World Lacrosse Championships 23: Everything Thread

[Associated Godlands]

Cut off! the heads of shellfish-eating heathens!

Song

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Group A
Associated Godlands 12–5 Gim
Ko-oren 9–9 Frenline Delpha (10–11 OT)

  Group A                     Pld   W  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Associated Godlands           4   3  1   40  33  +7    9
2 Ko-oren                       4   2  2   47  34 +13    6
3 Gim                           4   2  2   40  34  +6    6
4 Frenline Delpha               4   1  3   27  53 −26    3

Group B
Abanhfleft 17–2 Levivania
The Sword Bloke 19–9 The Serbian Empire

  Group B                     Pld   W  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Abanhfleft                    4   4  0   66  25 +41   12
2 The Sword Bloke               4   2  2   44  37  +7    6
3 The Serbian Empire            4   1  3   40  53 −13    3
4 Levivania                     4   1  3   32  67 −35    3

Group C
Cosumar 20–2 Alphateta
Kaboomlandia 16–16 Oisinistan (18–17 OT)

  Group C                     Pld   W  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Cosumar                       4   3  1   55  19 +36    9
2 Oisinistan                    4   2  2   52  58  −6    6
3 Kaboomlandia                  4   2  2   41  48  −7    6
4 Alphateta                     4   1  3   32  55 −23    3

Group D
West Guiana 14–16 Ferret Civilization
United States of Devonta 10–9 Ethane

  Group D                     Pld   W  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 United States of Devonta      4   4  0   50  38 +12   12
2 Ferret Civilization           4   2  2   39  39   0    6
3 West Guiana                   4   1  3   42  39  +3    3
4 Ethane                        4   1  3   41  56 −15    3

Group E
Nassau-Hessen 12–6 Sioux Lookout
Omerica 13–3 Zovorissia

  Group E                     Pld   W  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Sioux Lookout                 4   3  1   41  40  +1    9
2 Nassau-Hessen                 4   2  2   40  35  +5    6
3 Omerica                       4   2  2   38  34  +4    6
4 Zovorissia                    4   1  3   38  48 −10    3

Group F
Banija 16–8 Minecraft Miners
Britonisea 9–5 Natanians and Nosts

  Group F                     Pld   W  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Banija                        4   3  1   43  28 +15    9
2 Britonisea                    4   3  1   43  35  +8    9
3 Natanians and Nosts           4   2  2   40  44  −4    6
4 Minecraft Miners              4   0  4   28  47 −19    0

[Zovorossia]

EDGE SPORTS: LACROSSE

It's been a rough stretch for the Zovorossian lacrosse team, as they drop three of their last four matches and fall to third with a loss most recently to Omerica, who they defeated in their first match. Bastian Del Calderon scored all three goals in the last match, but Alexandra Zurabiani suffered a knee injury earlier, significantly hurting the offense of the Zovorossians. Word from inside the training camp is that Ryan Acosta is going to be changing his tactics significantly to go for a more defensive style, without Zurabiani, who is out for a unknown period of time.

"We need to be better," Marco Toreli told Egde Sports reporters. "We're not a one player team, Alexandra being out is going to hurt us but we should be able to bounce back. Not a lot of people are expecting us to advance but I think we can pull it off."

[Ferret Civilization]

Maxen watched as the team put in their best effort in their second game against the West Guiana team. They had learned a lot playing against them the first time and tried applying what they had learned playing against the other teams in this game. The defense did suffer a bit from the newer practice, though it also seemed like the attack members came across something that might work with continual practice and skill refinement. In the end this was probably going to be one of the most exciting games they played and won. The relaxation method and having more fun with it worked more in their favor too, though that probably contributed it's fair share to the decreased trying along with the other team having the skill.

West Guiana 14–16 Ferret Civilization

With the this game now over that placed them at the one to one win/loss ratio again. What luck Maxen couldn't help but think to himself as the team relaxed after another game of hard work. They all continued to work real well together, which was also probably really lucky compared to what other teams could possibly be going through to lose to such a team as theirs. The most they could continue to do now is relax and practice. In the end they would take what they would get and be happy with it, and for now enjoy being in such an exotic place to them.

[Alphatheta]

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Group C Results

Day 1: Alphatheta 8–7 Cosumar
Day 2: Alphatheta 15–19 Oisinistan
Day 3: Kaboomlandia 9–7 Alphatheta

---

Standings

Group C Pld W L GF GA GD Pts
1 Cosumar 3 2 1 35 17 +18 6
2 Oisinistan 3 2 1 35 40 −5 6
3 Alphatheta 3 1 2 30 35 −5 3
4 Kaboomlandia 3 1 2 23 31 −8 3

Wytropolis MSK+7 6:34am - In an amazing turn of events, fans have decided that the brand new national lacrosse team--already affectionately called 'Chvalia'--is not entirely terrible.

Lacrosse has, until this year, been a fairly unknown sport in Alphatheta. Interest was sparked by growing exposure to foreign sports networks broadcasting the sport right after coverage of NZEL games, leading confused and intrigued Alphathetians to leave on the TV and speculate about the game. A general petition was raised half-way through the NZEL season, and the Emperor kindly granted permission for a national team.

The bulk of the Alphathetians selected for the first national team have backgrounds in hurling and floorball, two well-loved sports in the patria. We spoke briefly with defender Vissarion Macek, a giant even among his teammates, before the team shipped off to the Associated Godlands in Rushmore.

"We're not sure what to expect," Macek explained sheepishly. "We've been training largely by watching international teams and then trying to do it ourselves. Coach has warned us not to get our hopes up, but we're all starting to get excited for Christville."

After a surprise day 1 victory over the Fiefdom of Cosumar, thanks largely to the adept work of goalkeeper Stephanos Musiał and the impressive teamwork between Tibor Kovac and Ferdi Spellmeyer, Chvalia has continued not to more victories but at least not to any terribly disappointing games. Scores have stayed fairly tight, and fans from the capital out into the far reaches of the mountains have been enjoying cheering for the strange new sport capturing their hearts.

The team is set to rematch Cosumar tomorrow in Game 4. No word yet from Emperor Adam if the team will be allowed to continue playing after this season.

[Abanhfleft]

Part One Part Two Part Three Part Four

No Place For Heroes, Part Five

Chah Rajawhm National Airport
Chah Rajawhm, Gharbambiyah

"Ellie? It's Gerry. Can you be a dear and open up the doors for us? We're bringing in a very big package."

"How am I supposed to open these massive doors just by myself?" Ellie Quest asked through Gerry's cellphone.

"I don't know; there must be some button or control lever there that opens them up. Go get Stan, Denny, Gab, everyone else in there if you like. And quickly! Nando and I are frying to our deaths over here!"

"Oh, go fuck yourself, Geronimo Anthony."

"Love ya too, Ellie me darling," Gerry replied in a not-so-close imitation of a cockney accent. He heard an exasperated sigh from Ellie before she hung up. About a minute later, the hangar doors began to slide open with a rusty creaking noise. As soon as Fernando judged that the gap between the door was wide enough to drive the truck through into the hangar. The rest of the deniable operations unit gathered around the truck as Gerry and Fernando got off.

"What's in the truck?" Ellie asked.

"Do you guys remember how, back in Kuroma AFB, we were forced to leave behind our rifles and stuff because of both weight restrictions and RBI and Air Force regulations?" Gerry asked in reply. "And do you guys realize how vulnerable we are here in this country armed with just our handguns and pistols?"

"Do I even have to remind you of the many times that our handguns have saved our collective arses?" Ellie said.

"Be that as it may," Gerry conceded, "I think we should still have some heavy firepower with us while we're here in Gharbambiyah." And with that said, Gerry unlocked the doors of the shipping container and threw them open. While the others were still staring at the contents of the container, Gerry had climbed up inside and took out a Heckler & Koch MP5 submachine gun from a rack of similar weapons. "There's almost every kind of gun in here, and it's all thanks to your resident cartel boss Fernando Tarrasco."

"Oh, Senor Anthony, you didn't have to," Fernando said laughingly in a thick Spanish accent. Then in his natural accent-less tone, he added, "But it is true. Any and every gun that you could possibly want and need is in there. Feel free to take any and everything that you want."

Ellie then went up into the container with Fernando's help, and then she walked down a rack of assault rifles. "My God, Gerry, Fernando, you two weren't kidding," she said as she took down an Israeli-made Galil rifle. "Where were you going to send all this?" she asked Fernando.

"From what he's told me," Gerry replied for the cartel boss-turned-republican asset, "he was going to sell this to the highest bidder. Who that highest bidder was, we'll never know."

"Not that you need to know who it was anyway," Fernando muttered to Gerry's ear.

"But where are we going to keep all this?" Ellie asked. "Someone's going to come looking for this truck sometime someday."

"Actually, the tractor unit's Fernando's property, as far as I understand it," Gerry replied. "But I'm not so sure about the container. We're just going to have to live with a truck for the rest of our stay here in the Socialist Democratic Federated Republic."

"But who's the unlucky person to sleep beside the truck?"

"You are, Ellie."

"Geronimo Amadeus Anthony, you bastard!"

"You are so lovable when you use dirty language, Ellen Jessica Tallulah Quest."

Just short RPs for me today. Mismanagement of time has left me little time to make RPs before I have to turn in for some sleep.

[Banija]

The All-Banija Sports Magazine
The only nationwide publication that is all sports, all the time!


Marko Babic shoots against the Minecraft Miners

Banija in control of own destiny atop Group F with two group stage games remaining

NEW CENTRA- The Banija men's national lacrosse team took its 3rd victory out of 4 matches at the 23rd WLCs in the Associated Godlands, doubling up the winless Minecraft Miners 16-8 in the 4th game of the WLCs. This followed in response to their first loss of the tournament, which was a tight loss to Natanians & Nosts, with Banija allowing 2 goals in the final two minutes to Natanians & Nosts for their only loss of the tournament thus far. Head Coach Dejan Polek, after two less than impressive victories over both the Minecraft Miners & Britonisea, lit into his team for their focus against N & N. He apparently told his team that is was their lack of concentration that led to many boneheaded mistakes that cost them the WLC game against N & N. They apparently got the message, as they dominated from start to finish in their second and final matchup with the Minecraft Miners.

The first two games of this tournament resulted in tough, hard fought victories achieved by the Banijan men's national lacrosse team, with a 7-2 victory over the Minecraft Miners, followed up by a 11-7 victory over Britonisea. These were both relatively low-scoring games, with goalie George Pieters winning the Man of the Match award in both games. In the first two games, Banija did not give up a single goal during the 4th quarter, showing how their team would finish the game strong. While these were games that they were supposed to win, they had to battle for their victories, especially against the Minecraft Miners, where they only led 3-2 after 3 full quarters of play. Against Britonisea, it took 3 4th quarter goals to put them away, and even though that match was supposed to be competitive, Banija struggled throughout, and many thought that they were lucky to come up with victory in that game.

Their third game, against Natanians & Nosts, was where the Banijans were truly exposed. The teams battled back and forth the entire game, being tied 3-3 after the first quarter, 5-5 at the half, and 8-8 at the end of 3 quarters. The game was hard-fought and tight throughout, as each time one team scored, the other responded with fury, and they could not be seperated until the very end of the game. It took two very late goals in the final 2 minutes of the game for Natanians & Nosts to defeat Banija. Even though Marko Babic led Banija with 5 goals, they still could not overcome Natanians & Nosts and dropped a key game in the group stage.

Dejan Polek lit into his players after that game, and they responded well against the Minecraft Miners, leading 15-3 at one point early in the 4th quarter. While garbage time goals made the final scoreline more respectable, Banija dominated this game from start to finish. Marko Babic scored a goal in the first 40 seconds of the game, and he led the attack against the Minecraft Miners, as Banija dominated the game from start to finish. After the game, with a Britonisea victory over Natanians & Nosts, Banija maintained its first place position within the group standings, going ahead of Britonisea on goal difference and their head-to-head victory.

Banija meets Britonisea in their next match, the penultimate match of the group stage, in a key game that will help decide who goes throughout to the knockout stages, and more importantly, the place in the knockout stages that they will receive. The teams are reseeded when the knockout stages of this tournament begin, so Banija is not only looking to win the group for the first time ever at the WLC, but also to race ahead to the highest seed possible to avoid Abanhfleft for as long as possible.

Marko Babic will be the key to this game. Banija needs to start fast against Britonisea, similar to their start against the Minecraft Miners on matchday 4. He needs to lead the attack well, and needs to not only start by scoring goals, but by scoring goals quickly. If Banija wins their 4th game in 5 matches, they will be all but guaranteed a spot in the knockout stages, if not as an automatic qualifier, then as one of the top 4 3rd place teams in the group stages. Banija needs to focus their mind and all of their energy on Britonisea, who also has lofty ambitions when it comes to this tournament. Banija will be the early favorite, but it will be a long battle against Britonisea for who gets to reign alone atop of Group F going into the final matchday of the group stage.

[Ko-oren]

Ups and Downs in the WLC

In a group with the hosts, a nation we have faced in a different sport as well in the last few days and Frenline Delpha who also show up in sports magazines a lot, the Dragonflies are two and two in second place. The Associated Godlands are first, Gim are two and two as well on third place and Frenline Delpha have been victorious just once and lost three times.

The Ko-orenites opened the tournament very well with two wins. Since that second win it has all gone downhill: two straight losses, not something anyone would have predicted easily being the highest ranked team in the group.

A 21-6 win in the first round was what the team has coasted on ever since: it has skewed our figures quite a bit. This was a win over Frenline Delpha. After a 12-9 defeat over the hosts themselves, hype reached a fairly high level before crashing down with an 8-4 defeat against Gim. And now a 10-11 overtime loss to the team we have beaten so comfortably earlier, Frenline Delpha.

The defence, which for Ko-orenite teams is always famed, falters and leaves open a lot of space for opponents to get open. Then again, the team is made up mostly of Thaulandian players and they play with less care in defence and more aggression on offence, and maybe some more balanced playstyle will get the results as we like them. Lacrosse is very popular in Polaris as well as Thaulandi, but has far more Thaulandian players. The Polarians should be more dominant on the team to change the strategy, which should be the main challenge facing the team in the last two group matches, if not the main challenge further down the road and into the next World Cup as well. As with last World Cup, there simply is too little diversity in the player department.

[Associated Godlands]

Cutoff! Sorry for being a bit later than promised. Cutoffs will return to normal by tomorrow.

Your song! It is good luck to listen to it, preferably many times.

---

Group A
Ko-oren 10–6 Associated Godlands
Frenline Delpha 9–5 Gim

  Group A                     Pld   W  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Ko-oren                       5   3  2   57  40 +17    9
2 Associated Godlands           5   3  2   46  43  +3    9
3 Gim                           5   2  3   45  43  +2    6
4 Frenline Delpha               5   2  3   36  58 −22    6

Group B
The Sword Bloke 9–10 Abanhfleft
The Serbian Empire 12–10 Levivania

  Group B                     Pld   W  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Abanhfleft                    5   5  0   76  34 +42   15
2 The Sword Bloke               5   2  3   53  47  +6    6
3 The Serbian Empire            5   2  3   52  63 −11    6
4 Levivania                     5   1  4   42  79 −37    3

Group C
Kaboomlandia 9–13 Cosumar
Oisinistan 4–27 Alphateta

  Group C                     Pld   W  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Cosumar                       5   4  1   68  28 +40   12
2 Alphateta                     5   2  3   59  59   0    6
3 Kaboomlandia                  5   2  3   50  61 −11    6
4 Oisinistan                    5   2  3   56  85 −29    6

Group D
United States of Devonta 5–16 West Guiana
Ethane 8–16 Ferret Civilization

  Group D                     Pld   W  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 United States of Devonta      5   4  1   55  54  +1   12
2 Ferret Civilization           5   3  2   55  47  +8    9
3 West Guiana                   5   2  3   58  44 +14    6
4 Ethane                        5   1  4   49  72 −23    3

Group E
Omerica 9–9 Nassau-Hessen (11–12 OT)
Zovorissia 20–13 Sioux Lookout

  Group E                     Pld   W  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Nassau-Hessen                 5   3  2   52  46  +6    9
2 Sioux Lookout                 5   3  2   54  60  −6    9
3 Omerica                       5   2  3   49  46  +3    6
4 Zovorissia                    5   2  3   58  61  −3    6

Group F
Britonisea 4–16 Banija
Natanians and Nosts 18–6 Minecraft Miners

  Group F                     Pld   W  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Banija                        5   4  1   59  32 +27   12
2 Natanians and Nosts           5   3  2   58  50  +8    9
3 Britonisea                    5   3  2   47  51  −4    9
4 Minecraft Miners              5   0  5   34  65 −31    0

Green = Clinched group win
Blue = Clinched advancement
Red = Eliminated

[Ferret Civilization]

Ethane 8–16 Ferret Civilization

With that game they were now at a three to two ratio, Maxen looked over all the game scores they had. With one game left there was much more to do now, he would write up his own report on the experience later. The team was busy doing nothing but relaxing now, they continued to work hard together during the games, at least they continued to get along together after them too. They had gotten really lucky with all their wins, it may have run out, or the last team they were going to face just would have overwhelming skill on them. They did learn a lot from the other teams too, though it would still be a long time before it would become effective for them. With all that had happened during the games relaxing after them was one thing they could do well with no contest. Maxen thought about how they only had one game left, and how it seemed to really only be for show now, not for results since that didn't really matter by now surely. Plus they did what they were suppose to do and to him they did it well, especially with what he read from the others.

"Well, one game left. Against the United States of Devonta team... You all have done beyond excellent so far, how do you think you'll do against them." The entire team looked at each other, fully aware of each other's skill level and unity, "I don't care if you all think you are going to lose, I just want to know how you all feel."

Yrjö spoke up, "We are going to lose, we'll try hard, but we aren't going to make it. That team has done excellent, they beat us the first time, they'll do it again."

Vaughn looked at him, "Yeah,the West Guiana team beat us the first time too, we were able to pull through and beat them the second time. Maxen, we all read the same stuff back in The Colony, we also have a chance to at least tie for for place, even if we don't go forward in the games. That is something great, way better than was expected of the sports program and out of us. So what if there is no chance we are going to win, I'm happy to try and lose a little less worse than was expected of us."

With their Goalkeeper's little speech that got the team a little more excited for the highly potential loss they were going to face. At least they would work hard and face it together. For now they all just decided to relax and enjoy the stay they got in this nation.

[Alphatheta]

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Group C Results

Day 4: Cosumar 20–2 Alphatheta
Day 5: Oisinistan 4–27 Alphatheta

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Standings

Group C Pld W L GF GA GD Pts
1 Cosumar 5 4 1 68 28 +40 12
2 Alphatheta 5 2 3 59 59 0 6
3 Kaboomlandia 5 2 3 50 61 −11 6
4 Oisinistan 5 2 3 56 85 −29 6

Wytropolis MSK+7 8:32am - Chvalia continues to boggle the fans and confound sports analysts the nation over. With one game left before the Round of 16, the team has again bounced

After a fairly expected rocky start, the team plummeted on day 4 to a disappointing 20-2 loss to the only team it had previously managed to beat, the Fiefdom of Cosumar. Head Coach Charles Charleson spoke with us briefly after the game, assuring that the team was prepared to rally and learn from the mistakes it had made.

In the wake of the fifth game, it seems that the defeat served them quite well. The team trained tirelessly with Assistant Coach Nadia Kock while Coach Charleson reviewed the tapes to begin properly honing technique. Showing true spirit and the tenacious character the patria is known for, buckling down in the ninth hour seems to have pushed them toward their first victory on day 6 since the first day of the pools.

Game 6 showed Chvalia rocketing back up with a crushing victory over the Republic of Oisinistan, with Tibor Kovac and Heracleitus Poletti scoring most of the teams' remarkable 27 game points. Coach Charleson also gives a good deal of credit to Petia Abt's aggressive defending.

"They're good boys," Coach Charleson reported in a phone interview. "They're learning, and that's a lot of what's important."

[Banija]

The All-Banija Sports Magazine
The only nationwide publication that is all sports, all the time!


Midfielder Alex Rod celebrates the opening goal of the 2nd half

Banija dominates Britonisea 16-4; puts themselves in drivers seat to win Group F

NEW CENTRA- Banijan men's lacrosse scored 3 goals in the first 4 minutes of the match, and after racing out to that quick lead, never looked back as Banija finally looked its talent level in lacrosse. Led by 5 goals from captain Marko Babic, Banija had a dominating victory over now 2nd place Britonisea, and in the process, clinched a spot in the knockout stages by being at least the top ranked 3rd place team. To show the extent of the Banijan dominance in this game that fans have been looking for this entire tournament, Britonisea did not get its first goal until there was 23 seconds left in the first half, after Banija had already scored 9 goals.

Banija scored early, and attacked often. Marko Babic scored the game's opening goal less than 90 seconds into the game, and gave Banija a quick 1-0 lead. One minute later, he scored again, and then a minute after that, he assisted fellow veteran Ethan Zwic as Banija raced out to a 3-0 lead just four minutes into the game. Banija then proceeded to dominate every aspect of the game after that. George Pieters was able to stop a flurry of shots from Britonisea, and with a little luck, meaning Britonisea hit the crossbar 3 times in the first half, Banija was able to race out to a 9-0 lead, before a Britonisean goal in the dying moments of the first half gave Banija a 9-1 lead going into the break.

With Banija's lead so big, the third & fourth quarters had some very dry play. Mostly backups played for Banija, as Dejan Polek tried to use the opportunity to get more players, especially the youngsters, playing time and experience on the world's biggest stage for lacrosse. In his swan song of a tournament, Dejan Polek was able to get some good playing time for his players. After 3 minutes in the 2nd half, George Pieters walked off to a standing ovation from the Banijan fans who filled the stands, giving Boris Sakota just over a full quarter of playing time. For the first time ever, he used a 3rd string goalie in the net, giving 6 minutes of playing time in the 4th quarter to 19 year old Anthony Valnovich in the net. They both played well, in what will be a fierce competition before the next WLCs on who will start in net for Banija.

Some other youngsters made a name for themselves coming off the bench and playing well in the 2nd half. Alex Rod, the 23 year old midfielder, came off the bench and scored the first goal of the 3rd quarter, and assisted on another. 21 year old attacker Deke Papadakis played extremely well, as well as 21 year old central defender Isaiah Bath. A lot of people were able to play in the second half of this match for Banija, as Banija's big lead and continued defensive dominance throughout the match never allowed Britonisea to get anywhere near close to Banija.

There is one game left in the group stages, and it looms big for Banija, playing Natanians & Nosts for the 2nd time, who are the only team that Banija has lost to throughout this entire tournament so far. Here is what Banija knows. They know that a victory will not only win them the group, but a victory will also likely see them be seeded as the #3 overall team in the tournament for the knockout stages, for when they make the knockout stage draw. This will put Banija in a good position, as they will be on opposite sides of the bracket from Abanhfleft, who dominated them 3 times, including twice in Istria, during the previous edition of this tournament. This assumes, of course, that both Cosumar and Abanhfleft take care of business, and they are both heavily favored. A win by Banija and a loss by Cosumar would likely put Banija as the #2 overall seed.

The #1 seed is extremely unlikely for Banija, though it is still mathematically possible. If Cosumar and Abanhfleft both lost, and Banija was able to make up the goal difference on Abanhfleft, who currently have a +42 Goal Difference, while Banija's is "only" +27, then they would clinch the #1 seed. However, considering the way Abanhfleft played both in the previous tournament and the way they have opened the current tournament, we would put our money at Abanhfleft taking care of business in matchday 6 and wrapping up that #1 seed. We also find it extremely unlikely that Cosumar loses, and we are confident a Banijan victory will land them the #3 overall seed.

Now, while things look rosy if Banija wins, there is no guarantee that they will win this game, especially since Natanians & Nosts have already beaten them once in this tournament. If Banija loses, and Britonisea, as expected, takes care of business against the winless Minecraft Miners, there will be a 3 way tie atop Group F, with head to head not possible as a tiebreaker as all 3 teams would be 2-2 against each other. Now, if Banija lost by 9 goals or less, and Britonisea's margin of victory was under 21 goals(extremely likely), then Banija would still go through as the champions of Group F. If Natanians & Nosts won by 10 or more goals, they would displace Banija's perch atop Group F, which they have held the entire tournament. Britonisea passing Banija on goal differential would put Banija into 3rd place, but we view this as extremely unlikely, considering Banija's goal differential is currently 31 goals better than Britonisea's(+27 to -4). Even if this happened, Banija would still go through as the highest ranked 3rd place team, as they would be the only 3rd place team to reach 12 points.

Banija knows that the simplest, and best thing to do, is not focus on all of these possible scenarios, but to go out on the field and win. What happens outside of Banija's game, Banija cannot control, but a victory would put them in the best position to succeed. Dejan Polek said he is ignoring the scenarios, and told reporters simply that 'a victory is the best thing we can do for our chances to win this tournament- and that is exactly what we came here to do'. The betting money is Banija, angry from their previous loss to Natanians & Nosts, and with momentum from 2 straight games scoring 16 goals, shower Natanians & Nosts with a fury of offensive attacks, and they will have a narrow 13-10 victory, which will clinch them the #3 seed for the knockout stages.

[Abanhfleft]

Part One Part Two Part Three Part Four Part Five

No Place For Heroes, Part Six

National Route 1
Gharbambiyah City, Gharbambiyah

Every time that Gerry Anthony's deniable operations unit arrived at a new location for a new mission, they always took the time to establish a network of spies and informants within their city of residence for the two to three months required to accomplish their missions. It had helped them greatly ever since they first did it during the Herencia Española affair. Here in Gharbambiyah, Fernando Tarrasco already had a preexisting network of spies and informants in the country dating back to before joining up with the right side of the law, and he had called ahead to inform his contacts that they were about to be contacted by people working with Señor Tarrasco.

Gerry Anthony and Gabriel de Galicia had driven from Chah Rajawhm to Gharbambiyah City in a Blista Compact, a Japanese-made hatchback from the late eighties and early nineties. This particular car was little different from the other cars driving down the sandy roads of Gharbambiyah; the only difference was that this Blista Compact was carrying in it trained agents of Abanhfleft's Republican Bureau of Investigation.

"If I may be honest with you, Gerry," Gabriel began.

"You may," Gerry replied.

"We should have done this as soon as we landed in-country."

"We did try to do it, Gab, after Colonel Abdulmutallab picked us up. The only problem was that there was no one in the country who wanted to talk to two white males."

"To be honest, no one here really likes to talk to white people that they know aren't from here. We're in the West African South Africa, if that makes sense to you. People of all colors and beliefs have lived here since forever. What we really need here is someone who can charm the balls off a brass monkey."

"Why do you think I brought Ellie with us today?"

"You know, Gerry and Gab," Ellen Quest said from the Blista's back seat, "my day was going really well until you two decided to haul me into this rice rocket telling me that you absolutely need me for this trip only to ignore me for the entirety of the whole drive!"

"Well, to be honest, Ellie," Gerry said, "we really had no need for you until we've met up with Fernando's contact."

Gerry stopped the Blista once he came up to an intersection with the light showing red in his direction. No one in Gharbambiyah with the exception of the Ministry of National Security knew about Gerry's unit's presence in the country, which meant that they had to follow the local traffic rules, a constraint that the private security companies in the country weren't as obliged to follow. As Gerry watched a herd of camels passing down the intersection, Ellie asked, "Why do you always think that I'm a charismatic charming talker?"

"Because you are, Ellie," Gerry replied without a beat. "You really do have a way with words that makes people more willing to do your bidding and follow your every command."

"Yes, I get that, but why doesn't it affect you?"

"Maybe because I know about it?"

"Oh, you!"

"Hey, guys, heads up," Gab called out. "Guy in a gray shirt across the road's giving us the evil eye."

Gerry's hand went down to the grip of the MP5 submachine gun that he had taken from Fernando's "arsenal" and stashed beside his seat in the Blista away from prying eyes. Beside him, Gab's hand also reached down for his M4 carbine, and Gerry knew that Ellie was doing the same with her Micro Galil.

"Yeah, I see him," Gerry said as he saw the aforementioned man looking back at them from a corner shop across the road. "He's reaching for a cellphone. Come on, you fucking traffic light, turn green!"

As if the light had heard him, it turned green, and Gerry quickly brought the Blista to a hard right turn which brought him eye to eye with the suspicious local. Gerry made sure that the local knew that he saw him looking at them before gunning the engine and leaving the area behind in a big cloud of smoke, sand and dust.

"Okay, that was weird," Gerry muttered. "Might've been just an innocent phone call and he happened to be looking at us when he took it. All right, moving on. Where were we supposed to meet Fernando's contact again?"

"Fernando's got his people all over the country," Gab replied. "The contact we're meeting is working in one of the oil refineries here, as they most often do. Most of them are part of the large Philippine overseas worker community here. I wouldn't say that he's got favoritism, but most of his people that we've met have turned out to be fellow Filipinos like him. But that's the thing with Filipinos; they're such a mixed pot of races that they can literally pass for any race they choose."

Honking horns up ahead brought Gerry's mind back to the road, and he noticed a convoy of armored vehicles and pickup trucks armed with machine guns (vehicles called technicals) making their way down the road, and the other vehicles were stopping and pulling up to the curb to give the convoy unimpeded access. Gerry pulled up the Blista alongside a blue truck carrying a herd of camels in its back. "Heads up, high-vis convoy," he told for Gab and Ellie's benefit. This was a high-visibility convoy: guns out and armed and visible for any would-be attacker to see and hopefully put fear in their hearts. Gerry was in a low-visibility convoy, although calling a single hatchback a convoy may be pushing it, but it was still the technical term for it. They also had to pull over for the high-vis convoy so their cover wouldn't be compromised.

"Fuck the PMCs anyway," Gerry mumbled. "Thinking they own the streets of everywhere they are with their armored cars and technicals and shit."

A few seconds after pulling over to the sidewalk, the high-vis convoy finally passed by Gerry and the others. Two technicals led the convoy, which was made up of four SUVs riding low due to their custom heavy armor plating, with another technical bringing up the rear. Gerry watched them all with dull eyes, and then he happened to notice the logo on one of the SUV's sides: the letters G and I with an architect's compass over the letters and a T-square below and a laurel wreath surrounding it all. He remembered seeing the logo somewhere before, and then he suddenly realized what it was. "That's a Group I convoy!" he said.

"What's a Group I convoy?" Gab and Ellie asked at the same time.

"That convoy!" Gerry shouted. "The convoy that just passed us! Fucking hell, this could be our best chance of finding out who they really are!"

As soon as regular civilian traffic was allowed to move again, Gerry made an illegal U-turn and very likely gave himself away to watching insurgents just so he could follow what he believed to be a Group I convoy. Gerry did make sure to stay a certain distance away from the last technical at the rear of the convoy lest they mistake him for a following insurgent and open fire at him.

Gerry followed the Group I convoy for as long as he could, through tight turns and zigzagging routes that were meant to shake off any would-be followers. "Just like in Iraq," he muttered. The convoy finally entered a compound surrounded by walls of concrete dividers, barbed wire and sandbags. The lead technical stopped before a barrier guarded by two soldier types armed with AK rifles. The driver of the lead technical said something to one of the guards on the barrier, and then the first guard nodded to the second guard, who raised up the barrier to let the convoy through.

Gerry, Gab and Ellie were watching all of this happen from a car park across the street from the compound that the convoy had just entered. "What does that sign say?" Gerry asked Gab. The older man read the bright green sign written in Arabic and translated for the others' benefit. "It's the Ministry of Finance of the Socialist Democratic Federated Republic of Gharbambiyah," he said. "I wonder what they're going to do in there," he mused.

"Wouldn't that be something?" Gerry said. "To eavesdrop in on the conversation between Group I and Gharbambiyah's Finance Minister. Unfortunately all that concrete and barbed wire is blocking our view. Have any of you two been in Iraq?" he asked.

"No," Ellie replied.

"During Desert Storm," Gab replied, "but I don't think my unit ever set foot in Baghdad if that's what you mean."

"Anyway, this setup looks just like what they do for important local and Coalition facilities back there," Gerry said. "They've got all these barriers and obstacles to make it hard for insurgents to mount direct attacks on them. Some of the obstacles are also there to make it hard for observers to see who's coming in and going out."

"And your point is...?" Ellie pressed.

"We won't be able to learn anything about Group I just watching the Finance Ministry from here. Either we find a way into the ministry officially or we find someone who works there."

"And we're back to Fernando's people," Gab said.

"Looks like it. Still, at least we know that Group I's still here in-country, and they haven't gone back to Abanhfleft since we came here." Gerry then pulled the Blista out of the parking lot and drove on to their original destination, the oil refineries of Gharbambiyah City.

[Associated Godlands]

It is the final cutoff of the group stage! If you want to boost your chances, listen to this song, so God hates you slightly less!

---

Group A
Associated Godlands 14–12 Frenline Delpha
Gim 9–10 Ko-oren

  Group A                     Pld   W  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Ko-oren                       6   4  2   67  49 +18   12
2 Associated Godlands           6   4  2   60  55  +5   12
3 Gim                           6   2  4   54  53  +1    6
4 Frenline Delpha               6   2  4   48  72 −24    6

Group B
Abanhfleft 24–2 The Serbian Empire
Levivania 7–9 The Sword Bloke

  Group B                     Pld   W  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Abanhfleft                    6   6  0  100  36 +64   18
2 The Sword Bloke               6   3  3   62  54  +8    9
3 The Serbian Empire            6   2  4   54  87 −33    6
4 Levivania                     6   1  5   49  88 −39    3

Group C
Cosumar 8–11 Oisinistan
Alphateta 16–7 Kaboomlandia

  Group C                     Pld   W  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Cosumar                       6   4  2   76  39 +37   12
2 Alphateta                     6   3  3   75  66  +9    9
3 Oisinistan                    6   3  3   67  93 −26    9
4 Kaboomlandia                  6   2  4   57  77 −20    6

Group D
West Guiana 18–14 Ethane
Ferret Civilization 9–5 United States of Devonta

  Group D                     Pld   W  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Ferret Civilization           6   4  2   64  52 +12   12
2 United States of Devonta      6   4  2   60  63  −3   12
3 West Guiana                   6   3  3   76  58 +18    9
4 Ethane                        6   1  5   63  90 −27    3

Group E
Nassau-Hessen 9–9 Zovorissia (11–12 OT)
Sioux Lookout 13–9 Omerica

  Group E                     Pld   W  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Sioux Lookout                 6   4  2   67  69  −2   12
2 Nassau-Hessen                 6   3  3   63  58  +5    9
3 Zovorissia                    6   3  3   70  72  −2    9
4 Omerica                       6   2  4   58  59  −1    6

Group F
Banija 10–13 Natanians and Nosts
Minecraft Miners 12–12 Britonisea (12–14 OT)

  Group F                     Pld   W  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Banija                        6   4  2   69  45 +24   12
2 Natanians and Nosts           6   4  2   71  60 +11   12
3 Britonisea                    6   4  2   61  63  −2   12
4 Minecraft Miners              6   0  6   46  79 −33    0

Here are the final group standings. The top two in each group, in green, have advanced. The third-place teams, in blue, will advance if they are among the top four third-place teams. Speaking of which....

Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
 1 Britonisea                  6   4  2   61  63  −2    12
 2 West Guiana                 6   3  3   76  58 +18    9
 3 Zovorissia                  6   3  3   70  72  −2    9
 4 Oisinistan                  6   3  3   67  93 −26    9 
----------------------------------------------------------------------
 5 Gim                         6   2  4   54  53  +1    6
 6 The Serbian Empire          6   2  4   54  87 −33    6

Britonisea, West Guiana, Zovorissia, and Oisinistan all advance to the Round of 16. The seedings are like so:

Pld   W  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Abanhfleft                    6   6  0  100  36 +64   18
2 Cosumar                       6   4  2   76  39 +37   12
3 Banija                        6   4  2   69  45 +24   12
4 Ko-oren                       6   4  2   67  49 +18   12
5 Ferret Civilization           6   4  2   64  52 +12   12
6 Natanians and Nosts           6   4  2   71  60 +11   12
7 Associated Godlands           6   4  2   60  55  +5   12
8 Sioux Lookout                 6   4  2   67  69  −2   12
9 Britonisea                    6   4  2   61  63  −2   12
10 United States of Devonta     6   4  2   60  63  −3   12
11 West Guiana                  6   3  3   76  58 +18    9
12 Alphateta                    6   3  3   75  66  +9    9
13 The Sword Bloke              6   3  3   62  54  +8    9
14 Nassau-Hessen                6   3  3   63  58  +5    9
15 Zovorissia                   6   3  3   70  72  −2    9
16 Oisinistan                   6   3  3   67  93 −26    9

Hence the Round of 16 matches are as follows:

#1 Abanhfleft vs #16 Oisinistan
The Lord and Savior Jesus Christ Stadium, City: Phelps

#2 Cosumar vs #15 Zovorissia
Christ Stadium, City: Christville

#3 Banija vs #14 Nassau-Hessen
Tailed Stadium, City: Old Centra

#4 Ko-oren vs #13 The Sword Bloke
God Stadium, City: Repenta

#5 Ferret Civilization vs #12 Alphateta
Lacrosse Stadium, City: New Centra

#6 Natanians and Nosts vs #11 West Guiana
God Stadium, City: Repenta

#7 Associated Godlands vs #10 United States of Devonta
The Lord and Savior Jesus Christ Stadium, City: Phelps

#8 Sioux Lookout vs #9 Britonisea
Phelps Stadium, City: Phelps

[Ferret Civilization]

Ferret Civilization 9–5 United States of Devonta

Maxen looked over the papers that he was using for notes with the rest of the team. The all sat there quietly, mostly in shock after they won the game, which was unexpected. They had tried their hardest and it actually worked in their favor. After the game they celebrated harder than they ever had before, and now it was hitting them just how great of a position they were in. This was way more than expected out of a new team like them in a competition like them. Maxen was sure that it wouldn't last, but in his, the team's, and The Colony's eyes, this was a major success. That one point could not be stressed enough, they had learned a lot from the teams they played against, but now they would be going up against teams they didn't know at all again.

Vaughn looked at Yrjö, "We did it, we won!" He started laughing, and soon the whole team was celebrating again. Maxen collected all the little sheets of paper that he had up and let the team have their fun. They had earned it, they had managed to not only do what they were suppose to but actually tie for first place in the games they had played so far. It gave him a lot to add to his notes for his report, and he was sure they would hear about something back. The relaxation method was so far doing great for them, winning four of the six games they played. Now everything would be very new, they were lucky to be the first to get this far in any game. And while they all knew there was no way they would get much farther, they didn't know they would have got this far. So for now they just celebrated what they could and have as much fun as they could for as long as they could.

[Alphatheta]

---

Group C Results

Day 6:Alphateta 16–7 Kaboomlandia

---

Group Standings

Group C Pld W L GF GA GD Pts
1 Cosumar 6 4 2 76 39 +37 12
2 Alphateta 6 3 3 75 66 +9 9
3 Oisinistan 6 3 3 67 93 −26 9
4 Kaboomlandia 6 2 4 57 77 −20 6

---

Round of 16 Seeding

Pld W L GF GA GD Pts
12 Alphateta 6 3 3 75 66 +9 9

Wytropolis MSK+7 8:32am - Chvalia has managed to earn its place in the Round of 16, seeded in a respectable 12th slot. The team is ecstatic, Coach Charles Charleson reports, although it's difficult to tell from watching them continue to practice. They'll be playing in the Lacrosse Stadium in New Centra against the fifth-seeded Colony of Ferret Civilization, who finished the groups with a winning record of 4-2, obviously a smidge better than Chvalia's middling record of 3-3.

Coach Charleson is generally cautious in his thoughts about the upcoming game. "The Ferret Civilization Ferrets are a good team. They're one of the teams we've been watching through this competition. Either way, it will be an honour to play them, and we're certainly going to push ourselves hard for an outcome the Emperor will be proud of at the end of the day."

Attacker Tibor Kovac says he's most excited to meet the Ferret Civilization's Vaughn Ib on the field. He only had a few moments spared from drills, but he reiterated how enthused he and the entire team are for the strong competition, mentioning that his teammates all echoed this very sentiment.

"We're grateful, more than anything, for the chance to play with such a high caliber of players. We're really learning more than we could possibly have hoped about the sport of lacrosse itself, and that's the best thing we could have hoped for from this competition."

Although most of their attention has been focused on the Olympiad, Emperor Adam's office has expressed blanket approval for Chvalia's performance in the 23rd World Lacrosse Championships.

[Abanhfleft]

Part One Part Two Part Three Part Four Part Five Part Six

No Place For Heroes, Part Seven

The Refineries
Gharbambiyah City, Gharbambiyah

The Refineries were what the citizens of Gharbambiyah City had simplistically called the district of oil refineries that had sprung up on their city's northern edge following the privatization of Gharbambiyah's nascent oil fields by their new president, General Isaiah Cabulovowino. An entire neighborhood had sprung up around the refineries to serve the hundreds of local and foreign workers that had been hired to toil in the fields, rigs and refineries. It was a busy place from afar, but once Gerry and his little group got closer, he could see that the streets were almost devoid of any activity, the district's citizens all working their days away in the refineries.

Their meeting place with Fernando Tarrasco's contact with his "network" was at an open-air diner right on the city limits. Gerry parked the Blista Compact a short distance away from the diner and got out of the car with Gab and Ellie close behind him. There was a lone man eating at one of the many mismatched wooden tables outside the diner's kitchen. He was dressed in the dark blue overalls of a refinery worker, and he was eating some kind of gooey soup that appeared to be made of rice, tofu, quail eggs and salt and pepper that appeared disgusting yet seemed to be good enough for its consumers.

The man wiped his mouth with a paper napkin and then offered his hand to Gerry, whom he saw approaching since the latter had parked the car. "Welcome to Gharbambiyah," he said. "I am Alfonso Lastimosa."

"Gerry Anthony," Gerry replied as they shook hands and he sat down across the table from Lastimosa. "And these are my partners, Gabriel de Galicia and Ellen Quest."

"So now we're partners?" Ellie whispered into Gerry's ear.

"Ah, shut up."

"So you're friends of Senor Tarrasco, eh?" Lastimosa asked.

"You could say that," Gerry said noncommittally.

Lastimosa dipped his spoon into his "soup" once again and scooped out a mass of gruel-like rice. "Senor Tarrasco called me a few days ago regarding certain friends of his that would be paying me a visit in the coming days," he said. "These friends of his require certain pieces of information regarding a certain private security company operating within the country. You should know, Mr Anthony, that it is a very rare honor for us members of the Tarrasco Group to be contacted by our leader himself. Not many of us in the group can say that we have heard the voice of Senor Tarrasco himself, as most of his orders are filtered down to us by his lieutenants. This must be a very exceptional case if he has made a call to me himself for this."

"Well, Senor Tarrasco did tell us that you're the best at what you do in these here parts," Ellie said.

"So now it's Senor Tarrasco?" Gerry whispered back into Ellie's ear.

"Now it's your turn to shut up."

"I wouldn't say that I'm the best," Lastimosa said. "I am just good at my job."

"But if you're only good at your job, then why would Senor Tarrasco call you himself?" Ellie asked him. "He must think you're really, really good if he gave you the honor of a personal call."

"So, what is it that you want to know?" Lastimosa asked after giving the matter some thought.

"A private military company arrived in this country a few months to a few days before Isaiah Cabulovowino's coup," Gerry began. "We have reason to believe that President Cabulovowino may have hired them to protect his position during the first turbulent days of his coup."

"And what exactly is the name of the private security company that you're looking for?" Lastimosa asked.

Gerry produced a sheet of folded paper from his pocket. "Group I," he said, unfolding and handing the paper over to Lastimosa. "Do you know anything about them?"

"Group I?" Lastimosa breathed out slowly. "Oh, I wish I could say that I am one of the lucky few that have seen them around in Gharbambiyah. I mean, they're more secretive than the CIA. They're sneakier than ninjas, that they are. You'll only see them if they want to be seen is what I've heard with the rumors."

"That's strange," Gerry said. "Just before we came here, we happened to see a Group I convoy passing us by."

"Then either you must count yourself as very lucky, Mr Anthony, or else Group I wanted you to see them with your own eyes. With your own eyes," he repeated, pointing his finger at each of them to press his point.

"Has Group I ever gone to the refineries?" Gerry asked.

Lastimosa let out a barking laugh. "Guarding refineries?! No way!" he said through his laughter. "Group I will never stoop so low as to guard mere oil refineries! But there are rumors, though. Rumors and talk."

"Rumors and talk of what?" Gerry asked. It was just like a dentist trying to extract a rotten tooth from a tight socket.

"There are rumors and talk of black unmarked vehicles passing by the refineries on their way to the deep desert," Lastimosa replied. At least ten guys working with me swear that they have seen vehicles that they believe belong to Group I, which they can prove because they saw, or thought they saw, the logo of Group I on aforementioned vehicles. Of course, you also can't trust people's memories because they can easily change to conform to what people want to remember..."

A loud and faraway whistle in some refinery somewhere in the dozens of facilities beyond them. Lastimosa scooped up the last of his soup and stood up. "Time for me to get back to work," he said.

"Wait, that's it?" Gerry asked. "That's all that you have for us?"

"Look, if I had more information on Group I, I swear on my family's life that I would have told them all to you. As it stands, I am about to be late for my shift in the refinery, but as soon as I know more, I promise I will tell them all to you. So this is goodbye, for now. Oh, and one more thing," he said as he began walking towards the refineries, "if you happen to be near the Ministry of Finance, there is a man there named Teodoro. He says that Group I pays regular visits to the ministry." And with that, Lastimosa put on his hard hat and walked away.

---

"That man obviously knows a lot more about Group I than he's letting on," Gerry said during the drive back to Chah Rajawhm. "Ellie, what happened? It looked like you had opened him up, but then he's still keeping something from us. Why?"

"I'm sorry, Gerry, but it was that soup," Ellie replied. "I couldn't concentrate because of that slop!"

"That soup is actually called lugaw," Gab chimed in. "It's basically rice either boiled or broiled into a soup. You can spice it up with salt, pepper, quail eggs and even tofu. It's actually very delicious if you can get past its appearance."

"And I assume you know this because you've tasted it?" Gerry asked even though he knew the answer.

"Come on, Gerry. You know me well enough to not even have to ask that!"

"Still, there's that thing he said about the Finance Ministry," Gerry mused. "It's like he somehow knew that we'd been there before."

"Or maybe you're just being paranoid," Ellie quipped.

"No, it's not just paranoia; it's a gut feeling. And gut feelings trump paranoia everyday."

"But Fernando trusts him, Gerry," Ellie said. "Besides, we're not the only people allowed to spy on others, aren't we?"

"I guess you're right," Gerry conceded. "All right, first order of business tomorrow is establishing this Lastimosa guy's bonafides both with Fernando and with Denny. Okay with that?"

"Sure."

"No complaints here."

[Banija]

The All-Banija Sports Magazine
The only nationwide publication that is all sports, all the time!


Fans cheering before Banija's game against Natanians & Nosts

Banija loses to Natanians & Nosts but wins Group F anyways; set to face old rival Nassau-Hessen in the Round of 16

NEW CENTRA- Even though Banija lost to Natanians & Nosts, and with it, lost their chance at the #2 seed since Cosumar had lost the day prior, Banija still won Group F and still achieved the #3 overall seed going into the knockout stages, which is a good place for Banijan lacrosse to be. They will face #14 overall seed Nassau-Hessen in the round of 16, a team whom they faced twice 2 tournament ago in the 21st edition of the World Lacrosse Championships, this one taking place in the Star United States. Nassau-Hessen, being a top ranked team at the time, beat Banija in the final game of the group stages, which ended up putting Banija in second in the group, but Banija stormed back in the rematch in the quarterfinals and pulled off what many considered to be the upset of the tournament, when they beat Nassau-Hessen in the quarterfinals and advanced to the semifinals in their first ever World Lacrosse Championship.

The tables, it seems, have been turned since the last time they met. Ever since Banija last played Nassau-Hessen in this tournament, they have been on an upwards swing. After knocking out an early tournament favorite in the quarterfinals in the Star United States, Banija went on to defeat the host nation in the semifinals, only to fall to Cosumar in the WLC final. Still, things were looking up for the Banijans, as that was their first ever tournament on the international stage, and they had gone all the way to the final and had a very legitimate chance to win the entire thing on their first attempt. Banija has continued exerting itself as a force to be reckoned with in international lacrosse, currently attaining a #4 world ranking, and getting a bronze medal at the 22nd WLCs and having a 4th place finish in men's lacrosse at the Multiverse Games in Centralis, Electrum.

Nassau-Hessen, on the other hand, has been in a downward spiral. Ever since reaching the height of their game, by getting to the final in WLC 20, they have been in a free fall. It first all came falling down when they lost the quarterfinal to what was then the upstart Banijans. Last year, in the Round of 16, they played admirably but, as the #16 seed and the last team into the proper knockout stages, they lost 14-9 to eventual champions Abanhfleft. In retrospect, they played Abanhfleft as well as anybody did throughout that entire tournament, but they still were knocked out very early for their own standards. And now, they meet familiar foe Banija, who was the start of their fall in lacrosse.

Many of the older Banijan players on the team remember playing Nassau-Hessen, and have a respect for them. Marko Babic, the captain, said that "Nassau-Hessen was always a team that had a lot of talent. If you made mistakes, they were going to make you pay for them, and they will do the same even today, when the team is not as feared. Maybe they are more dangerous, as they try to live up to the legends of the past and the deep history of this great team. We need to stay focused, play our game, and if we execute well, we should be able to win, but any and every mistake Nassau-Hessen will make a great effort to take full advantage of it. As they say, we must beat the best to be the best, and we will enjoy the challenge that Nassau-Hessen will give us in the Round of 16."

Ultimately, this is the next step for Banijan lacrosse. They have never lost at this stage in the history of their men's lacrosse team, and they certainly do not expect to do so right now, even though they must play a team with the talent level and skill level of Nassau-Hessen. We here predict a 14-11 win for Banijan lacrosse, a tight game throughout, but we expect to see them in the quarterfinals, likely playing Natanians & Nosts, who have beaten them twice already.

[Associated Godlands]

Cut off. It's time for the playoffs! Let's see where God's will is headed today.

Sing this song for good luck! If the contents don't apply to you, then... you'll need a lot of luck.

NOTE: The actual posting of results must be delayed for another hour or so.... my apologies.

---

Abanhfleft 9–2 Oisinistan

Cosumar 16–4 Zovorissia 

Banija 10–10 Nassau-Hessen (11–12 OT)

Ko-oren 8–9 The Sword Bloke

Ferret Civilization 8–4 Alphateta

Natanians and Nosts 13–9 West Guiana

Sioux Lookout 5–4 Britonisea

Associated Godlands 4-20 United States of Devonta
Scorinated by The Royal Kingdom of Quebec

Commiserations to all those eliminated.

The quarterfinal matchups...

#1 Abanhfleft vs #8 Sioux Lookout
Lacrosse Stadium, City: New Centra

#2 Cosumar vs #10 United States of Devonta
God Stadium, City: Repenta

#14 Nassau-Hessen vs #6 Natanians and Nosts
The Lord and Savior Jesus Christ Stadium, City: Phelps

#13 The Sword Bloke vs #5 Ferret Civilization
Christ Stadium, City: Christville

[Abanhfleft]

Part One Part Two Part Three Part Four Part Five Part Six Part Seven

No Place For Heroes, Part Eight

Ministry of Finance
Gharbambiyah City, Gharbambiyah

Gerry talked to Fernando Tarrasco regarding the reliability of Alfonso Lastimosa as an intel source, and the former criminal don-turned-government agent had said that Lastimosa was on the up and up, even though he had an inflated opinion of himself. Dennis Messi also turned up no red flags in Lastimosa's history, only confirming that the man had been working for various oil companies in the Middle East and Africa, as many other Filipino overseas workers like him did. He had been in the business for more than thirty years already, but it was a thirty-day stay in an Angolan prison for being "involved" in a scam of some sort that had gotten him mixed up with Fernando's bunch. Someone somewhere had told someone that a Filipino was languishing in a jail, and then someone had posted bail for Lastimosa, and that was how he had become a part of Senor Tarrasco's network.

Now that some--but not all--of Gerry's questions about Lastimosa had been answered, he decided to set up the meet with Lastimosa's "contact" within Gharbambiyah's Ministry of Finance. It turned out to be another Filipino named Teodoro, who turned out to be a janitor working within the Ministry and happened to be working on the same floor where the country's finance minister held his meetings with the PMCs working in the country. Teodoro reported that he had overheard the minister saying that Group I was one of his most difficult negotiations ever, even as President Isaiah Cabulovowino had commanded the group to "take care" of the warlords in Gharbambiyah that were still resisting Cabulovowino's rule over the country.

And then Teodoro offered the possibility of giving Gerry and his unit the ability to track one of Group I's vehicles. It was an opportunity that Gerry hadn't expected, and he was more than willing to accept the opportunity. It wasn't cheap though; Teodoro had demanded a fee of two thousand dollars to to do the deed. Gerry forced Fernando to cough up the cash.

Gerry had rented out an apartment overlooking the Finance Ministry building a day after they had encountered the Group I cars in preparation for mounting an observation post to watch over the ministry in case Group I decided to go there again. Ellie Quest and Denny Messi was with him; Ellie to observe the ministry and Denny to track Group I's vehicles down using the custom-built tracker that they had implanted in their legs.

Eliie was standing on the apartment's balcony, looking at the ministry building through a pair of binoculars. Below her on the road, hatchbacks, Warsaw Pact cars and camel herds went about their daily business. Group I had returned to the ministry at eleven o'clock that day, and after six hours it appeared as if they had no plans of leaving the ministry.

"I see our friend, Gerry," she said. "He's coming out to the car park."

"Copy that," Gerry said. "Denny, get ready on your computer. The tracker's gonna go active soon."

"Gotcha, Gerry," Dennis Messi replied as he closed down a video game that he was playing on his computer and called up the tracking program, a piece of software that he had made himself.

"Teodoro's fiddling with his keys," Ellie observed. "He could just be nervous, or it could be a distraction."

Down in the Finance Ministry's parking lot, Ellie watched as Teodoro fumbled with his keys and then dropped them. She could imagine him muttering a curse as he bent down to pick them up behind a black SUV. The man used the rear bumper of the SUV as leverage as he bent down, and then he scooped up his keys, stood up then ran towards another old Japanese hatchback, which he started and then drove quickly out of the parking lot.

"I've got a signal," Denny said from his computer as a familiar pinging tone came out of his computer.

"Really?" Ellie said. "That quick?" She scanned the parking lot again for the SUV near where Teodoro had dropped his keys. Only then did she notice the logo of Group I on the vehicle's sides. "Well, I'll be a monkey's uncle!" she said.

"In your defense, none of us could've seen that coming," Gerry said, mostly to soothe Ellie's slightly bruised ego. She prided herself in knowing the tricks of fieldcraft.

"Damn it," Ellie muttered. "The sleight of hand always gets me."

"Don't worry about it, Ellen," Gerry said to her, patting her shoulder. "Even the best ones get fooled sometimes. It's all part of the never-ending cycle of life."

"Yes, I suppose so," Ellie replied as she returned her gaze to the Finance Ministry.

A few seconds later, Gerry received a text on his cellphone from an unknown number. "They're coming out," he said after reading and deleting the text. "Group I." Ellie immediately traded in her binoculars for a camera with a telephoto lens which she placed on a tripod mount. She then aimed the viewfinder at the entrance of the Finance Ministry and said, "Ready when you are."

"Tracker's armed and ready, Gerry," Denny added.

"Any minute now," Gerry muttered, his binoculars beginning to dig deep into the flesh around his eyes.

As if on cue, a small bunch of figures appeared from the doors of the ministry. They were wearing body armor and combat webbing over civvies, but their most striking features were the black and white kaffiyehs wound around their heads to cover their faces. It was like they somehow knew that Gerry's unit were observing them, albeit clandestinely.

"Dammit!" Gerry said. "They're in mufti. There's no way we can compare them to the database unless the wind blows off the rags around their faces. Shit!" He slammed his fist into the apartment's adobe wall.

"Hey, Gerry, at least we've still got the tracker," Denny said in an attempt to cheer up his boss. Gerry merely nodded.

They watched silently as the members of Group I--ten or eleven of them, by Gerry's count--got into their SUVs. One by one the vehicles drove out of the parking lot, and as soon as Gerry lost sight of them, Gerry said to Denny, "You're up."

"Roger that, boss man," Denny said as he typed some commands into his computer. "Tracker's working fine," he said. "They're on the corner of Colonel Massoud and Colonel Marouane, turning left onto Massoud. They're headed for either the Presidential Palace or the open desert... oh, shit!"

Denny's swearing made both Gerry and Ellie turn. "What is it?" they asked at the same time.

"The tracker's gone offline," Denny replied. "Wait a minute... no, it's not actually offline; it's just being jammed across the whole spectrum. Radio, microwave, infrared, even visual if that's possible. The tracker's a dead end too, boss."

"Fuck!" Gerry said. "How could they be so prepared?"

"That's a definite possibility," Ellie said. "They could be paranoid enough as to be crazy prepared, yeah?"

"So is this just our unlucky day or what?"

"Looks that way, boss," Denny said.

"Well, so much for all that effort." Gerry ran a hand through his hair. "All right, pack this shit up. It's back to Chah Rajawhm and square one for all of us. I didn't really think it would be this easy anyway."

[Ferret Civilization]

It was a tough game for the team, since no one really knew what to expect. They all put in their best and took what they learned from the other teams they played against into use. Vaughn put in his best effort for the team's sake, though everyone else had done the same, the attack members Stiofán and Bearach worked extra hard together, even though the other team's goalkeeper was pretty good at keeping them from scoring. Luckily for them Vaughn was able to do the same, with help from the defense members work. And while the other team did score over them, they had that advantage, one the Ferrets were hoping to eventually fix, since that affected them all and it wasn't their fault for that. Midfield members were finally starting to learn their place and paces, given the fact that games they played seemed to go faster for them at each end of the field. Both the attackers and defenders were fine with that though, they had gotten farther than expected, so something must have been working for them. Maxen watched them play hard, seemed like they had gotten the routine down enough to at least know how to play the game. And the relaxation method worked well for them, since they didn't really need the disciple to work together and they weren't playing hard to win. Hopefully this gave them the exposure The Colony was looking for, it may not have been big to anyone else, but being here was big to all of them.

Ferret Civilization 8–4 Alphateta

The final score once again came as a shocker to all of them, they managed to get even further than expected, by a lot. There was no way they could keep this up, the other teams had the skill, they had to have, this team was too new. Right after the game was over Vaughn walked over to Maxen and bear hugged him, "You did it!" Maxen cried out as he was lifted up, "Yes we did, again!" Vaughn was laughing hard. "I didn't do anything." Maxen said as he was put back down. Individual experience aside, they did accomplish a huge feat. This was still a big thing for them, but now it had gotten even more great, they were continuing to do the unexpected, and now the team resolve was even happier and more excited than before, they would probably end up celebrating all night. They hadn't even gotten out of the stadium and they were already celebrating hard, they probably wouldn't even if they did end up losing. This was a huge event, and that could not be repeated enough, there was no way to express the excitement the entire team had. For they were able to work together and work hard to get to this spot, and on top of that fact of how new and inexperienced they were just made this all the more better for them. Maybe their luck would run out, maybe the skill of the other teams would finally out do them, but right now they did not care.

Maxen looked at Vaughn as the team continued to celebrate, "Hey, let's invite that Alphateta team to join us. They got here to and we have plenty to go around." He started to walk off, "And it's a fun way to get exposure." Vaughn smiled and followed after him, probably to go make a fool of themselves but they were too happy to care and they wanted to spread a little joy too. The other team played hard and they deserved to know just how well they did and should celebrate that too.

[Associated Godlands]

Cutoff! No song today, as we are currently in deliberations as to whether God hates songs.

---

Abanhfleft 15–7 Sioux Lookout

Cosumar 16–5 United States of Devonta

Nassau-Hessen 7–15 Natanians and Nosts

The Sword Bloke 8–10 Ferret Civilization

Congratulations to the winners, who have advanced to the semifinals! They will compete in the following matchups:

#1 Abanhfleft vs #5 Ferret Civilization
God Stadium, City: Repenta

#2 Cosumar vs #6 Natanians and Nosts
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ Stadium, City: Phelps

[Alphatheta]

---

Round of 16

Ferret Civilization 8–4 Alphatheta

Wytropolis MSK+7 8:35am - A good game was played and lost as Alphatheta finally reaches the end of its participation in the 23rd World Lacrosse Championships. Fans are generally surprised that the team made it as far as it did, and spirits are high in anticipation of welcoming the team home again.

That welcome will, however, be slightly delayed. It seems that when the team went to approach their competitors from the Ferret Civilization after the tough 8-4 game to hand over the selected славаcollie as a sign of honorable defeat, they were invited to participate in general celebrations for a match well fought. Although surprised, Chvalia of course accepted, and it seems some good international inter-team bonding occurred.

Led largely by the urging of Vissarion Macek and Antipatros Jedlička, the team has decided to stay through the final rounds to watch, learn, and cheer for their new friends. "That's just who these guys are," midfielder Kyros Bondesan told us with a shrug. "Good people who want good things for other good people. This is the message we want to send back to the kids at home, you know? Good sportsmanship and learning from your mistakes. We're happy to stay and cheer."

Chvalia has cheered through the Ferret Civilization's victory over the Shop Owner Inspired Evil of The Sword Bloke, and anticipates a fantastic match tonight when the Ferret Civilization takes on the top-seeded Democratic Republic of Abanhfleft.

[Abanhfleft]

Part One Part Two Part Three Part Four Part Five Part Six Part Seven Part Eight

No Place For Heroes, Part Nine

Chah Rajawhm National Airport
Chah Rajawhm, Gharbambiyah

Sometimes the world just had a weird way of rewarding people.

Cassius Kevorkian knew this to be true because he had experienced it himself. Just about a year ago, Kevorkian (Vorky to his friends) had been one of the Republican Bureau of Investigation's fastest rising stars. He had just finished a stint as the Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau's Riuwiee Division, and he was certainly on the path to much better things. There were rumors floating around that he was destined to become a member of the Hostage Response and Rescue Team. There was no denying it: Vorky was well on his way to the top of the RBI heap.

And then some woman suddenly appeared out of the woodwork claiming to have worked with Vorky in the Riuwiee Division said that he had slept with her, and she had the video to prove it. Everyone except Vorky had taken her story at face value, but that was because he knew better. The woman was indeed part of the Bureau's Riuwiee Division, and they had worked together during an operation in which the woman, a trained deep-cover agent, was playing the part of a prostitute seeking to get intel from police officers and RBI agents that frequented a local brothel run by a local syndicate. Vorky played the part of a disillusioned RBI agent who "talked" just a little bit too much with ladies of the night.

Vorky and the woman fed harmless truths, useless half-truths and outright lies to the syndicate and eventually set them up for their own downfall, assisted by the capable hands of the Republican Bureau of Investigation.

During their time undercover, Vorky and the woman had slept together, but for Vorky it was just part of the job. But the woman was a little wrong in the head, and she had seen the relationship as being a real thing and she had tried to continue the fling after they had busted the syndicate and began stalking him. It got to the point that the woman was now making direct threats to Vorky, but he ignored her in the honestly mistaken belief that she couldn't possibly be crazy enough to release the video that would destroy both of their careers. But no, the woman was really crazy, and she released it, and that was both their careers down the drain now. If she was going down then she was taking Vorky down with her.

Vorky knew that the woman was crazy, and he also knew that there was no fooling around between them, but the damage was now done. The heights of Vorky's career at the time had lent itself well for his eventual and inevitable fall. Vorky became a pariah in his own workplace. His colleagues were now treating him like a bomb just waiting to go off. He had become a black hole, an aging star just waiting to collapse and consume everything else around him. It was a very disconcerting feeling for Vorky, who had thought himself to be well-liked among his colleagues. It was a harsh lesson in the truths of real life for him.

And that made him the perfect candidate for Gerry Anthony's deniable operations unit: an RBI agent with nothing left to lose. Gerry himself made the approach to Vorky, who was both curious and suspicious at the same time: curious because Gerry had said that it was a chance for him to redeem himself, and suspicious because he had never heard of Gerry Anthony or his deniable operations unit. Gerry's job for Vorky was simple: sleep with the wife of a known terrorist cell leader and hopefully find out what he had planned.

It turned out that the terrorists had plans of establishing a single Latin American state spanning the entirety of Central and South America, from Mexico to Argentina. And they planned to do this by detonating a nuclear bomb in Buenos Aires, where a historic summit between the leaders of the Latin American nations was due to take place. It was a strange way for Vorky to redeem himself in the eyes of the RBI, but he had done it, and now he was a vital cog of the deniable operations unit.

Now, a year after the Trail of Ashes incident, Vorky found himself watching a whole bank of computer monitors showing him the feeds from at least a dozen closed-circuit television cameras from the security network that Dennis Messi had established around the perimeter of the hangar that the Gharbambiyan government had generously allowed them to lodge in.

But he wasn't paying any attention to the security cameras. Instead he was watching a game of lacrosse on the monitor right in front of him, and he was eating energy bars as he watched Abanhfleft's Amazons take on Sioux Lookout in the quarterfinals of the World Lacrosse Championships in some crazy uber-conservative country called Associated Godlands. As he munched on another energy bar, he heard soft footsteps behind him. "Can't' sleep?" he asked.

"Not really," Rysa Browne replied as she walked up to Vorky's security station. She was another relative newcomer to Gerry Anthony's deniable operations unit, having been recruited to replace the unit's original "resident combat driver," who had died in a freak accident during a high-speed car chase. "I know that Gharbambiyah's just an hour or two ahead of Abanhfleft, but I feel like I've got a serious case of jet lag. So, whatcha watching?"

"Just the World Lacrosse Championships quarterfinal between Abanhfleft and Sioux Lookout," Vorky replied. He too had felt like it was still high noon so he had volunteered for the midnight watch. "Hey, did you know that we're the only team in the tournament with an undefeated record?"

"No, I did not," Rysa replied. "There's my interesting fact of the day already."

"Sorry for spoiling your fun," Vorky said.

"No, Vorky, it's all right," Rysa said. "Everyday is an opportunity to learn a lot of things, not just one. Okay then. What do you think of our lacrosse team's chances of keeping the title?"

"We've got what it takes," Vorky said. He had been a lacrosse player back in college and knew how the sport went about. "The only thing I'm worried about is our attacking unit. Menan Alrisheb, Fatima Alsambis and CeCe Cuvimi are getting long in the tooth. It's now just a matter of time before they finally retire and give way to a new generation of lacrosse stars, but whether they can live up to the legacy is still up in the air."

"You must be really fun at parties, Vorky," Rysa mused.

"Wouldn't you know it?" Vorky said with a laugh.

"Hey, what's that red dot over there mean?" Rysa asked, pointing at a screen somewhere to the bottom left of the wall of monitors. Vorky leaned closer and squinted his eyes at the screen. "It says tracker active," he said, reading the text on the screen. The red dot was superimposed on a map of Gharbambiyah, specifically Chah Rajawhm. The dot then moved towards the airport, and then just as the dot approached the boundary of the airport hangars, Rysa called out, "Intruder alert!"

Vorky glanced at the bank of screens and saw a column of black vehicles approaching the hangar. The feeds were of low quality, but Vorky could still manage to distinguish the distinctive compass-and-T-square logo on the vehicle doors. "It's Group I!" he said. "They're coming for us!"

"Everybody wake up!" Rysa yelled, stirring the members of the deniable ops unit. "Group I incoming!"

"They know about us," Vorky said, "and they probably don't like that we've been asking around about them in-country. Brace yourselves! It's gonna be a bumpy ride."

[Ferret Civilization]

There was much joy and celebration after the game they faced against the Alphatheta team, it was made even better when that team joined them in the celebration. With that they were able to learn a lot and get the exposure they were probably looking for, at least to one other nation. They were even more overjoyed that the other team actually decided to stay and cheer them on, it gave them a lot more motivation. At least now they had something they could call 'fans' or more likely friends to cheer them on. With their help they were able to work together even better, with the surprise that they still continued to get so far into the game. Maxen enjoyed talking with the other team over the sports and anything else they could talk about. Other people were certainly interesting, even more so when they could talk to other peoples too. The entire team enjoyed such an occasion, it added a lot to talk about once they got back home.


It was another very difficult game to play, the team members continued to find ways to try and use their size to their advantage rather than it being the other team's advantage. Actually having others on the sideline besides their fellow Ferrets cheering them on gave them a lot of motivation. Vaughn continued to do his best to work on blocking the shots, but it was definitely difficult since they didn't know how this other teams played. The attack members wore themselves out trying to make sure that some of their shots made it into points.

The Sword Bloke 8–10 Ferret Civilization

After the game the surprise never ceased to get any less, they had won another game. Which for them was, not suppose to happen, though now that it was happening they would try to get at far. The celebrating could not get any less grand, though they still stayed within the lines of the rules of the host nation out of respect for their culture, which they also had much fun learning. Most of the team was so full of adrenaline now that any soreness or tiredness was not felt by them, though it probably was there. The next game would probably be the end of them, since they had heard of the skill of the team they were going up against. In the end that did not phase them, they were super happy and excited to have gotten this far. There was nothing now that suggested that The Colony should drop the sports program, and with another team cheering them on that just continued to give them more motivation to at least try and win, or at least lose less badly. They all looked forward to coming back to play the next set of games after these ones were over.

[Associated Godlands]

Cutoff. Yes, it is very very late, very very unexpected, and I am very very sorry to the participating nations. Schedule will resume as normal tonight.

Still in deliberations as to whether God hates songs. My sources say we are still awaiting God's input. So no song for now; it is better to be safe than sorry.

---

Abanhfleft 12–9 Ferret Civilization

Cosumar 7–3 Natanians and Nosts

Congratulations to the winners, they are headed to the final, which will take place Sunday night.

#1 Abanhfleft vs #2 Cosumar
The Lord and Savior Jesus Christ Stadium, City: Phelps

Commiserations to the losers, who will face off tonight in the third-place game:

#6 Natanians and Nosts vs #5 Ferret Civilization
God Stadium, City: Repenta