The First Amendment

The Word of the People
First Edition

Editor in chief: Elias Bell

Miami’s Ascension
Elias Bell

Following the nationwide assault on The Dallas Diamond Cutters and Chicago’s North Side Mob the world of crime was left in shambles. Diamond Cutter Jimmy Conway defied all odds and managed to take down some of the top Mafia Bosses as the last man standing. His hit list included New York Don Vincent Gigante, Don of Las Vegas SLIQUE and Los Angeles’ leading man, Elf, among others. Prominent mobsters fell in all of the involved cities with only a few left standing in the end.
Tom Gigante, the man who ended Jimmy Conway’s life, took control of New York and continued Vincent’s dynasty. Tupac Amaru ascended to the throne in Los Angeles and reorganized the family under the name Viracocha. The last remaining city after the war was Las Vegas, which became Dickstroker’s domain. All three cities worked together to eliminate Chicago and Dallas, so they were able to work together quite easily to rebuild after all of the destruction.

Because of their relationships, the world remained relatively peaceful for some time. That was until Junior Burke, relative of the former Winter Tempest Society leader, James Burke, and one time member of the group himself, reentered the criminal world after some time spent in solitude. His return was met with mixed reviews. Tupac Amaru, a long time friend of Mr. Burke’s was relatively welcoming and open to the idea of granting him control of Miami’s crime life. However, Dickstroker was much less willing to give such power to a WTS-bred man. And of course, there was Tom Gigante. Although he seemed to be O.K. with Junior’s presence, his actions spoke much more loudly than his words. Just days after getting settled into his Miami headquarters, Junior Burke was assaulted by Tom Gigante. Burke was able to thwart the attack and take Gigante’s life instead.

So, it was a rocky start for Junior Burke and his Miami-based Sons and Soldiers. With one attempt on his life so soon, who knew how long it would be until the next. Luckily, his relationship with Amaru and Viracocha stood strong.

In the next few months each of the two cities proved their dedication to the alliance time and time again. Most of the time Miami proved itself by ignoring or supporting the death of one of its own, the most notable case being high-ranking Son of Miami, Dragonfire. Los Angeles on the other hand proved itself by simply not attacking Miami despite multiple rogue Miami mobsters gunning for its citizens.
Overall the close relationship between the two cities’ leaders and the irrelevancy of Las Vegas in recent months following the death of Dash Rendar, Dickstroker’s second-in-command, Miami has been able to build quite the empire. One that could perhaps hold its own against the perceived superpower of the nation, Los Angeles, if it ever had to.

Denver’s Demise
Carl Davis

Freddie Mercury, the face of Denver, found himself involved in a conflict that he and his little crew were not ready to handle. Mercury made his way to the top of Denver’s criminal syndicates as a Street Boss with the support of the other city heads. He had it pretty easy as he worked his way into establishing a real organization in the city. However, the city’s inability to compete with the nations larger criminal empires was made clear when he and his associates were swiftly and easily wiped out in recent days.

It all began when Miami Made Man Valentine turned on his city taking some of his brother’s lives before fleeing town. Valentine was then taken in by Mr. Mercury briefly. After that he established himself in an Atlanta warehouse.

Miami felt wronged by Mercury’s harbouring of the rogue, which led to their assault on him and his members. Julian Tsotti, a Miami Boss at the time, managed to take Freddie’s life with little trouble.

An Alliance Vanquished
Dorothy Baxter

Longtime allies Los Angeles and Miami have met the end of their truce recently. Many believe that there would eventually be a power struggle between the two cities despite the leaders’ protests that their relationship would never be tarnished. After a string of Miami mishaps, which led to the death of Dragonfire and Los Angeles aiming for Julian Tsotti’s head, tensions were higher than ever.

Miami decided to make the first move, perhaps out of fear, and were able to take out Los Angeles’ head honcho, Tupac Amaru, as well as one of his top members, Douglass Amaru. However, Miami had to pay the price of Magno Vacca and Scotty in order to do so.

Most mobsters of both cities managed to survive the initial fighting, but much more was surely to come in the next few days.

The Fault in Our Cells
Frederick Buchanan

Lia Lombardi, Miami’s leading lady, was stopped by police on a suspicion of her involvement in a recent bank robbery early the other day in Miami. As the city’s police force was flooded with criminals in light of the week’s earlier events, they were unable to hold her at the station at the time. Therefore, she was immediately sent to the local prison where she would be held until they were able to question her.

There have been a few incidents in prisons across the nation over the last few years where security was proven to be unsatisfactory, but they were few and far between. Lia’s story was one of those tragic tales. She was found murdered inside her cell shortly before lunchtime that day. The man suspected of her murder went by the nickname “JungleFever”. He was able to escape the prison and flee out of Miami that day, however, he was recently found dead in the streets, believed to have been involved in the conflict between Miami and Los Angeles.

Hopefully, local authorities around the nation will be motivated by Lombardi’s tragic death to look into improving prison security measures.

Betrayer or Savior?
Kenneth Kline

Jesse Pinkman, a Made Man of Los Angeles’ Viracocha, would have been viewed as a loyal soldier to the end before his recent involvement in The Beard’s death. Only a few hours before the body was found, a man named Johnny Bohannon got into an altercation with Pinkman which ended in Bohannon’s death. Earlier in the week, following their leader’s death, Bohannon fell victim to an attempt on his life. Caught in the moment, he panicked and attacked fellow Viracocha member, Lucid. For his actions, he was kicked out of the family by The Beard and found refuge in Junior Burke’s Miami-based Sons and Soldiers. It is rumored that before pulling the trigger Pinkman called Bohannon a traitor… among other things.

If we are to believe this turn of events, then Jesse Pinkman surely seemed to be as loyal as any other Viracocha. That is until his involvement with Miami Consigliere Julian Tsotti came to light. Tsotti offered Pinkman his life, and safety, in exchange for The Beard’s life. Within hours after their meeting came to a close, Pinkman delivered just that. The Beard was found murdered in his headquarters and Pinkman was believed to have taken asylum in Miami.

What would drive Pinkman to turn so quickly on his own family? Was he unsatisfied with his leaders war-time tactics, perhaps he was trying to save the rest of his city’s lives and feared facing the might of Miami, or maybe he is just the kind of guy you can never really count on.

Perhaps we will see in time.

Out of the Shadows
Dorothy Baxter

Following the death of SLIQUE, Dickstroker was left in charge of Las Vegas. Over the next few months he managed to stay out of the limelight, but was actively recruiting a relatively steady stream of fresh blood into the city. Dash Rendar, his right-hand man, had much more of a presence around the nation. Unfortunately, Rendar found himself in a gun fight with local police and was fatally wounded a few weeks ago. With his death, the city of Las Vegas faded back into the shadows and made little commotion for some time.
Everything changed when they fired upon the nation and attacked Miami Mobsters Chariz, Mikey Franz and Julian Tsotti. Chariz was able to escape into hiding, but his associates were not so fortunate.

The city had always been considered a close ally to Los Angeles and many feared they would assist in the fight with Miami given the chance. Since the coup of The Beard took a joint effort out of the picture, Las Vegas chose to attack while Miami was unprepared and busy celebrating from their preliminary victory. High ranking Miaminas were shocked with Vegas’ betrayal considering the city had just bought Dickstroker’s allegiance, or so they thought.