Thomas Mercer was a former hardened soldier.
For years, he had served his country on the front lines, fighting in brutal conflicts where death had become as ordinary as the rising sun.
He had witnessed villages reduced to rubble, comrades fall beside him, and countless horrors that few civilians could even imagine.
War had changed him.
It had stripped away much of the compassion he once possessed and replaced it with cold pragmatism.
Eventually, however, his military career came to an abrupt end.
Thomas and several members of his unit were dishonorably discharged after being convicted of committing serious crimes against civilians during the war.
It was a stain on his record that could never be erased.
Thomas wasn't proud of what had happened.
But neither did he pretend to be an innocent man.
He understood that he had crossed a line long ago.
