The good news? There wasn’t any, he had prepared for a full retreat at any time. However, they were surrounded and were going to need to break out because somebody took out their scouts so as to keep their pants down.

The bad news? Take you pick. They were surrounded. The weakest points were the two sides towards the enemies side. It was a blatant and obvious trap. There was also the trap that the formation ‘wasn’t set yet’ which would allow his troops to ‘miraculously’ travel between them. However, only the escaped messenger or something like his quilin would be able to rush through there realistically. And truly the messenger would have the only chance of escaping the obvious trap set for them on the other end. Messengers were slippery like that. It was why Micky or any of the army hadn’t intercepted any messages that weren’t already delivered. Because at their level messengers could deliver them with impunity. Only lower or higher ranked messengers had to worry about the messages being intercepted since their level would be to low, and the interceptors too high otherwise.

Which gave Micky the problem of now deciding how or should it be said, which side to push through.

The problem with a siege was that every direction had to have the exact same amount of troops. Aside from the obvious trap that was the rear of the formation, the rest was not actually in formation at all. This meant that at the cardinal points there were openings. Micky had to focus on how he was going to use that and he only had a few short minutes at most, seconds realistically if he wanted to use the enemies prep time.

Now, they weren’t in a siege formation, as that would have them spread out evenly with reinforced points to prevent any chance of break out. Then there was the fact they had their armies set up in a large single formation. The enemy armies used the same centuri and division formation as the Aene kingdom. Probably some distant lost ancestry there. Now then Micky had to figure out how to use this and the other little pieces to construct a valid plan.

He couldn’t think of anything, so he decided to go for the obvious one. Charge the biggest group on its weakest side.

Who said he was going to come up with a brilliant plan? The gates and rear wall of the supply depot had long since been weakened to make recapture easier. Now he just had to have all of his units move at their fastest speed. Not hard considering that he had been planning this retreat for some time now.

“All of you, I must say that I have been fooled. I forgot the number one rule of the net, never trust your allies! Well, this was on a whole new level. We have been betrayed. Now, we find ourselves with naught but a path through the valley of the shadow of death. I salute you for what you are about to do. I hope to see you on the other side, one way or another. Now, run you spineless dogs! Run like you're back in boot!”

After Micky’s pep talk his troops found themselves in surprisingly good cheer. They laughed and joked with each other while they lined up and prepared. Before there were many divisions within the compound. Many preferred Prin as the ‘second hand’ because she was a real woman that new how to take care of a man, or a woman if it came down to it. But those were drunk moments in a orgy and we don’t talk about those…

Then there was their bitter rivals, the faction that believed that Maylin was the true ‘best commander’. They believed that only she deserved the honor of standing next to their centurion and would fight for it tooth, nail, and really loud screaming. Mostly the really loud screaming since the centurion would seriously beat them up and then reprimand them after the fact.

Then there was the faction that believed Mags was best girl. She was beside the commander the entire way. A really small faction. A faction that all the other factions sought to stomp out and the centurion gave odd looks too…

And finally there was the dark faction that believed only a true ‘man’ could take care of the centurion's needs, wants, and commands. The commander put a forceful end to this practice. This did not actually stop this faction from growing and nobody actually knew why.

As for the real factions that would normally be a part of a centuri? They were there, but they never gained traction. Now it was a division of these factions to the chagrin of all the other junior centurions. Well, some of the males had a chance of gaining support… Some of them wouldn’t even mind that support either… It’s unfortunate then that their hopes would forever be dashed as Micky doesn’t swing that way. Top or not!

No, the soldiers were in good cheer since today they were siblings. They gave out their wills to those that would probably survive. The messengers felt the heavy burden. All the heavier because they were aware that they were forced to limit these words due to the weight.

This was a ride to death with no glory. Nay, they would be reprimanded for losing a valuable asset for the ‘army’ no matter what they did. To survive though, that the commander could gift them, the chance to survive this entrapment.

Micky ordered the gates to be opened one last time. The two gates south and west were opened. Now they charged the largest force pinned between them. Only to group up together and pour out to the west. The other centuri and divisions of the enemy were joining together. The prey was in the net, if they couldn’t catch it then it was all their own fault. Their best player was up for bat, if he didn’t strike them then they didn’t deserve what they had.

The north western division tried to close the grip around the charging forces. The mounted units were charging through the enemy lines to give the few fast moving infantry even a chance at survival. But the looks of despair on their faces made it well known that all was lost for them. And those looks were shared on the faces of their mounted comrades, today they could only hope to celebrate the death of their siblings. The blood brothers and sisters they had waded through combat with.

Today was not a good day. The casualties were mounting up and the enemy was closing the gap. He had paced 1/9 of his troops through the gap amazingly but he would receive no more from death’s cold grip. Micky called the full retreat. It was their last command but they needed the reminder that these, this family, needed to be abandoned.

The looks in the eyes of this family didn’t look like betrayal though. Nay, it was the look of hope. They hoped, well and truly, that their own family would survive, thrive, and avenge them. They were here for Niffleburg, they were here for ‘the village’ whichever one that was. They were here because these enemies were despicable and loathing and they had family to care for. All those that didn’t had already run way, and they couldn’t blame them.

Villages were burning because in spite of making an offensive skirmish to take revenge for what was lost, they only lost more. And then the moment was broken. The brothers and sisters broke eye contact for the last time and each fought their own battles.

It was ironic then, that the ones that fought the demons in their minds were the ones that had the chance to live. They were by and far from truly being out of this heinous trap. But they still had a chance, and were likely to leave. No, the ones battling the enemy were clear of mind and sound of body. At least until they weren’t anyway. It was like they no longer had any worries, and now they were asura battling the evils of the world. They would fight, until they surrendered. It didn’t matter, they just had to grant their brothers and sisters time. It was time that they could gift their comrades, their family near or far. Time was what they were fighting for...