Making Inquiries - Information on Maraqua's Roster Change Remains Scarce

[antiaircraft]

Obligatory disclaimer: This news report is largely fictional, composed from various fan comments and the whims of our imagination in an attempt to inspire a sense of realism through our reporting. While we do our best to keep things reasonably neutral, this report is in no way intended to be a completely bias-free representation of the parties involved, nor does it claim to provide critical analysis of past and potential outcomes from qualified Altador Cup experts. If professional analysis is what tickles your fancy, take a look at our predictions (global/daily).

 

Only a few hours remain until the Altador Cup officially kicks off, and even as the team practice sessions wind down, the teams' fans are ramping it up for the long season ahead. As the inns and hotels in the city outside start to fill up (and rake in the Neopoints, as many happy innkeepers will point out), more and more fans are choosing to camp out the season together next to the on-stadium stands of their teams' official support groups, forming one humongous tent city right here on the grounds of the Colosseum.

 

Within this tent city, the stadium itself towers in the distance, the unmistakable centre of attention for the churning mass of fans, groundsmen, news crews, and even the occasional player slipping through the crowds undetected. For the moment however, the inside of the Colosseum is still only open to players, tournament workers, and reporters who've managed to obtain a press pass. As far as the fans are concerned, the buzz of pre-Cup activity is still focused around the ring of stands that form the homes of the Cup's official support groups. From the gleaming blue and gold of SoLiD to the rugged brown and orange of TIC-TAC, each of the Cup's teams is represented (some more than once) by these large, bustling structures. Each of the stands is manned by a dedicated volunteer crew of the team's core supporters, who spend their days recruiting more supporters, helping out people new to the cup, encouraging fellow fans, and generally keeping their team's fan base running smoothly. As one supporter from SoLiD put it, "I make jokes, and sometimes I actually work."

 

Steering her fellow SoLiD member firmly back towards his desk, a second SoLiD supporter continued, "More seriously, being part of a support group is an awesome task. It's tons of fun, working with a bunch of people all towards one goal, but it's a lot of hard work."

 

<img src="https://images.neopets.com/altador/altadorcup/2011/popups/maraqua/logo.png" alt="Maraqua logo" style="margin:5px;float:right;" /> The scene is much the same at the stands for the other seventeen teams in the tourney, although there is one particular stand where the mood is a little less jovial. The crowds are just as large, the supporters on welcome duty are just as enthusiastic, and the strategy debates are just as intense, but over the deep blue banners of the Maraquan support group WAM! hangs a quiet sense of sadness. Only a few days earlier, it was officially confirmed that Team Maraqua had lost one of its shining stars, their much-loved left defender and unofficial team spokesperson Dorina Hals.

 

The lack of clarity on the reasons for Hals' removal from the team this year isn't helping Team Maraqua's spirits. While the prevailing rumour before the official announcement suggested that Hals, like former Krawk Island Captain "Dasher" Soley, was retiring from professional Yooyuball, more recent press releases from the team's management have stated, on separate occasions, that the Aisha was either temporarily out of the tournament with a tail injury, attending to a family emergency in Neopia Central, or had been readmitted to the team under the effects of a Kiko Transformation Potion. The committee-approved Team Maraqua profile, on the other hand, states that Dorina Hals was replaced with former Lost Desert defender Lamelle Turow due to the experience the Kiko gained from playing with a championship-winning team. While Maraqua's new left defender is undoubtedly a highly skilled player and a considerable asset to the team, the confusing circumstances surrounding this whole situation have resulted in him receiving a rather rocky welcome from most supporters.

 

With the large number of conflicting stories floating around, and the majority of Maraqua's (very substantial) fan base still demanding answers, it's surprising to see that no news agencies have managed to publish the story from the viewpoint of Team Maraqua's players. After all, as a matter of principle the team has been very open to the press in past years.

 

When I went to see if I could interview the team myself however, it wasn't difficult to discover the reason for the lack of public information from inside the team. This is the closest I could get to an interview with Team Maraqua's players, taking place in the antechamber directly outside the team's quarters.

 

Good afternoon, I'm a reporter with The Daily Neopets. I was wondering if I could ask the Maraquan players a few questions. Would that be possible at this point in time?

Security Guard: Outsiders are not permitted in this area. Leave immediately, or you will be escorted out by force.

 

I understand that the team is busy sir, but this won't take long. I only need to spend a few minutes inside.

(As I said this I took several steps forward, anticipating the need to present a press pass.)

Guard: (moving to block the entrance with a weapon) Stop where you are. This is a restricted area, and you will NOT be permitted to enter. Now turn around, face the door, and leave. If you had trouble understanding that last sentence, my helmet translator can repeat it for you in whatever language you want.

 

(Based on past experience, the weapon used by the guard appeared to be a variant of steel-ceramic composite polearms often depicted in use by the long-defunct Altadorian Guild of Assassins. This specific variant of the weapon was not entirely true to the original design however, as the blade had been retrofitted with a short-range laser cutter.)

 

Sir, I do have my press pass with me if you need to verify its authenticity. I'm a fully certified journalist from The Daily Neopets, registered with both the Altadorian and Maraquan press societies. If you like, I can contact my head office to provide additional authentication.

Guard: Press clearance is not sufficient to grant you access. We're under specific orders to ensure that this area remains off-limits to any and all unauthorised personnel. In case you didn't get the hint, that means YOU.

 

I do understand sir, but as I recall this is Maraqua's team area, is it not? The Altador Cup Committee has stated that team quarters should remain open to press representatives, unless there is some form of significant-

Guard: This area is off-limits. You've been warned and asked to leave repeatedly. By refusing to comply, you are identifying yourself as a threat, and we've been explicitly authorised to use lethal force to remove threats. This is your last warning. Get out.

 

Uh... okay. Have a nice day sir.

 

After my slightly unfriendly encounter with the security around Team Maraqua's quarters, I fell back on an old reporter trick to try and garner some more information in a less direct fashion. Interviewing the players at another point in time wasn't an option, as it seems they've been placed under twenty-four hour watch this year, with armed security even present to escort them to and from the practice fields. In fact, I had some trouble getting past those same security guards while gathering information for a previous report, although I was able to get a brief statement from Maraquan defender Barit Jowes, who indicated that the Maraquan players had been strongly discouraged from discussing Dorina Hals' departure.

 

However, I was able to contact several of TDN's sources (who must remain anonymous for security purposes) at the Maraquan Centre for Advanced Medicine, the hospital where (according to some announcements) Hals originally received treatment for her tail injury. All of these sources confirmed that Dorina Hals was on the official patient list sent out in response to press inquiries, but also revealed that her name had never appeared on any of the actual patient lists used by hospital staff. In fact, the last Maraquan Aisha to be treated for a tail injury at MCAM was discharged from the hospital well over eight months ago. This means that it's highly unlikely that Hals was ever admitted to the hospital, and almost certain that she never received any form of treatment there.

 

With the tail injury story largely discredited (and the Transformation Potion story bearing little credibility from the start), the only remaining official explanations to pursue were the claims that Hals had been forced to leave for Neopia Central to deal with a family emergency, or that the team's management had made a simple executive decision to replace her.

 

The first of these two stories seems rather dubious at first glance, as by all reliable accounts Dorina Hals has no surviving family. Indeed, after making a number of inquiries, we were unable to find any transport authority or commercial transport organisation with records of a Maraquan Aisha matching Hals' description either leaving Maraqua or entering Neopia Central within the last month. Further inquiries aimed at narrowing down Hals' exact location, in the hopes of obtaining answers from the former player herself, came up against a surprising result: only a few minutes ago, the Altador Cup committee issued a total disclosure ban on all information regarding Dorina Hals, barring government and other officially registered sources from providing news agencies with any new details on this story. While not unheard of, disclosure bans issued by a sports authority as large and well-established as the Altador Cup committee are rare, especially ones covering such a broad range of information.

 

<img src="https://images.neopets.com/altador/altadorcup/rules/committee_2.gif" alt="Committee" style="float:left;margin:5px;" /> For an Altador Cup reporter looking to learn more about a disclosure ban, the usual course of action is to contact the Altador Cup committee's press office, a group of experienced journalists who act as press liaisons, publicists, and advisors to the committee itself. In this case however, not even the press office was able to provide much more than speculation. For such a major disclosure ban to be pushed through without the press office being consulted implies that the committee was under considerable pressure from a major team sponsor, or perhaps even a sponsor of the tournament itself.

 

The press office was, however, able to identify the security firm contracted by Team Maraqua's management to provide security for their players this year. The firm in question is known as Altador Executioners (often colloquially shortened to 'AX'), an international security contractor based, unsurprisingly, in Altador. While AX security teams lack the skill and professionalism of other top competitors in the field, the company is nonetheless a major industry heavyweight, holding 10.8% of Neopia's corporate security contracts worldwide. Most of its high-ranking security personnel are experienced soldiers, as the company tends to target special forces veterans from the First Virtupets Invasion heavily in its recruitment drives. The company also holds large prison labour contracts in various regions, bulking up its ranks with some of Neopia's more hardened criminals in exchange for reductions in their respective sentences.

 

Of all the remarkable things about the company hired to protect Maraqua's players this year, perhaps the most intriguing is AX's questionable human rights record. AX personnel have a distinct and widespread reputation for reckless behaviour, operating with no regard for the safety of those around them, and frequently employing excessive (and arguably outright brutal) force in situations where innocent bystanders were clearly in the line of fire. While the company has constantly held that it is being unfairly targeted, the fact remains that AX is the subject of more violence-related criminal investigations than any other paramilitary organisation in Neopia. AX's signature weapon, a stylised replica of an ancient Altadorian polearm design, modified to fit a very modern high-energy laser cutter, features prominently on pamphlets and other media distributed by various human rights groups, all of whom are invariably critical of the company's operations.

 

It seems rather surprising then, that Team Maraqua's management would choose to hire such a formidable and controversial security force, especially in light of the team's stance on private security in previous years. It's not uncommon for Altador Cup teams to hire their own security - in fact, the practice is actually encouraged by the Altador Cup committee. Regular security at the Altador Cup is provided by Altador's city guard, with a few elite teams from renowned military supplier and contractor DeltaVex Vorpal on standby to handle more critical situations. When facing the thousands of adrenaline-charged fans attending the tournament every year, this small force routinely finds itself heavily overstretched, and so any arrangements that might lighten the security load are generally welcomed. However, Team Maraqua (up until this year) was one a handful of teams which eschewed the use of a private security force. Indeed, with both Tonie Plessix and Oten Runeu on the team, it's hard to imagine Maraqua's squad having much trouble with the occasional bouts of mob violence that erupt around the Colosseum.

 

So then, why is it that Team Maraqua's management seems so concerned about keeping its players securely squared away from outside contact this year round? Why were so many conflicting, incorrect statements issued concerning Dorina Hals being dropped from the roster? Who was it that pressed so hard to keep any further information about Hals firmly sealed off from the press? Perhaps most importantly, where is Dorina Hals herself, and what does she have to say about all this? For now, it seems like these are all questions without any conclusive answers.

 

This is AA, reporting for The Daily Neopets, signing off.

[voteforpedro333]

Three minutes and counting for the Altador Cup to start. I do desperately hope the Altador Council comes out with whatever news they can (notwithstanding the much stricter press contact that is being instituted) about Dorina, and that hopefully Lamelle is cleared of any and all accusations brought to the team.

 

Great piece and research, but please be more careful with your encounters with the guards. Adding injury to insult would not be a pleasant sight.

 

[To those who might get the reference, when I saw AX I totally thought of A7X, haha.]

[Person335]

Nice report. What do you think they're hiding at team Maraqua? I have a right mind to march in their camps and find out.

 

Also, AA, do us all a favor and don't harm yourself! We've had enough issues with the Meepits from last year!

[Guest Maraqua<3]

I would think if Maraqua needed heavy-metal security RIGHT AFTER they fired Hals, then Hals was the reason for this. Maybe a criminal-in-disguise? :3

[:)Doc]

I feel kinda bad for Lamelle. I mean, nobody wants to feel unwanted... :sad01_anim: Everyone is trying to push him away; think about it really, he hasn't harmed ANYBODY! We lost Dorina. Big whoop. <_<

 

But, it was a good report! I'm not saying it wasn't! :P

[antiaircraft]

I feel kinda bad for Lamelle. I mean, nobody wants to feel unwanted... :sad01_anim: Everyone is trying to push him away; think about it really, he hasn't harmed ANYBODY! We lost Dorina. Big whoop. <_<

Agreed. Speaking as an MQ fan, I can say that Dorina was one of our finest players and an inspiration for the whole team - if removing her was a management decision, then quite frankly it was the absolute worst management decision possible with regard to our roster. But that's no excuse to heap it all on our new defender, who has been performing great so far. :yes:

 

I would think if Maraqua needed heavy-metal security RIGHT AFTER they fired Hals, then Hals was the reason for this. Maybe a criminal-in-disguise? :3

While information on Dorina Hals' history prior to her entry into Yooyuball is quite scarce, there's presently no evidence pointing in this direction. Some records do suggest she may have worked as a test pilot for one or more military contractors however.

 

Great piece and research, but please be more careful with your encounters with the guards. Adding injury to insult would not be a pleasant sight.

Also, AA, do us all a favor and don't harm yourself! We've had enough issues with the Meepits from last year!

Duly noted, and thanks for your concern! :D