My planet is infested with Goblins

Lord Governor Marcellan Rusk had expected the Brackenford incident to remain a local problem for at least another day.

Second Company had already been sent east under Captain Mercer, mounted scouts had been dispatched ahead of them, and General Cedric Halvern had ordered nearby posts to report anything unusual.

As far as Marcellan was concerned, the correct response had already been made. The creatures found near Brackenford were dangerous enough to justify caution, but seven scouts did not yet amount to an invasion.

He had therefore returned to the ordinary responsibilities of governing Eastwatch, though the unfinished report on the goblins remained open on the edge of his desk.

The first new messenger arrived before noon.

Marcellan was reviewing grain tariffs when a military clerk entered without waiting to be announced.

"My lord, a rider has arrived from Fenmar."

Marcellan looked up.

"What happened?"

"He is requesting immediate military assistance."

General Halvern then got called up to enter into the chamber.

The rider from Fenmar looked as though he had spent most of the morning pushing his horse beyond reason. Mud covered his boots, and one sleeve had been torn near the shoulder.

Marcellan gestured toward him.

"Speak."

The man bowed quickly.

"Green creatures attacked farms east of Fenmar shortly after sunrise, my lord. Small ones. Armed with weapons."

Halvern’s expression tightened immediately.

"How many?"

"I don’t know, General. Several groups. Maybe thirty. Maybe more."

"What did they do?"

"They burned two farmhouses. Took animals. A patrol of six men went after them and never came back."

Marcellan exchanged a glance with Halvern.

"Did they enter the village?"

"No, my lord. We closed the gates before they reached us."

Halvern stepped toward the provincial map hanging on the wall and located Fenmar.

It lay considerably north of Brackenford.

Marcellan noticed the distance as well.

"That cannot be the same three that escaped Captain Vane."

"No," Halvern said. "Not unless they learned to cross half the province in a day."

The governor disliked the implication.

Before they could discuss it further, another clerk appeared at the doorway.

"My lord, another messenger."

Marcellan stared at him.

"From where?"

"Dun Hollow."

Halvern was already moving another marker onto the map.

The Dun Hollow report was worse.

A watch post outside the settlement had been attacked during the morning. Two defenders had been found dead, while three others were missing. Several farmers had reported groups of small green-skinned soldiers moving through nearby fields before disappearing into the woods.

The messenger used the word demons.

Halvern corrected him immediately.

"Did they carry weapons?"

"Yes, General."

"Did they move together?"

"Yes."

"Then call them soldiers until we know otherwise."

The messenger looked uneasy but nodded.

By early afternoon, Eastwatch had received four separate reports.

Brackenford.

Fenmar.

Dun Hollow.

A road station farther east.

The names began accumulating across the provincial map.

Marcellan stood before it with both hands behind his back while Halvern and several officials studied the growing pattern.

"There is no defined front line," Marcellan said.

"That is what concerns me," Halvern replied.

"If they were invading from the east, there should be a direction."

"Unless they are spreading outward from multiple points."

Marcellan looked toward him.

"Multiple points from where?"

Halvern did not answer.

No one in the chamber could figure out what’s happening.

A provincial clerk approached carrying another report.

"Merchants on the southern road are turning back toward Eastwatch. They claim armed green creatures attacked two wagons."

"How many?" Marcellan asked.

"The accounts disagree. One merchant says twenty. Another says nearly a hundred."

Halvern gave a dismissive grunt.

"Fear multiplies enemies quickly."

Marcellan looked toward the markers.

"Even if every witness doubled the number, there are still more than seven."

Halvern could not disagree with that.

The governor walked back toward the council table.

"What word have we received from Captain Mercer?"

"None so far."

"He should have reached Brackenford by now."

"Assuming the road remained clear."

Marcellan stopped.

"You think Second Company was attacked?"

"I think we should assume the roads are no longer safe. That is all I am willing to say."

The restraint in Halvern’s answer did little to reassure him.

A servant entered with water, but no one touched it.

Another report arrived before the previous messenger had even left.

This one came from a minor landholder whose estate lay southeast of Brackenford. Armed goblins had been seen near tenant farms, and several buildings had been burned. The noble demanded cavalry immediately.

Marcellan dropped the report onto the table.

"Everyone wants soldiers to reinforcetheir properties."

One official cleared his throat.

"My lord, Fenmar requests at least fifty soldiers."

"Dun Hollow requested forty."

"The monastery near Red Creek wants protection as well. Refugees have started gathering there."

Halvern shook his head.

"We cannot do that."

Marcellan turned toward him.

"We can deploy our garrison ."

"We have a garrison responsible for Eastwatch and the surrounding province. If we send forty men to every village that is frightened by our enemies, we will have no garrison left to protect the city."

"So we do nothing?"

"That is not what I said."

Marcellan’s irritation rose.

"Then tell me what you are saying."

Halvern moved toward the map.

"We defend important roads, fortified settlements, bridges, and supply points. We keep troops concentrated enough that they cannot be destroyed piece by piece."

"And the smaller villages?"

"We reinforce what we can."

"That sounds suspiciously like abandoning the rest."

Halvern looked at him calmly.

"If we send twenty men to every village, twenty men die in every village."

The chamber became quiet.

Marcellan disliked the answer because he understood it.

Another official pointed toward Eastwatch.

"What if these creatures move toward the city?"

Halvern nodded.

"That is another reason not to empty the garrison."

Marcellan looked toward the eastern wall beyond the windows.

For the first time, the possibility that Eastwatch itself might become a target no longer felt absurd.

One of the provincial advisers finally said what everyone else had avoided.

"This may be an invasion."

The word changed the room.

Marcellan turned sharply.

"Do not use that term lightly."

"My lord, villages are being attacked across the province."

"We do not know the scale."

Halvern stepped between them verbally before the disagreement grew.

"We do not yet have enough information to declare an invasion."

Marcellan pointed toward the map.

"Then what would you call this?"

"A coordinated hostile incursion by an unknown organized force."

Marcellan gave him a tired look.

"That sounds like an invasion wearing better clothes."

Halvern almost smiled, but another rider arrived before he could answer.

This one had come from Kestrel Ford, a village closer to the eastern hills.

He was bleeding from a cut above his eye.

"They’re attacking the walls," he said before anyone could ask.

Marcellan leaned forward.

"How many?"

"Hundreds."

Halvern immediately questioned him.

"You saw hundreds?"

"I saw too many of those creatures that I stopped counting. They had bows. Spears. Small shields. Some were giving orders to the others."

"Officers?"

"I think so, probably."

"Were they attacking in one mass?"

"No, General. Groups. Some fired from the fields while others moved toward the palisade."

Halvern placed another marker on the map.

That report removed much of the remaining doubt.

Marcellan looked at the spread of locations.

"This is no band of raiders."

"No," Halvern said.

"Then mobilize the province."

Halvern did not answer immediately.

Marcellan frowned.

"You were the one warning me this was military."

"I am warning you now that a full provincial mobilization is not something we should order blindly."

"We have villages under attack."

"And calling every noble levy will take days. Half those men will arrive poorly equipped, and all of them will need food."

Marcellan stepped closer.

"So your advice is still to wait?"

"My advice is to avoid making three bad decisions because we are frightened by the first one."

The governor turned away before responding.

Outside the hall, Eastwatch itself was beginning to change. Rumors had spread despite every attempt to control them.

Merchants returning from the east told stories of green armies in the woods. Families crowded the administrative quarter asking about relatives in threatened villages. Several caravans had refused to leave the city, and guards at the eastern gate were already turning away unnecessary travelers.

Marcellan ordered the city defenses quietly strengthened.

No general alarm was sounded.

Not yet at least.

By evening, he summoned an emergency council.

Halvern attended with senior officers. Several local nobles arrived as well, each carrying his own concerns. One demanded troops for his estates. Another argued Eastwatch should withdraw every available soldier behind the city walls. A third insisted that an army be assembled immediately and marched east before the goblins could consolidate.

The arguments began within minutes.

"We cannot sit here while villages burn."

"And we cannot abandon Eastwatch."

"My lands lie directly on the eastern road."

"So do everyone else’s."

Marcellan struck the table with his palm.

"Enough."

The room quieted reluctantly.

He looked toward Halvern.

"If we march a large force east, what happens?"

"We may find the enemy."

"And if we stay?"

"They may continue destroying villages."

"If we scatter detachments?"

"They may destroy those separately."

Marcellan leaned back slowly.

"You have given me three choices and managed to make all of them sound terrible."

"They are terrible."

One noble spoke from the far end of the table.

"Then summon the provincial levies."

Another objected immediately.

"Without royal approval?"

Marcellan looked toward him.

The legal question mattered.

Mobilizing the entire province meant disrupting agriculture, trade, taxes, and noble obligations. If the threat proved smaller than feared, the royal court would demand to know why Marcellan had created panic across the east without permission.

If the threat was larger, waiting could be worse.

He looked around the room.

"Who has final authority to place the eastern province on a full war footing?"

No one needed long to answer.

"The king," one official said.

Marcellan looked toward the provincial map again.

More markers had been added since morning.

He finally made his decision.

"We send everything to the royal capital tonight."

Halvern nodded.

"Highest military urgency."

"Three copies. Different riders and different roads."

A clerk moved immediately toward the writing desk.

Marcellan dictated the contents carefully: the original Brackenford encounter, the recovered goblin equipment, multiple attacks across separate villages, confirmed organized military behavior, the attack on Kestrel Ford, and the lack of communication from Captain Mercer.

He stopped before the final line.

"Write that the eastern province may be facing the opening stage of a larger invasion."

The clerk hesitated only briefly before writing it.

Halvern watched him.

"You finally used the word."

Marcellan looked toward the map.

"I would rather His Majesty accuse me of exaggerating than ask why I remained silent."

The letter was sealed before midnight.

Three mounted couriers prepared to leave Eastwatch by separate western routes.

The emergency council remained divided even after the decision was made. Some still wanted troops sent east immediately. Others demanded that Eastwatch close its gates and concentrate every soldier behind stone walls. Halvern continued arguing for reconnaissance and controlled concentration rather than panic.

Marcellan listened until he could tolerate no more.

"We send everything we know to His Majesty tonight. Until we receive an answer, no one makes a decision that cannot be undone."

No one looked satisfied, but no one challenged him.

Outside, the couriers rode west carrying Eastwatch’s warning toward the King of Caldris.

Behind them, another exhausted messenger was already approaching the city gates from the east.

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