Star Wars OPEN Elite League Limmie

IC: Bill Hitts

Archer’s Point Game Day Firedrakes vs Tatooine

Bill landed his speeder next to an open spot in the stadium parking lot. The empty spot belonged to Spencer and Bill was surprised to find it vacant. The head coach grabbed his data pad out of the passenger seat next to him and quickly checked for messages. There were none. Bill reminded himself that the boy wasn’t quite 18. Maybe he had slept in for once in his life. But that was just it, Spencer wasn’t even 18 yet and he was always the first one to the stadium on game days.

Before Bill could decide if he should check up on the boy he heard his speeder roar into the parking lot. When it landed Bill was surprised to see a passenger in the seat next to Spencer. Not just any passenger either. There was a young lady at Spencer’s side. Bill watched closely as the tall redhead got out of the speeder. “This is Samantha,” Spencer says proudly as he grabs her hand and walks next to Bill so they can head into the stadium together. “I told her she could come see the game. Is that okay?” He asks.

“It’s your team,” Bill reminded the teen. Bill had read through his contract 100 times and there was nothing in it about keeping the Vigo boy out of trouble. Still Bill had to wonder if Spencer Vigo ended up a young father or heartbroken, would it reflect poorly on him. Would he lose the best job he’d ever dreamed of having? Bill reminded himself how Martin Vigo had taken care of him when he needed. He knew he had to do the same for Martin now and keep good watch over his son. “Where did you two meet?” He asked Spencer.

“In ballroom dance,” Samantha answered. “Spencer was the only human male tall enough to be my partner.”

Samantha grew up on Bespin. She was the daughter of wealthy parents much like Spencer. The two seemed to be a good pair. During the game Samantha sat quietly in a folding chair near the locker room entrance. It wasn’t the best of arrangements, but the stadium was sold out for opening day. The Sandskimmers nearly pulled out a win. Losing by only one possession. It was a hard fought game. Standout performance for the young keeper Padme McKenz. Bill had hoped for more out of his offense. Pitahaya was sloppy, the Knott twins weren’t playing with the gusto they had just a few short seasons ago and despite Jaya’s promise to “score all over the place” if she played without shoes she had only one point to her name this afternoon. It was the young Wookiee full forward Lofykam who had scored two goals. The other single point had come from the veteran McTodd.

Spencer tried not to show how disappointed he was in the loss. Bill had dinner with him and Samantha before they headed back to campus. Every afternoon aside from one when Samantha was in class she came with Spencer to watch practice. Bill worked tirelessly with Jaya, trying to see if he could help her find the spark that had got her drafted into the Elite League as the third overall pick. He knew the Togruta wanted another chance and it was his job to give her that chance. Meanwhile Spencer picked up right where he had left off with the defense. There was the experienced players in Drif and Sichi and the young Comron, Orsaka, and McKenz who played the game for all it was worth. This team could go far if the offense would score, Bill knew.

When Concordia arrived at Archer’s Point on game day the following week Bill could sense that Jaya was nervous. She was going up against her old club today. “Go out there and show them what they’ve lost,” Bill encouraged as the team was about to take the field.

Tags: jcgoble3 Bardan_Jusik

 

IC: Briar Thorne
Hearthstone Café, Lower Midtown District, Coruscant

Briar sat outside the café at one of the small tables for two, sipping a cup of tea as she looked through things on her datapad. Most of the time she could get by on these types of lunch trips without being recognized; the few times she did necessitated a change of scenery should autograph seekers, of which there had to be millions upon millions of them, out there. But today was going fine, she thought. There was a light breeze blowing, gently tickling her face as she sat in her laid-back manner, or at least what kind of laid-back way Briar Thorne could be in.

The game against Carratos was coming up in a few days’ time, and it was Briar’s job to make sure she fielded the best team against the Pirates that she possibly could. She had brought Christine Gamble in the prior day to ask her on the state of things with the defensive unit; it had been somewhat of a long route to get the necessary information from Gamble, but Briar had finally pried it out in such a way where Gamble had to reveal her own personal opinions on the state of the team and the organization. Briar had trained herself to be an expert in the art of the interview, something which had obviously helped her land this job in the first place, and Gamble had gone along with the plan in a very willing manner. There had also been the Roosey signing, but Briar wasn’t going to concern herself with that too much. After all, Roosey was a project at best, and with Bessimir she would learn the nuances of the game and the coaches there would report to Briar on if the fighter-turned-player could be of any service to the organization. If nothing else, at least it would bring the Senators a little publicity for the fact that they signed such an important face in her collective sporting worlds. A little curious press never hurt, although the League was probably skeptical about a member team that was not Nar Shaddaa signing a high-profile brawler.

Finally her sandwich came, and she bit into it eagerly. The first bite was a bit underdone, she thought, so she placed the sandwich by the wayside and drank another sip of cool tea. She had grown up with the tea habit on Bakura to avoid the alcohol binging that her fellows engaged in. She wasn’t necessarily against alcohol, because she was known to knock back a few drinks at times, but the tea was a nice alternative that provided her a slight stimulant for times when she really needed to think, but when caf was too much. Besides, a café like this usually only served one or the other, and the tea was usually far superior to the ‘house-made’ caf that actually came from cans purchased at any supermarket. Besides, she could choose what kind of tea she wanted from the tray that came with the tea kettle and cup. Today she was feeling a lighter fare, so she had gone with one of the less-exotic blends that have a very light taste to it with a hint of sweetness.

“Briar?” came a voice from out of the blue. Briar was ready to take another sip of her tea as she stared off into the distance, but the voice and its proximity shocked her out of that thought. If someone recognized her, that probably wouldn’t be good. But it sounded . . . familiar . . .

She looked up to see a blonde-haired man roughly her age standing there by her table, his hair somewhat slicked back. He was wearing a leather jacket and slacks like a typical city-slicker would, and the sunglasses that had been on his eyes were now riding above his eyes.

“Jet,” Briar said, rather unamused. This was not something she had seen coming, nor something she was particularly interested in.

J. T. “Jet” Adama sat down in the chair on the other side of the table. “I hope you don’t mind,” he said.

“Not at all,” Briar said, but the dry tone of her voice likely betrayed her feelings on the contrary.

“I see that you’ve been up to quite a bit since I last saw you,” Jet said. “Being a General Manager of an Elite League ballclub . . . that’s a huge deal. And it’s great . . . it’s what you said you always wanted.”

Briar put her tea cup down on the table. “What do you want, Jet?” she asked.

“I was literally just walking past here, and then I thought I recognized you. So I had to inquire. It’s been a long time since I just met someone I knew walking around town.”

Likely story, Briar thought sarcastically to herself. But her face remained stoic as she looked to her datapad.

“I know you’re probably still a little sore at me,” Jet said. “And I’ve wanted to say for years that you were right all along. I was a real jerk.”

Briar’s eyes moved up from the datapad to look Jet square in the eye. “How long did it take you to come to that little conclusion, I wonder?” she asked, the vitriol in her voice twinging her speech.

“What do you mean?” the Bakuran man asked.

“You know damn well what I mean,” Briar said. “You left me out to dry all those years ago.”

“I was a foolish young guy with a lot of money, I thought you would understand . . .”

“Apparently not,” Briar commented. “You promised me the galaxy, Jet, remember? You, the hotshot young forward with the name-brand lineage, and me the hard-working assistant. It might have looked like a perfect match, and for a while I thought it could be.”

“If this is about Ilena . . .” Jet said.

“It has everything to do with Ilena,” Briar said, her voice not wavering. “I remember that you hinted a few times that we were perfect together, and that I would have to pick out my wedding dress by season’s end. And the sad thing was that I believed you that we had a future together, but I wasn’t quite ready to go all in when you were. I was hesitant, and not quite sure if that’s what I wanted at that time in my life. But that made me too hesitant for your liking. So Ilena comes into your life, and you promise her the galaxy like you did to me. Except that she was more willing to give herself to you, and it looks like it worked out for you when I got the job on Bison that year. That way I was out of your hair.”

“Briar, it wasn’t like that,” Jet said, backtracking. “Ilena was a really good friend, but I wasn’t trying to push you away. I didn’t want you to feel jealous, but when you went to Bison, you tried to cut off communications with me . . .”

“The way I remember it, you cut the connection with me, not the other way around,” Briar said. “When I went to Bison, I was a naïve young girl a few years out of college with the bright mind to someday be a big-time GM. You were the star player who was confident he’d win a few titles. It got me out of the way of your little relationship. You pushed me aside because your promises were as empty as your head.”

“Whoa, what’s with the personal attacks?” Jet asked indignantly.

“You cut me real deep, Jet, and those are wounds that don’t heal,” Briar said. “I’ve never forgotten how you easily just pushed me aside for another girl. So I promised myself during those days that I would never feel the pain of rejection again. There was no use getting to know someone who might have been your best friend and then to have someone else take them away from you, and worse yet that best friend be the one telling you that you just aren’t enough for them.”

Jet sat in silence as Briar finished her statement, and it was obvious that the conversation was taking a turn for the worse. Briar took another sip from her tea cup and then a bite of her sandwich; she didn’t care so much about the bland taste of it, so it tasted just fine.

“What do you want me to say?” Jet finally asked. “You want me to apologize?”

“It’s too late for apologies, Jet,” Briar said. “Those moments are ancient history now. We’ve both grown up, and it looks like our stars have moved in completely different directions. And I’m fine with that.”

“Ilena left me,” Jet said. “After the ’68 season, she left me for another man. It shook me to the core, and I started to really struggle. That’s why when Cundertol came in, I was on the chopping block immediately. He brought you back to Bakura to learn from him, but I was on my way out. When I got traded to the Senators, I knew there was no way back to you, so I decided to go it with other options. But the trade to Ryloth changed everything; that ruined my career because I didn’t see eye-to-eye with their GM. Ever since, I’ve pretty much been bouncing around various leagues doing what work I can. I played for season in a small pro league, and then I coached entry-level ball for a couple of years. Now I’m an assistant coach with the Bakuran College of Mines. That’s not even Bak10; I was coach at Evenvale once, dammit, and it seems to me that they’re better off without me at the helm. And I’ve seen some women, but I never got it together because I knew I had burned all my bridges with the only two girls who really understood me. One of them left me, but the other, I knew I would be forever sorry that I let her go. And now I’m sitting at the same table with her spilling my guts because I promised myself that I would do so if I ever ran into you again.”

“What a coincidence,” Briar said, rather unmoved by the man’s sob story. “Those times are long gone, Jet. I moved on; it’s time you do the same.”

“But why can’t I get another chance with you?” Jet asked. It was striking how optimistic the man was, after all he had just said.

“There won’t be another chance, Jet,” Briar said. “I’ve moved on, like I said. I have a nice life that I built by myself, and I don’t need anyone else to share it with. My younger self would have disagreed with it, but I have come to terms with my life. I’m just not good enough for the men around me in the ways they want me to be, so instead I built my reputation on my work ethic. And it’s taken me far, farther than even I ever expected. But look at you; your career is in shambles, and you’re still kicking yourself over how you jilted me. Enough with the cloyness, Jet, I know this is about more than just your sanity.”

“It’s about a lot more than that,” Jet said.

“So why are you here, actually?” Briar asked, taking another sip of tea.

“I know I screwed up, Briar, and I want to make it right,” Jet said. “Because if I don’t, it’s going to be hard to live with that failure. Please, just give me a chance to redeem myself; I’ll do anything.”

Briar sat there in silence for several seconds. “It’s too late for that, Jet,” she finally said. “I’ve moved on, and nothing you say can change my opinion of your conduct towards me.”

“Are you sure?”

“It’s time for you to move on. It won’t do you any good to dwell on the past. Good day, Jet,” Briar said. She stood up from her chair and walked away, leaving Jet at the table with the half-eaten sandwich and almost-empty tea kettle.


TAG: No One, although Trieste probably will find this interesting

 

From the Data Pad of Tomas Vigo

Game Day

​

I’m in my sideline uniform. If you’ve never seen me work a Starkillers game before it consists of freshly pressed khaki pants and a Stakiller Blue collared shirt with the team’s bright orange logo on the upper left side. I’m in Coach Till’s office waiting for him to bring the commissioner in for our interview. I’m embarrassed to say this but I’m actually a little bit nervous. I called my brother Richard yesterday to help me with these questions. We don’t talk much, so I didn’t know if he’d be willing to help. He was actually really excited I called and he had a lot of advice for me. All the questions I’m going to ask had to be approved by Coach prior to the interview so there’s nothing that will knock the planets off their access here or anything. For a Coach’s office this one is probably somewhat small. Coach Till used to have a huge office, but when he agreed to share his coaching duties with Coach Jul this past off-season his office was reduced to half the size. There’s a door now connecting the two offices that used to be Coach’s office. Coach Jul and Coach Till will be in there making last minute game preparations and of course for back-up if I need it.

Here comes Lokensgaard now. I’m going to cut right to the chase with an easy question after the formalities are out of the way. He enters with a smug look on his face a neutral blue jacket. The color is a fair representation of the Miners and the Starkillers. There’s probably a contest going on here between us as to who can stick their nose the furthest. This is my family’s stadium and his league. We probably think each are equally important.

What is your favorite part of being the commissioner? I ask

"Getting to travel to see games like today's," he said, "The Elite League has the best limmie in the galaxy and to be able to be there to experience it, week in and week out, is a delight, especially when it's played in beautiful venues like Financial Square Arena. This is the standard of excellence that the League wants to encourage in all teams."

Good answer I move on to the second question I came up with on my own. What did you want to do with your life when you were my age? He asks how old I am and I tell him almost 14.

"At that point, I wanted to be Supreme Chancellor of the Republic. I think that this is a vastly more enjoyable job.”

Well we dodged a bullet there. At least he’s only the commissioner of a sports league. Now I go for one of the lengthy questions my brother put me up to. What is up with the schedule? How do you justify giving teams 5 and 6 week road games? This is the 2nd time in 3 years the Starkillers have closed the season with a 3 game road trip. It’s not good for revenue. What do you say to owners who have made investments in stadiums like ours, and as you're about to see ours is amazing, when they don’t get to play home games for 6 week stretches during the season or after week 8 like us this season?

"No schedule is going to please everyone. Some teams are always going to travel further than others or for longer periods of time," Lokensgaard said, "Some teams like long road trips. The Miners, who are geographically isolated, actually appreciated the fact that their travel has been, with the exception of today's game, collected into a five game road trip to end the season. I disagree that these road trips are bad for revenue. In the Starkillers' case, they'll have made a lot of credits upfront that they can hold in reserve. Additionally, the League regularly distributes media revenue to teams throughout the season. There's no team, the Starkillers included, where the League is concerned about the financial health of the team. Beyond that, some teams appreciate these long stretches where their stadium is not tied up with weekly professional limmie games. They can hold concerts and other events like college limmie games in the stadium, increasing profitability."

I think my mom and brother would still argue that it’s not easy to keep converting the stadium to host such different activities and that it would be nice to keep it a sports venue for the season, but I didn’t agree to argue with this guy, just interview him. I move on to a hopefully easier question. How do you decide what teams will be demoted and promoted?

"The Membership Committee continually monitors the Premier League and the GCLA for outstanding teams that we think are ready for the Elite League. We'll take note of some real up-and-comers below that, but we focus on those two. The Board of Governors ultimately votes on the Committee's proposals. As for demotion, level of play is definitely a consideration, but we do keep a close eye on the financial stability and viability of each member team. That doesn't mean that we're going to keep a profitable but bad team in the league. It does mean that if a team has lots of empty seats--often times a result of poor play--we're going to consider whether the benefits of keeping them in outweigh the effect on other teams. I'm pleased to say that right now things look great in all our markets."

Sounds fair. This last set of questions again from my brother is a little personal since it reminds me of Ty’s injury. That day was really scary for all of us. A player nearly died on the field in Coruscant in a friendly match before the season even started. Our own Ty Allin lost consciousness on field in Bakura for several minutes during a regular season game a couple seasons ago. Are you concerned a player may die on the field? What do you think that would do to the image of the sport? Are you doing anything to prevent that from happening?

"Player safety has been, and remains, a major concern of the League. We mandate medical professionals be on hand for each game and that a certain level of medical facilities be available at the stadium to deal with injuries, plus emergency transit to a hospital in the event of serious injuries. A player dying on field is frankly unacceptable. The game needs to be safe. We owe it to players, their families, and the fans. In fact, it's an obligation that we can't ignore."

I go ahead and press a little on this issue because it means a lot to my future. If I go on to play professionally or just if I remain part owner of the team. Do you think the game would suffer if it were less violent? Is that why you’re hesitating to take action?

"I didn't hesitate at all to suspend Lereoux of Nar Shaddaa after her ejection. We're instructing our refs not to let blatant, senseless violence slide. Some fans and teams aren't going to like that. Some coaches and players think you can hit your way to a championship. That's not the beautiful game and I will not tolerate that. As for whether that would impact fan interest, absolutely not. When bolo-ball is played with skill, that's just as exciting as any big hit. I'd say it's more exciting. If we cut down on dirty play, we'll see more of that."

Maybe this guy isn’t so bad after all. That was my final question so I wrap up the interview and let Lokensgaard know that we will be taking a tour of Financial Square Arena now. I rap on the door that connects the offices to let Coach know that I’ll be heading out with the commissioner. Coach Jul sits behind her desk without giving acknowledgement of our presence at all. Till looks up from his data pad for only a moment to thank me for the heads up. “Come on,” I say to Lokensgaard as I lead him down the hallway to the locker room.

I’m really proud of our stadium. Mostly because my father designed it. It’s designed to be like the locker area in the most upscale country club. The fresher area is all made of marble in different shades of blue. The benches are made of the highest quality wood that’s stained so they are nice and glossy. The lockers are spacious and each one has a nameplate that’s engraved. Ty has read my questions so when we get to the locker room he’s wearing an old jersey with holes in it. To represent the lack of funds we have due to our three game road trip (at least I think that’s what he’s getting at.) Ty also has a patch over his eye and a sock hanging out the bottom of his shorts. He’s a hot mess. If Coach saw him now he might get benched. I hear Kaat’s loud mouth from the far side of the room, “Is his royal highness here?” She calls out coming my way. “You here to watch us mop up the floor with the Miners today?” Kaat asks. “Cause it could get ugly out there today. We might just see Bartholomew Vigo’s real eye pop out this week.”

Quickly I pull the commissioner away and lead him down the hall. “Don’t mind her,” I say. I mention that the dance team has their own locker room and point it out. We don’t stop there because the dance team is likely rehearsing or indecent. The next level is just under the main concourse and the whole level was meant to be the GM’s office. My mom was overwhelmed by its size so she made half of it into a studio for the dance team to practice indoors when needed. There’s a large window overlooking the city of Cambrielle on one whole side. Even my mom’s office now is bigger than most small apartments. I let the commissioner take a look. It’s furnished with marble tables, nerf hide chairs and sofas and a large wooden desk. The floor is blue marble and several blue rugs are placed under the furniture.

Our next stop is the concessions area. Fenton Tobles greets us and has some samples for Lokensgaard to try. Our main concourse is grand there’s marble everywhere including the countertops of the stands. Orange and Blue Starkiller flags hang from the ceiling and fly everywhere. There are three types of nacho cheese available to the commissioner.

The commissioner gladly and eagerly sampled everything that was on offer. "Now this is one of the best parts of coming to Financial Square," he said before beginning. I wondered if he still thought so when he got to the really hot nacho cheese, given the way that his eyes were clearly getting watery. Believe it or not, the commissioner swallowed it with a smile and gasped, "Delightful."

Dr. Zing is our favorite fizz so we have provided the commissioner with a souvenir cup filled to the brim in case he went for the hot cheese sauce. He grabs the cup and begins to gulp the fizz. I don’t bother to hide my laughter. There’s also sausage links that are quite spicy, some of our famous vinegar and fries and some greens soup that my mom put on the menu new this year to encourage healthy eating. It actually tastes pretty good if you can get past the color.

As with the nachos, the commissioner tried everything and was highly complimentary. "My mother raised me to try new things and it's when I come to a place like Financial Square that I'm glad she did." He even ate the soup! And the kids at school called me a momma’s boy. Yeesh.

The commissioner has already been to our stadium to see a regular season game so I skip showing him the stands and take him upstairs to my mom’s suite on our own private lift. Fans will be let in soon so we have to hurry. When I open the door to my mom’s suite it’s complete chaos. My mom is dressed in a tight orange dress and she looks stunning. That doesn’t stop her from putting her fingers in her mouth for a good whistle to stop the kids from their running and screaming for just a moment.

My mom gathers everyone and introduces them. She starts with T.J. and Rah Rah. Of course she calls them Ty Junior he’s four now, and Ezra who is almost one. Next up my mom introduces Ty’s mom, Jenny Allin. Then she introduces Bat’s daughters Serene who is 3 and Tyffanie who is 2. Bat’s wife Georgia goes next and finally my mom lifts Louise up from her feet where she is crawling to introduce my sister. “There’s a seat for you down front by the glass,” my mom says pointing. “Food will be here shortly. Make yourself at home.” Lokensgaard goes to take his seat and T.J. follows behind him. T.J. sits in the seat right next to the commissioner and asks “Are you my daddy’s boss?”

I quickly make my exit so I can type up this entry before I have to get to work. When I get to the locker room Ty is in his proper uniform. He’s giving a game day speech of sorts, even though warm ups haven’t begun yet he is really pumped. “They say the odds are against us to beat Bakura here on Ralltiir. It’s never been done before they say. Well never tell me the odds,” Ty hollers out. This is going to be a great game, I can feel it. Better go make sure my crew has the water, gundarkade, towels, and extra jersey’s ready. GO STARKILLERS!

Tag: Trieste

 

GM Post

HSN Headlines

• Miners postgame comments after first win in five games against the Monarchs
  • Valerii: "We were wolves today"
  • When asked to elaborate, the coach said: "The wolf is one of the few things that can kill a badger."
  • Falene Trieste on limiting Maggie Adams: "Believe it or not, it was my uncle who told me to run my legs off and keep up with her speed. I think it helped."
  • Nathan Red on second week of being significantly penalized: "You have to play this game tough. Give a skilled team like Rydonni Prime room and let them play their game and they're going to take advantage."
  • When asked if the Miners were less skilled and needed to foul the Monarchs to win, Red replied: "No, we've got an experienced, skilled roster, but you don't give a team like the Monarchs chances to get back in the game if you can help it."
  • Captain Niskat Deenever: "We executed our gameplan. Now we start thinking about Ralltiir, who I really want to beat because I can eat part of that trophy and I could kill someone for some cake right now."
  • Horst Penn on covering Vesper Lynd: "She's given me the runaround a lot in the last few games. In fact, she probably thought I was dead. Well so did the President...'s enemies."
  • Saiada Clarette on a question regarding a supposed non-call on her in the second half: "I'm not going to answer hypothetical questions. Refs decide penalties, not me."

TAG: CPL_Macja Runjedirun

 

GM Post

HSN Late Headlines

• Salis D'aar Times reports that a wedding license has been filed in Watercrest county on Bakura for Horst Penn and Patrixa Eldred, daughter of Miners Chairwoman Regan Eldred
• The license is dated earlier in the week, prior to the Miners' departure for Ralltiir
• Team has not made Penn available for comment since news broke
• Regan Eldred is currently reported to be in transit to Ralltiir and has been unable to comment

TAG: Runjedirun (for lead up to next game) Tim Battershell (for some Agamar love) Bardan_Jusik (because he loves Horst)

 

IC: Kelly Telaam
Carratos

Kelly stepped off the shuttle as a blast of fresh air hit her hard in the face. She quietly rejoiced that she no longer had to smell the trash infested moon of the city she now called home. Still, her nose wrinkled as the Smuggler team shuttle landed nearby and the burgundy and black, wearing their road white jerseys, disembarked as a slight breeze crossed her path.

"Who'd they substitute for Lerouex?" Kelly asked her team as they headed to their hotel.

John Tullock, the stoic goalline referee, said only one word. The only thing he'd said the entire time over to Carratos.

"Fortune."

Kelly sighed. Andres Fortune. Acquired in free agency after the Ralltiir Starkillers jettisoned him a season ago. Had never amounted to much of anything with the Smugglers as the starters for the team from the Vertical City never seemed to wear out. Now the Smugglers were reeling with their smash-mouth firebrand rotting on the bench. In her place was Andres Fortune, one part of the Vigo family saga, the heart of what had once been the makings of a proud Starkiller attack.

"We're going to have a game ahead of us," Kelly said as her team headed to bed.

Carratos

Part way through the second half

Pirates 27, Smugglers 30

The Pirates weren't backing down to the Smugglers today. Kelly couldn't blame them. Carratos had owned the match up the last few seasons and had every right to feel confident. Unlike last week, where the hits between the Rangers and Smugglers were to the point of excess, this particular match was one of precision strikes. Neither team was giving to the other in the deadly dance to emerge victorious. There were some body checks, a few errant punches, but nothing that was flagrant or worthy of a suspension.

That was the part of the game that surprised Kelly the most as she kept the whistle tucked cleanly in her mouth. This was a battle of finesse between two teams who were similar in personality. Two teams built to brawl. Two teams built to maintain an eternal system of checks and balance on the other. Carratos and Nar Shaddaa were part of the Skywalker Conference after all and that, she knew, drew a segment of the Elite League population that was less than respectable.

Sharp movement, clear and pristine, drew Kelly's eyes away from the shootout that had developed today. The blonde hair of Zelena Wiles flashed in the stadium lights as she brought her knee up to slow the momentum of the Carratos Forward, Else Reppen. The knee dug hard into Else's gut sending the young being to the turf in pain. Kelly blew her whistle to cheers from the home crowd who sensed on the tips of their tongues what the call on the field was going to be.

"Unnecessary roughness, number 56, Zelena Wiles," Kelly declared as she faced the crowd, "that penalty results in a direct penalty kick for Carratos."

"Oh come on!" Zelena said as she trotted up to Kelly. "You can't charge me with that penalty! I was just trying to stop him from scoring, that's all!"

Kelly turned to face Zelena and replied, "I understand that but it is how you tried to stop him that drew the penalty."

Zelena's face turned red with anger. "Nobody's ever called this on me before! This is ridiculous! Come on! The old refs never turned me in! Lerouex was right! The league is punishing us!"

Kelly shook her head and replied, "I'm not the old refs, Zelena. You have a complaint with the league you take it up with the commissioner. Now, if you'd get out of my way I have a free kick to oversee."

Zelena put her hands on her hips and tried to stop Kelly who brushed past her. Kelly wasn't going to be baited into a fight. Not this time. Not ever.

Kelly scooped up the ball and placed it in the appropriate position on the field. She recalled that because a penalty had occured, and one that was borderline flagrant, Else Reppen would have a unique opportunity to score a goal or put up points above the bar with only rookie goalie Charlie Blackwood defending. She could feel the heat, laserlike stares coming from the Smuggler sideline, as she stepped back to signal a resumption in play.

“Get up Else,” Seiji shouts through cupped hands,

“Come on El,” Leigh joins in, There’s a small argument between Wiles and the same ref that disallowed my goal. Time for the Smugglers to feel her cold judgment and they couldn’t have picked a better person to take a penalty kick. Bar point or goal it is going to be Else’s. She gets up a little pained and lines up on the ball. The crowd gets quiet for a moment. Else charges forward and lets a rocket off her boot.

Pirates 30, Smugglers 30.

The game resumed.

Kelly noticed the energy of the Nar Shaddaa Smugglers had shifted. They were amped up after the penalty that Telaam's crew had called and now they were letting the Pirates be the whipping boy as point after point was put up much to the dismay of the Carratos faithful.

"Watch the crowding in the backfield," Vlad pointed out as Kelly backed up into the home of the Smuggler defense to avoid being trampled by the resurging Pirates.

"They're playing nice and physical back there, watch out," Isabele added from her perch on the right flank.

"Don't worry about me, I'm fine!" Kelly replied as she zeroed in on the action in front of her.

Kelly knew that tunnel vision was a dangerous thing to have especially when refereeing an Elite League game. She just couldn't take her eyes off the frantic assault in front of her that the Carratos Pirates were making. There was something mesmerizing in their movement. Something that made her mouth relax and the whistle drop to her chest. At that moment she knew the decision to lower her guard was a mistake. She knew it wasn't the best move.

The last thing she felt was a crushing pain in her head as her vision swirled and swam in a sea of white jerseys.

Tag: galactic-vagabond422 (The small part about Else was written by galactic-vagabond422 and this entire post was approved by him ahead of time)

 

IC: Logan Manx
Goss-Pell Memorial Stadium, O’pahz, Carratos

Taking the Heat​

I step on to my home field, and the crowd gives a loud Pirate cheer. The stands are packed with black and white, just what I like to see. I take my position at the front and smile, for the longest time I never thought I’d be playing in the Elite League on Carratos, but here I am staring down probably the toughest team in the galaxy a short speeder ride from where I took my first steps on a limmie pitch. I look to where Shady Lerouex would be lining up against me, and see Anders Fortune, then look I to the ref. The last meeting between us had led to more than a few uncalled penalties, from what I saw during the Rangers/Smugglers game the officials would be watching very closely, we’ll have to be careful we’ve lost some games due to penalties and I’d hate to lose our home opener because of them. I hate losing in front of a home crowd, I hate hearing ‘Deadman’s Chest’ being sung towards the end of a game when we’re down by so much. It hurts all of us locals a lot to lose at home, and since the majority of us starters are from here that’s most of the team.

I put thoughts of losing out of my mind and focus on the start of the game. I stare down the rookie nicknamed “Maverick”. The Smugglers are coming off a huge win against the Wookiees and Trandoshans of Kashyyyk but, we’re coming off a big win of our own against the reigning champions. The game starts and “Maverick” gets possession and gets around me in a flash, maybe I am too distracted. My legs pump trying to catch up but, their front line reaches our defensive zone and somehow breaks past the half back line. Where was our defense? The crowd boos as the Smugglers draw first blood, I grit my teeth, this is not a good start.

“Tighten up a bit D,” I call out, I glace to a nearby ref, “But, keep it clean.” I reset a little frustrated that they scored first on my home turf. I know I need to keep in control, I’m team captain now, and I need to set an example. Qazi tosses in to Brian and he burns up the sideline with Ponie running out in front waiting for a leading pass. I don’t see the rest of the play until the bolo-ball reaches Rime, Nara, and I. I search for open ground, a search that Konder isn’t making easy. Nara, under pressure, dumps back to Seiji and I see a flash in his eyes. He has an open lane right to the goal he could score and tie the game but, ‘Iron’ Arezzo made it very clear not to deviate from the game plan. I make a signal for him to charge the net anyway, I’ll take the blame we need this goal. He instead makes a rushed pass to me. I scramble to get under it and it drops right into my arms. Making a fast step I manage to get around my marker and dive at the net.

I stare down another rookie as I bear down on the goal, she seems very composed. Out of the corner of my eye I see Rime coming in on the right side, for probably the first time in my career I make a pass to Rime as I charge at the goal. I threw it too low for him to head it like he usually does with me but, he manages to bounce it off his chest and fire off a powerful kick. The shot rises fast and just barely makes it under the cross bar tying the game. The crowd turns around, cheering Rime’s name and singing ‘Drunken Spacer’, force I love that song. I sometimes get the feeling that the stadium amplifies that song so that it drowns out all other noise. Maybe it’s the spirits of the ‘Arcadia’ singing with them. That though sends a shiver down my spine. I make a quick glance to check for extra players or ghosts on the field.

I see none so I return to the game trying to keep containment. The ‘Iron Cage’ fails and the Smugglers break out of their defensive zone and smash into our side. This time they stand strong, Mikia dragging the “Iceman” to the ground. We try to take advantage of the turnaround but Leigh gets held up by Tran and loses possession. The rest of the half is a back and forth battle I net a goal but, the Smugglers answer right back. Towards the end of the half the score is tied and I want to go into the half time break in the lead even if it’s by one point, I try to signal to the half forwards to go for a bar point, I get nods from, Seiji and Else, Leigh seems to be a little out of it. I watch the play in the midfield as Windreaver strips the ball from Gabby and starts an offensive charge. I don’t see what happens but, I know a ref’s whistle when I hear one. I see our defense line up for a free kick, Bel, or Samia must have pulled someone down on a breakaway, a good penalty, if there was such a thing. I hear the fans collectively take in their breath, and then let it out in a deafening boo. Three more points go up on the board for the Smugglers. I run the fingers of my left hand though my hair. Seiji looks at me signaling a bar point, I shake my head and signal for a goal. Seiji points at himself then along his line mouthing,

“Us?” I nod my head his eyes go wide a bit,

“I’ll take the heat,” I shout back, we need the goal this time, no holding back. Seiji got the ball and I clear a lane. He comes charging down the field faking a pass to Nara on his way. It is just him and the goalie now this is the best chance we’ve got to tie this up before the half. The shot leaves his hand going low and to the right, Blackwood just barely gets a toe on it. I rush out to knock the rebound in the crowd cheering behind me. Blackwood is quicker than I expected and made the save, the crowd’s collective sigh hit me like a hammer. I try my hardest to pick off the pass in, but it sails over my head. Else fights Wiles for possession breaking away with the ball and a grimace on her face. I grab her quick flick pass she has to make before being taken out by the fuming Wiles. I turn take two steps and rush a shot at the goal. It hits the cross bar and dives into the ground, on the inside of the goal. I shout into the air I did it, I tied the game. My celebration stops when I realize the officials weren’t counting my goal. I hold my hands out wide and glare at the ref, “Come on, it was across the line,” She shook her head and explained that the ball wasn’t fully across the line. I can hear the crowd booing the officials, “That’s,” I hold my tongue for a moment preventing myself from saying something I’d regret later. “That’s wrong, it was across the line.” I pause again holding my gaze into the cold blue eyes of the ref, “Can you hear them,” I say pointing to the crowd “they know you’re wrong too.” She calmly explains that she doesn’t follow the crowd she follows the rules and what her team sees, no goal. I grit my teeth, I feel angry, part of me wants to get in her face tell her this is a bad call but, I know that would only hurt the team. I reset still angry but, before I can release that anger the half ends.

I walk into the locker room with a fire in my heart. I’m going to win this game, just to show that ref what a goal looks like. I know the team sees it in my eyes they’ve seen it before it is often a good omen, but, also a harbinger of doom. I get too worked up and forget that I have other teammates around me. I screw my eyes shut for a moment trying the quench the flames in my chest. Coach Arezzo stares into the locker room a hard expression on her face.

“I thought I made myself clear, no off book plays,” She turns the Seiji, “You should have gone for a bar point or actually passed to Nara on that play, then we might not be in this mess.” She pinches the bridge of her nose. Before she can say anything else I sand up.

“Coach, I changed the play. I told him to try for a goal.” Her withering gaze falls on me like a ton of duracrete. “I knew we needed a goal before the half just to tie it up, they were expecting bar points or passes from the half forwards, not shots on goal. I thought it would give him an advantage.” I pause to glace and Rime he sat unmoving, “If you’re going to blame anyone, blame me.” She takes a deep breath,

“Logan you’re benched,” the locker room explodes into shouts, Mikia’s loudest among them. She turns her gaze to the others, “I don’t need a player that’s going to break from the game plan Captain or not.”

“Coach that’s unfair,” Mikia shouts back, “He changed the play and it didn’t work it happens. You don’t bench him because of one mistake.” There’s no response, her eyes shift to the very quiet Devaronian male, “Come on Rime, back me up here.” The former captain continues his silence.

“Seiji, Leigh, you’re out as well,” Coach Arezzo continues,

“Wait coach, no,” I cut in standing up, “I told him to charge the net if you want to punish anyone, punish me, not him.”

“Opechan come in for Logan, Gor, Tiv,” The female Arezzo says unfazed by my plea. “Take Seiji’s and Leigh’s places,”

“Coach come on, you need Leigh and Seiji out there, them and Else are the best.” She just stares at me unflinching. “Rime, say something,” I shout, Rime remains silent. I sit back down arms crossed, eyes blazing. I catch Opechan glancing my direction, I blink hard once and turn towards him, “you’ve got this rookie.” He gives a small nod in return. I see Tiv’s head bobbing up and down a grin on her face. She nudges Gor in the ribs getting his attention. Else puts a hand on Leigh’s and Seiji’s shoulders. Seiji slowly nods, Leigh seems a little distant. The red haired center half back walks over to her two new linemates a little sad that she isn’t playing with her friends, heck they’re almost like siblings. All I can do is shake my head.

We return to the field and I take my position on the bench alongside Sylvanus and Jace. This is strange I’ve never watched a game from the sidelines, I don’t like it. I can see everything happening and things are picking up. It had been a fast paced and rough game in the first half now things moving at a lightning speed. We would score, then they would, we’d answer back. It was interesting watching everything that is going on, well almost everything. I could see the pain on some of the defenders faces, they’re the ones making the hard hits. More things were slipping through more goals were being scored, and I’m on the outside. Another thing I’ve noticed Opechan hasn’t scored yet, all the goals being scored all of them have come from either Rime and Nara. I can see it in his eyes he wants a goal, he wants to prove that his low ranking was a mistake. The score board kept rising and the stress is killing me every time we get the lead it’s taken way. I can see my team fighting so hard making fast plays, taking hard hits, and I can’t do anything. Our opposition is ahead by a goal and I watch the ball as Else takes the pass and gets a knee in the gut for her troubles. Leigh and Seiji stand with me toes on the sideline staring intently at our fallen teammate.

“Get up Else,” Seiji shouts through cupped hands,

“Come on El,” Leigh joins in, There’s a small argument between Wiles and the same ref that disallowed my goal. Time for the Smugglers to feel her cold judgment and they couldn’t have picked a better person to take a penalty kick. Bar point or goal it is going to be Else’s. She gets up a little pained and lines up on the ball. The crowd gets quiet for a moment. Else charges forward and lets a rocket off her boot.

Sadly that is the last time we tie the game, soon after the Smugglers take the lead and hold on to it. I witness the Ref that had been calling the game, I’ll begrudgingly admit, fairly get run over by the Smugglers in their white jerseys. I’m stunned I’ve heard of refs getting injured on accident, but that looked almost intentional. Sure I was angry when she disallowed my goal but, I would try and hurt her. Maybe I’m just reading into things too much.

The game continues towards it’s now inevitable end and I can’t help but feel that if I was on the field we might have won, but there wasn’t time for what could have been. I need to get ready for the Senators, the only team we have yet to beat I want to change that this year.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Shuttle to Coruscant


The practices this week were rough on Seiji, Leigh and I, ‘Iron’ Arezzo really wanted to pound following the game plan in to our heads and I for one wouldn’t go against her again. I catch Mikia glaring at Rime. Things had been tense between some players and our former captain. He had done nothing when coach benched me. I’m unsure why he did it but, I’m sure he has his reasons. I can feel the tension in the air this isn’t good we need to dispel this before we get to the capital planet. We need to be all on the same page when we face our new Skywalker rivals. I don’t know what to do, it’s my job to keep the team together. I walk past Sylver who’s lightly singing a song. I stop right in front and listen for a bit, it seems a jaunty tune and I remember how many times we sung ‘Drunken Spacer’ when on long flights. I turn to him,

“Do you think you could share that song with us?” I ask genuinely without condescending. He turns and looks a little sheepish.

“It’s a very old call and response song from Bestine IV sung on the old sailing ships that once crossed its vast ocean , I doubt anyone on this ship would know it.”

“Sing it,” I smile and nod my head, he takes a deep breath then starts,



“Now we are ready to head for the Horn,” he pauses for a breath then presses on. I guess this is the response part,

“Way, ay, roll an' go!
Our boots an' our clothes boys are all in the pawn,
To be rollickin' randy dandy O!

Heave aboard o’ heave away
Way, ay, roll an' go!
The anchor’s on board and the cables all stored
To be rollickin' randy dandy O!

Oh, man the stout caps'n an' heave with a will,
Way, ay, roll an' go!” I start to see where the respond bits come in,
“Soon we'll be drivin' her 'way down the hill.
To be rollickin' randy dandy O!” My voice joins Sylver’s as we head into what I think would be called the chorus,

“Heave aboard o’ heave away
Way, ay, roll an' go!
The anchor’s on board and the cables all stored
To be rollickin' randy dandy O!

Heave away, bullies, ye parish-rigged bums,” Now more voices join mine and the midfielder’s
“Way, ay, roll an' go!
Take yer hands from yer pockets and don't suck yer thumbs.
To be rollickin' randy dandy O!” Now it sounds like we’ve almost got everyone on board.

Our voices sound terrible and the acoustics of the small cabin are doing us no favors but we press on anyways. We run through two more verses and the chorus a few more times as well, then Sylver’s voice slows and drops noting that the song has ended. I feel a little out of breath as I look around the mood has changed it feels like we’re back on track again. I put a hand on the O'reenian’s shoulder.

“Thanks,” I say looking down, he looks up a slight smile on his face as well.

“Any time Cap’n”

OOC: Game action approved by Vehn

TAG: Vehn, Jedi Gunny

 

GM Post

Bonus rolls for Bakura, Carratos, Coruscant, Mando'ade, Nar Shaddaa, and Ralltiir.

281 Week 3 Results
Bakura Miners at Ralltiir Starkillers (31-40)
Nar Shaddaa Smugglers at Rydonni Prime Monarchs (43-29)
Ylesia Lightning at Mando'ade Mercs (1-38)
Carratos Pirates at Coruscant Senators (13-25)
Hapes Consortium Buccaneers at Chandrila Patriots (7-5)
Kashyyyk Rangers at Denon Demons (28-22)

TAG: Bardan_Jusik CPL_Macja galactic-vagabond422 jcgoble3 Jedi Gunny Rebecca_Daniels Runjedirun Vehn

 

Sub GM Post

Bonus rolls to: Concordia (28), Thyferra (28), Druckenwell (28), Atzerri (28) and Tatooine (32)

281 Week 2 Results
Druckenwell Marksmen @ Gallinore Firedrakes (11-19)
Eriadu Thunder @ Byblos Red Wings (11-11, OT 14-11)
Concordia Crusaders @ Tatooine Sandskimmers (4-10)
Thyferra Force @ Atzerri Bandits (0-10)

Tags: @Vehn jcgoble3 Rebecca_Daniels CPL_Macja Bardan_Jusik Jedi Gunny galactic-vagabond422

 

IC: The Rancor Pitt

"LIIIIIIIIIIIIIVE! from downtown Keldabe, on an unseasonably warm Taungsday afternoon. Welcome on into the Rancor Pit. I'm Randy the Rancor, he's Justin Pitt. Liz Baker on the boards, with Kitterich on the other side of the glass and oh baby do we have a show for you."

"A Victory afternoon?"

"Yeah...a victory afternoon..."

"Doesn't feel like it though does it?"

"No, still doesn't. Not sure how all the fans out there feel but..."

"Yeah, I don't feel much like celebrating either. Not yet."

"Still, the season goes on, and despite the sudden loss of a Patton, the Mercs still pulled out a win."

"Pulled out, they played inspired limmie, the beskar curtain was in full effect and Katan brought home his second shut down in a row this season."

"The defense, they really did pull together and play great. K'Karlson really has them playing well together and I think Patton's death was used as extra motivation."

"Coach Kor'le dedicated the game to him, even gave the game ball to his family."

"Oh please don't mention that...seeing little Jiri Junior in the stands yesterday...."

"Oh don't. The holo-cast kept showing him every time the Mercs defense stood up and denied the Lightning..."

"Which seemed like a hundred times that game even though I know it wasn't."

"So hard for them, such a...I don't even know..."

"I'm starting to tear up again already."

"Yeah, me too."

"OK. Let's try to keep it to the limmie we saw on the field."

"The defense played great, again and Smalls really did a good job for his first start of his ELL career."

"I was a little surprised to see him out there starting instead of Gasnar..."

"Well Gasnar did get his chance later int he game, after the Mercs had really put it away."

"He did, and he played really well. He did miss that hit on oh, whatever cornerforward the Lightning had in there."

"Yeah, if that would have connected the shock waves would have been felt as far away as Bakura. Of course he didn't land that hit."

"Which is why he didn't get the start?"

"Yeah, that's my guess. Smalls doesn't bring all the measurables, but he has all the intangibles, for an emotional game like this I think the Mercs really needed that."

"Well it seemed to really work, and now the Mercs start the 281 campaign at 3-0."

"Ties their best ever start, back in the 272 season."

"That was the first season they ever made the Cup finals too wasn't it?"

"Yes it was, something else to look forward to is that the Mercs have never started 4-0 in their entire history so..."

"That makes the Starkillers game even bigger than it was before...and the Starkillers are also going into that game at 3-0."

"Clash of the titans there, and the Mercs first real test this season."

"Yeah, I knew that would come up."

"What, that the Mercs are 3-0 but all three of their victories are against teams that have yet to win any game?"

"Whoa is that true?"

"Oh yeah, at this point in the season the combined record of Mercs opponents played stands at 0-9."

"Ouch. I was going to go into how the Mercs have the best defense going right now in the season, but hearing that statistic makes me understand how a bit more."

"Well, it's a good defense, and before the...before Patton, I thought we had a chance to be an elite defense. But now..."

"You don't..."

"Look, I know that was a big win this past week against the Lightning, but they're second to last in points scored..."

"Partially because of the beskar curtain."

"And we had some pretty incredible motivation to win that game. Against one of the top offenses in the league, with our defense dealing with...what we're dealing with."

"Don't forget, their defense is pretty good too."

"Yeah they are, the Starkillers are a complete team, and for the Mercs to win and go 4-0 for the first time in their short history, it's going to take one hell of a game from everyone."

TAG: No One.

 

GM Post

HSN Headlines

• Miner postgame comments after loss to Ralltiir
  • Gaeriel Valerii: "The difference today were critical moments that the Starkillers won. Those are the moments we need to win in future games."
  • Valerii says Comstock will start against Nar Shadda: "She's our starter. Period. She bounces back from bad games."
  • Valerii says Red will start against Nar Shaddaa as well: "He executed our gameplan today. He's done nothing that has made me think of switching to Niall."
  • Nathan Red critiqued his own play: "We lost the midfield battle today. We let the young Vigo control the midfield today. It was unacceptable."
  • Falene Trieste: "This loss lays at my feet, at the defense's. For everything we did right against the Monarchs, we did those same things wrong today."
  • Horst Penn: "Yeah! I'm totally married now! It's awesome! Have you seen my ring? You guys should really get a close up of it....What? You asked about the limmie game? Oh, yeah. That was pretty awful. By the way, we totally still have things available on the registry that we made last night. Does anyone want to buy us a fission blender? I don't know what we'll do with it, but I really really want one."
  • Niskat Deenever: "Stupid oranges. I don't even like oranges. They're yucky. I didn't want to eat them anyways."
  • Saiada Clarette: "I think we out-fought the Starkiller defense. That's what I saw. They had just as much fight at the other end."
  • Clarette on her play and whether she fears penalties from Six Boroughs' tight officiating crew: "I expect they'll call a fair game."
  • When asked if she felt she might get singled out along with Red: "I'm not going to speculate about penalties that might be called on plays that haven't happened."
  • Nelly Wizmark: "I've played a lot of games against Nar Shaddaa. We play like we did today against them and they are going to burn us."
• HSN has learned that Board of Governors of Patriots organization is "extremely displeased" with Patriots' 0-3 start and league-last 5.7 points per game
  • Current effort called "unacceptable"
  • Speculation grows that Kether is already on the hot seat and "dramatic turnaround" is required "in immediate future"
• Anxiety grows on Denon as Demons drop their third straight
  • Tickets for Demon games are now selling well below market value in secondary sales
  • One gameday salesperson: "I can't give these things away"
• Kashyyyk Rangers organization cautiously optimistic after first win
  • "There is still a long way to go to get back in the hunt in the Solo Conference," Quowisa said
  • "We do not feel like a playoff position team right now"

TAG: galactic-vagabond422 Runjedirun Vehn

 

IC: Briar Thorne
Senator Stadium, Coruscant

Briar watched the game with a sense of satisfaction. The players were doing their jobs well, and the game was going in their favor. Carratos hadn’t beaten Coruscant in the prior three seasons, she had been reminded during the week, and thus they had come out with fire. That was to be expected from a team trying to rebound from a bad season and prove they belonged; Briar was surprised they weren’t doing better. Whatever ailed the Pirates was a mystery, to be honest, but they would get it together at some point. Just not today, Briar hoped. The Senators needed the win, especially at home.

The Senator offense was back in force in this game, posting two solid outings after the disaster on Hapes. Leia Adama, recently returned from a week off with a nagging quad injury, re-aggravated the issue and hobbled around the field for a minute before Peet Carelle was able to get a stoppage in play and sub her out. Adama was less than pleased to be taken out, as she pleaded with the coaching staff to keep her in, but they would have none of it. Adama went to the bench and sulked, but there was nothing she could do about it. The team would need her down the stretch, and a healthy Leia Adama was a scary proposition for any opposing team, while an injured one was just a liability. In her stead came the unheralded Natasha Ehlers, the second-year forward whom Briar had acquired from Naboo in the 280 offseason, and Ingbrand winner Zuzu Nuun. Ehlers punched in two goals on the day, pushing her goal total on the season up to 8 in just three games, and Nuun broke out of a slump to record a hat trick on a 10-point afternoon. The rest of the offense contributed points when they could, with several key reserves adding in bar points, and rookie midfielder Grace Organa scoring her first career point and goal with a shot in the second half.

The defense was doing a solid job against the Pirates. Although Carratos came out with a lot of energy, the Senator defense on the overall had a nice game against them. Cannon Mallonn, the reserve full back, had another spectacular outing, which made a note in the back of Briar’s mind that she might need to scout him a bit more to see if he was worth giving the starting nod over Deluxx, the incumbent at full back. With the Weequay’s contract expiring at the end of the season, it was of major interest to Briar to see if he fit in the team’s long-term plans, or if Mallonn had punched his ticket to the starting rotation. Christine Gamble had another nice game, although one typically didn’t notice because she usually had a good game, even in bad Senator losses. Camille Montes allowed 10 points on the day before being removed from the game in garbage time to let rookie Oola Ban get some reps.

On the overall, the 25-13 win was a tidy one that made Briar’s job a lot easier. The Senators now sat at 2-1 in the hyper-competitive Skywalker Conference, with three undefeated teams on top of the standings. There were still 8 games left, and no one was out of it, so it would be a slugfest to the end, she figured. The Solo she couldn’t quite say the same about; surely it would turn around at some point, but the early going was not favorable. For whatever reason things just weren’t clicking there, so things would get heated down the stretch.

By the next day, she was already over the win and had moved on to the next job on her mental assignments list. The team was travelling to Rydonni Prime once again to face off against the defending champions, who had so far not had a good start to the season. But Briar wasn’t buying any throughts of struggles with the Monarchs; after all, they had clobbered the Senators in 280 after starting 0-2 and barely scoring any points, and went all the way to the Commissioner’s Trophy and Galactic Cup title. So they were a very dangerous team that Briar would remind her coaches and players to not underestimate under any circumstances. But that was just one bit of her job for the week; the rest of it contained scouting reports both within and outside the organization, and the rumor mill that had started rearing its ugly head recently and threatened to put some questions in front of her that the media would want addressed as soon as possible. The job of GM was not an easy one, and it would be a busy week.

She had requested her scouting department be on constant lookout for solid players outside of the organization. Tela Loni’s staff had been busy, cranking out reports like no tomorrow and giving Briar a good sense of what she had to work with. A few lower-level players stood out, but Briar figured they would provide nice options if things didn’t work out inside the Senator organization. But Elite League prospects seemed dim for the moment, at least in the early goings of the season. Most teams wouldn’t be in sell-mode until later, and Briar wasn’t sure how much she was willing to part with if she was to try and swing a deal. Teams like Denon and Chandrila seemed the most likely targets, but counting a team out this early on in the season was a death warrant, because as Rydonni Prime had proved in 280, and Ryloth famously in 272, that winless teams in the early part of the season could go on to win it all at the end of the year. Reina Kether had the track record on Chandrila that she could turn it around; the only question was if she could find a way to get the Board of Governors off her back long enough to let her make the moves she needed to.

Inside the organization, she was looking for answers as to why Thyferra wasn’t scoring points. They had all of two points in a combined 80 minutes of game action thus far, and things weren’t looking any better. Briar hoped Keli Sen, the coach away on maternity leave, would get back soon so the Force could hopefully reveal how much talent they really had on their roster. Having an interim coach meant that some of the blame could be deflected onto an inexperienced head coach, but record wasn’t as important as performance at that level. Briar could afford the Force to go just about winless, but still have room to develop the young talent the Force had. As long as young players got development and reps in game action, then the mission of the Force was complete regardless of their win-loss record. Her other main news missile of note was the game log for Rowdy Roosey, the fighter-turned-Limmie player who had played in her first game with the Bessimir Velocity. Playing at corner back, she had recorded two tackles and a loose ball recovery in limited minutes. Roosey still had a long way to go, Briar thought, so she filed those notes away in a special folder for Roosey and moved on.

Then there were the growing rumors about free agency and the trading deadline. Usually the media loved to stir up rumors just to see how teams would react, but with a prominent player on an expiring contract in Leia Adama, the Senators now had to find a way to deal with rumors that she would bolt to Bakura to join the Adama family legacy there with her home planet Miners. Briar herself had been born and raised on Bakura, and had been in the Miners organization a long time, so she understood the pressure on Adama’s shoulders to at least consider going home. But the media seemed to think that if the Senators found their season in the tank, that Adama might be traded to the Miners so that they could get something in exchange for the expiring contract in case they felt like Adama couldn’t be re-signed. After all, the rumors suggested, Adama hadn’t scored a single point all season, although her injury had cost her a whole game and the majority of two others, so her current value was low. Briar secretly hoped that Adama’s contract demands would go down if she had less leverage in her contract year, but at the moment having the star full forward healthy was the main concern, not the trade rumors. The Senators needed her on the field, and at some point things would come to a head if she was out for a while. The Miners were not known to make big FA splashes during offseasons, but when it was an Adama that could be on the free agency block, Briar was going to take zero chances if she could help it. Signing the star player was a main priority for her, mostly because the fans expected her to at least try. If Adama signed with another team and the Senators got nothing, Briar would get grilled mercilessly in the media, and she didn’t want or need that kind of negative publicity.

Finally Briar had to take a break from her work. With Rydonni Prime being very close to Coruscant, the team wasn’t scheduled to leave for another two days, so she was able to sleep in her own bed tonight instead of being on the shuttle. Those long road trips were coming, including the return trip to Bakura, and a season-ending trip to Mandalore. But for the moment she was going to appreciate the small pleasures and get to be home for a few more days before leaving on the road trip.

When she got home, she perused through her shelving storage, looking for a few items that she had stashed away for scouting notes. She didn’t quite remember what they said, and thus she had to find them to see if they would offer any help to her current situation. She looked through three boxes of items she had brought with her to Coruscant from Bakura, but none of them had the items she was looking for.

Opening the fourth box, right on the bottom shelf of the unit, she started to go through the items in that one. Her eyes didn’t catch anything important until about five sheets of flimsy from the end, at which point she stopped. In front of her was an old photo album of flat Holo sheets, most likely the negatives. She opened it up and went through a few of them. They were from her days with the Miners, showing her first day at work when she was an impressionable youngster breaking in with the local team’s front office staff, or one of the office parties. But then she came across a Holo that made her heart skip a beat before falling down into her chest. It was one of her and Jet Adama, sitting on a picnic blanket out on the rolling hills of Bakura. Both of them were smiling and happy; she remembered that day, how blue the sky was, how nice the breeze felt against her cheek, and how happy she had been. Those were in the days when she and Jet had been almost inseparable, but those days had long-since passed. After he had gone behind her back, she had promised herself to never let another man into her heart. She wouldn’t take that kind of betrayal again, and she had married herself to her work to fill in the void. That had been enough to get her to where she was now, a successful Elite League GM with a Grames Award to her credit in just her first season. But the smiles in the Holo haunted her, and she finally had to close the envelope in order to stop being tormented by those unwanted thoughts. Even though Jet had apologized to her the prior week about his actions, she couldn’t so easily forgive him; she just wasn’t in that kind of mood anymore. Briar had sealed her interest in relationships away in a deep, dark corner of her mind, never to be touched again.

And, yet, something compelled her to open the envelope again, to see those smiling, happy faces. Something drove her to look squarely at herself, her younger self, smiling and having a good time on a picnic. Something had changed since then, something inside of her dying. And there was Jet, looking so sweet, looking like the man whom she had fallen for. How things had changed since this Holo was snapped, but for some reason Briar was able to keep staring at it for several more seconds before her business-like attitude force her to close the envelope and put it back in the box. She didn’t know what possessed her to do that, but for a brief instant, seeing the Holo reminded her of what she saw in Jet. It reminded her of a simpler time, before Briar Thorne the big-time GM had been like that, back when she thought she and Jet would someday get married, settle down, raise a family, and live, eat, and breathe Miners Limmie. Those days had long since passed, but for a split second, a glimmer of interest in her old flame had popped into Briar’s mind, and she stood there for several seconds after putting the box back on its shelf wondering how such a thing was possible. She had tried to seal off any thoughts of such a thing over the years since, but was it possible that a small portion of what she was trying to conceal had come back into her mind?

Briar eventually made herself dinner and sat down to enjoy it, trying to forget what had just confounded her. But she went to bed that night still trying to analyze the momentary wave of interest that she had in that singular Holo. Something about it spoke to her, like feelings from a bygone era coming back to haunt her. Maybe she was going crazy with all the GM stuff. Yes, that must be it, she thought to herself as she drifted off to sleep.


TAG: galactic-vagabond422 (for the game), Trieste (for any potential rumors involving the Miners, for which I have his approval)

 

Power Rankings, Week Three​

1. Ralltiir Starkillers – The Starkillers have started off hot, and they’re rolling into the middle of the season. They have the talent to go far this year, as long as they can keep up this momentum. Having a weak Solo Conference also helps.

2. Mando’ade Mercs – While the Mercs’ first three opponents are a combined 0-9, the Mercs have shown us why they should make the postseason this year. They have a great defense, and if their offense shows up in every game, they’re almost unstoppable. So they’ll be a team to watch this year.

3. Nar Shaddaa Smugglers – Somehow the Smugglers make potentially destructive situations look like child’s play. Problems between rookie half forwards? They’re 3-0. Rookie goalie replacing Jayla Leed? They’re still 3-0. The Smugglers laugh at typical Limmie logic, because they’ve never been constrained by it.

4. Hapes Consortium Buccaneers – The C-Bucs have tripled their win total from last year, and it’s just Week Three! They’ve definitely improved; only question here is if they can sustain this success and be last year’s Senators for the league’s surprise team, but they can also fall off if other teams figure them out. So stay tuned.

5. Bakura Miners – Lost a hard-fought game to a good Starkillers team, and the Miners don’t seem to be missing a beat without Alana Glencross in the lineup. As usual, the Miners are on top of the standings, and we don’t see that changing unless something drastic happens.

6. Coruscant Senators – Have ripped off consecutive solid wins after a head-scratching first game against the C-Bucs. They’re missing perennial All-Star Leia Adama on offense, so they still have room to improve on that front. But the Skywalker isn’t the Conference to be in right now for a middling team like the Senators, so we’ll see if they have a good season only to fall short of postseason contention due to a strong conference lineup ahead of them.

7. Kashyyyk Rangers – Their own GM doesn’t consider them a playoff team; that doesn’t bode well for the opinions of the fanbase.

8. Carratos Pirates – They’ve slipped off the rails to start the season, but it’s only Week Three, and the Pirates will figure it out at some point.

9. Rydonni Prime Monarchs – Like the Pirates, the Monarchs seem to have lost their way. Expect them to come out firing this week against a team they usually dominate in Coruscant. Nothing like a rivalry game to get the blood pumping.

10. Denon Demons – This is basically The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, except that there isn’t much positive to gain from this ‘Good’. The Demons are seriously struggling, and they’ll have to get it together soon or else face the wrath of their fanbase.

11. Ylesia Lightning – Losing Kasin Urdaaza’s goalkeeping skills seems to have destroyed this team, and they just don’t have the offensive firepower to make up for the windfall. How they respond in the next few weeks will determine the course of this franchise for the future.


12. Chandrila Patriots – “Ugly” describes this situation so well.

TAGS to Everyone: jcgoble3, Bardan_Jusik, Trieste, Rebecca_Daniels, CPL_Macja, Runjedirun, Vehn, galactic-vagabond422

 

IC: Bill Hitts

Bill watched with amazement as Spencer Vigo’s defense only allowed one goal and one bar point to be scored during the entire game against Concordia. The young Pame McKenz had talent there was no doubt. She wasn’t doing the job alone though. Mort a keeper himself once and young Comron were playing excellent wings. A once thought to be washed up Sosar Drif was showing signs of life again. Rookie Orsaka was making tackles at every turn, Elora Ningo had two interceptions and Harc Sichi never missed a beat.

Bill’s offense scored exactly two more points than they had the week before. Lofykam was again the star of his offense. She was small for a Wookiee only 6 foot 8 inches. She still towered over most other beings on the Limmie pitch and her smaller size for her species gave her the ability to move much quicker than most would expect. Lofykam scored a goal and two bar points. Alan Knott scored a bar pint, Billy Bob had two bar points and Jaya got on the board with a single goal. 10 points was all they needed for the victory today.

After the game Bill found Spencer and Samantha alone in Spencer’s office. He knocked as he entered. “You kids want some dinner?” He asked.

The youths shook their heads. “We’ll eat when we get back to campus,” Spencer said speaking up. “I have a test in the morning I should study for.”

“Looks like Atzerri held the Force to no score today,” Bill told Spencer. “Short week of practice due to travel. You have anything specific you want me to cover before you get to the stadium tomorrow?”

“Have my defense watch the tape,” Spence answered. “Don’t forget that I’m traveling too this season. We can cover last minute play changes on the shuttle if we need.”

“Don’t forget to sleep tonight,” Bill told Spencer.

“My test isn’t that early, I promise I’ll sleep,” Spencer replied in all seriousness. “Come on Samantha. The canteen will close if we don’t hurry.” With that the teens departed leaving Bill alone to close up the stadium.

Samantha came to all practices with Spencer that week and she was at the spaceport to see him off to Atzerri. Bill could tell that it was difficult for them to part. Too difficult for a young couple that just started dating in his opinion. Spencer split his time on the shuttle between studying for school and studying his playbook. He spent one on one time with each of the defensive players giving them last minute advice. Most people would not understand how someone so young could manage so much so well. How anyone who had never played the game could strategize and coach like a pro.

To Bill it was obvious that Spencer excelled because he was Martin Vigo’s son. He had Martin’s work ethic and Martin’s intelligence. A combination that had propelled Martin to become one of the most respected and wealthy beings on Ralltiir. It was almost a waste that Spencer chose to use his brainpower on something as trivial as Limmie. To be honest though, what could such brain power be justified to accomplish. Nothing short of the power to bring peace to the Galaxy would seem like an under achievement for Spencer Vigo.

The team landed in time for breakfast on game day. Spencer spoke to Samantha over his data pad just before he took the field. She told him to win for her and Bill was certain Spencer would be doing everything he could to do just that.

Tag: galactic-vagabond422

 

GM Post

HSN Headlines

• Miners Assistant GM Saoirse Sloan interested in assigning rookie reserve midfielder Niall Bourdogny to an LFL team for development
• Sloan: "Nathan is our starter and Niall's not going to get the playing time he needs at this level. We're talking with Premier League teams, but there's a lot of value in him getting time with and against future Elite League-caliber talent"

TAG: You LFL people

 

GM Post
Financial Square Arena, Cambrielle, Ralltiir



When it came to offensive firepower, the Miners-Starkillers game was one of the best Fenrir had seen in ages. The defenses might as well have been led by Admiral Ackbar because they couldn’t repel firepower of that magnitude.

The only problem was that Fenrir kept missing the scoring.

It had all started at the very start of the game. “Are you my daddy’s boss?” one of the young Vigos asked. He had been told during the introductions that this one, who appeared to be the eldest, was Ty Allin’s son, T.J.

“Well, not exactly,” Lokensgaard said, “Your dad’s boss would be your...step-father I guess. He’s the coach. Well, really he’s one of the coaches. Ms. Jul is the other coach. So your dad has two bosses.”

“Who are you then?”

“Well, I’m someone that owners like your grandmother--” Fenrir stole a glance at Madelyn and hoped that she wouldn’t mind someone other than one of her grandchildren calling her that, for females were sometimes touchy on such subjects, “--hired to make sure that everything is fair. So I’m kind of their boss, but also not their boss.”

T.J. blinked at this. The concept of commissioner was proving to be a little difficult to explain. While Lokensgaard pondered how to best communicate the concept as he looked at T.J., he heard a cheer. He looked to the field to see that a goal had just gone in while he’d been trying to explain what he did for a living.

With a start like that, there’s going to be plenty more of that, Fenrir thought, not particularly bothered by having missed it.

---

The next time a goal occurred, Lokensgaard didn’t see it either. Once the game was underway, young T.J. had focused on the game, watching his father intently. Lokensgaard was thankful for not having that distraction.

However, he still didn’t see the goal.

Instead, he had been requested by the three year old Serene, daughter of midfielder Bat Vigo, to watch her dance. Her younger sister Tyffanie was eager to join in the exhibition. With a glance from the field to the girls to Madelyne Vigo back to the field and back to the girls, Fenrir decided the more prudent course of action was to watch the recital rather than the game. He wasn’t sure how his hosts would feel if he were to spurn their children.

When it cost him the opportunity to see a goal, he once again didn’t mind. After all, the dancing was all right.

---

It was out of the corner of his eye that Lokensgaard saw little Louise crawling from the back of the box towards the steps that led down to the seats in front of the box. There weren’t very many steps, but, not having much experience with human children, Fenrir was unsure of exactly how fragile they were. If she had been an infant Verpine, she probably would shatter into a million pieces falling down those stairs. A Gammorrean baby probably wouldn’t even notice.

Accordingly, Fenrir sprung out of his chair to halt the toddlers progress. He needn’t have done so, for Louise was intercepted by Mrs. Allin before he could get there.

“Sorry...just...uh...you know...didn’t want--”

He couldn’t finish because behind his back the crowd cheered at a Bat Vigo goal. Fenrir sighed.

“Never mind.”

---

His handheld datapad buzzed and he looked away for a second, maybe two, he swore.

He missed a goal.

He turned to graciously accept a plate of food.

Missed a goal.

A sudden infant shriek from behind him caused Fenrir to look around in fear that something had happened to one of the many wards. It turned out based on the expression of Ezra--or “Rah Rah” as everyone appeared to call him--that he was happy, not terrified.

He still missed a goal.

---

Then began the second phase of the day. As Bat Vigo’s points began mounting, his family became more intent on the game, cheering him on. He discovered that intensity was to the exclusion of other things--which included the rambunctious adventures of Rah Rah and Louise.

The two youngest Vigos were using their elders’ focus to their benefit. Fenrir first noticed that they were attempting to get into cabinets in the box. Not knowing exactly where the liquor was kept--or if there even was any--Lokensgaard decided to intervene. He could see the headlines now, “COMMISSIONER GETS VIGO CHILDREN DRUNK.” Yes, that had all the makings of a public relations win right there.

Naturally, he missed a goal while he was doing so. By the time he’d extricated Louise safely from her cabinet exploration, Rah Rah was trying to scale a table to get at food.

“ALLIN’S SON BREAKS NECK WHILE COMMISSIONER WATCHES.”

Fenrir hastened to hoist Rah Rah off the chair where he was teetering and place him on much safer ground, missing another goal.

Louise had somehow now gotten herself onto a chair now.

“VIGO DAUGHTER DISFIGURED FOR LIFE: LOKENSGAARD TO BLAME.”

He hurried over to attend to her as another goal was scored.

Rah Rah was jumping up and down at the top of the steps towards the seats.

“LOKENSGAARD DECLARED WORST SENTIENT BEING SINCE PALPATINE AFTER TRAGIC TUMBLE.”

Lokensgaard hustled to the infant and the cycle continued.

---

Lokensgaard collapsed into the waiting speeder and lay on the back seat. He was exhausted. He’d said his farewells to the Vigos and Allins, congratulating them on their win against Bakura. If what he’d said had sounded like platitudes, it would be because he hadn’t actually seen them win. He had missed every single goal in a game that had 70+ points. He’d spent all his time looking after the youngest Vigos (without being bidden--he wasn’t entirely sure that the Vigos were aware of the clearly mortal danger that their children had been in, for it had certainly been mortal danger as far as the not-parent Lokensgaard was concerned) and though he’d seen some of the game, none of it had been the amazing offensive prowess that had been on display.

No one would ever believe him if he told them. And if he told Gondorf, she’d never let him forget it.

“Where am I going next?” Lokensgaard asked the driver.

“Your shuttle’s waiting to take you to Ylesia.”

“Ylesia,” he said, “Yes, it’ll be nice on Ylesia...so very nice and quiet and calm…”

TAG: Rebecca_Daniels Runjedirun

 

IC: Sullivan Remington
Senator Stadium, Operations Center

“I don’t believe it,” the director of stadium operations said to Sullivan for the fourth time. The janitor had hoped that telling the authorities that his fellow janitors, including his boss, might be trying to steal something. But it wasn’t working out, and Sullivan felt stupid that he had ever brought it up. Hopefully this wouldn’t go anywhere to hurt his already-dim job prospects.

“Is there anything you would believe?” Sullivan asked, very disheartened by this turn of events, but not completely surprised. After all, he didn’t have any proof except what he had overheard. Besides, Eddie and his cronies, even if they were crooked as Sullivan believed them to be, had more push than he did. He was just a lowly janitor; no one would believe him unless he had obvious proof of wrongdoing or the intent for a malicious act by his suspects.

“”Not without proof. Now, don’t you have a job to return to instead of making false accusations?” the director asked sternly. “Otherwise I’ll have to inform your boss that you’re skipping work, and that could come to cost you.”

“All right. Just don’t judge me,” Sullivan said. He left the office and heard the door slam in his face. The director and his staff didn’t know what they were dealing with, but he had an inkling that if Eddie and his thugs got away with their planned crime, they would feign that they knew nothing about it. Sullivan’s whistleblowing would get nowhere even if the heist actually happened, because who would believe him? He was just a janitor with no prior indication of being trustworthy. How he had ever gotten a job here, he didn’t know, but it was his last chance to make good on his life. He would be better off not worrying about it, because getting involved would probably land him in jail and in perpetual purgatory of failure.

But he couldn’t let this theft happen. He knew too much already, and if Eddie found out that he knew, he was a dead man walking. So the only thing to do was to stop the Barabel and his thugs from stealing the trophies. That was his only chance to redeem himself. A lot was at stake here, but Sullivan knew he was the only one who could do something about it. He couldn’t sit idly by and let this happen, because then his head would be on the block anyways. At this point, what did he have to lose?

He was thinking so hard about these facts that he easily got caught by one of the other janitors and pushed into the wall unceremoniously. “Boss’ been lookin’ for you, Remington,” the tough human said. “He wants to know why you’re not doing your job.”

“Refresher break,” Sullivan lied.

“Likely story. Get to work on the double, or else we will have grounds to fire you,” the human said.

“Then you’d better let me go, or else I can prove that you’re preventing me from working.”

“No one would believe you. We both know you don’t have the clout.”

“If they see you threatening me, then the work doesn’t get done because I’m being pushed into a wall. Case closed,” Sullivan said. “You’d take the fall, not me.”

“Fine, then,” the man said. He pushed Sullivan into the wall hard again. “Get to work, and no complaints.”


“Do I ever?” Sullivan muttered under his breath as the tough-guy walked away. He knew there was no avenue to make complaints at this point, so he had to make do with what he had. And right now that meant cleaning up whatever Eddie wanted him to. It probably was a gross job that no one else wanted to do, so Sullivan was assigned to do it. Sighing, he went to get his cleaning cart and start the process. He would just have to wait on playing the hero, because for right now no one believed him.

TAG: No One

 

IC: Tendra Nalo
Location: Tendra's apartment, Ta'a Chume'Dan, Hapes
Time: Three days after Week 1 game against Coruscant

Tendra turned off her datapad, frustrated with the novel she was reading. The plot in the thing was going nowhere—or more accurately, in her opinion, it didn't have a plot. Debating about what to do next, she remembered that she hadn't figured out who that Melodia Ardonel was that had called her comlink during the Senators game. So she picked up her comlink and called the number back, ready for anything.

The other end rang twice and then was answered. “Hello?”

Tendra recognized the distinctive voice of a Barabel. “Yes, I'm returning a call from a few days ago. Is this Melodia Ardonel?”

“Yes, it is. Is this one speaking with Miss Tendra Nalo?”

“Yes. May I ask who you are and what you were calling about?”

“This one is a member of the Jedi High Council, assigned to the mission to rescue your brother. This one understands that you visited the Temple on Ossus a few months ago, but unfortunately this one was away on a mission at the time, so could not introduce myself then. However, this one is now the full-time lead on the rescue mission. The reason for calling was to discuss the mission with you and find out if you had heard anything further from your brother.”

“He's called me several times, but never when I have been in a position to answer securely. The most recent attempt was during the game three days ago.”

“This one understandz. When you are next able to speak with him, we have some information we would like you to pass along. Do you have something to take notes on, securely?”

“Yes, hold on a moment.” Tendra picked up her datapad again and powered it on. When it came up, she opened her notepad app, created a new file with password protection, and readied herself to begin typing. “Alright, go ahead.”

Melodia Ardonel began rattling off a bunch of details about attack plans and such, and eventually wrapped things up by giving a date for the attack. Tendra looked at the nearby wall, on which she had plastered the 281 Elite League regular season schedule. The attack would take place the day before Week 9 games, and to participate she would have to miss Week 8 as well.

Tendra finished her notes and then spoke again. “Alright, I have everything down. Is that it?”

“Yes, it is.”

“Thank you, Master Jedi. I will get this to him when I can. If I may, I do have one request for the rescue.”

“And what might that be?”

Tendra took a deep breath. “I want to be part of the strike team.”

“Miss Nalo, a battle zone is no place for you. You would need skillz that could only come from yearz of training—”

“—which I have—”

“—and experience in... huh?”

“Yes, Master Jedi, I have those skills, taught to me by my late father years ago. And I have experience through hundreds of battle simulations. And I seriously don't think that this is a battle that can be won with lightsabers alone. You need someone with a ranged weapon, and you Jedi are still too proud to admit that blasters have advantages that lightsabers will never duplicate.”

There was silence on the other end for several seconds, and Tendra was afraid that she might have offended Master Ardonel. Finally, however, the Barabel Jedi spoke. “You have a point, Miss Nalo. However, this one is not too proud to admit that, and can see the potential advantage to having a blaster in the team. You are confident in your skillz? This will be no simulation.”

“Yes, I can do this.”

“Then we will list you as a team member. Do you have your own weapon?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Fair enough. This one will get back to you with more detail when she can. Until then, may the Force be with you.”

“And may the Force be with you also, Master Jedi.”

---

Location: Tendra's apartment, Ta'a Chume'Dan, Hapes
Time: Two days after Week 3 game at Chandrila

Tendra walked into her apartment, glad to be home for a couple of days in the middle of a four-week road trip. Though it had not been a good game for the offense, the C-Bucs had come up with the win, and that was what counted. She allowed herself to fall on the couch, and then she heard a comlink ringing.

Quickly realizing it was the red comlink, she fished it out and answered, trading code phrases again. “How you doing, bro?”

“Tired. Anxious. Ready to come home,” Jado said. “You?”

“Tired. Glad to be home. What's up? How much time do you have this time?”

“Quite a bit, so we can talk as much as we want. Why?”

“Because I have quite a bit of information for you that Master Ardonel asked me to pass along.”

“The Barabel? Force, I hate her. Don't tell her that, okay, sis?”

Tendra laughed. “Well, like it or not, she's heading up your rescue mission.”

“Stang. Kill me now.”

Tendra shook her head. “Anyway, she wanted me to pass along the details of the attack and see if they would work.” Tendra brought up the file on her datapad and began to read off the information.

When she was done, Jado sighed. “Yep, that's the Master Ardonel I remember. Plan is ridiculously over-detailed and over-complex, and she's no good at thinking on her feet. I'm doomed.”

“Jado, your pessimism is showing again.”

“Have you ever been on a mission with her before? How she made Council, I'll never know.”

“Well, in six weeks, I will be.”

“Wait a minute. What?”

“I'm coming on the rescue mission with her, because—”

“No! Stay out of this! You don't know what you're doing.”

“Actually, Jado, yes, I do. After you left home, Dad taught me how to handle a blaster and how to handle myself in a firefight. I know what I'm doing. And I think the mission is going to need a ranged weapon, not just lightsabers. And Master Ardonel agrees with that.”

“Fine,” Jado said. “I give up. Can you take some notes to deliver to... Master Ardonel, I guess?”

“Sure, go ahead.”

Jado laid out several steps he would take to soften up the defenses, and precautions that the strike team should take, including limiting the team to six people. When he was done, he asked one more time. “Are you sure I can't talk you out of this?”

“No, Jado, you can't. I'm coming and that's final.”

“Alright then. I guess—I hope I see you in the fortress in six weeks. Preferably not as a hostage, okey-dokey?”

“Not as a hostage. Check. I'll see you there.”

“Bye.”

“Bye.”

TAG: Nobody

 

GM Post

HSN Headlines

• Hapes interim GM Leota Avoy regarding Miners' statement about looking for an LFL team: "You want the benefits of the Futures League? Create your own Futures League team. Why should one of your competitors help you develop your own player, that could very well become the player who knocks that team out of the playoffs two years down the road? Every other team in this league has either entered the LFL the right way, or makes do without the LFL. The Miners can do the same."
• Leota's response to a reporter's question: "Absolutely we have a vested interest in making sure this doesn't happen, and every other team ought to be the same way. If they want to use the LFL, they can enter the League the same way as everyone else."
• Another response: "If that Lynd woman on Rydonni Prime gives in and helps her cousin's team out, then perhaps the League should investigate that. I do think there should be more degrees of consanguinity between team owners than that."
• Asked about the Chume'da being another first cousin of Falene and Vesper: "That's a non-issue right now. The current Queen Mother is not close family to them, so let's keep the focus where it belongs. For all we know, Falene and Vesper might not even be the owners when the Chume'da comes to power, and if they are, we can deal with that appropriately in the future when it occurs."
• Nar Shaddaa Smugglers to wear throwback jerseys for classic tilt against the Bakura Miners.
• Statement from Kelly Telaam after she was knocked out of play during the Smugglers-Pirates game, "I'm fine. Systems are running normally. I'm eager to officiate the Black and Blue Battle."
• Droves of Smugglers fans descend on Bakura as the series is knotted up at 10 wins a piece.

TAG: jcgoble3 Vehn

 

IC: Logan Manx
Coruscant

Nonexistent Future ​

My legs still burn from the day’s practice, coach Arezzo pulled no punches and ran us to the edge again. All I want to do now is rest and it looks like I’ll get it. I get comfortable on the hotel bed and start to close my eyes. A knock interrupts rest. I walk over to the door legs feeling weak, has to be fatigue. Looking out the slightly door, I see Mikia standing outside, wearing a black shirt and bluish pants.

“You gonna’ let me in?” She smiles and I step to the side. She takes a seat on the bed I was just laying on, aren’t any other places to sit in the room. Looking around the darkened room she has a bit of worry on her face. “Did I come at a bad time?”

“Why do you ask?” I reply

“You just look different, and this room feels all gloomy. Has practice been that rough on you?”

“No, it’s just, I was just hoping for a better start to our season than 1 and 1, especially now that I’m captain.” She flops back on the bed and stares at the ceiling.

“You did the best you could. We kina let you down well us and coach,”

“Hey, don’t take this on yourself and coach Arezzo has a way of doing things we just have to trust that it’ll work out in the end.”

“And were does she get off benching you in the middle of a very important game, we could have won if you were on the field.” I join her in staring at the non-descript ceiling. “And where was Rime in all of that, he could have stood up to her, told her she was wrong. She’d listen to him.”

“Well I guess the question is would she have listened to him as her husband or as her player and former captain.” I let out a deep sigh, “Maybe he was supporting his wife or didn’t want to correct her in front of the team, what am I saying, he probably thought it was the right thing to do.” She rolls over on her side and lifts and eye brow.

“Really bench our top scorer and captain just because you went off book once? That’s the right call?”

“Need I remind you that I’m the top scorer for the worst scoring team in the league.”

“Hey that was last year, we scored thirty points last game.”

“Yeah which we still lost,” I sigh and run my fingers though my hair, “You know it sometimes feels like we’re not meant to be or something.” I feel her warm hand on my shoulder.

“Are you sure you’re feeling alright?”

“I’m fine but, we just lost in front of our home crowd and now we face a team we’ve never beaten before.”

“Hey, we’ve beaten the Smugglers and the Miners we’ll get the Senators number one of these days.”

“But, will that day be tomorrow, we beat the Smugglers and the Miners because of coach Copin’s game plans. I don’t see coach Arezzo moving away from her book anytime soon.”

“Screw coach Arezzo,” Mikia shouts in frustration, “Copin at least respected us and our opinions sure he cracked the whip when he needed to but, he never made us feel like children that need our hands held through every little thing.”

“She’s just doing what she thinks is best and know I now from personal experience you don’t go against her.”

“Doesn’t make it right, she’s acting like a bully using her power to get her way.”

“I’m sure she’s under a lot of pressure to produce results, a lot of people are holding out hope for another 279 season.”

“Guh…” Her exasperation grows, “don’t mention that season, it feels like a fluke, like the universe was just messing with us. We’ll never be that good again.”

“Hey we’re still pretty much the same team.” I rebut her glare hardens,

“Yeah the same horrible team that has held the bottom of the scoring tables for two seasons.” Part of me wants to disagree and I feel like I have to, I’m team captain I can’t let this negativity continue, but I feel like she’s right. We were plucked out of obscurity most likely due to some funny business by or talented GM and ‘Owner’. I’m surprised we survived our first year despite our deplorable record, I know the Pirate fans are devoted but were they devoted enough to keep us in the game though who knows how many lackluster seasons. The Senators survived because they had history and a hall of fame GM now owner. We have none of that we’re just a small team from a weak league that has no business playing with such giants. I squeeze my right thigh, I can still feel the pressure, that’s a good sign. It also reminds me that this is the last year I have to worry about any of this after this year I’m done. “Hey,” Mikia says snapping me out of my introspection, “say something team captain tell me I’m wrong.” I open my mouth then stop. “Don’t tell me you believed my rant, you need to be the hopeful one saying we’ll be fine. We’re in trouble if you don’t believe in us.”

“It’s not that I’ve just got other things on my mind right now.” I take a deep breath, “We can win, we proved it against the Monarchs at the start of the season and we haven’t had a winless season, so we’re not that bad off. Will we win the next game, I can’t say but I know I’m going to give it my best shot and let the chips fall where they may.” Her eyes brighten,

“There we go, that’s what we need,” She smiles and gives me a kiss, her familiar warmth runs down my spine. I return the kiss and stare into her warm brown eyes, though right now they look rather dark due to the lack of light. Things progress from that point until we’re both under the covers, lacking most of our clothes. I feel her smooth leg rub against my coarse one. I lean over and kiss her forehead. We didn’t do this every night before a game, sometimes we’re so focused to winning that we almost forget we’re in a relationship. And we’ve never done this in the equipment room or any other reasonably private space in Goss-Pell.

“Hey,” she says softly, I turn my head slightly to see her still staring at the ceiling, “Is this all we are, just two people that hang out and do…” she pauses, “well, this occasionally.” I copy her looking up at nothing in particular but, I put my arm around her shoulders.

“I don’t know really, I live sort of in the now not thinking too much about the future,” not that there’s much of one after this year, just a rapid descent into a hover chair and watching as the legs that used to carry me so far atrophy into nothing. I screw my eyes shut trying to put that thought out of my mind.

“It’s been three years almost Logan, I mean it’s fine if this is all we are or will be but,” she stops again, “I mean,” she lets out another sigh, “forget I said anything.” I think I know what she’s talking about, I’m not that dense. The thought of a future with Mikia, as something more, is something I would want, but I don’t want to burden her with my condition. She’s a capable and talented half back, she doesn’t need the thought of caring for a disabled whatever I’d be hanging over her. And I don’t want a future that involves me looking into her eyes while they’re full of pity for me. I don’t want to see her like that. My heart beats against my chest a voice in the back of my head begins to scream,

‘Tell her you fool,’ it shouts, ‘tell her you’re sick and that this is your last year, she deserves to know. Look at her, she loves you, and she’ll still love you after you tell her. Tell her because of this you can’t think of the future without thinking of losing your legs, she’ll understand.’ I shake my head slightly, I can’t tell her, she can’t know. I don’t want her to know, I don’t want her to look at me with sadness at the thought of our future or pity at our present. ‘Coward,’ the voice continues ‘you’re hiding out of your own shame, you’re not protecting her, you’re just being selfish. TELL HER.’ I open my mouth but, stop.

“You ok, Logan?” Mikia says worry in her voice, “I said you could forget about it, I’m just under a little stress.”

‘For force’s sake, TELL HER, you frelling coward.’

“It’s nothing,”

‘TELL HER’

“I’m just, a little tried right now, thinking about other things, I know you deserve a better answer than what I’m giving you,”

‘TELL HER’

“But give me a little time to figure things out, my head is just swimming with so many things right now I can’t focus on things that are really important to me,” I roll over on to my side to look at her face, “like you. “

‘TELL HER, NOW’ Then as if punishing me for being a coward this whole time I lose the sensation of her leg against mine. I can’t feel her leg between mine anymore. My eyes go wide, I feel the blood leave my face. I see her smile, and it warms my heart but, does nothing to quiet the voice.

‘You frelling coward,’ I flop on to my back and continue looking up my heart now pounds worried that she’ll notice my legs are paralyzed. I keep quiet and still hoping she falls asleep. She leans in close and kisses me on the cheek.

“Don’t take too long ok,” I turn my head smiling weakly,

“I’ll try.” I wait a bit longer and she’s fast asleep. I reach over to the small table next to the bed and grab my comlink. I call the one person I need right now, Sis.

“Hello,” she answers, her voice showing signs of just waking up.

“Sis, my legs are gone,”

“So suddenly, where are you right now bro?” She begins to sound more alert.

“In my room in the hotel,”

“Give me some time alright.”

“Ok” I begin to try and move out of bed before realizing that I should probably but something on. The best I can do is my underwear before flopping out of the bed like a dead fish. I stay silent for a moment praying that I didn’t wake Mikia. I hear her stir a bit but then return to sleep. I crawl across the floor towards the door, my legs nothing but dead weight behind me. I manage to get to the door but am unable to reach the door control. I press my back against the door frame and reach my hands above my head, I can just barely reach. A knock sounds thought the door and I open it immediately. Acha looks around confused for a moment then looks down at me, I see her mouth open and I press a finger to my lips,

“Shhh,” I say as quietly as I can, she squishes her face then enters the room. She picks up one shirt from the floor then tosses it to the side, that one was probably Mikia’s. She finds another shirt and then my pants. With great difficultly we manage to get me dressed and put into a waiting hoverchair. Sis puts a hat and shades on me to try and conceal my identity, and then pushes me towards the lifts.

“You could’ve told me you had company.” She says annoyance in her voice,

“I’m sorry, I panicked.” She takes a deep breath and guides me out of the lobby. It’s still rather early so I don’t think anyone notices. An incognito trip to a medical center and I am right as rain, thankfully Sis has friends that ask few questions. I get back to my room just as Mikia wakes.

“Where’d you go?” She asks lifting her head a bit.

“I just stepped out for a little while.” I smile in her direction. “We should probably get ready for the game, it’s a big one.”

“It’s only the third game of the season, if we lose we can still turn it around.”

“Let’s not lose, so we don’t have to turn this season around,”

“Aye cap’n” My spine tingles as she speaks.

“Still not used to people calling me that,”

“Get used to it, you’re the captain now.”
________________________________________________________
Senators Stadium

I step onto the field and catch Christine Gamble’s gaze, I give her a subtle wink. I saw the way she looked at me last game, just returning the favor. I set my jaw and come out swinging. Adama seems a little slow on the draw as I take possession and charge down the field. Nara and Rime by my sides. As the pressure mounts I dump back to Else and break around the oncoming defenders. The first rush gets turned away but, our second attack is more successful. With a shout I kick the ball past Montes, the starting goalie, and the crowd boos but, I hear a Pirate ‘ARRRRR’ from the ‘White Spot’ up in the stands. The Senators run it back to tie the game but, soon after Leigh fumbles the ball out of bounds and Adama is subbed out. I can see the pain in her body langue as she pleads with coach Carelle. I know that pain, being team captain and not being able to lead from the field. Natasha Ehlers comes in for Adama and I think our chances of winning have increased. Rime tries to get around Gamble but, she’s too good, too fast and forces a fumble. Leigh recovers the ball and fires off a quick shot for a bar point that she actually makes, her first one in a while. I catch her looking to the sidelines then back to the pitch. Was she looking for something, someone?

I return my full attention back to the game, we need to win this one, the Senators are the only team we haven’t beaten yet. I make another goal bringing us back into the lead, but not for long, Nuun breaks around Samia and puts one in the top of the goal. I try to answer but, get taken down by Deluxx. The ‘Iron Cage’ fails again and the Sens score again. I contemplate changing the game plan scrapping the cage and coming up with something on the fly. I quickly banish the thought, coach Arezzo would have my hide if I dare change her plan. We have to stick to it, no matter how painful. At least my legs feel good, better than they’ve been in a while. Maybe it was the bacta treatment before the game but, I feel energized. I hope it’s not against the rules. I charge the net again but, Montes makes the save. We drive again and again at the net and get turned away by the stiff defense, and things are not much better on our end. Nuun and Ehlers are racking up the points and our defense just can’t keep up. It isn’t tuning into a blowout but I feel the game slipping away. We can’t let that happen. I glace at Nara and Rime, feeling the fire behind my eyes, we were going to score this time. Brian drives up the sideline breaking though tackles then passing up to Ponie. Another bust of speed and the play moves to the half forwards I fight with my marker looking for open ground but find none. Seiji passes off to Nara on a cross route and she hammers it past the netminder. That’s what we need, just a bit of energy to get us to the half. The ref blows the whistle and the first half ends.

During the break coach praises us for sticking to the game plan for once, her condescending tone does nothing to boost our spirits but, thankfully they’re still riding high after Nara’s last goal. For which Tian and Kala gave the Weequay pats on the back. We’re still down by a few points but we can make it back, our defense needs to tighten up and our offense needs to shove it into high gear. The game could still be ours.

“Team,” I say getting their attention, “We’ve done well, but, they still have a lead on us. We need to come out of the gate swinging hold nothing back. Let’s try and break them early so we have an easier half.” The room responds with cheers as we take back to the field with a renewed sense of pride and victory. Our dive at the net is quickly smothered by the withering defense and our defense is almost instantly penetrated and scored on. This is not the start I want. I press on anyway trying to salvage something from this game give us some hope for the future. Nara breaks away again but is rebuffed, I get a foot on it but, again it is stopped. Rime just for an instant gets some space on Gamble and taps the ball past the line. I feel the fire return to my chest, we could still make it back, could still win this. I intercept the pass and fire off a quick shot at the goal. It’s saved easily and the next throw in goes over my head straight to Meels, Leigh has no chance of bringing that beast down. As the play moves thought the midfield I sense the burning in my heart cool and begin to fade. We lost right then, I kept playing but, in the back of my mind I knew we couldn’t win.

We leave the capital planet heads hung low defeated for the second time in a row, may be the next game will be easier, it is against the Demons after all and, they haven’t won a game yet. Or it could turn out like us and the C-Bucs last year, they win but only against us. Just to dive the point home that we suck. On the shuttle ride back to Carratos I see Leigh looking around nervously. She’d had a rough season so far, maybe something is up and I need to talk to her. I contemplate it for a second then Else drops down beside her. She doesn’t need a pep talk from me she’s got her sister right there. I lean my head back and close my eyes, ‘nother long week ahead of us, best get an early start on rest.

TAG: Jedi Gunny

 

From the Data Pad of Tomas Vigo

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Game Day!

It’s way late. My mom will probably have words for me at breakfast when she finds out I stayed up to type this entry. It’s not that I don’t appreciate my mom. I do. It’s just that if I did everything in life to please her I wouldn’t even be playing Limmie right now. We had an afternoon game, so if you’re wondering why I am just now getting home to type up my blog you’ll have to read to the end.

I followed the team out onto the field for warm-ups knowing this game was going to be special. Watching both teams attack the net in warm-ups was a good indication of what was coming. The offensive attack by both teams was insane during the first half. My brother was firing from all over the field and he never seemed to miss. Sometimes he’d be back in position fake a pass and fire. Other times he’d run all the way up front and have Wrehase or Sureysh pass him a short ball. Bat scored 4 goals and a bar point in the first half. Hovechar raced around confusing the defense and making key passes to my brother. Dunerider had a breakout game scoring 2 goals and 2 bar points in the first half. Sureysh and Wrehase had a goal apiece.

It was frustrating to watch only because the Miners offense was owning our defense just as well as we were owning theirs. Kaat literally walked over to Ty after the 4th goal was scored on her and spit in his face. I didn’t hear her from the sideline, but Ty says she called him something he couldn’t repeat so it must have been pretty bad. At the half we were up by only 2 points. Coach Jul was proud of her offense. She told them to keep on attacking, never let up she said. Meanwhile Coach Till had me pull his uniform out of his office. He’s not supposed to play this year. He even promised my mom. Still to win a game Coach would be willing to sleep on the couch for a few months if he has to. I’m pretty sure my mom would kick him out of her room until at least the end of the season if he suits up and I really hope it doesn’t come to that. I hate to see my parents fight.

Coach told the defense not to make him come out there and remind them how this game is played. He showed the players his uniform and he wouldn’t even tell them who’s place he’d come in for. He just told them it would be embarrassing for them and not to allow that to happen. I hung Coach’s uniform in a spare locker for him and laced up his cleats too, just in case he needed them. Thankfully the defense took Coach’s words to heart and tightened their line in the second half. Noah, Ty and Leo were a virtual wall only allowing one goal and three bar points to get by during the second half.

Our offense was slowed too, but not by nearly as much. My brother continued to assault the Miners scoring 2 more goals. Gotsburg got on the board with two bar points, Odette scored a goal and Sureysh and Dunerider got a bar point apiece. The 9 point victory was the first victory of the modern era the Starkillers have celebrated over the Miners on our home turf. It meant we got to keep the Golden Orange Bowl trophy for a second year in a row. All the Miners had to do was fill it with fruit for us. You would have thought that Kaat and Ty would be angry at each other after that incident in the first half. But what you saw on the holo was real. They both grabbed a handful of fresh fruit out of the trophy and made a point of eating it while talking to reporters immediately after the game. “Tell Niskat Deenever how good this is for me,” I heard Ty say on camera.

“It’s to die for,” Kaat said chiming in as she licked her fingers clean. I stayed behind and picked up all the fruit peels the players haphazardly tossed on the sideline in their victory celebration. Not that I minded much. We won, Coach didn’t have to play and I finally have some really crazy news to share with you in this blog. It’s why I am up so late.

After the game the team was being looked over by trainers when Shyall stormed out of her shower stall in Kaat's direction and demanded to know why she spit in Ty’s face during the first half. Kaat replied that she did it because Ty wasn’t doing his job. Shyall didn’t think that was the case and she told Kaat that she needed to do her own job and keep balls out of the net. As you can imagine that didn’t go over well.

At first Kaat acted like maybe she didn’t hear Shyall to give her a second chance. Shyall repeated her words telling Kaat she needed to step up and be a better keeper. Next thing I saw was a wad of spit from Kaat's mouth hitting Shyall in the face. Ty was having his ankle taped up like he does after every game, even though he insists nothing is wrong with it. He motioned the trainer to back up and ran between his teammates.

“Ladies,” he said. “We won, let’s all remain friends so we can win another one next week.” Or something like that I can’t remember exactly. It was too late though, Shyall dove under Ty’s legs and tackled Kaat to the ground. I walked closer to get a good look at the fight as did several Starkillers. Ty ran out of the locker room to get a Coach. Till came in moments later and threw a bolo ball at the ladies. It landed hard on Shyall’s backside causing her to lose focus and ending the brawl.

Coach ordered the ladies to get up and asked what happened. Once he got their story he turned on the rest of the team and me. He wanted to know why we were staring. Coach decided then and there everyone should suit back up and practice for a few hours. He said if players had enough energy to fight in the locker room they had enough energy to practice. I had the responsibilities of dragging the water cooler and towels back out on the field and to chase down loose balls since I had been gawking at the fight along with the players.

Coach ran a tough practice this evening. I’m exhausted and hurting so I know the players are feeling it. Shyall and Kaat may have exchanged a few punches, but neither of them is hurt. Coach is making them do lots of extra reps in practice this week. Unless another incident should occur they are starting. Let’s hope they keep their heads on. We all want to keep winning. That’s all I have for the night. Have a good start to the week and I’ll check in soon Starkiller fans!

Monday

Finally a day at school with no detention. I got to go to my full Limmie practice. We play a school from the other side of town this week. I’m expecting a much easier game from the one we played last week. Still I appreciate any chance I get to work on my game. Mom picked me up after practice and we went to the stadium to have dinner with Coach. It was food my mom made at home and packed up so we could eat as a family. My mom told coach and I that she was surprised at how much interest the commissioner took in the children yesterday. My mom really wanted him to see how much our whole family enjoys Limmie.

Surely our family isn’t the only one to bond around the sport on Sunday’s she says. My mom wants everything in life to be a positive influence for children. It’s why she came down so hard on my brother last season with his suspension. She wants to send a message to kids like me who look up to Limmie players that such behavior is not tolerated. Mom says the kids were just being kids and Lokensgaard simply couldn’t take his eyes off them. Even when the score was back and forth and goals were being scored by the handful our commissioner was entertaining the children and even helping them out of danger.

Sounds to me like my mom, Georgia and Ty’s mom took full advantage of their guest so they could actually watch a game for once. Mr. Lokensgaard if you’re reading this I want to thank you for the interview and my family thanks you for being our guest yesterday. There was also some breaking news today from the Miners camp. They have asked an LFL team to take on their second string midfielder. Um, yea there’s so much I could say about that. I’m going to wait until later in the week when I talk to my brother before I go on the record about that one. Spencer is the manager and assistant coach of the Tatooine Sandskimmers. I can’t wait to hear what he has to say about this one.

Thursday

I just go home from my limmie game and I’m feeling lousy. We played another “rich kid’s school” tonight and I thought it was going to be an easy win. We lost, 15-19. At least we came back and made a game of it in the second half. I feel like this loss is on my shoulders. I didn’t take it seriously enough. My whole life I’ve had it thrown in my face that I’m a spoiled rich kid. That I’ll have everything handed to me and I won’t have to work hard. I try my best to prove I do work hard for my accomplishments.

This week I didn’t work hard enough. I figured the rich kids across town were the spoiled kids who had given me a bad name. I didn’t expect them to put up a fight. I was wrong. This team came out fighting on all cylinders. The East Cambrielle Cougars were out for blood and they drew plenty.

I’ve realize now that I’m gonna get double teamed in every game I play. At halftime we were down 6-17. I had broken through once to score a goal nd our full forward had the other. Our defense had been assaulted. Our coach reprimanded me telling me I needed to get back and help on defense. Midfield he says means all field. I may hold a defiant face when I’m corrected, but I take to heart what I am told. We won the second half of play 9-2. My defensive play was much stronger and I still managed to score another goal. It wasn’t enough to win the game. I’m disappointed and upset. Luckily I’m only a high school freshman. I have plenty of time to learn from mistakes like tonight.

Coach Till was there for most of my game. He told me he is proud of my play. I think he’s mostly preoccupied with his own game prep for this week’s Starkillers game against the Mandalore Mercs. A little over a week ago tragedy struck the league when Mercs defensive starter Jiri Patton was killed in a speeder accident. I want to go on the record here and say that my thoughts go out to his family and teammates.

We have a history of close scoring hard fought games against the Mercs. I expect this one to be exactly as hard fought as those in the past. No team handed the Starkillers a win the season after my father passed and the Mercs don’t expect any sympathy from this league either. I’m not saying that we’ll have much to celebrate in beating the Mercs. I’m just saying it’s important to keep our spot at the top of the Solo Conference. We are playing to win this weekend. Coach has been putting long hours in at the stadium. I haven’t seen him much this week and brought up his appearance at my game because it came as a surprise.

I’ll see Coach again tomorrow. I’m going to help out with practice after school. Expect an entry tomorrow night to update you on how the players feel going into this week’s match up.

Friday

I’ll start with the conversation between me and my brother Spencer that took place this morning. Spencer and I used to be real close. It’s hard with him living on Tatooine. When he first moved out there to go to school we talked every day. The longer he’s gone the less we talk. I found out the reason he doesn’t need me to talk to so much anymore. He’s got a girlfriend. She’s the same age as him, just a year behind him in school. My brother is a year ahead, so basically that means she’s on track. Her name is Samantha. She’s tall and she’s one of those humans that’s so pale she doesn’t even tan in the sun, she freckles. Her and Spencer met in a dance class and they are both engineering majors. I’m not surprised they hit it off.

I’d been trying to call my brother since the news broke about the Miners wanting an LFL team to take on their midfield prospect. He finally got back to me this morning. I asked him what he thought and Spencer says, “The Miners are Spice Head Crazy!” Which means he agrees with me. Seriously do they think another team is going to waste valuable coaching time on a player that won’t be going on to make a difference in their own franchise? I’ve heard the liquor on Bakura was good, but I didn’t know it was that good.

Spencer and I had some laughs over the request that’s for sure. We talked about the Sandskimmers too and the success they’ve had early in their season on defense. The keeper down there, the undrafted Padme McKenz could give Kaat a run for her money. This is going to be the first year I won’t see my brother on my birthday. It’s only two weeks away. Speaking to him made me really sad about that. I had a full day ahead at school and then at Starkillers practice to help me forget a little. At least until now.

So Starkillers practice. You won’t believe who’s getting along like best friends for life. That’s right Kaat Stun and Shen Shyall. They were owning the offense tonight in a scrimmage against our offensive starters. Each of them communicating without words enabling them to make plays I couldn’t believe and I was standing there watching. I asked Ty what changed. He said he doesn’t know he just hopes they stay friends so he can get home after the game this week to see his kids.

Ty is really missing his son’s and my sister right now. He tries not to show it, but they are all he talks about. The team has tomorrow off and I’m sure he has something special planned. Ty always does the coolest things with his kids on his days off. I’ll see Coach at dinner with the team tomorrow. He’ll be busy with last minute stuff until then though. My real dad wouldn’t have been around either. When I have kids I’m going to be the kind of father Ty is, the kind of father who’s around when he can be.

As for the rest of the Starkillers. They are ready for the Mercs. Jul didn’t let up on the offense just because they had a good game last week. She’s expecting that same performance come Sunday. Coach Till has been working out reserves Jeffers and Non real hard this week. If our defense shows signs of weakness they’ll be subbing in. None of our starters wants that to happen. The team is ready for anything, even the Mandoade Mercs. Bring it Madoad, we are ready!

Satruday

Coach surprised me this morning. He took me and Louise to breakfast at Fenton’s Diner. Just the three of us. We’ve never been out anywhere together without my mom before. Coach had some troubles with Louise. I had to step in and help him more than once. He didn’t even know to ask the hostess for a high chair. Afterwards we stopped at a park to hang out and push Louise on a swing. It’s the best Saturday morning I’ve had since Spencer moved out.

After our time together Coach went in to work then we all met up again for dinner at the stadium with players and their families. Remember yesterday when I said that Shen and Kaat were best friends. I guess I didn’t realize that their relationship somehow went beyond friendship. When everyone took their seats for dinner this evening the two of them were at their own private table. Like they were on a date. You could tell there was flirting going on there too. I’m super confused because last season Kaat had a boyfriend. Ty says he stays out of other beings business, but sometimes people bat “both ways.” Whatever that means.

Ty was in a really good mood tonight. He did spend the day with his family. They went to the mountains and rode tubes. I haven’t been to do that since I was a little kid. It was a lot of fun. I remember the way my stomach would drop on the way down those super long hills. Maybe when the season is over Coach will take me. I’ll have to remember to ask him.

The only other news I have from dinner besides the fact that the Starkillers are still hungry for the Mercs tomorrow even after their three course meal tonight is that Kara Sureysh brought a date! Holo star Rob Iler. That’s gonna hit the holo sooner or later. I thought it would be fun to break the news here. I checked with them first, they agreed.

Game Day tomorrow Starkiller Fans. Be Loud and Be Proud! GO STARKILLERS!

Tags: Trieste Bardan_Jusik

​

​

 

GM Post

HSN Headlines

• Saoirse Sloan responds to Leota Avoy’s comments
  • “Wow, well...didn’t see that coming. I mean, it’s an economic transaction. Best overall outcome for society. We have a Helmsman-nominee player who can make an impact at midfield who’s going to lie fallow here. An LFL team that wants to win can get access to that talent. This is basic economic theory. Everybody wins.”
  • “I guess the Bucs just don’t want Gallinore to win.”
  • When asked about if the Miners are trying to do exactly what Avoy said (have the benefits of the LFL without an affiliate agreement): “Absolutely. It’s called loan agreements with the Premier League and GCLA and it produced Aron Rodders, Niskat Deenever, and Alana Glencross. We’re just adding the LFL to our list of options.”
  • When asked if that means the LFL are just as good as the Premier League and the GCLA: “Now you’re just trying to put words in my mouth. Other than the words that are in my mouth.”
  • Sloan did not comment on Avoy’s comments regarding degrees of relationship between owners: “That’s a League issue.”
  • On whether she thought a fellow Hapan would have extended her more civility, Sloan laughed and said: “Yeah, you don’t hang around with Hapan women do you? If anything she’d be more likely to bring out the claws. We’re all, 'rawr' and stuff like that together.”
  • When asked if she had seen comments from Tomas Vigo’s blog: “He has a blog? And which one is Tomas? There are so many Vigos. I don’t even keep all the Triestes straight.”
• Lokensgaard unavailable for comment on these issues while en route to Ylesia for Bucs/Lightning game
• League offices declined to comment

TAG: jcgoble3 Runjedirun

 

GM Post

HSN Headlines

• Coruscant Senators GM Briar Thorne has reportedly expressed interest in Bakura Miners midfielder Niall Bordougny loan agreement, according to HSN. Miner efforts to loan rookie out to other Elite League teams had been met with harsh criticism in prior days.
• Thorne: "I think both the Miners and the Senator organization can benefit from adding Mr. Bordougny to the roster on Thyferra. Given how their season has not gone according to plan thus far, adding a player of his caliber could assist in turning their season around".
• Poll of Coruscant fans generally not in favor of the move. "We're going to groom the next Bakuran midfielder who will then turn around and kill us, and what thanks does the organization get? Nothing but a bunch of bruises and rivalry losses. We could create another Alana Glencross with our system's coaches and players, and then let them develop a star for another team without fair compensation," says one enraged fan.
• In response to growing criticism, Thorne replied: "Terms are not finalized yet. I have merely reached out to the Miners regarding the availability of their prospect. Nothing is set in stone, and we are still far apart on final terms. I believe the chances this goes through are 30-70 at best."
• Thyferra head coach Keli Sen due to return to Force for Week Three game at home against Concordia. She had been on maternity leave for first two weeks of the season.
• Sen, on possibility of loan agreement with Miners: "The prospect in question could provide a spark this team has desperately needed these first few weeks. However, I voice caution to team management to be certain that they get fair value out of such an agreement and that the Miners do not receive free stashing and development of a player. There needs to be fair compensation not just for a contract, but also for time my fellow coaches and I will put into their player that could otherwise be spent with players under contract within our organization."
• Thorne: "I fully intend to pursue additional terms as part of the loan agreement beyond full payment of the players's salary. Despite my ties to Bakura, I will not develop one of their prospects for free. Limmie is not a zero-sum game; there has to be fair compensation involved in the deal to make it worth our while, and I will do everything I can to make sure this organization would get something positive out of such an agreement if we pursue that course of action."
• No indication of what "fair compensation" terms might be yet.
• HSN Analyst: "These 'fair terms' must not be too high, or else the Miners would absolutely refuse to take them and farm their prospect out to a Premier League team who has no vested interest in Bordougny's future career with the Miners."
• Senator captain and full forward Leia Adama will miss Week 4 game at Rydonni Prime with re-aggravated quadriceps issue.
• Adama: "I was hoping to be 100% to go this week, but that just won't happen. So I'll take this week off to rest and hopefully be back for the Denon game."

TAG: jcgoble3 Jedi Gunny Runjedirun

 

IC: Briar Thorne
Senator Team Shuttle, en route to Rydonni Prime

“Ms. Adama, please sit down,” Briar said as she stared down the star full forward. Leia Adama did as she was told, sitting down in the chair on the other side of the small desk in the cramped GM office on the Senator team shuttle. Briar preferred her regular-sized office back on Coruscant, but this office had to do on road trips, and with a four-game road swing starting here, she would have to get comfortable with this one again. At least it wasn’t a five-game road trip like last season; that had been murder on her. When she finally got back to the regular HQ office, it looked like it had grown five times larger because she was so used to the cramped one on the shuttle. Sure the shuttle was nice, but to make sure there was spaces for offices at all, some creature comforts had to be downscaled. She would make do with this office, but if she could, she would do some of her GM deliberating in one of the lounges, which were much comfier.

“I called you here because I have a few questions to ask of you,” Briar said once the player was settled in.

“Is this about my contract?” Leia asked immediately, jumping to the conclusion almost immediately.

“Some of it yes, but not all of it,” Briar countered. “But I do not think it would be wise to start with that yet. First I want to know how your rehabilitation is coming along. Doctor Wor says you won’t be available tomorrow against the Monarchs.”

“You have no idea how much it hurts to not be able to play,” Leia said.

“It’s hopefully just one more week . . .”

“One more week, that’s all they say. Sounds really short, doesn’t it?” Leia asked, miffed for some reason. “But it’s not short. All I see is sixty minutes, sixty minutes where I’m not in uniform for my team. The ‘C’ was sewed into my uniform for the season, and guess what, I’ve missed two games, and barely played in two others. By the time we go to Denon, this team will likely have played 240 minutes of action, and yet I’ll only have played 26 of those minutes. That’s basically a tenth of all the minutes my teammates are putting in. Ms. Thorne, I can’t put enough emphasis behind this; I can’t stand sitting on the sidelines. This team needs me.”

“I understand your concern,” Briar said. “But the doctors agreed it would be best for you to not dress for this game, even though we could obviously use your skills. Ms. Adama, I know it’s frustrating, especially since you’re captain. But you will have to lead from the sidelines. Do you not trust Gamble to be captain in your stead?”

“No, it’s not that . . .” Leia said. She paused for a long moment. “It’s something else.”

“What is that?”

“It’s . . . it’s about my contract.”

“What about it?” Briar asked, her eyes narrowing a bit. Was this some ploy by the star player for a contract talk?

“I’m being paid all this money to put on that uniform, and yet I don’t even show up in games. I’m paid to sit on the sidelines and rest up an annoying ligament.”

“I’d rather you be out one game and be back for Denon instead of getting yourself hurt out there tomorrow and being done for the season. Ms. Adama, we need you down the stretch, and you can’t jeopardize your long-term health for short-term gain.” There was no response for several seconds. “Besides, we both know there’s a lot of pressure on you not just to perform here, but also from the fans at home. And not on Coruscant; back where we came from.”

“You wouldn’t understand,” Leia said.

“Want to bet?” Briar asked, leaning across the desk to get herself closer to the full forward. “You’re Leia frakking Adama, daughter of the legendary Declan Adama, Galactic Cup winner. You come from a long line of players in your family who have all, except for you, played for the Miners. The Adama clan is as close to Limmie royalty as you can get with a team in this league. Your contract is expiring at a perfect time for the Miners to be interested in signing you as a free agent this offseason, where you’d be able to go back home for your hometown crowd and make daddy proud that his little girl ended up a Miner. Now, I’m stuck in a position where I want to sign you to an extension so you stay here with the Senators for many more years, but your value has skyrocketed over your first three seasons, and the injury this year has put a few questions into everyone’s mind if you’ll really be healthy all season and able to contribute. Besides, the Bakuran media is going into a fine frenzy about the prospect of you ‘coming home’, and I don’t hear the end of the reports and rumors that I’m shopping you to the Miners for Deenever, or for Pic, or for whoever the sports pundits think I would want to trade for. Point is, Ms. Adama, is that I’m sick and tired of the charade the rumors are putting on my position here. So I need to ask one question from you: will you be open to signing a contract extension this season? Because if all you can think about is playing out this year, or half-assing it all year so that you can run home to Bakura, I might as well trade you now so that I don’t get bilked for nothing. The media’s going to want my head no matter what I do if I can’t re-sign you, so if you’re intent on going to Bakura next year, I need to know right now. No charades, no crap, just the truth, Ms. Adama. Where do you see yourself next season?”

The full forward was silent for several seconds, and Briar leaned back in her chair after her mini-tirade. She wasn’t sure if she had just alienated her star player, but it was the result of growing frustration with the media, both from Bakura and Coruscant, spreading rumors that she was reportedly shopping Adama to the Miners. She had no such intent, because she wasn’t interested in making such a trade; Adama was a cornerstone player, and Briar had zero advantage in trading that piece away unless the return haul was extremely valuable. And the Miners were thrifty; they would compromise their roster to get Adama via trade, Briar knew that all too well. For all Quinn Cundertol knew that no one else could understand, Briar was as close to figuring him out as one could be; she had worked with him for almost a decade, so nothing he did surprised her much anymore. He wouldn’t make a trade for Adama unless he felt like he won the deal, and there was no way the Senators could win such a trade. Trading with the Miners was not an option, so it came down to how badly Adama wanted to stay on Coruscant, or if she would retreat to Bakura to start anew there and try to build her own legacy.

“I don’t know yet,” Leia finally said. “Truth be told, Ms. Thorne, I’ve heard all the rumors. My family members are even pushing me to come home to Bakura. Dad’s seeing this as an opportunity to recruit me . . . I don’t really know what I want yet.”

“Unfortunately, that doesn’t put me in a very good spot,” Briar said.

“I’m sorry . . . it’s a momentous decision for me,” Leia said. “But I do intend to play out the rest of the season, no matter what. Please don’t trade me; I’ll come back stronger than before, and I’ll be a good piece for this season.”

“I’m prepared to offer you an extension,” Briar said. “Four or five years, at the very least. You’re our star player, you’re the captain, and we need you here. I cannot offer you anything more than that, because that is going to be my best offer.”

“I can’t sign anything today. I need to think about things first,” Leia said. “Please give me a few weeks.”

“Then it shall be done,” Briar said. She didn’t like having to give in to the pressure, but she had no choice. Adama had forced her hand.

“Ms. Thorne, there’s one more thing I have to ask,” Leia said. “It’s about the reported deal with the Mines to stash their rookie with our organization.”

“Nothing is set in stone yet, as I already told the media,” Briar said. “Details are still being worked out.”

“I just want you to know that you should probably take the deal if it works out for the organization,” Leia said with a shrug. “I know we’re both Bakuran, so we want to see them succeed, but . . . we’re not there right now, are we? Take the deal if it helps the team, the organization.”

“I’ll take that into account,” Briar said, with the slightest hint of a nod. She had no idea if the Miners were interested in what she had to offer, but it was a start.

Leia stood up to go, but then she stopped mid-stride and turned around to face Briar. “Oh, and Ms. Thorne? Jet asked me to tell you that he’s very sorry about what happened between the two of you. He’d like to make it up to you if he could. I don’t really know what he’s talking about, but he seemed pretty serious about it. I can read him pretty well, since he’s my cousin, so . . . at least I think he was serious when he said it.”

“So he put you up to be messenger for him?” Briar asked.

“Yes he did. What should I tell him your response is?” Leia asked.

Briar thought about it for a few moments. She wasn’t sure what to say in this instance. Even if a tiny bit of her mind was thinking that she would like a return to the relationship she had with Jet once upon a time, she was still peeved at him that he had betrayed her trust in running off with another woman. She had promised to herself that day that she would never be heartbroken again, yet Jet was trying to push his way back into her life. How could she respond to this? Should she tell him off? Should she give him a chance? What to do, what to do?

Finally, she made a decision. “Ask him to meet me on Denon, face to face. I think your cousin and I need to have a little chat about the incident between us, if he’s so insistent about making up for his transgressions.”

“I’ll tell him that,” Leia said. “I don’t know what he’ll say; he’ll probably be ecstatic.”

“Oh, I bet he will be,” Briar said, rolling her eyes. Just because she was willing to talk with Jet didn’t mean anything. It was just a chat, nothing more. She had no intention of taking him back into a relationship, but maybe he could clear the air a little bit by apologizing for his misdeeds. Briar wanted him to grovel at her feet and ask for forgiveness; that would be a nice start. Beyond that, she had no plans. The Holo image popped into the back of her mind; could she forgive Jet for what he had done?

That was the million-credit question that hung over Briar’s head on the rest of the trip, after which she had to put those thoughts aside and focus on the possible loan agreement with the Miners. After all, Briar Thorne was a busy woman, and she had lots of things to address as GM.

She just wasn’t sure if her love life, or lack thereof, was one of them.


TAG: No One

 

IC: Kelly Telaam
Somewhere inside the borders of the Roon Federation

Kelly slowly stirred directly into a splitting headache. The kind that made her want to rip her head off, roaring down the back of her neck, throbbing out her eyes. To add to her pain was as horrible ringing sensation in her ears that was only now starting to dim ever so slightly as she came to full consciousness.

"Kelly, cain yar hureee me?" A man's voice asked.

At first the language the man was speaking sounded like a terrible cross between Basic and Huttese. There was more noise, more confusion, bright white light, glimpses of a sterile laboratory, maybe a hospital room, she couldn't be sure. She closed her eyes, the killer migraine fading away with each passing second. Her physical sensations slowly coming back to her.

"Kelly?" The man repeated.

Kelly opened her mouth to speak but no sound came out. She flashed back to the last memory she had. The swirl of white jerseys, the roar of the crowd as the crew chief went down in the thrilling match between Carratos and Nar Shaddaa. A jumble of memories, like files on a fragmented hard drive, came into her mind, too fast, too soon. She clutched at her head, opened her eyes to clear the images, but they wouldn't go away.

"This should fix it," the man soothingly said as he worked around Kelly's head beyond her visual range.

Kelly felt the pain subside in her body. What had he done that had taken it all away so quickly?

"Talk to me, Kelly," the man prompted.

Kelly felt her tongue rise against her teeth to form a response and said, "Thanks, I feel better."

"You suffered quite a blow out there," the man said as he finished his examination.

"I'll say," Kelly replied.

"Do you know who I am?" the man asked.

Kelly frowned. Something about his face was familiar. Something that stuck with her from a time long ago, a distant memory, something she couldn't quite place. His eyes looked upon her as if he were studying his finest work of art, his great masterpiece. Yes, she was certain she knew him but how? She tilted her head in contemplation before the answer crept into her mind.

"Father," Kelly said.

"So you do remember," Kelly's father said.

"You always know how to make me feel better," Kelly said.

"I have known you for a long time, Kelly Telaam," her father replied. "A very long time."

"That pain I was feeling. It was so intense. Hurt so bad. What did you do to make it go away?" Kelly asked.

"Are you afraid of pain?"

"No," Kelly replied, "I'm not used to it though."

"To answer your question I worked on your head a bit while you were out," her father responded.

"But you're not a doctor, are you?" Kelly asked her father.

"No, I'm not."

"Then what are you?"

"I think its time for this conversation to come to an end. Enough questions for today," her father replied.

"Answer my question," Kelly demanded.

"Not today," her father replied.

"When?"

"Not today," her father repeated as he headed out the door.

Something wasn't right and Kelly Telaam was eager to find out why.

---

Rydonni Prime

The game between the Smugglers and the Rydonni Prime Monarchs was one of the easiest and least difficult Kelly had to referee. Both teams were respectful to one another. Perhaps that was born of facing one another in two Finals, and several times throughout the playoffs, not to mention the regular season over the years.

Ossi stayed in goal for the Monarchs and was testd early and often by the fast paced Smuggler attack. Isabele and Vlad kept a close eye on the perimeter but Kelly didn't see any flagrant fouls for this particular game. As the struggle wound down to a conclusion, Kelly's mind leapt forward to next week. There the Smugglers would play Bakura in the infamous Black and Blue Battle.

---

​

Bakura

Bakura Gardens, arguably one of the most beautiful stadiums in the entire galaxy, towered above Kelly Telaam and her officiating crew seemingly welcoming them to walk its hallowed halls and tread where so many Limmie greats had gone before. Here so much history had been made by the likes of Dana Roslyn, Jet Adama, Westley and Robert Buttercup, Gaeriel Valerii, Alana Glencross, Falene Trieste, and so many others who'd worn the blue and gold colors of the Miners.

Bakura had won nine Galactic Cup championships in their storied history and three in the last decade. They were one of two teams that were routinely mentioned as the team of the 270s. The other was the Nar Shaddaa Smugglers, also three time Galactic Cup champions of the last decade, whom they would be playing today to determine bragging rights in the rivalry game that never disappointed: the Black and Blue Battle.

The Black and Blue Battle had been played for so long that few fans could remember when it had first started. Official statistics weren't kept until the 262 season when the league had decided to get serious about recording data about long running games between franchises. The fans were glad that the statistics had been recorded as both franchises loved to pull out the stops when comparing the best wins over the past 20 years of the 'official' recognition of the rivalry.

Miners fans would routinely point out the streak between 264-266 and 272-274 while Smuggler fans would rebound with extra emphasis on their own hot runs between 262-263 and again in 269-271. Interestingly enough, despite their classic clashes the two franchises, being some of the oldest in the league, had only played one another once in the Galactic Cup Final back in 259 where the Miners had defeated the Smugglers 18-15.

Smugglers fans still winced at the close loss remembering all too well how forward Selene Minn, who was married to Tover Micjaa, had been denied the winning goal by Bakura in the final seconds of a Final classic. The Miners routinely trotted out this point in debates with their old rivals who had nothing to say about the disappointing loss but a slight shake of the head and wistful dreams of what could have been. Still, the series was tied at 10 heading into today's match up and by all analysis of the game and teams this was one of the most evenly matched series in Limmie history. It was as if the Miners and Smugglers were born to duel one another in the most beautiful game of them all.

"This is where the Elite League will be watching us closely," Kelly reminded her crew as they finished dressing for the game. "All eyes are on us to call fair penalties. I don't want the crowd or the players to influence our decisions. I need clean reads on the goals and make sure to double-check what you're seeing with one another."

"Yes, Chief!" Kelly's crew responded.

Kelly trotted out onto the field. The stadium was jam packed with fans of the blue and gold variety though she did spot several dark sections of burgundy and black as the Smuggler faithful had decided to make their presence known at the Gardens.

She quieted her nerves as she scooped up the game ball, thoroughly inspected by Vlad and Isabele, and headed to midfield. Waiting for her were two time Galactic Cup champions who'd played one another for some time now: Erin Windreaver and Jolla Pic.

"Ladies," Kelly said as she tucked the ball under her arm, "I expect fair play all around. You know how I call the game and I will be watching you closely. Best of luck out there."

She placed the ball at midfield as Erin Windreaver readied herself to launch the opening salvo of yet another iteration of the classic tilt.

Kelly blew her whistle.

As Jolla Pic and Erin Windreaver clashed at midfield, Kelly couldn't help but stare in awe as history was being made right in front of her.

Two stories franchises.

Multiple Galactic Cup championships between them.

Star players on either side of the pitch playing a game for the glory of the league at Bakura Gardens.

Only one trophy: The Old Whiskey Trophy.

Only one champion would be crowned today.


Tag: CPL_Macja (brief mention of Monarchs), Trieste