Kaede halted in her footsteps the moment she crossed the makeshift bridge onto an intact section of the Nordkreuz's northern wall. The gas giant 'moon' illuminated the city through the clear, night skies. Its indigo light gave a haunting glow to the devastated settlement that had been renowned throughout Hyperion as the 'Jewel of the North'.

Over eighty percent of Nordkreuz's buildings had been burned, gutted, or outright collapsed by a combination of the aerial bombardment, powerful earthquakes, and the many fires that had spread all over the city. They reduced wooden structures to little more than charred rubble. Meanwhile, countless brick walls and stone columns stood damaged and alone, like headstones for the flattened taverns and workshops that once stood.

Even the roads lay twisted and broken. The city blocks had been reduced to mounds of wreckage and debris. Carts of equipment from volunteer teams littered the streets. Some were filled with recovered foodstuffs while others held rubble that had yet to be hauled out. There were even a few carts half-filled with charred or mangled corpses, as the dead had to be extracted from burned-out basements and collapsed cellars.

It reminded Kaede of the haunting images of bombed out WWII cities that she had seen, particularly the Japanese settlements where American napalm had created a tsunami of fire amidst wooden and bamboo districts. The firebombing raids had laid waste to dozens of cities even before the infamous nuclear bombs had been dropped.

Carpet bombing should be a war crime.

Kaede had heard that the casualty count already stood at over ten thousand. And it was still rising as entire battalions of the army joined in the relief efforts. The only reason it was this 'low' was because all residents had been sent to their cellars which were reinforced in anticipation of the air strike. Otherwise Nordkreuz, a city which had a population exceeding fifty thousand, would easily have suffered far worse.

Nevertheless, this didn't stop Weichsel's soldiers from committing their own crimes in retribution. Rumors were already abound of Skagen troops, particularly survivors from the skywhales, who tried to surrender only to be cut down. Sure, the Northmen weren't signatories to the Articles of War that Weichsel had signed with other Trinitian states. But a moral precedence had clearly been set in the world of Hyperion, which made the killing of POWs a crime.

Yet, despite the devastation that reached as far as the eye could see, Kaede heard sounds of laughter coming from a nearby ruin. It looked like someone had converted a half-destroyed building into an open-aired alehouse. And though it was already past midnight, there were still some soldiers and civilians who were drinking.

Maybe a little alcohol is exactly what I need to go back to sleep, the Samaran girl thought.

...

The building had apparently been a tavern before the air raid. Two of its walls were still standing, as well as half of its first floor ceiling. The owner clearly didn't let the devastation stop him from running a business. Repairs had been made to ensure the structure wasn't in danger of collapse, while a large roll of canvas was ready to be used in case it started raining.

It really spoke to Weichsel's 'military frontier' culture that they would continue operating even in such a state.

"Hey cutestuff! Care to join us?" One of the drunk soldiers called out almost as soon as Kaede crossed the threshold. He wore the black-on-burning-red uniform of a Knight Phantom just like three others around him. His face was just as red as he happily waved a stein of sloshing beer in midair.

His call instantly turned more heads than Kaede would have wanted.

"We're the Falcons who won the day!" A second knight spoke out with an even redder face. "You should (hic) offer us a drink!"

There were already two young women sitting between the knights. One of them was all smiles but the other clearly didn't want to be there. It didn't take much to see why, as one of the knights had his arm down below her waist where his hand groped her rear.

"Sorry Sirs, she's with us," a gruff voice called out from another, much longer table. It came from a master sergeant in Weichsel's standard crimson-on-black uniform.

Kaede could mildly recall seeing his face before. However she couldn't remember where.

"Ehhhhh!?" The drunk knight stood up and turned towards the sergeant with an elongated, snarling face. "A mere sergeant (hic) ordering me what to do?" He then pulled on his uniform's shoulders where he wore a captain's insignia. "Are you too stupid to see rank, you peasant?"

"Sir, rank does not change the fact she fought as part of my battalion," the Master Sergeant added calmly, though several of the soldiers who sat with him were already glaring daggers. "It's thanks to her that we held down the right anchor of the line. Besides, she's in service to the Landgrave of Nordkreuz. And unless I'm mistaken, that's his jacket," he nodded towards the uniform jacket that Kaede wore draped over her pseudo-uniform.

"Hmmph, we don't need some half-grown girl to serve us anyway," the drunk knight declared before sitting back down. Meanwhile Kaede took the opportunity to scurry over to the other table.

"Thanks," she muttered. "Uhhh--"

"Master Sergeant Eckhart Steinmetz," said the tall, broad-shouldered man in his 'early thirties'. He wore a wide smile beneath a full mustache and gray eyes. "I'm Major Karen von Lichnowsky's senior sergeant-at-arms. Was, at any rate." He added before offering an open hand to the much smaller girl.

Kaede grasped it as firmly as she could. She felt as though she was shaking hands with a giant.

"Are you all," she looked at the nineteen men who sat at the table. Half of them were already drunk if not wasted, and several of them even passed out where they sat.

"We're all that remains of the battalion," Eckhart noted sadly. "All who can still walk, at any rate." He shrugged. "Though if it weren't for you, I doubt any of us would be here."

Several of the men who sat near him nodded before one of them remarked: "Yeah lass, without you sending a hundred Northmen to their graves, we'd be goners now."

Kaede couldn't help but feel embarrassed, and also somewhat guilty, as they made a spot for her at the bench. She sat down next to the Master Sergeant, before she tried her best to insist in her wispy voice:

"I did not kill a hundred!"

"That's the rumor that's been spreading anyway," Eckhart chuckled with a grin. "Only those Phantoms who are too full of themselves wouldn't recognize a hero."

"I sure don't feel like a hero... nor do I want to," Kaede sighed as she grumbled back. She could still see images from the recent nightmare drifting across her head.

Eckhart looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "First time in combat?"

"In battle, yes." Kaede nodded.

"First time’s always hard, lest you be already red-eyed with revenge," said a young corporal with disheveled hair and green eyes. "Still, plenty of soldiers would fancy your fame and glory. Might as well take advantage of your opportunity to improve your lot in life."

"I agree," Eckhart nodded. "Just take us for example. We've all been cited for valor, honors that came at the expense of our many fallen comrades." He spoke in a solemn voice as all of them looked down at the table in remembrance. "But would rejecting it make us feel any better?"

"No..." Kaede reluctantly admitted. "It's just that... Major Karen is the real hero, not me. Without her, I'd be dead."

Yet I'm the one who caused her to lose her arm, she couldn't help reflect.

"And the Major will be honored as a hero, don't you worry about that!" Eckhart declared. "Besides, watching out for each other is what we soldiers do. The Major helped you just as you helped her..."

Kaede winced slightly as the Master Sergeant's words only made her feel even more unworthy. However Eckhart never noticed as he offered Kaede an extra large stein of black beer:

"--You became part of the family the moment you stood by us against that ghastly charge. There is no need to feel undeserving. Besides, as the survivors, we have a duty to use the rewards accordingly, to create meaning for those who gave their lives."

"Exactly," the corporal spoke out loud as he stood up and raised his beer. "Hail the victorious dead!"

"Hail!" All of those who could still raise their hands joined in. Even Kaede did so as she made a hearty gesture with her stein.

She could hardly refuse, considering the support and help she had just received. It was no wonder why, despite the fact she sat amidst a group of lowborn soldiers, not one of them showed the slightest sign of lechery like the knights at the other table had done. Her gender hardly even mattered among a group of comrades who fought together on the battlefield. They clearly saw her as 'one of them', and stared daggers earlier at those men who tried to treat her otherwise.

-- And now, as each of them brought drinking vessels to their lips and drained their beer in nonstop gulps, Kaede realized that she was also expected to do the same.

She had her reservations, considering her first experience with alcohol wasn't exactly pleasant. Her parents first offered her a sip of vodka at age six, and that burning sensation on her tongue made Kaede lose any interest in booze throughout school. Nevertheless, she did come here for alcohol to help suppress her anxieties, and it would certainly be inappropriate to deny these men who accepted her into their group.

Time to man up, Kaede thought as she took a deep breath before raising the vessel to her lips.

Several deep gulps proved that this alcohol didn't burn. However it was strong and very, very bitter. Nevertheless Kaede continued until she drained the entire oversized stein. Its contents were enough to fill her stomach alone. And as she finished, she slammed it onto the table as she sucked down some much needed air.

"Now that's how it's done!" The corporal praised as several nearby soldiers cheered.

"Is this mead?" Kaede coughed several times as she looked around. Everyone else had emptied their vessels as well. And another soldier laid his head onto the table as he fell asleep drunk.

"Lager." Eckhart smirked as he gave her two backpats that felt more like rubber mallet blows.

The familiar winced as she could feel her stomach swell. It pressed against the belt she buckled tightly around her waist. The discomfort soon joined her period cramps as her midsection now felt two different kinds of aches.

I'm going to regret that. Kaede realized as she bent over slightly.

"H-how's Major Karen doing?" She then remarked as she looked for a distraction through conversation. "Has anyone visited her since the battle?"

"I have," Eckhart looked grim. "She's doing well, better than I would have expected. However with her right arm gone, she knows she'll have to retire..."

Retire... what a nice way to say that she's too crippled to fight anymore. The familiar thought as she felt guilt wash over her again. And it's my fault.

"--Though apparently His Majesty wrote to her in person, and gave her a barony from the seized Manteuffel lands as reward," the Master Sergeant's expression somewhat brightened. "So at least she'll be retiring as a baroness."

"Milady's been a good commander!" A soldier chimed in. "She deserves a rise in status!"

Yes, but I bet she'd still exchange that for her arm back, Kaede grimaced at her stomach ills as she realized that this topic only made her feel worse.

The barkeep came by and offered to refill the soldiers' mugs. Kaede nodded at once with barely any thought. She didn't know if drunkenness really could drown all worries. But right now, she really wanted the stupor that supposedly came along with it.

...

For hours, Eckhart and the others meandered from one story to another, drinking and laughing as they retold tales from within their battalion.

"--Annnd the Ma'or, she just 'abbed thee o'em by with her 'air, and 'quash their face straigh' into one 'nother," Eckhart laughed as he told yet another tale of Major Karen 'disciplining' her troops. "Say'f they gonna figh', then a' leas do it proper!"

"She alfays did like usin' her hair to su'rise peo..." the corporal slurred with a grin. "n' Hans was a 'oublemader so he often go' it."

"Theeey 'ere all good boyz tho..." Eckhart said before his voice seized up and his eyes glistened. "Now... 'ole pratoon... gone 'n one fire..."

"We'll mee 'gain," the corporal raised his empty mug one last time as he dropped his head onto the table. "In 'er ladyship's halls and in heaven..."

Then, with a more noticeable thud, the sergeant collapsed onto the bench himself and made a half-crying noise before he too fell asleep.

The knights had long left, so too the barkeep and the other civilians. All that remained were nineteen soldiers who lay collapsed around a single wooden table -- all who escaped the casualty lists from the three hundred names of an infantry battalion's order of battle -- as well as a Samaran girl whose already bloated stomach was screaming for her to stop drinking.

They did this on purpose, didn't they? Kaede realized at last as she looked at the countless bottles and drinking vessels that laid all around. It was a sight that brought new meaning to the question of why alcoholism had been so rampant in her homeland.

It was easy to forget that an entire generation of Russian men had been scarred by the Great Patriotic War. They watched as millions of their comrades perished before the Nazi war machine, then returned home with psychological trauma that Russian culture, with its demand for hyper-masculinity, offered little emotional recompense. These men drank themselves into a stupor to escape from reality, and in doing so they also taught their children to do the same...

I'm sorry, Mama, Kaede thought as she looked up at the now dawning skies. You tried so hard to keep me from learning Papa's bad habits. Yet look at me now.

The young girl hiccuped. Even she could tell that her breath stank of booze.

But just this once... the familiar felt a warm tear slide down her cheeks. Just let me put myself to sleep.