After the wormhole was destroyed, Elias Cromwell was sentenced to 1,100 years in prison.
On his third day in prison, the planet accompanying the prison had its heaviest snowfall in years.
On his nineteenth day in prison, Elias Cromwell recovered from his injuries and was sent to work in the mines.
On his sixty-seventh day in prison, the Empire launched its ninth expedition.
On his 191st day in prison, the Imperial Expeditionary Force returned victorious.
On his 192nd day in prison, the Empire's iron-fisted general, the youngest marshal in history, came to visit the prison planet.
His military boots stopped at the cell door, the creases in his trousers stretched into straight lines.
Elias Cromwell's gaze traveled up those long legs, passed over the familiar iron-gray uniform and the array of medals on his broad chest, moved past the prominent Adam's apple at his throat and the lips he had once kissed passionately, and finally met those calm, emotionless eyes.
Elias Cromwell smiled. "What is it? Still can't bear to let me go?"
Li Zeqin looked at his former senior, a traitor to the Empire and his old lover, without changing expression. "How long are you going to wait before you confess?"
"This was once the Empire I swore to serve with my life, the glory and dream of my entire life, the reason I fought and was willing to give my life.
I thought I was doing the right thing, but then I realized I was wrong.
This country is becoming a brutal war machine, and I am the executioner helping the tyrant commit his crimes.
Zeqin, have you forgotten the oath we made at the entrance ceremony?"
"Where the sword points, there is justice. All force will ultimately return to peace.
Senior, I have never forgotten."
Happy ending.
Rebellious powerhouse with off-the-charts combat ability, the bottom x steel-willed, icy, abstinent top.
Younger man.
Theme: Antiwar, antiwar, antiwar.
