The Viridian Empire did not waste the command Noah had given it. The Divine War Mandate had barely finished spreading through the empire before officials began turning revelation into orders, schedules, lists, and military requirements.
Provincial governors were instructed to report available formations, fortress commanders submitted the strength of their veteran units, and military depots opened records that had not been consulted in years.
Engineers were recalled from bridge projects, physicians were ordered to prepare field hospitals, and quartermasters began calculating how much food and equipment an expeditionary force would require if it had to operate for weeks without access to familiar supply routes.
Noah observed all of it through his connection to the planet and deliberately remained silent. He had already told Viridian what awaited them.
Now he wanted to see whether three thousand years of development had produced an empire capable of preparing for war without its god deciding everything for it.
The Imperial War Council convened in the capital before the first planetary day ended.
Emperor Varokh III sat at the head of a long stone table while generals, logisticians, engineers, temple representatives, and senior ministers filled the chamber around him.
Maps of Viridian covered one half of the table, while the other half had been cleared for the fragmented images of Caldris that Noah had placed within the minds of the emperor and his commanders.
They had no proper map of the foreign kingdom yet, only remembered impressions of forests, rivers, mountain roads, fortified towns, castles, and armies equipped with steel weapons, cavalry, bows, crossbows, and siege engines.
One of the younger generals was the first to speak.
"We should send one hundred thousand soldiers. The Divine One selected Viridian alone. If we answer Him with a small army, the other empires will remember that weakness for generations. We will become a laughing stock."
Grand Marshal Rakhar Veyr looked toward him from the opposite side of the table. He was older than most of the officers present, with a scar running along his jaw and the weathered appearance of someone who had spent more time in campaign tents than court halls.
"The other empires are not our enemy in this war."
"They are still observing our movement."
"They are always watching."
Rakhar placed one hand on the table.
"We have been shown a foreign kingdom, but we do not know its roads beyond the first region, its harvest cycle, the condition of its bridges, the capacity of its wells, or how quickly its armies can concentrate. Sending one hundred thousand troops before knowing those things would not display strength. It would display stupidity."
The younger general stiffened.
"They are less developed than we are."
Rakhar did not raise his voice.
"A spear through your throat does not become harmless because the man holding it belongs to a less developed kingdom."
Several officers nodded and agreed with this statement.
Noah approved of the argument immediately. Viridian had enough soldiers to send an enormous army if it wanted, but numbers alone would create problems. Every soldier needed food, water, medicine, weapons, transport, and replacement equipment. A larger army also moved more slowly and became easier to detect. Noah had not asked Viridian to prove it could empty its barracks. He had asked it to win.
The debate continued for hours. Some officers proposed fifty thousand, others seventy thousand. The logistics staff repeatedly forced those numbers downward by calculating daily food consumption and transport requirements. In the end, the War Council settled on an initial force of thirty thousand goblins. It was large enough to destroy a regional army if properly led but still compact enough to move through forests and river valleys without consuming every supply route it encountered.
The composition mattered even more than the total number. Sixteen thousand professional infantry would form the core, selected from units with experience in sustained campaigning rather than ceremonial duty. Four thousand scouts and light infantry would come primarily from provinces covered in jungle, wetlands, and broken terrain. Three thousand ranged troops would support the main formations. Two thousand engineers and siege specialists would be responsible for bridges, fortified camps, river crossings, field works, and assaults against enemy strongholds. Two thousand logistics personnel would handle food, transport, records, storage, and equipment distribution. The remaining three thousand positions would be divided among healers, mounted scouts, messengers, command staff, river specialists, and other support personnel.
Noah didn’t make any changes with their preparation.
The arrangement was not exactly what he would have chosen, but that was the reason he had allowed Viridian to decide. If every military judgment ultimately had to come from him, then its generals were little more than servants carrying out instructions. Noah wanted an empire capable of thinking.
The question of command produced a more political argument.
Several noble houses proposed candidates almost immediately. Some offered generals with impressive family names and long lists of ceremonial titles. Others argued that the commander of the first army ever chosen for a Divine War should come from one of Viridian’s oldest bloodlines.
Emperor Varokh listened to the debate for nearly half an hour before raising one hand.
"Grand Marshal Rakhar will command."
A senior noble frowned.
"Your Majesty, with respect, this expedition represents more than the army. It represents Viridian itself before the Divine One."
"That is why Rakhar is commanding it."
The noble hesitated.
"There are commanders with greater standing than him."
"Military standing does not provide food for the soldiers."
The emperor looked around the room.
"The Divine One asked us for victory, not a family name."
Rakhar bowed once.
"I accept the command."
Varokh studied him carefully.
"Can you guarantee victory?"
"No."
The answer drew several uncomfortable looks.
Rakhar continued.
"I can guarantee that we will prepare as if the enemy is dangerous. I can guarantee that supply will be treated as seriously as battle. I can guarantee that I will not waste soldiers merely because we were told our weapons and institutions are superior. Victory depends on what we learn after entering the foreign land."
A faint smile appeared on Varokh’s face.
"That is a better answer than a promise."
Noah watching over the meeting agreed.
As preparations spread beyond the capital, the entire empire began changing around the expedition. Military couriers traveled constantly between provincial headquarters. Veteran regiments competed for selection, and some commanders became openly irritated when their units were rejected.
The War Council wanted experienced soldiers, but it also wanted formations accustomed to operating far from large cities. A famous palace regiment was passed over in favor of infantry from a remote river province because the latter had spent years campaigning in flooded forests and maintaining its own supply columns.
Engineers received equally strict selection standards. Viridian did not simply need builders. It needed goblins capable of constructing bridges quickly, repairing roads, digging defensive positions, operating siege equipment, and improvising when standard materials were unavailable. Medical personnel were ordered to prepare for diseases and injuries they had never seen before. Quartermasters began experimenting with preserved rations intended to last longer than normal campaign food, while smiths prepared portable forges and replacement parts.
The reaction outside the military was no less intense.
The temples declared the coming expedition the greatest sacred undertaking in Viridian history. Priests preached that the empire had been selected to carry the will of their god beyond the boundaries of the world itself. Some began claiming the foreign lands had been created specifically for Viridian to conquer, but Noah refused to confirm any of those interpretations. He had learned long ago that religions could generate their own explanations faster than he could correct them.
Merchants were more practical. Powerful trading houses offered wagons, preserved food, medicines, tools, and money in exchange for future rights to whatever resources the army discovered. Several tried to secure exclusive claims before the expedition had even left the planet.
Emperor Varokh rejected those requests.
"No one owns a foreign world we have not reached."
The merchants were allowed to contribute supplies, but no permanent monopolies were granted.
Within several planetary days, selected formations began marching toward the capital. The roads became crowded with military columns arriving from different provinces. Soldiers wore standardized imperial equipment, but their local origins remained visible in unit markings, weapon preferences, and accents. Scouts from jungle regions carried lighter equipment than the heavy infantry from central provinces, while river troops arrived with compact boats and collapsible crossing equipment.
The designated staging ground was established outside the capital on an enormous military plain normally used for imperial exercises. Noah had intentionally chosen a location large enough to hold the force without disrupting civilian districts.
By the fifth day, nearly the entire expeditionary army had assembled.
Thirty thousand goblins transformed the plain into an organized city of canvas, timber, wagons, weapon racks, medical tents, kitchens, supply depots, and command posts. Quartermasters marked each section with painted boards so incoming units knew where to report. Engineers constructed temporary roads through the camp to prevent heavy wagons from turning the ground into mud. Guards controlled every entrance, and scribes recorded the arrival of every formation.
The name chosen for the force began appearing on banners and official documents.
The Divine Expeditionary Army.
Noah watched it take shape with growing interest.
The soldiers did not know when the promised road would open. They did not know exactly what another world looked like. Most had never seen anything beyond Viridian’s continent, yet they trained as though departure could come at any moment.
Rakhar made certain of that.
He walked through the camp daily, inspecting supplies and formations personally. When he found a regiment carrying more ceremonial equipment than spare food, he ordered half of it removed. When a noble officer complained that his soldiers deserved better tents, Rakhar reassigned the extra wagons to the medical corps.
During one evening inspection, one of his aides asked the question spreading throughout the camp.
"Grand Marshal, do you believe the stories? That another sky truly waits for us?"
Rakhar looked across the thousands of campfires stretching through the plain.
"The Divine One said another world exists."
"That does not make it easy to imagine."
"No."
Rakhar continued walking.
"We do not need to imagine it. We need to be ready when the road opens."
Back in the Aelwyn military facility, Noah opened his eyes and returned his attention to the projection of Caldris. Only a short amount of time had passed for Garran and the others compared with the days of preparation on his planet.
Garran approached Noah’s station.
"Your forces ready?"
"Nearly."
"How many are you bringing?"
"Thirty thousand."
The commander paused.
"That many goblins?"
"Yes."
"Can they operate independently?"
"They have their own command structure, logistics, engineering units, and medical support."
Garran’s expression changed slightly, though he gave away little else.
"You prepared them yourself?"
"No."
Noah looked back toward the map.
"They are capable of preparing themselves."
Garran studied him for another moment before walking away.
Noah returned his perception to Viridian one final time.
The Divine Expeditionary Army stood almost complete beneath the evening sky. Thirty thousand selected soldiers trained, ate, repaired equipment, studied the limited information available, and waited for a road none of them had ever seen.
The portal had not opened yet.
No goblin had crossed into the planet Edras and enter the kingdom of Caldris.
For now, Viridian was still preparing.
But the empire was readying an army for a war beyond its world, and Noah knew the next command he gave would send them toward a sky that no goblin in three thousand years of history had ever stood beneath.
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