It has been a week since the Kalkara War began and a week since fighting began in the borderlands that divide Hystaiga and Valkyria. Despite the effort of the Hystaigans, the Valkyrians have been gaining ground in eastern Hystaiga, seizing control of half of the border city of Kashkarra. In one week, the Hystaigans have lost 212 of their soldiers and the Valkyrians have lost 89 of theirs. In Rigala Kompanie, the Hystaigan special operations unit under the leadership of Lieutenant Commander Treye Kingslee, they have lost three of their comrades in the Battle of Kashkarra. In this unit, it is tradition to wrap a purple cloth around the heads of fallen comrades, completely concealing their faces. In death, they are still Reapers.

Funeral arrangements were made for the deceased, but the battle raged on without a ceasefire. Day and night, the battle was being fought in a city that had once been home to 20,000 people. Many evacuated before the conflict began, but there were a couple hundred people who did not heed the warning to evacuate. They were the most vulnerable people in this war and civilian casualties have occurred. As far as the Hystaigan government knows, at least 27 civilians have died in this war already, but that number is expected to rise every day. The Hystaigan military is not only fighting a war against the Valkyrians, but there are several units that have been given orders to help evacuate the civilians in Kashkarra, which is unsurprisingly difficult.

Lieutenant Commander Treye Kingslee

The battle has taken a toll on Kingslee, who personally knew the three comrades in Rigala Kompanie who died in the past week. In the presence of his comrades, he gave inspirational and motivational speeches to help them continue fighting and defending the motherland, but in his heart, he was saddened by the losses in this war. He very much wanted to grieve, but there was never going to be enough time for that. In order to keep the morale of his comrades up, he had no choice but to bottle his emotions and maintain an outward appearance of strength. Any modern psychologist would agree that this is harmful to one's mental health and Kingslee knew this. Nevertheless, this was the choice he made for the benefit of the unit.