Mirko had located the perfect place to start up his new business venture off of Bowery Street between the city and the farmland past the outskirts of town. It was isolated, large, and....currently in use by a smaller organization. Distortion had not been in New York for too long after moving over from Las Vegas, when operations in New York had been almost leveled in an organized crime conflict. So, some smaller crews were still trying to work the rackets of the city before Distortion had an iron grip on the city. 

It was hard to blame them for trying to make as much money as they could before they were forced to either move out or fall in line. Distortion had already expanded its control into the Manhattan district from Brooklyn where they were based. It would only be a matter of time before the outskirts of time were even under their control. That was where Mirko came into play with his want to get into the liquor business. Although this business venture was going to be his 'side hustle' besides whatever work he needed to do for Koyuki, it would be extremely important. 

This was after all, the main reason Mirko had even come to this country in the first place. To make liquor...

The blueprints were not hard to get since Distortion already had money flowing into city hall. It was a bit of a dissapointment when he found that even a small crew could easily defend this place. There were minimal ways in and out, a balcony on both sides of the building, and a large outer wall surrounding the property. On top of all of that there was one large metal door at the front of the building that stayed open only when they were loading up their trucks...which they did in the early morning hours before closing it again to keep brewing. That left one door in the back of the building and one on the right side. If they were smart and kept guards on both of those doors overnight it would be almost impossible to get inside quietly. 

"Hey! Come over here Jas. I need your eyes on these blueprints and the map of the area. I'm not sure if there is a plan I'm missing here besides just going in quick and loud. I'd rather be able to do minimal damage to the place...but it looks like we'll be having a shootout." He said as the frustration built. 

If they couldn't get some people inside quietly then how would they truly be able to take the place over without having to put money in for major repairs? Hell, if Mirko was the one in charge he would purposely do damage to the place to make sure Distortion wouldn't get their hands on any of it. Hopefully these guys were overconfident and would try to defend it in hopes to keep it up and running for themselves.

"Hmm." Jaspops was rubbing her chin as she thought it over, "Well, maybe if there is any cover leading up to the back door we have a couple people sneak up. Give them pistols with makeshift silencers and they take out whatever guards are by the door. The right side of the building is too dangerous with that door and balcony. Chances are they would have a minimum of one guard up high and one down low. Left side there is no entrance and the front will be closed up if we hit at night."

Mirko and Jaspops looked at each other with a bit of worry in their eyes. It was basically all riding on two people making sure they got in the back entrance undetected. Otherwise they would all be fighting it out hoping to keep their lives and the building with all its equipment...

A few hours later...

"Okay, once we get close enough we park the cars off the road and move in on foot. We don't want anyone figuring out that we are coming. I'm sure they are always on edge with Distortion moving in and taking their turf." Mirko smiled as he threw his cigarette out the window.

The road eventually turned to dirt and got a bit rough. It wouldn't be long until they pulled off and got moving. Mirko was working on cleaning his newly acquired thompson machine gun as they went. Although it was new to him, he had actually taken it off of somebody that had been wacked recently. It had been his job to go clean up the body and he was allowed to take what he wanted from the room where it happened. Perks of the job...

"Hey boss, how many guys you think we gotta take care of to get a hold of that business?" Anthony asked from the backseat.

Mirko sighed at the thought that people were probably getting some cold feet with this plan, "I'd assume that they'll be using at least 10 or so people for guard duty. Don't know how many people may be there working or if they're armed. It is a distillery after all. Essentially printing liquid gold over there."

The men stayed quiet after that bit of information. They had two cars with eight guys in total to take over the distillery. Most of them had pistols and not too much experience with combat. Mirko himself wasn't really experienced except for the fact that he had used guns before to go hunting back in Italy. He was a pretty decent shot at least and he had the motivation to see this whole thing through. The driver started to slow and pulled off the road and into the woods.

"Okay, this should do it. We'll head in on foot from here. If you see anything or hear anything do not engage unless you have to. Taking people out silently is preferred, but honestly I don't think that will be our luck tonight. Be ready for a fight." Mirko said to the group as they exited the vehicles.

Now it was time to take a nice walk through the woods on a beautiful clear sky night....

The Distillery was quiet...

They had approached unseen and unheard from their cars parked in the woods. They split into two groups with the other six men going towards the front entrance. Mirko took one of his most trusted bodyguards with him and they made their way to the back wall. Once they went over the top they weren't sure what cover they would find or if the guards would see them immediately. 

"We go over and we don't stop moving until we are either in cover or at that back door. If you stop moving, you're probably dead." He said with caution.

The adrenaline was building up inside him as he prepared to hop over the wall. It was time...

"Let's go." He said staring into the face of his companion. 

Anthony put his hands out and helped propel Mirko on top of the wall. Mirko turned back and grabbed his hand to help yank him up and over with him. They dropped to the ground and luckily they had three trucks parked in front of them. The men at the front were going to wait until they either got a signal or heard gunfire start. If Mirko and Anthony could get in undetected then they'd be at an advantage.

They slowly moved from one truck to the next closing in on the back door. When they got to the last truck Mirko peaked around it to see how many guards were at the door. To his utter surprise there was nobody...

"What the....fuck?" He muttered to himself.

Anthony was confused at this question that Mirko spoke to himself, "What? What is it boss?"

Mirko didn't even answer as he just stood up and began walking to the back door. Something had to be going on and he was going to get to the bottom of it. His hand found the door knob and he yanked open the door without a second thought. If they didn't have guards on duty then they were expecting him.

"Ah! Good to see you made it! I thought I was about to have a meeting all by myself." The man yelled from the middle of the distillery where he sat at a well lit table. 

Anthony came in behind him and followed him to the table...

Mirko sat down at the opposite end of the table, "So what is this all about?"

"I'm so glad you're getting right to business. Well, your man Anthony there let me in on the fact that you would be looking to make a hostile takeover. He preferred that you not risk your life and all of their lives in order to do so. So...he proposed a meeting and a possible merger. I have a few guards out front, but as you see I wanted to keep this a peaceful situation. Which is why I allowed you to come in the back. I have always enjoyed being the boss, but I know that times change and you need to be adaptable to survive. I'd be happy to work for you and be able to keep my life. I hope that could be agreeable to you. I'd obviously take whatever role or pay you propose as again....I'd prefer to not wake up dead. So what do you think Mr. Fritzinger?" He spoke well and confidently.

Mirko was silent for what felt like an eternity as he thought through what the man just said. Although he only seemed to be able to focus on one specific part of that short speech...

Without another thought Mirko rose up....turned around....put his tommy gun up to Anthony's chest...

"What are you doing boss!?" He yelled in surprise. 

Mirko squeezed the trigger, "I don't like rats." 

Mirko turned around as Anthony dropped to the ground. The man across the table was in shock at what just happened and he started to stumble his way from the table knocking over everything in his path. The turn of events was not expected apparently from whatever Anthony must have told him. Tonight was not a night to be weak. He could hear the gunfire erupting out front as his remaining men took out the guards.

"What the fuck is wrong with you!? We could have worked this out peacefully!" The man was yelling as he stumbled backward and fell on his ass.

Mirko walked up and placed the tommy gun against the mans chest, "Fuck peace in the liquor business. It would have been only a matter of time before you probably stabbed me in the back. Hell, my own man stabbed me in the back so why wouldn't you? So here is my offer. You go to hell and I'll handle things from here." 

Another squeeze of the trigger and the distillery was theirs...

The next day...

Mirko was looking through the books after a long night of no sleep and trying to figure out all the logistics of the previous owners business. His men had been spending the night taking care of the bodies. It seemed that these men had a pretty lucrative business delivering to places all over the city. The problem for them was the money spent on trucks and gasoline. They also weren't charging too much apparently for their booze and liquor. It appeared that they had issues with people not enjoying how long it took for deliveries to get from the distillery to their businesses. That's what happens when you have to drive everything directly from outside the city.

The solution? 

He knew that it would be better if they opened up a warehouse directly in the city. That would allow them to have a better schedule which would make people happier and pay better prices. Mirko would also have Distortion behind him to help boost those prices up a bit. Nobody would want to fuck with a larger organization or dispute costs. 

This business would not be successful though if he didn't bring in the right people to help him. That would be where Jaspops and one of his new guys Marchetta would come in. Those two together with Mirko would be quite the force in the liquor business. He walked out of the office and leaned over the railing to yell at his men who were now playing cards on one of the crates of alcohol. 

"Go get one of the cars. I'll drive back myself and get some things done for this business to get back up and running. You all are going to stay here and make sure nobody comes back for any of this stuff. So keep your guns on you at all times." He turned back and went into the office.

The phone was hanging on the wall and he grabbed it before sitting down on a stool...

It rang a few times before somebody picked up, "Hello?"

"It's Mirko. Go get me either Jaspops or Marchetta. Whoever is closer to you at this time." The noise of the phone being set down could be heard as the guard went off to get one of the two.

Footsteps could be heard quickly coming towards the phone, "Mirko? Everything alright?"

It was Jaspops and she seemed concerned since she hadn't seen him or heard from him since they planned this whole thing....

"Everything is great. Anthony is dead. But that is a whole other story. We have the distillery. I'll be driving back to Brooklyn to set a few things in motion so go get Marchetta and any other people you think could be of help. A few guards would be good for sure." He explained.

"Okay Mirko. I'm on it." She said as the phone went dead.

Things were looking bright for their future. Now it was time to get the last few things in place for this business to be successful not only in New York, but nationally.

Chalk looks over, another man talking to themselves in story form, making multiple interactions with himself in order to defraud the system. "Totally unacceptable." He thinks to himself. "When will the leaders of these cities and these streets take action and stop this from happening?" Chalk shakes his head as he carries on walking. "And they wonder why people say standards are dropping."