Star Wars OPEN Elite League Limmie

IC: Keli Sen
Thyferra, game vs. Concordia

Keli hadn’t wanted to be here now, since she was going to take another week or two off from coaching. But the fact her team, coming off a title, had scored just two points in their first two games, was too much for her to bear, and she had to cut her leave short to return to the team and try to turn things around. There would be some changes made in the lineup if this game against Concordia ended up the same as the prior two matches, although she wondered if the failures of those games were due to the inexperience of the interim coach in her place. Travers Mercator was a defensive coordinator, and being asked to coach a team was night and day difference. He hadn’t been ready, and the offense fell apart. His defense had done a good job, but when you didn’t score points, you didn’t win games.

The talk all week had been about a possible loan agreement between the Bakura Miners and the Senators organization regarding a midfield prospect. Keli wasn’t sure what to make of that transaction, but at the moment it didn’t matter to her. She had to take her team into battle no matter how it was comprised and try to make things happen. She didn’t know if the midfielder in question was any good, but that was for later if the deal went through.

Her worry was how the offense would run against the Crusaders. Without promising prospect Harper Rice, the undrafted kid from UBSD whom had been called up to the Senators in the offseason, or the Kuna sisters, the Force seemed lost on offense. They had just two bar points in 96 minutes of game action, and that was very frustrating to all parties. The defense felt betrayed that they couldn’t win games, and the offense looked mystified because their offensive plans weren’t working as they intended. Sulena Gure, the offensive coordinator, had to tweak a few things during the week to see if that would jumpstart the offensive attack.

Even though the Futures League was basically a minor league for the Elite League, the point was still to win games and to develop players. The Force had won the title the prior season, but their main goal was to develop new talent for the Senators. If players got developed here, they could also be traded to other teams as prospects, thrown into larger deals, so there was plenty to gain from LFL conditioning. It was like a loan agreement without the full effects of a loan, and where the Senator coaching staff and front office had quite a bit of say on what they wanted to see. If they wanted to see a player start and get some experience, it would be done. If it was a rehab game, getting the injured player into the game for some live action before returning to the big club was the priority. The Force had been operated like this basically since 269, and it looked like that wasn’t changing anytime soon. This was their destiny for the immediate future, to help feed the Senators new talent. And it was Keli’s job to do that for them.

She wondered if she would be rusty at coaching. After all, the last game she had coached in was the Futures Cup Final, many months earlier. Would the speed of the game catch her off-guard? Was she ready to go back into the fray of Limmie and get her team back on track? There was only one way to find out, and that was to put on the headset and go through the game.


TAG: No One

 

GM Post

HSN Headlines

• Bakura Miners loan MF Niall Bourdogny to the Thyferra Force for the 281 season
• Miners will pay Bourdogny's salary for the 281 season
• Miners have right to recall Bourdogny to the ELL at any time prior to the end of the 281 regular season, but cannot do so after the final week of the LFL regular season
  • If the Miners recall Bourdogny, they will send their 282 third round draft pick to the Senators as compensation for time invested in development of Bourdogny
    • This draft pick will go into escrow to prevent it from being traded away from the Miners organization
• If Bourdogny remains with the Force through the end of the 281 regular season, Force will have guaranteed use of Bourdogny during LFL playoffs
• At the conclusion of the LFL postseason, Senators/Force have the option of electing to keep Bourdogny
  • If the Senators/Force exercise this option, the Senators will send the Miners the 282 second round selection formerly owned by the Hapes Consortium Buccaneers and currently held by the Senators
    • This draft pick will go into escrow to prevent it from being traded away from the Senators organization
  • If the Senators/Force do not exercise this option, Bourdogny returns to the Miners in 282
• Saoirse Sloan on the deal:
  • "While we worked this out, we called this 'The Most Interesting "Trade" in the Galaxy' in our office."
  • "The Force were interested in the deal, but wanted the Miners to have some skin in the game make sure we didn't just take advantage of their talent development."
  • "Yes, we specifically asked for the Bucs' second round pick in the deal package."

---

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

Week 4 Results

Nar Shaddaa Smugglers at Bakura Miners (2-4)
Mando'ade Mercs at Ralltiir Starkillers (39-36)
Coruscant Senators at Rydonni Prime Monarchs (29-18)
Hapes Consortium Buccaneers at Ylesia Lightning (27-7)
Carratos Pirates at Denon Demons (35-18)
Kashyyyk Rangers at Chandrila Patriots (18-11)

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

 

Sub GM Post

Week 3 LFL Reults

Bonus rolls to Drukenwell (28), Concordia (28), Thyferra (30), I am banking the 32 for next week since I did scores before Gunny's post today), Gallinore (28), Tatooine (32) and Atzerri (28)

Eriadu Thunder @ Druckenwell Marksmen (16-23)
Concordia Crusaders @ Thyferra Force (13-15)
Byblos Red Wings @ Gallinore Firedrakes (13-0)
Tatooine Sandskimmers @ Atzerri Bandits (22-15)

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

 

IC: The Rancor Pitt

"LIIIIIIIIIIIIIVE! from downtown Keldabe, on a sunny and warm it's Victory afternoooooon. 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 big show for you."

"Bigger than that win last night?"

"They don't come much bigger than that during the regular season Justin, that was a flat out shoot out."

"You know me, I love defense, but that was one of the most exciting, edge of your seat type, games that you'll ever see."

"How many lead changes?"

"Eleven...In the first half."

"Crazy"

"I thought for sure that it was one of those games that whoever had the ball last was going to win but the beskar curtain stood up just in time to prevent that from happening."

"When we went up by three late on that crazy Irvin three pointer..."

"Even then I wasn't convinced. I thought the Starkillers would tie it up and bring us to overtime."

"Oh we've had our share of those against this team."

"They always seem to bring out the best in each other, despite it not being a rivalry game."

"And this was no different."

"I'm just glad Irvin came back into the game after tweaking his knee following halftime."

"That looked worse than it was apparently, because he came back into the game with just two minutes left and he made his mark with the eventual game winner."

"Yeah, no way Gozer makes that shot."

"Have to worry though, that's two games now that Irvin has missed significant time during due to injury."

"That's where the Mercs depth really helps them out, you have a guy like Gozer coming off the bench to help him out..."

"He wouldn't have made that shot though."

"He wouldn't, but with the way the offense was rocking it, someone else would have stepped up."

"Lovenivek had a great offensive game, as of course did Jaing and Arock."

"Pretty much everyone had a great game offensively, on both sides."

"Dunerider and Wrehase handled the bulk of the load for the Starkillers. I really expected more out of Bat Vigo though."

"Mor'kesh did a good job of keeping him in check."

"Yeah, with the offense that Irvin brings, Mor'kesh seems to have rededicated himself to defense."

"Damn right he has, the beskar curtain starts with him."

"That curtain didn't look too stout though throughout most of the game."

"The Starkillers were their first real test though, and not the kind of team you want to let run on you like that. They're shabla fast."

"Yeah they ripped us up pretty good, the Mercs are just lucky they have enough firepower to play with a team like that."

"That's another advantage the Mercs seem to have this season, the ability to play several different styles of limmie, and beat a team no matter how they play."

"Kor'le teaches that flexibility, and having an athlete like Jaing leading the offense allows for a lot of that."

"Still, they are in large part built on a smash mouth defense, that just seemed a step slow out there last night."

"They did, the Starkillers took it to everyone and it wasn't until late that..."

"That last flurry of shots though, I mean Katan was amazing."

"Deflection after deflection, but he couldn't seem to secure the ball."

"No one could, at least on the Mercs. They Starkillers had what? Like 100 chances there?"

"More like three, but I get your point."

"OK, three, and one went right to Smalls."

"Yeah that second one. If he would have had that it was game over."

"He went for it and got beat..."

"I thought that was it right there, Smalls was out of position then and the Starkillers forward, I forget which one, was one on one against Katan."

"Katan made a great save there, but the ball went right back to Smalls again who missed it..."

"You're killing me Smalls!"

"..and gave the Starkillers that last desperate shot, that finally, finally Katan secured."

"Also securing the win, in a wild, wild game."

"A win the Mercs needed too, the Bucs won again yesterday..."

"Crazy,"

You know, since they have started letting men play on the team they are undefeated."

"At least that team from Nal Hutta's moon lost."

"Yeah, but both they and the Senators are still crazy good too. I know it's early in the season, but this start for the Mercs is historic."

"First time starting out 4-0 in franchise history."

"And yet they still can't create any distance for themselves in the standings."

"Lot's of season left, anything can happen, but this is starting out to be a crazy year for the Mercs, and for the ELL. And things don;t get any easier next week, we have the Miners t worry about."

"At least we don't have to see Glencross any more..."

"Aren't you forgetting something?"

"Oh shab."

TAG: Runjedirun, Trieste

 

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From the Data Pad of Tomas Vigo

Sunday

Congratulations to the Mando’ade Mercs! A well fought game on both sides. Even if we did lose today I want to re-cap the highlights we had. Dunerider has proven she belongs on this level. She was stepping up where my brother was faltering a bit. My favorite move of Yolanda’s in when she passes a ball while making a tackle. She is one tough chick. Not to take anything away from my brother. He still had two goals and a bar point. Bartholomew realized early that the Mercs had his number in this one. His assists to Dunerider and Wrehase were just as important as any scoring he could have done himself.

Speaking of Wrehase he had a stand out game too. Four goals for the rookie. He was directing plays out there as well. You can hear him hollering codes to his offense from the sideline. I have no idea what plays he’s calling. For all I know he makes up nonsense to confuse the defense. My favorite is “Blue raspberry cake.” He also calls “Custard sundae with a cherry on top” and “Mango pie.” Maybe he’s trying to make the opposing defense hungry.

During that last flurry of desperation goals Wrehase didn’t call anything. I actually feel like it’s why we kept missing. As for our defense, it wasn’t as ugly as the scoreboard reflects. It was a fast paced game. Kaat made plenty of stops, Ty was soaked in sweat from attempts to slow down the onslaught of scoring. A few adjustments and we’ll be ready to go for next week. I echo Coach’s Till and Jul here, “It’s over we did our absolute best and we have to move on.”

Luckily Ty was vocal in the locker room tonight about everyone needing to go home and rest. There were no fights or even words exchanged we all got to get out of there early. Everyone except for coaches Till and Jul they were busy discussing next week’s game plan when mom left with Louise and I.

Big week for me as well. I’m signing off to study and hopefully get some rest for my own game coming up this Thursday.

Monday

It’s been a long day. Coach did not come home after the game last night. Kids were asking me all day at school if Kaat’s days in the Starkiller goal box are numbered. I’ll tell you the same thing I told them. I don’t know. To be honest I think Kaat deserves at least one more chance. Coach isn’t answering my calls. I take it he’s busy preparing for the Hapes Consortium Buccaneers this coming Sunday.

Obviously we need to do something to fix our defensive line. I was there yesterday and I saw it too. Ty can’t make all the plays out there. Leo doesn’t seem to have his attack when we play power houses like Bakura and Mando’ade. Noah could have made more tackles, Shyall missed easy steal opportunities, Dev just takes up space and maybe Leak isn’t ready to start just yet. We can’t depend on our offense to be red hot every week.

My mom is being a bit overbearing tonight about seeing my finished homework. I think she and Coach may have had a fight. We didn’t have dinner together tonight. As far as I know Coach is still at work. Maybe he wanted to suit up yesterday and knew my mom would disapprove. Whatever is going on between them I hope it blows over soon. For now I’m off to get that homework done.

Tuesday

I got an earful from all sides today. My mom says she and Coach are not fighting. I got reamed out at breakfast just for thinking they might be. Tonight we had dinner at the stadium with Coach. He says he is considering starting Jeffers in Leak’s spot. The final decision will be made later this week. Ty has also volunteered to play wing and let Fostiir play fullback to see if Fostiir plays more aggressively in the middle. I think that’s taking a huge risk. Coach reminded me they can always switch back at any time if it’s not working.

Coach also spoke to me about his relationship with my mother. He admitted it’s strained right now. He told me not to worry and he asked me to be on my best behavior so we don’t upset her right now. And by we I think he meant himself. I haven’t done anything to upset my mom. He had a uniform made this season after promising not to play and he’s working late all this week. Coach if you are reading this just buy her some flowers. She also likes jewelry.

I mainly wrote this entry so everyone could hear about the possible changes to our defense this week. As soon as I have confirmation on those I will let you know.

Wednesday

It’s one week until my birthday. Spencer called tonight to make sure I know he hasn’t forgotten about me. He asked me what I’m working on in Limmie practice so he can make some new programs for L.P. and send them to me as a present. Samantha was in his room for most of the time we talked. When she stepped out I asked Spencer if he forgot about or pact. Spencer and I made a promise to each other not to have kids before we are 30. We are supposed to be my father’s smarter, more respectable, logical, well better children. We agreed to have solid careers before we go and have children. Seeing that this girl is going to be with Spencer every time I see him I thought maybe he had forgotten our deal.

Spencer promised he was not going to break our deal. He says he and Samantha have only kissed. He’s going to be 18 a few days after I turn 14. Spencer has always been straightforward and truthful with me. Even when I confronted him about taking Spice a few years back, he didn’t deny it. I’m going to trust that he isn’t going to become a father anytime soon. In fact Spencer told me to get my mind out of the gutter.

After that we talked Limmie. Get this, Spencer thinks the Starkillers could benefit from a younger full forward and is in favor of Ty and Leo swapping positions. He also thinks Coach is on to something with Jeffers. I don’t like Jeffers much because he got arrested for stupidity. Spencer says we have to give all our players a second chance. Especially since Jeffers was never a threat to society the way Bat was.

I have a game tomorrow. Time for rest. Wish me luck Starkiller fans!

Thursday

Traveled out to a new neighborhood for a Limmie game this afternoon. Our team finally got our second win of the season. I don’t like to brag, but I played an awesome game. I had two goals and two bar points. I also racked up 7 steals and 3 assists. My coach says if I play like that again the J.V. team might call me up. The final score was 17-9. We scored first and held the lead for the entire game.

Coach Till didn’t show. He called to congratulate me and confirm the defense is making changes. Jeffers will play this week. Jeffers is taking over at left corner back. Fostiir will play full back and Ty is moving up and over to left half back. I asked him if Ty has ever played half back before. Not since his freshmen year at Ralltiir U. I hope Ty remembers that far back.

I’ll find out soon enough. Coach wants to spend some time alone with my mom on Saturday before the team dinner. Louise and I are going to spend the day with Ty, Lucie and their boys. I know I’m being dumped. I don’t care. I’m still looking forward to hanging out with them. Have a great Friday Starkiller fans, I’m exhausted from winning that Limmie game and about to get some much needed sleep.

Saturday

Today started out just as awesome as I was expecting. My mom and Coach dropped Louise and I at Ty and Lucie’s as they were getting breakfast on the table. Ty buys the best cereals. Including the ones with those little colorful marshmallows. Ty must have spent an hour before we got there sorting all the marshmallows out of the cereal. T.J. and I both had a bowl full of marshmallows and milk for breakfast. Ty was willing to make the sacrifice and eat the plain cereal for his own breakfast. Just like I told you before. Ty is the most amazing dad.

Ty and Lucie didn’t make big plans for today. We started out by going to a big discount store to do some grocery shopping. My mom orders all our groceries on the holonet and has them delivered to the house. Ty did not grow up with credits. He actually likes to go shopping. He gets one of those big carts with the two seats up front and straps his boys in. Then he races up and down the isles making them laugh and my sister hides behind a rack of clothes as if she’s embarrassed.

Ty fills his cart with the most interesting array of food. He gets protein powders, fresh fruit, and vegetables. The stuff you’d expect a professional athlete to fuel up with. Then he adds all the stuff you should never eat. At least my mom taught me I should never eat most of the stuff. Like I said we ate marshmallow cereal for breakfast, so he bought more of that to replace the box we finished. Plus he buys chips, fizz, custard, and he buys these items like they are going out of style. Anything his boys point at that they want to try he tosses it in the cart.

I was surprised when we headed for the register that T.J. started to complain. He wanted Ty to drive the cart by the toy section. Ty said not today, he said T.J. just had a birthday and got lots of new toys. T.J. is 4, so he kept complaining. Ty just ignored him. Well T.J. is 4 and plenty capable of unstrapping himself from the seat of that cart and that is just what the kid did. He unstrapped himself and ran for the toy isle. I don’t know what the kid was thinking. Ty ran after him and caught him before he got very far. Ty didn’t stop there either. He asked Lucie to pay and took T.J. out to the car.

Lucie got upset. She said we should all go home and T.J. should spend the rest of the day in his room. Ty argued that the rest of us shouldn’t suffer. He said he could punish T.J. in the car. My sister doesn’t agree with what happened next and being that I’m not quite 14 and what happened later on in the day I’m not sure how I feel. I don’t even know for sure because I stayed with Lucie and Rah Rah while Lucie paid for the groceries, but I’m guessing that T.J. got spanked.

We quickly stopped by the house to unload the groceries and then we all went to the park. We put Rah Rah in the stroller so we could stroll through the zoo and hit multiple play grounds. T.J. behaved much better when he was told that we had to move on or we couldn’t wade in the creek because he was wearing new shoes. He listened.

For lunch we ate at the café in the park. I noticed a girl from school was eating with her family at a table near ours. She waved at me. While Lucie was paying the bill and Ty was strapping Rah Rah back in his stroller I motioned for the girl to meet me outside and snuck away. I thought we would be just a minute. I really didn’t think anyone would even notice we were missing. The girl was real excited I had motioned for her to come meet me. She was bold enough to ask me to the upcoming school dance.

I really don’t think I want to go to the dance. I do think this girl is pretty though, so I told her if she’d kiss me I would consider it. I told her if she was a good kisser we could go together. This girl stood on her tip toes and brought her face close to mine so fast I couldn’t even prepare myself. It was a good kiss, at least for as long as it lasted. Ty grabbed me by both arms without warning mid kiss and pulled me away. He was furious. Luckily I have a dark complexion so I don’t blush. I told my new friend she had a date as I was being pulled away against my will.

This is when Ty told me I was lucky I wasn’t his son. He said if I was his he’d “Smack my face.” I’ve never been hit by an adult before. I’ve never even be threatened like that and it didn’t feel good. I get it, I walked off and Ty didn’t know where I was. I’m old enough to take care of myself. All he had to do was tell me he was going to rat me out to mom and Coach. Which he did. There was no call for the threat.

For the rest of the afternoon I laid low and avoided Ty. We went to the Children’s museum where they have lots of fun exhibits. T.J. and I made holos of ourselves pretending to be HSN broadcasters. We reported that Ty Allin had a horrible game against Hapes and got benched. He and I were both kinda mad at Ty so we thought it was hilarious. I’m not so sure that Ty was laughing. I also don’t care if he was or not.

When we got to the team dinner Ty told Coach about the incident with the girl. Coach and my mom had a discussion. Before dinner I got a week with no holo games. My mother reamed me out a bit, but she didn’t threaten me. I took my punishment and ate dinner with my parents. Ty ate with the rest of the defensive players at the rowdiest table you ever did see. It annoyed me to no end that he had such a good time at dinner. Jul gave one of her inspiring speeches reminding everyone how important tomorrow is. A win tomorrow gets us one step closer to our ultimate goal.

The stadium cleared out early. All team members headed home for their beds. I’m retiring to mine now. Goodnight Starkiller fans.

Sunday

Today is an important day. I’m putting everything that happened yesterday behind me and moving forward. Just like our players have put last week behind them and they are ready for a great Limmie game today. We know Hapes is out to prove themselves this season. It’s not going to be easy, but I think we can win this one. I’m chilling out in the back of the locker room watching as Ty pulls his defense together for a last minute huddle. “Let’s show the Buccaneers how the Starkillers play ball,” he says. “Let’s save face out there today. We are not letting 30 points get scored on us, we are not letting 20 points get scored on us, we are not letting 10 points get scored on us, hell we aren’t letting 1 point get scored on us!”

I forgive Ty for what he said yesterday. For what it’s worth I’m sorry that I scared him by sneaking off. I’ll be cheering for him today from the sidelines. Just before he hits the field I run up to Ty, “I’m sorry.” I say.

“Water under the bridge Little Vigo,” he says with a smile. “Tell me this. Was it a good kiss?”

I nod enthusiastically. “Trust me girls are trouble,” Ty said as we waited for the team to be announced. “But they are worth the trouble. Just like winning Limmie is worth a few bumps and bruises.”

Gotta put this data pad down now. Hopefully I’ll have a good game to report on in a few short hours. SAVE FACE DEFENSE and SCORE ON OFFENSE…GO STARKILLERS!

Tags Bardan_Jusik jcgoble3

 

GM Post

HSN Headlines

• Miners/Smugglers postgame comments on rivalry game in the rain as top two offenses ground to a halt against each other
• Niskat Deenever: “The conditions absolutely played a factor today. They took away our air attack. We had to move it on the ground today and so did we. We have enough talent that we shouldn’t be a one dimensional attack.”
• Ronan: “This was brute force versus brute force. There was no finesse in this game. Both teams knew that if you were going to win that it was about overpowering your opponent.”
• Saiada Clarette: "I absolutely played hard on Zetter today. You play an all-star corner and you have to play hard.”
• Falene Trieste, who made comments with a bacta pack on her cheek:
  • “I’m really proud of our defense. We got toasted by the Starkillers last week and we came back against a team that’s just as good, if not better, and we stood tall.”
  • “The conditions were what they were. They didn’t stop the Smugglers. We did.”
  • On bandage: “You mess with a Zabrak and you’re going to get the horns. Occupational risk.”
• Lizbit Comstock
  • On shutdown: “Conditions what they were, everything was really close in today. That’s a hard game to play because the angles are all messed up and visibility is poor. The defense today bailed me out. We had to play this one perfectly with what Blackwood did at the other end.”
  • On non-call on the field: “I didn’t see it. You have to trust the officials.”
• Nathan Red
  • On verbal spat with head ref Telaam: “She had a rep coming into the game of calling things tough. I’d say it’s accurate.”
  • Responding to follow up question: “She called it fair.”
• Gaeriel Valerii:
  • “I’ve played rain games a lot here, but never one like this.”
  • “McCloud’s teams play with guts, today included. This one could have gone either way.”
  • On non-call on the field: “I’m not commenting on the officiating.”
  • On 2 point win as point differential standings start to stretch out ahead of them: “Win’s a win. We keep winning, we don’t have to worry about point differential.”
  • On next week’s game: “The Smugglers came in here undefeated with an amazing offense. The Mercs are coming here undefeated with an amazing offense. We know how to prepare for them this week.”
• Horst Penn: “The Commissioner’s going to be here next week? I can’t wait for him to ref the game. He does such an awesome job at the all-star game. I mean, he refs a lot of the games so I assume he’s good at those too. That’s pretty much his job.”
• Kelly Telaam: "My crew and I were trained hard by the Elite League. There was a lot of jawing out there today between players but we didn't have to come down hard on anyone. The weather was tolerable. I've seen worse."
• Mylessa McCloud
  • "Just a bad break at the wrong time. Blackwood let two points slip by her near the end there but overall she held her own against a true power offense today and I'm damn proud of her. I think we've found a solid goalie for the years to come."
  • "Valerii had me matched today. I'll admit she taught me a few things. That's why she's won Cups as a coach and I haven't yet. We'll catch her the next time around."
• Erin Windreaver: "Jolla can ball with the best of them but I'd still pick Shaw and I over Glencross' replacement...."
• Charlie Blackwood: "It's no excuse but the rain was really coming down there near the end. I couldn't see much but my fingers were hurting pretty bad on the previous series when I deflected the ball. I couldn't extend them in time to stop the winning points. I'll remember this loss for a long time."

TAG: Bardan_Jusik Vehn

 

IC: Briar Thorne
Ryell, Rydonni Prime

During all the years Briar had spent with Bakura, she had seen the development of the rivalry between Rydonni Prime and the Miners from a small grudge match based on team colors to a full-blown rivalry partially predicated on Trieste family lineage. The rivalry ties with the Monarchs had transferred when she had joined the Senator organization, trading in the Blue and Gold Bowl for the Sector Cup. And, of course, the Monarchs, whom had recently dominated the series with the Miners in recent years, had also been dominating the Senators in their rivalry series to the tune of 7 of the prior 9 meetings, including several playoff matches.

So to be taking it to the Monarchs in this game in front of their home fans was a reason for Briar to smile. She respected the Monarchs and what they had been able to do, going from utter obscurity in the middle of the decade to finally winning the Galactic Cup championship in 280, and had reminded the coaches and players on her side that the Monarchs were as dangerous a team as there was in the league, 0-3 record be damned. Obviously they had picked up on the GM’s advice, because the Senator players were putting together a complete effort on the field at Monarchs Stadium.

The offense, still missing key piece Leia Adama due to her aggravated quad injury, hadn’t missed a beat without her. Natasha Ehlers, the second-year forward from Naboo who was still filling in for Becki Morlan, whose recovery from new mom duty was still going slowly, had another nice game at half forward, scoring a pair of goals to boost her total to an eye-popping 10 goals on the season already. Zuzu Nuun, the reigning Ingbrand winner, added her sixth and seventh goals of the campaign in the contest, providing a solid 1-2 combo in the absence of Adama. The rest of the offense provided some extra punch against the Monarchs defense, with intriguing rookie corner forward Harper Rice adding three bar points and showing some flashes of greatness. Briar didn’t expect anything less from her fellow Bakuran, although he still had a ways to go in his development as a Limmie player.

But the rookie she was most intrigued by was Grace Organa. The loss of Alysha Romax in the Split Squad Orange friendly had obviously mentally scarred the poor rookie first-round pick, and for days after the incident, Organa looked completely lost. In the season opener against Hapes, she looked extremely timid and meek, which was not helping matters any. During the week between that and the Kashyyyk game, Maddy Swann, the de facto #1 midfielder with Romax gone, had a long chat with Organa to get the rookie’s head on straight. Adama and Christine Gamble even helped, and it looked like that conversation had paid off. Organa was showing off nice ballhandling skills, and despite her tackling needing work, she was making up for it with a knack for finding the ball. If she could develop better tackling, Briar figured, Organa might be the next great midfielder. Maybe not an all-time great, but certainly a useful piece going forward. Add in the cohesion of the young midfield corps, with Swann holding her own as the #1, and Duncan Gabbert and George Wulson providing excellent depth and defensive skills off the bench, and the unit was starting to take shape. They just needed to take the next step when push really came to shove at the end of the season.

By the end of the game, the Senators walked out with a 29-18 victory. It hadn’t been an easy one, but Briar hadn’t expected it to be easy. The Monarchs had put up a fight like she knew they would, but the Senators had just wanted it more, or were just lucky on a few shots. But she would take it regardless, because it kept her team in the thick of the playoff push in the Skywalker Conference after four weeks. With three undefeated teams coming into the fourth week of action, it was imperative to stay with them. One of them would hopefully falter, and the Senators could sneak in and take their spot if they stayed patient and kept playing hard.

Briar got to lift the Sector Cup for the first time after the game. It was an oddly-shaped little trophy, but she appreciated it nonetheless. It meant that her team was turning things around, at least to an extent. There were still seven games left to play in the season, and nothing was set in stone. The Senators still had a long ways to go, and that continued the next week against Denon.

But Denon was also where she hoped to find answers to another question.

---

Denon, Outside a Café

Briar went to the predetermined spot, trying not to be recognized by the local citizens. They were stunk up about their Demons being 0-4, and wanted to beat the visiting Senators to shreds to make up for their frustration. Briar hoped that the Demons would continue being winless after her team rolled through town, but right now that was the last thing on her mind. She would worry about the Demons later. Right now, she had her own demons to deal with, and they didn’t wear black and purple.


Finally she found the correct table, and the sandy-haired man sitting there. “Hello, Jet,” she said as she sat down across the table from him. She didn’t know what to expect from this conversation, only that it had to be done.

To Be Continued . . .



TAG: CPL_Macja

 

GM Post
Peace City, Ylesia


(Might want to let the music run up to about 1:11 for best results)

Fenrir wasn’t sure if Ylesia had a tourism slogan. After all, the last time they’d tried to mass entice large numbers of being there, that hadn’t turned out to be on the up-and-up. However, if anyone asked the Elite League Commissioner, their slogan should be “Taste the galaxy.”

With such a large non-human population spanning so many different species, there was a restaurant that featured the cuisine of just about every species that one could find. Every meal that Fenrir had was from a different planet. He’d actually been to more eateries than he’d been able to partake at. He was told up front that he was welcome to eat at the cafe run by a pair of enterprising Bith that his near-Human stomach would probably not take well to what was on offer. Lokensgaard got the point and settled for the Quarren joint next door and its exotic seafood.

Accordingly, he arrived at the new Peace City Gardens with a full stomach. It might not have been the best way to face the press.

“Commissioner, interim GM Leota Avoy has said that the League should enact stricter rules regarding degrees of relationship between owners--specifically pointing out that the Miners and Monarchs are owned by cousins. Is the Elite League going to take a look into this issue?”

Now that would be fun. Watching them squabble over who got to keep which team would be worth the price of wrangling the Board of Governors into passing such a law. Fenrir decided to keep his glee at such an idea to himself.

“That would be an offseason issue. If the Buccaneers want to discuss an issue that deals with ownership rules, the Board of Governors is the proper venue,” Fenrir said.

“So Avoy was out of line in bringing it up in the press?”

“Hardly,” Fenrir said. He had to remember that the Hapan media was here in force to cover the Bucs. “Her comments violated no league rules. Teams are welcome to talk about governance issues. There are some things that are better discussed in Board meetings themselves, issues that are sensitive. I’m sure that Ms. Avoy and other team officials across the league know what these issues are.”

“Commissioner, thoughts on Hapes’ turnaround this season?”

“It’s Hapes first time having drafted and their undefeated since. That’s a pretty big statement.”

“They also haven’t lost since adding males to their roster. Thoughts on that?”

Lokensgaard waggled a finger. “I think I’m not going to tackle that issue today. I’m just happy that the Buccaneers have justified the faith that I had in them after a disappointing season. It goes to show how quickly fortunes can change.”

“Speaking of which Commissioner, any predictions for how today’s game will go?”

“None at all. I look forward to watching it unfold.”

Unlike last week, I might actually get to see this game, Lokensgaard thought as he bid farewell to the media to head into the stadium.

---

“Otta, you old devil, and you know I mean that half-seriously,” Lokensgaard said, greeting the owner of the Lightning as he entered the owner’s box.

“Otta the Hutt welcomes you to Peace City Gardens, Commissioner Lokensgaard,” the translator droid said, his tinny voice coming on top of the Hutt’s booming bass, “He is honored to have you joining him for today’s game. Otta hopes that you have enjoyed the beauty of Ylesia’s seasonal tropical storms. Though no thunder and lightning is forecast for today’s game, he hopes that you were able to experience one earlier during your stay.”

“Quite impressive and beautiful,” Fenrir said.

“Today Otta has had his personal chefs prepare the finest delicacies for you to enjoy while watching the Lightning dismantle the Buccaneers. It is in situations like this that the Lightning play their best, defying expectations,” the translator continued.

“Let’s hope, Otta. You know how Hapans get when they win. Need to knock them down a peg, eh?”

A serving droid brought a covered tray to the Commissioner. He removed the lid and beneath a giant cloud of steam was...some kind of food that Fenrir couldn’t identify.

“Lovely,” he said, forcing a smile to his face despite the uncertainty about what it was he was about to eat, “New experiences are always exciting.”

---

The Hapan offense continued to pound away at the Lightning. Poor Korlo Penin wasn’t getting much help today from his defense and it was clear that the Ylesia side was going to wind up 0-4 on the season, a tough record to come back from. Otta was none too pleased at the development. It was probably for the best that the translator droid was not taking the time to convey every thought to Lokensgaard that his owner uttered.

“Tough day Otta,” Fenrir said sympathetically. He decided not to point out that the rookies that were helping Hapes win could have been his if he’d put the Lightning in the Draft this year. Now probably wasn’t the time. It was also definitely not the time for what came next, but Fenrir had to dive in all the same.

“Otta, there is something that we need to discuss,” Lokensgaard broke in, “We’ve been looking at the Lightning’s books.”

The Hutt didn’t move, but Lokensgaard saw his great eyes slide to look at him. He definitely had his host’s attention.

“The League is concerned with the Lightning’s position. Attendance numbers are down and your media numbers, once corrected for the other stronger teams, are not what we expect of an Elite League team.”

Otta said nothing, but his eyes roved back to the field.

“Otta, I can’t make any guarantees if things don’t improve by the end of the season,” Fenrir said.

The Hutt grumbled and Fenrir waited for the translation. “Otta says that he is not concerned about the Lightning. They have faced worse situations than this and always come out victorious. He is supremely confident that the Lightning have nothing to worry about.”

“Good to hear,” Fenrir said happily, “I share that opinion.”

Just then, the Buccaneers scored.

“Nothing to worry about at all,” Fenrir continued, “Nothing at all…”

TAG: jcgoble3 Rebecca_Daniels

 

​

IC: Bill Hitts

Bill walked off the field on Atzerri feeling confident. It had taken a few weeks, but the offense was clicking. The defense had a little more trouble than they had in the previous two games. What mattered is they held enough and to be fair the Bandits had pressed them hard. It had been a good game. A game Bill was proud to have coached a victory in. Young Spencer Vigo seemed to share in his satisfaction of the team’s play.

Jaya had scored 7 points, 2 goals and a bar. Lofykam had broken into the double digits with three goals and two bar points. Proving she was indeed the offensive star of the Sandskimmers. The remaining points went to Pithaya who had a loan goal and McTodd with a point. The old vet wasn’t going down quietly that was for sure. He had played a hell of a game out there today. The entire team had. It’s how they had secured the victory.

On the shuttle home Bill noticed his players didn’t seem to be enjoying their victory so much. In fact they looked outright depressed. Bill sat down next to McTodd. “What’s wrong with the team?” He asked the veteran player.

“Simple,” McTodd answered. “Starkillers scored 36 today. Doesn’t look like any of us will get called up this season."

“Season is young,” Bill reminded McTodd. “Anything could happen. Besides playing for the LFL isn’t so bad is it? Better than any other job you could take. I’ll promise you that.”

“Don’t tell me that,” the Amaran said putting his hands over his ears. “I’ve got two years left in me tops. I’m already stressing over what I’ll do when my playing days are over.”

Bill laughed despite himself. “If I survived in another occupation for 20 years you could too. I doubt you’ll have to though. You can find a coaching gig, a scouting position, something that will keep you involved in Limmie. When you’re ready to retire let me know. I’ll put in a good word for you with the Vigo’s.”

By midweek Bill realized that his talk with McTodd had been just that a talk with McTodd. He still had several discouraged offensive players. He decided to reach out to Trey Till. It took several attempts to reach Trey. When Trey finally did pick up he looked worn. “I called to ask for help,” Bill greeted. “It looks like you’re the one who could use help.”

Trey made a weak attempt at a smile. “How can I help?” He asked.

“Okay,” Bill said giving in. “My offense is watching yours light up the scoreboard and several of them are frustrated about the possibility that they have peaked in a system that has nowhere for them to go.”

“The offense has been amazing,” Trey agreed. “There’s always room for players here though, one bad game, this one loss could trigger 6 more if I’m not careful. You keep them playing at a high level out there so my players know they're disposable. Keeps them on their toes. Keeps us scoring.”

“If that’s all they're good for they won’t be very encouraged,” Bill argued.

“We could always trade them for some better defensive players,” Trey grumbled.

“You upset with your defense?” Bill asked sympathetically.

“Upset? No. I’m downright pissed off! I’m trying a new line-up. If things don’t change you can expect to trade some players. I’ve got my eyes on McKenz, Comron and I’m even considering calling Sichi and Drif back up.”

“That bad, huh?” Bill said as he leaned back in his chair.

“You don’t get it Bill,” Trey said. “This is my last chance. We lose this season and I’m done. My career, my marriage, everything is on the line here. I’ll sacrifice anything for wins this season.”

“Troubles with Madelyne? She’s not so shallow as to let someone go just because they can’t win at Limmie.” Bill remembered Madelyne from his days of living in the Vigo household. She was strong willed, but loving. Once she stood in your corner it was hard to shake her.

“I just couldn’t face her if I fail,” Trey explained.

“She won’t judge you, Madelyne’s not that type of girl.”

“I know. It’s just that I’ve let her down. She needs someone who’s there for her.”

“Then go be with her.”

The next day Bill changed his offensive focus to learning new plays. The game in Thyferra this week should be his team’s sole focus. Kelly Sen was back in her role as coach there and she would know how to win against her old team. Or at least she would expect to know how to win. Bill hoped he could fool her.

Tag: galactic-vagabond422 Jedi Gunny

 

IC: Logan Manx
Denon Gardens, Denon

Two Can Keep a Secret ​

Another week down and we’ve returned to Denon, this is only the second time I’ve ever been to this planet. Even then it felt like it was struggling to equal Coruscant in grandeur, having just come from triple-zero I can safely say that Denon doesn’t equal it but, has its own charm that’s hard to describe. Yesterday coach Arezzo let us out early to let us take in the sights and sounds of the surrounding area, which is odd and slightly out of character for her. Considering we’ve just suffered a rather substantial loss last game. I wasn’t about to argue, any opportunity to get away from the hard practices that had become a daily occurrence is a welcomed one.

I spent the day with Mikia trying to put our conversation on Courscant behind us. While I noticed she stopped herself from saying somethings we eventually started enjoying our time off. Walking into stores looking at what they had. We especially liked walking into a toy store and setting off all the “Singing Womp Rats” then walking away as if we did nothing, except we were laughing too hard to be cool about it. In my defense the buttons do say “try me”.

After ducking out of that store we made our way further down the street. A thought stuck me. Last I heard coach Copin moved here after leaving Carratos, in fact he’s from here originally. Wonder if he’ll be at the game today. With all the troubles the Demons have been having and supposed low ticket sales, it’ll be easy to find him if he does show up. Wonder if he’ll be wearing our colors or theirs.

We passed by Seiji, Else, Gor and Vahva as usual the half forwards moved as a group except Leigh was missing from them. The group seemed very busy so I didn’t ask where she was. Mikia and I just smiled and waved. We had dinner out then made our way back to the hotel we were staying at and got ready for the game.

I tighten up my cleats and drive the heel of my palm into my thigh, I had a Bacta treatment two days ago so I should be alright for this game but, it’s a constant worry in the back of my mind. Ever since I lost my legs on Courscant I keep picturing myself losing them during a game, what will I do. Could I keep it secret after having to be taken off the field on a stretcher, I hope it never comes to that. I don’t want the league asking questions about my eligibility or my overall health, I just need to get through eight more weeks, I can do this. I rise and look out over the team, once again Leigh seems very distracted. Four weeks in and ‘Iron’ Arezzo is still starting her, the coach may be trying to preserve the line cohesion but, with Leigh in this state, I’m not sure it’s all there.

“Guys,” I start beginning to get the hang of getting the team ready for the game. “Let’s just win this thing alright, I’m sick of losing.” And with those poetic and flowery words we took to the field.

Apearnetly the papers weren’t exaggerating, I see plenty of empty seats and the ‘White Spot’ seems larger than at most games. Finding coach Copin in this crowd would be easy if it wasn’t for the fact I have a game to play. Should I still call him ‘coach’ Copin, he may no longer be coaching. He said he had a law degree maybe his using that. Before I have time to ask anymore stupid questions the game starts and I’m caught flat footed. Kanangan gets possession then blows past me. It seems my entire team is caught off guard as well as Kanangan leads a charge that scores the first goal.

Well that’s embarrassing. Game just started and already we’re down by a goal. I glace over to the side, coach Arezzo glares back arms crossed. We need to make up for that. We get a good start with our defense moving swiftly up the right sideline. Seeing this, the Demos clamp down hard on us forwards leaving not space for us to move. Leigh gets the ball and I steel myself for a letdown. I fight to try and get open, give her some options other than shooting but, Umanh in on me like glue. I see Else struggling as well to get open. I see Leigh kick the ball high into the air. It sails wide of the uprights. All I can do is shake my head, her heart just hasn’t been in the game lately. This is another kick she’s missed, I know she’s better than that.

I press on managing to make a quick steal and put the ball into the back of the net to tie the game. I fear this becoming like the Smugglers game, we’d tie the game and then they would jump ahead in an unending cycle of catch up. I don’t want that for this game. Vulf punts the pass in deep into the midfield avoiding all the forwards. I glace to the Demon sideline I don’t see coach Copin there. Some on Carratos say that he works for the Demons now as a sort of consultant. I’d think the team would have a better record than 0-3. Then again his record with the Pirates wasn’t much better.

Somehow Gabby took possession and made the pass to Else. The play moves too fast for the home team to lock us down leaving me open behind Umanh. A long bomb pass makes its way to me and now I’m one-on-one with Vulf. The Shistavanen had proven himself to be consistent in goal in the past. I fake a high throw then bowl the ball along the ground. It rolls just inside the right goal post to put us up by a goal. I can’t help myself two goals in such a short time. I throw my fist into the air and shout. Rime pats me on the back and, Nara punches me in the shoulder. I felt like it had been forever since her held a lead in a game.

The game moves forward with us gaining an ever bigger lead, we’re energized now driving at the net hard and the ‘Iron Cage’ is finally working for us keeping the pressure on the struggling Demons. Leigh was subbed out rather early after another missed bar point, something is seriously wrong with her, and I think I’ve been in denial about it. I made a decision to talk to her during the half to see what’s up. After she left the half forwards dropped off in effectiveness. More missed passes and more hurried plays, thankfully Marky and Gabby were up to the task of keeping the Demons contained.

We walk off of the field in a secure lead and after taking a minute to rest I start making my way over to Leigh. I stop a few steps short as Else begins talking to her.

“Leigh,” she starts, “Are you doing ok?”

“Yeah,” Seiji says sitting on the other side of his usual linemate, “You’ve been a little out of it lately is something up?”

“I’m fine,” Leigh says looking at the ground,

“Leigh,” Else tries again, “you can talk to us, we’re here to listen.”

“I’m aright guys really.”

“Please Leigh we missed you…”

“I said I’m fine.” Leigh’s words came out like a thunder clap, stunning Seiji and Else. The rest of the locker room turned to look at them. I slink away a little embarrassed to be so close to the outburst. I return to my seat and look at Leigh, her head is hung low and her body looks tense. Coach Arezzo steps forward having seen what just transpired,

“Leigh if you’d like you can go back to the…” She doesn’t get to finish

“Don’t you listen I’m fine.” Leigh snaps again. The whole room beings to show signs of worrying. It is obvious that she was lying but, no one is going to press the issue.

“Well, we’re doing well out there and you’re sticking to the game plan, that’s good, you’re finally giving it a chance to work.” I resist my urge to scoff, the ‘Iron Cage is only working because the Demons are a weak team. “Keep doing that and we’ll have another win under us.” She steps back giving us players the room again. I let Leigh’s outburst pass then stand up,

“Coach is right,” this opening line elicits a few sideways glances, “We are going to win this game, now let’s go finish the frelling job.” With that rousing speech worthy of mention in the Hall of Fame out of the way, we return to the field to finish said Frelling Job.

My mind is focused and sharper I’m psyched up ready to bring more pain on my opponents. I out fight Kanangan for possession and start my charge through the field. I don’t get very far before I have to pass back to Else and take a hard hit. Getting back up I rejoin the attack rushing out ahead of the half forwards and taking a pass from Seiji. Nara comes sweeping in from the wing. I toss forward to her and she sends it straight at the net. It’s another quick goal for us at the start of the match taking a huge chunk out of whatever the Demons had left to fight with.

It has been a stellar game for us each of us forwards now had two goals each and the Demons were lagging behind. It feels really good to be in command again. Feel like we might actually go somewhere. This swelling pride brings up memories of the 279 season, back when the All-In took the league by storm, before coach Copin went mad with his plans, and then left us. We were in control in a lot of those games but, that season still ended poorly for us, in some ways the loss to the Mercs in the Skywalker Conference Finals hurt more than our last season. Because in feels like that was our only chance to win, our only chance to host the cup.

I banish those thoughts and get my head back in the game. It isn’t over yet. Rime picks off a pass and charges at the net. He stops short and pulls a spin move the gets him inside Fazz and makes a perfect cross pass to me. In that moment I could kiss Rime, I don’t care if his wife is watching. His passes easily do three quarters of the work for me all I have to do is knock them in, usually with my head. I’d say I wouldn’t have half as many goals as I have now if our former captain wasn’t there to set me up. I redirect the ball off my forehead, giving it a small push in the direction of the net, boom hat trick, my second of the season.

The white spot is too far away to shower hats down on me, but I do get to hear ‘Drunken Spacer’ as I reset and try to contain the home team again. Force how much I want to hear that song if I lift the cup, I think it’ll be mandatory if the Pirates ever win the most sought after trophy in the galaxy. I look to the sidelines and see Leigh looking up at a certain spot in the stands. I don’t have time to see exactly where before play starts up again and I have to scramble to keep on my mark. They break through and get another goal but it isn’t enough to take the lead or the momentum back from us. We hold control and end the game with another high score, the kind of score that I would have killed for last season. Thankfully this wasn’t like the Smugglers game where we were on the losing side of an all-out shoot out. I take one last look at Leigh her eyes still fixed on the same spot. This time I look but, I can’t see anything there, just some disappointed Demons fans, but, for just a moment I swear I see a flash of white coming from the area. Could it be a Pirates fan separated from the ‘White Spot’ is that what Leigh is gazing at?

On the shuttle ride back Leigh is silent and alone in a corner of the shuttle everyone leaving her alone. The next game is on Chandrila but, we can make a stop off back home for a day or two before heading out, maybe there’ll be a better chance to speak with her.
__________________________________________________________________
Goss-Pell Memorial Stadium

We get a night’s rest before putting our collective noses to the grindstone. Not our choice really we all received rather pointed messages from ‘Iron’ Arezzo early in the morning, show up or sit out next game. All of us were there except Leigh, now I’m really worried. Practice didn’t feel as hard or as rough as it has before, maybe I’m getting used to the harsh schedule, or coach Arezzo took it easy on us this time. I get lost in my thoughts and barely notice every one leaving. I step out of the training room on my way to the showers and see Leigh tightening her cleats. She looks up at me surprise on her face,

“I thought everyone had gone,”

“I must have lost track of time.” I respond “Why are you putting on your cleats everyone’s gone?”

“I was hoping to at least get some conditioning in without anyone asking questions.” She moves to the exit and I rush to block her path. I get there just in time.

“Look Leigh we need to talk.”

“Uh, no we don’t,” she tries to get around me but, I clamp my hands on her shoulders.

“Leigh, I don’t know what’s going on, but, we need to sort it out, now. Else and Seiji can’t keep working with you when you’re like this. We need all three of you to work together like you used to.” She struggles against my grip but, I hold firm. This maybe crossing a line but, I don’t know what else to do. “Please Leigh, if you won’t talk to me, why haven’t you talked to Else about this, I know she’s tried.”

“Because she can’t know,” she screams “None of them can,” she turns away and I swear I see a tear.

“Can’t know what, please I want to help.” She remains silent for a moment, “Leigh…”

“Because, I miss him,” her shoulders go slack. “I miss coach Copin.” She takes a step back and I guide her back onto one of the benches. “I have feelings for him, I lov…” she stops herself, like she dosen’t want to admit something. “Feelings that I could never act on,” I think I know what she stopped herself from saying, and I can’t believe it,

“Wait, you lov…”

“Don’t say that word, what I have isn’t that, it’s a lingering infatuation, or at least I thought it was.”

“When did this happen?”

“Right after our first game against the Senators, stuff happened and things got heavy between us.”

“You didn’t…”

“NO!” she stops her eyes wide breathing shallow, “It never got that far, afterwards I was so ashamed, he’s a married man, with two precious daughters. It took a week but I thought I had but that incident behind me. I made some changes in my life and I felt like things had gone back to normal. Then I started getting this lightness in my chest every time he praised us for doing well and a pain in my heart when he was disappointed. I found myself thinking about him, in spare moments, remembering the look in his eyes the day things almost went too far. Part of me wanted to see that look again, to see him only thinking about me, if just for an instant.”

She stops choked up at the feeling now rising to the surface, I begin to feel like I’m getting more than I bargained for but, I asked for this, I need to see it through. “It’s selfish I know but, that was the first time another person has looked at me that way. I couldn’t black it out. I kept playing as hard as I could, hoping that one day I’d have the courage to tell him how I felt, to at least get the words out there, but I never could I’d see him with his wife and know he’d never have the same feelings for me. He just had a moment of weakness. Now with him gone I thought these painful feelings would subside but, they only grew stronger, to the point I couldn’t focus on the game. I longed to see him just one more time."

"Then we were on Denon and I saw him, smiling laughing with Laura, his daughters right behind him. Little Iris has gotten so big, and she has a burn scar under her right eye. I walked up to him and Iris ran towards me and started bouncing up and down. I felt so flustered I couldn’t say anything I just smiled at the little girl and walked away. She followed me for a little bit, and I didn’t know what to say. Then coach Copin called her back. I didn’t know someone could miss the sound of a voice.”

Tears begin to stream from her eyes. “I turned and all I could get out was a halfhearted good bye to Iris. After that, I couldn’t stand myself, still having such strong feelings for him. You don’t know what that’s like having these kind of feelings and not being able to admit them to the person, having to keep them all bottled up inside. I couldn’t take it anymore but, I couldn’t tell anyone, it was too painful.” She runs her fingers though her short blonde hair. Letting out an angry growl, “I hate myself for even saying this, I can’t let go of it, it’s always in my mind. I want so badly to forget him but, I just can’t I don’t know why.” I’m stunned. I also have no idea what to say, I can’t even begin to understand what is going on inside her. Her face is showing so many emotions I can’t keep up. Much less help her, I’m not a phycologist.

“Look Leigh, I don’t know how to help and you’re right I don’t know what it’s like but, keeping it all inside isn’t good, you need to talk to someone, Else, maybe someone outside the team.”

“No, I can’t, this is tearing me apart inside, even telling you this I want to go into a corner and hide. I should just quit get this over with, it’s going to happen anyway, I should just speed it along.”

“Wait, just think about Else and Seiji, they’d hurt just as much, especially if you left without expiation, they care for you like family don’t do that to them.”

“I can’t,”

“Then don’t tell them talk to someone else, or,” I stop feeling a subtle weakness in my legs, “talk to me, since now I know. I can’t promise that I’ll be able to give good advice, but, if you need an ear or a shoulder, I’ll be here.”

“I…”

“Hey, I’m good at keeping secrets,” She nods her head, I’m not sure if she believes me or not but, I think part of her is glad that she can finally talk to someone about this. I get up to walk away my legs a little wobbly. Not now, not in front of her, I can’t let anyone see, all at once my legs give out, and I crumble to the ground.

“Are you ok,” her concern is palpable, “did you push yourself to hard, need some Gundarkaide, a blood transfusion?” I look over my shoulder smiling weakly letting out a nervous chuckle I say,

“I’m going to need something stronger than that.” I drag myself to a wall and press my back against it. “If you could get my comlink out of my bag I can take care of this.”

“What’s this,” her voice is mixed with sadness and worry, “what’s going on?”

“Well I guess the Nexu is out of the bag,” I pound my fist into my paralyzed leg. “My legs are going, have been for a while,” I pause and swallow hard “this is my last year.”

“Why keep this from us,”

“Much like you I’m ashamed of it, I don’t want my teammates to look at me with pity and worry like you’re doing now. I can’t stand to be like this, so helpless, so useless, and I can’t stand the thought of others knowing.” I gaze up at Leigh her eyes still red from crying. “That’s gone out the window. I guess everyone will know soon.” She grabs my comlink and puts it in my hand, she leans in close and whispers in my ear,

“Hey, I’m good at keeping secrets.”

TAG: No One

 

IC: Keli Sen
Thyferra Stadium at Byree Clearing

Tatooine.

Even after a whole season away from the desert world and its blazing suns, Keli still felt some pull that wanted to take her back to the Sandskimmers. After all, they were attached to the Ralltiir Starkillers, whom she had once played for, and she had once coached for the Sandskimmers after the conclusion of her career. How weird it was that she was now opposing the organization she had once thought would be the only one in her career. It was strange how life played out sometimes.

With the success of the Force in her first year, Keli had learned to let her players do most of the work and her call the plays to let them do their thing. She had by no means ever been a domineering coach; she had never used a dogmatic approach to get players to listen to her. Instead, by trusting in the players to do their thing, the Force had gone from dead in the water at 0-3 to Futures Cup Champions. It had brought so much fortune to the franchise that had given her a second chance, and she was glad to be supported.

But there came a time where she would have to deal with the second season. In many cases, players went through the so-called ‘sophomore slump’, when their second year was nowhere as good as their first. Keli hoped she wouldn’t experience the same thing as coach; she wanted to be one of the best LFL coaches, and maybe if she did well enough, a gig in the Elite League would be waiting for her somewhere. Maybe Ralltiir would find a way to bring her back into the fold, she didn't know; all she did know at the moment was that Tatooine stood between her and a 2-2 record on the season. Her first game back as coach the prior week had seen a close victory over Concordia, a 15-13 thriller that had gone back-and-forth many times between the two teams. Finally the Force offense prevailed, but it hadn’t been easy. Every team was giving the Force their best shot now that they had a title under their belts, and it was Keli’s job to prevent those opposing teams from coming out victorious. She had to prove that she was not a flash in the pan coach.

The problem staring her in the face was her offense. They had scored a lousy 17 points in the first three weeks combined, worst in the league by 13 points. They had two bar points in their two losses, and that was it; she had come back and they had scored 15, but that was just one game. Obviously there was a serious problem with offense for the Force, even going back to the prior season. For some reason, they just weren’t scoring efficiently or effectively. It put a lot of pressure on a defensive unit that was currently fourth in the league, giving up an average of 12 points per game thus far. The defense had carried them to a title in 280, but they couldn’t be forced to win every game. Defensive coordinator Travers Mercator had done an excellent job with the defensive unit, but when he had been coaching in Keli’s stead, the offense had struggled mightily. She had to find out how to improve the offense; if that meant making a few personnel changes, so be it. Callie Polarez was struggling, and the former third-round pick was running out of time to make a good impression on the organization before her draft contract ran out. Hyde Los wasn’t as big a piece of the offense as he had been the prior season, Queeno was nowhere near what the team needed, Voontoo was scuffling, and Harper Rice was gone to the Senators during the offseason. He had been their major piece, and with him gone, the rest of the offense seemed to have left in his travel bags with him. Players off the bench like Perdita Mowler and Ellen Wylie would be given chances to crack the starting lineup if things didn’t improve soon.

A lot of questions would be answered after this game, Keli knew, or maybe some more questions would rear their ugly heads. Could the offense post another solid game? Was Leb Dameron the real deal in goal, or was he just lucky thus far after a Helmsman-nomination season in college the prior year? Was the defensive unit going to produce several serviceable ELL players from its ranks? Could Karin Cherf continue her rapid development after being written off in 279 but now seeming like the leader of the defense? Could the midfielders make waves and help the offense find its spark? A lot was riding on this game, and even though it was early in the season, 280 proved that the team with the hot hand going down the stretch could do great things. Keli just had to hope her team could find that fire and power through the rough start.


TAG: Runjedirun

 

OOC: Since I have a busy weekend ahead, I'm getting my stuff in now.

IC: Briar Thorne
Outside a café, Denon

“Briar, good to see you,” J. T. “Jet” Adama said as Briar sat down at the table in the chair across from him. “I must admit that it was a shock for you to request a meeting with me, with you being a busy woman and all, and our last conversation going in the tank . . .”

“Next time you want to talk to me, don’t send your cousin to request something. Just talk to me direct,” Briar said briskly. She wanted to get down to business, and Jet was probably trying to be flowery to earn her favor. But she was no fool; she knew he was going to try that ploy. She found such blubbering to be saccharine, a foul taste in her mouth that would only ignite distrust and disinterest instead of interest. Jet had to walk on eggshells with her.

“I must admit that the plan worked,” Jet said with a shrug. “But I will keep that in mind for next time. Now, what did you want to talk to me about?”

“Everything,” Briar said. “Why you want to get me back, why you keep popping up in my life, and certainly why you think you have a chance to win my favor.”

“It’s complicated,” Jet said, sighing.

“As if life is a piece of cake,” Briar said dismissively.

“Look, Briar, I meant everything I said back on Coruscant when we last met,” Jet said, leaning on his elbow to get a little closer to the GM. “You turned me down flat, and I admit that you were right. I jumped in real early, and you were obviously not interested in seeing me . . .”

“That’s an understatement,” Briar said with a snort.

“But it told me that I was indeed wrong, and that you were right about me,” Jet said. “I guess I am a real fraud for letting you go. Ilena seemed like a good fit at the time . . . we were young, and I had money . . . it all worked out . . . until it didn’t. And I realized that I had let go the one girl who wasn’t interested in my money or my namesake . . . that she was interested in me, the person.”

“I learned my lesson from that one, Jet,” Briar said. “I learned that men are interested in what is ahead of them at the current time, but not what can work for them in the long-term. And it was a hard fact to get over, but I did it all the same. I closed myself off to the galaxy because of your treachery.”

“And I am truly sorry about that,” Jet said. “Look, Briar, I know I was a complete fool. There is no reason why I should have left you in the lurch, but I did because I was stupid. Can you ever forgive me for what I did?”

“Not without breaking a lot of resolutions I made to myself in the years following that event,” Briar said. “I told myself that Jet Adama was a scumbag who didn’t deserve a girl like me. So I went out on my own, determined to make my own name. Didn’t need a man in my life, because the one I thought would work out dumped me. And he didn’t look the least bit sorry about his deed.”

“Last time, you told me to stop living in the past. Can you do something for me?”

“What?”

“Can we forget about the past? I’d like to move on from plenty of things in my past, too, and I think it would be good for us to both let those things go and try to start fresh.”

“It’s very difficult to let that kind of thing go, Jet,” Briar commented tersely. “It’s a lot of years of pent-up frustration and annoyance at you. Plenty of gripes that I had to come to terms with, or obliterate entirely. That’s the way I learned to deal with my problems, to either come to terms with them or to find a way around them. Because those who get ahead in life understand how to overcome obstacles, like I did with your actions. I learned that it was best to move on and not look back, because looking back meant I couldn’t be living in the present, meant I couldn’t be focused on my goals or ambitions. I would only find pain and useless emotions that wouldn’t do me any good.”

“You had a lot of time to think of this,” Jet said.

“It’s been a dozen years, Jet. That’s plenty of time to stew over being rejected,” Briar replied.

“But why can’t you learn to let this vendetta against me go? I’m trying to make it up to you, right here, right now,” Jet said. “I thought’s that what this meeting was about, not you dumping your emotional baggage on me.”

“Is that a challenge?”

“No, it’s just the facts, Briar. I thought we could talk here like two civil people, but you want to live in the past even though I want to let it go. I want to move on, but you, like a prickly beast, won’t let it go. It’s so difficult to understand what you want right now. Do you want an apology? Do you want me to grovel at your feet, because I will. I just want you back, whatever the cost might be. But I have a feeling this isn’t about money; it’s about something else.”

Now Briar was on the defensive. Jet had used his old coyness skills to perfect use, his sharp wit now being used against her. She had to act fast to not seem unbalanced by his sudden onslaught of sharp-edged comments. If she stayed silent, he would have the upper hand, and she didn’t want to grant him that feeling of superiority over her. Briar Thorne never backed down from a challenge.

“That’s the thing, Jet. I don’t know if I want a relationship.”

“But it is a possibility?”

“The smallest, most trivial, chance, maybe,” Briar said. “But it would come with so many conditions that you might as well give up. I’m not going to let you beg for scraps like a common house animal; this is not going to be me giving you what you want.”

“What will it take to try and get that chance?”

“Jet,” Briar said as she leaned back in her chair, “have you ever heard the old proverb of a man willing to beg not getting what he wants because he didn’t focus on what he really needed? You need to learn that what you want, which is me, may not be what you need. You feel like you need to make up for your sins, but maybe . . . maybe you’re missing the main point. Maybe you truly need something that’s not including me at all.”

“If you want me to crawl back to Ilena, that’s not going to happen. She dumped me, and it’s stung me for all that time.”

“Welcome to my world,” Briar said, no hint of emotion in her voice.

“Please, Briar, I’ve done a lot of soul searching. I know what I need, and what I want. It’s you. Please let me make things up to you.”

“And how long would that last, even if I was to open myself to you? Would we have a fake relationship? Would we make love one night and then you would be gone, running off with the boys? I could never stand that kind of man, and I feel that you are too close to that for me to trust. How can I trust a man like you whose sincerity is questionable at best? You’re just searching for a fling, and then you’d be gone. It won’t work, Jet. I’m not a floozy; I’m my own damn woman, and I’ve built my life on my terms and using my principles. If you’re not in my life, that’s fine by me. Because I don’t think I can trust you, no matter what you say.”

Jet was silent for several seconds, and Briar knew she had him on the ropes. He had tried to hit her with a salvo, but she had fired back and struck him down completely. When he came back with a response, he was timid once again. She had triumphed without needing to take much time.

“What would it take for you to trust me?”

“A lot more than you would be willing to undergo,” Briar said. “I don’t care about you spending money on me, or lavishing me with gifts. If I was to be with a man, I would need someone who understood me and would let me be me. It wouldn’t be about his needs all the time; sometimes, it would be about my needs. And that’s where you fail, Jet; it’s always been about you. Always has been, always will be. Even when we were younger, I was shocked by how self-centered you were. I don’t know if that’s what Ilena liked in you, or if it was the money, but you had her only because she was willing to submit herself to how you saw the galaxy. I’m not willing to waste my time with your pandering unless you can seriously show me that you have changed. Frankly, I don’t think you have the guts to do that.”

“Can you just give me a chance?” Jet asked.

Briar wanted to turn him away, but the thoughts about the Holo stayed in her mind. She had to give him a chance, her conscience thought. No way, he’s always going to be the same womanizing type he’s always been, her brain countered. All he thinks about is himself, and he’s a selfish pig. That will never change.

Give him a chance. Just one chance, to prove himself worthy of your attention. Only then will you truly have closure on this whole debacle, her conscience warned. Until then, you’re going to be a bitter woman with nothing to go on about this but spite, and that’s not healthy for you.

Briar wanted to shut that thought out of her mind, but it was winning the tide. She tried to counter her conscience with other examples of how she had been successful, but every time her conscience prevailed. Give him one try to win you over, it said constantly, unwavering from its position. It was like Briar was Jet in this instance, dealing with an insistent personality that would not budge from their position.

Finally she spoke. “All right, Jet. You have one try to make things up with me. Fail, and I don’t ever want to see or hear from you again, understand?”

A small semblance of a smile formed on Jet’s face. “What’s so funny?” Briar asked.

“That’s groovy, baby,” Jet said, an amused look on his face.

“Excuse me?”

“Let’s go. I think we have some catching up to do,” Jet said.

For the next three hours, Jet and Briar went around town, from a casino where they played some slots and table games, to a theater to see a stand-up comic perform, and then went for a walk down the main strip of the business district, seeing all the bright lights. All the while, Briar, in her earnest efforts to let Jet have a chance, was still unsure of how to deal with him, but his charm was coming back. She remembered this side of Jet, the one that she had thought would be perfect for her. And it was winning her over, little by little. He still had a long way to go, but he was accomplishing a great feat that no one since him had been able to reach. It was a strange feeling.

Finally, outside one of the shops they perused through, Jet asked Briar out to dinner. “Somewhere fancy,” he insisted. “Somewhere with some good food. Like that place over there; that looks nice,” he said, pointing to posh sit-down establishment across the street.

An hour later, Briar and Jet, both dressed in their finest formalwear, went inside the restaurant and dined there. During the wait for the meal, Jet started to tell stories of comics he had once heard, and memorable routines he had seen over the years. Briar found herself laughing with plenty of the jokes, and she was letting her mental guard go down. Instead of the ornery Briar, it was like her 20-something self was coming out of its long hibernation. She was enjoying herself.

When the food came, Briar bit into her exotic dish and found it to be rather delightful. A bottle of wine purchased by Jet tasted good as it went down the back of her throat, and it went excellently with the meal. And Jet still provided plenty of charm as he regaled other tales of things he had witnessed in his life. He tossed in a joke every now and then, and one of them almost made Briar spit out her food because she was laughing so hard. It was a very strange feeling to be this happy, Briar thought, but she couldn’t stop laughing. Jet’s charm was winning her over.

Finally, once they had left the restaurant, Jet invited Briar out to a nearby dancing club. There, they danced for another hour.

“Where did you learn to dance? You were clumsy with your feet, despite being a Limmie player,” Briar asked at one point.

“I finally found my footing,” Jet said.

During one of the slower numbers near the end, Briar’s head was close to Jet’s, and she could feel herself being moved around the dance floor by his strong hands. She had forgotten this part of Jet over the years, the aspects of him that she had decided weren’t true after he dumped her. But now they were coming back out, and she felt strangely comforted by them.

So she was shocked when she found herself sharing a kiss with Jet, a small gesture she thought she would never experience again. As soon as she realized what she was doing, she pulled away in disgust, but Jet didn’t let her go. She could have gotten away from him, but somehow, she didn’t want to. She was comfortable right here.

By the time the dancing was over, a lot of her animosity towards Jet had melted. He was still a long way from getting her, but he had proven himself worthy of apologizing to her. “I’m sorry for what I did in the past,” he said as they left the club. “Can you forgive me?”

“After all this, I can,” Briar said definitively. “But you still aren’t out of the woods on trying to win me back.”

“What would that take?” Jet asked.

“It would take a lot of work,” Briar said.

“Would that include spending the night?” Jet asked.

“Nowhere close,” Briar said, wagging a finger at him. “Good night, Jet.”

“Uh, we should do this again sometime,” Jet said.

“We’ll see,” Briar said before walking away. She wasn’t sure if she was being serious, but all she knew was that Jet had unraveled a few layers of spite from her. The main question now was if she would let him get any closer, or if she would shoot him down like she initially told herself she would. That, she was sure, would come with time.

TAG: No One

 

IC: Sullivan Remington
Senator Stadium

The cleanup from the art expo had Sullivan working long hours at the Stadium. Obviously the artists there thought that cleanup would be taken care of magically, and they could dump whatever they wanted on the floor. That cheesed Ernie, and he cracked down harder on his janitors to get the place cleaned up. “The bosses expect us to have this place looking shiny ASAP!” the Barabel barked at them before they got started. “And I want to make sure that I don’t see a single spot of paint or other crap out there, understand?” Finally, Sullivan had thought at the time, [/i] “something we can both agree on.”[/i] It wasn’t the art he was annoyed with, it was the snobby artists who thought that they ran the place. If only they had to do his job, Sullivan thought as he cleaned, they probably would change their outlook.

And then there was the pressing issue of what Ernie and his cronies were up to regarding the heist they were planning. Sullivan had heard no more about it for the past two weeks, and with his failed attempt to alert security about a looming problem, he hoped that someone had built up the guts to warn Ernie not to try and steal the Cups. But that was a false hope, as Sullivan found out soon enough.

He had been cleaning up a paint stain on the wall, never understanding how it had gotten there, when he had overheard something from around the corner. Ernie was having a heated conversation with one of his cronies, and Sullivan bent down to try and remain silent as he listened.

“When are we starting the plan, boss?” the man asked.

“Next week,” the Barabel replied quietly. “With the team out of town, we have plenty of time to work. The grounds crew is the only thing we need to worry about.”

“Did you get the fakes made?”

“Of course, idiot, otherwise I would’ve called off the entire operation,” Ernie said indignantly. “The fakes look just like the real thing; no one will notice. Even if they do, we’ll have long since sold the real ones to some private collector. My contact on the black market says he has a buyer lined up who would be interested in acquiring them should we be successful.”

“And we have a plan, right?”

“Next week, there’s going to be a big speeder sale down on the field. Lots of people, lots of traffic, and a chance for us to get to work. No one’s going to be looking at the owner’s box when all the attention is around the stadium.”

“But isn’t someone going to be on the cameras?” the janitor asked. It was a fair point.

“I have an idea,” Ernie said. “We’re going to have a fake bomb threat, or fire, or something called in. I’m not sure what yet, but we’ll do it after the show has long-since closed for the day. Then, when the operator with the cameras, that groundskeeper guy, has to leave, we’ll rig the cameras to show Holos of the hallways so that they don’t know we’re in there. Then we’ll take the fakes to the box, switch them out with the real ones, and then make our move.”

“Where are we going to hide them once we’ve stolen them?”

“I’ve got a spare locker on that side of the stadium big enough to hide them long enough for us to retrieve them another day and make off with them under the cover of darkness. No mess, no hassle, and best of all, no one knows we’ve done it. We’ll be rich.”

“Brilliant, boss!” the janitor said.

“Of course it is. I thought of it.”

“Which day are we planning?”

“The first night of the show. That’s when vendors have already set up their goods, but they aren’t ready to pull out their real spectacles just yet. That’s for the weekend, but we’ll be rich men by then.”

Sullivan couldn’t believe what he was hearing. So Ernie really was up to something; it wasn’t just his imagination playing tricks on him. But what could he do about it? He had tried warning security about the threat, but they blew his story off as drivel made by a madman. He needed to do the one thing that no one else could at this moment.

He had to stop Ernie and his thugs. It was the only way.

TAG: No One

 

Week 4 Power Rankings​

1. Mando’ade Mercs – They won the match of undefeated teams, and are now the team to beat. And we think they should be able to stay there.

2. Hapes Consortium Buccaneers – The C-Bucs are 4-0, and have won five straight with males on the team. I think we’ve found a correlation.

3. Ralltiir Starkillers – They may have lost to the Mercs, but they almost pulled the game out, and that shows how far this team has come from the major letdown at the end of last year. Watch for them to make their move in the next few weeks to take over the Conference.

4. Bakura Miners – After barely missing the postseason last year, the Miners are coming out hot with a 3-1 start. With a sparkling offense and a surprising midfield, they are turning heads. Alana Glencross who? We think Jolla Pic is making a name for herself.

5. Coruscant Senators – They are doing a solid job this season, and to be doing it without Leia Adama is even more impressive. But this was obviously not the season to move to the Skywalker, since they’re sitting out of playoff position right now. Better luck next time, guys!

6. Nar Shaddaa Smugglers – Barely got edged out by the Miners this week, and the Smugglers are going to be hopping mad this week. And that’s never a good sign for an opponent.

7. Kashyyyk Rangers – So, Mr. Rangers GM, is this team now feeling like a playoff team? No? We didn’t think so either.

8. Carratos Pirates – The Pirates got a necessary win this week over Denon, and they have plenty of ground to make up in the Skywalker right now. But at least they have a pulse, so they have a chance.

9. Rydonni Prime Monarchs – Showed some fight this week against the Senators. We’re still not sure why they’re winless, but that will definitely change soon. Once they get their defense figured out, things will turn around, we guarantee it!

10. Denon Demons – The Demons are having trouble selling tickets, and it’s making things even testier on Denon. But a win over the Senators would make for a nice consolation prize for what seems to be a lost season.

11. Chandrila Patriots – Reina Kether is on the hot seat, and the Patriots are tanking. When they promised to be the ‘answer’ the league needed a few years back, they certainly have not delivered on that boast.

12. Ylesia Lightning – The Lightning need to rebound fast, or else things will probably get ugly. Hutts generally aren’t the most lenient bosses.

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

 

IC: Tendra Nalo
Location: Financial Square Arena, Cambrielle, Ralltiir
Time: One hour before Week 5 game at Starkillers

Tendra put her arms around the trainers and hopped on her left foot over to the exam table. Why, oh, why, did she have to twist her ankle during warm-ups? The team doctor came over and began examining it. After two quick tests, it was determined that nothing was broken or torn, and Tendra was already feeling the pain begin to lessen. The doctor diagnosed it as a very minor sprain, taped up the ankle, and said there was no reason she couldn't play, but that she should stay off of it for the rest of warm-ups and be checked again around halftime.

With a slight limp, Tendra walked out of the exam room and back to the locker room to sit down. She pulled out her datapad to pass the time, and began flipping through her social media feeds. One blog in particular caught her eye. It was by one of the Vigos, the family that owned the team she was about to play. Tomas was talking about changes to the Starkillers defense. A rookie at full back, huh? Tendra thought. As players began to file back into the locker room, the page notified her of a new post on the blog, and she loaded it. It was the pregame post, with a quote from Ty Allin about not allowing a single point. Tendra hit the “comment” button and started tapping away:

Not a single point, huh? Ain’t gonna happen. By the way, if that’s your goal, matching me against a rookie instead of Ty is probably about the worst way to go about that. A goal or two on Fostiir oughta be a piece of sweetcake, and a hat trick’s not out of the question either. I’m going to do my best to make sure that “news report” at the children’s museum comes true.

Oh, and a suggestion for the future, don’t post stuff about the upcoming game online where the other team can see it. Because I’m going to read this stuff out to my team right now to motivate them.

--Tendra Nalo
Full Forward, Hapes Consortium Buccaneers (but you probably already knew that)

Tendra smiled and hit the “post comment” button as captain Wai Lin began to speak. She listened to the speech for about thirty seconds and then, right before Wai wrapped it up, Tendra spoke up. “I want to tell you all what the Starkillers’ owner’s son posted online a few minutes ago. He posted a quote from Ty Allin’s pregame speech in the home locker room. He said, and I quote, ‘Let’s show the Buccaneers how the Starkillers play ball. Let’s save face out there today. We are not letting 30 points get scored on us, we are not letting 20 points get scored on us, we are not letting 10 points get scored on us, hell we aren’t letting 1 point get scored on us!’, end quote. Now, our job is to go out there and score forty on them! Am I clear?!”

“YES!” was the resounding response.

“Then let’s get out there and win this thing!”

As the C-Bucs moved toward the door, there was a knock on the door. Leota Avoy opened it to reveal one of the assistant refs. “You were supposed to be on the field five minutes ago,” he said.

Leota turned and spent a couple seconds studying the clock high on the wall. “Well, poodoo. I could’ve sworn that was a four and not a five.”

“Well, it’s a five,” the assistant ref said. “So I’d appreciate it if you would hurry before we have to delay kickoff, or you may get penalties.”

The C-Bucs didn’t need to be told that twice. Without another word, the team filed out and ran onto the field without waiting for introductions, with the starters going directly to their positions. Tendra noted to her pleasure that her ankle barely hurt at this point and wasn’t likely to affect the game.

It was time to put action to words. Both sides could talk the talk, but in a couple hours it would be known who could walk the walk.

TAG: Runjedirun

 

GM Post

HSN Headlines

• Miners honor Alana Glencross before start of Coalition Memorial Game
• Team does not retire numbers by team tradition, though #7 patch worn by all players for game
• Excerpts from Glencross's speech:
  • "Seriously, you didn't have to do all this for me."
  • "I was honored to play my entire career for my homeworld. That's a privilege few have these days. That made the victories sweeter and the losses harder, because I was one of you and you were by my side."
  • "This celebration could only come in the presence of a team whose rivalries helped define who I was and shape my destiny."
  • "For everything that I accomplished here, I hope that when I look back on all my days I can say that it was but the smallest part of the legacy I leave behind me. There is more greatness in life than Galactic Cups and it can be found in your own community, even your own living room. To the family that supported me in my career, it's time to return the favor."

TAG: Bardan_Jusik

 

IC: Kelly Telaam

Bakura Gardens
Miners 4, Smugglers 2

"What was that?" Mylessa McCloud yelled at Kelly as she took to the field and picked up her penalty card.

Kelly waved her arms as the crowd rejoiced in the non-call that helped put the Miners in prime position for the go ahead score.

"There's no penalty on the play. I repeat there is no penalty on the play!" Kelly crowed as she pocketed the penalty card and blew her whistle.

"Careful, kid, you may have made some enemies," John Tullock, goalkeeper coach said in Kelly's ear.

The game went on and the rain continued to pour the entire time making it hard to see the goal. Kelly could feel time winding down to a close as the Smugglers defense tried valiantly to come up with a stop. Falene Trieste fired off a shot, the Miners leading 3-2, and in the rain and the crowd noise, the smells and all the distractions, Kelly lost sight of the ball and so did the crowd.

The stadium was dead quiet as Charlie Blackwood clutched her smarting fingers. Kelly was positive she'd seen a deflection. Something that indicated the winning points hadn't been scored yet.

Vlad and Isabele, the wing refs, hadn't seen the ball go in either. There'd been too much going on and now the decision would come down to John Tullock and his veteran eyes.

"What did you see, John?" Kelly asked pressing her finger against her earpiece.

"Under review, give me some time," John asked.

Kelly took to midfield and looked up at the stands as Miner and Smugglers players gathered around her in confusion.

"What is going on, call the play!" Shady Lerouex spat out.

"I saw it deflect off Blackwood's fingers!" Zelena Wiles insisted.

"Could've sworn I heard it clang off the upright," Ken Zetter added.

Kelly felt John's voice in her ear, breathing down her neck, "It's a goal."

Her blood went ice cold. This call wasn't going to go over well. "Are you sure?"

"Positive," John replied, "glanced off Charlie's fingers and the upright for one point."

Kelly felt her heart freeze in her chest. This wasn't good. This wasn't going to be pretty. She made sure to distance herself from Lerouex and the rest of the Smugglers as she gathered her wits about her and turned to address the crowd.

"After reviewing the play, the ruling on the field..." Kelly tried to say what the ruling was but the crowd started to override her. She waved them to be quiet and continued, "the ruling on the field is that Bakura, specifically Falene Trieste, scored a point above the bar. Therefore the conclusion of the game has been reached and the Miners have won 4-2."

The crowd went nuts. Bakura Gardens nearly tore in two out of excitement at defeating their old rival.

"You need to get out of there, Kelly, now," John said as Kelly saw several Smugglers fans, drunk and disorderly, coming her way. One of them reached into their pocket and procured a vibroblade.

This wasn't good. Quickly, Kelly dialed the Commissioner of the Elite League. The Commissioner's voice answered the ringtone.

"Sorry to bother you, Commissioner, but after making a fair and judicious call I believe my life may be in danger," Kelly explained as she hurried down the tunnel, Vlad and Isabele in tow.

Tag: Trieste


TBC....

 

IC: Romo Benedict Crowley III
Monarchs Stadium, Ryell, Rydonni Prime
The day after the 281 Core War

Not too long ago, four straight losses to open the season spelt the end of the Monarchs, especially when half of those losses were to Bakura and Coruscant. Typically they would be looking at an overall record of 0-4 and a conference record of 0-2, basically putting them out of contention for the playoffs. But with the Senators joining the Scum and Villainy conference and the expansion of an eleven match season, the Monarchs were not only in the playoff hunt, but, mathematically speaking, they could still win the conference.

They had a lot of work ahead of them.

“I guess it’s my own fault,” Romo lamented as he leaned against the desk of his Assistant General Manager, “We’re falling victim to our own two headed monster in goal. I tried splitting time between the two in week one against the Pirates, but that didn’t work.”

Bringing Leed off of the bench cold produced disastrous results. Carratos’s forwards were able to pick apart Rydonni Prime’s defense in second half before Jayla was truly warmed up. The soft spoken Corellian veteran shouldered the brunt of the blame from the local media and at least one of her teammates. Backup midfielder Vexa Jocle cornered her after the match accusing her of being not only the sole reason they lost their opening match, but why former backup goalkeeper, Corvo Antilles, found himself on Byblos this season.

Jayla, not wanting to be the center of discord in the team, approached Romo, privately, the next day about the incident. She volunteered to be placed on the bench for the next few weeks, not even attending the match against her former squad. Jocle, on the other hand, was relegated to the Red Wings and docked half his year’s salary. But even with Leed on the bench, things were not getting better.

He stared up at the stats posted on the wall. First at the overall league statistics, where he found the Monarchs in an unfamiliar position… dead last in defense. On average they were allowing two points for every one they scored each match. They were yet to hold an opponent to less than twenty points. The offense had not improved with their offseason acquisitions, but fortunately they had not gotten any worse. They were still averaging just over 16 points a match.

Glancing at the individual stats, he noticed there was a change for the offense. In years past they were heavily dependent on one individual to carry them in the majority of matches. This year the production was evenly divided. Some of the perennial starters were on pace to demolish personal season records.

“Maybe we should have given into that slimy agent representing Oss’irh’cgood and paid him that landmark contract.” Romo started rubbing the bridge of his nose, beneath his sunglasses.

“Then you would have defeated the purpose of bringing me back to this organization,” Julla Ehennifer reminded him as she looked up from the plethora of datapads laying on her desk.



“You brought me on to analyze the data and crunch the numbers. What Oss’irh’cgood was demanding made no sense, that’s why we brought on Leed. She’s here, not only to keep her away from everyone else in the league, to either motivate Ossi to make a reasonable offer or be a viable replacement when he doesn’t. Either way we come out on top according to the numbers.”

“That’s just it Julla, numbers don’t automatically correlate into victories on the field, if you realized that you might still be the Head Coach.”

Julla crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair, “You’re right. I’m not the Head Coach. I’m the Assistant General Manager. It’s not my job to make the numbers translate into victories, that’s your job as the Head Coach.”

Romo shook his head at her snarkiness, “I knew there was a reason I hired you.”

“And here I thought it was just my pretty face and revealing work attire.”

A slight grin spread across Romo's face as he walked out of her office. His mind was made up... Jayla Leed would start in goal for the first time as a Monarch.

TAG: No One

 

GM Post

HSN Headlines

• Highly-touted midfielder Niall Bourdogny to make LFL debut with Thyferra Force this week against Tatooine. Bourdogny was loaned to Thyferra by the Bakura Miners but missed the team's game last week.
• Force coach Keli Sen: "We are excited to have Mr. Bourdogny on our roster, and we will now see what he can do."
• No word yet on whether or not Bourdogny will draw the start against Sandskimmers.
• Sen: "He's only participated in a few practices, so do not be surprised to see him come off the bench this week as we ease him into our system."

Bonus rolls for Bakura, Carratos, Coruscant, Hapes, Mando'ade, Nar Shaddaa, Ralltiir, and Rydonni Prime for Week 5.

281 Week 5 Results
Mando'ade Mercs at Bakura Miners (38-35)
Coruscant Senators at Nar Shaddaa Smugglers (13-3)
Hapes Consortium Buccaneers at Ralltiir Starkillers (14-34)
Denon Demons at Rydonni Prime Monarchs (29-36)
Kashyyyk Rangers at Ylesia Lightning (9-30)
Carratos Pirates at Chandrila Patriots (2-24)

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

 

Sub GM Post

Bonus rolls for Gallinore (28), Byblos (28), Druckenwell (28), Tatooine (32), Thyferra (32), Atzerri (28) and Concordia (28)

281 Week 4 LFL Results
Gallinore Firedrakes @ Eriadu Thunder (26-16)
Byblos Red Wings @ Druckenwell Marksmen (21-19)
Tatooine Sandskimmers @ Thyferra Force (0-10)
Atzerri Bandits @ Concordia Crusaders (6-18)

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

 

GM Post

HSN Headlines

• Miners postgame comments after loss in Coalition Memorial Game
  • Gaeriel Valerii
    • “It’s really no mystery how we lost today. The Mercs beat us at our own game, just like the Starkillers did.”
    • “We made too many mistakes on the defensive side of the ball today and they capitalized on them, pretty much across the board.”
    • “These games should be a wakeup call as to what it takes to win this year. Going the distance will require another gear.”
    • “I have continued confidence in Cuth. Every defense is going to have its stinkers. He refocuses us and brings everyone back to make us ready for the next game.”
    • On importance of winning last home game before five game road trip to end the season: “We’re just thinking about Coruscant coming to town. We’re not thinking about anything further off than that.”
  • Nathan Red: “We will bounce back from this. If they cut off one head, two more shall take its place.”
  • Jolla Pic: “I wouldn’t say we were outplayed at midfield today. I felt totally comfortable matching up with Argo.”
  • Falene Trieste: “It’s incredibly frustrating when your offense does everything you expect them to do, everything you need them to do to win, and then you can’t hold up your end of the game. We threw away an incredible game up front on the back end.”
  • Niskat Deenever’s only remarks: “You know what, I just can’t today. That’s all I have to say.”

TAG: Bardan_Jusik Jedi Gunny

 

Power Rankings, Week 5​

1. Mando’ade Mercs – Mercs generally like shootouts, especially when they win. Consider this filling both criteria. Being 5-0 doesn’t hurt, either.

2. Ralltiir Starkillers – They took the C-Bucs to town this week at home, and it shows why they’re tops in the Solo.

3. Bakura Miners – Played a very difficult game against the Mercs, and just didn’t come up with the win. But they get points for trying in these Rankings, because we still care about effort and hustle!

4. Coruscant Senators – Very impressive win this week over Nar Shaddaa, even though we could have sworn they thought they were playing Denon by the way they were discussing things off the pitch this week. Look at the schedule, guys! It’s not that hard!

5. Hapes Consortium Buccaneers – Ouch, the C-Bucs finally hit the ground after being lighter-than-air the first four weeks. Now they have to regroup and keep going forward, or else the repulsors will likely come off. And come off FAST.

6. Nar Shaddaa Smugglers – They’ve hit a rough spot the last two weeks, but we think they’ll bounce back. Nothing is set in stone in the Skywallker.

7. Kashyyyk Rangers – How are the Rangers still in third place in the Solo? We have just as much idea as you do.

8. Rydonni Prime Monarchs – See? Let Jayla Leed start, and good things happen. And Senator fans are still wondering where she was hiding that talent when she played for them.

9. Carratos Pirates – The Pirates are struggling, and need to kick it into gear starting next week. Otherwise they’ll be walking the plank to the lottery again.

10. Chandrila Patriots – The Patriots win! And, somehow, we don’t really care.

11. Ylesia Lightning – Korlo, you did it! The Korlo Penin fanclub here at the office squealed in collective glee when you pulled through this week! Just know that even if the rest of this season doesn’t go as planned, they still love you!

12. Denon Demons – 0-5? Meh.

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

 

IC: The Rancor Pitt

"LIIIIIIIIIIIIIVE! from downtown Keldabe, on a bright sun shiny day, it's a Victory afternoooooooooooooon. 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 big, big, big show for you."

"Really big, we're five weeks into the new season and your Mando'ade Mercs are still undefeated."

"Never thought I would see a Mercs team start off a season like this."

"Especially with the way they've been winning."

"Yeah, the team was supposed to be built on a stellar defense..."

"The beskar curtain."

"But instead has been winning by just scoring a lot of points, and I mean a lot."

"Yet to be held under 20 points in any game this season."

"Well, they were held to 17 in regulation against the Demons in week one."

"But they scored 22 overall, and it's the final score that counts."

"Yeah, but if we're talking about how good the offense is we should compare warra nuts to warra nuts and..."

"Hey you two, lets just all agree that the Mercs offense is working miracles right now."

"Point totals of 38, 39 and 38 for the past three weeks."

"They have looked scary good so far this season, though I had my doubts early on in this one."

"The Miners came out on fire, no doubt."

"That early run was really fueled by Glencross being back in the building I think."

"Well it certainly seemed to get Pic off and running..."

"She was killing Mor'kesh early on, just killing him."

"Yeah, she torched him a couple of times early on as the Miners built that early lead, but then he changed up his game."

"He went from trying to play defense against her to trying to just match up with her offensively, and it worked."

"Yeah it did. From that point on the Mercs slowly crawled back and by halftime things were tied up again."

"Crazy, crazy game. The defense couldn't stop anyone, and our only chance was to try to win in a fast paced shoo out with them."

"Well we had a chance to impose our will, our game plan on them coming into the second half, but the Miners beat us out of the gate again and took another big lead."

"Like I said, they really knocked us off our game plan and forced us to play their game."

"Yeah, it bothered me how easily the Miners affected the Mercs own game plan."

"So far the Mercs really haven't been able to play their game, and have been forced to adapt week to week, in game, to what the other team is doing."

"That's going to bite them in the shebs eventually, they need to be able to force their will on opposing teams if they are going to be true title contenders."

"You don't see them as title contenders right now? They're undefeated for crying out loud!"

"They're good, they have great talent and they've been able to make in game adjustments better than anyone in the league right now, but that inability to go out and play "Mercs meshgeroya" is a problem. They can't keep playing everyone else's game and expect to keep winning."

"OK, OK. Fair enough. It's been working so far though."

"Yeah, it has. But this past week, and really the week before too, it was far too close for comfort."

"I don't think you're being fair about them imposing their will either. They had back to back shut downs in weeks two and three."

"OK, yeah. but that's against a pair of teams that have only a couple of wins between them right now. The contenders, the teams on track for the playoffs right now have been forcing the Mercs to play their game..."

"And it almost beat us this past week."

"Yeah, as the game wound down everyone kind of knew that the game was going to go to the team that had the ball last, and that's the way it played out."

"Take us through that last possession quick."

"OK, well as you all saw I'm sure, the Mercs fought back again in the second half to take the lead with just what...2 minutes or so left on the clock?"

"About that, yeah."

"And then the Miners went back down and tied it up on Deenever's bar point."

"That was a great shot, I thought she would go for the win there, and so did the Mercs defense. They blew it there."

"Yeah, but at home going for the tie late made sense."

"Not with that much time on the clock..."

"Well I think the Miner's staff assumed that if they couldn't keep us off the board that they would get one more possession."

"Yeah, but Kor'le called time out with about a minute and a half left..."

"87 seconds"

"..and called up one heck of a play."

"I was screaming at the holo for them to shoot it but..."

"It was a possession denial play, the Mercs played keep away for the rest of the game, willing to go to overtime if they missed, but ensuring they could get off the last shot in regulation."

"I understand that they didn't want to give the Miners another shot, but the chance of losing it in overtime on the road was a hell of a gamble if the Mercs missed their shot. Especially the way the Miners started out the game and also came out of the halftime break. If they came into OT like that the Mercs would have been done."

"The Mercs gamble payed off though, the ball went from Mor'kesh to Jaing and he basically held it until there were about ten seconds left."

"I was so worried we were going to turn it over there."

"Then, instead of going for an easier game winning over the bar shot like I assumed he would..."

"I think the Miners were thinking the same way..."

"Yeah, that's the way their defense was set up. But anyway, he dumps the ball off to a streaking Arock who puts the game winner in the back of the net with less than 2 seconds left."

"That was...that was great. But I still thought the Miners had a shot."

"Two seconds, hard to get off a decent shot in that amount of time, but stranger things have happened. Luckily the shot..or was it a pass? was intercepted by Mauntak and the game was over."

"A crazy, hard fought game, and things don't get any easier for the Mercs."

"Nope, they have a really tough Bucs team next weak, a team coming off their first loss of the season. They're going to be out for blood."

"The Mercs really can't afford to be knocked off their game against that team. Especially with first place in the conference at stake."

"A win for the Bucs would give them the tie breaker against the Mercs as well as a commanding 3-0 conference record to go along with their overall record. I think a win there will for all intents and purposes lock up a playoff spot for them, and that just adds to their motivation."

"What about the Mercs? A win for them gets them to 6-0, guarantees a winning season in after just the first half of the season and..."

"They have too many conference games left to just start printing up playoff tickets, even with a win. Any losing streak they get started on would kill their conference record, while their rivals would be racking up conference wins. if it comes down to that, the Mercs would be in trouble."

"Hey, whats with the negativity? We're winning, we're streaking, enjoy it! We may never see a Mercs streak like this again!"

"We certainly never have before."

"I'm enjoying the shab out of it, I'm just trying to temper expectations for the fans a little bit. There is a lot of seasopn left to be played, and against some pretty damn good teams."

"Hey we all know that, but when the team is playing like this you just have to sit back and enjoy the ride."

TAG: Trieste.

 

GM Post
Ylesia

​

For best results, begin at 0:36​

“Sorry to bother you, Commissioner, but after making a fair and judicious call I believe my life may be in danger.”

Lokensgaard snapped his fingers urgently at a nearby aide with his free hand. He made a hand motion that was thoroughly abstract and unhelpful to the aide. “Kelly, stay on the line.” Lokensgaard covered the receiver. “Datapad you idiot!” he snapped before uncovering the receiver. “You with your police escort?” This was standard procedure for officials at all games. “Stay with them. Follow their instructions. Your whole crew together? Cuff yourself to them with binders if you have to.”

He looked at the schedule for Telaam. Where was she? Nar Shaddaa at Bakura. Of course. The gift that keeps on giving. Miners over Smugglers, 4-2. Fenrir didn’t know what the call was and at the moment it didn’t matter. He was guessing it had something to do with Smuggler fans (based on the result more than their reputation), but that was not the most pressing issue. If that was right, given Telaam’s schedule calling Smugglers games this was going to get nasty. He had to get her somewhere in the interim before the Smuggler’s next game.

Fenrir opened the schedule to see where…“Kelly, good news, you’re scheduled for Ylesia next week.” Thank the Force Gondorf had had to shuffle the crews around to accommodate their schedules. “You leave Bakura with your team ASAP and go there straight away. I’m here, I’ll have arrangements made for you to keep a low profile this week. Don’t talk to media, don’t to talk to fans, don’t talk to the hotel bellhop. You wait for a call from us. When I get to Bakura I’m going to talk to Lilly Vehn, get her to take care of this. This week will give things time to cooldown before Denon. If things don’t, schedules can be changed. This League is not going to do anything to put you in danger. Got that?”

When he finished his call, he immediately made another one.

“Quinn, hello….Yes, congratulations. I need you to get more protection for the officiating crew….I don’t care how many there are already, Quinn! Get the army, get the navy, get the air force, get the coast guard, get the elementary school crossing guard if you have to! I’ve got officials who are afraid for their lives and they’re in your stadium!” Fenrir shouted. “If they don’t leave Bakura in better condition than they arrived in, I’m going to string your organization up for criminal negligence! Understood?...Good. By the way, looking forward to seeing you next week. Toodles.”

---

Bakura Gardens, Salis D’aar, Bakura
Fenrir rode the turbolift to the box concourse in silence. No foliage could obscure the fact that this was the seat of what had once been called the Evil Empire. If Rydonni Prime kept up like they were, the Miners would have a shot at reclaiming that dubious title. They had certainly had the history that was a prerequisite.

The Galactic Empire had started small. A handful of determined beings had exerted their will on the vast Galactic Republic and subverted it to their will. Similarly, this world of small population on the edge of the galaxy had become one of the premier teams of limmie. They had reeled off three Galactic Cups in a decade. Their games were circled on the schedules in many clubhouses as a result.

Why this team should inspire such competition in its enemies and devotion from its fans baffled Fenrir. Perhaps, he admitted, I am prejudiced. As well I should be.

Fenrir was escorted to the Noble House box. Unlike other owner’s boxes, it was not owned by today’s inhabitants. The County of Salis D’aar owned Bakura Gardens and leased the stadium. It was home to UBSD home games, sometimes the day before a Miners game. The Triestes were guests here and their paraphernalia was hung on the walls in the morning and taken down in the evening. It is, Fenrir supposed, the only thing about them that is fleeting.

As he was constantly reminded, today being no exception, the Triestes were prolific to a degree that could put an Iktochi to shame. They had turned out for him today too--no surprise. It was very much like them to want to impress the Commissioner of the League.

How anyone ever remembered all of their names was beyond him. Today he counted 16 of them. Only 16? He thought there were more. Well, add the Monarch bunch, then the Chandrilans, the Smugglers, and the Buccaneers...maybe 16 was about right.

“Commissioner, how lovely to have you join us today,” the distinguished one who was the Chairwoman these days* said (Fenrir never bothered to remember all their names, even after they introduced themselves).

“How could I refuse?” Lokensgaard said. He’d actually spent an above-average amount of time trying to figure out how he could refuse, but had failed at the task. He blamed Gondorf for not coming up with some legal technicality. And also for not even trying. She had much too little pity for him in this matter.

The introductions (or re-introductions, he honestly didn’t remember which was the case) were made and Fenrir didn’t bother to remember any of their names. There was the one with the chin†, the mischievous looking one‡, a forgettable one§, the chatty one who was definitely not a Trieste‖, the one that looked like a scarecrow¶, the smirky one**, the one that reminded him of a dinosaur for some reason*†, the older (but still good looking) pop star*‡, the younger pop star who likely like she had trouble with boys*§, someone in a uniform*‖, someone older with a much more decorated uniform*¶, a self-confident little pup†*, another very definitely not Trieste given the fact she seemed slightly out of water††, and two babies who really weren’t to blame for being born into the Noble House†‡ (they could always run away later and do something better with their lives--everybody else was most definitely to blame for being in the family as they had not run away).

But Fenrir pretty much ignored them all, because there was one Trieste whose name he definitely remembered.

“Commissioner, how lovely to see you.”

“Commissioner, likewise.”

Fenrir Lokensgaard shook Kerry Trieste’s hand.

---

After the game started, and it was a fast start, they were joined by the recently retired Alana Glencross, her husband, and her young redheaded son. It seemed the genes were strong with this one.

“So glad you were willing to join us,” the distinguished one said, “It’s the least we can do after everything you’ve done for the team.”

“It’s very kind of you,” Alana said, “though since Horst’s wife is here I hope you’re not going to load Olivar up on candy. This might be a treat, but I’d like him to fall asleep some time this decade.”

Fenrir noticed the mischievous one use her foot to surreptitiously push a bag of candy underneath her seat. Clearly she knew her husband well.

“Alana, so nice to be here for the big day,” Lokensgaard said, standing to give the former star an embrace.

“I don’t suppose you brought an award for me, did you? You always seem to be giving me one whenever we see each other,” Alana said, clearly having fun with the encounter.

“I’m sure I’ll come up with something before the day is done,” Fenrir replied. He actually liked the brash midfielder. He drew a distinction between the owners of the Miners and their players. The latter were just doing their jobs and Fenrir had worked for plenty of terrible bosses.

“I think part of the idea behind retiring was to let everyone else have a turn, wasn’t it Alana?” her husband said.

“No, it was more about having a turn with you and Olivar,” Alana said, giving her husband a kiss, “and...well...we haven’t come up with a name yet.” Alana gestured to her midsection and smiled.

“Allow me to be the first to congratulate you,” Fenrir said immediately. Beat the Triestes to it. Score one for the Commissioner.

---

Fenrir spent most of the first half sitting next to the distinguished one and Alana as the Mercs clawed their way back into the game through iron persistence after the initial Miner onslaught. The game was so riveting that there was little conversation. For that, Fenrir was thankful.

When they took their seats again for the second half, he was prepared for the inevitable shuffling of seats.

“Commissioner, can’t pass up the opportunity for the optics, can you?” Fenrir asked his new seatmate. He was sure that there would be footage of the two of them sitting next to each other on the Holonet later.

“Yes,” Kerry Trieste said frankly, “but just getting to see the Miners play in person is a pleasure enough. I had to fly all night from Atalanta to make it for the game. Five games in a day wears on you. Thankfully there’s no hyperspace travel involved in my schedule.”

The Miners began another furious pounding on the Mercs.

“You won’t get it, you know,” Lokensgaard said quietly, but coldly. His words were loud enough only so that Kerry could hear.

“I disagree. The Miners are playing in fine form. Valerii’s recentered them with a good halftime adjustment and they’re going to keep the Mercs locked down,” the Bak10 commissioner said. “I’ve seen enough games to know when one’s on the rise.”

“You won’t get my job,” Lokensgaard clarified, as if he hadn’t even listened to the former Supreme Chancellor’s comments on the game at hand.

“If I wanted your job, I’d have it,” Kerry replied, her voice falling to Lokensgaard’s level as the crowd got into the Miners surging play. “Make no mistake about that.”

“No, straight from the Supreme Chancellor’s office to the Elite League Commissioner’s would have looked like the naked power grab it would have been. Building up experience in a collegiate league and then ousting your caretaker Commissioner doesn’t raise eyebrows.”

“If you’re implying--”

“Kayl’hen told me how I got to be Commissioner. You and she pouring over potential successors and you pluck mine out of thin air. There’s only one reason someone like me gets chosen and that’s to be someone else’s stand in.”

“What I thought about you has proven to be correct. You’re the right being for the job. You represent the League’s interests above all others and you’ve improved the integrity of the office after the end of Kayl’hen’s tenure,” Kerry said. “I chose you because you were good for the sport.”

“Tell yourself all the lies you want,” Fenrir hissed, “but we both know that you want to control this league like you’ve controlled this planet and the Republic before it. A velvet glove around an iron fist is still an iron fist. You know, Leota Avoy might be onto something. Your family has wormed its way into five different Elite League teams.”

“And everybody loves a good conspiracy theory,” Kerry said lightly. “I’m sorry to break it to you, Fenrir, but I don’t lead this family anymore. If there is a vast conspiracy against you, they haven’t brought me into it. Next thing you’ll tell me they’ve cloned Palpatine.”

“They did once.”

It was at that moment that the Mercs reversed the tide and scored. Little did the fans in Bakura Gardens and around the galaxy know it, but that moment was the one that would begin the breaking of the Miners this day.

---

Fenrir took his leave with all the usual pleasantries.

“Never let it be said we don’t give you a good time,” the distinguished one said, “Can’t really ask for a better game than that.”

“Maybe a little defense?” Fenrir suggested naughtily.

“Horst is getting a talking to tonight,” groused the mischievous one.

“I thought this was still the honeymoon period,” the young one in the uniform said.

Lokensgaard took his leave there and didn’t hear how the rest of the conversation went. He wanted to leave Bakura while he was still in a good mood--the Noble House had to stomach another tough loss for the second time in three games. But, more than that, he was elated. With luck, he wouldn’t come to Bakura again for another year.

That was something to smile about.

TAG: Bardan_Jusik jcgoble3

* Regan Eldred
† Atticus Eldred
‡ Trixie Eldred Penn
§ Quentin Eldred
‖ Corrie Ypres
¶ Declan Trieste
** Ayn Trieste
*† Ronan Trieste
*‡ Mandy Trieste
*§ Jane Serena Trieste
*‖ Enoch Trieste
*¶ Fiona Westenra
†* Antrose Trieste
†† Henrietta Trieste
†‡Shenandoah and Niall Fionn Trieste

 

IC: Briar Thorne
Nar Shaddaa

The ‘Rim War’ rivalry had seen its fair share of major confrontations over the years. With great players on both sides, some of whom had busts in the sport’s Hall of Fame on Empress Teta, it was a game that both fanbases circled on their schedules and knew would be a tough fight. And that’s what the game ended up being.

It was a defensive battle for most of the game, with neither team giving an inch on defense. Briar had heard all about the controversy regarding the officiating crew for the Black and Blue Battle, and how they were not going to be here at Six Boroughs for the Senator’s trip to play the Smugglers. And the home team came out with their hair on fire on defense, ready to pounce. It didn’t take long for the Senator defense to be shifted to bring equal intensity to bear. Klay Mettews would be given the green-light to get into scrums and generally be an unstoppable force at half back, his long blonde locks almost flying next to him as he charged around the field. Briar had a smug sense of satisfaction in having acquired him with her first trade; she totally fleeced Adumar in that deal. Even Duncan Gabbert, the other piece she received, was playing meaningful minutes as a backup midfielder, so it was a deal the Senators had won by leaps and bounds. Other defensive effort came from Jamee Meels; the quiet Talz was using his size to beat up the Smuggler forwards, and Eddie Munster used his first-round skills and talents to make stops when necessary. As usual, the Gamble-Keisel duo at the corners was rock-solid, and Deluxx was showing signs of improvement at full back.

But the offense ground to a halt early and often. The Smugglers were torching the Senator forwards, making them pass into dangerous zones and disrupting the offense. At one point Sunlua Zan, the Falleen offensive coordinator, threw down her play sheet in disgust after a turnover that could have been avoidable. She had seen better offensive outings, and was frustrated by her team’s lack of cohesion out there.

With the Smugglers scoring a goal by reigning Salbukk winner Mick Steele, Peet Carelle decided to switch things up. He went to his bench and brought out Leia Adama. The team captain, who had missed two of the past three games with a bothersome quad injury, was going to be limited to just ten minutes in this game to make sure her rehab was going well. She came in for Laura Cellen, and immediately made an impact. While some of her explosion was still missing, she found a crease, and not surprisingly got her chance. The ball got fed over the top of a defender by Vail Pin, and Adama went to town on the defense. It didn’t take much time before Charlie Blackwood was left wondering where the ball was, and by that time Adama had the rookie beat. For Senator fans everywhere, seeing the ‘goal face’ of their team captain was a treat to behold, because it was Adama’s first score of the season.

Eventually, the tide stayed in the Senators’ favor. They were bleeding the Smugglers dry on offense with a ferocious attack from the defense, with Mettews and Munster locking down the rookie half forwards of the Smugglers, and Christine Gamble was once again showing her All-Star talent. Camille Montes was a rock in goal, turning away shot after shot with an intensity that was not always seen in the goalie’s eyes. The defensive effort was helped by the excellent midfield play by the visiting midfielders. Maddy Swann was showing flashes of excellence that had made her a Helmsman nominee, and she was doing a nice job replacing All-Pro Alysha Romax as the top option against Erin Windreaver. Grace Organa was literally eating Anabelle Shaw for breakfast for stretches, beating her matchup to the ball and showing a grit that had been slow to develop before this game.

When all was said and done, the Senators walked out with a 13-3 win over their rivals, snapping a four-game losing streak in the series. Briar enjoyed the moment, but something else hung over her head right now.

Next up: Bakura. And that meant many things, some of which had been burning in the back of her mind for some time now.

It would be more than just the Senatorial Showdown.

It would be her homecoming, again.

But the most important part?

It was the Leia Adama Derby.

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Bakura



As expected, Briar walked down the ramp of the team shuttle on Bakura and was immediately welcomed by the sight of hundreds of Miners fans who had gathered here for one reason. They weren’t here to wish her well in her second trip back home with the Senators. No, they had other ideas.

Some of the fans held signs saying things like “Come Home!” and “Once an Adama, always an Adama, always a MINER”. A few fans even had custom Miners home jerseys with Leia’s number and her name on them. It was another reminder, a not-welcome reminder, that this game would go a long way towards figuring out where the franchise full forward would play next season. It was a lot more than just a game right now; the real fight was to keep Leia Adama in the orange and black uniform for the foreseeable future.

There shouldn’t have been this much pressure on her shoulders, Briar knew. She had been here before as a visiting GM, and that had been a major source of stress. But now the Senators and Miners were in different conferences for the first time, so this game didn’t count towards conference record for either team. There would be no love lost, but all the drama of the prior season’s encounter was now gone. It had been replaced by the Adama free agency saga, an epic that Briar wanted to put a stop to with a shiny new contract and Adama’s signature.

With Leia finally healthy, she would make another start this week against the Miners. It would be her third start of the season, but she had only scored three points in 34 minutes of game action on the season. Her presence would eventually be needed down the stretch, because while the Senator offense had seemingly run fine without her, she was too big a piece to be able to replace indefinitely. Gark S’rily had seen a lot of talent in the UBTV product when he had made her the top overall pick in 278. Briar would hate to see her go to another team. But the reality was that this was a business, and players could move if they wanted to. There was nothing keeping Adama on Coruscant; while she was team captain, the Miners could offer her the enduring love of their fanbase, the lineage ties, and the concept of home. Coruscant couldn’t offer those things to the forward, and Briar knew she was at a disadvantage. The Miners historically didn’t go after big-name free agents, but if Quinn Cundertol found the wherewithal to talk terms, then the Senators would be far behind. Gamble had come back after talking to the Miners, among other teams, but she didn’t have the ties to Bakura that Adama did. And that would be the sticking point.

Maybe she was paranoid, Briar considered, but she was going to do the safe thing and try to keep Adama out of the eyes of the Bakuran public for the time being. She had to sit and think about what she personally would do to keep the star forward in town, and that would take a lot of considerations into account. How much would a fair offer be for a player like Adama? She was a star, but could Briar afford to give her Alana Glencross-level money? Was anyone really worth that kind of cash to play sports? But if she lowballed Adama, the forward might get mad; she was already reportedly on the fence, and making the wrong move would send a message to Adama that the Senators were trying to cut her down a piece at a time to shame her into re-signing. Briar didn’t want to do that; she saw what Adama brought to the team. She was the captain of a team that was downright fun to watch; they weren’t the best team by any means in terms of skills or talent, but they had a lot of heart. Many teams would have folded against the Smugglers the prior week, but the youthful energy of the Senators had given them the win in a place many opponents went to die. Briar had wanted to build a team that was a delight to behold by casual and die-hard fans alike, and that all started with Adama. She had a knack for leadership, even when she wasn’t in the game. Losing that kind of instinct would put the team back a year or two, and could cost them any chance at being a contender with the current core of players. They still had plenty of contract time left, but this was the Elite League, and nothing was for certain. Anything could happen.


The night before the game, Briar kept to herself, pouring over contract terms. She would leave the game planning to the coaches and the players. Right now, it was time for her to be the GM she was and attempt to make a splash. And that all started with the Adama contract.

TAG: Vehn, Trieste