Sammy takes a look around him, with his father having been part of the Chicago Mafia, he felt it only right to visit the town before he went to do any further business throughout our world. The streets still ran red with blood, the local morgue had their hands full with the amount of bodies that were being discovered every other minute, and there wasn't another soul to be seen on the streets. Though he carried on walking through these very same streets, and into the Chicago Business District. Again, it was empty, vacant, there was nothing. Most of the windows were smashed and the signs destroyed. He made his way over to his fathers shop to close it for good.

"Well, I guess this has to be done"

Sammy walked in through the front doors and into his fathers old office, removed the keys from the safe and went back out to the front door, closing them behind them and locking them for good. Sighing as he did so, he shook his head softly and turned his back on the shop, walking away slowly. Walking back through the Chicago streets wasn't easier than when he walked through them moments ago. He boarded the next flight back to New York with one thing on his mind, was this all worth it?

Sammy stepped off the plane and decided to get a general consensus on his thoughts, taking his question straight to the streets...

"Hello, I am here today with one question for you to answer. Was It All Worth It?"

Sammy saw a few people gathering around him, so he continued.

"As it currently stands, the majority of our world is in ruins. Chicago, having recently being destroyed for the 'greater good' now lies vacant and thus unproductive. Los Angeles also remains vacant and unproductive, having done so for a number of weeks. St Louis is much in the same boat as Los Angeles, having laid bare for weeks now. Detroit is also currently a mess, but at least things seem to be looking up for that city. Las Vegas is still capable of becoming a blood bath at a moment notice, with no stability, and as far as I am aware, still no City Head. Philly has been a mess up until the recent appointment as Sinfest as head of the city, and although we have yet to here much out of there, I sense it could get better."

Sammy licks his lips after his mouth had dried out.

"New York seems to be on the right path, with a lot more stability than most of the other cities is displaying, and a new auth happening just today. The future looks bright for New York. Which brings me onto New Orleans, currently the powerhouse city in our world, stable, strong and productive. However, we still haven't heard much from them in recent weeks, other than the announcements on the explanations of wars."

Sammy lets out a nervous snigger, and continues.

"So, we currently have three empty cities, one rather unstable, two looking quite stable and to have a bright future, and obviously the powerhouse city. I guess you are wondering what this has to do with my original question? Well, let me explain.

"Just 24 hours ago Chicago was thriving with activity and was being a very productive city, all seemed well in our world, and everybody was happy, regardless of the other empty and unstable cities. So, was it worth making another empty, unproductive city, just because of a few minor mistakes made by the City Head of Chicago?

"Now, my opinion doesn't matter much on its own, which is why I bring it out to the rest of the population, were Chicago's actions excusable? With them being able to learn from their mistakes without meeting their grave? Or was it just simply all too much of a mess to let go for the good of the world?"

Sammy once again licks his lips to rehydrate them.

"It would be unfair of me to ask you your opinion without giving my own, of course. My opinion is that for the sake of making another empty city, Chicago could've been told of their mistakes, and left to learn from them. Of course, if they were to make the same mistakes over and over again, then actions must be took against them. Punishment, I find, is always the best way to make someone see and learn from their mistakes. Fining Chicago for the blood they had spilled, and the mistakes they had made, would, in my opinion have made the whole situation a lot easier to handle, without having war forced upon everyone.

"Because of the war, another city lies empty, and all parties involved lost some high ranking members who they could've done with keeping alive."

Sammy nods to the people who have gathered before him, and straightens his hat and overcoat.

"So, was it all worth it, to you?"

Reguardless of the current state our world is in, fuck ups are not allowed.

Just because the community may be "In ruins" does not give a city the right to continually fuck up and get away with it. We all pay for our prices, the state of the world doesn't matter. To an extent, yes, the current times our society is in can and has given some leeway. But there is a limit.

It isn't up to me to decide if it was a good move or if it was worth it, but, almost all of the cities saw fit to remove Chicago, so it must have been worth it to them.

Yes, it was worth it. We may have an empty city right now, but it won't be empty for long, that's the cycle of life around these parts. Families come and go, empires are brought down and small families start a new business.

Can't forget that the population of Chicago that died in this war, have been part of many other wars in the past, including taking out their very own Godfather Roman. They have participated many times in emptying cities just like it happened with them as well right now.

That will happen over and over again, it will come the day that New Orleans won't be around anymore until someone repopulates it, same with NY, Vegas and all other cities.

I have absolutely no doubt that the city heads will be getting together to discuss the future and repopulate the cities.

Sammy, it is so easy to get an opinion such as yours. I really don't beleive you would have the same opinion if these things had happened to a family that you had put work, time and effort building up.

Sammy nods both to Z and Dinostache.

"Both of your comments and opinions are greatly appreciated. It gives me, and anybody else wanting it, a greater understanding of exactly why things happened. I'm not saying that you have completely answered my question, as I am sure there are a vast number of various viewpoints out there, which I personally, cannot wait to hear"

Sammy nods once again to Z and Dinostache, smiling as he did so.

I wasn't going to speak on this manner until now I guess. A relative of mine worked for Chicago and is now unfortunately deceased. Am I happy? Of course not but after reviewing the "charges" / reasoning, I can't logically argue against what happened? Had the tables been turned I'm sure Chicago would of responded in a similiar fashion.

It's a sad day and I shall mourn those who passed... without blaming the gunmen.

Sigh. Ok, two things.. firstly this comment:

Las Vegas is still capable of becoming a blood bath at a moment notice, with no stability, and as far as I am aware, still no City Head

I would love to know where you came to this conclusion? What evidence you used to determine such outlandish comments? Vegas is perfectly stable. The leaders work together just fine, there is no need for pointless titles, just because people work together instead of for a City Head, doesn't make them weaker - it in fact makes them stronger. A tight knit group of individuals working as one.

The fact you clearly know so little about the city and throw comments like this around, makes me doubt your ability to judge this thing of ours at all and makes your entire argument null and void. Your comments to me are now pointless.

Which then brings me to the next point..

You seem to equate how good a city is by how much its leaders come to our streets. I can almost understand this, I've always favoured leaders with a street presence as its the way I was brought up. You then however state that Chicago is some huge loss? Where was the presence of Monet and Slab in our streets? Surely with Chicago being such a breeding ground of activity and greatness it must have been full of leaders talking on our streets, no?

Granted, there were some fine members in Chicago that approached these streets often. However you will find that New Orleans and New York also have members of this quality, as does Las Vegas. In time i'm sure i'll come to recognise some from Detroit too as they build. I havn't forgot Philly, I just can't think of anyone at present from their city other than Corbin. Like Detroit though they are a very young city and I'm sure in time we'll come to see more and more people from Philly in our streets.

So really I see no point in this question today. Nothing has really changed, Yes its a shame to lose so many friends, but its nothing new. Cities fall, children of the fallen will in most cases pick up where their parents left off, those with the desire to speak in these streets will do so, where they call home won't make that any different.

"It would be unfair of me to ask you your opinion without giving my own, of course. My opinion is that for the sake of making another empty city, Chicago could've been told of their mistakes, and left to learn from them. Of course, if they were to make the same mistakes over and over again, then actions must be took against them. Punishment, I find, is always the best way to make someone see and learn from their mistakes. Fining Chicago for the blood they had spilled, and the mistakes they had made, would, in my opinion have made the whole situation a lot easier to handle, without having war forced upon everyone.

 

Unfortunately going about things in your way could hold serious consequences.   Sure could tell another city head you don't agree with the way they do business but all you have really done is put that city on notice that you are not happy with what they are doing.  You've only put yourself and your city at risk now.  

I believe having an opinion is still allowed, Demonic. Had the original speaker been disrespectful or threatening with his words...that would be different. I do not see any evidence of either in this little monologue.

Also, it was not worth it!

Sammy looks bemused towards Fozzy, before shrugging it off and addressing his comment.

"I don't see where I say that a cities street activity ties in with their strength? Or where I say that Las Vegas is weaker just because there is no city head? For you to say because of these two complete fabrications of yours, that my whole speech is now void of any credibility, is not really necessary.

"I believe Chicago was a loss to our world, regardless of what you may think. That was the whole point of the speech, to get other people views and opinions on the matter. You don't see anybody else telling people their opinion is void of credibility.

"I apologise if I hit a nerve speaking about your city, but honestly, I spoke about every city, giving my honest opinion on each city. I didn't single a city out and insult the upper structure of said city."

Sammy then turns to Demonic.

"Of course there are problems with the solution I suggessted, there is no flawless suggesstion to a problem. However, I thought of this as a better solution than killing anything that moved with the city walls. That's just, again, my opinion."

I'm not real sure I follow what you're saying Adalric.  At no time did I say he was not allowed his opinion nor did it say his opinion was wrong, disrespectful, or threatening.  I was merely pointing out that following his method could lead to more casualties.

Sammy, I understand where you are coming from.  I'm just saying that you always have to weigh the options before going to war.  My godfather, which I thank my lucky stars for nightly, has the intelligence to not rush into anything.  To weigh all his options and to do what is not only best of New Orleans but what puts it's inhabitants at minimal risk.  Doing things any other way would have put our brothers and sisters lives at more risk.

Sammy nods to Adalric.

"Thank you Adalric, any opinion is welcomed, and will be listened to, regardless of it's nature."

Sammy turns to Demonic.

"Of course, I understand what your are saying, it's another case of opinion though, I happen to think my solution wouldn't have caused more bloodshed. We will just have to agree to disagree I suppose."

My general thoughts on the matter are we have to look for the long term stability of society not just the short term.  Sometimes heads have to go on the chopping block and cities fall but is the way of business.  In regard to refilling cities, this is not a simple matter as just say here x take st louis as we saw with the tragedy Animal suffered and his family with his loss after being offered St Louis.  Things have to be slow sometimes to make sure the right people are put in the right place, people who have shown their work, loyalty, ability and desire to run a city.  This is not an easy task and the smallest thing can be misconstrued unfortunately so we look to avoid further damage to our businesses. 

I understand the loss of profits with these cities empty, but unfortunately filling a city just for the sake of filling one may offer more choice but more problems down the line.  I honesty believe the godfather council must have in my mind some candidates to move into cities but we have be careful how quick we place them in cities to give families a chance to fill up, and make sure the candidates are right for the job.

I would love to know where you came to this conclusion? What evidence you used to determine such outlandish comments? Vegas is perfectly stable. The leaders work together just fine, there is no need for pointless titles, just because people work together instead of for a City Head, doesn't make them weaker - it in fact makes them stronger. A tight knit group of individuals working as one.

I believe he still thinks LV is the powder keg of tension that it was when the project was first launched.

I believe you're right Cadoras yet we have shown for almost two months that the Las Vegas of today is nothing like the Las Vegas (or Last Vegas as it was known) of the months prior to that.

However Fozzy has a right to feel quite indignant about Sammy's statements.  It was Fozzy's father who instigated the stability that we now see.  The city is as attractive now, if not more so, than it ever was.  I think the biggest reason for that is the fact it is a neutral city.  We maintain our neutrality as much as we can and respect other cities efforts to allow what goes on in Vegas to stay in Vegas.

Getting back to Sammy's original question, and tying together a few threads from elsewhere.

At what point do you think the line should be drawn Sammy?  Give some people an inch and they'll take a mile.  Appeasement is never a good long term strategy for survival.  Sometimes levelling a city is all that works however inevitably the more casualties among those who were asleep the greater the indignation.  I can totally see the argument in this case for removing as many as possible.  Chicago was an established city where a great many people had taken demotions to take advantage of cheap bodyguards.  The best takedowns are those where lots of information has been gathered beforehand so targets can be identified as a threat whether they have been demoted or not.  In situations like this, leaders know how to differentiate between a goomba who is a threat and one who isn't. 

I have no idea whether this was the case in this situation but I struggle to get worked up about wiping a city off a map.  It's horses for courses, some takedowns only need the removal of key individuals, some need a wholesale approach.  No two situations are the same.

First and foremost I'd like to thank you samny for giving me something to chuckle at.

Fine a city, quite laughable really isn't it.

We are mobsters we don't fine people, we punish people.

Let's look at one of the war reasons, a chicago member shooting a sponsored person. I will go out on a limb here and say 80% of hq's in existence have some form of the following in there

"the shooting of sponsored mobsters is forbidden"

Said Chicago mobster broke this rule and as has been already said wasn't punished but eventually promoted. Yet when the shoe was on the other foot they demanded recompense from a godfather.

Fines don't work, warnings rarely work.

Force and the threat of force does work.

It is and always has been the way of our world.

Guess we could always sit around and play marbles or tiddly winks instead of shooting each other.

A fine? Yeah right was Grizzy offered a fine for his member killing a Chicago CA? Or was his family shot in there sleep? 

Sammy smiles to Liza.

"Thank you for offering your opinion on the matter, it is much appreciated"

He then turns to Cadors.

"I am not saying that an LV was is going to happen, I'm saying it COULD happen. The operative word there is could, just pointing that out. LV is different in the fact that it doesn't have a city head. I am not saying this makes them weaker, or a lesser city than those with a city head, but in my opinion it makes it more likely to break down if something drastic was to happen there. Sure, shoot me down and say I am wrong and my opinion is invalid. I couldn't care less at the end of the day, my opinion is exactly that, MY OPINION. Nobody can take it from me, and nobody can say it is wrong. Just as I am not saying your opinion is not valid."

Sammy then looks to Betsy_Poke, tips his hat and smiles.

"I completely agree, some people will just keep taking more and more as soon as you give them the tiniest bit to stretch their legs. As drawing the line is concerned, obviously there has to be a line, and some may say that Chicago had already crossed the line, some will say they hadn't. Monet, in my opinion, was new to being a city head, and he had much to learn, but just because he made a few simple, yet fairly severe mistakes, doesn't mean he couldn't have learn from them, without taking a bullet in the head. I also agree that much information needs to be taken and considered before taking action,what I am saying, is the party who initiated the takedown, probably didn't have as high a percentage of the information as they thought they had."

Sammy looks at Romeo.

"Firstly, I am glad me taking the time to come out to these streets and be a little more vocal in myself brough you laughter, as that was clearly my aim... Secondly, you say fining a city is laughable? I guess you see compensation as an entirely different thing then? Whereas actually, they are much alike, both involved one city giving another city money, for the first cities mistakes to the other city. When you think about it, it's not actually quite that laughable, is it?

"Although, I do agree that force and the threat of force does work, sometimes. Other times, it just pisses off the victimes next of kin to the point where they won't take it lightly, and in the future, you could have a problem on your hands. As was seen when Jonnie_Reece rose up to take down the reign of CP. You may say that's a poor example, but think what you will."

Sammy then turns to Chris.

"I am not here to take sides Chris, I am merely stating my opinion on how the situation could of been handled, maybe that wouldn't have worked, maybe it would've. I am in no way saying Chicago were perfect in the way they conducted their business, because they weren't. However, just because Chicago acted wrongly and took down Grizzly the way the did, doesn't mean that should become the norm when dealing with Chicago. Two wrongs do not make a right."

Sammy rehydrates his mouth, smiling at the faces around him, appreciating them taking the time out of their busy schedules of leading a family, to come out and speak to him.

Not taking sides it seems to me you are lets talk about Detroit then shall we or there threats to protect even untagged chicago members deadly force was there terms even though the speech was done by a deceased Chicago member Grin RIP. That ALL untagged of wise guy and under are FAIR game there constant threat of bloodshed was there undoing they where no longer the ALPHA males they thought they where. 

With regards to your reply to Romeo...

From my understanding a Chicago Boss shot down a Las Vegas associate in cold blood, with an excuse along the lines of "Oh... I didn't realise he was sponsored"...

Now, accidents that cost lives are not usually only compensated with a sufficient sum of money, but also the offender is usually punished by death!... Not only did that Boss receive no punishment whatsoever, but Chicago offered a laughable sum of money in compensation! It was a complete joke to them, how can you even attempt justify that!? What an insult! WHAT A JOKE!!