CHAPTER 1: HE WHO PROTECTS THE WEAK

On the night he deserted, Sarsson decided he was going to go first to Lerdia and warn their lord and his people about the incoming chaos. He mounts his personal steed and rode towards the south of the realm where Lerdia was located. After riding for a couple of hours he finally got to the village. He was confronted by the men who stood sentry at the walls which were mostly made of wood. "State your business!!!" they yelled at him. He unmounts walks to the walls and replies "I want to see Aldo Belfour", "Our Lord isn't expecting any guests, especially not at this hour".

"It's important, you have to let me see him, it's for your own good" Sarsson says. "Identify yourself and give us the message so we may relay it to him" replies the guard. "My name is Smith Sarsson, the sword of the Imperium". Smith hears a crossbow get loaded and he quickly raises his hands in surrender. "I am here to help you and your villagers, please grant me an audience with Belfour". "Have you been sent to harrass us for the plots of Land Sir Chirol wants close the banks of the river?" a guard asks. "No, I'm here to give you a piece of information tha will prevent thousands from losing their lives in the coming days......". "What are you talking about?" asks the guard. "Your village has been accused of rebellion again the Imperium and Seporra and as I speak to you my unit are the ones tasked with the crushing of this uprising".

The guards lower their crossbows as they look at themselves understanding what the gravity of the situation was. A minute later they open the gate and let Sarsson and his horse in. "This way..." says one of the guards as he leads Sarsson to the Lord's residence. "Lord, this is an Imperium Guard and he has some dire news for you". "Thank you, you may leave" Lord Belfour says.

"Have a seat my good man, and may I know who you are?", "I'm Smith Sarsson of the Imperium Guard, formerly that is.....". "By formerly I reckon you mean you are a deserter because you look too young to have retired" Lord Belfour says. "I have come to warn you......", "About what?", "The noble you had a quarrel with over the land closer to the riverbank has convinced the higher-ups and the Imperium that a rebellion is being incited in your village". "That bastard......." murmurs Lord Belfour.

"That land by the river bank is very fertile and is a major arable land for Lerdia, I can't give it up to that greedy fool just like that". Sarsson gives the lord a good look. The lord is a middle aged man with strong features and a calm steady demeanor. The man say there in his chair and Sarsson could see that he was in deep thought. "You should evacuate the village, go to the mountains, there's still some time left" Sarsson cuts in. "What do you mean? Run away and leave the land of our ancestors?", "That's the last thing I intend to do".

"Look, I was the captain of my unit and after my desertion it will take a few days for my unit to have a new captain reassigned", "The raid was supposed to be tomorrow but I might have bought you an extra couple of days" explains Sarsson. Belfour furrows his brows and says "We would rather die on our own terms than live like cockroaches". "Okay then, I think I have done my best because you and I know that you will be crushed under the might of the Imperium Guard" Sarsson says as he gets up to leave.

Sarsson walks out of Aldo Belfour's house cursing under his breathe at how stubborn and stupid the man was. Then he began to realize. The man wasn't at fault for trying to hold on to his home, he wasn't crazy for not wanting to be bullied into giving up a major artery of his town to a greedy nobleman. What if he could help these people hold on to their means of livelihood. He had dedicated his life to protecting the weak and Imperium Guard or not he wanted to do what was right and honorable.

Sarsson stops beside one of the houses that had a light on as he heard a beautiful lullaby coming from inside. He looked inside and saw a young girl of about 10 singing the lullaby for her little brother to fall asleep. He listened for a couple of seconds more then he turned and walked back to the Lord's residence. He raps the door repeatedly and the Lord calls out from inside "Who goes there?". "It's I, I think I know how we can weather this storm". Belfour opens the door and Sarsson walks in saying "How many men do you have who can fight?". "What......?", "I said, how many fighting men do you have?"

"Just a handful, 80 men at most" Belfour says. "There's no way we can fight 250 armored and well equipped Imperium Guard soldiers, especially not head on", "It'll be a massacre....." Sarsson says as he paces back and forth. "We can set traps and all but it will only slightly reduce their number" continues Sarsson. Sarsson knew that a rag-tag band of villagers outnumbered 3 to 1 will be ran through by the Imperium Guard soldiers so he needed to even the odds.

Belfour informs him of them having 30 crossbows and a couple of swords and shorter blades so he needed to reduce the need for melee combat to the barest minimum. Most of all they would have to inform the villagers of this dire situation. Sarsson hatches a plan on how to defend the village from the incoming attack and discusses with Belfour about it. Both men eventually retire for the night. An assembly will be called the next morning concerning the impending attack on the village.

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Sarsson awakens to the chirping sounds of morning birds and the sunlight filtering through the blinds of his window. While trying to collect his thoughts, he hears a knock on the door. It's the lord's wife. She bears a tray of steaming porridge with some bread and bacon by the side which she drops on his bedside table. He thanks her, and she reminds him of his bathwater in the washroom down the corridor.

Half an hour later he was fed, washed and at the village square for the village assembly. Lord Belfour mounts the stage and begins his speech, "We have been unjustly labelled traitors to our realm because we refuse to give up our source of livelihood to a greedy man", "This is because a certain nobleman had the brilliant idea to accuse us of rebellion because we refused to do his bidding". He pauses for a second and looks at Sarsson who's face is tense and rightly so because he was supposed to use an 80 man band with zero battle experience to stave off a battle hardened well equipped detachment of Imperium Guard soldiers. Belfour continues "But thank Solaris for not putting us to shame as he sent us a savior.......". A savior? Sarsson who was already doubting himself and his resolve flinched.

"He was a soldier of the Imperium Guard known as the scourge of the Imperium but he discovered the darkness and corruption of those in power and turned away from them because his strength was in protecting the weak and not harming them". "He will help us find a way around this problem..........". The crowd begins to murmur to themselves as Sarsson takes the stage. He walks up to the stage and stops looking at the crowd of people anticipating what he had to say.

"I was only a boy when I swore I was going to lay down my life for those who needed to be protected" began Sarsson. "For that I joined the Imperium Guard at 14 and believe me when I say I wasn't an excellent or talented soldier.........", "But for some reason I never felt like giving up because I wanted to be strong so I would protect the weak". "I trained so hard and built my body and mind to become an ideal soldier.......", "It was my heart however that made me the warrior I would become because my resolve fueled my will power and kept me going and even in battle when I stared death in the face, I gave my all because behind me stood those that couldn't defend or protect themselves......"

"In a short amount of time the Imperium Guard will fall upon this village with the intention of stamping out a false rebellion, but we need to hold fast and protect your home and I will need you men and women to give your all for the ones you love and we might just stand a chance". The crowd roars with excitement at the the speech Sarsson had just delivered.

Belfour mounts the stage again and calls for every able bodied man to gather in his hall for a briefing on the plan to repel the incoming attack. Days are spent setting up defenses and traps around the village while the women and children are being evacuated and everyone gets ready for the worst.