The Saints & Soldiers of San Sebastian & the Showdown at 3.15 [part 1]

In San Sebastian you are either a Saint or you are a Soldier. It’s a way of life, a straight divide, a rivalry set in your blood and imprinted in your routines. If you are one, you don't like the other, no question. The two gangs are steeped in a bloody history of killings, blackmailing, rights and wrongs. If you walk in to the wrong side of town then you will know about it, and know about it the people do. If you obey and help your leading gang then they in turn will do you a good deed. They use hard-line tactics to keep their side of town in the ascendancy and generally it makes them popular. Strike fear in to those you control and the power you will have.

The Saints are led by The Good Shepherd, so named for his kinder approach to dealing with his residents, in turn giving him an incredibly loyal following. Many men have fought and died under The Good Shepherd, and this he never forgets, the deceased families often being the best treated. But, do not be fooled, as this man would not be in charge of a gang for no reason. He is never a man to cross, many have, and many are not seen again. A shrewd business man, a handsome, commanding force, he is dangerous as well as seductive. He has an immaculate sense of style and dress, suits tailored by his own personal tailors, a fabulous mansion at the heart of the area in which he rules, tastefully laid out to precision, his most trusted Saints around him, and of course his women. He is the man to know, the man to see, the man no other dare cross.

The Soldiers are led by The Last King; so named for his long and glorious family heritage. Generations of this mans family have led the oldest gang in San Sebastian, and they are an incredibly proud and tight knit group. Smaller in number than the Saints they are revered as being just as brutal in their tactics and conniving ways. The Last King is as the name would suggest - the last in the line of these rulers. He has yet to father a son mainly due to his distinct lack of respect for women, making him a tense and angry man, some say crumbling under the pressure to carry on the legacy. You see, despite the iron fist approach, there is the age old un-written rule amongst the Soldiers that women are treated with the up most respect as they after all can provide you with your heir and no amount of bullying will bring you the mother of your child, which is what he has discovered on many an occasion. That was of course until the young, feisty, beautiful Carmen, appeared in The Last Kings life. Besotted, he chased her relentlessly, finding a new side to himself that he never thought existed, much more caring and sincere. She was clever, cool, calculated, and bided her time until she knew he was the man she wanted him to be. This was his first mistake.

Throughout the violent and bullet ridden history of this tale of two very powerful, dangerous gangs, there have been many key moments. None more so than the death of Ghost Rider, a Soldier, killed in cold blood by Zodiac, a Saint. Zodiac was exacting swift retribution for Ghost Rider's third and ultimately final attempt to woo his beautiful, naive, sister. Shot in the back, a dozen or so times legend has it, he lay in the towns centre for all to see. This was a clear message, a final act of revenge and perhaps the beginning of the end for these two warring gangs.