World Cup 69 RP Thread

[Hicana]

The Draft: Chapter One
Note: Events in this story arc are not 100% accurate, nor are they necessarily in chronological order.

Beep. Beep Beep. Beep, Beep Beep, Beep Beep. Riiiiiing.

A mechanical voice, drab and uninspired, rang out in the empty move. "Program complete; prediction begins - center midfielder Fallenmark Isles. Twenty-one years old, six foot one, one hundred sixty pounds. Expected draft pick: first. Nephew of star midfielder Polar Islandstates, who plays for FC Rushmore."

The voice continued. "Attacking midfielder United Eastedge. Seventeen years old, five foot eleven, one hundred forty pounds. Expected draft pick: second. In talks with FC Atlas after a successful U-17 season with them last year."

"The right back Absurdly Polite. Twenty-three years old and has already matured into a gentleman. Six feet tall and one hundred seventy pounds. Got a Master's degree in tea-drinking from the University of Chaps. Expected draft pick: third. In interview, said that Rushmore was the chappiest region."

The lone scout in the room sighed. There was no way FC Esportiva would get one of the top-notch players at the draft without a good draft pick. They'd had the third pick, but it had been dealt away in the trade for Wolfie. Certainly worth it, as the single-named center back had injected some life into the back, allowing for more counterattacks and the deadly attacking four of Sunrise, Sideburn, Apox, and Licentian. Esportiva had solidified their back and middle lines with a seemingly never-ending cast of up-and-comers, and the path to glory looked clear, but a failed draft could set all of that back. Worse, with nearly no money left to sign new players, Esportiva could stagnate for the next season.

A loudspeaker crackled with electronic static; a voice came over the device. "All scouts into the main room for the draft lottery, please."

[Nova Anglicana]

Lions Drop Two Points Away to Azrea

Hayden Landers, Nova Anglican Football Today

Utter disappointment. Utter disappointment is the only way to describe the Lions' poor performance away to Azrea in their fourth game of qualifying for World Cup 69. While Moran called the Lions' play against New Montreal States "disgraceful", he was "frustrated" after this game. What looked to be an easy three points ended with a scoreless draw and the loss of a key player for the next match against Westfield House.

The Lions played fairly well in the first twenty-five minutes or so, controlling the majority of the possession and generally looking like their disciplined 1-4-4-1 would stifle and grind Azrea's 3-5-2 into the dust. The fullbacks were handling the enemy wingbacks, and Kyle Fleming would beat said wingbacks back on defense, opening up opportunities for the Nova Anglican wingers as well as for veteran Raphael Baptiste. But the Lions could not find the back of the net in five opportunities, three on goal and that would be their undoing. In the twenty-eighth minute, the left wingback was making another bombing run down the pitch and looked to run onto a ball played out to him. Rather foolishly, the veteran Dallas Page tried to win the ball on his foot, went in spikes high, and cleated the Azrean wingback right in the chest. He was immediately shown a red card and the Lions would have to play a man down for the final sixty to sixty-five minutes. The Lions pulled into a 4-4-1 and Bradley Lancaster came on for Terrence Jordan. Jordan is a solid centre back, but Lancaster was much more suited to play fullback and contain and counter the wingbacks' runs.

Down a man, the Lions had to abandon their usual "clog the midfield" strategy for a more traditional flat four at the back, and the Azreans took control of the match. When Page went off, the Eagles had just one shot, not on goal. By the end of the game, they had twelve shots, seven on target. Keeper Julian Neal was kept busy but performed superbly, making saves as well as punching innumerable crosses out of the eighteen-yard box. His best effort came just after halftime, in the 46th minute, when he barely got a glove on a ball headed for the upper corner and then deflected the ensuing corner away. The Lions almost had a chance to steal a short-handed goal in the 67th minute, when David Pelletier crossed a ball into the box. Raphael Baptiste gave it his best effort, but the ball bounced off the post and the keeper pounced on it.

The Lions had been able to salvage one point, but their inability to capitalize early had cost them two more, and they very well might have lost this match but for the excellent quickness and judgment shown by Neal. One has to think that the Lions would have found the net eventually if they had been playing at full strength, but Page's reckless decision cost them that chance. Additionally, the Lions will be without Page as he serves his one-game suspension for his infraction. Bradley Lancaster is an excellent offensive fullback, with decent defensive instincts, but he lacks the composure and sure-footedness of Page. Though perhaps goals are what the Lions need in their next match. They will face Westfield House, a team that just scored a 2-1 victory at home over Nexxus Drako. Westfield House is ranked just 284th, but Azrea was only 229th, and the Lions couldn't defeat them. They desperately need three points ahead of a trip to top seed Jeruselem, and only two goals scored in four matches is piss-poor, even for the Lions. Let us hope a return home (just their second home match in five matches overall) to Eboracum will give them the result they need.

[Sandwich Territories]

"...Aaaaaand with that, the final whistle blows here at Parc na Saoirse, as the Sandwichians win here tonight 3-1 against Nouvel Ecosse, a satisfying win for the Sandwichians to send them further towards success. Goals for Barukh Kjeldsen in the 53', captain Brennus Guarneri in the 67', and Finnán Pavia in the 70' will give the whole team 3 points, and the supporters good hope for tomorrow against The Royal Kingdom of Quebec. We'll send it over to the Chaps in Suits right now, and from Parc na Saoirse, thanks for tuning in for the 69th World Cup Qualifiers on SBC Sports Radio."

*SBC Sports Radio , your home for the Sandwichian FA, and all else sporting around the world. And now, live from Reimsburgh, it's the Chaps in Suits.*

"Hello everyone, and welcome to the show, we are the Chaps in Suits; my name is Isingoma MacWilliam and I am here with Stanislav Clark."

"Yes, hello to anyone who actually bothered to listen in to that...lets be honest, that wasn't exactly the best of matches, was it? Also, before you answer that, let me be the first between you and I to say happy birthday to the King."

"Damn it, I was just about to get to that-"

*Stanislav laughs*

"-But still, I don't think anyone expected that to be too entertaining...no offense to Nouvel Ecossians, or whatever their demonym happens to be."

"In fact the only thing I can find to be any-what interesting from this game is that finally, a defenseman scored, and it was none other than the sweeper and captain of this FA, Brennus Gaurneri."

"Yeah, always a bit more excitement added when the leader of the squad scores, especially at home. Kjeldsen and Pavia also scored, which is nice to see, but all that proves is that they; national team starting forwards, can score. That should be happening anyways."

"However, the Sandwichians will finally have a true test; no offense to the other nations that have faced as before; against the Royal Kingdom of Quebec."

"Which group can serve their king with more pride..."

"Heh, break out the longswords Isingoma, nous sommes sur le point d'avoir une bataille sanglante avec les Québécois." (OOC: I'm still learning French after 3 years, so sorry if that is wrong.)

*Both Chaps snicker*

"Either way, this will be a good way of seeing if the rankings lie or not, as many believe the Sandwichian FA have only been falling due to a lack of CoH invites."

"Now, that isn't 100% true, we need to remember there have been times when the Royals could've been better."

"Very true Isingoma, but there is not much that you can do when you are left to the Runner Cup; an excellent and very well done event, but not included in the KPB rankings."

"And lets not forget about the friendlies."

"Now those were a bit poor, I think we can all agree-"

"Well; sorry to interrupt; but a 3-0 loss to Osarius is not what they wanted to see, as they have played Osarius more than any other nation, and the SFA only had a VERY close; some would say undeserved 2-1 win over the Star United States."

"Luckily, overconfidence won't be an issue for the Royals if they have any intelligence, which they do, but can they handle the highly offensive style of Quebec?"

"Well, if there is one way to compare the form that the two teams are in right now, we can see that both teams have the same amount of goals, but Quebec has a much more offensive minded focus. That is about it for comparisons...these two nations are dead even, and the previous "same goals but more offensive" comment, the schedules have not been the same obviously, so that "comparison" really is..."

"Ambitious but rubbish."

"Basically."

*Both laugh*

"So..our thoughts? Stanislav, how about you first?"

"I see a 2-2 draw here, personally."

"I can see either team winning, or both teams only getting one point from this myself...but I have to agree, a draw seems highly likely. I'm going to say 3-3 here."

"Great minds think alike, I guess."

"Yeah, "great" minds..."

"So, what are your thoughts Sandwichians, Kennanites, or even the random person from around the world? Send us your comments by email at SBCSports@gmail.co.swt, on Twitter @SBCSports, or even through the telephone wires at 1-438-084-3048. Your opinions could even be heard on the air to a lot of people. Or maybe not."

"Maybe the game before was unimportant. Maybe nobody will bother to tune in. But hey, at least you have us."

"Some consolidation that is..."

*Stanislav laughs, Isingoma shakes his head while chuckling*

"Well, that is it for us here is Reimsburgh, we are going to send it over to the SBC Times Forum only down the street now for some KHL preseason action between the Reimsburgh Blues and the Port Trádáil Lightning. Should be a good one."

"Alright, for now, I'm Isingoma MacWilliam."

"And I am Stanislav Clark."

"And this has been, Chaps in Suits."

[Vaugania]

Part 1: Cool Guys Don't Look at Explosions
Part 2: What Can You Do?
Part 3: L33T H4XX0R SK1LLZ

Part 4: Things Fall Apart

“Come on, gents! Keep moving. We’ve got to get everything out of here,” Leonas commanded.

The members of Terralliance were scurrying about their hideout with arms full of weapons, computers, and anything that they felt might be beneficial to their cause. Their three green hatchbacks couldn’t contain all of their things, so they decided that they would leave a few weapons behind. They could always obtain more at some point.

“Cesar!” Leonas called, “Booby trap the front door. Quickly!”

Cesar pulled a hand grenade from their stash and ran back to the front door with some other supplies. Once inside, he got to work. He wrapped duct tape around the lever to keep it depressed and tied a string around the pin. He pulled the string taut and pinned the grenade to the ground.

Now that he was finished, he went to exit the building, but right before he turned the handle, he looked down and realized that he was about the trigger his own trap. This was truly an unfortunate turn of events. He couldn’t think of what to do so he just stood there and stared.

“See what’s taking your cousin so long, Stanislovas,” Leonas commanded.

“Yes, sir,” came Stanislovas’s reply as he rushed to the door.

When he began to open it, Cesar quickly pushed back, “The door is rigged. We can’t open it.”

“Can you go out the back? We’ll circle around and pick you up.”

“I can do that.”

As Stanislovas ran back to the hatchbacks, they heard police sirens not too far away. This was about to get ugly. they knew that they had found Terralliance and they would be taking no prisoners.

Stanislovas jumped into his vehicle and said to the driver, “We must go around back to pick up Cesar. He couldn’t go out the front.”

The driver immediately stepped on the gas to keep away from the coming police vehicles. Luckily for Terralliance, they were able to turn a corner just in time. The police vehicles pulled up in front of the brick building and poured out. They were wearing full body armor and were armed with both assault rifles and tactical shotguns.

One of the officers ran up to the door with a battering ram. On the count of 3, he knocked the door in and triggered the booby trap. He was thrown to the floor, relatively unhurt thanks to his armor. However, this put the rest of the officers on high alert as they advanced through the building. They saw the weapons left behind by Terralliance and some of the officers confiscated them for evidence.

Once they made their way out the back of the building, they saw Cesar running for the hatchbacks. Realizing that this was who they were looking for, the officers opened fire on Cesar and the vehicles. Cesar was cut down as he reached for the door. The vehicles, now shot up badly, would barely move and the terrorists were forced to bail. Daniels had a few flash drives containing vital information. The others leaped out with weapons and some explosive ordnance. They knew they were outgunned and they would need a new ride to Port Byron.

The officers turned a corner and engaged in a foot pursuit of the terrorists, though they couldn’t move very fast in their body armor. This did not stop them from giving their opposition a hard time getting to safety. they saw them running down the street and opened heavy fire upon them. A few of them went down and others slipped away from the hand of justice. They had taken down some of the terrorists that dared to hurt their great country. Now, they were the heroes as many of their ancestors were before them.

The officers went to recover the bodies, but curiously found none of the weapons they had run off with. There were 6 of them in all, but they knew that there weren’t very many more. But they knew that there was no way the others would escape retribution.

Leonas had run very far from the action and saw that his men had been able to keep up with them.

“Who has fallen?” he asked.

“Just Cesar,” Daniels said, holding up a very distraught Stanislovas.

“Then who is it that they shot back there?”

“None of ours.”

“I see a trial in their future.”

[Chiata]

Science or Fiction
Part 4

Z-Day +3

The situation in downtown Villitova was spiraling out of control. All of the teams had been forced to retreat within 5 hours and had suffered upwards of 50% casualties. Now, the infected were running rampant in the city. At 5:00 A.M. the quarantine stations had been closed and a perimeter had been set around the city. There were 10,000 national guards in the area, but they could barely contain the refugees trying to escape. Already, sporadic reports of "hydrophobia" attacks had been reported outside of the quarantine line. However, they had been stamped out quickly and the forces took careful measure not to touch the dead bodies and to make sure they were dead, permanently. Sadly, 300,000 civilians, who much are now probably infected, were locked in the city as the risk of spreading the disease was to great and the evacuations had to be closed. The government still refused to called the "infected" Zombies, even most of the media had adopted the term.

Before he returned to his lab, Stephan was given a piece of flesh from one of the infected. It had been placed in an airtight container to prevent any virus from spreading. Stephan then boarded a plane bound for Nor' Del, which would be a 3 hour flight. In the mean time, Chiata's government had a heart wrenching decision to make. They could attempt to annihilate the city with missiles to wipe out the infected and stop the virus at its source. However, this would also destroy the capital city of Villitova and all its uninfected occupants. The government decided to hold the missiles in exchange for containing the virus with sheer manpower.

[Kiryu-shi]

Dear [Redacted]

Hey. I’ve been waiting to receiver a letter from you, but nothing has come since I’ve sent my previous correspondence.

I’m sorry if you don’t feel like I’m handling the situation between you and [redacted] maturely. To be honest, I’m probably not. But again, I don’t think it’s fair to give you the benefit of the doubt after all that’s happened, and I hope you appreciate that. I’m at least trying my best here to be fair and reasonable. I care for you. I care for her. I don’t want to interfere in either direction. Anything she feels comfortable with you knowing, she can tell you herself. I’m sorry if that doesn’t seem right from your perspective, but it’s the only way I’m going to be able to live with myself for the foreseeable future.

Anyway, I suspect there are things on your mind that you still have to work through, but I guess I should let you know that the Kiri won again - nine out of twelve potential points so far. Not that I suspect you haven’t been keeping track. The match against Vaugania was another cagey affair with a lot of back and forth play but poor finishing all around. Romero looked pretty fantastic in goal, and if it weren’t for his heads up play, the scoreline could have looked much worse for us. As it is, after each team scored one goal in the first half, we finally pulled ahead for good with Hendrickson finding the goal after a clever little run with around a half hour left. The humidity seemed to be getting to the Golden Eagles by then, and we were able to hold onto the three points.

I know that scores from the other matches in the group are some of the hardest things to come across in there - so you’ll be interested to know that the Kiri are now even with three other squads with nine points each: Nephara and Vaugania, of course, along with Kandorith. And we’re set to play two of the squads that have been struggling to date in the upcoming few weeks.

Anyway, the starting 11 looks to be the same as the last update I gave you; Coach Miura mentioned giving some players a sustained look and a chance to gel. Although I will say that Sherry Burke was a disappointment, squandering a few clear opportunities and needing to be subbed off around ten minutes into the second half. Not sure what is seen in her.

I do hope to hear back from you this time.

Sincerely,
[Redacted]

[Miley World]

Miley Sports Network


Jim : "you’re watching sportscenter on MSN and we're going to talk to William MacIntosh in New South Aqmuland. Hi Will!"

Will: "Hey Jim!"

Jim: "So the Smilers didn't win?"

Will: "Nope, the game ended with a 1-1 draw against New South Aqmuland. New South Aqmuland scored first, at the 34th minute and Miley World tied the game at the 79th minute when Conor Downing scored assisted by Ross Wallace. Miley World shot 9 times, 4 times on target. New South Aqmuland shot 10 times, 6 times on target."

Jim: "I guess the players were a little disappointed?"

Will: "Yeah they were sure they're going to win. Ross Wallace said "New South Aqmuland didn't even published its roster, how we didn't win that game?""

Jim: "Ok, what's next for Miley World's soccer team?"

Will: "The Smilers are going to play at home against Ekoz at Estadio Azteca in Zacatlan, Tennessee. All tickets are sold so the Smilers will play in front of 52 000 spectators. 1 800 of them will travel from Ekoz."

Jim: "Ok, any changes in the line up?"

Will: "Felipe Vazquez will replace Léo and Ramon will play instead of Jorge Garcia. Léo and Garcia will rest and watch the game from the bench."

Jim: "Ok thanks for your time Will!"

Will: "You're welcome Jim!"

Jim: "We're going to a commercial break and after the break we'll talk aout NSCAA hockey."

[Nephara]

Crowe and Crowley
Gareth and Andrea generally roomed together. Crowe and Crowley; the little joke of whoever dreamed up these arrangements. They'd presumably had a minor heart attack when Crowley hadn't made the cut for CE10, but now normalcy had been restored.
They'd not really hit it off, at first. But then, times changed. Besides, they were both fairly personable people by nature, and eventually got over their mutually exclusive tastes in music. In fact, rumour around the squad had it they were getting along far better than that...
"The complementary selection here is, uh..." Gareth glanced into the fridge. "Shit. It's shit."
Andrea shrugged. "There's a bar downstairs. If you need to do shots that badly, we've got options."
"Mm." Gareth sat down heavily on the bed Andrea was laid out on. "So. Uh. Been meaning to ask. What... actually is a Lopunny?"
Andrea looked surprised, and leaned forward. "Well... um. I gotta admit I didn't know either when I first joined. From Dubstep, remember?"
"Oh, yeah. That, like... improbably good midfield that just sort of showed up. You, Parrish, and, well, people thought that of Anderton, but it didn't really happen."
"Helena's mistake was staying with a sinking ship. I don't think it's too late for her to make it in the Premiership; I heard some people have been lining up to buy her, but she could really have stayed in the top flight that whole time." Andrea shrugged. "Either way. Yeah. Um. So a Lopunny's like, this, ah... like a sort of humanoid rabbit thing."
"What? Fuck. Really?"
"Gospel truth, innit?"
Gareth grinned. "Sort'f like a Playboy thing?"
"Don't be ridiculous."
"I like being ridiculous. 'S where all my best ideas come from."
"What... you want me to dress up like a rabbit for you? Hah! Not a chance, mate."
Gareth snorted. "That's some sick shit. I ain't into that. ... Are you?"
"Fuck no."
"Not even in the Islands?" He grinned wickedly. "It's as they say, when in Rome..."
"No. Like..." Andrea slicked back her hair. "Just... ugh. Anyway, that's just a stereotype with little to no basis in fact."
"I mean, you hear things," said Gareth mildly. "But sure."
"Not like your club situation is a dream," smirked Andrea. "What's it like to only get recruited for your surname?"
"The LigAnaia is a rising star in the international scene... but. Yeah. That's. Probably how they picked me out of the crowd, hah. But I'll be honest with you - been a breath of fresh air."
Andrea cocked an eyebrow. "Oh, really?"
"Yeah! Only place you don't get the endless Crowley jokes. Not too bad living there, anyways. That said, I can't see myself datin' anyone who swallows that whole line about Corvidae glory, though. I don't know how Auburn does it."
"I don't think she discusses politics with Kit," smirked Andrea. "I guess she just tells her to get her Kit off."
There was a pause of several seconds.
"... Sorry. But come on, you were thinking it too."
"Yeah, but I don't say everything I think. Otherwise you'd've hit me by now."
"Oh?" Andrea draped her arms around Gareth's shoulders, and pressed her forehead against his. "So... try me."

Memories
People had started to think back to the 67th cycle.
It had seemed, while it was happening, like an ongoing disaster. It opened to a defeat to Kinzar, which wasn't an utter disaster in and of itself. You could lose to weaker nations... like Terres de Gaulles.
This was, confusingly, followed up by a fantastic 3-1 victory over Eura at home. Bizarrely, they could only put one past New Rhodes the following matchday, and then were held by Tasrailia. Eastfield Lodge, a team of interdimensional horrors (it was something of a mystery as to why they were permitted to enter), were edged past in an utterly brutal game. Karl Finnan was holding a crowbar throughout. The Fair Republic were beaten 1-0 - and Gerhard Thunder was injured for the rest of qualifying. 1-0 over Dutzenderland, too.
They were getting the points, but not much else.
Then 2-1 over Sangti, another decent win, and 1-0 revenge over Kinzar. ... Then Eura annihilated them 6-2 at home.
Suddenly, a stuttery offence wasn't the issue; it was the defence. 4-0 over New Rhodes was followed by 3-3 against Tasrailia, 2-2 against Eastfield Lodge, 4-3 over the Republic and 5-2 over Dutzenderland. Bizarrely, due to the absence of their terrible goal difference as an important tiebreaker (it was wins that cycle), they would still go through automatically as one of the best runners-up if they beat then-Sangti, who had had an utterly dreadful cycle.
They lost 3-2.
It had felt like their shakiest, more fragile qualifying ever... and at that point it was the only one they succeeded in.

This very much had that feeling to it. Orca Bay was the most recent side to be edged past 1-0 - they'd only really had 45 good minutes all cycle, the second half against Kiryu-shi. Just like against Mehdonesia, they'd never looked like conceding, and that was with a side resting most of their first XI for the next match...
... but they could do better. Aside from Kunibert Mathias, who had his first goal for his country after a fine shot just outside the box, nobody had shone aside from very basic defensive work. And Mathias likely wouldn't start tomorrow, either. Surely, they had to do better against Kandorith in the next match.

Kandorith. The suicidally aggressive Red Dragons. Hoping to edge past Nephara into first place in the group, this home fixture was their best chance for it. They'd scored nineteen goals in four matches; flattening Terres de Gaulles 7-2, Arkiasis 5-2, and Mehdonesia 6-1. That said... the toughest side they'd faced was Vaugania. Decent, but no giants, and besides, Vaugania had won.
Surely Nephara could put them down... but they'd always been uncomfortable as favourites. Their chances of clinching first in the group would be more than alive with a draw, or even defeat.
And yet, this fixture was a true must-win.

[Valladares]

From TV1's live broadcast of the Darmen-Valladares match

Pre-match

Augusto Valverde: "And here we are, ladies and gentlemen, broadcasting live from Kalenda Stadium in Rogerton, Darmen for what we expect to be an exciting World Cup qualifying match between two old foes, Valladares making the trip to Darmen to face the All Greens. La Nacional are currently leading Group 23 with perfect performance, 9 out of 9 points, while the Darmenis have had a slow start and are currently struggling with 5 points and will be looking for a win to get them back on track in this qualifying campaign. I am Augusto Valverde and I'll be joined at the booth for this broadcast by my long-time partner, Jens Parker!"

Jens Parker: "Hello Augusto, it's nice to be with you and all our viewers here on TV1 for this promising match between two of the strongest sides of both the region and the multiverse. If we look at previous history, we can find out that Valladares have a slight advantage over Darmen in head-to-head matches, however we already know history has no influence on the outcome of such a game like the one we're about to see."

AV: "With half an hour still left for kickoff, the atmosphere at the stadium looks incredible. The stadium is virtually split in half by both fanbases, even though Valladar fans were initially allocated only 10,000 out of the 45,000 tickets put on sale by the Darmeni FA. It looks like their expectations were largely outmatched and thousands more made the trip to the other side of the border, what do you think about it, Jens?"

JP: "Well, Augusto. It's true the VFA was only given 10,000 tickets for Valladar fans, an appreciable amount in itself, considering that this stadium can hold 45,000 people. What they certainly didn't expect was that the amount of fans who actually made the trip to here was far greater than 10,000 people, and this is why they decided to split allocation to half for both Darmenis and Valladars. Let's not mention that the lack of organization and the gross flaws in logistics displayed by the Darmeni authorities to face this sudden influx of fans from the Westlands generated some incidents which fortunately didn't escalate into something to regret, yet did put into question the Darmeni's ability to handle situations like this. Anyways, let's make our first pause while we wait for the match!"

***

AV: "And here they are! The Valladar and Darmeni teams are now entering the pitch here at Kalenda Stadium with both halves of the stadium cheering for their respective group of 11 heroes, and the Valladar fanbase making itself felt with a lot of noise and an enormous flag covering their half. They really prepared themselves for this moment."

JP: "That's right, Augusto. And this shows how devoted to their national team are those fans, this display certainly outmatches the one in Bastion in that friendly match against Eura at the start of this qualifying cycle. And now we're ready for the anthems, beginning with the home side's anthem: the national anthem of Darmen."

Just as soon as the Darmeni national anthem started being played, it was greeted by a barrage of loud boos and jeers uttered by the Valladar fans at the stadium, practically rendering the anthem unlistenable to their Darmeni counterparts.

AV: "You know, I might not be that sympathetic to Darmen or anything related to them, but this is entirely disrespectful."

JP: "Yes, Augusto. This is definitely not the image we should be projecting abroad, however I don't think the return match in Canalave will be far different from this."

AV: "And now, let's listen to the Valladar national anthem, or well, if the Darmenis let us listen to it..."

As a shocking contrast, Onward, Valladares! went completely clear and uninterrupted, and the Valladar half of the stadium roared while the anthem was being played.

JP: "After the coin toss between the captains of both teams and the referee, we can see the Valladar players, donning their usual blue shirt, who will be attacking from right to left on your screens, with their rivals attacking in the other direction, with their traditional green outfit. And now we're off!"

19th minute

AV: "Darmen on possession of the ball, Rydzik passes it to Al Din Lambert amidst strong jeering from the stands, the Darmeni player decides to retreat and send it back at Charm Vue to free himself from the pressure exerted by Juan Pablo Reyes, a long shot from Vue is intercepted by Iván Coupet, who now loses the ball to Salapu. The Darmeni midfielder is now with the ball, delivers it to Gregio with a long pass, watch out! Gregio avoids Jéremy Carrasso with a nice feint and shoots...just for Luis Fuentes to catch it! And the score is still nil-nil yet this was an interesting chance for the Darmenis!"

JP: "Darmen took advantage of the Valladar defense's sluggishness this time, and while La Nacional have been patient and have kept trying to break through the Darmeni goal, their attempts to keep their rivals away from Fuentes' goal have not been very successful. Carrasso's flank is very weak and they have run at pleasure through that wing every time, Campbell has to think of something to close that door. Back to the game, Augusto!"

AV: "Fuentes throws the ball back to game, it is now controlled by Pedretti, the Nacional player passes it to Morantes, who runs and now gets rid of Adan by sending a cross to the box, Pedrinho with the header! And Siesman clears it with a punch, sending it outside. Corner kick awarded to Valladares now."

JP: "And the Valladars once again responded to a Darmeni attack with another of their own. This time it was Rubén Morantes the one who dragged the rival defense into his flank in order to throw a cross to the cleared box, however the Darmeni goalie was aware of the move and temporarily saved his team from conceding. The danger is still there for Darmen but the score is still the same."

31st minute

AV: "With about 15 minutes to go in this first half, we're still scoreless at Rogerton as we now see a throw-in awarded to Valladares in Darmeni field. Carrasso takes the throw-in and passes the ball to Coupet, Coupet heads to the box while Reyes, Gignac, Rozenthal, and Pedrinho are all getting ready for the cross...now Coupet sends a long pass to Rozenthal, who now stops along with the rest of his teammates while the Darmenis kept running. What are they up to now!? Rozenthal finds Pedrinho unmarked and passes the ball to him! And now he shoots! Siesman goes the wrong way and it's a GOAL! GOAL! GOAL! for Valladares! The stadium now goes wild as Pedrinho goes to one of the corners to celebrate with his teammates! After 31 minutes, the score is now Valladares ONE, Darmen NIL! Jens with commentary now!"

JP: "And La Nacional finds their first goal of the night by turning a seemingly predictable attack into a goal originated from an unpredictable play. I mean, no-one in the Darmeni side expected Coupet to look for Rozenthal, they were expecting him to send a cross and flooded the box in order to outnumber the Valladar attackers and clear it easily, but no, when they finally realized their mistake, Pedrinho was already in control of the ball and they committed a worse mistake by going ahead, leaving him with the path to Siesman's goal cleared. And well, the rest is the goalie making the wrong choice. We're now 1-0 ahead, Darmen now putting the ball back in play."

AV: "The Darmenis with the ball now, however it's now Juan Pablo Reyes who manages to intercept it and now the Nacional's wonderboy starts the counter! Reyes is now swiftly heading to the goal while Salapu struggles to cope with his speed, Vue goes to the wing to challenge the Valladar player for the ball but he now passes it to Yoan Gignac, who is now mark-free and decides to shoot the ball right away! And it's a GOAL! GOAL! GOAL! GOAL for Valladares! And, not long after the first goal, Valladares strikes again! Yoan Gignac scores his first goal of the qualifiers, and Valladares are already starting to tip the scales in their favor! After 32 minutes, Valladares TWO, Darmen NIL! Gignac the scorer!"

JP: "This most recent two minutes have been a dream for the Valladars, and a nightmare for the Darmenis at the same time. More than a mistake from their rivals, this goal was a hundred percent a product of own strengths and virtues, mainly the way how Juan Pablo Reyes snatched the ball from the Darmenis and turned this into a lethal counterattack, as well as Gignac scoring his first goal of the qualifying campaign through a beautiful shot, nicely directed to the far post, where Siesman would never be able to reach it. What a wonderful play, and what a wonderful goal for Campbell's labourers. Tough luck for the Darmenis though, as they see their effort of 30 minutes being shattered in only a fifteenth part of that lapse."

57th minute

AV: "Luca Cormio now with the ball for Darmen, the green-clad team are again on the offense, Pedretti goes to mark him, however he now passes the ball back to Al Din Lambert, who is now looking who to pass the ball next. The Darmeni player still in control of the ball, now he finds Turko alone, but Campbell's defensive strategy still represents a problem to the All Greens as Valladares now defend with 5 players, even so Turko manages to find a space in the overcrowded Valladar back and he shoots! But Fuentes catches the ball! An interesting chance for Darmen, regardless."

JP: "Well, despite being trailing by 2 and having now kind of a high mountain to climb and make a comeback, this Darmeni side are showing some positive things, like spirit for example. It is yet to be seen whether that'll help them to turn things around, though."

80th minute

AV: "...Josimar Son now with the ball, the Darmenis are still looking for the goal that puts them back into the game despite the clock is now against them as well, Patrick Courtois goes to challenge Son once again, and the Darmeni player passes the ball back. However, Morantes finds the ball first, beating Luca Cormio to it and now starting another counterattack which may be look dangerous considering how tactically open the Darmenis are now. Morantes rushes with the ball to the goal while the attacking trio go ahead once again, the Ulsa player passes the ball to Pedrinho, who is now mark-free and...HE SENDS IT HOME! And it's a GOAL! GOAL! GOAL! GOAL! GOAL for Valladares! Pedrinho with his second goal of the day! A great counter started by Rubén Morantes was finished by the Polarian-based striker with such quality! What a goal! And what a celebration from the roughly 23,000 Valladars present at the stadium! And now, after 80 minutes we're 3-0. Valladares THREE, Darmen NIL. Jens with the commentary!"

JP: "I think this is over. Just like the first goal, this one was born from a Darmeni mistake, rounded up with that characteristic speed of the Valladar players. And there was no need to read the rival minds, because they were already too tired to think what gimmick would the Valladars think of this time. Pedrinho gets yet another brace, just like in the début against Bonticello and the team have scored 3 goals today. There's no way nor time for Darmen to turn this around in the remaining time, there's only time for them to score a consolation goal but they can already forget about winning this game."

88th minute

AV: "And the ball is now being controlled by Tor Tong Lee, who has been booed throughout the duration of the match by the Valladar fans, who are now overwhelming majority at the stadium as their Darmeni counterparts started leaving after Pedrinho scored the 3-0, and Lee tries to pass the ball forward to Adam McKay, but it's Freddy Edwards the one who gets the ball before McKay could touch it, Edwards now decides to pass it back to Fuentes.....but looks like it's gone too strong and it's an own-goal. Valladares three, Darmen one."

JP: "Well, stuff like this happens. No-one is free from misfortune at any time and it was Edwards' turn today. But this own-goal should do nothing to overshadow the meaning of an important win against a direct rival for the group's top spot like Darmen, even though our goal difference takes a little blow by this. Game on."

Full time

AV: "And it's over! Valladares have now won four out of four with this important win here in Rogerton! 3 to Valladares, 1 to Darmen, what do you think about the way this game went, Jens?"

JP: "A fully deserved win in my opinion. La Nacional was intelligent, knew to wait for the perfect moments to hit, and what a kind of hits they inflicted! Pedrinho scoring twice and showing why he's one of the best strikers in the multiverse as of now, both goals made out of different kind of mistakes commited by the Darmenis during the match, and Gignac leaving them in shock with his goal right after Pedrinho's opener. It could've been a perfect match for Dimitri Campbell and his guys had Edwards not scored that own goal in the dying minutes, but still all good on our front."

AV: "And now, what do you think went wrong for Darmen tonight?"

JP: "You can agree with me that the Darmenis made a good job in the first half hour of play, I think the two consecutive goals after that demoralized them to an extent and made sure they would have a hard task to achieve in order to come back with three. But other than that, I think their lack of creativity and firepower in the front line also doomed them as Luis Fuentes and the defense were hardly at risk, even though they kept on knocking the door for the whole match, even when trailing by three. When they found the goal, it was a little bit too late anyways, Valladares had already killed the affair with the 3-0 and ensured the three points would return to Metropolis with the team."

AV: "Well, time's now up! La Nacional has got an important win in Darmen which keeps them in command of Group 23 with 12 points, and you watched it here on TV1. Tune in us next time for our return to Dragon Stadium to face Queer Poco el Mono Ara, in the next matchday of World Cup qualifiers. We're Augusto Valverde and Jens Parker, and we're grateful with you for having accepted our broadcast into your homes. Thank you and goodnight."

[The Archregimancy]

"....news of unprecedented unrest coming from the Archregimancy. We now join our correspondent Jerome Comneno in the Archregimancy, at the Holy Monastery of Iviron."

"Thank you, Nicephorus. Let's look again at the footage of the extraordinary scenes last night as monks affiliated with the Monastic Football Association attempted to fight their way through the security cordon put in place to stop MFA representatives from accessing the ground during the Hicana match."



"There are increasing reports of injuries as the fighting intensified - though most are minor given that broomsticks remain the primary weapons. Nonetheless, the secular authorities, acting under instructions from the Office of the Archregimand, have set up first aid stations to deal with the injuries."



"It remains unclear why these injuries are not healing immediately, as is usual practice in the Archregimancy (except when deliberate acts of penance are being undertaken), though rumours abound that the Holy Synod and the secular authorities are deliberating withholding access to instantaneous Dreamed Realm miracle healing from MFA representatives."

"The situation threatened to escalate as still unverified images of what appear to be secular special force police - presumably on loan from the Holy Empires Special Bureau of Imperial Security - fighting with broomstick-wielding monks emerged overnight from anonymous sources close to the MFA."



"The Holy Synod has refused to comment on what it refers to as 'old calendarist propaganda', issuing a statement reading that 'all necessary measures are being taken to protect visiting teams from the sort of abuse directed towards Cosumar on the first matchday while a committee of senior hierarchs investigates recent statements from the MFA anathematising the Holy Synod, the Holy Empire, the Patriarchate, and the World Cup Committee'."

"The Holy Synod later released a picture of committee members visiting the katholikon of the Holy Monastery of Iviron and inspecting the monastery the day after the match, also preparing to interview visiting supporters from Hicana who were given leave to remain in the Archregimancy overnight so as to facilitate the investigation of the MFA's recent activities."



"Concerns are growing of further escalation of the difficult and tense situation as rumours grow that the Synod will ask the Archregimand, on behalf of His Imperial Majesty, to declare the chrysobull governing the activities of the MFA invalid, allowing the Synod to replace the senior MFA hierarchs with a new football governing body if the MFA continues to stand by its unilateral anathemas. I have obtained an image of the original chrysobull, which quite clearly grants the MFA internal autonomy in sporting matters, though no mention is made of its right to call councils on theological issues."



"A sense of superficial calm has returned to the Monastic Republic this afternoon following yesterday's match - which ended in an unexpected 1-1 draw - but the situation clearly remains tense."

"I'm Jerome Comneno, reporting for the Holy Empire News Network - and now back to the studio."

[Felix]

(OOC: Going to take a break from my Corvidae series.)

World Cup 69 Qualifiers: The Tale of Two Keepers
By: Oscar Cardozo

As Felix gets closer to their Group 20 marque match up against Super-Llamaland we here at The National would like to take a look back at the ongoing goalkeeping battle between the old and the new. On one side we have the very patient goalkeeper of Royals FF. Tryggve Klemens was originally a Sieberg player but left the club after signing a lucrative deal with the Vanersholmare club. Now despite his place in a up-and-coming league he caught the attention of Ishikawa Haruka, the head national team coach. Klemens since joining Vanersholm's Liga 1 has won the award for best goalkeeper twice and has gotten foreign player of the year once. Even though that league isn't a Felixian one that has to mean something right?

According to Ishikawa it did. He was placed as starter after Kiki Nuremburg struggled in the pre World Cup warm up championship, The Phoenix Cup. She allowed a lot of goals and because of the impending retirement of Hartwin Kirchner she had no choice but to bring the experienced goalkeeper that was Klemens. Klemens got his start in the Felixian Invitational and has since done splendidly well allowing only two goals in three games and while he allowed another two in the finals against The Inevitable Syndicate Klemens was still seen as a favourite to maintain the job between the sticks.

Enter Kiki Nuremburg. Now we said that she struggled during the friendly season between the Campionato Esportiva and Felixian Invitational but the fair minded Ishikawa gave Kiki of Trieste a second chance. The national team coach of Mizuyuki let Kiki start the first three qualifying games against Ceni, Western European Republic and Costa de Ouro respectively. And from a neutral's perspective (well at least a neutral for the goalkeeping race) she did quite well. In the 3 games she only allowed 5 goals, 2 of them were caused by defensive errors from newer folks Ishikawa tried out. So technically she only allowed 3 goals in three matches. That's one goal per match. Not bad.

Now while recent performances gave Kiki a fighting chance the reemergence of Klemens was apparent in the Subspace Embassy match. He dominated the box. He was tall and scared away the unskilled forwards of the Subspacian team. The only goal allowed? A once in a while marvelous free kick from a unnamed player from the losing side. Klemens is expected to start in the Quackmybush match where he will once again be a figure in the team. But does that mean Klemens has the job for the match against Super-Llamaland? No, not necessarily. Despite his big presence in the box, Kiki has something Klemens doesn't have. Counterattack set up ability.

Yup, Kiki Nuremberg makes up that lack of a presence in the box with a venomous throw that can go far and reach the playmaking machine that is the Felixian midfield. It was because of her that Felix scored 2 goals in the space of 10 minutes against Costa de Oro. The opposing team would charge and take a hit and Kiki would respond with a impressive throw to set up the counter attack and give Felix a well deserved three points. So it looks like the battle is tipped to her favour, but wait, there is another twist to this battle of the two German based goalkeepers.

Klemens is tall. How tall you might ask? Try 6'6. You read right, the former Sieberg man is 6 foot flipping 6 that's tall. In comparison? Kiki is only a "mere" 6'0. Now 6'0 is tall (that's a inch taller than me) but that isn't as tall as big man Klemens. So another check to Klemens. Or so with thought. While looking at the tapes of both of their club days Kiki stands out. Why? Because she has a scary good jumping ability, so Kiki can easily make up for that 6 inch difference with her amazing jumping ability. The always dangerous Fernando Cleto (who is now in Nephera) made a stunning shot from 30 feet aiming for the cliché top right corner when seemingly out nowhere Kiki came out and jumped. Here jumping ability was rightfully noted by the commentators as she managed to reach the ball and give a fingertip save allowing a corner kick to happen instead of a goal.

One last physical(ish) stat is the style of play. Klemens is conservative, he will rush at the striker (hence his excellent inside the box intimidation factor) but he won't literally go out of the box to stop a play. He rather the striker reach the middle of the giant box then attack him. That type of style is fairly common in Felixian goalkeepers both legendary goalkeepers of Real Santa Maria and Sporting Volker deployed that style of goalkeeping play and were quite successful. Kiki's style? In one word. Unorthodox. She rushes for the ball no matter what. She is basically a winger for the defense, which is more of a blessing than a curse thanks to her forward position roots (i.e great dribbling skills). So even when there is a clear break she manages to run outside the box (once again her forward position past is flaring up) and kick the ball out of contention. And while that is very risky 8 times out 10 it is successful.

So do we really know who will be the goalkeeper for the Super-Llamaland game? No, of course not, that is all up to Ishikawa. But we do know this, both keepers present a different type of skillset to the pitch and that is both a good thing and a bad thing. Its good because it can make the team unpredictable against opponents but its also bad because you can make up your mind who you want to play (hence this article and Ishikawa's dilemma at goalkeeper). Now while we don't know for certain who will start my money is on Kiki Nuremburg. Why? Because Super-Llamaland is a attacking team famous for their opportunities to get a chance on the break and Kiki (as you read) is a stopper at those kind of plays. But then again, Ishikawa could choose the more natural Felixian goalkeeper in the form of Klemens he has a presence in the box and that too could help Felix against the attack.

But we are going to have to wait a while before we find out this decision. You see we aren't facing Super-Llamaland yet we are facing Quackmybush (checking if you paid attention) and Klemens is surely going to start so he can contribute his voice to on going battle of the goalkeepers. Wish Felix luck as the team travels to the home of the Quackmybush national team. Despite the easy feeling we got we shouldn't be confident. This is World Cup football anything can happen. Ask Vilita, they lost 1-0 to a Gregoryisgodian puppet. That's all this week we'll be back reporting with a in-depth review of the match. Goodbye!

---

(OOC: Okay maybe I can do a little bit of the Corvidae line.)

Previously

Glore, Kitsune-Deese

Tamara Van Der Ven wasn't satisfied with just announcing the arrival of the government in exile. Despite the efforts of her associates to convince her the best thing to do is to stay in Kitsune she knew personally that she needed to spread the word of Free Felix in an attempt to rally support around the multiverse especially now considering the heavy losses received in the Battle of Indos. So she asked a old contact of hers if she could privately charter a private jet. Tamara's thinking was that if they had their own jet they could easily hide it from the peering eyes of the FIA that would do anything to take her out. Permanently.

After some hours of negotiation the Free Felixians bought the two year old jet for a very good price. Now Tamara had her jet, but she needed destinations. She already had three sort of planned out, Rüntenbach, Northern Sunrise Islands and San José Guayabal. Those were expected to happen but it was pending approval from their respective governments. But she couldn't just visit three countries she needed to visit a lot of countries if she wanted more funds for weapons and support in the WA. It was going to be grueling, travelling around the multiverse but it was something that had to be done. One way or another, Felix was going to get allies for their cause.

To be continued...

(OOC: So there you have it a RPing opportunity. As you read Tamara needs destinations for her diplomatic tour around the multiverse if your nation would like to be a part of it TG me here on NS or PM me on the IRC. I need at least 10 nations to make this last a good bit. Thank you in advance!)

[United Eastedge]

The Black Heels: Part 1

---

It was a rainy night of late June... The George W. Building was located on the outskirts of town in the little nation of Paldavia, close to the border with United Eastedge. Some workers were there yet trying to finish the large demand of the close of month. A man that seemed to wear a smocking was walking slowly through one of the corridors of the building, highlighting the sound of his heels when when they were touching the floor. Next to him, there was the office of the director of administration, which was an important man for the rest of the workers. Tod Larson was his name but the case, is that he listened that somebody was knocking the door of his office, while he was typing in his computer. He asked many times who was knocking the door, since he always do that, but there was not answer to his question. Then, he rose from his chair and walked toward the door normally...

Suddenly, the alarm clock rang and Lucas Shaw rose from his bed and took a shower in order to go to his work, which was precisely in the George W. Building. Minutes later, he was driving and he saw the building covered of warning bands, indicating that it was prohibited the entrance. It was something very weird for him, since that never had happened something out of ordinary troughout the years he has worked there. So, he decided to ask one of the many cops sorrounding the building, what was happening. The cop replied, "a man appeared drowned with his own blood and his heels were covered with a kind of black sustance". Lucas called immediately to his boss, Tod Larson to his phone, but obviously, he never answered in none of the multiple time he called him. Thereafter, he immediately went to search some information about the notice in his computer accompanied by one of his best friends, which also was working in the same building, Cameron Olson.

When they discovered that their boss, Tod Larson was murdered the same night in which they were working, they began to be afraid. So, both of them went back to the building in order to try to go in although the multiple cups that were caring the entrance. Incredibly, they came in cheating the cop that was caring the entrance. Immediately, they were running toward the same corridor in which the man with the highlighting heels was wlaking through. Then, they opened the door and there he was. Exactly the same as the cop explained them what was the situation like. Lucas saw something white in the black-covered heels of Larson, which was a little paper that contained just two numbers. When both of them saw that, a cop said them to go outside of the building in order to look at the evidence with more detail. In the paper was written "13,2", being something that could be important for the cops, but they decide to stay with it anyway.

[Estope]

Group 15
World Cup Qualifiers - Match Four
Estope - Zwangzug
The Bug House
Twineur, Zwangzug

Estope Manager Sent Off After Biting Incident

Estope manager, Bucky Freezus was sent off early on in the second half of a 1-1 draw against Zwangzug after biting the assistant referee on the shoulder. He was standing near the sideline, the same one where assistant referee Marcus Jimenez was positioned, when the incident took place. After Jimenez threw up his flag signaling offsides on Alex Stark and ruining a goal scoring opportunity for Estope, although video replay clearing shows that it was in fact the correct call as Stark was off by at least 10 yards, Coach Freezus lost his temper. First he threw his visor down on the ground and started screaming. Next he fell to the ground and began to kick and wail his arms all while still screaming. When he noticed that he wasn't getting anywhere with that, he ran towards the referee shouting. By this time the game had started back up and Jimenez had his back turned to Freezus. What happened next was truly shocking. Freezus lowered his head and bit the assistant referee's shoulder. Now Freezus was on the ground holding his teeth while the stunned referee was also down holding his shoulder. All the Zwangzug players and the Estope players, aside from Jacob Lawrence who used the opportunity to take a shot on the unsuspecting goal keeper. Some confusion ensued as to what had just happened but the equalizer was ruled a goal. The head referee sent Freezus off the pitch for the remainder of the game. Head of Estope Soccer, Brian Monte, has issued a statement saying that an investigation is underway and no punishment, if any has been decided upon. Freezus argued after the game that the whole incident was overblown and was an accident. "I was calming walking over to the referee to ask him to keep an eye on the game in the future because he clearly missed that last call. Then I stumbled on accident and fell teeth first right into his shoulder. If anything it was his fault for stopping all of a sudden and then thrusting his shoulder into my teeth." When a reporter called him out on his version of the story by stating that there is actually video evidence that disproves him, Freezus shouted back at him, "Who ever asked for your opinion?" and then stormed out of the press conference early. So far there has been no suspension though and Freezus will be with the team until such a decision is made. According to Monte, "expect the timeframe for the decision to come out not until after this very important game against New Wolfopolis." He later added that if Freezus were to miss a game it would probably be against the overmatched Dawnhaven team on Matchday 6.

Schedule:
MD1: Estope v Star United States - WIN - 4-1
MD2: Barunia v Estope - Draw - 1-1
MD3: Estope v The Blaatschapen - WIN - 1-0
MD4: Zwangzug v Estope - DRAW - 1-1
MD5: Estope v New Wolfopolis
MD6: Dawnhaven v Estope
MD7: Estope v Vunishia
MD8: Star United States v Estope
MD9: Estope v Barunia
MD10: The Blaatschapen v Estope
MD11: Estope v Zwangzug
MD12: New Wolfopolis v Estope
MD13: Estope v Dawnhaven
MD14: Vunishia v Estope

[Torisakia]

Raiden: The Thunder

Chapter 10: Requiem

The skies grew dark and the clouds started to form. It was a silent night in Torisakia. Johnny had just gotten back to his room after the game earlier, where Torisakia won 5-4, and was completely worn out. Thankfully, Mikami wasn't giving him another list of people to write in the notebook tonight, so that gave him some comfort. He did, however, need to contact Cassidy in some way. For the past few days, he hadn't spoke to her, or told her that Mikami wants him to kill her. He had decided that he wasn't going to kill her, and hope that Mikami wouldn't find out. He would pretend to kill Cassidy by making a fake notebook and copying all the names he's written in the original into it, then write Cassidy's name in it then show it to Mikami, while still writing names in the original. He had this entire plan drawn out for it, he just needed to tell Cassidy.

It was around 11pm and Johnny was still wide awake somehow, he was on his computer when he got a Zhkype call from Cassidy. He wondered why she was calling him, as it couldn't be related to anything about the notebook, since Mikami gave out no names. Curiously, he answered the call. He figured this would be a great opportunity to tell Cassidy about what Mikami told him and what he wanted to do.

"Hey, I need to tell you something!," Cassidy exclaimed immediately as the call started.

"What?"

"Aizawa¹ put your name in the list of people to kill that he gave me yesterday,"

Johnny was shocked. Why would Mikami give him Cassidy's name and then turn around and give Cassidy his name? Was it a mistake? No, Mikami keeps track of every name he gives out. Was Mikami trying to have one of them kill the other for some reason? Was he trying to have them both kill each other as some sort of stunt for Kira?

"What? What do you mean?"

"Yesterday, when he gave me the list of people Kira wanted killed, your name was one of them!"

"Did you ask him why it was there?"

"No, I didn't want it to look like I was defy Kira!"

"That's strange, because he gave me your name in a list a few days ago too,"

There was a moment of silence. Johnny wondered if Cassidy was in shock. DId Cassidy already know about this? Or was she clueless like he was about her? The silence finally broke.

"What?!"

"He gave me your name and told me to write it in the notebook,"

"Why would he give me your name if he gave you my name?"

"I don't know. But I think that he's onto something,"

"What do you mean?"

Johnny proceeded to tell Cassidy about what he speculated that Mikami was trying to do by giving both their names to each other. He also told her about the plan he had to throw Mikami off and possibly use the notebook to their freedom without having a list of mandatory people to kill, which in turn would help Kira's goal drastically.

"Alright, seems feasible enough," Cassidy said, in a giddy tone.

"But he can't know about this. We have to be very careful on how we work this plan, else he'll find out we were lying and kill us."

"Right, so what we'll do is: after we 'die', we'll wait two days and then deleted our Zhkype accounts. That way he won't be able to contact us and will think we're dead,"

"Or, once he thinks we're dead, we can turn around and kill him,"

"That's a good plan, but what's his full name?"

"His real name, is Mikami. He uses 'Aizawa' as an alias to some,"

"Great! So we wait two or so days after our deaths then kill him?"

"Yes, that will gives us Pisamikus the freedom to kill who we want without being told so,"

Meanwhile...

Mikami was sitting on his couch, on Zhkype monitoring the call between Johnny and Cassidy. He was able to do this due to using a fake police account and tapping into both of their IP Addresses. He found the call interesting, and their planning skills to be extremely intelligent.

"Detective Adrichem, have both Mr. kelso and Ms. McKenzie ever had any sort of criminal record" Mikami asked, Adrichem was stdning next to him.

"No, neither of them have had any run in with the law,"

"Hm, interesting," Mikami looked over across the room, "Have any of you ever noticed suspicious behavior between Mr. Kelso and Ms. McKenzie before this incident?"

Jessica, Lucas, Tommy, Kristen, Logan, Esa, Jason, and Victor were all working with Mikami and the Torisakia Counter-Terrorism Force on the Kira case. All of this was a setup from the beginning. The police observed that Johnny Kelso joined the Kira Cult a few months ago and kept a close eye on him. They then found out he got Cassidy McKenzie involved, and alerted their teammates. Every incident where one of them "died" or went "missing" was all fake, and planned out by Mikami, head oof the TCTF, to make them and the Kira Cult believe that Kira and his powers were real. Mikami created fake notebook that are said to kill people to give them false power, and acted as a apprentice to Kira to keep tabs on them, and gave them fake names of people to write down and "kill" to see how far they'd take it.

"Nope. No. Nah," They all said. For all they knew, Johnny and Cassidy had acted normal before they joined the Kira Cult.

"Hm, well this adds an entire new perspective to this case," Mikami said, twirling his hair with his finger.

"The fact that they'd go as far as killing an alleged apprentice to the god they worship really shows that they're committed to this. It's very surprising, really..."

"So, what do we do now?" Lucas asked, "Do we go after them?"

"Ehm, no. We should wait and see what they do after they fake their deaths and 'kill' me. If they continue doing this, we'll go after them. If their behavior changes, well, we'll just have to take it from there and see where it goes..."

To be continued...

---

¹'Aizawa' is an alias for MIkami given by Johnny to Cassidy.

[Yttribia]

Context
Even More Context

OOC: Collaborating with San José Guayabal on this RP.

---

The offices of the Corvax Party's headquarter were bustling, and in a hectic state of mind. Scientists at the Headquarters were working on the clock, testing out the latest and greatest innovations in science. However, this was not the case today, as most of these bright scientists were doing research on reach. The reach of a grand, weapon of mass destruction; one so powerful, it could wipe out entire cities in the blink of an eye. It was the nuclear missile. The inside of that small room was crammed, like a war room. There was that feel, the atmosphere was extremely intense, it was one of a war room, but it wasn't. The twelve scientists, watched over by Junior Administrator Brent Stephenson, were all frantic, coming up with extreme numbers for nuclear weapons, as well as waiting for a response from the base in the extreme South of Esportiva. A large, high-definition, television monitor of around 48" inches graced the room, as it hung on the corner of a wall. Hectic screaming could be heard from anywhere in the city, the researchers were that nervous.

"Come the hell on, Max! We've got to get this finished up! I mean, think of the distance this baby could fly! Miles and miles, Max! The countries in our path of destruction are endless!" One of the frantically excited scientists, Dr. Octavia Kirk, was speaking to her colleague. Dr. Maximilian Molinari, a leading expert on aerospace engineering, was the colleague Kirk was speaking with. "Honestly, Max! The entire world is going to be in our hands once we finish developing the missile!" Octavia's emotions were pretty visible, just excited at the thought of a Corvidae multiverse, under Augustin, and the Corvidae Collective.

Maximilian took off his glasses, as he ran his fingers through his salt-and-pepper hair. "Octavia, you know how much I hate being called 'Max.' That's something my parents call me, not one of my co-workers. And honestly, with this research, our missiles aren't going as far as we want them to go. I'll put it like this," Maximilian placed his glasses on the table, right atop of the small laptop which had crunched and calculated countless of bytes of data for the country. "Our missiles, with the technology we have, can go pretty far. But they can't go as far as say...Rushmore, or Astyria. They can go almost anywhere in Esportiva, no doubt about that, but past that? We're going to need 'divine intervention' from any alleged savior for the rockets to be able reach that far."

Just then, an intern walked into the hectic situation room, as she walked up to Junior Administrator Brent Stephenson , and handed him his cigar. "Your cigar, Administrator." The intern's hands felt the slight weight of the imported cigar from Quebec, known as Cheongsangari, relieved from her hands. Augustin takes the cigar in one hand, as his lighter starts to light up the cigar. He proceeds to take a huff, as the puffs of smoke from his cigar come out of his mouth. He turns to the intern, and smiles. "You know...my doctor told me to quit a long time ago, but damn. Those Quebecois know how to make an excellent cigar." He turns away, as he continue to smokes the cigar, while trying to escape from the hectic environment that's making most of the people inside go mad.

"I mean, think about it. When you're trying to keep an entire nation in hand, you have to have a break, try to ease those nerves on your back, you understand?" Stephenson breathes out the puffs of smoke, while the intern starts to cough from all the smoke. "Excuse me, sir." The intern rushes off outside of the room, coughing frantically along the way for a breath of fresh air, while Stephenson looks up and notices a flashing message on the television screen. "Ladies, gentlemen, I think you might want to take a look at the screen." He smiles, as he points to the television monitor and notices the message from the scientists.


>Sent: 11 May 2214
>To: 29.267.829.786
>From: 36.000.000.044
>Topic: Search
>Message: URANIUM FOUND. QUANTITY CALCULATED. MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF IT. ENOUGH TO TAKE OVER THE ENTIRE CONTINENT. FORWARD MESSAGE TO ARMED FORCES. DON'T LET THE PRESS KNOW ABOUT OUR FINDINGS. WE HAVE A WINNER. SEE YOU IN FONTVIEILLE.
>STOP

At that moment, the entire room began to cheer, and sing, and dance. For they had realized the massive amounts of uranium located down South. The euphoria in the room was impossible to measure, seeing as the only problem they had to deal with now was to find the length one of these missiles could go. And with the recent discovery, everyone was optimistic. For the scientists, it was the first time they were optimistic about their nation ever since the Corvax Party took power. For Stephenson, it was a massive boost to his ego, as he was looking forward to becoming the next Supreme Administrator. He clapped, as he saw the scientists discussing among themselves over what this meant for the future of the military.

"Octavia, remember how I said that our missiles might not go as far as you them to go?" Maximilian asked, putting his glasses back on, and finishing the calculation he was working on his laptop. "Yeah, Maximilian, why do you ask?" Octavia was now curious as to why Maximilian had asked this question. "Well, Octavia, it turns out we'll be able to go far with these missiles. Really far." Maximilian smiled as he high-fived Octavia, and joined in on the celebrations with the other scientists. Everything was going swell, and dandy. Brent Stephenson was also celebrating, however, another message flashed on the screen. And the mood went from ecstatic to somber.


>Sent: 11 May 2214
>To: 29.267.829.786
>From: 36.000.000.044
>Topic: Search
>Message: "SCIENTISTS KILLED IN ACTION. UNAUTHORIZED USAGE OF TERRITORY. LONG LIVE SAN JOSE GUAYABAL! LONG LIVE COMMUNISM! GET OUT FASCIST PIGS!
>STOP

The mouth of every person in that room had dropped. Brent Stephenson's jaw could have fallen to the floor at this point. His mouth gaped, as he couldn't believe what was displayed on the screen. "Send a message over to them. Now." He uttered, hoping that the scientists down south were playing a mean-spirited prank. Quickly, Maximilian began to send a message over to the Southern Base, hoping that there would be a response.


>Sent: 11 May 2214
>To: 36.000.000.044
>From: 29.267.829.786
>Topic: Test
>Message: FONTVIEILLE CALLING. THIS BETTER BE A FUCKING JOKE. PLEASE RESPOND.
>STOP

Maximilian pressed the send button, hoping the successful "SENT" notificaion would appear on screen. Much to the dismay of the people inside, a red message popped on the giant screen.

>FAILED TO DELIVER
>COMPUTER DISCONNECTED

Brent Stephenson stood in shock, as he continued to smoke his cigar. However, as his moist lips touched the cigar, a tingling sensation had gone through Brent Stephenson's body. His blood began to circulate through his body faster, and his heart pumped in an irregular rhythm. "T-this can't be..." Brent thought, as he began to clench his chest, and slowly began to fall onto his knees. His pulse began to speed up, as he was in desperate need for air, but just couldn't seem to get it. "T-that intern...poisoned me..." The stunning realization Brent had muttered under his breath took him by surprise, as he collapsed onto the hard floor, dying in a way no person would wish to die. Via assassination.

---

The young intern began to make her way through the building, and began to walk way from the headquarters as fast as possible. She walked over to one of the countless stations in the Fontvieille Metro. As she made her way down the stairs, she met up with a middle-aged man, standing near the lavatory. As she walked up to him, she smiled. "He should be dead by now, sir." The man smiled at her back, and began to walk to the turnstiles. "History shall remember you as the woman who helped bring Yttribia back to how it always should have been. Free." He passed through the turnstiles, and made his way to the train platform, and smiled as he waited to get home, where he housed a growing resistance to the Corvax regime.

[New Wolfopolis]

New Wolfopolis Demolishes Dawnhaven, Pollard Picks up Hat Trick

New Wolfopolis rolled over the team from Dawnhaven in front of the home crowd today, with a 5-0 win. Harlan Spears and Buford Cormier each had a goal for the Wolfpack today, while Nicholas Pollard had three, picking up his first career international hat trick. The scoring didn't start until 10 minutes left in the first, with a long-range strike from outside the box by Pollard. His shot was a straight shot from in front of the left post to the right side of the net, and the keeper didn't have a chance. This would be the only goal of the first half, which left Wolfpack fans worried. They controlled the ball for only 52% of the time in the first half, and didn't look as dominant as they should have. However, they certainly got their act together in the second half. Starting seven minutes in, with another goal from the captain. This time, he crossed the ball to Spears, who faked a shot and gave it right back to Pollard, who was running in on the play and sunk it in the high right corner for the goal. This made it 2-0 Wolfpack. Dawnhaven would have a chance to chip into the lead on a counterattack in the 63rd, but a wonderful save by Zachary Nicholson made that impossible. He dove to the left side of the net and punched the ball from the air, which gave Dawnhaven a corner kick. However, nothing would come of it. Spears scored in the 74th, after a beautiful cross from forward Sidney Pendleton. He was able to slide forward and poke the ball through, showing masterful control of his body. At this point, the Wolfpack were up by three, but they were far from done. On a corner kick six minutes later, midfielder Buford Cormier was in the right place at the right time, and he used his head to drill the ball into the back of the net to give the Wolfpack a four goal lead. And yet, that goal was only penultimate. In the eighty-eighth minute, captain Nicholas Pollard needed one goal to reach the coveted hat trick. He got a great opportunity with a breakaway. He juked the remaining defender and lobbed the ball over the goalkeeper for the final goal in his hat trick. That goal would give the Wolfpack their fifth and final goal, for a 5-0 victory. With this win, they have continued three interesting streaks. 1: a three-match home winning streak. 2: a three-match home shutout streak. 3: an 18-match drawless streak, continuing from the last qualifying stages. The standings changes a little bit today, with the Wolfpack moving from fourth to third. As for Dawnhaven, they're in sixth. And that brings us to tomorrow's game.

This game will be our second-toughest test to date, the dreaded Estope. Their odd 1-0-9 formation was predicted by many to make them defensively vulnerable, and prone to losing because of the other team scoring so many goals. However, their current undefeated status shows that their coach's original strategy for this formation rang true: the more goals you score, the more games you win. (Even though we've scored five more goals than they have throughout the tourney so far. It's still early.) However, in preparation for the game, the Wolfpack have decided to change their formation a little bit: for their game against Estope, they'll be playing in a 7-1-2, as follows.

We talked to captain Nicholas Pollard about his decision to switch the team's formation.

"So, I'll try to answer the questions I most often get about it. First: why switch it at all? We've been doing so well! This is true, but so has Estope. They can score goals. I wanted to put us in the most likely formation of counteracting their strategy, and this is what I believe will work. Second: why is this the strategy that will work? Well, on the offensive front, having two forwards their against their one defender will be huge. Second, they don't have anyone in the midfield, so I think I should be able to cover that quite well. Third, I wanted to put everyone I possibly could to protect the nine forwards they have. However, I didn't think it was necessary to put nine defenders back. I thought this was a pretty decent way to compromise, because once our seven guys stop Estope, we can push the ball forward, have a 2 on 1 or 3 on 1 situation, and almost always score a goal. The third question I'm often asked is: why did you put midfielders back when you could've put sub defenders in? I think it's important to have people with starting experience as starters. They as players have certain skills that have been crucial to our winning lately, and I don't want to put in guys that have played a few minutes here and there. Plus, the midfielders that are playing back are in the front of the back, so if any of our defenders need to go up to help with an attack, it would be our previous midfielders."

You can watch the game live on NWSN, broadcast from lovely Inzer-Bare Stadium in Twin Brooks, Estope.

[Brenecia]

By what measure was a league successful?

You could argue that the most successful leagues were the strongest, no matter what. The best thing for a country was to have the strongest league possible, no matter how many foreign stars had to come. But that came with its own risks. Local talent could be overshadowed, plastic fans attracted from overseas to chase the successes. And all too often, even as the top tiers swam in glamour and riches, things became grim and dark and neglected further down the pyramid...

But as long as the big clubs were winning, all was well. Thus believed the old head of the FA, Derek Marsden. That was why he was the old head of the FA. Brenecia would never have the prestige or resources to compete with the big leagues, and it was an absurd delusion to think they could.
Danielle Finnigan had different plans. More... realistic, and better-suited to a nation which could only sustain forty professional teams.
To build great things, she reasoned, you had to start from the bottom. Grassroots. So all the money that had been going into the top tiers started to be siphoned to where it counted - youth, the next generation. The convenient rise of youth-centred, aggressive Kingsgrove, and fall of aging, marquee Northern Union, only hastened the move.
Finnigan had never gotten along well with Jon Slatesaver, an aging man who tended to look down on the A-League, and played staid, defensive football with an aging team. Fortunately the last Campionato Esportiva had given her a fine excuse to axe him, after that dismal showing. And it was Kingsgrove's Catherine Bardsley she'd brought in - Brenecia was back to a focus on youth, and with a newfound commitment towards fast, attacking football. Just like Kingsgrove themselves, who had established themselves as one of the best teams in the modern A-League. They'd built themselves on their youth... players like Isadora Cullen and Lyn Crowley. Great players who were content to stay local and build their careers, rather than flee abroad at the first chance.
Because Brenecia's league needed to not just produce talented youths, but keep ahold of them. Not necessarily forever - but there needed to be something to showcase what the system could produce. Players would be developed in the A-League so that they would leave to only the best of leagues, therefore providing, in the long term, a steady stream of high-quality, well-drilled players for the national pool of talent.
The job, for Finnigan, had been done; it was in the coming years that it would pay dividends. In the meantime, all they had to do was wait. That was the thought.

Yet under Catherine Bardsley, taking over a team that most thought was badly in transition, things... seemed hopeful. They were smashing opponents aside left and right. They were even undefeated to date, after their remarkable draw against the Syndicate. If they could scrape together something against Ruentenbach...
Finnigan had always thought she'd been thinking of the long-term picture. She'd never anticipated short-term success. But the idea of qualification at the first time of asking for her experiment... the very thought filled her with intense pride.
It really was coming together. And maybe, just maybe, they wouldn't have to wait for the results.

[Northern Sunrise Islands]

RADIO ESPORTIVA
Chapter 4, Season 4: Achievement Pending

Audio: Sunrise! Haven't you heard Redblack calling you?
Sunrise: He called me?
Redblack: Mhrm.
Sunrise: ...Eh, can't you lower your mask, man? I can't hear a damn thing.
Nev: You'd rather not.
Sunrise: Why?
Audio: Well, if you want us to demonstrate.

Audio took a cigar out of his pocket, raising Sunrise's eyebrow as he could only watch Redblack taking said mask off, revealing a flaming skull behind it. It would then spit a ball of fire that would land near Sunrise's feet, causing him to step back. Audio proceeded to light the cigar over it and take a quick breath of its' smoke while Nev returned with a fire extinguisher to put out the fire. The hooded teenager proceeded to put his mask on again.

Audio: To be entirely honest with you, this shocked me out at first too but it gets handy.
Redblack: Mhrmhrmhrmhrmrhm.
Sunrise: What did he say?
Nev: He said he's free for any barbecues if you don't want to spend too much time taking care of the grill.
Sunrise: Well, so what do you people want?
Redblack: Mhmrmrmrhmrhm.
Audio: A delivery to Esportiva. He said he could drive it there.
Nev: But he sitll have a couple of cars to paint, so you're the one doing that instead.
Sunrise: Well, that's fine, I-

Hours later, Sunrise is at home, playing the Dream while Dainer watches, the least bit pleased.

Sunrise: Happy Birthday, man.
Dainer: You screwed up my birthday gift.
Sunrise: Well, it's my first time driving anything and-
Dainer: FIRST TIME!? WHAT THE HELL.
Sunrise: Hey, there's always next year.
Dainer: You're paying a new one.

The cellphone rings, Sunrise accepts the call, hears a lot of laughter at that particular room and Mikoto, slightly concerned.

Mikoto: Sweetheart.
Sunrise: Yes, Mikoto?
Mikoto: I... I kinda told them that you can't sleep without a hot cup of milk.
Sunrise: ...Well, that's just smashing. Isn't it?
Mikoto: Well, look on the bright side. At least, now they know more about you.
Sunrise: *sigh* I have a feeling I'm going to hate this season.

[Blouman Empire]

THE EMPIRE TIMES

Betting Scandal

The FFB has announced four professional players have been suspended following revelations that they placed bets on a number of high profile football games. It is understood that no players placed bets on games they were involved in but the FFB stands firm to its anti-corruption policy and players code of conduct. The four players listed by the FFB are Henry Fowler, Raymond Cox, Joesph Luckser and international player Jack Hyslert and are barred from playing in FFB for six months. There has been no word yet from the players but Henry Fowler's club issued a press statement defending their player "We disagree with the harsh sactions from the FFB neither the club or the coaching stuff was contacted regarding this. We will be appealing the ruling." The statement went on to condemn footballers betting on the sport and reiterated that they are unhappy with the way the investigation was handled.

The FFB are remaining firm with FFB Chairman Baron James Salrow speaking at a press conference "The FFB will always hold its members to the highest standard and will stamp out any corruption or potential for corruption. These four players and their clubs are well aware of our code of conduct and we will not compromise the integrity of the game or of this federation". It is understood the investigation started six months ago over a number of bets allegedly placed by the players, all of the bets were placed on games the players were not involved in and all were under 10 Herzogs. While the FFB have come out and already suspended four players they have said that investigations are continuing on a number of players and club officials. The FFB stressed that the problem is not wide spread but will continue to monitor the betting activity of all players along with club and match officials.

The hardest hit of the four players will be Jack Hyslert who only last week made his international debut for the Blouman Empire against Green Highland. Hyslert who excelled in the game setting up both goals was being touted as a future starter and was planned to continue to be a major part of the Eagles campaign in their current world cup qualifying cycle. Blouman manager Henry Emergaton is reportedly unhappy with the unexpected change in his team the day before they were to fly out to Red Blackiland with captain Hamish Alpin saying a few words to the press "Jack is a good player we are going to miss him. It's a good warning to all players on what can happen if we get involved in dirty habits". Emergaton is yet to announce a replacement and will fly to Red Blackiland a man short but with a six month suspension, Hyslert won't be eligible to play for the team until the start of the play-offs.

[Alasdair I Frosticus]

Scores

Dear Feministvs Sanctvsterra chapettes

Thank you for your recent letter regarding accreditation of the Saintland national football team.

We refer to to Subclause 46 of Paragraph 29 of Section XIX of Part B of the contract governing the hosting of World Cup 69, as signed by the relevant host bodies in the Holy Empire and Apox on the one hand, and the World Cup Committee on the other.

Said contract clearly states that decisions regarding the accreditation of national teams are a matter for national associations; sanctions against a national association (as opposed to team) are a matter for the WCC, and not the World Cup hosts.

We would also refer you to the Holy Empire's longstanding policy of non-involvement in Ordinary Reality matters.

Sincerely Yours,

Theodora Lascaruso
Holy Empire Football Association

PS: Are you sure that your organisation would find the theme of the present tournament entirely to your organisation's liking if you were to both qualify and represent Saintland? Perhaps this is all for the best....

[Kinitaria]

ATALIRA VOČA
"The Voice of Freedom"
Production of the Kinitar Patriotic Front - Osaniča District Corps

An Open Letter to the Peoples of the World
It is almost exactly a century now that the Kinitar people have toiled under some form of dictatorship. The name of the leader may have changed, the name of the system may have changed, but the fundamental principle remains that the people of Kinitaria, a proud culture with a noble tradition stretching back millennia, have not been able to enjoy the simple rights and liberties that so many of their countrymen gave their lives to secure. Such a situation is an abomination against the natural order of things.

Atalira Voča is the official party publication of the Kinitar Patriotic Front. Normally, it is produced exclusively in the Kinitar language. This edition has been specially commissioned to be translated into English so that we might more easily bring news of our plight to those who may be able to help us in our hour of need, as well as to furnish interested individuals with relevant information as the situation in Kinitaria unfolds. We have also written this special press release, which we intend to be distributed as far as we can take it, which contains vital information that may be of interest to the international community.

Several weeks ago, while on a diplomatic visit to Mizuyuki, the self-styled "Premier" of Kinitaria, Irin Kucinič, was shot and fatally wounded in the nation's capital, Kirayuki. The remnants of Kucinič's unlawful government has levelled blame for this killing against the government of Mizuyuki. On behalf of the Kinitar people, the Kinitar Patriotic Front wishes to extend an apology to the government of Mizuyuki for such undue suspicion. The act was carried out by an agent of the paramilitary wing of the Kinitar Patriotic Front.

While we regret that it would ever become necessary to kill another human being, Irin Kucinič was a unique case. For the duration of his reign as dictator, thousands of Kinitars were brutally cut down for daring to stand up against his government. It is an undeniable fact that, had Kucinič been allowed to continue in his present position, the situation for the Kinitar people would be one of grave danger, with millions of people fearing the worst from Kucinič's extensive network of informants that the Office for Internal Affairs, Kucinič's notorious secret police, had built up.

It is also the case that Kucinič was a tyrant even within his own Politburo. He would frequently argue for the harshest measures to be taken against dissenters and strikers, and there remains a long list of brutal suppressions of legitimate acts of protest by the army under Kucinič. Striking shipbuilders were gunned down relentlessly in the port city of Damaciu, as were protesting students in the capital city of Mi'ato, from whence arose the legend of Sura Malenča. Accordingly, immediately after Kucinič's death, the people of Kinitaria had an increased, albeit still limited, capacity to demand the right to determine their own fate. Some loyal and proud citizens jumped at the chance, especially those in Osaniča, one of mainland Kinitaria's most northerly cities. With the help of the Kinitar Patriotic Front, the citizens of Osaniča were given the chance to rebuild their city from the economic ruins that Kucinič left behind. Osaniča is now the first Kinitar city in almost a century to be governed by the Kinitar people rather than a puppet regime.

Osaniča is a city with an isolated history. It lies more than a hundred miles from the regional capital, Tirinthea, and almost 600 miles from Mi'ato. Having been founded as a small trading stop in the mountains over a thousand years ago, it found its sense of importance during the industrialisation of Kinitaria, when it became an important coal mining community. The state-owned mining company was by a long stretch the largest employer in the region. This meant that, when the liberal bureaucrat Altor Nevus closed down many of the mines in the name of progress, the area around Osaniča was brutally affected. The city receded into its shell, a long way from its nearest neighbours, economically cut off from the capital. Thus it remained, until very recently. Seizing the chance to make their city into the self-sufficient economic powerhouse it once was, the people of Osaniča, who had harboured the free Kinitar spirit throughout years of oppression, wasted no time in declaring themselves to be free once more.

This small mining community, unheralded and crippled, now faces history as the birthplace of the new Kinitaria. Just as the people of Osaniča declared that they would not be subject to a foreign ideology or an incompetent government, in time, the rest of Kinitaria will follow suit. We already look forward to similar declarations from the nearby cities of Tiplesti and Moriča, and we have every confidence that as the wave of liberation rushes through Kinitaria, more people will be inspired to take up the old banner with every passing day.

However, our task will not be easy. The Kinitar Patriotic Front is an organisation that is firmly devoted to the recapturing of the Kinitar nation for the benefit of the entire Kinitar people. This may seem like a very simple concept. This is fundamental to the very existence of nation-states. In our own region, Atlantian Oceania, the Syndicatian people have a nation, the Farf people have a nation, and so on. However, our attempt to put this simple and self-evident idea into practice has led to us coming under attack from two main factions. Firstly, the rump government of the old Kucinič regime, now led by a former communist called Rosa Lisineva. She attacks with rhetoric at any occasion, and has also publicly mooted the idea of bringing in the army to use lethal force against her own people. Truly, in this regard, she is no better than her predecessor. And secondly, the assorted forces of international liberalism, whose poisoned tongues incite so many people across the multiverse to turn against their own nation. Given the chance, they would tear apart the Kinitar nation from the inside, as they already have done to so many other countries.

Owing to these difficulties, the Kinitar Patriotic Front has decided to issue a general appeal. Our appeal is fourfold.

Firstly, to those who understand that a nation is nothing without its people. To those who may be slandered as barbaric, ignorant, or racist, for understanding that the best place for a national community is its homeland, where it is free to flourish and prosper. To those nations who have already taken their fate into their own hands. The Kinitar people stand with you, and yearn to claim for ourselves the same liberty, glory, and prosperity as you have already done. However, the vast apparatus of the socialist bureaucracy, and the disillusioned military force, still stands against us. We therefore request any assistance that you may be able to permit us, for without it, the future of the Kinitar people is a bleak one. However, should we succeed, this same community of free nations will know a powerful, historic and loyal friend.

Secondly, to the Orthodox community. The Kinitar Orthodox Church, established over 1500 years ago, has long been the official faith of Kinitaria. By law, it still holds that status, but this is nothing more than a pleasant fiction created by the successive secular regimes that have seized power in our nation. While it still remains in communion with many other Orthodox churches in the multiverse, its teachings have been corrupted over the years to conform to the political doctrine of the State. Obviously, this is unacceptable. The Kinitar Patriotic Front seeks to ensure that the Orthodox faith, whole and uncorrupted, returns to its primary place as the focal point in Kinitar society. We therefore request your prayers in this crucial time for our nation, that the true faith may be returned to the place of prominence it once had in Kinitaria.

Thirdly, to those who know that the creeping threat of international communism remains a very real and dangerous one. The regime of Irin Kucinič wavered between "officially" declaring that it embraced communism, and not doing so. However, it is certainly plain to see that the repressive actions of Kucinič while in power, the horrific economic mismanagement, and the crippling state bureaucracy that have all developed in recent times are clear symbols of communism. Regardless, Kucinič had strong diplomatic links with some particularly unsavoury communist regimes, and was only too happy to sympathise for their causes in the international arena. Furthermore, the new leader of the regime, Rosa Lisineva, is an admitted communist, and would gladly continue down Kucinič's path. We therefore request your assistance in combatting this dangerous ideology.

Finally, to the people of the world. To those who might see this release, and wonder what can be done to save Kinitaria. To those who ask themselves what they can do if they have no power. The answer is simple. You do have the power. Lobby your governments to support the movement in Osaniča and the Kinitar people. Ask them to take action against the dangerous order of Lisineva. Take the fight into your own nations. Be inspired by the movement in Osaniča, and those nations around the multiverse who have already reclaimed their national pride and glory from the hands of the international liberal elite. And when you do, there will be others waiting to extend the hand of friendship to you.

[The Royal Barangay]

WORLD CUP 69 - QUALIFIERS
Agilang Dilaw to be carried by charter flights; plane to be inspected
by Edric Conciso

SANGTI - Amid the disappearance of Aeroquebec Flight 69 from Sangti to San Salvador, the Royal Barangay Sporting Council (KPMB) has ordered all its sports teams to be carried by charter flights and not regular flights. The agency also requested the Civil Aviation Authority of the Royal Barangay (APPSRB) to tighten security and order airline companies and airport officials to make sure that planes going from the Sangti International Airport will be safe from danger.

The missing flight with 285 passengers and crew is still missing as of now, and more information to be released in the near future. The first flight that will be mandated by this is the Aerolineas Sangti Flight 8095 from Sangti to Green Highland.

OOC: OMG Cutoff

[Barunia]

-posted with the wrong nation-

[The Jasminia Islands]

The Jasminia Islands 1 - 3 Blouman Empire
The Jasminia Islands 2 - 3 Carialus
The Jasminia Islands 4 - 5 Torisakia

Theme music and titles play. Cut to studio.

Damian Easom: Good morning on this fine Sunday and welcome to the Wishwa Kap, you've got it!; the World Cup! Since our Wednesday night broadcast we've had another three very close games. Channing Martel has the story.

Cut to pre-recorded video with voiceover.

Channing Martel: There's no nice way to put it but it has to be said that when compared against the wider international football scene, the Jasminia Islands are very small fish in a very big pond. However that doesn't mean that the New Saints are going down without a fight and out of the three last games, almost managed to clinch a draw in two of them.

First up was the Royal Barangay. An early goal meant they were in the lead going into the second half. However, the New Saints quickly equalised in the second half and almost managed to keep it that way until the last quarter of an hour when Milán Warrick was controversially red-carded for a dirty tackle. A man down, the New Saints struggled against the fast-paced attack of the Barangayans and conceded two goals.

Next was the Carialus Comrades; another team, who like the New Saints are an attacking force. This game did not disappoint for goal scoring and the tackles and passes were fast and furious. Although for a short while near the start it looked like the Jasminia Islands could've taken it, it was obvious from the start that Carialus was the slightly better team and sure enough the pulled themselves ahead and took the win.

Last but not least was last night's incredible match against the Torisakia Ice Birds. With an amazing 9 goals, it was one of the highest scoring games of the tournament so far. The Highlight was no doubt Gaweł Rhodes' sweep from the half-way line which with just a little header from Jahleel Metharom landed safely into the back of the net. However, in the end, the New Saints just could not match Torisakia's 5 goals and ultimately lost.
Cut back to studio.

DE: Thank you Channing. We're going to take a short break here but don't go anywhere if you don't want to miss the breakdown from our panel of experts.

Cut to intermission.

[Electrum]

Part 2 - Day 2 - Investigation 1

After a sleepless night, Justin and Kira just don’t know how to deal with the kidnapping of Rachael. They decide that they have no choice but to represent Kazuyuki in the trial

Kira Mayuno: Morning Justin! What’s our plan of attack for today?

Justin Themis: Well visitation time for prisoners is at 11am, so we’ll get going soon.

Kira Mayuno: Rachael… do you think she will be OK?

Mayuno starts crying

Justin Themis: Kira! Please! I promise you that we will get her back! No matter what.

Kira Mayuno: Please… just help her.

Police Corrections Facility – 11am
It was a dark dusty room.. there was a security guard guarding the door and a security camera poking out of the wall. They were talking through a bulletproof glass through a phone. Kazuyuki Shirai looked one of those pop starts with his wildly styled hair. As he went to pick up the phone, Justin noticed that Kazuyuki grimaced – he was wearing a cast on his right arm.

Justin Themis: Good morning. How are … you?

Kazuyuki Shirai: …

Justin Themis: I know this situation might not be good… as it stands you are being accused of murder, and it seems that there’s a mountain of evidence against you and it’s not looking good for you, so I’m here to help you because I know that I can help save you and get that innocent verdict that you really need and I like to side on the side of justice…

Themis was just one big mess at that point.

Kazuyuki Shirai: I’m done here.

Justin Themis: No – please! Let me represent you in court! You’ve heard of me in the papers right?

Kazuyuki Shirai: Not interested.

Kira Mayuno starts crying.

Kira Mayuno: This is the end of the line Justin! He doesn’t want us as his counsel

Justin Themis: Please! We were told to help you! There’s this guy called Darkshade and he kidnapped my assistant and I want her back!

Kazuyuki Shirai: …? Darkshade?

Justin Themis: …. Fine. You can represent me in court.

Kazuyuki Shirai: Now that you’re representing me…. I guess I could answer your questions.

Justin Themis: How about we start with what happened last night? Where were you?

Kazuyuki Shirai: Hmm.. I guess it was mid-afternoon.. maybe 5pm-ish when I went back to my room which I was sharing with Azai.

Justin Themis: Azai? You mean, the defendant for the Match Integrity Trial?

Kazuyuki Shirai: Yup, that’s her alright. I am her personal assistant…

Justin Themis: And you were alone in your room?

Kazuyuki Shirai: Yup. Not a soul saw me

Justin Themis: And then?

Kazuyuki Shirai: I woke up some time later, and there was a lot of commotion at the end of the corridor. That police officer guy came and searched me, then he just decided to arrest me… I guess.

(… must have been Raynald)

Justin Themis: Wait, why were you arrested exactly?

Kazuyuki Shirai: I pretty much failed my body search.

Justin Themis: What did they find on you?

Kazuyuki Shirai: I was wearing my red jumper and they found a bloodied button there. I swear I have never seen that button before.

Justin Themis: Do you have any relation to the victim?

Kazuyuki Shirai: Sorry, I don’t really have anything to do with him. I have no reason to kill him.

Justin Themis: Are you sure?

Kazuyuki Shirai: Please, trust me. I have no idea why they think I did it. I didn’t actually murder him.

Kira Mayuno: I don’t think he’s lying. Let’s just leave.

Justin Themis: I get those vibes to. I don’t think we can get any more information. Thank you for the help.

Kazuyuki Shirai: The trial starts tomorrow. I hope you get me off the hook.

Justin Themis: TOMORROW? But they just arrested you!

Kazuyuki Shirai: Yeah, apparently they’re trying out the new inquisi whatever system tomorrow, and this trial is the guinea pig.
(Shit. How on earth are we supposed to prepare for this?! It’s now guilty until presumed innocent! What has the world gone to?)

Kira Mayuno: Time to start looking now! The only way we can get him off the hook is to find someone else that is guilty!

(Of course, Kira thinking ahead)

Justin Themis: OK. Let’s return to the scene of the crime.

Centralis Hilton – 12pm

Security Guard - Angel Meyer: Hey! Stop! It’s YOU!

Justin Themis: Yes it is us Angel.

Angel Meyer: So it’s true. You’re defending the guy who killed Jack Hughes. You sick, twisted man. Have you no shame?

Justin Themis: Um err…

Kira Mayuno: Best to leave her alone for now. Who knows what that batty witch might say to us next.

Justin Themis: Agreed.

2nd floor – Azai and Kazuyuki’s Room

Kira Mayuno: Where are we?

Justin Themis: This is the room where he was staying at.

An Asian lady sits at the chair overlooking a window. She sighed deeply before turning around to greet the two visitors.

???: Do you need help with anything?

???: Oh. You must be Kazuyuki’s lawyer. Come on in.

Justin Themis: How did you know?

???: It’s only logical. The trial starts tomorrow. You’re here to investigate and gather as much evidence as possible. So you came here, the scene of the crime. Or more exactly, your client’s room.

Kira Mayuno: Who are you?

Azai Kanon: I am Azai Kanon. I suppose the first thing you want to know was, where was I during the murder?

Justin Themis: I think that would be a great start.

Azai Kanon: This I will tell you. I accompanied Kazuyuki throughout the day. He’s my assistant, you know? We were just relaxing, enjoying the Centralis scenery about that trial we were going to have today. We had dinner here in this room when we came back, then he went to sleep.

Azai Kanon: Of course, I knew about Hughes’s press conference as well, so I went to the lobby to find him, leaving Kazuyuki in this room. I also had some errands to run as well in preparation for the cancelled trial. It was about 7-ish when I came back to this room, then I went to visit Jack Hughes as I didn’t see him in the lobby..

Justin Themis: Is this where you found.. his corpse?

Azai Kanon: ….

Kira Mayuno: Best to leave her alone on those matters… she saw a dead body Justin. That’s all we need to know for now.

Justin Themis: Do you have any ideas as to why Hughes was murdered?

Azai Kanon: I don’t know? I have no idea why someone would kill him!

Justin Themis: I was just asking if you have any id—

Azai interrupted him abruptly.

Azai Kanon: Sorry, but I don’t have anything else to add.

Kira Mayuno: Great. Way to go Justin, way to upset her.

Justin Themis: Arrrgh. Fine. We’ll just let her go back to sighing. Let’s go check out the scene of the crime, shall we?

2nd floor – Jack Hughes’s room

Det. Raynald: Oh! What happened? Has the kidnapper contacted you again?

Justin Themis: No. He hasn’t… said a word ever since yesterday.

Det. Raynald: Trust me, we’re doing all we can. We’re trying to trace the radio signals as we speak. Please, just hang in there.

Det. Raynald: I’ll help you the only way I know how. I’ll let you… you know… investigate the crime scene.

Justin Themis: Are you sure?

Det. Raynald: Yes. I’ll allow it. I miss Rachael’s smile. Keep it quiet please... I don't want to get disciplined for letting you in the crime scene

Kira Mayuno: Let’s get cracking, Justin!

Justin Themis: Look at this mess in the lounge room. The TV is still blaring and there’s a lot of junk on the floor. I think this was where the struggle happened.

Kira Mayuno: Justin, over here!

Justin Themis: What is it Kira?

Standing on the table by itself was a wine bottle.

Justin Themis: How strange. This looks out of place, doesn’t it?

Kira Mayuno: I don’t get it.

Justin Themis: Everything is scattered all over the floor, everything’s been wiped off the table, everything that is, except for this bottle. This could be a vital piece of evidence.

EVIDENCE: WINE BOTTLE – A dark green bottle that has been corked.

Kira Mayuno: I was watching CSI a few days ago… and they found some evidence under the bed. Let’s try that? A lucky fluke?

Justin Themis: Good idea. Let’s see…. What’s this? A wig?

EVIDENCE: WIG – Resembles Kazuyuki’s hair.

Justin Themis: Hey Detective! Look what we found here!

Det. Raynald: Aha! Nice work Justin. Leave it there for the time being.

Justin Themis: Hey, Mark, do you know what killed that poor fellow?

Det. Raynald: Hmm. It’s not a hundred percent clear yet, but here’s a picture of the crime, as pictured before we removed the body.

Justin Themis: Kira… you may want to avert your eyes for this one.

Raynald hands over a picture of the crime scene. There is red blood everywhere… and a knife in Jack Hughes’s chest.

Justin Themis: Knife.

Det. Raynald: That looks like the murder weapon. It’s been analysed for fingerprints as we speak. We should be able to extrapolate who the murderer is from that. Looks like they’re Kazuyuki’s prints as well.

Justin Themis: Why was he arrested?

Det. Raynald: We have evidence. What we’re thinking was that there was a fight in this room. In the fight, a button from Jack Hughes’s shirt fell off… and it was found in Kazuyuki’s jumper. And… there was a witness as well.

Justin Themis: WHAT? WITNESS? WHO?

Det. Raynald: I don’t think you’re going to like this… but…. it was… Angel Meyer.

Kira Mayuno: No! Why her??? Why did it have to be her???

Det. Raynald: Anyways, we have a solid case. Uh oh… I can hear her walking down the corridor…

Justin Themis: Who is it? What do you mean?

Det. Raynald: It’s prosecutor… Aitkens. Uh oh… Scram! If she sees you here then I’m done for!

Prosecutor Aitkens: Aha! You fool! You, Justin Themis, have gone too far! Trying to steal my evidence and colluding with this detective! Oh this isn’t over Justin Themis, I swear I will beat you in court, and will die trying if I have to!