Chatter subdued in The Rainy Day lounge as soon as Jasmine entered through the door, directly followed by Dar. Based on the turned heads and expecting stares it was obvious that word had traveled fast. Many working for the Seattle operations frequent this place to wind down after a day of work. Some friends, other co-workers, but everyone recognised how they belonged together. This was them. And their curiosity - or perhaps concern - was legit considering one of them was now no more. Jasmine sat down at one of the tables after Dar had whispered to her that he would explain recent events.

“Friends and family, associates and relations. The rumour you heard earlier tonight is true.
Don Karnage has been shot this evening. And it saddens me to have to confess I pulled the trigger.”

Audible gasps and startled expressions were the expected response, but Dar motioned those in the lounge to remain calm.

“Please, listen carefully as I explain why this happened in an attempt to put your minds at ease. Don Karnage was a long-standing asset within the Seattle organisation and he worked with me under lead of the late Tony Castelli for many moons. On the night the war that devastated our country happened, a lot of decisions were made. Karnage, at that point in his career a regular member, took the liberty to share tactical information with our opponents in that war. As later explained by himself to confuse the opponent and create situations that our side could benefit from. A risky tactic. An unauthorised manoeuvre. Perhaps we could let that slide if it had worked.”

“But the main issue was that Karnage never told us anything during the war. There’s no situation where we can comfortably say that his unauthorized spreading of information gave us any benefit. Instead we remember a few situations where we considered ourselves extremely unlucky. Some time after the war Karnage confessed to this behaviour during the war. This only in response to anonymous messages threatening to bring this all to light.”

“People might wonder why we decided to work with Karnage for a bit longer. That was simply out of tactical reasoning given the state of the country. I am glad we did, because it offered me the chance to get to know the motivated and mature side of Karnage. I can honestly say I have some appreciation for him. Sadly, as leaders of Seattle we feel that if we couldn’t fully trust Karnage after working so long with him, it would have been unlikely that we’d fully trust him ever again. That made things unpractical for Seattle’s future growth. It would be unfair for his members and it would be unfair to Karnage.”

Dar noticed how some people went to order new drinks and how others nodded in recognition of what was said. He could use a proper drink himself as well given the rough week.

“I hope that the kin of Karnage will understand the lessons of his life and death and I wish them well in any future endeavours. I myself will be around in the lounge tonight if anyone has any further questions of remarks regarding this. Thank you for your time.”

Toily rose from his chair and looked around. Bowing his bristled head for a few seconds, he began to speak.

"I think it shows great restraint and compassion for Dar and Jasmine to not only spare Karnage's members (bar Cleo), but also to spare Karnage's hands. I think it also shows that although a punishment needed to be dealt, the current climate of this thing of ours was heavily considered, and thus, minimal bloodshed was committed."

Being the shy brush that he is, Toily quickly cleared his throat and sat back down, awaiting someone else to speak.

It's a fair thing to ask, Sots. And you answered it yourself by bringing up the marital situation your mother shared with Karnage.

Love is something beautiful, as a unity you experience highs and lows together.
Disagreement at times is the inevitable part of marriage, but eventually the other is who you love and who you support through all that might happen. Given the time you shared together we considered you one above all else. 

That's no problem. It's something that's praiseworthy. In a world were loyalty is a virtue, it should be valued.
But when assumed, it's a danger as well.

Karnage-, the son of the late CL Karnage felt the need to contribute his two cents in he speech.

"Good afternoon everyone. My father left me a telegram that he would like me to read to you all."

Karnage- paused for a moment and wept as any family member would. regaining his composure he began to read the telegram

Good morning/afternoon/evening, watever tiem of day my death happenes to take place,

I am a man of honor and integrity, and because of that, I will confirm everything that was said. Over the last 3 months or so, I worked with DarGabrielson, the late TonyCastelli, Jasmine, Yahoo, and Budknight(the son of the late TonyCastelli), among the other great leaders in this country that emerged.

The end goal of what I did was achieved. Seattle is still standing and prospering better than it was 100+ days ago when i began my journey here. in fact, it even expanded into another city. 

I only have two regrets and those are (1) that a lot of good people, some of them friends of mine, others just mere aquaintences that i happened to meet along the way, died in the process. It was a very difficult decision and we were on the ropes. Man I felt like crap and i knew my ancestors were rolling in their graves. (2) that I didnt give a heads up. Had i done that, the losses could have been seriously minimized on my end. I had to live with that for many moons after the conclusion of the war, and trust me, it wasnt easy. 

I knew my death was eventually going to happen. I could have done what many others in the history of our world have done, which was put up one hell of a fight, and I had the means to do it. I could have caused some serious headaches. I had a loyal family, they would have done the best they could, and I knew it. But i refused to let more people die for my sins. 

As a leader in our world, my first responsibility was to my family. i was charged with their safety and security. I wanted them to live and continue to build heir wealth and prosper. truth be told, i considered on several occasions putting a bullet in my head. As the days went by, those deaths that were on my shoulders, and mine alone, became increasingly hard to live with. For that reason and that reason alone, i chose not to fight. I decided that no more peopel will die for my sins. It was time to take my lickings, like a man.

I want to personally thank DarGabrielson for lending an ear to me when i felt the need to confess my sins. While he understood what i was tryingto achieve, it would have been difficult for anyone to get past this. I would have done the exact same thing in your shoes. I hold no grudge, and no hard feelings. You did what had to be done, and no one has the right to take that away from you.  

I want to thank all the leaders that I had the pleasure of working with. I wish everyone would take this as a lesson. this was most certainly a do as I say and not as I do situation. The leaders that are here are great people and i have come to respect every single one of them, and that is also the reason i chose not to fight. The end decision was that there would be no more bloodshed on my part any longer.

Peace and prosperity to all,

~Karnage

 

After reading the telegram, the son of the late Karnage disappeared into the sunset, to jump a ship to his home country where his attention was so desperately needed.

After taking time to take in all the items raised, Jack offers a thought.

"I just wanted to come out an offer a positive comment on the situation. There's normally a considerable amount of ill feelings following events like these, and people are very quick to voice their emotions on the matter. Including myself, I will gladly speak up on discussion points which deserve it, or raises challenges where due.

"However respect is due for the way this has been handled, on both sides. The restraint and trust shown by Seattle, and an admirable response from the kin of the fallen."

With a nod, he looks toward Don Gabrielson.

"Without prying too much into your decision making process, what convinced you not to remove the entirety of Karnage's family members? Did you prepare for retaliation, or put trust on your immediate street appearance resolving any grievances?

"There's something to be said for risky moves like that, not everything has to be done the way it has before."

"Hello Jack. I wouldn't call it risky given the situation. Explanatory communication had been prepared and was sent out quickly after the incident. This happened with the intent to put minds at ease regarding Karnage's death. There was no conflict at all with the family. In fact as I hinted at before, I knew Karnage as someone who took his role seriously and he lead his family with enthusiasm. Since we worked together in Ballard I recognized most of his members to be sensible and mature. I expected for them to remain like that once they learned about Karnage's death and the reasoning."

"This was a very specific situation and we figured that this allowed for a very specific handling that gave many people the opportunity to continue with their career in a normal fashion."

Jasmine approaches the small crowed gathered in the streets and stands next to DarGabrielson . She clears her throat and begins...

I've had the pleasure of working with Karnage under many different circumstances and we've always worked well together. When this business came to light, I was shocked, surprised and quite upset that someone I worked so closely with on many occasions was capable of this. However, when something like this happens. There are always consequences.. mostly not good. There was clearly only one out come for this type of behaviour. Something we both really didn't want to have to do. 

The spoken words by the son of Karnage were very responsible, respectful and reflects on the true qualities of Karnage himself. For that I admire him.

Carrying volumes of books Bellator came across the discussion.

@JackMezzo it most certainly is positive that only the elements that leadership were uneasy with were taken out, however, from the volumes of texts.."

Bellator adjusted his glasses 

".. this was one way things used to be handled in the past.  Leafing through my ancestors journals there are indications that leaders who, for whatever reason, were not trusted would be removed and their family members allowed to re-home"

Moving through the pages of the old books, the sinew frail from age, he came across passages from diaries outlining how entire crew killings were not always the norm.

"Whilst the result against Karnage is certainly unfortunate, and certainly so for anybody finding themselves without an HQ, it is comforting to know that the leadership saw the light and didn't result to mass execution.  This should be seen as a positive."

Ciao, Bellator. It certainly is a positive. Taking from Mr Gabrielson's comments, it was also in a situation where he had taken time to know and understand the maturity of Karnage's members that such an approach could be made. It makes me wonder why we do not see more of this. 

I still believe there is an element of risk involved in it, the act of sparing members itself is demonstration that they are holding accountable as few people as possible specific to the cause. The surviving members would then have the opportunity to decide if they take offense to the removal of their leader or respect the risk taken and motives that drove the decision.

Very interesting how dynamics change and adapt in this thing of ours, with such a simple decision.