I. The Price of Peace
Jason stared at the battlefield in deafening silence. The fighting was over, the enemy defeated. But the scope of lives lost, and suffering unleashed slowly sank in. Entire cities had been razed; millions left grieving loved ones. Victory never came cheaply.
Kneeling by a fallen comrade, Jason wept in solitary anguish. So much sacrifice just to stop one madman's ambitions. But the greatest burden was moral - could any worthy end justify such appalling cost? Where did necessity cede to excess in war's fury? The grey fog of conscience haunted all survivors.
