Star Wars OPEN Elite League Limmie

GM Post
--Transaction Wire--
Coruscant Senators

• Malida Worody (Togruta, Female, Full Forward) signed to entry-level contract
• Alex Renhorn (Human, Female, Half Forward) signed to entry-level contract
• Brancko Nagriski (Barabel, Male, Full Back) signed to entry-level contract

TAG: Jedi Gunny

 

IC: Pamila Korthe
Press Conference

“I would like to announce the new team captains for the 274 Coruscant Senators,” Pam said to the gathered audience. There weren’t as many media members here as when there was official staff business, but it was still well-attended. “As you are all aware, the Senators have for many years had three assistant captains and one head captain. This has been a team tradition, and I would hate to break it. In the past, you have seen now-legendary players fill these roles. Last year, the assistant captains were as follows: Polis Vayne, Shayt Contar, Shev Fil’yer. I was fortunate to get to work with these three for a season before they retired. They taught me a few things about how assistant captains should represent their team. Thus, without further ado, I would like to announce the three players who will take over the assistant captaincy of this franchise.

The first player has shown tremendous skill out on the field. He may be a headcase at times, but his playing ability has spoken volumes for this franchise. Please welcome Jerek Deter.” Jerek stepped out and received a ceremonial jersey with the new “A” attached in the upper left corner.

“The second player may not be the best player out there skill-wise, but she has a lot of heart for the game and for others. She always looks to let others take the spotlight and work in her role to help the team win. Your second captain for 274 is Izzi Polakaya.” This confused the media members present; a bench player had been named a captain? That was unheard of! Of course, she had been coaching at CorTech for two seasons, and many of her former players were now playing for the Senators, so perhaps that was part of the reason why she was nominated.

“Thirdly, this last assistant captain is one that I know very well from my time with Thyferra. His game has grown a ton since I first met him, and his potential is as high as he can go. Please welcome Riff Persnor as your third assistant captain.” Riff received his jersey, and then some holos were taken of the three assistant captains.

“Now, this leaves one more spot unfilled, that of head captain,” Pam continued. “The team thought long and hard on this, and many names were considered. However, one name came up the most, and after a team consensus, we made our selection. This player will have to fill the shoes of legendary Hall of Famers such as Lysander Perkins, Anki Rysowt, Lyla Stork, Pok Stenwart, Dain Horstse, and most recently his son Dirxx. This player will be the face of the franchise for many years to come, and will hopefully lead the team into a new age. Your 274 Coruscant Senator head captain is . . .




Alysha Romax.”

There was quite a bit of applause as Alysha stepped out from behind the stage to receiver her jersey. Hers, unlike the others, had the symbolic “C” sewn into it. Only one player got to wear this special jersey, and this year it was hers. After more holos were taken, the players sat down for interviews.

“Alysha, how does it feel to take over the captaincy?”

“It’s a dream come true,” Alysha said. “I’ve always wanted to be a team captain, so now that it’s here, I want to savor every moment while I can.”

“Do you expect it to be difficult to fill the shoes of Dirxx Horstse?”

“Did you really just ask that?” Alysha asked. “Dirxx is a character, let me tell you. I’ll never be able to have that infectious grin of his, or his personality, so I intend to let my play do the talking.”

“How will being a captain affect your play?”

“It won’t,” Alysha said. “I’m going to give all the effort I have to win games and lead the team. Nothing more.”


After fifteen minutes, the press conference was adjourned, and Pam got to speak with the four players. “Good work, you four,” she said. “However, this was the easy part. You’ve seen their expectations; now you need to go out there and lead this team. I know you can do it, but it won’t be easy. Make sure to always have your head up, because it’s about the team. There is no ‘I’ in team, remember? So play hard and act as captains not just on the pitch, but off it as well. Good luck, and I will see you at training camp.”

TAG: No One

 

IC: Falene Trieste
Miners team shuttle, on approach to Mandalore

The Mercs.

The frakking Mercs.

Those two sentences kept running through Falene’s head as she peered across Niskat to look out the viewport. Even though everyone tried to stay isolated from the sports media because for the most part the round-the-clock coverage was just plain stupid, they’d all seen the headline from Myk Songsteel of HSN Sports:

“THE BIGGEST FRIENDLY IN DECADES”

Songsteel, who Niskat damn near had a crush on because he was a UBSD grad even though he’d graduated something like 20 years ago, had said that the Miner/Merc game was not only groundbreaking in taking advantage of the unbalanced non-conference schedule, but it was a giant middle finger from Aay’han Vhett to Commissioner Kayl’hen. “The Mercs approached the Miners to play this game not just to preserve their traditional rivalry, but also to show the League how much trouble the Mercs can be. If you think that the League is going to be happy about the fact that millions in ticket revenue and media broadcast rights are going to pass them right by, think again. The worst (or, if you’re Beskaryc Taab, best) part of this is that Kayl’hen knows she can’t even approach the Board of Governors to legislate this away. The owners will never stand for having Elite League member teams barred from seeing each other in friendly games. Even better for Taab is that Chancellor Trieste readily agreed to the game after she supported realignment.

“But beyond all that, this is just going to be good limmie. No conference standing on the line, this is just going to be a pure hatefest at Mesh’la Vhetin. And the fans are going to love it.”

Falene knew that trying to pretend she wasn’t nervous would only be lying to herself. As the shuttle got closer to the planet’s surface, her anxiety grew. This wasn’t just a game, this was one of the games on the Miners’ schedule. This was a game that mattered in a big way to the other players, to the other fans.

And now she was going to be thrust right into the middle of it. Valerii hadn’t said who was starting yet. Unlike the Denon game where she’d had a full month of preparation, the head coach had locked herself in her office and was furiously drawing up her game plan for the team. The players were trying to take this in stride, but the rookies weren’t doing such a good job. So much for easing them into the season.

The worst part about it was that Falene was angry—at her mother. How could she do this to me? Falene thought for not the first time, Throw me into the fire like this? Doesn’t she know that this has been hard enough? Haven’t I told her that? She didn’t even ask me beforehand. She could have at least told me about it. I could have told her how stupid this is, how insane it is to go against the Mercs in my second pro game with next to no preparation time. Force almighty.

And yet Falene knew that if she was just going to be another player, she couldn’t expect her mom to tell her about these things. Then she’d be the owner’s daughter and not just another player. The tension of wanting to belong and wanting to use her position tore at Falene. The truth was that the decision had been made for her: she was going to be just another player.

Too bad everybody else doesn’t know that.

“I wonder if they all wear flamethrowers,” Niskat said as the shuttle descended towards Keldabe.

“Ugh. Probably,” Falene said.

“You’ve been to Mandalore before. Can I buy one somewhere?” the blonde asked.

“What do you want a flamethrower for?”

“It’s a flamethrower. Don’t you want one?”

Falene sighed and rolled her eyes.

---

Fenn Shysa Spaceport, Keldabe, Mandalore

The team shuttle landed at an auxiliary landing pad to avoid the pageantry that would surely be associated with the Chancellor’s arrival. The Miners got off in their dark blue team jackets—and were immediately met by a squadron of armed Mandalorians. Cundertol pushed his way to the front. “Is something the matter?” he asked brusquely.

“Instructions from the Manda’lor, chakaar,” the leader said through his helmet, “You are to receive protection to your quarters as his guests.” He didn’t seem happy about this.

“Hey ord’dinii,” Alana said, elbowing her way next to the GM, “Watch your mouth.”

“I should say the same to you, hut’unn. Gar kyr’amur Mando’a ti gar di’lutla lalat.”

Falene had no idea what he just said, but she assumed it wasn’t nice.

“Copaani mirshmure'cye, vod? Narir gar copaanir haar Jetiise Alor susulur be gar osik orar?” Alana shot back to Falene’s amazement.

The Mandalorian said nothing, but Falene was pretty sure that every single Miner wished they could see his face. Then he started laughing. “Kandosii aruetii!” he laughed, “No wonder you are Kor’le’s Meshgeroya ori’vod! Even if your grammar could use some polishing, no?” He laughed again. “Come, come aruetii. To your quarters now.”

The Mandalorians took up watchful escort positions around the Miners as they headed for their hoverbuses. “What the frak did you say to them?” Valerii mumbled out of the side of her mouth to Glencross, “And where did you pick that up?”

“I got one of those audio recordings, Learn Mandalorian in Six Easy Steps,” she said, “And I just reminded him that this is a friendly game.”

Falene was pretty sure the Miners captain had done more than that.

---

Fenn Shysa Spaceport, Keldabe, Mandalore

Kerry Trieste had been briefed on the way from Coruscant by a protocol droid on Mandalorian traditions. She fully expected the arm clasp handshake and returned it. These were the sorts of things that a Chancellor must do. She knew full well that it had been a long time since any of her predecessors had set foot on Mandalore. This was a visit of great importance to the Mandalorians…and it would be followed closely in the Republic as well.

“Lord Manda’lor,” she said, careful but easy with her pronunciation, “It is a pleasure. You have no idea how glad I was when I received your invitation. This was a spectacular idea. It has been far too long since you and I last met and far too long since the Republic last recognized the contributions of the Mando’a to the galaxy.” She smiled. “Lead on, Lord Manda’lor.”

Lord Manda’lor, Kerry thought, What a ridiculous title, but it’s his world. Attention must be paid.

---

Mesh’la Vhetin, Keldabe, Mandalore

Falene had been to Mesh’la Vhetin before.

But she had never experienced it.

Up in the boxes, the millions of fans were just loud. On the field, they were deafening. Valerii had warned the rookies and sophomores against this. “You will never have played in a game situation like this. There will be times you will be yelling to someone five feet away and they won’t hear you,” she said in the locker room, “That’s why I drill into you during practice. It’s times like that when you’ve got to know what you need to do. You’ll never hear anyone else, least of all me, tell you.

“Let’s take an early lead, take the crowd out of it,” Valerii had wrapped up.

Falene heard those last words, but they meant nothing to her. She was starting on the bench again. It was from there that she was bombarded by sound and fury from the Merc fans at the start of the game. Though part of Falene wanted to be out there, another part of her didn’t know how she would handle the sudden pressure. Valerii had told her she’d get playing time again, but she hadn’t said how much or when. It wouldn’t be such a bad thing to ease into the game, maybe with a nice lead. And yet what glory was there in keeping up a lead? Not much.

With 15 minutes gone in the game, Valerii called a time out. She brought the entire team in for a huddle. At 9-8 in favor of the home team, the Merc fans were plenty loud. They loved seeing their team have a lead against Bakura.

“Landa, Tarth,” Valerii called, “Deenever, Grap, you’re in. Ruunron, sit down.” The Trandoshan was still not doing well. Falene started to get off the bench when she heard Valerii say, “T.K.—move to left.”

“Left? What do you mean left?” T.K. demanded.

“Do it Kutel!” Valerii snapped, “Trieste—center!”

Falene was off the bench like a shot. Center half back! Against the Mercs! At Mesh’la Vhetin! Oh Force help her now, this was her big shot.

“Rookie, you better know what you’re doing out here,” T.K. called to Falene as they got back into position for the game to start up again, “They are playing frigging insane today!”

“Yeah well you’d know what insanity looks like from firsthand experience, wouldn’t you?” Falene called back.

“Burrrrrrn!” Wizmark shouted from the other side of the field.

T.K. just mimed being shot in the chest. Then the whistle blew and the game was on. Mercs’ ball. The Mandalorian team had put in reserves while the Miners had kept in most of their starters. Even so, Vizsla’s team decided to take a page from Denon and run right at the weak spots and that meant Falene.

A Mandalorian charged forward. He had several inches on Falene and more pounds than Falene could estimate. She didn’t flinch. She ran right towards him as he came straight at her. Falene launched herself into the Mandalorian with legs like springs. She didn’t stop him, but the impact popped the ball out and down field to Everett North. Three nifty passes later it was in the back of the net courtesy of Andersen.

“Luke Leia and Han girl!” T.K. said after Falene disentangled herself from the Merc, “Does nothing scare you?”

“Not them, that’s for sure,” Falene said as she grabbed his hand and pulled herself up. Oddly, it was true.

---

The Mercs threw a crossing pattern into their game plan late in the early second half and Falene was ready for it. Kellie Dupont brought the bolo-ball up the middle of the field only to get slammed by Falene. It jarred Falene, but through sheer instinct and training she held on and brought Dupont down to the ground. It took a second, but she hopped to her feet.

Dupont was not so lucky. When she tried to get up, she fell back down immediately and that’s when the refs whistled things dead and training staff from the Mercs came over—as well as some from the Miners who had rushed into action as well. They quickly let their counterparts handle things once they saw that they had the situation in hand. It was a friendly and Tunross wasn’t going to stand on the color of a jersey to render medical aid if needed.

Falene knew in a second that it did not look good with Dupont. She had a sinking feeling in her stomach. She wanted to play hard, she had to play hard, but someone getting injured thanks to her? The bile in her mouth was suddenly bitter. That was a terrible thing to have on her conscience.

As she walked away, she found herself face-to-face with Rann Gorlo, her fellow rookie. “You think ‘cause you’re the Chancellor’s daughter you can go around injuring beings like that?” he said, giving Falene a hard enough shove to put her on her butt. It wasn’t the force so much as it was unexpected.

Trieste hadn’t even gotten to her feet before there was someone between her and Gorlo. It wasn’t a ref. It was Niskat.

“Don’t you dare touch one of us after the whistle punk!” Deenever said, getting right up in Gorlo’s face.

“Oooooh, are you the little rich girl’s protector?” Gorlo asked mockingly.

“We’re a team. Do you know what that is you self-centered nerf herder?” Niskat said vehemently, “You mess with one of us, you mess with all of us.”

That was when the refs stepped in and separated them, but not before Niskat gave Gorlo a parting facewash. That got her a warning from the ref that any further hijinks were going to result in an ejection. Niskat just nodded before walking away.

The Mercs’ training staff was just now helping Dupont off the field. “You didn’t have to do that,” Falene said privately to Deenever, “I had him.”

“I know…but nobody pushes my roomie around. Nobody,” Niskat said before jogging back up field.

Falene couldn’t help smile a little bit.

---

Manda’lor’s Box, Mesh’la Vhetin, Keldabe, Mandalore

It was an ugly game for the Mercs—and a fantastic game for the Miners. The defense, so porous of late, let in only 4 points in the last three quarters of the game—all of which were played by Falene. Kerry had to use a politician’s training not to swell with pride.

Her political instinct told her that this was not going to go over well for Taab. It was an embarrassing loss. Hell of a time not to pull a Valerii, Gaeriel, Kerry thought to herself. The head coach hadn’t even throttled back. In fact, she’d even put Landa in for some late minutes in which he’d put up another couple of points. Andersen had done a lot of damage before being substituted for Detra. Rodders and Stormborn had gotten a full 60 minutes in. It appeared that Valerii was out to prove something.

Her thoughts returned to the added security in the box (security that had permeated the entire trip), which was coexisting with an uneasy Senatorial Guard. Kerry had taken Taab’s jest with a wry smirk. She didn’t think she’d be getting many further jokes from him as this wound down. Like many jokes, Taab’s concealed the reality of the matter. The bombing on Mandalore had almost certainly made his position far from stable as leader. She wondered how strong his mandate to govern was. She knew nothing about the traditions of the Mandalorians in selecting their leader. She did know there had been no general election and that meant that it was questionable how much the Mandalorians truly supported him in their hearts, no matter what their code of honor said. That was a tricky thing. A code of honor for some may bring obedience and for the others a commitment to opposition. For others, a code of honor led to a vibroknife in the hand and eventually in someone else’s back.

Yes, her politician’s instinct said that Beskaryc Taab was not so secure as he would make it seem. From the Chancellor’s point of view, some stability on Mandalore would not be a bad thing for the Republic. That meant that her interests coincided with Taab’s for the time being.

“Lord Manda’lor,” Kerry said, quietly and somewhat unwillingly, but she had to give Taab face before his people where she could, “I had the…honor of meeting your wife at the Board of Govenors meeting.” She had intended to say pleasure…but given Vhett’s frosty manner that wasn’t the right word. “She was understandably upset about the Commissioner’s realignment plan. In truth I agreed with her that it was not ideal, but it was the best option available.” She looked towards the field casually. “I have been thinking quite a bit about the state of the League since the Board meeting. I think that one day you and I should have a very intimate conversation about the direction of the Elite League. We may have more in common than you would think. After all, we are both beings of vision. We see futures that others have not yet dreamed of.”

Kerry gathered herself and prayed she said got the inflections right. This was her big opportunity to give Taab face before his people. “Ni dinu ner gaan naakyc, jorcu ni nu copaani kyr’amur ner vod,” the Chancellor said, extending one hand to Taab.

---

Field, Mesh’la Vhetin, Keldabe, Mandalore

Falene was grinning ear to ear after the handshake line with the Mercs. Even though it wasn’t a playoff game, Valerii and Vizsla decided it would be good form to do one anyways since it was a friendly. Alana Glencross had accepted the Beskar Axe and Falene proudly got a turn holding it and a holo to commemorate the moment.

The team had done spectacularly well. The offense had returned to its form from last season and Rodders had put up another stellar day. He was looking like an all-star and one of, if not the, best Full Forwards in the game today. Deenever had been very effective slicing and dicing the Mandalorian defense.

And Falene…well, she knew she’d done well today. It had been a high pressure situation, something that Valerii turned to in her postgame remarks.

“So I’ve been listening to some of Red’s Mando’a lessons and they’ve got a saying,” Valerii said, “Mishuk gotal’u meshuroke, pako kyore.” She turned to Glencross. “How’d I do?”

“I have no idea,” Alana said with a huge grin, “I didn’t listen to that chapter.” The locker room laughed. (The truth, though none of the Miners in the room knew it, was that Valerii got only three syllables of pronunciation right in the whole thing.)

“It means, ‘Pressure makes gems, ease makes decay.’ We played under pressure today and we came up with a winner. Be proud. You’ve earned an easy flight back to Bakura where we’ll regroup before Naboo at the Gardens. Enjoy this one—just not too much. We ain’t seen nothing yet,” Valerii said.

“Hey Falene!” Niskat said, grabbing the defender, “Come here. Let’s get a picture!”

Though Falene didn’t have a choice in the matter, she still smiled as she and Niskat jointly held the Beskar Axe. With luck, it would be the first of many.

TAG: Bardan_Jusik

 

GM Post

Updated Friendly Schedule
July 7
Genet Vornskrs at Rydonni Prime Monarchs
Naboo Ducks at Bakura Miners
Vandelhelm Jets at Euceron Storm
Mando'ade Mercs at Concordia Crusaders
Kuat Triforce at Ralltiir Starkillers
Druckenwell Marksmen at Nar Shaddaa Smugglers
Coruscant Senators at Empress Teta Pikemen

TAG: Jedi Gunny

 

IC: Falene Trieste
Miners training facility, Hi’lo, Bakura

Valerii had given the team a day off after the cross-galaxy travel back from Mandalore. It was a rare treat and the team made full use of it. Most of the team hit the glorious beaches that were an easy walk from training camp. Falene was among them. It had been a hard training camp, but after the game against the Mercs she was starting to see it pay off. The Mercs were a veteran team and had made the playoffs last year. Beating them meant that they were no slouches.

And it means that we’re going to have a target on our backs, Falene realized as she lay on her towel.

Nobody could remember the last time there had been a friendly composed of only Elite League teams. Several commentators were saying that after the Miners’ dominating performance that they hadn’t lost a step since 273 and that they were the odds-on favorites now for the Cup. There was always pressure playing for the Miners, but this was going to just increase that.

Falene sighed. At least there was no pressure today.

---

Dorms

A knock came on the door. Falene got up and opened it to find the Miners’ captain standing there.

“Come on rooks, we’re getting dinner in town,” Alana said.

“Really?” Niskat said, jumping off her bed, clearly excited about the prospect, “Do I have to change or anything?”

Alana looked at Niskat, pointed up and down at her own casual attire and said, “Take a wild guess.”

“Okay, okay,” Niskat said, hurrying out.

“Who’s going?” Falene asked as she shut the door behind her.

“Most everybody. Teambuilding and all that,” Alana said, “It’ll be a lot of fun. If you’re lucky they just might get me to sing the Beaver Song tonight…”

The three rounded the corner and headed towards the exit of the residence halls. Five seconds later Becki and Morgan poked their heads around the far corner.

“They’re gone,” Morgan said.

“Let’s go,” Becki said.

---

A few hours later the team returned to the training facility after what had been a fun night. With a few games under their belt even the rookies were being recognized in town by most of the locals and there had been some autographs to be signed, but other than that it had been just a good, relaxing evening.

Falene and Niskat were in the back of the pack that straggled back into the training facility dormitories. Falene was just walking in next to Nelly when she heard the giggling and guffawing up ahead.

“What’s that?” Falene asked.

“I dunno,” Nelly said and they both hurried down the hall to the common room.

Upon their arrival, they found that all of the furniture—beds, dressers, chairs, desks, vidscreens, lamps, art, trash bins, and even personal effects—had been relocated to the public space, set up in a perfect recreation of one of the dorm rooms. Everything was neat and tidily done. It was clearly a good old fashioned prank pulled off in the absence of the team.

Falene smiled. “Who’s the victim?” she asked, “This is pretty great.”

“Good question,” Aron said, picking up a framed holo and looking at it. He grinned and then tossed the holo to Falene. She caught it.

It was a holo of her with her mom and brother.

“Oh no,” she said, putting one hand to her forehead.

“Oh yeah!” Alana exclaimed, clapping Falene on the shoulder.



“Hey Niskat, nice digs,” Nanchecka Stormborn said from the other side of the room.

“Please don’t tell me this is our stuff,” Niskat said.

“Okay, I won’t,” Nanchecka said.

“But, news flash, this is your stuff,” T.K. said.

“Have fun tonight,” Anton Jorpik said as he headed back to his room. The sentiment was echoed by the rest of the team as they too filed away, leaving the two rookies and their stuff in the common area.

“Well, this wasn’t how I planned to spend the rest of my evening,” Niskat said as she slumped onto her bed.

“Tell me about it,” Falene sighed as she tossed the holo onto her own bed, “Come on, let’s move the big stuff together.”

They tackled Niskat’s mattress first.

“I should have known this sort of thing was coming,” Niskat said, “I mean the Sithspit I pulled on the freshmen at SD? This is tame.”

“Do I even want to hear about it?” Falene asked.

“We’ve got time,” Niskat said.

“Maybe later,” Falene said as they rotated the mattress into the room. Falene was the one walking backwards with it. “Really though, why did you get involved on Mandalore? After the Dupont hit. I could have handled it.”

“I told you, you’re my roommate and my teammate. Nobody fraks with you,” Niskat replied.

“I can fight my own battles,” Falene said.

“I know. That’s not why I did it.”

“Well why did you?” Falene said as they knelt to lift Niskat’s bed. Thankfully they only had single beds and mattresses here or this would have been a lot tougher.

“Because that’s what being a team is,” Niskat said, “One two three.” They lifted the bed in unison.

“You don’t always have to do that. You keep it up and people are going to think I need a protector or something,” Falene said.

“Sure they will. Because defenders need protectors,” Niskat said sarcastically, “Come on. Nobody’s going to think that. If it was the other way around, maybe.”

“Well until I take the second punch to the nose, let me handle it next time,” Falene said as they put the bed down and shoved it against the wall.

“Fine,” Niskat said. They walked back to the common room and grabbed Falene’s mattress. “Is it really that hard being the Chancellor’s daughter?”

“What do you mean?”

“Is it that lonely? I mean, how did you ever play at PCNS like this? Was it the Falen Trieste Show plus 14 other players?”

“Hey!” Falene said sharply, “I’m a team player! We won—”

“The College Galactic Championship. I know, I know. Will everybody please stop talking about it?” Niskat said, “Maker, everywhere I go it’s ‘Falene Trieste’ this and ‘Falene Trieste’ that. I know you can’t control what other beings say about you, but I thought you wouldn’t be so stuck up about it.”

“I am not stuck up!” Falene said, dropping the mattress on the floor of her room.

“Then why is it that you act as if you’re on an island all the time!” Niskat demanded.

“…because right now we are on an island?” Falene replied.

Niskat stopped for a second. “That’s not what I meant!” They grabbed Falene’s bed and started carrying it. “You don’t let other beings in. Do you know how hard I’ve tried to be a good roommate to you? Pretty damn hard!”

“Well nobody asked you to,” Falene said.

“Damn it Falene! You don’t get it! Nobody’s supposed to ask! You’re just supposed to do it! That’s what being a team is about!” Niskat said, dropping her end of the bed in the middle of the hallway, “Even if your teammate is the daughter of the owner who’s apparently going to save the entire franchise! Do you know what it’s like to finally get your shot to do what you love, what you’ve always wanted to do, only to get upstaged by somebody who just decided one day to walk onto a college team and two years later she’s won the galactic championship? Do you?”

“…no,” Falene said.

Niskat gave a sigh of frustration and she bent to pick up her end of the bed again. “Sorry. Of course you wouldn’t.”

They walked the bed in silence into the room and then back out to the common area where they grabbed Falene’s desk. “I never had a best friend,” Falene said suddenly.

“Don’t be silly. Everyone has had a best friend, even if they don’t have one at the moment,” Niskat said.

“No, I’ve had protection my entire life. I wasn’t even a year old when my Mom was elected Prime Minister,” Falene said, “You know there are plainclothes members of the Senatorial Guard in this building right now? That follow me everywhere?”

“No,” Niskat said.

“Yeah. Just in case someone wants to hurt my Mom,” Falene said, “They’re even in there when I use a public ‘fresher. That’s not even weird to me. That’s life. It’s not so easy to have a play date when your friends have to be scanned for weapons every time they come over. Not like many beings would be totally okay with playdates at Marian Square. I basically lived inside a museum, you know.”

“That would make it a little hard to make friends,” Niskat admitted as they put Falene’s desk down.

“I had friends,” Falene said, “Just not a best friend.”

“Just because you suck at it doesn’t mean you’re off the hook,” Niskat said, “I’m going to teach you how to be the best friend ever.”

“And how are you going to do that?”

“Don’t worry about that. You learn by doing,” Niskat said with a smile. She opened one of the drawers to her desk and her face fell. “Damn it! They took my candy!”

“Niskat!” Falene said in frustration, “What is it with you and food? I swear you’re always eating!”



“Food is one of my favorite parts of the day,” Niskat said, “Don’t you like it?”

“Well yeah, but you’re a professional limmie player now. Shouldn’t you eat better?” Falene said as she helped lift Niskat’s desk.

“Tried. That organic stuff is boring. Besides, I tried to be all thin like you. I was miserable. I realized I’d rather eat than be a model.”

“Like I said, now you’re a pro limmie player.”

“So are you, Miss I’m-A-Size-Negative-Two,” Niskat said, “Your waist is like the size of my thigh.”

“I am not!” Falene said.

“Eat some cake once in a while then.”

“I eat plenty.”

“Of Kushiban food. I mean chocolate,” Niskat said.

“I eat chocolate.”

“Not mixed with granola.”

Falene didn’t have an answer to that. “You know what? Eat whatever you want,” she finally said, “After all, you’ve got better size than a lot of women who are half forwards. You’re bigger and stronger than the Hapans. You outplayed the Mercs and the Demons using your size and strength. So whatever you’re doing, it’s working.”

“See!” Niskat beamed, “That’s what a best friend would say!”

“Okay…if you say so,” Falene said as she picked up her chair.

“Come on, let’s grab the rest of this stuff then let’s bribe somebody to let us into the kitchen,” Niskat said as she grabbed her chair, “I bet they have chocolate cake down there.”

TAG: None, but enjoy all the same

 

IC: Kaitlyn Vehn

274 Off-Season Press Conference

A few days before the start of training camp

“I was told once that presentation is everything,” Kaitlyn said as she addressed the media, “but I’d like to make an addendum to that saying and suggest that presentation combined with on the field performance is truly everything. So in my first state of the franchise address as owner of the Nar Shaddaa Smugglers I think now is a very appropriate forum to show the fans that we are headed in a very positive direction.”

“We’ve had a very successful draft. Everyone is fully on board with Ken Zetter and Wilhulf Nexrus as the future anchors of a stout defensive system. Both of these guys are intelligent, versatile players and can really make opposing team’s game plan for them. Now, they’re a little raw, inexperienced, but my coaching staff tells me that they can get the best potential out of these guys and I believe them. Speaking of the coaching staff, I wanted to extend my gratitude and thanks for the wisdom that has shaped not only the draft but the vision of this Smuggler team as we head into the 274 season. As you know, the coaching staff is full of alumni talent and believe me getting them to come out of retirement and help me out was quite the task.”

The media chuckled, continued to write.

“But here they are. Each one of them masters of their specific area. All smaller parts of a team and that’s what we are here on the Vertical City, a team. No matter which borough you come from, no matter what your socio-economic status is, I know firsthand that the Smugglers transcend all of those artificial barriers that we place on our lives to truly make a difference. Therefore, to say a hearty thank you to our fans who have stood by our team through thick and thin, I am giving away the entire upper-deck of the stadium to the populace for free for the home opener. Come one, come all, but come watch our games. Cheer for your team, support them anyway you can, because the home opener against Bakura is going to be a hard fought game.”

“There have been a lot of changes to the Nar Shaddaa Smugglers this year. I hope they are all for the better. A lot of talent has left our team and tested free agency. We’ve drafted wisely, filled our needs, and gotten a lot younger, faster, and more athletic. That has to count for something. All of those decisions were not easy to make. But change is good. Change is necessary. And without further ado, after months of consulting with former Smuggler greats, season ticket holders, and current players, we’ve decided to upgrade our uniforms for the first time in franchise history. We’ve taken our colors, taken our rich tradition, and painted it across a modern canvas. These uniforms are a mix of old and new and I hope they bring us much success in the years to come. Ladies and gentlemen, the new Nar Shaddaa Smugglers!”

A curtain behind Kaitlyn was pulled back as Ken Zetter, Wilhulf Nexrus, Sasha Luy’kin, and Vick McTodd strode out on stage modeling the new uniforms.



The fans present at the conference cheered, clapped, and hollered their support. Many felt relieved that the traditional logo of the Smugglers had not been touched. The new color scheme reflected an eye toward the future with a respect for the past. Gone were the mainly dark red home jerseys. The new home uniforms represented the tradition and power that was the Smugglers organization.

“Sick, man, absolutely sick,” one fan commented to his friend as he took a photo.



McTodd was modeling the away uniforms which had the home shorts but a white jersey and burgundy accents down the sides. The numbered font was burgundy as well and drew positive reviews for the clean, modern look.

“With a new team comes a new uniform and with these changes comes a new era of success for the Nar Shaddaa Smugglers,” Kaitlyn finished as she stepped aside so the fans could adore their new players.

One change at a time Vehn thought as she watched the players pose for pictures and sign autographs.

Tag: No One

 

GM Post
Elite League offices, Coruscant

Esther Gondorf slammed her palm on the Commissioner's desk. "Damn it Niakara! You have to see reason!"

"We can't do this Esther. Not now. Not after the last Board meeting," the Bothan insisted, "People are going to think that we're coming apart at the seams here!"

"What was done at the Board of Governors was for the good of the League. If you don't take action to correct this, you're going to endanger all of that work. Why you didn't see this coming was beyond me--we had an early warning sign and everything! We should have prepared!" the near-human attorney insisted.

"To make this sort of change with the regular season so close at hand--it's going to be chaos," Kayl'hen replied, "It's going to give Taab another chance to skewer me in front of the entire galaxy, claim League bias against him and the whole Conference."

"I know, I know," Gondorf said calming down somewhat, "but Niakara, this has got to be done. When the media finds out, and they will find out, they are going to come down hard on us for not doing anything when they know we knew."

The Bothan remained silent and thought for several seconds. They were long seconds. "Can we convene the Membership Committee that quickly?"

"Yes. We'll use the first cut from the last meeting as a starting point. It'll give the proceedings more transparency," Gondorf said.

The Bothan closed her eyes. This was one of those decisions that fell only one the shoulders of the Commissioner. Its effects, whatever way she went, would reverberate throughout the galaxy.

"Do it," Niakara Kayl'hen said.

TAG: Everybody, but not to the point that specific TAGs are required. An announcement is coming soon.

 

IC: Gark S’rily
Senators Press Room

“I want to thank all of you for coming out here today,” Gark said to the mass of media members in the press room. “I have some major news today regarding this franchise. I want to begin by announcing that Andrew Mundle, our stalwart offensive coordinator for the last decade, has been signed on as the next head coach of the Alsakan Flyers of the Premier League after the retirement of Corso Wey. We are greatly saddened by Andrew’s departure, but we wish him luck in his future endeavors. “ There was a lot of scribbling by the media here. Mundle had been the man who had pieced together the potent Coruscant offense of the last decade that had won a title and come very close to several more. Under his tutelage, the offense had added new dimensions, new plays, and utilized its talent well.

“In order to replace him, we spent quite a while looking for a quality coach who would be willing to take on the burden of bringing the team into a new era. I want to introduce your new offensive coordinator, Allie Orchetrada.” Allie came in from backstage to camera bulbs flashing everywhere. Allie, who had been the coach of the Senators’ 262 title team, was coming back? She had taken a job with entry-level club AC Coruscant many years earlier as a player development manager, but obviously Gark and the Senator staff had convinced her to return to coaching at the Elite League level.

“Thank you,” she said when she was handed a mic. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been in this room, and honestly I don’t really know what to say. But I want to thank the Senators for bringing me back into the fold. I’m looking forward to getting another chance to coach at this level.”

“What brought you back to the Elite League?” came a question.

“It was time to return,” Allie responded. “AC Coruscant was a good employer, and I learned a lot there that I intend to use here.”

“Are we going to see a similar offense from the Senators this year to what we have seen this past decade?”

“I’m not Andrew Mundle, if that’s what you mean,” Allie replied. “Expect to see my own brand of Limmie in play during the season.”

After Allie had finished speaking, Gark moved on to the next order of business. “Now, I would like to introduce our new positional coaches. It was deemed that such coaches would better develop young players. Sometimes it’s hard out there to get one-on-one help, so having these extra coaches allows the coordinators to take more time developing strategies and get their players on the same page. The four new coaches are: Dirxx Horstse, Moen Heatly, Shayt Contar, and Polis Vayne. None are here now, but I don’t think I need to introduce them. They’re pretty well known around these parts.” Some laughter came from the crowd.

“Next up are signings,” Gark said. “We have claimed Helena Forsythe, a member of our 268 championship team, off waivers from Nar Shaddaa, so we look forward to having her back here on Coruscant to help ease the transition into a new offensive rotation, and to provide veteran leadership.” Helena came out from behind the stage and spoke for a few minutes.

“We also have some rookie news to add,” Gark said. “We have signed all three of our draft picks, so expect to see them playing next season. Also, we inked three rookies from the Coruscant Polytechnic Institute to contracts. They are: Malida Worody, Alex Renhorn, and Brancko Nagriski. We hope that these three players will fill immediate needs on Thyferra, and will eventually be able to contribute to the Senators.

Speaking of CorTech, I also am going to announce a trade. Earlier today, we agreed on a trade with the Onderon Crazy Dragons to send Zak Pers to them in exchange for Gayla Renhorn. We hope Ms. Renhorn will add a new dimension to our team, and can help bolster our depth at midfield.” This sent off another wave of scribbling. Gayla Renhorn was coming to town? Now the Senators had three of the four Helmsman nominees from the 271 Draft, quite a coup given the talent available in that Draft.

“Sir, why were you not at the Board of Governors meeting recently?”

Gark’s brow furrowed a bit. “I trusted that Londy could handle the pressure. It’s his job, after all, so I did not interfere.”

“Why have you been hiding in the shadows ever since the Final?”

“Being a GM is tough work, it really is,” Gark said. “I’m just trying to take some time off while I can, because when training camp begins, things get moving quickly.” He hated to lie like this, but it was his only out.


After a few personnel-related questions, Gark called the conference done and left the room. He hoped that these moves wouldn’t negatively impact the team moving forwards. He didn’t need more problems to deal with, given what he had just gone through personally, so he had to hope that they would work.

TAG: No One

 

GM Post
Elite League offices, Coruscant

Niakara Kayl'hen strode to the podium purposefully and with determination. If she was going to do this, she'd have to just go ahead and do it.

"Good afternoon, gentlebeings," the Bothan said, "Let's get right to business as I know that many of you likely had to make some quick changes in your schedules.

"As you are all aware, the Ryloth Rough Riders withdrew from the Draft earlier this year. After the event, they cited financial concerns to the League for their unprecedented withdrawal," Kayl'hen explained, "This prompted the League to exercise its right to periodically review the accounts of its member institutions. We did so in the case of Ryloth and found that the financial state of the team was, in short, well below the standards that we expect our member teams to adhere to. As a result, the League has determined that it is in the best interest of all member teams that the Rough Riders are immediately demoted from the Elite League."

Murmurs ran through the room. After the Board of Governors meeting, which had apparently been more tumultuous than the League had wanted to make public, this truly was news!

"Commissioner, what was the reaction of the Board of Governors to this? They did vote on the matter, correct?" a reporter asked.

"Yes, they did, and they voted overwhelmingly to demote Ryloth once the facts of the matter were laid before them. Ryloth was given a chance to respond to these allegations at that meeting," Kayl'hen said, "Because the regular season is only a few short months away, I asked the Membership Committee to review potential replacements for the Rough Riders. They used their earlier work as a starting point and presented the Board with some options. After debate by the Board, they agreed on their first choice and voted to admit this team.

"Before we go any further, I would like to thank Commissioner Agado of the Premier League for working with us. I am confident that Ryloth has the potential to be a good Premier League team, even if they could not meet the rigorous financial standards that we expect our teams to adhere to. However, I must also thank him for allowing me to plunder one of his finest teams from the Premier League.

"Gentlebeings, I present to you the newest members of the Skywalker Conference: the 273 Northern Galactic regular season conference champions: the Agamar Packers."

TAG: Tim Battershell

 

GM Approved:

Team: Agamar Packers
Name: Tim Dodd
Species: Human
Gender: Male
Birth year: 239 ABY
Physical appearance: 5'10", very slightly tanned, blue/grey eyes, brown hair, and portly build. Carries an ornate, curve-handled, walking cane made of a silvery-metal when outside his residence.
Homeworld: Agamar (Ancestral)
Relation to Team: New Owner

Brief Biography: Named for a great-great-grand-uncle who left known space to join a Jedi group, Tim is a direct-line descendant of Evlyn Tabory and a relative of the Farlander clan.

He was born and raised on an insignificant and off-the-starmap planet in Wild Space where his parents had fled to avoid the Neo-Sith War and a Death Mark issued by Dark Lord Deran; a world so isolated that it took well over a decade for the fact that the War had ended to become known there.

Uprooted by the deaths of his parents and girlfriend in a house fire, he returned to his ancestral homeworld of Agamar where he discovered that he was an indecently wealthy man; the family assets having prospered greatly in the interim through compounded interest as well as the income from the family farm (left under Managers) and the royalties from his namesake's invention of the, still popular, "Thrust Sailer". The original puns that the invention had 'taken off in a big way' and 'was still flying high' being, by now, considered passé by even the most mediocre of stand-up comedians!

Perhaps surprisingly, he really has no interest at all in Limmie; his personal sport being "TenGate" (to his knowledge, at present played only on his birthworld). He hopes to introduce this to the wider Galaxy.

 

GM Post

Updated 274 Elite League Limmie scheduling, now reflecting the substitution of Agamar for Ryloth.


Week 1
Coruscant Senators at Mando’ade Mercs
Chandrila Patriots at Corellia Rebels
Rydonni Prime Monarchs at Euceron Storm
Hapes Consortium Buccaneers at Agamar Packers
Bakura Miners at Nar Shaddaa Smugglers
Ralltiir Starkillers at Ylesia Lightning

Week 2
Nar Shaddaa Smugglers at Coruscant Senators
Corellia Rebels at Hapes Consortium Buccaneers
Agamar Packers at Ralltiir Starkillers
Euceron Storm at Bakura Miners
Ylesia Lightning at Rydonni Prime Monarchs
Mando’ade Mercs at Chandrila Patriots

Week 3
Coruscant Senators at Euceron Storm
Hapes Consortium Buccaneers at Mando’ade Mercs
Chandrila Patriots at Nar Shaddaa Smugglers
Bakura Miners at Ylesia Lightning
Ralltiir Starkillers at Corellia Rebels
Rydonni Prime Monarchs at Agamar Packers

Week 4
Ylesia Lightning at Coruscant Senators
Nar Shaddaa Smugglers at Hapes Consortium Buccaneers
Corellia Rebels at Rydonni Prime Monarchs
Agamar Packers at Bakura Miners
Euceron Storm at Chandrila Patriots
Mando’ade Mercs at Ralltiir Starkillers

Week 5
Corellia Rebels at Nar Shaddaa Smugglers
Agamar Packers at Euceron Storm
Mando’ade Mercs at Ylesia Lightning
Ralltiir Starkillers at Rydonni Prime Monarchs
Coruscant Senators at Bakura Miners
Hapes Consortium Buccaneers at Chandrila Patriots

Week 6
Euceron Storm at Corellia Rebels
Ylesia Lightning at Nar Shaddaa Smugglers
Mando’ade Mercs at Agamar Packers
Coruscant Senators at Ralltiir Starkillers
Bakura Miners at Hapes Consortium Buccaneers
Rydonni Prime Monarchs at Chandrila Patriots

Week 7
Ylesia Lightning Agamar Packers
Nar Shaddaa Smugglers at Euceron Storm
Corellia Rebels at Mando’ade Mercs
Ralltiir Starkillers at Bakura Miners
Rydonni Prime Monarchs at Hapes Consortium Buccaneers
Chandrila Patriots at Coruscant Senators

Week 8
Nar Shaddaa Smugglers at Agamar Packers
Euceron Storm at Mando’ade Mercs
Corellia Rebels at Ylesia Lightning
Chandrila Patriots at Bakura Miners
Hapes Consortium Buccaneers at Ralltiir Starkillers
Coruscant Senators at Rydonni Prime Monarchs

Week 9
Agamar Packers at Corellia Rebels
Mando’ade Mercs at Nar Shaddaa Smugglers
Euceron Storm at Ylesia Lightning
Chandrila Patriots at Ralltiir Starkillers
Hapes Consortium Buccaneers at Coruscant Senators
Bakura Miners at Rydonni Prime Monarchs

TAG: Bardan_Jusik CPL_Macja jcgoble3 Jedi Gunny Rebecca_Daniels Runjedirun Tim Battershell Vehn

 

IC: Gark S'rily
Home, Coruscant

The doorbell rang, and Gark snapped out of the train of thought he had been in previously. He wasn’t expecting anyone to show up at this hour, even though it was already 1100.

“You getting the door?” Me’lin asked from the kitchen, where she was preparing lunch.

“Yeah,” Gark replied. He went over to the door and opened it. Outside stood Polis Vayne and Meredith Chambers-Vayne, both looking sporty as they stood in the sunshine outside. “Polis, good to see you,” Gark said, shaking the former forwards’ hand. “And good to see you, Meredith. Sorry I couldn’t attend the wedding; I was a little preoccupied with some personal issues.”

“It’s fine,” Polis said. “Mind if we come in for a few minutes?”

“Not at all,” Gark said. “Come on in.” The Vaynes did so, and Gark shut the door behind them. “So, what can I do for you today?” he asked.

“Nothing much,” Polis said. “Just wanted you to know that we’ve moved in next door.”

“Next door?” Gark asked. “I thought some people were living there . . .”

“Well, it was for sale, so we bought it,” Polis replied. “Besides, Meredith wanted to move here instead of living on Nar Shaddaa. I don’t blame her, frankly. I don’t think I could live there for very long without going crazy.” Meredith punched him in the shoulder, and Polis shut up momentarily. “But, anyways, we’re your new neighbors, so welcome us to the neighborhood.”

“Um . . . OK,” Gark said. He didn’t know how to respond to that. “Welcome to the madhouse.”

“That’ll suffice,” Polis said, grinning.

“So, how are things with the two of you?” Gark asked. “Haven’t spoken in a while.”

“Things are good,” Polis started. “Got married, finally found a decent house with the stuff we wanted. Took us four to five months to finally settle on this place. You know, large kitchen, large yard, extra bedrooms . . .”

“Extra bedrooms?” Gark asked. He then looked at Meredith, who looked down. Gark followed her eyes to her stomach, which was bulging out. Meredith Chambers-Vayne, MVP, Limmie champion goalkeeper, current goalie coach, famous for her sport skills and beauty, was pregnant. “Ah,” Gark said, finally understanding. “Congratulations are in order, I suppose. And also my sympathies, especially since I know what it’s like.”

“Thanks . . . I think,” Meredith said. She had been quiet up to this point.

“How many months?” Gark asked. Hopefully he wasn’t being too obtrusive here.

“About five,” Meredith replied. “So, if all goes well, I’ll deliver them about a month before the beginning of the season.” When Gark looked skeptical, Meredith knew she had to cover her omission. “Oh, and its twins.”

“Twins?” Gark echoed. “Good luck; you’re going to need it.”

“I’m not too worried,” Polis said. “I think the biggest worry of mine is how the galaxy is going to react when they find out. We’ve been able to keep a lid on it for this long, but at some point it’s going to leak.”

“It’s going to be big news,” Meredith said. “Every news agency worth its salt between here and the Outer Rim are going to run endless coverage on it. I can just see the headlines now.”

“Too much attention for my tastes,” Polis replied. “I played for a dozen years, and that was enough of the spotlight for me. I could use some time out of the limelight, just spending time with Meredith and the children when they arrive.”

“You have names for them yet?” Gark asked.

“Yes, we do,” Meredith said. “The boy will be Buck, and the girl . . . just trying to remember what we came up with . . . oh, that’s right, Anya.”

“So, are we looking at the next generation of Senators here?” Gark said, jokingly.

“Yeah . . .” Polis said, but Meredith elbowed him in the ribs. “Um . . . we’ll let them decide. But they will definitely play Little League when they get older. Is Galin going to play Limmie?”

“I don’t know,” Gark said, shrugging. “We’ll see when he gets there.”

At this time, Me’lin came from out of the kitchen. “Hi Polis,” she said upon seeing the former player. “Oh, and hello to you as well, Meredith.”

“Polis tells me that they’ve moved in next door,” Gark said.

“Next door? I thought . . .”

“Apparently they moved out,” Gark said. “So the Vaynes moved in.”

“Interesting,” Me’lin said, drying her hands with a kitchen towel. “Anyways, welcome to the neighborhood.” She then paused. “Oh, and Meredith, I can see that you’re going down the path to the crazed adventure known as ‘pregnancy’.”

“Indeed,” Meredith replied. “You have any advice, because I could certainly use some right now about it.”

“I have time,” Me’lin said. “Follow me; I’m trying to get some lunch put together.” She then looked at Gark. “Honey, there should be enough to feed them if they want to eat here today,” she said before walking back to the kitchen, Meredith in tow.

“Well?” Gark asked. “You interested?”

“Yeah, I think we can stay over for a while,” Polis said. “Anything I can do to get away from unpacking, I’ll do it. Especially since Meredith isn’t exactly in any shape to do heavy lifting at the moment, and she thinks I can do everything by myself.”

“Interesting time for her, and for you,” Gark said. “When Me’lin was carrying Galin, I knew that it was going to be an adventure for both of us. She obviously was tired and sometimes felt under the weather, but for me it was a shock to the system because I realized that my life was going to change so dramatically. It’s only something you go through when you are having children. And it changes your outlook on life completely.”

“My problem is that I’ll have to deal with those two when they’re born, because Meredith then will have to rejoin the Smugglers in time for the season,” Polis said. “She’s rented out a place on Nar Shaddaa for the season, during which she will stay there. So I’ll be stuck here with them, and without her to deal with them when I’m exhausted. I know it’s difficult to say, especially to her, but there’s only so much me that can go around. I’m coaching this season, mind you, so I’m swamped. But, on the other hand, both of us wanted kids, so we thought this would be the right time to head down that path.”

“At least we didn’t have to worry about that,” Gark replied. “But it’s certainly an adventure. Now, if it’s worth it or not, only time will tell.”

“Are you sticking with just one?” Polis asked.

“I think so,” Gark said. “We’ve basically agreed that Galin will be our one and only. I think it has mostly to do with the delivery and the issues around that . . .” No, he didn’t want to go there, not again. “But, if she ends up saying she wants another one, which I highly doubt, then we will. Simple as that.”

“Lucky you, only having to deal with one,” Polis commented. “I’m going to have double the fun trying to keep both in line.”

“Hey, I’m just glad it’s you, and not me, who has to deal with it,” Gark said in a tongue-in-cheek manner. “How’d the Draft go?”

“About that,” Polis said, his brows furrowing. “Where the hell were you?”

“Offworld,” Gark said simply. He knew Polis wouldn’t buy this, but he had to try.

“Honestly, you can tell me,” Polis said.

“Let’s just say that I was a little preoccupied,” Gark said.

“You donning the suit again?” Polis asked, lowering his voice.

“Perhaps,” Gark said.

“Perhaps?”

“Drop it, Polis,” Gark said. “Some things are best left unsaid.”

“Fine,” Polis said.

“Anyways, how’d it go?”

“Got that McKerty kid at our pick in the first,” Polis commented. “Gives us a solid option in the corner, although we’ll see how he does in camp. Then we picked up a half back in the second and a corner back in the third. Most likely we’re going to see them be farmed out this year, but you need to get in your opinions before camp so we know who to run through what tests.”

“Understood. So, you keeping in touch with Moen at all? Because you two will have to coordinate things before training camp,” Gark said.

“Yeah, a little bit,” Polis said. “He and Laryssa got married a few months back, and I hear that she’s expecting. It might settle Moen’s ego a little to have to deal with that,” Polis said, finally cracking a grin.

“That’s an understatement,” Gark said. It would indeed be interesting to see how Moen would react to having a child.

“Myles and Saram got hitched as well,” Polis continued. Saram Golyxi, now Tormera, had been the starting Center Half Back going into last season, but she had messed up her knee in the Onderon game, and had missed the rest of the season. Then, in the offseason, she called it quits on her career, obviously preparing herself with a future with Myles, the starting Right Half Back for the Senators. “And I hear through some outlets that she’s also pregnant.”

“And Jerek?” Gark asked.

“He’s getting married next week to Decha Wynas,” Polis said.

“Hm, haven’t heard from her in a while,” Gark said. Decha had an injury-plagued career that she had spent mostly at Thyferra as a midfielder. The interesting thing about them was that the two lovebirds had played together at the Derrling College of Technology before they had been signed by the Senators.

“Word has it that he knocked her up a little while back, when they were dating,” Polis said.

“Geez, is this the ‘Offseason of Free Love’ or something?” Gark asked. How many team members, or former members, were having children these days?

“And that’s not the end of it,” Polis said. “I’ve been invited to five weddings in the next five weeks. It’s going to be exhausting. I think Meredith gets a free pass on them in her condition, though.”

“Who?” Gark asked.

“Well, Jerek’s is next week, and then Riff and Wylega are the next week. After that, there’s Brosh and Ravil . . .”

“Wait, those two are getting married?” Gark asked. “I thought they had put their relationship on ice for a while . . .”

“Apparently not,” Polis said, shrugging. “In a month, I’ve got Andrew and Palla’s to go to . . .”

“And here they said they never liked each other back in the day,” Gark said, smirking. “I gave them hell by saying that they should go out and date. I thought Mustafar would freeze over before those two would go this far together.”

“Well, that’s all I know,” Polis said. “Lastly . . . wait, there are two that week . . . ugh . . .”

“Which two?”

“Maximus is finally going all-in with his longtime girlfriend,” Polis replied. “You remember her, right? The Pantoran who he brought with him last year?”

“Oh, right,” Gark said. Yeah, he remembered her, but not her name.

“Word is that she’s within a few months of delivering their first kid,” Polis said.

“Is that it?” Gark asked. How many weddings were there going to be?

“One more,” Polis said. “An old college friend. But I think we’ve taken too much time talking about that; we should eat.”

“Agreed,” Gark said. Things seemed to be changing in the organization, and he had no idea in what way the pendulum would swing in that way on any of these new developments.

“So, how are things looking so far on your end, coaching-wise?” Gark asked as the two men made their way into the kitchen.

“It’s going to be a departure from playing, that’s for sure,” Polis said. “You have no idea how difficult it’s going to be to not want to put on a uniform and run out there to make plays.”

“Such is the life of a former player,” Gark said. “Luckily for me, I never played, so I don’t have those kinds of issues.”

“Lucky you,” Polis remarked.

“You didn’t have to take the job,” Gark reminded him.

“True, but . . .”

“I think I’ve made my point,” the Bothan said. Polis had no comeback for it. Gark then turned his attention over to the women in the kitchen, who were chatting. “Food ready?” he asked.

“Almost,” Me’lin said. “If you could finish it up, that would be nice. We’ve got a lot to discuss, and on top of that I need to go get Galin.”

“All right,” Gark said, shrugging. He moved over and completed the meal by himself. It was interesting that he had learned how to cook rather well from his wife. He had taught her how to fight and spar, and she had given him instruction in cooking skills. Not a bad trade.


When the combined S’rily and Vayne family sat down to eat, there was much discussion. Gark had a sneaking suspicion that this was only the beginning; with the Vaynes next door now, he could see this becoming a rather frequent occasion. He was just glad that Polis was going to have to deal with two children instead of him; Galin was enough of a handful as it was. But he pushed these thoughts aside as he began to chew, letting the train of thought leave his mind peacefully as he thought about food, about the present state of things, and about food once again. It was comforting to know that at least for now he didn’t have to worry about being on the run.

TAG: No One, unless the media wants to be all over this

 

IC: Tim Dodd - Conference Room, Dodd Family Attorney's Offices, Calna Muun, Agamar.

Tim watched the document binders make their way slowly towards him, stopping at several positions along the table for what seemed like hours of minute inspection by each of the Lawyers seated there; almost as if someone had misplaced a particularly valuable comma and the legal bigwigs were desperately trying to find it before it disappeared for all time! At least none of them let out a triumphant "Hah!" followed by a seemingly regretful statement that the deal couldn't go ahead in this form; which he knew sometimes happened (with much additional delay and spiralling legal fees!).

At last, the binders arrived in front of him for the first of his two contributions to today's proceedings, that of signing his name in actual ink (thoroughly tested by both sides to ensure that it wouldn't do anything silly like disappear a few hours after application) on what looked, felt and smelled like actual parchment (nothing modern like Flimsi, or even the slightly less archaic 'paper', for something of this importance on Agamar!). With all three copies duly signed, they made their torturous return along the line of Lawyers, where his signatures were compared one against the other and against an exemplar submitted several days previously, until they once again reached the other end of the table where they were countersigned by the vendor and passed for final scrutiny to the personage sitting on his right - the Notary General to the Agamarian Council, no less!

At the Notary General's nod, a (thankfully ultra-modern) Credit Transfer terminal was passed down the Lawyer-line (just how long did it take to verify that there were the correct number of digits and zeros, in the right order, for Force's sake?). Already loaded with both parties’ account details and the purchase price, all Tim needed to do was to punch in his personal funds transfer authorisation code and ensure that a light turned green to confirm the transaction had gone through before returning it - a far faster journey this time as the green light told its own story. The vendor checked his Datapad and bowed first to the Notary General then to Tim. The Notary General then affixed his seal to all three documents, retaining one copy for the Council's Vault and passing the other two back down the line to be snagged by the vendor's and Tim's Lead Attorneys, finally inputting his own code to scramble the terminal's memory.

Exchanging bows (as far as could be done while seated) with Tim, the Notary General said; "Congratulations Mr. Dodd; you are now the Owner of the Agamar Packers Limmie team, its facilities and its goodwill! As a long-time supporter, I wish them every success under your ownership, even more success than they've had this last Season!".

Probably cued by a remote, the Conference Room doors opened to admit three Bothans (an older, but still trim, female and two young adult, exceptionally fit-looking, males) and a pair of ad-hoc Servitors (probably Junior Clerks, Tim thought) guiding carts laden with Binka Wine (potent stuff, as Tim's head attested to later) and finger-food for the obligatory post-transaction celebration. Hands were shaken all-around and toasts drunk. The female Bothan turned out to be the team's General Manager and Head Coach, Asyr Kre'fey, and the two males (the Ven'nari brothers, Narsk and Borsk) team Captain and Vice-Captain respectively. He hastened to assure all three that although he did, indeed, have far-reaching plans for the team, he had little to no knowledge of Limmie, and in any case, believed that improving strength and depth (not gutting a successful establishment that had ended last Season on a high note) was the way forward. This was Agamar, he pointed out to them, not Nar Shaddaa and his team was the Packers, not the Smugglers! Everyone's job was safe!

The best thing about Bothans, he mused as he began to broard-brush his intentions, was that they could appreciate 'behind-the-scenes' wheeler-dealering far better than most beings; and (most important of all), they seemed to like what they were hearing! As the gathering was then starting to break up, Tim hurriedly made arrangements to visit the team's training camp to meet the other players on the following day and bade farewell to them, to the previous owner, the Notary General and the procession of visiting Lawyers (many of whom were looking a lot less staid and serious after the toasting, one or two of them were even smiling!). After tasking his Attorney to put out a press release on the change of ownership to the local Media (he didn't think that there would be much interest further afield) he caught a Speeder-cab back to his apartment, sat on the couch and promptly fell asleep! Even though he'd thought he'd been very cautious by just sipping his wine, it had now, he found, gone right to his head!

***********​

Tim woke in the early hours to the worst headache he'd ever experienced - even the aftermath of a 150kph strike on his helmet from a ferocious, hate-pumped, TenGate pace-hurler didn't remotely compare! Fortunately, the crewers on the ship that brought him back 'home' had been prone to discussing their preferred cure-all remedies at length; so he did have some idea of how to get rid of it!

A couple of hours, and several cups of extra-strong caf, later he was revived enough to go through with his normal morning ablutions, followed by a light, very light (considering his insides were still undecided about the situation), breakfast. Sipping at a glass of freshly squeezed Binka-fruit juice, in lieu of yet more caf, he turned on the holosystem and started surfing.

What! Was this some random slicer's idea of a joke? If so, it was on both News and Sports feeds - all of them, so it could well be official (he'd never heard of all available feeds, local and Galaxy-wide, being sliced at once - it was supposed to be impossible!). So the Ryloth Rough Riders had been ejected from the Elite League and the Agamar Packers, his team for just over a quarter of a planetary rotation, had been elevated in their place! Tim wouldn't be at all surprised to hear on the evening news roundup that the team's previous owner had burst a blood-vessel when he saw/heard this after rising, despite having said that he was getting too old for all the travelling and the emotional rollercoaster rides! Any Limmie fan, and the older man was certainly that - even to the extent of adding an 'atic' suffix, truth be told - would want to be hobnobbing with the real movers and shakers of the sport at its ultimate level. Not only the sport either, most of them were credited with being the political power-houses of the Galaxy itself!

Kriff!, double-Kriff! and triple-Kriff! This would also mean full-on Media interviews in the virtually immediate future, instead of the gradual profile build-up and information releases he had been planning on. Not just relatively local Media either, this was a large enough splash to get the Galactic big-hitters; HNN, HSN and the like; headed for little Agamar as fast as their maxed-out hyperdrives could be 'safely' run!

Well, he could safely evade the local Holo-shills for a while, for just long enough to reorganise things and consult his 'co-conspirators' (for want of a better term). Assuming that the team would be concentrating on their training, rather than the news feeds, he downloaded a text version of the report and also the revised Skywalker Conference Schedule - could have been worse, he thought, the first match was a home game, and the teams (though all were to be respected at this level) that he really recognised as the hi-powers started their appearances after the third week of the Season. Well Asyr could put him right if his ignorance was showing, though best just to give her the listing without comment and follow her lead.

Thinking of Asyr caused him to add a request to his 'co-conspirators' messages. He had a notion that recent match recordings of the team's new opposition would come in handy - so he asked they be located and couriered to the training camp.

The final task, after sending the messages was to Comm the local ASF (Agamar Security Force) office and beg the use of an unmarked vehicle and driver for the day; a vehicle that landed almost as soon as he disconnected the call! There were definitely certain advantages to membership of a family so closely linked to the Sturms for well over a century; particularly when the said Sturms had a habit of entering the ASF, then rising to at least Assistant Directors!

TAG: No One

 

OOC: And now it's time for training camp Gunny-style.

IC: Cord McKerty
Team Shuttle to Wroona

“Holy frak, look at the size of that thing!” Leah Nergbolt said upon taking her first look at the Senator team shuttle. The rookie second-round pick was obviously astounded by it.

“Surprised?” came the voice of Alysha Romax, the now-proclaimed captain for the Senators, from behind the star-struck rookie. She was carrying a duffel bag over her shoulder, along with a beach towel and some sunglasses. “Welcome to the Elite League, kid. We get the finest out here.”

“Wow,” Leah said. “Just . . . wow . . .”

Cord looked upon the shuttle, in all its grandeur. It was a mighty fine ship, to be sure; he had never dreamed of a ship like this, especially for a Limmie team. The U of C team shuttle had been nice, but this . . . this was the real deal. It provided even more incentive for him to make the team in camp, and not be relegated to Thyferra. However, if he was, at least it wouldn’t be the worst thing that could happen. He had heard good things about the Force club, and if he worked hard he could make the Elite League in a season. But he still wanted to make the roster Day One and show the galaxy what Cord McKerty could do. Teams had passed on him on Draft Day, said he wasn’t good enough for the high pick despite his #1 ranking. Well, he wanted to put them on their ass a little bit, make them wish they had drafted him.

This trip was to get out to Wroona, a planet in the Inner Rim that Cord had never visited. It sounded like a nice place, to be sure. The other players had sounded excited about getting out on vacation, even though it was still going to be a grind. Training camp was never fun, but if they were on a vacation world, perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad? Beaches . . . hm, that was something Cord had never experienced. He was only used to concrete and more concrete from Coruscant, and the thought of going to a more “natural” world seemed incomprehensible. Sure Chandrila was nice, but he had never been too far away from home. Rydonni Prime had been almost the farthest he had to go, and that was his most recent trip out. All that was about to change.

The twist this year was that the Senators, or at least those projected to make the team this year, and the Force roster, would share training camp. This not only allowed the Force players to get in some reps with the big club, but it also would give the two teams a chance to work on things in the overall system. Cord, therefore, would get to split reps with some big names. He would get to work out with Max Qorbus, the former Helmsman winner in 270 and Numifolis Award winner from 272, and Riff Persnor, a 270 All-Star. That was a lot of star power in the corner line for the Senators’ starting Front Six, and Cord was in awe of getting to play with them, even for a few days. There was suspicion amongst the veterans that this move had been a play by Force coach Jed Ortmeyer to get a chance to hit on Senator coach Pamila Korthe in paradise, but no one seemed to mind. If Ortmeyer wanted that opportunity, it was his to take; the players just wanted to get out to Wroona and get started.

As Cord approached the ship, he was intercepted by Korthe. The Zeltron coach looked down at her list of roommates, and then stopped at his name. “McKerty,” she said.

“That’s me,” Cord said, shrugging.

“You better hope so,” Pam said, wryly grinning. “You’re bunking with Ganos Fama when we get to Wroona.”

Cord, without saying a word, took his stuff up the ramp and into the shuttle. As soon as he hit the top of the ramp, he could feel the blast of cool air in his face, which felt nice compared to the warm Coruscant sun. He assumed that he would get well-conditioned to the heat while on Wroona, given its weather patterns, but for now it felt nice to get some space cooling. There were two ways to go down the hall as you entered the shuttle; to the left, it looked like the sleeping quarters. To the right were the seats, the lounge, he presumed given the sounds coming from there, and some other stuff. Right in front of him was a bulkhead.

“Hey, rookie, move it up there!” came the voice of Gayla Renhorn, the fiery midfielder. “We don’t have all day!”

Cord just moved out of the way as Gayla moved into the shuttle. With her were friends Reena Wyley, the Hapan half back, and Tank Bratter, a Herglic half back. The three of them had played at CorTech when Cord was a freshman, and he had not forgotten the loss the Hawk-bats had taken at the hands of the Mean Green that year. The seniors had taken it the hardest, obviously, since CorTech never won that game normally. To lose . . . that had hurt. But none of that mattered now. As he looked at the three, his eyes shifted to Wyley. Man, she was quite the catch . . . perhaps her, and a guy like him . . .?

“This is one hell of a ship,” Gayla commented to her pals. “They didn’t have this back with Onderon. I think they were too busy pinching credits to spend money on player comfort.”

“Aren’t you glad the management staff was able to save your sorry hide from there, then?” Tank asked, grinning. Being a Herglic, this looked rather menacing.

“I was doing well,” Gayla said as the three walked down the hall. “Just need to make sure I win the spot here . . .”

Cord followed them into the main seating area. There were forty seats lined up there, some facing out the windows, others facing each other. Obviously there weren’t enough seats for everyone, now that the Force roster was coming along, so it might be prudent to get a seat when possible, Cord thought to himself. When the three CorTech players had put their luggage in the side racks, Cord made sure to toss his stuff in there as well.

Cord then took a window seat, staring out at the ground that he had just been standing on out there. He could see a trickle of players coming towards the shuttle, gear in tow. Some of them were talking to each other, some had headphones, and yet others . . . had people who were not in any semblance of uniform in tow. Looking harder, he could make out Jerek Deter, the newly-minted assistant captain corner back. He was talking to a bluish-skinned humanoid woman, who was about as pregnant as any woman could possibly be. Jerek made sure to kiss the woman before walking to the ship; somehow, Cord knew that there was more going on here than he had previously thought. Here he was, a fresh-faced college player who had never held down a serious relationship in his life, now seeing how the pros fared in that arena. Sure he had slept with several women at the U of C, but nothing serious had ever come out of it. That had been in college; this was different. Near Jerek came two Cathars, holding hands as they approached the ship. He could make out Riff Persnor from the two, and the other he guessed was his wife, Wylega Persnor (formerly Zola), who was also a forward on the team. Then there was Polis Vayne, the half forward positional coach, coming up to the ramp. Cord had heard all about Vayne’s high-profile marriage to Meredith Chambers (now Chambers-Vayne) and her resulting pregnancy, which had started off a firestorm of rumors about how the Limmie prodigy would fare when they reached the big leagues (and, from the sounds of it, the kid wasn’t even born yet, which made things even more preposterous).
Finally, after what seemed like an hour, but was probably thirty minutes, the stream of players stopped, and the call went in for everyone to take a seat for take-off. Players were scrambling for available seats; Cord was just glad he already had his. Jerek plunked down in the seat next to the rookie. Wow, Cord thought, here was Jerek Deter in the flesh. He could reach out and touch the icon, he was so close. Jerek noticed this and frowned.

“What the hell are you looking at?” he asked.

“Um . . . uh . . .” Cord said, trying to look away.

“What I figured,” Jerek said, looking away.

Now Cord had no idea what to say in response. It certainly sucked being a rookie, didn’t it?

As the shuttle took off, Cord let his mind wander a little bit. This was it; there was no turning back now. He was going to Wroona for an entire month, which meant that there was nowhere to run. He had to face his destiny like everyone else, and have to prove himself worthy of wearing the orange and black. He had been handed such a jersey during the Draft, but it had been ceremonial. Many Senator draft picks hadn’t even worn the real thing yet; was he doomed to join them, or would he rise above and conquer?

About half an hour into the flight, the all-clear was given to resume walking around the shuttle. Cord excused himself from his seat, letting Jerek be, and wandered into the small bar. Well, it was called a “bar”, but there was little alcohol on board. The Senators, rightfully so, didn’t want to have drunken parties on board the ship, so there was only enough alcohol to go around for about two rounds, and that was it. If the players got sloshed on their own time, it was fine as long as their behavior didn’t affect the team. However, not on the ship. Korthe had made it known that any player caught with alcohol or being drunk on the ship, would be released immediately. Even a star would get cut with no second thought. They were serious about this in the Elite League, and for a moment Cord panicked. As a college student, he had drank. A lot. But now he would have to be a lot more responsible. The Senators were a no-nonsense bunch, and alienating himself as a drunk from Day One would definitely not go over well with the powers that be. So he resigned himself, henceforth, to try and sober up. It wasn’t like he was a drunk, but it would be prudent to cut down on most of it and try to be as alcohol-free as possible.

At the bar stood Kev Flysto, one of the long-time Senator corner forwards . . . of course it had to be corner forward, didn’t it, Cord thought to himself . . . along with Evis Kunat, the Zabrak half back, and . . . well, what did he have here? . . . Reena. A lump formed itself in Cord’s throat. Was he seriously having a crush on a former foe? She was only a few years older than him . . . hm . . . he liked her hair . . . and the way she stood there, her presence . . . it was like something he had never seen before. As he was thinking about this, Kev turned around to see the newcomer.

“Hey, it’s the rookie!” the Nautolan said. “Come on in, bud!” Cord moved over to the bar, but wasn’t able to stand next to Reena. Instead, he was against the wall with Kev. “So, you’re the new first-round pick who’s trying to cherry-pick my spot, eh?” the Nautolan asked. Cord winced; of course this was a good way to open a conversation for a veteran, especially since Flysto had vested interested in keeping his job.

“Um . . . yes . . .?” Cord finally said. Well, that hadn’t worked out well.

“Confident, aren’t you?” Kev asked. “Well, you’ll be hard-pressed to crack the roster immediately, because we’ve got it down tight right now. However, you’ll get there. Training camp will whip you into shape fast. Name’s Kev, by the way.” He stretched out his hand.

“Cord,” Cord replied, shaking the Nautolan’s hand.

“Well, I’ll see you at camp,” Kev said. “Hey Evis, you want to get in some bench reps? I need to get in there and lift a few, and then I’ll spot for you.” The Zabrak nodded, finished his drink, and then accompanied Kev out of the bar. This left Cord alone with Reena, who was quietly sipping on her drink. Now was his chance. Cord sidled over to the Hapan, who then looked up.

“Can I help you?” she asked.

“Um . . . uh . . . I . . . uh . . .,” Cord said. He wanted to slap his palm to his face; this was not a good way to open up a conversation, especially with a woman who he apparently now had a crush on.

“Tongue-tied?” Reena asked. She chuckled a bit. “First time talking to a member of the opposite gender?”

“No,” Cord said defensively. “I . . . uh . . . I . . . I don’t want to bother you . . .”

“Not at all,” Reena said. “I’m just enjoying the show. You making a fool out of yourself is rather entertaining, rook.”

Cord’s face turned red. Here she was, mocking him because he didn’t know what to say. It was odd, really; in college, he had known what to say and when. The girls at the U of C had really liked him, and he had always been the smooth-talker. Well, apparently they did things a little differently at CorTech, because he had no idea how to talk to someone from there.

“You know what, how about a drink?” Reena said. “Care for one?”

“Yeah, sure,” Cord said. Reena reached over and grabbed a glass, and then set it down in front of Cord.

“You’re rather jittery,” Reena commented. “What’s your name?”

“McKerty Cord McKerty,” Cord said quickly.

“Well, ‘McKerty Cord McKerty’, nice to meet you,” Reena said. “Name’s Reena. Reena Wyley. I’m going to be your best friend or your worst nightmare out there. I hear that you’re a forward?” Cord just nodded, although he was trying to not screw this up. “Well, we’ll probably get to know each other pretty well out on that field. As long as you’re eating dirt, I’m happy.”

“Uh . . .”

“Don’t take it so hard,” Reena said, punching Cord in the shoulder. “Lighten up a little. It makes things a little more interesting when you just learn to let go and have fun. So, you want a drink or not?”

“Sure . . .” Cord replied. He grabbed one of the bottles off the shelf and poured himself a decent-sized portion.

“Just letting you know that the more you take now, the less there is the rest of the trip,” Reena said.

“Oh,” Cord said, shocked by how stupid he was in not realizing that. He poured some of the glass back into the bottle, and then placed it back on the shelf. A little ale was all he needed to hopefully steel his nerves. He had gotten his chance here to talk to Wyley; now he couldn’t blow it.

“So, what brings you out here?” Reena asked.

“I want to be the best, like no one ever was,” Cord said. OK, that hadn’t been smart. He had just quoted a kid’s holo show’s trademark song lyric. It was remarkably true; he wanted to show that he was a great player, but perhaps he could have stated that a little differently.

“Pakimon, I take it?” Reena asked.

“Uh . . . yeah . . .” Cord said. He tried to act like he knew what he was doing, but he knew that he had no clue.

“I liked that show,” Reena said. “Too bad it got cancelled, though. I grew up on that kind of stuff back on Hapes. Not a bad way to spend your free time, watching that show. The times my friends and I had, imagining like we were trainers out on a magic quest to find our calling in life. Those were the days . . .” She took another swig of her drink.

“Um . . . me too,” Cord said. There, he had finally found some common ground. “Except I want to get to that point. For real, I mean.”
“Don’t we all?” Reena asked. “Tell me a little about yourself.”

“Not much to say, really,” Cord replied. “I play Limmie, I went to college, I probably acted stupid a few times . . . you know, college stuff.”

Reena chuckled again. Man, Cord loved her laugh. It made him smile. “You’re certainly not alone,” she said. “College was a real adventure, that was for sure. I know I did a few stupid things, especially when I was a freshman. But I learned and I grew. Now look at me; I’m playing Elite League ball. What else do you have, if you don’t mind me asking? Degree? Girlfriend?”

“Graduated in general science,” Cord admitted. “Not too much work, really.”

“At CorTech, there was no such thing as “easy”, it seemed,” Reena commented. “We worked our asses off in some of our science classes. That was not fun, let me tell you. But please, continue.”

“I had a girlfriend for a while . . . she was a cheerleader,” Cord said. “But then she ran off with another guy on the team . . . the last couple just went for a few weeks each, and then we broke up . . . eh, I’ve just got bad luck there . . .”

“I have some odd dating stories,” Reena said. “Went out with some guys, drank a little too much, had hangovers, slept with a few of ‘em . . . luckily, I’ve screwed my head on straight since then. When I was a sophomore, or at least my redshirt year, I figured that I needed to focus on life more, and I reeled my sanity back in. Ever since, I feel like I’ve been better off. Sure I don’t have a boyfriend, but it’s not because I’m trying to avoid it. Gayla gives me hell at times for it, but I don’t really mind. If the right guy comes around, I’m here waiting, I suppose.”

Cord did a mental fist pump. So Reena was single, apparently. Hm, he had a chance here . . . better not blow it by being stupid. “Um . . . I like how you’ve done your hair,” he said. Decent ice-breaker; not the best, but not terrible either.

“Oh? Thanks,” Reena said. “I try real hard to get it to look nice like that. You have no idea how difficult it is at times to make sure it stays the way I want it. It gave Gayla fits back in college when I stayed up late trying to keep my hair perfect . . .”

“Who’s she?” Cord asked.

“Gayla? I think you two got acquainted when getting on board,” Reena said, taking another sip. Cord then realized that Gayla had been the player who had called him out near the bulkhead. Now he felt silly. “She may seem tough, but she has a heart of gold. And Tank, I know he may look intimidating, but he’s just a creampuff when you get to know him.”

“He hit hard, that’s all I remember,” Cord said. He winced at thinking about that game three years earlier.

“You came from the U, right?” Reena asked. Cord dutifully nodded. “You know, I still hate that school, but you seem like an OK guy. Jittery, but OK. Just want you to know that I won’t hold a grudge against you.”

“Great!” Cord exclaimed. Then he wished he hadn’t said it that way, but oh well. Too late now. “I’ll try not to let that loss a few years ago affect me too badly. You seem very friendly . . .”

“I hope I do,” Reena said. “If I’m not, you probably need to drink more.” She said this in a tongue-in-cheek manner. Cord really liked her playfulness. “So, what’s your style of play?”

“I try to use my speed, mostly,” Cord began. “I’m not that tall, so I have to use speed to get around larger defenders. But my favorite thing to do is cut; I love getting down low and changing directions. It’s amazing how well I can turn when I get going out there.”

“You look like a guy who likes to live in the fast lane out there on the pitch,” Reena said. “I have to use my speed as well, since I’m not exactly as tough as Tank or have a body of steel like Gayla does. I remember a game when she was absolutely blown to pieces, and yet still got up . . . oh yeah, it was that game with A&M senior year . . . that game with Max . . . that game . . .” her face darkened a little. “That game.”

“What game?” Cord asked. He didn’t pay much attention to the goings-on at CorTech.

“That was the game that we played after the mass shooting on campus,” Reena said, no longer cheerful. “That game sucked big time, because we were still in complete shock. Gayla kept us running, but we had no life out there.” Cord indeed remembered that incident; the U had been locked down that day because of the shooting, and practice had been cancelled.

“I’m . . . sorry for bringing that up,” Cord said, trying to correct his error.

“It’s OK,” Reena said. “I don’t blame you for being curious. I brought it on myself. It’s hard to get some things like that out of your mind. Anyways, I don’t want to sidetrack this, so tell me about your game. Can you set screens?”

“A bit,” Cord replied bashfully. “To be honest, I’m not the kind of guy who can set them. I utilize them, but can’t set ‘em.”

“You might want to learn, then,” Reena replied. “Coach M keeps you on your toes, and makes you play all ways . . . wait, that’s right, he’s no longer coaching here . . . my bad.”

“Who is coaching the offense, then?” Cord asked. He had heard that Andrew Mundle was still going to be the offensive coordinator; this was the first he had heard that suggested otherwise.

“Allie Orchetrada,” Reena said. “She led the team to the 262 title.”

“Wait, really?” Cord asked.

“Yeah,” Reena said. “I was back on Hapes when that happened, but even I still remember it. You should be lucky; I hear she’s nice.”

“Guess I’ll find out,” Cord said. He finished his drink and set the glass down on the table.

Reena finished her drink as well. “Well, Cord McKerty, I need to get moving. Gayla is going crazy about this ship, and wants to get in some reps on the practice field in the back because she can. But it was nice talking to you. I’ll see you at camp, then.” She turned to leave.

“Uh . . .,” Cord said. Reena stopped. “It was nice meeting you too,” he stammered. This was his chance. “Not to pry or anything, but you’ve been the only person all day who’s really been nice to me.”

“Hey, don’t mention it,” Reena replied.

“Can I get your number?” Cord asked. He was being very forward here, but he feared he wouldn’t have another chance like this. Besides, Reena was definitely worth it in his eyes; she was hot.

“My number?” Reena asked, cracking a grin. “First time we’ve met, and you’re already asking me for my number. You know something, McKerty?” Cord looked her square in the face. “I kinda like you. You aren’t cocky, and I really dig that.” She whipped out a piece of flimsy and scribbled on it, then handing it to Cord. “There it is. If you need any advice going into camp, call me.” She nodded. “I’m generally agreeable to be of help.”

“Thanks,” Cord said. He had done it, he had really just gotten this woman’s number. Not bad for a first chat. “It was nice to chat with you, and I’ll call you up if I have any questions.”

“All right,” the Hapan said. “See you around.” She then left the bar area and walked down the hall. Cord just stood there, alone, for several seconds, trying to process what had just happened. That was quite an amazing piece of work for his first day. If that was any indication, perhaps camp wouldn’t be so bad?

---

Wroona

The shuttle touched down on the planet, causing Cord to wake from his slumber in the chair. Not being a Senator, or at least not yet, he didn’t get a bed in the sleeping area, so instead he had become rather attached to one of the chairs in the seating area to sleep in. He peered out the nearby window; in front of him was plains, followed by a city in the distance. And then he saw it, the blue-sand beaches. They were galaxy-famous for their color and clarity, and then there was the sea. Cord had never seen the ocean before, so this was all new to him. What a first impression it left on the rookie, seeing this kind of planet for the first time. He could tell that he would like it here.

“Make sure to bring all of your stuff with you,” came Korthe’s voice over the intercom system as the entire shuttle came back to life. “If you lose something, then it’s on you.” Cord grabbed his bag from the storage well, which for some reason felt lighter than it had before. Then out popped another bag from the well, landing on its face. Cord bent down to take a look at the tag, to see who it belonged to. The tag said “R. Wyley.” Hm, this was Reena’s bag? Perhaps he had a chance here to be nice. Being helpful would certainly get her more on his side. He picked up the bag, dodged Zadd as the Defel tried to get his own stuff, and almost ran smack-dab into Reena as he turned around.

“Here,” Cord said, handing the Hapan her bag. He tried to give off a small grin. Perhaps this was overdoing it, but at least he had taken his first step. At least she was talking to him, instead of ignoring him completely. “I got your bag for you.”

“Thanks,” Reena said. She then turned around and walked off the shuttle. Cord waded through the bodies trying to get their stuff and finally made it off. As soon as he got to the bottom of the ramp, he could smell the sea. It was an unfamiliar smell to him, one that he hoped to become more acquainted with in the future. Camp would be hard work, obviously; the Senators were a proud franchise, and wanted the very best from their players. But it would nice to be able to relax once in a while around the sea. Maybe he could hang out on the beach. Thoughts popped into his head. Maybe, if he played his cards right, he and Reena would be down there on the beach, taking long walks in the sand as they held hands. Perhaps they could get a drink by the pool, they could swap some stories, and then, to top it off, make out on the beach as the sun set into the horizon. Yeah, that sounded nice . . .

The next thing he felt was someone nailing him in the back with an elbow. He looked at the culprit, who was Gayla. “Geez, rookie, how many times do I need to tell you to get moving?” she asked, annoyed.

“Sorry,” Cord said. “I just . . .”

“Enough,” Gayla said, walking past. She then muttered under her breath, but Cord could hear her. “Rookies,” she said, disgusted. How could Reena, who seemed nice, ever pal around with this firebrand, Cord wondered. He wouldn’t survive five minutes being around her.

As the combined teams made their way to the resort complex, Cord instantly knew that he had forgotten something. He didn’t know who his roommate was . . . where was Korthe and her room assignments? He went around in search for the Zeltron, who he finally tracked down. “Uh . . . who am I rooming with again?” he asked.

“Forget?” Pam asked. Cord sheepishly nodded. “Eh, it’s your first time. I don’t expect you to keep everything straight on your first day. Room 425 is assigned to you; go pick up your key at the desk, and then head up there. I want you all to get settled in first before we hold a team meeting in the conference center.”

“All right,” Cord replied. He followed the stream of players into the hotel lobby, then waited his turn to get his key. He was the second to last player to get theirs, second only to Lynn Stiles, the Hapan Full forward for the Force. He opened up the small envelope he was handed, and a key card fell out. Wow, he got a real card here. Back in college, all they got were real keys, and they were annoying to keep track of. This would make things easier . . . a lot easier.

He then took the lift up to the 4th floor. It looked rather empty down here; most likely everyone was already in their rooms, or the players were being divided up into different sections based on team, position, age, or whatever criteria was being used. He started to look for room numbers, and then stopped when he found his. He slid the key card into the slot and opened the door. Instantly, his nose was filled with the smell of a hotel room, cleaning fragrance and all. But this one, unlike some of the others he had experienced, wasn’t bad. It smelled rather nice. Taking stock of the bathroom next to the door, along with a microwave on the counter, he entered the room.

He then noticed that he wasn’t alone. Another man looked up at him. “Hi,” he said simply. Cord placed his bag on the bed nearest to the bathroom. “I think we were at the Draft together. My name’s Ganos. Ganos Fama. You’re Cord McKerty, aren’t you?”

“Yeah,” Cord replied.

“So, what exactly are we supposed to do now?” Ganos asked.

“Team meeting, I think,” Cord said. He sat at the edge of his bed. Ganos was folded up in one of the chairs next to the window, his feet resting on the seat as he had his knees folded up to his chest. “In the conference center.”

“Probably to give us a ‘welcome to camp’ shtick,” Ganos commented. “I would love to skip it, but this isn’t college anymore. This is the pros, and these guys are serious. I don’t want to blow my opportunity by not showing up on Day One.”

“Same here,” Cord said.

“So, what brings you out here?” Ganos asked.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Cord asked. “I want to make the team.”

“Got a lot of competition there,” Ganos remarked. “I mean, they have Qorbus, who’s no slouch, that Cathar woman whose name I don’t know, and a veteran in Flysto. You’re going to have to work hard to crack that lineup.”

“I know,” Cord said. “Aren’t you in the same boat? What position do you play, anyways?”

“Corner back,” Ganos replied. “I’d say my chances are a little better than yours, but not much. Besides, I’m a third-round pick, ‘Mr. Irrelevant’. I’m going to be lucky if I sniff the Elite League on my rookie contract. At least you have considerable weight to throw around, being a first-rounder and all. I don’t have that kind of leverage. Anyways, I hear Thyferra’s a nice place. Rains a lot, but I’m from Euceron, so it doesn’t bother me that much.”

“You go to school there?” Cord asked.

“Yep. Born and raised,” Ganos said. “Starred at the University of Euceron, and then tried my luck in the Draft. It feels odd, really. I grew up a huge Storm fan; all of my family and friends were too, so I was amongst good company. It’s going to be odd to have to put that allegiance aside and play for a different team.”

“I don’t have to worry about that,” Cord said.

“You playing for the hometown?”

“Pretty much. Went to ‘The U’, so I kinda grew up around the Senators,” Cord said. “Then, when they got good, things really picked up. Things can get crazy back on Coruscant when the Senators are rolling. Everything seems to come together at that point . . . and I want to be a part of that scene.”

“Then you need to survive camp first,” Ganos pointed out. “We’re both in for some stiff competition, so good luck out there.”

“You too,” Cord said. “We probably should head down to the conference center.

“Right,” Ganos said. He got out of his chair. “Not to try and be cliché or anything, but our journey really begins today.”

Cord nodded. Ganos was right; this was going to be the beginning of the long climb to the top. There was a popular song called “It’s a Long Way to the Top” that Cord liked, and its lyrics seemed all too true now. How would he respond when the real pressure began? Would he fold, or could he rise up like a champion and be a part of something larger than himself? Only time would tell.

---

Beachhead Sea Resort, Wroona

Cord woke up at 0530, blinking several times to clear his eyes. This was it, the first day of training camp. The first-round draft pick was ready to show the Coruscant Senators staff what they had in him, and then after that the galaxy. He looked over at Ganos, who was still soundly asleep. Sucker Cord thought. If Ganos thought that he was going to have time to rest here at camp, then he was sorely mistaken. Korthe had told them the day before that the first week would be brutal; the first couple of days would be walkthroughs and drills, followed by 2 a days at the end of the week in preparation for the upcoming scrimmages. Cord had, unsurprisingly, been assigned to the Thyferra roster, as had Ganos. Cord had no idea whether he would start the scrimmages, but that didn’t matter now. What did was his first pro practice. He had tried to keep in shape during the offseason in the weight room back at college, but he had no idea if that kind of conditioning would be enough for the pro level. He had no idea what to expect.

Around 0630, Polis Vayne knocked loudly on the door. “Get up, rooks!” he yelled. “Get down to the field in 10!”

“Ugh, why can’t a guy get some sleep?” Ganos moaned as he woke up.

“First day,” Cord said.

“Indeed,” Ganos said.

Ten minutes later, the two roommates were out on the practice field in the compound. Ganos, still somewhat bleary-eyed, was trying to wake up, while Cord was already wide awake. He looked in both directions at the players. He could see the stars, Romax, Deter, Persnor, Qorbus, all there and ready to go. They looked so damn strong and agile, he thought. This was going to be a tough camp, and Cord was unsure if he was ready. How would he take his first hit? Could he score on a battle-tested goalkeeper like Jayla Leed, or even Kapp Pyston for that matter? Would he get his opportunity early, or would the Senators keep an eye on his development and force him to take it easy out here in preparation for Thyferra to give him some minutes in the Futures League?

“Wow, this is quite a crowd,” Ganos said. “I have a feeling that we’re in for more than we bargained for.”

When the first drill began, Cord had barely caught the ball when he got drilled by a tackling dummy. He landed on his back, staring straight up at the Wroonian sky.

“Keep your head up,” Moen Heatly, his position coach, said, shaking his head. “You’ll never survive in this league if you don’t keep an eye out.” He then reached out his hand and pulled Cord to his feet.

The next drill after the gauntlet run was for screens. Cord had never set screens, just used them, so this was mostly new to him. He watched as Qorbus, followed by Persnor, Flysto, and even Zadd the Defel put in screens on very relaxed defenders.

“McKerty! Your turn!” Polis shouted.

Cord ran forward along with his “man”, who happened to be Mychele Lysar, the long-time Thyferra captain. She had asked him earlier if he was ready to take on this drill head-on, and he had said he was. She held the bolo-ball like she was on a field in a game situation, looking to pass or shoot. Cord saw Evis Kunat ahead of him. The Zabrak super-sub was ready for him, and when Cord set his screen, Evis blew him over like Cord hadn’t even been there. Again the rookie landed on his ass, staring at the sky. Theoretically, Mychele would probably have gotten popped by Evis on this play after disposing of the “screen” Cord had set, if it could be termed that, but since this was camp, the Zabrak’s work was done.

“Still think you have what it takes?” Mychele asked as she cycled out.

“Er . . .” Cord said.

“Figured,” Mychele said, rolling her eyes as she walked away.

The next time around, he was paired up with Kev Flysto, who was in front of him on the overall depth chart. Tank Bratter stood across from them, ready to make his play. Cord and Kev charged forwards, Kev with the ball. Did the coaches seriously think that Cord could make a screen here, or were they just trying to teach him a lesson? Well, if it was a lesson, then it certainly worked, because Tank ran over Cord without even needing to charge forwards. Cord hit the deck once more, his eyes wide open and he struggled to even blink. There were some “oohs” and “ahhs” coming from the other players. Tank cycled out, as did Kev, but Cord still sat there.


“Help . . . me . . .” Cord stuttered, half-moaned, to no one in particular. This was going to be a brutal camp.

TAG: No One

 

GM Post
--Transaction Wire--
Coruscant Senators

• Jam Tarpals, (Gungan, Male, Goalkeeper, The Ord Sabaok University) signed to an entry-level contract
• Almert Song (Human, Male, Corner Forward, Tiarest University) signed to an entry-level contract

Ralltiir Starkillers

• Grayporrin (Wookiee, Male, Half Back, University of Kashyyyk)

TAG: Jedi Gunny Runjedirun

 

IC: Falene Trieste
Bakura Gardens, Salis D'aar, Bakura

Falene had kept her composure yesterday when she'd heard. She's waited to scream until she'd gotten into her speeder.

She was starting. At Center Half Back.

Falene was deliriously happy. All of that work had paid off. Valerii was sitting Ruunron and moving T.K. to Left Half Back. There was a lot of pressure on Falene to perform against the Ducks starters--and unlike the Mercs Naboo would likely play their starters all game--and she would be sorely tested in the Bloom Bowl. This was to be Bakura's first home friendly in several seasons. It was going to be a big deal and she was going to be starting in it.

When Falene looked at her dark blue home jersey with its bold gold accents it was a completely new experience than when she'd seen her first jersey on Denon. These were the true colors of the Miners. Not many fans bought the white road Miner jerseys. It was blue and gold all the way.

"I like this one better," Falene said, "Much better."

"So do I," Niskat breathed next to Falene, "I look way better in blue."

---

Falene could hear the music from inside the hallway that led to the concourse, across which lay the entrance to the field. She knew it from the last few seasons. Falene remembered many songs that heralded the entrance of the Miners. "South Side" was the earliest. "We Built This City" had been the era of Big John's "Rock and Roll Limmie". Gaeriel Valerii's team, however, didn't need to be forgiven.

"Let's have some fun out there," Valerii said as she walked from the front of the line to the back, slapping each player as she passed them, "Play them hard today. Do your thing T.K. Bring it to them Will." She reached Falene. "Rock on," she said as she passed. "Stand tall," she said to Niskat.

Once Valerii had passed Falene got a poke in the back. "Get up front starter," Niskat said. Unlike Falene she wasn't starting today's game.

"No way," Falene said, jabbing an elbow behind her, "My best friend is back here."

Niskat oofed from the elbow but shortly reached forward and mussed Falene's hair. "There we go. High five?"

Falene turned. "Up top," she said as they slammed palms.

"And down low," Niskat said as they continued the arcs of their hands so they clapped together at their sides in a full circle. "Let's go."

The line was moving ahead of them and Falene and Niskat brought up the rear as they crossed the thick blue carpet that was rolled out for the teams and their cleats as they crossed the lower concourse with fans to either side of them. Then they were through the glass doors that led outside into the noise. There was a short section of permacrete and then they hit the grass and Falene was off and running to the cheering of the crowd.

For the first time she took the field at Bakura Gardens as a home player as a professional This was where they liked her, where she was one of their players. It was a new rush and thrill for Falene. To take her position on the field as a starter for the official line up and the anthems was exhilarating. Shoulder to shoulder with Galactic Cup champions going into another rivalry game...this was it.

"Gentlebeings, please rise and remove your caps as the Miners observe a moment of silence as we pray for the return of Queen Eleanor of Naboo, recently abducted from the palace at Theed," the public address announcer said, "We hope for her imminent and safe return."

Falene bowed her head. In one of those curious twists of the galaxy the seconds of silence hung heavily on her. After all, Eleanor was her cousin. They weren't especially close, but they knew each other. For someone you knew, someone who was part of your family to be taken like that...it reminded her of why there were Senatorial Guard keeping a watchful eye from the sidelines.

When the pregame festivities were completed, Falene jogged to the middle of the defensive zone. It was here that she would start the game and here where she would prove her mettle for the first time as a starter on the Miners.

Six feet away from her was the starting center half forward for the Ducks. Falene gave a quick salute to him. "Good luck," she said. I hope you're going to need it.

TAG: None

 

Yes, I have a glut of posts to go through for the next week. Just deal with it.

IC: Cord McKerty
Wroona

Day Two of camp was just as difficult as the first. Cord was sweating after two minutes, and after five he could feel a pang of thirst in his body. Was he really working that hard? Instead of running regular game drills, this was all about conditioning. Cord hated conditioning; it was easily the roughest part of the workout, and the least fun because you just ran around, did jumping jacks, and tried to touch the line without slipping up. It seemed odd that he wanted to keep doing the game drills, because at least he could do those without getting bored within a minute.

“All right, line up!” came Pamila Korthe’s voice. She held a whistle next to her mouth, and Cord had a sinking feeling that he knew what was coming. “We’re going to run line sprints! I want effort out of all of you, so don’t slack off! If I deem that you aren’t trying your hardest, you’re going to run additional sprints later! I didn’t have any issues last year, so let’s make that two years in a row without any issues!”

Cord walked to the line, and then took a look at the other side. Line sprints sucked. He looked to both sides of him as the other players filled in. For some odd reason, Reena stepped in line next to him. “Hi,” she said.

“Hey,” Cord replied.

“Ready for some sprints?” the Hapan asked.

“Not really . . .” Cord replied. “I hate sprints.”

“Remember, don’t get caught slacking off,” Reena reminded him. “Otherwise, Coach will make you run extras. And she’s deadly serious about it. I’m just glad we didn’t have to do those last year in the Force camp.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Cord replied. He didn’t need more sprints. Then the whistle sounded and all of the players began to sprint. Cord, being fast, was able to slow down a little bit to conserve his energy, every second worried that Korthe was going to say that he wasn’t working hard enough. So he did enough to try, but not enough to exhaust himself.

After a few minutes of the sprints, the whistle blew again. “5 minute break!” the Zeltron coach yelled.

Cord went over to the cooler to grab some water. His hair was matted down with sweat, and he needed a quick respite. However, there was a line in front of him, which sucked. Reena came in next to him. “So, how’d it go?” she asked.

“I can’t imagine doing more of those,” Cord said.

“At least you tried. That’s all they can ask for,” the Hapan replied. “How’re you liking camp so far?”

“It’s a ton of work.”

“What, did you expect it to be extremely easy?”

“No, I . . .”

“This is a different game than in college. Things are harder out here, and you’re expected to keep up. If you fall behind . . . well, then you’re looking for another job.”

“That’s not reassuring,” Cord said.

Reena slapped Cord on the shoulder. “You’ll do well. I have faith in you.”

“How are things with you?” Cord said as he inched closer to the cups of water that had been laid out on the table. Why everyone was going to the cooler was beyond him; perhaps they were refilling their cups after voraciously downing the first one?

“Same as always,” Reena replied. “Lots of tough work, running, lifting weights, making sure I’m in shape for the season. I’m surprised you aren’t taking reps with us.”

“I really should be,” Cord replied. “No idea why I’m not.”

“You should talk to the coaches about that,” Reena said. “I think you’ve got enough talent to make the team outright here.”

“Thank you,” Cord said. “I know you do.”

“Playing here last year helps.”

“I guess . . .”

Reena just laughed. “You’re just a jittery guy, aren’t you?”

“Yeah,” Cord replied. “I guess I am.” He didn’t want to be jittery, but when Reena was around, he felt like he could only stutter. She was the kind of chick he wanted to know better, but couldn’t be articulate around.

A few minutes later, the line sprints began again. Cord knew that he was going to be in for a long day, but at least he had someone to talk to about it. When he returned to his room at the end of practice, he stuck a towel in his face and washed it with very cold water. It felt good to cool down after the long day of training.

“Long day, eh?” Ganos said as he entered the room and tossed his workout shirt onto his bed.

“Yeah,” Cord replied. “And there’s another month or so of this?”

“Month and a half,” Ganos corrected him. He had brought out a comb and was trying to tame his matted-down hair.


“Great,” Cord said, an air of sarcasm in his voice. It was only Day Two, and he was already wishing camp was over.

TAG: No One

 

OOG:I'll help you break them up...

IC: Setarcos Rhemes
Ryell, Rydonni Prime

Setarcos had a problem, some would not consider his predicament as such, but to him it was a problem non-the-less. His roster was filled, no it was over-flowing, with talented players. So much so that, even after the extensive training camp they held after the draft, he still had not figured out who his starting 15 were going to be. This was a problem, because when they finished The Match of 274 they looked like a bunch of monkey-lizards chasing their own tails on the field.

After handing the Old Cannon over to Arles Speedman, Setarcos took the long walk towards the press room. “I’m sorry chief, but I’m telling you they are both Elite League caliber players, just give them another chance.” Trailing the GM/Head Coach was the Director of College Scouting, Remus Olappo. “Clair and Melanie were just off their games today.” It was Remus who had convinced Setarcos for the past four drafts to pick players who had not even been on anybody’s draft boards, let alone even considered ready to play in the ELL.



“Remus, my friend, I know. The loss was my fault. I should have scheduled The Match as our last friendly before the season started. That way the Blasters would be facing a finished product and not a work in progress. Trust me, no one has sealed their fate yet.”

Of course that was not entirely true. Setarcos had to figure out who exactly he was going to be sending to Byblos so that the Red Wings knew who would be playing for them in their next friendly. Two of them were going to be players who needed re-habilitation periods before returning to ELL playing form. Greenly Zo from her non-limmie related injury that put her on the I/R most of the 273 season and Staweh-Tam Ford had reconstructive surgery on the shoulder that sustained less damage during the 272 season. He knew for sure that joining them would be three of this year’s draft class, March DiJohn, Shae Bellweather, and Jalex Dwara had all been struggling with the playbook. The rest of the assignments would have to wait, as he was about to step in front of the firing squad.

As he walked through the doorway he was bombarded by every question imaginable. This had been the first time that he exposed himself to the media since his last press conference at the end of last season. When he scanned the crowd of faces, he noticed that the one he expected to be there was nowhere to be found. Jhym Ro’meo, the smarmy Bothan normally would not have passed up an opportunity to rub an embarrassing loss to an “inferior” team in Setarcos face for all of the Emperor’s Treasure. Setarcos would later discover that Jhym was now covering limmie on a galactic scale and was relocated to Coruscant.

“Ok everyone, settle down. One at a time. One at a time.” Setacos ordered as he settled into his seat.

“Coach? Do you think that your loss today was a direct result of you trading away your first round pick?”

Setarcos was prepared for this one, he figured Jhym would have led off with this exact same question, “No, actually the player we had on our initial draft board in the first round we were able to get in the second round. We had heard rumors that Nat Benneb’s draft stock was slipping and that he would be there in second round. So I approached Bakura with an offer that was mutually beneficial to both of our teams.”

“Why didn’t you try to trade back up to the first round instead of overloading in the third?”

“Let me answer that with a question of my own. Why should I spend first round credits for a second round player?” Setarcos had wanted to use that ever since the trade had gone public. “Yes, I guess we could have packaged two of our third rounders in order to trade up into the second round, and it may have increased our chances to pick up a player we had been eying to take with our fourth pick, but none of that is set in stone. Every move in a draft, before and during, causes a ripple effect that could alter the entire flow of the draft. So instead of looking into the past let’s move on to the future. Next question.”

“Did you demote Julla Ehennifer because of personal reasons?”

This one caused Setarcos to think about his answer before giving it. “First off, Ms. Ehennifer and myself were not in a relationship, and secondly, she was not demoted, she was promoted to Head Coach of a professional limmie squad. Next.”


“There have been reports that Romo Crowley was in the K’ntarrs private box during the Galactic Cup, are you trying to court him away from Bison?”

“Alright, I’m about one second away from walking out of this press conference. Romo Crowley and I are old friends from college. We played together at Rep U and I happened to run into him at the ELL Post Season Awards. We wanted to catch up with each other and decided to do it from the team’s luxury box at the Galactic Cup.”

“So you two did not discuss the possibility of him coming to the Monarchs?”

“Did not even come up in the conversation, all we talked about, besides the good old days and the match happening down on the field, was how things were going for him on Bison. That was all. Now, I will stay, if, and only if, the next question is about the match that just happened. On the next question that is about anything other than the most recent or an upcoming match, I am going to march right out of these doors. Do I make myself clear?” He looked about the room making sure that everyone heard him before continuing, “Now does anyone have a question?”

Slowly a diminutive, female Chadra-Fan stood up. “If your lack of a first rounder was not your downfall today, what was?”

“Good question, our bloated roster was what held us back. I was still trying to develop a starting lineup. Next game, against the Red Wings, we should have a better idea as to who will be our regular season starters.”

The Chadra-Fan remained standing and asked another question, “What is the timetable for the return of veteran Monarchs, Greenly Zo and Staweh-Tam Ford, from their rehab assignments and the impact on Ford’s contract which is set to expire at the end of the season?”

“Another excellent question,” Setarcos quipped, “First of all, I cannot realistically speak on any of next year’s contracts until the end of the season. To do so would be putting the cart before the bantha, like my dad used to say. That would also be the case for Zo and Ford’s rehabilitation as well. There aren’t any timetables laid out since everyone’s body heals differently. Are there any other questions?”

From the back of the room an unidentifiable voice called out, “How long have you been sleeping with Variise K’ntarr?”

Setarcos was completely caught off guard by the question, especially after the warning he had given moments before. “Excuse me?” he asked with a furrowed brow, “I’m sorry, but I’m sure I said that I don’t answer questions that involve my personal life. Good day.” As promised, Setarcos walked out of the room amid even more unanswered questions.

----- ----- ----- ----- -----
Outside of the Naweenen Fate Rooms, Ord Mantell, 267 ABY

As Variise K’ntarr was walking out of the famed casino after receiving the 267 Amidala Award of Aid and Diplomacy a redheaded gentleman called after her, “Ms. K’ntarr! Setarcos Rhemes, HSN holozin. Can I ask you a couple of questions?”

Loruna K’ntarr, who was holding their speeder door open, looked over Variise’s shoulder and took a quick look at the reporter. She leaned in a whispered into her sister’s ear, “He's cute.”

Variise whispered back to Loruna “Alright,” turned around and exchanged pledgentries, “Yeah. Okay, go.”

“You've been called the Walls of our time. What do you say to that?”

“Absolutely ridiculous. I don't paint.” Variise responded with an air of arrogance.

Setarcos continued on without hesitation, “And what do you say to your other nickname, the Merchant of Death?”

“That's not bad. Let me guess... Valorum?

“Republican, actually.”

“Well, Mr. Scholar. It's an imperfect galaxy, but it's the only one we got. I guarantee you the day weapons are no longer needed to keep the peace, I'll start making bricks and beams for baby hospitals.”

Setarcos looked at the leggy blonde with a raised eyebrow, “Rehearse that much?”

“Every night in front of the mirror before bedtime,” Variise responded without hesitation

“I can see that.”

“I'd like to show you firsthand.”

“All I'm looking for is a straight answer.” As much as Setarcos was enjoying the playful banter he was getting exasperated with Variise constantly deflecting his questions.

“OK, here's a straight answer. My old man has a philosophy: peace means having a bigger stick than the other guy.”

“That's a great line, coming from a guy selling the sticks.” Setarcos fired back.

“My father helped defeat Sith. He worked on the Ossus Project. A lot of people, including your professors at RepU, would call that being a hero.”

“And a lot of people would also call that war-profiteering.” Setarcos answered with a slight smirk

Variise was starting to feel as exasperated with Setarcos as he was with her. “Tell me, do you plan to report on the trillions we've saved by advancing medical technology or kept from starvation with our intelli-crops? All those breakthroughs, military funding, honey.” Variise returned a smirk back at Setarcos.

“Wow,” Setarcos said with false amazement, “Have you ever lost an hour of sleep in your life?”

“I'm prepared to lose a few with you.” Variise gave him a wink.


The next thing Setarcos knew he was on the K’ntarr’s luxury yacht heading back to Rydonni Prime in Variise’s private room.

TAG: No One

 

OOG:Sorry for the double post, but I need to get this one up before scores are posted....

IC: Julla Ehennifer
Byblos City, Byblos

With one week before the match against the Monarchs and the only players Julla had on her roster was the Balmorra Blaster’s third-string goalkeeper, Zizi Le, and the two injured Monarchs, Ford and Zo. But it was not long before the rest of the Monarchs names appeared on her datapad. Needless to say she was not overly surprised by many of the players on the list, save for the three rookies. DiJohn, Bellweather, and Dwara were all top prospects and high on the Monarchs draft board, after Benneb that was.

The other shocker was Herc Tathor, long time Monarch and boyfriend of Mara Singus, had been bumped from the starting rotation. But in Julla’s opinion, the Monarchs loss was the Red Wings gain. Unfortunately one week was not enough time for a team to meld together and face off with an elite limmie squad. The Monarchs walked off the field with the first Adrimar-K’ntarr Shield, an award that was a combination of the Adrimar family and House K’ntarr coats of arms to be awarded to winner of their annual preseason matchup.



After the match the Adrimar family invited both squads to a semi-formal gathering of drinks and dancing. Unfortunately there were a couple of players absent from both squads after a squabble that ended in a minor physical altercation on the field. It all started with a hard hit delivered by Kelsei Seter on Laura Cynd-Nazug, it escalated when Greenly Zo came to break up her current teammate, Kelsei, and her best friend, Laura. Eve Wupiupi thought Zo was going to attack Laura from behind and tripped her. Staweh-Tam Ford, who sees Zo like a sister, took Eve’s actions as her way to ensure Greenly stays down in the LFL and reaches to pull her off of Zo. However, before he could reach them, Sugnok Umanh had one of his arms under Ford’s arm, holding him back, and the other around Ford’s neck.

Luckily the event took place as time expired on regulation and no one, to Julla’s knowledge, was seriously injured. She told her trio – Zo, Ford, and Seter – to take three days off starting with the after party. Julla on the other hand, decided that she could use a good social gathering. As she walked in the doors she immediately spotted Count Kalin K’ntarr and Lady Thara Adrimar, the couple were over by the well stocked bar talking with a reporter. Julla recognized the reporter, by face only, as the BBC reporter that had taken a special interest to the Monarchs. Rumor had it that she was working on a piece about Vesper Lynd, who was also missing from the festivities.



She decided that now would be about the only time to interact with the oldest male member of House K’ntarr. “Lord Ryell and Lady Adrimar, what a pleasure it is to meet you.”

Kalin was the first to speak of the couple, “Ah yes citizen it is always a pleasure to meet someone as good looking as myself.” Thara jabbed him in the ribs and gave Julla a kind smile, “Ignore him Ms. Ehennifer, he knows exactly who you are. And please call us Kalin and Thara when we are not in general public.”

“Certainly… Thara,” It was comforting to Julla that she did not have to stand on traditions that she did not completely agree with, nor understand. Having been born on Dathomir to a Nightsister, she was expected to take her place amongst the rest of her clan. But when it was found that she had not a trace of the Force within her they left her, as a very small child, out in the wilderness. Fortunate for her she was found by a human tracker who took her home to her own family and adopted her. It was from her new mother that she learned the game of bolo-ball and why she was here today.

Kalin looked at her, “Sorry about that, I get a couple shots of Erphaean spiced rum into my system and I get all goofy.” He looked over Julla’s shoulder at someone in the distance and raised his half empty glass to them. “Oh there is your sister Thara, we have to thank her for breaking out the good stuff tonight. Sorry Julla, but you must excuse us. Tough lose today, perhaps next year you can square off against my Blasters as well. MARIE!” He shouted as he rushed to the other side of the room. Thara simply mouthed the words, I’m Sorry, as she followed him in tow.

Once again Julla was alone and that was when she realized that out of the entire K’ntarr family she had just interacted with the only attending member. The rest were mysteriously missing, along with her boss Setarcos.

----- ----- ----- ----- -----
IC: Vesper Lynd
Byblos City, Byblos

The day after the match Vesper woke to find a small card folded in half on the nightstand next to the bed. Half asleep she looked around the hotel room she was in and found that she was alone, but the other side of the bed was still warm. A slight grin curled the corners of her lips as she read the note.

Meet me downstairs in the café.

With the speed her athletic training and natural agility afforded her, she was quickly out of bed and changed into a light blue, sleeveless sundress. She grabbed her room keycard and slipped it into a pocket concealed within the deep V neckline of her dress. Riding the lift down to the café’s level, she pulled her mid-back length hair into a quick, but tidy, ponytail.

The doors of the lift parted to reveal an open, setback terrace that was surrounded by pillars of white stone, which were covered in a green leafy plant. A lone male figure sat at a table that was surrounded by vacant tables. The second ring of tables, out from male’s table, were occupied by what appeared to be a security detail. All of the other seats in the establishment were occupied by males and females of varying ages and species of sentients.

Confidently she strode up to the long male’s table, not once breaking her stride. She did not even acknowledge them, nor they her. “Hi honey, nice of you to join me.” The young man, wearing an unbuttoned purple shirt with a white t-shirt underneath, gave her a sideways grin. He had a sparkle of confidence in his eyes, knowing she would most likely engage him in the playful banter.

“Oh hush Arden. Did you order me breakfast or not?”

----- ----- ----- ----- -----
IC: Setarcos Rhemes
Ryell, Rydonni Prime

The Monarchs GM sat in a small anti-chamber just off of the main conference room and stared down at his data pad. He was waiting for the indication that the entire team had assembled before he would enter to conduct his meeting. As he was reviewing his notes for the meeting a priority message came to him from an old friend over at the local HSN affiliate. It was a holo-zine article that his friend thought would be of great interest to Setarcos. Immediately his eyes were drawn not only to the image that dominated his screen, but also the headline over top of it.

Colonials’ Owner, Arden K’ntarr, brunches with Chancellor’s Niece, Monarchs Forward Vesper Lynd



“Great, just what I don’t need right now.” At that precise moment a light started flickering on his datapad, indicating that all seventeen players and four members of the coaching staff had assembled. He walked into the room amid murmurs and rumblings, buy the time, though, that he reached his designated position everyone quieted down. “Thank you all for coming on your off-day, but there are issues that needed to be addressed immediately.”

Setarcos started pacing as he talked. “The incident that occurred at the end of the match with Byblos was unnecessary and an embarrassment to the entire organization. As a result of their direct actions Eve Wupiupi, Laura Cynd-Nazug, and Sugnok Umanh will be suspended for one week effective immediately. Since we are running with a light bench… Clair Oswin will start at Midfield, Melanie Ocean will start at Half Forward, and Nat Benneb will start at Full Back in the upcoming match against Genet. That is all.”



The Head Coach and GM turned to leave the room, everyone stood up to leave as well. It was general chaos as everyone murmured to each other about what happened, but Melanie and Clair just stood there with their mouths open in amazement. They noticed that Vesper had received a message on her comlink and turned in the opposite direction of the rest of the crowd. The two rookies walked out and joined the last group to leave in a lift to the team shuttle. The last thing that Clair thought she saw as the doors closed on the lift was Vesper kissing Arden K’ntarr, but she figured she was just imagining things.

TAG: No One

 

IC: Tim Dodd - Agamar Packers Training Camp, on an island somewhere in the Bil Da'Gari.

Asyr hadn't yet heard the news when Tim arrived. She gratefully accepted the downloads, left a staffer to watch for the recordings and take them to her when they arrived and asked Narsk to introduce Tim to the rest of the team. He, in turn, briefed her to expect some new arrivals to try out for team positions (as reserve players to start with), all of them highly disciplined, all of them very fit, all experienced Limmie players - albeit not at Pro level - all accustomed to being thumped hard and all looking forward to the chance of (legally) doing some thumping back, for a change! All of these (ten in all) had been selected for the try-outs by an injury-retired Pro Limmie player.

Meeting the team was an education for Tim (his birthworld having had an almost entirely Human population) particularly in the case of the Thakwaash players, Vesh and Taskelor, slightly less so in the case of the Houk Reserve Goalkeeper, Roon, and Allanabuck, the Wookie Centre Half Back. It's one thing to read of, and imagine, a three metre tall being; quite another to stand talking to one with one's head tilted right back to see their face, in the knowledge that even the female could probably rip the aforementioned head right off if the urge struck!

With a go-ahead from Narsk, Tim let the team into both what had happened overnight and some of his plans. When he discussed a little repurposing of a trio of rooms hard by the inner ends of each of the Players' Tunnels (arranged with the Memorial Stadium ground staff on the trip out), both Barabel Corner Backs had to remove themselves to the other end of the training pitch, they were sissing so hard!

With the team back to training (watching the Nohgri was impressive, both for their speed and for the fact that attempted tackles usually resulted in the would-be tackler sprawled on the ground and the ball still in the Nohgri's possession) Tim was able to field the return Comlink calls from his 'co-conspirators'. They liked the situation no more than Tim did, but agreed that an 'announce everything now' policy had been more-or-less forced on them by events. As the 'guilty party' (he'd had the idea and first mooted it to the others) his 'co-conspirators' thought it only right and proper that the announcements should come from him! He would do the deed at Memorial Stadium at mid-arc tomorrow (Agamar had always been primarily an agrarian world and colloquial timekeeping expressions tended to reference the System's Sun); which should give time for the Galactic Newsies both to get to Agamar and to figure out how to get to the stadium - it wasn't at all obvious for non-residents; and 'helpful' Datapad applications were actually anything but, as he had cause to know!.

At that point the 'hopefuls' started to arrive, and Asyr came out to watch them being put through their paces, standing at Tim's side.

The first to be assessed was fully human (Tim knew) but stood 6'7" tall, had shoulders as broad as an Agamarian Beast, very obvious muscles - without a spare gram of fat on him - and moved (showing a good turn of speed) with the confidence that came from knowing he was built like the proverbial duracrete outbuilding. "Physical Training Instructor"; Tim quietly aside-ed to Asyr; "goes by the name of Miles Abrams - call him Mi or M-One - known as "Tank" behind his back. I'm told he usually played up-front, still does when the other team haven't come up against him before! Very hard, but scrupulously fair man, so I've heard. Considering where they've come from, the 'hard but fair' part probably applies to all of them.".

So it went on with all ten, although Tim didn't know all of them by sight. Asyr seemed satisfied, though (if her little yips meant what Tim thought they did). It then being nearly mid-arc, now feeling fully recovered from the wine-induced headache and needing (if he wanted to really make a splash - for the right reasons - of his entrance at the Media Conference) some time to get himself properly licensed to use his own transportation; he told Asyr to sign-up any and all of the prospective players she felt she could use, but to hold-off on announcing the signings until at least the early night-arc tomorrow.

With that, he took his leave of all the team, saying that he hoped Asyr would be able to take time-out to attend the Media Conference and went back to his borrowed ASF vehicle.

TAG: No One

 

IC: Cord McKerty
Beachhead Sea Resort, Wroona

Cord awoke the next day, shaking his head to get the cobwebs out. Training camp had been going on for a week already, and it was nearing the day where the two teams, the Senators and the Force, would have their scrimmage. There would be another scrimmage, this time true split-squad, the week after. Two weeks after that, they had an actual exhibition game. The Senators would play the Wroona Islanders, and the Force would take on the University of Wroona, who were building a solid program in their own right. Cord knew that he would be taking on the college kids, but he wished he was playing in the big-time arena with the Senators.

“Sleep well?” asked his roommate, Ganos. He had already been awake for some time, Cord could tell, and was obviously itching for some action.

“Enough,” Cord said. “You do realize that we don’t have practice today, right?”

“I know, but I’ve just gotten into the routine,” Ganos said.

Cord left the room, still trying to get fully awake. He had grabbed his comlink for some reason, but why? Was he intending on calling someone? He could easily call home; it would be weird to do that, but maybe it would be a little taste of normalcy for him? Then again, he was getting into the routine here more every day, and the scared college athlete that he was now began to be molded into a new form. He was a pro ball player now; he had to act like it.

“You wanna head down to town and hang out?” his roommate asked.

“Nah, I’ll stick around here,” Cord said.

“All right,” Ganos said. “I’ll see you later.”
“Yeah,” Cord said. “Later.” The other man walked off to the lift, leaving Cord alone in the hall once more. He had no idea what he wanted to do with his day . . . and then he had an idea. Going back into his room so as not to disturb anyone who was still sleeping in their rooms, he thumbed on his comlink and decided to tempt fate. He landed on a number and dialed it. Seconds later, someone picked up.

“Hello,” Reena said on the other end of the line.

“Hey,” Cord said.

“You calling because you have some questions, or because you’re just lonely and need someone to talk to?” the Hapan asked.

“I guess more of the second,” Cord said, shrugging as he said this.

“What, don’t you have someone else to talk to?” Reena said.

“Um . . . I . . . uh . . .” Cord said.

“Nah, just kidding,” Reena said. “Yeah, I’m available to talk. What’s up?”

Cord started to sweat. He knew what he wanted to say . . . but could he say it to her? They had only spoken once since their first chat, and he didn’t want to be too forward here. “Um . . . I have a question for you . . .”

“Fire away,” the Hapan replied.

“Um . . . you wanna . . . you know . . . get a drink somewhere?” Cord finally asked.

“Asking me out already?” Reena asked, laughing a little. Cord blushed really hard here; he had gone too far. She was going to think he was an ass. “Yeah, I can do that.” Cord let the pent-up stress go a little bit; she had accepted his offer. “Where did you have in mind?”

“Here would be fine,” Cord said. He just wanted to get to talk to her face-to-face; he didn’t care where he was.

“ ‘Here’ as in where?” Reena asked.

“My room . . . er . . . downstairs at the pool?” Cord said. Wow, nice going, he thought. He had definitely gone too far there.

“A little anxious there, are we?” Reena asked. She was probably stifling another good laugh at Cord’s awkwardness. “The pool will work. Let me just tell my lover here in bed know that I’m hanging out with you today.”

Cord wanted to choke. “Again, just kidding,” the Hapan said. “Remember, lighten up a little bit. I’m just screwing with your mind a little. Don’t worry about it. See you in five, OK?”

“OK,” Cord said. Even though Reena seemed to be having a lot of fun at his expense, he knew this would be a good opportunity to talk to her.

Five minutes later, he was down by the pool-side bar. He hadn’t tried to be fancy, so he just wore a t-shirt and the cleaner pair of shorts that he had. His clothes smelled sweaty, but that was because he had used them quite a bit already for camp, and there was no point in washing them just yet. He ordered a drink from the bartender droid, and it was in process of being made as Cord noticed another presence. Here was Reena, wearing a tank top and athletic shorts. She stood next to Cord and ordered a drink herself.

“Well, how are things?” she asked.

“Fine,” Cord replied. The droid handed him his drink, and he sipped at the ale.

“Just wanting to talk to someone?” Reena asked.

“Pretty much,” Cord said.

“You’re just lucky that I was able to come down here. Gayla was nagging at me to head down to town with her.”

“Yeah, Ganos was the same,” Cord admitted. “I decided against it, though.”

“Just wanting to hang out with your one and only friend?” Reena asked, taking a long swig of her drink even though it was still somewhat early in the morning.

“I . . .”

“You don’t have to say it. I already know,” Reena replied. “You find me rather attractive, don’t you?”

“Well, yeah . . .” Cord said.

“You’ve been ogling me for the past week in practice,” Reena said. “I’ve caught you quite a few times throwing glimpses at me from across the field. Ones that would suggest an intense interest.”

Cord had no idea what to say to this. He had been caught red-handed . . . what would she say?

“Come on, just admit it,” the Hapan said. “You find me attractive.”

“I do . . . well . . . kinda . . . I,” Cord mumbled.

“It’s fine,” Reena said. “It’s a little cramped in here. Mind if we head outside?” The two of them walked out to the pool, where they then sat down in sun chairs. No one else was by the pool; everyone seemed to be trying to get away from the resort for the day when they could. There must have been a few non-team members and staff staying here, but they were either still sleeping or also in town. Reena took another sip of her drink and then let out a sigh. “You know, I’m starting to think that this right here is your idea of a first date.”

“What makes you think that?” Cord asked quickly, trying to change the subject.

“You offering to hang out is enough, and given your level of interest in me, I think you finally screwed up the courage to ask me out. I think that’s what’s driving you here,” the Hapan said.

“I guess so,” Cord said. What was she trying to get to here?

“Well, I appreciate it. Not enough guys on this team are willing to be that honest, or even that forward about it,” Reena said. “You’re different.”

“Is that a good thing?” Cord asked.

“I would say so,” the Hapan said. “Different in a good way.” The two sat in silence for several minutes as they finished their drinks. Then Reena sat up and placed her glass down. “I don’t know about you, but I’m going for a swim.” She then pulled off her tank top and shorts, revealing just a bare bones black bikini. Cord’s eyes almost popped out of their sockets; she was great-looking before, but now she was just stunning. Reena just gave him a smirk and hopped into the pool, making little noise as she splashed in. Then her head popped above the water, her hair matted down. “It’s real nice in here,” she commented.

“I’d rather not . . .” Cord started.

“Oh come on, one swim won’t kill you,” the Hapan said.

“All right, fine,” Cord said. He tossed his shirt aside and jumped into the pool as well. As soon as he did, he could feel the cold water relax his tense muscles, and he almost felt as complete peace, despite him being awkward in trying to woo Reena. Did he really just think of the word “woo” here? Hm, this was getting serious.

“Told you,” the Hapan said.

The two hung out in the pool for a while, just sitting there in the water as they enjoyed being in it. Cord tried to act nonchalant around his crush, which was hard to do. Reena just looked so gorgeous . . . was he actually getting this far with her? He watched her as she glided through the water, the molecules parting as she came through. She was graceful in the water, unlike him. He tried to keep up, but he did more flailing, and splashed some water as he tried to move around clumsily. Reena just laughed, and Cord grinned sheepishly. In order to make himself feel a bit better, the rookie splashed some of the water on Reena by smacking his hand into the water. But the Hapan just continued to chuckle after she had gotten nailed by the wave, and returned the favor. Cord was then hit was a sizeable splash, and he thought a bit had gone up his nose because it burned for several minutes in his nasal passages.

Forty minutes later or so, the two left the pool. After a quick shower back in their respective rooms, they went down to the beach. Reena, now back in her tank top and shorts, brought a bolo-ball with her, and they played catch with it for a while. Back and forth went the ball, going from one to the other with amazing speed.

“You want a hint?” Reena finally said.

“What’s that?”

“It’s something for training camp,” Reena replied. “If the ball is here,” she said, moving the ball to the proper position, “then you are going to have to catch it. Coach has been really into that point, so it’d be wise if you learned it fast. If you make those catches, then you’ll really drive home that you belong with the Senators.”

“Thanks,” Cord said. He caught the ball and then tossed it back. Reena caught it and then aimed to throw. She tossed it high, and Cord had to jump to get it. He then came running towards her.

“This isn’t camp,” Reena said, laughing. “You don’t need to run a drill.”

“I’ll do it if I feel like it,” Cord said, grinning.

“You realize that I’ll put you down on the sand in nothing flat, right?” Reena asked as she moved in for the kill.

“Oh yeah?” Cord challenged. He made a cut in the sand, just like he would on the field, but nothing happened. Instead, he could feel his arms being pinned by Reena’s body as she moved in for the tackle. He then lost the ball, causing it to skitter away on the sand, but his body fell to the sand face-up. Reena tripped while trying to finish the play and landed right on top of Cord, facing him. It was an awkward moment for them. “I’m sorry,” Cord said. “I . . .”

“Don’t apologize,” Reena said, shutting him up.

“I’ll admit, I find you very attractive,” Cord finally said. There, he had admitted his crush on her. Reena just sat there for a few seconds, looking at Cord. She then reached down and kissed him on the cheek.

“Likewise,” she said.

“To be honest, you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever hung out with,” Cord said. “Maybe they have great taste at CorTech after all.”

“Better believe it,” Reena said. “Now, what do you suggest we do for the rest of the day?”

Cord’s mind wandered. Here was his opportunity; the woman he had a crush on seemed to feel the same away about him, at least somewhat. What about that walk in the sand he had promised himself?

“Uh . . . you want to just take a walk?” Cord asked.

“All right, I can do that,” Reena said. She got off of Cord and stood up, then extending her hand for Cord to reach. The rookie grabbed hold, and Reena hauled him back up to his feet.

“We can just walk this way,” Cord said, pointing to one end of the beach. “Not too fast; I’ve never been on a beach before.”

“Never?” Reena asked.

“Never,” Cord replied.

“Wow, you do need to get out more,” Reena said. “Live a little.”

“Is this a good start?” Cord asked.

“I would say so,” Reena said. The two of them started walking to the end of the beach that Cord pointed to, Cord marveling in the feeling of the fine sand grains between his toes as he walked. “As you can tell, beach is different than turf or grass.”

“Yeah, I missed my cut back there,” Cord remarked. “That never happens anywhere else.”

“Beach is a whole different ball game,” Reena replied. “It’s hard to get used to, but that’s where its biggest strength lies. If you train on sand for a while, everything gets easier afterwards. The grass doesn’t feel so rough anymore because you’ve really conditioned yourself.”

“Really?” Cord asked. The Hapan nodded. Cord stopped and bent down to pick up a handful of sand. The coarse grains started to sift out of the cup he had made with his hand. “This is sand?” he asked. “It’s so . . . different . . .”

“Well, consider this a day of firsts for you,” Reena commented. Cord then let the sand drop from his hand and placed it back by his side. However, he then had an idea; he reached out for Reena’s hand. His hand made contact with hers, and she recoiled slightly as she realized what he was doing. However, then she clasped onto his hand tightly, and Cord knew that he had something.

The two kept walking down the beach. It was somewhat hot out, but they didn’t really care. The smell and sounds of the sea were the only sensations that intruded on them as they slowly walked along. Finally Reena stopped, and Cord slowed down to a halt with her, their hands still tightly clasped together. The Hapan turned to look at Cord. “Cord?” she asked.

“Yeah?” the rookie replied.

“I think I’m falling for you,” Reena said.

Cord couldn’t believe it. The Hapan really liked him! He had gone from being awkward in front of her to making her heart swoon in about a week and a half. Not bad.

“Same here,” he finally said.

“It’s odd to say this, since I’ve only known you for a week and a half,” Reena said. “But I want to be more than just friends.” This really sent Cord’s mind into overdrive; was she really telling him that she loved him?

“Really?” Cord finally asked. He had thought of Reena as a good friend, but she was trying to take it to the next level.

“Really,” the Hapan said. The two looked into each other’s eyes, and Cord could tell that this was a real moment for both. Their lips came together for the first time, both of them wanting it from the get-go. Cord was astounded by this whole thing, but he didn’t want to let skepticism get in the way. He wanted this more than anything right now, and when it wasn’t awkward to do so, then it was the best time.

They finished, and looked at each other once again. “You’re a real OK guy,” Reena said.

But Cord wasn’t finished. His hormones were raging now; sometimes it was good to be an adolescent male. He reached out for one of the straps on Reena’s tank top in this blind hormonal daze. Common sense told him not to, but his mind was too filled with the promise of striking pay dirt here.

“Oh stop it,” Reena said playfully, her hand meeting Cord’s. “Wouldn’t a bed be better if we’re going to . . . you know . . .?”

“No,” was all Cord said. “This is perfect . . .” He semi-tackled Reena to the beach below, which helped because she was all in favor of this, and then rolled her over so that they faced each other, her back to the sand and his to the sky.

“Not a bad first date,” Reena said, smiling.

“Not at all,” Cord said.

An hour later, they separated, the beach still empty as far as the eye could see.

“I’ll say that this was a good day,” Reena commented.

“Yes it was,” Cord said, his chest still heaving slightly.

They then said their goodbyes, and Reena walked back towards the compound while Cord just sat in the sand, staring out at the ocean in front of him. That had been a good first date.



TAG: No One

NOTE: I'm at it again with my weird manipulations of characters.

 

GM Post
--Transaction Wire--
Hapes Consortium Buccaneers

• Kitty Galore (Hapan, Female, Midfielder, Royal College of Hapes) signed to an entry-level contract

Rydonni Prime Monarchs

• Vicki Devine (Theelin, Female, Half Forward, GVSU) signed to an entry-level contract

---

For today's friendlies, bonus rolls to Bakura, Coruscant, Euceron, Mando'ade, Nar Shaddaa, Ralltiir, and Rydonni Prime. Going into week 1 Agamar, Bakura, Coruscant, Euceron, Mando'ade, Nar Shaddaa, Ralltiir, and Rydonni Prime have banked bonus rolls.

Friendlies
Genet Vornskrs at Rydonni Prime Monarchs (35-8)
Naboo Ducks at Bakura Miners (27-31)
Vandelhelm Jets at Euceron Storm (23-36)
Mando'ade Mercs at Concordia Crusaders (20-1)
Kuat Triforce at Ralltiir Starkillers (4-8)
Druckenwell Marksmen at Nar Shaddaa Smugglers (19-16)
Coruscant Senators at Empress Teta Pikemen (22-15)

TAG: Bardan_Jusik CPL_Macja jcgoble3 Jedi Gunny Runjedirun Vehn

 

Not-really GM Post, but it might be of interest.

Power Rankings (Pre-Season)

1. Bakura Miners – The Miners are starting where they left off last season, winning all three of their preseason friendlies. The revamped defense looks solid, and their offense is rolling along on all cylinders. Look for the Miners to make a serious push towards the Galactic Cup title in 274 if they keep this up.

2. Ylesia Lightning – The reigning Galactic Cup champions, despite not participating in the Draft, will look to return to the Final and show that last year was not a fluke, which many people thought it was. This season will be a validation year for the Lightning, trying to prove that they are an elite team.

3. Ralltiir Starkillers – A hard-fought win over Kuat in the preseason has me thinking that the Starkillers break through this year in the shuffled Solo Conference. It will not be easy, as the Conference features quite a bit of star talent, but the Starkillers are used to winning, and if given a break they will take it. Look for them to make the playoffs this season after narrowly missing them last year.

4. Chandrila Patriots – Last season was rough for Patriot Nation, as the team sputtered in the stretch run on their way to missing the playoffs once again. However, Reina Keither is as good as they get for knowing the ins and outs of the roster, and look for the Patriots to rebound and make the playoffs this season. They are a dark horse contender for the title.

5. Euceron Storm – A win over the Vandelhelm Jets is always a positive. The Storm have been stuck in continual rebuilding mode for years, so now is the time when their talent finally takes them to the top. Look for them to contend for a playoff spot this year with an improving roster that was bolstered with the addition of Helmsman winner Mo Klaret. However, can they use that momentum through the entire season and not break down in the stretch run?

6. Coruscant Senators – Wins in the preseason over Wroona and Empress Teta were impressive, but neither opponent was that good last season. There will be major growing pains this season for the Senators, having to break in inexperienced starters (but experienced overall) up and down the lineup as they try to fill the enormous shoes of team Hall-of-Famers that retired following last season. Also gone is offensive guru Andrew Mundle, so new offensive coordinator Allie Orchetrada will have her work cut out for her to make up for the lost offensive production.

7. Mando’ade Mercs – A solid win over development affiliate Concordia erases some of the pain of losing 40-12 to Bakura. The Mercs, if recent history is any indication, will be highly competitive, especially in the revamped Skywalker Conference. Look for this ranking to rise if the Mercs come out swinging like they did against the Crusaders when they open the season at home against Coruscant.

8. Hapes Consortium Buccaneers – The C-Bucs are coming off a win in the Premiership, and although they didn’t participate in the Draft, they still look strong in the Solo Conference. However, will a lack of species diversity end up dooming them when they face off against teams with more size? Definitely a playoff-caliber team, and a hot one to boot.

9. Corellia Rebels – The Rebels come in off a loss in the Premier League finals to Hapes with a new chance to make things happen in the Elite League. They have been solid in the Premier League and GCLA in recent years, but not participating in the Draft may come back to haunt them if their current roster can’t get things to gel quickly.

10. Nar Shaddaa Smugglers – A completely new coaching staff and ownership of the Smugglers puts them here. Add to that the loss to development affiliate Druckenwell, and things look uneasy for the Burgundy and Black. Now, this is the preseason, and the Smugglers have rebuilt their lineup quite a bit. Expect them to make noise this season if they can get all of their new pieces to click and their coaching staff works to the extent it is capable of.

11. Rydonni Prime Monarchs – A win over development affiliate Byblos does not help ease the huge blowout losses to Genet and Balmorra. The Monarchs will have to find harmony on their roster, because at it stands now, the newer players look confused about their playbook, and that never bodes well for a team. There is definitely room to grow, but with the Monarchs constantly rebuilding with younger players, one has to wonder if chemistry is a problem.

12. Agamar Packers – The Packers are starting out fresh in the Elite League after a lengthy absence, which has boded well for other new teams recently in the Kayl’hen Era. However, things going against them are youth, inexperience at the highest levels of professional Limmie, an owner who knows little about the game, and a stadium that seemingly no one can find. As said before, new teams have had a good track record recently in the league, but the Packers will have to find that happy medium if they hope to compete this season.

Predictions: (Regular Season order of finish)

Skywalker:

Mando’ade Mercs

Corellia Rebels

Euceron Storm

Nar Shaddaa Smugglers

Ylesia Lightning

Agamar Packers

Solo:

Ralltiir Starkillers

Bakura Miners

Rydonni Prime Monarchs

Chandrila Patriots

Coruscant Senators

Hapes Consortium Buccaneers


Playoffs:

Corellia over Euceron
Bakura over Rydonni Prime

Bakura over Ralltiir
Mando'ade over Corellia

Mando'ade over Bakura (Galactic Cup Finals)


TAG: Bardan_Jusik, CPL_Macja, jcgoble3, Runjedirun, Tim Battershell, Trieste, Vehn, Rebecca_Daniels

 

GM Post
--Transaction Wire--
Agamar Packers

• Miles "Tank" Abrams (Human, Male, Utility Forward, ASF Academy Class of 263 ABY) signed to an entry-level contract

TAG: Tim Battershell

 

IC: Falene Trieste
Bakura Gardens, Salis D'aar, Bakura

Gungans were typically thought of as clumsy, uncoordinated beings who were usually only good for mucking up an otherwise perfectly good situation. Falene Trieste had just discovered that the stereotype did not apply to the athletes among their race.

Her opposite number for the day's game against the Ducks was a Gungan and he had, without question, outplayed Falene today. He was reasonably fast and larger physically than Falene, which meant that she had to play smarter if she was going to beat him. The problem was that she didn't. He knew how to dip one shoulder and then go the other way with his body. He could stiff arm her and get just that one extra second that he needed to make a play. The most embarrassing one was when he bounced the ball to one side of Falene with a little spin, went the other way, then darted back towards center to catch the ball whose spin brought it right to him. Falene knew that one was probably making the highlight reels and that wasn't going to make her look good.

It wasn't just her, it was the whole defense that just wasn't standing up to the Ducks. Luckily, the same thing was happening at the other end of the field. The Miners' Front Six was having their way against the Ducks' defense and everyone was getting in on the scoring. Niskat was included in this once she was put in at the start of the second half. If it hadn't been for the Miner forwards, the game would not have been anywhere near so tight. Falene knew that the offense was bailing them out like the offense had done so many times last season.

It was funny--the Ducks, who hadn't so much as sniffed the Elite League for the last dozen years, were putting up more of a fight than the Mercs had last week. There was no reason this should be the case, but that's what happened in rivalry games. The Miners had many and as a result they barely thought about the Ducks in the course of a year, unless they were set to play the team from Naboo. By contract, the Ducks had no other significant rivals and that meant that they thought about Bakura and the Bloom Bowl all year long. It was that kind of focus that drove the Ducks and allowed them to bridge the skill gap with the Miners. It was why, coming into the final two minutes, after several lead changes, it was a two score game.

Four points with less than two minutes left was manageable, but Falene knew that it was going to take a hard push by the Ducks. Valerii knew it too--she'd dropped North back to play as a seventh defender. Falene was also pretty sure she knew where the Ducks were going to spearhead their attack: her. As the ball sailed down the field towards her, Falene was totally unsurprised to see her friend the Gungan receive it. She sprung forward and wrapped the Gungan up. With all her might she pulled him to the ground, the impact separating him from the ball. One of the other Miners immediately kicked it up the field. However, Falene was unsurprised when she saw the Ducks working it back towards the Miners' end by way of a series of short passes. As she expected, it came to the Gungan again and Falene once again wrapped him up and held on. It took a bit longer to bring him to the ground, but by digging her feet into the grass she finally did. This time he held onto the bolo-ball and this sparked a pile of bodies to form as everyone tried to get it.

The glamorous life of a professional limmie player, Falene thought as she was elbowed in the collarbone by someone. For all she knew it was her own teammate.

The refs blew the whistle and separated everyone, eventually calling a jump ball. Falene knew that, based on position, she should take the jump, but she also knew that the Gungan had a good foot on her, maybe more. She'd never have a shot at bringing the ball in.

"T.K.!" she yelled, "Switch!"

He complied and the pair high fived in passing. She knew that the much taller human would have a better shot at winning the jump. As Falene waited for the ref to toss the ball high into the air, she surveyed the scene and tried to analyze it.

Set of his feet, slight angle to his shoulders, he's going right corner forward with it, Falene concluded. She inched away from her position where she was covering the Duck's right half forward. A bit of a gamble, but she was pretty sure she knew what was coming.

The ref threw the ball straight up and the Gungan beat out T.K. by an inch. He came down with it, spun, and fired to his right corner forward. Before it could get there, Falene stepped in front of the pass and caught it on the run. As the Miner fans cheered, she raced up field and took every step of free space she could. The fans were egging her on for a score, but Falene was only concerned with running time off the clock. Every second she held the ball was a second that the Ducks couldn't use to score. Just as she was about to run out of space, Falene surveyed the pitch in an instant. She saw her target and kicked a nice cross off to Alana. Glencross, whose opposite number on the Ducks, had cheated into the offensive zone, was all alone and she employed the same time killing techniques that Falene had used.

By the time Alana sent it deep into the offensive zone it didn't matter who came up with it. The game was over and the Miners took back the Bloom Bowl by a score of 31-27. The Miners had now won three preseason games and though it had been a tough game for Falene, one in which she played all 60 minutes and had been on the wrong end of more good plays than she'd been on the right end of, she knew that pulling out a win at the Gardens was never a bad thing. It was with a smile that she lifted the Bloom Bowl over her head for the fans. She threw a look up to the Noble House box and lifted the Bowl in its direction.

Somehow she liked the view better down here.

---

Interview room, Bakura Gardens, Salis D'aar, Bakura

"Falene, tell us about your first start and what that was like."

"Well, obviously a lot better than a loss," Falene said, "To have it be at the Gardens, in a game like the Bloom Bowl, to play all 60 minutes means a lot to me. I'm glad that we pulled out the win today."

"Do you expect to start in the regular season?"

"I don't expect anything. That's a decision for Coach."

"Do you want to start?"

"Yes, but like I said, the decision isn't up to me," Falene said, "That's all I'm going to say about starting."

"Falene, the Miners' first game of the season is against Nar Shaddaa. That's going to be a huge game. Think the team is ready for it?"

"We've come together really well during camp. I think we're in the best position to win that we're going to be," Falene said.

"Thoughts about your play today?"

"I wasn't very happy with it, to be honest," Falene said, "There's a lot of vid that I'm going to study in the coming weeks. That's not going to fly in the Elite League and if I get the opportunity to play there I'm going to need to be better if we're going to be a competitive team. Thanks very much--hope I see you all again."

---

Miners training facility, Hi'lo, Bakura

Even though the preseason was now done, everyone still returned to the island. There was one thing left to do.

The final cut.

Some had more reason to worry than others. Aron Rodders and Alana Glencross, for example, were going to start no matter what. Their meetings with Valerii were probably more like performance appraisals (though for the life of her Falene wasn't sure what she'd fix about either of those two). Falene was one of the players who had something to be concerned about. She honestly didn't know what was going to happen, especially after the Naboo game.

So it was that she sat in the hall outside of Valerii's office until she was called to come in. Once she did, she was confronted by one entire wall of transparisteel that took in a breathtaking view of the bright blue water that surrounded the island, the white sand beaches, and the lush verdant foliage.

"Wow. If this was my office I'm not sure I'd get any work done," Falene said, not bothering to hide how impressed she was.

"Yeah, I think that too, and then I look at the view and say, 'Nah, I'm good here,'" Valerii said with a smile, "Please, sit." She indicated not the chair in front of her desk, but a light wood chair at a matching table that had a partner in the corner of the front of the room.

"I'm not going to lie," Valerii said, "When you started camp you were every bit the problem child I expected you to be." Falene's stomach dropped. That was not how she wanted this conversation to start. "You didn't play well with others, you didn't take practice seriously, and you and I had issues. You had a lot of promise--and don't take that as a compliment. Do you know who has promise? People who aren't living up to their potential.

"Because you had promise and because my defense was so atrocious last season, I gave you playing time at Denon. You did well with it, so you got more at Mandalore and you did even better. Naboo...was not your best game."

"I know," Falene admitted.

"I know you do. You're still a work in progress." Valerii stopped and tapped one finger on the wood table. "Look, this is how it is, Falene. Part of me hates to do it, but you're going to start at center half back."

Trieste's heart jumped.

"You've gotten better over camp and you're integrating into the team. You have a ways to go, but I think you can get there. It's going to take hard work on your part. You ready to do that?" Valerii asked.

"Yes, I am. Trust me, you won't regret this," Falene promised.

"No, I won't. But you better make sure you don't. This is the real big leagues now. 3-0 in the preseason...beings take notice. More so when your mom can declare war on half the galaxy at will," Valerii said.

"I know," Falene said, "Thank you, Coach."

"Make us all proud, rook," Valerii said, standing and shaking hands with Falene.

The young woman was about to leave when Valerii said. "Oh, and thank your roommate. Without her I don't think you would have made it. She did more for you than maybe you know."

"I will," Falene said before she left.



Falene got to the corner before she took off running down the halls towards the dormitory. She'd done it! She'd made the team! Falene pumped a fist in the air as she ran. She almost couldn't believe it. She was really and truly a Bakura Miner now. Everything she'd worked had for had paid off. She was going to live the dream. Pounding the keypad for her room, Falene opened the door.

"Niskat!" Falene said.

But the room was empty. Falene shut the door and looked around the hallway to see if anyone was around. Will Detra was coming out of his room.

"Will! Have you seen Niskat?" Falene called.

"Yeah--she was headed to the beach. You make it Fae?" he asked.

"Yeah! You?"

"Reserves," Will smiled, "Coach promised me I'd split time with Corrie this season."

Falene ran by and high fived him. "Awesome! Hey, I'll find you later. Congrats!"

"You too," Will called.

Falene took the path to the beach, which was marked by flagstones set into the grass outside the training facility that gave way to the white sand that made Falene's feet sluggish. She saw a familiar shape sitting on the beach.

"Niskat! Niskat!" Falene yelled.

The figure twisted from where it sat and as the wind picked up its blonde hair Falene knew that it was her friend.

"I made it!" Falene shouted as she kept running.

"What?! You did? Falene!!!" Niskat shouted as she got to her feet and ran towards her.

"I can't believe it! I'm starting! We're going to be Miners!" Falene said. The distance between them was only a few feet, "We..."

The words, "did it," died on Falene's lips because now she could see the tracks of Niskat's tears on her face.

"I'm so happy for you, Falene," Niskat said with a smile as she hugged Falene.

"Niskat..." an uncertain Falene said. She somehow didn't think to put her arms around Deenever.

They didn't say anything for a second.

"I didn't make it," Niskat said.



Falene's happiness evaporated and she clutched Niskat, who was still hugging her. She felt Niskat's body shudder against her own with sobs.

"I'm sorry," Falene said, "I'm so sorry."

"Thanks," Niskat said, her voice catching.

"Come on, let's sit," Falene said.

Niskat nodded and they lowered themselves onto the sand. They sat side by side, looking out at the sea together. Falene put her arm around Niskat.

"Coach said that I'm the future, that I provided an offensive spark to the team, but that Landa's starting at center half forward and she's not going to break up Morgan and Becki," Niskat said, looking down at the sand, "That there just wasn't any room for me."

"Oh Niskat..."

"Why? Why would they even do this to me? Raise my hopes? Let me play? If this was all they were going to do to me!" Niskat grabbed a handful of sand and threw it into the wind, "It's cruel! What right do they have?"

"Niskat, Niskat, we've got contracts. They don't have to be right, they just get to do this to us," Falene said.

"I don't want to be the future!" Niskat yelled in her emotional pain, "I want to be the present!"

Falene pulled her into another hug on the sand. "I know. I know. I wish I could make it better."

"What will my family think? What will all my friends to SD think? That I wasn't good enough, that I really am the second to last forward, that I should never have been drafted," Niskat cried.

"Nobody's going to think that. Nobody," Falene said, looking at Niskat, her usually pretty face red and puffy from crying, "Your career isn't over. Not by a long shot. You know how many points you scored in less than three games?"

"No," Niskat said, wiping her nose with the back of her arm, "A lot."

"Darn. I wish you knew because I don't," Falene sighed.

"Some best friend you are," Niskat said, giving Falene a playful punch in the shoulder, "Don't even know how many points I scored."

"Well I do know it was a lot. A lot of beings took notice. Did Valerii tell you what's going to happen to you now?"

"I'm going to Cloud City for a year on loan."

"Cloud City? You know who else went there for a year after she signed her rookie contract? Alana."

"I wanted to be a Miner, not a Sky Captain," Niskat whispered.

"And how many people remember that Alana was ever a Sky Captain?" Falene said, "Nobody, because when she got here as a Miner she played out of her mind and made everyone forget it. She'll always be a Miner to everyone. And you're going to come back and be a Miner too. I know it."

"You think?"

"I wouldn't be best friends with anyone who wouldn't," Falene said, "And I know that Cloud City would never take a player on loan unless she was some hot Sithspit."

Niskat nodded. She looked out to the sea. "You know, I didn't think we would actually be best friends. I'm glad I was wrong. Really glad."

"So am I," Falene said, resting Niskat's head on her shoulder, "Best friends can be best friends even if one of them is on Bespin and another's on Bakura, right?"

"Yeah. Bespin's not so far away when you think about the galaxy," Niskat agreed.

"I didn't think it was."

---

Falene looked at her dorm room. One half of it had her stuff in it, the other half was as bare as the start of training camp. Niskat had packed all of her stuff up and was off to Cloud City. They'd embraced again at the door.

"They say it's super pretty there all the time," Falene said.

"I'll send you a postcard," Niskat promised, "and watch all the Miner games."

"I'll write," Falene said, "You won't get rid of me so easily."

And with that Niskat Deenever was gone and Falene sat on her bed alone. She swung her feet out of idleness. Somehow she hadn't thought that being a Miner would be so lonely.

TAG: Vehn