Chapter 235: Handover

Chapter 235: Handover

Noah was checking reports from the remaining goblin positions when movement above the plateau caught his attention. A single figure was descending toward the portal area, much smaller than the mammoths fighting beyond the surviving defenses. No descent rig was attached to him. He was flying under his own power and coming directly toward Noah.

Several goblins noticed him and raised their rifles. Noah lifted one hand. "Lower your weapons. Keep watching him, but don’t fire unless he threatens us." The soldiers lowered their barrels but continued watching the man as he descended.

He slowed before reaching the ground and landed several steps from Noah. He wore dark combat clothing with light armor over his chest and shoulders. Noah saw no weapon in his hands. The stranger first looked toward the fighting beyond the goblin perimeter. His attention went to the mammoths moving through the abandoned positions. After checking where they had reached, he turned back to Noah.

"You’re Noah?"

"I am. And you are?"

"Darian Vale." He pointed toward the mammoths farther out. "They’re my people."

Noah looked in the same direction. "So you’re the planetary lord commanding them."

"That’s right." Darian glanced toward the portal. "You can start pulling your goblins out. My people have enough numbers here now. We’ll take over this section."

Noah looked toward the positions his soldiers still occupied. Rifle squads held the surviving barriers. Machine-gun crews covered the open approaches, while wounded goblins and damaged equipment were being gathered closer to the portal.

"I can pull them back," Noah said. "But it has to be done in order. I still have wounded here, ammunition to move, and gun crews covering the approaches."

Darian nodded. "Then take your time and do it properly. Move the wounded first. Take the equipment that can be carried quickly, then pull the fighting units back section by section."

Noah looked toward the disabled tank. Two mammoths were fighting an armored Astragoth there, while another had moved farther left to stop several ordinary Astragoths. More mammoths were still coming down behind them.

"I need your people to keep those approaches blocked until my last crews reach the portal."

"They will," Darian said. "The first groups are already past your outer positions. More are landing now, so your people should have enough room to withdraw."

Darian pointed toward two openings between the goblin defenses. "Keep those gaps clear if you can. My people are using them to move forward."

Noah checked both routes. One opened toward the disabled tank, while the other led toward the wreckage. Supply carts were already passing near the first.

"I’ll move the equipment closer to the portal," Noah said. "My covering units can stay behind the barriers and leave both gaps open for your people."

"That works."

Noah opened his relay and contacted the senior goblin commander. "Start the withdrawal. Wounded first. After that, move the ammunition and anything we can carry quickly. Rifle squads and machine guns stay in place until the groups behind them are clear."

The commander took a moment to answer. "We’re pulling everyone out?"

"Yes. The mammoths are taking over this section. Move one position at a time. Keep every approach covered until the next group reaches the portal."

"Understood. I’ll move the wounded and the equipment closest to the portal first. The outer crews will stay where they are."

The withdrawal began within moments. Goblins lifted stretchers and carried the wounded toward the portal. Others loaded ammunition boxes, medical supplies, damaged rifles, and spare parts onto carts. Combat units stayed behind the barriers and watched the approaches.

As the first wounded groups moved, Noah checked the two routes Darian had pointed out. The left route was clear, but the one near the wreckage still had a stack of ammunition crates beside a damaged barrier. He contacted the nearest squad and ordered them to move the crates closer to the portal. Two goblins carried each box while another kept watch on the open ground ahead. Once the route was clear, a mammoth crossed through and headed toward the wreckage.

The withdrawal also exposed a problem near the center. One machine-gun crew had more ammunition than it could carry in a single trip. Noah told the crew to take the loaded belts and leave the empty boxes and damaged tripod parts behind. The gunner broke the weapon down while two riflemen covered the approach. By the time the next wounded group reached the portal, the crew had reduced its load enough to move when its turn came.

Noah checked the sequence again through the relay. The right side would leave first, then the left, and the center would remain until both sides were clear. That order kept one machine gun facing each open approach during most of the withdrawal. It also gave Darian’s mammoths space to pass through the abandoned sections as soon as the goblins left them.

Darian moved closer to the edge of the position while Noah followed the reports through his relay. One mammoth passed through a gap between two firing points. The goblins moved aside, and the mammoth continued toward several Astragoths moving through the damaged defenses farther out.

The senior commander contacted Noah again. "First group of wounded is through. We’re moving the damaged machine guns now."

"Keep one gun on the left until the rifle squad behind it reaches the portal. Leave the center where it is for now."

"Understood."

Machine-gun fire came from the left a few seconds later. Three Astragoths had crossed an open section between two damaged barriers. The gunner killed two. The third continued forward until a mammoth moved into its path.

Noah opened the relay. "Left side, once a mammoth has the target in front of it, stop firing at that target. Save the ammunition for anything that gets around them."

The left-side commander answered, "Understood. We’ll fire only if something still has a clear path toward us."

The wounded continued moving through the portal. Behind them, goblins carried equipment out of the inner positions. One cart lost a wheel after it caught between two pieces of broken concrete. The soldiers pushing it unloaded the ammunition boxes immediately, carried them by hand, and left the broken cart behind.

Another report came through. "The wounded are all through," the senior commander said. "The right side can start moving as soon as the last equipment clears the entrance."

"Send the rifle squads first. The machine gun stays until both squads are clear."

The right-side withdrawal began. The first rifle squad left its barrier while the second remained behind to cover the same approach. Once the first group reached the portal, the second followed. Only then did the machine-gun crew begin packing its weapon.

A mammoth entered the position they had left. It crossed the broken barrier and continued toward another group of Astragoths farther out.

An armored Astragoth appeared near the wreckage route before the right side had fully cleared. Its body already showed damage, but it was still moving toward the remaining goblin positions.

Noah opened the relay. "RPG team three, armored target coming from the wreckage. Track it, but wait until the mammoth behind it moves clear."

The gunner replied, "I see it. I’m holding."

The Astragoth continued forward until a mammoth caught up and struck it from the side. The impact turned its body and exposed a damaged section. The mammoth stepped away, and the RPG gunner fired. The rocket struck the damaged area and dropped the Astragoth before it reached the barriers. The mammoth passed the body and continued toward the fighting.

The right side was clear soon afterward. "We can start pulling the left," the senior commander reported. "The center still has two rifle squads, one machine gun, and the remaining ammunition carriers."

"Move the left side. Keep the center where it is until everyone else is through."

The left-side goblins began withdrawing in the same order. Ammunition carriers moved first, followed by the riflemen. The machine-gun crew remained behind and fired only when Astragoths found a route around the mammoths.

While the withdrawal continued, Noah watched Darian. He had not given a single order to any individual mammoth since landing. The mammoths changed direction on their own, grouped against armored Astragoths, and separated again as different threats appeared.

Noah glanced toward him. "You don’t have to keep telling them what to do."

"No," Darian said. "They know where they’re supposed to fight before they land. Once they’re down, they handle whatever is in front of them."

"You only give them the larger orders?"

"Where to go, when to move, when to pull back. Things like that." Darian looked toward two mammoths fighting an armored Astragoth. "If one of them has to wait for me to tell him which way to turn, he’s already reacting too late."

Noah watched the pair. One kept the Astragoth occupied from the front while the other moved toward its side.

"That makes sense."

"They’re trained soldiers," Darian said. "They know when another one needs help."

A wounded mammoth appeared near the right side of the perimeter. One front leg was moving badly, and part of the armor around the joint had bent inward. Another mammoth stayed beside it as they moved away from the fighting.

Several goblins looked toward Noah, so he opened the relay. "Clear the gap on the right. Let the wounded mammoth through. Give it space behind the barrier."

The soldiers moved aside. The injured mammoth crossed into the perimeter and stopped behind the defenses. Its companion remained beside it for several moments, then turned back toward the fighting.

Noah looked at Darian. "Can it still move on that leg?"

"It can walk," Darian replied. "It just can’t keep up with the others. Leave it there for now. I’ll move it once this area is clear."

The injured mammoth had stopped away from the withdrawal route, so the goblins continued moving supplies and troops past it.

The senior commander contacted Noah again. "Left side is clear. Only the center remains."

Noah checked the portal. Two rifle squads, one machine-gun crew, and several ammunition carriers were still outside.

"Move the ammunition first. Then the rifle squads, one after the other. The machine gun leaves last."

"I’ll stay with the last crew."

"No. Go through with the second rifle squad," Noah said. "I’ll stay until the gun crew is moving."

The commander paused. "All right. I’ll count everyone from the other side and make sure nobody was left behind."

"That works."

The center began withdrawing. Ammunition carriers moved first. The first rifle squad followed. The machine gun stayed behind the barrier while the second squad waited.

Another wave of mammoths was descending farther across the plateau. Their rigs brought them down behind the ones already fighting. As soon as they landed, they moved toward separate parts of the battle.

Noah looked at Darian. "You came down yourself because you needed my goblins out of the way."

Darian nodded. "Pretty much. If your people stayed here while mine moved through, our forces would start crossing the same routes. That would slow both sides down. I could have sent a message, but it was easier to come down and settle it with you directly."

"You expected an argument?"

"I didn’t know what to expect," Darian said. "Some planetary lords keep their troops in a fight even after another force is ready to replace them."

Noah looked back toward the last goblin position. "That would only add more casualties."

"That was my concern. Once you agreed to withdraw, there wasn’t much else to discuss."

The second rifle squad started toward the portal. The senior commander went with them, turning once to check the machine-gun crew before following the rest through.

The gunner stayed behind for several more seconds. Two Astragoths moved around the far side of a mammoth and headed toward the perimeter. The machine gun fired one final burst and killed both before they reached the barrier.

The crew checked the approach once more, then began packing the weapon.

Noah opened the relay. "Center crew, pull back. Everyone goes through the portal."

The crew lifted the machine gun and carried it toward the entrance. Noah stayed where he was until the last goblin crossed through.

He checked the abandoned positions one final time. No goblin unit remained on the plateau. The mammoths were fighting beyond the disabled tank, the wreckage route, and the outer firing points. The nearest Astragoths were far enough away that Darian’s forces stood between them and the portal.

Darian looked toward the same area. "That’s everyone?"

"That’s the last group. My commander will count them again on the other side."

"Good. Take them back and get them reorganized. My forces can hold this area from here."

Noah looked at him. "You’re heading back out?"

"Yes. I only stayed here until your withdrawal finished. Now I need to rejoin my people."

Darian lifted from the ground and rose above the damaged defenses. He turned toward the battlefield and accelerated across the plateau, flying over the positions the goblins had abandoned and toward the mammoths farther ahead.

Noah watched him until he passed beyond the disabled tank. His goblins were already through the portal, and Darian’s force now controlled the approaches around it. Noah turned and stepped through after them.