The Mooney Enterprise

Inside a carriage heading back to Stuhach. Thomas Mooney scooted on the left side of the booth while Ernest Thorne was on the right.

“Did I act weak there, Thorne?”

“No, Boss.”

“I did. Don’t lie.”

“It was him, Boss. Me and the chaps aren’t going to pretend that we’d be unafraid.”

“You saw him fight in the trenches, right?” Thomas fidgeted his fingers.

“I did. Saw him wallop Wiesenians like they were straw dolls. Mate’s a fucking strongman. Could easily wallop anyone, but choose to pull mates from the trenches to bring them back to Doc Danil.”

Respect and fear was the reason.  That was all the reason he felt weak there. Couldn’t get out of his head. Still lingering in that moment where he felt like he was not confident and weak.

“I still remember it well. Me and Kimball running to this trench like back there in Furtlin On the shoreline the ships from the Empire infesting our shores. We were fifty there. All coming from the same town. Saw Kelly went down first. Then it was Mikhail, the toughest son of a bitch I know. His head popped like a balloon.

“Couldn’t understand what was happening. Told myself that I’d survive this. I’d be damn thankful. Smoke and dirt everywhere. The smell felt horrible. I saw Kimball get knocked out. When I woke up I was eyeballing this brother from somewhere. There was this tiny shard in his fucking eye. Couldn’t forget it. Pissed myself there. You were in Hereder, right?”

“I was.”

“Right, I pissed myself in that shell-hole. For once in my damn life I prayed for my safety. Then there he fucking was. Karl Von Alden looking down and then hauling my ass. Buddy dodged them bullets and pulled me out from that hole. His brother fixed me up well. Got me back in action.”

Thomas said with haunted eyes. He picked a cigarette out of his pockets, had it lit, and took a drag of it. “More ships infested the shoreline. We still held this belief that we’d be alright, then the Empire bastards rolled out their ground pounders at us. They charged like fucking insects with this fanatical belief that they’d end us well. It was a melee. Everyone was fucking fighting like mad. Cooks bashing heads. Even the Docs had to take shelter. I was in a cot then. When some of them got in the tent. They were gunned down like animals. Those who got closed had their backs slammed by the sheer fucking strength of the Doc. He had this fucking trench knife in his knuckles. Heard their jaws crack. By the time I got myself up. They were gunning down everyone. We kept on moving to avoid the artillery while Doc and his brother watched our backs. That was hours of battle. We moved from trench to trench while the Doc kept on mounting that machine-gun and protecting the retreat. When they got close he’d just brawl with them out and kept on fighting like a madman. Imagine that. The fucking medic just keep on fighting while the rest of me and the boys were hiding like some damn coward.

“We were fucking boys, mate. We got a drizzle of blood while he fucking partake in it. What scared me the most was how dispassionate he was.”

Bloodied hair. A still face with his green eyes staring blankly at the enemies coming at them. How calmly he reloaded his gun. How easy he snapped someone’s neck. When they were told to finally retreat, and then that accident happened where he and his brother saved him once again. Thomas knew that he had a debt of gratitude that he can’t repay so easily. His life was priceless to him. It couldn't be measured. And the more he saw and heard of him. He knew that it wouldn’t be easy to get him to work on him. Can a man like that dare to be under anyone?

“And now he’s working for the red fucking baron now,” Thomas said. He finished his cigarette and placed it on the ashtray.

“It’s going to be a hard time, Boss. Messing with the Baron and it affecting the Doc.”

“Course it’s going to be hard. Thorne, Karl Von Alden is a threat itself as an individual. He can beat us down and make us a cripple and I doubt you and the boys can get away with it. It’s the Verloren Einsen that I’m wary about when it comes to him. Heard of them? Bunch of mad doctors that worked under gruesome conditions. They are their own mercs. Bad blood with them is the fastest way to commit suicide. Always wondered why he was like that. Turns out he had connections with that damn company. Oh, don’t take it as me giving up, Thorne. We need to take some time and skirt around. We’ll make way if possible, but the cut we’ll be getting from Viole’s Postal Company is hard to ignore. We’re like a rope bridge, mate. We’ll manage with our supplies and warehouses, but it’ll be best if we manage to ‘hire’ some of their assets. Those planes of the postal company and their air deliveries are worth investing in. I thought of forcibly handling this… but I would rather not step on his toes. We address the problem in a different way, a much more peaceful way, no need to shed our brother’s blood. We don’t punch it out with those who can fuck us over with a few calls. Fuck, finally managed to that out of my fucking system, eh.”

Thorne looked sideways then fiddled with his fingers, “Good thing we kept the boys from raiding them dead. We’d look bad and we would have them killed if they raided while he was in the mansion.”

“What did I tell you about thinking twice before acting? Always worked in certain situations. I better fucking get Ackie some raise after this. Bastard deserved it for informing me of this.”

Thorne nodded. The scenery outside of the window blurred. They were still hours away from their destination.

“How are the Scarlettas moving?”

“Cato is still running around with our folks. He got his paws everywhere, Boss.”

Cato Scarletta was one of the main competitors. No, he was the head of the Scarletta Family involved in businesses that have been quite large during the period. Although their scope was only limited to some regions of the United Provinces and the Allied Nations.  The Scarlettas were the first one to notice the development in Kipten.

They were also the few who knew when to get some young chaps and pulled them out of the war and serve as their Associates who are turned into made man. Truthfully, their structure was quite similar to that of a private army. If anything, Thomas had been structuring his forces the same as well. He is the President and Boss. While Kimball and Thorne are his Captains leading his Lieutenants and Soldiers when there are places that they want to own or ‘talk business’ with.

Thomas knew that they were riding his train because they saw and understood that to survive the coming days. They would have to believe and have the backing of Thomas. An eight-year long war and an economy that was supported by the war now has nothing to offer other than debts and lines of pensioners waiting for their handouts for serving the war.

Farmland that isn't going to be used with all the shell-holes and corpses in it. A fucking burnt land that is only useful for digging shit up. All that he heard from friends in high places that it’ll take a year or two before all the government money dries up. A lot of guns and ammos but nowhere to use them.

The metal could be melted. The cost of repairs and the reparation from the Empire will make the Allied Nations float up for a bit for a year or two before everything starts going down the hill.

Laws and regulations. A lot of restrictions are going to happen and with men who returned to war wanting to have families. A population boom within the five years with an exhausted economy. There are many factors that will affect how things will go. It might happen. It might not happen, but Thomas Mooney wanted to be ready. He wanted to be on top of everyone and become that someone who’d these people could trust to get a steady stream of income.

Running two-faced businesses and making sure that his brothers of war are well-fed and especially his pockets filled with a lot to spare. And to do that they needed to get a piece of the Great Lake of Kipten, and run a legitimate business while letting his people protect these businesses and the rackets that would earn them extra krons. It wasn’t going to be easy and it would have been suspicious if it was easy.

Thomas Mooney and Ernest Thorne arrived in Stuhach. The moment they got out of the station there were made-men and Lieutenants waiting for them dressed in black overcoats and bowler hats. The Associates were looking over their driver’s seat.

Kimball sauntered over while grinning. “Boss, looks like you made it clear. How did things go?”

“Let’s talk about it later. Let’s get in the car.”

He entered the car and saw Denzel Hagen reading documents. The old man was in his early forties. He carried a cane and there was a confident air he carried.

“Younger,”  he said. “How was the trip to the iron lady? Did you like her?”

“She’s good. I didn’t shed blood.”

“Why?”

Thomas settled down on his seat. Thorne sat on the front while Kimball started to drive away from the train while followed by their escort.

“He was there. Guy I told you about.”

“Ah, I see. And?”

“I manage to strike an agreement with the iron lady about our ‘problem’ in exchange I’ll have the boys find the rats chewing on the meat of our proud allied nations.”

“Also, it looks like the folks the red baron, Viole, is going to be dealt with legally. From the looks of it, Karl Von Alden is employed currently by their office. If we somehow made a mess then we’ll either have Karl Von Alden our enemy or the Verloren Einsen Company training their eyes on us.”

“The government officials have started visiting me after Kimball contacted him. It brought attention to him, but it also allowed us to continue with some our takeovers while their eyes were focused on the magic shooter.”

“About the ogglers?”

“Dealt with. If Ms. Delaware has allowed us to move our transport in the river to the Great Lake then we can start by importing our tools to our places. I’ll get to jumpstart our operations while our Associates sniff out these ‘rats’ that have crawled under our basements.”

“Scarletta is surveying the land?”

“He plays with his dogs around the neighborhood and barks at the wrong tree.”

“Cato Scarletta has been saying that their family will be gathering in the near future. Although Cato refuses to join with upstarts, they will soon be unable to ignore us once they see our boats coming in and out of the river and joining the stream of commerce.”

Denzel Hagen pulled a paper from his briefcase. It was a letter directly written by one of the senators of the state. On the paper was the permission to run their Business. It had the approval of the states and the stamp of the Chancellor himself.

“I told you that the right gifts are always appreciated. With that stamp alone we would have our taxes cut off as long as we give the Committee the 20% of their cut.”

“You are a saint, Uncle. A goddamn miracle man.”

“Your Pa asked me to take care of you, son. Don’t be too complacent, this is baby steps compared to how we’ll deal with the Scarletta’s.”

Thomas Mooney nodded.

The fires of ambition burned in his eyes brightly.