Rescuing A Ruined Football World (FMS Characters)

[HorusFM]

Hi everyone. This story is the one I mentioned not long back in The Story Ideas and Discussion thread asking if using your managers and teams was allowed. As such, here they are in all their glory. The game is played on FM10 with a modified database that will become obvious from near the start. Hope you read along Would like to thank viperk1 in advance for the help he's given in getting this started.

*****

Chapter 1: Meet Gennaro – June 19th 2078 – 4:04pm

“Mr Gennaro, what you’re proposing is absolutely impossible!”

Gennaro slouched back into his seat. They had been in this meeting for approaching two hours, and achieved nothing. “Why can’t it be done? We aren’t exactly breaking any interplanetary rules.”

“You’re proposing to break a whole host of them, Mr Gennaro. What is the first rule of this football federation?”

Gennaro slouched even further down, “Do not poach other world’s players, staff members or associative people.”

“Correct. That is the rule that we as a foundation are built upon.”

“But your Honour, the footballing system on my home planet has disintegrated to nothing. Only two countries currently have a functioning football system. Why are you not encouraging any help to repair the damaged structure?”

“Mr Gennaro, first of all do not persist to tell me what is happening. I KNOW what is happening, but as such, we cannot interfere on such a broad level without being asked to first. Your world has no hope or desire to fix the destruction they have caused, and THAT is why we cannot get involved. Unless invited to help, there is nothing we can do. So do not try and force my hand in this matter, as you will ultimately fail.”

Gennaro now felt suitably put in his place on top of having nothing more to say. “I’ll be taking my leave now, your Honour.”

The man at the head of the table nodded, and everyone made their leave. Gennaro packed up the files he had brought along, but he knew that in all honesty, it had been a pointless attempt. He knew that this was how they would react, but he knew he couldn’t do anything. He had to have given it a try, at least to say he had. As everyone left, Gennaro lingered behind. As the last person left, he threw a hefty punch at the desk in front of him. He did no damage table but his hand did feel the pain afterwards. He slouched back into his chair, before a voice stirred at him.

“You make an extremely loyal case, Mr Gennaro.”

Gennaro looked up to see a man sat where the rest of the Interplanetary Football Foundation members had been. “Who are you? And why are you still here?”

“The latter question could be asked of you too. As for the first, I’m Egil Asilani.”

“That’s all rather nice. But you should have left by now.”

“I’m not from the IFF.”

“Then who do you belong to? Are you from the IFP?”

“No, not that either. I actually work for a rogue agency on our home planet of Gerjan.”

Gennaro’s interest was fully piqued now, even though it had been close to full anyway. “What do you want?”

“I don’t want anything. But the people I work for think you can help us.”

“How?”

“We want, no actually, we NEED football to regain its social standing back at Gerjan.”

“For what reason?”

“For what other reason? Money of course, Mr Gennaro.”

[mark wilson27]

Been looking forward to this Gav

[SCIAG]

Nice start, Gav. Fitting, even.

[stoehrst]

I missed this in the story ideas thread before, what's the premise?

[tenthreeleader]

I missed this in the story ideas thread before, what's the premise?

Well, the FMS characters are going to rescue a ruined football world.

Kidding. Sort of.

Go Gav. If we're going off-world to play football, I herewith request Amanda Tapping as my travel companion.

[HorusFM]

Thank you guys. Steve, sent a message to your inbox explaining it thanks tenthree.

*****

June 19th 2078 – 4:09pm

“Irrelevant of what it’s for, Mr Asilani, it cannot be done. IFF rules and stipulations state that we can’t do much without our country asking for its help. There is nothing we can do.”

“There is always something we can do, Mr Gennaro,” said Egil, “We are a rogue agency, and we do not work within rules.”

“Are you asking me to break the law?”

“Yes.”

“Well I won’t!”

“Mr Gennaro, if you care for your country and its footballing structure, then you will do it. We have everything we could possibly need except for the expertise to spearhead the operation.”

“Mr Asilani, I just cannot do it. The rules are the rules. And not to mention that the punishment for interfering with football on another dimension’s planet is death.”

“Like I said, we have the things we need to secure the operation. But we need you. And I wouldn’t worry about the death penalty; what we are planning on using and doing breaks a million galactic rules.”

“I just don’t want to take the risk.”

“Mr Gennaro, take a look at this portable television player.”

Gennaro took the machine from Egil and watched the events on the screen. It was a news broadcast. The camera currently showed the level of rioting on Gerjan. Fires had broken out and destroyed most of what used to be Cairo.

“When did this start?”

“Three days ago.”

Gennaro handed the machine back before rubbing his eyes. “How are the two footballing nations still around holding up?”

The look in Egil’s eyes answered his question before he even spoke, “South Africa has fallen, Gennaro.”

“So that just leaves one...”

“Luxembourg is holding up, but the demand for football is now completely overweighting the nations providing it. There just isn’t enough to satisfy the people. They begin to blame the governments, and then everything goes to pot. We’re the only chance they have.”

“There really is no other option is there?”

“No, sir. If you have family on Gerjan, I would start worrying round about now. Luxembourg is all that’s left and it’s going to take a miracle to fix up our world. But we have one shot. Are you in?”

Gennaro closed his eyes. “Yes.”

"It is a wise choice, Mr Gennaro."

"I surely hope so, otherwise we're all going to be under the chopping block for these crimes."

Egil just nodded.

[Celtic_1967]

Looks good Gav. I'm interested to see which characters are in, in what capacity, where and when they turn up.

[HorusFM]

June 19th 2078 – 4:13pm

Gennaro took Asilani’s lead as they made their way out of the IFF building. People were looking at Gennaro, almost in sad fashion, as if they felt for him after the battle he had waged inside the meeting room with the IFF members. To him, these people had simply given up on his planet.

“This way, Mr Gennaro,” muttered Asilani as they turned a corner. But this wasn’t the way to the teleportation room.

“This is the wrong way, Egil. The teleportation room is down that hall,” he replied, pointing the other way.

“We cannot use the IFF’s transporter, or any world’s home transporters for that matter.”

“Why not?” enquired Gennaro.

“They would be able to track us,” he replied, glancing back, before realising Gennaro had no idea what he meant, “You don’t know do you?”

“Know what?”

“The transporters are all monitored by a secret service of agents. It’s so they can pinpoint where someone has gone should they need them.”

“So how are we going to return to Gerjan? And for that matter travel where we need to go?”

“Don’t you worry about that, Mr Gennaro.”

Gennaro didn’t push him any further, and followed until he entered an unused room. “Hold this for a second,” asked Egil.

Gennaro took his rather large briefcase, and then handed it back when prompted. Egil took out a base that looked roughly like a skateboard, but doubled in size. He dropped it the floor, whilst he took out what looked like an egg. He planted on a spot in the middle of the base and pressed a button on the edge of the base. An extremely bright blue light opened up around Gennaro and Egil, before subduing itself to form a dome around the base.

“Get in,” muttered Egil.

Gennaro nodded, and carefully-cum-cautiously stepped into the blue bubble. It felt like an extremely strong vibration before he was fully inside. Egil was tampering with a handheld computer, before he dropped back into his pocket.

“Ready?” he asked Gennaro.

“As I’ll ever be.”

Egil nodded, and all of a sudden, the room vanished.

*****

“Sir, I’ve just flagged an unauthorised use of self-teleportation.”

The computer analyst turned to his supervisor, who had a headset on. He nodded, “Go on.”

“It came from room two fourteen.”

“Have any personnel disappeared from the roster list of the building without actually signing out at security?”

The analyst tapped a few keys, before responding, “Rick Gennaro, sir.”

“This is the security room. Put a flag out on Rick Gennaro. And send a team to check room two fourteen. Someone has gone somewhere they don’t want us to know.”

[HorusFM]

June 19th 2078 – 4:35pm

The colour came back into focus around the bubble, temporarily hurting Gennaros’ eyes. As they acclimatised to their surroundings, Egil turned to Gennaro.

“When we go in here don’t say a word. You aren’t registered on the buildings system, and security will be onto you as soon as you did without proper registration.”

Gennaro was about to say yes, but refrained and simply nodded. Egil nodded back, and pressed a button on his machine. The bubble vanished, and the egg stop funnelling its energy into the base. Egil spoke into his communication unit, “This is Egil. Requesting permission to bypass security with a guest.”

There was a slight pause in a response, crackling covering the silence before a voice came back on the other end. “Request granted, Egil.”

Egil nodded in Gennaro’s direction, before motioning for him to follow him through the security gates. A guard with a machine gun draped around his neck nodded at Egil, before studying Gennaro. He tightened his grip on the machine gun as the pair passed him. Egil saw Gennaro’s look.

“Don’t worry, Gennaro. They just don’t trust guests until they have clearance.”

Gennaro nodded, but felt no happier. They made their way to an elevator, and entered it, Egil choosing to go to the basement level. It smoothly made its way down, and as the doors re-opened, it was nothing like Gennaro expected. The room was circular in design, with computer screens littering the whole central wall. There was a whole host of people sat around the central circular wall, tapping away with their headsets on. The wall around the centre housed the centrepiece. A huge, masterful server sat and hummed away. There were at least a million cables extending out of it into the computers stationed in front of it.

Gennaro was just about to open his mouth before Egil covered it with his hand. He shook his head still, indicating to Gennaro that he was still not allowed to speak. “Lorcan, can you draw up the necessary privileges for Rick Gennaro please,” said Egil to the man sat nearest to him, “Come with me, Gennaro.”

Gennaro followed Egil has he made his way around the huge server and past the staff who were hurrying around the room. They reached a room where five people were sat around a large desk. A 3-D projection screen was currently showing, what looked to Gennaro like a map of Luxembourg. As Gennaro was hustled to a seat, Egil’s voice system crackled to life.

“Gennaro has been granted voice permissions,” said Lorcan, before Egil turned the system off.

“You can speak, Gennaro.”

“Thanks. Please, can someone explain what is going on?”

Egil was about to answer, but the man sat at the head of the table held his finger to his mouth, “Let me, Egil. Mr Gennaro, you have every right to wonder what is going to be happening. But if I’m honest, we need YOUR help to finalise any plans. We can’t do any of it without you.”

“How can I help when I’m not exactly sure what you’re expecting to happen here?”

“Mr Gennaro, we need your help to rebuild the football of our world. Egil has already told you that for us it just about the money. I cannot lie about that as it’s the truth. But we felt that we have interests that are conspiring to come together.”

“You’re avoiding the question, Sir. What do you want me to do?”

The man stared him down, and he didn’t look away. “Mr Gennaro, we want the money, and you want to save your world. And we have to work together to achieve this.”

Something in Gennaro’s head clicked. “You aren’t from Gerjan. I know that with how you said ‘your world’.”

“Well observed. None of us in here are from Gerjan. But that doesn’t concern you. We need you to revamp the Luxembourg football league, Mr Gennaro. And with that, improve the whole football state here on Gerjan.”

“And how am I going to do that? The teams here will not be enough to sustain the whole world.”

“Mr Gennaro, thats why Egil is here. He is, with your help, going to abduct some of the finest teams around. And with that, I present to you the list.”

The man handed Gennaro the list. The list that would hopefully save Gerjan.

[viperk1]

Rebuilding the football of the world? Not a tough job whatsoever, eh?

I'm definitely looking forward to seeing the full list.

[HorusFM]

Thanks viper. Here it is.

*****

June 19th 2078 – 4:46pm

As Gennaro’s eyes ran down the list, he lost all understanding of his this was going to work. “Egil, this list is impossible.”

“How so?”

“These teams are no longer in existence on this planet. We lost English football way over ten years ago. And the managers that are listed with the teams, well, if my history serves me correctly, they never managed these clubs.”

Egil looked at Gennaro, “You’re still stuck in that one way mindset, aren’t you? The clubs on this list aren’t just from this planet,” he replied.

“Egil, its one thing to rob teams from another league on the planet, but it’s another to take them from another planet.”

“Like I said, that isn’t for you to worry about.”

“But of course I am going to worry as by now the IFF will know that I’m missing and used unauthorised self-teleportation.”

“Trust me, Gennaro. We’re already in trouble that will most likely see us dead. But we can save our planet, and that to me is one damn fine reason to do this. Now are you going to help me or not? I’m going to try whether or not you do, but my success depends mainly on what you decide.”

The guilt trip by Egil had worked on Gennaro, “Okay. Well, if we’re going to make this work at all, we need to move fast and secure the biggest team on the list. This would need to be done in conjunction with a press conference stating what will be happening, otherwise people won’t understand and would probably not know what was going on.”

Egil nodded, “I’ll have the leader draw up a media package for release.”

Gennaro continued, “Securing the biggest side would show our intent and would prove a big hit with the people.”

“Roger that. I don’t like football, so which team on the list would come first?”

Gennaro ran his fingers down the list that was now in Egil’s hand, but then ignored the question asked, “How was this list even devised?”

Egil turned his head from his computer screen, “I’m not totally sure, but the Leader said that it was devised from an old internet website that people used to use on a common basis a few years back, while football was still going strong.”

Leo Dodge – Tottenham Hotspur

Joe Lolley – Aston Villa

Phil Sharp – Rangers

Daniel Knight - Portsmouth

Mark Wilson – Manchester United

Hans Freud - Atletico Madrid

Fergus Peace – Wigan Athletic

Steve Stoehr – Newcastle United

Rob Ridgway - Reading

Radoslav Kardec – Ferencvaros

Marcel Verve – Stade de Reims

Ian Richards – Sheffield United

Jeff Andrews – West Bromwich Albion

Michael Strang – Leicester City

Jorge Goncalves – Rosario Central

Tina Powell - St Mirren

George Burgess – Bristol City

Jeff Jarvis – Ferroviario

Ernie Grimshaw – Sheffield Wednesday

Leandro Pena – Greenock Morton

Stephen Beckett – Nottingham Forest

Rhys Ledley – Leeds United

Stephen Baxter – Carlisle United

James Martin – Luton Town

Fabio Scipio – Pro Vercelli

Midas Touche - Sengkang Punggol

Ian Glynn – Charlton Athletic

Charles Vasey – Universitario

Phrann Dovecot – Eintracht Braunschweig

Copper Horse – Blyth Spartans

Michael McCain – East Stirlingshire

Charlie Henry - Chimney Corner

Lee Kuai - AZ Alkmaar

Kvrik Schaal – Grorud

Mike Kowalski - Celtic

Dick Powell – Airbus

Edgar Allen - FC Pau

Jenny Addison – Macclesfield Town

Stanley Accrington – Stalybridge Celtic

Stian Neset - Bodo/Glimt

Roy Jones – Alfreton Town

Wata Tossamoto – Port Vale

Mark Winters – Rushden & Diamonds

Nora Winters – Kettering

Lewis Grayling – East Fife

Gareth Swattridge – Newport County

Mark Heath – Barnet

Davide Vert – Elgoibar

Maz Armley - Elements Cefn Druids

Martin Salkeld – Stocksbridge Park Steels

“That is one hell of a list,” muttered Gennaro, “But I think I have pinpointed where were to go first.”

Egil looked at him, “And that would be?”

“Manchester.”

[Celtic_1967]

Nooooooooooooooo, where's Celtic!!!!

[stoehrst]

STUPENDOUS!!! You were welcome to use Charlie Henry and Chimney Corner as well, you know. Though since I haven't posted a single competitive match in that story yet, I can assume why you elected not to

Also, all the names on this list are just telling me that I need to start reading more stories. I only recognize about 25% of them!

[Balthazars]

There's a club called Airbus? o_O

Not much love for non-English clubs, eh? Nah, it sounds like fun gav, I do like your 'slightly silly' stories.

[Dalbeider]

Yay, made it twice \o/. Oh, and it's Leandro Peña, no Jose .

(Unless there's been another story around with a Spanish manager on Morton that I don't know about, in which case I'll shut the hell up)

[HorusFM]

All your comments have been duly noted. Celtic, they are there now. I had some issues with my list, and I posted the wrong one. You weren't on the list originally, but I had time to add you in! Dalbe, my bad on that one. Steve, added Charlie too. Balth, spoke to you separately. I hope the tale is still fun!

*****

Chapter 2: Abduction! – June 9th 2009 – 3:26pm

Mark Wilson stood on the touchline as his Manchester United squad hosted a pre-season friendly against lower league opposition Walsall. The weather was nice, and there was a surprising amount of people in the crowd considering it was a friendly against lower league opposition. A run on the left from Antonio Valencia had reaped dividends for Manchester as his cross found Michael Owen unmarked in the centre, the striker tapping it home to make the score 2-0.

“Excellent goal that, Mark,” said Mark’s assistant. He was right too; it had been a well worked goal.

Mark couldn’t help but be excited for the start of the season, though. Having just come back from an unsuccessful spell as Wales manager, he felt lucky to have even gotten this job again. Walsall had just kicked the game back off, when Mark was shocked to see a bright light stretch around the stadium. It was blue, an almighty blue, and it literally enveloped the stadium. As the light encircled it all, something happened. The cheering stopped as did the Walsall players, but the Manchester footballers were unaffected. As they stood there, over thirty men appeared from nowhere, with guns in their hands. Mark panicked and tried to run down the tunnel before a dart hit his neck. He immediately felt drowsy before stumbling against a wall, and slumping down into a sleepy stupor.

The men who had appeared from nowhere did the same, taking out each one of the Manchester footballers on the pitch and then ensuring the taking of all the players on the bench and in the crowd. Bodies fell to the ground, before the men picked up the bodies and vanished back from where they came.

Egil and Gennaro had watched the whole operation unfold. “Egil, how on earth are these countries not going to report the fact that a whole team has vanished from their football structure?”

“I could tell you, but you most likely wouldn’t want to know.”

“Tell me.”

Egil nodded, “We are going to plant a device that will freeze the planet as it is now. It is set to run out in two years, but hopefully we will have returned them and succeeded in our mission long before then.”

“Freeze the planet! Jesus Christ Egil, we’re going to die four times over for what we’re doing.”

“A necessary sacrifice,” he muttered in response.

“So what would happen if we don’t return to unseal the freeze after two years?”

“It’s been programmed to automatically do it. Everything we have taken would be returned safe and sound, and none the wiser. Life would go on as it is now, no-one noticing or knowing anything.”

“Still can’t believe we’re doing this...”

“You better get used to it as we have many more stops to make yet.”

“How do we know the people won’t freak out when they realise they are on a different planet?”

“We have created implant chips to make them believe they are meant to be there, and they know exactly what the cause is.”

“Another law broke,” muttered Gennaro.

Egil lost his temper and dragged Gennaro close to him by the scruff of his collar, “Mr Gennaro, this mission is vital. If you are just going to stand there and criticise every move we’re making then quite frankly you shouldn’t be here with me. If you think for one second that I am happy doing this then you would be quite wrong. But it needs to be done. Every one of the men and women involved in this have a lot to lose. You are not the only one.”

Gennaro stiffened, “Sorry,” was all he muttered before re-activating his device and leaving 2009.

"It isn't a problem," muttered Egil to himself. He stood alone in the centre of Old Trafford in its hey day. Finest club in the world at the time Gennaro had told him.

"Not so fine in twenty seventy eight though, are you?"

He sighed before picking up the sleeping body of Nemanja Vidic and hauling it over his shoulder before activating his pod.

[SCIAG]

A well thought out plot, Gav.

[mark wilson27]

Very good Gav, I should of run alittle quicker then really, but its all those M&S Pies you see

BTW: an unsucessfull spell as Wales manager thats jsut rude

[tenthreeleader]

Nooooooooooooooo, where's Celtic!!!!

Look right behind Rangers.

Really, that was too easy

Also, Gav, this is a great idea but you've got the Winters family backwards. The lady of the house managed Kettering. Will be following closely.

[Celtic_1967]

Don't you start or I'll make Ridgway dress in Nazi uniform and we'll see how far that gets him as manager of Germany.

That said you'd probably take the idea and write a bloody good story about it... DAMN YOU 10-3!

[Almondo]

liking this already. Will follow with interest.

[SCIAG]

:notes- Biscuit Tin Head, Nazi uniform:

[HorusFM]

Thank you for your comments.

*****

June 19th 2078 – 7:07pm

The ruins of Old Trafford stood aloft in central Manchester. The city itself hadn’t seen football in at least two decades, the last match played here being a league game against Forest Green Rovers. You would have thought that it would have united the town, especially considering rivalries should have died away, but they just grew stronger. Riots had broken out nineteen years ago, the demand for football destroying the social structure, and crippling the government’s emergency response units. They soon just stopped caring, and stopped sending them out. Rival gangs took power, but this wasn’t just in Manchester. The whole country had fallen into the awful spiral.

Mark Wilson stood in the dilapidated ruins of Old Trafford with his players. They felt so sorry to see the place in such a state, and as such, felt the need to sort it out.

“Rio, we need to sort this place out. Get all the guys together, and let’s get to it.”

Defender Ferdinand nodded and went to collect all the guys who had gone walking around the remains of the stadium. Mark was appalled to see the stadium in such a state, but he was determined to get it sorted. Egil and Gennaro were stood next to him.

“Mr Wilson, take this headpiece. It gives you easy access to communications with us.”

Mark nodded, “Okay. Will we be able to build this all ourselves?”

“Yes, the chip has given you building knowledge, and you can at any place orders with us for building materials. We have also given the stadium a security detail as former Manchester City fans will not be extremely impressed to see that their arch rivals have re-appeared.”

Wilson nodded again, “You got that part right. What happened to the stadium? It was only last week we were in here, and it was tip top in condition.”

“A storm, Mr Wilson. The storm caused a massive amount of damage to the stadium. We are sure you can get it back to its best.”

Wilson smiled, “I’ll make it my life’s work to ensure it is.”

Egil nodded, and with Gennaro by his side teleported back to the HQ. Upon landing back in the building, they were met by the Leader.

“Egil, I heard the first operation had taken place,” he mouthed as he came pounding across the room.

“Yes sir, we extracted Manchester United from the year two thousand nine and set up the time freeze for two years, as instructed.”

“Excellent work, Egil. Mr Gennaro, I see you took the initiative to join us rather than hinder us.”

Gennaro nodded, “Yes I did. This needs doing as immoral and illegal as it may be. Egil took great delight in reminding me of that,” muttered Gennaro as he sorted out his collar.

Egil said nothing in reply to Gennaro’s statement. The Leader could sense something had happened between them, but thought better than to pry in Egil’s work or business.

“How are the chips holding up, Lorcan?”

“They’re fine, Sir. Wilson’s thoughts are being repressed, and as such, he and the rest of the side are under control. With help from a building firm, they have begun to repair the stadium in Manchester.”

“Good work. Egil, Gennaro, it seems that the test has worked. It seems now I must get in contact with the Luxembourg Football Federation and get them to agree to help us see this through. There just might be hope after all.”

[tenthreeleader]

Wilson’s thoughts are being repressed

That might be for the best

(kidding, Mark ....)

[HorusFM]

I agree tenthree!!

*****

June 19th 2078 – 7:17pm

The Leader sat down at his desk, and connected his communication headset up. The service dialled up the Luxembourg FF, but encountered a very busy line. “Not getting rid of me that easily,” muttered the Leader, who then pressed a button before dialling once more. This time, he got straight through.

“Hello?” came a voice from the other end, but in surprise more than anything.

“Hello Mr Florian. My name does not concern you, but what I need to speak to you about does.”

The voice on the other end seemed confused, “How did you get this number?”

“Like I said, it is not relevant.”

There was silence before the voice replied, “Then what do you want? I am very busy at the moment.”

“I can imagine you might be Mr Florian after the loss of the South African FF leaving your league as the last functioning league in the world.”

“You don’t need to remind me, Sir. Why have you called?”

“I need your help, and I am almost a million percent certain that you need mine.”

“With what? Stop with the cloak and dagger stuff, whoever you are, and get to your point.”

The Leader smiled to himself, “I admire your forthrightness, Mr Florian. Well, what I am offering could help you no end as you strive to keep the last bastion of football ticking over.”

“Quite frankly, Mr No Name, this federation is on limited time. We do not have the reputation or means to supply the world with the football it so desires. Before long, we will have gone under too.”

“We can help, Mr Florian, but you need to let us. We have a lot of things that could save your federation, and possibly even save the world from the destruction its setting itself up for. But you need to agree upon what we propose. It is illegal and highly dangerous for those involved, and I would have no qualms if you stepped down from your post and put someone there who would be willing to do so.”

“How dare you! You are practically asking for my resignation, and yet I have no idea who you are, and quite honestly I still don’t grasp what you are going on about.”

“I’ll put it in simple terms. I have someone here who could restructure your league system with teams that we have stolen from other planets. The planets do not know of this, and as such, neither does the IFF. Yet. We want to use your league to try and restructure the whole footballing world.”

“That is preposterous! Such a thing could not be done, and the IFF would crack down on you so fast your head would explode.”

The Leader laughed down the phone, “It won’t happen. Listen Mr Florian, we have everything set to do this. But you need to agree to it. We need you and your people at the LFF to help us. You would be the third part of a triangle that could save this world.”

“This is crazy. You phone me up in the middle of the evening with some crazy crackpot scheme that makes no sense and is practically impossible to pull off. I just do not believe you.”

The Leader was fed up, “Mr Florian, one of my operatives will be with you in ten minutes.”

The Leader ended the call and took the headset off. “Just as I expected,” he muttered, before pulling some vintage whiskey from 2043 out of a cabinet.

[BenArsenal]

I saw Sengkang Punggol. I'll be amused when the story reaches that point.

[mark wilson27]

Now Now 10-3 and Gav I'll have less, its not my fault my mind is as it is...I was dragged up like that

[HorusFM]

Sengkang will rule!

*****

June 19th 2078 – 7:33pm

Helmut Florian sat at his desk rubbing his eyes. Work in the past few years had become tedious to say the least. And now being the last footballing nation on this planet was taking its toll. The building was non-stop with activity, pleas for more football, more television broadcasts. Governments were paying extortionate fees to get cameras and crews into the grounds to broadcast the matches back home. After last season’s title finale, when Jeunesse Esch stole the title on the final day, riots took place in Paris and Rome as the respective governments had failed to secure TV deals. Florian had to watch as people died in those riots. He hated how the world had fallen apart. But he was also now extremely eager to learn what this unnamed person could offer him. Anything that would put him in an easier position and perhaps save the planet was not a decision to be taken or lightly, or discarded at the first opportunity. Florian was snapped out of his deep thoughts when a flash of blue light stormed the room, before a man appeared on a self-teleportation unit.

“Mr Florian?”

Florian was slightly worried. He knew self-teleporting was illegal and outlawed here. It had been for some time. “Yes, that is me,” he replied, but the man who had appeared could sense his worry.

“Don’t worry sir, about the teleportation.”

“I am bound to be worried. The bloody thing is illegal.”

“Of course, sir. But you need to be prepared for this. I can only take you after I have told you of the stipulations, and they are very serious. I am not the person to ask questions to, Sir, but my boss has told me that he explained the situation to you. He has teams that require a place in your Luxembourg league season. He also has personnel that will be sent to you that can help and work with you on in this subject. But I can only take you once you know that your life will be in jeopardy once you step on here with me. What we are trying to do break so many IFF rules, and your safety afterwards just cannot be granted.”

Florian took every one of the man’s words in before slumping into his chair. He opened his desk and brought out some cigars, “Do you smoke?” he asked the man in front of him, who stood patiently with his arms at his side.

“No, Sir, I do not. Don’t mind lighting one up on my account, though.”

“Thanks,” muttered Florian, “Do you know what you people are asking me to do? I mean come on, I still have NO idea what this man’s name is, and yet he is asking me to put my career, and even my life, in his hands. I don’t even know your god name or who you are!”

“My name is Lorcan Evans, sir. I have a daughter back home, and two brothers. My parents and wife were killed in riots on my home planet. You see, this isn’t the first planet that has suffered this. And it won’t be the last. I blame the IFF for not doing enough.”

Florian said nothing, but he did feel sorry for the man in front of him. He had a daughter and wife of his own, and could only imagine the pain that losing either of them would cause.

“I’m sorry about that, Lorcan. But this is still worrying me. I worry for my family.”

“As I said, sir, I have already been through this on my home planet. My planet ended up devouring itself in war and famine. No-one but the poor live there now. Mr Florian, I hate to be so pushy when there is so much at stake, but I either need you to come with or not. And that must happen right now.”

Florian puffed on his massive Mexican cigar. “Okay. I will do this. It isn’t like we have anything to lose. And if the world goes the way of yours, and I don’t make it, my wife will be safe. As will my daughter.”

The words caught Lorcan off guard, “I am sure they will be.”

Florian realised his mistake. “Wait. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it to come out like that...”

“We must leave, Mr Florian.”

Florian nodded and got up, taking his cigars in hand before standing on the base unit. As Lorcan set up the machine, a tear rolled down his cheek.

[HorusFM]

June 19th 2009 – 3:59pm

Egil and Gennaro arrived at their new destination after a slightly bumpy ride. Teleportation, like the old car usage system, can be subject to traffic jams. The trip to 2008 would have also seen them flagged as illegal intruders once more.

“Egil,” said Gennaro, his eyes scanning their new landing site.

“I know, I know,” he replied with impatience, “We’re going to have to walk the rest of the way, as the machine needs rebooting.”

Gennaro had reason to be annoyed. They had landed in some wooded area near their destination, but the fact that they hadn’t actually arrived at the destination annoyed both men greatly. “Why did it do that?”

“I can only guess that the ITF stopped the transponder from working midflight, which means they will be sending a team to the location it landed.”

“What use is that? We’re going to die before we even get a chance to start this crazy god damn scheme!”

“Mr Gennaro, please calm down,” replied Egil with an air of calm, before he packed up the transportation unit. “Now follow me.”

Gennaro nodded, but said nothing in reply. They made their way out of the area they landed in before spotting the stadium they were after. “We’re going to need to break in. There is a game on, and because we couldn’t land inside we obviously can’t get in.”

“So you forgot to bring tickets?”

“Mr Gennaro, you cannot backorder tickets for a game that occurred almost sixty nine years ago.”

“You missed the joke.”

“I don’t find this matter funny. Now, can we push on please?”

Gennaro gave up and followed in silence. They reached the main gate that told them they had reached their place. “Welcome to the JJB Mr Gennaro.”

“Wigan Athletic? I won’t ask. Who are we after?”

“We need the team and we need manager Fergus Peace.”

Gennaro nodded, but then Egil pulled out a weapon, “What’s that for?” asked Gennaro, before looking round to make sure no-one had noticed.

“It’s just a pistol that fires knockout darts. We will need to get past any security detail there might be, including the receptionist or gate attendants. We can't set the bubble off til we get inside, and get the men down here.”

Gennaro nodded before following behind Egil. They made their way into the main entrance, where Egil gave the receptionist no time to ask what she could help them with. She slumped back in her chair, out cold. They padded their way past, checking for any guards or stewards who might be around. They followed the signs and made their way to the tunnels. Egil had to take out two guards before they emerged in the tunnel that led to the dressing rooms.

“Why does it sound so noisy from here? The crowd should be up there, surely?”

Egil looked at Gennaro curiously, “You’re right.”

The two men made their way along the tunnel, but were greeted by a whole host of men and women; stewards, club staff members, media who had somehow gotten down the tunnel. Egil took his PDA out and checked the picture of the main man he needed. He spotted Fergus Peace in a throng of people heading into the dressing room. “That’s our man,” muttered Egil.

“But they aren’t on the pitch! What do we do now?”

Egil’s face dropped as the door closed behind the players and staff going into the Wigan Athletic dressing room. “We’re going to have grab him and his players from that room. And with that, we need another way in.”

[SCIAG]

Fergus Peace \o/

[HorusFM]

Chapter 3: The First Snag - June 19th 2009 – 4:07pm

Egil stood and observed the guards for a few minutes before he spoke to Gennaro. “According to the last known schematics of the building, there should be an unused entrance in the back of the physio room that leads into the dressing room.”

Gennaro nodded, “I think I should stay back.”

Egil shook his head, “We can’t do that. If we need to make a quick exit, then I need you by my side. Otherwise you’ll be left alone in this world.”

Gennaro’s face dropped, “I think I’ll stick with you.”

“We need to move,” muttered Egil, “Follow my lead.”

Egil and Gennaro followed the hallway along until they found the physio room. “I’m going to send the co-ordinates to the others so they can meet us here,” said Egil before tapping a few keys on his PDA. Within seconds the beacon was sent out, and before long, nine of Egil’s teammates popped out of nowhere. A few landed stray though, and panic then ensued. Nine men appearing from god knows where with weapons is enough to scare anyone. Stewards and guards yelled, but they were soon silenced by the weapons. One of the men opened a blue shaped egg, and the world soon became encompassed in the same blue dome that had captured the Old Trafford one. Everyone stopped, dead in motion, the only ones not moving being the ones who didn’t belong there. The men lowered their weapons and set about moving the Wigan players onto the transport barge. Fergus Peace was stood half still and half turning to see what all the commotion outside has been about. Something moved though. And it wasn’t part of the team. A man moved.

“ITF!” yelled Egil. Guns were raised once more, and a fire fight began. Three ITF men popped out of nowhere and began firing upon Egil and Gennaro. Three of Egil’s men returned fire to cover them. As Fergus Peace was loaded onto the barge, the base unit exploded into a colour of light, and the barge vanished.

“The barge has gone, Sir! We need to teleport out of here, fast!”

“Roger that.”

Three ITF men had cornered one of Egil’s people, before he just vanished. Gennaro’s face was a picture of fear and wonder. Egil’s men had now all vanished, leaving just Egil himself and Gennaro.

“The transponder isn’t working, Gennaro!”

“What?!”

“I’m working on it!”

Egil returned fire before pressing some keys again, “Something is blocking the transponder’s frequency!”

Gennaro looked frightened to death now, “We’re going to die, aren’t we?!”

“No, we aren’t.”

Egil returned fire again, but they were now being outflanked. A loud beep emanated from the PDA. Egil passed it to Gennaro. “Type the frequency that I repeat to you!”

Gennaro nodded and took it from him, “Ready!”

“Five, six, seven, one, one, one, nine!”

Gennaro tapped away furiously and the PDA finally linked to the base unit. It took just three seconds for the base to appear beneath their feet, and that made all the difference. The customary blue bubble appeared around the pairs form, and the shield activated.

“Get us out of here, Egil!”

“What do you think I am trying to do?!”

The machine whirred to life, and the world around them finally changed from the dressing rooms in the JJB Stadium and the journey back to Gerjan began. Gennaro slouched down, “I never want to experience that again,” he muttered to Egil before closing his eyes.

[HorusFM]

June 19th 2078 – 8:21pm

Egil was furious.

“What the hell happened out there!” he yelled, mainly at The Leader. He simply stared him down.

“You were picked up by the ITF receiver units. They zoned in on you to make an arrest.”

“They came in full tactical gear, weapons armed. They weren’t the police force, they were the tactical squad. And even so, their response time is too slow. We would have been out of there by the time they’d mobilised. No, they knew we were coming.”

The Leader drummed his fingers on the desk, “I’ll look into it. We may have a informant leaking information to the ITF from inside here. I’ll let you know what I find.”

The Leader left to go back to his own office, before Gennaro entered. “Everything alright?”

“Nowhere near f*cking alright!” screamed Egil before he left the room. Gennaro sat down against the table.

“I’ll sort out Peace myself then, shall I?!” he yelled back to Egil.

Gennaro left the office and worked his way to the holding room where the Wigan team had set up while they waited to be moved. Their chips had been implanted just minutes after they had arrived, but Egil storming off had meant they were still waiting to be moved to the old JJB Stadium. Gennaro stood outside of the two way glass window, watching as Fergus had a chat with his players about defensive tactics. Gennaro unlocked the door and went in.

“Mr Peace, a pleasure to meet you.”

Fergus nodded, “Thank you Mr Gennaro. Me and my team were wondering when we would have the chance to get back to the JJB. This training camp has been good fun, but we’d like to return now.”

“You will be on your way shortly, Fergus. Just waiting for my assistant to come down and get the journey underway.”

“Thank you,” he replied before turning to his players. Gennaro went back outside the two way glass and waited for someone to turn up. To his surprise, it wasn’t Egil. It was Lorcan with a female.

“Mr Gennaro, Egil has placed us in charge of the mission to take these guys to Old Wigan.”

“Why is Egil not doing it?”

“He’s busy, sir. It doesn’t concern you, so don’t worry about it.”

“Okay. I won’t pry. Anyway Lorcan, these guys are ready to go now.”

Lorcan nodded, “Roger that. Me and Fiona here will go and set up the transportation co-ordinates.”

Gennaro nodded, and went back to the Wigan players. “Follow me, if you would.”

The players and manager did as told and followed Gennaro the transportation room. Lorcan had finished by the time they arrived. Fourteen minutes later, and they were in Wigan’s old JJB Stadium. Lorcan had nailed the transportation location and they landed in the centre circle. To the players and Fergus’ surprise, JJB wasn’t so much of a wreck, but it was extremely unclean. There were around forty homeless people sleeping in around the stands, and Lorcan’s team immediately set about removing them to a different location. They were paid for it, so didn’t complain too much.

“Mr Gennaro, thank you for the excellent training course.”

Gennaro nodded, “Not a problem. Good luck with sorting this place out. You have about a month.”

“Okay,” replied Fergus, before he and the team disappeared into the old tunnel of the stadium.

Lorcan tapped on Gennaro’s shoulder, “Time to go back, Sir.”

Gennaro nodded. He was starting to believe in this crazy scheme now. It might just work, but they had a long way to go.

[Greasy Chip Butty]

Gripping stuff mate.

[HorusFM]

Thanks alot GreasyChipButty.

*****

June 19th 2078 – 8:49pm

Florian was waiting for The Leader to arrive, but as such, had seen no sight of him yet. After a twelve minute wait, he finally entered the office.

“Mr Florian?”

Florian wasted no time, “Tell me everything now.”

The Leader smiled, “Of course. But first I need to know you are fully ready for this.”

“Mr Whoever, I’ve just transferred illegally around the world to wherever we are now. I’m already screwed. So just get on with it and explain.”

The Leader nodded, “Come in Mr Gennaro.”

“I know you,” muttered Florian, “You were at the IFF meeting to try and persuade them to send assistance to Gerjan.”

“Yes, I was,” replied Gennaro, “But now I am here with these guys, taking matters into our own hands.”

“Mr Gennaro is right, Mr Florian. This needs doing, and the IFF offered nothing in the way of assistance.”

“Well what do you expect me to do? We are the last footballing active nation, and to be honest, my poor teams don’t hold the stature to keep everything going.”

“We know. Mr Gennaro, show Mr Florian your plan of action.”

Gennaro nodded and turned on the computer screen. It showed a slide that depicted a four tier looking league system. “Mr Florian, we propose to reform your league system from its current system,” said Gennaro, changing the slide to a one that showed the current Luxembourg system, before flicking back to the new version, “To this one.”

Florian said nothing, so Gennaro continued. “We are currently abducting popular teams from the past and from other planets in order to set up this new league system.”

Florian hit the roof, “What! You cannot do that! It is wrong on so many levels, and not to mention that it’s most likely impossible to keep with as the IFF would crack down on you extremely fast.”

“Do not worry about the IFF, Mr Florian. We just need to know if you will let us crack on with this. We would really want you to be at the head of this, you may even go down in history if you survive it. But don’t think that for one second we wouldn’t consider replacing you.”

Florian’s jaw dropped to the floor, “You couldn’t. People would notice.”

“Irrelevant if you died in a crash or any other kind of accident.”

“Why are you threatening me?”

“I’m not. But you need to know the ins and outs of it all.”

Florian stood up and went closer to the projection, before turning to Gennaro. “Are you certain you can make this work?”

“Yes sir, but I will need your assistance. Me and you are the key to this succeeding.”

“What about my teams? I’m not going to accept them being pushed out of the whole system.”

Gennaro smiled, “I’ll show you my plan,” he replied before motioning for Florian to follow him.

[HorusFM]

June 19th 2078 – 8:58pm

Gennaro led Florian into a room where a 3-D screen was projecting what looked like a large building. But it wasn’t that.

“What’s this?”

Gennaro touched some buttons, watching as the building tore itself into four parts, before answering, “It’s the league system that we are proposing to set up including your Luxembourg sides.”

Florian looked on as Gennaro messed with the settings of the machine, “Have you really set this whole thing up?”

Gennaro nodded in reply, "In principle, yes."

“Wow. I’m just wondering how you decided which teams you were going to include,” said Florian before he took a seat.

Gennaro laughed, “Wasn’t my idea, but according to the guys here, they devised it from a list of favourite characters from football related stories on an internet website.”

Florian shook his head, “Unbelievable that we are putting our faith in a bunch of characters and heroes. I guess the only good thing is that they are heroes for a reason.”

Gennaro smiled, “Have faith, Mr Florian. Things will work themselves out. Who knows, we might ourselves one day become a story for what we are doing now.”

“I highly doubt that. An overweight Luxembourgian is not what people want to read about.”

“You’d be surprised. Anyway, Sir, the model is ready.”

Florian nodded and got back up. He stood in front of the model screen and watched as it came to life with a list of names.

Luxembourg & FMS Premier League

Aston Villa

Atletico Madrid

AZ Alkmaar

Celtic

Central

Jeunesse Esch

Manchester United

Newcastle United

Portsmouth FC

Rangers

Reading FC

Stade de Reims

Tottenham Hotspur

Wigan Athletic

Luxembourg & FMS League One

Bodo/Glimt

Bristol City

Carlisle United

Charlton Athletic

Differdange

Eintracht Braunschweig

Ferencvaros

Leeds United

Leicester City

Luton Town

Greenock Morton

Nottingham Forest

Pau FC

Sheffield United

Sheffield Wednesday

St Mirren

Universitario

West Bromwich Albion

Luxembourg & FMS League Two

Alfreton Town

Avenir Beggen

Barnet

Blyth Spartans

East Fife

East Stirlingshire

Elgoibar

Etzella Ettelbruck

Ferroviario

Grorud

Kettering Town

Macclesfield Town

Newport County

Port Vale

Pro Vercelli

Rushden & Diamonds

Sengkang Punggol

Swift Hesperange

Luxembourg & FMS League Three

Airbus UK Broughton

Alliance 01

Elements Cefn Druids

Chimney Corner

CS Hobscheid

Fola Esch

Kaerjeng

Mertzig

Petange

Rodange

Sporting Steinfort

Stalybridge Celtic

Stocksbridge Park Steels

US Rumelange

Wiltz

Wormeldange

Florian looked back at Gennaro, “This is...”

“Yes?” asked Gennaro.

“Ingenious.”

“Thank you. Now you need to convince your teams to take part in it.”

Florian nodded, before heading out of the room.

[Celtic_1967]

Good work Mr Renwick. Looking forward to this one.

[SCIAG]

I spent ages trying to work out who some of the teams had been managed by, until it clicked that they were the Lux sides.

Two teams managed by my characters in the top flight, and only United are obviously better than us. 'Mon a trophy

[stoehrst]

I predict a league title for Steve Stoehr's Newcastle United, and back-to-back-to-back promotions for Charlie Henry's Chimney Corner. You heard it here first

[BenArsenal]

Go Sengkang Punggol!

[Marmoset Junior]

I just realised my Bodø/Glimt team was in here.

Great lead-in, Gav.

[HorusFM]

Of course Marmoset. Thank you muchly.

*****

Chapter 4 – A Traitor in Our Midst! - June 19th 2078 – 9:38pm

“This crackpot scheme is crazy!” yelled the oldest looking man in the room, caring not for the feelings of those around him.

“Sir, there isn’t much we can do. Planets are falling to the fabled bubble trap.”

“You have got to be kidding?”

“No sir.”

“I thought the used of the bubble was outlawed in the universe?”

“It was, sir. But as such, it seems that all of the old intergalactic-weapons systems were not destroyed. These guys have had these for awhile, as the weapons were decommissioned and outlawed about thirty years ago.”

“And who exactly are they?”

“We don’t know that either sir.”

“Is there anything you do bloody know? I ask for intelligence and get nothing. What the hell am I paying you all for?”

Silence enveloped the room. The old man slouched into his seat and frowned at everyone sat around the table. “We need results, people. And we need them now.”

The man, who had been speaking to him before, continued trying to defend the others present. “We are working at full sir. But we just aren’t finding anything. The biggest problem is that wherever these people go, they leave time bubbles.”

“I do know that.”

“Well we cannot get onto the planet until the bubble opens, or we get someone who has access to the bubble codes.”

“Then start god damn looking!”

The man cowered away, “Yes, sir.”

The old man waved him away, and with that, the others followed him out. The old man picked up a mobile phone and dialled. “Seth? Can you do me a favour and deliver a demotion to Mark Raustic?”

The old man listened and nodded, “Excellent,” he replied before snapping the mobile shut.

The old man sat in quiet tranquillity. Peace and quiet was always welcoming to him, a break from the busy and hectic life he usually lived. The fact that he and his organisation had achieved nothing yet was nothing short of annoying and disappointing. There was a slight commotion outside of his office, which led to his door being flung open. So much for the quiet.

Mark Raustic, the man who had tried defending his team earlier, led a familiar face into the old man’s office.

“I thought you were dead,” he muttered.

The man frowned, “You should know to expect better from me.”

“That I should. How did you survive the twenty seventy seven riot? Word had it you were shot.”

The man pulled up his top to reveal a gunshot scar, “I was. Now, onto business.”

“Well, I assume you have something valuable for me. After a year, I’d be shocked if you didn’t.”

“Oh, by god I do.”

“Which would be?”

“The bubble codes you so actively seek.”

The old man almost fell off his chair.

[HorusFM]

June 20th 2078 – 9:09am

"My teams have agreed to take part in this," said Florian.

Gennaro smiled before handing him a sheet, "Here is the set up, rules and regulations of all the competitions we have set up."

Florian put on his glasses and then checked the sheet.

RULES AND REGULATIONS;

FMS-Luxe Premier League;

1st - Champions

13th-14th - Relegated

FMS-Luxe League One;

1st - Champions, promoted

2nd-5th - Playoff Places, winner promoted.

16th-18th - Relegated

FMS-Luxe League Two;

1st - Champions, promoted.

2nd - Promoted

3rd-6th - Playoff Places, winner promoted.

16th-18th - Relegated

FMS-Luxe League Three;

1st - Champions, promoted.

2nd - Promoted

3rd-6th - Playoff Places, winner promoted.

FMS-Luxe Upper League Trophy;

64 teams enter at first stage. Divided into sixteen groups of four.

Groups A-P - Each team plays each other once at home and away.

1st place from each group goes into last sixteen.

Last Sixteen - Simple knockout stage.

Quarter Finals - Two leg affair.

Semi Finals - Two leg affair.

Final

FMS-Luxe National Cup;

64 teams enter at first stage. Divided into 32 matches.

Winners move on to Second Round - Two leg affair.

Third Round - Two leg affair.

Quarter Finals - Two leg affair.

Semi Finals - One match held at national stadium.

Final

Florian handed the page back to Gennaro, "Seems like you have it all sorted."

Gennaro nodded in response before packing all his papers away, "I've done the best I can I must leave you now, Florian. I have to go and kidnap St Mirren FC and it's manager."

"Have fun," said Florian as he gave a small salute to Gennaro, before then heading down to his makeshift office.

[tenthreeleader]

“Ingenious.”

Roger that.

Well done, Gav. Glad you are back to this. Looking forward to seeing how it goes!

[mark wilson27]

Excellent Gav, cant wait for my team to win the FMS-Luxe Premier League

[HorusFM]

Thanks guys. I think Man Utd are a safe bet, Mark!

*****

June 20th 2009 – 12:09pm

“Get them moving, Valter!” yelled Tina from the sidelines, watching as her Italian assistant put her side through the paces. The season hadn’t begun yet, so these fitness sessions were extremely important.

“I am doing!” he yelled back.

Tina smiled and continued to watch as they did the laps of the pitch. All of a sudden though, a bright blue light enveloped the pitch, causing Tina to momentarily shy away from it. As she looked back, seven men in black suits had appeared and they were chasing down her players. Before she could shout, she froze.

Egil and Gennaro stepped over to her, “She’s beautiful,” muttered Gennaro. Egil frowned at him, before picking up her body and laying it on the transport barge.

“Don’t go getting ideas, Rick.”

“Hey! What do you take me for?”

“A man,” he said in response, before packing up David Barron and Billy Mehmet.

“You know, not everyone is the same.”

“Yeah, I’ll believe that when I see it.”

“Any word on Lorcan?” asked Gennaro as he heaved Michael Higdon down, and desperate to change the conversation from the current topic.

Lorcan was missing for this mission, as was a female operative known as Shawna. Egil was furious that they were nowhere to be found, but he had a pretty good idea on what they were up to.

“Not a peep. It is damned annoying, and he’s going to be in some serious trouble when he, and she, turn up.”

Gennaro nodded in reply, Egil seemingly in another mood of pure wrath. As the last few players were packed up and prepared, Gennaro looked around at St Mirren Park. Little did he know he’d be back in a year.

*****

Lorcan stood waiting inside the cooling room for the computer servers. He had agreed to meet Shawna here, but as yet, she hadn’t turned up. He had no idea why she wanted to see him, but could only suffice that it was for him. He was good looking after all. After a whole thirty minutes waiting, and almost leaving through boredom, she turned up. She looked furious, and she locked the door behind them both.

“Why have you dragged me here, Shawna? If you wanted a date, you could have just asked.”

The twenty two year old girl frowned, “As if I would date a traitor.”

The words stung Lorcan like a wasp on a young child. “Would you care to repeat that again?”

“You’re a traitor, Lorcan. I found transcripts of you talking with a man about the bubbles we have been using. That’s treachery!” she screamed, right into his face. Lorcan made no move.

“Don’t be so preposterous,” he muttered before heading towards the door. Shawna lunged at him, but he swatted her off with ease.

“Fine!” he yelled. “Yes, I am a traitor. But quite frankly, I don’t care.”

Shawnea rebounded. She had known he was, but hadn’t expected the words to come out so callously. Lorcan had to contain this, “I’m sorry for what I’m about to do.”

He stepped away from the door and pushed Shawna against the servers at the back of the room. Her head cracked against the edge of one of them, and she crumpled to the floor. Lorcan checked for her pulse, “Hole in one,” he muttered as he realised she was dead. “You really shouldn’t have opened your mouth,” he said before thinking up a plan for disposing of her body.

[HorusFM]

June 21st 2078 – 11:45am

“We’ve hit a big problem,” said Lorcan as Gennaro came into the room. “We just performed a hit on the Portsmouth squad as your list indicated, but we couldn’t find the manager anywhere.”

Gennaro’s face turned serious, “It’s imperative we have the right men for the job. The Leader needs to be notified,” said Gennaro as he turned to head that way.

“I’ll let Egil know,” replied Lorcan as he headed off in the other direction.

As Gennaro reached The Leader’s office, he was on his mobile. He entered quietly and waited for the call to end, though it did take a rather long time.

“That was the Luxembourg press,” he said as he came off, “I’ve just decided to let them in on it. To say they’re excited is an understatement. They have all the details, and are ready to produce.”

“Big move,” started Gennaro, “But we have a problem. We have to go back to the Portsmouth area. Lorcan picked up the squad but there was not a peep of the manager, anywhere.”

The Leader frowned, “It is imperative he is here.”

Gennaro nodded, “They are the exact words I used. What do you propose?”

The Leader sat down in his chair, and began to think deeply. There had to be some reason that he wasn’t around. Some very plausible reason. “I think I’ve got it,” he muttered. “People can become lost from one world if they are dreamt of in another. It may only happen for a brief second in the real world, but the dreams we have of random people are not random people, they are from other places, universes. Head to the Dream Flux Department. They monitor all dream matter that is expelled from the thoughts of people having the dreams. They might have picked up a reference to this Daniel Knight character.”

Gennaro nodded, “I’ll go check it out.”

The Leader frowned again, “Daniel Knight, where on God’s Gerjan are you?”

Gennaro hastily made his way to the Dream Flux Monitoring Department. Ever since dreams became an important part of life, they were monitored. You can learn a lot from dreams, and as such, this department has helped to solve A LOT of unsolved crimes. The guard on the door waved Gennaro through, and he immediately headed for the boss’s office. Tim Leary sat at his desk using his computer, and waved Gennaro in. “Rick Gennaro, I take it? The Leader called ahead.”

“Did he give you instructions on the search parameters?”

“Yes. Daniel Knight, Portsmouth and manager. You’d be surprised to learn that there was only one instance of these parameters popping up in a dream. And that itself caused a major problem.”

“What was the problem?” asked Gennaro, very intrigued now.

“The dream came from a lady known as Tina Powell. She’s a footba...” started Tim, before he was cut off by Gennaro.

“I know of her. Skip the identification.”

Tim nodded, “There were many people present in the dream, but the problem struck as we tried to delve deeper. It crashed the Dream Flux server.”

“Her dream crashed it? Has this ever happened before?”

“Nope. This was the first recorded instance.”

Gennaro looked shock, “Did we learn anything from this? It’s desperate that we have all the personnel we identified, so any help you can offer would be brilliant.”

“I’m not sure. We tried to pick up fragments of the dream after the crash, but it had been severely damaged and needed deleting to prevent damage to the server. But one thing we recorded before it went off was a book. A rather large book that, somehow, was a gateway for Knight to enter the dream. But we couldn’t fathom any more than that. I’m sorry Rick. We’re extremely perplexed by all of this. If the players were available, why wasn’t Knight? Extremely weird.”

“You and I both,” replied Gennaro. “Thanks for the help. I think we might have found our way in. Seems like I need to talk to Tina Powell before she heads down to Paisley, Gerjan.”

[viperk1]

Excellent relationship between First Lady and this story, Gav. Well done.

Another excellent piece of writing.

[HorusFM]

Thank you.

*****

LUXEMBOURG FOOTBALL REVIEW:

Shocked. That is the only way we here at the LFR can describe what the last footballing nation on Gerjan learned not so long ago. Football is making its last stand here; that much was already obvious. But now we all learn that a specialist organisation has stolen teams from one of the worlds long lost fora, the FMS World. Many a characters and teams have passed through there to become lore, legend, history. And now they’re in Luxembourg to help our rioting world to come together in one last stand against the poor governments that inherit and lead our countries. We were also given the chance to attend a small function where we learned of one of two competitions that we would see our teams, alongside the FMS ones, play together in cup format. It will be known as the Universal League Trophy, and here is the lowdown on the teams participating and their groups (except for Fola Esch and Sporting Steinfort, who didn’t make it out of the draw).

Group A:

Alliance 01, Rosario Central, Grorud, Pau FC

An interesting group in which the two clear candidates for qualification will be Edgar Allen’s Pau side and Jorge Goncalves Rosario outfit. The contest for top spot will boil down to who can smash and grab in the home fixtures. Don’t count out Alliance 01 for a possible upset, but don’t earmark them for qualification.

Group B:

Blyth Spartans, Leeds United, Kettering, Jeunesse Esch

This group is thrown wide open by the fact that Jeunesse could hold their own against Leeds. Kettering are also a fairly strong outfit, and one would have to see what Nora Winters can come up with in her bag of tricks. Copper Horse has faced many problems in his life, but this group may be one that he can’t break out from.

Group C:

Carlisle, CS Hosbcheid, West Brom, Elgoibar

Not one of the more electrifying groups around, with West Brom the strongest team by far and most likely able to win top spot with ease. Stephen Baxter’s Carlisle could cause an upset but will need to find some great form to do so. Davide Vert and his Elgoibar outfit will be hoping to avoid the bottom spot, but it’s unlikely, especially with Hosbcheid there.

Group D:

Nottingham Forest, Wigan Athletic, Pro Vercelli, US Rumelange

You can’t help but feel sorry for Rumelange as they get lumped with two excellent sides in the form of Forest and Wigan, with the dark horses of Vercelli backing them up. Fergus Peace will have a job on his hands to keep Forest out of the top spot, but one can imagine it being just possible for the boys from Wigan.

Group E:

Eintracht, Newcastle, Macclesfield, Swift Hesperange

This group has the same flavour as Group D, with Eintracht and Newcastle more than likely to battle for the top spot. Swift are unlikely to put up a fight, while Jenny Addison’s Macclesfield side will need to fight hard and cause a few upsets to make any ground on the favourite pairing. Steve Stoehr will need to be aware of Phrann Dovecot and his speedy strikeforce.

Group F:

Airbus, Bodo/Glimt, Portsmouth, Stalybridge

The first group that didn’t contain any of our native sides. Portsmouth are sure fire favourites to make it out of the group, but Bodo can stop them if they play to their best in every game. Stalybridge should be able to make the third spot, as Airbus lack any real quality to make a push for anything than being cellar dwellers.

Group G:

Atletico Madrid, Differdange, Wormeldange, Luton Town

Azalo Szymak must be rubbing his hands in glee at the result of his sides draw. Not one of the teams in the group should pose Atletico any threat, definitely not Wormeldange anyway. Luton on their day could be a handful, as could Differdange, but don’t wager on anything other than Szymak coming out of that group top.

Group H:

Barnet, Celtic, Kaerjeng, Ferencvaros

An interesting group by all prospects. Kaerjeng will be the quiet ones and bow out silently, but the top spot could be contended by Ferencvaros and Celtic, with Barnet sitting behind them waiting to mess one of their tournaments up. Mike Kowalski told us, “This group is ours for the taking, but we need to make sure we dispatch Barnet and Ferencvaros comfortably and professionally as both could cause us trouble.”

Group I:

Bristol City, East Fife, Man Utd, Petange

Everyone eagerly awaited the drawing of Mark Wilson’s Man Utd, and it would be George Burgess who got that pleasure, alongside East Fife manager Lewis Grayling. Theres no doubt that Man Utd should steal top spot with alarming ease, along with the whole competition, and Petange will be dreading playing against them. Expect goals in this group.

Group J:

Alfreton, Sheff Wednesday, Stade de Reims, Stocksbridge

This is the first group that brought out a fierce rivalry and a much localised theme if you look past Reims. Alfreton and Stocksbridge should be propping up the group table, with Wednesday and Reims competing for that top spot. Shrewd operator Ernie Grimshaw will lock horns with Marcel Verve for that elusive top spot.

Group K:

Leicester, Sengkang, Mertzig, Universitario

This will be another group that will be extremely interesting in seeing who comes out on top. Universitario and Leicester should have it wrapped up between themselves, the head to heads being the most important thing. Sengkang could upset someone, but will need to apply themselves well to do so, though under Midas Touche, you’d expect nothing less.

Group L:

Aston Villa, Reading, Rodange, Newport

Rob Ridgway felt the draw was going all his way until the last team to join the pot was Joe Lolleys Villa outfit. That certainly threw a spanner in the works. Rob will now need to get his men back into the mindset of winning, something he wasn’t so uncapable of doing back in his FMS time. Gareth Swattridge must surely be hoping his Newport finish just above Rodange.

Group M:

AZ, Chimney Corner, Morton, Rushden

This looks like it could be an extremely interesting group for all involved. A definite learning experience for Charlie Henry’s Chimney side, while Morton and Rushden will battle for the probably second spot. Lee Kuai must be ecstatic at having secured what seems like a straight forward group with no hopeful shocks to sting his side.

Group N:

East Stirling, St Mirren, Rangers, Mertzig

A deep Scottish thing going on this group, especially as Phil Sharp and Tina Powell can lock horns together, despite being good friends. East Stirling and Mertzig will have an almost impossible dream of making it anywhere higher than 3rd, but never write off an underdog. Rangers favourites, but a St Mirren shock is always on the cards.

Group O:

Avenir Beggen, Etzella Ettelbruck, Port Vale, Sheff Utd

On paper, Sheff Utd should have this group sewn up like a cross-stitch. As such, one can’t write off the possible upsetting power of Avenir or Tossamoto’s Port Vale, and as such, it makes the group look more interesting that in first did. Ian Richards will have a lot to watch out for here, and he needs to be on his toes for every game.

Group P:

Cefn Druids, Charlton, Tottenham, Ferroviario

Maz Armley hasn’t got a prayer of getting out of this group. Providing he sticks around long enough. Leo Dodge will be looking at that spot as his, and his Spurs side have every right to. Charlton and Ferroviario will provide some stiff competition, but nowhere near enough to force them out of the qualification spot.

[SCIAG]

Atlético should get out without breaking a sweat, and Tottenham have to be favourites to get out of their group.

Good writing, gav

[stoehrst]

Say Gav, where are you gonna pull the rosters for these teams from? Are you just drafting them in as-is from the database?