text: [Themes: grimdark fantasy, grimdark]
  
  Year 16
  
  You are called into Captain Gruz's office, when you arrive you see the well dress man that you saw four years ago standing with him... and debating with him again.
  
  "I'm telling you Mr. Mol, I think they should work in the same unit. They've trained together and they've worked together so well at this point that splitting them up would be folly. Hell, these people have known each other since birth! You know that better than anyone!" Gruz says.
  "Yes, captain I'm well aware of the situation, and normally I might agree if their were more of them, but I think their expertise would better serve if we deployed them separately in problem areas of the Empire." Mr. Mol replies.
  "You don't break up a well oiled machine! I guarantee having them all in the same unit will be a better idea. I mean we still haven't sent them into a real battle yet! Wouldn't it be better to see if they can get the job done first before placing them in charge of others?"
  "And what a perfect opportunity to lose them all, if something unexpected should happen."
  "Oh for...look that could've happened here! And if you're so worried about them all getting killed in battle then what was the fucking point then? Besides, if they do prove to be useless in battle, better we find that out sooner rather than later when they're in charge of others and getting them killed as well!"
  
  Mr. Mol thinks for a moment and then replies.
  
  "Hmmm, very well you do have a point captain. We'll try it your way at first and go from there. Have them deployed in the Nalin province. Your services here have been useful as ever. Good day."
  
  Mr. Mol, steps out and commander Gruz addresses you.
  
  "Well you heard all that, you and your fellow Eternal babies are being sent to the Nalin province. It's not the Rask Frontier, but it's a suitable first challenge for you guys. We've been trying to settle the conquest of that place for a few years now, and technically it is part of the Empire, but we're still having problems with the Kobold population there. Little bastards are determined to resist and have been conducting a fairly effective guerilla war since we arrived. Though I blame that more on the incompetence of the commander in that region. If I was stationed there, this shit would've been taken care of a long time ago...but I'm not, so unfortunately you will have to report to Captain Pollo."
  
  Captain Gruz approaches you closer before continuing.
  
  "Now I'm putting you in charge of your unit for reasons I'm sure you're aware of. While I'm confident I've made the right choice, the burden will ultimately be on you to prove to be an effective leader. Remember, you're not just a normal soldier, you're supposed to be an Eternal. An instrument of destruction ordered by the Emperor himself. Failure is never an option for you. Even now there are rumors about your kind, and when you finally show yourselves you will be met by fear, awe, hatred and even distain. Prove yourselves and you will live up to the name that your were given. Anyway, the caravan picking you up will arrive tomorrow. Good luck and dismissed."
  
  With this you leave and tell the rest of your people about where you're going and the general nature of what to expect. They all seem pretty excited to prove themselves, and to be honest so are you. At last you will get the chance to prove yourself and can only imagine that the Emperor will be pleased by what he will see.
  
  The next day, you and your unit are picked up and the ride there is uneventful, but your unit spends a little time talking about things they see on the way. This is the first time all of you have probably been away from the training center you've spent all your lives in. Curiosity about some of the surroundings is natural, but it isn't just the casual talk that's different.
  
  Your comrades are different. They are less reserved than they once were. Captain Gruz might've been a strict instructor, but in addition to encouraging teamwork he was also prone to encourage you guys to have a few hours of free time. This loosening of the reigns a bit, allowed a certain amount of familiarity with each other that wasn't just on a professional level anymore. Even you have felt yourself changing personality wise.
  
  Still you are all Eternals, and you are loyal to the Emperor. You will never forget that your duty comes first.
  
  Eventually you all arrive at Fort Glory in the Nalin province where you are stared at by several soldiers who whisper among themselves. None of you pay it any mind though, you simply report to Captain Pollo. He doesn't look anything like Captain Gruz. He's human for one thing and wears lighter armor which is impeccably clean. When he sees you, he almost looks bored, like you were interrupting him, but you when you came in he was reclined in his chair and not doing anything of importance.
  
  "So...you are the Eternals I've heard so much about. Humph. I don't see anything special except that pretty one over there. Oh no, not you dear. That blonde muscular one in the back. Yes, delicious." Captain Pollo says pointing to one of your men and not even getting out of his chair.
  
  "Captain Pollo, we are here for our assignments so that we may serve the Emperor." You say.
  "(Sigh) I suppose you are this unit's leader?"
  " Yes, captain. I am currently their leader and holding the rank of sergeant due to my excellence in my training exercises."
  "Sergeant? YOU? Why you're a mere boy! All of you are just children! I ask them for more men and they send me children! The only thing you all would be good for is cleaning the fort! In fact that's what you can go do right now, starting with the toilets!"
  
  This is exactly what Captain Gruz said would happen. This is your first test.
  
  "Captain, we have been trained in several forms of combat and fully ready to fight. Send us into battle and we will prove ourselves. We are here to perform our duty for the Emperor and all that entails."
  "All that entails eh? Okay, you want a fight? A few miles east of here, you'll find a town called Dalt. Its filled with ignorant peasants that constantly whine to us that there are a nest of kobolds lurking in the hills near them. We're stretched out as it is and can't spare anymore troops to waste on towns that are of no military importance in the grand scheme of things. Go there and take care of their problem, then maybe we'll have more to talk about."
  
  You nod and all of you leave, but before you are able to Pollo calls you back.
  
  "Oh one more thing sergeant. Order one of your men to stay here with me. I think you know by now which one I mean."
  
  At this point you're in genuine shock. You may be young, and even a little detached from normal 'society" but you know exactly what Captain Pollo is implying. You can honestly feel more than surprised by this though.
  
  "Captain, I will need all of my team to have the best chance to succeed in this mission." You say.
  "Oh? Well sorry, but you'll have to make do like everyone else here does. Or you could clean the fort like I first ordered you to do, which you chose to ignore."
  
  It's a no win situation, though you try to figure out a loophole that takes the responsibility off of you.
  
  "Captain, you are of a higher rank than me, surely you could just order him yourself."
  "Ha ha, nice try. No. You want to be a leader of men? You need to make this decision yourself. Tis quite easy I would think. Sacrifice one for the good of the rest. If anything I'd say he's the lucky one. He gets to stay here enjoying the pleasures of the flesh, and won't have to be mucking about with kobolds and dealing with idiotic peasants."
  
  > refuse to leave him behind
  Despite your desire to go on an official mission, you feel that it would be worse to leave one of your team members behind, especially what would lie in store for him.
  
  "I will not leave a member of my team behind. We need to be together to produce the best results, captain."
  "I see. Well, we'll see how true that is when you're all cleaning out the toilets. You're on clean up detail until further notice. That will be all." Pollo says in a perturbed tone.
  
  You leave Captain Pollo's office with the bad news to your team.
  
  "WHAT?! I was ready for a fight!" Edgar yells.
  "What happened in there?" Roldan asks.
  "Yeah, we were going on a proper mission and not we aren't!" Gerald adds completely oblivious that he wasn't going anywhere to begin with.
  "Look, there will be other times, let's not dwell on it, we've got toilets to clean..."
  
  The rest of your team follows your lead and grumble a bit, but Edgar is doing the most of it. By the end of the day you've cleaned up a lot of the fort, but really, this isn't what you want to be doing.
  
  The next day, Captain Pollo feels that you've done such a good job that he says that your talents would be wasted in battle. He feels that other more experienced soldiers can now be freed up from such trivial duties that your team is performing. You're kept at the fort doing all sorts of menial labor.
  
  Day pass into months and the mocking never stops from the other soldiers in the fort who call you the "mop kids". This angers all of you, but of course once again Edgar is the one that nearly comes to blows with other soldiers. You have to stop him several times. Eventually his anger is directed towards you.
  
  "Fuck! This shit is all your fault anyway! What the hell did you do to piss off Captain Pollo all those months ago?"
  "Nevermind Edgar! And you're out of line, I am your leader!"
  "Hah! Some great job you got us fearless leader! We're making the Empire safe from filthy shitholes and dirty floors!" Edgar says getting in your face.
  
  Before the others can break it up, you grab Edgar and slam him up against the wall.
  
  "You wanna know what I did? I refused to leave Gerald behind to get fucked by that sick dipshit captain!" you shout in his face.
  "What?" Edgar says.
  "He...he wanted to fuck me?!" Gerald says in disbelief
  "Well it was pretty obvious when we first met him, Gerald." Brenda remarks.
  "Surprised he didn't just order you to leave him, or more logically order Gerald himself." Roldan adds.
  
  You let go of Edgar.
  
  "I dunno, I think he's playing some sort of game. Maybe it's a test even. Like if I'm willing to leave a man behind or not." You answer.
  "Well I sure wish you had sergeant, because that would've been the smart thing to do! So what if Gerald would've had to please the captain? It's not like it would've been a big deal. The greater good of the team and the Empire would've been better served with the rest of us chopping up some kobolds, not mopping floors and cleaning!" Edgar says unsympathetically.
  "HEY!" Gerald replies.
  "Right, Edgar, I'll remember your speech the next time some sicko wants me to leave you behind instead."
  "Look all I'm saying, is you gotta make tough decisions like that if you want to be a real leader! Just think if we were on a mission and you had to leave Gerald or any of us behind to die, to complete it? You would've probably froze up and got us all killed. I'm not sure if I believe in you as our leader if you can't make simple choices..."
  
  Between the monotonous cleaning, the mocking, Edgar's bitching and your own doubt about your leadership abilities, you can't take it anymore. You punch Edgar in the face mid-sentence and knock him to the floor, he's dazed for a moment, but doesn't hesitate to attack you right back.
  
  The pair of you are going at it which draws the attention of several passing soldiers, who take the time to mock you. This is a mistake on their part as you and Edgar are in a heightened state of anger causing you both to attack them instead. This then escalates into others aiding them, which in turn causes your team to aid you as well.
  
  The brawl is chaotic and counter productive, but for a brief moment you actually feel "alive" again. You imagine most of your fellow Eternals do too after all this is the first "battle" they've had in months. Unfortunately Kane feels so alive, he forgets that he's fighting fellow Empire soldiers and ends up killing three of them.
  
  The brawl ends with the opposing soldiers running and the rest of you standing around looking at Kane who doesn't know why you aren't celebrating your victory.
  
  When this is brought to the attention of Captain Pollo he's furious and has you all put in the stockade and mentions that a trial will be held tomorrow to decide what to do with you. He already doesn't like you, so you're guessing it's just going to be for show and then he'll do whatever he likes anyway.
  
  "Look, Kane is the one who killed them, he should be the one to take the fall!" Edgar points out.
  "For the greater good of the team huh, Edgar?" Warrick replies.
  "Damn right! Look you know I'm right! If we try to fight this, the captain is just going to punish all of us!"
  "He's going to punish us all anyway Edgar!"
  "And you're probably right, but Kane here is the only one who'll get the noose. I mean no offense Kane, but come on even you know I'm right on this!"
  
  As much as you'd like to punch out Edgar again, that's what lead to this in the first place. Actually if you had just left behind Gerald, this could've all been avoided. Maybe Edgar's right, the good of the many outweighing the needs of the few. You were taught that before in training, you don't know why you questioning it now.
  
  Still, it doesn't feel right just throwing Kane to the wolves, just like it didn't feel right leaving Gerald behind.
  
  > defend Kane
  You're a team and you were trained together as one. You feel that you should do everything you can to protect one of your own, especially in this sort of situation. Besides, Captain Pollo is most likely going to punish you all anyway. You might well stand for what you believe in.
  
  Edgar naturally disagrees with you again, but grudgingly goes along with it since he doesn't want to be on the receiving end of another one of your beatings. Everyone else agrees more readily. Kane while appreciative seems to be oddly detached from the situation, almost as if he doesn't care.
  
  The next day all of you are marched into the cafeteria, which is serving as a makeshift court room. Many of the other soldiers are calling for your blood, but some of them are just sitting quietly. Captain Pollo asks both sides what exactly happened, and despite the other side making themselves look more sympathetic, fact remains Kane DID kill three of them. There really isn't any way to defend against it. You attempt to direct blame to the other soldiers and claim it was an accident, but nothing works.
  
  Captain Pollo decides that all of you are at fault and says you're all going to be executed for treason. It is at that point to make one last plea.
  
  "Captain! I beg you not to carry out this sentence! At least not on my team! I was the leader. I was the one who should've kept a better handle on them. This incident is my fault. If you have to execute someone, execute me, but not for treason, for incompetence in the service of the Empire. I may have failed to serve the Emperor, but the rest of my team may still make up for this terrible mistake that is mainly my fault."
  
  It's an impassioned plea. Even the soldiers that were cheering for your sentence are silent. Captain Pollo thinks for a moment and readdresses you.
  
  "Very well. I suppose you have a point. However Kane still killed three men, his crime can't go unpunished. He will still be executed for murder and treason. The rest of your team members will be freed, but I'm having them all separated and transferred to other places. I can't take the chance of having another incident like this happening again. Maybe the Rask frontier would be a better place for them since they want to fight so much. Execution will take place tomorrow morning. Court adjourned."
  
  Before you're taken away, you address the rest of your team one last time.
  
  "Learn from my mistakes. Be a better Eternal than I was and live up to the name. Serve the Emperor well."
  
  You and Kane are taken to separate cells. You spend the rest of the night thinking about why you felt the way you did. It doesn't make sense based on your training. Mistress beat duty and obedience into you, yet you rejected Captain Pollo's initial request. Gruz certainly thought you were leadership material. He was obviously was wrong. A lot of questions go through your mind, but ultimately you realize it's futile. You're to be executed at morning and it'll hardly matter what reason you had for any of your actions. You eventually fall asleep.
  
  The next morning, you and Kane are taken from your cells and marched to the gallows. The pair of you say nothing the entire time until the hangman puts the noose around your neck and you are asked if you have any last words.
  
  Kane continues to remain silent. You are slightly more verbal.
  
  "Long live the Emperor! Long live the Empire!" you shout before the lever is pulled and your neck snaps like a twig.