My planet is infested with Goblins

Tomas Renn had expected to spend the night in Eastwatch and ride home before sunrise, but General Halvern changed those plans before he and Gareth Pell had finished their first proper meal since leaving Brackenford.

A military runner found them in the barracks courtyard and ordered them to report to Captain Roland Mercer, commander of Second Company.

By the time Tomas entered the preparation hall, soldiers were already moving between weapon racks and supply tables while quartermasters counted rations, bolts, medical packs, and wagon loads. The activity made Eastwatch feel different from when Tomas had arrived carrying Edric’s warning.

Then, he had been a frightened village guard asking professional soldiers to believe him. Now more than a hundred of those professionals were preparing to march back with him.

Captain Mercer stood over a provincial map spread across a long table. He was a lean man in his early forties with short dark hair, a narrow scar beneath one eye, and plain armor that looked chosen for use rather than ceremony.

Two lieutenants stood beside him while Lieutenant Harlen Doss, commander of the mounted scouts, waited near the end of the table. Mercer looked up as Tomas and Gareth entered.

"You know Brackenford and the eastern woods?"

"Better than most, Captain. I grew up in there." Tomas answered.

"Good. Then for this march, you are will serve as our guide. Show me the village."

Gareth pointed to the small mark representing Brackenford. The official map showed the main road, two streams, and several settlements, but most of the forest east of the village was little more than shaded green space. Tomas frowned at it, and Mercer noticed his reaction.

"What is wrong?"

"The forest is not that empty. There are charcoal trails here and here, a hunters’ path north of the stream, and this ridge is steeper than the map shows. The ground south of it becomes mud after heavy rain."

Mercer handed him a piece of charcoal.

"Mark everything thwt is relevant information."

Tomas added the smaller trails while Gareth identified a farming road used by timber carts. Doss paid particular attention to the routes that could carry horses. Mercer then tapped the main road running between Eastwatch and Brackenford.

"If I move one hundred and twenty infantry and several wagons along this road, how quickly can we travel?"

"Quickly if the weather stays dry," Gareth said. "There are two bad stretches, but the rest is good road."

"And if the creatures watching the road?"

Tomas answered immediately. "Then they will see you before you see them. They watched us from the trees. They did not move like regulsr travelers."

Mercer’s gaze returned to the map.

"Then we assume someone is observing the road."

One of his lieutenants folded his arms. "Captain, there are only three survivors. The other four are dead."

"There are three survivors who may have returned to their camp."

Mercer replied. "That is the part I’m worried about."

He turned back to Tomas. "I read Captain Vane’s report. Tell me what you saw without a clerk putting cleaner words around it."

Tomas thought for a moment. "They were small. Most would reach around my shoulder. Green skin, long pointed ears, broad noses, sharp teeth. But the way they looked was not what frightened me. They moved like soldiers. Two watched behind the others while they studied the road. One was making marks on a board. When they noticed us, they spread out and took cover. When the fight turned against them, the survivors withdrew together instead of running."

Doss frowned. "Weapons?"

"Short spears, blades, bows, and one small crossbow. Their armor looked fitted for them, not scavenged."

Mercer asked, "How many men did Vane take?"

"Eight including himself. Three died and two were wounded. Four goblins died and three escaped."

One lieutenant gave a dismissive grunt. "Village guards are not Second Company."

Mercer looked at him. "No, they are not, but professional soldiers bleeds the same. Eight men had the numerical advantage over seven smaller opponents and still took five casualties. Until we know more, nobody under my command will assume these creatures are harmless because they are short."

The lieutenant lowered his gaze, and Mercer moved on to the company’s preparations. Second Company was being issued several days of field rations, extra crossbow bolts, replacement bowstrings, and additional medical supplies. He ordered more shields assigned to the front squads after hearing that the goblins had used ranged weapons and aimed for exposed areas.

When the quartermaster complained that another medical crate would slow the wagons, Mercer told him to remove something less useful instead.

Tomas began to understand why General Halvern had chosen him. Mercer did not act frightened, but he treated uncertainty as a reason to prepare rather than an excuse to dismiss the danger.

At the far end of the hall, Lieutenant Doss spread a smaller map across a supply crate. "My twenty riders can reach Brackenford well ahead of the company. We can sweep the road and eastern approaches before the infantry arrives."

Tomas shook his head.

Doss looked at him. "You disagree?"

"Horses have the advantage on open field. Where we found the goblins, they will become a problem. The trees are close together, and the ground near the stream is wet and broken."

Mercer joined them. "How far ahead were you planning to move?"

"Half a day."

"That is too far."

"My men are seasoned scouts."

"And our enemies have their own scouts too." Mercer pointed to several trails Tomas had marked.

"Divide your riders. One group stays ahead of the company. The others check side roads and settlements. Nobody disappears into dense forest alone, and no mounted group moves so far that we cannot support it."

Doss considered the order before nodding. Tomas showed him a hunters’ trail northeast of Brackenford that remained passable to horses until the ridge and warned him about abandoned charcoal pits where men could hide easily.

By the end of the discussion, Doss was asking Tomas questions rather than treating him as a frightened villager.

Mercer then asked Gareth about Brackenford’s defenses. Gareth described the wooden palisade, two main gates, the watchtower, and the reduced number of guards after Edric’s losses.

"Can the palisade stop a serious assault?" Mercer asked.

"Against bandits, yes."

"That was not my question."

Gareth shook his head. "Depending on the number of soldiers the enemy will bring. Then no, Captain."

Mercer nodded. "Our first task is reinforcing the village, not charging into the forest. Once we arrive, half the company strengthens the defenses and establishes crossbow positions. Mounted scouts watch the roads. Infantry patrols go east only in organized groups, and no patrol will have fewer than twelve soldiers."

One lieutenant pointed to the battle site on the map. "You do not want to search immediately?"

"I want Captain Vane to show me the exact ground first. If these creatures are still watching the area, a sighting is information. I do not want some eager fool turning every footprint into a chase through unfamiliar woodland."

Gareth had remained quiet through most of the planning, but he finally said, "The three that escaped have had more than a day."

The room became quieter.

Tomas nodded. "If they had somewhere to return to, they may already have reached it."

One lieutenant asked, "How many do you think are out there?"

"I do not know," Tomas answered.

"Dozens? Hundreds?"

"I have no idea."

Mercer raised a hand before the questioning continued. "We plan around what we know and prepare for what we cannot rule out. Seven armed creatures were mapping roads. That means purpose. Reconnaissance is done because someone expects to use the information later. Maybe they belong to a raiding band. Maybe they are the edge of something larger."

Doss looked toward the eastern edge of the provincial map. "No border fort has reported an army."

"That is what bothering me." Mercer replied.

"If there is a larger force east of Brackenford, then either our watchers somehow failed to see it cross the frontier, or it arrived by a route we are not watching."

No one at the table had an answer for that possibility.

By late afternoon, Second Company was ready. One hundred and twenty infantry assembled near Eastwatch’s eastern gate while four supply wagons waited behind them. Twenty mounted scouts gathered nearby with lighter provisions, and Tomas and Gareth received fresh horses so they could travel beside Mercer’s command group rather than struggle to keep pace on foot.

General Halvern arrived shortly before departure. He inspected the company and then spoke with Mercer near the gate while Tomas stood close enough to hear.

"Protect Brackenford, find out what is moving through those woods, and send regular reports back."

"If we encounter them?" Mercer asked.

"Use judgment. I want their information more than corpses."

"And if there is a larger force?"

"Do not try to become a hero with one company."

Mercer gave a slight smile. "I have never had the temperament for it."

Halvern glanced toward Tomas and Gareth. "Listen to the guides when the road leaves the map. They know that country better than we do."

The eastern gates opened as the afternoon light began to soften. Doss sent the first mounted group ahead but kept them within the distance Mercer had ordered. Second Company followed in disciplined formation, shields and spears moving in steady lines while the wagons rolled behind them.

Tomas rode beside Gareth near the front. When they had traveled west, they had carried a corpse and a warning from a frightened village.

Now they were returning with more than a hundred professional soldiers, scouts, supplies, and enough weapons to make Brackenford feel less isolated. Even so, Tomas found himself studying every line of trees along the road.

Mercer noticed. "You expect to see them already?"

"No, Captain."

"But it seems like you’re looking forward to it."

Tomas kept his eyes on the forest. "The last time I saw seven of them, I did not understand what I was looking at. I would rather not make that mistake twice."

Mercer gave a small nod and turned toward the road ahead. Around them, Second Company continued toward Brackenford, prepared for an enemy none of them could yet name and uncertain whether the three escaped scouts had already carried their own warning home.

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