The Raven's Anger

Chapter Three

"So whadda we gonna do 'bout the owner. He refuses to listen to what we say boss."

Corvo glared at the soldato in front of him. "You going to give him an offer he can't refuse, Franky. That's how."

"You mean?"

"Yes Franky, do what you have to but that pawn shop will be mine."

"Yes sir Boss. I'll have that deed before mama's cannolis are cold."

Franky left Corvo's presence, knowing what needed to be done. Corvo sighed and turned to Sonny.

"Well, is that all for today?"

"Yes sir."

Corvo rubbed the stitch over his right eyebrow, a memento of the fight from last night. He had been in a bare-knuckle fight with four guys in a row. The last one had given him that cut but Corvo made sure that the man had a broken jaw. As well as a broken rib.

"It was much busier years ago, when we were fighting the other families. Its seems sort of surreal now that there's actual peace between the gangs."

Sonny chuckled. "That's because no one wants to get on your bad side Corvo. Halloween massacre of the Tattaglia Don and his enforcers sent a message of terror for all the families. To be honest, if I weren't there and saw what had happened I wouldn't have believed it. It was a brutal massacre.

Corvo sat silent remembering that night. It was the first night he had used the ravens and crows as a weapon for fear. Nearly a hundred of the best soldatos and mercenaries of the Tattaglia family, ripped apart by a flock of nearly a million crows and ravens. Don Tattaglia himself was lifted by the birds in the middle of Times Square and in front of thousands of people, ripped apart into pieces, raining blood on the people below.

It was after that event that the rest of the families, Gambino, Barzinni, and Stracci family sent envoys wishing peace and an end of the blood feuds between families, creating a single mafia family under the Corleone banner. The unification created panic amongst the Russian syndicate, Chinese Triad and Irish clans. The three ethnic groups joined up and were matched evenly against the five families. But Corvo began to take command of the fight as the true head of the Italian mafia. He first ruthlessly crushed the Russian syndicate, flushing out all the leaders and had them fed to the ravens, pigs, or dogs, taping their execution and sending the videos to the Triad. Any resisting Russian mafias were sent sleeping with the fishes. Once the Russians were assimilated into the family, he sent them against the Irish while he dealt with the Chinese. The ravens were crucial against the Chinese as Corvo had managed to find every single Triad safe house, using the ravens as spies. On the eve of the Chinese New Year, he ambushed the safe houses at four in the morning, taking all their weapons, funding, and supplies. They had no choice but to fold. Those that didn't were found hanging on trees in Central City Park, their bodies fed to the crows. With the Irish clans left, Corvo cruelly wiped each of the 13 clans, picking them off one by one. By then the police had tried to stick his nose in his business. But with all the mafia's actions under Corvo's complete control, enough money was passed to convince the police to glance away. Corvo spared any leader that surrendered peacefully but made sure that those that resisted were sent to the ravens.

With all the crime families under him, Corvo created the Commission, a coalition of leaders of the former mobs. Each ethnic group had one representative called the Ala Nero (Black Wing) while under each Ala Nera were representatives of the former separate mobs called the Piume (Feather). It was system where every mob was represented, despite the amount of power before the Great Mafia War.

Sonny's brother, Giovanni Pacino, was the Ala Nero for the Italian families with a Piume from each of the five families. Alexander Vlasov was the Ala Nero for the Russian syndicate with four Piumes. Han Long with three Piume and Jonathan Griffith with thirteen Piume.