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Marentina: HP = 100, PP = 52, EP = 34, Status = Fine
"We've got invaders. Looks like a full on raiding party... Thirty of the ones with tentacles controlled by ten or so gemini. Cultists. They've got one of the big ones with 'em too, haven't seen those since the invasion hit! Arn's spotted a dozen of the lizards roaming about too, probably scouting out Deresvale. Looks like old ironhead and our employer were right, the greys are coming in force after all" Allan said quietly but evenly as he peaked over the ridge with his binoculars. Their second in command glanced back at Mint and the other men with them, about a quarter of their company's total strength at ten men, and then he looked over at Arn, their best scout and the only other one with binoculars. "Twelve hunters in three groups, each four strong. Two flankers about a hundred and fifty feet out into the woods, the last one spread out and coming up the middle to scout for the main group. They'll be coming up along the road in a couple of minutes tops, and if we don't slow 'em down somehow they'll be able to spot our main force before they can set up properly" the scout offered as he lowered his own set.
Allan, a veteran guard for a noble house that had fallen in the alien invasion, had been promoted quickly through the ranks to the point that he had become their company's lieutenant, second only to their captain, Albrect "Ironhead" Verathion. Marentina, among the other seven soldiers left to listen to the other two men talk, found Allan gazing at her thoughtfully for a moment. The man was a regular visitor to her tent, though it was something that he always approached with good humor, and he had never offered her any favor one way or another beyond what any of her other comrades might have granted. Arn, on the other hand, had never made any attempt to "Climb the Giantess" even though he'd been with the group for longer than even she had. He was generally aloof and ill tempered, though he never bickered much with anyone in particular and had never shown anything but loyalty to the company as a whole, and rumor had it that he owed their captain some great debt that had permanently indentured him to the older man.
Regardless of such things, they had a job to do, and Allan quickly stepped down from the embankment that formed the levy protecting Deresvale from its river's regular floods and grinned at his associates. "Well folks, looks like we've got ourselves a fight! The bridge into Deresvale just happens to be right over there. Seems like a good enough place to keep the greys where we can see 'em, especially since they aren't going to sneaking past us when it's cresting its banks like this!" their lieutenant said exuberantly as he gestured first to the bridge that was only about thirty feet to their right, and then to the river that was roiling over its banks angrily, a death trap to any who fell into it. "How about we get into position and give 'em a moonlight show eh? Mint, you're our center. Now get moving!"
With that her and her fellow mercenaries were off, moving onto the bridge and forming their characteristic shield wall, an ancient tactic that had all but vanished with the advent of gunpowder weapons. They left a few feet open on either side so that none of them would be at the edge of the bridge when the fighting started, as there was no railing to keep a man from falling into the deadly water, a fate that spelled almost certain death. The water was swift, the bottom was rocky, and in mid autumn they were all able to see their breath, so the chance of survival for those that ended up in the water was minimal at best. Arn stood on the right edge of their formation, while Allan was to her immediate left, each of them with a spear held up and pointed out towards the woods on the opposite bank. The village of Deresvale and the rest of their company was unawares less than a half mile behind them, as they'd only just arrived the night before on contract to protect the place on orders from the noble that owned the land.
Such details weren't exactly pertinent now, of course, as the full moon's light beamed down upon them and the river roiled beneath their feet. The leaves on the opposite side of the bank rustled, but whether it was a creature moving or the biting wind was impossible for them to tell. "Steady...." Allan whispered beside her, and Mint noticed that the sounds of the wild-life had died down significantly over the last few moments.
