TheCancerousTumor was making his way through a large crowd that had gathered their way around something. He was curious as to what they were all so anxious to see. When he finally realized what they were all looking at, he made his way over and stepped over the body guard that was lying dead on the ground with two shots in his back. He never saw it coming, nobody did. Needless to say the assailant was never seen.

Another one bites the dust, and yet again, no answers. This has been a very common theme not only in New Orleans, but everywhere. I am quite certain if you haven't been apart of the shootings, you know someone who has. Is there an explanation for these shootings? Is it out of greed and wanting to train your gun faster because you know you can get away with it? Or maybe vendetta, or even just for the hell of it?

Whatever the reasons may be, I am not here to say whether it is wrong or right, what each person does with their gun is their own choice. Clearly this goes against the code which we stand for though? Unless I'm mistaken, and I don't often do that, aren't we all bound to what our leaders ask of us? I highly doubt that any leader out there who knows that one of their members has a special skill as far as shooting unseen will send them to go around and cause a massive drain on everyone's mental stability, or to their bank accounts, so again I ask... why? When will it stop? Are there any actual legitimate reasons? I'm curious as to what you all think of this. I for one know quite a few people who've been targeted by these sneaky bastards, and in my opinion, it's getting a bit old.

Before going any further Tumor pulls out a pack of cigarettes and grabs the last one, lights it up, inhales, and continues.

Now I know there are those of you who say hey, if they are dumb enough to risk their own lives to get a little step up who are you to say anything? Problem is, for the most part, they arent risking anything. While your BG's are going down another mate is laughing at your measly attempt to catch him. You're losing protection, money, and he is just adding another notch to the belt. Complete bullshit, aye? Well, cry about it. There is nothing you can do about it, you lost another BG and they got away scott free.

While I have only been complaining this whole speech, I do want to point out that I do realize this is the mafia, and these sort of things do happen. But they definitely should not be happening on this massive scale, especially around the holidays. Its time to be jolly people!  I will end by leaving the floor open for others to speak on the subject.

Cancerous flicks his cigarette butt and makes his way towards the middle of the crowd waiting for someone to respond.

"?I personally think its not the most intelligent choice made by someone with a good sneakiness steak. Everyone gets caught sooner or later so I am curious as to what will be your plan when you get caught? I feel that its only a matter of time before we as a group catch who it is then what will happen? Are you sure you don't want to quit while your ahead whoever you are? I mean obviously these questions are rhetorical and all but maybe just maybe the person in question will hear this and maybe stop before they end up with cement around their ankles."

Sinfest slightly going red with anger takes a break and continues

"Sorry about that needed to think about what to say next but this is all i want to say. I think if you had any intelligence you would stop what your doing and go about your business. You being the person who is being sneaky. Its only a matter of time before we catch you if we havnt already so I would stop while your ahead"

Sinfest now done with his speech hails a taxi to catch his contact before he loses a bunch of money

"Unless I'm mistaken, and I don't often do that, aren't we all bound to what our leaders ask of us?"

Sorry to make a play on words and use it against you, but as rare as you seem to make mistakes, you just cornered yourself here. The obvious answer to this question is "no". We SHOULD be bound to that, but these BG shooters don't care about that. They are only loyal to their cause and they join regular crews only as a cover.

I do find it sad because it talks to the true nature of their personality and their soul. It's not against one regime, it against anybody and anything. I used to think it served a "greater purpose" (from their point of view) but after the big change in leadership we saw here I really thought these shootings would stop. Unfortunately, I was wrong.

But unlike you, I know I am often wrong. Smiles.

What can a man say to a ghost? The gods gave us all gifts to build upon, sneaking around in itself is a gift with consequences like any other gift we are blessed with. Is it right? Of course not, I no more want my Body Guards lives at risk than I want my wallet lifted while I am not paying attention!

Frankly I feel the gods gave the sneaky gift a bit too much umph, and our Body Guards are a bit weak and short sighted, I would think if I am paying a Body Guard I should expect or maybe be able to choose what specialties he/she has. A Body Guard should be on constant alert, and better able to see any assailants coming my way, or his/her way for that matter!!

Back to topic, these assasins lose nothing.. life? pfft they are already training their children to take over when they fall. Unfortunately I think the balance between a Body Guards life and the gift of sneakiness can only be solved by the gods themselves!

Dutch Man, I agree to an extent with what you are saying. However, there is another side to that Coin. The Gods when blessing us with these abilities also allowed us to choose a path that gave us outstanding vision. Some that walk these streets have the ability to see everyone around them, where as others can only see about 5 feet infront of themselves.

Both of these people have the right to use their "skills" to their advantage. The stealthy person may choose to use their skills to better their gun by killing off sleeping bodyguards, where as the person with excellent sight will use their skill to find Homeless gangsters sleeping in the middle of crowded streets and with that, better their gun also by ending the life of the homeless man/women.

I would hope that should the Gods ever decide to alter the power of Stealth, they should do so for those with such good sight, too.

Just my two cents on it all.

As much as it pains me to say this, I have to agree with Animal on this.  Each set of skills that an individual possesses comes at a cost and to use the vernacular of some of the kids on the street, nerfing one or buffing another would require some form of balancing.

Having found myself in the possession of FBI transcripts from some coffee shope (these cottupt agents have to be good for something) I was able to deduce from them that a concerted effort by crew leaders to find culprits for this has worked in the past.  I think in the days before he fell over, hit his head and committed words to paper that would ultimately destroy Detroit, the exceedingly dodgy EvilClown prepared a set of instructions that worked both in theory and in practice.

Apathy and a lack of co-ordination from those in charge is never an excuse for praying to the gods to make things easier.  On the flip side of that, in days long, long ago it was rumoured that the gods could play around with the availability of skills however that was in the heyday of this thing of ours when the average lifespan of an unsponsored person who had been on the streets could be measured in seconds rather than hours and it was generally harder to achive great ranks.

Maybe I should clarify better as my speech is a bit off.

I feel the skill sets we have are for the most part as balanced as they can get. What I feel may need the gods intervention with are the BG's themselves! I may be wrong in this as I am still learning but I can understand if a gangster runs out and spends money on the first worker he finds... That BG should not have the sight of a BG purchased by a Capo! Maybe the gods will find a way for each mafioso to spend their hard earned money on Body Guards with specialized skill sets! I wouldn't mind paying extra knowing the BG I hired is stronger with sight than a gun, or maybe a BG with a higher defense skill...

From my undrstanding, again I could be wrong as at this point I am speaking from rumors heard, these stealthy kills could be done as soon as a person is able to carry a gun!! How can a gangster have a skill set sneaky enough to kill a Capo BG if that BG itself was hired at the rank of Capo???? That is absured!!

For the third time, I could have this wrong, I am only hearing bits and pieces of the issues with these stealthy killers.

Your point is of course a valid one, Dutch Man. A set price for a trained BodyGuard would indeed be something to consider, but I would like to think these type of people would cost at least 10 times the price of your average bit of muscle.

Though to address the comment with regard to a Gangster being skillful enough to nail a Capo bodyguard, this in itself is impossible. Gangsters are much too young to have that ability, someone must first attain the rank of Earner before being in a position to even attempt that shot, unless the BodyGuard in question is unemployed now, then a Gangster would be able to try his hand at it.

However moving back to the topic at hand, these stealthy type people are notoriously poor at shooting, and so this is why its more common for their targets to be those of a lesser rank. Anyone stealthy and aiming at a Capo's bodyguard has either been training for a long time, or is just firing in pure hope that they hit.

I know these were just example ranks you've used Dutch Man and not in reference to anything specific, i'm simply clarifying for the less aware members of the public.

Thank you for the clarification Animal. I believe I stated earlier I have only heard the pieces of rumors floating around so I do not know all of the details, and although my bloodline is long in this world I only just returned so I am still learning of all the changes made by the gods!

As to the pricing, I would expect that these "specialized" BG's would of course want a hire pay rate than just the normal run of the mill BG!

I agree that the threat of someone stealth killing a bodyguard is one of the risks that being a part of this thing of ours entails, but i believe that the leader of a family should take it upon himself to make sure that his members arent just randomly wacking bodyguards. Its a risky business for all parties involved.

The idea of specialized bodyguards is a good idea, but i think it would make the difference between the rich and the poor much to great. Allowing people to develop their sneaking skills and vision skills to a level previously unseen. Basically we would end up with 'super' mobsters, which are near enough untouchable. Allowing a small select few to dominate the eight cities even more then they already do.

Thats my opinion anyways.

Don Dimitri this is where Robin Hood comes in. Steal from the rich and give to the poor! Everything equals out then right? RIGHT?!?!

I guess if it doesn't then the rich will keep being rich and the selfish will continue to only think for their own beliefs and kill your very pretty proctectors of the body.

Im sure that should Robin Hood and his band of merry men steal 5000 Dollars from a rich mobster every hour, it would really make little difference.

But! If he shot at his body guards he would make a difference. Isnt that right friend.

So, thats the problem yeah? I haven't really been paying attention. My petty thief brain just can't keep up with such adult problems sometimes. Is this body guard stealthy only a problem Tumor finds himself in or is it country wide? Are big names only finding themselves victims or is it every man, popular or not cannot find safety from these random shooters?

Word on the street is no bodyguard is safe.  It is unfortunate that someone must go to such lengths. I would love to see coding that would cut one's stealth in half for bg shots. If these thugs found themselves more likely to be caught it might make them think twice.

Coding? I do not whar you speak of. Maybe you should make appointment with a doctor, you may have contracted the horrible oocitis.

Sneaker, there must be a balance to things though. If you take away the cloak of darkness from those who choose to take advantage of that skill then you must cut out the eyes of those who can see perfectly.

Is there a way we can all come together and work on this problem without involving the gods above? Brainstorm with me.

Ofcourse, to kill a bodyguard every hour would be extremely weakening for the victim. I believe that the threat does not just effect the upper structures of the cities, but instead reaches to nearly every man or woman alive who employs body guards.

There is no way to solve the problem. People seem not to notice when a body guard goes missing, other than the bodyguards employer. The only way i can see that would cut the success rate of a body guard stealther is for everyone to come out into the streets and practice noticing every little detail. Or perhaps, if everyone was brought into this world with perfect vision.

Otherwise, there is no solution i can see, that would not involve the gods.

My mother was a victim of bg attacks and my take on the situation is the more someone comments on things like this, the more they know they are doing a good job getting under peoples skins.  The truth of the matter is we see people break rules, suicide or retire on a daily basis.  The sad part is apart from cutting this unknown poison out of society when caught is little can be done.  To identify the poison with their next alias or kin is so difficult it just fuels them on.

ThBS, I have said my opinon. In order to brainstorm maybe your opinion on a solution should be put forth? I have heard of several things tried without noticable results. There are times we all must turn to the Gods.

well i dunno the status of one thing city hall was working on in regard to training stealth as so long since it graced ooc avenue, but outside that the only thing that can be done is track who is where and when, or even active and hope to cut it down from there till certain faces stand out.