Chapter 196: Invasion Briefing

Chapter 196: Invasion Briefing

Noah remained in the briefing room after the officer explained that the Empire would use the starfortress to support Eldrath’s invasion. The projection still displayed the enormous structure, but Noah now needed to understand the exact sequence his army would follow from Eldrath to the target planet.

He looked back at the officer.

"You said the teleportation devices inside the starfortress will help move my goblins. How does the operation actually begin?"

The officer turned toward the projection.

"The process has two main stages. First, you bring your selected forces from Eldrath into the starfortress. After that, the Empire sends those forces down to the target planet."

Noah kept his attention on the display.

"So the teleportation devices do not send the goblins directly to the planet."

"Correct. Their first destination is the starfortress."

The officer adjusted the projection to show the fortress beside a representation of Eldrath.

"You will use the teleportation system inside the fortress to bring the invasion force out of Eldrath. Your troops and the equipment included in that first deployment will gather inside the fortress before the planetary assault begins."

That gave Noah a clear starting point.

He had used portals before to move Eldrathi forces into other worlds, but this operation would not begin with the goblins stepping directly onto enemy territory. Imperial command wanted the first force gathered inside the starfortress before the actual landing.

Noah asked the next question.

"Once the force is inside the fortress, how do they reach the surface?"

The officer changed the image.

A smaller Imperial craft appeared beside the starfortress.

"The Empire has prepared escape pods for the insertion."

Noah studied the new display.

"The goblins will descend in those?"

"Yes. The initial invasion force will be placed inside the escape pods and airdropped onto the target planet."

Noah continued looking at the image.

"So the sequence is Eldrath to the starfortress through teleportation, then the starfortress to the planet through escape pods."

"Exactly."

The officer kept the explanation practical.

"The Empire will provide the pods used for the descent. Your first force will not need to develop its own method of entering the planet."

That removed one major problem from Noah’s planning.

He still had to decide what force Eldrath would send, but Imperial command was taking responsibility for the first planetary insertion.

The officer shifted the projection again, replacing the escape-pod image with a view of the target planet.

"The planet has already been surveyed."

Noah focused on the planet.

"What did the survey find?"

"The enemies present there are considered ordinary enemies. Imperial command did not select a world containing unusually powerful opposition for your initial operation."

Noah understood why that distinction mattered.

The mission was still a real invasion, but Imperial command had chosen a target where a trainee force could reasonably be used.

"So the Empire already has information about the forces present on the planet."

"Yes. The planet was surveyed before your assignment was approved."

The officer did not expand into details about the local enemies, and Noah did not ask him to describe information that belonged in a later operational briefing. What mattered here was that the target had been examined before Imperial command decided Eldrath would invade it.

The officer pointed toward a marked area on the planet.

"Your first objective after the landing is not the conquest of the entire planet."

Noah looked toward him.

"What do you want the first force to accomplish?"

"Establish a foothold."

The officer indicated the marked area again.

"The goblins must land, regroup, secure the surrounding area, and create a position from which the invasion can continue."

Noah studied the location on the projection.

The logic was straightforward. His first force could not immediately spread across the planet while units were still arriving and reorganizing. The initial troops needed to secure the place where the invasion began before expanding the operation.

"The landing area becomes the first secured position."

"Yes. Once that area is stable, you can use it as the base for the next stage."

Noah returned his attention to the escape pods.

"Because the goblins are arriving in separate pods, the units won’t land as one complete formation."

"They will need to reorganize on the surface."

That was an important difference from Noah’s previous deployments.

When he opened a portal, soldiers could move through the same opening in a controlled sequence. Units could keep their officers nearby, vehicles could follow the assigned formation, and additional troops could continue arriving through the same route.

The escape-pod insertion worked differently.

The first goblins would reach the surface in separate pods. Their immediate task would be to gather with nearby units and secure the area before the army attempted anything larger.

Noah kept the conclusion practical.

"So the first force needs to secure the landing area before trying to advance farther."

"That is the correct priority."

"Why are the escape pods necessary if the starfortress already has teleportation devices?"

The officer answered directly.

"The teleportation system brings your forces into the starfortress. The escape pods are the method being used to insert those forces onto the surveyed planet."

Noah waited for him to continue.

"The Empire selected the target and is coordinating the initial invasion. You are responsible for commanding the Eldrathi forces, not for creating the transportation method."

Noah would prepare and command the goblins.

Imperial command would provide the initial path from the fortress to the planet.

The officer changed the projection again.

This time, the starfortress, the target planet, and the marked foothold appeared together.

"The escape pods are mainly needed during the first stage."

Noah looked at the marked area.

"Because once the foothold is secure, there is no reason to keep sending every reinforcement through the same route."

"Correct."

The officer pointed toward the starfortress.

"If every reinforcement had to teleport into the fortress and then descend to the planet in an escape pod, reinforcing your army would remain unnecessarily complicated."

He then pointed toward the secured position on the planet.

"Once you control a safe area, you will transfer the transportation connection from the starfortress to the planet."

Noah looked carefully at the marked location.

"The new connection will be placed inside the secured area."

"Yes. You only transfer it after the foothold is safe enough to receive incoming forces."

Noah followed the sequence in his head.

The first force used the starfortress because no Eldrathi position existed on the planet yet.

Once the goblins created one, that position could replace the fortress as the main arrival point for later reinforcements.

"So after the transfer, additional forces no longer need to enter the starfortress first."

"Correct. Reinforcements can be sent to the secured planetary position."

That made the purpose of the foothold even clearer.

The goblins were not simply capturing land for tactical advantage. They needed a safe location where Noah could establish the new transportation connection.

Without that position, every new force would still depend on the longer route through the starfortress and the escape pods.

Noah asked another question.

"The transportation connection should only be moved after the area is fully under control."

"Yes. Do not place the arrival point somewhere that is still being contested."

The officer kept the warning specific.

"If reinforcements arrive while enemies are still attacking the position, you create unnecessary losses before the incoming forces can organize."

Noah agreed with that immediately.

A direct reinforcement route was useful only if the soldiers arriving through it had enough security to form up and join the existing army.

The officer simplified the display into the full operation.

"Think of the invasion in two stages."

The first route appeared on the projection.

"Eldrath sends the selected invasion force into the starfortress through the teleportation system."

The second part of the route appeared.

"The Empire places those forces into escape pods and airdrops them onto the target planet."

The projection then highlighted the secured foothold.

"After the goblins establish control over the landing area, the transportation connection moves from the fortress to the planet."

A final route appeared between Eldrath and the secured position.

"From that point onward, reinforcements can arrive through the planetary connection instead of repeating the initial insertion."

Noah followed the sequence from beginning to end.

The operation no longer felt complicated.

The starfortress was necessary because Eldrath did not yet have a position on the target planet.

The escape pods solved the first landing.

The foothold created a secure location for future arrivals.

The transferred transportation connection then made reinforcement easier.

Noah repeated the process to ensure he had interpreted every step correctly.

"I bring the first force from Eldrath into the starfortress. The Empire uses escape pods to airdrop that force onto the target planet. My goblins regroup after landing and secure the surrounding area. Once the foothold is stable, I transfer the transportation connection from the fortress to the planet. Reinforcements can then arrive directly at the secured position."

The officer nodded.

"That is the operation."

Noah looked again at the target planet.

"You said the planet only contains ordinary enemies. Does that mean Imperial command selected it specifically because this is my first planetary invasion?"

"The planet was selected because the surveyed opposition is appropriate for the mission you have been assigned."

The officer kept the answer limited to what Noah needed.

That did not mean the operation would be easy.

Ordinary enemies could still attack the landing force, interfere with the regrouping process, or prevent the goblins from securing the foothold if Noah handled the first stage poorly.

Noah did not confuse "ordinary" with "harmless."

"The first force still has to secure the landing properly before anything else happens."

"Yes. The Empire is providing transportation. It is not establishing the foothold for you."

That sentence clarified the division of responsibility.

Imperial command would get the goblins to the planet.

Noah still had to make sure they succeeded once they arrived.

The officer pointed once more toward the landing area.

"Your first objective is completed when the position is secure enough for the transportation connection to be transferred."

Noah nodded.

That objective was much more precise than simply being told to begin invading the planet.

He knew what the first stage required.

Land.

Regroup.

Secure the area.

Move the transportation connection.

Only after those steps were completed would the larger invasion continue.

Noah did not begin discussing troop numbers or force composition. Imperial command had not yet given him the information needed for those decisions, and this briefing was focused on how the operation worked.

Instead, he asked about the transition between the two stages.

"Who determines when the foothold is secure enough for the transfer?"

The officer answered within the structure already established.

"You will know from the situation on the ground whether the position is still being contested. The transportation connection should only be moved after the area can safely receive reinforcements."

Noah accepted the practical standard.

He did not need a complicated rule for it.

If the goblins were still fighting to keep control of the landing area, it was too early.

If the area was stable and incoming troops could arrive without immediately entering a disorganized fight, the transfer could be made.

The officer returned the projection to the starfortress and planet.

"The Empire is giving you the means to begin the invasion. After the foothold is established, reinforcing the operation becomes easier."

Noah studied both images together.

The starfortress now had a specific role in his mind.

It was not simply a massive Imperial structure shown to impress him. For this mission, it served as the first staging point that allowed Eldrath’s army to reach a planet where Noah had no established transportation connection.

The escape pods then bridged the final distance from the fortress to the surface.

Once Eldrath controlled territory below, Noah no longer needed the fortress to remain the main arrival point.

He could move the transportation connection to the planet and support the invasion directly.

The officer looked toward him.

"Do you understand the operation from the first deployment through the reinforcement stage?"

Noah answered with the complete sequence instead of giving a short response.

"The initial force leaves Eldrath through the starfortress teleportation system and gathers inside the fortress. The Empire then airdrops the goblins and their initial equipment onto the surveyed planet using escape pods. The first units regroup and secure the landing area. Once that area is stable, I transfer the transportation connection from the fortress to the secured position on the planet. After that, Eldrath can reinforce the invasion through the planetary connection."

The officer gave a small nod.

"That is what Imperial command expects."

Noah looked at the projected planet one final time.

The mission was now much easier to understand than it had been when the starfortress first appeared on the projection.

The Empire had already surveyed the world and confirmed that the enemies there were ordinary. It would provide the starfortress, the teleportation staging point, and the escape pods needed for the initial landing.

Noah’s first responsibility was equally specific.

His goblins had to survive the descent, regroup on the surface, secure the landing area, and turn that position into a stable foothold.

Once they accomplished that, Noah could move the transportation connection onto the planet and bring in reinforcements through a much simpler route.

The officer had explained the path into the war.

What remained was for Noah to prepare Eldrath to use it.