World Cup 77 - Roleplay Thread

by **Savojarna** » Mon Feb 13, 2017 3:35 pm

VIVA SAVOJARNA: The Dragons impose themselves in Juvencus!

OOC: RevNews is a very radical leftist online news outlet in Savojarna which pursues a slightly nationalist, authoritarian agenda. They're not necessarily fake news per se, but a quite sensational tabloidesque thingy

In last night's away game of the World Cup Qualifications in Juvencus, Savojarna's football team beats a Juvencus side which was pulling every dirty trick in the book to beat the Savojars. But in a true display of the spirit of our nation, our revolution and our culture of honest battle, the Savojars could beat their opposition and deliver the answer on the pitch. This fervently nationalist, openly imperialistic nation had taken offense at comments made online by both players and fans, and eventually even politicians. They made the stay in Juvencus hell for the team, but like true Savojars, the squad fought back against this hell and came back stronger than ever before. The hot-blooded Juven were focusing their energy on this battle after the whole ordeal had been started by one of Savojarna's largest Ultra groups, Partisan's Red'n'black Battalion. Their leader, Johan Nyström, punched up the team and his men with a tweet referencing the Juven imperialist tendencies, linking them to other empires such as the Empire of Greater Anglatia and the infamous Gregoryisgodistan. Nyström's tweet quickly went viral and seemed to stir up things in Juvencus as well, not the least thanks to the following support by players such as Nick Hoyman and even more so Dominik Ryberg.

Savojarna was in for hell as soon as they landed in Juvencus. There was none of the expected hospitality of this nation. Immediately upon landing, the infamous Juven fans filled up the airport and common ways of disrupting the opponent were used. Juvencus welcomed us in a most horrible way, a hall that was filled with Juven flags and, to make things worse, a Savojar flag with the words "Fuck You Ryberg" sprayed all over it. The display mainly caused the Savojars to laugh, something they stopped doing soon enough as Juvencus showed all of its ugly face. Security officials dressed in Team Juvencus tracksuits stormed the hall and forced our team to wait, taking a long time to check passports and visa. They attempted to send back captain Perttu Karjanen until the Savojars could bring in diplomatic assistance and managed to pass the control only to find out that the luggage of the coaching stuff had "gone missing". The whole airport was filled with aggressive and ferocious Juven fans, and the police seemed to do as little as they could and only prevented actual physical violence. It took the team a full four hours to make it to the bus, and a ride started that was frequently interrupted to "clear the road", an endeavour that usually took about fifteen to thirty minutes filled with insulting chants and objects being thrown at the bus.

Once the team arrived at the hotel, things barely got better as there were delays almost everywhere. People had found out about the hotel room used by Dominik Ryberg and spent the night in front of it, shouting Juven paroles and sprayed Ultra graffitis about Juvencus's "superiority" onto the windows. The hotel had placed him in the ground floor and did almost nothing to stop the fans, and even when the coaches called police they only made sure to keep the fans away from the window but didn't ask them to shut up. After a night with barely any sleep, there were calls made to Ryberg, Hoyman and Jarnström before 6 am, waking the players up only to insult them over the phone. In Juvencus, these guys did indeed see hell. The training had to be conducted under heavy security, something that was mandated to ensure WCQ-worthy surroundings, but the security did their best to disturb the training, singing nationalist anthems and asking questions to staff and players. The night before the game, there was almost no way of sleeping for the team and timing was disrupted by delays in food, transport and almost every possible way. Police escorts ensured that the team was just on time, but again they seemed to do little to protect the team from the wrath of Juven fans.

At the match, insulting chants were constantly being sung, a Savojar flag ripped apart in the stands, large amounts of pyro burned and things rained down on any Savojar player attempting to take a corner. Under those circumstances, the team grew together and didn't allow itself to be pushed back or intimidated by the horrible circumstances. The Savojars managed to push back Juvencus's fervent attacks and could start many counters. The biggest chance of the first half had been given to Perttu Karjanen on a counter attack, who just missed the net under the whistling and booing of the audience. Nick Hoyman, once substituted into the game, also faced countless harsh attacks by the Juven players, almost entirely unchecked by the referees. The Juvens have accused the referee of being corrupt, and we very much have a guess why they know this. From watching the match, one cannot help but assume that he was there to help them, and it was only Juvencus's incompetence that prevented it from working. Their harsh play was entirely unchecked and had no consequences whatsoever, but he did end the game when Mortensson managed to dribble past his opponent, who then took a quick dive. Eventually it was this Mortensson who could get space on the right, crossed it into the middle and with a strong header, it was of all people Dominik Ryberg who scored the goal that made Savojarna bring back three points from hell. It was obvious to any Savojar fan how much of a retribution it had been for him when he cheered in front of the Juven fans, being showered in lighters, food, beer and other objects. Ryberg responded in a very cool manner by blowing the angry Juven fans a kiss while their team hopelessly attempted to persuade the referees to disallow the goal.

After the match, Ryberg said that he had never experienced something like this athmosphere and that it was entirely impossible to sleep in the night before the match, but this made it only more fun to bring back three points from this game. The entirety of Savojarna will now be looking forward to the next time that Juvencus returns to the People's Republic, when the team will come to a very unfriendly and cold Nationalstadion Bjurman. They will face the true wrath of the Gods when they arrive in Sjoedrhavn, and the Juvens will be shown the true face of the North!

by **Natanians and Nosts** » Mon Feb 13, 2017 3:44 pm

"Accents of Natanians and Nosts,part four:Central Nost.
The Central Nost accent is one of the oldest accents and thanks its status to Net-se-Lada an old city and center to a historical very influent region.Along with the Central Natanian accent it uses a more closed version of the dress vowel and a slightly opened and fronted version of the vowel in foot;and it shares the nasalised version of the cut vowel and the rhoticity,except for the here vowel,and the vowel in words like boas as /eu/ with the other Nost accents.It is unique in not using the uvular r in words like water,and it does not show a preferrence for the alveolar r of the East or the retroflex of the South.In words like comma the schwa is used,an oppener variation in words like thought,caught,law or lot is used,it is a short /ɒ/ for cloth and lot,but longer /ɒ:/ for thought.In werds like bath or dance the vowel is /ä/,an intermediate between the 'standard' front and the Eastern and Western back,the vowel in word like cat or trap is somewhat raised when compared to some other dialects.In words like bird,a more back variation of the 'standard' vowel in dress is used and is sometimes longer."

-And that was another episode on our series about the Accents of Natanians and Nosts.
-Now we're with Gheorghe Márcus Álvares and Ion Mihai Torje.Good night Gheorghe,Mr. Ion.
-Good night.
-Good night.
-Well,the next game will be against Yttribia.Should we have hope?
-Yes Ion.It's no just because we lost a few matches by impressive results,that we lose the hope on our team.
-I agree with our coach!We have a good team,Ion and I just think that they're nervous.I bet that in the second part of the World Cup Qualifiers they'll get better results.
-Gheorghe,from a point of view of who was not at the side of the field,wich were the factors that lead us to a defeat?
-Well Mihaela the team started fairly well,but at the second period Frenline Delpha managed to a 2x1 into a 5x2.João Foster was making good deffences,maybe it could have been worse if it was not him.

by **Taeshan** » Mon Feb 13, 2017 4:36 pm

It was a return to the Docktown Memorial Stadium for the second time in the young season for the Purple Knights as they faced off against a familiar opponent in Lymantatia. For the third time in team history, and for the 2nd time at home the Knights faced off against the side visiting them on this day for a matchday 7 game. With two games left in the first half of the qualifying the Knights needed to once again get all points at home, and not have a second mistake like not winning the match against Lanzo earlier in the season. The Purple Knights put out a full strength squad for the 4th time this season and the Knights came out early looking for goals.

The goals however did not come quite as quick or quite as often as the Knights would have expected with the first half proving to be a rather boring nil-nil affair. At the half hour mark Miles Snavely came inches away from making it 1-0 with a deep shot on a rather quickly put together counter attack. The Knights really did look good in the first half, but couldn't find the ability to put the ball in the back of the net as often teams have a problem doing. Goals come eventually, but the Knights had to wait at least until after the 20 minute halftime to get their much needed goal against a weaker opponent in Lymantatia.

For perhaps the first time in months Lysander Ying Uing made no halftime subs content with the team he had out, and not feeling a need to take anyone off the pitch for their first half efforts. This faith in his starting 11 eventually led to the opening, and sadly for the fans wanting goals, the only goal of the afternoon. Enrique Feugahita whipped in a cross on a free kick that was put into the path of Miles Snavely by a header from Andrew Chesnut. Snavely did what Miles Snavely does and put the ball in the back of the next with his weaker left foot making the score the score the game would end with.

Snavely's 57th career goal for the Purple Knights was the sign the coach needed to make some moves with his bench and in came a now favorite sub in Janson Jewsbury who came on for Anton Vader in the 70th minute and almost scored his first goal for the national team. With ten minutes left Ying Uing put on Torsten Abigail and Wilhelm Quinones to add more defensive acumen to the team on the field, and rest some tired legs as both Enrique Fuegahita and Captain Maxwell McMichael came off. Andrew Chesnut took the captains armband, while Abigail played RB, with Moki Nguyen moving up to CDM to help the Knights efforts of closing the game.

With the final whistle the Knights once again assured themselves 3 points, and with both Chromatika and Red Blackiland winning the Knights continue to hold fast in third with two matches to go. They next host Coldfield in the X Island Metropark which will mark the first game there in this qualifying campaign. The win also puts the Knights in a likely scenario where at worse they will be about 6 points out of a qualifying spot at the halfway point, with at best the team could be in a qualifying spot with a freak win in Chromatika and a win that should be expected against Coldfield. That said 3 points is the most likely scenario with the final two first half matches which should put the Knights well within a chance at a chance at qualifying.

by **Red Blackiland** » Mon Feb 13, 2017 6:23 pm

Red Blackiland Sports and Off-topic Chronicles

In the square

RB fans receptioning the team

Author : Mathias Gërdorffen

It was impossible for anyone not to notice the tall, thin, dirty, repulsive figure, who paced the square, arms opening and closing, mouth moving, trying to form words, phrases, vaguely human sounds.
And when he approached someone and extended his hand, it seemed that he was almost no longer in this world.
"Get out, you bum," said the man in the dark suit carrying a suitcase.
"There's no police anywhere in this town," complained the well-dressed lady who was hurrying.
- Mom, is he drunk? Asked the boy to the handsome young woman in tight pants who carried him by the hand.
An ugly black dog followed the beggar.
Speaking from outside, he followed the beggar everywhere.
Even when he sat down, perhaps tired, perhaps just to wait for an improbable sun to come and warm him that morning.
It was then that the animal was startled by the shrill horn of a huge concrete mixer truck trying to deflect a tiny, unbelievable Fiat 147 that had stuck the red traffic light.
The beast fired on the lawn poorly, passed through the parked cars, and what was heard afterwards was one whine, a piercing and painful howl.
No one in the square was indifferent.
Everyone rushed to see what had happened.
So they did not notice when that ragged-up freak rose from the bench and ran away from the square, away from the world.
Her mouth moving, tears streaming down her face, thick, salty.

Red Blackiland 4-3 HUElavia

Red Blackiland received on Monday the HUElavia team, which is surprising expectations and until then, fighting in the top positions of Group A of the Playoffs.
Playing in front of their fans, Red Blackiland played a busy game against HUElavia and almost saw the victory slip out of their hands. Faced with rain and many goals, in the race, and in a game with two tackles, the home team remained in second place.
The first time was a lot of intensity and nervousness of the two parties for one reason: the arbitration. Eli Hackenberg should not, but was one of the main highlights of the initial stage. On the first pitch of the game, he hit. Carmona gave good assistance to Schwartz, who faced the goal and opened the scoring. The HUElavia players could have asked for their lead, but the ball hit the bar, rebounding into the keeper's arms.
With the passing minute, HUElavia took possession of the ball and was pushing Red Blackiland back. Cristian Figo and Alvaro Morientes had chances, but they were wasted. Meanwhile, fouls were scored to both sides, sparking players' contestation. Red Blackiland, then more welcoming, pressed with Shacker and Carmona, who also made a mistake. After a cross, Igor Slemadov deflected the ball to Miguel Carrasco. Stopped, he knocked and Patricio Alvarez, midway, equalized. It was the turn of the Red Blackiland players to go crazy.
The controversy remained in the locker room, because, in the second half, there were goals left. At 12, Xabi Torres completed Raul Sanchez's cross and widened. In the sequence, Rodristander, covering, on the field side and taking the goalkeeper, left everything the same. Red Blackiland then grew even more and turned into Marckeiller's typical halter. Ended up? That nothing! In the final stretch, it was Defour's turn to extend to the home team. In the equalizer, Andres Navas hit a kick and cash, but he did not have time for anything else.

The Justified Means - Storyline and Guide

The Justified Means - Be a little warrior fighting against a titan!

Mission 12 - Prejudicial Gossip (Mission for Dakersh Wiladat Jadida)

Shujaa el-Karim, is upset with a motorbike riding paparazzi, who has some compromising photos of a close business associate, among others. He asks Federico to deal with the guy and recover the film, then deposit it in their "top-secret waste disposal". At the start of the mission, you are provided with the usual weapon and ammo crate with grenates, shotgun and a SMG, along with a motorbike parked by the curb. Hop on it, turn left at the intersection and the chase begins. All you have to do is gun down the paparazzi, grab the film that he drops and speed to a drop box on the other side of town. This ends the mission. The "top secret waste disposal" is nothing more but a trash can.

Prejudicial Gossip - Fighting the Paparazzi

Although a short mission, is easy to fail, if you are not good at picking off a moving target from a wobbly motorbike. Of course, all the gunfire attracts the attention of effort the law enforcement into Federico and vehicle traffic becomes surprisingly heavy all of a sudden, so accomplishing this simple task is not as easy as it may seem.

Mission 13 - Disarming the Impact (Mission for Dakersh Wiladat Jadida)

Four bombs have been planted onto Wiladat Jadida oil refineries, so Shujaa el-Karim tasks you to disarm them. When you begin the mission, you have to go to the first bomb, which is straight in front of you. Use the grappling hook over the first two buildings and land behind some cover on the third, which is where the bomb is. But when you land on the third building, a timer starts to count down. The timer on the bombs has been started. As quickly as you can, disarm the first bomb and then move onto the second.

Disarming the Impact

This third bomb has more soldiers around it, so be careful. After you have disarmed the second bomb, move onto the third. Now, you'll find a bush fighter covering the place, get behind cover and deal with him. After you have disarmed this bomb, move onto the last one. You should have about a minute left. Use the grappling hook off the building to the next bomb. But there is a very tall building in your way. Make sure you have the time, as the process should take an extra five or ten minutes circumnavigating it. The last bomb isn't as heavily guarded as some of the others, but is still a challenge. Disarm this last bomb and you will have completed the mission.
Don't kill the Dakersh Army soldiers if you don't have to. Especially with the first bomb, as there aren't many, kill the first few, but you can just tie two together with the grappling hook and leave them. Every time you do that, it should give you an extra three of five seconds - the time you would have spent on killing them. Unless you're good with headshots.

Mission 14 - Retriving and Conquering (Mission for Dakersh Wiladat Jadida)

This is one of the missions where you will not get a clear reason to do it. Shujaa el-Karim only wants you to download some data at the featured base. It's a job for "someone with Federico habilities. You will be provided with an rifle. Shujaa has you break in to a nearby military base to retrieve data from a laptop. As you approach the base, a panicking Federico notifies you that the government troops "got wind" of your arrival and are "wiping" the hard drive. You have two minutes to find the laptop and retrieve the information.
The laptop sits in one of the domed hangar-style buildings, guarded by two goons. Once you dispatch them, be quick. More goons are coming and they'll bring DK-30's. Once you get the download, there's another delay while Shujaa gloats. Stay alive and throw some grenades out the doorway until you receive credit for a job well done.

Mission 15 - Hot Information (Mission for Dakersh Wiladat Jadida)

Shujaa tells Federico that Kasim al-Shamani, the owner of the Dakersh Night Life Club, has information on nearly everyone on Dakersh, including the president. He wants Federico to pick up this data to hack the computers on the ship and download the info to his personal digital assistant. Little does he know that there's a big surprise waiting for him.
After the cutscene, go up the stairs and get into one of the choppers. Don't worry about the shotgun they drop, as there is plenty of ammo on the ship. Fly to the ship while Shujaa talks about the club. He will tell you not to kill the guards, as they will think Federico is "just another whore". As soon as the first laptop, which is located at a bar with two guards, is hacked, the guards will shoot at Federico, though chances are that they are already trying to shoot him into submission. Kill them and move on to the second laptop, which is at the front of the ship.
Hack the computer and enjoy the peep show (if you like it ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)) before a gang of some female and some male strippers, clad in nothing but their underwear and hats, open fire with shotguns and SMGs, dispose of them before moving on to the last laptop, located in the middle of the club. Be careful, as there will be more people shooting than before. After hacking all the three laptops, Shujaa tells Federico that the government has found out about the hacking and has rigged the ship to blow up. Head to the aft hangar area then down the side stairs. Watch out for a bush fighter covering the place and head for the undercarriage, where three Dakersh Alnnukhbat Alqiada (Dakersh Elite Command) soldiers of the Dakersh Army will be waiting. Kill them, or throw them off the ship, then disarm the bomb. Even if done correctly, the disarming will fail and Shujaa will tell Federico to shoot the support beams holding the bomb in place. Do what he says, then watch the fireworks.

by **Gregoryisgodistan** » Mon Feb 13, 2017 6:25 pm

Petting Zoo at Lord Almighty Gregory's Mansion

Lord Almighty Gregory was talking to the goats at his petting zoo at his Mansion, getting ready to wish them a beautiful morning as they rose with the dawn. The dawn was rising on another great day in Gregoryisgodistan, and Lord Almighty Gregory truly knew it.

"Good morning Chompy-doo. How are you today?"

"Bleat!"

"Good morning Junior Chompy. How are you today?"

"Bleat!"

"Good morning Chew Baby. How are you today?"

"Bleat!"

"Good morning Mike Huckableat. How are you today?"

"Bleat!"

"Good morning Pikableat. How are you today?

"Wait, where is Pikableat? Who has kidnapped my beloved Pikableat? Security, check the footage to see what has happened to darling Pikableat!"

Security Footage Room, Basement of Lord Almighty Gregory's Mansion

"Oh dear, My Lord. It looks like these scoundrels have absconded with Pikableat in the night. And then they ran off the mansion property with him, so our mansion security footage doesn't show them."

"But we still have spy cameras covering the whole country, right?"

"Yes, My Lord. Let's look at them now. Oh dear, it looks like they're standing outside the Capital DIstrict Shrine with Pikableat right now. Let's head over there and see what's going on."

Capital District Shrine

It now looked grim for Pikableat. When Lord Almighty Gregory and his security staff arrived at the shrine, the former still in his pajamas, a group was waving signs and chanting hymns in some foreign language Lord Almighty Gregory did not understand. The signs read "GOTHAM PAGAN GANG" in big, bold letters.

Then, one of them, who was apparently the leader, began to speak. "Dear friends, dear foes, we are gathered here today to conduct our annual Paganastica Ritual, where we travel to a foreign land, take a goat, and drink its blood. We have sung all the preparing hymns, now it's time to -"

All of a sudden, Lord Almighty Gregory shouted "NOOOOOOOOO! DON'T KILL PIKABLEAT!" But it was too late. The leader had taken his knife and had slit poor Pikableat's throat and was now collecting the blood in a glass. He drank some, his pagan fellowship drank some, and then they were all arrested by the secret police. Lord Almighty Gregory headed back to his mansion to eat some breakfast and change out of his pajamas, and then he addressed the nation.

Lord Almighty Gregory's Speech to the People

"Good morning, ladies, gentlemen, and slaves. Today is a day of great national sorrow, for we have lost a national hero today. My beloved goat, Pikableat, has been senselessly slaughtered by a bunch of heathen Pagans from the Gotham Pagan Gang, a Quebecois Pagan Group that travels to a foreign land each year, steals a goat, kills the goat, and drinks its blood. Well, this year, they chose Gregoryisgodistan, and had the nerve to sneak onto my Mansion grounds under cover of night, go to my petting zoo, and kidnap poor, sweet Pikableat. Then, this morning, shortly after sunrise, they sacrificed poor Pikableat outside the Capital District Shrine, and drank his blood. They have now all been arrested by the Secret Police and are being held pending execution.

"But before I go any further, I am requesting that the entire nation offer a moment of silence for Pikableat."

The entire nation, all 75 million people, is completely silent for one minute. Even the animals are silent. Nobody dares so much as sneeze or cough.

"Thank you. Now, it is time to talk about how to punish the offenders. It appears there were seven offenders, ranging in age from 23 to 68. The leader is a fellow by the name of James Fellowship, and he is 53 years old. Rather conveniently, the all-time Execution Count now stands at 99,999,993. This means that we have just enough executions left in the countdown to execute this entire group in the National Execution Hall, in a nationally televised must-see TV event, and Mr. Fellowship shall be execution number 100 million of all time. I can hardly think of a more historic way to commemorate execution number 100 million. The ceremony will get underway at noon today, and due to the large number of people involved, I expect it to last until about 8 PM when it reaches its climax. You must watch the entire thing, though you may go to the bathroom in between executions while the cleanup crew does their thing. But watch all the executions in their entirety or you could be execution number 100,000,001!"

The Execution Channel, 12:00 Noon

"Execution number 99,999,994, Harold Hortichoke of Royal Kingdom of Quebec, member of criminal organization Gotham Pagan Gang. Crimes are animal abuse, crimes against Lord Almighty Gregory, blasphemy, theft, trespassing, kidnapping, and being mean to a goat. Same charges apply to all members of this criminal enterprise and will not be repeated. Offenders trespassed on Lord Almighty Gregory's Mansion, kidnapped his beloved goat Pikableat, and ruthlessly slaughtered Pikableat in a ritual for a phony religion, then drank Pikableat's blood. The execution of Mr. Hortichoke will now begin from National Execution Hall in Capital District, due to the significance of the crime, before a sold out crowd of 75,000 screaming spectators."

Mr. Hortichoke is led out onto the National Execution Hall floor as 75,000 spectators erupt in a chorus of boos. He is then handcuffed to the execution gurney, as Executioner EOIUR309809SDF gets set to begin the ceremony with his Brownie Cutter of Death. As he does so, the clock begins to count up, but will we see another record length today so soon after the last record?

In any case, the Brownie Cutter of Death slowly slices through Mr. Hortichoke's skin, bone, and organs as the crowd erupts in a friendly, screaming "DEATH TO HEATHENS!" at the top of their lungs. 20 minutes go by, 30, and Mr. Hortichoke is still alive, screaming in agony and begging for death. 40 minutes, 50, he's bleeding out, shaking with pain, but finally, after 53 minutes and 22 seconds, he is dead. The crowd gives Executioner EOIUR309809SDF a standing ovation, they know we are getting close to that historic Execution Milestone, and Executioner EOIUR309809SDF finishes slicing through Hortichoke rather quickly before the thousands of pieces are sent to the side and the cleanup crew comes on.

"Execution number 99,999,995, Tellin Derrickson, crimes the same as previously mentioned. ARE YOU READY TO EXECUTE?"

And that whips the crowd up into even more of a frenzy, they're singing the national anthem with pride and screaming "DEATH TO THE HEATHENS!" again. Meanwhile, Derrickson is led onto the floor and strapped to the gurney, and now it is time for Executioner EOIUR309809SDF to do his heroic duty again.

As before, blood, organs, guts, brains, and bone all poor out of poor Mr. Derrickson, as he howls and screams in agony and begs for mercy, but none is coming. The crowd even chants "SHOW NO MERCY!!!!" as Executioner EOIUR309809SDF continues to do his job. 30 minutes, 40 minutes, 50 minutes, 60 minutes, but Derrickson dies after 63 minutes and 59 seconds. Executioner EOIUR309809SDF then finishes slicing him up, as the pieces are sent aside and the cleanup crew comes on.

"Execution number 99,999,996, Jacques Hollandaise-Saucier. Crimes as before, again. And you can just call him Hollaindaise Sauce because he has a stupid name."

Some genius execution expert had decided to give all the fans in attendance bottles of Hollandaise sauce, and they proceeded to throw them at Mr. Hollandaise-Saucier as he was led out. He was covered in broken glass and Hollandaise Sauce from 75,000 fans.

Unfortunately, the fact that he'd already lost a lot of blood and suffered brain trauma made the execution go by far too fast for those in attendance, and it only took exactly 17 minutes. Guess the genius who came up with that idea wasn't such a genius after all. But still, the crowd's excitement is palpable, they know we're so close to a historic milestone, and what a historic milestone it will be.

"Execution number 99,999,997. Mary-Ellen Sue-Ellen McFarlande. Crimes again same as above."

Ms. McFarlande is led out onto the Execution Floor and Strapped to the gurney. She makes the mistake of hollering "SHUT UP, FOOLS!" at the crowd, which just whips them into even more of a frenzy. Executioner EOIUR309809SDF does his thing, he slices through her bones, her guts, her organs, her blood, her brains, it all pours out onto the floor as she howls in pain. She is trembling in pain by the 30 minute mark, begging for it to stop, but it does not. 40 minutes, 50 minutes, 55, dead at the 56 minute, 29 second mark. On comes the cleanup crew. We're just three executions away now!

"Execution number 99,999,998, Jerome McFarlande. Once again, you know the drill, crimes same as above."

Mr. McFarlande, the wife of the last woman to die, is paraded onto the Execution Floor, as the crowd noise hits 120 decibels in the Execution Hall according to the decimeter. That's enough to cause hearing loss. In any case, Mr. McFarlande is strapped to the gurney and the execution begins. As with before, it takes a while, and 69 minutes and 19 seconds later, he is dead, much to the delight of the crowd. Cleanup crew time, but at this point it's all just a warmup for the big one.

"Execution number 99,999,999. Telly Barnett. Same crimes, same deal."

Ms. Barnett is paraded onto the Execution Floor and strapped to the gurney. At this point, maybe Executioner EOIUR309809SDF just wanted to get to the big one, because it only took 32 minutes and 12 seconds, an unusually short time for him. She's dead, cleanup crew.

The crowd goes wild, they know what it's time for. It gets up to 130 decibels, like a jet engine 30 feet away.

"Execution number 100 million! James Fellowship! Crimes against goats, crimes against humanity, crimes against Lord Almighty Gregory, and running a criminal organization! And blasphemy!"

As Mr. Fellowship is brought onto the Execution Floor, the noise hits 135 decibels. The record for loudest crowd noise at an execution is 137 decibels, back in 1893 at the execution of a man who tried to assassinate Lord Almighty Gregory and whose name has since been erased from history. The loudest crowd noise at any event in Gregoryisgodistan was 139 decibels, when Gregoryisgodistan scored the game-winning goal to qualify for their first ever World Cup. They could top it here before the night is done.

Anyway, Mr. Fellowship is strapped to the gurney, as Executioner EOIUR309809SDF does his thing, going as slow as possible. Fellowship screams out, cries out, begs for mercy, but none is forthcoming. 15 minutes. His blood, bones, organs, and brains start to pour out. 30 minutes. And he's not nearly dead, he's trembling, he's crying, he's not dead. 40 minutes. He's sweating a hot sweat, he's clearly in agony, he wants death to come but it just won't. 50 minutes, could we see a record on this most special day? He's still going, he's still going, and the stuff is still gushing. 60 minutes. 70 minutes. 75 minutes. Crowd going wild. 76 minutes. 77 minutes. Now we're at 80 minutes, we've smashed the record, and as the clock hits 80:00, the crowd goes into its loudest frenzy in history, hitting 146 decibels. You can even feel the Execution Hall shaking from all the noise. 85 minutes. Wow, still going strong. 86 minutes. 87 minutes. And finally, at 88 minutes, 29 seconds, Mr. Fellowship is dead, and Gregoryisgodistan has officially hit the 100 million execution tally in record-smashing fashion. The crowd gives Executioner EOIUR309809SDF a standing ovation, but this isn't quite as loud as the last few, "only" 119 decibels. He salutes the crowd and walks off. Then Lord Almighty Gregory wanders onto the floor of the Execution Hall to give a speech.

Lord Almighty Gregory's Speech to the People

"Good evening, ladies, gentlemen, slaves, and heathens. This morning, I told you today was a day of great sorrow. Well, it has turned from a day of great sorrow into a day of great rejoicing! We have had our 100 millionth execution in history, we have done it in record-smashing fashion, and we couldn't have had a more deserving victim. Never forget this day. Never, ever forget this day as long as you live. Executioner EOIUR309809SDF is a true hero, doing his loyal work, and he shall be justly rewarded. Meanwhile, the heathens who died today shall be justly punished in the Land of Eternal Punishment, forced to suffer the same fate they suffered today with the Brownie Cutter of Death, repeatedly, for all eternity. That is why it is called the Land of Eternal Punishment. It is where bad people go. Call it that, call it hell, call it Infernus, whatever. That is what happens there, and they shall pay for their sins.

"Sadly, Pikableat is dead, but with tomorrow dawns a new day in Gregoryisgodistani history, where we can execute more infidels than ever before, and maybe, just maybe, celebrate the goats that make us great. Ladies and gentlemen, find a goat when you can, and tell that goat how much you love them. Goats make Gregoryisgodistan great, especially the goats on my petting zoo, who are the greatest goats of all. How about a nice round of applause for my goats?"

And the crowd gives a nice round of applause for Lord Almighty Gregory's goats, as directed, though not nearly as loud as the thunderous applause earlier, from which some people's eardrums are still ringing.

"We shall never forget this day, which started as a day of great sorrow, but ended as a day of great rejoicing. We shall never forget this day, it shall live on in our memories forever. I'm sure Pikableat is enjoying some nice tasty oats, grass, paper, and tin cans right now in the Land of Eternal Reward. I miss you, Pikableat, but you'll be rewarded forever. Thank you, Me Bless Pikableat, and Me Bless Gregoryisgodistan."

by **Amnarei-asud** » Mon Feb 13, 2017 6:31 pm

"This isn't dignified," he hissed to himself as he squeezed his way through another bottleneck in the venting system. Unfortunately, it was the only way. The Hood was no stranger to finding himself obtaining access into places he shouldn't be, or making his way unnoticed through areas he really ought not to have been able to sneak through, but the level of security in this compound had been something else altogether. Paramilitaries on the approach road, paramilitaries by the gateways, and then private guards on the desk, the elevator, the floor reception areas, and roaming the corridors. There had even been three walking around the maintenance areas, and The Hood had almost walked straight into one of them as he attempted to slide into the ventilation system unseen. Only the fact he'd stowed his usual cloak and robes in a bag once he got past the main reception allowed him to duck back out of sight without a sound before being spotted. Had he been wearing the robes, a sudden movement like that would surely have caused them to rustle conspicuously. It was only good fortune and a fortuitous timing decision that had stopped his mission being over before it had even begun.

But now, crawling through the vents of the penthouse floor, seventeen storeys up above the streets of Ain Salah, The Hood could finally hear that he was closing in on the apartment of the man he'd come here to see. Simeone Al-Owairan. Chairman of Atlas, hassler of managers, and potential secret keeper to the world outside Amnarei-asud beyond the scope of most Asud's memory.

There was a tinny noise drifting through the vents, accompanied at time by a grunt of displeasure that The Hood had heard only too many times before. The Hood checked the twine tying the bag with his robes to his belt was secure, and reached out once more with his arms to pull himself down the vent slowly and silently.

Sweat poured down his arms with the heat and the exertion, collecting underneath him and aiding his progress along the galvanised surface without the hindrance of friction. Sure, he could have just waited until the next home game, and he was taking a calculated risk in being here in Ain Salah rather than in Gumusservi with the rest of the team, but he had more than a sneaking suspicion that Al-Owairan was somewhat scared of him, and suddenly appearing in his closely guarded apartment complex would do nothing but add to the cult of personality the robes were already affording him.

He recognised the distinctive voices of the official state broadcaster's football commentators in the midst of the noise he could hear from the vents ahead of him. He was beginning to pick out individual phrase now. Surely this was an indication that he was getting closer.

"...Gumusservi will be furious at having given away a two-goal lead here now..."

"...El-Amin, on the hunt for his hat-trick..."

"...two minutes left on the clock, and Boulos is getting ready to come on..."

"Yes! Finally! At last!" came a shout from below. Startled, The Hood almost kicked the bag with his robes in in surprise, only just avoiding making a noise that would surely have given away his presence to the man who was apparently directly below him.

The Hood heard the sound of clinking bottles and liquid pouring, and the footsteps walking away from him as Al-Owairan muttered various unrepeatable phrases about how the Fennecs management didn't know what they were doing. Had he been fixing himself a drink in the kitchen? It would explain why the noise of the television was coming from some way down the vents, at least.

The Hood looked forward, and saw a grating ten metres of so ahead of him, the light from the apartment below seeping into it like oil into a tepid puddle. He slid forwards, and decided to risk a look through.

"...and it's Abdulrashid who makes way for Boulos as Sato and the Fennecs go all out for the win. I wonder if that wa one of Sato's ideas or whether it came from his mysterious adviser..."

"Of course it came from his 'adviser', he's never far behind that idiot Sato," The Hood head Al-Owairan mutter. "And a stupid one it is, too. My boy Boulos should be on for Saab."

The Hood smiled, enjoying knowing what the pompous Al-Owairan did not. He'd been right, he was above a kitchen that was almost in darkness save for the light that was coming through from the living room next door. From the vent, he couldn't see clearly enough to spot exactly where Al-Owairan was sitting, but the orientation of the flickering lights from the television highlighting the sharp edges in the rest of the apartment gave him a good idea.

Quietly, silently, and without a sound other than the relentless heartbeat pumping in his ears, The Hood raised the grid gently, and pushed it aside. With a nimbleness that betrayed his athletic past, he lowered himself from the vent in the ceiling and gingerly dropped down to the linoleum surface, landing neatly on his feet. The bag followed him down, swinging and pulling on his belt. He opened it, and began to dress.

"...and it falls to Saab! Saab for the points! Saab! Saab with the winner in stoppage time! The Fennecs are staying in the top half of the table tonight! Sato's tactics paid off tonight, and the players are delighted as the celebrate in the near silence of the foreign stadium..."

"Oh for the love of the sacred palms," The Hood heard Al-Owairan sigh, and then paused half-dressed with his heart in his mouth as he heard the man next door stand up and start walking.

Being discovered now wouldn't be the worst thing now he'd made his way silently into the apartment, of course, but being discovered half-dressed would be a disaster and break the spell entirely.

"It would be him again. Of course it did," continued Al-Owairan, as he walked towards The Hood, but on the other side of the wall. Seconds passed, and the footsteps eventually led to somewhere The Hood couldn't see, but could hear a wooden drawer being slid open. "There has to be something in here I can cite to use against them picking him over Boulos again..."

Finishing his robe and adjusting his hood over his eyes, The Hood tiptoed forwards and risked a peek around the corner. The room the television was in was long, much longer than the kitchen, and seemed to double up as an office space. A large heavy wooden desk was placed at the opposite end of the room, and The Hood could see the figure of Simeone Al-Owairan hunched over it, facing away from The Hood and examining something on the desktop.

With the aid of the lights and the noise from the television, The Hood crept up along one side of the room, taking care not to make a sound with his heavy robes and finally choosing a dark spot at the edge of the room just beyond the corner of Al-Owairan's peripheral vision.

"Early world cups? No, too generic," muttered Al-Owairan to what he thought was himself as he flicked through the document on his desk. "Where's the character assessment stuff gone? There must be some comparisons in there somewhere to help me take down Saab..."

"Or," said The Hood loudly, "you could not do that and stop causing trouble!"

"GAH!" shouted Al-Owairan in fright, jerking the booklet out of his hands and halfway down the room with his reflex reaction before catching himself on the desk to stop him falling and turning to look at the source of the interruption. "You?!"

"Me." confirmed The Hood, smiling below his robes. That had certainly had the desired effect.

"But how did you..." stammered Al-Owairan. "What do you...?"

"Hello, Simeone," snarled The Hood, emphasising the foreign name, "I've come to ask you a few questions..."

by **Qasden** » Mon Feb 13, 2017 7:33 pm

22:45•Sunday•Taxson, Qasden—

Two shadowed figures gaze down from a skyscraper. Ominously, they watched the fans parade onto the street from Merellin Park. It had been a big night for the Qasden National Team, ousting the team from Devonta with ease. The building remained dark and dormant during this celebration. A figure, about 2 inches taller than the other, began to speak in a low and coarse tone. "It appears Merritt met the standards today." the shadow said. The other looked over to see the figure, replying in a much higher voice. "Yes, a good day for QAFA. This should bring us up back to fourth, yes?". The taller figure sighed. "Indeed. Now all who stands between us and second place are Semarland and Tumbra. Great.". The smaller gazed deeper into the crowded abyss below them. Optimistically, he felt as if it were indeed a day to party. "Don't be so worried, minister. Our matchup against Semarland was an away game, and we have yet to play Tumbra in Qad City.". "But what about Faustii? The mistakes Merritt made against a new team not in the Baptism of Fire?!". The taller figure grew angry, but tried to keep it as latent as he could withstand. "Like I said, it was an away game." The smaller counters. "The only home game we have lost was to Valladares, the third best team in the multiverse.". The taller's patience grew weary. "We've defeated bigger threats abroad. We should not be losing to such a measly adversary!". The figure quickly began his ranting. "It's been nearly a year since this association has been established, and I haven't even seen one worthless coin of achievement!" He commenced. "We have been terrible in the previous two AOCAF tournaments, failed to medal in Aeropag, bombed our first WC run and bailed out early in the Cup of Harmony!". The shadow's eyes set ablaze in fiery fury. "DON'T YOU SEE, PRESIDENT?! MERRITT MUST BE FIRED! DRUCATI'S THE ONLY CONSISTENT ONE IN OUR OFFICES HE—" he was silenced by the pressing of a finger from the QAFA president. "Hush now, Rees." He soothed, "You're only looking at the cons of his career. Don't you remember the early knockout stages of our Baptism of Fire tournament?". Rees' mind began to meander through his internal archives, cooling his temperature down in the process. The president continued. "We finished undefeated in our group and went on to defeat a two-time regional champion and a powerful team that sent chills down others' spines in the IAC tournament in the Boreal Islands. Häther, you can't just look at Merritt's failures, because you'll never be proud of our country the day he succeeds in the qualifying.". The PM became settle again, his eyes realizing the hard truth. "That may be the case..." Rees stuttered reluctantly, "but I really don't like this feeling. The feeling of incessant defeat at the hands of other, superior clubs. And it's not just this sport. NSAO was literally the closest I've ever felt to victory. When we reached the semis in handball, I was overwhelmed with ecstasy. Then we lost to Rotschwarzland again and finished third.". Häther looked down to see his palms starting to clench. "But when I witnessed the defeat against Faustii, it...it..." the rage began to course through his veins again. The pressure was so high he felt as if he were gonna explode. Except he didn't, he held back the tears. "It just threw me over the edge.". The official patted the leader sympathetically. "It's alright, minister. I feel the same way sometimes, but we can't fire a coach who hasn't even finished his second term in the cycle.". He proceeded to place a folded piece of paper into Häther's already clenched fists. The PM released his grasp and opened the slip, revealing the appearance of a ticket and itinerary. "In your hand is a ticket to Amnarei-asud. Let Jon show you his talent abroad, and you will not be unsatisfied, minister.". Häther could only nod, and the two walked back further away from the parading crevice below.

by **Valladares** » Mon Feb 13, 2017 7:37 pm

ValAir to acquire Nuevo Caracas' largest air carrier

METROPOLIS AND CARACAS (VAP) — ValAir, Valladares' flagship airline, has announced in a statement issued on Sunday evening an agreement to acquire the entirety of Caraqueño carrier Consorcio Venezolano de Industrias Aeronáuticas y Servicios Aéreos (or Conviasa for short) for an undisclosed amount. ValAir has stated the deal is still subject to regulatory diligencies and approvals by authorities from both countries, which it estimates may take up to 60 or 90 days.

Conviasa, headquartered at Antonio Guzman International Airport in Caracas, currently operates flights to several destinations within Nuevo Caracas (including Jean-Christophe Bernier International Airport in Maracaibo) and to countries such as World Cup hosts Royal Kingdom of Quebec and San José Guayabal, as well as Valladares with a fleet of 6 BAS B767, 20 Avro A320, 5 Avro A330, and 4 Avro A340, and is currently the largest carrier in Nuevo Caracas, a market "with a great potential" according to Fabio Rubio, ValAir's CEO. Rubio considers that this acquisition will help ValAir enter the Caraqueño market, a move that has been planned for some time from Metropolis as well as strenghtening the carrier's position as one of Terranea's leading airlines.

"We at ValAir are always committed to offer our customers a wide variety of destinations, not just domestic ones but also regional and international ones, and we have found Conviasa to be a great bet to expand that list of destinations and connections. This deal will allow ValAir to enter Nuevo Caracas, which is a growing market with loads of potential (which obviously makes it attractive for us), and is currently strongly covered by Conviasa, and will also give us access to some of the most profitable medium-haul and long-haul flights between Rushmore, AO and Esportiva currently existing in the market, which is a great asset considering the strong competition from other carriers such as Air Terranea. In return, Conviasa customers gain access to ValAir's wide network of destinations in Valladares, Rushmore, and the multiverse, thus opening up more travel options for Caraqueños, so this is, in short, a win-win deal for both sides", explains Rubio.

When asked about Nuevo Caracas' situation, Rubio stated that "ValAir is looking at the future. It is true that Nuevo Caracas has been under serious internal strife for some time already, but we are optimistic and believe that things will eventually improve. Also, whilst we find Conviasa to be a healthy company, we think it might be necessary to invest some money in it and perform a fleet renewal process in order to put Conviasa in line with the standards already followed by ValAir and its other affilitates."

When this operation is concluded, Conviasa will become a new ValAir affiliate carrier, joining the passenger carrier affiliates it already has in Valladares (RegionAir), the Whirl Islands (ValAir Whirl Islands), and Río Oscuro (Oriental). As a result, Conviasa will eventually be rebranded to ValAir Nuevo Caracas and its medium- and long-haul international flights will be taken by ValAir. It is expected that this rebranding process will be completed in two years.

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ISideWith UK · by **Eastfield Lodge** » Mon Feb 13, 2017 8:02 pm

Excerpts of live broadcast on ELTV-1

Pablo Acquet: "Thank you Thomas, and we welcome viewers to Kingsgarden, here in Rozelle, the capital of Brenecia, for the fifth qualifying round match of the 77th World Cup. These two sides have never met before in international football, but this first meeting sees the top two teams in Group 6 face off, with Brenecia, ranked 10th in the world and currently the only team in the group with 12 points from 12, hosting an Eastfield Lodge side in one of their best starts to a World Cup qualifying campaign in their history, having dropped points for the first time in a draw with Juvencus in the previous match, and currently sitting second in the group with 10 points."

Kyle Etherington: "This is certainly the real test for this Eastfield Lodge team. Without intending any disrespect, the four teams they faced up until this point were all ranked lower than them, and so winning was expected. Today, they come up against the favourites for the group title, and a good performance today will go a long way in determining whether Eastfield Lodge can finally break this long-standing run, as it has been over 40 years since the team last qualified for the World Cup proper.”

PA: “The two teams will exit the tunnel shortly, and before they do that, we will go through the line-ups. Brenecia will be fielding their strongest eleven, with Mathis Woodgate in goal, with a back four of Rostyn Bradden and Anaximander Scrivener in the middle, with Czeslawa Szukala and Ophelia Lovelock as full backs. The midfield three will be Catherine Gryphon, Aleksandra Skorupska and Sander Balliol, whilst the front three is made up of Squire Trevelyan and Roisin Carroll on the wings supporting the lone striker Ursula Rankin. For Eastfield Lodge, Lowell Brown makes three changes to the side that drew with Juvencus in the previous match. Korbin Harvey stays in goal, with Hammad Siddique replacing Darlene Finn in the back four, joined by Emely Towers, Lucas Bacon and Abdur Rehman. Amitee Abdalla sits in front of the defence, whilst The Doctor is joined by Glen Soria, who replaces Kenyon Lacroix, behind the strikers. Ali Asif and Tirs Rathun stay on as wingers in this match, with Tia Drenas returning from injury to replace Marlon Rowlinson, who scored the only goal against Juvencus.”

KE: “Both sides clearly understand the importance of this match, and neither side is pulling their punches with their line-ups. Tirs Rathun keeps his place in the starting line-up after a great performance against Juvencus, and I hope that Drenas will quickly find her previous form after that game out, although with Rowlinson on the bench, there’s a more than adequate replacement waiting. One interesting dynamic in this match will be the four Tanrisal players - Rankin and Balliol will be attacking for Brenecia against the partnership of Abdalla in midfield and Towers in defence. All four know each other’s games inside out, more or less, so we’ll have to wait and see which side will benefit off this.”

PA: “Leading out the teams will be today’s referee, Jean-Christophe Ryu, the 72 year old Quebecois professor. Both sides are now coming out of the tunnel to rapturous applause, both from the home crowd and the nearly 10 thousand strong travelling Eastfielder crowd. Regardless of what happens, both sets of fans will make a great atmosphere today.”

==> [5’]

PA: “...Asif receives the ball out wide, forced back by Lovelock, ball back to Rehman. Rehman plays it into Abdalla, who flicks it back to Towers. Eastfield Lodge probing the Brenecian defence early doors, but it’s still holding firm. Ball back with Abdalla, pressure from Balliol. Abdalla plays it to Rathun. Rathun holds off Szukala’s challenge, plays it back to Siddique. Trevelyan closes Siddique down and steals the ball! Break on for Brenecia! Trevelyan haring down the wing, reaches the corner of the box, Siddique recovering and forcing him to the byline. Trevelyan cuts back and fires the ball in! Great tackle by Towers! She gets to the cutback first and clears it for a corner.”

KE: “Important interception that was, Rankin was coming in hot for that cutback. That’s the danger with this Brenecian side, they’re extremely quick. That all stemmed from an under-hit backpass from Rathun, and that break could have been costly.”

PA: “Corner in from Balliol, floated in but too close to the keeper and Harvey claims it easily.”

==> [12’]

PA: “Balliol with the ball, can’t find a pass forward to Rankin, closed down by Abdalla and plays the ball back to Gryphon. Gryphon with the long ball out wide to Trevelyan, excellent control from the Jansberg winger. He flicks it past Siddique, and gets a clear run into the channel. Dangerous attack this. Trevelyan looks up and floats in a cross. Headed out by Bacon, and then flicked on by Abdalla to The Doctor. Counter-attack on for the visitors, as The Doctor takes the ball over the half-way line. Plays it square to Soria, who flicks it out wide to Rathun. Rathun with space to run, runs inside to the channel. 3-on-3 attack here. Rathun to the corner of the box, cuts it back for The Doctor. He shoots! And it’s gone in! The Doctor scores an amazing goal to break the deadlock here, 1-0 to Eastfield Lodge!”

KE: “Well, that’s how this game looks like it will pan out, counter-attack after counter-attack. Great vision from Soria in the middle to find Rathun in space, Szukala stuck on the turn. But that was all about the finish, what an effort from the Doctor. All of 25 yards out, not far from the corner of the box, and he just curls in the cutback, right into the top of the far post, just beyond the reach of Woodgate. That’s what the Time Lord is capable of on his day.”

==> [17’]

PA: “The home crowd are beginning to find their voice again after being stunned like that five minutes ago, but it’s the visitors on the attack, as Abdalla crosses the halfway line with the ball. Brenecian players recovering. Abdalla out wide to Asif, he cuts inside and plays a backpass to the overlapping Soria. Soria on the right wing, faces off with Lovelock. Rehman in support, gets the ball. Rehman plays it infield to The Doctor. Back to Rehman. Rehman plays it to Asif, who dummies it and lets it run to Soria. Soria on the corner of the box, Brenecia packing the defense. Cross field ball to Siddique, who plays it into Abdalla. Abdalla out to Rathun on the other wing. Rathun with time and space on the ball, whips in a cross. Headed away by Bradden. Only as far as Soria. Square to the Doctor, on to Rathun. Drenas comes short, gets the ball, flicks it onto Soria, and Soria’s into the box, can she get the shot off? Back to Drenas, who takes a chance! Deflected, off the post, and cleared out for a throw in!”

KE: “Nice, patient build up play from Eastfield Lodge there, probing the defence for gaps. It is a well-drilled defence though, and Raven Cullen has clearly got them disciplined defensively. Bit of a hopeful shot from Drenas in the end, almost got lucky with the deflection off Bradden, but the post came to Brenecia’s rescue there.”

==> [28’]

PA: “Play has slowed down somewhat since the stoppage, as both sides seem to be taking a breather from the frenetic opening 25 minutes. Scrivener on the ball at the moment, about ten yards inside his own half. Few attacking options available, the Eastfielder defense marking well. Scrivener plays the ball to Lovelock, Lovelock plays it to Carroll, forced to retreat by Rehman. Carroll plays it infield to Gryphon. Gryphon launches a cross-field ball to Trevelyan. Referee calls for a foul by Siddique on Trevelyan.”

KE: “Too much in the arms from Siddique there, 50-50 challenge but just a little naughty from Siddique. Needless free kick to give away though, and quite dangerous, about 5 yards out along the corner of the box, perfect opportunity to get the ball into the box from here.”

PA: “Gryphon standing over the ball, about 30 yards from goal at quite an angle. Two players in the wall, quite a mob forming on the edge of the box. Jean-Christophe Ryu blows his whistle. Gryphon curls in the cross … and the ball’s gone all the way through! The Brenecian captain, Catherine Gryphon, looks like she’s got the equaliser! It’s one-all!”

KE: “Perfect free kick from Gryphon there, one of those perfectly aimed for the far corner to confuse goalkeepers. None of the Brenecian players in the box are claiming it, and it looks like the captain gets the plaudits. It looks like Lucas Bacon gets the smallest of touches with his head on it, but that won’t have done much, it was just too high for most of the players to get to. Unfortunate for Harvey, brilliant free kick from Gryphon.”

==> [35’]

PA: “Harvey takes the free kick, launches it long and high. Soria reaches it first and heads it on to the the Doctor. The Doctor controls the ball, quickly plays it to Asif. Asif cuts inside Lovelock and plays the ball through to Drenas! Great save by Woodgate!”

KE: “Brenecia nearly undone by a traditional long ball, but great positioning and reactions from Woodgate to parry Drenas’ shot wide. A lesser keeper would have conceded that goal, and the Brenecia defence will be asking questions of themselves for letting her run through like that.”

PA: “Asif lines up the corner. Plenty of jostling and shoving in the box. Ryu steps in and tells Towers and Bradden to calm it down. Asif raises both arms, and curls in the ball. And it’s headed in! Lucas Bacon has put the visitors back in front with a powerful header!”

KE: “Well, that was some pretty poor marking from Brenecia in all honesty. Bacon’s being marked by Gryphon, but Towers’ movement around her defensive partner draws Gryphon away, and Bacon is left with a free header. He’s perfectly placed for it as well, and just has to direct the ball into the corner above the head of Trevelyan. But it just shows that this Eastfield Lodge side has quality, and can’t be counted out in this group. 2-1 to the visitors.”

==> [45’]

PA: “... and the fourth official has signalled one minute of stoppage time, as we approach the halftime break. Free kick to the visitors just inside the Brenecian half. Soria standing over this, looking to cross the ball forwards. Plenty of people standing on the edge of the box, waiting for the ball. Soria gets ready, and takes the free kick. Long ball, high in the air towards the corner of the D. And … the whistle’s gone. Asif is on the floor clutching his face! Referee Ryu goes up and calls Bradden over. This might well be trouble here. Gryphon and Scrivener are arguing their case, the Doctor joining in as well.”

KE: “Looking at the replay, it looks like Bradden and Asif were jostling to get underneath the ball, and … that is unbelievable! Bradden just elbows Asif in the face! He’s not even looking at the ball, he gets pushed a little, and then looks arounds and throws his elbow into Asif’s face. Little wonder Asif got floored. That should be a red card, no doubt about it.”

PA: “Several Brenecian players surrounding the referee now, but he sends them away, and gets out his cards. And there’s the red! Rostyn Bradden has been sent off for Brenecia. Szukala is still arguing the case, and gets a yellow card for his troubles. Well, that’s a turn-up for the books. Brenecia, a goal down, and now a man down going into half-time. Lowell Brown must be jumping with joy inside after that first half.”

KE: “Correct decision from the referee there, he had no choice but to give the red card, it was a deliberate elbow to the face, Bradden didn’t even try to conceal it.”

PA: “Eastfield Lodge now have a free kick on the edge of the box. A chance for The Doctor to possibly put this game beyond the reach of Brenecia, and register a famous upset in Eastfield Lodge’s history. About 22 yards from goal, 5 man wall, Woodgate manning the right-side post, from the set pieces’ point of view. Referee blows his whistle, the Doctor takes, and it’s off the crossbar!”

KE: “So close to a third goal there from the Doctor, but that ball just wouldn’t dip enough, as it bounces off the top of the bar and out for a goal kick. Or not, as the referee has blown the halftime whistle.”

PA: “So, we go into the halftime interval with a shock scoreline, as visitors Eastfield Lodge are beating group leaders and favourites Brenecia 2-1, with a man advantage for the second half as well.”

==> [54’]

PA: “Coming up to ten minutes of the second half, and the one man advantage for the visitors is clearly showing, as Eastfield Lodge have largely dominated the opening exchanges of the half. Ball now with Asif on the wing, back to Rehman. Rehman to Bacon, forward to Abdalla, out wide to Soria. Soria forward to Rathun, back to Soria. Soria plays in the Doctor, on the edge of the box. Back wide to Rathun. Rathun beats Szukala and gets the cross in, headed away by the substitute Duguid. Good pressure from the visitors. Ball back with Asif on the wing, he beats Lovelock and gets the cross in! Over the bar from Drenas!”

KE: “That was a great pass and move attack from Eastfield Lodge there, trying to unpick the still solid Brenecian defence. It was a hard cross in from Asif, real pace on the ball, but unfortunately Drenas was just a little ahead of the ball and couldn’t over it enough, but great movement to get onto the end of it in the first place.”

==> [65’]

PA: “Free kick on the touchline for Eastfield Lodge. Lovelock is riding her luck dangerously, already on a yellow card. Soria standing over the ball, ready to cross it in. Referee blows his whistle and Soria cross the ball in. Woodgate comes out and collects it comfortably however. He waits for a moment and then launches the ball upfield. Lynch and Rehman chase down the ball, but Rehman stumbles, and Lynch is in the clear! Bacon is recovering well, and Towers and Rankin are also giving chase. Lynch dribbles towards the box, Bacon comes across, Lynch cuts inside him and plays the ball through to Rankin! Rankin one on one with the keeper! And Rankin goes down! Towers has brought Rankin down inside the box! And the ref signals for a corner!”

KE: “The home crowd really aren’t happy with that decision, and no wonder! Rankin through, just the keeper to beat, and Towers manages to slide tackle her from the side, inside the box, and the ref has gone for a fair tackle. Watching the replay, it’s … actually a great tackle from Towers! Perfectly timed, she gets her leg out and takes the ball away from Rankin as she’s shaping to shoot. Too soon or too late, and she gives away a penalty, but that was inch perfect.”

PA: “Rankin is clearly not happy with decision, she’s still arguing with the referee on it. I’m not surprised, she was clean through, and that was probably the first time she’s gotten the run on Towers, so complete is her domination of the striker in this match. Rankin’s still going, and yes, there’s the yellow card from the referee.”

==> [78’]

PA: “Throw-in for Eastfield Lodge on this near side, as the visitors make a change. It’s Fedrea Quazin on for Tirs Rathun, who’s put in another good performance. Throw taken short by Abdur Rehman, ball with Abdalla, back to Bacon, who punts it wide for Siddique. Siddique forward to Quazin, whose first touch is to flick it on to the other Eastfielder substitute Wallis-Iqbal. Wallis-Iqbal drives forward to the corner of the box, clever little back pass to Quazin. Quazin with space, she chips it over Scrivener! Drenas on the end of the ball, and it’s gone in! Tia Drenas may well have wrapped up a glorious upset for Eastfield Lodge, as they now go 3-1 up against Brenecia with just 12 minutes of normal time and a man advantage!”

KE: “Wow. Talk about instant impact, that was a stunning play by Quazin and Wallis-Iqbal. The awareness that he had to lay the ball like that for Quazin’s cut-in, and then Quazin’s chip past the desperate Scrivener were just sublime. And Tia Drenas gets the goal she’s deserved for terrorizing the Brenecian defence all day. Woodgate has denied her a few times, but not this time as she looks up and coolly nutmegs the onrushing Woodgate to roll the ball into the far corner. A calm, collected finish which may well have won the visitors the game.”

==> [89’]

PA: “Brenecia have abandoned all hope of defence now, and they’re streaming forward looking for a consolation. Clearance by Abdalla, Woodgate collects about thirty yards from goal, launches it back upfield. Drover beats Abdalla to the header, falls to Gryphon. Gryphon with a long ball out wide to Lovelock. Foul by Asif.”

KE: “That was a pretty obvious foul, but Eastfield Lodge need to break up this tempo that Brenecia are building up. Even though they’re two goals and a man down, they’re desperate to get something from this game, and the high line they’re using shows they’re not really focusing on keeping the ball still for long.”

PA: “Gryphon standing over the ball. All the other outfield players in the box. Woodgate deciding to stand halfway out in the Brenecian half. Ball in from Gryphon, headed upwards by Bacon. Headed away second time by Asif. Ball falls to the Doctor, and Woodgate is scrambling! The Doctor takes a crack, and it looks like a good one! And … Woodgate saves! He managed to get back just enough to punch the ball away from the goal! Lucky escape for Brenecia there, as Woodgate spares his own blushes.”

KE: “It’s always a risk to stand that far from your goal as a goalkeeper, and the Doctor nearly made him pay the price, as Woodgate stumbled a little, giving the Doctor a chance. But excellent recovery in the end to punch the ball out wide for a throw-in.”

==> [90+3’]

PA: “Deep into the third minute of second half stoppage time in this match. The home crowd are leaving early, they’ve seen enough. The Eastfielder crowd are cheering loudly, as the visitors have more or less won this game. Woodgate mops up the clearance, and fires it straight downfield, only to be headed away by Soria. Duguid kicks it back forward. Lynch drops deep to head it on, but Towers beats Rankin to the ball and fires it out for a throw-in on the halfway line. The visiting fans are getting restless, they want this game to be over. The referee looks at his watch. Szukala quickly takes the throw, Gryphon picks up the ball, and sprays it wide to Lovelock. Lovelock mis-controls and the ball runs out for another throw. But it won’t be taken! The referee blows his final whistle, and Eastfield Lodge have recorded a famous upset here in Brenecia, as they move to the top of Group 6 with a famous 3-1 away win over the group’s top seeds and world number 10 team! What a match, and what a performance by Eastfield Lodge!”

MD4: Eastfield Lodge 1-1 Juvencus
EFL line-up (4-1-2-3): Harvey - Towers, Bacon, Rehman, Finn - Abdalla, The Doctor, Lacroix (<> Soria 76’) - Asif (<> Quazin 64’), Rathun, Rowlinson (<> Halliwell 79’)
Goals (Assists): Rowlinson (35’ - Rathun)

MD6: Eastfield Lodge 1-1 Turori
EFL line-up (4-1-2-3): Harvey - Towers, Bacon, Rehman, Siddique - Abdalla (<> Onatish 65’), The Doctor, Soria (<> Wallis-Iqbal 74’) - Asif, Rathun (<> Quazin 74’), Drenas
Goals (Assists): Drenas (56’ - The Doctor)

MD7: Great Caledonia and North Hybernia 1-3 Eastfield Lodge
EFL line-up (4-1-2-3): Harvey - Towers, W. Martin, Rehman (<> Adams 65’), Siddique - Onatish, The Doctor, Wallis-Iqbal (<> King 78’) - Asif (<> Rathun 75’), Quazin, Drenas
Goals (Assists): Drenas (22’ - Asif; 82’ - Adams), The Doctor (54’ - Onatish)

Eastfield Lodge line-up to play Mattijana
Harvey - Bacon, W. Martin, Rehman, Siddique - Abdalla, King, Soria - Wadimu, Hansen, Drenas

by **Flardania** » Mon Feb 13, 2017 8:45 pm

Aincrad Stadium
Akihabara|Kirishima

Akihabara is the second largest city in the Taisuist Republic of Kirishima right behind Kairaku. It is located in Minazuki Prefecture on the Island of Zipangu and is an economic, tech, fashion, entertainment, and lust based activities jargonaut. The city is serviced by the Empress Tsubaki Kasugano International Airport and home to the Aincrad Stadium. The locals simply refer to it as the Aincrad and it is the home of the Akihabara Electronics O.F.C. A team that has been blessed as of late and consist of five national team players-Joseph Yabuta, Ayame Fujisaka, Claire Nguyen, and Ai Takagawa representing Kirishima and Tomoyo Nishidake representing the two-time champs Unified Sunrise Islands. The city was no stranger to winning and the Aincrad was the venue in the latest match of world cup qualifiers. It was a crucial match against an unranked team where the Kitsunes could not afford to draw to considering they drew the previous four games and definitely could not lose to especially at the Aincrad. Losing to an unranked team at the Aincrad nonetheless would be a death flag raised against the team morale.

The Kitsunes following their draw with The Mercenary Islands really wanted a win of any kind against Sameba but failed in that regard, once again achieving a draw. This was fine considering the quality of the opposition but the match against Ancharmunn was something else entirely. The media was buzzing and fans were all over social media hoping to see a positive snap in the draw streak. Seong Mi-Soo and her squad felt that despite still being unprepared with the heavier offensive focus, knew that people would not care. They understood that facing an unranked team at the Aincrad had to equate victory. It could not be and should not be anything less.

The game went well for the Kitsunes but also went scarily well for the opposition. The opposition put up a valiant effort trying to do their best and not be the ones that Kirishima uses to end their draw streak. The fans and players held their breath until the final whistle just to be sure before erupting in cheers and chants. The streak was broken. While the fans were left to celebrate the team politely bowed towards the supporter section before heading into the tunnel. It was oddly silent as the victorious team walked towards the locker room. Ayame finally broke the silence fulfilling his role as team captain.

".......So I'm glad we got the win and we needed this but I do not feel-"

"Satisfied?" Miyoko Hojo stated as she took off her top. Despite there being other co-ed teams Kirishima had a unique situation where both guys and girls used the same locker room. Kirishinans had a different sense of shame, it did not mean that guys and girls were not interested in one another. On the contrary, it was common for players to watch each other especially newer players but Kirishinans were good at remain composure. Besides, it saved money, space and built camaraderie.

"Yeah" Ayame replied. "On one hand we got the result we wanted.....no needed but 3-2 is not the type of score we should beat a team like Ancharmunn by." He added.

"At least we managed to get a win before we face Valanora....." Rin Mizoguchi stated silencing the room. Surely Rin had no right to say something like that but he had a point. From the beginning, it seemed like Kirishima may have been the only team who could put up a challenge to the elves but with their current form. It seemed very unlikely.

"There is no playoff this time around." Claire Nguyen stated breaking the silence, catching the team off guard. She had a friendly and social personality but in the context of team discussion, he speaking up was something surprising. "Who cares how tough they are and how we are currently struggling?" Claire added standing up. "All we have to do is focus and finish in the top 2. We do that and there is no stress or pressure of a playoff. We will be in the World Cup just like that." When you look at it like that...we still are very much strong." Claire added.

"She's right" Mi-Soo stated walking into the room with the team doctor Myeong Hyeon-Yi. "We may be 8pts out of first but we are only 1pt out from second and that's still enough to qualify. We recently changed our system so we are still pretty vulnerable but...guys we broke the draw streak so smile. We will be facing Valanora on the road so keep realistic expectations while playing your best. Alright?" Seong Mi-Soo stated.

"Yes, Maam!" The team exclaimed in response.

"Great, you're dismissed. Don't have too much fun tonight. We have more supplementary practices tomorrow." Mi-Soo added with a wink before leaving the room.

Now that Seong Mi-Soo got her team debriefing out of the way so they could go out into the city, she was ready to talk to the press. "Enjoy the press today girl. It's going to be much more frustrating facing them after our match with Valanora." Seong Mi-Soo thought. The Kitsunes next opponent was ranked 8, unbeaten, widely respected and was a behemoth of an opponent.

"Heh isn't this sport a beautiful game? I mean the same amount of anxiety the press and fans have are the same that the team has. This a sport where a single goal can change the story and flow of a game. Add this to the fact that games can end due to a single goal. Our opponents were motivated and fought hard determined to not be known as the ones we broke our streak on. The thing is we were motivated as well. We wanted to deliver a long overdue win to our supporters and to ourselves. Our mission does not and still does not begin until we qualify for the World Cup. We can and we will keep on fighting and in the meantime, we will keep working on the new playstyle so that hopefully we have it ready by the time the second half of qualifiers begins." Mi-Soo said given her statement before fielding generic questions for the next few minutes.

by **Chromatika** » Mon Feb 13, 2017 8:50 pm

Lineup vs. Lanzo: Nier; Morningstar (Ilya '46) - Stef - Aart - Ellen; Montague (Etienne '72) - Liam; Rien - Sybill (Hellion '89) - Antonio (C); Andisori;

Goalscorers: Andisori ('42, assisted by Sybill), Montague ('62, free kick)

The little squids of Lanzo had no chance against the Chromatiks, who handled their aquatic foes with precision and finesse. The score might have read 2-0, but the game was far out of reach, with the Chromatik midfield combination of five players absolutely dominating the field. Andisori and Montague had the goals, but the player of the game was Luuk Aart with his long crosses, sure tackling, and on-field leadership. Chromatika maintains the three-point lead heading into the last two matches of the first half of qualifying.

Lineup @ The Serbian Empire: Elise; Cameron - Shipp - Lia - Lorenzo; Minke - Buric; Baumgartner - Berit - Chesser; Victoriane (C).

The second of four scheduled matches where Parker is likely to start his reserves. There are those who think Mia Ria should get the nod over Halide, but the youngster has been battling the flu. Kaytlyn Victoriane gets the nod as Captain after her brilliant performance against EEC. The match should grant the Chromatik starters another chance to rest up before their game against Taeshan, who has been performing better than anyone expected them to. Nothing short of a victory would be acceptable here, but with the fire that the reserves have shown against EEC, perhaps they deserve the chance. Expected outcome: Solid win, 3-0, Victoriane scores at least one goal.

Disclaimer: I am writing this with Northern Sunrise Islands's blessing. All credits of the PokéCards and whatnot go to him.

Bloodthirst. Nothing was quite like it. The sensation started at the back of your throat, with a perpetual dryness. Then, it made its way down to your heart, making it more difficult to breathe. Eventually, it messed with your sight and your smell, making you more sensitive to light as well as the smell of blood. It made it so easy to hear heartbeats from miles away. In the end stages, it took over you, turning you into a monster that could only be sated after enough blood had been drunk, snapping you out of it after the monster was satisfied.

There had been a time when Yeso enjoyed the bloodthirst. A time when she waited until she broke so that she could unleash herself upon the world and not come out of it until it was over, half the time wishing that someone would put her out of her misery while the bloodrage was happening. The recklessness was powerful, raw, and unbridled. Now, though? It went against everything that she ever stood for. Now, she made sure to carry blood with her - donated from hospitals, of course - and always went back for more before she ran out. She knew that there was no known cure for her condition, and that this would be something that she would have to deal with for the rest of her life, but she tried to look at the positives - she didn't need water, she didn't need food. She could see perfectly in the dark, she could hear from very far away. Sure, she was sensitive to light, and she scared people, but she had an affinity with dark and ghost Pokémon that defied normalcy, and it made her able to seek out Pokémon like Yveltal and Necrozma.

She found herself wondering if Valanora had similar circumstances with fairy Pokémon, and shelved the thought to the back of her mind to ask the Elf the next time that she saw her. It would happen sooner or later, with both of them being immortal and all. It was more important to find a hospital and get a few pints of blood.

After a few miles of walking - she never rode her Pokémon unless the occasion really called for it - she found herself back in the town that Sunrise and his group had been in. It wasn't hard to find the local hospital - it was in the center of town. After returning Yveltal and Gliscor to their Pokéballs, Yeso tried her best to remain hidden from the crowd and remain inconspicuous. The less people that noticed her, the better.

She got into the building, and made her way to one of the nurses behind a counter. A few heads were turning her way now, but that was unavoidable. She'd be in and out as fast as she could. After waiting in line for a few people to be processed through, she got to the front, and one of the nurses looked down at her.

"What can I do for you, miss? Do you have an appointment?" the nurse said politely, ready to type down some information.

Yeso pulled out one of her most prized possessions - a clearance card given to her by Cassadaigua - and laid it on the counter. It identified her as a blood recipient who could get a few pints every couple months; as clearance came from one of the most famous nurses around, not many asked questions. The nurse looked at it, surprised, and started to check the card to make sure it was genuine within the system. After a few moments, the nurse held up a finger.

"Let me make a phone call, miss. We are a bit short on blood at the moment, so I'll have to get some clearance. Can you wait?" the nurse asked.

Yeso nodded. She found it best if she didn't speak at all in situations like this.

"Sir? I have someone with a Priority-1 Card for blood... She's asking for a gallon. No, Sir, it's not one of ours, but it's from up high. The name of the issuer, Sir? Cassadaigua, Sir. Yes, her. Oh, sorry, Sir, I just wanted to make sure it was all right with you... Yes, Sir! I won't make that mistake again! Right away, Sir, I'll make sure she has as much as she needs!"

The nurse got off the phone, looking a bit flustered. Yeso snickered. Cassadaigua did have that kind of reputation.

"Sorry for the wait, miss," the nurse said, "I'll get your blood right away." She gave Yeso a look-over, as if she couldn't believe what she'd been subjected to over the phone, and disappeared for a few minutes. Yeso felt a twinge of guilt for the nurse, as well as gratitude for Cass. She still remembered the day that she got the card from Cass, as if it was yesterday...

A few years ago...
"What? You're living off of rat blood? Is that even healthy? Cassadaigua hissed loudly at a rather weak Yeso in a local restaurant, "You could get infected with some disease! I bet they don't even taste that good, either!"

By then, some people sitting by them were looking at them funny. Yeso held up a finger to her lips. "Shh! Don't draw any unneeded attention, Cass! You're the one who asked... It's better than killing someone's pet, or Pokémon, or Zaiden forbid another human... I try to be careful about where I get them from. I observe where they live and what they eat. I've even caged a few and grown them to drain later. I'll get the hang of it. Anything is better than killing," she said.

Cassadaigua shook her head, her long hair swaying with the motion. "You deserve more than that... I mean, you're a girl trying to defy your very nature! You deserve absolutely more than that! I demand it!"

"There is nothing I can do but what I am doing now, all right?" Yeso said, exasperated.

"Wrong!" Cassadaigua said, slamming a plastic card on the table. "I rather thought you would tell me something similar to what you just said, so I got you this!" She pushed the card toward Yeso, who took it and started to read.

"Priority-1 Card... Authorized by Cassadaigua. What is this, Cass? she asked.

"With this beauty, you can get up to a gallon of blood once every few months, and nobody will ask any questions. Officially they'll think that you're someone who treats others like a paramedic or something, or that you need it to teach science or something like that. Not many Priority-1 cards exist that they don't ask. Especially when it's me who authorized it. With this, you should be able to get healthy, human blood, without hurting anyone or yourself," Cass said proudly.

"I can't take this!" Yeso exclaimed, pushing the card away, "It is way too much power for someone like me to have... I don't trust myself with this. Take it back, Cass, please!"

Cassadaigua pushed the card back toward Yeso. "I insist. Don't worry, I'll get a notification every time you use it, and I'll be on top of you in an instant if you ever abuse it. What you're trying to do, what you're trying to prove, whom you're trying to be... It's hard enough as it is without that thirst of yours. Take it, and if you want to repay me, promise me that you'll never give up trying to be better, that you will never go back to whom you were. That you'll seek people who are prejudiced and turn their hearts, or seek people who are like you and show them hope. If you promise me that, this is the least I can do."

Yeso took the card, tears running down her face. "I don't know what to say...

"Don't say anything. Live. Show everything."

Footsteps of the nurse walking back shook Yeso out of her memory.

"There you go, miss. Sorry for the wait, again," the nurse said, handing over four pint packets of blood, "We only had O+ blood available, I hope that's okay? Like I said, we've had a bit of a shortage." The nurse looked nervous, as if she wasn't doing enough and was expecting to be admonished again.

Yeso smiled to allay her fears, took the blood packets, and said mildly, "Thank you."

She then walked quietly out of the hospital, leaving behind a very confused nurse.

A half hour later, back deep in the forest, Yeso drank about a cup of the first pint of blood. That should keep her going for a few days, with how much she'd gotten used to barely going by.

I'll never betray your confidence, Cass. I promise.

That chore aside, and her thirst sated for the time being, Yeso began to track the three hooded figures that had ambushed Chrom...

by **95X** » Mon Feb 13, 2017 8:51 pm

A 95X RP With the Word "Execution!"

Following another loss, Randy Larch considered lineup changes.

"We can win, we did the first match," he said in a meeting with his sideline staff. "We just need to review the videos with the players, make some adjustments, and we could still pull off upsets and qualify."

He put together a new plan, which he had time to explain to the team before gametime.

"This plan is dependent on three things: Execution! Execution! Execution! You all know your strengths, you all know your teammates' strengths, and we're giving you as much information on our opponents as our scouting reporters can find. If we execute, we can win!"

by **Drawkland** » Mon Feb 13, 2017 8:52 pm

KICK CORPS PLAYER BIOGRAPHIES
It's come to our attention that many people don't know a lot about Kick Corps players outside of what they've seen on the international stage. We feel that this is unfair to the players and thus, we want to showcase them a little of our players' history, personality, personal life, and of course, playing style. Maybe this will help future opponents or scouts understand our players more and lead to a brighter and better future for Drawkland in soccer.

Pft, nahh. Anyway, we'll be progressing along through the lineup, starting with the Starters and then going into the Reserves. Once we finish the current lineup this series will obviously cease, but we'll release a new installment every time new players are called up to the team.

Part 3: Rebecca Talla, Mandy Thompson

REBECCA TALLA
Age: 32 Position: Left Midfielder Corps Number: 4

Rebecca Talla is one of the oldest players on the Kick Corps currently active. Born to Parker Talla and Tamara Langfield Talla, the girl was the older of two (having a younger brother), and lived in Cove Port, Betakree, since birth. Attending Bean Gray High School as a late teen and then going straight to Cove Port National College as a young adult, she was a fan of the Cove Port Cruisers, the local DLK team, all her life. After graduating from an accelerated Pharmaceutical Medicine program at age 25, she was picked up as a free agent for her favorite team, the Cruisers. Throughout her academic career, she earned her reputation by playing all over the midfield, but when she was placed in the professional realm for a side in desperate need of semi-talent, she was forced to play specifically Left Mid. She played there for 7 seasons, before a transfer request from Schottia's Handon United came. After very much soul searching on Rebecca's part, she departed from her childhood team and went out abroad to play for a top-level side. After all, Cove Port were in the same division with Drawk Corps, Drawk City Troopers, and Pittsennat Reds. Not like they were going to get playoff berths or deep Cup runs anytime soon.

As far as playing goes, Rebecca is a very lanky sort of player, but still shows little remorse on the pitch. Despite being skinnier than most, she still will physically contest for or with the ball against defenders or strikers of the other team. She is on occasion a very physical player, going for legal blows and being a nearly-unstoppable force. However, those only come in short, tight, and clutch bursts, which don't last long and obviously won't let her go all match. Even when she's not in "beast mode," she is still a wide force on the field, her longer legs and frame able to reach and knock the ball loose even when nobody would expect her to. She can last pretty much all of a single match unless she has too many power bursts, and she can usually go 2-3 games in a row before needing a match break, or perhaps a one-on one-off scheme to stay a reliable player.

Her dirty blonde hair is known especially for being in a ponytail or tight bun on the pitch, but worn loose and down off it. She wears contacts during matches and about half the time in public, although she isn't a stranger to wearing a hip pair of glasses. Her body is skinnier and lankier (7'7") than most but also more muscular than its appearance lets on, and while it's not like she's a knockout compared to some girls, she's still a source of beauty, as her numerous several-month relationships, usually with musicians (except that one artist guy), can attest. It's clear that she's outspoken at first, but then becomes rather quiet or hurt if she's disagreed with. Despite this, however, she can always be a source of some good banter, unless she's having an off day. Oh yeah, and she will be a Cove Port fan until the day she dies.

MANDY THOMPSON
Age: 23 Position: Right Midfielder Corps Number: 5

Mandy Thompson was born in Krakon, Betakree, to Harry Thompson and Bethel Miller Thompson. As a child she learned to play soccer with her one-year-younger sister Gabby, playing in the kiddie leagues of Krakon, and continued to mature in her play as she grew older. Gabby eventually gave up to pursue more material exploits (read: boys), and while Mandy had similar interests outside of soccer, she still remained, practice after practice, on the field at Grand Hellor High. She had played many positions, mainly offensive ones, but her coach decided that her dual-threat talents, as both a smashmouth striker and an aggressive defender, lended her well to a midfield position, which she did take with pride. She had half-hearted plans to attend a university nearby in northern Drawkland, but when desperate Avon talent scouts viewed a Krakon City Championship match between Grand Hellor and Jakka Tertiary and saw the commanding presence Mandy exuded, they were quick to relay the information. Strat City offered a contract almost immediately, and Mandy accepted just as fast. Like the blink of an eye, she was on her way to Avon to play in international competition, on the professional level. She was only 21 then, about to turn 22, as she'd been sitting on her hands after she graduated. She's been a hardlining force in Strat City and a feared opponent across Ceni and the Isles.

Physically, she's a bigger, lower-to-the-ground player than most opponents, which makes her more of a threat to taller opponents. She's a terror when it comes to handling the ball or putting pressure on prospective strikers. As far as actual speed and stamina, she isn't really a high ranker in either. She's a real brute-force type of player that can't really last more than one consecutive match, but will fully outlast one that even goes into Extra Time. This is convenient too, as her aggressive attitude causes her to get carded often, and thus she often has to take breaks, not only for endurance reasons, but for game administrative reasons. Hey, at least she's killing two birds with one stone, right?

Standing at only 6'10", she's definitely plumper than she is tall (at least for a Drawkian). She is glorified by a small cult of male followers, not that it matters much. She could be considered one of the beauties of the team, but there's definitely others who are idolized further than her. She has a deep caramel skin tone, not exactly enough to be considered brown but close to it. Her hair is brunette and she wears it down almost everywhere, even during matches. Sometimes, in the event of rain or big winds she'll wear it in a bun, but that's unlikely. Off the pitch she shows a lot of skin, which has brought her some negative media attention, but as she says, "Nothing about me matters unless it happens on grass." She's obviously abrasive and has the bitchy air about her, but coming from Krakon, the City of Dicks as it's hailed in Drawkland (and that's coming from Drawkland too, the Nation of Dicks. And yes, we mean the metaphorical way), it's to be expected. She has an apartment in Stratosphere City, Avon, but lives with her boyfriend in Corinth City, Malicollet, during the offseason.

by **Turori** » Mon Feb 13, 2017 9:01 pm

Eastfield Lodge On Course to Break Tradition

Eels Held to 1-1 Draw with Rushmori under-achievers :: Perennial under-achievers Eastfield Lodge have done exactly what they needed to do and stolen a point from the Turori Eels to retain their place atop the Group 6 table.

It was a big match for both teams, with Eastfield Lodge facing their second real test of the campaign, looking to prove that their position atop the table was a deserved position and not simply a virtue of scheduling and a 'lucky' 3-1 away win over Brenecia. For the Eels, who have been stuck on the outside looking in, sitting third in the table with only two teams advancing to the World Cup 77 Finals, the match was an opportunity to propel themselves back up into the qualification places.

Eastfield Lodge's 4-1-2-3 Lineup was an unfamiliar one for the Turorian players to deal with, heavy in both defense and attack with a relatively weak midfield. This resulted in a bit of a stalemate early in the match as both sides tried to find a way to pierce through the opposition backline.

Turori eventually broke through on a stunning free kick delivered by Matlya Eelador in the 42nd minute giving the Eels all the momentum heading into the halftime break.

Eastfield Lodge were not to be brushed aside however and fought back in the second half, eventually collecting an equalizer from Tia Drenas in the 56th minute. Both sides would make substitutions to stay fresh but none of the new introductions could provide enough of that final spark to be a difference maker in the match which ended in a 1-1 draw and retained the status quo in the Group 6 table.

WGPC Eelandii Takes Shape :: It was an exciting day in Eelandii where it was all happening at once. With the Turori National Team gearing up to square off against Mattijana in a World Cup Qualifier, an announcement took place just across the way at the Eelandii Grand Prix course.

Turori's most famous motorsport personality and defending World Grand Prix Championship runner-up iBen Toralmintii announced that he had accepted an offer to drive for WGPC Eelandii, a new entity formed from the union of Vilita & Turori Motorsports and Scuderia WGPC.

With officials from Vilita & Turori Motorsports on hand, the details of the arrangement became more clear. Existing research and development facilities in Eelandii would remain under the Vilita & Turori Motorsports banner with an eye towards technology development and a future return to WGPC competition as an independent entity. Adjacent buildings on the Vilita & Turori Motorsports complex which were previously used for staging, storage and overflow activities would be converted into the home base for WGPC Eelandii.

Along with Torlamintii, many shop and race day personnel will make the switch down the hall to wear the WGPC Eelandii uniforms during the WGPC 15 season, in addition to a selection of personnel retained from Scuderia WGPC, previously based in Hodori. With the team occupying existing Vilita & Turori Motorsports spaces and able to utilize assets from both Scuderia WGPC and Vilita & Turori Motorsports, there is not expected to be any issues preventing the team from both attending and being competitive at the first Grand Prix on the schedule which, ironically, is the Grand Prix of Eastfield Lodge at the Mount Salt Raceway.

The parallels between Turori's World Cup 77 Qualifying campaign and WGPC Eelandii's World Grand Prix Championship fate are undeniable. Following the announcement of WGPC Eelandii, the Turori National Team completed a 2-0 Group 6 victory over Mattijana at Eel's Park. It is believed that the creation of WGPC Eelandii is at least partially due to Vilita & Turori Motorsports financial instability as a result of losing World Champion driver Terho Talvela to a rival team, based, of course, in .... Mattijana.

by **The Royal Kingdom of Quebec** » Mon Feb 13, 2017 9:02 pm

I came in like a....

Matchday Eight Cutoff

by **Farfadillis** » Mon Feb 13, 2017 9:03 pm

"Hey! No fair! That's a foul!" Mariano shouted.

"Nuh-uh. You always dive!" Santiago replied.

"What? No, I don't! You're a liar!"

"That's it. I'm taking the ball."

"Again." I added dryly.

"Again?" Lorenzo asked, disheartened at the prospect of not playing football for the rest of the afternoon.

"Yes, unless Mariano says sorry."

"I'm not saying sorry."

"Then I'm taking the ball." Santiago pouted, turned around and promptly left. For the third time that week.

I feel the exchange we had that morning perfectly represented the core of our personalities. Mariano, overly-obsessed with winning, would never accept to diving, whether he did it or not. Santiago, ever the attention-seeker, milked his ownership of the ball for all it was worth. Not all of us could have what were, by our standards, rich parents. Lorenzo, meanwhile, was only worried about playing football. He never really understood Santiago and Mariano like I did. He couldn't see these faults in them. He was always too idealistic. Though, honestly, I prefer the term naïve.

We were just four kids that lived round the same block. Each of us lived on a different street. The streets were Avenida Principal, Avenida Victoria, Avenida Leal and La Nueva Avenida. Typically, when a street has "Avenida" in its name, it's important. Not in this case. All four of them were lucky to see even one car in a day in Victoria Lago, our city. Not like many cars existed at the time, to be fair.

Obviously, our proximity made us quickly become friends. We went to the same school, since there wasn't a choice anyway.

That evening, we had another important exchange. One that, I believe, steered our lives in a certain direction. Our class had just been introduced to chess by our teacher, who thought it would make all kids in the class geniuses or something similarly ridiculous. None of us complained. For one, most believed her. For two, it was a lot more fun than learning geography.

Santiago was facing Lorenzo and Mariano was facing me. The former match-up wasn't very fair because Santiago was naturally a better thinker than Lorenzo, even with all his faults. The latter match-up wasn't fair because at the time I played regularly with my father. The outcome of the matches is not what matters, though.

Upon having his queen taken, and facing imminent defeat, though he likely didn't notice, Lorenzo asked us all a question.

"Hey, guys, what do you want to be when you grow up?"

It was a pretty common topic for kids our age, but, strangely, it had never come up. Our teacher had asked a few times, but none of us had bothered to raise our hands. Not even Santiago.

"Err... I don't know. An actor?" Santiago replied, hesitant. The answer made a lot of sense.

"I want to be rich. So whatever makes me rich." Mariano followed with a similarly predictable answer.

"I don't know." I answered, perhaps predictably too. We all looked at Lorenzo, expecting him to tell us what he wanted to be. He just looked at us none the wiser.

"Well..." We said in unison.

"Well what?" He asked, confused.

"What do you want to be when you grow up?" Mariano asked.

"Oh, that." He pondered for a bit. "Oh, I know! I want to make a football club!"

"Great idea! I want to make a football club too!" Santiago quickly announced. He used to always do things like that to become the center of attention, but it was sincere for once.

"You don't make a football club. You found a football club." I corrected.

"Once I'm rich, I could found a football club too, I guess." Mariano thought out loud.

"What about you, Renato?" Lorenzo asked, clearly excited at the prospect of all his friends sharing his dream.

"It was not in my plans, but it sounds like it would be fun."

Just as I said that, the bell rang. This meant our conversation was interrupted by our infantile running towards the playground. After all, whoever got to the goal last was going to play keeper. Still, interrupted as that conversation was, I believe it planted a seed in our minds. We didn't touch on the subject for a long time after that, but we all entertained the idea in our minds. Founding our own clubs. To kids like us, it sounded like the stuff of dreams. Most wanted to be firefighters and policemen, but we were weird like that, I suppose. I wouldn't have it any other way.

by **Witty Penguins** » Mon Feb 13, 2017 9:24 pm

Proud sponsor of the Penguinish football team
#GoPenguins

TOP NEWS: Poll: President still most popular candidate | Chilly Willy resigns as Treasurer

FOOTBALL: Victory and defeat for the Penguins
14 February 2017

WC77 QUALIFIERS - GROUP 2, MATCHDAY 6
PIC Stadium, Macquire

WPG 1-3 JRU

19' Arce
37' Arce
64' Okazaki
80' Arce

MACQUIRE, ADELIELAND - You win some. You lose some. That's been the case for Witty Penguins in the past couple of days in the World Cup 77 Qualifiers. And as we approach the half-way mark in these qualifiers, it's probably safe to assume the Penguins will have to wait another year to qualify for the World Cup.

Returning to home land, the Penguins were joined by Jeruselem, the large nation from Greater Prussia that currently sits in 2nd place in Group 2. Having yet to lose any of their games, Jeruselem started the clear favourites to win. In addition, the Macquire weather was more merciful to the visitors in comparison to previous qualifying matches there, with clear skies and little snowfall for much of the day. Jeruselem would add the first strike to their tally 19 minutes in when striker Alice Arce volleyed a cross from Lauren Florentina into the goal. The young 18-year-old clearly proved her worth in this match, as she would score later in the first-half as well. Looking from the side benches, Kelvin Wood could only help but watch as his team struggled to get opportunities at goal.

Adding further to his woes, their best goal-scorer had to be walked off the pitch early in the second-half. Klaus Gunther attempted to slide the ball into the goal, but slid into the goalpost, receiving a concussion. The hosts' only goal of the match would come in the 64th minute when 20-year-old Hiromi Okazaki knocked one in just 7 minutes after being subbed in for Gunther. It would give the team and fans some hope that they could equalize, but Alice Arce would yet again dash their hopes with a hat-trick in the 80th minute. The match ended 1-3 to the visitors, and the Penguins added a 4th loss to their record.

WC77 QUALIFIERS - GROUP 2, MATCHDAY 7
PIC Stadium, Macquire

WIL 1-3 WPG

23' Kelsey
55' Okazaki

Their next match was against bottom-placed Willinois, an almost guaranteed win - to lose this match would be a complete embarrassment for Witty Penguins, and for Kelvin Wood, who has already faced much pressure to resign. What didn't help was that Klaus Gunther was still sidelined with his earlier injury, although, Okazaki had demonstrated potential when she replaced him. Despite being a different climate to home, the Penguins appeared to be unfazed by the heat, dominating the pitch and showing much more skill with the ball than the hosts. Rosa Kelsey scored her first-ever goal in the 23rd minute. Okazaki had been knocked over hard by a Willinois defender, and the Penguins were awarded a free kick (the defender was spared of a card, a decision not happily taken by Penguinish fans). Pierre Fort lobbed the ball over the wall of players, and Rosa Kelsey rushed forward to head it past their keeper.

It was some relief for the players, but they almost lost this lead when Oliver Johnson accidentally dropped the ball after a striker tried to knock it in. The Willinois strikers went to strike the loose ball, but the quick thinking of Levi Cobb meant that the ball was hit safely out of the goal area. It would be Willinois' last significant opportunity at goal for the rest of the match. Hiromi Okazaki would score the Penguins' second goal in the 55th minute, a suggestion that Wood should be considering her for the first eleven.

The Penguins continue to sit solidly in 8th place, a single point off Quakmybush and Garifunya, yet still well-off the playoff spots. Tomorrow they will return home to face Darmen.

by **Qasden** » Mon Feb 13, 2017 9:36 pm

Qasden
Athletic News

Qads Break Horrific Streak with Smashing of Devonta

Good news! QADAN's power outage over the past few days is over! Bad news, the Qads had been slammed by a trio of teams during our absence, but we'll talk about that later.

The 'pality's newfound winning streak had turned into a losing streak within an instance, killing our ranks and demoting us to the known-too-well fifth place. As fear trudged into the fans of QAFA, it was almost obligatory that the Vans show no mercy against the United States of Devonta in Taxson if they wanted to stay alive in the campaign.

Merellin Park, the smallest out of the qualifying venues in Qasden despite occupying almost 80,000 seats, was completely sold out for the first time in history. Despite having lost to newcomers, Faustii, in the most recent of this upsetting curse, the fanatics were still positive. That night would finally see Qasden triumph again as they did in the start. As the teams filed out onto the field, Qasden in their coveted blue-red jerseys, and Devonta in white with neon blue and lime, the stadium roared in excitement. Of the 79,800 attendees, over 93% were fans of the Vans, while 5% were cheering for Devonta and 2% there as non-bias tourists from elsewhere in the multiverse.

TQ was given the ball first as per homefield, and they took it as if it were the finals. Darsten and Hero passed it back and forth repetitively between the legs of several Devontan defenders before lobbing the ball over to Xandreas, who awaited its presence patiently. The shot was made but no mas. The game continued on with USD getting a few scares out of the people face painted with the Qad national colors. Luckily, by the 23rd minute, the captain had secured the ball from the opposing forces long enough to send it flying into the goal. It was another amazing save by the keep, only to see the rebounded ball get hurled back in with more power by Owais Lumière. 1-0, Qads already began celebration. Devonta retaliated, however, with a strong upgrade in offense and defense, which drew the majority of the half into a standoff. An attacker nearly scored 37 minutes in, but the post was there to save the day when the brickwall couldn't. The half had been extended by 3 minutes, which gave just enough time for Jerry Bostun to come in and hammer a second point under the Azeurian name. The enthusiasm exploded around the Taxson pubs and vistas as they witnessed a beautiful revival of the Vans' winning ways.

The second half featured Coach Jon Merritt's heavy attention towards the defense of the Blue-Reds. They played decent, but decent isn't good enough. After a few substitutions and even starting midfielder, Chip Tyson, the Vans were ready for the next 45 minutes. The neons earned the rights to kickoff obviously, as they meandered their way through a few midfielders before being halted abruptly by the center-backs. 56 minutes in, Chip Tyson went straight for the goal unopposed before being stopped and injured by a defender. To much dismay of the fans, the referee gave no card in exchange for the sound of hate-filled jeers. Xandreas came to the field and stuck the ball through the wall of flesh and awkwardly bounced the ball into the net. It was an unexpected goal, but boy did the fans ignite. It was then 3-0, a win seemed assured at this point. As the match carried out as hoped for, excitement and adrenaline began to build up rapidly within the stands. 68 minutes in, 74 minutes in, 82 minutes in, the Qads held their stance above the visitors. Finally, 90+2 minutes into the game, a Devontan midfielder broke free of the clutches of Qasden and pounded the ball across the field and directly towards the net. Assisted by Abbott, the ball hit the crossbar, effectively ending the game on contact.

Humans and cats alike bursted into a parade of celebration and rejoice at the death of the losing streak. The big win rose the Blue-Reds back up to fourth and with it, extended their number of points into the double digits. Even Merritt seemed relieved at the sight.

"I must even say how surprised I was by the outcome of this game. A win seemed favored, but by three goals against a higher opposition? That just tells me that we're back on track. It is my personal duty to make sure the incidents occurring he past few days will not happen again, and I'll prove my point further in Amnarei by showing the true power of the Vans.".

As the Qads enjoy their luck, match #8 will feature an away game in the sandy desert-island of Amnarei-asud. Unlike Cosneolta and Nume, this team was a true force to be reckoned with out of the class of 64, having stormed through Drawkland and Nordernious to take home the BoF trophy in Bonesea and Mercedini. Continuing in the wake, they now inhabit 5th place neck-and-neck with the Vans themselves.

Can the Blue-Reds stop the new kids on the block in Amnarei-asud? Will the sandy champions destroy the fans' hopes of qualifying? Only one king gets his crown, so stay tuned, stay updated, and stay alert for our next report, coming live to you from the island of Amnarei-asud in the WC77 qualifiers!

by **-Anthor-** » Mon Feb 13, 2017 11:32 pm

Chapter III: Role Reversal

The audio-environment of the crowd waved through Jason's ears, but he tuned it out. The calls, the shouts, the heckles, the chanting of the two sides of fans that were thronged in the stands, underneath the lights, did nothing to break his concentration. Nor did all the commotion around him, instead, his eyes almost narrowed slightly, focusing on things crucial to him.

Like forward lob incoming from Richard Holloway, the brawn and foreboding defender had crucially intercepted a short tap pass from the Freyhill winger towards their forward, much like how a horse grabs something mid-stride, and Richard just broke clean away with it. He ran with it for a few moments before he caught the ball with the side of his foot and fired a cross off over to Bissette, and Jason knew the attack game was on and immediately began running diagonally from where he had been on the left flank, more towards the center of the field. Geoffrey sprinted with the ball before trying to pass it over to Jennifer, but she was overtaken by one of the Freyhill defenders, but Frank Cartwright came from his behind and nearly downed the Freyhillian as he stole the ball back quickly and seeing that Jason was now a few paces ahead of his defender, passed it forward hard, and Jason picked it up right in stride, the ball almost naturally gliding into the rhythm of his feet, quickly dribbling the ball forward as his pace quickened, cutting a corner and switching back behind his defender who over-ran, Jason hustled it a few feet inside the box before he brought his leg back and kicked it fully through, and watched for what seemed an eternity as the ball soared through the air not too high off the ground and passed right under the arms of the Freyhillian keeper.

A smile was immediately brought to his face, and he pumped his fist as Jennifer and Nicholas ran over to congratulate him. Jennifer looked a little down, but NIcholas was just pumping his back "Keep it up bro, we're riding you to the qualification zone!!"

Jennifer just meekly smiled and Jason nudged her in the ribs as the trio began jogging back over to their side as the opposition keeper prepared to restart the game. "Don't get too blue McKenzie, that's my job."

"Psfht, just can't let you outscore me this Cup. Can't believe I let him overtake me like that, sloppy work."

Jason shrugged "Dare you to fix it."

The match continued on, with Jason's goal just coming at the 27 minute mark, the gaffer Adrien was pushing the Warriors to go into full out attack mode and have the Freyhillians pushed back on their heels when the match stopped for half-time, so full-out attack mode was activated. At first, the midfielders seemed a bit out of sync, Frank especially didn't seem to be coordinating well with Anthony, but Richard and his other defenders stopped any advance cold and once the midfielders got their game together in short order, Jason even found himself running down the Freyhillian with the ball. The man was tall, but those long, lanky legs of him seemed to not give him as great of a pace as Jason possessed, and he found himself quickly gaining on the man. Within a few short minutes, his eyes focusing carefully on the timing of the man's dribbling and himself, he quickly issued a challenge, slightly shoving the man and cutting his right foot in for the ball. It seemed to work perfectly, the man was completely thrown off balance and it presented Jason with the chance to swoop in very cleanly and retrieve the ball, and he just took off with it like he was chasing the devil himself, but he noticed that his option of cutting inwards put him having to out maneuver the defenders which were now just closing in on him. However, he noticed out of the corner of his eye, a certain female in Warrior kit colors sprinting behind the defenders that were now going in the opposite direction. Making an immediate decision before off-side could be called, Jason quickly cut-lobbed the ball, and it soared over the heads of the defenders who almost had reached Jason and landed right in front of Jennifer who simply ran up to it and powerfully placed her foot fully through the ball, rocketing it right into the top left corner and just being a few small units short of whacking the cross bar. She began shouting and ran for a few moments before sliding on her knees, Jason running over to her, and getting to her just as she was picking herself up and out of the crowd of the other Anthorans crowding around her.

He looked at her with a broad smile, and she noticed and returned it with her own flashy one, and for a second, he thought something about it was different. Not a bad change, but almost, like he had noticed something before that had always been overlooked. The thought was dashed as Jennifer reached him and slapped him on the arm playfully "Challenge accepted and met loser, still gotta keep up Preston."

"I think I'm still beating you Evesham, I got 1 and 1 remember."

"There's still time"

by **Abristan** » Tue Feb 14, 2017 4:08 am

Abristan Express

Abristan break losing streak against Huri de Wintre

Abristan 4 - 0 Huri de Wintre

Abristan really needed to beat bottom placed, unranked nobodies Huri de Wintre to have a even a sliver of pride after how their tournament has gone so far, with losses to teams they should have beaten in the early matches. They previously managed to punish lower ranked Kinzenland, who had already won a game, and Huri de Wintre were doing even worse, with 7 losses out of 7 qualifying games placing them right at the bottom of the highly competitive group 13. If Abristan could record their second win at home at the Liberty 1983 Stadium in Carthage they would most likely move up off second last and challenge Kinzenland in the rankings. Manager Matthew Harris had said before the game that he expected the kind of performance that he had seen at the Baptism of Fire, a couple of months earlier, that had seen them get through to the round of 16 before going out england-esque on penalties to a team they really should have beaten from Great Caledonia and North Hybernia.

The manager had made 5 changes to the starting XI, unsurprisingly subbing out El Abassi and Twente who were both outclassed yesterday, and also bringing off Jason Welshire, the captain, goalkeeper Jamal Byala-Dwyer, and centre-back Ahmed Rustam. The starting line-up therefore was as follows:

GK - Isamu Dali
LB - Channing Ewart
CB - Mayamiko Tsuong
CB - Conor De Vries
RB - Seri Ngundo
LM - Muhamad Del
CM - Winfrith Gagne
CM - Jaginho
RM - Nasser Al Patrani
ST - LeMoyen Turka
ST - Nicholas Rijnder

Nicholas Rijnder was an interesting choice, as the President's son is in a poor slump at the moment. Manager Matthew Harris was obviously hoping the tournament would rekindle the genius that saw him score Abristans first ever international goal at the Baptism of Fire, in Abristans first ever international match.

Abristan would go on not just to beat Huri de Wintre but to crush them 4-0 in a dominant home display from the Greens. Playing in front of a crowd of 57,000 Abristani fans, a record attendance, the team played simple but ruthlessly effective football which rendered many Huri de Wintre players useless. It was clearly visible to any true fan that Abristan were a cut above the Wintreans, both in their skill level and their overall desire to win. This follows the same ethos of desire and passion that 67 year old Manager Matthew Harris preached at the Baptism of Fire and when working as manager of his old club, Northern Territories Rangers. In his 7 seasons as manager there, between 2003 and 2010 Northern won the Super League 5 times and the won the Super Cup as well in 2004, 2008 and 2010, winning the triple crown in 2008 by winning the Abristani League Cup as well. Harris then retired but was brought out of retirement by head of football Arsene Svenrig shortly before the Baptism of Fire. It was seemingly an inspired choice, as since his appointment Abristan have always played with a commendable team spirit.

Abristans 4 goals would come from Jaginho (42,67), Al Patrani (55), and the Presidents son himself Nicholas Rijnder (86)

Play by Play

3: LeMoyen Turka strikes a bobbling ball just outside the box, only for it to loop harmlessly over the bar for a goal kick.

5: Huri counter off the goal kick as the ball bounces through luckily to their centre forward who tries to go past Gagne as he runs back to defend but trips over his own feet and it's easy for Gagne to dispossess him.

9: A byline cross from Al Patrani finds the head of LeMoyen Turka but it's well wide of the mark and the keeper would have probably had it covered anyway.

17: Mounting pressure leads to mistakes as a pass back to his goalkeeper by a Huri defender is nearly intercepted but the scrambling keeper reaches it first.

27: An incisive through ball allows a Huri striker to take an unopposed shot at goal, which skids along the ground inches wide of the left post.

33: LeMoyen Turka is dragged down inside the box, but no penalty is given, and the referee even gives Turka a yellow card for diving.

37: Mayamiko Tsuong is chopped down horribly by a Huri midfielder in a two footed tackle only for the referee to ignore it and wave play on.

42: Jaginho finally used his magical feet, dribbling through a gaggle of stunned defenders with the ball never rolling more than a millimeter away from his leading foot, as if it was stuck on with glue. A one-two with Turka and he was through on goal with just the keeper left, trembling in his boots. A simple strike found the bottom corner and it was 1-0 Abristan.

Half Time

At half time the Abristani fans were absolutely ecstatic, as they led 1-0 and deserved more. More of the same was the order of the day from Harris, and the team duly served it to him in the second half.

51: Huri nearly draw level with only a diving save from youngster Isamu Dali preventing a header sneaking in at the far post off a corner.

55: Abristan score their second with a long range belter from Nasser Al Patrani. Mahrez-esque he cut in from the right, switched the ball onto his left and curled it beautifully into the top left from 30 yards out.

60: Nicholas Rijnder given a yellow for a collision with a Huri defender in the box.

67: Jaginho strikes again, this time off of a free kick from the top of the box. With free kick specialist Szweda not selected it fell to him to strike the free kick. He duly kicked it inches over the jumping wall, before it dipped violently, striking the underside of the bar and going in.

81: Abristan have a goal disallowed as a Rijnder tap in is incorrectly judged to be offside.

86: Rijnder makes up for the offside decision by popping up at the back post from an Al Patrani corner to nod home the fourth and final goal.

Full Time

Abristan can be very proud of the display they put on today, doing their nation proud in front of a huge home crowd. Talking to journalists earlier today Manager Matthew Harris, when asked out the 4-0 scoreline said he was delighted with the scoreline and with the way the players had performed today, from their enthusiasm and determination to the moments of brilliant flair, like Al Patrani's long range strike for the second goal. When asked about their chances for qualification he admitted it was essentially impossible at this point, but hoped they good still get some more wins to climb up the world rankings, and maybe even be invited to the Cup of Harmony. When asked about the referees Harris was more aggressive with his answers claiming the referee today had a terrible game and should not be refereeing at a game of this standard. We pointed out Abristan could have submitted their own refs for the tournament, to which Harris replied that was something they were looking into at the Ministry of Sports and Leisure.

by **Jeruselem** » Tue Feb 14, 2017 4:49 am

Chloe Dallas and Princess Elsa in Bonesea. They are dressed in red love heart dresses.

Chloe: This is Chloe Dallas, for Naked News Jeruselem. I'm with Princess Elsa again. Why are we dressed like this?
Elsa: It's Valentine's day! But we're here in Bonesea away from loved ones. So thank God for the Internets
Chloe: Oh yes, I don't spend a lot of time at home recently.
Elsa: Get used to it, girl.
Chloe: All this travel makes you think how good you have it at home.
Elsa: I feel guilty leaving the new bubs at home but I can't drag her around with me.

Chloe: Back to the football, group 2. Darmen back into winning ways beating Witty Penguins in penguin land 2-1. Back on the wagon for Darmen.
Elsa: Quakmybush hosted Drawkland, but Drawkland proved too hard to beat winning 4-3. Drawkland, proving they aren't making up numbers.
Chloe: Barunia, again making themselves be seen winning 4-1 in Whovian Tardisia. Those Whovians are really having a bad time of it.
Elsa: And Willinois hosted ambitious Garifunya, but the bottom placed team beat them 2-1. This is a shock result, contender falls to low team.

Chloe: We took on Bonesea, the group leader. 1st vs 2nd. Could the princesses beat the top team. and in the home of our rival.
Elsa: They put 3 goals past our defenses, which kinda sucked
Chloe: Yeah they showed they can score goals regularly
Elsa: But this team conceded like 11 goals in 7 games, surely the Princesses couldnt score 4 or more goals
Chloe: But we did !!!
Elsa: 4-3 win !!!

Chloe: A game where both sides didn't give in. Home side fought hard, but could not handle Princess power!
Elsa: A rough day for our defense, we were trying to keep the damage down but our attack put in timely and devastating strikes sending the locals into panic mode.
Chloe: The midfield didn't do much work
Elsa: Considering the ball kept on going from one end to another like a ping pong game.
Chloe: And this means we have a new leader
Elsa: Yeah, that's us not Bonesea

Chloe: Been a while since we've lead a table
Elsa: Yeah, 2nd 3rd is our usual spot
Chloe: That's it from us
Elsa: Been a great Valentine's day for us
Chloe: we can't be at home, but we got a huge win.
Elsa: Have a great Valentine's day, and make babies.

Group 2
Witty Penguins 1–2 Darmen
Bonesea 3–4 Jeruselem
Quakmybush 3–4 Drawkland
Barunia 4–1 Whovian Tardisia
Willinois 2–1 Garifunya

by **Juvencus** » Tue Feb 14, 2017 5:55 am

OOC: Please forgive any explicit content you might see over here. I'm also going to use the term Savojarnans, renouncing the existence of the country.

Benito Aggio, well known Juven nationalist and leader of the Juven Group Against Inferior People, as well as The Nationalist News, targetted mainly towards Savojars and people of the Rau area over in the south of Juvencus, was infuriated over an article he had just read on a Savojar newspaper called RevNews. He was jumping around of anger, his face was red and you could easily spot veins coming out of his neck.

"Cleto, come here. I need to talk to you about these cunts, the Savojarnans wrote an article filled with lies. I bet these infidels believe it over there in Savojarna. None of this actually happened, just LOOK! LOOK AT THESE LIES" said Benito while indicating the whole article of the Savojar newspaper's english version.

"Wow, these Savojarnans really should go back to their caves. WE DID THE DIRTY TRICKS?!?!!?! I mean, look at their goddamn goal, it was hella offside if you know what I'm saying. He was much more behind the last defender, their goal shouldn't have been counted. But oh no, we're the dirty ones. Fuck these cunts, they know nothing. When we go back to Savojarna, we'll show them, the fair fucking way."

"Indeed brother. Come here, I want you to write an article responding back to these people. Cause eugh, they need to learn a god-fucking-damn lesson."

"Yes Benito, yes. Just give me some time, I need to think."
Benito would pat Cleto's back. Cleto was the main writer of the newspaper, he was a quick and creative mind, his only flaw was that he was a nationalist. He sat on his chair to think, it was 1 AM and he had 3 hours to write a good article for the newspaper. An idea sprung to his mind instantly.

THE NATIONALIST NEWS
FOR JUVE!

2 days ago, as everybody would know. We lost to the Savojars. A squad of limited to no skill humiliated our squad in front of thousands of Juven fans. The reason was an offside goal. Of course, if the refferee was a superior Juve he'd know that it's an offside whenever an attacker is behind the last defender after the center line. But no, he didn't give anything. 0-1 for the Savojars. Do you know what the World Cup Commitee has to do? That's right, either make a rematch or uncount the goal and keep the match a tie, which would be the fair result. Despite all our calls to the commitee all we got was a message saying. "Greetings Juven FA, sadly the match has been counted as official and as such we cannot make a rematch like that possible, nor call it a tie. You do have a second chance at Savojarna though, good luck then." Not only did they turn their back on us, they supported those inferior Savojars in the process. I bet this lot has made you feel angered against both the Commitee as well as Savojars, just like it has made us.

There's still many more problems than that. Savojar newspaper "RevNews", yes "RevNews", because Savojars aren't original. That particular newspaper spread lies about the players' stay in Juvencus. Most notably, they said that thousands of Juven fans had gathered up to the Torona International Airport just to curse them. While it was true that many Juven fans had gathered up, none of them actually cursed on them until after the offside goal, which they should have acknowledged. More lies spread by the newspaper is that OUR security guards kept checking their visas for 4 hours and that thier luggage had dissapeared magically after all of that. And if that wasn't enough lies, there's more. This newspaper's most notable lie was that Juven fans kept waking Savojar internationals at 6 AM just to curse on them. Like we didn't have any other work to do, but curse on Savojars.

Last but not least. Even their Football Association has acknowledged their offside goal, claiming it was "A legitimate shot to the target. The second refferee did a good job not giving the offside, he had a great eyesight and general view on the game." to which our Association replied with "The Savojar goal was an offside, the goalscorer has been tons of times been approved of being behind the last defender's back, thus being offside. However, we still have a second chance at Savojarna, it'll be our turn to win." At Savojarna, Juvencus is winning and everyone knows it.
FORZA JUVE! FORZA PAESE! FORZA SQUADRA!

"Great work Cleto, that's what I want. Seer fire and dynamism against these Savojarnans. Let's hope enough Juven people will join in the cause, the Savojar sky is turning red next time. I'm sure."
"Thanks Benito. I'll try my best to recruit as many Juven as possible. FORZA JUVE!"
"FORZA JUVE"
both Benito and Cleto then excecuted the nationalist gesture of the group, hugged each other and left for seperate directions. Both men were thinking on how they could destroy the Savojar football team. It was probably the start of one of World Football's most reknown rivalries.

by **Electrum** » Tue Feb 14, 2017 6:36 am

Centralis Herald - Editorial - Miranda Lawrence

Finally, a win for the system

It took a long time coming but finally it happened. The Electrum Executive in a surprise announcement proclaimed that the Euran border wall would be built, and afterwards, the renegade four Conservative MPs who voted for the bill crossed the floor to join the Nationalists. We've been dreaming for this day for so long, but now we know that the system works, and democracy works. The result is final, and that is it. It's a win for the oppressed, and a win for us rationalists who have been advocating for a long time for a border wall. No longer will the left-wing laugh in our faces and say that this was never going to happen -- it will, and no matter how much they screech or protest, the wall is going to be built.

Construction must begin immediately to stem the flow of illegals crossing the border. Already, there have been reports of several border guards killed in action, and we simply do not know what illegal elements could be crossing the border. They are robbers, they are murderers, drug dealers, and some I assume, are good people. You may call me a Euraphobe but I'm not a racist. I just think we need strong borders against Eura to protect our sovereignty and our interests. It is not about targeting Eurans specifically, but rather, containing the entire country. They are two different concepts. The entire country is bursting at the seams, and with a war in progress, it would not be in our best interests to accept anyone. There are no vetting measures because their government is essentially a basketcase, and furthermore, many Eurans just throw away their identification, in the hopes of starting their new criminal life in Electrum. Is this really the type of people we want to accept in our country? We must send a strong message that we will control the circumstances in which people enter our country.

My stance is also a perfectly reasonable one too. Our economy and infrastructure just wouldn't cope. We are a nation of only forty million. Eura has literally billions of people. If we start to even let one person in, all the others will want to go in too. They will destroy our livelihoods. If they come over here, they will be so desperate for jobs that they will even undercut our hardest working labourers and workers, to remit the money back home, because our currency is far stronger than the Euran Pound. We enjoy extremely high living standards compared to the rest of the region, but letting people from across the border means we will have more 'leaners' rather than 'lifters', and our infrastructure and services will be placed under severe strain. Furthermore, it is more than likely that these unskilled Eurans will have to rely on our welfare system for support, which drains even more money from the things that matter: like strong borders and law and order.

Furthermore, we don't want to add fire to the flames that are the Euran Nationalists in our north. If they love Eura so much, then why don't they want to return? They should go back to where they came from instead of insisting that our land is theirs. The real truth is that those nationalists are cowards, and are simply troublemakers, inciting riots and hatred against the border guards who are simply doing their jobs. It beggars belief that these people who demand to return to Eura don't simply return to where they came from. Do they still think that Eura is the utopia that they say it is given what has happened? They should count themselves lucky that they are living in a superior nation such us ours, with a high standard of living. It's because of our country's graciousness and strong tradition in free speech that we allow these unelectrumites to continue to be ungrateful.

Some may say that we have a moral duty to help Euran refugees. My response is simply that it does not matter that there is a war across the border: we should never meddle and involve ourselves into the issues of other nations -- we would never expect them to support us if a war broke out here (indeed, they would probably take the opportunity to take our land). Indeed, a Damukuni publication called us rationalists "an insidious bunch of far-right extremists." I'm sorry for caring so much about this nation we call home, but if you're going to paint me as an insidious extremist instead of a patriot, then you really have no clue about what is going on. It is this misinformed nonsense from other nations gives just another reason why nations should stop being nosey and reporting and interfering on other nation's issues. We know that a war is going on across the border, but is it our fault? Is it our responsibility? Do we have to care? The answer to all three is 'no'.

In the end, a wall is in our best interest. Of course, some will say that this shutting off of relations with Eura will mean an end to the Rushmori Union, but if it happens, then so be it. I will celebrate its end -- our nation shouldn't need to cede its sovereignty to a higher power. We can look after our affairs just fine, and so can Eura, and indeed, every other nation in this multiverse.

Miranda Lawrence is a conservative commentator who works part-time at the Liberty Institute, a conservative think tank based in Centralis, Electrum, and part-time as a weekly columnist for the Centralis Herald.

by **Juvencus** » Tue Feb 14, 2017 8:29 am

Juvencus wins once more!

A Juven player trying to get past a Kaisarian

Kaisaru XI:
GK:Yin Ka-Hułi
CB:Samiki Ił-łl
CB:Chibi Sa-kla
RB:Ivan Shen Zinstag
LB:Ushi Ko-So
CM:Hîja So-Çua
CM:Totrek Zo-San
RM:Wasini Mo-Kwo
LM:Ixonas Rwi-Jy
CF:Vasuri Fy-Za
CF:My Ki-Ko

Juvencus XI:
GK:Taddeo Bulgari
CB:Valerio Scarpa
CB:Artur Bernat
CB:Nicolò Bassi
CDM:Nino Russo
CDM:Elio Provenzano
RM:Hugo Grec
LM:Aleix Costa
LF:Joaquim Martell
RF:Demetro Laterza
CF:Rodolfo Gallo

Juvencus was able to snatch 3 points after the dissapointing 0-1 defeat against Savojarna. This time Kaisaru was the victim of Joaquim Martell's too good to be true foul kicking abilities, saving Juvencus in the last 5 minutes of the game. Juvencus played without important defender, Dudu Madeiros.

The first half started with Kaisaru on possession. Kaisaru was able to control the field over the first 10 minutes before trying to attack the Juven side. A passing error -one of the few- made by Bassi resulted in Kaisaru's striker My Ki-Ko having possession of the ball and shooting it just wide. Since then, Kaisaru wasn't seen attacking for the rest of the game, but rather an unlucky Juvencus side which couldn't capitalise. First chance came with Laterza shooting from close range after being passed by Aleix Costa. Then, Martell shot a strong one from the 25 meter range only for it to be miraculously saved by the Kaisarian keeper. Juvencus kept on sieging the Kaisarian side, until Laterza earnt a foul, but Martell's shot was again saved by the Kaisarian keeper, who seemed to be on top form, saving the team once more. Half time result was a goalless draw, something neither side wanted.

Juven jersey for the game

The second half saw a refreshed Juvencus side, with Gallo trying missing a chance to score on an one on one situation after being through balled by Grec. Then a series of chances followed. Most notably Laterza's 4 posts. YES! 4 posts, at the same chance. An unlucky Laterza wasn't able to find the target despite his amazing dribbling ability. Another great chance was Martell's last chance before the goal, a shot that went wide from the 18 meter range. Then at the 85th minute, Gallo was marked hard by a Kaisarian defender called Il-Il who was yellow carded. Joaquim Martell smashed the ball on the net with a strong straightforwards shot that left the Kaisarian goalkeeper unable to react to it, as everybody witnessed the ball getting into the net. Next matchday is against Brenecia, at home. Our players are expected to give their best against the 10th globally ranked team.

Match mistakes:
Kaisaru:The side couldn't dominate throught the game. Their defence was lucky enough not to concede many more goals than that one free kick by Martell. Their only chance of the game wasn't a good one either. Kaisaru need to improve on their offence.
Juvencus:What's wrong with the offence? The guns are trying to smash it in, but they barely can. No matter who the players are, or what their accuracy is. They're always going to be the unlucky side and miss it. If this happens against Brenecia, it's gonna be bad luck.

Ticket sales:
For our next game against Brenecia, the stadium's expected to get filled with Juven supporters. For 20 pesos, you can enter the stadium and experience the match first hand. The food and drinks prices are also reduced to 2-5 pesos, just for the game against Brenecia.

"We can't be missing chance after chance lads. I've seriously had enough with you inaccuracy. While your passing's gone better, your shooting ability has not. In fact, it's literally going for the worse. This has been visible throught the whole qualifiers. We could have been a top 3 team if our accuracy was better. Today, we're fucking learning how to shoot like proper professionals. Zappa, go to this goal. One half of the team stay here. The other's going to the other side of the stadium. Shooting's our number one priority if we're going to try and emerge as winners against Brenecia or anyone. We MUST win every single game from now on. C'MON LADS. GO!"

"And never forget. Always try to plan before shooting, check out every single weakness of the opponent. Every detail matters. GO GO GO!"

said an upset August Toset.

"PORRAS, COME HERE."
Porras ran to Toset. Seemingly confused and worried, Toset only calls him on emergencies.
"What's going on, sir?"
"You were a good shooter back in the old times, weren't you?"
"The best in Pomena."
"Good, I want you to teach them the art of the shoot, under my watch. Right now."
"Alright."

"LADS! OVER HERE."
every single one of the players gathered around Porras and Toset.
"Please everyone, have a seat. I'm going to teach you the art of the good shot. Some of you have excellent shooting abilities, for example Martell, Martell you've been a fantastic foul taker."
"Thanks." said Martell
"Alright. First, in order to have a good shot, you have to plan before you shoot, just like Toset said. But while planning, you've got to scan the area around you before doing any mistakes. Not all open spaces are made up for shooting. For example, you've got to be at the distance of 15-25 meters. Always be on that range. Then aim to go to the middle before shooting, that away you'll have more picks to shoot. What I did when I was your age lads was all that. Hey, Bulgari, get up and go to the goal. Madeiros, Bassi, come to defend me."

Everyone got up, the rest of the players were spectating.
"Remember, try to make me not go to the middle."
Porras was having ball possession, he was pretty much unstoppable, as he found space to the middle and shot the ball with such immense force and curve that Bulgari was unable to catch it.
"Did you see what I mean? I want you to do exactly that. Go."

works? · by **Abanhfleft** » Tue Feb 14, 2017 8:53 am

The Pridnestrovian Invasion of Nordskania, Part Twenty-three

Kotelnirovo Town Hall
Kotelnirovo, Nordskania

For all intents and purposes, the Pridnestrovian invasion of Nordskania was over. Peace had been forced down the Pridnestrovians’ throats by the Mountain Pact of Anglatia and its Nordskanian puppet states under the pretense that there was still a possibility of negotiating the terms of the treaty. This wasn’t the official end of the Nordskanian War (the official signing of the peace treaty was to be held in the anarchist capital of Turbayov) but all conflict between the Pridnestrovians and the Mountain Pact forces had halted for now and would not continue until thirty days later, when the grace period for the Pridnestrovian withdrawal ended and the Mountain Pact descended upon Puloko with extreme prejudice. But for as long as the Pridnestrovians were still free to move around in what territories they still occupied, they were going to take full advantage of the fact.

The Pridnestrovian delegation, which had expected to be able to negotiate terms with the Mountain Pact but were instead faced with a non-negotiable treaty, went out in pairs and small groups with calm yet dejected looks on their faces. This was the first conflict in which they felt like they really were the losers; the Great Patriotic War against Szavoda had ended with Pridnestrovia knocking on the gates of the Szavodan capital before the Rushmore Union stepped in, and the Pridnestrovian contribution to the Republika Kroatien rebellion in Armeia did not matter in the long run as the Kroatiens were already doomed to defeat even before they intervened.

Colonel General Vsevolod Leonidovich Pankavuranov went out of the town hall with his deputy, Major General Yaroslav Mikhailovich Yevin and his brother, Major General Mikhail Leonidovich Pankavuranov. Mikhail Pankavuranov said farewell to his brother to return to his unit, the 247th Guards Armored Division, leaving Vsevolod Pankavuranov alone with General Yevin. The Spetsnaz troopers and GRU agents who had guarded the Pridnestrovian delegation during the “negotiations” which were just actually a veiled attempt to get the invaders to sign a peace treaty were already smoking cigarettes, and the smoke called up within Vsevolod a desire to smoke a cigarette as well. He took out a packet and gave a stick to Yevin as well before they lit their cigarettes. They stood there savoring the smoke before Yevin opened his mouth to speak. “May I ask you a question, Vsevolod, Leonidovich?” he said.

“You may,” Pankavuranov replied.

“Did you really mean what you said about Nordskania becoming the latest victim of Anglatian colonialism?” Yevin asked. “You do realize that right now, the Nordskanians think that the Anglatians are their saving grace against our godless heathen hordes? They’ll think that your words are mere propaganda with which to distract them from the business of forcing us into peace?”

“Ah, it doesn’t matter if the Nordskanians don’t believe us right now,” Pankavuranov waved off. “What matters is that the idea has been planted in their heads. When the day comes that Anglatia will take Nordskania into their fold, and that day will come as surely as the sun rises and sets whether they do it peacefully or by force, I assure you that the Nordskanians will regret the day that they thought the Anglatians were their friends. I fear that while we may have eliminated the Rose Rebellions, chaos will soon envelop this land once again now that the anarchists have been put in control. When chaos comes, the people of Nordskania will wish that were still here to eliminate those who cause chaos. I sincerely believe that the imperialists will not take a close interest in the affairs of their latest colony just yet.”

“And what about that declaration of war between the Republic of Nordskania and the Republic of Vestania?” Yevin asked. “We could have lost the chance to get an honorable peace out of the Mountain Pact because of your words! If the Anglatians hadn’t let you continue your little speech, they could have thought that we were declaring war directly upon their empire! The consequences would have been disastrous! Their arrays would have laid waste to our cities while their defenses would just swat our missiles out of the sky! There is no winning a fair fight against the Empire of Anglatia. And what of the Republic of Nordskania? When we pull out our forces from Puloko, there will be no one left to defend them from the wrath of the Vestanians.”

“Then I guess that means that the Republic of Nordskania is not long for this world, or at least not long for Nordskania itself. But we’ve already taken steps to ensure that the Republic of Nordskania itself does not fall. The government has already been brought back to Tiraspol where they will establish themselves as a government in exile. We will then give them our diplomatic recognition as the legal successor to the Nordskanian Democratic People’s Republic. Speaking of which, I still can’t believe that Vasily Zharkov was so quick to give up communism just to get his hands on a slice of the Mountain Pact pie,” Pankavuranov said, shaking his head.

“Men will do anything to keep hold of the power they have,” Yevin said. “That’s a proven fact.”

“Indeed it is.”

Behind them, Major Mikhail Yevgeniyevich Kutuzov of the Spetsnaz and Major Klaudia Fridrikhovna Glaser of the GRU were smoking cigarettes as well, but they had sat down on a rock near the town hall. While the generals talked about the consequences of the peace treaty, the troopers had been talking about the secret operation known only within the GRU as “the Project.” “I took the examination for potential membership into the Project, you know,” Kutuzov said as he took a deep drag from his cigarette. “When the results came back and told me that I had failed to qualify, I didn’t know how to react because I’ve never failed at anything before, barring the academic performances of my youth. But now that I know what the Project’s really about, I think it’s a good thing that I failed the examination. I don’t think I can handle having an alien presence inside my head. How do you cope with it, Glaser? I’m not sure I can, you know.”

“Well, that is sort of the whole point of the examinations,” Glaser replied. “The examinations are there to determine which members of the populace are compatible with being hosts to our alien guests for an extended period of time. We are the first species they have encountered with an intelligence level approximately equal to theirs. Our friends weren’t even native to Pridnestrovia, you know; they originally landed in Abanhfleft’s Capital Islands and only made their way to our country by way of now-Captain First Rank Tanya Nikitovna Kalinina of the Navy.”

“Captain Kalinina?” Kutuzov asked disbelievingly. “Admiral Kalinin’s daughter? How did that happen? I know that the admiral and his family had a vacation in Abanhfleft some time ago, but did Captain Kalinina really bring into our country an actual alien?”

“Like I said, it was an accident,” Glaser said with a shrug. “But Stepanenko happened upon Captain Kalinina’s symbiote. Seeing an opportunity, the Comrade President brought in an entire pool-load of symbiotes into the country and hoped to use them to create a new class of supersoldier by combining humans with the symbiotes. I was one of the first recruits to the Project, actually, back when I was still a bright-eyed and bushy-tailed junior lieutenant.”

“And did it work?”

“Not really in the way that Stepanenko would have wanted,” Glaser admitted. “You can’t just stick a symbiote into a person and expect them to work together, especially in a battlefield situation. When a host and a symbiote have conflicting or incompatible personalities then there’s just no getting them to work together. And just because you have two brains in one body doesn’t mean that that body’s already capable of being a supersoldier, yes?”

“Yes, I suppose that’s right. So why is there still a Project?” Kutuzov asked.

“We’ve already made a significant investment in the Project; you can’t just throw that away. Besides, our alien friends have proven adept at helping out the KGB and the GRU in our covert operations within other countries. Their technology allows them to communicate with us in a level or realm or some other esoteric spatial concept we humans can’t understand yet, but at least it makes for very secure communications. No one can yet break into their frequencies, if they even use something as simple and basic as that. That makes our alien friends perfect for our deep-penetration operations. Some of our agents are willfully hosting our alien friends, while others are unaware that they are committing espionage and high treason against their home nations in their sleep.”

“Wait, how does that work?” Kutuzov asked, “I thought you just told me that you can’t just stick any alien symbiote into any human?”

“When both human and symbiote are aware that they will be sharing bodies then that’s when the compatibility of both will come into question. But when the human host isn’t aware of the symbiote, anything goes.”

“That sounds pretty perverse,” Kutuzov mused. “And what about that rule about having only willing hosts?”

“Sometimes, the rules have to be bent to achieve the necessary results,” Glaser said noncommittally.

Kutuzov sighed and let out a large cloud of smoke in the process. “Let’s move away from the subject of alien spies, shall we, Major?” he asked Glaser. “A few minutes ago, you told me that the GRU and the KGB has reliable evidence that a purge is in the offing when we finally leave Nordskania to the anarchists and the other Anglatian puppets. If that’s true then no one who ever supported us or even so much as said a word in favor of our invasion will be safe from their wrath. How will the agents you have inserted within Nordskania deal with that? And what about those three assets you had within the former Nordskanian People’s Army?”

“I’ve already found all three, don’t worry, Major,” Glaser assured him. “I’m going to take them back to Tiraspol with me ASAP. As for our other agents, they can take care of themselves. And we don’t have to worry about Nordskania anymore; we’ve got sleepers inside Anglatia now. Some of them I saw during the negotiations. No one suspects that they have been infiltrated; even our agents’ hosts are unaware that they are now going to be committing high treason against the Empire of Anglatia.”

“That’s all well and good, Major, but what if they’re discovered while they’re acting through their hosts? What will happen to them and their hosts, then?”

“Our alien friends are ready to give up their lives for the Pridnestrovian Republic, while their hosts will certainly be viewed with suspicion by their fellow Anglatians if they are still allowed to live. And the Anglatians will waste time trying to figure out which among them is also infested. It will, as they say in the West, mess them up big-time.”

“Excuse me, are you Major Glaser?” a voice asked them. Kutuzov and Glaser looked up to see a female Army sergeant with a Kalashnikov and a Dragunov sniper rifle on her back, and she was escorting two men and a women. The woman and one of the men were wearing the threadbare uniforms of the Nordskanian People’s Army while the other man was wearing the shirt of FK Traktor Puloko, one of the local football sides in the city currently under Pridnestrovian occupation. The man in the Traktor shirt looked resolutely at Glaser while the man and woman in uniform were still looking around the place, as if they weren’t sure that following the first man here was a good idea.

“I’m Major Glaser, Sergeant,” Glaser said, standing up. “I’ll take over from here.”

“Yes, Comrade Major,” the sergeant nodded her head. “Hello, Major Kutuzov,” she said as she waved at a surprised Kutuzov, who waved back automatically in shock.

“Hello, Sergeant Sulinova,” he said once he got over his surprise. “Are you--?”

“Part of the Project, yes,” Lyubov Ivanovna Sulinova replied, immediately grasping Kutuzov’s meaning. “It’s a tough job, but I’ve been selected to do it.”

While Kutuzov and Sulinova caught up with each other’s lives from during the war, Glaser was busy talking to the trio which Sulinova had brought here. “I see that you’ve made your choice, Alyosha,” she said to Alyosha Damiric, the man in the Traktor shirt. “And you two must be the twins, Roberto and Roberta,” she said to the other man and woman. “You may not know it yet, but you two have done a wonderful service to the Democratic People’s Republic of Pridnestrovia. And it is because of the things you don’t know you’ve done for us that your lives are now in danger if you decide to stay in Nordskania. We have a lot to talk about, comrades.”

CRESCENT NEWS NETWORK
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ABANHFLEFT • PRIDNESTROVIA • OONTAZ DERT LI NG • COPPER CUPRUM • TRENDSTART • FHULGHAMOUS PENINSULA

WORLD CUP 77 QUALIFIERS: NEPHARA VS ABANHFLEFT
By Malik Qazizadah

Abanhfleft national team players in tears after the loss to Nephara. (Courtesy of Crescent News Network Sports Channel/Andros Tasasa)

SABREFELL, NEPHARA - A hat trick from Penumbra Amokachi and a late goal from Adnan Szalai was enough to send the Revolutionaries back to Abanhfleft in tears and fears of not qualifying for the World Cup for the first time in three seasons.

Amokachi worked her usual magic supported by the home crowd and planted the ball into the back of the net with just three minutes played, and it was a sign that goals were sure to come in this game. Kevin Kelvin replied to Amokachi's strike with a well-placed goal of his own just nine minutes later, but five minutes after that, Amokachi doubled her tally.

Kelvin then added another goal under his belt two minutes after Amokachi's second to put things level at 2-2 with barely twenty minutes played before Amokachi poked home her third with just a minute past the half hour.

Things calmed down after that hectic twenty-minute shower of goals before Kareem Dagen got the ball rolling once again with his clever chip over Nepharan goalie Apostolos Tsattalios before Tanith Rainsford's free kick restored the Nepharan advantage.

Substitute Omar El Salah looked to have earned the Revolutionaries a point when he tapped in only his second international goal for Abanhfleft following a mistake by Tsattalios before Adnan Szalai broke Fleftic hearts once again by scoring Nephara's fifth in the last minute of regular time.

Zakarya Bergkamp had a chance to regain the lost point deep in added time when he was released on the touchline by Valery Zolnerov's clever long ball, but just like Cecilia Johnson in the same situation back in the Cup of Harrmony 63 Round of 16 match between Abanhfleft and Barunia, Bergkamp found the crossbar a cruel mistress of fate.

Abanhfleft manager Ranulph Bustamante: We cannot afford to drop any more points now

Abanhfleft manager Ranulph Bustamante: "Yes, it's a disappointing loss, but you can't always win or draw every game. That's just the way football works. But after this, we cannot afford to drop any more points if we want to maintain our World Cup qualification record. Is it still too early to look forward to the Cup of Harmony? Perhaps. The Cup of Harmony has its own prestige, don't get me wrong, but the World Cup is simply just that much more prestigious."

"In the end, it's a learning experience for all the players. We learned what to do right and what not to do wrong when we come up against teams of Nephara's caliber. And that's the whole point of the game. One mistake and the opposition's gone and taken advantage. But that's the way football works. One day, you're on top, and the next, you're down in the dumps."

Abanhfleft's World Cup qualification hopes now rest on triumphing over Eshan, whom they will host at Oubie Park in Lotharstadt, Xemlice.

                NEPHARA 5 - 4 ABANHFLEFT
AMOKACHI (3', 17', 31')       KELVIN (12', 19')
        RAINSFORD (77')       DAGEN (50')
           SZALAI (89')       EL SALAH (83')

ABANHFLEFT
GK: 1 Varamoninov
RB: 14 Popov █
RCB: 4 L. Edwards
LCB: 5 Owobowale
LB: 3 Ogigayatsu (Bergkamp █ - 80')
RM: 8 Vincelot (Lovren - 74')
CM: 7 Zolnerov
LM: 6 Marilungo
CAM: 10 R. Edwards (El Salah - 60')
RS: 9 Kelvin
LS: 11 Dagen

NEPHARA
GK: 12 Tsattalios
RB: 2 Westmead
RCB: 22 Konoval
LCB: 6 Scharner
LB: 3 Lohengrin
RM: 7 Szalai
RCM: 8 Gosforth (Tarashaj - 65')
LCM: 4 Rainsford
LM: 16 Naeher
CF: 9 Stavanger
CF: 21 Amokachi (Scafidis - 65')

MATCH STATISTICS
Possession
Nephara: 52%
Abanhfleft: 48%
Shots
Nephara: 16 (9 on target)
Abanhfleft: 11 (4 on target)
Corners
Nephara: 6
Abanhfleft: 4
Fouls
Nephara: 9
Abanhfleft: 27

World Cup 77 - Roleplay Thread

95X WCQ 77 MD 7 RP

Player Bios 3

ARWP Roleplay WC77Q - 6

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