“The practice of mercenaries and soldiers who were regularly tasked with the most dangerous missions getting increased pay was a common thing in all nations throughout history. After all, people needed proper motivation to throw themselves into danger, and money was one of the easiest motivation sources to distribute.” - Idris Ogunve, General of the Army from Horststadt, circa 692 FP.

Mischka Bænfinn had been a mercenary for most of her five decades and change of life. She started young, in a small family-run company led by her father, and eventually took over as leader when her parents retired and passed on the command to her. Their small company had been part of the Vanguard Legions for over a decade by the time of the Theodinaz campaigns, one of the last decisions made by her father before he stepped down.

It had been a good decision for the most part, as their small group of therian mercenaries were powerful, but also specialized and needed the support of others to function at their best. The Legion’s disastrous end in Theodinaz was a troublesome one for them, though the offer to work together with the remnants of the Free Lances at that time alleviated some of their issues.

Over a decade later and that arrangement was far more permanent in nature, as while Mischka had worried about the skill of the young leader of the Free Lances back then, Reinhardt had proven himself competent as a strategist in the years since. More importantly, he knew when to take some time off from the action, which was something many mercenary captains often failed to consider.

Not many captains would have even considered getting low-paying garrison work for their company while they rebuilt. More often than not captains of companies that were in dire predicaments either monetarily or in manpower would throw themselves into dangerous missions like moth to a flame, in the hopes of gaining enough money and fame to recover from their predicament.

Mischka appreciated that Reinhardt was content to take the slow, safe, and steady way to refill his Company’s ranks instead.

Even this contract in the former territory of Posuin, he only took after he ascertained that it was mostly defensive in nature. While they were currently on the offense, it was one executed after much preparation and planning, rather than a haphazard one. More importantly, the Free Lances had also recovered to their pre-Theodinaz numbers by then, and were fully capable of executing the mission they were paid for.

As such, Mischka had no qualms whatsoever to lead her people – many of which were part of the best shock troopers in the Company – from the front. Their role was a risky one, to break through the enemy lines using their superior size and mass, and for that, they were also rewarded plentifully. The knowledge that Reinhardt himself led the other half of the shock troopers also showed that he was willing to do what he commanded others to do himself, which further raised their morale.

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Mischka had always considered the members of her unit as her family – which got rather literal, when she considered that she used to count three of her children as part of the unit, along with a larger number of grandchildren – but she had never considered the Vanguard Legion the same way back then. The Free Lances on the other hand, grew on her over the past decade, and made her feel like she had found a good home for her people even after her own time had passed.

Her people had integrated well with the mixed personnel of the Free Lances, and three of her younger grandchildren had even forged a friendship with the Captain’s own daughter, who was likely to succeed her father as commander in the future. As such, Mischka was determined to help make her people even more valued in the Company, the only way she knew how.

By feats of arms.

So Mischka stepped forward, ahead of the rest of her people. She was clad in a suit of brigandine that sat snugly atop her fur like it was a second layer of skin, a luxury she had never even considered before joining the Free Lances. Getting proper armor for someone her size was a difficult endeavor in most places, and was usually costlier than what she could afford.

Joining with the Free Lances on the other hand meant she had the attention of Hogarth himself, who even amongst the dwarves was considered a grandmaster craftsman. He had first made suits of armor for her and the rest of her people back in Theodinaz, and never stopped striving to improve them over the past decade.

The current set she wore covered her entire torso down to her waist, with flaps that covered her thighs and pauldrons that protected her shoulders. Her forearms and shins were clad in bracers and greaves of the same material, and what material it was. Mischka had never even dreamed of getting a suit of adamant steel armor for herself when she was younger, but Hogarth’s incessant drive for improvement meant that was exactly what she wore at the moment.

Hidden inside the layers of expensive, smooth silk – good silk that by themselves were already quite resistant to cuts – were segmented plates of high-purity adamant steel, each riveted and secured to the fabric coating. The many small segments afforded the armor a good amount of flexibility, without compromising its durability and toughness. Of course, such a set of armor was far heavier than what a human could have comfortably worn, due to its size and material, but it was a comfortable weight for one such as her.

Similarly, her weapon was one that had gone through many changes and revisions over the years. The blade she used in the past had always felt too light for her hands, but was the most that the smiths she worked with at the time could manage to create. Hogarth went above and beyond and provided where they had failed, however.

The weapon he crafted for her looked more like a solid slab of metal attached to a stick rather than a blade, of such weight that many humans would have trouble even lifting it, much less swinging the weapon, in which case its weight would have thrown them off their feet more likely than not. For a three meter tall wielder who weighed well over half a ton, however, it felt just right.

It felt like an extension of her hands.

With the blade in hand, Mischka stepped right towards the pikes extended towards her by the Warforged, and cleaved through them. The sturdy wooden shafts stood no chance against the force of her swing and snapped in twain, as she just pushed ahead with the rest of her family behind her. Those holding shields had no better luck, as their hidebound wooden shields were similarly no match for what she brought to bear.

As she roared the command, the rest of her family behind her hit the Warforged lines like an avalanche, and just as unstoppably.