Soseki had awoken to the excellent news of progress being made rebuilding crews and mafia life generally across the nation, he no longer had the shame of a friend's unavenged death hanging over him, and was finally free from spending all his time concerned about a looming war. For the first time in a while it felt good to be out on the streets.

I'm here to talk about the war, but please bear in mind that it was a massive collaboration involving dozens of people and I can't speak for all of them. This is just my perspective on what happened and why. No doubt others will have a different perspective.

No one I've spoken to had major personal issues with the East coast leadership (Chicago included), and I only ever had positive interactions with Godmother Norella, Godfather Bruiser and Godfather Matty. Equally, no one in the West was eager to fight a huge war, to blow up an alliance that had mostly worked well, or to take over more cities and the responsibility of running them. We were breaking out the horse heads to get people to be uppers before, let alone now.

As far as I'm concerned this war began when a group from the East coast shot Striphe Corelli, a Don crewleader from Detroit. This was done without any authorisation, and was never acknowledged or admitted to. I honestly think I can end the reasoning there. If we're not warring over another city shooting our crewleaders and friends then what are we here for? Just sitting around waiting to get shot by rogues? I'd be ashamed to be a part of any city that didn't avenge a death like that, let alone the Godfather of one.

Detroit is very fortunate to have incredible allies in LA and Vegas who agreed that the Striphe shooting would need to be answered, and were willing to sacrifice alongside us to make it happen. I'm also extremely grateful for the support we picked up from elements within New York, Philly and Chicago during the war, who the West had connections to previously and each with their own reasons for helping, some related to our own.

The war was obviously awful, which was to be expected. The East was full of trained guns and determined fighters, some things didn't go to plan, and some mistakes on my part probably made things harder than they could have been. I apologise to those on our side who died in ways that might have been prevented had things run smoother.

Nevertheless, the war overall was a success, and the West emerged on top.

There are more people than I can name who have my eternal gratitude for their help, and I will try to thank as many as I can personally for the late nights, spectacular shooting and insane amount of effort expended, but in particular thank you to Godfather Rouge of LA, Godfather KingsleyShacklebolt from Vegas, Don Breezy of Detroit, Don Odin from New York, and those who helped from Chicago under first Unicron and then TheDude.

Finally, I encourage you all to visit the funerals of those who died, and rest in peace to all the fallen.

Fine words Godfather Soseki. Clear and compelling reasons and I don't think anyone can disagree with the logic. My only quibble would be the lack of praise for my Crewleader TextBasedMafiaRPGMan. Some would say he hid out west the entire time and took more protected shots to the face than a hooker wearing a balaclava made of condoms. Others would say he was so irrelevant that nobody bothered touching him, or remembered he existed.... as we celebrate victory day, where do you think his performance will be ranked in the annals of history?

What's good for the goose is good for the gander, Godfather Soeski,  so please don't act like you're above the slander. You speak of betrayal like your hands are clean, hiding behind a war built on claims unseen.

You can twist the truth and rewrite the tale, but every liar eventually turns pale. Remember this well, when your own lies backfire, the blood you made others spill will fuel your pyre.

You can preach about honour and pretend you're the king, but betrayal cuts both ways, and revenge has a sting.