August 17, 2023. A man, starved, tortured, and branded with the mark or a deserter, is dragged through the street by his arms. Shouts of anger cry out at him. Rocks, rotten food and spit are thrown at him and he is dragged up onto a stage, and then onto a steel platform covered in dried blood. The back of his knees are struck by a large steel bludgeon, chains are attached to his wrists to keep him down and a clamp secured around his head to keep him upright. A large man with a hood up, casting a shadow over his face takes his place next to the man. Another man walked onto the stage, wearing the uniform of a ranking officer in the army with the mark of the High Ruler, takes his place at the large podium. He motions for the screaming crowd to be quiet. "By order of the High Ruler Maximilian III, Jason Steadson is brought before all of you for offenses against our great land. He is brought here on acts of desertion. Acting under the orders of Maximilian III, Jason Steadson is to be beheaded and his family placed under honorless status effective immediately." The officer stepped back and motioned the man standing next to Jason to continue. The man retrieved his long sword and raised it to Jason's neck. Young Alex Steadson's eyes meet his father's one last time. The man swings his sword to the side, and then slices through Jason's neck with ease. Jason's body falls onto the platform, blood pouring out from where his head once was. His head held up by the executioner for everyone to see. His body is strung up high above the stage and his head placed on a pike in the center of the platform. The officer steps back up to the podium. "Know now, that all deserters will suffer the same consequences and they will be erased from this world completely." The officer grabs a torch and sets the head of Jason on fire and leaves it there to burn to ashes. A flaming arrow is shot into the body so it may know he same fate. The executioner walks up to Alex and cut him from his left cheek up past his eye, marking him as honorless. Alex promises his mother and sister on the way home that one day he will restore their family's honor.
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Deserters
ActionDesertion. A crime with only one consequence if caught. Execution. The year is 2026. It's been a decade since the war that ended the world as it was once known. Three years have past since Alex Steadson, his mother and sister, Jessica, were banishe...
