diff --git a/.github/workflows/network-deploy.yml b/.github/workflows/network-deploy.yml
index 9d6a2f68292e..d095ade40904 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/network-deploy.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/network-deploy.yml
@@ -84,11 +84,6 @@ on:
         required: false
         type: string
         default: "false"
-      ref:
-        description: The branch name to deploy from
-        required: false
-        type: string
-        default: "master"
       sepolia_deployment:
         description: "Whether to deploy on Sepolia network (default: false)"
         required: false
@@ -123,7 +118,7 @@ jobs:
       - name: Checkout code
         uses: actions/checkout@v3
         with:
-          ref: ${{ inputs.ref }}
+          ref: ${{ inputs.ref || github.ref }}
 
       - name: Authenticate to Google Cloud
         uses: google-github-actions/auth@v2
@@ -174,8 +169,12 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           REPO=$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)
           export FUNDING_PRIVATE_KEY=${{ secrets.SEPOLIA_FUNDING_PRIVATE_KEY }}
-          export ETHEREUM_HOST=${{ env.EXTERNAL_ETHEREUM_HOST }}
-          mnemonic=$(bash $REPO/spartan/scripts/prepare_sepolia_accounts.sh ${{ env.VALUES_FILE }} 5)
+          export ETHEREUM_HOST="https://json-rpc.${{ secrets.GCP_SEPOLIA_URL }}?key=${{ secrets.GCP_SEPOLIA_API_KEY }}"
+          echo "Preparing sepolia accounts..."
+          MNEMONIC_FILE=$(mktemp)
+          $REPO/spartan/scripts/prepare_sepolia_accounts.sh ${{ env.VALUES_FILE }} 30 "$MNEMONIC_FILE"
+          mnemonic=$(cat "$MNEMONIC_FILE")
+          rm "$MNEMONIC_FILE"
           echo "::add-mask::$mnemonic"
           echo "mnemonic=$mnemonic" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
 
diff --git a/spartan/aztec-network/files/cleanup/consolidate-sepolia-balances.sh b/spartan/aztec-network/files/cleanup/consolidate-sepolia-balances.sh
index 491f68c01aad..e39d51fa5897 100755
--- a/spartan/aztec-network/files/cleanup/consolidate-sepolia-balances.sh
+++ b/spartan/aztec-network/files/cleanup/consolidate-sepolia-balances.sh
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #!/bin/bash
-set -eu
+set -exu
 
 mnemonic=$1
 # at least 2 accounts are needed for the validator and prover nodes
@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@ funding_address=${3:-"0x33D525f5ac95c2BCf98b644738C7d5673480493A"}
 
 XDG_CONFIG_HOME=${XDG_CONFIG_HOME:-"$HOME/.config"}
 
+ETHEREUM_RPC_URL=$(echo "$ETHEREUM_HOSTS" | cut -d',' -f1)
+
 # Install cast if needed
 if ! command -v cast &>/dev/null; then
   curl -L https://foundry.paradigm.xyz | bash
@@ -22,10 +24,10 @@ for i in $(seq 0 $((num_accounts - 1))); do
   private_key=$(cast wallet private-key --mnemonic "$mnemonic" --mnemonic-index $i)
 
   # Get balance
-  balance=$(cast balance $address --rpc-url "$ETHEREUM_HOST")
+  balance=$(cast balance $address --rpc-url "$ETHEREUM_RPC_URL")
 
   if [ "$balance" != "0" ]; then
-    gas_price=$(cast gas-price --rpc-url "$ETHEREUM_HOST")
+    gas_price=$(cast gas-price --rpc-url "$ETHEREUM_RPC_URL")
     gas_price=$((gas_price * 120 / 100)) # Add 20% to gas price
     gas_cost=$((21000 * gas_price))
 
@@ -34,7 +36,7 @@ for i in $(seq 0 $((num_accounts - 1))); do
 
     if [ "$send_amount" -gt "0" ]; then
       echo "Sending $send_amount wei from $address to $funding_address"
-      cast send --private-key "$private_key" --rpc-url "$ETHEREUM_HOST" "$funding_address" \
+      cast send --private-key "$private_key" --rpc-url "$ETHEREUM_RPC_URL" "$funding_address" \
         --value "$send_amount" --gas-price "$gas_price" --async
     else
       echo "Balance too low to cover gas costs for $address"
diff --git a/spartan/aztec-network/templates/consolidate-balances.yaml b/spartan/aztec-network/templates/consolidate-balances.yaml
index 2718967a71f1..8cd6ae9a27bb 100644
--- a/spartan/aztec-network/templates/consolidate-balances.yaml
+++ b/spartan/aztec-network/templates/consolidate-balances.yaml
@@ -42,6 +42,6 @@ spec:
               chmod +x /tmp/consolidate-sepolia-balances.sh
               /tmp/consolidate-sepolia-balances.sh "{{ .Values.aztec.l1DeploymentMnemonic }}" {{ add .Values.validator.replicas .Values.proverNode.replicas }}
           env:
-            - name: ETHEREUM_HOST
-              value: "{{ .Values.ethereum.execution.externalHost }}"
+            - name: ETHEREUM_HOSTS
+              value: "{{ .Values.ethereum.execution.externalHosts }}"
 {{ end }}
diff --git a/spartan/scripts/deploy_kind.sh b/spartan/scripts/deploy_kind.sh
index 1b4890a9fdaa..66f2108b1cba 100755
--- a/spartan/scripts/deploy_kind.sh
+++ b/spartan/scripts/deploy_kind.sh
@@ -21,7 +21,8 @@ set -x
 namespace="$1"
 values_file="${2:-default.yaml}"
 sepolia_deployment="${3:-false}"
-helm_instance="${4:-spartan}"
+mnemonic_file="${4:-"mnemonic.tmp"}"
+helm_instance="${5:-spartan}"
 
 # Default values for environment variables
 chaos_values="${CHAOS_VALUES:-}"
@@ -83,9 +84,7 @@ function generate_overrides {
 if [ "$sepolia_deployment" = "true" ]; then
   echo "Generating sepolia accounts..."
   set +x
-  L1_ACCOUNTS_MNEMONIC=$(./prepare_sepolia_accounts.sh "$values_file")
-  # write the mnemonic to a file
-  echo "$L1_ACCOUNTS_MNEMONIC" >mnemonic.tmp
+  L1_ACCOUNTS_MNEMONIC=$(./prepare_sepolia_accounts.sh "$values_file" "$mnemonic_file")
   set -x
 else
   echo "Generating devnet config..."
diff --git a/spartan/scripts/prepare_sepolia_accounts.sh b/spartan/scripts/prepare_sepolia_accounts.sh
index 923b451ed350..2d15266c0567 100755
--- a/spartan/scripts/prepare_sepolia_accounts.sh
+++ b/spartan/scripts/prepare_sepolia_accounts.sh
@@ -1,8 +1,24 @@
 #!/bin/bash
-set -eu
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+source $(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)/ci3/source
+
+tmp_filename=$(mktemp)
+
+# Cleanup function to handle the temp file
+cleanup() {
+  if [ -f "$tmp_filename" ]; then
+    rm -f "$tmp_filename"
+  fi
+}
+
+# Set up trap to call cleanup on script exit
+trap cleanup EXIT
 
 values_file=$1
 eth_amount=${2:-"1"}
+output_file=${3:-"mnemonic.tmp"}
 XDG_CONFIG_HOME=${XDG_CONFIG_HOME:-"$HOME/.config"}
 
 value_yamls="../aztec-network/values/$values_file ../aztec-network/values.yaml"
@@ -14,31 +30,35 @@ num_accounts=$((num_validators + num_provers + num_bots))
 
 # Install bc if needed
 if ! command -v bc &>/dev/null; then
+  echo "Installing bc..."
   apt-get update && apt-get install -y bc
 fi
 
 # Install cast if needed
 if ! command -v cast &>/dev/null; then
+  echo "Installing cast..."
   curl -L https://foundry.paradigm.xyz | bash
-  $HOME/.foundry/bin/foundryup && export PATH="$PATH:$HOME/.foundry/bin" ||
-    $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/.foundry/bin/foundryup && export PATH="$PATH:$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/.foundry/bin"
+  $HOME/.foundry/bin/foundryup && export PATH="$PATH:$HOME/.foundry/bin" || $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/.foundry/bin/foundryup && export PATH="$PATH:$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/.foundry/bin"
 fi
 
 # Install yq if needed
 if ! command -v yq &>/dev/null; then
+  echo "Installing yq..."
   wget https://github.com/mikefarah/yq/releases/latest/download/yq_linux_amd64 -O /usr/local/bin/yq
   chmod +x /usr/local/bin/yq
 fi
 
 # Create a new mnemonic with the required number of accounts
-cast wallet new-mnemonic --accounts "$num_accounts" --json >output.json
-MNEMONIC=$(jq -r '.mnemonic' output.json)
-ADDRESSES=$(jq -r '.accounts[].address' output.json)
+echo "Creating mnemonic..."
+cast wallet new-mnemonic --accounts "$num_accounts" --json >"$tmp_filename"
+MNEMONIC=$(jq -r '.mnemonic' "$tmp_filename")
+ADDRESSES=$(jq -r '.accounts[].address' "$tmp_filename")
 
 # Convert ETH to wei
 wei_amount=$(cast to-wei "$eth_amount" ether)
 
 # Get current gas price and add 25% buffer
+echo "Getting gas price..."
 gas_price=$(cast gas-price --rpc-url "$ETHEREUM_HOST")
 gas_price=$((gas_price * 125 / 100)) # Add 25% to gas price
 
@@ -56,6 +76,7 @@ total_value=$(echo "$wei_amount * $num_accounts" | bc)
 
 multicall_address="0xcA11bde05977b3631167028862bE2a173976CA11" # Sepolia Multicall3 contract
 
+echo "Sending transaction..."
 tx_hash=$(cast send "$multicall_address" \
   "aggregate3Value((address,bool,uint256,bytes)[])" \
   "$calls" \
@@ -64,9 +85,7 @@ tx_hash=$(cast send "$multicall_address" \
   --rpc-url "$ETHEREUM_HOST" \
   --json --gas-price "$gas_price")
 
-echo >&2 "Sent ${wei_amount} wei to ${num_accounts} addresses in tx $tx_hash"
-
-# Remove temp file
-rm output.json
+echo "Sent ${wei_amount} wei to ${num_accounts} addresses in tx $tx_hash"
 
-echo "$MNEMONIC"
+# Write mnemonic to output file
+echo "$MNEMONIC" >"$output_file"
diff --git a/spartan/scripts/test_kind.sh b/spartan/scripts/test_kind.sh
index 73aca4b1e4d1..cdb50942ffcb 100755
--- a/spartan/scripts/test_kind.sh
+++ b/spartan/scripts/test_kind.sh
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ set -x
 test=$1
 values_file="${2:-default.yaml}"
 namespace="${3:-$(basename $test | tr '.' '-')}"
+mnemonic_file="${4:-$(mktemp)}"
 
 # Default values for environment variables
 helm_instance=${HELM_INSTANCE:-$namespace}
@@ -84,7 +85,7 @@ copy_stern_to_log
 
 # uses VALUES_FILE, CHAOS_VALUES, AZTEC_DOCKER_TAG and INSTALL_TIMEOUT optional env vars
 if [ "$fresh_install" != "no-deploy" ]; then
-  deploy_result=$(OVERRIDES="$OVERRIDES" ./deploy_kind.sh $namespace $values_file $sepolia_run $helm_instance)
+  deploy_result=$(OVERRIDES="$OVERRIDES" ./deploy_kind.sh $namespace $values_file $sepolia_run $mnemonic_file $helm_instance)
 fi
 
 # Find 6 free ports between 9000 and 10000
@@ -113,11 +114,11 @@ aztec_epoch_duration=$(./read_value.sh "aztec.epochDuration" $value_yamls)
 aztec_proof_submission_window=$(./read_value.sh "aztec.proofSubmissionWindow" $value_yamls)
 
 if [ "$sepolia_run" = "true" ]; then
-  # Read the mnemonic from file mnemonic.tmp
+  # Read the mnemonic from tmp file
   set +x
-  l1_account_mnemonic=$(cat mnemonic.tmp)
+  l1_account_mnemonic=$(cat "$mnemonic_file")
   set -x
-  rm mnemonic.tmp
+  rm "$mnemonic_file"
 else
   l1_account_mnemonic=$(./read_value.sh "aztec.l1DeploymentMnemonic" $value_yamls)
 fi
diff --git a/spartan/terraform/deploy-release/main.tf b/spartan/terraform/deploy-release/main.tf
index 77a8a0b6e312..86ec09a57b63 100644
--- a/spartan/terraform/deploy-release/main.tf
+++ b/spartan/terraform/deploy-release/main.tf
@@ -84,7 +84,8 @@ resource "helm_release" "aztec-gke-cluster" {
     for_each = var.EXTERNAL_ETHEREUM_HOSTS != "" ? toset(["iterate"]) : toset([])
     content {
       name  = "ethereum.execution.externalHosts"
-      value = var.EXTERNAL_ETHEREUM_HOSTS
+      value = replace(var.EXTERNAL_ETHEREUM_HOSTS, ",", "\\,")
+      type  = "string"
     }
   }