Momentarily stunned by Ramshackle's outburst and lightning fast knife throwing, it took a minute for Zeke to recognize Shane's chiding remark.

Zeke's grip tightened on his rifle cartridge into a fist at the Reaper Man's personal gouge. Thorn criticizing him was one thing, but his professional rival turning the dagger in only got under his skin all the more. He exhaled, relaxing his grip again and repeated twirling his cartridge as he strove to calm himself down, he'd take out his rage on their foes later where he actually had a chance to show Shane up, there was no point in creating anymore unnecessary animosity between partners . . . All the same, he didn't sit well with the idea of laying back as Miles, Shane, and others were suggesting.

[b]"As our colleagues are both proving in their own ways, we cannot be treating the Irish as if they're not worth the effort. They may be pissed out of their minds half the time, but that's what makes them so unpredictable. They're crazy enough to torch and shoot up places in broad daylight if they feel they can get away with it, and liquid courage makes people think they can get away with anything."[/b]

Zeke then stopped twirling his cartridge and stuffed it into his pocket, drawing instead a revolver from his right hip as he inspects it.

[b]"Besides, with all due respect, I believe that Ramshackle has half a point in that we're not looking at the full picture. The Mobs are one thing, and The Commission can still be dealt with if we're worried about the Italians, these freelancers we keep discussing are another thing entirely. Its all fine and dandy to suggest we dig up intel on them, but who's to say they're even going to give us the chance? How do we know they haven't already tracked us to here, have tipped off the Irish, and they're all currently on their way to try blow us all away in one swoop before we can all agree on a plan? Or that they won't try and kill us all on our way home? They know they're facing a team of the best killers in the business, and know that their best bet at knocking us off is to try and catch us with our guns empty and our blades hung up. We have to let them know that they're going to have to think 10 steps ahead, not just 2 if they want to kill us."[/b]

Zeke then slams his revolver on the table on its side and stands up, pushing his chair back, looking over at Shane directly.

[b]"That's what I intend to do. So how about we agree to disagree and split our approach to this coordinated endeavour? Its not like the Irish are tough to find in this city, and if they've already declared war on us, we're not breaking any rules by responding with blood and fire. Me, and those with me can try and deal with the Irish directly, or at least let them know they're not just going to smack us down like we're nothing. While you and your crew can get to work finding out who else wants to take us off our thrones and how best to deal with them . . . Call it divide and conquer, or splitting one target into two so that the shooter has to choose which prey is more worthwhile to them at the moment, or simply elephant and mouse approaches, whatever the hell you want."[/b]