Part V: The Kickball Teams
When the invasion first came, the members of the Red and Black Teams put up only moderate resistance. They saw the overwhelming numbers of the invaders and sought to come to an arrangement with them.
Though this might seem a cowardly thing to some, it might also be considered the prudent thing to do, for it allowed them to exist within the occupied city for some time more. Though their members were disarmed in the time following, it was them who helped many citizens to flee from the occupied city to free Vesper in the north.
Also the continued kickball matches helped a lot in boosting the morale of those left in the city, especially because the local teams regularly beat the team the imperials had hastily put together.
After the battle of Vesper, when the empire sought to fill their ranks with local conscripts, they first looked to the hardy men of the kickball teams.
It is a matter of debate whether this was the main reason for Krest Black and Fernand Red agreeing to the plan of the Uprising when it was brought to them or whether they had planned to act sometime regardless.
Whatever their reasons, for the first time ever they decided to put their differences at rest and work together for the good of Cerea.
Of the Uprising much is told in other books: How they managed to drive the remains of the army from the city, how the main body of the army then fell back to the city and crushed the rebellion after not more than two days and of the famous last stand of the rebels in the kickball stadium.
Of those few who survived that battle comes the account that Krest Black and Fernand Red were last seen fighting back to back, surrounded by dozens of imperial soldiers. Their heads were put on public display the following day and the kickball teams were dissolved.