The Rise And Fall Of ET Hills [Fin's Chaos Squad July 24th 2014]
By: Findan
The battles had been raging across all fronts that night. Our company of heroes had just completed a successful incursion into enemy territory, completely painting Sorrow's Furnace Borderlands Red. With SoR's secondary Borderland once again secure, our heroes turned their focus to Eredon Terrace. More to the point, Eredon Terrace Hills. That Keep had been a thorn in SoR's side for several days now. Fully fortified and sieged up to the hilt, ET had managed to hold on to, and secure, an extremely defensible objective for several days. The time had come. ET Hills had to fall!
Our ever vigilant company of heroes marched over to ET Borderlands and began their conquest at Bluevale Supply Depot. After a swift and decisive victory at Vale Camp, our heroes identified Eredon Terrace Bay as their next objective. Having been recently retaken by ET, it was a weak point in their defenses and the perfect place to strike a blow at the enemy. This was to be our heroes' foothold in ET's Borderland. A base of operations from which to strike out and capture the rest of the Borderland. It wasn't long before Bay belonged to SoR!
Several strategic supply depot and tower captures later, the time had arrived to take Eredon Terrace Hills. A plan was formulated. Commanders Peanut and Mercn from the Rogue Agents [RA] Guild volunteered to split off from the main company and take a small task force to ET's Garrison to serve as a vital distraction. Golems were produced at ET Bay and they set off to the North West Garrison doors. As soon as they had entered the combat zone at Garrison, the main company of heroes set out for Eredon Terrace Hills. Time was of the essence! ET's Garrison was heavily fortified as well. Rogue Agents did not expect to survive long - they just had to hold out long enough for our heroes' main squadron to make the breakthrough.
It was a race against time! Rogue Agents were under heavy fire at the outer Gates of Garrison. It was only a matter of time before they would have to disengage the enemy and pull back. Our company of heroes hit Hills' outer main gates hard and fast. Several rams went up in a flash and the doors were coming down fast! Meanwhile, Rogue Agents were putting up an incredible fight outside Garrison. Despite losing their Golems and being heavily outnumbered - almost three to one - they never gave up! Their mission was to keep Eredon Terrace occupied long enough!
The outer gates at ET Hills went down. Our heroes were in! As our heroes cut a path through the hordes of Veteran Guards in the courtyard, they came under heavy fire from a very well fortified inner Keep. Several attempts at setting up Rams on the gates had failed. The attack on Hills had been discovered and enemy troops had begun pouring into the Keep. Arrow Cart and Cannon fire peppered the courtyard from above! Between respawning Veteran Guards, enemy troops charging out into the courtyard and Siege fire, it was pandemonium and chaos! (Just how we like it, right?!) Allies fell and rallied under fire. Those who died were quickly resurrected by valiant team members who darted in under immense fire and bravely revived their allies. Something needed to be done. And fast! The decision was made. Our intrepid heroes regrouped and retreated to the top of the outer walls. Ballistae went up in record time before the enemy could react. Cannons and Arrow Carts fell under the deadly aim of our Ballista masters.
That brought about another hurdle to overcome. Our heroes' supply had been severely depleted by the need to build additional siege. The call was made. Our heroes needed supply. Desperately! Several smaller squads broke off from the main fight and headed North and South to the nearest supply depots. Meanwhile, the rest of the company stayed inside the courtyard, bravely fighting off the never-ending flow of Veteran Guards and enemy troops who were desperately trying to reach the Ballistae and Mesmers. The supply runners would need portals back into the courtyard upon their return!
The next wave of supply came in, the courtyard was secured and Rams went up on the gates. It was now or never! Brave soldiers manned the Rams, the gate still under immense fire from additional Arrow Carts within the inner walls. The rams were holding out surprisingly well! The enemy set up Trebuchets on the inner bridge in an attempt to slow down the ramming. The request was made for more supply. Our heroes were going to need it! Supply runner squads kept running back and forth tirelessly, keeping the supply flows going.
The first wave of rams went down with the gate at a little over 50%. Progress was made! Additionally, Hills' supply was being drained by the enemy in an attempt at stemming the SoR tide. A fresh batch of supply arrived and a second wave of Rams went up. Our heroes poured their newly acquired supply into flash building those rams. Again, supply runner squads were sent out for more supply. The second wave of rams went down. The inner gate was down to 20%. The breakthrough was in sight. Our heroes were relentless. They refused to give up now!
Meanwhile, Rogue Agents had broken off the attack on Garrison. Their job was done. They had stalled Eredon Terrace long enough for our troops to make the initial breakthrough. They regrouped back at base camp and set out to rally with our heroes in Hills. Their new mission was to secure the back lines. It was vital to ensure the enemy did not get a foothold inside the courtyard behind allied troops.
Back in the courtyard, things were heating up even more! Additional enemy troops were pouring into the Keep. The courtyard was under constant fire of Arrow Carts, Trebuchets and Catapults. The constant respawning Veteran Guards kept our troops on their toes. Our heroes were continually on the move, bobbing and weaving, twisting and turning, keeping the pressure on that inner gate and on the enemy troops while doing their best to avoid enemy siege fire. More supply arrived at last!
Our supply runners had run into enemy resistance once the enemy had figured out that our heroes had supply runners bringing supply back! The third wave of rams went up in a flash in between Trebuchet shots and Poisoned Cows. The inner gate was down to 10%. The breakthrough was imminent. It was another race against time! Every Treb shot brought our rams one step closer to destruction. Water fields, condition cleanses and stability were kept constantly on the rams. This was going to be close! One more shot from the Trebs and the rams would be down for a third time and supply was running dry! Moments before the final, fatal Treb shot hit, the doors flew open! Breakthrough! Our heroes charged in!
Enemy siege melted under fire from our company of heroes. Panic spread through the enemy troops as they scattered and retreated into the Lords Room. Our heroes charged over the bridge and into the Lords Room behind the enemy troops. Circling around the upper balcony, our heroes cleared out any enemy troops and siege before turning their focus onto the Keep Lord. By this time, Rogue Agents had caught up with the rest of the company.
[RA] volunteered to stay back at the Enemy Waypoint, keeping pressure on any enemy troops who tried to waypoint back into Hills. The Keep Lord went down! The circle was up and the Keep was flipping! An enemy warrior managed to get in range and banner the Lord back up. More chaos erupted. Veteran Guards respawned at the same time. Our heroes turned back to the Keep Lord and burned him down once again. The capture circle was back up! Enemy soldiers were desperately trying to contest the circle and slow the capture! Just a little longer... Boom! Success! Eredon Terrace Hills finally fell under the might of SoR, resulting in a very, very hard fought, yet sweet victory!
Capturing a fully upgraded, Waypointed Tier 3 Keep is always an amazing feeling! Well done to each and everyone who contributed to the capture of this Keep! It was the combined effort of everyone at that fight who made the capture possible! And a special shout out must go out to our allies at Rogue Agents! Without their awesome fight at Garrison, delaying the enemy long enough for the breakthroughs, and their incredible back up behind enemy lines, ET Hills would not have fallen that night!