Tale of Twin Colonies
Lian's move from Dongji to Wuji has been regarded by many Dongji fans as a betrayal of his home colony. Dongji gained forward Jai Cheng, and midfielder Anne-Marije Feston out of the trade.
Fans in Dongj have been upended with Season 2 changes, particularly losing former Captain to Wuji Sport Club.
After a dramatic season 1 with high stakes, it is no surprise that the MAFL is going through changes. Beyond the changes to the Aero Football rules, technology upgrades, and growing licensing deals with Earth affiliates, the players remain the key ingredient.
For most fans, the experience of seeing players change positions or getting traded is a big deal on its own, but the last minute trade activity between Tiangong and Huacheng at the tail end of the off-season, brings it to a new level. The sister colonies have always had their differences, with Huacheng often considered the “Chinese capitol” on Mars there has always been a sense of competition, however, the MAFL can take credit for stirring it into a true rivalry.
Back in Season 1, Huacheng was devistated by Darkeem Dennis' unexpected trade to Europa. Qigang Lian's move from Dongji to Wuji has been regarded by many Dongji fans as an outright betrayal of the colony. They have also been reluctant to accept Marcus Ekberg, a non-Chinese, with the role of Captain. With all the moaning, the benefits of Ekberg's leadership along with gaining forward Jai Cheng, and midfielder Anne-Marije Feston, the Dongji squad is actually looking better than ever.
Ekberg, a Martian-born native of Wendland colony, is not a fluent Mandarin speaker and previously showed little interest in picking up the language. At the last press briefing, however, Ekberg responded to local media questions in Chinese. Although he was certainly aided by a virtual translator, the gesture was well received. In the world of sports, the language of 'wins' is the true prize, so long as Ekberg can bring in the goals, he won't likely need to fallback on his Chinese.
As for Lian, he had been openly looking to move to the sister colony after his wife had moved to Tiangong to take a role on council. They were living apart for most of season 1. Had Wuji owner, Koh Chen, not encouraged the Wuji shakeup, the opportunity would not have been on the table for him.
“It’s an opportunity to continue my journey as athlete and captain,” says Lian, “I'm grateful for this opportunity and I’m excited to work with my new teammates.”
The serious drama, though, is in Lian’s usurping of Hachette’s captain title. Stanislas Hachette has been widely panned in Season 1 for ineffective leadership, lack of scoring ability, and general unawareness of the flow of gameplay. Some see his demotion as a gift to the team.
“We love Hachette though,” says his teammates, “His nickname is The Hachet. Not because he’s a sharp player, but he’s got a really sharp sense of humour. We feel bad for him, but relieved he's still on the team.”
However, to those loyal to the charismatic former captain, his demotion coupled with the cutting of Wuji’s manager Bobby Chung has fans grumbling. And even in the general fanbase, not everyone is quite warmed up to the idea of having Lian as captain, despite him leading Wuji to a solid start in Season 2. Time will tell, as play continues, whether the trades will prove a wise move for the two teams.
The first highly anticipated face off between the two clubs happens on week 6, the 17th of Cancer.
Where's the Beef?
Earth sports hero turned businessman drives cows-on-Mars agenda.
Colonies look to introduce cows for dairy production with the first payload of genetically modified livestock en route from Earth. If this venture works out, it will have a significant impact on synthetic and human milk programs.
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Where's the beef? Well, apparently, it's on its way!
Huacheng, Tiangong and Osumi will become the first colonies to introduce Organic Dairy products at significant volume.
Duke Riddlestone, owner of Riddle Farms Texas Company, is one of the primary suppliers of genetically engineered livestock. He and his team arrived on a temporary work visa early in Mesha and have been working with local operators to ensure a smooth transition when the cattle arrives. All 3 colonies will have dedicated massive underground facilities for the venture.
we won't see cows on the surface of Mars anytime soon, rather, they will inhabit dedicated facilities in Huacheng, Tiangong and Osumi. Other colonies will be eagerly observing the outcome of this new program. Suppliers of the genetically engineered bovine claim the load on resources fall within the same parameters as other adapted livestock.
The livestock is en route and a large portion of the test-tube calves will be 'born' on the final approach to Mars, after a 250 day gestation period. The total herd size will be 120 cows and is expected to produce in excess of 200,000 litres of milk each year.
Riddlestone, formerly an all-star NNFBL player (and later in his career, a coach), praised the consortium responsible for opening up the market for his livestock and the achievements of Martian colonization.
“It’s a remarkable thing to come to this world and witness how people live here,” Riddlestone said in a recent interview, “I’m impressed with how far you’ve been able to push agriculture and how it has afforded colonists with a relatively diverse diet. I'm happy that my cows are a new milestone.”
How this will affect the synthetic milk sector remains to be seen, but many are eager to welcome cow milk over the low-volume from human milk sharing programs available in some colonies.
When asked of what he thinks of Martian sports, he said, “It’s great to see a budding sporting culture, especially with the decline back home. I still can’t get over how tall everyone is. I am looking forward to seeing how that translates into actual play. I want to see it with my own eyes, so I plan on being at the Dong Ji opening game.”
Riddlestone has been welcomed as a sport celebrity and multiple MAFL clubs have extended invitations for him to visit, however, he has, so far, declined due to his immediate business obligations.
Huacheng's Darkeem Dennis
Darkeem Dennis, one of the breakout stars of the upstart MAFL, is alone at his pod in the west quarter of Huacheng. Through a port window over his single bed, the lava plains seem endless, just craters and silhouetted ancient volcanoes.
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Darkeem Dennis, one of the breakout stars of the upstart MAFL, is alone at his pod in the west quarter of Huacheng. Through a port window over his single bed, the lava plains seem endless, just craters and silhouetted ancient volcanoes.
“It’s tough not to think too much,” Dennis said.
His assigned roommate, midfielder Gao Zheng, was at his girlfriend’s pod, in the central quadrant. “He spends a lot of time there,” Dennis said. “She's got a lot more space.”
It was midnight; hours after Huacheng Dongji dropped its Week 9 match to Al'amal SC, stretching their losing streak to six games. Dennis didn’t score in the loss. And when the 27-year-old striker doesn’t score, Dongji rarely wins.
Almost half Dongji's losses have come in penalty kicks. Dennis has missed every penalty he's taken, save for one.
"I'm still trying to work out the boost on my kicks," he said. "I scored last week. I think I've got the hang of it."
Dennis didn’t want to talk much about pressure, about chafing against outsized expectations on an underachieving team. But the reality is, Dongji’s fate this season has become inextricably linked with this previously unknown import player from Wendale.
Dennis has surprised most MAFL scouts, leading the league in scoring early in the season. Still, despite a mid-season slump, he’s still in the top three — and the only Donji player in the top 20.
“Honestly? We weren’t expecting much from him,” Dongji manager Rain Chen said. “We didn’t even start him the first game.”
Dennis spent his childhood in the U.S. Soccer Development program, playing for the FC Portland Academy team. When he was 13, his parents won a 15-year research grant to develop EV suits and body armour for mining engineers on Wendland, the satellite settlement outside Amrita.
“I was gutted,” Dennis said. “My whole life was soccer. And when I got to Wendland, there was nothing. Even if there was a league then, I couldn’t walk right for the first year.”
“I sort of lost myself. I didn’t even watch the game feeds coming from Earth. Seeing some of the guys I came up with – it was too much.”
Until last year, Dennis was working with his parents. He tested prototype equipment they developed in the lab.
“I wore them out into the field, so I could identify kinks that happen in real-world situations,” he said. “It could be gruelling. But it was good. I had my family. I knew a lot of the guys at the lab.”
But his life was upended last year when an old coach from Portland FC Academy reached out. The coach, Jonas Erlbaum, was now chief of scouting for Dongji.
“We were trying to fill out the bottom of our roster,” Erlbaum said. “My team thought I was crazy. This kid from some backwater settlement who hadn’t played a sport in 13 years? Crazy. But I just had a feeling.”
It paid off.
“I know how EV suits work,” Dennis said. “I think that’s what gave me an edge. Everyone else was just getting used to playing in them, but I’d been working on those things for years.”
His emergence as one of the most promising players in the MAFL has earned him some notoriety in Huacheng. “People will pass me in the corridors,” he said, “and I can tell they recognize me. They look back and whisper.”
But sitting alone on the foot of his bed, with a sandstorm visible through the window, it doesn’t seem like Dennis is certain he made the right decision.
“We just got to start winning more games.”