A Tale Of Two Crescents - WC97 Roleplay Thread

[Eshialand]

The Love of Home
Restresas 3-5 Eshialand
Savojarna 0-1 Eshialand

Even when a road trip goes well, you end up being glad it's over when it's time to come home. The feeling on the flight back to Eshialand City was one of celebration, but not just celebrating two away wins; it was one of celebrating their return to their families back home.

While road trips aren't the most desirable thing in the world when you'd rather be able to spend as much time as possible in the home you love and the only bed in the world you can get a good night's sleep in, it can't really be understated how important this road trip really was. Six points off those games put them in a very good position going into a second half where anything could still very much happen.

And, for their next matchup, they had the epitome of "anything can happen": a game at home against Sajnur, the only other team in the group who hadn't lost a match yet. In fact, not only had they not lost a match yet, but they were on a 6 game winning streak after opening with three draws. Someone had to stop that momentum, but who? And how?

Eshialand had been one of the teams who snagged an early draw, and in fact, the only ones who had done that while playing in Sajnur. They were probably the ones in the best position to stop their momentum dead in their tracks, but of course, they had a lot of work cut out for them if they were going to make it possible. In order to figure out this team's weak points, Kenny Morgan would be closely studying their recent 2-1 wins over Kimi-Suomi and Pyazhnaya, just to see if there were any weak points to exploit...

Speaking of Kimi-Suomi, that would be the Owls' next destination following the match against Sajnur. Since their matchup at the SuperDome on Matchday 3, their fortunes had taken an unfortunate turn for the worse, dropping down to 8th place and a record of 2-1-5... that didn't make them less of a tough opponent, however. This team was very able to surprise anyone, so they would have to be ready for anything. Just because most of Eshialand's preparation was going to be figuring out how to break down Sajnur, didn't mean that Kimi-Suomi could be ignored here.

As for the group picture as a whole... the rift between third and fourth places had widened to a massive 10 points, meaning now was the last real chance for anyone below third place to try to qualify to the World Cup. More realistically, it was a battle between the top 3 — currently sitting on 23, 21, and 21 points — to avoid that third spot and, for whoever did end up in that third spot, win the playoff, should they have to play it. This three-way dogfight would likely be the story of the rest of qualifying for the Owls, and it all started here, with first playing second, live in Eshialand City.

---

(continued from this RP from Aleirave.)

RING! RING!
"Hello?"

King William had a very bad habit: he would always pick up the phone without paying heed to the caller ID. Sometimes, this meant he would be pleasantly surprised by a call from a best friend from long ago; other times, he would get very strange scam calls or bizarre requests from borderline stalkers. As for this one...

"I need you to help me uncover political corruption in Lahaira."

...it was somewhere decidedly in the middle.

"What in the world do you mean?" he answered confusedly, "and why am I the first person you decided to call, Haulafo?"
"Corporate donations are against the Eshian Elections Act, right?"
"Of course they are, all donations are limited to $200 and must come from individuals, not companies..."
"And Aleirave is bound to the same laws, right?"
"Of course, but what is your point?"
"I need you to look through Refilene Adari'ena's checkbook, I think he's getting substantial kickbacks from--"
"Who, Tony Beaujoleil?"
"Not necessarily, but maybe? He seems really obsessed with economic stimuli all of a sudden..."
"Listen, I wish I could help you, but I can't just look through his private business without proper cause. Have you tried contacting the Election Commissioner?"
"You know how slow that office operatesssss..."
"I'm willing to jump through a lot of hoops to help people, believe me... but do you know what would happen if I violated the integrity of Aleiravan domestic affairs? I'd be shot!"
"Can you at least help me expedite things?"

The king sighed before replying "Fine, I'll see what I can do."

He clearly wasn't fully on-board with this. He wasn't amused with the ridiculous allegations lobbied at someone he put his full trust in... and from Haulafo? Had be been smoking something dodgy again?

"Thank you so much, believe me... there's definitely something weird going on here."

Sure there is... Will thought to himself skeptically. Sure...

[Banija]

Kabaka- King
Omugabe/Omugaba- Prince/Princess
Katikkiro- Prime Minister
Waziri- Foreign Minister
Lukiiko- Parliament
Mkiiko- Member of Parliament/MP

Question Period at the Lukiiko- Omugaba Immaculate facing questions at the Lukiiko

The Speaker banged the gavel. "Order, order!" He yelled. The Lukiiko was notoriously a raucous legisltative body- very loud, a lot of people trying to get in their one-liners that would try to go viral, lots of yelling and passion. A sign of a healthy democracy? Some would say yes... Others would say that didn't really matter. Regardless, question period was a sacred part of the legislative calendar. Every full week, this happened, on the dot. Now, slightly different than other Parliamentary democracies. With the Kabaka largely in control of foreign policy, the Waziri would face questions in the afternoon. Those were generally much more inquisitive in nature and far less entertaining for the average person to watch.

Sometimes, the question period for the Omugaba would start with a statement. And this one, the day after the League of 10 voted to condemn Saint Konrad, was certainly going to be interesting. The Lukiiko at large was very interested in what was going on in regards to their neighbors and close allies. "The Kolonialvereinigung, outside of Saint Konrad itself, have made their voices publicly known on this issue." Omugaba Immacuulate had said at the start of her statement to the Lukiiko. "Every single member had a chance to make their voices heard, voting on this resolution. Ahd the diverse league of members, not one voted to explicitly side with Saint Konrad. There is a diplomatic consensus, far beyond Banija, that Saint Konrad's actions are overwhelmingly out of line."

She did look around, having to conceal her grin at this statement. Her nephew, Omugabe Ssemanda, trying to make a name for himself in this Regent race wasn't exactly something she had planned on. And technically, he might have a better claim than her- especially considering the fact that Omugabe Ssemanda is second in line to the throne. Diplomatically, she pushed for the Kabaka to publicly back Siovanija & Teusland in this crisis, and Banija did exactly that. Followed, of course, by the rest of the League of 10, basically. Did Banija have any influence there? No- but it showed that Banija certainly were not followers on the issue. Nor were they offbase. Omugabe Ssemanda did not have the political instincts to serve as Regent- her Father would have to appoint her soon.

She then continued her statement. "We will continue to do what we can to back the United Republics, and ensure a restoration of the proper relationship here." Of course, as always, chaos reigned after the end of one of her short statements. Then, legislators started asking questions. The Speaker first called upon Toyuwa Okafor. A freshman legislator, member of the PPM. A former NT striker, as well as a former RTC Exec, and most recently, the Ambassador to Cardenao, before resigning to run for electoral politics.

"Your Highness," Okafor began. "What's the plan for the United Republics from here? How are they going to get their fishermen home?"

Omugaba Immaculate was ready for that question. "These are decisions that are made in Borograd- Banija obviously has made its position known, and we are always ready to help, if necessary. But you can see what is happening. They are taking the diplomatic route. Gathering allies, a group of like minded nations, trying to talk it out. Increase diiplomatic pressure. We are not privy- but the onus is on Saint Konrad to respond."

A lot more chaos, before the Speaker picked on another Mkiiko to speak. Solomon Kayozi, the CRU Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs- the equivalent of a Shadow Waziri, in most countries. He was the former Minister of Defense- largely failed in that role, with Banija's spectacular military losses in Farfadillis under his reign. "Your Highness, are your thoughts that the United Republics will take military action to remove their countrymen from those Saint Konrad jails?"

"It is, in my opinon.... Irrespopnsible to speculate about military action in such a forum like this one." Omugaba Immaculate replied. A sidestep of an answer by her, quite admittedly- that kind of deftness was always required in politics. "The public actions of the United Republics have been clear, for some time. They are clearly looking for every last diplomatic solution- looking at how they have used the common forum they are both in, the League of 10, to try and get a peaceful resolution. Siovanijan & Teus diplomats are working in overdrive- once again, Saint Konrad must realize they are in the wrong here, per international law, and need to meet Siovanija & Teusland halfway."

Lastly, the deputy leader of the BPC, Banija's hard left party, Abothi Kikoba, started speaking. "Your HIghness, what happens if Saint Konrad just flat out refuses to play ball, no matter what? What is the Kingdom's position in that case?"

"The Kingdom deals with realities on the ground. Do not play with 'what ifs' publicly- all sorts of situations foreign policy wise can change rapidly." It was a smart answer by Omugaba Immaculate- but any seasoned politician or diplomat could see plainly that it was a non-answer. The reality was that the Principals on the issue have basically said they would not yet answer a question that drastically. "But our strong backing for the United Republics, as they are the victim in this situation, as well as the strength of our diplomatic relationship, will remain strong."

[Kamijiro]

Bolts of Lightning, Part Five: Raiji and Soji's Meeting

A private meeting between star striker Soji Kokubun and manager Raiji Kagawa is held over whiskey and cigarettes in Kagawa's office...

Raiji takes a long drag on his cigarette before speaking. "Soji, I assume you know why I called you in here?"

"No, boss, actually. I haven't the slightest," is the reply between sips of whiskey. "But based on your tone, I assume I did something wrong?"

"No, it's not that. I'm more worried about what you might do. Asides the rule-breaking, I mean. Anybody else smokes a cigarette in front of me and they're running laps for a month. You're lucky I've known you for so long or else I'd never let you do this type of shit."

"What I might do? What exactly are you implying?"

"Soji, I know about your personal affairs. I know where you came from, I know you grew up rough. And more importantly, I know what that tattoo means." Raiji points to Soji's arm tattoo, a rose vine with several red blooms on it.

"Then I suppose there's no need to hide it. Yes, I am a member of the Thorns. But no, I am not an active member."

"You and I both know that isn't true. I know what you did during the off-day we had after playing the Kytler Peninsulae. You went back to Naraku-shi and... well, let's just say I know what you did."

"Okay, fine. Yeah, I occasionally do go to the meetings and help... 'fundraise.'"

"Fundraise is a funny way to put it. I know you sold drugs." Raiji then plops a bag of white powder onto the table. "I know because you sold it to somebody I sent to buy from you."

Soji went as white as the powder in the bag. "Are you gonna have me arrested or something? This ain't cool, Raiji."

"Arrested? No. I'm going to give you an ultimatum. Quit running with the Thorns or I tell your manager at Raijin-shi about what your tattoo means. And between us, we both know he is much more of a prude than I am."

"I can't just quit. You know it doesn't work like that, I-"

Raiji shushed him. "I have some sway with old friends. Old friends who know your friends. And I can get you out. But you have to promise me you'll leave that life."

"Old friends? Who the hell are your old friends? And how the hell would they get the Thorns to agree to let me go?"

Raiji takes another long drag on his cigarette before rolling up his sleeves. Everybody about the tattoos on his arms, but to most, they look like kanji without a clear meaning. However, when he puts his left arm over his right in front of his chest, they line up to spell out the Nishigaya family and motto.

"Holy shit. You've been hiding that from us this whole time?"

"No shit. You think all of them would look at me the same if they knew the type of shit I was up to before college? Do you think they'd still respect me? The only other one who knows is Haruki. And that's only because she's my daughter. So if you talk, I'll know."

"Got it. Uh... sure. I'll let you pull the strings. But if this backfires, I hope you know it's gonna cost both of us dearly. You do know that, right?"

"No shit again. I got out on dumb luck. It's gonna take more than that here. But I'm confident. I just need to call my old boss. He knows the head of the Thorns on a first-name basis. If all goes well, then you should be unaffiliated by tomorrow night."

"If you say so..."

---

Match v. The Kytler Peninsulae: 1-1 Draw.
Goals (Kamijiro): Soji Kokubun (33', asst. by N. Xavier)
Goals (Kytler Pen.): Emrys Floyd (90+1', asst. by J. Acebes Rodriguez)

[Alasdair I Frosticus]

Halfway through qualifying, and the gnomes had discovered cheerleading.

It had started in the Banija match. At halftime, the Holy Empire had been in real trouble against the 27th-ranked side and group second seeds. A brace from captain Lavyin Son-Saka had given the Kadongo Kamu a 2-1 lead, with only a fierce shot from Gnocchi giving the Empire some hope. But somehow the gnomes seemed flat, listless, launching themselves into the air less, and much less enthusiastic about ankle biting (which, Juan had mused after the match, might have been a blessing in disguise).

But at halftime the gnomes had gathered in a corner of the dressing room, their voices going chitter-chitter-chitter-chitter at twice the usual pace.

Gnostic had then approached Juan and Simeone, and solemnly ushered them out of the dressing room back to the home team's bench, one gnarled hand officiously pointing the way, all without saying a word. Juan remembered shrugging, though Simeone had seemed more concerned - but you don't get to be one of the most successful managers in World Cup history without knowing when to let your squad have the opportunity to sort out their moral issues for themselves; players sometimes need a little freedom to build real team spirit.

Banija came out for the second half first, and took their positions, looking supremely confident that an away win against the group top seeds was within their grasp - though perhaps not fully appreciating the extent to which the gnomes had been playing below par.

Then the Imperial squad came out - but initially without the substitutes taking to the bench - and took their own positions. They jogged in place, huffing and puffing, as if warming themselves up - albeit at twice human pace - for the second half.

Then the substitutes came out.

They weren't just five knee-high argumentative ankle-biting lavishly bearded pointed hat-wearing garden gnomes with springs in their football boots - they were five knee-high argumentative ankle-biting lavishly bearded pointed hat-wearing garden gnomes with springs in their football boots wearing short little cheerleading skirts.

The proceeded to line up on the sidelines, and perform a series of increasingly ambitious cheerleading routines, though clumsily and ineptly (though with only five of them, there were always going to be limits to their pyramid attempt).

The impact was immediate; just not so much on the gnomes.

Yes, the imperial squad played much better in the second half, and the equalising goal from Gnomish had been welcome; but that wasn't the main impact...

After the match, Juan felt slightly sorry for the visitors; but then it wasn't his fault that the Banija players had found the stumpy little gnome cheerleaders so hilarious. It wasn't down to advance planning on his part that the opposition players had occasionally collapsed into fits of giggles as the cheerleaders started slapping each other about as another routine went comically wrong. There's been absolutely no intent to make the cheerleaders so distracting.

He'd attempted to apologise to George Wangolo after the match, but Juan wasn't sure that Wangolo was convinced. But it was his first cycle in charge; perhaps he just hadn't encountered too many of the ... more exotic Imperial teams.

The matches against Srubnaya culture and The Cannaland Islands had been less notable, though the cheerleaders were still proving to be entreatingly erratic, if a little inconsistent about choosing to perform their routines.

The only real incident of note had been a sending off for Gnatsnapper after the referee from Kelssek had - perhaps not wholly unjustifiably under the circumstances - finally lost his patience and sent off the defender for a second yellow card for ankle biting; the CHOMP CHOMP had gone a little bit too far.

Still, just over halfway through qualifying, and the squad were three points clear at the top of the group, and it was likely going to prove tricky for the other teams to get anywhere close to their goal difference. Even Simeone was grudgingly admitting that maybe - just maybe - this wasn't the least effective squad the Holy Empire had ever fielded.

But just where had they encountered cheerleading, Juan mused to himself. And what surprises did they still have up their fuzzy beards?

[Oberour Ar Moro]

Thélo Billart looked out at the pitch of Western Park spreading before him. At the far end, in front of a ravenous crowd, was the StrayaRoos goal. In between there and him were a series of so-called Emus who wanted to stop him.

The clock kept ticking up.

Thélo worked his way forward, ball at foot. His first obstacle was Yasmeen Karmea, a StrayaRoos midfielder. He wanted to keep the ball so he attempted a favorite move around Karmea, but she was on top of the attempt. She stuck her foot out and the ball careened behind and to the left of Thélo. Fortunately, Oberour left back Anatole-Georges Clausse was on the mark, calmly recovering the lost football. Clausse surveyed the ball before passing it to a returned Billart.

Time to reset play.

Thélo, eyes wide, circled back to stage left of the 18-yard box. He had some room to work so he began dribbling forward again. He made note of his three midfielders, Jean-Barthélemy Ollier, Peire de Baingneus, and Geon de Grant-Pont, working to properly position themselves and the StrayaRoos defense. Picking his move, Thélo broke into a gallop, surprising StrayaRoos' Daniel Jaqi, who was quickly swept past. While on a dead run, Billart then lofted the ball into the air for Peire de Baingneus to take temporary control. Securing the ball against his chest, Peire rotated around his defender, started to his left, and then passed back to his right.

The ball was back to Billart. Exactly where it should be, he thought. His Dragoon teammates had worked the StrayaRoos defense nearly perfectly. Thélo was now on the outer range of his foot. Should he take the shot? He saw Blaise Leboeuf was in a fair, but tricky position. Meanwhile he had a relatively cleaner view of the goal. No use wasting chances, bombs away.

The ball was shot from his foot as though from a cannon. Alas StrayaRoos goalkeeper Amina Şeyma was there to put her hands on the ball and deflect it away...

...right to the feet of a waiting Daniel Demisserriche. Goal, Oberour Ar Moro! Demisserriche ran to the corner arc to shadow box with the flag before getting swallowed up by his teammates.

The score was now StrayaRoos 3, Oberour Ar Moro 1 with 25 minutes left to play. StrayaRoos added their fourth goal seven minutes later off a Cruz Kaiplo penalty kick.

[Hispinas]

Finally, after a few matchdays where one or zero points were their haul in the qualifiers, the Golden Sealions have finally reaped their rewards.

Having a media coverage to update the Hispinos and Hispinas on the latest on the national team, they started to take beatings less than expected - case in point the 4-3 loss against Mertagne that pundits are expecting at least the Green Goblins winning by at least three goals. And now they followed it up with a 4-2 win over Caerbannog, then a proper 6-2 hammering of Lisander, both nations having inexstent media coverage of their qualifying campaigns.

Now that the matches for those two have been taken care of, they are now expected to probably have the same trajectory, losing the match or getting a crucial draw. The two wins came probably too late though as the Rushmori nation is already seven points adrift of the top 3, and with the third placed team having a match on hand, it would be an uphill task for Casimiro to catch up to the top 3.

Did the resignation of Iturraspe helped the team steer to the right direction? Probably. With the monarchy not setting any replacement for the consultancy position, the FRHF had complete control on how the national team should be run, and that probably helped them get those crucial two wins.

[Chromatika]

World Cup 97 Qualifying - Matchday 10: Alanis Star 3-3 Chromatika
Goals: Jean-Baptiste 6', 68', Françine-Miklavivec 88'
Starting XI: Do (C); Van der Plas Bouwmeester - Lethbridge-Antonio, C. - Ataciara; Van der Wel - Gundsdorf - Prenn - Janissen op Colmans; Þyrill; Jean-Baptiste - Baïe-Verte.
Substitutes: Muir -> Van der Plas Bouwmeester (49'), Saburo -> Ataciara (49'), Lethbridge-Antonio, J. -> Gundsdorf (56'), Bittencourt -> Baïe-Verte (73'), Françine-Miklavivec -> Prenn (73')
Summary: After going a perfect 6-0-0 to start the campaign, the Anomalies now have two points in their last three matches - while conceding ten goals. This may have been an opportunity for so many of the depth options to get a rare cap, but it almost backfired; it took many key substitutions and a heroic free kick from Françine-Miklavivec to even salvage the point. The result puts the Anomalies squarely back into the mix of the group - behind Baggieland by a full three points, ahead of The 14 Stars by virtue of Goal Differential. Manager Alina Khabibullina has stressed calm to the team and the media, saying that "all teams go through speed bumps throughout qualifying... We will come out of this better suited to face the challenges at hand." One thing does loom - the time for experimentation is over.

---

WC 97 Qualifying - Fortnight 6 Roster Selection - (238) The Grearish Union @ The Shock, Wirr Tsi, Capital District (Cap. 51,350; 18,000 Seats) and @ (142) Quakmybush
Starting XI: Sourtois; Paterson - Régine - Aimée; Kruetzberg - Mesic-Mizayaki - Françine-Miklavivec - Mátyás; Prenn; Fucheux - Delaya.
Reserves: GK Juxon Fillar, GK Do Seung-Min, DCR Ami Coulibaly, DC Eileen Jackson-Jones, DCL Cylie Nodis, DCR Aoi Kyouka, WBR Grayson Fillar, WBL Edith Fillar, WBR Ibayashi Haitou, BWM Kaia Larriet-Cortes, AP Baillaire Fillar, AM Vasiliy Marten Kuznetsov, AF Lavrentiy Xuen-Zhukov, AF Elaine Howard-Dawes, P Sandara Park.
Preview: Khabibullina has preempted a lot of the discussion by announcing that the Second Team will take to the pitch for the next two matchdays with the First Team on the bench, followed by the First Team starting the following four matches - making this the first campaign in a while that the First Team plays six matches in a qualifying cycle. With the state of the grou, this makes sense; Chromatika will try to get back into winning ways against The Grearish Union and Quakmybush before facing the third, fourth, fifth, and second seeds in the group in order. Expect the First Team to get plenty of minutes if the team struggles at any point, and for the Anomalies Management staff to take risks if needed to get life back into the team. They can no longer afford to have slow starts - the margin that they've earned through the first six matches have all but evaporated.

---

LIFE BEHIND THE ROYAL FAMILY
Part 3: AP Haley Hauser - The Teacher

In this six-part series, we take a look at six players that have had their chances at being the starter for the Chromatik National Team utterly stymied by the emergence of the Royal Family of Chromatik Football - the Fillars. They are, in no particular order: Goalkeeper Kathie Begley, Right Winger/Wingback Emilie Kruetzberg, Advanced Playmaker Haley Hauser, Left Winger/Wingback Ha'nei Ighv, Goalkeeper Do Seung-Min, and Attacking Midfielder Alissar Phoen. We will look at the players' history, the players' skills, and why/how the particular Fillar in front them was able to get the opportunity to represent Chromatika at the highest level in the international stage.

If there is one player on this list that we are going through that can say that they've been there, done that, not really been as negatively impacted by the Fillars as the others, it would be Haley Hauser. One hundred fifty-two caps and fifty-two goals for Chromatika, Hauser can say that she did her duty for the Black and White, and that, in a sense, the reason why Baillaire Fillar is as good as she is is because of her influence.

A career sniper through and through who revolutionized the "Shoot first, ask questions later" style of Attacking Midfielders/Advanced Playmakers for Chromatik football, Hauser took over the starting job at World Cup 90. By then, she had already attained forty-two caps; when Repin came in, Kuznetsov converted to the same role, and Baillaire Fillar started to rise up through the ranks, eventually taking the spot alongside Kuznetsov by World Cup 94. Why did Hauser allow Baillaire Fillar to take over her spot in the Starting XI so easily? What made it so that Hauser would be the one to step aside instead of Kuznetsov? If you look a bit under the surface, everything becomes very clear.

One aspect of things is that Bailalire Fillar is, by all means, a younger and better Haley Hauser. She is as lethal from range while having a better motor, and she knows how to work with her siblings - communication remains one of those things that you simply cannot understate. Kuznetsov, on the other hand, is the best defensive-minded attacking midfielder that the Anomalies have, meaning he can hang back and help the Defensive Midfielder as needed. Having both Baillaire and Haley on the pitch at the same time would be like showing their hand to show that they are going all-in on scoring; Chromatika would rather have Kuznetsov in in the beginning and sub in Hauser as needed. So, that's what they did - and when Hauser did come in to sub off Kuznetsov, everyone knew that they were going in for the kill.

Secondly, there is no overstating the relationship between Hauser and Baillaire, seven years not being too big of a gap. Reportedly, the two trained together for at least a month a year every year that they were active, working on the same skills that made them so lethal; by extension, Hauser gained kinship with the other Fillars, to the point that she became known as a key member in the Fillar group of friends alongside Kaia Larriet-Cortes and Vasiliy Marten Kuznetsov himself. They navigated the shift over to the strikers together, getting used to the idea that Lavrentiy Xuen-Zhukov would be the one getting the goals in the Repin era; when Hauser finally hung up her cleats, Baillaire was there front and center to watch her mentor get her just dues. It helps to concede your spot on the pitch when you're doing it to a liked, trusted, and valued friend.

Finally, Hauser is a strategist, and not the kind to figure things out on paper. She prefers to pounce after she finishes reading what the opposition is doing - which made it so that she was best suited to being an impact sub. By the time she came in to sub off Baillaire herself or Larret-Cortes, she knew exactly where to probe and to take down the opposition; this was used time and time again to great effect. Basically, because Haley was okay with taking a hit to her ego, Chromatika was able to benefit.

Haley Hauser will forever be remembered as a pioneering sniper who worked alongside Kuznetsov to revolutionize the Attacking MIdfielder/Advanced Playmaker position, but almost as importantly, she will be remembered as the one who set up Baillaire Fillar to be the player she is going forward into the future.

Sometimes, Team is more important than Me.

---

CHROMATIK SECURITY COUNCIL CALLS STATE OF EMERGENCY
Elections to be Postponed Until 22 PRR as New Light Party Members Arrested; Emergency Elections to Take Place to Replace Representatives

CHROMIA, CAPITAL DISTRICT - Following a petition signed by over half of the Chromatik voting population - more than seven million signatures - the newly formed Chromatik Security Council, made up of the heads of the Chromatik military and the leaders of the Rainbow Party, the Spade Party, and the Red Party, declared a formal State of Emergency over the country, resulting in the arrest of every member of the Saebitdang (New Light Party), including the former Premier, Hélène Embroise. According to the CSC, Embroise and the Saebitdang "knowingly or unknowingly contributed to the downfall of Chromatika by allowing the likes of a shadow syndicate (The Shadow Hand) dictate the politics of the country, foregoing their oaths to the nation and allowing an outside force that wasn't elected by the public to run the country's affairs". The CSC stated that every single Representative and member of the Saebitdang will be thoroughly vetted by the Chromatik Police and the Chromatik Secret Service to see what their ties to The Shadow Hand were, overseen by the Head of the Chromatik Secret Service, Alina Krasnikova, herself.

"She (Krasnikova) understands the depth of her own failure in not being able to figure out the depths of the corruption, and will be resigning at the end of this inquiry from public service," read the statement from the CSC, "But this august body sees no better individual in determining the depths of the Saebitdang's collusion with The Shadow Hand in orchestrating the illicit running of the country." Krasnikova and the Inquiry Committee has been given a year to get their results in order, during which time the CSC will be running the country; the compromised Representatives from the Chambers of the Legislature will be elected in an Emergency Election to make sure that the positions are filled before the election that will take place in two years' time.

"It is highly unfortunate that we've encountered yet another dubious chapter to our electoral history," the statement of the CSC concluded, "But we, emboldened by the voice of the Chromatik people, are adamant that we will be able to come out on the other side better prepared for future situations, better suited to represent the interests of the Chromatik people, and, most importantly, better equipped to lead Chromatika into the new age."

Critics say that the waiting till the end of Embroises's term - which was done to try to help the rebuild of the eastern half of Myana Island after the Abyssal Invasion and Occupation by the Yesopalithan Demons - was unnecessary, serving to only contribute to the massing of goodwill by the departing parties; the CSC and the Inquiry Committee declined to comment if any of the Saebitdang that played a key role in the rebuild will be getting lighter sentences. Also missing was a situation update on whether or not The Shadow Hand has been completely eradicated, leading to some questions being asked about this occurrence happening again in the future.

When asked about whether or not the key allies of Chromatika - Quebec and Shingoryeo, Banija, Cosumar, Audioslavia, and other Anaian nations - would be asked to intervene, the Chromatik Security Council stated the blanket statement of "This is a thoroughly internal matter, and one that will be handled with the utmost care with Chromatik interests in mind only. The days of Chromatika relying on foreign interests to shepherd our democracy is over - we believe that is what led to the crevasses that The Shadow Hand undermined initially, and in order to make sure that those holes do not appear again, we must learn to stand on our own."

It is a bold move by the Chromatik government - one which that the public supports, for now. However, the next year will determine a lot regarding the public outlook on Chromatik government, the appearance of Chromatik politics, and Chromatik foreign affairs.

[Doubeia]

Promise
Chapter 5
4 days before the home match against Fortuna Sigewinne

---

Kylo looked at the camera on his phone, frantically trying to comb the stubborn strand of hair sticking out like a sore thumb. He didn't know why his father Yan bothered to hire a personal chauffeur to bring him to the function, but he appreciated it. At least he wouldn't have to spend money and time riding the train. He hated train rides.

Yan had invited Kylo to a function hosted by one of Yan's close companions; they both were from the same company. Yan didn't tell him much about what the function was or who else was going, but all he said was to "look presentable, and wear a mask". Kylo was pretty unsure about the need to wear a mask, and he even forgot it until he told his chauffeur to stop at a gas station. Kylo picked up a box of face masks.

Kylo looked out the window. The road signs were pointing towards Queensland. Kylo had only ever gone to Queensland for football matches, but he heard it was a gorgeous city. He wonder if the functions would be held at the preppy hotel he stayed in during his match in Queensland. The scenery outside the car was gorgeous too, and Kylo couldn't help himself but admire the passing crop fields and rolling hills. Until he received a phone call.

Kylo expected the caller to be his father, but he was soon proven wrong.

"'Sup?"

"Are you in town? I'm in Ethelfled right now." Scarlett spoke through his phone.

"For what?"

"Y'know, my friend invited me to her party. Beachside party, exciting shit. It's only happening in the night and it's like 3 pm right now. You wanna like, hang out?" Her voice sounded a bit more jittery than usual. Her usual confidence seemed to not shine through as much.

"Afraid I can't. I'm out until at least tomorrow afterno—"

"Why?!" The way Scarlett shouted into her phone deafened Kylo for a while, and he put his phone away from his ear before talking.

"I got invited to a party too. I'm like, going really really far though, and I reckon I'm like at least 30 kilometres away from Ethelfled."

"Are you for real?" Scarlett drawled, "Come on, can't you like, not go to the party?"

"Nah, this one's like, really, important. Can't pass up on it." Kylo's voice remained monotone throughout the phone call while Scarlett seemed to be more energetic, for lack of a better word, than she normally was.

"Damn... Alright, whatever you say." Kylo couldn't help but notice her tone darkening. Was she sad?

"You sound disappointed. What's wrong?"

"Is it wrong to want to meet up with a friend?"

"We could always meet up some other time."

"When?" Scarlett's enthusiasm seemed to manifest in her loud voice, and Kylo had to once again rip his phone from his ear.

"What about next next Tuesday?"

"Sure! You better make yourself free then!"

"Calm down, I'm not going anywhere."

"You better. See you~~" Scarlett's lilt touched the cockles of Kylo's heart as she put down the phone. Well, Kylo would have to block out that Tuesday then...

The car ride otherwise was uneventful. However, the monotony of the ride led to Kylo feeling very bored. He could have been playing football, playing online football. Heck, he wouldn't mind hanging out with Scarlett. It wasn't as if she wasn't an unpleasant person to be around, if not a bit clingy. As the clock ticked on, the sky started to turn dark while the surroundings became more forested and hilly. The trees blocked out any moonlight that came, the lampposts being the only source of light. What was up with that? Kylo was secretly hoping this wasn't some elaborate plan to kidnap him and send him off to some isolated island, but wherever this function is was isolated enough.

The car soon came to a stop, and Kylo was greeted with an impressive view of a mansion. It was far more glorious than Ryker's one, and it seemed like the owner of the property was massively wealthy. The chauffeur walked him into the mansion, and... let's just say the atmosphere Kylo stepped into was nowhere near what he expected.

Everyone was wearing a masquerade mask, and Kylo suddenly felt really stupid wearing his surgical mask. He looked at the people in the foyer. Fancy dresses, stunning suits was the theme of this function. Meanwhile, Kylo was dripped out in the regular tuxedo and jeans he always wore to formal events. Kylo didn't know where to go or what to do, so he went to the pantry to try out the food. The food turned out to be underwhelming. Surely personal chefs hired by the rich could do better? The only thing worth eating was the chocolate eclairs, but Kylo was on a diet.

Kylo scrutinised his surroundings. Everything seemed to be as normal. He could feel the richness of everyone blasted into his face: elusive gowns and outfits, multiple car keys, conversations about "mundane" things like the bungalow your father bought you at the age of 16. He felt out of touch with everything. He didn't even know why he was invited at all. Sure, he was a prolific footballer, but that didn't really translate to national fame. Heck, football was probably looked down on by rich people not named Ryker Travkin. Kylo decided he had no purpose in the party, but his chauffeur would only be coming back in 7 hours. He had to make the most out of his time, so he decided to roam around while eavesdropping into people's conversations.

Ultimately, the ultra rich didn't really hold interesting conversations. Other than talking about luxuries Kylo could only dream of having, most of the talk was business-oriented. What was the stock market like? How were sales looking? All that boring jibber-jabber. There wasn't much worthy information to gather, until he listened in on a couple's conversation.

"I wonder what happens down there?"

"What do you mean? The basement?"

"Yeah. It's weird that they have bodyguards to protect the stairs to the basement. It's as if they're hiding something."

"I did hear that there was a whole lot of shit going on down there. My friend said he was once invited down there. He said it was fucked up."

"Huh?"

"I don't know what he said, but he allegedly saw so—"

Kylo's attention was interrupted when he felt someone tap his shoulder.

"Who invited you here?"

"Coach?"

Valentino Serebryakov, manager of Ethelfled FC, straightened out his suit. Both him and Kylo looked at each other perplexed.

"I was invited here by the sponsors. I don't know why me specifically, but I'm here now. You still haven't answered my question."

"I was invited by... someone. Personally."

"That's interesting. Parties aren't my interest, so I'll probably just stick around, eat a bit of food."

"Same here." Kylo and Serebraykov stood quietly for a while. They both weren't the closest, and they've definitely had their moments. Kylo didn't want the party to become more boring and mundane than it already was, so he had no choice but to entertain his balding coach.

"Have you been invited to places like these, coach?" Kylo tried to sound as accommodating as possible, but his uninterest was starting to get the better of it. Parties weren't his thing.

"Well, in the past, maybe once or twice. Nothing compared to this, though. This is massive." Serebryakov gestured at the spacious interior of the mansion. Everything from the columns to the flooring and chandeliers all screamed bougie. Kylo took a minute to admire the design of the place. Whoever owned this place had to have an infinite source of money.

"Well, this place sure loo—"

"Police! This is a search warrant!" Everyone's heads turned to the main door. It was closed, but not locked. The bouncers at the door must have conceded quickly as the door immediately opened with an army of police officers ready to enter the compounds.

"Everybody, get down, and don't move or leave!" The police and SWAT swarmed into the mansion as frantic partygoers immediately adhered to the police's instructions. It all happened too quickly for Kylo. One moment he was having a chat with his coach, the next he was sat down while witnessing a shootout between policemen and two bodyguards. The bodyguards were quickly downed, and a group of SWAT officers started to enter the basement. On the ground level, meanwhile, the police were questioning everyone in the function. Kylo was confused, and he was worried too. What if this was all about the match fixing thing? He turned to look at Serebryakov. He looked just as confused and scared as Kylo. The two looked at each other with shocked expressions. What had this party become?

Kyo heard screams and shouts from the basement. He had no idea what was happening down there, but it had to be something major. What else were the SWAT officers for? As he waited for the police to question him, he saw a stream of SWAT officers, and a bunch of naked men and women in handcuffs walking up the stairs and out of the mansion. It was an odd scene to take in. Kylo could infer what they had been doing before the police raid, but there was something very amusing about having their session disrupted by a bunch of armed men. When he looked at the line of people being led by the SWAT officers, he thought he saw someone who resembled his father. He gave that person a cursory glance; the person looked back at him.

Yan? Father?

Kylo wondered if his eyes were playing tricks on him. His father, the one who'd invited him to this whole thing, was involved in whatever debauchery happened down there? It was shocking to the point of disbelief. He never expected Yan to be that kind of person. Dazed, Kylo was trying to internalise what he just saw.

"Names, please."

Kylo looked up to see a policewoman.

"Kylo Zhikin." He had contemplated lying just in case he would be questioned. He forgot about that thought as soon as his name was asked.

"You're coming with me."

"What?"

"Come."

Kylo initiated his walk of shame out of the mansion. He could feel the stares on him as he strutted towards the police vehicle. He looked at his back. Serebeyakov, who'd also been question, looked at him with a mixture of surprise and confusion.

Kylo's mind was in a frenzy. Was this about the match fixing thing? Should he lie and said he knew nothing? Would he get into even more trouble? His mind was going into overdrive from all his anxiety and regret. Why did he agree with Yan's offer? Why, why, why? All his decisions led to this very moment. His greed, his desire for more money, led to this. Was his mother's money not enough? Was the club's salary not enough? Kylo himself didn't even know why he wanted more money so badly. It wasn't as if he coveted the riches of wealthy people.

Whatever, Kylo thought, This is going to be awful.

---

Scores to be appended later. The starting lineups against Cattstan and Ko-oren can be chosen by said nations.

[The Kytler Peninsulae]

This international window was meant to clarify if Andrew Patterson had a future as Kytlerian manager. And as the board went up for four minutes of added time and Kamijiro led 1-0 through Soji Kokubun's 33rd-minute goal, it looked like it had provided the answer in the negative. But Josip Acebes Rodriguez was charging into the box just as the stadium announcer was declaring the amount of added time, and substitute Emrys Floyd was right behind him before flaring out to the far post as Acebes went the other way. With the numerous Kamijiro defenders all moving in different directions, there was an opening for the RSM winger to pop the ball into a dangerous area, and that area was the one filled by Floyd, who duly got his head to the ball before goalkeeper Jokichi Asumi could get his fist to it. Ryo Murai slid in desperately to try and clear the ball off the line, but couldn't, merely getting a toe to the ball that changed which part of the net rippled. Cue one of the biggest roars the ZOS has heard in some time. The 1-1 draw was simultaneously a disappointment and a relief - yet another case of teams at the top half of this group cancelling each other out - and then the must-win against Captina Island was, indeed, won.

Now for the nightmare trips. First, Huayramarca, in the baking humid heat of Guayaquil and the country's largest stadium; they've even made it an afternoon match to maximise the heat and humidity, presuming the Kytlerians aren't prepared for it. With potential Wet Bulb Globe Temperatures exceeding the recognised danger threshold of 30C, experts have called for the WCC to enforce cooling breaks to protect player safety. "This isn't about competitive advantages, it's about health," insisted Jennifer Coatbridge, a physiologist within the University of Zube's Margaret Institute. "Physical exertion in these conditions causes dangerous increases to core body temperature outside the usual 36-38C range, potentially risking consequences such as heatstroke and even kidney failure. And that can apply to everyone, even elite athletes. So it is in the interest of Huayramarca as well, to protect their own players even if they may be more familiar with the conditions."

Patterson, for his part, isn't too worried. "Whatever the situation is with how the match is played, it affects both sides, and I think our players and our style of play suit hot conditions anyway because we play a patient possession-based style when we can and also have good physical endurance, it's one of our collective strengths, so they may have deployed this idea on the wrong team. They may also struggle to implement their own high-intensity style, and I would expect them to try and save their energy for key moments and then regroup ready for the next push. Or perhaps they think they can keep going full tilt and then find out too late that they can't, which would obviously be an opportunity for us with the pace we have on the bench, this could be the perfect game for Rick (Flash) to come on and do damage."

After a lull (but also the definition of a must-win) with a home game against lowly Caribbia, West Barack and East Obama are on deck in the next window. Like Los Cóndores, they drew at the ZOS; also like them, their home advantage is built on intimidation, but in a very different fashion. The Obamen play their matches at either a concrete-and-barbed-wire cage attached to a maximum-security prison or an underground facility within the country's military headquarters, reflecting the paradoxical ethos of the national team of a nation that bans team sports. The usual Kytlerian media representation at away matches will be entirely absent, at least on site; all coverage will be remote. ("Like our chances of qualifying," went one viral social media response to confirmation of this news.) This team shouldn't be as competitive as they are, but immensely capable athletes such as sprinter Jenny Barracki and fighter pilot goalkeeper Dwayne Obama - not to mention literal mob enforcer Barack Denovitz at the back - make them a brutally tough side to break down.

That could be a seriously scary contest. If it still matters by then.

[Restresas]

Maresda Daily, March 12th, 1013 edition:


"After Restresas's slow start, a 7-point comeback in 4 matches leaves a lot hopeful that the second half will be better for the squirrels, but many are doubting that the aggression that they are showing will last forever. This is due to teams managing to adapt to their over-the-top aggression really well, thus, Restreasas needs to be careful in their planning of their next couple of matchups." This concern is shown with Indiana, at home with his wife and their babies...

Home of Indiana and Lindsey Pablo, Maresda, March 12th:

"Indy... this isn't like you to be so upset over the headlines... they are just concerned with our play." Lindsey told her husband, who clearly isn't happy about how this campaign is going for them... for a first cycle, Restresas is doing incredible, but their good luck seems to be winding down quite a bit... "I know, Lindsey... I'm just tired that people are always going to be like this, always on our ass trying to criticize us when we are just doing our best..."

As Indiana calms down by continuing to practice Karate on a punching bag, word comes out on a local karate scene that has opened a location in the Getae area... "Hey, these kids could need a black belt master like you to help them out..." Lindsey advices her husband... which he obliges with. The scenes at the gym are exciting, and after Indy's kick practice spars with other black belts ended, they made sure to remember the name of this place... Sebastian's Karate Dojo. The name comes from Sebastian Kiwa, a legendary karate warrior, who is preparing to represent Restresas in their first ever Olympics this year, but many are worried that his age of 33 won't be enough to compete with the competition.

When Indy and Lindsey come back home and spend time with their kids, there's a satisfied smile on Indy's face, showcasing his happiness with his wife, their 2 babies, and his status as not just a footballing legend, but a karate legend in Restresas as well.

Restresas's starters for the rest of the tournament:
GK Marcus George #01
RB Mark Jones Lindsay #54
CB Juan Albu #36
CB Ineste Liesa #81
LB Sloe Sanchez #7
MF Lane Sanchez #21
MF Mark Frank Lindsay #71
LW Pablo Albu #27
ST Paul Stan Cojocar #92
ST Indiana Pablo #83
RW Sesfa Dedmon #12

[Tumbra]

Riena 1-1 Tumbra

TMB (4-2-3-1): 1 - V Jones; 18 - H Kennedy (41 - C Maartens, 71'), 4 - S Kerr, 19 - Y Lawson (20 - H Edwards, 71'), 3 - T Mercurio; 30 - H Hindmarsh (6 - T Harrison, 76'), 8 - V Leighton, 10 - S Monaghan; 14 - E Robertson (29 - J Berkenbosch, 64'), 33 - H Colvin; 11 - C Henshaw (22 - E Maddison, 64')

TMB scorers: Henrietta Colvin [31']

Player of the Match: Nakiri Nagisa [RIN]

"Tech-enabled" Fortuna Coffee is one of the brands on the forefront of the battle between Robusta and Arabica coffee beans, of which Tumbra is a key battleground in.

Tumbra runs on coffee. That much is about obvious to anyone who steps into Tumbra, regardless of which of the various international airports they land at; the dark green of Moonbeam, striking indigo of Fortuna, or the inviting browns of Chestnut assail the senses everywhere. Each of these offer a different experience; Chestnut, being the oldest and most traditional of the big three Tumbran coffee chains, has a sit-down experience and focuses a lot on pastries, cakes, and other baked goods. Its interior decor, which usually focuses on wood-garnished furniture, a darker, more comfortable furnishings, and tiled floor, is meant to invoke the original coffee clubs that sparked Tumbran coffee culture in the first place.

Fortuna, meanwhile, are a recent player in the business; and their expansion has been largely predicated on their model of 'turn-up-and-go' coffee, where all orders are placed on an app, prepared by a barista at a shop that's barely more than a counter, and the customer simply shows up, grabs a coffee and a straw, and goes. Most of their stores are hardly stores, but just booths; there are no spaces for people to sit. Moonbeam are a sort of mix between the two; but they focus a lot more on seasonal drinks and ice blended coffees, as well as providing a 'third space' for people to do things apart from simply grabbing coffee and eating deserts. Of course, these aren't the only three — practically everywhere that sells food or anything coffee-adjacent will sell coffee, though Fortuna, Chestnut, and Moonbeam claim to specialise in them. Buying a doughnut from Mr. Michelin? You'll probably be able to get two doughnuts and a coffee for $3.45, which looks much more appealing than a single doughnut for $1.95.

All three of them, however, have something in common beyond being retail chains; they use Arabica coffee beans, which from perfunctory research seems to be the preferred coffee bean type used throughout the world. This is in comparison to the other 'big' type of coffee beans used to brew coffee worldwide, Robusta. Arabica beans, once roasted, tend to have less caffeine and a lighter, mellower taste than Robusta; a large reason why the people grumble that coffee prices are so high at those three chains in particular is because Arabica coffee beans tend to be considered of higher quality and therefore of a higher price. Arabica beans, too, tend to be imported from Kirungabi; while Robusta tends to be imported from Mavinet.

But those three chains are not the only place where coffee is sold; far from it. The importation of Arabica beans into Tumbran coffee culture is a relatively modern thing; Robusta used to hold sway in the Tumbran coffee market until Moonbeam was founded in the 1970s in Bencoolen (where else?). Indeed, Robusta beans still hold strong in Tumbra, and in contrast to worldwide trends, still forms the majority of coffee beans imported into the country, though that advantage has been decreasing. Tumbran coffee culture, at small cafes and 'coffee shops', tends to focus on smaller, browner cups of coffee (reflecting the higher caffeine content), and has a unique fragrance and tang. This is the unspoken 'fourth brand' of Tumbran coffee; one that's not limited to any coffee chain, but is just as mass-market as the three brands with a global reach. Its secret as to how it keeps its captive audience is how the Robusta beans are roasted; beans are roasted with sugar, with salt added halfway through and another dash of sugar at the end to remove the bitter aftertaste, leading to its fragrance.

How does one order a cup of Tumbran coffee then? One could simply enter a coffee shop and order a cup of coffee; that nets you a cup (normally about $1.20-$1.50 depending on various factors, the most important of which is rent), with a full dose of sugar and condensed milk. You could order it as 'coffee-o', which nets you a cup without sugar; order 'coffee-o-zero' for one with no sugar or milk, rendering it essentially black coffee. If you're into a fresher version, order a 'coffee-c'; which replaces the condensed milk with evaporated milk. The enduring value of Tumbran coffee is, quite simply, its cost; compared to $5-$6 for a basic cafe latte at any of the Big Three, generic Tumbran coffee costs $1.20-$1.50; the cost goes up depending on the customisation one makes to it, but the final cost rarely breaks $3. It's not really surprising, then, that in popular depictions of Tumbra, the working class is associated with Tumbran coffee; while the middle and upper-classes are associated more with international coffee.

TUMBRAN ROSTER FOR MATCH v OF THE HOLY SEE (@ BENCOOLEN CITY STADIUM, BENCOOLEN), @ DELITAI
Link to full roster
Goalkeepers: 1 - Victoria Jones [Lakewood City], 25 - Branko Cvitkovic [Serrapince], 34 - Lucas Rand [FC Inter Nantwich]
Defenders: 2 - Annie Renton [Serrapince], 18 - Hazel Kennedy [Couno Rangers], 4 - Stephen Kerr [Chromatik, CMT], 5 - Wendy Pritchett [Lakewood United], 19 - Yvonne Lawson [CS Saint-Rémy, KSK], 20 - Hannah Edwards [Kingston, QUE], 35 - Benjamin Byrne [Lakewood City], 3 - Tracey Mercurio [Kingston, QUE], 32 - Shim Seo-yeon [CSKA Quebec, QUE]
Midfielders: 6 - Trudy Harrison [Chromatik, CMT], 30 - Heather Hindmarsh [Newark Argyle], 8 - Victor Leighton [Lakewood City], 15 - Rachel McLaren [CSKA Quebec, QUE], 27 - Matthias Russelar [FC Inter Nantwich], 10 - Susan Monaghan [Lakewood City], 16 - Colin Campbell [Newark Argyle]
Wingers: 7 - Valerie Wells [Lakewood United], 29 - Johan Berkenbosch [FC Inter Nantwich], 33 - Henrietta Colvin [Lakewood City], 40 - Lilith Kendall [Couno Rangers]
Strikers: 11 - Charlotte Henshaw [Lakewood City], 21 - Edward Maddison [Avondale City, SYL], 22 - Julie Hardaker [Myana, CMT]

Schedule: v RIN, @ VCS//v DEI, @ CBP//v ADB, @ UHL//v ZEN, @ OVU//Bye, @ RIN//v VCS, @ DEI//v CBP, @ ADB//v UHL, @ ZEN//v OVU, Bye

[Crpostran]

[*]NOTE: Images on Page 2 of "Coach Bianchi" are from the Japanese anime/manga Blue Lock & it's character Ego Jinpachi. Photo taken solely for aesthetic purposes. Comic strips taken from the web, full credits to them & are again used only for aesthetic purposes. Sincerely apologising over the fact that no scorecard could be created, am extremely short of time as I am going through a rather decent jet lag after coming back home & have to prepare for school tomorrow. Promising to make it up for the next RP. Viva Crpostran!

[*][*]SIDE-NOTE: The RP also mentions about the Saintlake Regatta & Water Polo Grand Prix. These are "warm-up" events (unofficial) for the coming Olympics. As there is no RP bonus nor need to RP for said competition, decided to mention it here. RP graders/host may ignore the part of the RP where it is found if it is irrelevant. Thank you!

[Tanirinthia]

---

OF FATES AND FORTUNES
Chapter Sixteen - A History Lesson

---

Clara awoke to the gentle hum of the air conditioning unit, and for a sleepy moment part of her thought perhaps everything that had happened had been some terribly strange dream; but that gentle hum sparked in her brain remember how it came to be there. Looking outside she realised just how long she had slept for as the sun was high up in the sky, blazing down unrelentingly. A look at her phone confirmed that it was even later than she thought, well into late afternoon.

Her brain beginning to fully wake up she scanned her unusually tidy flat and noticed something that had escaped her exhausted eyes the previous night, on top of her desk were a pile of manilla folders with a note on top.

Here is everything I have collected so far to get you up to speed, remember to act with purpose

Jasper

Coffee. She would need Coffee. Heavens she couldn't remember the last time she'd had a decent cup of coffee.

One trip to her favourite local coffee shop, and she was back pouring over the documents, crumbs from the pastries we had also bought as it would be sacrilegious to not have not gotten them with the coffee. Drinking in the information along with her coffee, it seemed that shortly after everything Jasper said about the entity being let loose, research into travelling between worlds had commenced and within a year had produced results. Strangely instead of doing any number of things you might expect with taking the first fledging steps into cross-universal travel, what in fact happened was contact made with a multiversal organisation known as the WCC, a strange organisation from the research that Jasper had performed most notably in it's name and the tournament it was responsible for running, the World Cup. As far as he could tell this is not some translation error, in all the languages he had investigated it meant world in the sense of a planetary body, in our case Tanirinth. Even though most nations involved didn't share a planetary body, or even in some cases not in having a planetary body, the oldest entrant he could find seemed in exist in some quasi-reality of dreams. Entrants didn't even appear to be humanoid, even apparently armed ursines.

From this large amounts of research and money were pumped into ways to allow us to compete in such multiversal sports, while still concealing this from the general public. A talking bear with armaments would be noticed be even the most jaded of St Cirith denizens used to keeping themselves to themselves. Concurrently a team of young football players were brought into the fold from the top teams, based on their sporting prowess, but also on secret psychological evaluations performed to evaluate their ability to both handle the news and keep the secret. And finally at the beginning of 1987 they had everything in place and entered the dramatically name Baptism of Fire tournament. Jasper had gone on to dutifully keep archiving the results of our teams in these events, and now the team have found themselves qualifying for the first time ever for this "World Cup" which will be taking place in a land (or world it's unclear) called Chromatika.

Sports? Why in hells sport? Why is this all focused there, she thought to herself. Underdogs, giant-killing, how many times had she heard people complaining that their team would have easily one if not for x or y, things out of control...

Just bad luck

Chapter One | Chapter Two | Chapter Three | Chapter Four | Chapter Five | Chapter Six | Chapter Seven | Chapter Eight | Chapter Nine | Chapter Ten | Chapter Eleven | Chapter Twelve | Chapter Thirteen | Chapter Fourteen | Chapter Fifteen

[Ko-oren]

Era 1, 2 (prehistory to 2500 years ago)
Era 3 (2500-2000 years ago)
Era 4 (2000-1700 years ago)
Era 5 (1700-1300 years ago)
Era 6 (1300-1000 years ago)
Era 7 (1000-800 years ago)
Era 8 (800-500 years ago)
Era 9 (500-250 years ago)
Era 10 (250-150 years ago)
Era 11 (150-75 years ago)

As with the early eras, the exact cutoff point between the previous era and this one is nebulous. There are several candidates, and they hinge on your interpretation of what set the previous century apart from this one. After all, this time period is called the 'land of solar, wind, and hydro', so going purely by energy needs, the first time the country ran fully on renewable energy for an entire day falls somewhere around 75 years ago. It would take a little longer for renewable energy to fuel Ko-oren for two full days, then a week, a month, etcetera. And to be honest: maybe we still haven't converted fully to green energy, as the country still runs several backup nuclear facilities that kick in quite often, and can take care of the entire energy need if, say, the sun goes out, the winds lay down, and water stops flowing.

It was close after that point, some 75 years ago, that the government started experimenting with digital/electronic identities, E-government, and digital currency as well. An overreliance on foreign programmers put a stop to some experiments, but after developing an industry of our own in the northeast - free cooling for the datacentres - the programmes got off the ground. The modern Korona - the currency - still has a physical component but mostly relies on its digital representation in our mostly cashless society. Note that it's not a virtual currency depending on the definition of 'digital' and 'virtual' you subscribe to: it's a nationally accepted, centrally maintained, currency, subject to national, regional, and international law. The E-government programme got under way with fewer hitches, and grew out from a few small functionalities to a much larger infrastructure. This includes a national architecture and data standardisation that can be (re-)used by smaller companies and local governments to facilitate seamless data traffic with a built-in, nationally administrated, set of permissions. There's extensive geographic modelling and monitoring for everything from public works to microclimate monitoring (for agriculture, or Summer heat islands, etc).

Of course, none of that happened without issues at first. While Ko-oren today has reduced its monitoring of citizens, there were multiple cabinets that expanded on CCTV systems, permissions for police to view private data - because the technology was there and that information was available as technology progressed. The modern financial system came about after some industries refused to accept the digital Korona at first, and after significant security issues were remedied. Even today, the threat of social engineering looms, and has brought back the human element in transactions for a good cause.

The right to repair, and regulations as well as affordable, useful alternatives in packaging, processing, transporting, use, (and yes, disposal) has transformed supermarkets and shops. Again, initial hesitation was overcome when stringent regulations met usable alternatives. Logistics have embraced the available data landscape to better plan its hub-to-hub as well as last-kilometre movements.

Politically, Ko-oren has shifted from meritocracy-only to meritocracy-first, by instating a democratically elected parliament to oversee and correct legislation and budgets proposed and enacted by ministries. This is partly due to the country's horrible record in some international indices, which have traditionally put Ko-oren towards the bottom in democracy without acknowledging the checks, balances, and alternatives. As the parliament holds no significant legislative powers, MPs from different factions can work together despite ideological differences.

Architecture (working with the existing landscape, requiring little to no heating or cooling), urban planning (bringing down the number and destination of journeys while encouraging meeting, exercising locally), education (encorporating citizenship, digital abilities), healthcare (prevention over curing), agriculture, you name it: everything works different - and hopefully better - now.

The last century wasn't one of universal successes and a linear path of progression, however. The meritocracy was challenged multiple times through leadership crises. The country's pacifist stance was forced to reverse, partially, by the formation of a navy and an air force used in the Bostopian invasion of the Ochre Islands: not only were the armed services used in defence, they were deployed abroad almost immediately after their creation. In the conflict, some sources report that the inexperienced Ko-orenite forces fired first and de facto kicked off the confrontation. The alternative, of course, would be to let the Ochre Islands get invaded. Sources are not unanimous about the events; the Ko-orenite account is that our forces arrived to a scene where shots already were fired.

Our regional status has been in flux as well. Attempts to get a leading role in Atlantian Oceania were rejected or did not get off the ground in the first place. Initially we did not have a leading role in Anaia, either. It is believed that our status as a safe, mid-sized (and therefore non-threatening), non-Calanian 'outsider' made us the only immediately available candidate for the delegacy, as a member of the first hour of Anaia.

A series of looming food shortages in the southeast meant empty shelves in most of Ko-oren with some products not stocked for weeks. Locally, in Turanlohm and Ethubehte food was unavailable and brought in from elsewhere. In the same region, Summer droughts have become annual occurrences. Natural disasters have mostly been kept at bay but most regions of Ko-oren are under threat in some way, with Uruhrauzehn flooding also a regular occurrence.

With a heavy reliance on digital systems, outages are extra impactful. While large-scale outages have been prevented, some systems have gone read-only at times, and transactions have gone unprocessed for hours. Data storage and stream processing at this scale is pushing research, though. In an era with digital currency and E-government, other problems have popped up, such as the lasting loneliness crisis, entering its 6th year as an 'epidemic' with matching multi-disciplinary taskforce pulling from healthcare, social services, and psychology. Government policy in the last two decades has been able - though maybe not enough - to create spaces for neighbourhoods to (re)connect through activities, sports, and hobbies. A zealous obsession with efficiency in (urban) planning has created some difficult to undo problems. That said, all the systems are in place to catch problems early and an increasing focus on happiness/health over economic growth are helping out.

As Ko-oren constructed its identity, other nations were drawn to it. These nations have recently convened as the Constellation, in which territories and nations keep their sovereignty and use the Constellation as a forum for trade and growth. Immigration from these territories to Ko-oren is a steady trickle, the risk being a brain drain in the Constellation's weakest nations - though migration from Ko-oren to the territories to help set up systems without compromising what's already in place is also happening - one of few prerequesites to joining the Constellation being an existing drive towards sustainability and meritocracy - further unifying the processes of the territories and drawing them level to each other in economy, ecology, health, education, and so on.

To get back to the title of the era: the nation has committed to its carbon-neutral goal and is partially on its way there. Lessons learned must be shared with others for full effect: nothing exists in a vacuum.

[Saint Eleanor]

Group of Six meeting (XXXI) --- Loch Dearg 0-1 SAINT ELEANOR
Participants: Gentle Breeze, Reniira Clevinger, Stephen Mitcham ~ Bridget Coombe [C], Cathy Winchester [VC], Denise Livingston [ballot]
Location: Supreme Steakhouse; Whitehammer district, Saint Eleanor city, EXT

Stephen here, yet again. Yesterday's match was the exact same scoreline as the opening match, but achieved with rather less trouble (or rather more, depending on how you count). Olympia was first to the first serious ball and scored, we notched a couple of good chances that couldn't quite materialise, and Loch Dearg were denied any real opportunities. This being the Supreme Steakhouse, I think each person's preferences can be fairly easily inferred by the reader (especially if they're a fellow White Star; they should find the guessing game easier than most).

It was widely agreed that the 4-2-3-1 played against Edsmontik was almost a masterstroke of sorts, given the success we saw against them. Given the quality of their team so far, however, it was decided that Rachel Curran be the chief rightback, with Graham Lawson returning to his regular role. No other changes were seen to be necessary, as - given how well Olympia has proven herself so far - this is by some distance the best team we could have fielded

Oneshot: A Good Heart

3:24pm - Thursday 8th May 2273

As Rulandese went, Röémün Wâsâr barely seemed to have the slightest interest in setting things on fire. "That's what spending a quarter of a millennium here will do to you," snapped back his colleague, Leah Andrews. "I'm only 28, you silly," muttered Wâsâr, not even under his breath.

Wâsâr and Andrews were married, although he had wed one of OPAL's store managers while Andrews seemed to be more in love with her profession than with "Bradley," who she always claimed to be married to. On this occasion, though, they were waiting for some body else. "Want a cuppa?" asked Andrews. "No, Leah. I've already had one patient bleed out on me. It wouldn't be the most sensible idea to drink the next person's blood when I could have a cup of tea instead."

So Röémün prepared himself a nice cup of tea. Nice by his standards. The grottiness, and the fact it was tea, would disgust almost anyone else in Saint Eleanor, other than maybe his temporary best friend in the whole wide world. There's a lot of stuff you have to put up with when you're a doctor. Not all of it is learned on the medicine course.

Suddenly, here's another thing they didn't have the chance to pick up from their teachers. An old man, someone who could just about remember the White Stars' exploits at World Cup 191 all those decades ago, had been carted into their ward. "I know you're not cardiac specialists," said the nurse on duty, whose name they all instinctively knew. "But everyone - the ambulance driver, the receptionist, his wife, everyone - thinks that he's a golden opportunity."

Röémün was not happy about this. "Everyone? Did you ask Howard or Luke over in, you know, the actual heart surgery department? They'll have an expert opinion."

The nurse responded, almost immediately: "As you can see, this chap over here's been taken in for a few broken bones."

Now Leah wasn't happy: "I can't. I don't have X-ray vision yet."

"Figure of speech."

"We're doctors, lady. Maybe if we were nurses, we'd get it."

"But anyway, as you're surely aware, the year is twenty-two-seventy-three. Not nineteen seventy-three, or twenty-eleven or what have you. We don't really care for broken bones in an emergency like this. What we do instead is we leave the body to die. Then we find another patient who needs help, transfer the vital organs like the brain and the heart across, and voila! A brand-new patient, full of the wonders of modern medicine. Would you like this suffering man to receive our amazing new treatment, or do you think you can operate on his fracture?"

"I'll need to have a think. Don't touch him." Röémün and Leah were made to wait around for a few hours - he was carted to some other room as though he was air. They looked after another patient who needed urgent surgery, but it was a woman aged about thirty years old who survived the operation without a hitch. They never heard from the man, or the nurse, again.

As they were preparing to clock out around eight o'clock in the evening, a man who surely mustn't have been aged more than twenty-three came up to them, seemingly fully recovered. "Hello, somebody," he said to Röémün; "hello, whatsherface," he told Leah. "I think this is good weather, isn't it?"

"It's raining, young sir. Is there anything else you want to relate to Röémün and I?"

"Don't you remember the New St Paul bank heist of 2203? Weren't you in the area? It was terrible. I was only a few years old and my parents lost almost all their money and they had to tell me what happened."

"You weren't a few years old in 2203. Try minus fifty."

"No, madam! You need to believe me! I talked to everyone and they all said it smelled and nobody could see anything because of all the dust and..."

"Come on. Any other body issues? What were you there for?"

"My doctors told me I got a new heart. Some new heart this is. It's the same one I've had for eighty years." They talked for a few more minutes, before the young patient struggled. He struggled so much, his body came under such unprompted attack, that Röémün felt obliged to do the formalities on him, return him to Howard and Luke, then do the formalities on him again. And again, and again, then he left the two lads to it. Heaven knows how often a Rulandese man feels a genuine sense of moral obligation.

The heart surgeons took good care of the young, old, wise, foolish man. For the rest of his life, Röémün hoped that the nurses and everyone else in the hospital and everyone else in the district and everyone else in the country did, too.

Once upon a time, Eleanorians were sensible, hardy people who resisted falling for gimmicks.

[Huayramarca]

OOC: RP written in Spanish and translated by DeepL with further proof checking by me. The original text can be found in the spoiler.

The bye days of the World Cup qualifiers are the best, those days in which, due to the odd configuration of the group stages, there is one leftover team per date, they allow the teams to better adjust the pieces for future matches. The Huayramarcan Football Federation found no rivals for a friendly as it received no requests to do a friendly in the first place, instead Aginsogno decided to make the day off even more bizarre. “What if we practice physical resistance when climbing a mountain?” he asked himself when he woke up a couple of days earlier.

Obviously he would not put the team to climb Nevado Inti, since in the fall it is foolish for non-professional climbing people; The objective should be symbolic, challenging but not entirely considering that they are soccer players and not professional mountaineers. “Ah, I have to see what that hill in front of the training field is called.” He asked himself, alluding to the mountain that is on the outskirts of Chiquiago. It is not a difficult mountain, but requires permission to climb the last 50 meters because it is a sacred site for some.

Upon receiving the answer, he managed to process that it is the mountain that he had always heard but could not associate in any way, “Ah, this is the famous Illimani. I need to upload it with them. It can be a good way to build even better camaraderie among everyone, as well as appropriate physical condition training.” For context, Aginsogno is known for his preference for very physically aggressive training methods, to the point of exposing players to very extreme weather or difficulty conditions. The mountain thing would be a small walk compared to the time when the team attempted to climb Mount Inti and they had to turn back due to avalanches.

After preparing the logistics and everything necessary, the team left for the mountain, Bryan Tello jokingly said “Many of you know it, it won't be tiring” in reference to the residents of Chiquiago and those who grew up in the area. The Mamani brothers said “It looks imposing, but it is not difficult to climb. It takes almost all day to get up and down). While the team ascended, there was support among those who had the ability to climb and those who were not accustomed to the terrain, such as the players who were born and raised in the jungle or on the coast, since there is not as much altitude in these areas. areas if we compare it with Mount Illimani and its 6,500 meters high. (Although the capital is at 4,100 meters high, so there isn't much difference)

The experiment did not go badly, since the players enjoyed a beautiful sunrise while climbing, beautiful views and viewpoints towards the capital. They also made stops to prepare sandwiches and replenish energy for the last sections, those that require the use of ropes to reach the top (which they were granted permission to reach). Just around noon, the team reached the summit while snow was falling, but that did not impede the view of Chiquiago. Orlando Mina, from the coast by birth, mentioned “The Sierra has beautiful views, no lie. All this effort to climb was worth it.”

They looked around the place and came down after an hour, a little faster considering that sunset is earlier in the fall than it used to be in the summer. Aginsogno was satisfied in the end as he said “This was the training the players needed, demanding but with a very good view of the city. They need to know that you have to work and support yourself to reach the top of football; I know they have understood it and the message will be obvious for what is to come in the tie.”

Los días de descanso de eliminatoria mundialista son de lo mejor, esos días en los que por la configuración impar de las fases de grupos hay un equipo sobrante por fecha, permiten a los equipos ajustar mejor las piezas para próximos encuentros. La Federación de Fútbol no encontró rivales para un amistoso ya que no recibió solicitudes para hacer un amistoso en primer lugar, en vez, Aginsogno decidió hacer del día libre una cosa más bizarra. “Y si practicamos la resistencia física al escalar una montaña” se preguntó al despertar un par de días antes.

Obviamente no pondría al equipo a escalar el Nevado Inti, ya que en época de otoño es una tontería para gente no profesional en la escalada; el objetivo debería ser simbólico, retador pero no del todo considerando que son futbolistas y no montañistas profesionales. “Ah, tengo que ver cómo se llama aquel cerro que está en frente de la cancha de entrenamiento.” Se preguntó, en alusión a la montaña que está a las afueras de Chiquiago. No es una montaña difícil, pero requiere permiso para subir los últimos 50 metros debido a que es un sitio sagrado para algunos.

Al recibir la respuesta, logró procesar que es el monte que siempre había escuchado pero no lograba asociar de ninguna forma, “Ah, este es el famoso Illimani. Necesito subirlo con ellos. Puede ser una buena forma para armar aún mejor camaradería entre todos, así como un entrenamiento de condiciones físicas apropiado”. Para contexto, Aginsogno es conocido por su gusto a métodos de entrenamiento muy agresivos en lo físico, al punto de exponer a los jugadores a condiciones climáticas o de dificultad muy extremas. Lo del monte sería un pequeño paseo a comparación de la vez que hizo al equipo intentar ascenso al Monte Inti y tuvieron que regresarse por causa de avalanchas.

Después de preparar la logística y todo lo necesario, el equipo partió hacia el monte, Bryan Tello decía en broma “Muchos de ustedes lo conocen, no será fatigante” en referencia a los residentes de Chiquiago y quienes crecieron en la zona. Los hermanos Mamani decían “Se ve imponente, pero no es difícil de subir. Toma casi todo el día subir y bajar). Mientras el equipo ascendía, había apoyo entre los que tenían facilidad para escalar a con aquellos que no estaban acostumbrados al terreno, como el caso de los jugadores que nacieron y crecieron en la Selva o en la Costa, ya que no hay tanta altitud en dichas zonas si la comparamos con el monte Illimani y sus 6,500 metros de altura. (Aunque la capital está a 4,100 metros de altura, así que no hay mucha diferencia)

El experimento no salió mal, ya que los jugadores disfrutaron de un bonito amanecer mientras subían, bonitas vistas y miradores hacia la capital. También hicieron paradas para preparar sandwiches y reponer energía para los últimos tramos, esos que requieren del uso de cuerdas para llegar a la cima (a la que les concedieron permiso de llegar). Justo llegada la mediodía, el equipo llegó a la cumbre mientras caía nieve, pero eso no impedía la vista hacia Chiquiago. Orlando Mina, costeño de nacimiento, mencionaba “La Sierra tiene bonitas vistas, ninguna mentira. Todo este esfuerzo para subir valió la pena”.

Contemplaron el lugar y bajaron después de una hora, con un poco más de prisa considerando que el atardecer es más tempranero en otoño de lo que solía ser en verano. Aginsogno se sentía satisfecho al final ya que dijo “Este era el entrenamiento que necesitaban los jugadores, exigente pero con muy buena vista hacia la ciudad. Necesitan saber que hay que trabajar y apoyarse para llegar a la cima del fútbol; sé que lo han entendido y el mensaje será obvio para lo que se viene en la eliminatoria.”

[Bears Armed]

OOC: When typing-up my previous post I accidentally omitted a couple of planned details but didn't realise that until after the cut-off. I've now added them, just for the sake of completeness, and in case any of you feel like checking I've put them in green so that they're easier to spot.

___________________________________________________


The time: Match-day 12, late afternoon.
The place: NorthPort National Stadium, NorthPort, The Ursine Northlands.

As had also happened already on the Bear-Belles' previous 'bye' day during these qualifiers, the Belles have split their squad into two teams that are playing against each other in a charity match to raise more funds for the Red Octogram organisation. Half-time has just begun, and the players have left the field: The side labelled 'The Captain's Crew' are currently beating 'The Coach's Crew' by 2 goals to 1.
Out on the playing field, two separate marching bands have arrived -- one at each end of the stadium -- and appear to be trying to out-do each other in volume as they both play the tune 'NorthPort by the Sea'.
In the VIB box⁽²⁾, BAAS chairBear Morra Dumble is talking with the Red Octogram's national chairBear Gerhyha Moon [Clan Silver-of-Night] and with Mavhaarra Shipwright [Clan Red River] who is chairBear of the Northern League, the organisation that manages football in The Ursine Northlands⁽²⁾.

(Morra) "Urrgah! That's loud...
"Couldn't we just have had one single band?"

(Mavhaarra) "Unfortunately not. This is a fairly regular occurrence here, because the Navigators and the Raiders⁽³⁾ have such a deep hrrivalry that they both insist on providing bands drawn from their own supporters and traditional allies of those hwhenever the stadium is being used for important matches... as well as hwhenever they play against each other, hwherever that takes place. Didn't you...
"Oh, hrright, you weren't here last summer for the Belles' match against the vistors frrom West Vdara, were you... I forget hwhy that was?"

(Morra) "One of my cousins is not only a wizard but a professorr at Hogwings Academy. I'd gone to visit her there, to discuss some family business, hwhen the entire school was placed under a lockdown for a hrreason that I am now oath-sworn not to hrreveal."

(Mavhaarra) "Hr'rmm. Hoky, but you need to know that there was some grrumbling in these parts about yourr absence. Too many bears here too took it as an insult to the Northlands, because it seemed to indicate that we weren't considered worth visiting..."

(Morra) "Urrgaah!"

(Mavhaarra) "Ayyuh. And of course that group overlaps noticeably with the group that thinks we don't get enough of the Belles' matches played here, or enough of ourr players included in the national team..."

(Morra) "Urrgah, again. Those people need to start looking more closely at the facts. With the Northlands having barely a tenth of the nation's overall population there is just no way that we could get away with giving NorthPort half of the Belles' home games as the more extreme "Northlander patriots" demand, nor even a third of them, and players for the Belles are honestly selected on the basis of merit: It isn't the National League's fault that the hrrather lower fans-to-teams hrratio up here means that the Northlands can only afford so many fewer fully-professional teams than the Mainland does and therefore so many fewer professional players...⁽⁴⁾
I suppose that next you'll tell me those people are calling for the Northlands to go back to having their own 'national' team for World Cup qualification purposes and other international football?"⁽⁵⁾[/i][/size]

(Mavhaarra) "A few of the more extrreme ones are, ayyuh."


___________________________________________________


OOC Notes

1. "VIB" = "Very Important Bear", of course.

2. The Ursine Northlands is an autonomous region within Bears Armed as a whole, and is accessible from the nation's other [larger, & far more populous] section -- which is generally referred to by its own inhabitants, in this context, as 'The Mainland' -- only either across other nations' territories or through a set of ancient & mysterious [& presumably magical] 'Gates'. Its football clubs are outside the so-called 'National League' which, despite that name, operates only in 'The Mainland'.

3. The city's two professional teams, which are commonly the Northern League's two highest-ranked teams as well, whose supporters normally decided which of them to follow on the basis of Clan loyalties and/or religious beliefs. People who know much about RL Glasgow might find this situation familiar...

4. She's basically telling the truth here, although there might be some subconscious bias in favour of choosing Mainlanders rather than Northlanders simply because most of the selectors know more about them.

5. They did this for about half a dozen consecutive World Cup cycles, starting somewhere in the late 40s or -- at the latest -- very early 50s. That team never qualified for entry into the World Cup itself, though, even though the 'Bears Armed' team -- which during that period was effectively representing only 'The Mainland' -- managed to do so more than once.

[Cardenao]

Siovanija and Teusland 4–1 Cardenao

Long after the final whistle had gone, Kai Chidubem stood looking out the window with a cigarette in hand. The dismantling against Siovanija and Teusland the day before hung over him like a localized downpour…everyone could see the dark clouds above him, he looked like a veteran of the military operation in the Ochre Islands the way he blankly stared and smoked.

From the kickoff whistle, it was painfully clear the Cardenaoan national team was so far out of their depth they might as well have been fish out of water. The first Siovanijan goal came within the opening minutes after a slick passing sequence that sliced through our midfield and left our defense grasping at shadows. And then they did it again……and again. By the time halftime rolled around, La Furia Azule was down 3-0 and were completely outplayed. Every time they attacked, it felt like we were a man down, constantly one step behind, like kids playing against men. Sure we pulled one back, a consolation goal for sure but it had been a beautiful one when Haritz Larrainzar hit a sweet curling shot into the top corner from about 22 meters out. Their fourth goal was the final nail in the coffin already well nailed up, it was a stunning volley taken out of the air that left Kai completely rooted to the spot before he fell over helplessly.

When the final whistle came, it was a welcome sign of mercy. The Cardenaoans were outclassed, outplayed, and now left wondering how to recover ahead of a second half of World Cup Qualifying that would be defining for the Blue and Golds campaign. It wasn’t likely, the odds were stacked against them, but there was a chance of qualification. There was a chance to go all the way……they just needed to win every remaining game.

Valentine Z 1–1 Cardenao

Valentine Z……the tall folk. Kai Chidubem couldn’t believe how tall they were, even from his perspective standing on Cardenao’s goal line. This was……not a great match to watch, cold, rainy, the quality of football on the pitch looking decidedly amateur, it was like both team’s decided to not play their best. Even the goals had been goofy and flukey–the Blue and Goalds, found the net in the 27th minute from a Moustir-Yves Almeny mis-hitting a cross that somehow floated into the back of the net while their goal had come in the 53rd minute after one of the ValZians took a wild shot that bounced off two Cardenaoan’s defenders before barely rolling over the goalline.

The rest of the game was an entirely dull affair, with neither team really playing with decidedly attacking intent. Kai barely had to make a save, barely had to make a pass. He just……stood there, trying to keep focused and keep his head in the game. The game was so uneventful that the referee began looking at his watch for the final whistle minutes before the full 90 had transpired.

[i]‘Just get this over with’ was the thought of every single man, woman, and child who had the misfortune of watching this game. When the final whistle did blow, by the Gods what a relief. In a game where somehow both teams should’ve lost, a draw certainly felt deserved, but it was hard to care.

[Sangti and the Filindo Isles]

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WORLD CUP 97 QUALIFYING
Frain: Keep your expectations realistic
Agilang Dilaw manager speaks out after series of malicious comments harrassed some of his players

NUEVO SAN MARCO - After the fifth qualifying window of matches, the Agilang Dilaw of Sangti and the Filindo Isles maintained their fifth position, five points behind The 14 Stars occupying third position in Qualifying Group 1, which could have been only 3 had the Sangtians defeated Alanis Star at MoBo Stadium. However, they only managed a goalless draw, though Tomio Sulangi continued his goalscoring form as he scored the only goal when SFI visited The Grearish Union, beating them 1-0 and keeping pace on the top 3 of the group.

The Sangtians' run of form has caused people to expect that the ones clad in golden yellow should qualify for the World Cup, and started a trail of hate posts targeting some of the players who underperformed against their fellow unranked team. This is up to the point that they started to threaten them with kidnapping, rape, or even killing. This has caused an uproar in the Sangtian football community, and Vicenzo Frain, the manager of the national team, has been quick to address the situation in their pre-match conference against Quakmybush.

"I would like to say that we need to temper our expectations. It is extremely rare for an unranked team to qualify for the World Cup on their first attempt, and those nations have prior experience in the Baptism of Fire tournaments preceeding the qualifying campaign, which makes our case even more rarer. I ask our constituents to support the players' mental health as the threats the people are making are not funny, and could further negatively affect the national team."

SFI currently has the best defensive record in Qualifying Group 1, only conceding 9 goals and recording four clean sheets. However, their attacking form could be improved, as only bottom teams Quakmybush and The Grearish Union has scored fewer goals than the Agilang Dilaw. The sixth international qualifying window sees the Sangtians host Quakmybush, before heading out to Shanzhou to visit the Tapirs of Nova Calania, which have been unlucky to score only four points in their campaign. The Agilang Dilaw beat the Anaian nation in their first encounter at Nuevo San Marco, however, with this being an away match, pundits are already expecting the unranked team to take a loss against the third seed of the group.

[Kirungabi]

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World Cup 97 — Matchdays 9 and 10

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Kirungabi 0 - 1 Damukuni
67' Sly Yoxall

Tikariot 2 - 2 Kirungabi
25' Rungayindo Gatabazi
37' Mikael Danderyd
49' Daniel Sankalin
90' + 3' Pascal Mutabazi

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Memoirs of a People's Plight: Regroup

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The latitude at the far south of Kawakiyambu had become the de facto border between where the KBLF ended and the central government's sphere of influence began. The ambush of Abongereza — the loss of the KBLF's undisputed leader, Commander Gisa — had rattled the rebels to the core. Even though Innocent was ready to take the reigns of the movement, the crushing defeat in the northern city jeopardized the loyalty of the FAPAKI officers the militia had managed to win over on the promise of a steady stream of funds. The morning after the attack, a handful of FAPAKI squads tried to brave the Gushumeka river valley, trundling among the plantations on their way to Butare to eliminate Innocent's KBLF-B cell. The terrain and the lack of an element of surprise, however — plus the overwhelming superiority of the KBLF-B against the outnumbered, ill-prepared, and undisciplined government troops — quickly squandered their attempt at erasing the militia. Deep pocketed FAPAKI troops loyal to the rebels helped to quench the threat, forming a cordon sanitaire, as they called it, around Butare and up to the northern border to protect the KBLF-B's territory. From then, and after the sudden demise of at least 15% of the KBLF's troops, the objective slightly shifted.

From then until 1993, the KBLF regrouped into two cells again: the KBLF-B remained as it had, based in Butare, but gradually expanding west and southwards as the Kirungan economy tanked, the value of the mikopo plummeted, and the volume of black market activity grew. The territory in the north-west was hilly and tough to traverse, with spots of thick jungle sprouting amongst acres of farmed hillside land. To make matters worse, the region was, historically, primarily inhabited by Fupi peasants during the colonial era. Oftentimes, Fupi farmers offered resistance to the advance of the Barebare rebels — especially as the economic crisis worsened — but the KBLF eventually learned to deal with the threat of peasants armed with hoes and sickles: either through sharing profits, or violent repression. The other, new, KBLF cell, the KBLF-I, formed in the untouched Igimbakirwa peninsula, setting roots in the untamed bush and establishing a crucial transport route for goods crossing from Mwanzibashi and Kawakiyambu to Imisozi. The cell, moreso a disjointed network of Barebare and Fupi collaborators, also kept tabs on the state of the FAPAKI, and support for the central government, in Mugugu and Mwanzibashi.

The growth and advancement of the KBLF was led by Commander Innocent. His sweet talking had served to woo FAPAKI border patrols to such an extent so as to almost completely pierce the northwestern border, allowing a free flow of Barebare refugees and exiles who had caught wind of the brewing revolution in the former Thousand Hills. Crucially, the cordon that loyal FAPAKI had established around Butare gradually grew to cover the eastern base of the Igimbakirwa Peninsula, keeping the operation of the KBLF well secure against an Abongereza-stationed government batallion that was increasingly both unpopular and underpaid. As the years went by and the KBLF continued to expand southward, two things became apparent. Firstly, the proportion of rural Fupi farmers was far higher in the early days of the civil war than it was into the 90s, as the government of the PRDK continued to relocate urban Barebare across the farms and fields of Kirungabi to house Fupi in urban centers. This gave the KBLF a much-needed and direct supply of disgruntled Barebare into their ranks, all the while strengthening the KBLF cells in the cities of Kawakiyambu and Mwanzibashi who convinced poor and vulnerable Fupi newcomers to collaborate in the trade of the KBLF's contraband coffee, tea, and minerals.

Second, even despite the government's urbanization — and Barebare relocation — scheme, some villages were devoid of Barebare completely. It was a phenomenon that became common as the 90s progressed, when Ubwenge lost protagonism in RTK broadcasts to his second-hand man and hardliner Grégoire Gicumuro, as everything from radio talk shows to commercials seemed to uphold Fupi Pride and call on laymen to preserve the purity of Democratic Kirungabi. It was especially after animated radio speeches from Gicumuro that KBLF forces arrived in villages that received them with distrust and disdain, and sometimes, everyone from children to pastors armed with clubs and machetes — their grips and edges stained with blotches and streaks of red. The correlation between the PRDK's radio shows and the apparent scenes of a fresh massacre were brutal and unequivocal; Innocent's pulse seldom trembled as he raised his army's rifles to retaliate, and bundles of homes and churches empty of Barebare were swiftly left vacant of life altogether.

Tensions rose further into the 90s, and even though the economic crisis in Kirungabi worsened, to the point that the KBLF's black market had become a real competitor to the legal economy, Grégoire Gicumuro realized the central government had to step up to combat the rebels directly. An injection of funds into the FAPAKI in the middle of the decade coincided the start of the PRDK government's "kwisukura" campaign — purification. The closer the KBLF crept towards the southern export hub of Gusohora, the more frequent that engagements between the rebels and the government — and government-enabled, Fupi-perpetrated massacres against Barebare — became. With their trade networks under growing threat, and a suddenly reinvigorated FAPAKI entrenching themselves in Gusohora and beginning to repel KBLF advances, it soon became clear to Innocent Uburiganya that the period for insurgency had run its course, and that it was time for an all-out direct confrontation against government forces.

[Zwangzug]

"Okay," said Stephen. "Do we have a scouting report on these guys?"

"Father Abraham," said Jubilee, "had many sons."

Gretchen gave a perky nod. "Many sons had Father Abraham."

"You too, huh?"

"Sorry." Ernst blinked awake. "Where were we?"

"Church camp song?" Gretchen asked. "Ridiculous but catchy. I think it winds up turning into an increasingly long list of body parts and actions to make kids burn energy when they're stir-crazy."

Jubilee nodded. "That's how come we still remember. Songs get their own part of the brain. Like muscles. Both at once is irresistible."

Stephen sighed. "Anyone else."

"I'm pretty sure Indra is gonna be on defense," said Beppo. "Or goalie."

Stephen glanced down at the clipboard. "I think he's an attacker, actually."

"No," said Sohini. "Cause it says. Indra's net. That's the goalkeeper."

"Maybe they meant the one he's shooting at."

"Are we sure about that?" Jess asked. "The pronouns, I mean? What if Indra's a she or a they?"

"What if?" said Harold testily. "What's it to us?"

"We could ask for those little stickers," said Tandre, straight-faced. "Just to be safe."

Stephen glared. He was pretty sure Tandre was trolling--102d people could be like that sometimes, even if they didn't have any Bassabook rivals to rile up--but not entirely. The deadpan made it difficult to tell. On the other hand, if Tandre had been one of those people who'd had the ability to confidently shift between different facial expressions, that would have unnerved Stephen too.

"Yeah, that's a good idea," said Alyssa. "I think Iris would really like that."

"You haven't even met her," said Beppo.

"No," Alyssa admitted, "but I'm pretty sure she loves rainbow flags!"

"Speaking of rainbows," said Jubilee, "their uniforms are nice."

"Their uniforms are an eyesore," Sohini said. "What is that thing on the front?"

"I dunno," Jubilee admitted. "But the stripes are pretty. And it works in either black or white."

Brian had paced over to lurk behind Stephen's clipboard. "They only have seven players and they decided to field a goalkeeper anyway? What's the point."

"The outside world is just like that," said Stephen. "We're second seeds. Don't let them faze you."

As he passed DiMarini, who was studying her own pile of papers, he gave a small nod. "I can see why you're really gonna miss this."

"What was that?" DiMarini, who was getting old but still more than astute enough to recognize when her captains were being Zwangzugian about something.

"Nothing."

(MD9: Indra 74; Marcus 22, Brecht 54, Kotani 90+3)
(MD10: Reed 83)

[Pasarga]

Groups 9-17 Matchday 11/12 Cutoff

[Aleirave]

What You've Been Hiding
Crpostran 4-5 Aleirave

(continued from this RP and this one from Eshialand.)
“So you want me to investigate what?”

Election Commissioner Alice O’Donnell was the sort of person who never expected to be bothered at work. After all, as Election Commissioner, 90% of your work is going to be right before the federal election, and with that still being a year off, why would anything ever come up?

“There's been some corruption in Aleirave–” Haulafo said over the phone.
“...allegedly…” Will interjected, in a tone that made it clear he was perfectly willing to hang up the phone he was holding in his hand.
“--yes, allegedly… and we need someone to help us investigate it!”

Commissioner O’Donnell was clearly not amused. “Aleirave is a provincial-level subunit, we are a federal state and it can manage its own affairs…”

“Uh…” Haulafo said, clearly not knowing what to say here.

“Actually,” the king said, always somehow knowing exactly which law to cite, “under the Aleirave Integration Act of 2023, there are a few provincial duties that, due to the small size of the island's population, belong to the federal government rather than Lahaira’s, and one of them just-so-happens to be elections.”

“You have got to be joking me…” Alice said, clearly dreading having to do real work in the job she asked for.
“I do wish I was. Anyway, time for your job to get interesting… would it be possible for you to investigate what's going on over there?” the king asked her.
“I don't even know what sort of corruption is going on, let alone have an inkling of probable cause.”

“Hey, hey, I do!!!” Haulafo yelled through the phone, reminding Will that he should probably turn it towards the Commissioner.

“Go on…” she asked him flatly.

“As you may know, Governor Adari’ena was never a big fan of Union Stadium and the throngs of tourists it was bringing…”
“This involves a sitting governor?” she asked Haulafo, realizing that this might be even more serious than she thought.

“Yeah! Anyway, so when I turned that idiot Tony Beaujoleil and his floating shitbox away, because you know, nobody on the island really liked it, Refilene decided to get really mad about ‘economic opportunities’ or whatever.”

“So you think he's in the pockets of–”
“Mainlander big business, yes.”
“Do you have any sort of receipts or are we operating entirely on hearsay?” the Commissioner asked, clearly skeptical of the whole situation.

“That's what I told him!!” the king shouted, clearly in agreement with Alice's skepticism.

“Ugh, listen…” she told Haulafo before letting him answer her question. “We can send investigators over there, but at the end of the day, it's very hard for anyone here on the mainland to police what happens down there. Best we'll probably be able to do is fine whoever's sponsoring him if they do turn out to be Eshian, then let the forces of political scandal handle the rest.”

“Is that it???” Haulafo asked, clearly distraught over the response. “All you're gonna do is tell him ‘bad boy’ and then let the idiot voters decide??”

“If we meddle in the island's affairs it could be seen as a massive overstep.”
“That's what I told him!!!” Will interjected again.

“Shut.” the Commissioner told him. “I get it, you dislike this horsepucky just as much as I do. And frankly, I'm glad you're finally being the responsible one instead of bursting into random buildings pretending to be a pizza boy.”

“Hey, I wasn't a pizza boy, I was only bursting into a pizza place delivering breakfast… and who even are you to tell me how to do my job??”

“Shut.” she told him once again. “Anyway, back to the matter at hand… Haulafo, we'll send some investigators over to Refilene’s office, he'll probably tell them to leave him alone, in which case we'll have to come back in a week with a warrant. That's all I or anyone else can do for you at this stage.”

Haulafo was clearly not happy with the result, although admittedly, something was in fact better than nothing. “Fine…” he capitulated, “but I want to see this resolved as soon as possible. Preferably, with someone ending up in jail.”

“I can't guarantee that, but we will do what we can in accordance with the law. Have a nice day.”

[Drawkland]

As one streak ends, so begins another. Praxis Collingwood dominated the headlines and the hype edits at the beginning of Drawkland's World Cup 97 Qualification campaign thanks to her hot streak. 6 goals in 4 games including a hat trick on opening day is a great way to start off the cycle, but Collingwood has not found the net in the five game since. Part of that isn't her fault, due to some lineup shuffling to keep each player fresh, but over 270 minutes of time have yielded only 2 shot attempts and 0 goals for Collingwood.

While one player on the older side has been getting a majority of starts, so too has a player on the younger end of the spectrum. Cecilia Benbow is a college prospect from the University of Missomen who has been playing amazing ball over the last few years. At age 21, she's one of the youngest players to receive significant starting time on a Kick Corps roster, dating back to 20-year-old Cam Cross in World Cup 77. With the wealth of talent Drawkland has available at forward, this seems almost as ridiculous as consistently starting 40-year old Collingwood, but Cecilia has proven her worth thus far.

Early Life and Development

Cecilia Benbow was born and raised in Gelia, known for its historic soccer culture. Her parents (Richie and Courtney) were both soccer fanatics, though her mother never played professionally. They quickly introduced Cecilia (known to her friends and family as Cece) to soccer at a young age, and she took to the sport like a ring in a bell. In middle school, Cece declared that she wanted to play for the University of Missomen, which is where her parents had met and married soon after graduating. She had been raised as a Missomen fan, both the university and the professional DLK team known as the Keets (like budgies).

As Cece improved her craft in high school, some believed she had the talent to declare for the DLK draft straight out of high school, which is especially rare. Cece declined this option, keeping the promise she made as a kid and accepting a full-ride scholarship to play for Missomen's soccer team. Even so, with how well she's played, she was still turning heads. As an underclassmen, she's still in contention for national-level DOCA awards due to her goalscoring prowess.

Corps Debut in IAC-21

Of course, there's dozens of excellent strikers at both the professional and college level who are about as good as Cecilia, and have more experience. However, Missomen is located in Ellzidanet, which is unsurprisingly the home territory of Ellzidan, the current Kick Corps manager. Ellzidan had personally watched several of Cecilia's matches during her novatim season at UMissomen, and felt that she had The Right Stuff to play for the Kick Corps. Thus, with IAC-21 coming up, Ellzidan extended the invitation to Cece to join the Corps. She accepted heartily, grateful to receive such an opportunity at a young age.

Cece didn't receive any playing time in the first two games. One was a disappointing loss to Valentine Z (for the second consecutive game, as the previous Kick Corps match was a Cup of Harmony loss also against Valentine Z), and the other was a close draw against Adab. With one game to go in the group stage and only 1 point earned, the Corps would need a miracle to advance. A big win against Geektopia and a Valentine Z win over Adab was needed.

Ellzidan figured the team was already screwed, so she played around with a different lineup than usual for the final game. Cecilia was on the starting line, and she proved her worth immediately. She scored in the 13th minute, and didn't stop from there, collecting another pair of goals to earn a hat trick in her first start. Powered by Cece's offensive burst, the Corps won 5-0 over Geektopia. That was only half the equation, though, as Adab defeated Valentine Z to capture the group title and shut Drawkland out of the IAC playoffs for the first time in decades.

Cycle 97 Qualifiers

Even though the "win" didn't get the result Drawkland needed in the IAC, Cece turned plenty of heads with her 3-goal performance. It was natural that she would receive another call-up for the World Cup 97 Qualifiers. Some were surprised that she seemed to be part of the standard starting lineup, especially as she went scoreless in the first five games of the campaign. Then came the critical away match against HUElavia, and that's where Cece stepped up.

Drawkland held a tight 1-0 lead over HUElavia for a majority of the match, but the HUElavians were pressing and threatening to tie the game in the final minutes. Suddenly, an errant pass was intercepted by Emily Tobin, who kicked the ball out to Praxis Collingwood on the money, and the counterattack was on. Praxis looked to score herself, but saw that Cecilia had space on the right side. Cece received the ball flawlessly, had one man to beat, and shook him loose with a devastating juke. Her shot and finish were on the money, putting Drawkland up 2-0 with less than 10 minutes to go, effectively icing the game.

Then she did it again, scoring the lone goal at home against North and South Slavo-Baltia. It was again late in the game, the 76th minute, when she received the ball on a crosser and buried it in the bottom left corner of the goal to take the lead in an otherwise fantastic defensive match. That goal was the difference maker, and the crowd in North Point (only a day's drive from her current home in Missomen) was ecstatic.

Then she did it again, her goal stood as the only score against West Vdara. It would've been the tying goal had the Drawkian defense not imploded in the final minutes to allow the go-ahead score from the communists. To equal Praxis Collingwood's 4-game scoring streak, Cece netted two against Yak Empire in a much-needed 4-2 victory to get back on track.

Now, the media are paying attention. This young starlet is doing things very reminiscent of a young Cam Cross in her debut cycle with the Corps (technically it was everyone's debut cycle in 77, but whatever). If she keeps this pace up, Cece will be on track to be a Kick Corps legend for years to come. That, or this is just a weird heater that will burn out soon as she fades into irrelevance. That's the fun of sports, isn't it? Whatever the case, watch this space. Great things may be cooking.

[Katzeburg]

“And so it is with a heavy heart, I must step down as head of the Katzeburg Football Federation.”

Josef Brand was standing to the side of the large media room at the KFF. Brendan Kerr was on stage, finishing his speech to the small crowd of two journalists and one security guard which had gathered for his press conference. For someone who had always been keen to be the loudest and most prominent person in the room, Kerr had slunked through into the conference, not even complaining about the less than stellar turnout.

“I have given everything to this organisation and it has been an honour to be the first ever chair of this organisation. As we head into the World Cup qualifiers, I have no doubt in my mind that Becka Haberkorn and the national team will do this country proud not just for this cycle, but years to come.”

“Just wrap up and get off the stage,” Josef muttered to himself. They were so close to getting out of this with some face intact. Yes, it was embarrassing that the head of the federation was stepping down on the eve of their qualifiers, but it could be so much worse.

He eyed Amanda in the third row as she continued to frantically make notes - as long as she didn’t throw a curve ball in maybe things might be alright.

“Thank you again for your time,” Kerr finished up.

Josef sighed in relief - they had made it.

“Any questions?”

He snapped his head back up - Kerr had just opened the floor. They could be fucked.

“Ahh yes - Adam Masterston from the Katzeburg Football Chronicle here. What do you think your defining moment will be looking back on your time as head of the KFF?”

A safe question, Josef thought to himself. Bless the Chronicle.

“Well, yes - I think our run to the final four of the Baptism of Fire was a marvelous achievement and one which will stand proudly in the history of our nation. Being able to help facilitate that and see the team go through so many trials over in Hapilopper was something I will never forget.”

“And who will be stepping into the role now?”

“Well, I believe the next steps are for the federation’s board to decide on a replacement process and then proactively look for the next head, and it is expected this process will take a few months in whole, likely a fair chunk of the qualifying cycle. Anyone else?”

Josef scanned in panic - Jeff was just absent mindedly scrolling on his phone, no worries there. Amanda was the challenge.

She finished jotting something down before sticking her hand up in the air - Ahh fuck, Josef thought.

“Yes, you?” Kerr indicated to her.

“T-Thank you sir,” Amanda stuttered. “Amanda Richards, KBC - Will your departure of this role mean you will be committing more time to your constituency position as the MP for Wolfenholm North?”

“Well, yes in short - It is fair to say it has been a big challenge balancing the two roles, and I always take my constituent’s feedback into account and the message is clear that doing both for such a long period would not have been sustainable, so choices needed to be made.”

“So is that the core reason you are stepping down from this role?”

“Well, it’s a hugely important position, representing a local community like Wolfenholm North, so in order for me to be the best MP I can, decisions had to be made.”

Kerr seemed like he was starting to shift nervously - Josef swung his head over to Marvin, who was pacing up and down on the other side of the room, deep in thought.

Amanda continued.

“Turning to your time as head of the KFF - your tenure has seen a national start-up league form albeit outside the oversight of the KFF. Do you see this league as an issue for the KFF to manage going forward?”

“Well, here’s the thing,” Kerr started to stutter. “The league is doing a fantastic job and shows that there is plenty of space to promote the beautiful game on our shores. Yes, it’s not ideal to have this separation between our national federation and its top league, but this is as both things are so new - we’ve barely had time to connect and collaborate.”

“Is this a case of you handing the role to someone else to avoid being drawn into a potentially prolonged battle against the domestic league which could cause the sport to suffer in Katzeburg?”

“No! Definitely not - as I said earlier, this role combined with my role as Wolfenholm North MP meant discussions had to be made about the best way to take both forward, resulting in a hard decision.”

Josef was panicking - Kerr was floundering and this fucking intern smelt blood in the water.

“Our team has heard from sources that you’ve been using your parliamentary role to exert undue pressure on the domestic league, including recommending changes to the proposed North Katzeburg Railway to cut out some towns which have been earmarked by the league as potential expansion sites for its third season - would you care to comment?”

Fuck. They knew.

Kerr stood stationary, looking like his brain was starting to malfunction in response to the question. Marvin burst up onto the stage and started pushing Kerr off stage.

“Well thank you all for your time, but this conference now needs to end - our former chair needs to do his offboarding interview and he’s running quite late.”

Amanda continued unperturbed. “Have you operated corruptly by combining your role as MP and KFF chair to overthrow the domestic league and bring it under your purview Mr Kerr?”

“That’s Enough!” Marvin shouted, while continuing to shuffle Kerr out the door.

“The public needs an answer!”

Josef watched on the chaos rapidly unfolding before his eyes. I think I might need to grab some takeout tonight, he thought to himself. This is just beginning.