves made to better this thing of ours. Too long have we sat idle whilst nothing has been done to make this world enjoyable for those that live in it.

SpikeS' control saw a great many die for nothing more than their past. Granted, DoctorBoom was one of those seen laughing at the fact these people were treated in this manner and even I believe visited a funeral to mock someone with such a threat that they will hunt down future kin because of his actions. So whether or not the status quo will change on that front, we are yet to see. I would hope however that the good Doctor decides to let the world grow and doesn't live in the life of paranoia like SpikeS did.

I wanted to come out myself and make a public statement before the rumor mill got whirling to quickly to stop. Firstly, I had no prior knowledge of any events that occurred in the previous days. On the fateful evening of Spike's death I was away on a business trip in a remote location making it all but impossible to contact me. By the time a messenger had reached my door the majority of the fighting had ceased leaving only a few pockets of resistance left alive.

Upon my return I had received notice from DoctorBoom that any noncombatants in my family would be safe. I was left with a choice to protect the remaining members of my family or carelessly through myself into battle. Obviously I chose to protect my family as I'm still hear to give this speech. Call me a coward or a turncoat if you must, but trust that I do not make decisions on loyalty easily. I have made my peace with my recently departed Godfather and friend BostonGeorge, and now I am dedicated to rebuilding Los Angeles along side the remaining cities.  

I find it refreshing to work in a city that actually cares and looks after it's own, the good Doctor made a judgement call and refused to bow down to the demands of the late Godfather Spike, many people will mock what he has said but the bottom line is he is a man of his word and someone who generally cares about the people under him, as I have always said look after the people and they will look after you.

We knew it was going to be a tall order and many things could have gone wrong but we all stood together and were behind the Doctor every step of the way, fortunantely we prevailed and thus can now look forward to a bright future, RIP to the fallen I know a lot of innocents were caught in the crossfire and I wish their kin the best of luck in their next lives.

Rayln a selfless leader? Wow. We really are twisting things aren't we? Rayln was not who saved MrOwl and Manhattan; they were not targeted in the WiggleFanGirl/Rayln takedown. When people finally came after her, she just gave up. If you want to call that sacrifice, then you are remarkably ignorant to what really transpired. She did fuck all to protect New Yorkers. In fact, I'm pretty sure she alone killed more New Yorkers in her run than all other cities combined.

So yeah, maybe not exactly the beacon of "selflessness," eh?