Somewhere, West Virginia, USA.

"This is going to be a problem." The Colonel said as he stood at one of the corners of town and watched the mass of people begin wandering about. He was notified last night but didn't think much of it. After all, how could so many people just show up all of a sudden? At first he thought of the same way that they had arrived, but brushed that aside. It couldn't have happened again. Could it?

Now he and several of his men watched as humans, dwarves, gnomes, elves, and tortles made their way through town. The ones who noticed the Red Caps and other greenskin soldiers, understandably, gave them a wide berth. As it became more and more obvious that the Red Caps controlled a portion of the town some of the braver ones took the chance and began to trickle over.

Once it was obvious that the Red Caps and the greenskins weren't going to, immediately, attack them, more and more got braver and soon enough the trickle turned into a stream. Most still avoided them though.

The Colonel turned to one of junior Red Caps.

"Keep an eye on them, and keep the grunts in line."

The Red Cap saluted and took the grunts while the Colonel marched at a brisk pace back to the manor. The General would need to hear about this, he thought. He knew he had plans for the town. Plans that were now sure to change.

Morty, meanwhile, was overseeing the development of the infrastructure for the deposits. While the forest was still going to be cleared, that was taking too long and he wanted to get to the deposits sooner rather than later. So while some of his workforce was still hacking away at the trees, most were now focused on a specific path that would serve as the main path that would see the resources transported through.

Trees were felled and stumps were hacked and pulled up as they made decent progress. He initially thought about using the lumber to build the workshops. But after the fire at the workforge he thought better of it. Brick and stone would be better, he thought as he sipped his drink.

One of the bugbear scouts strode up to him as he watched progress cut away at nature. He spit his drink at what he was told.

"A fucking what?!"

"A helicopter. Heard it pass by near the little people."

"What did it look like?!" There was still hope it was a tour heli-

"Military."

"FUCK!" Morty cursed as he dashed his glass against the ground. Glass and bourbon went everywhere. He tapped at his chin nervously as he tried to think of what to do.

"No problem! Military does flights all the time. It isn't anything to worry about! Just some test flight is all! Nothing to worry about!" Morty stated as the thought that there wouldn't be any reason for the military to show up. He hasn't done anything, yet, that would warrant a response from the military.

He snapped his fingers and a fresh glass of liquor was brought to him as the remnants of his last was cleaned up by a drague that was practically vibrated with fear at his outburst and presence.

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The Colonel marched up to him and saluted as he took another sip to calm himself.

"There are people in town, General."

"It's a town. There's always people in it." Morty stated.

"There's alot more people than usual."

Morty stopped drinking. He didn't like the implication that those words implied.

"Just, HOW many more?"

"Several... thousand. Tens of thousands by the looks of it." The Colonel clarified.

Morty breathed through his nose as he clenched his teeth.

"You're telling me that the day thousands of people show up, the military suddenly sends a helicopter to our little town?"

The Colonel shuffled a little bit.

"Actually, they showed up yesterday."

"Oh?! Did they?! And why wasn't I informed?!" Morty snarked.

"Well... we didn't want to bother you with something we didn't initially think was even true?"

Morty shook with rage. He raised the hand that held the glass and it looked like he was about to strike the Colonel! But instead it fell down upon the drague that was still cleaning the mess. The thick glass left a noticeable indent in the things skull and it fell with a thud against the ground.

"Those fat fucks had ONE goddamn job! The same fucking job they've been doing for YEARS! NOTHING! Absolutly! Fucking! NOTHING! And now?! Now a fucking city is in town and those tubs of lard call the National Guard! I! AM! FUCKED!" Morty screamed and yelled, causing the entire camp to take a step or two back from the fury on display.

Morty fumed as the drague was dragged away to be added to the gene soup. It was already going to be difficult to take over the town now that his officer corp needed to be replenished the old fashioned way. On top of that he now had almost 10x the amount of people to lean on with a force that could, maybe, police a 1/10 of them!

Not to mention that the military and the feds were getting involved now. That meant helicopters and APCs, MPs as well as more Federal Agents! If the goblins continued to spawn at the rate they have been then he could resort to a "Goblin Wave" in case of conflict and hope he had more bodies than the NG had bullets. But that wasn't supposed to be for months or even years! Now he had days, weeks at the most before they show up!

Not to mention that his armee was using muskets and A cannon. Sure it helped keep with aesthetics, but it did fuck all compared to M-16s and Tomahawk missiles! Maybe he should get the Red Caps better and more modern equipment for actual conflict and keep their uniforms for ceremonial use. He already ordered something more Napoleonic for them to wear to better fit the theme rather than the old Bourbon/Orleans uniforms they currently wore.

But that was for later. He needed to deal with this shitshow NOW! Morty stormed off into the manor, the sisters and Colonel following as they left everyone else to resume their duties.

Several staff hurried out of Morty's way as he stormed through the manor and up to his office. The Head Butler and a handful of Noble Goblins followed as they sought to discover why Morty was in such a mood all of a sudden. The sisters filled them in as they hurried after Morty. While Morty initially found "Jeeves" amusing, calling him that grew boring after the first dozen times. Besides, while he was still in charge of the house staff, it was becoming apparent that he sought a higher calling than simple house work. He had been taking to the books harder than most, him and a handful of others.

It was these that followed after him. His office was a mess of paperwork and ledgers and it quickly grew somewhat crowded as the greenskins, ogres, and Red Cap filled the space around him. Morty groaned into his hands as he took a seat in his office chair.

"Lets just hope they think we're war reenactors."

The others began to discuss solutions.

"We can fortify the town before they get here!"

"We can go further into the wilderness?"

We can do this, we could do that. None of it was good and most meant either giving up or dying in a blaze of glory. Neither he was looking forward to doing.

"What if you ingratiate yourself to them?"

"They hate me and my family. They aren't going to do anything to protect me from the Feds."

"No, not the locals. The newcomers!" Morty looked up at the head butler.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, Master, they don't have any bias against you. Unlike the locals. If their numbers are larger than that of the town, and potentially even the National Guard. Then make them see you in a good light and they'll side with you should any conflict arise!"

That... isn't a half bad idea, Morty thought as gears began to spin in his head. He was right, if the number of people in town numbered even half of what's reported then he would outnumber the National Guard easy!

Morty got a smile on his face as the plan formed in his head. He got up and pointed to the head butler.

"Prepare food! Empty everything! Fridge, larder, cellar, all of it! Make pots of broth if you have to! Also, get blankets and warm clothes as well!"

"Yes Master!" The head butler bowed before rushing off to fulfil his duty.

Morty pointed to the Colonel.

"A crate should be arriving sometime today. It's for you and your men and I want you all dressed and ready for when the food is done!"

The Colonel saluted.

"Yes, General!"

Thank God for overnight shipping, Morty thought. He waved over one of the serving staff and placed a wad of cash in his hand.

"I want you to go to one of the ranches west of town and get a horse. Preferably a white one!"

"Yes, Master!"

Morty ordered the rest of the staff to begin getting ready, even the Noble Goblins were to get their gowns and suits they wore during the Fall Ball. Once all was said and done, Morty was alone with the sisters.

"What are you doing Master?"

Morty chuckled as he picked up his Napoleon hat and placed it on his head as he stood in front of a mirror.

"Faste et grandeur, dames! Faste et grandeur!"