Location Name: Fort Vaux
Rough Geographic Zone/Country: Devant-Damloup, Meuse, France.
Sector: 10
Purpose of Location (if any): Serve in future events or as a lore location. Possible expedition spot.
Year of founding: 1881
Summary/Lore: Historically Founded in 1881-1884 Fort Vaux stood as a mighty display of French determination and resistance during the first world war against the German fifth army during the legendary battle of Verdun in 1916 where the isolated and battered French garrison dug in and bravely fought against German sturmtruppen wielding flame throwers and throwing wave after wave at the fort until supplies had gotten so dire that rain water was to be gathered and distributed approximately 5 liters per man, Eventually the water rationing dwindled far lower than that, Nearly out of ammunition and having fought continuously for six days in inhumane conditions the French garrison thirsty and hungry and completely out of ammunition surrendered to German kron prince Wilhelm where the garrison remained as POW's until the end of the great war.
Seven Hour war - Present.
Nearly 106 years Later the fort left in disarray and abandoned following the combine domination of earth has seen repurposing by the Garde de republique forces of city 13 thanks to Arceneaux the fort serves as an outlands garrison and supply depot used to supply both members of city 13's military and Civil Protection unit's alike it's ancient rock carved pill boxes still standing alert to this day with minor combine alterations naturally. Initially taken to prevent capture by some of the notably sophisticated resistance forces in the areas in and around France it served as a useful tool of propaganda for Arceneaux in city 13 it is believed only the pride of the Guard find themselves stationed here. The Fort is known to be ran and commanded by a Marshal during the annual rotation of forces.
|The Catacombs of the Depot|
The ancient stone lined catacombs have nearly fallen into ruin various times from 2007 - 2016 needing constant repairs slowly causing the fort to have a more standard combine appearance most are use to the floors once sopping wet with rock are partially replaced with sleek blue combine metal and the tunnels are reinforced by combine metal beams which prevent cave-in's despite the forts remarkable resilience against brutal artillery barrages and German pioneers during the great war it is notably an aging piece of infrastructure that is slowly becoming a money sink, Though due to its strategic location near the former Belgian border it's often seen as a "Border-checkpoint" In addition to being a logistical hub for military and humanitarian aide some of which was believed to have been issued to City 2 following their integration as a client state by City 13.
| The Defences |
Though mostly corroded ancient hulls the former rotating steel hulks that lined the top of Fort Vaux had their cannons replaced with surplus French equipment that managed to survive the war outfitting the old turrets with recovered 155mm guns from AMX tanks destroyed during the Invasion and Artillery pieces combined with Combine automated defences and a small hopper field around the perimeter of the fort the location quite lives up to its name, Having successfully deterred several ill fated attempted by insurgents to try and raid the facility whom of which were all destroyed by the automated defences not to mention the 750 Strong Garrison of Civil Protection and Republican guardsmen who live and operate within the facility with a mere once a year rotation.
| Overall | The fort remains a valued target for resistance members in the area wishing to challenge the city 13 regime or those who seek glory in the supplies available within the fort and hope to re-distribute them. On the other hand the fort allows City 13 a resupply point outside of the mighty fortress of a French city that is former Paris making it within the regimes interest to keep it operational should this wish to have the luxury of continuing to project power in the region over other cities.
