Sea Hare recounted his experiences to Alex:
After receiving Alex's assignment, Sea Hare led his troops to the ice-bound planet Alex had mentioned.
It was a dead world, ruled by eternal winter.
The planet's surface reflected dazzling white light, and the atmosphere was filled with never-dissipating ice crystal clouds.
The ambient temperature remained consistently below negative one hundred degrees Celsius, and exposed metal would become as brittle as glass within minutes.
Data returned by probes indicated that this planet might once have been covered by vast oceans, but some unknown cataclysm caused all the liquid water in the entire world to undergo a phase change in an extremely short period.
Now, those instantly frozen giant waves still stood as ice cliffs dozens of meters high on the planet's surface, as if time had stopped there.
Due to the advance of the Rostov Expedition, this ice-bound planet was given new strategic significance by Alex.
Accepting Alex's commission, the Adeptus Mechanicus Tech-Priest constructed a massive ecological dome on this planet, maintaining a constant, pleasant temperature inside to combat the planet's frigid environment.
Through the translucent dome, one could see an ecosystem simulating Terra's seasonal changes, as well as neatly arranged medical modules.
This would become the Expeditionary Force's rear medical center, receiving wounded transferred from the front lines.
This was similar to what Guilliman did during the Indomitus Crusade.
Of course, this was also to show the soldiers that the Expeditionary Force had sufficient logistical and medical support, and that even if they were wounded on the battlefield, they would receive full treatment; the Imperium would not turn the wounded into Servitor.
At least not in Rostov.
However, when Sea Hare arrived at the dome city and began gradually taking over affairs on this planet, an Inquisitor sent by Alex found him and asked him to observe an execution.
It turned out that a squad of Astra Militarum soldiers had killed their commanding officer and Political Commissar on the battlefield, then self-mutilated with standard-issue weapons, feigning injuries in an attempt to infiltrate the medical planet and escape combat.
However, during a routine medical examination, military doctors discovered abnormalities in their wounds—Lasgun burns and bolt shell lacerations, all from friendly fire.
With irrefutable evidence, they were judged to be deserters.
According to custom, such a crime should have been handled by the Department of Military Affairs, and they would either face the death penalty or be assigned to penal legions to "atone" for their sins with their flesh and blood on the battlefield.
But they were unlucky; this matter was discovered by an Inquisitor sent by Alex to screen the wounded for xenos or heretics.
Thus, a public execution was arranged in the central plaza of the dome city. The Inquisitor demanded that all stationed troops, medical personnel, and ambulatory wounded attend to witness the fate of traitors. As the temporary ruler of this planet, Sea Hare was also invited to attend.
However, for Sea Hare, the scene of this execution was perhaps too stimulating.
Especially the execution method chosen by the Inquisitor—beheading with Chainsword.
The whirring saw blades spun at high speed on the execution platform, splattering a mixture of oil and flesh, each descent accompanied by a piercing metallic screech and the dull thud of bone shattering.
The deserters were pressed onto the execution platform, crying and begging for mercy. Some struggled, shouting the names of their families, some cursed hysterically, and others completely broke down, howling like beasts.
But the Inquisitor merely waved his hand indifferently, and the executioner unhesitatingly pressed the Chainsword' activation button—
Whirrr—CRUNCH!
Blood spurted like a fountain from the severed neck, with a few drops even flying onto the faces of the front-row observers.
When the head rolled to their feet, the eyes were still blinking in terror, and the mouth opened and closed unconsciously, as if still silently screaming.
The air was filled with the pungent smell of blood and the exhaust fumes of the Chainsword' engines, mixing into a nauseatingly sweet aroma.
For Sea Hare, who had previously lived in the peaceful environment of the 3k era and whose most significant exposure to blood was surgical hemorrhages, this was somewhat overly stimulating.
Watching those deserters cry and wail that they didn't want to die, only to have their heads mercilessly sawn off by the executioner with a Chainsword, with blood spurting everywhere like in a B-movie, Sea Hare felt his psyche profoundly impacted.
He immediately couldn't bear it and chose to exit the 40k World, returning to the 3k era to recover.
Alex expressed sympathy for Sea Hare's experience, acknowledging that such an event was indeed too stimulating.
But for the deserters, Alex merely stated that they got what they deserved.
In the Warhammer World of the 40k era, deserters are not uncommon in the Imperium of Man's military hierarchy.
The brutal battlefields and various monstrous threats faced by the Astra Militarum are enough to break their morale, turning them into a group of fleeing swine.
At such times, a qualified Political Commissar would step forward to shoot the leading cowards, then, with fearless courage and exemplary action, restore the unit's morale with an inspiring speech or a leading charge.
Typically, the Political Commissar's actions would be very effective, as most Astra Militarum are hand-picked elites; a temporary morale collapse is not fatal, as long as they can recover or have their loyalty to the Emperor re-ignited, they can muster the courage to continue fighting.
However, sometimes a Political Commissar dies in battle, or the battle situation is too dire, making it difficult for a single Political Commissar to control a collapsing unit, and deserters still emerge.
Usually, the Imperium does not immediately execute them, as this does not align with the Imperium's consistent human resource utilization habits.
Defeated units would be reorganized, but typically they would lose their normal designations and numbers, being re-formed into penal legions, continuing to fight for the Emperor.
Penal legions usually have no pardon; they must atone for their sins through one desperate battle after another, but usually, death marks the end of their atonement.
Only a very few lucky individuals might, through arduous and outstanding combat, earn enough merit for the Political Commissar and Inquisition to deem their sins atoned for, thereby granting them a pardon.
This is by no means easy, usually requiring critical merits sufficient to turn an entire campaign around for the Inquisition to consider them worthy of pardon.
It is precisely for this reason that fleeing on the battlefield is a path most Astra Militarum soldiers would only choose as a last resort.
After all, fighting to the death still provides death benefits that can give their families a better life, but becoming a deserter carries extremely severe penalties.
Therefore, most of the time, the Astra Militarum's will to fight is highly commendable.
However, the act Sea Hare described—killing one's commanding officer and Political Commissar, then self-mutilating to feign injury and evade war—is an absolute taboo, an act that no country or army, whether in 40k or 3k, would ever tolerate.
Even in the 3k era, the fate of these individuals would only be execution by firing squad; the nature of the crime was simply too egregious.
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