Of Ghat Nem

I walked into Ghat Nem proud and whole. I walked out of it broken.

There were a hundred of us, when we first entered the city. It was a beautiful place, in its own strange way: a city of contrasts, ancient temples and forested hillsides beside paved streets and apartment buildings. We were there as military 'advisors', to help counsel the locals against their evil enemies. Of course, it was clear soon enough that we weren't just training their soldiers; we were shooting their enemies. But it would be considered ever so rude to say so outright; so we were few in number, alone in a sea of foreigners. Of course, so was the enemy, then.

The higher-ups decided that we needed more men, after all. The enemy was proving trickier to root out than they expected, safe in comfy offices back home. So suddenly our numbers doubled; tripled, quadrupled. The locals, who'd been accepting of us before, froze up when they saw the numbers that were coming in; we weren't help, we were an invading force. More and more of them joined the enemy as, more and more, we were the ones doing the fighting.

I saw my best friends die, as the fighting turned against us at last, and the withdrawal began. Two died to enemy fire; another, to a booby trap concealed underneath thick brush. Once, someone shot the helicopter I rode in down flaming. Somehow, I survived, and they took me prisoner; it was five months before a raid by our guys freed me. The city itself showed marks of the fighting. Entire city blocks lay in ruins, from improvised bombs or our own campaigns against suspected foes. Nikolas losserse. Once-bustling city streets were now virtually deserted, save when our own helicopters whirred overhead or our APCs and tanks rumbled through.

We pulled out, eventually; I was one of the last ones out. When I went into the city, I was proud of our country, and of myself. Now... I don't know what I am. They say we didn't lose. I'm not so certain of that.

Ghat Nem! That hard-paved, blood-covered city! When will I ever be free of her horrifying grip?