antiaircraft Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 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). <img src=" https://images.neopets.com/altador/altadorcup/teams/2010/maraqua_3.gif" alt="Dorina Hals" style="border: 1px solid black;" /> Following our previous inquiries into Dorina Hals' removal from Team Maraqua's roster, we were pleasantly surprised to receive a message from an old friend and experienced private detective by the name of Mia. Mia was kind enough to put some of her own time into investigating the matter, and she relayed her findings back to us free of charge. Here's what she turned up: Hi there, I read your report on the odd TMQ situation a couple of days ago. I was wrapping up a case in Maraqua at the time, so I poked around a bit to see if I could churn up any clues. Consider it a favour from a similarly interested party. A couple of the techs and other support staff at the MQ training field had some snippets. Pretty inconsistent mind you, but I cross-ref'd them together and checked a few bits against travel and NM records for the MQ area (luckily MQ management didn't think to put a publication ban on ex-cops). That led me to poke some old contacts in the Sakhmet information business, who dug up some info leaked from TLD management a while ago (more consistent, but possibly even less reliable - I've done some cross-checking and it looks legit, but it's nothing I'd stake a warrant on). I'll start there for the sake of sensible narrative. Word is that Lamelle Turow didn't cross to MQ of his own accord. Fact is, it doesn't look like he had any ideas about changing teams at all. It seems that TLD management wanted some 'new blood' on the team to stave off all the curse business, and they ran some sort of fancy analyst ranking thing and decided Lamelle was the guy they'd drop. From what I gathered, that didn't go down too well with the players, and there was quite a fuss. Leera even threatened to quit if he lost one of his teammates, but in the end Lamelle convinced him to stay on. Lamelle and all other people in the know were NDA'd of course, so they can't talk about what happened. It turns out Lamelle's actually Maraquan citizenship-wise, so he moved back there after he got kicked out. The TMQ story comes in about 4 months pre-AC, when the team usually meets up after their post-regional tourney break. Dorina called in and said she had some personal business which might take a few weeks, but she didn't want to hold up the team. She also convinced Lamelle (apparently the two are old friends) to fill in for her so they could still train up with a full roster. Training went on and the temp team got along well, but Lamelle made it very clear he had no intention of staying beyond the pre-season training. Fast forward 4 months to the start of the AC, and Dorina was nowhere to be found. She hadn't shown up and nobody could get in touch with her. With limited options TMQ management eventually just signed Lamelle on for the full season. That's how they got where they are now. I can't confirm whether or not the TMQ players have been NDA'd, but whatever the case it seems their management doesn't want them talking (hence AX being this year's security). Stupid move all around, but you know how big companies are with PR. TMQ management did eventually file a missing person report though - *misfiled* I should say, with an incorrect document ID and labelled as a property damage report. They also filed it at the Ranger Office for the Maraquan Ruins instead of in MQ proper. Misfiled reports in remote areas always take at least 3 months to process - long enough for the AC to pass, so obviously somebody at TMQ didn't want the story breaking until post-season. I made a few calls and pushed things ahead a bit, so MQ's local PD should be looking into this sooner rather than later. It's still way too late to hope for anything but a dead trail, but what can I say, people do stupid things for PR. I did manage to talk to an old friend over in AX however, and he tells me that the official client that hired them was TMQ's new majority sponsor this year, by the name of 'Trident'. They're a big naval contractor (odd how many military companies are involved in the AC) that specialises in attack subs. Seems they suddenly decided they wanted to contribute to the community and invested their stake in TMQ a couple of months before the cup. When Dorina went missing, they pulled their weight to close the whole thing off for as long as possible (ten to one they noticed you poking around and pushed through the publication ban), and went and hired AX to keep the news in and the press out. It's not likely that AX has any involvement past being hired to keep a tight lid on the story though. They've got enough worries with official probes from half the governments in Neopia putting the squeeze on their legal department. It was bad enough a week ago, but they've been panicking ever since the incident where one of your reporters got shot up (really sorry to hear about that by the way - K recommends cauterising the wound with a T3 laser to cut down on infection risk; of course Kawinly's crazy but you might want to look into it). The word internally is that if they get one more strike against them they stand to lose their ops license, and of course if that goes they're dead. I probably ended up giving you more questions than answers, but that's all I had time to come up with. Sorry, but I need to move on and find another case to pay the bills and all. Feel free to publish all of this info with/without credit (whichever you prefer), no royalties, etc. Good luck, and stay safe! Getting shot is bad for your health. Regards, Mia Indeed, it seems like this story just gets stranger and stranger. It's now almost certain that Dorina Hals is actually missing, with Team Maraqua's management making concerted efforts to keep the whole story away from the public eye. It doesn't look like Maraqua's supporters will be getting concrete answers any time soon, and even if they do, there's no guarantee those answers will be trustworthy. For now, it seems all we can do is keep asking, and hope that the truth will emerge in time. This is AA, reporting for The Daily Neopets, signing off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xepha Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 Well, thank you Mia for this investigation. I guess it's a start... Poor Dorina.... I wonder what happened to her and if she is safe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
voteforpedro333 Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 Oh man, this is kinda serious now. Thank Mia for me, this is really very interesting. Maybe someone should check Lutari Island for Dorina, you know how creepy it gets over there. TLD management gets a boot to the head for doing that to my poor team! Leera would have quit if it came to it, he's headstrong like that. But Lamelle has always been a heck of a humble guy too. No wonder Rhee has been so cautious this year, but now that we've passed over the Maraqua match without a fuss (or did we?) it looks like everyone has their focus back in the right place. Imagine if Maraqua couldn't find a player other than Lamelle in time! It would be very disheartening to see them have to forfeit the tournament with Dorina's disappearance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Person335 Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 Ooh, a crime-like taste to the Altador Cup. I like it! You guys are so focused on the MQ/LD switch, and I like it. But what about the FL/TY transfer and recruitment? That seems to have a similar structure. Hey, but that's just my opinion. Feel free to finish up this one case. P.S. If you ever need me, I could go investigate the FL/TY issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
voteforpedro333 Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 But what about the FL/TY transfer and recruitment? That seems to have a similar structure. You mean Elbin Kroe the shoyru? You know, he is a bit suspicious. He's played for Terror Mountain, Tyrannia, and now Faerieland. He's been traded around a lot...I wonder why?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antiaircraft Posted June 14, 2011 Author Share Posted June 14, 2011 A couple of AC players like Elbin Kroe and Jair Tollet are free agents, generally signing short one-season contracts, leaving them free to transfer between teams in the off-season if they want to. :) The practice is somewhat frowned upon, but not especially controversial, as the players often had good reasons to transfer (Jair Tollet was sick of playing under Elon Hughlis for example :P ). We should probably get a couple of our reporters to interview a free agent player sometime... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Selo Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 A couple of AC players like Elbin Kroe and Jair Tollet are free agents, generally signing short one-season contracts, leaving them free to transfer between teams in the off-season if they want to. :) The practice is somewhat frowned upon, but not especially controversial, as the players often had good reasons to transfer (Jair Tollet was sick of playing under Elon Hughlis for example :P ). We should probably get a couple of our reporters to interview a free agent player sometime... I gotta say maybe, just like Jair Tollet, Dorina was somewhat pissed off at Elon. You know Hughlis, he's a bit childish, reckless... and loud with a temper, though he's quite adept when it comes to leadership. Well, if I'm offending some Elon H fans, then I apologize :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antiaircraft Posted June 14, 2011 Author Share Posted June 14, 2011 I gotta say maybe, just like Jair Tollet, Dorina was somewhat pissed off at Elon. You know Hughlis, he's a bit childish, reckless... and loud with a temper, though he's quite adept when it comes to leadership. Well, if I'm offending some Elon H fans, then I apologize :) While that is a possibility, it doesn't quite seem to fit with the circumstances... :( And by all indications, Dorina was a great match for Elon - she kept him in check very well. :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonathanjoseph99 Posted June 18, 2011 Share Posted June 18, 2011 Mystery. :) I hope Dorina would be found in Shenkuu and she'd joined Shenkuu in the next year and replace Larcy if Larcy want's to retire. Hahaha. Just Kidding. But that would be cool. XD And I DON'T HATE LARCY. He just looks like the oldest SK player. XD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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