Battle Report: Battle for The Kingpin's Mansion // February 10th 2043

Battle for The Kingpin's Mansion
Date: February 10th 2043
Factions: The Family and Agan's Troupe vs The Muppets vs Black Dragon vs Paladin Industries
Officers: Eve Falcone, Atticus Benedict, Juan, Masaru Hattori, Kayden Levard, Mariko Hattori, Sophia Harper, Paul McAllister, Simon Blackquill, Scia Scripture, Agan Mardus, Muugica Omnison, Alice Hart, and Oiche Hull vs Gonzo, Rowlf, Statler, and Hazel vs Tate Amaranth, Lao Jiu, Dinhua Nanhai, Elisa Hardey, Mr. Bear, The Black Knight, and Lutria vs Inna Dragovich, Wei, Smile, Emilia Melchiott, El Rommel, and Malena Lezaeta
Footmen:
- The Family and Agan's Troupe: Est. 4050
- The Muppets: Est. 2200
- Black Dragon: Est. 300
- Paladin Industries: Est. 520
Casualties:
- The Family and Agan's Troupe: Est. 3000 footmen casualties, Oiche Hull, Juan
- The Muppets: Est. Est. 2100 Zombie Casualties
- Black Dragon: Footmen Wiped out.
- Paladin Industries: Footmen Wiped out.
Result: Black Dragon, The Muppets, and Paladin Industries retreat. The Family sustains heavy casualties. Morale loss from Paladin Industries. Loss of officers on The Family and Agan's Troupe.

Description: The Battle for The Kingpin's Mansion is the first true battle of the Great Crime War. However, one could argue that to put this battle into context, one must look back to the weeks or even months before the battle. The Family and Paladin Industries prior to this engagement have had a long-standing alliance that lasted longer than a decade. However, following the death of Mario Falcone which ended the Gang War in 2042, The Family went through a massive reorganization which created a balance of power between the organization's several mafia dons. This seemed accepted on paper, but in reality Eve Falcone, the daughter of Mario Falcone and heir to the Falcone Family legacy held most of the power within the faction. During the Kraven Incident, the previous guardians of No Man's Land, PALADIN, were wiped out, leading to Charles Paladin and his company directly taking the role of the protectors of the facility. Charles Paladin's aggressive business practices and The Family were ill fit for each other, creating a rift between the two factions. Around the same time, an anarchist international terrorist organization began to gather in No Man's Land known as The Muppets. In one of the few operations before the breakdown of their alliance, a joint move from Task Force 0 and The Family lead to the capture of a Muppets officer: Rowlf. Shortly after, Charles Paladin made the decision to break his alliance with The Family and destroy his old allies, seeking to use Highend as a strategic location for Paladin, the capture of The Family's territory would essentially be a major strategic victory for Paladin Industries.

Thus, Paladin Industries sent a faction of Task Force 0 to Highend, with the plan on having them turn on The Family when their guards were down. In particular, Inna Dragovich was instructed with deactivating Highend's security system. However, shortly before Paladin's plan could come to fruition, The Muppets attacked Highend with a horde of Zombies with the intention of rescuing Rowlf. This did little to harm Paladin's plans at first, Inna would succeed in deactivating Highend's security system. With this, Highend's securities were deactivated, including traps, their detection system, and electricity. While the security system was down, the Black Dragon Clan would sneak into Highend and assault the Kingpin's Mansion, their intentions entirely unclear. The deactivation of the security system proved to be a major factor in the battle. It allowed Black Dragon to sneak into Highend easily, furthermore, the battle took place at night, leading to The Family's footmen gaining a huge disadvantage, Zombie's didn't need sight, the Black Dragon Clan's footmen primarily acted at night, and Paladin's footmen (which would enter the battle soon later) were equipped with night-vision goggles. The leader of the Black Dragon Clan, Tate Amaranth, proved to be a particularly effective agent in the battle, managing to take on several opponents at the same time. In addition, Tate managed to kill a Family officer, Juan, effectively inflicting a severe blow onto The Family. Gonzo also managed to handle several enemy officers at once, but managed fled the battle before he could inflict a severe casualty on any of the factions.

Shortly after the arrival of the Black Dragon Clan, Paladin sent in a task force of footmen with the clear intention of capturing Highend. It was initially believed that Paladin's superior training and equipment would lead to a victory for Paladin Industries. In addition, Oiche Hull (part of a group of smugglers allied with The Family in battle) was shot and killed in the midst of the confusion. After these events transpired, the battle seemed to be at its peak. Four of the biggest organizations operating in No Man's Land were gathered together on one battlefield, with only the largest organization Vulture Team on the sidelines. Family footmen were being wiped out left and right, nearly three quarters of Highend's garrison was wiped out in battle, and it was clear that if the battle continued, The Family would suffer enough casualties to lose Highend. The Muppets succeeded in rescuing Rowlf, leading to the retreat of most of their officers. However, their zombies were still left in Highend, causing havoc. By this point in battle, two other key events had transpired. The Black Knight, a mysterious armored individual, would suddenly appear on the battlefield and join ally himself wit the Black Dragon Clan, and Mr. Bear (initially believed to be a Family officer) would reveal himself to be a Black Dragon Clan officer. Paul McAllister and Lao Jiu would also fight to a standstill, severely injuring each other and dropping out of the battle.

With The Family on the brink of defeat, it seemed the first battle of this war would be their last. If not for a single fateful arrival at the last second, it was entirely possible The Family would be overwhelmed. Eve Falcone would arrive on the battlefield, and in a matter of minutes, would manage to wipe out all of Black Dragon's and Paladin's footmen, in addition to most of The Muppet's zombies. Shortly after, she'd go into conflict with the leader of the Black Dragon Clan. Black Dragon Clan and Paladin officers retreating at every turn, Tate Amaranth's retreat would signal this battles end, and a victory for The Family.

This battle would send shock waves throughout the city that would affect future events in this conflict. Though the victors of this battle, this was a devastating strategic defeat for The Family. Their lost in footmen and officers would lead to an already weakened organization further falling apart. While the other factions' footmen were essentially wiped out, they were but fractions of their organizations fighting force, while The Family's Highend Garrison was essentially most of their battle-capable population. However, this would also prove to be a moral defeat for Paladin, as it was initially believed that the battle would be a clear victory for them. This humiliating defeat would prove to be a stain on Paladin Industries' reputation throughout the conflict. The Muppet's would succeed in this battle, meeting their set goals. the Black Dragon Clan however, proved to be the most successful faction in the larger pictures. With a very small fighting force, they managed to fight on even terms with the other factions easily. They succeeded in eliminating a Family officer, have another Family officer leave to join the clan, and gain yet another officer in the process with the Black Knight. Of course, the Clan's actual intentions would not be known until much later. This entire battle showed mixed signals for Vulture Team, on one hands, they were the only major organization to not lose anything in this conflict, due to their entire absence from it. At the same time, Vulture Team was by all means considered the ruling party of No Man's Land, yet they were at first completely unaware that this entire battle took place. For such a large battle to occur without their noticing, it became clear that Vulture Team's grip on the city was incredibly weak. This weakened the empire-like reputation Vulture Team held among the denizens of No Man's Land. The most prominent result of this battle is that it set off another major conflict in No Man's Land known as the Great Crime War. The Vulture Team-Conqueror Worm Conflict, Machination Enterprise, The Gang War, and the Kraven incident were all major conflicts that occurred within the city, however each conflict was either a limited encounter, or simply only between two or three organizations of marginal sizes. This conflict however, was the first war in which major, large criminal organizations fought in open conflict. Vulture Team, previously an organization of a couple hundred criminals rebelling against the relatively small Conqueror Worm, had now become a massive criminal empire. The Family had stayed a large criminal organization in the last couple decades. The Muppets and Black Dragon were both international organizations of fame. Paladin Industries, the only non-criminal faction of the lot, was also a large, heavily armed, well-trained organization of worldwide renown. In essence, this wasn't just the largest conflict of its liking to occur in No Man's Land... but the world. Never before had such a large conflict been set off in the criminal underworld. Up until now, criminal organizations had mostly stayed working in their own territories or under the protection of larger entities like Black Dragon. Actual open conflict was almost unheard of. The Great Crime War changed all of that. And this battle was the first of many in the Great Crime War.