Star Wars OPEN Elite League Limmie

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"Hi I'm Ken Kitterich with your five by five sports update brought to you by Merr-Sonn, Fill you enemies with primal fear, fill their lungs with fire, Merr-Sonn."

"The college season is marching right along, and wouldn;t you know the top teams show why they're at the top with all but one of the top ten bringing home wins this weekend, only number five University of Garos taking the loss..."

"You would think that would help KMI but..."

"While close to home KMI looks to fall out of the rankings entirely after yet another devastating loss, this time to Verpine Tech..."

"They're not even a 'limmie' school."

"Yeah, Warriors have fallen on hard times..."

"Elsewhere, Bakura Fleet defeated Evanvale as the Archers take their first loss of the season."

"Knew they couldn't last..."

"Yeah, but who else in the Bak10 is going to end up on top right now, UBSD has what? One win?"

"Yeah just the one."

"Yikes."

"I'm Ken Kitterich and this has been your five by five sports update. I'll be back with you next hour at five after the hour but until then more of the Rancor Pitt, right here on the Fandalorian!"

TAG: no one/everyone

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HSN Top 25 after Week Four

1. Cloud City University, Bespin
2. University of Tatooine, Anchorhead
3. The Ord Sabaok University
4. Cinnagar Imperial College
5. Royal College of Hapes
6. Tipoca City College, Kamino
7. Cambrielle College, Ralltiir
8. Vertical City University, Nar Shaddaa
9. Grand Vulptur System University
10. University of Garos (Garos IV)
11. Druckenwell Technical University
12. Lorrd University
13. Chandrila A&M University
14. Venderwell University, Bespin
15. Yah'dhul A&M
16. University of Zeltros
17. University of Bison
18. University of Evenvale
19. University of Myrkyr
20. University of Mon Calamari
21. University of Ool
22. Bakura Fleet Academy
23. Gilles College
24. Imperial College of Bastion
25. Sanctuary Moon University, Endor

 

Sub GM Post

Bonus Potential for: Tatooine and Concordia (All teams 28)

Week 3 Results
Atzerri Bandits @ Thyferra Force (20-19)
Cantonica Golden Knights @ Tatooine Sandskimmers (16-7)
Druckenwell Marksmen @ Concordia Crusaders (14-1)

Tags: @galactic-vagabond422 @Jedi Gunny @SWNerd11 @Bardan_Jusik

 

IC: Leia Adama


Retirement from the game was not how Leia had ever imagined it being. Long gone were the days of her fresh-faced rookie season in 278 when she had given the moribund Senator franchise, fresh off an 0-fer season in the biggest black eye of Gark S’rily’s long illustrious career, a shot of adrenaline in the collective arm. So many years had passed that now the great Bothan’s children were knocking on the doorstep of going pro in Limmie themselves – they had been so young when Leia had started. It made her feel strangely old.


The gig she had landed as a wave analyst on 4000.7 The Jam was a very sweet one. Many players wandered from the game when they retired, seemingly no longer interested in following up on the sport that they had once dominated. She had not been forced to take that road – the job allowed her to keep tabs on the League and the teams it contained, allowed her to keep the competitive juices flowing even though she had hung up her cleats. And she had literally hung them up at her place on a specially-designed hook connected to the hearth, the mud and grass stains still caked onto the bright orange cleats from the previous year’s Galactic Cup Final.


The Senators were 2-1 without her, a loss to newcomer Bastion Imperial LC the only blemish on their record thus far. She had seen plenty of growth from the young forwards that she had once been among – Oriana DuChaard had taken the next step in her development as the next great Full Forward on the team, Aliix Obechen and Jell’asa Stann had turned the corner, and the entire unit showed its potential. Rookie Avie Trieste, the adopted-into-the-Noble-House-but-now-disgraced-from-said-House-due-to-political-and-fan-fiction-reasons new corner forward had shown progress in her first professional season, clearly learning plenty from grizzled veteran Freya Stormhelm. Stormhelm remained an Assistant Captain on the team, the representative from the forward unit on the overall captaincy list beside midfielder Zeus Syndulla and half back Eddie Munster under third-year Captain D’ana Themyscira.


It was rivalry week again, with the Chandrila Patriots coming to play. The Patriots had won the last several games in the series after being repeatedly pummeled in the past, their new roster making it more difficult to predict what they were to do on the pitch. It would not be an easy game, the kind of match where both teams wanted to win and would fight to the end for the right to hoist the Revolutionary Axe high aloft as the spoils of a series win. Tension would be running high, the hits hard and the blood boiling. It was good old-fashioned Limmie, and would likely be a good game to watch.


Sometimes Leia found her bones aching just watching the collisions on the field. She knew that she had given up the game at the right time. There was no telling if she could have made it through another season without getting seriously hurt – she just wasn’t young anymore. That was why she had decided to give it up, to keep herself intact going into the future if at all possible. So far, it seemed to be a worthwhile gamble.

 

GM Post

Bonus potential for Bakura, Carratos, Coruscant, Mando'ade, and Ralltiir! (It's an exclamation point kind of morning.)

294 Week 4 Results
Euceron Officers at Nar Shaddaa Smugglers (14-18)
Bakura Miners at Mando’ade Mercs (2-13)
Bastion Imperial LC at Carratos Pirates (20-6)
Coruscant Senators at Chandrila Patriots (28-14)
Rydonni Prime Monarchs at Ralltiir Starkillers (28-26)

TAG: @Bardan_Jusik @galactic-vagabond422 @jcgoble3 @Jedi Gunny @Runjedirun @SWNerd11 @Vehn

 

"First again!"

​

IC: The Rancor Pitt

"LIIIIIIIIIIIIIVE! From downtown Keldabe, on a sunny and warm Victory afternooooon. Welcome on into the Rancor Pitt, here on your wave home of the Mando'ade Mercs. I'm Randy the Rancor, he's Justin Pitt. Liz on the boards, with Kitterich on the other side of the glass and oh baby do we have a lot to talk about today."

"Mercs back in the win column..."

"Yeah man, though does it really count if it's against the Miners at this point?"

"Hey a win is a win, and yeah they've hit a rough patch, but shab, we have too, so I'll take it!"

"True enough."

"And to be honest, I loved the way they won!"

"Figured you would as the Mercs earned a shutdown with the 13 to two win over those Miners."

"Players there must be going crazy right now with the way their offense has played."

"I'd bet at least one is in therapy." Liz said with a wink to the readers.

"Meanwhile, the Mercs, who have had offensive issues all year were again treated to a goal apiece from their front line of Owens, Grute and Rocket..."

"The Guardians of the Galaxy right there."

"...while Maximus added a bar point as did Scythe, Donsun and Giles.

"Those two bar points from midfield, one each from the middles, was something to see, especially with how putrid this offense has been all year. Might be a sign of Kor'le trying to get her midfielders more involves there, especially with how well the defense has been holding."

"So, we've had one bad game on D, the opener where they gave up 32, one middle of the road game where they gave up 23..."

"Both losses."

"...and then two stellar games..."

"Both wins"

"... one a shutout, the other a shut down giving up just two points."

"Good for third overall best defense in the league."

"That gives me a little bit of hope going forward."

"They still have a negative point differential though because the offense is so putrid right now."

"And there go my rays of hope, flitting out the window and squashed..."

"Worse yet, don't look for that to improve any time soon, they take on the Pats next, holders of the league's stingiest defense."

"shabla NPC teams."

TAG: @Trieste

 

IC: Harle Quinn
Miners team shuttle, en route to Coruscant from Mandalore

​

“It didn’t work!” I protest. “I didn’t think about Mr. C at all during this game and we lost!”

“Well, it is a team sport,” my Omwati therapist points out via our holo connection. I booked one of the holo rooms with a meeting titled Rubber Endorian chicken testing -- DO NOT DISTURB, THIS MEANS YOU -- Love, Harle. Most meeting titles are boring like Game footage review, Personal finance for professional athletes, and Mandatory disciplinary meeting with ELL -- Harle you have to show up to this!!!! Life would be better if we had more meeting titles like mine.

Oh, the therapist is still talking. I should probably pay attention to her. “...and while it’s important to achieve the team goal, you should also celebrate your victories. Sometimes life isn’t straight forward.”

“So what you’re saying is I need to get the entire team to not think about Mr. C now?” I ask. Pretty sure I didn’t miss a beat--and I got right to the heart of the matter. Once again, killing it in therapy.

Just not on the field.

“That’s probably not the solution,” the Omwati said. “However, this is a good point to mention that you’re going to have to accept that not everything is under your control.”

Fair point. This isn’t a third-person omniscient narrative.

Is that a dare? Because Harle can change that.

“I mean...sure...that makes sense, like, logically and stuff,” I admit, “but look at what’s going on right now. We’ve been shutdown in three out of four games this season. That’s an offense problem, not a defense problem. I’m on the offense. I’m…” I stop and think and start ticking things off on my fingers. My face falls. “Oh Maker. After Jo I’m the most senior player on the offense.” I jump up. “I can’t be the most senior player! That means I have...responsibilities! Like being a leader!” I start pacing the holoconference room--which isn’t that big to begin with. If I was a fingernail chewer, I would be chewing them right now.

No time like the present to start.

“Responsibility can be daunting,” the Omwati tells me.

No kidding.

“But you just said that Jo Pawvelski has been there longer. And she’s an assistant captain, right?” she continues.

“Yeah…”

“So that doesn’t mean it all has to be on you. Yes, you’re a more senior player, but you’re not alone.”

“But there’s so much pressure!!!” I wave my hands in front of my face quickly because I feel hot. And sweaty. I need to step outside and get some air.

Except it’s the vacuum of space out there. That could ruin your day.

Good point!

“What does being a leader mean to you, Harle?”

“Having all the answers and being perfect all the time,” I reply instantly.

“Who do you think is a good leader?”

“Leia Solo. She was like the bestest leader ever. She brought down the Empire and then when everybody else would be all, ‘I’m just going to sip fruity drinks with umbrellas in them,’ was all, ‘Nah, I think I’ll fight the First Order too.’”

And that’s only if you count the adventures that are officially accepted. She did dozens of other things that are apparently unimportant now!

“Do you think she had all the answers?”

“Of course. She was General Leia Solo.”

Would someone who didn’t have all the answers have this many ways to kill people?

“Including that time when she got captured by Jabba the Hutt? She had an answer that helped her not get chained up in an outfit that objectified her and, in hindsight, might not have been a great idea for everyone involved?”

“Well…”

“And that wasn’t perfect either. Nor was getting captured by Darth Vader with the Death Star plans. Or getting tricked into being captured by the Empire on Cloud City.”

“That was Lando’s fault. And maybe Han’s.” Also, kind of problematic in hindsight, but then again that was the oughts of ABY. It was a crazy time with different gender roles I guess! “But those were things she couldn’t control,” I say. And then I facepalm. I hate it when she gets me to make her points for her. She can be so sneaky like that.

“But she was still a leader that a lot of beings admired, then and now, right?” the Omwati asked.

“Yes…” I grumble. I take a deep breath. “Okay, so she wasn’t perfect, but if there was a Galactic Cup for winning civil wars, her name would be on it.”

“Let’s put that idea of that aside--”

“But it’s a really good idea, isn’t it?” I press.

“--for the moment,” the Omwati continues. I make a mental note to propose my Galactic Cup of Civil Wars to somebody. Probably Commissioner Loki. He’d know who to talk to about that. “Let’s talk about what you can do.”

Or can we talk about the music? Is it diegetic? Is it supposed to tie into anything?

“And what’s that?”

“Prepare for games as completely as you can. Know the playbook backwards and forwards. Give it all that you’ve got in practice. Put in time in the gym between games,” the therapist says.

“I do a lot of that already. I’m a professional athlete, after all.”

“Focus yourself on these activities. Make sure your mind is fully on whatever you’re doing. If you’re thinking about what you’re going to have for lunch, then you’re not 100% committed to that activity.”

I don’t say anything in response to that.

“Harle?” the therapist prompted me.

“Oh, sorry, I was just thinking about what to have for lunch,” I say. “Keep going.”

“Tell me about your first two seasons in the league,” she asks.

“They were great! We won tons of games, I got to be rookie of the year, we went to the Galactic Cup Final twice, I met Pam--they were the best seasons ever...except for the not winning the Cup part. But everything else was good!” I gush.

“And how would that compare to the first year or two for all the players that joined the team starting last season?”

“Wellllllllllll...theirs hasn’t been that fun,” I admit. “But we did make the playoffs last year!” Barely. Controversially.

“How would you have felt if your first couple seasons had gone that way?”

“I would have killed myself,” I informed her.

“I hope you’re being hyperbolic,” the Omwati said.

“Not really,” I shrug. “I wanted to impress Mr. C, make him feel like he was justified in investing so much time and money in developing me, not to mention make the most of an opportunity that everyone I ever played limmie with would have loved to have--to play for the Miners--that if I hadn’t done well I probably would have found a convenient building to throw myself off of. If we hadn’t scored a goal in three games I might have even found an inconvenient building to throw myself off of.”

“You don’t have these thoughts now, do you?”

“Of course not! I’m not a rookie anymore, and besides we won!” I say brightly.

“So, taking out the moment that perhaps you had rather...serious self-imposed consequences for a lack of performance, how do you feel your teammates are feeling these days, the ones that haven’t won as many games as you did?” the therapist asks.

“...probably not so good. But we established earlier that I can’t control that, right? So it’s not my fault and I don’t have to worry about it!”

“It’s not your fault, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t anything you can do?”

“Well, I already took a hit to set up Muscles for one of our only points. I tell ya, Nolen Riian’s got quite an arm. Really struck me out after I made a pass to Muscles,” Harle complained. “What more than that can I do?”

“I’d like to propose a new mode of treatment for you,” the Omwati said. “You’re about to go to Coruscant, the cosmopolitan center of the galaxy, home to some of the greatest retailers and wares available in the universe.”

“And?” I prompt.

“I think it’s time that we try some retail therapy, Harle.”

My eyes go big. “I think you’re talking my language now, doc! Just one question.”

“Of course.”

“On the Fandalorian, does anybody else hear Liz when she talks?”

TAG: @Bardan_Jusik

 

IC: Breena Eastwick

How the hell could it happen again? She’d let the game slip away. Breena thought about a big bowl of spicy noodles as she dripped sweat onto the locker room floor while coach Allin ordered the team to be back at the stadium early the next morning to watch film. “If you can’t fix your mistakes, you’ll end up watching the play-offs,” he reminded the team.

If she listened, if she took his words to heart, Breena might begin to cry. So, she thought about those noodles. A big pot, with extra spicy sauce, the fresh pepper, herbs from her garden. The one she’d slaved over in her yard. A holo from her childhood on the big screen in her living room while she put her feet on the caf table and stuffed her face. Coach Allin hopped of his perch on the bench where he’d been making his speech. It must be over, she realized. She grabbed a few necessities out of her locker and bee-lined for the showers.

The noodles were just what she needed. Losing games sucked. Losing a game she should have won, a close game, it sucked more. Victory had been within her grasp. She didn’t want to ask how. She didn’t want to relive the moments that got away, she didn’t want to think about fixing them next week. She wanted to pretend the game, the day, never happened. That’s what Breena did as she selected a favorite romantic comedy and settled back into her sofa with her bowl of noodles.

There were no adults, she was the adult. So, when she got tired, Breena put the bowl on the caf table and lay down on the sofa, she slept there the entire night. When morning came, she saw a text from her father. Change of plans I’ll be flying in this week for the game against the Smugglers. She saw his flight information below the text. It was just the news Breena needed before heading into work. Today wouldn’t be hard on her body, it was a rest and recovery day. It would be hard on her psyche. If she let her coaches get to her. Now she had a reason to let those words not hurt her. Her father would be here soon. She needed this visit.

Coaches Allin and Dunerider weren’t too hard on the team after all. Or maybe Breena really was excited to be seeing her father in a few days. They had to watch some plays where key mistakes had been made several times, but it hadn’t bothered Breena. She’d lost Limmie games before and no team had ever had a perfect season in her memory. They’d get a win this week for sure, she just knew it. On her way towards the parking lot that afternoon Breena decided she wanted another bowl of spicy noodles, but this time she didn’t want to cook.

She didn’t hop in her speeder to go home, instead she walked a few short blocks towards the Zeltronian restaurant. The owner recognized her before she even got in the door. “Ms. Eastwick, so good to see you,” he said enthusiastically. “Fielder,” he called to one of the waiters. “Show Ms. Eastwick to a table. Get her a water. I’ll get those noodles going for you right away!” She may not have been coming here for long, but the owner knew her favorite.

Breena took a seat and scrolled through the news feed on her data pad while she waited for her food. The service was good, the owner was friendly and Breena left with a full belly. She headed back to the stadium parking lot to get her speeder. At a crosswalk a male human, stuck his head out of his speeder window. “Good evening, Beautiful.” The man said.

Breena didn’t want to be rude so she smiles and returned his greeting, “Good Evening.”

Breena continued on her way when the same speeder pulled up next to her and slowed down. “You live near here?” The stranger asked.

This made Breena uncomfortable. She didn’t answer and began to walk faster. Hoping the stranger would understand that she wasn’t interested. The speeder hovered forward beside her, “Don’t run off, I just want to be your friend,” the man said.

Breena turned a corner away from the stadium. She did not want this man to follow her back to her speeder. She headed towards the busiest part of town she knew. “Aww, don’t be like that,” she heard the man say as she broke into a run. Thankfully he gave up at that point. Breena was so shaken she didn’t head back to her speeder for an hour.

She considered going back to the restaurant to tell the owner, a man she trusted about the incident. But what if the man had just wanted to be her friend? That was crazy, of course, men didn’t holler out speeder windows when they wanted friends. No, this man was creepy and Breena hoped she never saw that speeder again.

Coach Dunerider worked closely with Breena all week. She was determined to help Breena stay one step ahead of the defense this week. Breena listened and worked hard. She also cooked all her own meals. She didn’t want to risk running into that speeder again. By Friday evening Breena was so relieved she survived the week. She sat eagerly waiting her father’s arrival at the spaceport an hour before his flight was due. If only she could have killed that hour at the restaurant she thought. Maybe she was blowing the whole incident out of proportion.

While she waited, she considered telling her father about the incident. She decided against it. Her father could go looking for the guy. He could tell Breena to never go to the restaurant again. Maybe he’d tell Breena to leave Ralltiir. That was doubtful, but her father was protective of his only daughter.

Finally, her father’s flight landed. No sooner did she give him a hug before he asked, “Why don’t we go to that Zeltronian Restaurant? It’s near here, isn’t it?”

Breena knew she’d be safe with her father and she still hesitated a moment. “Yes,” she finally managed. “That will be fine.”

Dinner and the flight home were uneventful. Her father caught her up on his students and his teachings. Breena confessed to her father that she was worried about this week’s game. The Smugglers were one of the best teams in the league. Her father reminded her she was one of the best forwards in the league. Saturday her and her father spent time together at the park, that evening he cooked. Breena’s only concern Sunday morning was winning. The Starkillers could not afford another loss.

@ no one

 

IC: Zara Bell'ator
Carratos

Three games three losses, Zara had started in three games and lost all three of them. It felt like there was nothing she could do against Bastion. They were like a machine. Everyone knew where they needed to be, and where the ball was going. They had their system down pat and it never seemed to fail them. They had options for everything, even when Zara was on top of her mark that didn't seem to stop them. It felt like every opportunity that was given them they scored. They buried the Pirates in goals. Made the defense look like a turnstyle. There goes the playoffs, and any chance at a title defense.

Sitting in the locker room Mighty Mo sneered looking down at Zara. Once again she was getting the blame for another loss. The room is dead silent. A hard loss at home had taken all the fun out of the room. Zara could feel everyone's eyes on her judging her, blaming her. She didn't look up she didn't need to. It was her fault, the last three losses were her fault. She kept getting burnt, kept being behind the play. All of this fell on her.

Logan sat quietly in the center of the room looking to everyone in turn, hie golden eye glinting.

"Well, that was rough." He started, "But, Bastion's new, we didn't know exactly what we were in for." Again his gaze swept around the room. "We aren't done yet. There are still 5 more games to play and we need to play everyone like our shirts are on fire. It isn't going to be easy but, we can do it, the season isn't over yet. Go home pick yourselves up, we start practice tomorrow afternoon. I want you all here ready to give your all. Got it?"

"Yes Coach." came the lackluster reply Zara's voice not even added to the anemic chorus.

"I said got it?" Coach reiterated, a slight laugh at the end hoping to get something more out of his team.

"Yes Coach." Their voices were more forceful this time, though the rookie half back's half hearted reply was lost among the others. Though she heard Iris loud and clear.

She ambles her way back home a simple apartment in the same neighborhood as Gaius, Coach Sabah and Tian, and other players. Zara had left early choosing not to walk with anyone. Gaius most of all. That was one thing she didn't need. Temptation, to do something stupid. She's made plenty of mistakes when she was in a slump, or otherwise frustrated in her professional life. Mistakes she'd rather not repeat now that she was playing on the biggest stage, with a lot more eyes on her.

Back in college she could get away with an indiscretion here and there. Though it didn't make some of her classes any less awkward sitting on the far side of the classroom from everyone else.

She slumped down on her couch and turned on the holo, and nearly instantly regretted it. Of course she left it on sports, and what were they talking about…

"Are the Pirates out of the playoffs?"

"I think they are, dropping three games two of them at home…" one loud mouthed commentator started. "It isn't a good look. The defense is leaky like a sieve and the offense can't get anything going."

"What effect do you thing being down two veteran defenders is having?" The more level headed of the pair asked.

"It is clearly having an effect Wiles and Bell'ator, especially Bell'ator, are pylons out there just waiting for forwards to blow past them. They need to wake up and realize that Iris Copin can't bail them out every game."

"And on that do you think we are seeing Copin's legacy fading before our eyes?"

"Copin's been doing everything she can to pull this team up but, she had no help. The front three are slowing down in their later years and the half back line is just Copin, no one else. She was the only one on offense making any noise. That's what made it easy to smother. The rest of the defense could just collapse around her and choke her. She can break two maybe three tackles, but, six. That's too much even for Scarface."

"What do you think needs to happen?"

"Get those damned rookies out of the Half Back line, trade for some actual defenders, or get them off the free agent list, bring back Kaesse with a busted shoulder, put a HeadBANDAID around Manx-Sandin's belly. Doesn't matter anything would be better than Bell'ator at left wing, because right now she is a net negative on that end. I don't know why they drafted her in the first place. She clearly didn't have the skills to be in this league…"

Zara turns it off, her head swirling with doubts. It really did a lot for your self confidence when you were rated below an injured player and a pregnant one. She put her head back letting out a long breath. Her gaze shifted over to the cabinets, were a bottle of rum lay. The fuzzy feeling it could grant. Maybe that would take her thoughts off all this. That was until she heard her father's voice in the back of her head.

"Zara, promise me something…" His voice was low not quite pleading but, his tone was serious. "Promise me that you'll never drink to forget. That you won't turn to drinking to deal with your problems." It was her lifeday, the one that made her old enough to drink. Her father took her aside sitting her down in the kitchen, away from the party and her friends getting ready to go out on the town. "Cause you won't find any answers at the bottom of a bottle...believe me, I tried." He looked away. His own battles with the drink were no secret in their house. He was pretty open about them, and how that lead to him meeting Zara's mother. She was a young rookie seccer left in charge of the drunk tank, the usual hangout for dad. He wasn't a belligerent drunk, or an angry dunk, he was pretty joval when he had a few drinks in him. Though that often led to fights when he would hug a stranger out of nowhere, or drunkenly flirt with another being's partner. Said charms stuck with him once he dried out too but, they were amplified by the drink. The drink was a constant spector for him, there was never any alcohol in the house and he never went anywhere with a bar.

He'd seen the darkside of drinking and he didn't want his daughter to fall down the same hole he did for over a decade.

"Promise me little girl." He wasn't letting her go until she promised him.

"I promise daddy."

It had been a while since she thought of that conversation, a sort of long forgotten promise. That meant drinking was out, watching holo was out, lest she stumble across more 'brilliant' insights from commentators that haven't ever stepped on a field as a player in their life. She could call someone talk to them...but who, Iris? Pej? They were probably together and not in any state to be taking calls from their 'third repulsor'. She needed something to distract herself, something to get her mind off everything swirling in her head.

She got up with sore muscles and took a long shower, trying to turn her brain off, letting herself just be. It took a while. A long while until the water turned cold kind of long while. The cold water shocked her but, she remained focusing on her shivering, her shaky breath. She was punishing herself, like she does when she goes out with Iris and Pej. Flagellating herself for not being the perfect player, the perfect person. It wasn't like she tried to be so but, when you fall short of even lowered standards, what did that make you? She rested her forehead against the wall of her shower tapping it lightly against the tile. She needed to forget, to put it all behind her.

Though it was hard to forget when it felt like everything you did was a failure.

TAG: No one

 

​

"Hi I'm Ken Kitterich with your five by five sports update brought to you by Merr-Sonn, Fill you enemies with primal fear, fill their lungs with fire, Merr-Sonn."

"Week five of the college limmie season has come and gone and teams are making that push now to be included in the field of sixteen. Don't expect much movement at the top as the best teams in the galaxy all seem to have a stranglehold on winning..."

"Top three three all won, though Cinnagar had a bit of a stumble there."

"...while the bubble teams are frantic to prove their worth with Yah'dhul, Mon Cal and Myrkyr all winning while the pressure proved to be too much for Zeltros and Evenvale who really hurt their playoff chances with losses this week."

"I'm Ken Kitterich and this has been your five by five sports update. I'll be back with you next hour at five after the hour but until then more of the Rancor Pitt, right here on the Fandalorian!"

TAG: no one/everyone

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HSN Top 25 after Week Five

1. Cloud City University, Bespin
2. University of Tatooine, Anchorhead
3. The Ord Sabaok University
4. Cambrielle College, Ralltiir
5. Cinnagar Imperial College
6. Royal College of Hapes
7. Tipoca City College, Kamino
8. University of Garos (Garos IV)
9. Grand Vulptur System University
10. Vertical City University, Nar Shaddaa
11. Lorrd University
12. Chandrila A&M University
13. Venderwell University, Bespin
14. Yah'dhul A&M
15. Druckenwell Technical University
16. University of Myrkyr
17. University of Bison
18. University of Mon Calamari
19. University of Zeltros
20. University of Evenvale
21. Gilles College
22. Theed University, Naboo
23. Sanctuary Moon University, Endor
24. University of Ool
25. Bakura Fleet Acadamy

 

Sub GM Post

Bonus Potential for: Tatooine, Atzerri and Concordia (All teams 28)

Week 4 Results
Thyferra Force @ Concordia Crusaders (14-8)
Cantonica Golden Knights @ Druckenwell Marksmen (20-18)
Tatooine Sandkimmers @ Atzerri Bandits (12-28)

Tags: @Jedi Gunny @Bardan_Jusik @SWNerd11 @galactic-vagabond422

 

GM Post

Bonus potential for Bakura, Carratos, Mando'ade, and Ralltiir.

294 Week 5 Results
Nar Shaddaa Smugglers at Ralltiir Starkillers (22-16)
Bastion Imperial LC at Euceron Officers (13-25)
Bakura Miners at Coruscant Senators (28-12)
Chandrila Patriots at Mando’ade Mercs (8-11)
Rydonni Prime Monarchs at Carratos Pirates (2-18)

TAG: @Bardan_Jusik @galactic-vagabond422 @jcgoble3 @Jedi Gunny @Runjedirun @SWNerd11 @Vehn

 

IC: Harle Quinn
Salis D’aar, Bakura

​

“That wasn’t fair!” I complain. Crossly. I complained crossly. Because alliteration is always awesome!

“Welcome back to Bakura to you too,” my therapist says.

“You can’t tell me that I get to go shopping as part of ‘retail therapy’ and then send me a message when I get there that I’m not allowed to buy anything for myself!” I continue heedlessly. (I didn’t have another c adverb for that one. Accuracy was more important than effect.) “What’s the point of that!!!”

“I hope by the time we finish today you’ll see the point of it,” she says.

“Yeesh. It was miserable.”

“Was it?”

“Yes.”

“Was it?”

“Yes.”

“Was it?”

“...maybe not entirely,” I admit.

So here’s what happened. I’m stoked to go buy the cutest of everything at all these amazing stores that aren’t on Bakura because they’re so trendy and Coreward that they don’t even think of coming all the way out to the Outer Rim, when I get there and I get this message:

You aren’t allowed to buy anything for yourself. You can only buy things for your teammates. Please find one item for each of them.

Do you know how hard that was?!?! I found so many things I wanted! I considered smashing a window or two to get them, which would have used the loophole in the shrink’s guidelines (she just said I couldn’t buy anything for myself, not that I couldn’t get anything for myself). However, I decided to be good/the police presence on Coruscant was surprisingly...present and didn’t follow through on that.

“So what did you get everyone?” the therapist prompts.

“Well, the easiest being to shop for was Horst Penn. He thinks candy is the greatest thing in the world and I decided to channel Horst and decide that this giant thing of gummy Ewoks would be appropriate.

“So then I just started working my way down the starting roster.”

“Just the starting roster?” the Omwati challenges me.

“Name one reserve on the Miners,” I challenge back.

“Uh...there are the three caballeros, right?”

“Not any more! Cundertol traded them for a bag of bird seed,” I point out brightly, pleased with my victory.

You have to get in every win you can against Omwati. They’re super smart.

“All right, so what did you get everyone else?”

“So first was Marnie Blake, the goalkeeper.”

Why is the goalkeeper first? Shouldn’t forwards, the front six be first? This seems backwards. This is always how rosters are listed. It’s weird.

“She’s super into fitness and stuff,” I explain so she understands my gift.

“She’s a professional athlete. You are too. Isn’t that kind of the norm?”

“She arm wrestles droids. DROIDS.” I shout this last word to punctuate my point. “That’s not natural. That’s weird!” Before my therapist can do something totally unreasonable like say shouting at your therapist is weird, I continue. “So I got her one of those cool workout shirts that regulates your temperature and keeps you from getting sweaty. And I got it in bright green.”

“Why bright green?”

“It reminded me of a kiwi, which reminds me of Marnie.” Obviously. “Anyways, then was Mick Callister, who’s a rookie, so I figured he could probably do with something familiar and reassuring since this is his first pro season. I got him some fudge from Grand Vulpter. I’m told their fudge is good...which I mention because I didn’t eat any of it even though I wanted to because it might have broken your stupid rules.”

The Omwati doesn’t say anything about that, which makes me briefly wonder if I could have had some of the fudge. “So Horst was taken care of. Then came Bree Veers. I bought her a stuffed monkey. I considered getting a really big one, but that would have been difficult for the porter droid to take back to the hotel.”

“You got a droid to carry your purchases?”

“You thought I was going to carry all of this?” I ask incredulously. “What do you think I am, a pack mule? Anyways, I got Filibuster one of those leather wristbands with inscriptions on them because he’s always wearing one. And I got Stephana a bunch of hair product because she’s really rocking this punk look these days and that takes a lot of work to keep up properly.

“So then there was…” I pause.

“Harle, are you forgetting the name of your left half back?”

“No! Their name is...Kryss Footprint and I said ‘their’ totally because they have a nonbinary gender identification and totally not because I forgot their gender for a second,” I clarify very helpfully and not at all to cover that I forgot their gender. “I got Kryss this cool hourglass I found that I thought would remind them of Tatooine. And I got Minnerva a dictionary--”

“A dictionary?”

“She seems like the kind of being who would read a dictionary for fun. She’s Chiss, after all. And I got Bast a video games. She plays a lot of video games.

“And then I came to me and I did not buy anything for myself.”

Or steal anything. You deserve credit for that too.

“So I moved on to Mela, who is another Bakuran Zeltron like me, so if I know one thing it’s that hard to find high quality skin care products for us on Bakura, so I got some that fit her skin tone from a store. There were like five stores I found with Zeltronian products. It was crazy!

“I got Adam one of those navigational thingies because he’s getting lost all the time. I found some Carratosian rum for Angel--figured she probably misses that. I think she’s been exiled or something ever since she joined the Miners. They really weren’t happy about that back then, even though it wasn’t her fault that Mr. C drafted her.

“I got Muscles some New Aroma. Apparently he’s, like, a really big fan of their stuff. I guess he must be an Alana Glencross fan.”

“Kirt.”

“Gesundheit. And then I got Jo Pawvelski a ball of yarn.”

“Because she likes playing with it?”

“No, because she loves knitting,” I sigh with exasperation. “And even though you didn’t say I should, I got Coach Draper a bottle of liquor because he’s always drinking, and yet seemingly never drunk. And I got Dr. Tunross a walking stick because he seems like he’d going on an adventure hike.”

“Did you get anything for Cundertol?” the Omwati asks me.

“That seems like it would have gone against your earlier ‘don’t think about Mr. C stuff’...so I decided against it after…definitely not thinking about it-slash-him,” I recover smoothly. “And that was everybody!”

“What did they think when they got your gifts?” she prompts.

“Oh, I just left them in my hotel room. In fact, they’re still there now.” The therapist glares at me. “Kidding! I totally brought them on game day and got there early to put them in everyone’s lockers so they could all be surprised when they got there. And they were!”

“I’m glad to hear it!”

“Everyone made wonderful comments like, ‘Harle, this is completely unexpected,’ and ‘Harle, this gift required emotional depth that I didn’t think you possessed,’ and ‘A dictionary. Looks fun,’ and ‘Harle, I don’t knit, but I will definitely play with this ball of yarn later when no one is looking.’”

“That’s great. How did you feel about giving everyone a gifts like that?” the Omwati asks.

“I felt good,” I say.

“Let’s go a little deeper there. Why did you feel good?”

“Because I made my teammates happy. And I think it loosened up the locker room. We played our best game of the season against a strong Senators team,” I point out. “This means I should buy everyone gifts every game!”

“That might lessen the effectiveness of the tactic,” the therapist says. “In fact, gifts may not be the most satisfying language of appreciation for you, just as there are others that are more satisfying for some of your teammates.”

“Wait, how many of these languages of appreciation are there?”

“Five in total.”

“So with four left, we can do one a week for the rest of the regular season. It’s almost like it was planned!” I exclaim happily. “Who would have thunk it?”

“That won’t be our focus for the remainder of the season,” she informs me.

That subverted expectations quickly. I bet she ate a red herring for lunch.

I narrow my eyes. “Wait, am I in the middle of some nebulous, hazy master plan?”

“Not at all. The methods we discuss are organic, depending on what you’re dealing with at any given moment. Last week we discussed the pressure you put on yourself as a leader and how you could begin to connect with junior players. In doing so, you acted like a leader. The unexpected display of support helped them not dwell on the losses this season, but instead feel a sense of camaraderie. It was a small thing, but since you said this was the Miners’ best game of the season, it made a big difference. And have you noticed what we haven’t talked about?”

“Pink elephants!” I exclaim. “Are we going to talk about them now?”

“No--you haven’t even talked about how you played. You focused on them instead of the fact that you scored a goal and four points--your best game this season.”

“I guess I did forget to mention that…” I admit. “But there’s a problem, doc. If I’m not going to keep buying everyone gifts and we won, what do we do now? Everything’s great” I ask. I’s say that everything is awesome, but that’s Horst Penn’s song.

“You thought the team was fixed after you beat Carratos.”

“That was a whole two weeks ago. Everything’s different now!” I say confidently.

“And who do you play this week?” the Omwati asks.

Oh darn.

“The Skywalker Conference-leading Patriots. So yeah...that’s gonna go great!” I predict. “You sure I can’t go buy more stuff?”

“Unfortunately, if you could buy wins in the ELL, everyone would be paying off the Commissioner and he could be able to quit his day job.”

“Wait...isn’t being Commissioner his day job?” I ask, scratching my head. As I do, there’s this slight breeze. It’s almost like something’s going over my head...

TAG: @Jedi Gunny

 

IC: Breena Eastwick

Sure, if you looked at the standings it was an easy climb back to the top. No team was dominating the rankings in either conference. That didn’t stop the pain. It didn’t stop the frustration. It didn’t stop the fans from booing and who could blame them? The Starkillers had lost 3 games in a row. At home. Breena went through the motions of dropping off her father at the spaceport. She felt so defeated she only mumbled a, “Goodbye.”

Her father put his fingers under her chin. Something he hadn’t done since she was a little girl. “You’ve made it. No one can ever take that away from you. I’m so proud.” He gave her a stern yet loving gaze before he turned to board his shuttle. Breena crossed her arms and hugged herself for warmth as she walked out into the night.

She didn’t bother to turn on the radio in her speeder. She let her mind do the talking. She played through her childhood. All the days she spent practicing while other girls her age were shopping, going to holos, learning to apply make-up or dating boys. She thought about college. She hadn’t gone to parties since she needed to be up early for practice. She took only classes she knew she could pass so she could stay on the team. Her only friends, her only opportunity to socialize had been with her teammates. Those sacrifices could not be, would not be for nothing. Breena didn’t make it this far to lose. To be regulated to the bench or sent back down to Tatooine.

Her last name wasn’t Vigo, she wasn’t established. Breena had to start standing out, she had to do more than stand out. She had to lead the team to wins. When Breena arrived home, she ate a healthy meal and went to bed. Her alarm went off early the next morning. She grimaced in frustration as she passed by Tomas’ house and saw that his speeder was already gone. She had wanted to beat him to the stadium.

Breena was the 4th person on the field that morning. Olidiipo, Lawco and Vigo were warming up as she walked out of the tunnel. “Join us,” Vigo said waving her over. Shortly after Breena joined the group Sancheese and Qoorreck showed up. Coach Dunerider walked the sidelines a few times. Just to let the group know she was watching. There were no organized practices today. Maybe Breena should be resting her body. Rest hadn’t paid off yet, no this was where she needed to be. She believed that, even as she brushed herself off after a particularly hard blow from Qoorreck.

As she was packing her bag at the end of the afternoon Breena caught a glimpse of Coach Allin. It was late now, nearly evening. Was he just arriving? He went in an office with Coach Dunerider. Breena got to the parking lot just in time to see his wife pull out of the stadium parking area. She must have been his ride. It didn’t seem right. Her head coach could barely care for himself. Was he burdening the team? Was he kept on for image reasons? Breena was a rookie, it certainly wasn’t her place to ask these questions. Ultimately though, the head coach needed to be there for her to succeed. He shouldn’t be a figure head. He needed to be present. He needed not only be able to focus, something Breena observed he had a lot of trouble with. He needed to focus on the team.

She tried to focus on the upcoming game against Bastion. It was a conference game. A must win. Her frustration with the coach didn’t go unnoticed. “Can I talk to you?” Came a voice after practice on Thursday.

It was none other than her team Captain, Tomas Vigo. “Of course,” Breena said as she clutched her bag of gear at her side.

“Ty, Coach Allin. He’s, by law, my brother in law. He’s been a brother to me, for as long as I can remember. For him a lot of those memories are gone forever.” AH HA! Breena wanted to interrupt. Even the team captain admitted Coach Allin wasn’t fit for this position. How could a man without a memory of how to play Limmie possibly coach it?

“I’m sorry,” Breena said trying to be sympathetic.

“Don’t be, he knew what he was getting into playing this game. We all do. Either we bust up our hips, our legs, or our heads.” Vigo stopped walking and took a seat on a bench just outside the stadium. He motioned for Breena to sit next to him. She took the seat. “He’s a genius,” Tomas stated. “Not just at stopping offenses. He also knows how to bring a team together. If you have a problem. I dare you to take it to him. His jokes keep us laughing, his work ethic keeps us strong and I know you see him struggle. We all struggle. To see his human side, sorry,” Tomas said realizing that Breena wasn’t fully human.

“It’s okay,” she assured him.

“Just give him a chance.” Tomas said. He got up and walked to his speeder. Breena sat on the bench and pondered what she should do. Finally, she decided she was getting Zeltronian food. At the restaurant. She made her way down the block and into the restaurant. She was being followed, but she didn’t notice.

After her meal Breena made her way outside. It was dark and quiet. She heard the speeder immediately and looked behind her. No, it couldn’t be, but it was. He pulled down his window, “I don’t want any trouble Miss. I just want you and me to be friends.”

“No thank you,” Breena tried.

“You don’t know me,” the stranger said. “I’ll buy you a drink.”

“I don’t drink,” Breena said refusing the offer.

The pilot pulled into an empty space and got out of his speeder. Breena started to run. She’d just eaten, she’d been practicing all day. He caught her. Breena was scared, she was angry, she let her guard down, her skin turned red. Her beady red eyes stared into his. He went from excited and gleeful for his catch to fearful. “What’s happening?” He asked. His grip didn’t lesson. Breena began to fight. An on looker must have called law enforcement. Breena never even felt the stun bullet. She was full on attacking the man who had meant to assault her when it hit. She woke up in a med center. Hand cuffed to the bed rail.

Breena thought she was all alone now. On a planet with no friends and no family. An officer interviewed her. He took notes as she explained the incident a week ago and again tonight. How she feared for her life. She’d been attacked. She’d only fought back because she had to. The officer said he believed her. To Breena’s surprise the stun cuff was removed. “Get some rest,” the officer said.

Breena couldn’t rest. Who could have helped her? She sat up in bed and looked to the doorway. In the shadows stood Coach Allin. He peaked in, “You all right?” He asked.

“Did, did you help me?” Breena managed.

“You didn’t need my help. As I understand it your attacker is in worse shape than you. And don’t worry, he’s in custody. He won’t bother you again. I’ll see to it, personally, if I have to.”

There was another question Breena had to ask. “Did they shoot because I’m a Zeltron?”

“Probably,” Coach Allin admitted. "Don’t take it personally. The color of my skin, let’s just say I’m still not always welcome on this planet. Most of the people here are wonderful. I met my wife here,” Coach smiled. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Breena answered.

“Get some rest,” Coach told her. Breena saw a gangly teenager join him. Allin’s eldest son, she realized. They walked down the hall together and out of sight. She closed her eyes and fell asleep. The next morning, she was released. It worried her that she was limited in practice. Her coaches assured her she would start. That evening Breena joined Tomas and his family at, of all things, a high school Limmie game. They went to see his nephews, T.J. and Ezra Allin.

Now Breena knew what all the buzz was about. T.J. was a senior. Still undeclared for next season. He scored while his freshman brother blocked shots as keeper. T.J.’s talent was undeniable. He scored and he scored and he scored. The game seemed unfair, as high school games often did. One star could dominate an entire league and now this team had two.

After the game Tomas introduced Breena to friend. “Everette went to high school with me,” Tomas said. “He builds droids almost as good as I do.”

“Better,” Everette argued. Breena laughed, a genuine laugh. Tomas, his wife, their sleeping child, Everette and Breena went to a small café for dessert after the game. Everette was shy, but he was handsome and that night Breena couldn’t get her mind off him as she tried to drift off to sleep.

Tags: none

 

HSN Headlines

• Highlights from Starkillers' Friday Press Conference with Coach Allin:
• Reporter: “Can you tell us what happened to Breena Eastwick?”
  • Coach Ty Allin looks at his data pad and reads what is obviously a prepared statement: “On Thursday evening I received a call that rookie forward Breena Eastwick had been involved in an incident. I arrived on scene to find my forward unconscious and under arrest. A conscious male was also being questioned. I heard Ms. Eastwick had been aggressive towards the male in question. I didn’t understand. Ms. Eastwick still has some learning to do when it comes to being aggressive on the Limmie field, I was sure she hadn’t been aggressive towards a stranger on the street. After collecting holo images from surrounding businesses law enforcement and I learned the truth. Ms. Eastwick had been chased by the male who she was found to be warding off when law enforcement arrived. Of course, law enforcement shot first, they got answers later. Thankfully they had set their blasters for stun. Ms. Eastwick was taken to a med center for evaluation and kept overnight for precaution. She’s been released and is in good health.”
  • Ty pauses a moment and looks up at the reporter, but he’s obviously not done speaking.
  • “I’ve been assured that the city of Cambrielle will do a complete investigation. If an officer reacted inappropriately, they will be disciplined. The male who was seen chasing Ms. Eastwick is in custody. She reported that he had heckled her before in the same area of town. He has no previous record,” Ty rubs his forehead. “The Starkillers organization will do everything in it’s power to protect all of our players at all times. Especially Ms. Eastwick if her attacker is released. We don’t take this situation lightly.”
• Reporter: “Will Ms. Eastwick play this weekend?”
  • Coach Allin: “She’ll Start.”

TAG: @Runjedirun

 

Not even close to first...

​

IC: The Rancor Pitt

"LIIIIIIIIIIIIIVE! From downtown Keldabe, on a sunny and warm victory afternooooon. Welcome on into the Rancor Pitt, here on your wave home of the Mando'ade Mercs. I'm Randy the Rancor, he's Justin Pitt. Liz on the boards, with Kitterich on the other side of the glass and oh baby do we have a lot to talk about today."

"Don't look now, but the Mercs are over the .500 mark!"

"Yeah Mercs pulled ahead of the break even point on the strength of their 11 to eight win over first place Chandrilla."

"Got their all important first in conference win too, making them one and one on the season there."

"That's important, especially given how close the conference is, no team better than three and two, no team worse than two and three. I think it'll come down to conference record for that last playoff spot, and maybe for the last two."

"Yeah, think you're right."

"So nothing set in stone yet for the Mercs but at least they picked up a win here to stay in contention."

"Only put up 11 points against the league's top defense, but it was enough."

"Held them to eight, and surprisingly the Mercs now have the 2nd best defense in the league."

"Who would have thought that after last year's dumpster fire?"

""Well they're also tied for the 2nd worst offense in the league."

"Defense wins championships."

"Yeah well they have to make the playoffs first."

TAG: no one, shabla NPC teams.

 

GM Post

HSN Headlines

• After a quiet season from the Bak10, in which its teams have struggled to make the top 16 of the HSN rankings, the Cape Suzette Gazette reports that the conference is considering ending preferential admissions for athletes.
• Source: "In effect, this would mean that an athlete for any sport would have to get into the university first. The fact they were an athlete who had been recruited to play a sport would have no bearing on their admissions decision."
• Boosters worry this change would further hurt the Bak10's standing against other college conferences with one UBTV donor saying, "After nearly walking away from tackle limmie, this is the last thing we need. Athletes invest energy in operating at a top level. That means their academics can't be equally good. We're going to lose talent as a result of this. Other conferences will benefit from this, undoubtedly."
• Change is reportedly a response to the UBGC and CD&M admissions scandal in 293 where non-athletes were admitted to programs, including limmie, in exchange for bribes paid to coaches.
• Commissioner Kerry Trieste's office has said they "do not comment on any potential changes to Bak10 rules that haven't been approved by the athletic directors."

TAG: @Bardan_Jusik

 

​

"Hi I'm Ken Kitterich with your five by five sports update brought to you by Merr-Sonn, Fill you enemies with primal fear, fill their lungs with fire, Merr-Sonn."

"Coming down to the wire now in college limmie as teams try to put the finishing marks on their resume's for the playoff pollsters."

"StarBucks in good shape man, I'm telling you this is their year."

"Cloud City is looking unbeatable, I mean the absolute perfect team..."

"Most of the top ten look to hold on to their positions with wins this weekend, though both number five Cinnagar Imperial and number six Royal College of Hapes couldn't hold on against tough opponents, look for them to fall..."

"Not out of contention though for either of them i would think."

No, I think you're right, but Hapes especially better win next week to solidify a spot and stay off the bubble."

"Meanwhile the Pilots of GVSU beat Chandrilla and will be moving up in the rankings."

"Yeah they guaranteed a spot in the playoff with that win I think."

"Good for them, since they will lose next week..."

"That sets up a huge game with the number three StarBucks in the last week of the regular season, a game hosted by the Pilots."

"Won't matter, 'Bucks have The Game well in hand."

"Further down the rankings, Druckenwell Technical University a team on the bubble also lost, so look for them to be on the outside looking in when the next rankings are announced."

"I'm Ken Kitterich and this has been your five by five sports update. I'll be back with you next hour at five after the hour but until then more of the Rancor Pitt, right here on the Fandalorian!"

TAG: no one/everyone

---

HSN Top 25 after Week Six

1. Cloud City University, Bespin
2. University of Tatooine, Anchorhead
3. The Ord Sabaok University
4. Cambrielle College, Ralltiir
5. Tipoca City College, Kamino
6. University of Garos (Garos IV)
7. Grand Vulptur System University
8. Vertical City University, Nar Shaddaa
9. Cinnagar Imperial College
10. Venderwell University, Bespin
11. Royal College of Hapes
12. Yah'dhul A&M
13. Lorrd University
14. University of Myrkyr
15. University of Bison
16. University of Mon Calamari
17. Chandrila A&M University
18. Druckenwell Technical University
19. University of Zeltros
20. Sanctuary Moon University, Endor
21. University of Evenvale
22. Gilles College
23. Bakura Fleet Acadamy
24. University of Ryell Clemency, Rydonni Prime
25. Theed University, Naboo

 

IC: Zara Bell'ator
Carratos

The final whistle sounded and the Pirates finally got a win, with only two goals scored against them. And Zara was on the bench.Vahva was deemed healthy enough to play against the Monarchs. She wasn't a hundred percent but, apparently she was better than Zara. Said rookie halfback got home and just collapsed on the couch. Nothing to make you feel more worthless than having a not quite fully healthy player be better than you, a healthy young hungry defender.

All she was, was a body to fill a slot. A being to make sure the team had enough players to field. She was frustrated feeling useless or unneeded had that effect. She should ask for a trade but, who would take her when it is clear that no team would want her. She had two more years to ride the bench before her contract was up. DId she dare risk free agency? Would the Pirates even want her back after this performance.

She could always beg Iris to intercede on her behalf. She thought if she was given a chance she could show her skills. Well she did, she showed that she had no skills. Nothing a team would want. Nothing anyone would want. She balled her hands into fists and slammed them into the couch shouting at the ceiling. Was this the best way to get her anger out, maybe not but, it was what she was doing.

She was a being of poor coping mechanisms.

One that she desperately wanted to use was calling Pej, and talking to him. He was always ready with an encouraging word, a kind smile, and that nervous laugh that never failed to make Zara smile. But, she couldn't do that, she had to move on from him she knew that. However, her mind had a way of reminding her of a time. A time he called her up soaking wet and broken hearted. Part of her wanted to just throw a towel around him and give him a hug. She brought him to her home to cheer him up give him a washer he could use to clean his drenched clothes. She was being nice, but deep in her soul she just wanted to hold him close and tell him everything was all right. That she would take care of everything.

In a roundabout way she did. She kept Pej from giving up on Iris, over a silly little comedy of errors. There was a moment though, a singular instant that she could have changed things. It was the moment Pej gave up and resigned himself to watching from the sidelines as Iris and Gaius went off into the sunset. In that moment she thought of leaning into that, of letting him think Iris and Gaius were an item without saying exactly. She seriously considered wrapping an arm around his shoulders and see where things went from there.

He was dejected vulnerable, easy prey for someone unscrupulous enough to let him continue to believe in something that wasn't true.

Sometimes it was terrible to have a conscience. She'd been where he was, knew that pain. Of still holding a torch for someone but, knowing they will never see it. In that moment she could have alleviated her pain maybe take away his. She had almost thought herself into believing it. That it would be better for everyone if she stole Pej away from her best friend. But, she still had a conscience, it told her that there would still be that place in Pej's heart for Iris, no matter what happened, and that Iris would eventually feel the loss of her closest friend. They would both be in pain and she would be the cause of it but, she would have Pej, though not all of him.

She was doing it again. Punishing herself for wanting to take what wasn't hers. Just to fantasize for a moment about what could have been.

A growl started deep in her chest as she turned on the holo projector. She quickly avoided the sports channels knowing that only more frustration lived there. It took much longer than she wanted but, eventually she found some old detective holo with stark lighting and a protagonist that always seemed to have a cigarette in his mouth. The plot was confusing made doubly so by the fact she was coming in halfway.

As her mind was trying to piece things together she slowly put away the feelings and thoughts that were swirling around her head. She was still frustrated at her own inadequacies, at her unwillingness to let go of something that was clearly never going to happen. But, she let the holo just wash over her, let it take her to the mean streets of...where were they Corellia, Courscant? Did it really matter? It was doing its job, giving her something else to think about other than the mess that was her life.

It was just a temporary patch. Soon those feelings would be back, soon she would find herself in the spiral again. There had to be a better solution than just distraction. Something that lasted longer than the length of a holo.

For just a moment she thought if there was a way to erase memories, to just blink them out of existence. It would certainly free up some space up there. What would she get rid of, all of Pej and Iris and, Gaius while they were at it. But, would getting rid of the memories get rid of the feelings or would she still have them with no context? That would almost be worse. Having deep feeling welling up in you for someone that you don't even know, and that is taken. It would be a tourture of a different sort.

She shook her head, bringing her attention back to the holo that looked to be wrapping up. The case was solved, the femme fatale was dead, the police were taking away her accomplice. All that was left was for the detective to walk away alone, just as he started. Everything returned to normal.

Was this normal? Was this her normal?

TAG: @SWNerd11

 

GM Post

Bonus potential for Bakura, Carratos, Mando'ade, and Ralltiir.

294 Week 6 Results
Carratos Pirates at Mando’ade Mercs (1-20)
Chandrila Patriots at Bakura Miners (8-6)
Bastion Imperial LC at Ralltiir Starkillers (13-32)
Coruscant Senators at Nar Shaddaa Smugglers (22-2)
Euceron Officers at Rydonni Prime Monarchs (16-9)

TAG: @Bardan_Jusik @galactic-vagabond422 @jcgoble3 @Jedi Gunny @Runjedirun @SWNerd11 @Vehn

 

Sub GM Post

Bonus Potential for: Tatooine, Atzerri and Concordia (All teams 28)

Week 5 Results
Druckenwell Marksmen @ Tatooine Sandskimmers (13-16)
Concordia Crusaders @ Atzerri Bandits (9-0)
Thyferra Force @ Cantonica Golden Knights (15-15) OT (15-15) SO (16-15)

Tags: @Bardan_Jusik @galactic-vagabond422 @Jedi Gunny @SWNerd11

 

"First again!"

​

IC: The Rancor Pitt

"LIIIIIIIIIIIIIVE! From downtown Keldabe, on a sunny and warm victory afternooooon. Welcome on into the Rancor Pitt, here on your wave home of the Mando'ade Mercs. I'm Randy the Rancor, he's Justin Pitt. Liz over on the boards, with Kitterich on the other side of the glass and oh baby do we have a lot to talk about today."

"Mercs with the big win over the defending champs and don't look now but the Mercs are in first place!"

"That's right, that's right Mercs win big over the Pirates..."

"Who you hate."

"...who I really hate, in a 20 to one game that vaults the Mercs into the playoff hunt."

"That was...that was a defensive clinic put on by the Mercs..."

"You loved it."

"...I loved every second of it."

"Second shutdown of the season fro Stargazer..."

"To go along with her shutout of the Monarchs too."

"...as once again an opposing offense was held to single digits."

"Mercs D has only allowed double digits twice so far this season, both games in which they took a loss."

"Yeah, that's because their offense sucks."

"This was their first game all season reaching the 20 point mark, and they barely did it."

"Offense needs work, that's for sure, but hey at least the defense is amazing..."

"And defense wins championships."

"So you keep saying."

"Hey, any defense that has played this well this year and can shut down Iris Copin the way they did can compete for a Galactic Cup."

"They really did do a number on her."

"I think they made it their mission to go after her, you could see her taking hit after hit, and it just denied her the possessions needed to score."

"Kept getting back up though."

"Yeah she did, and you know what, i respect the hell out of her for it, none of those were light hits, and some were borderline dirty..."

"Didn't get penalized for it much."

"...and she just kept on going and going and going..."

"Like the energizer bunny."

"I think a lot of players would have packed it in, especially down the way they were late, but really she kept playing like it was a tie game there at the end."

"Surprised the coaching staff didn't shut her down, that's an injury risk though too isn't it?"

"It can be, and yeah I get what you're saying, but sometimes a player just refuses or a coaching staff uses a player like that as inspiration, to show the rest of the team the right way to play..."

"Actually guys, hearing now that there might be an injury there..."

"Say what now?"

"Getting word that she, Copin, was put on mandatory rest after the game..."

"Could be she was just tired after an all out effort like that."

"Especially the way she was getting beat up."

"Because it's either that or she is hurt a lot more than she was letting on there during the game..."

TAG @galactic-vagabond422

OOC: Game events were all planned out here by galactic vagabond, thank you much there, including of course the potential injuries to Iris. Hopefully I set this up well enough for his own followup post.

 

GM Post

HSN Headlines

• The typical banter between Coach Logan Manx-Sandin and reporters turned frosty after loss to the Mercs.
• Reporter: "With a 2-4 record what is your mindset heading into the last three games? Time to tank and rebuild?"
  • Manx-Sandin: "We have a solid foundation and good pieces a little early to ring the bell for a rebuild."
• Reporter: "Are you still plan…"
  • Manx-Sandin: "And another thing, We do not tank. That isn't what we do, do we have bad years yeah but, we will never intentionally play weakly or poorly just to get a good draft pick. That never works, and it will never work for us. We ride or die for our locals. So high pick or no, you know who we are going for. Besides our fans tune in and show up to see us play, not throw the game away. They come to see us put everything on the line not half *** it. It would be a waste of their hard earned credits for us to just lose on purpose. There is no process here. We just getting some bad breaks here. Next question."
• Reporter: "On that note, will Copin be starting next week? I note she is not present."
  • Manx-Sandin: "Sharp eyes, no she is not here. She is getting some much needed rest after getting thrown into the meatgrinder out there."
• Reporter: "Do you think it was wise keeping her out there and risking injury."
  • Manx-Sandin: "She said she was fine, that she could play. I let her play. Believe me I know better than anyone that drive to play even when your body is betraying you."
• Reporter: "Wouldn't that put the long term goals of the team at risk?"
  • Manx-Sandin: "Who is to say, she made it through this game, she'll make it through the next. She's made of tough stuff, and I don't think a Death Star could keep her off the field next week."
• Reporter: "With your lack of depth at Half Forward can you really afford to lose her even as the Playoffs are out of reach."
  • Manx-Sandin: "As far as I know we're still playing next week."

TAG: @galactic-vagabond422

 

IC: Harle Quinn
En route to Bastion

​

“So are we going to talk about what happened last week?” my therapist asks via holoconference. Today’s meeting on the shuttle schedule is listed as Definitely Not Anything Harle Wants You To Not Know About So Now You’re Not Curious About What’s Going On (And Questioning The Double And Triple Negative).

“What? The part where I punched Ootred Ootredssen in the face for being such a stupid face?” I ask.

“Not that part.”

“The part where I selflessly passed to Muscles for him to get a goal right before the half?”

“Not that part either.”

“What about the part where I missed what would have been a game winning goal by going wide right?”

“I wanted to talk about this,” the Omwati says, sharing an article that made the top of the Salis D’aar Times sports section shortly before the Patriots game.

“I really feel like you’re passing up some fertile territory, doc,” I observe, completely disregarding the headline QUINN: “NOT EVEN ELL LIMMIE MAKES US SAFE” at the top of the article.

Let me read some pertinent bits for you. Ahem. (That’s what smart beings say before they start reading.)

Star forward Harle Quinn (that’s right! “Star forward!” Let’s see if they use any better descriptors later on!) made comments on the sidelines of practice yesterday to media regarding the recent arrest of Ralltiir Starkillers forward Breena Eastwick on Ralltiir. “This kind of Sithspit has to stop.” (I hope my parents don’t read that. I try to save my profanity for the third paragraph when I know they’re reading.) “From everything I’ve read, this was a case of a non-Human woman being accosted by a stranger multiple times. Does the galaxy fricking realize that we have to go through life wondering if this is going to happen to us?”

Quinn stated that the possibility of sexual violence is doubly present for beings of her species and gender. “There is so much violence implicit in the galaxy against females, but there’s a completely different dimension for non-Humans. Both Ralltiir and Bakura are majority Human planets. Neither Breena or I asked to be born a Zeltron. I mean, I can’t speak for Breena, but I think it’s pretty great. But it means that I am continually objectified by millions, billions, trillions, maybe even quadrillions of beings. It’s as if my red skin and purple hair gives other beings the right to impose their desires on me regardless of whether I share them. This happens to females of almost every species, but the statistics of assault by Humans on Non-Humans are staggering.”

Researchers for the Times say that Quinn’s statements are supported by statistics released by county police departments for 293. Across Bakura, non-Human females were six times more likely to be sexually harassed or assaulted and a majority of incidents involved a Human male. Equal justice advocates point out that actual statistics may be higher due to social stigma, professional retribution, and psychological pain for victims that cause them to not report crimes against them.

Quinn’s 15 minute, seemingly impromptu speech, left few corners of the issue unplumbed. “I’m not saying females are more virtuous than males. If you live in the Hapes Consortium and you’re a male, you’re ten times more likely to be sexually harassed or assaulted than if you’re a female.” Statistics from the Consortium state that males are eight times more likely to be the subject of such actions than females.

“What the galaxy needs to understand is that Breena and I have incredible fortune and privilege by virtue of being professional athletes. But not even ELL limmie makes us safe. We can still be the victim of this violence. Maybe beings are going to wake up and understand now, but I doubt it. That’s why I carry a bat in my purse and I’ll knock the teeth out of the next being who thinks I’m their personal fantasy. If that means they handcuff me to Breena, then that’ll be my new favorite bracelet.”

“So would you like to talk about why you decided to make those statements?” the Omwati asks.

“You’re an Omwati and you’re asking me about why I felt like I needed to tell the galaxy about what a problem this is?” I shout. “There were beings on the HoloNet who thought that Breena was overreacting and shouldn’t take things so seriously and needed to calm down!”

“Harle, you should calm down.”

“Don’t tell me to calm down!”

“You’re trying to strangle the holoprojector.”

So I am. I stop, but mainly because it’s counterproductive to strangle an inanimate object. Much better to smash it with a lightball bat. I could have been a great lightball player if I’d put my mind to it.

Really could have knocked it out of the park.

Once I sit down again, the Omwati asks me, “Do you think because of your interaction earlier this season you feel protective of Eastwick?”

“Protective is such a strong word. I prefer that I was standing in solidarity with her, as I have with non-Humans who face injustice throughout my career,” I state.

“So is that more important than limmie?”

“Of course it’s more important,” I say dismissively with an audible pfft. That’s right. I pffted.

“More important than winning?”

I roll my eyes. “Of course.”

“And do you realize that even though you could be beating yourself up for having missed an opportunity to win the game, you’re not and you’re actually doing fine? That this is significant progress from earlier this season, all due to the fact that you’ve not found 100% of the meaning in your life from your job,” the therapist says.

“Well when you put it like that, it’s hard for me to disagree,” I observe. “You could let me do some of this work myself, doc.”

“An outside perspective can help illuminate things, even if we already know them,” the Omwati says. “So how are you feeling about Bastion? Given that non-Human rights are a big deal for you?”

“Oh I have big plans for Bastion.

“Big plans.”

“Why did you say it like that?”

“Say it like that?”

“Like that.”

“I said it regularly,” I said.

“No. It was like you were trying for a certain effect,” the Omwati says.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I say confidently.

“And I definitely am not going to tell you what my plans are.”

“What was that?”

“Nothing!” I say innocently.

TAG: As @Bardan_Jusik likes to say, shabla NPC teams (that I’m stuck between)

 

IC: Breena Eastwick

It was awkward on game day morning. Breena hadn’t expected the awkwardness. Tomas was the first to check on her, Coach Dunerider was second. “No one will blame you if you want to sit out today,” she said.

“What?” Breena answered. “I am going to play. I told you, I’m fine.” Breena was fine. She’d barely gotten a scrape. Why was everyone so concerned? Several teammates avoided her, Breena realized they were afraid. They didn’t know what to say.

On the field the very first pass from Tomas was to Breena. She rolled her eyes; she just knew he was passing to her to be nice. Or worse, to test her. Well this was a test Breena would not fail. She sped up, dribbled the ball to point blank range and ferociously kicked the ball past the keeper and into the back of the net. Breena was so focused she forgot to celebrate. Stone faced she lined up for her team’s kick off.

Her mind may have never been more focused. Breena was determined to prove to her teammates she didn’t need to be doted over. This incident would not define her. Her teammates noticed one thing, Breena was in the Zone. The all-important Zone every athlete was lucky experience just once in their career. Breena could not miss. She scored all afternoon, 25 of the 32 points belonging to the Starkillers were scored by Breena. The crowd was on their feet, chanting her name; Breena didn’t even notice. She just kept scoring, proving she was Breena Eastwick best forward in the ELL.

After the game Breena was the first player to be questioned by reporters. “Have you been holding back in previous games or did you just find your grove out there this afternoon?”

“This afternoon was special,” Breena admitted. “I’ve been practicing with this team all season and today everything clicked. The hard work began to pay off.”

“So, you think you can repeat this performance next week against the Mercs Defense?” The reporter asked.

“I’ll do my best,” Breena offered.

“There were no signs the attacker you warded off a few day ago had gotten in your head. Are you at all concerned about his upcoming hearing this week?”

“No. I fended him off once and I can do it again.” Breena stated coolly.

She felt a hand on her shoulder, it was Tomas Vigo. She could tell by the look in his eyes that her comment had gone too far. Public threats probably weren’t the best look for a professional athlete. “What I mean is I can take care of myself,” Breena clarified.

Once the reporter had moved on to interview Coach Allin Tomas whispered in her ear, “4:30.”

She looked at him questioningly.

“4:30, in the morning. That’s when I leave my house for practice in the morning. If you want to join me.”

Breena had been invited to the secret club. The exclusive club of Starkiller players who Tomas invited to his crazy early practice.

“I’ll be there,” she promised.

That night Breena went home and answered a call from her father. “You were amazing, out of this Galaxy, I’m so proud of you.”

“Thanks Daddy,” Breena replied between bites of noodles.

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

Breena nearly chocked on a noodle. “I’m fine,” she said evenly. Hadn’t she done enough today to prove she was fine?

“Is the man still in custody?”

“I’m not going to talk about this. Besides we have three road games, I’m barely going to be on this planet for a month. He couldn’t follow our shuttle through hyperspace.”

“You’re my little girl. I love you. I need to know your safe,” this was the 100th time Breena had heard these words in the last few days.

“Dad, I know, I told you I’m fine and I’m fine. Goodnight.” She switched off her data pad and threw it across the room onto the sofa.

The next morning Breena arrived in Tomas’ driveway at 4:25, he met her just a few moments later. “Get in,” he said unlocking the speeder. “Caf?” he asked.

“It's too early for caf,” she replied.

Tomas shrugged, he ran in the house, came out with a large Thermos and flew the duo to the stadium. Olidiipo, Sancheese and Qoorreck were in the parking lot. Lawco arrived minutes later. Breena had a great practice. She went home for a nap at lunch time. That’s when Breena had a dream. No it wasn’t a dream, it was a nightmare. Everywhere she went she saw that speeder. At the end of the dream, he leaped out, chased her, tackled her to the ground and this time she couldn’t fight back. She woke up in a panic.

On Monday night she had another nightmare, Tuesday she saw a headline about the trial while she was trying to eat breakfast. Coach Dunerider asked her if she wanted to speak to a therapist about her experience when she got to the stadium. Breena had grown up a Limmie player. She had no weaknesses. She refused the offer. It spooked her. Could Coach Dunerider sense the lack of sleep?

It didn’t stop with Coach Dunerider Tomas Vigo and Coach Allin checked up on her as well. Breena was furious. She did not want her coaches or teammates to think she was weak. Frustrated she took her anger out on the bolo ball. She blew through everything the defense could throw at her all during practice.

There was good news. The man who attacked her was not released. The judge ordered him to remain in custody until trial. Trial couldn’t be scheduled until the end of Limmie season. Breena would have to testify. She wasn’t going to think about that now. She did watch this evil man’s family complain in front of the courthouse. They claimed that if the alleged victim hadn’t been high profile their loved one would have come home today.

This infuriated Breena even more. When her father called that night, she didn’t answer. She was so tired of pity. She texted back that was too busy studying her playbook to talk. Breena couldn’t sleep. Finally, she texted her college roommate and x-teammate.

Debbie didn’t answer the text. She called, “What’s the matter Bree?”

“I can’t sleep. I’m sorry I texted in the middle of the night,” she began.

“It’s not the middle of the night here,” her friend reminded her. “Besides you can text or call anytime. You know that. I’ve missed you. And I’m glad you texted. Bree, I was so sorry to hear about the attack.”

“I’m OK,” Breena assured her friend. “It’s just, well I’ve been having these dreams. He won’t leave me alone,” Breena confessed.

“Oh, Bree. Have you talked to anyone? Doesn’t the team have a therapist you can see?”

“Well they offered, but I didn’t want to come off as weak,” Breena admitted.

“Are you crazy? Tomorrow the first thing you do is go talk to that therapist. If you don’t, I’ll fly out there and make you.” Debbie wasn’t kidding. She had feelings for Breena. Feelings Breena couldn’t return. Even after this experience she still knew in her heart she wasn’t attracted to women. Even though many had wanted her. It was a problem to be female and not interested in females when you played sports. That was another topic, for another day. Now Breena had to make a promise to a friend. One that would be hard to follow through. She would never expect her teammates to fully understand if she went to a therapist. This could be the end of her very short career.

“I’ll go,” Breena said. Even though she wasn’t sure she meant it.

Breena and Debbie stayed on the phone until Debbie’s warm voice finally lulled Breena to sleep. She had the nightmare again. The next morning, Breena scanned her data pad furiously looking for the anonymous number all players were given during training camp. She could call, talk to someone and no one would ever know.

Breena dialed, her fingers shook as she pressed the numbers, the line began to ring. “Press one for Basic,” she heard. This was ridiculous, Breena ended the call, ate her breakfast and went to practice.

Her new solution was melatonin and alcohol. The substances put her to sleep and she slept without dreams. Three nights of uninterrupted sleep before she left for the Mercs game. The shuttle left early Saturday. Breena watched Everette arrive at Tomas’ house to go watch the High School game. She hadn’t been invited this week. She decided to go tend her flowers in the front lawn. Maybe he would notice her.

The ploy worked, at least Tomas noticed she was home and had nothing to do on the humid summer evening. “Noticed you were out here, if you don’t have plans you can come with us to my nephews game,” Tomas offered.

“Okay,” Breena said with a shrug trying to act casual.

She sat next to Everette at the game. He was quiet, he seemed nervous, “Are you okay?” Breena finally asked during halftime. The Allin boys and their team were obliterating their competition with a score of 21-2.

“I should probably have asked you that question,” Everette answered.

“Why?” Breena wanted to know.

Everette took a deep breath to prepare himself. “Well, I saw the story about you on the news. I actually wanted to invite you out for caf after our last meeting,” he paused. “I figured after the incident you didn’t want to have anything to do with men for a while.”

That made sense, Breena thought. It was actually sweet; so she told Everette her feelings. “Your kind. I’d like to have caf. Are you fee anytime next week?”

And so, when Breena got on that shuttle to Madalore. To face the best defense in the league. Breena had a date to look forward to when she got back.

Tag: @Bardan_Jusik

 

IC: Zara Bell'ator
Mandalore

Zara stood there, for far too long, at the door to the hotel room Iris had been put up in. The star forward didn't leave with the team last night after the game. She got really beaten up on the field against the Mercs. The medical staff recommended at least a day of rest before going back home, for yet more rest. Zara remained behind as Iris's friend to make sure she was following the medical advice. She swiped the access card for the room and entered. Right in front of her was Iris going through some stretches.

"What do you think you're doing?" The Twi'lek asked head tilted to the side, a hand on her hip.

"Just some light stretches...don't want to go soft." Iris explained though the bashful look eyes at the ground.

"Iris," Zara started shaking her head. "The docs said rest and they know what they are talking about."

"It's just some stretches it'll be fine."

"Hey I saw your medical workup." Zara came close to Iris gently guiding her back to bed, being careful to not put too much pressure on her. "You are a walking bruise with overworked muscles. And now you need rest." Iris winced a little as her friend guided her back onto the bed. "Rest, and light activity, you need it."

"I need to be ready for next week." Iris protested laying back with another pained expression flashing across her face.

"You'll never be ready if you hurt yourself being stubborn." Zara pulled back the blankets tucking Iris in more to make it more difficult to escape than making her comfortable. She was about to make some off color comment her and Pej but, she held her tongue. Almost as soon as Zara got her settled Iris started trying to get up again. "What do you need now…"

"I'm just getting some water."

"Let me get it." Zara said putting a hand on Iris's shoulder.

"You don't have to."

"Look with Pej still back on Carratos, just let me play nursemaid for just today. It's about the only thing I can do to help you." It was some self deprecating humor. The last three games she played in had all been losses. Though it was clear she wasn't the only cause of the losing streak, she'd been shown up at every turn. She was useless as half back, the least she could do was look after her friend that had been through the Mandalorian Ringer. She got up and put some water and ice into a simple plastic cup. And handed it to Iris as she sat up.

The patient took the water sipping gently on it. The pair were quiet for a moment Zara turning on the holo to get some noise going. It seemed like fate that it was set to a sports channel showing Iris getting up after a hard hit. Zara quickly changed the channel didn't want to relieve worrying about her friend or waiting for the moment the commentators criticized her the bench player. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Iris try to get up again.

"What did I just say?" Zara asked, a bit of snark in her voice.

"I have to do something." Iris answered through gritted teeth. "I can't stay in bed."

"You can and you will." Zara sat back letting out a breath, "You're not some supergirl, you need a rest. You're going to hurt something if you keep going like this."

"The team needs me."

"We need you healthy too." Zara chided Iris reaching out a hand but, stopping herself from touching. "You've been running at 100% since the start of the season. You can't sustain that. You deserve some rest. You need some rest."

Iris looked like she wanted to argue but, her data pad chimed. Iris reached for it but, Zara beat her to it. Opening it a smile bloomed across the twi'lek's face.

"Hey Pej." Zara started keeping her smile. Appearing on the screen was the horned visage of the devaronian. Her hand shook just a little. "How are things?"

"Uhh...hey Zara um, things are going well. I have some projects due soon but...um...things are going well."

"That's good. Still making those holos?" Zara continued but, over her shoulder she saw Iris reaching forward trying to take the pad away. She moved her shoulder to block her friend.

"Uhhh...yeah, still have my drone." the little camera drone appeared over his shoulder.

"Hey little fella." The smile deepened on Zara's face even as Iris winced trying to get closer to taking the pad away.

"Uh...Is Iris ok."

"Oh...she'll be fine…" Zara looked over her shoulder locking eyes with her best friend. "If she'll lay down for more than five minutes." Taking the not so subtle hint Iris sat back in the bed. Zara smiled even more. "I guess you saw the game?"

"Yeah, I try not to miss games. Little difficult sometimes." He looked away with that shy smile of his, the one that was just so adorable. Zara's heart fluttered a little, a slight chuckle slipped from her chest. The butterflies that had been starting up were now doing figure eights. The guilt followed soon after but she kept her mask up.

"We need all the fans we can get." Zara smiled again locking away the pain for a little.

"Yeah…" His voice trailed off, and Zara knew she had dragged this out long enough. She was just teasing them a little. And getting some alone time with Pej, such as it was.

"Alright, I'll let you two talk now." She handed off the datapad and turned away from Iris as her eyes lit up. Zara hung her head just a little letting out a breath. She got up giving a smile to Iris as she began excitedly talking to her partner. "Make sure she stays in bed Pej." Zara called out before stepping into the fresher to grant some privacy to the couple. Closing the door behind her she put her back against it and slumped to the ground. She put her head in her hands, fighting back tears. She thought the distance would have cooled her feelings or let them weaken. But, all it took was that one smile.

Shaking her head she dragged herself over to the sink opening up the tap and splashed cold water on her face, trying to hide the tears, and cool the flush in her cheeks. She looked in the mirror it was just like that night at the restaurant. Part of her wanted to run away to get as far away as she could just to escape the pain that seemed to follow her around.

But, no she couldn't run, she needed to be here for her friend, needed to do something good because her play on the field isn't. She left the water on to drown out the sound of Iris and Pej talking. After a minute or two she turned off the tap closing her eyes and taking a breath.

"You know I worry about you?" Pej's computerized voice sounded through the door.

"I know and I'm fine. Just a little bruised." Iris retroted.

"A little bruised, I saw those hits, they weren't light."

"You know I'm tough."

"I also know you aren't supergirl. You can't keep this pace up. You're going too hard." Zara could hear the care in Pej's voice he has being firm but, there was a gentle care in his voice.

"I'll be fine."
"Get some rest, promise me that you will get some rest." Pej's voice was pleading with Iris to actually take a rest.

"I will."

"Ok, well, I've got some editing to do catch you when you get back."

"Alright see ya."

Zara let out a final breath and moved to open the door, the conversation now over. Her hand was nearly on the control when her comlink buzzed. Fishing it out of her pocket she saw it was just a text from Pej.

'Please make sure Iris get some rest. She's not good at taking care of herself.'

With another breath Zara left the fresher finding Iris starting to get out of bed.

"What are you doing?" She chastised her friend moving closer to force her back into bed.

"I can't just lay here. We got a game in a few days."

"And you won't help anyone if you make your injuries worse."

"I'm not injured, we can still make the…"

"Iris it isn't your fault." Zara snapped finally reaching the end of her rope. Applying more gentle pressure to force Iris back into bed. "The state we're in isn't your fault, you've done all you can. It's mine, I'm the problem." The twi'lek was speaking from a place of anger, depression, guilt, it was hard to say. "I failed the team, I made us lose those games." Zara looked away, letting out a breath. "You're doing fine, you're doing better than fine. It's me I couldn't stop a single play, couldn't stay disciplined, couldn't do what the team needed me to do." She felt tears starting to form. "The only reason I'm here is because of you. Because I am the friend to the great Iris Copin. I've always been pulled along behind you, and your gravity." She rubbed her eyes trying to clear them. "You don't have to shoulder the failure of the team. It is not your fault, it will never be your fault. You have been giving 100% every day, you can only do that for so long. Your body can't take it. And right now if you push it, you will injure yourself and then any chance we have of getting to the playoffs will disappear. Now lay the frack down so I can do what I can to help you to help the team."

It was a lot to just throw at a person, to throw all of her feelings at her friend. She felt embarrassed, ashamed of saying all the things she's been feeling for a while. She kept her gaze away turning back to the holo and finding something anything to break up the silence. Eventually she fell on an action holo with a female lead. It was one her and Iris watched once upon a time. Back when Zara was team captain and Iris was just a rookie on the team. There was tension in the air the emotions still heavy in the space.

The pair didn't speak even as the action was ramping up. Zara was on the bed making sure Iris wasn't going to be doing anything stupid. But, after the tension passed it felt nice, to just hang out for a bit. No Pej, no game, no practice hanging over their head just them hanging out. It took a while, them just sitting there before either of them spoke.

"How are things back home?" Zara asks

"Quiet Pej is busy with school and dealing with reporters." Iris answered.

"I wasn't talking about Carratos…" Zara smirked she'd been trying to avoid the tabloids and gossip rags when they talked about Iris and Pej. He'd been keeping the dogs at bay giving them some tidbits but, nothing that wasn't cleared by Iris.

"Oh...you mean home, home," Iris nodded her head. "Ira is still working hard, is looking at going to graduate school."

"No surprise there, she was always a big help on homework."

"Dad is well, dad, still working hard being a lawyer."

"Well we didn't call him the Law for nothing."

Iris huffed a little trying to nudge Zara with her shoulder but ended up wincing.

"Careful don't hurt yourself." The twi'lek snarked with a cheeky smirk.

"And mom is still working, I think she is currently working on some long haul low crew bulk transport. It's all over my head."

"Ehh...we weren't hired for our brains." Zara said turning to the holo. "I was hired to fill a spot." she muttered to the side.

The pair were quiet once again just watching the holo. It was coming to the climax, the heroine was low on ammo and the enemies were closing in.

"Hey," Iris started breaking the quiet Zara regarded her with a curious gaze, "You're not just filling a slot, you're a good player, we're just having a bad year.

"Look I was rated low in the draft and I played terribly when they put me in the game." Zara shot back, as bolts peppered the heroine's position.

"A lot of players go late, are rated low and they still have good careers. You're just underrated, they'll see."

"You're clearly just being nice." The enemies were closing in, the end was nigh.

"No," Iris shot back, "You were captain of our team for a reason, you got into UD for a reason, the Pirates drafted you for a reason. It's not because you're my friend, it is because you have skills. Skills teams would kill for. You bring a lot, just no one else sees it." She left off the fact that not even Zara was seeing it.

And just in the nick of time, the heroine's friend appeared mowing down the baddies swarming her position.

"Hope you don't mind me butting it...looked like fun." the friend remarked as she helped the heroine to her feet.

"Yeah." the heroine replied."Loads of fun."

"Good, now go blast that moof milker."

Zara looked to her friend giving a slight smile…

"I bet Pej would have rolled his eyes at the cheesy line."

Iris blushed a little looking away.

"He'd probably say something about the continuity or the camera angles or lighting...all the minutica of it all you know. Then he would try and show me."

"Using you as the actress?"

"Yes."

Zara laughed, a genuine laugh that didn't leave her feeling guilty inside. Though there was still just a bit of pain. Though it was a little less. Her friend was still with her, even if she was with the man she had feelings for.

For now though, they were just chatting, watching the end of the holo.

TAG: @Bardan_Jusik