Chapter 182: Handover

Chapter 182: Handover

Noah opened the portal shortly after sunrise in a cleared yard beside the main supply district. Darius had ordered the area emptied before dawn so the arriving Eldrathi troops would have enough room to form up without blocking the warehouses or the roads used by the convoys.

The air in front of Noah distorted as he connected Karthis to Eldrath. A moment later, the distortion widened into a stable gateway large enough for soldiers and military vehicles to pass through.

Goblin officers crossed first, followed by infantry carrying rifles, radios, packs, and field equipment. Trucks began rolling through after the first soldiers cleared the area directly in front of the portal.

Darius stood near the edge of the yard with several ogre officers and watched the arrivals.

He had already seen Noah’s deployment plan, but hundreds of goblins crossing in organized groups made the scale of the handover much clearer.

"You really weren’t exaggerating about the manpower," Darius said as another company marched through. "When you said you could replace my rear units, I expected a large force. I didn’t expect the yard to start filling this quickly."

"This is only the first group. They’re taking the supply district and the first section of road, so I brought enough people to complete those transfers without waiting for another deployment."

Darius watched a truck emerge from the portal behind the infantry. "If every section looks like this, I’m going to have a lot of ogres reporting back for new orders."

"That was one of the reasons you agreed to the handover."

"I remember why I agreed. Seeing the actual number of goblins makes the difference harder to ignore."

The arriving troops did not gather around Noah waiting for instructions. Their assignments had already been prepared on Eldrath, so officers immediately directed units toward the warehouses, convoy yards, road entrances, and temporary assembly areas.

Radio teams followed the security units. They carried their equipment toward positions that would connect the supply district with the first group of roadside checkpoints outside the city.

Noah kept the portal open until the troops assigned to the first stage had crossed. Once the yard was crowded with soldiers, trucks, and equipment, he closed the gateway and walked with Darius toward the warehouse district.

The first transfer took place at one of the main warehouse entrances. Four ogres still guarded the gate when a goblin squad approached with an officer and a radio operator.

The goblin officer inspected the entrance, the adjoining storage buildings, and the road leading into the cargo yard. After confirming the location, he raised his radio.

"Gate Four, this is Gate Three. We’ve reached our position and we’re ready to take over. How are you receiving us?"

The reply came immediately. "Clear enough that I can hear the wagons behind you. We’re in position as well, and yard command confirmed both posts."

The goblin officer lowered the radio and turned toward the ogre sergeant. "We’re connected to the next gate and to the yard command. Your people can hand the entrance over whenever you’re ready."

The sergeant looked toward Darius before answering. "I’ve been standing at this gate for almost two weeks. If you’re telling me someone else wants the job, I’m not going to fight you for it."

One of the ogres behind him laughed. "Don’t listen to him. Yesterday he was complaining that he’d forgotten what the front looked like."

"I said I was tired of counting the same merchant carts every morning."

The goblin officer smiled. "Then consider yourself relieved from cart counting. We’ll take it from here."

Darius nodded toward the road leading back to the assembly area. "Report to my staff when you get there. They’ll have new assignments ready for all four of you."

The ogre sergeant adjusted the weapon across his shoulder. "Now that’s the first order I’ve heard all week that I actually wanted."

The guards collected their equipment and left while the goblins moved into the positions they had vacated. The radio operator informed yard command that Warehouse Gate Three was now under Eldrathi security.

Noah watched until the transfer was complete before moving on. The entrance had remained guarded throughout the exchange, and there had been no period when either side was unsure who was responsible for it.

The same process began across the supply district. Ogre soldiers stayed at each warehouse, cargo yard, and military entrance until their replacements had arrived, inspected the location, and established radio contact with neighboring Eldrathi units.

Cargo operations continued throughout the transfer. Workers moved crates, loaded vehicles, and prepared outgoing shipments while the guards changed from ogres to goblins one position at a time.

Goblin crews also began taking over the transports. Drivers inspected the vehicles assigned to them while Eldrathi clerks copied cargo lists, destinations, and departure times into their own records.

An ogre transport officer stopped beside a goblin clerk who was counting the wooden crates on one wagon.

"You’ve been staring at that load for five minutes. Tell me you aren’t planning to count every crate after my people already finished the manifest."

The clerk looked down at the page in his hand. "The manifest says thirty-two. If I’m signing my name under thirty-two, I’m going to make sure thirty-two are actually here."

"My crew counted them twice."

"Then this should be very easy. I count thirty-two, you get to tell me I wasted my time, and we both leave happy."

The ogre officer folded his arms. "And if you count thirty-one?"

"Then you’ll be very glad I wasted my time before the wagon left."

The ogre stared at him for a moment before laughing. "Fine. Keep counting. But if one is missing, I’m sending you straight to the warehouse supervisor because I’m not spending my morning looking for missing crates."

"I wasn’t planning to ask you to."

Noah heard the exchange while walking past with Darius. Neither of them stopped, the first roadside handover had already begun outside the northern gate.

Small goblin units were moving along the road at the intervals Noah had ordered. Each group stopped at its assigned location while the next continued farther north, gradually building the first connected section.

A larger roadside post coordinated the smaller checkpoints. One officer handled the radio while another marked each position after successful contact.

"Post Twelve, give me a signal check."

"Post Twelve receiving clearly. We can also hear Eleven without any interference."

"Good. Post Thirteen, you’re next."

"Receiving both directions. The road between us and Twelve is clear."

The officer switched channels. "Fourteen, report."

Static answered first before a voice finally came through. "We can hear you, but the signal is breaking whenever we move the set."

"Then stop moving it and raise the antenna another meter. Test again before I clear this section."

A few moments later, the reply returned much more clearly.

"Post Fourteen reporting again. Signal is stable now."

"That’ll do. Keep it that way once the convoys start coming through."

After the remaining checkpoints reported, the officer approached Noah and Darius.

"All positions in this section are connected. The local post can reach every checkpoint, and we have a direct line back to the supply base."

Darius turned toward the ogre patrol that had previously covered the stretch. "Looks like you’ve finally been replaced. Head back to the city and report for reassignment."

The patrol leader looked north at the newly established checkpoints. "Twelve of us used to walk this whole section twice a day. You’ve put enough goblins here that I can see three posts without moving my feet."

A goblin nearby heard him and grinned. "Then you’ve been doing too much walking."

The ogre snorted. "I knew there was something wrong with the old arrangement."

The patrol gathered its equipment and headed south while the goblins remained at their new posts. Reports about passing carts, military traffic, and road conditions were already moving between the checkpoints.

By midday, Eldrath controlled the main supply district and the first completed section of the corridor. The first goblin-operated convoy prepared to leave shortly afterward, with drivers checking their vehicles while escorts confirmed their equipment and radio channels.

Noah stood near the northern gate as the column began moving. A radio operator beside him listened as the first reports came in from the road.

"Post Three to road command. Lead vehicle just passed us. Convoy is moving normally."

Another voice followed. "Post Four has them in sight now. Nothing unusual ahead, and the road is clear through our section."

A third transmission came several moments later. "Post Five receiving the convoy. No delays so far."

Darius listened to the reports before glancing at Noah. "I’ll admit this is useful. Usually a convoy leaves the base, and the next proper report comes from a town farther north. If it doesn’t arrive, everyone starts working backward to figure out where something happened."

"With this setup, we’ll know the last checkpoint that saw it moving normally."

Darius raised a hand before Noah could continue. "That’s enough. I remember the argument from yesterday, and I refuse to sit through the full version again."

Noah smiled. "You were the one explaining why you liked it."

"I said it was useful. Don’t turn that into permission for another lecture."

The completed section covered only a small part of the corridor. Most of the route farther north remained under Darius’s original security arrangement, and those ogres would stay in place until Eldrathi units arrived to replace them.

Noah returned to the cleared yard and opened the portal again. Another column of goblin soldiers and vehicles began crossing from Eldrath, carrying the personnel and equipment needed to push the handover farther north.

Several hours away, one of the sections still under ogre control had already suffered another sabotage attack.

A small group of Tigran soldiers moved through the forest while the last light of afternoon filtered between the trees. Behind them, one supply wagon had been destroyed and two others damaged badly enough that they would not continue north that day.

The Tigrans had left the road before the nearest ogre patrol arrived. They crossed a shallow stream, followed the water long enough to hide their trail, and then turned deeper into the forest toward a place they had prepared earlier.

The soldier at the rear stopped beside a tree and listened before catching up with the others. "I haven’t heard them for several minutes. Either they never crossed the stream or they picked the wrong trail after it."

A Tigran ahead of him pulled the cloth away from his face. "That’s because we actually left when we were supposed to. Well, most of us did."

Several heads turned toward a younger soldier walking near the center.

He frowned. "Don’t start. I was only at the wagon for another few seconds."

"You were opening a crate while the rest of us were already heading for the trees."

"It looked valuable."

"It contained iron tools."

"And none of you knew that before I opened it, so technically I discovered something."

The soldier behind him laughed. "You discovered that you’re willing to get killed for a box of hammers."

"They were good hammers."

That drew laughter from the entire group as they continued deeper into the woods. Their pace slowed once they reached a shallow hollow surrounded by thick brush, where they had hidden food and packs before beginning the attack.

One soldier dropped onto the ground and stretched his legs. "Whatever was in the crates, one wagon is gone and two more aren’t going anywhere tonight. I’ll call that a successful afternoon."

Another sat beside him and pulled a flask from one of the packs. "Successful for everyone except our great treasure hunter. He nearly stayed behind for enough carpentry tools to open his own workshop."

The younger Tigran accepted the flask when it reached him. "Laugh all you want. One day I’ll open a crate full of gold, and none of you will get a coin."

"If there’s ever gold on a military supply wagon, the ogres can have you. You’ll be too busy counting it to notice them arriving."

"Then drag me away."

"We tried that today."

More laughter followed as bread and dried meat came out of the packs. Their rifles remained close at hand, but nobody was watching the path continuously anymore.

The younger soldier tore off a piece of bread and looked toward the oldest member of the group. "How late were the ogres this time? I heard shouting when we reached the stream, but I never saw them."

"They came from the south, same as before. By the time they reached the damaged wagons, we were already across the water."

"So that patrol still follows the same route."

"For now."

The younger soldier grinned. "Then we could use that road again after a few days."

The older Tigran pointed the flask at him. "That’s exactly how people get caught. Something works twice, and suddenly becomes overconfident."

"I didn’t say we’d do the same thing exactly."

"You were already planning which crate you’d open next."

"That part can change."

A soldier sitting nearby tossed a piece of bread at him. "Next time, the rest of us are tying a rope around your waist. When we leave, you leave whether you’ve finished shopping or not."

The younger Tigran caught the bread and laughed. "Fine, but if I find something valuable, I’m keeping the rope too."

Their conversation continued as the food and flask moved around the group. They argued over who had nearly taken the wrong route during the withdrawal and who had fired too early when the convoy first entered the ambush.

The older Tigran eventually raised the flask and waited until the others quieted enough to hear him.

"One wagon destroyed, two damaged, and not one of us left behind. The front won’t get those loads tonight, and the ogres spent another afternoon chasing people who were already gone."

The younger soldier lifted his bread. "And next time, we’re finding a convoy carrying something better than tools."

A man across from him laughed. "Next time, you’re staying away from the cargo."

"No promises."

"You’re going to become the reason we stop celebrating successful operations."

The hollow filled with laughter again as the older soldier drank.

None of them knew that farther south, goblins were already replacing the ogres at warehouses and roadside positions. The section they had attacked still followed the patrol pattern they had learned to exploit, so nothing during the operation had warned them that the corridor was changing.

For the Tigrans gathered in the hollow, the day’s attack had ended exactly as they expected.

They had damaged another supply convoy, escaped before the ogres could catch them, and were already joking about what they would find when they returned to the road again.