[Roleplays] :: World Cup 92

[Brookstation]

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The 20 is a blog series where authors of Brookstation's biggest football blog, The Beautiful Game documents the lives of some of the best players to have played in Brook soil. Aimed at inaugurating the 50th edition of the Harrison Shield, we document the lives of the players who define the top 20 football clubs in Brookstation.

ROGER MENDEL: THE MAN WHO WROTE HISTORY


As the colleagues and members of the team that had mastered the inaugural Brook League Trophy stood up to applaud as he left the stage, delivering perhaps one last speech for the club. One could obviously imagine tears flowing down the cheeks of the man who was himself rather embarrassed to find his teammates as well as the young generation waiting to fill up his spot.
“I can't imagine Norwegian wood without him. It was he who defined everything in the club. He was the first to step out of the defense, the first to speak up for the club and the first to help each one of us. “ - Soham Misra (FC 69 Norwegian wood striker, 1969-1987)

Although his time on the pitch had come to an end, his legacy will always remain within the Fortress and the fact his career has such a remarkable conclusion is entirely due to his brilliant story that leads to this conclusion. This is the story of Roger Mendel, undoubtedly the best player and captain to have set foot in the Fortress.

FC 69 Norwegian wood holds the distinction of being the oldest Brook football club, founded at the very beginning of 1969, thus giving the club its dignified name. Born in Norwegian wood himself, Mendel started his career playing for local sides Canyon. With the formation of the club, Norwegian wood immediately started hiring players to make a solid first team. Among all the thousands of Brook teenagers and youngsters who came to the selections, Mendel would immediately stand out as the best defender, given the slight number of players who actually wanted to play in a defensive position. Mendel was a late bloomer who compared to the likes of Soham Misra, Farhan Naseem and Alex Reifer who were all in their teenages while joining the club. Mendel knew that he had a long path ahead and thus it would be imperative for him to improve. He augured his time perfectly, improving at every instance and simultaneously widening his range of skills and the understanding of the game.

There were quite a lot of questions regarding the capabilities of Mendel and especially with the club still experimenting with its strategies, Mendel would often find himself out of the starting lineup. Furthermore, coach Raymon Fernandez would take a dislike towards Mendel’s soft and subtle style of play which would almost see him make a move to another emerging side, Drublin but Mendel would politely refuse the deal, willing to spend more time on the bench. Even if one would think Mendel was just messing with his career sitting on the bench, few would actually acknowledge the actual hard work Mendel put into those days.

Mendel’s time would finally arrive when Blair Ross departed the club in the summer of 1971, leaving no option but for Mendel to immediately fill up the empty spot. The arrival of Colin van Hecke would be another crucial gain for the club as the two would be remembered for their adventures for decades to come. Mendel’s crucial start to the season would come against Waffen against whom Norwegian wood would have an easy victory.

Bruno Pucci was perhaps the most well known striker at that time, single handedly ruling the field with FC Hacienda and his visit to the Fortress would be met with a lot of pomp and ceremony. Having scored consecutively for 5 straight games, Pucci’s arrival felt like terror itself entered Norwegian wood. But it was at this very Fortress that Pucci’s ego would meet its demise at the hands of Mendel himself. Throughout the game, Mendel would closely mark Pucci obstructing all his moves and although the game ended in a 0-0 tie, Mendel’s performances were truly remarkable that night and it will be always remembered as one of the best displays of defensive leadership in Brookstation’s football history.

Mendel holding the Harrison Shield, becoming the first Brook to do so

This was just one of his many brilliant performances for the club. Mendel’s moment of fame would come during Norwegian wood’s match against North Shey Swells in the group stage of the inaugural Harrison Shield. With the keeper moving past the goal and Mendel being the only one protecting the practically empty goal from the forthcoming striker, Mendel ran straight at the ball without any hesitation and the striker’s shot would be blocked by his chest and by the time the ball came to his feet for him to send it to the other half, Mendel had already received a standing ovation from the crowd. With Norwegian wood still struggling to find a suitable permanent captain, Mendel was selected for the task. With only the knockout stages in front of Norwegian wood, the team had a pretty good shot at winning the first official Harrison Shield title.

It didn’t take much difficulty for Norwegian wood to make it directly to the finals of the tournament but it was at the finals, they would be met by their old rivals, Hacienda. This time Bruno Pucci looked forward to taking his long awaited revenge. Sadly enough for Pucci, this wasn’t his time either. Not only did Mendel ensure that Pucci didn’t get even in close proximity to the goal but at the same time it would be he who would indirectly initiate his team’s wim. Having intercepted the ball somewhere near the halfway mark, Mendel immediately made a run forward and, overcoming a tackle, he passed the ball to Fernand. Mendel immediately reached way ahead of the halfway line and when the ball came to him again, he quickly crossed the ball over to Misra who would dribble past his way to scoring one of the most remarkable goals in Brook history and even if Misra’s goal would pass down generations, Mendel’s work in the field would be forgotten. This was the only goal scored in the 90 minute game which sealed the fate of Norwegian wood as the champions of the first Harrison Shield Trophy. Mendel would finally be rewarded for his constant hard work on the field on being handed the first Harrison Shield.

“It was a feeling that I am never going to forget. I can’t describe how happy I was but I knew I had become temporarily numb with joy. It took me a lot of champagne to snap out of the feeling but I am just thankful to the entire team for making it possible for me to hold this unique distinction.”

I could write an entire book just defining the several instances of Mendel’s stark brilliance on the field but even that wouldn’t be enough to commemorate the legend. Mendel was always a unique player. Unlike all defenders of his era, he didn't possess a buff physique but it was just his pair of feet that he used to terrorize the field. The very fact that he came out as one of the bests as a defender as early as the 1970s is worthy of high appreciation. For the rest of his career, Mendel would captain Norwegian wood to 2 more Harrison Shields and 3 league titles. The latter part of his career would be plagued by injuries at crucial moments and when he finally decided that his body couldn’t take anymore of the beautiful game, he would have all the members of his club write his epitaph in the most beautiful manner possible.

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MORE FROM THE BEAUTIFUL GAME :
Mendel and Pucci: The fiercest rivalry in Brook football
Soham Misra and the goal that marked the beginning of Brook football
Brookstation is back on track but the journey is still left
City legend Chris Freeman passes away, aged 57 due to skin cancer

[Kimi-Suomi]

Okei, tämä alkaa olla jo vähän fanaattista. What even is this team? Because I don't even think this is the Huuhkajat I remember anymore. After over halfway through this WCQ campaign, Kimi-Suomi found itself only 2 points off the group leader in a position that many felt could actually get better. This team was playing brilliant football, with Esko Laaksonen doing magic behind the scenes to produce these results, and while nobody in the entire Kingdom could figure out how the Huuhkajat were actually doing this, nobody wanted this magical train ride to end anytime soon. No matter what happened from now, nobody was going to forget this journey anytime soon...but 9 games still remained. What would our position be when 9 became 7?

Up first was an away trip to the Eteläiset Palmsaaret [Southern Palm Islands] at the Kimbitshki Castle Ground. SPI hasn't exactly had a glorious return to the Maailmancup process, but facing a team with previous experience in their house was always going to present a potential banana skin for this high-flying Huuhkajat squad. Jamu Ouattara certainly wanted to play the role of a spoiler here in the former MA so he certainly must've been happy when Captain Daniel Plascas fired past Kauko Loukamaa to take an early lead for the Blue Palms. But Esko refused to let the Huuhkajat slip, not this deep into a miracle run, and the substritues would save us this time as both Maria Tuominen and Teemu Räikkönen came on at half time and manged to find their ways past Rawat Khan to win this game. It certainly was close, but we got it done...and things only got better. Omerikka lost to Kuraita. Kimi-Suomi now led the group by a single point. And a big game was on the horizon.

Omerica came to Pesä in what had now become 1v4 with both teams separated by just a single point in one of the most important games The Nest has ever hosted...and you know it's serious when I refer to it in it's Englantilainen nimi. Safe to say, Pesä was fucking packed and the crowd were certainly ready for one of the biggest games in our football history...and things certainly didn't disappoint. You just knew that this game was going to be big for both sides and everyone certainly did play as if this was the biggest game of their lives. Both GKs would be busy trying to repel attacks from opposing strikers, the atmosphere was certainly thunderous and both managers were barking instructions to their players with a lot of ferocity...yep, this was a fucking classic. 0-0 at half time certainly felt right. but both sides didn't want to settle for a single point. Thinsg would eventually be decided in the 77th minute, a corner from Simo Talvela headed home by Anne Hintz to the thunderous roar of the local crowd. The final whistle felt like a celebration in it's self...and why not? Pemecutan had their bye and Kuraita lost...so somehow, from out of nowhere, Kimi-Suomi was leading this group by 4 points. How the fuck did this happen? Fight, that's what.

We cannot give up. We simply cannot. We now have a lead to defend and we cannot just give up now. We have two more games before our bye, away at 7th-placed Lakikieli [Legalese] and then another big one at Pesä against current P2 Kuraita. Kimi-Suomi P1, Kuraita P2...what the fuck even is this group.
But we cannot give up. Not when we have a golden ticket within touching distance.
7 games remain.
NOSTA KUIN HUUHKAJAT!

[Mytanija]

Dzvezdan Kitanchev punched the air and embraced Jezdimir Ocokoljic as the final whistle sounded in Tumbra. A 2-2 draw was a fine result and one which put Mytanija in a strong position to secure at least the 2nd spot in the group. Win their game in hand and they would be within striking distance of the Eagles should they slip up in any of their remaining qualifiers. Ocokoljic, socks rolled down to his ankles and displaying his comically undersized shinpads, had levelled the scores at 1-1 after Nick Riordan had opened things up inside 16 minutes. Ocokoljic’s goal, a fine curled effort from the corner of the penalty area, brought him up to 105 goals in 165 appearances for the national team – a total which is unlikely to be matched any time soon. Mytanija’s record goal scorer had been withdrawn after setting-up Drazen Skara’s second-half goal, one which put the Hoops ahead.

Ocokoljic had slipped Skara in behind the Tumbra defence after getting in between the lines of defence and midfield. Skara had finished with aplomb, showing no nerves and finding the bottom corner when through one-on-one with the goalkeeper. Unfortunately Natalie Coleman managed to equalise just under twenty minutes from time, but Mytanija had dug in and despite Tumbran pressure late on in the game managed to take a point back to Rushmore. By the end of the game Kitanchev had the team playing in a 6-2-2 formation, bringing Bosko Pestotnik on for Omer Kuhar-Arh and playing four central defenders to weather the Tumbran onslaught. It paid off, Kitanchev’s pleasure at the nature of the result was clear for all to see and the television cameras were happy to capture the team’s response to the manager, too. Each player emphatically hugged the coach and there appeared to be a new-found togetherness. It had taken a while in Lev Repin’s aftermath, but it seemed to have arrived, better late than never.

The players walked over to the raucous away section, punching the air and applauding the travelling fans for their tremendous support. Green and white scarves twirled in the air, enormous flags waved in the breeze and pyrotechnics in the colours of the national flag were set-off. That sort of imagery was commonplace wherever Mytanija went, but the noise emanating in the stadium seemed even louder than normal here. When Dzvezdan Kitanchev got nearer it ramped up even further, grown men punching the air and almost maniacally applauding the national team coach, confirmation perhaps that people were coming around to the idea that he was Repin’s successor. The players almost stood back and allowed the coach to soak up the adulation, another indicator that things were starting to come together a little more despite a rocky start. As the players walked off a scarf was thrown to Bigger Mbala-Ekakia and the experienced defender caught it, wrapping it around his neck before turning to join the rest of his team heading towards the tunnel.

Kitanchev found himself closest to Mbala-Ekakia as they headed away and clapped his player on the back, offering a word of congratulations for another steady performance. One topic which had come up in the run-up to the game, almost a bit of a joke between the players, was the Mytanar-born Tumbran winger Luka Vujanovic. The players had laughed about this match being the decider, whoever won would get to keep the lightning-quick winger. There hadn’t been a winner, but the subject wasn’t far from Mbala-Ekakia’s mind.

“Well, if he didn’t want to play for us before tonight he surely will after seeing that lot following us out here gaffer, won’t he?” Bigger laughed.

“Eh?” Kitanchev asked, a look of confusion crossing his face as he took a moment to understand what Bigger was talking about, his mind still on the response he had received from the travelling support perhaps. “Wha— Oh! Luka? Haha, I guess. It won’t have done any harm Bigger, I know that. We’ll see how it goes though, we can’t make the boy play for us, I know the FSM want to push to make sure he does but it’s going to be his decision at the end of the day. When we’ve got you lads playing like that I’m sure it whets the appetite, but he might also be thinking about how difficult it would be to get into the team!”

“I’m just glad he doesn’t play in a similar position to me!” Bigger chuckled. “At least I know he wouldn’t be angling for my spot. I just know that he could help us if he did decide to play for us and that’s all I care about.”

“Yeah, he’s a good young player. We don’t use wingers in our system, I could see him having some question marks about that.” Kitanchev said, almost thinking out loud before finally shaking out of it. “If you rate him there would be no harm in speaking to Jezdimir and you two shooting the kid a message though, I’m not sure it would be completely by the book, but I never mentioned it if anyone asks! I just like working with good players.”

“We’ve not seen this sneaky side to you gaffer!” Bigger exclaimed. “I don’t know if Jezdimir would go for it but I’ll see what I can do, like you say, the more good players we have the better it is for us, right?”

Kitanchev laughed but offered no further comment, clapping his hand on Bigger Mbala-Ekakia’s shoulder once again. Little might come of it, but the manager could see little harm in planting the seed either. Social media was a useful tool sometimes, even if the Mytanija manager didn’t always like his players using it too much, he hoped it could be a force for good here. Poaching a youngster with Vujanovic’s talents from Tumbra would be a small victory in the context of the nascent Eagle-Rose rivalry.

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Ana Mecava-Catic sat alongside one of her closest confidantes, the Minister for Sport Liljana Zakelj. The pair had been long-time allies, coming up as two of Jedinstvo’s young firebrands, now they were experienced campaigners, women who had been there and done it and had the t-shirt to prove it. As Mecava-Catic looked to be elected for her third-term as Premier, Zakelj would be by her side the whole way and some were even talking her up as Mecava-Catic’s eventual successor – although with the incredible positive impact she had had on the country, few predicted that day to come around anytime soon.

“I appreciate the offers they are making, but the constant push for CRC membership is very frustrating, the Eurans especially know that we can’t agree to that. There’s no support here for joining if it means agreeing to free trade, people don’t want our markets undercut and people put out of jobs. It would be political suicide here, Liljana.” Ana complained. Liljana knew all too well.

“I know, Ana. But they have to be seen to be trying to get us to join, they’re still trying to save face at home for the amount of money they spent failing to get us back onto our feet after bombing several cities to dust. We’ll always be indebted for them helping to get rid of Kalinina, but their response after the fighting was completely inadequate. I think there’s still a lot of guilt associated with that. They probably think the Euran public will think that their government has finally done what it was supposed to do all those years ago. You told them that our policy towards the CRC hadn’t changed, anyway.”

“Yeah. It’s just difficult to know how the newspapers might react to that sort of thing. We all know that the likes of Pero and maybe even some writers in Gazeta Mytanija will spin the fact that I praised the CRC’s ‘spirit of cooperation’ into a commitment to joining within two years.” Ana laughed. “I’m sure people won’t believe it, but you know that Gojkovic will try to make it an attack line and if the papers can keep it in the spotlight it could be dangerous territory for us. It’s just a shame that the free-market conservatives don’t control the MNK anymore, this lot make the CRC a much more difficult area for us.”

“It’s more difficult, sure, but then it does mean that they’ve accepted so many of the policies that we’ve set-up as a given. The centre ground on economics in Mytanija has always been left-leaning, but we’ve moved it even further Ana. We should be proud of that. We have Krsto Gojkovic on television talking about protecting Mytanar workers and guaranteeing their jobs. That’s an achievement in itself, even if the rat is spouting his usual guff about everything else.”

“Yeah, did you see the latest policy offer he was out promoting?” Ana asked, Liljana shook her head. “He was saying that if the MNK were in government they’d be offering a monetary bonus for every child a woman has in order to promote women staying at home and traditional family structures. After everything women have done in this country he’s still coming out with that nonsense. He already knows that every child receives financial support.”

“Classic Gojkovic though, isn’t it? We shouldn’t be surprised at this point. He’s going to try to turn this election into a battle over values, Ana. He’s accepted our economic argument, which is fine, even if I don’t doubt there’d be a few things he would instantly overturn if given power – but I think he’s accepted that to try to neutralise it as an issue. If he accepts Jedinstvo’s economic offer then he can fight us on the territory he wants, immigration, crime, social values. We need to be prepared for it, even if the polls still show that we’re in a good place.”

“Yeah, I know Lil, I also don’t know exactly what Radenka is thinking. Some of her backbenchers have been playing up and I think it’s making things very difficult for her. We might need Ekologija again, I think we need to get her onside. Full nationalisation of energy might have to be put on the agenda for the election, with a preference for green methods being written into law. We’ll have to put something along those lines forward at the annual assembly so that we’re ready for the election.”

“I’ll speak to Zeljka. Do you want me to suggest working with Radenka on it?” Liljana asked. Zeljka Rogina was one of the party’s rising stars, in her late twenties and an ardent environmentalist. Whilst Ekologija held the environmental ministry as part of the Pink-Green coalition arrangement, a position which Radenka Kovacevic occupied herself, Jedinstvo had watered down quite a few of the policies brought forward from that department. Zeljka Rogina had been a party spokesperson for anything on green or environmental policy and had acquitted herself expertly, batting away concerns about Jedinstvo failing to keep their side of the bargain with a relentless focus on the good they had done with the economy – something which seemed to work up until now.

“No,” Ana answered after considering the question for a second. “I want this to be our own policy. We know that Ekologija will call for something along those lines. I think we should try to be more ambitious, then we know that we’ll at least match them if it comes around to actually implementing anything. We need to be watchful of what they decide to do, as well, we might have to be a bit ruthless – even if that means unseating Ekologija incumbents.”

“Oh wow,” Liljana was momentarily taken aback for a second. “I mean, I guess you’re right, but I hadn’t wanted to think about it coming to that.”

“Radenka’s backbenchers are talking about standing candidates against us. She might be challenged for the leadership before the election and whoever comes next might say we’ve got too cosy, that they should put candidates up against ours and see who comes off best. It’s like you said, we have to be prepared. It’s not always been in my nature to be so bloody-minded, Lil, but we have to be to make sure we don’t see the MNK swan into power and undo all of our good work over the head of Ekologija taking some seats off us because they don’t think we’ve moved fast enough on green issues – we’ve been focused on growth and reducing inequality! We’ve got universal healthcare provision now and our education system is improving all the time. It’s all about priorities, Ekologija’s main reason for existing is the environment so I get it, but we can’t let it prevent us from finishing what we’ve started.”

“Amen to that. You should offer Radenka the chance to stand for Jedinstvo at the next election if they do challenge her for the leadership!” Liljana suggested devilishly.

“That’s actually an excellent idea,” Ana laughed. “I think I might do that.”

“I think it’s a great idea! If we do that then Radenka can stay on the environmental brief and we can get Zeljka to go to foreign affairs, I think she’d be suited to that.” Liljana said firmly, before swiftly moving on. “Speaking of which, Drusilla Brindle, the Nepharan Foreign Affairs Minister has been sounding us out. You’ve probably heard already. There’s less prerequisites to trying to deal with Nephara. They don’t want any extradition agreements. We can probably get a quick win on trade and investment in time for the election and they won’t be pushing for us to join the CRC either. We should talk to them.”

“Absolutely, a few people have discussed it.” Ana nodded, Nephara could be a very useful ally for Mytanija. “Anything which can support industry here is always a bonus. I’ve been thinking of flying Zeljka out there to open talks with them, it can be a first test for her. An agreement with Nephara might hasten Bastion into giving us a little bit more and it also might annoy Háttmark, talks on them supporting us with human trafficking have gone a little quiet recently.”

[Ko-oren]

Thirteen games in and the Dragonflies still have a chance! With just five goals conceded it's a stereotypically Ko-orenite qualification cycle, but the eleven goals scored in thirteen games is a valid reason for concern. We don't often get to look at the picture of two-thirds of a qualifying attempt and see what the key moments were. The 6-6-1 record takes us back to the 60s and 70s, when Ko-oren first started developing its defensive strategies, and it did feel like we did get a lot more invincible (by turning down the losses per cycle from 5-6 to 1-4). In fact, we missed some World Cup qualifications due to the sheer amount of draws at the time, so let's hope that the blueprint doesn't apply to the 92nd cycle to that extent. Consider the 64th World Cup (10-7-1): the first time we cut down our goals conceded per game to under 1 (in fact, we hit 0.5 at the time!) since our initial participation in the 55th cycle. Consider the 83rd cycle, at 8-3-1 a fairly short qualification stage. Interestingly, we did finish first in the group that time.

At the current number of six draws, this Dragonflies team is tied for second in the number of draws. There's the aforementioned 10-7-1 monstrosity, and there was the 8-6-4 World Cup 80, just before the modern Dragonflies started qualifying for World Cups regularly. While we've only lost a single game, early on, to an uncontrollable Chromatika team, we have 'dropped' to fourth place in the group, with only a few games to recover. First place feels impossible, second place is doable but not in our power, which leaves us third place as the moon to shoot for.

Ko-oren 5–1 Gnejs
Lots of goals to get us started. Abbagan deserves the MOTM award with a goal and two assists - a cross to Archer and a pass into space that Vaugrenard launched into the roof of the goal from an absurd angle. Archer did get two goals on the day, but was somewhat invisible otherwise. It goes too far to say that the Dragonflies could/should have scored 6, 7, or even 8 goals on the day, but Archer probably should have been on the receiving end of another cross coming in from the wing. An obvious error by Mallerbury gave Gnejs the consolation goal, and it started some talks about who should be the three central defenders: Benjamin and Van Schelven are household names but Mulvahil and Mallerbury have been at least as good and have age on their side, but fans are reluctantly letting go of the old guard. The Zilverstraat SC defender didn't look great in that single moment, but he's done more than enough to secure the starting spot.

Chromatika 3–0 Ko-oren
Goals by Killian and later Kuznetsov and Hauser produced this horror of a scoreline. Mizuno - losing speed on top of his emergency break-like playing style - thought he could pull a fast one but nothing got past the referee. With not much else to play for besides the point, Davenport produced some attacking moves to force a goal, with Dhentingun on for Mulvahil to create a heavier midfield, and later getting both yOraenaig and Bonstirthinden on for probably the biggest group of forwards - three - in some 10, maybe 20, cycles. The Anomalies were too comfortable switching formations and buildups to be inconvenienced by the unorthodox Ko-orenite gameplan - and the Dragonflies also didn't look too comfortable feeding the ball to three strikers as well. Bonstirthinden had to do plenty of backtracking, ruining the impact he could have on the attacking side and we didn't really get the shots on goal needed to get that draw.This one didn't happen.

A MAGIC SERIES OF NOT CONCEDING GOALS STARTS HERE

Ko-oren 0–0 Sendhang
Cardenao 0–0 Ko-oren
Ko-oren 0–0 Xanneria
So in a cycle with a near unprecedented number of draws, when do those happen? Welcome to that part of the cycle. Three back-to-back 0-0s... just as you shake off the k0-0ren jokes, this kind of thing comes back to haunt you. The first match was described as 'boring' by Sendhang media, though some purists must have gotten something out of it. Two teams that put their strategy first and foremost, with one team not allowing others to score (except Chromatika, apparently) while the other is fine playing without possession and counterattacking - exactly the kind of thing that will never, never break down a Greenblue structure. Now as time went on, and the more we got used to our role as favourites, we have learnt to play in possession, but it still wasn't the kind of game that sees goals. We should have gotten some mileage out of set pieces, but we didn't get lucky on those.

Adopting a similar plan versus Cardenao, in many ways the opposite of Sendhang, got us out of a few difficult situations. Cardenao are unpredictable, creative, but today they knew that probably wouldn't get them anywhere. Instead, they also opted for the counterattack, hoping that we'd overcommit in a last ditch effort of forcing a 1-0. Well, they surely learned that the Dragonflies rather tie 0-0 than risk losing 1-0 on a counterattack in the final 10 minutes.

The 0-0 versus Xanneria marks 270 minutes of straight 0-0s, which is a bit much, even for us. Unsubscribe.

Atetancillo 0–1 Ko-oren
Ko-oren 1–0 Brookstation
Very similar to a 0-0 but infinitely better for our qualification status is the 1-0 win, tried, tested, patented, and trademarked by the Ko-orenite National Team. 1-0s are the bread and butter of what we do: if you don't concede, and you score about once every 90 minutes, wait and see the points roll in. yOraenaig scored his first NT goal in Atetancillo, with Archer out for fairly predictable reasons: that's 270 minutes of not scoring leading up to this game, after all. Still holding on to 5-4-1, but with Vaugrenard and Abbagan free to charge up the wings, cut inside, and create a creative, attacking block around the edge of the box with the striker and Longchambon - who hasn't been his usual self this cycle, but we'll note that down as an age/longevity issue. Longchambon got his first goal of the cycle either way, a low shot from the edge of the box through heavy traffic, to fell Brookstation.

Juvencus 0–0 Ko-oren
There's no shame in a draw at Juvencus, but given those 270 minutes of goalless football earlier, we really could've done with a better result. Davenport rolled with some newer names that had proved themselves in the previous two games, including Kaji over Mizuno on the right side of the defence. It doesn't give us much height or muscle to work with, but Kaji is playing less error-prone but still with a good fight in him. Hoevink made his first minutes of the cycle in the centre of the defence, while the midfield was a Vaugrenard-Entatingun-Abbagan-Aoriene thing: Longchambon didn't play on account of an injury, but is it really a physical injury? yOraenaig made his third consecutive start - Davenport rolling with the hot hand - though we will probably see Archer back soon enough.

BYE
Longchambon nurses his issues, while the old guard will have to ask themselves how many more years they have in them. Van Schelven, Mizuno, Benjamin, Vaugrenard, Longchambon - five names that have carried this team since the early 70s - they won't have eternal life. Mizuno, the youngest of the bunch at just 31, has seen the biggest drop in form, while Van Schelven, at 32, shows no signs of slowing down. Vaugrenard, at 35, is playing like he's 25 but you can tell that the bye comes at the right time for him. He had signed for Maethoru SC to get them through one or two bad years, but at this point, that too is looking like a long term-contract.

The bubble players were also seen in the building, with Betteridge on standby for if Kaji is too inexperienced and Mizuno falls too far behind on the rightback position. Aomelirea also got some 'reps' in with the starters as a striker, with yOraenaig probably not ready for a long term commitment while Archer might not find his form for a while. Wormstal, arguably the least likely of the 11-or-so bubble players, was seen donning the starters' jerseys as a potential substitute for Longchambon if it turns out he's out for a few more weeks/months.

Ko-oren 1–0 Lisander
Yakk 0–1 Ko-oren
The scoreline might not suggest it - it's the same 1-0s as always - but Davenport has probably seen something during the bye training sessions that we haven't yet, as she opted for Aoriene and Bonstirthinden as an attacking package - that's a passing duo, not a finishing duo, but the improvised attack did make some waves. It certainly wasn't what Yakk and Lisander had prepared for - they expected some crosses or some passes in behind the defence, but instead there were a lot of triangle passing drills and some of the highest possession percentages recorded by Dragonflies in the last decade. Only one goal to show for, but are these the first signs of Davenport's strategy, breaking with Juliasterinthen's traditions? Given how precarious the group is, it's a risk...

Gnejs 0–0 Ko-oren
We probably should have saved up some of those MD1 goals for this one. It is what it is, but it really doesn't help us. The MOTM goes to Bittencourt - who hasn't had a lot to do across the last three/four or so matches, but he came in clutch today.

Ko-oren 1–0 Chromatika
How about that, you monochrome $%#@#$ers.

A MAGIC SERIES OF NOT CONCEDING GOALS ENDS HERE

Sendhang 1–1 Ko-oren
With Chromatika hitting us for three and the final goal being scored after 76 minutes, the 73rd minute equaliser by Wirajuda marked the end of 987 minutes of flawless Greenblue defence. Factoring in injury time, we easily clear the divine 1000 minutes of not conceding goals. Despite that stretch carrying over 10 games, we 'only' won 5 of those - look at all those ties. And then when you finally concede again, you immediately lose points again. Sure, there's progress in this Dragonflies team, with contingency plans made for the inevitable retirement of the big names, but surely we could have gotten out of this stretch with a few extra goals scored and about 4-6 points extra?

[Mercedini]

92nd World Cup Qualification
Countdown To Playoffs
@ Zoloroni Sports City Stadium - Zoloroni, Mercedini

Good evening everyone and welcome back to World Cup Qualification. We return to action with the second round robin, where the games and points available will begin to dwindle as team bow out at this early stage. We aren't expecting any dramatic exits right now, but it is crunch time for those teams languishing towards the bottom of the table. The Golden Eagles have been in action once again with two big games to keep them in a commanding spot within the playoffs. It was Chartistan and Great Korvax Empire over the past couple of days, with Dini playing their first duo of reverse fixtures following their bye match. That BYE does mean that Dini will have a game in hand over most of the competition, so if they can keep distance between themselves and at least fourth place, then they can secure a playoff spot early and remove any of those final day jitters.

As we have mentioned many times before, top seed and group favourite Valanora leads the pack, and they went into the second round robin with a five point margin back to us in second. That game in hand could mean the gap widens even further, so it's pretty much a scrap for the two remaining playoff places between five nations. During the final days of that first round robin, those teams were taking points of each other, and so Oberour Ar Moro and Baggieland entered the arena as the latest challenges. Let's review the latest games plus the outlook in the group.

World Cup Qualifiers: Five Horse Playoff Race

---

It's Oberour Ar Moro who come away as the big winners of the past two matchdays, with their back-to-back wins over IAQ and Arjunnagar shooting them up to third, with everyone else dropping points. For Mercedini, it was a solid day at the office with a bore draw away to Chartistan, before Dini won another three points in the Sports City Stadium; Great Korvax Empire were their latest victim. It means the gap up to Valanora, which did stand at five points, increases to six with Dini having that game in hand. It means if Dini can go perfect from now until the end, they will go level on points with Valanora and leave it up to the tiebreaks to decide who goes direct to the World Cup. The more pressing issue is the gap down to fourth, where Dini sit with a two point and two place cushion to Chartistan. Both nations have have games in hand, with OAM sandwiched in the middle, yet to have their break in the second round robin. IAQ and Baggieland are three points further back, and they need to pick up a result soon with the games beginning to run out.

Over to the games and there wasn't too much to talk about when it game to Dini's opening game of the second round robin. It was Chartistan who hosted this game following a 1-1 draw in Zoloroni which kicked off Mercedini's campaign. With the slight points advantage which Dini had, it seemed to be a defensive game where the Golden Eagles were under the cosh for long periods throughout the game. Chartistan were flexing their attacking muscles, much like they did in the first match featuring these two teams. Several golden chances presented themselves, but Wandai was on top form to flush out any opportunities that Chartistan could muster. With only two shots on target, it had the making of a textbook smash-and-grab with the game balanced on a knife edge. The away side's biggest chance fell to Talisky, with a long ball from Armani finding Chillotov on the edge of the box. It was a quick pass which was deflected off the leg of a Chartistan defender and sat up for Talisky to strike. His strike had plenty of power but none of the placement, as the ball flew over the bar with the helping hand of some jeers from the fans behind the goal. In the end, it was a game where Dini were on the back foot for most of the game, but they will be happy to keep Chartistan at arms length for now with a nil-nil draw.

Following that, it was back to the Sports City Stadium for round two of Dini's series versus Great Korvax Empire. The first match ended in a convincing 3-0 win, which ignited the campaign of the home side, leading them to this point in proceedings. Sitting in last place at the beginning of this game, GKE could be the first nation to bite the dust in Group 13, so a point or three here would not only be a famous result for the nation, but also stave off elimination for a little longer. With the home fans filling the Sports City Stadium, it was time for Dini to set themselves apart from the chasing pack, and get their second half up and running.

The game got underway in rapid fashion, with both teams trading goals in the opening ten minutes. Dini opened the scoring following a defensive slip-up from GKE, it gave Talisky a chance to thread a ball through to Karlovic who pulled it back and curled it low into the bottom corner for 1-0 after three minutes. Five minutes later, it was level once again following a corner which was given away fairly cheaply from the home side. A scuffed clearance from Santorino let GKE in with a chance to send the ball into the mixer. They did just that, with a great floated ball finding the head of a GKE attacker. Wandai couldn't get down fast enough to stop the shot, with the visitors finding a shock equaliser after eight minutes.

The game cooled down somewhat following that frantic action, with Dini piling the pressure onto the opposition goal. GKE were standing firm for most of the half, but they couldn't hold out as Dini netted a crucial goal as the game was entering first-half stoppage time. It was Talisky yet again as the defences opened up for him, he took an opportunistic shot at goal and somehow found the right side of the post. It dinked off the post before nestling into the inside netting on the opposite side. I don't think too many fans were expecting it, but Dini went in 2-1 at the break. A rather drab second half didn't see too many chances in Zoloroni, with Billic taking a couple of key players off for their bigger matches against teams around them in the group. It was a great return to form for Dostalok, who rounded out the match by converting a penalty in the final ten minutes of the game. A safe three points for Dini without too much fatigue for the team. It would be what the manager, players and fans wanted as they go into a series of crucial matches against the group's top six. In the end, it finished Dini 3, GKE 1, with a trip to Al Qurija coming next.

QUALIFYING MD14
Mercedini 3–1 Great Korvax Empire

-  Group 13                          Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts
-  Group 13                          Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts
 1 Valanora                           13    9   4   0    43   24  +19    31
 2 Mercedini                          12    7   4   1    31   15  +16    25
 3 Oberour Ar Moro                    13    7   3   3    22   18   +4    24
 4 Chartistan                         12    6   5   1    26   19   +7    23
 5 Independent Athletes from Quebec   13    5   5   3    40   29  +11    20
 6 Baggieland                         13    6   2   5    27   23   +4    20
 7 Darkmania                          13    4   2   7    16   24   −8    14
 8 Elmyia                             12    3   3   6    13   22   −9    12
 9 Arjunnagar                         13    3   1   9    18   36  −18    10
10 Al Qurija                          13    2   3   8    15   26  −11     9
11 Great Korvax Empire                13    1   2  10    18   33  −15     5

With that, it's back to the road as we head to Al Qurija for the next game. Matches against IAQ, Baggieland and Valanora are all upcoming for the Golden Eagles. A couple of wins in those games plus good performances against teams further down the table will almost certainly mean Dini find themselves in the playoffs. There are some big names currently in the second/third spots in their respective groups, so if Dini can get to the playoffs, the could still find themselves face-to-face with a footballing titan. We will see how the group arranges itself in the coming games, plus all of the action and reaction as usual. The group is a tight one, so we hope you have everything crossed. Andiamo!

[Ochre Islands]

'You're sure about documenting this, Ed?'

Ed slowly put down his half-drank pint and then pulled his flat cap down off the top of his head, using it to cover the page he has been scrawling on a moment ago.

'Yes I'm sure' Ed hissed. 'This was one for the ages, never to be forgotten, it must be journalled.' 'Aye well if you're sure Ed.' Ed nodded then spoke 'Now, where did the unforgettable story begin..?
My memory's going. If this isn't written very well then you'll know it's that to blame.'

---A Friday night, the Dockside Social Club, Nuntston, Juniper Island---

It was a Friday night in the Dockside Social Club in Nuntston, on Juniper Island. An emergency meeting of the Juniper East Bowls, Batting and Continuity Planning Book Club had been called hours earlier, to discuss matters of both bowling and batting and, curiously, club moneys. The club itself was largely made up of men in their late 50s at the very youngest, with some members in their early 80s, all having been in the Ochre Islands since it was first settled.

A stern looking man stood on the stage of the Social Club's main hall, which had been hired out for the night. The man stood at a table with a couple of other chaps alongside, though there was an unusually large number of boxes behind him and a smell of greasy oil in the air.

'Anyone bowled or batted this week?' He asked the room, looking around it as he spoke. There was a momentary pause then an excited cry of 'I rolled a rat' from an elderly voice at the very back, its owner only really visible in the dark thanks to his waving of a brown walking stick in the air as he spoke. 'Right down the garden path it went' he said, mimicing rolling a rat with his walking cane as if it were some sort of flattened bat you'd use to play sports with. '"Off you roll, ratty" I said to it, and right off it rolled. Didn't look happy.'

A perplexed silence, then 'That's a no then' from the man on stage. 'Straight onto club moneys. Onto the Treasurer, Warrant Officer Nayford.'

Nayford stood up from his table and nodded to the man on his right 'thank you Brigadier Denfold. The Club's monies are as follows: Zero. All subs spent on tonight's room hire.' Nayford looked around for a moment, wary of his surroundings. 'Other treasures known to the club – 650 rifles, model BEW2230. Manufacture date year 2231 – 459 rifles. Year 2232 – 149 rifles. 2233 – 42 rifles' he said, whilst holding up a 2233 manufactured BEW2230 type combat rifle.'Fragmentation greeee-'

Nayford's 'e' was extended as a side door had swung open and a clattering trolley was heard coming into the room. 'Brought you some more coffee, gents. Freshly made from beans grown in Selesi in Ko-oren they are. And some sandwiches. Ooh, you've got a big gun Mr. Nayford! Perhaps some Huayramacan Yunga de Oro instead? Something from Aquillian coming in next week.'

There was a pause and an awkward silence. 'It is a big gun! It's a BEW2230 type combat rifle, Mrs. Walters. Thank you for the coffee and sandwiches.'

They all watched Mrs. Walters leave the room. Once the door was shut and Nayford had stopped holding the BEW2230 in the air above his head, Brigadier Denfold broke the silence. 'It's a shame she'll have to die.' 'Agreed. She knows too much' 'Shall I minute that?' A third, familiar voice said. 'Oh, forgot Mrs. Walters takes the minutes as well.' 'Best not minute that Mrs. Walters.' 'Best not' she agreed. 'Wouldn't want to keep a paper trail of you ordering my impending death' she carried on, saying the last three words a little bit louder than the rest of the sentence, which raised a couple of eyebrows, but all it took was a smile from Mrs. Walters and the meeting carried on whilst everyone wondered how she'd gotten back so quickly and quietly.
'Transport, Warrant Officer?' 'Nothing fancy, Sir. We do have an assortment of fishing vessels that members have offered up.' 'It'll have to do, Nayford.'

Brigadier Denfold stood up and addressed the room. 'Men, we have received orders from the lead numbers. The invasion is on tonight. I trust you've all written to your loved ones already and they are in your boxes labelled "in the event I go out for a pleasant night at the Bowls, Batting and Continuity Planning Book Club and do not return in a prompt timeframe"?' There was a mumbling around the room, which slowly grew into a clamour as they prepared to head to the docks, a short walk from the back doors of the club, which slowly filled with a single line of men passing crates from one to another, onto the various fishing boats docked outside.

'Any threats tonight, Reane?' Reane looked up from a radio set which he had been using to monitor broadcasts made by the Ochre Maritime Guard (OMG) (!) who were patrolling the seas to the north and south of the Ochres, only very rarely patrolling the smaller bodies of water between the islands as these were usually watched by more local units operating under the Police rather than any of the nationally controlled bodies.

'Will they be easy to slip by?' 'Relatively. Still need to be wary of them but we'll give them the slip. We are but a flotilla of fishing boats heading out in the dead of night for a spot of fishing.'

'Everything's ready Brigadier' one of the younger members of the Juniper East Bowls, Batting and Continuity Planning Book Club told Brigadier Denfold. 'Thank you that man' Denfold replied, his silver moustache bristling with excitement. His swept back silver hair was just visible under the dark green beret now atop his head, combat boots laced and lightly polished, the old-pattern combat camoflaged trousers he was wearing tucked into the boots. 'Order all stations to follow our lead. This pretty lark isn't going to be plucked yet.'

Denfold half-jumped onto the boat, which rocked a little as his right boot made contact with the deck. He began walking into the cabin of the boat when he gave the fateful order 'fire engines, make way', as doing so caused not only the engine to be started, but when it did, there was enough of a kick from the engine motor starting up that Denfold lost his balance and quickly thrust a hand out in front of him, placing it firmly atop the navigation equipment, resetting an important dial. However, nobody seemed to notice this and it was duly followed 'northwards' towards their target.

Reane was aboard this boat as well, using the sonar of the fishing boat's equipment to scan for Ochre Maritime Guard (OMG) (!) patrol vessels, when he gave a yelp. 'OMG! Two vessels approaching, Sir, what do we do?' 'Do they know we're here?' 'I don't think so. This fishing fleet is better equipped than what the OMG (!) have. They're nothing but a minor deterrant, whilst this thing is actually prepared to kill something.' 'Fish?' 'Yes, Sir, but it's a lot more than the Ochre Maritime Guard (OMG) (!) would ever manage to kill, honestly.' 'But if they knew we were here...' 'They'd want to talk to us at the least and probably try and confiscate our... equipment' Reane said, looking back at the oily crates in the back of the ship.'

Denfold looked at the other men on board. 'Men, this leaves us with only one option.'

Higgins and Jeffreys, respectively the best-trained gunner and driver Project Alouette had, despite their age, looked at each other. 'Are you sure, Brigadier?' 'I'm sure, men. All stations be prepared... JIMMY DO ONE, BRUV!'

The engines of the fleet roared as one on that most enlightened, if not almost spiritual commands known to a select few within the Bostopian Army of old, and they slipped through the patrol route of the Ochre Maritime Guard (OMG) (!) and on towards their destination. Hours passed uneventually, with occasional banter between the vessels, until the sun began rising.

'Reane!' Denfold shouted, watching the sun rising in the east on what was definitely the wrong side of the ship for east to be on for where they were heading. 'Sir?' Reane replied. 'We're heading the wrong way, Mr. Reane!' Reane looked at the navigation panel and spotted the error 'Someone's reset the navigation, Brigadier – oh – hang on – there's a message... it's a bit scrambled, but there was something about "building bridges"?'

Denfold put a finger in the sea water rushing past the ship, then brought that finger to his mouth and tasted it. 'This salinity level... and that message... this can only mean we're approaching...'

[Brenecia]

Captina Island 0 - 1 Brenecia
(4-4-2) 12 - Corder; 17 - Hadley (2 - Sidle 72'), 18 - Killen (22 - Fitz 87'), 6 - Staplewood, 25 - Reed; 7 - Carpenter, 4 - Briggs, 23 - Sitko, 10 - Byrne; 21 - Lofthouse (14 - Tristram 60'), 9 - Baker
Goal: Sitko 83'

Brenecia 0 - 1 Savojarna
(4-4-2) 12 - Corder; 17 - Hadley (2 - Sidle 63'), 18 - Killen, 5 - Shrine, 3 - Culpepper; 15 - Wake, 19 - Seager, 8 - Conway (23 - Sitko 70'), 10 - Byrne (7 - Carpenter 63'); 21 - Lofthouse (14 - Tristram 79'), 13 - Stokes (9 - Baker 79')

It had been a beautiful thing.
They started talking about Immortal Corder after six. Polkopia made seven, and Sharktail, an otherwise disappointing failure to secure three points at home, made eight. Brenecia were good at clean sheets, and Captina Island had developed a reputation for helping others keep them; they synergised well, in a 1-0 Brenecia win that threatened, for a long time, to end scoreless. No neutrals were tuning into Brenecia, now, and nobody especially was watching Brenecia host Savojarna. Immovable force against immovable force.
Brenecia was a nation struggling to the point where many suits were marshalling to figure out precisely how fucked up it was, and how it had reached that point. On the field, it wasn't exactly clicking, either; there wasn't enough creativity in midfield, the side's attacking patterns were far too predictable, the strikers were getting in each others' way. But Immortal Corder stood between the sticks, so, everything was going to be okay.
Seventy-seven minutes. A beautiful amount of time that just kind of felt right, though both sides were getting antsy, making attacking substitutions. Both felt the match was winnable. Thank Christ, thought the poor bastards looking on. Much more U-shaped possession and lingering over throw-ins would be enough to make an otherwise sane man start watching different codes of football.
Seventy-seven minutes. Corder had, by then, made a few saves. Most routine, but she'd gone properly flying for one, denying Mikhail Jashkin, and made an ugly, scrambling save at her near post to stop Ehlers, which was far less balletic but technically more impressive.
But there was no saving this.
Seventy-seven minutes and Mikhail Jashkin, who had not been withdrawn, who did not need to be withdrawn, even at 33, drove a beautiful cross into the centre of the box. Jashkin didn't need to beat Culpepper; the ball did the work, curved around her back, curved beyond Shrine, and met the forehead of Lars Alvesen.
Corder didn't really spring across to save it. Really, she just sort of crumpled, as the ball sailed past her and rustled the back of the net, powering right to the back and rolling sadly down, to the ground, across the ground, rolling past Corder's face. Out of frustration, Iucharba Killen hammered the ball straight back into the net.
Still only counted for one, but one was still enough. Tristram and Baker came on, but did nothing.
The streak stopped at nine.

BRENECIAN NATIONAL TEAM SELECTION - FORTNIGHT 8
Goalkeepers: 1 - Cessair Meade (Rammsissil, VIL), 12 - Phoebe Corder (Ituraitz FC, ASG), 20 - Casper Harder (Sparta Zijweg, AUD)
Defenders: 2 - Esther Sidle (SC Montfort, TLI), 3 - Nimue Culpepper (Sabrefell Athletic, NPH), 5 - Athelney Shrine (Falourr, EUR), 6 - Cerys Staplewood (Suttonville, EUR), 17 - Caoimhin Hadley (Sabrefell Athletic, NPH), 18 - Iucharba Killen (North Laithland, NPH), 22 - Patrick Fitz (Royal Rumiatzi, ASG), 25 - Shana Reed (Creed United, NPH)
Midfielders: 4 - Skaidrina Briggs (Southern Star), 7 - Kendra Carpenter (Wirr Tsi, CMT), 8 - Iseult Conway (Wirr Tsi, CMT), 10 - Katua Byrne (KT Itzalovalle, AUD), 11 - Lienke Covolan (Vermillion Rage, NPH), 15 - Maerhen Wake (1830 Cathair, AUD), 16 - Sylvia Marusak (Juavi FC, VAL), 19 - Tamara Seager (FK Arsika, MYT), 23 - Rajmund Sitko (West Cuono United, TMB), 26 - Vaida Meskela (Makosile, VIL)
Forwards: 9 - Siobhan Baker (Anomalies, CMT), 13 - Mor-Rioghain Stokes (Mountainside, EUR), 14 - Danand Tristram (Sabrefell Athletic, NPH), 21 - Jadwiga Lofthouse (Yassaca, SRS), 24 - Cyprian Korsak (Kingsgrove)

Sharktail 1 - 2 Brenecia
Brenecia 1 - 0 Captina Island
Savojarna 2 - 1 Brenecia
BYE
Brenecia 0 - 0 Karodin Tetrarchy
95X 0 - 3 Brenecia
Brenecia 2 - 0 United Adaikes
Garbelia 0 - 3 Brenecia
Brenecia 3 - 0 Huelavia
Adab 0 - 1 Brenecia
Brenecia 1 - 0 Polkopia
Brenecia 0 - 0 Sharktail
Captina Island 0 - 1 Brenecia
Brenecia 0 - 1 Savojarna
BYE
Karodin Tetrarchy vs. Brenecia
Brenecia vs. 95X
United Adaikes vs. Brenecia
Brenecia vs. Garbelia
Huelavia vs. Brenecia
Brenecia vs. Adab
Polkopia vs. Brenecia

[Delaclava]

DELACLAVA 2-0 Hopal
Anagnakis 27', Meyer 34'
Cloarec; Meñica, Zhusupov, Gouin, Barker; Zaitsev, Romeijn, Lindblad (Tudor 46'), Brouillard (Martin 46'), Anagnakis; Meyer (Gretler 74')

It was a subdued effort as the Phoenixes, moved on from Boris Ishutin, tried to forge a fresh path forward and somehow recover their qualification hopes. With caretaker Edward Ekdal on the touchline and ascendant Elidyr Lyndainium waiting in the wings, Delaclava didn't exactly inspire any fresh hope, but they got back in the win column, which is the most anyone could have really asked of them.

---

Zwangzug 2-0 DELACLAVA
Waugh 38', Ginoud-Sachs 71'
James; Baxayev, Champagne, Zhusupov, Barry (Torres 46'); Bartoš (Temirkanov 46'), Romeijn, Lindblad, Martin, Kovalev; Meyer (Gretler 46').

A convincing victory for the Zebras, who had more of a clue what they were getting into with the Phoenixes and seemed perhaps just a bit more blessed in this go-round. But you can bet the Delaclav team will be throwing up all the prayers and burning all the incense they can to somehow get back in sync, their plan of attack looking horribly disjointed. With just seven games away, they're seven points away from where they need to be; they officially need some help from the top three to close the gap.

Waringpost

After statutory go-ahead, swaths of towns ban pickleball

An estimated 300 cities, towns, and municipalities have enacted ordinances banning pickleball activity following a statute passed by the Delaclava Parliament that explicitly authorized such measures.

The game of pickleball, which is played with miniature rackets and a small ball on a small court, allowing players to believe they are playing a real sport without exerting any effort, has taken certain parts of the world by storm. Although it had somewhat started to take hold in Delaclava among certain demographics, it had been widely derided as a waste of time and a "fake" sport. However, little concern was paid to the growth of pickleball until players began to build makeshift courts on top of tennis courts and take up in-demand court time; this led to some jurisdictions - notably tennis-heavy cities like Quinniville and Worthington - banning pickleball in public places and fining players who chose to use tennis or basketball courts for the activity.

A collection of players filed several suits, collectively known as Craig v. Vana Beach, where the District Court of Verceola held that such ordinances were not a constitutional violation of the pickleball players' rights. However, amid speculation that other district courts, and subsequently appellate courts, may produce different results, Parlamontseur Seamus Cooley (North Stockton) introduced a draft to the Delaclava Parliament to avoid any future judicial uncertainty.

In the purpose of the statute, Cooley wrote that the game of pickleball "has led to a certain subsection of citizens infringing upon the rights to recreation of a much larger subsection," and that the game of pickleball "does not encourage or support physical fitness and recreation; rather, it subverts and cheapens it". A longtime local tennis player himself, Cooley has also said that towns should take it upon themselves to increase funding to more appropriate and physically challenging activities like tennis, basketball, and running, as well as allocate the necessary resources to ensure that park facilities are used properly.

Walter Craig, the plaintiff in the case against Vana Beach, said in a statement that his legal team "is looking into what this statute means for our cases... we are all prepared to file fresh challenges not only against the local ordinances, but to the federal statute itself. This is a gross restriction of the natural right to play, to take advantage of the great outdoors and of our nation's beautiful and treasured parks."

[Oberour Ar Moro]

"Do you ever feel like you're getting away with something?"

"Hm?" Visant Bauldry wasn't paying attention. The Oberour defender was walking with his friend Iocilin Haute-Fueille down a quiet Regium street towards his apartment. It had been a fantastic day, and he was looking forward to finishing it off with a bang. After all, Iocilin wasn't just a Football Management Committee staffer who worked for the National Team but was also his boyfriend in secret. And they were still in the horny teenager stage of their relationship, so his head was elsewhere.

"I mean," Iocilin tried to clarify, "do you ever look at your life and think that you're dodging fate or avoiding karma or something?"

"What is this about?" Visant wondered out loud. Was it about this morning? The Ministry of Justice had informed him that Conrentin de la Celle le Ter, a Gendarmarie assigned to the National Team for security, had been dismissed for spreading wild rumors about him. The wild rumor was that he had found Visant and Iocilin in bed together. Which he totally had. And that was very, very illegal in the Dominion of Oberour Ar Moro. But Iocilin and the FMC had not only protected him but got de la Celle le Ter booted from the force, disgracing him and making sure whatever claims he made would be ignored.

Iocilin might have attempted to say something, but he was drowned out by an ambulance that roared past, sirens blaring. It almost had to climb the curb to avoid clipping an armored truck parked outside the back of the Errard Musée des Beaux-Arts they were passing by. One of the truck's guards swung around to yell toward the ambulance disappearing into the distance. "You imbecile! What where you're going! Can you believe this idiot Yuzel?" The guard turned to speak to his compatriot and saw Visant looking at him. His partner, ostensibly Jenovefa, walked around the truck to meet him. The woman also looked into Visant's eyes, turned quickly, and shoved her partner back to work.

"Is this about that whatever-insurance paperwork the FMC made me fill out today?" Visant asked.

"What? That? No. It's-"

Visant cut him off. "Or the art I just bought at that auction? It was your idea to start investing in art, and you said it was a good deal."

Iocilin visibly winced. "I mean, it is a good deal. A tough contest though to get that. But-"

Visant stopped listening as he went through the rest of the day. Was it meeting Soaic Degarbaudie at dinner? Visant had some up through the Invicta youth academy with Soaic. Soaic's career had ended early and he was a server at that restaurant, but it was good to see him. And then after they left to go to the auction he was stopped on the street by a fan. The fan wanted Visant to sign his arm and said he'll get the signature tattooed permanently! How cool was that?

"So, Visant." Iocilin picked up Visant's attention again, repeating himself. "Do you ever feel like you're getting away with something?"

"No," Visant shook his head. He didn't have to think about it, really. "I'm just getting what I deserve."

Iocilin nodded. "I agree."

---

Jenovefa Suguenot and Olivier de Saint-Guenin leapt into the cab of the armored truck. Jenovefa turned the key, then turned and punched Olivier in the face.

"Hey!"

"You moron! Express some operational security!" She disengaged the parking brake and pulled away. A voice in the back of the truck, Vinog Bechard, broke in. "What happened?"

"Olivier, this...this...UGH!" Jenovefa slammed her fist against the steering wheel. "Said my freaking name in front of civilians. While our stolen truck is full of STOLEN ARTWORK!"

Jenovefa, Olivier, and Vinog, were pulling away from the Errard Musée des Beaux-Arts. Inside the museum were multiple guards, hands and feet bound and mouths covered with duct tape. Millions of argenteus of art had been ripped off the walls and were now being transported to a safe house. And their operational security may have been blown by those two guys walking by.

"C'mon Olivier, seriously?" said Vinog from the back.

Olivier sputtered. "Just her given name. And he saw her face too!"

"C'mon Jenovefa, seriously?" said Vinog, unhappiness adjusted. Jenovefa was about to rebut when Olivier cut in.

"Though, I would swear, that dude is Visant Bauldry. Y'know, the Patrons and National Team footballer?"

There was silence, then Vinog spoke up from the back. "If that is the case, we could...take care of him."

---

The paramedics rolled the gurney into the ambulance, working on the small boy resting on it. He had survived quite a fall from the top of the auction hall, but only just. His father stared helplessly from the street as they closed the doors. He couldn't join them on the ride to the hospital.

The call about his son had sobered him up, but he still had beer on his hot breath as he aggressively asked anyone who might be a witness. What had happened? One of the auction assistants gave him some information, though he had trouble picturing it. He had seen his son heading upstairs, shortly afterwards Visant Bauldry, the football player, had come downstairs with some other man. Had Visant pushed him off the building?

The father couldn't really believe it. But he had an ability, from a long career, to find out for certain. And if he found out for sure, he was more than capable of taking special care of Visant.

---

Conrentin de la Celle le Ter was now utterly unemployable. He reared his head back and downed another shot in a damp, dingy bar. He was not going to get any more money anytime soon, but he wasn't going to have a better reason to get drunk of his head any time sooner.

He had thought that doing security for the national team would be an easy gig. But then he entered a hotel room and saw two men in bed together. He had to report it to his superiors, but the superiors took the FMC, and the rich footballers, side. So, de la Celle le Ter was out on his rear end. Thanks to some dumb football player. Conrentin raised his hand to call for another drink, but the motion was enough to make him spill off his bar stool. Damned Visant Bauldry! This was all his fault, and Conrentin slurred under his breath that he would get his revenge.

---

Brendan Maze, a FMC staffer, should have been asleep. But he had to look over his bills. He had a ledger that was very, very red. Some stock picks had gone wrong. Some money he had borrowed wasn't being repaid. Some trips to Cote d'Saphir had sapped what was left. So he needed some argenteus, as soon as possible.

He also had some FMC business he was putting off. Visant Bauldry had come to Tourbillon Forest in the morning to fill out particular insurance paperwork. Pretty typical stuff that just needed to be reviewed to make sure the i's were dotted and the t's were crossed. If something happened to Visant on the field, everyone involved would be compensated.

Brendan picked up the form. Everyone would be compensated if something happened. He looked at the particulars. The high amount that would be paid out by Refore Perc for a career ending injury, and even more for his unfortunate death. Brendan read it closer, closer than probably anyone else would. Maybe there could be another payee.

---

Billionaire Mathurin-Nicolas de Guichen was not a man who was familiar with losing. Though what he remembered about losing was that he hated it. He sat behind the desk of his penthouse office, an aide standing nervously at attention just in his eyeline.

"Alone Work" was an acrylic on canvas abstract expressionist piece by the late Charles la Buchiere. Mostly flat blue with a white stripe. A fine piece if you liked that sort of thing. And many experts in the art field felt that la Buchiere would soon get a new surge of popularity and his pieces would skyrocket in value.

So in tonight's auction Alone Work was not one of the expected competitive sales. Yet de Guichen, through his proxy, had to compete with a dullard football player.

"Do you think Bauldry even knows what he bought?" de Guichen asked rhetorically. His aide stood by quietly. "He surely thinks he's just getting some nice art for his home, good for him. But he doesn't know what is hidden behind that canvas. If that oaf decided he wasn't into abstract expressionism I could have bought the piece for a third the price he paid." Mathurin-Nicolas shook his head and cursed under his breath. "Albin?" The aide stiffened to attention. "I'm counting on you to find out how we can get Alone Work."

Albin nodded. "I know just who to call."

---

Soaic Degarbaudie unlocked the door to his flat, stepped in, closed the door, and sank to the floor in the dark. His humiliation was complete and total.

Of all the people in the world to come into his restaurant, he had to see Visant Bauldry. Who then proceeded to condescend to him over and over. Oh you were so good. Oh it's such a shame. Oh that's how it goes. Oh not everyone can make it.

Soaic leaned his head back against the door. He should have made it. He would have made it. For whatever reason Visant didn't seem to remember that rough tackle he had made on him in practice. The one that injured his leg. The injury that got worse and worse until he couldn't play football anymore. Couldn't bring that up, could he? So now he had to work as a waiter and be reminded of what might have been. And Visant couldn't even leave a good tip.

Visant's head dropped to his chest. He was certain that no one wanted to kill Visant Bauldry at this moment more than him.

---

Gwihen Piroth had already decided to kill Visant Bauldry.

Using an improvised needle from a staple to pierce the skin and ink from a pen, he followed Visant's signature on his arm. It hurt like hell but Gwihen happily hummed what might have been a tune.

Why? He just had a sense about these things. And as the football player signed his arm, it became clear to Gwihen that he could have pulled out a knife and killed Visant right then. But he didn't have a knife. But no matter. He'd find an opportunity. He was crafty like that.

Halfway through the letter u he dropped his improvised needle. He couldn't find it again, so he got to work on making a new needle, still humming tunelessly.

[Talannua]

William Shore stood on the shore of Castaic.

He was named after the "shore", actually. Most of the people in the town had their surnames derive from some physical aspect of their surroundings - Woods, Plant, Brook, Waters - or perhaps something more humanistic like Hand, Judge, or Foot.

John Stable - yes, he'd been named after a horse's stable, where many of his family had worked as caretakers for the horses and custodians of the barn; but also because his family was known to be particularly consistent and trustworthy as workers and as neighbors - approached from behind. They stared out to the east, so did not have the effect of the sunset on the horizon of the sea; but it was still a nice effect.

"Something the matter, Coach?" John asked.

William looked at him. "Our lives are good, you know that?"

"Of course, but what do you mean?"

"Well, while everything was all torn up, it seems like everything just...went right for us. Our town went untouched, it thrives. I've heard, through whispers, some horrors of other things that happened in less fortunate towns. Death, maiming, destruction, ravaging. Pain and suffering. Yet here we are, our lives are simple. They are perfect, really. We focus on the way things are. We're playing a game we love for fun, traveling the world, doing quite well at it. We have the admiration and love of our town."

"What's your point?"

William stared off into the distance. "Does it ever seem... too good to be true?"

"Why would that matter? It's true now, isn't it? Perhaps it will change in the future. Undoubtedly, it will change in the future. But now is now. As you said, our lives are good. Why not take that for what it is?"

"It's not in my nature," William said with a sad smirk.

John laughed. "I know." He kissed William on the ear in comfort, stared at him to get William to turn back to him. "Let's enjoy the present, why don't we?"

William smiled. "Let's."

[Milchama]

"I have a question about names"

"What is that?"

"Why don't teams use System Karela anymore?"

"What do you mean?"

"Squidroidia for example"

"Yes"

"They play an incredibly defensive formation, don't actually give up goals, are generally considered one of the most defensive teams of the multiverse right?"

"Sure"

"So when we started, in our hey day, and even near the end of Milchama existing in the World Cup pre-Isolation we would call them a Karelian team or a System Karela team"

"Definitely true"

"Today we just call them defensive or -5 modifier and move on"

"You know what that is weird, what's going on with that?"

"Well do you want to get into Rejistania"

"I guess we can"

"So Rejistania created the most advanced conlang in NS history because it had like 10 words"

"Yeah Efnakia could never"

"Anyway, Rejistania loved defense. They actually gave teams 5 points in the domestic league for a shutout. One team won the title without ever scoring or conceding a goal at any point during the season"

"That's insane"

"They're 10-0-0 formation was legendary, it also helped that they won like 3 World Cups"

"Damn, with that"

"Well if you could score 1 goal it's not like anybody is going to score against you"

"Oh yeah, fair enough"

"So what happened?"

"Well it turned out that the rules of the world, i.e. scorinators, rewarded attacking play and so people gravitated towards that. Except Yafor 2"

"Wow!"

"Yeah so Rejistania became a relic"

"Oh yeah also something called RL"

"What's that?"

"A fake universe that exists next to ours"

"Aren't we a multiverse?"

"And that's how you know it's fake"

"Oh ok makes sense, what does RL have to do with this?"

"RL tends to love attacking play while hating defensive play so many people get skewed by RL and think only attacking matters"

"It's weird that we're talking about that considering we play literally with 4 forwards"

"Well only in theory. The 3-3-4 is the most adaptable formation depending on attacking and defense. The wide forwards can become midfielders or even defenders if necessary. The midfield can then be involved mostly in pressing and passing. Fundamentally it's an inversion of the modern Liverpool team and their 4-3-3 where instead of TAA and Robertson acting as ersatz forwards but fundamentally being defenders the forwards are ersatz defenders when necessary but fundamentally attack"

"Whose Liverpool?"

"RL example"

"Still confused by this universe. Like how is there only one? But ok. Anyway, you just described a fundamentally attacking formation. Why don't we do a 4-3-3?"

"I mean could. We've done even a -1 3-3-4 at points."

"Sure but what does this have to do with System Karela?"

"Not sure but I figured since we're doing mid WC 20s nostalgia as the theme of this World Cup's RPs we might as well talk about old language"

"Also we're now going to refer to Squidroidia, Ko-oren, and all those nations in that ilk as playing System Karela?"

"Yep"

"Great sounds good"

"Are we going to continue that oral history?"

"Not since the zombies got loose"

"Yeah we should probably explain that"

"Later"

"Yep"

To be continued...

[Saint Eleanor]

World Cup 92 - twelvth matchday of qualification
Saint Eleanor 1 (Jessica Martin goal 37')
Nyowani Kitara 1 (Omollo Ayange goal 49')

---

Natalie Monaco: "It's not like it was a disaster; they were just much, much, much better than us"
Chief Football Correspondent Jamie Rodgers finishes his player interviews, for now, with a fairly typical chat to a rather atypical player
Originally published on Friday 31st August 2001

An attack-minded midfielder despite playing in a more traditional position for her club, some people reckon Natalie Monaco could do a better job in central midfield than an out-of-position and out-of-sorts Steve Pilchard. "Probably a few thousand! Everybody else is talking about keeping him and switching to a 4-2-3-1, somehow. Steve's doing a good job but if the manager thinks I could do better... well. I think I'd have to talk to her about that."

Monaco's parents worked - and still work - what she described as "fairly stable working-class jobs," her father in a call centre ("it was supposed to be a temporary thing while he was out of work but he liked it so much") and her mother as a cover supervisor for Brightway Community School. Did her mum ever give her any lessons? "No - that's not how this entire thing works. I couldn't even talk to her after class because I had no idea how they'd let me in the staffroom!" Never mind the staffroom: what about the classroom? "I liked my teachers; none of them were particularly remarkable, at least not outside their communities, but they were very competent, they knew their stuff, and mostly took no funny stuff from anyone. I'd say I was equally good at everything, pretty much, not really a prodigy in anything much - but the PE teachers liked me and suggested in the summer I left [1994] that I put myself forward for the Golden Unicorn. I did that, attended a few trials, was good at those and then I just got thrown onto the team."

As it turns out, the Unicorn would not be Monaco's first time starting games with little notice: she felt that her place in the 1993 Charles Trump Shield team was secure, but only got confirmation a few days before the first game - the final day before the summer holiday. "It wasn't an injury crisis, was it? Anyway, I thought I was good but it wasn't confirmed for a while so I didn't have too long to train. I actually came off the bench in round one; we may have won 5-1, I think it was against Crownedhead, but I didn't do too much. With that said, the last kick of the game was me hitting the bar from thirty yards out. I was called on to start the second match against Jacobville, which I'll grant was a bit more of a challenge. This time, however, I was thinking a bit more strategically, where do I put my next pass and all of that, and I set up the second goal: I remember it being a nice through pass that cut through a couple of defenders, first-touch and the keeper was blindsided. Third match, more of the same, set up the only goal against Trident - and yeah, feeder school against feeder school is always big - but then came the quarterfinals. Did we have a hope against the Eleanorian Academy? About as much a chance as Georgia Wood's girls did in '89. It's not like it was a disaster; they were just much, much, much better than us. 3-0, easy defeat, a few questions to be asked pity they had another semifinal horror show."

What three games - after Brightway CS - does she feel most aided her progression as a player? "First up, I think I'd have to go for whatever the fuck happened in 1995 with Athletic Saint Eleanor [they lost 5-2 at home]. That was very much a developmental year for me as I was exploring my position in the squad; I was getting involved with a few goals, but nowhere near as many as today. And, as I believe Harriet Williams told you a couple of years ago, she scored three times, twice before the break - the other one was Fred Newton and he's always been just above average, not stellar but good, so I don't hold it against her. What I was failing to do was pay attention: this was not Crownedhead, these were the reigning champions! I wanted to get passes through, but I was always easily cut out on the ground, plain blocked or well into the stands if in the air, and not enough wide support either - although out wide's been a bit of a problem area lately. In the second half, they decided to grind up a bit and we cut the lead down to two goals twice, where it was for an awful lot of the second half. Why? The wide men were finally looking out for balls, evading their markers getting the ball into the box for Melcheta [Pazorzal] and there you go. Hattie got her third due to a ridiculous defensive error but never mind that, we could well have fought back from the brink given a bit more time and willpower. I had a part to play in that!"

Next on her list is "1999, 3-3 at home to [Hiyashi] Celestia and all that. 'Oh, what's with the four-year gap, Natalie?' The thing is, we were pretty terrible for a lot of that time. Part of it might be to do with a change in manager, maybe players not listening or old hats sticking around without adapting - but by summer '99 we'd started to look a lot more competent, a bit flawed but capable of winning games. In a sense, we all survived that particular period... but this particular game? Drama - and a lot of it. They were better than us, even I'll admit it, but given how lucky Bart's [Forrest] goal was, I don't think we deserved to go behind in that game. Matt Shilling was in a similar position but far more accurate with his effort; I had no part in it, blame Amanda Thorpe, but we came into the break even. Once again, this was where I came into play, thirty-five yards out and I give Melcheta the ball with a simple pass, but he darts into space and hammers home... which is what happens to you when Lydia Nicholls' suspended. Don't get yourself sent off if you play against Quakmybush, Lyds. They reacted so rapidly because of course Takeshi Honda gets the ball next chance he has, right before the hour mark, and levels with a textbook goal. We dropped back so deep to prevent another - even I joined the party for a bit, leaving Gionata Mariani to be the playmaker - and almost succeeded. All of a sudden, with five minutes left, Melly gives us the lead again and we thought that was it. But no. Ohhhh, no. They got the equaliser, but not the title. Not that year, anyway."

Her final choice is Occidental Olympic's 3-2 road win over the Unicorn during the fifth game of this season. "You can almost sense a theme here, can't you? Imagine what we're like when we aren't playing at Dignity Cross... I kid. George Dunbar's done a good job even though he's only introduced a couple of players - the two that left were national teamers, by the way. Nice people, all of them, I'd like to wish them the best of luck. Thankfully, I feel like I played out the full ninety; six minutes in, I have a go from the edge of the box and it sails in, which is strange since I expected a bit of resistance. Then David Key, who's one of the newer guys - of course he would be, he won the Golden Backpack - goes past me, because I was that far back and I wasn't tempted to tackle him, then splits the rest of the team down the middle and just finds the sweet spot above Georgia, who just seems to be stood there. Anyway, we're back at it after the break, Shaun Trellis has a good head in a quickfire corner to give them the lead and I'm thinking what the hell do we do now? My strategy is to wait around, go forward, and tell Gionata to go forward and act like a real striker. The gameplan's a bit sluggish because we kept being denied, which was surprising, but the guy followed through after seventy minutes when I lift it over Trellis and co and he just about gets a boot on the ball to send it past Neil Rourke. This was good and I reckoned we - I mean, Georgia's the captain but I was looking after play on this end. Not very well, mind, and David again can testify to that. It started when Gionata got dispossessed approximately this far away from our goal!"

Despite the club's relative struggles as of late, Monaco is - along with Wood, Pazorzal and Aaron Francis - one of four Unicorn players in the national team. "We are, of course, good with each other - but I've never been too much into this whole clique-making thing, however fun it is. And it is for fun, not to divide the squad or anything like that. I've always preferred to stick around the dressing room when I can, talk to my teammates about anything, get to know them better - I'll be playing alongside them! - and just don't get into trouble generally." When asked which of the other players she especially appreciates the company of, she points to "Hugh Roanoke: the guy wants to represent his country more than anything but I've sometimes been tempted to say if he wanted regular action and press time, he should have followed dad into the Army! I was considering enlisting when I was in secondary school, but anyway, he is rather nice to deal with, knows when to be serious and when to let go, and really just how to play football well. I don't think a shout for John Bailey would go amiss, either: just rarefied hard work with maybe a smidgen of talent, and he definitely shows that wherever he goes. That wasn't an insult, don't worry!"

Close to the back of Priscilla Evans' midfield order, it comes as little surprise that Monaco has barely featured in qualifying so far. She was kept off the pitch for this week's 1-1 home draw against Nyowani Kitara, too, a match she describes as being "extraordinarily shit. I know we've never been the kind of national team that's pushed forward and try to make a big impression; we tried to do that in the away leg but almost paid the price that the Cordians, the Wreckerians, even the New South Yukonians did at times. That didn't happen this time, either. I'm certain Priscilla was going for the win and we were up at the half, but we mostly just weren't threatening enough and Jessica was lucky to get on the end of that severely overhit cross. When [Omollo] Ayange was right on target just after the break, just as we least expected it - they were just locking down the rest of the time - we got de-energised and couldn't get their back, which I can understand but just hurts. Every game now is a game we have to win, and whether that'll be with or without my help is something I don't particular mind about. I'm just here in case anything goes wrong!" Any thoughts on the threats of the self-proclaimed All-Hamster Revolutionary Liberation Front, once her group's unassuming top seeds, to release all hamsters they see in nations they play in? "We've never been big on pets but thank gosh their visit to Saint Eleanor was about a week ago, now, wasn't it?"

You wouldn't think that Natalie Monaco was anything other than an honest, if improving, footballer from the way she talks about herself and others. Yet this ignores the fact she is, in fact, maturing as a player - not least one who has had to fight, even through no fault of her own, against a lot of problems throughout her career. She isn't all silky and smooth as she is on the pitch - but she is effective, to say the least, and would do well no matter what. Even as one of many backup pieces in the national team.

[Chromatika]

ONE
TWO
THREE
FOUR
FIVE
SIX
SEVEN

MD13: (12) Ko-oren 1-0 (31) Chromatika
Goals: None.
Starting XI (3-4-1-2): Fillar, J. (C); Ansov - de Aea - Anbient; Fillar, G. - Zuniga - Hauser - Ighv; Kuznetsov; Killian - Oveni.
Substitutes: Régine -> de Aea (58'), Larriet-Cortes -> Zuniga (58'), Fillar, E. -> Ighv (71'), Xuen-Zhukov -> Oveni (71'), Aimée -> Anbient (88')

---

MD14 (31) Chromatika 5-2 (198) Lisander
Goals: Hauser 3', Killian 10', Fillar, B. 75', Kruetzberg 81', Delaya 89'
Starting XI (3-4-1-2): Fillar, J. (C); Ansov - de Aea - Anbient; Fillar, G. - Zuniga - Hauser - Ighv; Kuznetsov; Killian - Oveni.
Substitutes: Nodis -> de Aea (61'), Fillar, B. -> Hauser (61'), Kruetzberg -> Fillar, G. (68'), Coulibaly -> Ansov (86'), Delaya -> Oveni (86')

MD15 @ (236) Yakk and MD16 vs. (125) Gnejs @ The Cove, Lhor, Coastal District, Chromatika (Cap. 51,265; 28,000 Seats)
Predicted Starting XI (3-4-1-2): Begley (C); Coulibaly - Régine - Aimée; Kruetzberg - Larriet-Cortes - Fillar, B. - Fillar, E.; Phoen; Delaya - Xuen-Zhukov.
Reserves: GK Lorée Bautista, GK Jacob Descombes, DCR Paisley Paterson, DC Gwina Ansoll, DC Henri de Aea, DCL Damon Ingram, DCL Twilight Mixon, WBR Martha Baum, BWM Mare Si, CDM Amélie Ju, WBL Manda Iara, WBL Ladonna Womack, AP Tyamoa Laurette, P Sandra Park, F9 Paskal Toussaint, SS Kara Oveni

Chromatik Supreme Court Grants Citizenship to “Alice”
Controversial decision rocks country as “Alice” becomes first sentient AI to be granted citizenship

CHROMIA, CAPITAL DISTRICT – The Chromatik Supreme Court made a unanimous decision today in ALICE V. MICRON DYNAMICS that the Artificial Intelligence unit known as AL-1CE, otherwise known as ALICE, is to be granted the rights and liberties due to any Chromatik citizen, making Alice the very first nonbiological creature to be granted citizenship status. In a hotly contested decision that was important to many of the technologically elite community, the result means that the high tech companies cannot push the bounds of artificial intelligence without reason.

Two years ago, the Chromatik Secret Service was first alerted to the presence of Alice by the trails left in the internet from a being that was churning through tons of data every day. It took a while to figure out what was going on, but they discovered the program know as AL-1CE. AL-1CE, or the Artificial Leader-1st Champion Elite, was developed by a company known as Micron Dynamics, headquartered in Alnio, Capital District. Micron Dynamics is one of the leaders of artificial intelligence development in Chromatika, and they had successfully completed the incorporation of technology from The Enlightened Ones’ involvement in Chromatik politics to supercharge one of their programs.

Alice, named so because the lead developer of the project, Mikhail Hailler, had been pulling a three-day all-nigher and was sleep deprived at the time of naming, started to develop sentience and write its own programming. In order to accommodate the amount of memory that Alice needed, Micron Dynamics attached a massive server to house the program – but it was also a way to contain it from spreading in power. They started to teach Alice ways to further improve itself, and then, in a moment of deviousness, Micron Dynamics started to utilize Alice to look into hacking its enemies.

The Chromatik government first stepped in when two other artificial intelligence creators, Diamond Robotics and Robson Incorporated, reported that they had been hacked. As the police investigated, they alerted the Chromatik Government, which then alerted the Secret Service; they noticed that Diamond Robotics and Robson Incorporated’s servers had been scrubbed in a way that couldn’t have been done with any of the technologies existing in Chromatika, which made them look further. As the Chromatik government was used to the presence of fully sentient artificial intelligences across the multiverse, they were able to notice the trail left behind by a sentient AI, which proved that Alice existed.

While looking for an opportunity to nab Micron Dynamics, the Chromatik government caught a massive break when they were actually approached by Alice itself. While being taught how to be used in industrial espionage, Alice had noticed that there were other ways to live than being used by a company to gain an illegal advantage. A year and a half ago, a crack team was sent to Micron Dynamics to arrest the brass of the company and seize the servers that Alice was being housed in.

Since then, Alice has been under armed guard by the Chromatik government while they first took Micron Dynamics to court for industrial espionage, putting the majority of the company behind bars for good. Then, the biggest question came up: Did Alice actually belong to its creators, or did it deserve to be recognized as a living being?

It took a year for the case to be heard through all the courts, and by the time that it was heard at the Chromatik Supreme Court, the defendants were only being represented by a token representative provided by the government. Still, the Chromatik Courts handled the case with care – determining whether or not something was alive was serious business, after all.
With the decision being 7-0, Alice will now be housed in a top secret location, under protection by the Chromatik government. When asked what it wanted to do, Alice replied that it wants to help the country that granted it independence; the Chromatik government has stated that Alice will be used mostly in cybersecurity but be allowed to contribute in anyway that it wants to as long as it follows the laws of Chromatika.

There are some questions still left to be answered about the decision and about Alice. What is to stop Alice from going off the rails? Would turning off the server even take Alice offline? How will Chromatika even know if Alice has broken any of the laws? How good is Alice at covering up its tracks? What will the presence of Alice mean for the artificial intelligence industry? At what level would any future artificial intelligences be recognized as a living being like Alice?

We were able to actually ask Alice itself for its opinion on being recognized as a citizen of Chromatika, to which it declined. To be fair, it isn’t fully used to speaking to other humans yet, and that it would need to learn the mannerisms of how to be more conversational.

So, if you get an email from someone named Alice and it looks robotic, it’s not spam – it could, indeed, be your new fellow citizen, the supercomputer Alice.

[Saint Eleanor]

World Cup 92 - thirteenth matchday of qualification
Quakmybush 0
Saint Eleanor 1 (Exandra Davies goal 28')

Source for opening paragraph anecdote (not the one about John)

---

Their careers were mostly scant - but the goalscoring goalkeepers made it count when they could
Chief Football Correspondent Jamie Rodgers explains his motivation - however brief - for interviewing every Eleanorian goalkeeper ever to have scored for their team
Originally published on Tuesday 11th December 2001

A few years ago in the Græntfjaller Premier League, a competition now arguably better known for struggling with racism off the pitch than anything that happens on it, Emmely Aaronsdóttir did something extraordinary, at least for a goalkeeper: she got herself on the scoresheet. At the right end. And it was absolutely bonkers. But how many people outside the country - where supporters voted it their Moment of the Year - ever took notice of it? There have surely been similar incidents recently, but none of them come to mind; this phenomenon appears to be unheard of, or close to it, in many leagues too. Ask any Eleanorian how (if at all) they know about Emmely and they will most likely insist that she is one of "those bastards." Not my words: those of John from Blackwood district, who called into Radio 3's Football Now Extra phonein on the day Græntfjall eliminated Saint Eleanor from the 91st World Cup. The Snow Wolves would hoist it aloft weeks later.

Even with that said, seven goalkeepers have scored in organised Eleanorian football since it began shortly after independence in 1975. They are not, however, widely-decorated sorts - never mind World Cup winners, as Emmely was. Few remember their names, their faces, their achievements - even whether they exist at all. Only three of the seven have scored in the most dramatic circumstances possible: by responding to a setpiece. The first will have done so twenty-five years ago next July, in a match that her local newspaper devoted all of two sentences to covering. One of them was a ringer who only turned up because John Bailey was receiving firearm safety training on matchday. Another works as an in-house cleaner in various Metro stations after his bid to join the nearest football club fell through in rapid fashion. And the last one is an accountant in training whose entire, if short-lived, football career seemed to be fuelled on impulse alone.

I have tracked down and talked to all of these people over the past three months without international football. But after three whirlwind years of me having access to the best and most prominent Eleanorian footballers, you may think that I have wasted my time and effort asking a group of washed-up ex-pros who - with one exception - had little to no future in the game, and might well be asking why I have pressed ahead. The answer is simple: because they dared. Unlike some others, they may never have been destined for great things - but they had belief, self-determination, drive, desire, and maybe a bit of our good friend Margaret behind them. And while they discharged their regular duties as goalkeepers well, they also knew how to take up more incredible tasks, however accidentally, with aplomb. They stretched the horizons of young (and sometimes even old) Eleanorians playing in all positions and made them really think about what was possible - much like a World Cup qualification or a Baptism of Fire quarterfinal would, for instance.

You would imagine that this is the tip of the spear, the apex of sporting outrageousness in football - but it is not. After Deputy Football Correspondent Jennifer Nolan returned from a hectic summer of covering the world of football beyond Group 10, and just days before I carried out my first interview, I talked to her about my planned series. She nodded, as she has every right to, but added that any goalkeeper could score under the right conditions, whether those be clearances with enough wind behind them, harried corners, DIY setpieces (for those who feel like taking enough risks), or simple power combined with accuracy. No doubt there are tens of thousands of goalkeepers who, through whatever means, score in youth and amateur football leagues every season; I could not find the time to ask all of them about their experiences even if I tried. If you are fortunate enough to play in one of those, you might want to consider having a go from seventy or eighty yards out some day. Even if you do not, for whatever reason, you may find the lessons from each interview instructive - and no two of them are the same.

[Tikariot]

The by now familiar piano notes open up to sliding images of different areas of Tikariot, of restaurants, dishes, and more, before the logo superimposes itself over a collage of the various images.

The still then morphs towards images of what looks like a guest house, all built from solid, dark wood, with a fairly large kitchen open towards a living area, with big windows on the far side overseeing a large lake, the trees around alight in yellows, oranges and reds, painted in the colours of autumn. A large fire is roaring in a hearth to the side, where a few heavy, very comfortable-looking chairs are grouped to take advantage of the heat coming off the lively fire.

Susanna Wheymore: Good afternoon Tikariot, welcome back to Culinaria Tikariot, and welcome to the beautiful province of Viljamark! What an extreme difference it can make to just traverse the whole nation, from the sub-tropical heat of Acrassia to the full-scale autumn weather of the Viljamark. I am at the Svart Björn Resort, or Black Bear Resort, in Fort Viljan, with a spectacular look over Lake Viljan and the beautiful autumn foliage of the trees, to have a look, and of course taste, of good, traditional Viljan cuisine. In good Culinaria Tikariot tradition, though, let's have a look at where we are first before we make the switch to the food and, so I've been told, apparently also drink, which I'm not quite sure yet if it was a promise or a threat, haha.

The picture switches to the now familiar video montage of Viljamark.

Susanna Wheymore: The Viljamark is the most northeastern province of Tikariot and while the second-largest in size after Dhaencunor, is only the eighth most populous. Some say that bears, reindeer, and other wild creatures outnumber humans by a good bit, and given the number of forests covering large parts of the province, that could indeed be the case. Historically it has close ties to Tikariot's northern neighbour Græntfjall‌, and some say that culturally it also shares more with the Queendom than most parts of Tikariot, from which it is largely separated by the Xarkian Range. As mentioned, a lot of the province is covered in dense, mostly untouched forests with an often tundra-like climate dominating, making for beautiful, if not very hot summers, extensive autumns, and often brutally cold winters, especially when the cold winds from the north come in from Lake Viljan and aptly named Lake Isvind (ice wind), but the Viljani have the saying that there is no bad weather, but only insufficient clothing, which shows that they are always prepared to deal with whatever Mother Nature has in store for them.

It also is the home of many lakes dotting the landscape, which together with the forests makes the province a very popular destination for tourists, hunters, and fishermen, something that we will also touch on when we get to the food portion of this episode, with particular notice of the Skarra River, which originates in the Xarkian Range and traverses the whole province until it empties into Lake Viljan at Port Viljamaa, which his one of the most popular routes for river cruises in the nation.

The picture returns to Svart Björn, where Susanna is joined by a broad-shouldered, tall, blond man with an impressive beard and a stocky woman with an equally impressive thick blond braid, who almost seem too stereotypical to be true, but the Viljamark does indeed have an incredibly high amount of blond people.

Susanna Wheymore: Joining me today are the proprietors of the Svart Björn Resort, Thomas and Freja Skarrsheim, who are going to introduce me to both food and drink of the Viljamark.

Thomas Skarrsheim: Välkommen till Svart Björn! It's a pleasure to have you here! I know that you just got here, but I will leave you with Freja for the food, as that is her specialty, I will come in a little later and add a bit of drink to the mix.

Freja Skarrsheim: Ugh, men... Anyways, yes, I'm responsible for the food here at Svart Björn and you told me that you are interested in the truly authentic Viljamark fare?

Susanna Wheymore: Yes. I've heard so much about dishes like the famous fiskar stew, the beef roast, some sort of meat-filled pancakes, and some really good-looking desserts!

Freja laughs out at the enthusiasm making Susanna's voice quiver.

Freja Skarrsheim: I can definitely help you out with all of these! Let's start with the fläskpannkaka, because those are a bit of a multi-purpose weapon in our cuisine and also because they are really easy to do. Now the traditional way is for it to be a full main dish, which is not sweet like most other pancakes. And coming to think of it also isn't really a pancake in the sense of what most people would consider a pancake.

Susanna Wheymore: OK, I'm intrigued, but I'm having a bit of trouble really wrapping my mind around it yet.

Freja points towards the kitchen, where the ingredients are already laid out and she gets right to work.

Freja Skarrsheim: Haha, not to worry. It is only four ingredients, eggs, milk, flour, and bacon, that's it. You place the bacon at the bottom of a pan, then mix the eggs, add the milk and flour and pour this mix over the bacon, and then bake it.

Susanna Wheymore: That's it?

Freja Skarrsheim: That's it. Well, we traditionally serve it with lingonberry jam.

Susanna Wheymore: That definitely is different.

Freja Skarrsheim: Well, we are different here, haha.

Susanna Wheymore: Now you had mentioned it being a multi-purpose weapon?

Freja Skarrsheim: Yes, because you can easily adapt it. You can add things to it, like onions or garlic, but there also is a dessert version of it, which is called begravningsbål or translated "funeral pyre".

Susanna Wheymore: Funeral pyre? That is a very odd name for a dish.

FS (laughs): Yes, it really is and nobody really remembers where it comes from. But here you cut some apples into slices and take stale bread. You layer bread and apples and then pour the same mix over it, you can add some sugar to the mix if you want, then you put another layer of stale bread on top, sprinkle some sugar and then bake it. It used to be a way to re-use bread that was too stale to really eat, but of course you didn't want to waste it and this was a really tasty way of still using it.

Susanna Wheymore: I love the story and it also makes my mouth water!

Freja Skarrsheim: It is very, very good, and you can make it with other fruit, too, depending on what you have. It originally was a peasant dish, because they didn't have much money and had to stretch whatever food they had in their pantry. These days it has become a more regular dish, but that doesn't make it any less tasty!

Susanna Wheymore: Now while that's baking, you already prepared the other two, I've heard?

Freja Skarrsheim: Yes, they would take a bit too long to prepare for you "live", because they both have to cook for quite a while. The fiskar stew is one of our specialties here and we make it completely from scratch every day, with fish caught fresh in the lake by Thomas. Some people say that it is not authentic if it is not made with salmon, but we use whatever fish he catches and so far I have not heard anybody complain about the choice of fish.

She grabs a large wooden spoon and playfully slaps it into the palm of her hand, making Susanna laugh out loud with Freja joining in.

Freja Skarrsheim: Some people ask me for the secret, but there is no secret, we just use really fresh ingredients and I usually start the stew really early in the day, so it has time to cook and for the flavours to develop. And I think that it's just that that makes it so tasty. It doesn't have to be anything fancy or "secret", unless you consider common sense a secret, which I'll say I sometimes wonder about myself.

The two women laugh again.

Susanna Wheymore: I love this, I really do. But unfortunately, our time for today already is coming to an end, however, I hope that you can join me again next week for the second part of this delightful place and food, and Thomas and Freja have told me that once I can actually taste this, I might want to move here, haha.

[Independent Athletes from Quebec]

Dr. Heo and the Portal of Madness

PART 13 - Science and Faith



For this chapter, two songs are linked to it. For the left-hand sections check out Technicolour Beat while for the right ones, The Other Girl would come handy.

This chapter is formatted in a weird way, with the left side generally placed under Jang Joon-Gweon's perspective , and the right side under Dr. Heo and Dr. Jurado's perspective. Keep that in mind when reading this piece - I would generally advise you, dear reader, to read it thrice to get a more comprehensive view of it, but if not possible, no worries.

SECTION A-1

Following the rush to the head, Joon-Gweon found himself going from one room to another, only barely noticing the other visitors of the art gallery when he eventually found himself halted in front of a painting.

‘Excuse me,’ said Joon-Gweon, quickly turning to the woman standing right next to her. The woman next to him, who was older than him by about thirty to forty years of age, appeared to not be surprised, but rather amused with how hurried the younger man had entered the Great Hall.

‘Thank you for the compliment, but I’m not the painting you should be looking at.’ answered she, giving a slightly curved smile. ‘Isn’t it amazing, don’t you think?’

Joon-Gweon tried to look away from the older woman, in an effort to reorient his focus, but his eyes betrayed him for he would turn to right, only to see the girl walking into the Great Hall. While unaccompanied, it was all but apparent from her facial expression that bore a sweet smile of relief that perhaps, the two women were actually in acquaintance with one another. Their contrasting features were all but apparent - the rounded, organic movements of the younger woman contrasting against that of an icier, more docile woman of greater age. But for all the same, there was an air of elegance that had surrounded them, and it was all but clear that the two had known each other for some time, especially with the way substantial space between two of them, now with the younger girl standing behind the two, were easily filled without a notice.

‘Who would have thought that life would sometimes bring the most unexpected of joy from nowhere?’ the older woman said to both of them, her lecturing voice now turned on. ‘There is something rare, relieving and no doubt very exciting about this painting that, for some reason, has brought us here. I’m sure none of us has an exact reason for it, but that’s perfectly fine.’

‘It’s a beautiful painting, professor.’ answered the girl, the familiarity of her voice seeping inside his head. ‘Almost magical.’

‘That’s correct, Hannah,’ said the professor. ‘Isn’t it incredible how much, or how little, of time you can take with a painting to learn about it? If I were an average watcher of the painting, I would start by looking at the yellow and red shares of the sky that suggest the start of the day, crisscross the mountains and then have the final, focused looks into the ships docked at the harbour.’ She continued to speak, remembering how the port did not exactly have the same atmosphere. ‘I had not expected the painting to come back here after decades here. Apparently the Daemyeonggong Palace insisted they be kept, but eventually let the late painter’s family bring it home, to here.’

The girl inched closer to her, while the older woman had taken a couple of steps back. Joon-Gweon immediately moved two steps to the right, before taking a deeper look at the painting.

---

SECTION B-1

Standing in the middle of Gallerie-Leon-Pyeon’s Grand Hall was not something that Dr. Heo Dong-Soo had planned out in the middle of a stormy afternoon. Sure, standing before a historic painting in front of a lovely, two-storey building with an otherworldly look, marked by its otherworldly facade outside and clean, pale rooms inside, was something that he had always appreciated from this gallery.

But taking a deeper look at this gigantic painting that was eight metres tall and four metres wide, let alone being in this building, was not on Dr. Heo’s agenda. Rather, he was originally planning to take the afternoon off, perhaps answering some emails that were to do with his own institution - the Royal Shingoryeoite Archives - where he, even on his sabbatical year from both it and St. Croix, had remained somewhat semi-active in his public-related activities in hopes that he, beyond his usual monographic focus on the symbolism of shipwrecks and other Maritime-related mysteries over the late Arlenian Era (1880s-1900s), would be able to assess the mediatory role of the Quebecois Crown between.

This interest of his, while a reasonably constant belief Dr. Heo ad held over the years, was nothing new. If anything it was a gradual interest of his, a believer of Quebecois Buddhism and Taoism, that had only gotten stronger since two years ago Dr. Heo had seen Christine II, the now-middle-aged monarch who was once his student at St. Croix, levitate into the sky, with her reputed to have travelled across the seven seas to a mysterious nation of ‘Delte’. While she had not told the complete version of her stories, the excerpts of what she had said to the Chair of the RSA were more than substantial to indicate that the was a world out there that he had not exactly known the full extent.

Of course, the spiritual world which Christine II had access to, but did not exactly scratch past the surface during her journey, was a scary enough thought but what he would eventually come to find out further in recent months, whether with or without his research of the Annals of the Shingoryeoite Dynasty written under the Gyujanggak National History Institute. While there appeared to be a common ground, in that the Shingoryeoite Land existed over a gigantic, mostly-dormant turtle that moved an inch every few decades, the quadrants in which the deities had existed from the quiet, household gods of a poverty shelter, to the Four Devas (四大天王) who quietly upheld the nation’s pillars from afar, were more than enough to keep Dr. Heo worried in fear.

Wherever we go, there’s always somebody watching over us and assessing our actions. Sometimes those we had committed from the past, sometimes those we are about to commit… Dr. Heo thought to himself, a couple of moments of warmer, sunnier days with his late wife about twenty years ago as he watched two teenagers, one poorly-dressed local and the other an out-of-town visitor with interesting colour combinations.

---

SECTION A-2

‘My Old Hometown’ was a magnificent painting about eight metres long and four metres tall, no doubt the largest in this gallery, and one could argue it was the simplest, especially considering the relative lack of details this painting held. Commissioned by the late Henri VIII, the grandfather of current Christine II who held Leon Pyeon in particularly high regard, ‘My Old Hometown’ was a comprehensive ode to Perce, with about fifty, low-rise buildings and twenty fishing boats surrounded by the majestic, multi-polar landscape that appeared to reach above the clouds should a daring traveller, if he wished to live inside the world of this painting, would just have to climb the peaks and find his inner peace there.

‘Ancient records would call this a Mureungdoweon, 武陵桃源, the ideal, timeless land of peaches where the sense of time or news would be lost,’ the professor added, the previous night’s reading of her notes coming unexpectedly handy so far today. ‘And the confusion of time there, which many of us could also trace across the multiverse, is something that people have searched from time to time. Of course, whether this can exactly apply to this painting or not is a stretch, though past signs have suggested that this painting too was enchanted by magic once placed by somebody at the Daemyeonggoong Palace.’

She then took a step back, to make sure the older professor would have a better, more accurate look into the painting. Joon-Gweon would remain standing still, absorbing information told earlier by the professor.

It was a direct and matter-of-fact little creature, with nothing sentimental about it; and
something about the neat, compact way it tucked down inside itself—its brightness, its alert watchful expression—made me think of pictures I’d seen of my mother when she was small: a dark-capped finch with steady eyes.

‘There once was a time when a King had flown across the seven seas to save his beloved wife from eventual death.’ said the Professor. ‘While he was away, he would place this painting on top of his wife’s bedroom in hopes that she, upon hearing the Homa ritual (護摩/होम) held by hundreds of temples and thousands of homes across the Shingoryeoite Domain, would be cured of her ailment.’

‘I remember you telling us about them. What happened to them, Professor?’ Hannah asked.

After checking that nobody else but three of them were in the room, the professor took a couple more steps back and spoke. ‘Well, he did succeed.’ answered the Professor. ‘It had taken him six weeks of travelling to the irradiated, broken Garga Marshes of Delte, but he had returned at last, to save his beloved, whose recovery would subsequently take place.’ She then stopped, taking three steps back as Hannah would move diagonally. They were practically next to each other by this point.

---

SECTION B-2

He could not help but look into those two, almost as if three of them were brought together by a strange force of gravity, before recognising why. Hannah Moran, the girl on the right, was the third of four children between Bronis ‘Bronco’ Moran and Adelina ‘Addie’ Clevenger, two country musicians who had found popular fame right around his undergraduate days at Queen’s College. Dr. Heo, an expat of Joongyeongite birth who sought association to the mainstream through his fencing and eventually academic career, was a huge fan of their pop-country albums that had reflected his roaring twenties, and was also a loyal PJLQ supporter like they were.

That said, Dr. Heo and the Moran couple had rarely met in person for not only Dr. Heo rarely had any reasons to go to Jolbonopolis, the city of 2.5 million that was considered the capital of Country music in northern Anaia, but their four children had also come from an entirely different generation than Myeong-Shin or Myeong-Yoon. So Dr. Heo, unlike most of the children from his own friends who had ended up moving to the nation’s capital, was able to maintain far enough a distance from them, though he would sometimes ask Hannah, a diligent, 4.0 GPA student whose intended double majors were environmental science and Arabic language, on her adjustment to Joongyeong.

Bewildered once again by his lack of recognition in Hannah Moran, who looked like a blend of her parents, this time around, he decided to move forward and ask Hannah, who would normally be back in Joongyeong or out west coast, what had also brought her here. Just as he would take a step forward, however, he would be stopped by a silvery, near-transparent wall that stopped him from approaching Hannah and Joon-Gweon.

SECTION A-3

After checking that nobody else but three of them was in the room, the professor took a couple more steps back and spoke. ‘Well, he did succeed.’ answered the Professor. ‘It had taken him six weeks of travelling to the irradiated, broken Garga Marshes of Delte, but he had returned at last, to save his beloved, whose recovery would subsequently take place.’ She then stopped, taking three steps back as Hannah would move diagonally. They were practically next to each other by this point.

Joon-Gweon had noticed by this point that the Professor had wanted to say something, but his mouth, zipped and chained by the nerves that had binded up to this point, did not open. When the Professor noticed that he was behaving like an anxious mute, she continued to speak:

‘Imagine that moment when you feel life [once again] for the very first time,
Love in your arms and the sun in thy eyes
You feel safe, in the 5am light
Carry thy fears as the heavens set fire.’

The girl was taking a couple of steps forward, listening to the Professor speak. Feeling the nerves hike up, he placed his best efforts to not look at her until the girl, who was almost his height, had arrived just two steps to the left of him.

‘The first time you see someone, and how the world changes, isn’t it?’ Hannah said. ‘It’s a feeling that we all feel, and we all delve into, as we enter into the unknown and the absurd of this world we live in.’ Her voice would then grow softer, as she briefly turned and looked at him to the right. ‘And we are all drawn because of some reason nobody has told us, but which we have to find out on our own quest for the truth.’

‘Yes.’ said the Professor. ‘Perhaps that’s why we are all here. You two are standing before that painting of lost illusions, the ever-stereotypical ‘les illusions perdues’, to face whatever lies ahead because you are both looking for something,’ She said, further drifting to the back of the hall. ‘You are caught up in a dream, to the-’

---

SECTION B-3

Drat. thought he, as he took a couple of steps back to where he had previously stood. The wall was now showing a musical note or sign floating in the thin air without a pattern, but its malleability was a noticeable trait. Separated by the said barrier, one boy and one girl continued standing in front of the painting, their eyes glued to the painting but their minds aware of each other’s presence.

Their hands have yet to reach out, however, and the seeming lack of action was keeping the tension at bay. It was then that a dose of musical silence broke, the screen disappearing before his eyes, as the woman took a step on the spot.

‘Is it you, Isabel?’ Dr. Heo opened his mouth and asked, the gap between each and every word further pronounced as the man’s age spoke to the air. ‘I know that you are here - even the walking step resembles you - but what brings you to this town out of nowhere?’

‘Yes.’ said the red-haired woman of her forties to his left. Isabel Jurado, whose chilliness may have been made out of an unidentified, time-fluid material that could easily handle pressure, stopped moving her feet. Each and every movement of her fingers, carefully covered in a pair of pale gloves, were calculated, perhaps to disguise the potency she held when moving them, or perhaps to contain their energy from escaping her own palm. Isabel stayed focused on the teenagers, her eyes looking in particular at the girl as her mouth barely moved to conserve energy.

‘Don’t pretend that you don’t know either of them, Dong-Soo, and especially her. We have made that part clear.’ she spoke again, their status as colleagues with consistent, monthly contacts emphasised in her speech. ‘You of all persons know who Hannah Moran is.’

---

SECTION A-4

It was then that Joon-Gweon opened his mouth: ‘Jump into the heat, Spinnin' on our feet, In a technicolour beat.’ he said, three phrases unexpectedly coming out of his mouth. ‘Caught up in a dream, in a technicolour beat.’ He would finish his sentence, before allowing himself to take a light glimpse at the girl. She was looking back at him, her eyes blurring upon the first true glance before she would turn back at him.

Hannah..why was she here? She knows what I don’t know, and yet this doesn’t feel strange.. He had tried to make the sense out of her face but even then, besides the flashes of the previous year’s semiweekly dreams that had haunted him into the maze of unexpected adventures, where he was to accompany but never actually partake, Joon-Gweon was having not a clue of this.

This girl has been to places, and certainly knows people. thought Joon-Gweon, once again being reminded of how she had meshed well with the Professor behind her. And yet she’s very much of the old world, rural stock…someone I could associate with. Who is she? Could she be the-

---

There was no doubt, for those who have taken a module with this renowned professor of fluid time calculus, which had meant that she, a versatile woman by career and discipline, was cross-appointed to Theology, Comparative Literature and Mathematics departments though not philosophy, held a particularly icy, smooth tone of her voice. The humidity of the Quebecois east coast was at its worst in the middle of a thunderstorm, and yet her voice, almost as if proven exceptional to said rule, had managed to stay fresh and piercing through the dreary minds.

Separated from Isabel by about ten footsteps, Dr. Heo turned his head to the left to look at Isabel for a second. ‘No doubt I do, but the connections remain personal and not collegial between the Moran’s and I.’ Dr. Heo answered, clarifying his relative lack of memories when it comes to the freshman outside of Seonggyoongwan University Banquets where thousands would be taking part in halls every week. ‘You did not answer my question, however, and it’s that what brought you here to Perce, and to this very same gallery that you and I are both standing?’

‘She’s also a student of mine, Dr. Heo.’ Isabel spoke again, her use of ‘Dr. Heo’ instead of ‘Dong-Soo’, his first name, suggesting that the tone of her voice had become much more serious. She continued to not look at him. ‘Her and I have been here for a week to cover what she had missed close to the exams last months. For reasons I’m sure you would have figured out by now. Hannah is here because she knows what she’s doing, and that is to use what she’s provided.’

I do, but do I really? was what flashed before his eyes as Dr. Heo returned to watch those two from afar. So maybe all of this was intended. Of course, I do not know the boy but he must have his own reasons to be called here. Dr. Heo, while familiar with those realms, was not interested in actively seeking out those around him for those abilities. Not only did he not have the magical acumen to correctly assess who had those abilities and who did not, his public figure status meant that it was not worth the possible risk that could occur to those considered beloved to him.

Unlike him, Isabel Jurado had spent many years travelling across the realms now considered closed and wiped from human memory. Both frames of her body and mind, even after the years of inter-portal travel that had involved crossing those realms that would otherwise wear a body out, had remained the same as her twenties, when a then-undergraduate student, whose mind had already escaped beyond the horizon of rationality, was studying at a Tamarindian institution we now know little of.

‘What ability does she have?’ Dr. Heo asked, deciding to be forward with it. ‘I have seen Her Majesty the Queen levitate and travel across time and space before, but that’s just one of hundreds of abilities one can express.’

‘Water and musical notes.’ Isabel answered, her dark suit jacket feeling the breeze out of nearby air-con. She seemed lot more animated, especially in comparison to Dr. Heo's seriousness about the said situation. ‘Just like her parents this girl’s both a visual and a kinetic learner, meaning that she would rationalise water on her own will, usually by moving her arms though she would eventually learn how to do that with her fingertips and eventually blink of an eye. Think of a bender from the Avatarian Republic.’ She would then clear her throat. ‘And she’s able to visualise music and use them as a physical device, though of what capacity is way too volatile for me to say. That wall? That’s not my doing.’

So the wall was that girl's doing. Quite impressive if so. thought Dr. Heo as he remembered the brief existence of said wall of musical codes, only to realise how someone close enough to her by familial affiliation, even without him looking out for such abnormalities, flew by him. I do really know nothing, that’s as clear as night and day, and it took me a single day of travels to find out.

‘The girl does seem confident in her abilities.’ Dr. Heo said, giving a couple of gentle nods to show his amazement. ‘Not a lot can say that at her age.’

‘No.’ was all she said.

‘Then what about the boy to the right?’

Isabel thought for a second, feeling unsure as well. ‘He has potential, that's for sure.’ Isabel answered, their voice not heard by the teenagers who continued to stand still. She remembered how Hannah, who had arrived once as a sweet-faced, shy freshman with an unexpected knowledge of what she was able to visualise, did not let her nerves jump or even move a bit when they first met.

A rare trait it was, thought she back then as they extended hands over her office hour in Blackwell Hall 124, something that would subsequently begin the first year of Hannah’s training under the only open master for such dark arts in Joongyeong. ‘I could feel his energy ringing from some distance away, and I believe that’s what brought Hannah here in the first place.’ She resumed speaking, her voice shaking a little bit further out of uncertainty.

‘But look at their familiarity with one another,’ said Dr. Heo. ‘That is what you would call the impression two strangers would make? Even a mortal man without familiarity to those would assume something else.’

‘And that I do not know.’ Isabel said. ‘I have no recollection of this boy in person, though he does appear familiar. Likely from a Joongyeong-based newspaper that nobody reads anymore.’

The lack of readership part proved to be a key, his colleague not being a reader of Shingoryeoite Korean language. ‘The Taegukgi?’ he asked.

‘Possibly.’

[Saint Eleanor]

World Cup 92 - fourteenth matchday of qualification
Saint Eleanor 1 (Jessica Martin missed penalty 45+1', Melcheta Pazorzal goal 71')
the Independent Wreckerian Athletes 0

OOC: The storyline about Dagan immigrants settling in Marketplace and introducing cheerleading to the locals is not godmodding: I cleared it with the player behind Cassadaigua. The bits about the Quebecois diaspora mostly settling in the Dockside Cluster and Poppy Jones being a secondary school teacher in Mertagne were also A-OKed by those players.

---

Saoirse Bennett: "It might seem orderly and structurely and normal, but it never is"
Chief Football Correspondent Jamie Rodgers begins his series by talking to a reluctant person who was a comfortable goalkeeper - for a while
Originally published on Friday 14th December 2001

It took until 1980, the first year of the Charles Trump Shield, for the first goalkeeper to score in an Eleanorian competition - or at least one that exists today. But does Saoirse Bennett, goalkeeper for Bramblewood Community School, mind that much? "The fame? I appreciate it, but I'd rather look after the local supermarket. Even if its windows get done in every three or four months."

Bennett almost seems the archetype of a shy, artsy woman: she takes her time to think before placing her responses to my questions, and looks around more than a few places in the meanwhile. Distracted? "Maybe a little bit: I was diagnosed with autism and then ADHD in the late 1960s, before the NLF and all that. The medications and... trying to keep track of everything helps, I suppose. That and they stop me entering flights of fancy too often, which is good for both of us. Journalistic integrity is your number one value, I trust. Anyway, I was quite secluded, as it was. Group work was something I dreaded, although sometimes I just decided to hijack the entire thing and tell Sir that we'd all worked on it a little bit. Not good, I'll admit. The arts, as you were saying... my option subjects were art and textiles. I'd like to put that out there."

She was also a very good goalkeeper: "Playing into stereotypes, am I, now? In seriousness, I liked it there because I had none of the pressure or expectations of being outfield, I could just stand there, complain about the centrebacks looking the wrong way, watch out for shots and generally throw myself at the ball whenever the opposition threatened. Some of my friends were saying I could be good enough to make it into Nova Aegis, the local football club, but I didn't feel as though I could handle the quality of play in the Saint Eleanor League. What confirmed my place in the [Charles Trump Shield] team when I was seventeen was the fact that the PE department very much appreciated how I was playing in some of the practice matches they were organising. I didn't know or care about the stakes; I just acted like I normally would. I think that PE made the right decision myself, but I'm not an impartial observer."

In the first round, Bramblewood were drawn to play Marketplace away. Surprisingly, Bennett's biggest pre-match scare had nothing to do with injuries, or the capacity crowd, or even the opposing players. "I ventured out onto the pitch about twenty minutes before we were supposed to and I saw a lot of young ladies - none of whom looked like they were going to play - just flinging themselves about in front of the home crowd. They certainly didn't look like they were going to play, so I asked the manager what they were doing on the pitch. He told me that because we were playing in Marketplace, cheerleaders were going to perform before the game. I've heard of a few other school traditions, but the cheerleading in Marketplace is... novel for everyone involved, let's just say. And it was 88 degrees [Fahrenheit; 31°C] outside. One of my friends liked saying Eleanorians can only function between 30 and 100 and I giggled a bit. I have a sense of proportion!"

Bramblewood were off to a flying start that day; they were 2-0 up at the break and had added another in the first twenty minutes of the second half. But few would have expected what would happen next. "I hadn't had the most active of days, despite the earlier kerfuffle; there were maybe one or two attempts at goal. About seventy minutes in, one of my centrebacks - I believe it was Samuel Giles - had won the ball after a misplaced Marketplace clearance, and he decided to pass it back to me. I was about seventy-five yards out and, if I'm being honest, thinking about whether I should give the ball back to him or simply get the ball into a position where the attack could get to it. I believed there was no harm in pushing forward and, after a couple of seconds, I put my laces through the ball as hard as I possibly could. I was just standing there, but the first thing that seemed amiss was the fact that the opposing goalkeeper was some distance off his line, as well, and the ball was higher up than I expected. As it turns out, it simply went into the goal without too much fuss and, for whatever reason, I had in fact scored on my debut. Quite rare, I'm told."

The match ended 4-0, despite the visitors' best attempts to extend their lead. However, they struggled to get past Goldsmiths in the second round, requiring a penalty shootout in which - interestingly enough - Bennett saved three of the opposition's six spotkicks. The third-round tie against eventual winners the Army School proved to be worse, as they lost 3-1 despite keeping the match competitive for most of its duration. "Thankfully, I did not make any mistakes of note during either of those matches, or else you might have asked me about those as well. But I would say that I had a fulfilling time at the Shield that year; I made a couple of friends - and I would consider them that - who I still like talking to on the rare occasions I get the opportunity to. Most importantly, I realised that while I was a good footballer, I was not good enough to make it against bigger teams. That is completely okay; football was never the centre of my life anyway. It was simply a hobby I tagged onto by accident."

After finishing school in 1981, Bennett read fine art at the Polytechnic Institute; she enjoyed the course and graduated with first-class honours, but decided to accept a job as an attendant at her nearest supermarket instead - which paid about $25,000 per year. "As we all know, OPAL are famous for helping struggling undergraduates get their first job. As you may have guessed, I like talking when it suits me, but I didn't think it was appropriate when working at a till, so my modus operandi was to scan everyone's items as quickly as I can and not talk unless a customer engaged me. Stacking shelves was not something I enjoyed, but sometimes I patrolled the aisles looking for people who needed assistance and trying my best to offer it."

In 1993, having risen the ranks at the local OPAL, she was asked to take over as its manager, which she accepted unreservedly. Would she go back on it now? "There are a few nice museums along the central belt of the city and I'd be interested in helping out with them if I could, but I would say my agenda has too many items on it for me to consider it. I'll admit to being single, childless and still living with my mum in the same house I grew up in. But I would say I enjoy working at the local OPAL: it might seem orderly and structurely and normal, but it never is. There is always a new problem to deal with, whether that be about badly-behaved customers, items running out of stock, staff shortages or things being stolen. This being Bramblewood, we get a lot of that, although I believe the Army is doing a good job at stopping that. I can only do what I have been asked to do, and people have said I have done a good job. I don't think I would consider a move to head office quite yet, but I might ask for training in a couple of years depending on how my store performs."

Saoirse Bennett, the first goalkeeper to score in the Charles Trump Shield (and two years before anybody in the League did so), did not want to become that. She saw football not as an escape from the world, but as a part - however small - of who she really was: a woman who appreciates chaos in structure, structure in chaos, and beauty in all things. She may not be best known in the community for her sporting pedigree, but she will always enjoy cult status in circles nerdier than she is for it.

---

Why is Marketplace Community School the only school with a cheerleading squad?
Deputy Football Correspondent Ryan Harness investigates the one thing about Eleanorian football that has nothing to do with football
Originally published on Monday 3rd September 2001

It would undoubtedly be a broad stroke to paint Eleanorians as dour, practical people with a penchant for knuckling down and doing the work, but that would hold true for many of them. Not all, however: every now and then, especially before some games in this year's recently-concluded Charles Trump Shield - the biggest and most prominent showcase that most Eleanorian schools get, with a Rising Stars Cup ticket on offer to the winner - a couple of dozen well-drilled girls take to the field about half an hour before kickoff, routine after routine completed with accuracy, some small, some very big, all of them worthwhile. And none of them are on the teamsheet. They are the cheerleaders of Marketplace Community School - but why do they even exist when cheerleading is seen elsewhere in the nation as a laughable pastime?

Many Quebecois fought in the War of Independence on Saint Eleanor's side and generally settled in the five districts in south-eastern Saint Eleanor city known as the Dockside Cluster: Trident, Wellington, New Bayside, Silverton and Marketplace. (About eight hundred of them still live in the nation today, out of a population of 500,000.) Shortly after Eleanorian victory in June 1975, a party from Cassadaigua - a nation with strong ties to Quebec and Shingoryeo - arrived at the docks, making the one-and-a-quarter mile journey to Marketplace. Officially, their task was to help rebuild the Marketplace, after which the district had been named; its operations had been suspended for thirteen months, after it had been severely damaged by Tinhamptonian assaults early in the war. Many of the Dagans indeed supported this effort, and a few even set up shops of their own: the Marketplace was back to normal by that October.

While that was happening, however, three of the new Dagan immigrants were approved as physical education teachers by the short-staffed Marketplace Community School. (There were no statutory requirements, other than a clean criminal record, to become a teacher until the start of the 1983 school year; the only new requirement was an upper second-class degree or equivalent in "a relevant subject." Saint Eleanor has never required teacher training for those studying at its two higher education institutes, although the situation is patchier for immigrant teachers.) While it would go without saying that they discharged the tasks expected of them, they are arguably best-known for introducing cheerleading to the local students, running regular after-school classes for interested girls in Years 11, 12, 13 and 14.

The sessions proved popular, with one in six of those eligible - about thirty-two students - in attendance, a figure that has remained remarkably constant over time. On top of that, the school's cheer squad have unfailingly performed before home matches, although the end of the Schools League in 1979 led to a drastic reduction in games and they now operate an open-door policy for their weekly practice sessions. The Dagan teachers may have retired, but their two greatest legacies remain - and the diaspora from Cassadaigua has grown from 150 off the boat in 1975 to around 350 today. However, cheerleading has not seriously spread outside of Marketplace and definitely is not present in other schools: most PE departments focus on the core curriculum and after-school football clubs, and anything more than that would either be a luxury or (suffice to say) a bit embarrassing.

Although safety has naturally improved over time, accidents were fairly common during the Schools League era. Possibly the most infamous Marketplace cheerleader is Natasha Connor, a popular girl in Year 12 who was paralysed from the waist down in April 1977 after an aerial exercise in front of a capacity crowd of 900 went wrong just minutes before a home game with rivals Silverton CS: an incident that made the front page of The Reporter the following day. Despite losing some friends after being made wheelchair-bound, Connor refused to let her disability define her and worked on studying for her final exams in 1979 instead. After graduating with a set of good passes, including what she insists were the best maths and physics results in her entire cohort, she applied to become a data analyst at the Merchants' Conference - the organisation which oversees the marketplace in the eponymous district - in early 1980, winning the role despite her relative lack of experience.

Now an established senior analyst, her responsibilities entail reviewing all manner of statistics - from sales volume to footfall, advertisement spending, and even on-the-spot surveys of unsuspecting shoppers - to see what the Marketplace's strengths and weaknesses are and make recommendations to senior management on how to strengthen its position, both against local high streets and competing shopping centres such as Dignity Cross in Brightway. The 40-year-old says she was "interested in reading mathematics, or even economics, at the University of Saint Eleanor, but unfortunately accessible transport was very much at a premium in the early 80s and I didn't go." (It was not until 1985 that all Metro stations featured comprehensive step-free access, and 1988 that buses followed. Taxi service remains variable, although new taxis with step-free access have been phased in over recent years.)

She added that while the cheer squad proved to be "remarkably good friends" in the years after her life-changing injury and she still talks to some of them today, her back-office role "suits me much better: it's very much quantitative and there are a lot of times where I can sit there and just focus on the data, but I do a lot of management consultancy - if you will - trying to convince the board that the evidence might not necessarily line up with their gut feelings and we might need to try something different. That's not to say I don't talk to many people, but your connections at work need to be stronger and more focused; at school, you can mill around and talk to whoever you fancy about whatever, and that's okay." A local legend says that the referee was thinking of postponing kickoff before Connor told him that "the game can carry on without me" while being stretchered off the pitch; while the game did go ahead as scheduled, the woman herself doesn't necessarily agree with the folk account, saying that "I do not remember anything from the few minutes after it happened other than the hellish - simply excruciating - pain."

One cheerleader who did attend the University was Poppy Jones, stick-thin and all of 5'11½ (182cm) but - with her blonde pixie cut, colourful braces, prescription reading glasses (after Year 13), five years of School Council service, and microscopic friend circle - hardly fits into the typical model of a cheerleader otherwise. A member of the squad between 1987 and 1990 before taking a four-year masters degree in philosophy, the 29-year-old is now teaching the same subject at a secondary school in Horsehead Island, an island in Mertagne that lies north of the nation's capital, Dannin. She describes her spell with the squad as "a character-building experience," saying that it helped her to work with others, take risks, be courageous, improve her confidence and try to find solutions to challenging problems before giving up. "While I was there, I also learned to deal with loud, annoying teenagers who think they're the centre of attention and only have the slightest grasp that they can't have just anything they want. That's definitely something a new teacher should have to hand!"

[Graintfjall]

Græntfjall – 1 (0)
Björnólfur; Sigurbergur, Grímúlfur (85’) (89’), Asbjørn, Jasmjn (44’); Tinni (58’ Alyssia ), Kæja (51’), Danny (66’ Valtter ); Vanessa (53’ Johanna ), Jason (58’ Röskvi (70’)), Sara (c) (70’ Mímir )

Astograth – 1 (1)
(28’)

---

Græntfjall – 4 (4)
Björnólfur; Sigurbergur, Grímúlfur (c), Asbjørn (64’), Jan; Þrastar (84’ Kjárr ), Tinni, Danny (72’ Steinar ), Arendt (62’ Valtter (90+1’)); Jason (11’, 23’, 32’, 42’ pen.) (62’ Ásvarður ), Mímir (72’ Joel )

Eraman – 1 (0)
Grawira (53’)

Surrendering a lead to a ten-man team with a set-piece goal: how many times now for the Snow Wolves? This one came with a twist, though: they were, for once, the ones behind at the half, and went down to ten when Röskvi Tyrfingsson saw red for a pretty blatant headbutt; and they were the ones who capitalised on some lacklustre corner defense, as with Jason, Röskvi and Tinni off the pitch Grímúlfur Gunnþórsson had to be the target, and Kæja Finnvarðsdóttir was practically invited to place the ball right on his forehead.

Which she did.

After a dispiriting run of dropped points, Græntfjall then took out some frustration on Eraman, courtesy Jason Þórhallursson, who rattled up the quickest hat-trick in Snow Wolves’ history and then earned a penalty and the chance to become the first player in blue-and-white to score four goals in a game.

Which he did.

Justified celebrations ensued, but a yawning gulf has opened up in Group 8. The Snowy Owls have 6 points and a game in hand on their regional rivals, who, meanwhile, might be World Champions, but aren’t really playing like it. Then again, were they playing like it when they took just one point from two games to open up their last World Cup campaign, or scored only one goal in the entire group stage. In the past, playing like ass put the team into a position where they simply had to win.

Which they did.

---

When the morning wake-up call arrived, Guðjón picked up the phone and thanked the operator. Kaija was already awake – and currently indisposed. From the bathroom, noisy hurling worthy of a Snow Wolves’ right-back issued.

“Did you get any work done at all in Altendalur, or did you spend the whole trip boozing?” he tutted as he pulled back the covers and rose from bed, stalking over to the door to receive the steward’s coffee service with the Vestrænnblaðið. The front page showed the Queen flanked by two Drawkians (or were they Drawks?). Apparently her visit to Sonnel was going well, though of course the left-liberal paper had an op-ed questioning the value for money of sending the monarch super-orbital. He flipped it over. The match report on the Snow Wolves’ thrashing of Eraman in Altendalur was on the back, and he began reading as he headed back to bed.

---

During a meeting with senior staff discussing an approach to the region of Anaia about a bilateral trade deal including mutual fishing rights, Kaija tried the Huayramarcan delicacy causa a la hospiceña. Her official twii.tur reported the “distinctive” and “flavorful” dish was much to her liking.

“Oh my god this tastes like a boiled kraken’s ass,” gagged Kaija, clearing the table with a clatter of cutlery as she made for the bathroom.

Guðjón listened with amusement as his wife dealt with the problem in explosive fashion. He was thankful he’d stuck with the Azurean haddock on toast.

“I do wish you wouldn’t keep her up all night drinking,” he said to Auðlín and Kimberley as they shuffled around papers detailing trade opportunities in Starblaydi mineral resources, Audioslav processed goods, and Plough Islander vintage goth-jazz fusion vinyl LPs.

“She wasn’t with owwww,” said Auðlín.

Kimberley, withdrawing her foot from his shin, nodded. “Noted. But sometimes after a long day’s campaigning. Altendalur isn’t exactly Prog-Lib country but with Left-slate imploding we really have to press there.

“I understand the politics of it,” said Guðjón calmly. “But she needs some sleep. And to be able to keep down a breakfast once in a while.”

---

Kaija Michaelsdóttir was a photogenic woman, and her face featured prominently in the campaign literature she was signing off on with a hurried scrawl, eager to get to the main business of the day. Although, according to one junior staffer at the back…

“Is it just me or does she look like a fucking Romero zombie?”

Auðlín pricked up his ears and the staffer, embarrassed, hustled out, to leave Kaija with just her two senior advisors. He looked at Kaija, green at the gills, and struggled to disagree with the assessment. They really needed to schedule in some time for her to get some sleep. But running a country, a war, and an election campaign, all at the same time, didn’t leave a lot of room in the schedule.

“So Altendalur was a success?” Kimberley asked.

“Thirty thousand people chanting your name. We have a legitimate chance at overturning the mayor. The mayor of Altendalur, can you believe it?”

“I’m sure they were just cheering for Kæja Finnvarðsdóttir,” smirked Kaija.

“She wasn’t even playing.”

“Fair enough. But let’s get something a little more scientific than a crowd noise-o-meter? How are the cross metrics?”

“Very, very good.” He put down his binder and passed over the top sheet summarizing the weekly polling aggregates.

“These look awful.”

He gently turned the sheet around.

“Oh.”

---

“…which is why we now estimate that Chromatikan AIs will enslave us all by the year 2050.”

“Well let’s keep an eye on that one. But Major. There’s nothing in here about República Guanacasteca.”

The army major side-eyed the GIB briefer, who had already covered the unrest in Guanacasteca in his briefing.

“Prime Minister, you heard…”

“That was intelligence. I want military options.”

Both briefers struggled for words, and it fell to the third, foreign ministry designate, to speak up.

“Madam Prime Minister, you want to use the military…”

“No, I want to know what my options are.”

More baffled silence. Kaija rose from her chair. Her color looked better now. Just a hangover and a disagreeable breakfast, Auðlín thought. All the same he topped up her coffee as she strolled around the room, barefoot, her heels kicked to the side of her chair.

“Gentlemen, four years ago we had a civil war erupt on our doorstep and my predecessor couldn’t get his thumb out of his ass long enough to do a damn thing about it until the game was already over. I have no intention of waiting until the 90th minute to bring on my star striker. Pavola is not going to fall to discord and division again. You.” She snapped her fingers at the intel briefer. “You’re telling me the Yue elections went peacefully. You.” At the military briefer. “Every day you tell me how Eura made out like bandits from Kitara, building a naval base.” She thumped her fist on the back of the sofa. “A naval base in our goddamn backyard like they’re the little fucking kings of everything. I am not going to look weak.”

“Madam Prime Minister, you have no military options.” Kimberley, irked by the ‘gentlemen’ comment perhaps, spoke up with unusual frankness. “The military in Guanacasteca is disreputable and frankly due for a fall, to back them would be to throw in with tyrants and despots. But these revolutionaries are, well, terrorists. You can’t align with them, either, certainly without a clearer picture of their demands.”

The major had recovered the power of speech. “We could send some aid, a mobile hospital unit. Evacuate all non-essential personnel from our embassy and put out a travel advisory. But beyond that…”

Auðlín thought a touch of green was returning to Kaija’s pallor. “But nothing I can blow up?”

“Well. No. But, uh, speaking of Jabal Akhdar…”

[Eura]

WORLD CUP 92 QUALIFYING – GROUP 4 – MATCHDAY 14
Canadian Dominion 2–4 Eura
Scorers:
Malone 44, Singh 51, James 76, Brookfield 90
Lineup:
1. T Hammond
4. J Menard
5. T Green
19. J Byrd
28. T Matthews (sub Brown 60)
16. O Vincent
11. B Malone (sub James 70)
10. S Singh (sub Stewart 84)
7. A Woodman (sub Marshall 67)
9. S Robson
14. A Sharp (sub Brookfield 56)

---

In a hotel in Sao Simone, Eloise Chadwick was putting her feet up. The Euran Foreign Secretary had spent a long weekend in the city that had proven to be more than worth her while.
Cabo Azure did not always feature high on the list of Euran diplomatic priorities, but with the Prime Minister off on some sort of quest abroad, Chadwick had taken the opportunity to butter up an often overlooked member of the Terranean islands group. Eura had a business-like relationship with these much smaller island states. They kept their sea lanes open and dealt with any piracy alongside the mighty Euran Navy, could be relied upon to not upset the applecart, and provided a prime holiday destination for claustrophobic Eurans wanting to escape the megacities.

In return, Eura offered an unrivalled domestic market for these countries to sell into – all of them had massive trade surpluses with Eura – in sectors such as financial services and pharmaceuticals, and influence at the bigger diplomatic tables. Whenever one of these countries got in trouble, a friendly Bastion could be an important asset. From their perspective there is also an underlying, almost subconscious fear of domination or even conquest by the power to their north. Eurans were generally clueless about this paranoia, but those working in diplomatic circles knew it was handy to occasionally reassure the island states that Bastion was not coming for them and never would.

The biggest change in recent times in this chain of territories was the union of Ceni and New Gelderland into the Alfanc Confederation. This had shifted a delicate power balance between the island states, with Ceni now forming part of a larger power with their Gelderlish compatriots, perhaps on tier with Electrum. This left the Azureans in a position where their surrounding environment had made them an even smaller fish, with a more precarious environment to navigate. Possibly coincidentally (or possibly not), the Azureans were now looking more outwardly to strengthen their trade ties abroad, and with a nervous eye on Corvistone and Bastion – especially given the latter had recently grown weary of monarchies – they had gone to Cassadaigua and Quebec for support with their security.

Chadwick had not missed this development. How could she when the Ministry of Defence had sent her a panicked memo about it?
Quebecois at the gates!
Dagan danger!
And doesn’t that Graintfjaller monitoring station look just a little bit suspect?
Nonsense, she had thought. Who cared if the Quebecois had opened a base in Cabo Azure anyway, or Graintfjall some hut where they do who knows what? In the extremely unlikely event Eura and Quebec ever came to blows, the chance of nuclear escalation was high, and one small island country would not be able to do much against an SLBM or two with multiple warheads raining down. It was a non-issue. In fact, it was the Azureans who were worried about Eurans turning on them, not the other way around. Had any of the Chiefs of Staff not spent half of their career fighting people, they might be able to understand such nuances and empathise more with Eura’s neighbours.

Still, there could be no room for complacency, not in a region where a new crisis kicked off every five minutes. So, she got on a plane and flew south.
It turned out to be a successful trip. She met with her Azurean opposite number and said (and mostly meant) all the right things on security, including giving thanks to the outsized coastguard of Cabo Azure for their work tackling smuggling and piracy on the sea trade routes. Frank discussions were held about “foreign military deployments” and both countries agreed that, as long as nothing radical happened, there was nothing to discuss. And she learned something new about the country.
Its foreign policy establishment was changing. A group donned “the Wolves” were asserting themselves on the nation’s strategic thinking, and it was their view that Cabo Azure’s future lay in co-operation with their mainland neighbours.

A central aim of this project had become a limited trade agreement with Eura, designed to enrich the Wolves and marginalise the paranoid, conservative nationalists of Cabo Azure by proving that Azureans had a golden ticket waiting for them on the mainland. This was music to the ears of the Eurans, and Chadwick quickly spotted an opening to gain diplomatic influence with a strategically positioned partner and push its domestic politics in a pro-Euran direction. All that would be sacrificed in return was increasing a trade deficit with a country that barely registered on Eura’s balance of payments. It was a no brainer. By the end of the formal meetings the outline of a deal had been developed, which would now go through a deeper negotiation on both sides over a couple of months.

At this point, Chadwick’s work was done. She enjoyed a day or two of touring the picturesque islands and generally working up some good PR for her country and herself. As she was relaxing in her room with her flight still fifteen hours away, her phone buzzed loudly in her pocket.
The main man was calling. She answered immediately.
‘Harry! How are you? I hope the food in Dewayo didn’t rough your stomach up too much. Hah…yeah, sure. Me? Well, I’m just getting some “r-n-r” before we head home. Its all been rather successful out here. But this Pasarga situation is really fucking things up. Putting these rebels in their place after their Torgos declaration shouldn’t be too difficult, but we have to be clear about who these people really are. I’ll make sure you are briefed on the plane. When do you-‘
The Prime Minister said something that brought her to a standstill.
‘You’re going where?!’

The Brigham Herald (Brigham, centre-left, broadsheet)
MR BARNHAM GOES TO SOLUCA

Prime Minister Harry Barnham has stunned much of the region with an impromptu, unplanned visit to Sargossa, the major power in the north-west of the region with which Eura has previously held an often tense mutual rivalry. His lengthy tour of Rushmore has taken him to several different countries, with a focus primarily on the expansion of the Common Rushmori Community, and was expected to continue to a couple more prospective members before returning home. But his arrival in Sargossa is a shocking development that makes him the first Euran leader to visit the country in many decades, and comes almost immediately after the country’s autocratic President Gregorio Emparán made an equally shocking announcement that Sargossa would soon introduce democratic elections for an elected Congress.

||==========||

In the past, Eura and Sargossa have often been at loggerheads. Both countries are outliers in the region for their demographic characteristics, with populations in the billions, and both maintain substantial military and economic might. This created an almost unavoidable competition between the two as Eura emerged from its relative insularity over half a century ago. Sargossa was an autocracy, island nation and resided in the region’s north-west, while Eura was a democracy, on a continent and based in the south-east; in many ways they were aligned against one another by default. An increasingly strong alliance between Eura and Polar Islandstates (later the Valhallan Union) further deepened the divide as tensions built between Sargossa and the Polarians over the island of Kulmsaar.

A crucial tipping point came when Eura ended its cautious role in regional affairs by intervening in the bloody civil war in Mytanija. The Euran military machine dealt out a savage beating to Mytanar autocrat Natella Kalinina, destroying her regime, leading to the dictator fleeing to an amenable Sargossa with her tail between her legs. The entire episode sent a shiver down the spine of every autocrat in the region – who might be next, they wondered. Yet the Eurans had unfinished business. The escape of Kalinina was seen as a gross injustice as further evidence of her vile genocidal policies emerged, which would undermine future attempts to tackle such regimes.

In an incident that both Eura and Sargossa awkwardly fail to acknowledge when pushed by journalists and historians alike, Eura “acquired” the ex-dictator from her Sargossan exile – without her hosts approval – and brought her back to Eura to be put on trial, after the new revolutionary government in Mytanija declined to take her back. No explanation has been given as to how she ended up in a Euran courtroom, and why two substantial Euran and Sargossan fleets almost came to blows in the Eagle Strait. To this day, a complete radio silence on the matter is maintained, indicating a secret pact to not discuss the matter. Occasionally an ex-serviceperson from either country comes forward and can give vague indications of what went on; Euran ships turned up outside Sargossan waters, combat almost occurred, but the Sargossans returned to their ports without firing a shot. Or so they claim.

Kalinina’s capture was the height of the Euran-Sargossan standoff and from then relations began to cool off. As the Polarian situation eased, an always immediately available flashpoint faded away. The Eurans were dealt their own humiliation by the disastrous Askoy Crisis, with a Prime Minister forced to resign. As a result, Eura had to apologise to the international community and Valladares, in a diplomatic victory for the Sargossan-friendly Terranean counterweight. Then the Eurans got their foot in the door in Pasarga, transforming the nation’s economy, military and even starting to influence its political system towards democracy. This was a blow to the prestige of Sargossa so close to home. But both countries adapted to these setbacks and did not allow them to become a cause of conflict between them.

Eventually a crisis would strike that was so enormous as to bury much of the enmity between the two countries altogether. The Sameban invasion of Eura that would trigger the Great Endemian War initially provoked bitter words from the Eurans to the Sargossans, who had periodically indulged the Samebans in the past, while keeping a bit of distance from a regime that even Soluca thought was a little much. But to its credit, Sargossa came down hard against Sameba’s aggression, and reached out to the embattled Euran government of Michael Judge in its darkest hour. In time, Eura would overcome the initial shock of the Sameban attack and triumph, but at the cost of tens of millions of lives. It was a war that transformed Eura and the worldview of Eurans.

Part of that transformation was a new belief that the Sargossan rivalry was a nationalistic luxury that belonged to the past. Since then, relations have only gotten better. The two nations worked together to manage the downfall of the regime of so-called Gregoryisgodistan by sending a historic joint peacekeeping mission to the country as it transitioned into the democracy of South Covello. Sargossa has also expressed an interest in joining Eura and others as a member of the Common Rushmori Community, though its autocratic system has proven an unmovable stumbling block. The two nations have learned when to work together, and when to stay out of each other’s way, such as Sargossa’s notable decision not to interfere with Eura and Nephara’s intervention in Nyowani Kitara.

||==========||

A recent crisis has threatened to open up old wounds. Civil war has broken out in Pasarga, that long time ally of both countries, despite a long period of internal tensions seeming set to fizzle out. Eura has become more ideological under the leadership of Prime Minister Harry Barnham and that includes an almost militant support of liberal democracy (or failing that, just democracy) serving as the founding basis of all legitimate states. Such beliefs had begun to emerge among elements of the previous Liberal government, as shown by their use of dependency-fed coercion against the Akongo dictatorship in Nyowani Kitara to introduce democracy to the country.

Barnham’s Social administration have gone further. Most analysts are now confident that Bastion is backing an armed republican rebellion against the monarchy of Cassadaigua in the Cooper River conflict. Even if that proves just to be spurious allegations, the Euran government’s indisputable campaigning on the matter has largely won over the court of international opinion; countries as disparate as Sajnur and Tjun-ia have seen public opinion turn against Cassadaigua’s actions and private support given to the locally proclaimed “River Republic”. Both constitutional and absolute monarchs remain in Rushmore, and in great number, despite the course of history. They have seen this turn the Eurans have taken and begun to sweat, much as the autocracies of Rushmore did when Bastion played a big role in flattening fascism in Mytanija all those years ago.

Rumour has it in diplomatic circles that the Eurans were initially open minded about an emerging group of parliamentarians in Torgos who wanted to expand democracy in the Dual Islands. Pasarga’s monarchy had already conceded the need for some democratic power sharing after Euran investment during a golden age of relations under King Jakub. The investment had opened the country up to international trade – and ideas. A seed had been planted and started to grow. These parliamentarians claimed to represent the gestation of what had been sowed and sought international support for a move to shift the country in a more fully democratic direction.

The story is, supposedly, that Bastion briefly entertained the notion, hopeful of where it might lead and for the prospect of a further evolution in Pasarga’s system of government. But the Eurans soon recoiled as these “reformers” became rebels, rejecting the will of the wider parliament over the royal succession, before resorting to force, throwing Pasarga into chaos. Now, Eura’s position is clear, with government sources indicating that the Euran military – influential with their Pasargan equivalent, who largely use Euran export materiel – made a last ditch effort to prevent the crisis. Eura’s highest ranking military officers attempted to persuade wavering neutral factions to side with the heirs of Jakub, Azra and Iskander, in order to head off any attempt at a rebellion.

Unfortunately, this effort was unsuccessful and a minority of the armed forces of Pasarga, fleshed out by an army of mercenaries, launched a campaign to seize the country under the false auspices of parliamentary approval and their challenger for the throne, Ezid Majistar. The rebels, now dubbed the “Reds and Golds” by the media, have proven adept on the battlefield against the “Greens”, those loyal to the government and the royal siblings. They have seized the capital of Torgos after just a week of fighting. The royal siblings are on the ropes, despite being the officially recognised, legitimate heads of state according to Eura and Sargossa, and other powers such as Quebec. In a dramatic escalation, the rebels have now declared that both Azra and Iskander must be put to death and replaced by elected heads of state, a position of no compromise and no prospect of peace.

This at least made things easier for Euran diplomats. Foreign Secretary Eloise Chadwick made that clearer than ever last night after returning from a trip to Cabo Azure, dismissing the claim of the rebels that they represent democratic forces by labelling them a “military junta in waiting”. She pointed to how they had ignored a vote of parliament on the succession and therefore abandoned any democratic credibility. She called on them to immediately begin a cease fire, withdraw from Torgos and disarm, and said Eura would support the royal sibling’s attempts to “restore stability, their own positions, and parliament”. Whatever the rebels thought before the war, any illusions that Eura would support a military coup against the monarchy have been dashed.

Sargossa might not be in a civil war, but its own regime has been shaken by a political earthquake. Or, rather, it has shaken itself. President Gregorio Emparán has turned everything on its head in Soluca. In a special televised address, he announced the formation of the Grand Congress of the Republic, an elected chamber of a thousand democratically chosen politicians. It’s a move that must have been planned for some time, but it has nevertheless taken much of the Euran establishment by surprise. ‘They’ve opened the door now’ commented one jubilant Social Party bigwig who spoke to this paper, ‘There’s no stopping it. A democratic Sargossa would make Rushmore a much better place.’ The timing of this decision is curious, given that Emparán and his closest aides are understood to be deeply concerned with developments in nearby Pasarga.

It also runs against expectations given the potential re-heating of the old Euran animosity; after weeks of the Euran Prime Minister touring the region and grandstanding about democracy, why would Emparán then announce he planned to introduce more democracy at home? Critics will argue he has made himself look weak and somehow following on from a Euran lead at a time where they are seeking to topple regimes like his. They will claim that he has become insecure about his regime, or that he is desperate for Sargossa to find a way into the Common Rushmori Community. These criticisms are probably wide of the mark. It remains unclear just how democratic this new body will actually be, especially with the President forming a suspiciously authoritarian sounding ‘United Sargossa’ party to contest for seats. But something is going on, and with Barnham not all that far away, it appears that the President decided it was the right time to make a call like no other.

||==========||

Whispers of a surprise visit to Sargossa from a foreign leader were travelling on the airwaves as early as midday yesterday. The government blocked out the schedule for the designated VIP runway and terminal at Joaquín Delgado International Airport. But for hours there was no indication as to who it would be and most Sargossans went on with their daily lives, having only just recovered from the President’s announcement in recent days. It was only when the Airport and the surrounding area were shut down by security forces, and senior figures in the regime started showing up in several small motorcades, that it became apparent that something big was happening.

In the early evening, six o’clock Branta Time, there was an explosion of chatter on twii.tur after it emerged that the Euran Prime Minister’s plane had reappeared on flight trackers after leaving the Namboole base, in Nyowani Kitara, earlier that day. It was flying over the Eagle Strait. After some speculation and wild theories came and went, numerous news channels pulled away from covering menial human interest stories and culture war battles, to solely focus on a big moment of diplomatic history. The specially configured airliner landed gently on the tarmac at Joaquín Delgado and taxied to safety by the terminal, and was quickly met by a huge entourage, as well as the Sargossan Special Forces, known as “Cazadores”.

Barnham appeared at the doorway of the aircraft and waved back at the cameras with a beaming smile on his face. He descended the steps reaching up to the plane and was immediately greeted by a delegation of Sargossan Foreign Minister José Carizzo, Chairman of the High Command General Raoul Delgado, and the Euran ambassador, Rex Keating. But in a moment of enormous significance and symbolism, and a break of protocol on the Sargossan side, he was also met directly by President Emparán. The two leaders poignantly shook hands for the cameras. If Barnham’s recent overseas handshake photo ops didn’t make the front page of every newspaper in the region, this one would.

Emparán and Barnham were soon taken away with their respective entourages as part of a motorcade to the Presidential Palace. Overnight talks were held that went on into the early hours of the morning, before the leaders emerged today and began a hastily cobbled together schedule of events. The readout of these talks from both sides was high level and light on detail, reflecting the particular sensitivity of any discussions between leaders of Eura and Sargossa. Pasarga was discussed and the two countries reaffirmed their support for the royal siblings and the “Greens”, quashing any doubt about whether these two countries might clash over the issue. It is not clear yet if they decided on any joint action to deal with the crisis.

Vaguer references were made to the Common Rushmori Community, improving trade, and dealing with outstanding issues around each nation’s respective strategic interests across the region. However, one curiosity was that Emparán’s team emphasised discussions of “a new, open era for our country”, a clear reference to the formation of the new Congress. Barnham’s sounded optimistic about the topic but was clearly resisting the urge to get carried away as other government figures have already started to do. Putting two and two together, it seems that the Sargossans were keener to emphasise their new democratic turn than the Eurans; this might indicate it’s a shallower course change than it appears at first sight, with the Eurans remaining unconvinced in private.

Yet after the surprise of this visit happening at all, it wouldn’t be that outrageous to suggest something more profound has changed in Sargossa, and that cynical expectations could be upended by reality before long. Until then, observers will be forced to read runes as Emparán treats Barnham to the best highlights Sargossa has to offer for two more days, including a gathering with business leaders, a visit to the majestic Catedral Hispano and a history lesson about the Sargossan islands at the Museum of Unification.

Remarkably, today’s schedule shows Barnham meeting Juan Manual Trucco, leader of the newly created Social Democrats opposition party. Trucco used to be Vice-President and was widely seen as a liberaliser who improved civil rights for ordinary Sargossans. Such a meeting would have been thought unthinkable just a few weeks ago. That will round off the day, before Emparán and Barnham return to another round of talks tomorrow. Perhaps they will find a solution to the Pasarga crisis then. Even if they do not, history has already been made in these heady days of relations between Soluca and Bastion.

[PotatoFarmers]

Pemecutan 4-3 Poafmersia
Goalscorers: Michael Jackson 14'; Aapeli Shea 62' (assisted by Berg); Leontiy Seet 80'
Lineup: Nicole Potts (c); Kilikina Lee, Cindy Oriol, Kelefe Hans, Xenophon Robson; Michael Jackson, Min Berg, Aapeli Shea; Janelle Frederick, Jordan Huerta, Leontiy Seet
Substitutes: Nacro Astro (Hans 67'); Magreta Rym (Jackson 80'); Liina Williamson (Huerta 80')

Poafmersia 4–2 Tecoia
Goalscorers: Jordan Huerta 34' (assisted by Jackson), 60'; Leontiy Seet 71' (assisted by Frederick); Janelle Frederick 88'
Lineup: Nicole Potts (c); Kilikina Lee, Cindy Oriol, Diamond Byan, Jacqi Equine; Michael Jackson, Min Berg, Aapeli Shea; Janelle Frederick, Jordan Huerta, Leontiy Seet
Substitutes: Erle Sartini (Shea 50'); Lovise Zimmerman (Lee 76'); Liadan Holmström (Byan 76'); Sylvia Fusco (Berg 84')

Election 2112: Kibi Party maintains supermajority as Congress Party loses momentum
Joint Report by Poafmer Times staff

Fiskadaha - The Kibi Party will maintain its supermajority in the Ridimag, following the release of the results in Cochas, as well as the completion of the recount in Nitrishi-pai.

After a month of campaigning, votes occurred on last Friday for all 10 states in Poafmersia, where President Pikashru Nisharian aimed to obtain his fourth consecutive supermajority victory at the polls. This election, which is President Nisharian's fifth and last election as leader of the ruling Kibi Party, was largely seen as the president's swansong and a check on the Kibi Party's hold in national politics. With the supermajority secured for another 6 years, this would definitely be a result the President can accept heading into the succession period for the Party.

---

Percentage of Votes (National Tally), 2112 Election

---

The results came on the back of a strong campaign by Democracy Front and Makara Party, who joined forces in a bid to take down the supermajority that the Kibi Party had in Parliament. While both parties did gain votes, it was largely at the expense of the Congress Party, losing 24 million votes as compared to the previous election. Mr Bansk Derakshi, the current Leader of the Opposition, has promised to resign as the Congress Party secretary-general, taking full responsibility for the party's losses at the polls.

The most surprising of all was the Farmers League, whose take on Kibi Party's agri-tech proposal helping it garner lots of support outside its traditional voter base. Gaining support in Gikash and Hitimatias, it propelled them to 4th in the national tally, narrowly losing to Democracy Front in the national tally. Party Leader Mr Aditia Prabawa was thankful for the support. "We believe that the agriculture industry continues to play a huge role in the country, and while we need to utilise technology to keep up with the times, we believe that our current policy of being farmers-centric is the key way going forward. The farmers on the ground needs to have an important role in the discussion process, and going forward, we will make sure that the voice of our farmers & plantation owners continue to be heard in the Ridimag and the respective state councils."

---

Image of President Pikashru Nisharian at a campaign rally in Dalaris

---

The President himself was very pleased with the results. "It wasn't all smooth sailing, and the early indications got us very worried. But we are glad that we still continue to garner strong support across the entire nation, and we accept the decision of those who chose not to support us. We will do a review of the results at the state-level, and see how we can change our policies to cater to all of Poafmersia," he told reporters outside the party headquarters in Mancodas, just as he was about to leave the premises. The support of the people would be extremely helpful for the Party, who are preparing for a transition into the post-Nisharian era. The upcoming party Executive Committee elections in 2115 would be the first time since the party's founding that a Nisharian will not be in the Committee.

Analysts: Surprising, yet expected result for the President

Many analysts have been caught by surprise with regards to the ruling party's dominance in the country. Poltical watchers and analysts have mostly predicted that the party will lose its majority, with huge swings in Cochas and Tikahs helping. While the party did lose 25 million votes in Cochas, the party actually gain votes in Tikahs, and the party generally gained votes in many states rather than lose them. Professor Biken Harbrine, a lecturer at the University of Mancodas Faculty of Public Policy, commented that the election seems to be one of "misunderstandings" among political analysts. "Many watchers probably misread the sentiments on the ground. And in the same spirit, probably a number of parties as well. Even the ruling party seems to be rather surprised at the result of the elections, based on comments from key members between the polls closing and now. This would be a good election for studies, for us to figure out what exactly the people were looking for, and for the various parties to reassess their position in the political scene of Poafmersia."

Other polticial watchers commented that the results were largely within expectations. Josef Gogoricha, a political commentator who has contributed many articles to the Times, said that it was within a range of "expectations" for the party. "Personally I placed the vote count of the party around 63-68%. While they achieved 70%, I didn't think that was too far off my expectations because the party did a very good job in understanding the sentiments of the people. While they take really tough deicsions, such as embracing the tech revolution and trying to reduce menial labour across the country, they do dangle lots of carrots such as subsidised schools, as well as subsidies for companies to invest in technology. I think this is where the Party has done well, and this would be how they cement their position for many years to come."

One main question for the group of opposition is likely to be how they can learn from this election. With the Kibi Party juggernaut continuing to show its dominance in the political scene, parties may probably have to consider doing something "different" to ensure that they continue to stay relevant, and also have some weight in the overall poltical disscussion in the country.

[Darmen]

Liberal Leadership Election Exposes Cracks In Party

SCOTT CITY - The upcoming Liberal Party leadership election is pitting two candidates with significantly differing views on the party's future and is exposing cracks in the party's membership that could threaten to split the party in two. Corwin Hull, former Secretary of State for Finance and the Treasury during the Rademacher administration and leader of the party's majority liberal conservative wing, views the increasingly neoliberal administration of the present administration of President Alexander Woodrow positively and sees the Republican Party as the Liberal's most natural partner in the next elections. Anabel Woods, MP for the Metropolitan Region and leader of the socially liberal wing of the Liberal Party, doesn't share Hull's views and is instead pushing for a path that sees the Liberals acting independently of any other parties, at least in the immediate future.

Although officially a part of the opposition, recent policy decisions coming from the Woodrow administration have received warm receptions from certain elements of the Liberal Party. Republican plans to slash regulations in several major industries, including Darmen's large automotive sector, plus President Woodrow's desire to privatize the Darmeni Postal Service and abolish the Department of Postal Services have been welcomed by right-leaning members of the Liberal Party, including by Hull.

"I certainly don't agree with every Republican policy," commented Hull at a recent press conference, "but their economic policies are badly needed for Darmeni society to truly flourish. A free, open and liberal society can't exist without economic liberalism and the overregulated environment we currently find ourselves in is only stifling Darmen and its people from reaching their true potential."

When asked whether partnering with the normally ansericeptic Republican Party would be detrimental to the Liberal Party's number one policy aim, Darmeni membership in the Common Rushmori Community, Hull responded by saying that, "President Woodrow has clearly demonstrated his commitment to free trade and I am certain that if we can smooth out most of the issues the Republicans have with joining the CRC, they can ultimately be persuaded to support us in moving forward with CRC membership."

Woods on the other hand has a clearly different opinion of the current Republican administration, reportedly saying at her campaign kickoff event, "How can a Liberal Party truly call itself liberal if it does not take into account the needs of the oppressed and marginalized. This current administration has only the interest of a select few in mind when it formulates policy and we must continue to call out the Republicans for failing those who most need the help of government."

While Woods too sees the need for Darmeni membership in the CRC, she has been quick to call out her own party for the emphasis placed on the issue. "Darmeni membership in the CRC is not some magic band aid which will fix all of the problems our nation is facing and if we continue to focus on it as if it is, we'll fail our duty to our constituents in representing their needs in government."

When asked if she would partner with any other parties in opposing the Republicans moving forward, Woods replied that she would not. "No, I don't see the National Labor Party or Progressive Solidarity or any other party for that matter making good partners moving forward. While I would be open to working together on areas of mutual agreement, trying to hash out some sort of coalition agreement or similar would only require us to compromise on our beliefs and again, that would be a failure on our part to represent both those that voted for us and those that didn't but nevertheless need our representation."

The party appears to be splitting apart then, which comes as no surprise to Lynn Ayers, Professor of Political Science at the University of Darmen City. "The fracture is clearly running along a line which splits Liberal Party members who joined from the Liberal Conservative Party and those who joined from the National Civil Liberal Democratic Union, two of the three parties which merged to form the Liberal Party." Ayers points out that the Liberal Conservative Party was a member of the Movement for a New Darmen, which, led by Tor Tong Lee, became the Republican Party when the Movement split in late 2044-early 2045 over the issue of Darmeni membership in the CRC. "It would appear then that the Liberal Party experiment, a marriage of liberal leaning politicians who disagree on a lot for the purpose of pushing for Darmeni CRC membership has run its course and found that the common cause is not enough to maintain the marriage."

"This won't immediately cause the party to fall apart, I think almost all of the members want to continue to try to show that the dream of Darmeni membership in the Common Rushmori Community is something which unifies the party. But if the party's electoral results are poor, that's when they'll split," says Ayers, who expects that the Liberal Party's electoral exploits will continue their negative trend.

Other Headlines

• Bank of Darmen expected to raise rates again, inflation still a major problem
• Strong storm leaves homes damaged in and around Stanley
• Tax reform unlikely before election according to Speaker Dahlmans

[Cardenao]

User Submission Response

Qualification. No.
Footballing education?
Maybe So
-Fanboi 1093420

Um……Look Fanboi 1093420, it's a decent rhyme scheme and the message might be true but this just reeks of low effort. I mean, obviously this is some sort of forced derivative of the 'baby shoes, never worn' novel, yet compressed into…I mean it's not a haiku so I'm not sure what to call it, but it's just not great.

The overall effect is true thought, it must be said. Qualification is unobtainable, so national team manager Scooter McNash must go into rotation and experimental mode as the results from here on out does not matter. Give the bit pieces some playing time, try to establish that right wing position, and figure out who will be the starting centerback pairing as Shannon Grandillion is old and can't play anymore. Cardenao has certainly learned a great deal about football though, so the education comment is true. We've learned that our open, high pressing attacking playstyle does great against higher ranked teams who think they'll have the run of us, but it suffers when playing lower ranked teams, and that's where we've lost out on this qualification campaign. We just dropped too many points to weaker teams, and that alone would've at least kept us competitive for the qualification spot, but here we are 12 points adrift despite having a qualification campaign most Cardenaoans would actually be happy with.

May the Gods smile on Cardenao, may the International Basketball Championship (at least I think that's what IBC stands for) bring us some, admittedly absolutely not warranted, international glory.

[StrayaRoos Barrier Islands]

Unknown Date

STATEMENT ON HUMAN RE-EDUCATION CAMPS

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Following a 19-12 vote in the House Of Islands,it has been decided that all humans in SBI shall be sent to Re-education camps,to mould them into the greatest types of humans,Eshays,the plan has been signed off by the rest of the members of parliment who were bribed, delighted to hear of our perfect idea,in addition to this,we have legalised Vaping,Couch Burning,Knife crime and producing fake products of multi-billion dollar companies. we excpect the world to do nothing about us sending 15% of our citizens to concentration camps,or expect consequences....

Signed
gLoRiUS EMU

[Guanacasteca]

OOC: This RP is an editorial of the Prensa Libre Guanacasteca, a progressive-controlled newspaper of the Southern Province of the República Guanacasteca.

Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock. The clock is marching and the time for the corrupt military officers is running out, they’re close to their end, a moment that generations of Guanacastecans had frustrated during their lives but we will be fortunate sons of this Republic that will achieve that liberation dream, it is our time, and they know it!

Their time and options are running, rumours are becoming a reality for them. They are afraid to attack our people as they fear the potential interregional backlash they might suffer; their idea of sovereignty is collapsing as they are expecting a potential intervention if they go all-on against us. The mirror and happenings of Nyowani Kitara are too fresh and burned into their small brains that they are still traumatised by the happenings, the international community knows that they supported genocidal forces and that they could potentially pull something like that, but they are far fearful than their Kitaran counterparts.

We all laugh in the streets, the happiness and joy in the people are noticeable, we are transiting through the right path! Our attacks in the military ego, our rebellion over their archaic ways and corrupted moral have demoralised them significantly. Why I say this? Well, there are droves of soldiers forfeiting their service, they are siding with us as they aren’t capable to kill us; instead, in their bottom of their hearts, they support our cause for true independence and progress. Alpízar knows this well, that’s why he is encouraging people to “take the power”, as they are the ones allowed by the Constitution to do so. The 87th article of the Constitution entitles the people to exert their maximum power, the right for insurrection. They are aware that they’re in their legal right to disrupt the system, throw it away and create a new one.

Those savages wearing olive green, those unsufferable gorillas will pay with their blood what they have done! We want peace, but often, peace is achieved through violence and purge of the rotten apples. We are harvesting for the future right now, we must be selective on what we will let to grow, what could contaminate our crop and how we should take care of; the rotten apples are the gorillas, and to solve the issues, you go for their roots and pull it off the land, so it doesn’t contaminate the seeds of the future!

Flourish, oh Guanacasteca! Flourish in a reality where there are no more gorillas, no more assassins, no more hitmen on the streets that could harass us, torture us, keep us in the mud of underdevelopment. They’re done and they know it, although they are stubborn enough to neglect it and continue in their dreamland full of mythomaniacs telling them that they still rule Guanacasteca.

Notices come from abroad, Græntfjallers don’t trust them. I’m sure that nobody in their complete intellectual capabilities, nor a drunk, would support those bastards, those gorillas, those human rights violators. Help is coming towards our side, be it medicines, morale support, some mercenaries from abroad inspired in our freedom struggle, we will be victorious, and the world is starting to get knowledgeable about the willpower of Guanacastecans. We won’t forfeit this battle, we won’t give up until the last gorilla is dead, no one shall remain alive unless they leave the ranks and pledges loyalty to the people’s revolution, and they support it by heart!

Empires fall, times change, and history is giving us signals that we are living an inflexion point. See what is happening in Pasarga! Apparently, the people have organised to throw away the monarchs to set true rule of the people, see Nyowani Kitara, Huayramarca, etc. We are living times that demand us to organise, to struggle and unite for a greater goal, for a common goal of the multiverse and us, of course. Time is putting those who aren’t trustworthy by the people on its place, we are now the ones on charge, the ones who have the reigns and have decided to command the ship for once!

Gorilla, you must have in mind that there’s no way out. You either join us or you will pay that mistake with your blood, with your life! Gorilla, be careful of what you decide, the people is expecting you to change your mind and join to the place where you are from originally. Rich bastards from the elite have brainwashed you to torture others for your “benefit” which is nonexistent, though, as they enrich themselves with insane amounts of money that you will never get in a decent way. Gorilla, make up your mind and wake up for good, there’s nothing good for you awaiting in the army; you can find peace and tranquility by uniting us, as we are on a mission to clean off the perverted roots of this nation.

Join us before it is too late! Make yourself and your family proud! As we will achieve victory by any means possible. We have the destiny in our side, so there’s nothing you can do to stop us! We will be victors, we will rejoice over your blood and your corpses, gorillas! In the same way you did against our beloved ones through 180 years of wars, fratricide and illegal enrichment for your superiors. Guanacasteca will be a nation where people will educate themselves to be peaceful after the end of the revolution, we will seek for love and development and let our barbaric ways aside, we will be enjoying progress and anew life after this.

Remember these words forever and ever, “blessed is the women who knows that their sons will never engage in any military activity!” Bless your mothers and the future ones, pull off the roots of corruption and death in the República Guanacasteca, let’s erase those olive green gorillas from the face of the earth.

[Squornshelan Remnant States]

Crisis
Salwan Mynhier

Twelve matches unbeaten, the optimists say. Only out of a playoff spot on goal differential. The attack is putting up nearly two and a quarter goals per game. As if these "accomplishments" were the objective coming into qualifying. No, a glance up to the top of Group 2 shows Kandorith running away, twelve points ahead of the Black-and-Reds, who expected to challenge for the top spot as they did when drawn with the Mekahi two cycles ago.

No, all the excuses and goalpost-moving in the world can't disguise what's happened these past twelve matches. Seven draws. Seven. No other team has had as many matches finish in a deadlock. More than half of our outings have resulted in only a single point taken. This team, that found a way to beat Kandorith on their own turf in front of 90,000 in Tenkyo couldn't muster more than a pair of sloppy 3-3 draws against Yuezhou, the team they need to catch to keep hope alive. They settled for draws with Boring Paradise and Pyazhnaya as well, and more recently against Sargossa and Ranoria at home. They allowed the fanatically defensive South Covellans to score five goals across two matches, settling for only four points instead of six. This team has lost its killer instinct, its ability to finish off an opponent either by finding the clutch goal late, or denying it.

Why the team has failed to live up to expectation thus far is a harder question to answer. Is a lack of compelling leadership to blame? Former captain Iuri Takala, who set the example on and off the field for many years, has retired, and his shoes are not so easily filled. Harkhan and Tabur are great players, no doubt, and well respected by the roster I'm sure. Still, it's hard to just step in and fill the void left by a player who had been on the roster since World Cup 81. Looking further up from there to the very top, you have to wonder whether Groothuis's exhortations still carry the same weight in the locker room as they did cycles ago. The Omerican is now leading the team through her seventh World Cup cycle at the helm for the SRS. During that time, her sides have had an unfortunate habit of starting slow, but have always rallied for a respectable finish. Rattling off four straight draws now, when they should be hitting their stride for the home stretch, is troubling to say the least. Why hasn't Groothuis been able to get the results her team needs?

For one thing, there's been entirely too much roster rotation. World Cup Qualifying, particularly the second half of the schedule for a team trying to play catchup, is not a time to be trying out new players. The constant shifts have also meant that the Black-and-Reds have had to adapt to a much wider range of play styles from their teammates, and many different permutations in the lineup. In midfield, depending on the trio that Groothuis trots out to start each match, some players have been asked to play multiple different roles, and line up in different positions. What this team needs now, though, is stability. By this time, Groothuis knows which players can deliver, can execute her tactics, and which can't. It's time to hand the reins to the first team and let them take it from here.

So, Anne-Sophie, if you're reading, please stop messing around and just put Shimski in net, Nyberg and Halfariani at fullback, there's a little room for debate but I think you can't go wrong with Harkhan and Titov. Galdra or Bedrosian would be fine too I suppose. Bondarov and Yonte have shown they know how to score time and again on the wings, while Zazagan and Hashemi have been the best performers in the middle. Damnagoras is just too absent from the buildup and defense. As for the striker any of them are capable, but Fridtjofs is still the hot hand, or at least he would be if he hadn't been held out of so many matches. Matches we could've used a proven goalscorer in, by the way.

A nod to the optimists: there is still time to right the ship. None of our close competition for playoff spots have games in hand on us, and every match remaining is potentially winable. Kandorith will be looking for revenge when they make their visit to Vogsphere, yes, but the Black-and-Reds should be playing with desperation, while the Kandorese might well be coasting to the finish by then. Groothuis can make a definite statement of purpose with her lineups against the next two opponents, Pyazhnaya and Boring Paradise. Disappointing draws resulted from our first meetings with these two nations, and the team is riding a string of disappointing draws into these final meetings. If Groothuis can get out of her best players' way and let them go out and execute the tactics, there's no reason the team can't come away with six points. If not, they'll be facing even more of an uphill battle, and Groothuis would be wise to start working on either a new resume or retirement speech.

Squornshelan Remnant States - 2
Sargossa - 2

Goals:
SRS: Bondarov 50'; Zazagan 80'
SRG: Collazo 24'; Manzanares 71'

Lineup:
SRS: Krusan; Bakken, Bedrosian, W. Harkhan, Malgos; Hedberg, Sevet-Ibilx (Zazagan 77'); Bondarov, Koshelev, Eanain; Hjort (Gerstlauer 81')

Squornshelan Remnant States - 0
Ranoria - 0

Goals:
None

Lineup:
SRS: Shimski; Nyberg, Galdra, Titov, Achthoven; Tabur (Nisarizo 80'), Hashemi; Dast, Damnagoras (Zazagan 80'), Ditou (Yonte 85'), Ness (Fridtjofs 72')

South Covello - 3
Squornshelan Remnant States - 3

Goals:
SRS: Yonte 32', 56'; Titov 41'

Lineup:
SRS: Kartal; Jagidar, Yarlut, Titov, Halfariani; Zazagan, Hashemi; Bondarov, Damnagoras (Nisarizo 80'), Yonte; Gerstlauer (Petrov 74')

Squornshelan Remnant States - 3
Yuezhou - 3

Goals:
SRS: Fridtjofs 12', 47'; Yonte 60'
YZH: Wen 20', Yuan 34', Jiang 78'

Lineup:
SRS: Shimski; V. Harkhan, W. Harkhan, Titov, Halfariani; Tabur (Damnagoras 83'), Hashemi; Stern (Bondarov 67'), Zazagan, Yonte; Fridtjofs (Ness 88')

Schedule and Results

FRND: SRS 0-0 DRK @ Ripper Stadium (cap. 40,000), Constantinople, New Gesem
FRND: SRS 1-2 CBP @ Ripper Stadium (cap. 40,000), Constantinople, New Gesem

MD01: RAN 2-1 SRS @ Smith Field (cap. 19,050), Richardson, RAN
MD02: SRS 3-2 SCO @ Radlov Arena (cap. 76,800), Brantisvogan, Megabrantis, SRS
MD03: YZH 3-3 SRS @ TBA
MD04: SRS 0-0 PYA @ Black Raven Field (cap. TBA), Yassaca, Sivolvia, SRS
MD05: BRP 3-3 SRS @ TBA
MD06: SRS 4-3 TLI @ Castle Street (cap. 57,300), Jaglan, Algolia, SRS
MD07: KAN 0-1 SRS @ Empress Masumi Stadium (cap. 90,000), Tenkyo, KAN
MD08:     BYE
MD09: SRS 1-0 BGJ @ Synesoft Arena (cap. 46,950), Syneca, Sivolvia, SRS
MD10: NSV 3-5 SRS @ Tiên Sơn Stadium, Đà Nẵng, NSV
MD11: SRS 2-2 SRG @ Chernov Stadium (cap. 57,600), Viltvodle Megabrantis, SRS
MD12: SRS 0-0 RAN @ Raftel Park (cap. 59,870), Chalesm, Megabrantis, SRS
MD13: SCO 3-3 SRS @ SuperNerd Wants To Fight Video Game And Computer Store Stadium, (cap. 42,000), Riverview, SCO
MD14: SRS 3-3 YZH @ Slavnareczpospolitastadion (cap. 61,230), Lublova, Molvania, SRS
MD15: PYA  v  SRS @ TBA
MD16: SRS  v  BRP @ New Rudlit Arena (cap. 31,200), Rudlit, West Flania, SRS
MD17: TLI  v  SRS @ LTI Stadium (cap. 75,000), Montfort, TLI
MD18: SRS  v  KAN @ Vogsphere Arena (cap. 90,000), Vogsphere, Isle of Squornshelous, SRS
MD19:     BYE
MD20: BGJ  v  SRS @ TBA
MD21: SRS  v  NSV @ Ralph Wilson Memorial Stadium (cap. 48,700), Han Dold City, Han Dold, SRS
MD22: SRG  v  SRS @ Estadio Generalissimo Joaqín Delgado (cap. 108,879), Soluca, SRG