Desperation: An Arena of honor Story | Season 5 Round 3

Lords and Ladies!! Come one come all. Hear the story about FrankTU's journey to the glory king title in the prestigious Arena of honor. He had tasted success in the 3rd season of the event. Now he was hungrier than ever before to achieve this again. Especially after having missed his chances in the previous season on the final round. Will he win this round as he done in the previous 2? Will there be obstacles this early in the season that will prove to be costly at the later stages? Find out as you read this tale full of action and surprises!

Chapter 1: Houses

The first of the three major houses, House Stark. "Winter Is Coming", the motto of the wolves. The lords chosen to represent this banner were strong. Their main force consisted of 3 players [OFm] Flower Child, [OFm] CptBloodFart and [SeF] H2SX ABYSS1.

They would be under attack by the lannisters. The targaryens could only hope that they would be able to stop the lannisters from advancing through there. This would be crucial for Targaryen victory as they needed the lannisters to be preoccupied while they made their moves.

The legendary House Targaryen that had ruled the 7 kingdoms for 300 years. "Fire and Blood", the motto of the dragon lords. This was the moment where they could get revenge on the lannisters. [STL] INFURNO and his team had been chosen by the dragon lords to bring victory and glory. The team had many victories under their sleeve. This was a safe bet to get good returns. Unlike other houses, here more than 3 lords had the ability to be powerhouses in their own right.

The main spear to lead the battle was however [FVM] sebastrus. They had won many such battles with his vast experience. [STL] INFURNO was a very capable leader. He had already formulated a plan of action. The team had done this many times before. Some of the players could even move before orders were given out. Victory could very well be in their grasp.

Finally the third and final House, House Lannister. The current holders of Kings Landing. "Hear Me Roar!", the motto of the lions. When Frank looked at the warriors fielded by the House, he felt a sudden feeling of dread. This were strong and experienced players. They would not be easy to fight.

As he looked through the ranks, he recognised more and more lords. He had fought them before. Each member was formidable in his own right. Any of the lords could be their spear head. Strategy would play a role here. He could already see the Glory city slipping from their hand. INFURNO called for lords to have hope. His team was still good at what they did. This would not be easy for the lannisters as well.

Chapter 2: Preparation & assault

The targaryens prepared themselves to take the outposts. They had to set the troops to counter the towers and the catapults, it would be crucial for victory if their fears of not being able to get the Glory city were true. They rushed to capture outposts. Frank captured 4. He had to assist the team as much as possible. They quickly converted then to counter the towers. The second line of outposts was crucial.

Very quickly the Tyrell's faction city fell to the dragons. This was good. The targaryens were quicker than the other 2 factions. So they had made the first move. Now surely the lannisters and the Starks would rush to complete their objectives.

The altars and the outposts opened and some of the members with free armies rushed to capture the second line of outposts and the important tower.

The very moment the Targeryan forced landed at House Greyjoy's doorstep, the lannisters captured the Baratheon's faction city. INFURNO's team still has the edge. They had to capture the towers now. It was the second step in the 3 steps to victory. Even if they lord the Glory city they could still win with just the buildings captured. A chance they couldn't miss.

Chapter 3: Counterattacks & Surprises

But immediately the cracks began to show, the Starks countered the army occupying the Greyjoy city. They had finally made a move. Now all three factions held one other city. The targaryens' lead had disappeared with Stark resurgence. The team spent the next few minutes upgrading the final line of outposts and taking altars. It was still not over.

Suddenly Frank noticed the greyjoys had fought back. This was good. The Targaryens could win against the greyjoy. It was now a three-way battle. The starks army could defeat the targaryen army but would be defeated in turn by the greyjoys who were weaker to the Targaryen force. But now that the second line of outposts came into play INFURNO could dictate changes in the troops configurations to benefit us.

Meanwhile the towers were now open. The targeryens took two and lannisters took one. The starks were slower As the second marches were sent out Frank held his breath. They needed at least one of the two to happen. The Targaryen defense must win and the starks tower must fall.

Losses. This was bad. Both the defense and the attack had failed. And even the attempts to retake starks towers had failed. This was bad. The first step had not been completed successfully and the second step had failed. With there being a good chance of failure for the third step, Frank couldn't help but think that the day was lost.

"Snap back. We are still in the lead." Shouted INFURNO. "Today is not over. There are 37 minutes left. Let us fight to the end". He was correct. The Targaryen points were 24,677 to Lannister's 16,688 and Stark's 16,109. We still had the lead. Frank looked over to the tyrell outposts. All of them had been captured by his fellow lords. These were tradeposts that were giving very good amount of points for the past minutes. A new surge of confidence rushed into him. He slapped himself. He had doubted this team that had won so much last season.

"Convert the Tyrell's outposts to combat outposts!" was the order. Frank rushed to carry it out. Hope was not lost. The lannisters and Starks had not captured their outposts. They could have the upper hand once more. As he was doing this he noticed that the starks had lost their tower to the Targaryen army and the lannister army. The catapults were also open now. So Frank rushed to change the setting to focus on their capture. "The first capture points could help a lot", he thought. "We cannot let the others have them."

The greyjoys had also fought back to take control of their city. And just as planned, in their fervor to capture towers both the other 2 houses had missed their chance. The Targaryens took control of not one but 3 catapults. This was very good.

Chapter 4: Pursuit of Glory

But celebrations were for later. The lannisters had been very quick. They had captured the Glory city at the very moment it opened for contention. Despite 3 rallies from the Targaryen army, they were not fast enough. But they could still win and offensive battle. Just as this was going on, the greyjoy's city finally fell to the targaryen army. Frank sent his lords to hold the city. They couldn't afford to make a mistake this time.

As expected the enemy was very strong. [HD!] Ko3ak UA had F5 commanders in a Female Synergy lineup. It would seem the Glory city was well out of reach. More rallies were made by Sebastrus and the others but none of them could break such a strong defense. So the team decided to abandon this step of the plan.

Chapter 5: Hunters become the hunted

The focus was fully shifted to the small mines and large mines. These were crucial to maintain the 10,000 point lead the Targaryens had. At the very moment the lannisters finally realised that ther catapults had been in Targaryen control. They sent forth forces immediately to take over the 3 buildings. Now getting points would be even more difficult. A small victory made it possible to capture one of the towers but all three catapults fell to lannister hands. The mines went smoothly but the lannisters were catching up quickly.

11 minutes were left in the clock and the lannisters now went back to the towers. They help 2 of the three. Slowly the Targaryens watched as their 39 minute lead faded away like nothing. It felt like nothing they threw at the enemy seemed to work. The Glory city's loss ended up becoming huge. With the towers lost it was an upward struggle. All they could do was watch the timer run down to 0.

Chapter 6: Hope

The lords and ladies of the team gathered after the match. Everyone thanks each other for working together. There was a sense of gloom. After all they had worked hard and nothing went well for them. Sensing this, INFURNO spoke "We may had lost today but this is one match. We have won so many together. We have faced such opponents before. Today is no different. Win some, lose some. The important thing is that we fought to the end. We will learn from today as we have done before. We will fight and keep fighting to win."

The players understood what he meant. It was true, they would never give up. Today was no different. They would fight again. They would never give up. The fight would end only at the end of the season. No matter what they would fight again. "To victory we will march!". They wouldn't give up so easily. They will fight again in the Round 4. Let us wish the combatants luck!