#seattleconvergence #ingressreport

Originally shared by D Reed (Sabarte)

#seattleconvergence  #ingressreport

Hail from Seattle! I am Sabarte, of Seattle Resistance. This is my report from the Space Needle Convergence event. 

I had some small part in the cross-faction planning for the event. Initially I was unsure I would take part, but the sheer enthusiasm of Agent Merkabah eventually became contagious enough to get a large chunk of our very large team onboard. Invites went out to the surrounding cities... many answered.

I volunteered to be one of our four timepoint team captains, pictured here by the Kobe Bell (photo by Gerry Borger ). Kobe Bell was the key portal of my cluster. My team of maybe 10-12 had a few locals, including Agents Kendaer and Igmu, but others came from much further afield. I'd worked with Agent Devonlich from the South Sound Wolves before in a group conflict setting, but I met most of my team for the first time a few brief minutes before start time. They came from as far as Bellingham, WA and Beaverton OR. We do not actually know for certain how many Resistance Agents showed up to the Convergence - it could have easily been a hundred just on our side. Too many to count. All made a difference. 

After a collective briefing at the bell, the Resistance teams dispersed to the corners of the Seattle Center. We were fairly certain we had numbers - we just needed to get the right people in the right place. Dispersion was our strategy, and the vast majority of the Center's 32 spiraled up from neutral to solid blue when the event start time hit. Every portal had its defender - even what I and my team called the "boring portal" off in a corner that never got hit the whole event. I did a shift out there to begin with - I didn't realize how exciting things were about to get. 

The second round, as I was heading back from the "boring portal",  we were hit by a large Enlightened strike force that outgunned us and got a foothold on a number of the portals. I arrived a bit too late to make a difference in the initial smash and grab, but resolved to at least hold them there. It was a tricky spot - I did not want to burn myself out of inventory before the third round, because the third round was the one where serious bonus points for our cluster were in play. The second timepoint passed with the majority of our cluster's portals in enemy hands, and we stepped things up. Bikers darted past, dropping inventory indiscriminately to liven things up for both sides. We didn't ask for a thumping techno soundtrack, but we got one of those two from the ravers on the corner. 

Something close to half the enlightened team swung through our cluster during the solid hour we were under attack. I had no time to do anything but deploy or attack the whole time. As 4:01 approached, Agent Igmu's SIM card actually overheated, leaving us down a level 8.  At the critical moment I had the choice to save a portal we owned or try to blast down the bell... I chose to save the portal and we tied that round on cluster points. We recaptured the cluster, linked things up again, and held solid until the final round. 

Victory Resistance. It was decisive, it was hard-fought, and it was an awesome time. The Enlightened hit us at a level well above what we were expecting, and made it a ferocious battle.

Here's to next time!