Annihilator

Summary

 * 1) Travel back to the year 1059 AE.
 * 2) Make your way to Lakeside County before the Annihilator Golem kills Sarah.
 * 3) Destroy the Annihilator Golem before it kills Sarah.
 * 4) See Corporal Bane for your reward.

Obtained from

 * Corporal Bane in Embark Beach

Requirements

 * April Fools' Day 2011
 * April Fools' Day 2012

Reward

 * 2,029 XP
 * 1,000 Gold
 * 1,984 Vanguard reputation points

Acceptance Dialogue
Corporal Bane: ''What year is it? Never mind, there is no time. I'm clearly off course. The rest of my squad was lost when the Asuran time-gate malfuntioned. Only their gear made it through. You look like...something of a soldier yourself. You must come with me now; there is no time to explain. The very future depends on it!''


 * Accept: You had me at Asuran time-gate!
 * Reject: Whoa buddy, Sardelac Sanatarium [sic] is that way!

Intermediate Dialogue 1 (Corporal Bane)
Let me know when you are ready to travel!


 * Accept: Let's do it.
 * Reject: Not now.

Intermediate Dialogue 2

 * Ascalonian Warrior: What sort of Krytan trickery is this?
 * Krytan Elementalist: You will not fool us that easily, Ascalonian! We know these strangely dressed soldiers serve you!
 * Ascalonian Warrior: Your false words will not cause my blade to hesitate. Kill them all, men!
 * Corporal Bane: We seem to have arrived during the battle of the Guild Wars. We cannot allow this to distract us from our mission. We must make our way to Ashford.
 * Corporal Bane: Our ammunition didn't make it through the rift. We're going to have to rely on our riot gear and grenades.

Intermediate Dialogue 3

 * : What is going on here? The Guild Wars have been over for almost 10 years. Where are we?
 * Corporal Bane: It's more a question of when. The year is 1059 AE.
 * : That can't be; time travel is impossible! No one has that technology yet, not even the Asura!
 * Corporal Bane: Not yet. Not for about 250 years.

Intermediate Dialogue 4

 * : So, you're saying you are from the future, and now we are in the past? What exactly are we doing here?
 * Corporal Bane: We are here to prevent the Charr from reshaping history. There is a great hero that has yet to be born. The Charr refer to her as "The Goremonger," [sic] but you likely know her as Gwen.
 * Corporal Bane: They have sent a powerful Annihilitor Golem to kill her mother, Sarah. They hope to prevent Gwen's legacy from ever coming to pass.
 * Corporal Bane: I was sent back to prevent the Annihilator from completing it's [sic] mission. There were...complications along the way, and I've had to improvise. That's where you come in.

Intermediate Dialogue 5

 * Corporal Bane: We're nearing Lakeside County. Sarah should be in Ashford right now. We need to hurry before the Annihilator reaches her!
 * Corporal Bane: I hope you've gotten used to your new weapons. You will need them if we hope to defeat the Annihilator.

Intermediate Dialogue 6

 * Farmer Hamnet: What is that metallic beast?
 * Corporal Bane: Where did you see it? We are here to destroy it!
 * Ascalonian Warrior: It's heading towards Ashford. I don't know who or what you are, but if you are truly here to destroy that monstrosity, follow me!

Intermediate Dialogue 7

 * Annihilator Golem: SARAH?
 * Sarah: Yes?
 * Corporal Bane: There it is, and it has Sarah cornered! Hurry, use your Stun Grenade!

Intermediate Dialogue 8

 * Sarah: How can I ever thank you??
 * Corporal Bane: You can survive. Now, get out of here! We'll finish this.

Intermediate Dialogue 9

 * : You're annihilated!
 * Corporal Bane: The golem's destruction has opened another time rift. Hurry, it's our only way home!

Reward Dialogue
The future is what you make!

Secret Dialogue
If you wait for about 20 minutes in the first map, and/or walk to the southern part of the map, this dialogue may appear:


 * : What's stopping the Charr from just sending back another, more advanced golem if we beat this one?
 * Corporal Bane: What? That's dumb. If they had a more advanced one, why wouldn't they just send that golem back to begin with? Or better yet, both at the same time?
 * : Yeah, I guess. But hey, won't all these people we're killing affect the time line too?
 * Corporal Bane: Don't think too hard about time travel; it will melt your brain.

Walkthrough
Kill everything on your way to Regent Valley. You are disguised with Going Commando for the duration of the quest. Holiday consumables that raise your Health, Energy, or attributes do not affect you while Going Commando.
 * Alternatively, you can just run by groups of battling Krytans and Ascalonians (watch out for the Spiteful Spirit Necromancers, though). Corporal Bane may get body-blocked on the way there, so you may have to about-face and cover him with your Grenade skills if he gets stuck.
 * The Annihilator Golem will heckle you and Bane with Shadow stepping skills and high melee damage; assault it using grenades, alternating between Stun Grenades and use of your Riot Shield to block its attacks (deploying a Land Mine while using Riot Shield is also an excellent strategic move). Be sure you're within range of one of the corpses scattered around the area before using "Tango Down!".


 * Another strategy to defeat the Annihilator golem is to make the ascalonian warrior and Corporal Bane serve as a meat wall, and then constantly use Club Strike and Stun Grenade to keep it out of battle as long as possible, then, if the warrior or Bane (whoever is left standing) is nearing 25% of their HP, retreat behind a corner, put down a mine, attract the golem when said ally is dead, then when the golem is knocked down, Stun Grenade, Tear Gas, Fragmentation, "Tango Down!", and keep pummeling at it until you're below 50% HP, then flee until Bane is revived, when he is, rush in for the kill.

Trivia

 * Many aspects of this quest are references to the movie The Terminator.
 * "Annihilator" is a synonym for "terminator."
 * The titular character is from the year 2029 and travels back in time to the year 1984. This relates to the award amounts "2,029 Experience" and "1,984 Vanguard reputation points " as well.
 * Various bits of dialogue are direct quotes or homages to dialogue in the film.
 * The narration that appears on the screen if you die during the quest may be a reference to the SNES game Chrono Trigger, which had a similar line in its game over screen.
 * This quest allows you to earn Vanguard reputation and titles even if Eye of the North is not linked to your account.

Vernichter (Quest)