District 42-Chapter 119: Trapped

Casper was sure that Freygar thought that he would spread all the prisoners again as they did before. And he actually was aiming to do it, but not in the way they were thinking.

The enemy was probably underestimating their power. The prisoners weren’t as trained as them, but it wasn’t a problem at all. Those warriors were expected to be the hunters, not the prey, and the soldier wanted to turn the table there.

Until now, his team was being on the defensive, however, they could not stay like that forever. Just that surprise attack caused a lot of casualties. It was extremely well-calculated, and he was sure that Anton had a good part in participation in that attack.

Maybe they could be nearly completely slaughtered if it wasn’t for the quick decisions that Casper had made, and also the counterattack that came just in time to save everyone.

Now, the prisoners were crossing the corridors again, going to the north. Casper had taken the lead of the formation and was guiding them. From time to time he would order that a good amount of their group went to another corridor and stayed prepared there. He split them aiming to have at least one or two people with functional quirks acquired through the experiments.

Of all their unities, the ones that had a higher rate of surviving against the Ridires were the ones that could make use of their quirks. It was effective, even if a bit defective.

Not all the prisoners took the weapons from the fallen warriors from before, so he aimed to distribute the ones with quality guns, and the others with the improvised guns, equally.

"I need to find a way to make all the groups along those corridors similar regarding their power in battle. I can’t afford even a single one a level above the others. Our next steps will be right on the edge. It’s not something easy to accomplish if I am not this accurate..."

Even if a bit hesitant, Alfar helped Casper to organize their lines through the complex. Olaf did as well. Since the group was constituted of a lot of people, one person wouldn’t be able to lead them so easily. In truth, it was a harsh task even for three people at once.

Olaf, who was with less remorse towards the White warrior, approached him briefly in the middle of their organization.

"So, what are you aiming for here?" He asked.

Casper looked at him, thinking for a while. Inside his head, he was being inclined to just be subjective again... but he remembered what Alfar said before... No, what Anton forced him to say. In the end, it was not outrightly a lie. He should trust more in the people around him, and treat them more as comrades than tools.

"We will try to catch them by surprise now. They probably are thinking that we are running away from them, and grouped themselves with this in mind. They are expecting to give chase at us, not to be bite back, got it?" He explained briefly, very straightforward, but enough for Olaf to understand the essence of all that operation.

"Ok. I know some people who can help with it. I and Alfar understood how you plan to organize our troops, so don’t worry. We will take care of most of it." Olaf seemed very excited about that. He was the type of person who liked to be useful to others, and maybe feel that he was being part of Casper’s plans made him the more glad about that.

The man walked hastily towards Alfar and told everything to him, who nodded and headed to the middle of the prisoners.

Casper emphasized to them to keep up with the same pace. They couldn’t decrease even for a second. When they were designated to guard a corridor, then they should move as fast as possible to prevent delaying their marching.

Thanks to their cooperation, Casper could distribute them as he pleased, without letting the Ridires close the distance and catch them.

"Olaf, Alfar, you stay with those two groups from before, I will be with this last one and we will go even further in the corridors, we will serve as a joker card. If we start to have problems, we will add more force to one of the other groups. That’s important to keep our confidence and sense of security high." Both nodded to him and stayed with the groups Casper designated for them.

"Ok, that’s good. We did it just in time... This part of the complex has a lot of stairs, turns, and not even a single corridor without one or more corridors connecting to it. It’s like a maze. This way, it’s even easier to make this trap..." He smiled slightly. This time was their chance to clean their way through the lower levels of the laboratory. They finally would be able to leave Halden.

"If Freygar is thinking that I am this ordinary strategist, then he is dead wrong. He will just realize the mess he did when all his men are already cornered."

...

As they kept increasing their pace to catch up with the escapists, Freygar’s group began to feel something different in the air. It wasn’t the same vibe as before. They were no ordinary warriors, after all they were used to be in stuck in moments of tension, feel the danger when it was sneaking around them.

The vanguard started to decrease their pace little by little and pay attention to their surroundings. Freygar would probably strange that they weren’t so advanced as they should, but those warriors were trained to be self-sufficient. Since the start of their train, they were told to follow their instincts in situations of real need.

The person leading the vanguard raised his arm, signaling them to stop completely their march. The warriors did as they were told immediately.

The ones at the more advanced lines were prepared to use their shields as soon as combat was started. The others that were settled behind aimed their guns and prepared the devices. They spread more in that corridor, some kneeling on the ground, others standing firmly at their feet.

That action lasted for a brief time. Their bodies made what they were taught to do almost automatically.

The warrior in front of the formation put on earphones while handling something in his other hand. It was a rectangular device, very similar to a smartphone. As he connected the earphones to it and wore them, the sounds of their surroundings became more clear. Even their breathes could be heard loudly.

He breathed in and out slowly, his heart was beating slowlier than a normal person would in a situation like that. He concentrated for some minutes... then his eyes went wide and he stood up as fast as he could while shouting:

"The enemy knows this location better than expected! Look behind!" At the same time as he was saying it, the people responsible for the shields moved in the rear of the formation, already activating it.

The warriors encharged by the attack retrieved and prepared themselves for anything that might come. The synchronization was just perfect. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

A huge group of prisoners appeared from a corridor connecting to that local from behind., and shot against the Ridires immediately.

Just as they were about to counterattack, noises also came from where they were looking a while ago.

"Half of the troops, turn around! The others, keep holding them as long as possible!" They repositioned once more, ready to pull the trigger, but their enemies were faster than they thought. The warriors couldn’t be able to fight back.

As they were being pressured, the Ridires tried to maintain their cool. The leader was doing a great job making them keep at ease and doing the right decisions. Even after thirty seconds of exchange, they had no casualties yet, though some of the warriors got shot in non-lethal places.

As long as they could be able to take a good defensively at the start, the began in no time to move. They advanced in the corridor slowly, making the prisoners back away.

When the leader found the chance, he took them out of that battle.

"To the corridor on our right! Hide yourselves now!" Just as the shields were about to disappear, they got in range to make a withdrawal maneuver to the path on their right.

The warriors swiftly changed their course, saving their lives by an inch.

Without even waiting for an order, they started to move again, to go even further in that place and have more outs just in case those prisoners gave chase on them.

The leader never stopped to keep hearing the sounds in their surroundings. For a long time, he thought that his hearing was tricking him, that maybe the numerous steps he was hearing could be from his own troops. Nevertheless, the realization he had just cut off that theory.

He made the Ridires stop again, his heart throbbing hard for the first time in that battle.

"We are... totally trapped."