In the guards' mess, Captain Smith Sarsson bangs his hands on the table severally to call the attention of his men, slightly tipsy but still coherent and in control of his actions. He climbs onto a table in the great hall and speaks to his men numbering 250 in a deep baritone voice "Today, we put an end to a terrorist group that had been tormenting our realm after months of tracking and recon, we destroyed another cog in the wheel of our beloved Seppora". He raises the head of Deos, the leader of the Black Cats, a group of rebels that had held the town of Prium Minor for months.
"This is the head of a man who felt that those at the head of running our realm didn't deserve to keep their heads and now he's lost his instead", the hall bursts into laughter. "This should serve as a warning to any man, woman, or beast that threatens the peace of our realm that we, the Imperium Guard will feast on the night your head will be separated from your body and your head will be a showpiece to deter others who might even dream of treason."
"For honor..." roars Sarsson, "For honor...." the soldiers replied, "For Imperium....", "For Imperium..." echo the soldiers in the great hall, "For Sepporaaaaa", "For Sepporaaaaa....". "Feast to your heart's content men, you have earned it". A great cheer erupts from the great hall and Captain Smith Sarsson gets down from the table and raises his mead in the air before drinking it in one gulp, the soldiers cheer him on and the merriment continues.
After a few more drinks, Sarsson took the two female slaves he had hired to celebrate his victory and retired to his chambers for the night. He gets with them all through the night and eventually, they all sleep off.
The cock crows and he gets up and goes out for the morning headcount. After taking record of his men, he dismisses them and just then a messenger comes with a parchment bearing the Imperium's seal. Smith looks at it and knows his next mission has arrived.
He reads it and it says he is to take his troops to the village of Lerdia and subdue a brewing rebellion. What brewing rebellion? He'd never heard of such, it must be a mistake as Lerdia was always such a peaceful village with a bumbling atmosphere. But orders are orders.
While thinking about it, he goes back into his chambers and finds another small piece of parchment. He opens it and reads "You will be given a mission today that you might not fully understand, meet me at midnight at the whistling grove and you will learn the truth - a friend". After he reads it the parchment disintegrates with a magical glow.
Smith goes to the appointed place due to curiosity and he sees a figure clad in black.
"Who are you and what did you want to tell me?". "Ah, if it isn't Smith Sarsson the son of Robert Sarsson, the scourge of the Imperium," says the figure. "If this is why you brought me here, I have a mission to plan for....." says Smith. "Ah yes, a mission to punish the innocent for the satisfaction of the Imperium." says the figure.
"What are you talking about?" asks Smith. "You soldiers are nothing but tools in the hands of your government and will do their bidding no matter how sour it tastes" "You are about to murder and enslave hundreds of innocents under the pretense of quelling a rebellion"
"Rebellions are meant to be crushed" Smith replies. "Why do rebellions happen? I reckon you don't know, you are simply ordered to silence the few voices that call for a change and you carry out these orders without a thought".
"We are soldiers and it's what we are trained to do. We don't ask our superiors questions, we are to follow our orders to the letter".
"So you are okay being a tool then, with no will of your own, doing the bidding of the rotten Imperium," says the figure. Smith draws his sword and points at the figure, "You will not speak ill of the Imperium before me".
"You don't understand. I'm going to have to show you". The figure puts his hand in his pocket and brings out some glowing powder then he says a little incantation into it and throws it at Smith's face. Suddenly, Smith's eyes change to a yellowish hue, and everything around him changes and he sees himself in the village of Lerdia with the place around him burning to ashes and the corpses of men litters around him.
A long line of chained-up women and children are being loaded into carriages and transported towards the capital. Then he hears the now familiar voice of the stranger, "These are the jovial people of Lerdia and they will bear this depressing fate. They are all innocents and they don't deserve to suffer this fate"
"Stop, stop, no more. Stop", says the captain as he tries to wake up from this nightmare. There was no way he would do this to the same people he swore to protect.
Smith wakes up in his chambers and feels a small headache. Was the Imperium telling him to murder their own people? Why? Weren't they supposed to protect them? The mage whom he'd met the previous night was nowhere to be found but now he had begun to grasp the rot that was Seppora's government. Now he was torn between his soldierly loyalty and his conscience.
There was nothing honorable about killing innocent people. Might he have done that when he was a recruit under the orders of his commanders? What right did he have to have morals? The army had made him tough and strong mentally but it had also made him a hypocrite. He wanted out.
In the days leading up to their assault on Lerdia, Sarsson begins to feel more and more disillusioned. He was about to descend on a peaceful village who have not even wronged the Imperium. He begins doing some digging and discovers that the lord of that village got into a land dispute with a powerful nobleman and the nobleman wants to teach him a lesson about power dynamics.
He and his soldiers were about to kill innocents because of the greed of one man. He wasn't going to partake in this unneeded bloodletting of innocents.
Sarsson raps the table at dinnertime the night before the attack on the "Lerdian Rebels". He mounted the table once again like had done about a month ago after their Prium Minor victory but this time it was to himself become a rebel like the ones they had battled at Prium Minor.
"I have served the Imperium for over a decade, doing its bidding and being its sword against its enemies," he said after a short silence. "I have fought with honor and passion for the preservation of my beloved Seppora". "Little did I know I was fighting against those I swore to protect".
"I fought outside and inside our borders, battles I didn't know if they were just or unjust," said Sarsson.
"Today I have decided that I will fight for a partial government no more and no more will I stain my hands and conscience with the blood of innocents."
"Our battle at Prium Minor is the last I'll ever raise a sword in the name of the Imperium". "Yes, I know the penalty is death but I dare any one of you to raise a sword at me"
There's a murmur in the hall as men clench their weapons and grit their teeth while cursing under their breaths. "You see? This is why I will not ask any of you to join me on my journey of contrition". "You have no honor" Sarsson continues.
"You would rather raise your swords at defenseless women and children than at me, your fellow soldier", "This is what the Imperium has bred, cowards".
In a fit of rage, a soldier rushes at Sarsson intending to silence him but he is effortlessly disarmed by Sarsson who kicks his sword from his hand and drives the sole of his boot into his face breaking his nose and sending him reeling backward into the floor. The attacker is knocked out cold.
Sarrson gets down from the table and takes his knapsack containing a few of his belongings, his weapons, gold, and some supplies, and walks down the hall and out of the army for good. He was now a deserter and he "The Scourge of The Imperium" would have an especially heavy bounty on his head.