He watched helplessly as two of his goblins went down to the flanking attack—not dead, but wounded badly enough they were out of the fight.
"We can't hold here!" Grimnir reported, his voice carrying the same desperate calculation Kelvin was making. "We're down to thirty effective fighters! Another five minutes and we'll be completely overrun!"
Kelvin made the decision he'd been dreading. "All goblin defenders, fighting withdrawal to settlement core! Pattern Omega-Four!"
The acknowledgments came back, goblins executing the retreat pattern they'd trained for but hoped never to use—the complete abandonment of defensive positions in favor of urban warfare in the settlement itself.
It meant admitting defeat. Meant accepting that they'd lost the battle for the outer defenses.
But it also meant preserving the thirty remaining goblin warriors to fight another engagement rather than watching them all die defending an untenable position.
