The missing points - An Ultimate Conquest Story

It was a sunny Saturday morning when Lady Arthena was woken up by a loud banging on her door. “Arthena, please wake up, I need your help!”. It was undoubtedly the voice of her husband Mighty Lemon who had just returned from his recent travels across Westeros during his hunt for rebels. But why would he wake her up this early? Confusion was written all over her sleepy face as she got dressed quickly and welcomed him home. 

“What’s wrong, my love?” she asked in a concerned tone, at the same time waiting patiently for him to answer while she was preparing some coffee for the both of them. “A raven brought news that I will have to lead El Sicario’s troops into the final battle of Ultimate Conquest today, our enemy is WxC!” he said, his voice was serious and he was visibly tensing up. “But that means that you won’t be able to lead your own Battalions into battle! I thought that our leaders wanted you to lead rallies for them?”Arthena was more confused than before as she tried to wrap her head around the situation that this one letter caused. “That’s why I need your help. You are the only one I trust to command my regiment. I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important so please help me.” 

Surprised as she was, the warrior didn’t hesitate with her answer as she would need some time to prepare for the battle which was right ahead. Unlike usual, this time they would face their enemy at 13:00 which gave WxC a slight advantage. 

Just a few hours later, the alliance of BaN was gathered and fully set up on the battlefield, most of them disguised as trees to confuse their enemy. And then the bells that signaled the beginning started ringing…

Millions of troops were sent out at the same time, one faster than the other aiming to reach the four opening buildings before the other to get the advantage of first capture points over the enemy. Arthena was watching as chaos unfolded, scared of what might come next. She knew that Lemon was out there, fighting alongside Sicario’s fierce infantry soldiers but she couldn’t be certain that he was alright. But then! The first flags appeared on the horizon, 3 red and one blue! WxC managed to beat them to both Outposts and the Temple of Mother. The only advantage that BaN got thanks to Problemkii’s fantastic racers was the capture of the Tower of the Warrior! This was truly a blessing, given that their troops would receive more health, defense and attack at the same time through this buff! However, there was one last challenge to face in the battle over this building, they had to swap out the holder of the building to keep it in the long run. And that with only one chance or else it would be lost as well! 

They had no choice, the countdown started when Arthena prepared the Reinforcements which would be very much needed once Sicario - the chosen rally leader - captured the Tower. “3, 2, 1, DISBAND!” Tanalyn's voice was sounding across the battlefield as their event leader commanded the team for the swap. Problemkii did as asked, however WxC dispatched their own soldiers not even a second after the building was dropped! Would Sicario be able to recapture it in time with enough reinforcements to hold against their enemy? Arthena felt as her heartbeat increased while they were getting closer to the building, she was prepared for all sorts of carnage but the reality was entirely different! Upon her arrival, a few of the enemy marches crashed into BaN’s troops and ended up worse than anyone would have expected! It was a full success. 

With the first building secured, BaN went on to take back the Lannister Outpost with a quick, well-timed wave of rallies, commanded by only their strongest leaders to avoid unnecessary losses. This success was also followed by a swap, this time God Emperor was the one who had to disband it at the appropriate timing for FALCONN to capture it. Running risk of losing the building again would cause a big gap in points from the beginning which could cost BaN the win! But just like before, the team swapped the building successfully and was ready for the next races - the Ports. 

Tana’s voice was once again shouting the timer for the racers. “3, 2, 1 SPEED SPEED SPEED!!!”, tension was cutting the air while everyone was just waiting to see who would win. And then disaster struck, WxC won both races and not only that, one of the winners was CCCPC, the strongest warrior, known all across the Seven Kingdoms! Everyone in BaN knew they had no choice but to avoid his Port, they would only waste time and troops otherwise. 

Now the next step would be to intercept any swaps if their enemy attempted to do so, however, even this seemed to be a task too hard to achieve. GA1A quickly swapped the second port with Ganicus, another one of WxC strongest. The frown on Arthenas face grew as the odds seemed to get worse by the minute. 

When Casterly Rock opened and they lost yet another race in a row, hope slowly started to fade and the tension between the team only grew larger. They weren't certain if BA NA NA would swap the building or hold it, considering the account is not weak. Every BaN rally filler was watching their enemies' marches carefully, hoping to react quick enough and intercept any possible swaps. It was only when the last battalion was sent back that they returned their focus to any upcoming buildings, waiting for the timer on CR to end so they could rally it. And when the time finally came, BaN prepared about 20 rallies to capture the castle and deny WxC further points!

March after march was hitting, heavy losses were visible on both sides and the sound of clashing swords filled the air. Had it not been for El Sicario's troops sitting in Warrior, Arthena might have died of worry for her dear husband, given the brute force their enemy brought along. Out of nowhere the battlefield fell silent. Casterly was down to 3 reinforcements but the number of rallies that were still on their way was also growing smaller, unlike the marches sent to reinforce the building! And then it happened, Windstar successfully kicked BA NA NA from the building and swapped with Tholking successfully! 

With that the hope slowly returned to the team, however the timer was getting closer and closer towards the end. BaN knew they had to take action and recapture more buildings or else they would still run the risk of losing all together! 

The enemy was in charge of most of the map at this point, gaining a massive advantage. Despite that, the team was determined to win, quickly setting rally waves to the next building, aiming to get the Temple of the Mother first as it would grant them an advantage in healing speed. Not long after the attack, the temple was theirs and more buildings followed after. However, WxC was also going for the win of this battle as the rewards they would gain from success were significant! Between defending their own objectives and attacking others, time passed a lot faster than usual and the gap was slowly starting to close. 

It was shortly before the opening of the deciding battle, the battle for mines, when the gap finally fell below 10k! Arthena, more determined than ever, knew that speed was going to win this for them and prepared to reinforce whoever would capture the building for her team and when the timer came to an end and banners were raised, shock and relief were written all over her face, they captured one mine thanks to Problemkii's incredible racing again, however WxC captured the second! The clock was ticking, there was not much time left considering how important those buildings are so BaN immediately sent rallies towards the enemy. The first wave was on the way when all of a sudden a bubble appeared and covered WxC's mine! This is when it struck BaN. They should have known that it wouldn't be as easy to defeat their enemy, especially if they didn't swap the building for someone stronger. WxC still had an ace up their sleeve, however, they used it once and couldn't use it again. Without hesitation, a new row of rallies was set up and sent, this time they successfully took over the building, followed by quick reinforcements. 

At the same time, WxC took the opportunity of distraction to attack unattended buildings to avoid losing this battle. After all mine points were cleared, both alliances were almost even in points, however there was some time left! 

BaN knew they still had a chance if they took the port away from the enemy, quickly setting up rallies and launching them as soon as they were filled. The time was almost up but they wouldn't give in this easily, there was still hope! 

''SET AND LAUNCH AGAIN'' Tanalyn was just as determined to win this as everyone else as she led the team into their last attempt to win this battle and when the rallies were sent it felt as if time had stopped. The enemy troops fell, one after another, rally after rally hitting while the enemy desperately tried to reinforce on time. Arthena was fighting alongside her husband's soldiers, trying to fend off any of the remaining enemy troops. She wouldn't let anyone have died in vain, even if it would cost her own life! ''ARTHENA NOOOOO!'' The voice of Daena, Lemon's lord commander, surprised her, quickly turning around just to dodge an arrow that was aiming right at her head. At that moment she realized that there was nothing to gain anymore if they kept fighting. The timer was too close to turn the events around in their favor, it was lost. 

Only seconds later their leaders announced retreat as well, the defeat visibly sitting heavy on everyone's shoulders. Everyone had sacrificed so many soldiers and buffs during their journey through Alliance Conquest and Ultimate Conquest, just to get defeated in their final battle once again. It almost felt as if they were cursed. Before, under the name of BDR and N3O, the alliances made it far into UC but neither of them managed to win for the past 7 seasons, this time reaching the 8th season in a row with a gap, closer than one thousand points. 

Despite the loss, their efforts were rewarded and BaN celebrated the general success of the season together, the leadership already plotting how to increase their performance in the upcoming season but until then they knew they had other matches to fight.